Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / I Ranked the Top Young Cores in the NBA
Transcript
- 0:04SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode of Smallball with Kenny Beechum.
- 0:08SPEAKER_01: Today, I feel like we should talk about some young cores across basketball.
- 0:12SPEAKER_01: I'm going to try my very best to rank the top 10 young cores and hoops based on the way I kind of see things.
- 0:18SPEAKER_01: Later in the episode, I'm going to talk about All NBA because there's a surprising amount of All NBA spots that are up for grass because of injuries from last year's winners of the award.
- 0:28SPEAKER_01: And we got so much momentum.
- 0:29SPEAKER_01: You know how it goes here on small ball.
- 0:32SPEAKER_01: I want to start off with this young cores thing because, you know, I'm watching some teams out there the other night, and I'm like, man, I still can't believe how young some of these teams really are.
- 0:42SPEAKER_01: Like the best team in the league still has one of the lowest average age.
- 0:45SPEAKER_01: I mean, in the other conference, the Detroit Pistons, their average age is still really low.
- 0:50SPEAKER_01: So we we have a young league while on the opposite side, a lot of our GOATs are aging.
- 0:55SPEAKER_01: Like LeBron James's streak of 10 plus games of, I'm sorry, 10 points in a game just ended this week.
- 1:02SPEAKER_01: And it's becoming a younger person's league, and so much so that maybe some other GOATs get sent home early parts of the season.
- 1:10SPEAKER_01: But let's get into it, the top 10 young cores in ball.
- 1:12SPEAKER_01: And I already got a hiccup, y'all, because I'm going uh 10 through one, as you can imagine.
- 1:17SPEAKER_01: My number 10 spot is up for grabs, and I want to explain the three teams I have here and the reason for them, and then maybe that'll help me decide who is number 10.
- 1:25SPEAKER_01: The first team I had on the list for number 10 was the Washington Wizards.
- 1:28SPEAKER_01: They are one of the youngest teams in the league, right?
- 1:30SPEAKER_01: Alex Saar is a good ball player.
- 1:32SPEAKER_01: Keyshawn George is a good ball player.
- 1:35SPEAKER_01: And that's got it.
- 1:37SPEAKER_01: You got comments from the coach about Cam Whitmore, Bob Carrington has lost his powers.
- 1:42SPEAKER_01: Balauku Lubali, I still know, I mentioned him a couple episodes ago.
- 1:44SPEAKER_01: I don't really know what he is as an NBA player, but they're young enough that they have so many players.
- 1:48SPEAKER_01: Like somebody's gonna hit, maybe that is Alex Saarr.
- 1:51SPEAKER_01: The next team I had was the Dallas Mavericks.
- 1:52SPEAKER_01: Cooper Flag is really hitting a stride right now over the last couple weeks.
- 1:56SPEAKER_01: It's really just kind of him lively, who really can't play at this moment in time, and then like Ryan Emhard is their young core.
- 2:01SPEAKER_01: I could see something there if you really truly believe that Cooper Flag is as good as we expect him to be.
- 2:06SPEAKER_01: And the last team that I gave considerations to for the number 10 spot was the Minnesota Timbulls.
- 2:11SPEAKER_01: And they literally have one player, and his name is Anthony Everts.
- 2:14SPEAKER_01: Is Anthony Everett just that good as a young core himself?
- 2:18SPEAKER_01: It overpowers Dallas and the Washington Wizards, maybe.
- 2:21SPEAKER_01: And I do want to say Young Corps is very subjective here.
- 2:24SPEAKER_01: I don't have it like they have to be under 25 or this much service time.
- 2:27SPEAKER_01: I just went off vibes.
- 2:29SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna decide that it is uh Anthony Everts.
- 2:32SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna decide Anthony Everts in the Minnesota.
- 2:35SPEAKER_01: Even though there are the young players, like you really hope Rob Dillaham play, he can't really play.
- 2:38SPEAKER_01: Um, some of the other guys on that bench, yeah.
- 2:41SPEAKER_01: Even a guy that you feel like is a young guy, like a Terrence Shannon Jr., turns out to be older than Anthony Edwards.
- 2:46SPEAKER_01: All right, number nine is where I had the Charlotte Hornets.
- 2:50SPEAKER_01: The Charlotte Hornets are in a unique spot because they have a young core of Lamelo Ball, Khan Kenipple, Brandon Miller, Ryan Kochburner, and I'm gonna say Sion James, and then uh Tajon Salon, who just had a 20-point game a few nights ago.
- 3:02SPEAKER_01: That seems pretty good.
- 3:04SPEAKER_01: But the reason why they're lower than maybe consensus here is because I don't even know if that front office values Lamelo Ball to be a part of a young core.
- 3:10SPEAKER_01: I don't even know if they value Brandon Miller to be a part of a young core.
- 3:13SPEAKER_01: But because they're on the team, they give some level of respect.
- 3:15SPEAKER_01: So I got him my number nine or number nine spot.
- 3:18SPEAKER_01: My number eight really just has three players here.
- 3:21SPEAKER_01: But one of those three players is like top 15 in the league right now.
- 3:26SPEAKER_01: The Philadelphia 76ers are number eight in young corps and ball.
- 3:29SPEAKER_01: It is such a weird team because you have the two older guys taking up so much money between Joel Embiid and Paul George.
- 3:36SPEAKER_01: And like, as an outsider, again, I can't speak for Philly fans here.
- 3:39SPEAKER_01: As an outsider, I enjoy watching this team because of these young guys I'm gonna mention.
- 3:42SPEAKER_01: Tarys Maxie has hit an entirely new jump this season.
- 3:46SPEAKER_01: He's playing every single minute, for better or for worse, hitting shots, getting to the rim, playmaker, doing it all.
- 3:51SPEAKER_01: VJ Edgecomb has not been as good, you know, the second month of his NBA career compared to his first month, but obviously we saw the flashes.
- 3:58SPEAKER_01: We saw some of the stuff that he could be.
- 3:59SPEAKER_01: And lastly, I got Jared McCain.
- 4:01SPEAKER_01: I did not add like a Quentin Grimes because I'm not even completely sure if they'll be able to retain him this season.
- 4:07SPEAKER_01: But this is a similar case to like the Anthony Edwards thing.
- 4:10SPEAKER_01: Tyrese Maxie is so good as a young player that it just brings the team up.
- 4:14SPEAKER_01: I genuinely think that Tyrese Maxie's playing like he's playing like top 10, but realistically is probably close to the top 15 player in the NBA right now.
- 4:22SPEAKER_01: So uh shout out to Tyrese Maxie.
- 4:24SPEAKER_01: We're gonna talk about him again later in the episode as we talk about potential all NBA spots up for grabs.
- 4:29SPEAKER_01: Number seven on the list and number six on the list are two I fought between for a long time.
- 4:34SPEAKER_01: So again, just like I did with number 10, let's talk things through and try to figure out which one we want to have higher.
- 4:39SPEAKER_01: As of right now, I have number seven as the Portland Trailblazers.
- 4:43SPEAKER_01: They got Denny Abdia, Shaden Sharp, who Shaden Sharp has now put together like a week and a half of 20 plus points, get into the foul line, hitting some shots here, there.
- 4:51SPEAKER_01: So it's like I was really disappointed in him to start the season because he is one of the one of the swing factors for the Portland Trailblazers, if you ask me.
- 4:58SPEAKER_01: He signed an extension and he started off the season so bad, I'm like, oh man, not that it's gonna be a bad contract, but I think a lot of people that watch Shaden Sharp, me include, see the flashes, like, oh, that man can be, you know, not just a start in this league, but a level above start in this league.
- 5:11SPEAKER_01: Some people believe that he could be an all-star level player, and it's just to start off that way.
- 5:15SPEAKER_01: But as of recently, since he's come back, you know, he's coming off the bench.
- 5:18SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if that's probably his superpower or if that's, I don't know.
- 5:21SPEAKER_01: Um, but he's been playing good basketball.
- 5:22SPEAKER_01: Tumani Kamara, who we mentioned a few weeks ago, is one of our most disappointed players since then, has been shooting 45% from three.
- 5:28SPEAKER_01: I just like they put the battery in players back.
- 5:30SPEAKER_01: Say, boom.
- 5:30SPEAKER_01: I say you've been disappointed so far.
- 5:32SPEAKER_01: Then they go out there and they hoop.
- 5:33SPEAKER_01: Tumani Kamara, got that.
- 5:34SPEAKER_01: Donovan Klingon, one of my favorite young bigs in basketball, because he looks like a player that will eventually, eventually be a defensive system by himself.
- 5:46SPEAKER_01: You know, I just watch him on the defensive side of the ball and I see one of my favorite centers of all time, and Rudy Gobert.
- 5:51SPEAKER_01: I see him in that heavy drop and protecting the rim and maybe not getting all of the blocks you may anticipate for somebody like that, but deterring shots at the rim and contesting well enough to prevent players from shooting well at the rim.
- 6:01SPEAKER_01: Like he is and has been a defensive system by himself.
- 6:05SPEAKER_01: Let me see if his numbers, while we're here, if his numbers are still the same as with the last time I remember remember them.
- 6:11SPEAKER_01: Um man, I got a lot to say about the Trailblazers, but I have to hold it because again, they're another team that's gonna come up later in the episode.
- 6:18SPEAKER_01: Defensively, the team is about five points better defensively when he is on the court.
- 6:23SPEAKER_01: That's pretty that's pretty good.
- 6:24SPEAKER_01: That's that's that's pretty good for young center on basketball.
- 6:27SPEAKER_01: Then lastly, I did include School Henderson, has not played yet this season.
- 6:31SPEAKER_01: I don't know what he is.
- 6:32SPEAKER_01: Is he a start in this league?
- 6:33SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
- 6:33SPEAKER_01: I mean, the front office don't know.
- 6:34SPEAKER_01: They brought back their GOAT, Damian Lillard, and also went to go get Drew Holiday, who they're desperately missing right now.
- 6:39SPEAKER_01: So we don't know if School Henderson's really a part of their core core or what he will be as a player.
- 6:45SPEAKER_01: But I got a lot of respect for these dudes because if eat if it's just anything, if it's just anything, Denny right now, man, Denny right now is playing so well that I don't know how you can convince yourself that this is his ceiling.
- 6:57SPEAKER_01: And maybe it is.
- 6:58SPEAKER_01: Maybe it is.
- 6:58SPEAKER_01: It's 26, 7, and 6.
- 7:00SPEAKER_01: And not even just talking about counted stats, I'm talking about raw impact.
- 7:03SPEAKER_01: The foul shooting or the foul drawing, I know for some people it is um pretty annoying to see players get to the foul line, but it truly is a skill and an important skill for good players in basketball.
- 7:14SPEAKER_01: 15 free throws last game, 17, 15, 23, 14.
- 7:19SPEAKER_01: He's right now averaging on the season 10 free throws per game.
- 7:24SPEAKER_01: That's pretty good.
- 7:25SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you remember, if you've been watching the show for some time, last year, when we we were talking about uh Mickey Mouse March, all the great players that are playing good and marching, we don't know if they were gonna hold up.
- 7:34SPEAKER_01: He has he was second in the league in foul drawing rate at that point, and he's transitioned that over to this season.
- 7:39SPEAKER_01: So that's that's impressive, especially if the jump shooting is going to continue to come around.
- 7:43SPEAKER_01: So the team they're going against, though, is the Atlanta Hawks.
- 7:47SPEAKER_01: Jalen Johnson.
- 7:48SPEAKER_01: Oh, that boy Jalen Johnson is something nice.
- 7:51SPEAKER_01: See, before we had producer Greg, before we rebranded this uh show, I did an episode two years ago about breakout players and Jalen Johnson was number one on the list.
- 8:01SPEAKER_01: And I'm wearing it like a badge because he really is.
- 8:04SPEAKER_01: Maybe that was three years ago.
- 8:05SPEAKER_01: It was the year after John Collins got traded.
- 8:06SPEAKER_01: So that's 2022, right?
- 8:08SPEAKER_01: Um, and he's been as good as more way better than I expect him to be when I say he was gonna break out.
- 8:13SPEAKER_01: He's an all-star and maybe even more.
- 8:15SPEAKER_01: Dyson Daniels, again, one of the more disappointing players I had a few weeks back.
- 8:19SPEAKER_01: But the defensive impact is still there, even if he lost his steel streak a couple games ago.
- 8:23SPEAKER_01: Zachary Reesh, I say, giving him the benefit of the doubt, I don't know what level player he will be, but there are times I watch him play.
- 8:30SPEAKER_01: I'm like, man, I just want a lot more.
- 8:32SPEAKER_01: And yaka Kongu's jump shooting has come around in the defensive versatility and Asa Newell, who doesn't play a ton, but the few times he does get like real PT, at least earlier in the season, I'm like, oh yeah, that's a real ball player there.
- 8:43SPEAKER_01: So I don't know which one I would put over.
- 8:45SPEAKER_01: Do I just keep it static and go Trailblazer seven and Atlanta Hawks six?
- 8:50SPEAKER_01: Is basically what I have in my notes here?
- 8:53SPEAKER_01: Do we go ceiling for ceiling?
- 8:55SPEAKER_01: Who's ceiling's higher?
- 8:56SPEAKER_01: Denny or Jalen Johnson?
- 8:57SPEAKER_01: Shaden Sharper, Dyson Daniels, Tumani Kamaro or Zachary Reach, I say.
- 9:02SPEAKER_01: And yeah, Gakango, Donald Clink.
- 9:03SPEAKER_01: They kind of are matching up pretty good when I say it like that.
- 9:08SPEAKER_01: I think on a last second decision, I'm moving the Trailblazers up to six and the Atlanta Hawks down to seven.
- 9:17SPEAKER_01: I am almost positive that when we do this exact same thing a year from now, the Atlanta Hawks are higher, considering the the Pelicans gave them a top five pick.
- 9:28SPEAKER_01: Gave them a top five pick.
- 9:30SPEAKER_01: Before we move on to five through one, um, I do want to say, I should have probably said this earlier, that this list is not a museum.
- 9:37SPEAKER_01: It is not set in stone.
- 9:39SPEAKER_01: These things are ever so fluid because if I would have made this list two years ago, the trailblazes wouldn't, or even last year, the trailblazes wouldn't have been this high because Denny hadn't broke out or Jalen Johnson didn't break out.
- 9:49SPEAKER_01: So I want y'all to keep that in mind as we get to number five, four, three, two, one.
- 9:54SPEAKER_01: Because the top of the crop is ridiculous.
- 9:57SPEAKER_01: I'll be back with that.
- 9:58SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned.
- 10:04SPEAKER_01: Getting back to ranking the best young cores in basketball, at the number five spot, I have the Orlando Magic.
- 10:11SPEAKER_01: Now, there is an argument for the Orlando Magic to be lower on this list.
- 10:15SPEAKER_01: Maybe you believe that the Atlanta Hawks have a better young core or even the Portland Trailblazes have a better young core, but let me give you the reason why I feel this way.
- 10:20SPEAKER_01: Palo Ben Carroll just came back from his injury and he's still, you know, uh, but we see, I see Paulo Ben Caro as a true building block.
- 10:28SPEAKER_01: I see him as a multiple-time all-star.
- 10:30SPEAKER_01: I may not be as high on him as some of the other people across NBA fandom, but I truly do believe him to be a guy that can be, I don't know, at one point in his career top 15.
- 10:42SPEAKER_01: You know, I feel like that's not out of the realm of possibility.
- 10:44SPEAKER_01: The second guy on the list, Franz Wagner.
- 10:46SPEAKER_01: It is so unfortunate that Franz Wagner got injured.
- 10:49SPEAKER_01: As I'm recording this or taping this episode, I don't know what that injury is.
- 10:52SPEAKER_01: It was a nasty looking reaction from Mr.
- 10:55SPEAKER_01: Wagner as he rode around on the floor in Master Square Garden.
- 10:59SPEAKER_01: So I'm praying that it's nothing significant, but I've seen that reaction before from players and it didn't, it didn't look well.
- 11:05SPEAKER_01: So I'm praying for Franz because they really need him.
- 11:07SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I love watching Franz Wagner play.
- 11:10SPEAKER_01: So if he's gonna be out, it just changes so much about this team uh because they were really getting it together.
- 11:16SPEAKER_01: You do have Desmond Bain playing better.
- 11:18SPEAKER_01: When Jalen Suggs has played, they've looked like a real competent team.
- 11:21SPEAKER_01: And now, if you had such a long time without Paulo Banquero and you might have another extended period of time with no Franz Wagner, how do we expect these guys to continue to jail as players together?
- 11:31SPEAKER_01: And it might just shift their timeline or shift their core quite a bit if Franz Wagner's injury is better or bigger than expected.
- 11:38SPEAKER_01: So again, I'm praying that everything is cool, you know, not the two major uh fingers crossed.
- 11:44SPEAKER_01: The next guy in their core is, of course, Jalen Suggs.
- 11:46SPEAKER_01: And Jalen Suggs count of stats is I don't think they're ever gonna jump off the page.
- 11:50SPEAKER_01: I don't think they're ever gonna jump off the page.
- 11:51SPEAKER_01: But anytime you see Jalen uh Suggs in the game, you know that your team has an opportunity to win.
- 11:57SPEAKER_01: It's 14 and a half points per game.
- 11:59SPEAKER_01: It's fine.
- 12:00SPEAKER_01: Uh five assists, four rebounds, uh 34% from three, which is not as good as he shot at a few years ago when he got really paid.
- 12:08SPEAKER_01: But he is one of the best glue guys in all of basketball.
- 12:11SPEAKER_01: Um, I said it the other day when they had their game, where Jalen had the game against the Spurs where he got the steal and then he went on a three-on-one or one-on-three fast break and he went up.
- 12:20SPEAKER_01: And I said, obviously, not a great possession for Jalen Suggs, but it's kind of the stuff you have to live with.
- 12:26SPEAKER_01: He he he kind of fits in that mode.
- 12:28SPEAKER_01: I'm not even talking about the talent, I'm talking about the mindset of a Marcus Smart or of a Dylan Brooks that these guys play so hard every single minute they're on the floor that occasionally you will have these possessions that's just bonehead stuff going on.
- 12:41SPEAKER_01: And because he's given his all on every single possession, you just kind of have to say, that was Jalen's move.
- 12:46SPEAKER_01: We didn't love it, but am I gonna bench him?
- 12:49SPEAKER_01: For who?
- 12:49SPEAKER_01: Um, so he's he's been really good this season.
- 12:52SPEAKER_01: Uh obviously, Anthony Black, when Palomancaro was missing that time, he had a jump.
- 12:57SPEAKER_01: He was also one of my more intriguing players coming into the season.
- 13:00SPEAKER_01: He's looked as good as I could have ever expected.
- 13:02SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, you have Tristian DaSilva.
- 13:04SPEAKER_01: I think those top two dudes, Palomancaro and Franz, have the ceiling to be all NBA players at one point in their career.
- 13:11SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the main reasons why I have them so high on this list.
- 13:14SPEAKER_01: I think Jalen Suggs, as long as he can hit the necessary game threshold and minutes threshold, he should be an all-defensive player, like for the foreseeable future.
- 13:23SPEAKER_01: So their ceilings are just maybe a little bit higher than some of the cores beneath them.
- 13:28SPEAKER_01: Now, this between two, three, and four, it is rare that I put up my runner show, I make my notes, and I ask somebody else's opinion about my runner show.
- 13:38SPEAKER_01: Because I could see these top three of the top four cores going in any order.
- 13:43SPEAKER_01: So I made my list and I hit the group chat, the numbers on the board group chat, and I said, hey y'all, y'all let me know if I'm tripping.
- 13:49SPEAKER_01: Do I have certain team too low?
- 13:51SPEAKER_01: Do I have certain team too high?
- 13:52SPEAKER_01: And I really, really leaned on my boys a little bit to try to figure out, you know, we made, we had like real life dialogue via text, which is never really good.
- 14:00SPEAKER_01: I'd rather call somebody and talk about stuff like this.
- 14:02SPEAKER_01: But real dialogue via text about this core versus that core versus that core.
- 14:06SPEAKER_01: So can I give you what I decided on at the very end?
- 14:10SPEAKER_01: My number four corn basketball, young corn basketball, the Houston Rockets.
- 14:16SPEAKER_01: Now, now, now, Rockets fans, do not get mad at me.
- 14:18SPEAKER_01: Do not get mad at me.
- 14:19SPEAKER_01: I recognize this may be lower than you anticipated.
- 14:22SPEAKER_01: Let me, for the non-Rocket fans, let me read you what the core looks like, in my personal opinion.
- 14:26SPEAKER_01: It is Alpern Shengun, who was a few votes away from all NBA last season.
- 14:30SPEAKER_01: It is Iman Thompson, one of the best defensive wings in the basketball.
- 14:33SPEAKER_01: And as of recently, the offensive game, we've been putting up some really good games.
- 14:38SPEAKER_01: You got Jabbar Smith Jr., who I see as another really good glue guy, connector.
- 14:42SPEAKER_01: Don't ask him to dribble, but he does everything else really well.
- 14:45SPEAKER_01: Tari Eason, um, the Terror Twins, get in the passing lanes.
- 14:48SPEAKER_01: He was shooting 50% from three before his injury.
- 14:51SPEAKER_01: And then Reed Shepard.
- 14:52SPEAKER_01: Those are the five young guys in the league.
- 14:56SPEAKER_01: Now, it may be lower than some of y'all anticipated.
- 14:59SPEAKER_01: And now that I'm looking at it, maybe you're right.
- 15:02SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're right.
- 15:03SPEAKER_01: Um, but no, the the course is really, really good.
- 15:05SPEAKER_01: One of the best things about the Houston Rockets, and why I love the eventual deal that they ended up making for Kevin Durant is that if the Kevin Durant era and Houston does not go well, do you still got all of these guys to fall back on?
- 15:16SPEAKER_01: Now that changes quite a bit if you believe that the Houston Rockets might be a team in the Yonsa that Ocumpo sweepstakes.
- 15:21SPEAKER_01: But regardless, I love everything they have going on.
- 15:24SPEAKER_01: All of these guys, if when they're completely healthy, are going to be contributing guys on a team that is trying to win championships.
- 15:29SPEAKER_01: And you can't say that about every single player of these young course that I mentioned.
- 15:33SPEAKER_01: The Rockets are up there.
- 15:34SPEAKER_01: You know, we we had the conversation about whether or not certain team is contender versus pretender.
- 15:38SPEAKER_01: And the Rockets, I've been on the fence about, I think I see her more, I see her closer to them being contenders versus pretenders.
- 15:44SPEAKER_01: And it was gonna take all of these five young players in order to get there, they end up in my number four spot.
- 15:50SPEAKER_01: Number three.
- 15:55SPEAKER_01: Number three is the Detroit Pistons.
- 15:57SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna be honest with you, the reason why I gave the nod to the Pistons over the Houston Rockets when it comes to young cores, and I could, I could be, I could be convinced otherwise.
- 16:06SPEAKER_01: Again, it's not this is not in pencil, this is in pencil, not a pen.
- 16:09SPEAKER_01: The reason I gave them the nod over the Houston Rockets is because I think that Kay Cunningham has the potential to end up in that top 10 player in the league category.
- 16:18SPEAKER_01: I mean, you may believe he's there right now, and I wouldn't even call you that that crazy.
- 16:21SPEAKER_01: And Schenko may have that, but I feel more comfortable in it being Kay Cunningham.
- 16:27SPEAKER_01: So, in my opinion, if you have a guy that can be top 10, not just at his position, but in the entire league, but also a center like Jalen Duran, who's gonna be an all-star this season, if he continues to do his thing, he had a little skid in the last week or so.
- 16:38SPEAKER_01: We ain't looking at that.
- 16:39SPEAKER_01: Um, if he continues to play as is, he's gonna be an all-star player.
- 16:44SPEAKER_01: Then Sar Thompson, who is an all-defensive level wing, and then Ron Holland, according to the advanced stats, and I'm this is why I always not take it with a grain of set of salt, but I don't look at it too much.
- 16:56SPEAKER_01: Right now, he's a second worst offensive player in the league, according to EPA, only above Bub Carrington.
- 17:05SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that's who he is, but I'm just I'm just reading you the stats.
- 17:09SPEAKER_01: I'm reading you the stats, all right?
- 17:11SPEAKER_01: Um, but because they do have the superstar player, the the 1A, the fourth quarter closer, uh the the of Shingon is also done in the postseason, don't get me wrong.
- 17:20SPEAKER_01: But uh, but a guy that um maybe you believe in down the stretch a little more.
- 17:24SPEAKER_01: It wasn't a beautiful postseason run for him last year, don't get me wrong, but maybe you believe in him a little bit more in his overall ceiling compared to what the Houston Rockets have.
- 17:32SPEAKER_01: And that was one of the reasons why I gave them the nye.
- 17:34SPEAKER_01: Cade, all NBA player, Jalen Duran, all-star player, Asar Thompson all defensive.
- 17:39SPEAKER_01: That's a pretty good young core.
- 17:40SPEAKER_01: I didn't even mention Jay Nivey because I don't know if he's a really a part of their core.
- 17:44SPEAKER_01: Um, but I could be convinced.
- 17:47SPEAKER_01: I'm now that I'm thinking about it to myself again for the hundredth time since I made this run of show, I wouldn't be surprised the Houston Rockets are a buff, but I'm gonna keep it the way my notes are.
- 17:55SPEAKER_01: But again, I could be convinced otherwise.
- 17:57SPEAKER_01: Number two on my list.
- 18:00SPEAKER_01: Now, this is this is where you talk about a singular player.
- 18:06SPEAKER_01: Hey, singular player changing the ceiling of a young core.
- 18:10SPEAKER_01: Because you probably have noticed I have not mentioned the San Antonio Spurs just yet.
- 18:14SPEAKER_01: If you look at my original text when I sent to the group chat, I had the San Antonio Spurs behind the Pistons and behind the Houston Rockets.
- 18:23SPEAKER_01: I got called crazy because of who Victor Wimbenyama is, as of already, when he's healthy, of course, being one of the five best players in the world.
- 18:34SPEAKER_01: And that not being his ceiling, right?
- 18:36SPEAKER_01: I I don't like to put ceilings on players, but like maybe the ceiling of Kay Cunningham is top five, maybe the ceiling of Shingoon is top five, top ten.
- 18:44SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
- 18:45SPEAKER_01: That's where Wimby is right now in year three.
- 18:48SPEAKER_01: Wimby's ceiling is legitimately the best player in the entire planet.
- 18:52SPEAKER_01: So that is enough.
- 18:54SPEAKER_01: At least I was convinced by the guys, that that is enough.
- 18:59SPEAKER_01: Stefan Castle, there is a lot of um hoopla about Stephon Castle as a player um based on his first season.
- 19:05SPEAKER_01: He obviously did end up winning rookie of the year, but you know, the the stats weren't amazing, right?
- 19:10SPEAKER_01: The efficiency numbers weren't amazing this year before he got injured.
- 19:12SPEAKER_01: I was really impressed with him.
- 19:13SPEAKER_01: He still got to cut down those turnovers, but I was really impressed with him.
- 19:16SPEAKER_01: Um of all the young to one-year, two-year players, Dylan Harper has a super high ceiling as well.
- 19:24SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, I added Carter Bryant to their young core.
- 19:26SPEAKER_01: So I could be convinced of they'd be a number two.
- 19:28SPEAKER_01: And then my number one team has to be the team that literally just won a championship last season with J Dub, all NBA player, Chet, maybe all NBA player, all defensive player, Casey Wallace, all defensive player, and AJ Mitchell.
- 19:38SPEAKER_01: That is an account for some of the other guys in that young core that haven't played just yet.
- 19:42SPEAKER_01: Nikola Topic, uh Thomas Sorber, or so on and so forth.
- 19:46SPEAKER_01: That's my list.
- 19:49SPEAKER_01: Woo! That's my list.
- 19:50SPEAKER_01: That's my list.
- 19:51SPEAKER_01: That's my list.
- 19:52SPEAKER_01: That's my list.
- 19:52SPEAKER_01: I'm not, I again, I said I could be convinced, but as of right now, I'm not, I'm not letting it happen.
- 19:58SPEAKER_01: When we come back, we'll talk about All NBA just a quarter of the way through the season.
- 20:02SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned.
- 20:08SPEAKER_01: This video is brought to you by DraftKings.
- 20:10SPEAKER_01: You know all about pick six by now, where you can pick more or less on different players' stats for the upcoming games.
- 20:15SPEAKER_01: Just pick two or more different players into your pick set, decide more or less on some stats, and sit back and relax to see if you made the right decision.
- 20:22SPEAKER_01: All right, man.
- 20:24SPEAKER_01: Um, so y'all know how this goes.
- 20:25SPEAKER_01: I tell you about pick six, I put together a pick set for you.
- 20:29SPEAKER_01: We may be hit, we may be dope.
- 20:31SPEAKER_01: You know?
- 20:32SPEAKER_01: You make these decisions on your on your own accord.
- 20:34SPEAKER_01: You feel me?
- 20:36SPEAKER_01: Last time we did it, we had a theme.
- 20:38SPEAKER_01: It was big Big Fella Mondays.
- 20:40SPEAKER_01: I know that don't rhyme or they don't have no alliteration, but it was Big Fella Mondays.
- 20:43SPEAKER_01: I went boards and points for all the big fellas that played that night, with more on a lot of them.
- 20:49SPEAKER_01: Were we successful?
- 20:51SPEAKER_01: I genuinely don't remember.
- 20:52SPEAKER_01: Um, we also have another thing this week, though.
- 20:55SPEAKER_01: It is shooting guard Monday.
- 20:57SPEAKER_01: Dang, we need something.
- 20:59SPEAKER_01: Um motion motion mover Mondays or something.
- 21:03SPEAKER_01: I I workshop, I workshop it.
- 21:05SPEAKER_01: Where I wanted to pick some of the shooting guards that are playing tonight and put them into a pick set.
- 21:10SPEAKER_01: Now, if you look at your NBA schedule for this fine Monday afternoon, it's a light look.
- 21:17SPEAKER_01: We only have three games.
- 21:18SPEAKER_01: We have Kings versus Pacers, we have Suns versus Timberwolves, then we have Spurs versus Pelicans.
- 21:23SPEAKER_01: So we have a smaller group to put into our pick set, but I'd still pick something from every single game.
- 21:30SPEAKER_01: The first thing I'm putting into my pick set today, again, starting with the shooting guards, Zach Levine more on points versus the Pacers.
- 21:37SPEAKER_01: The other night, Zach Levine had a good old 40 ball.
- 21:40SPEAKER_01: And I read a quote that I thought was sent NBA Centao for a little bit, where he was asked about his great 40 point game, and he said that'll happen more often if they gave you the ball.
- 21:52SPEAKER_01: Now, I haven't I haven't audibly heard him say this, but it was reported and then also reported on a reputable site, it wasn't just a Twitter call.
- 22:00SPEAKER_01: It was it was reported again on one of the big sites.
- 22:03SPEAKER_01: I ain't heard it yet.
- 22:05SPEAKER_01: Maybe they do get my boy the ball just a little bit more because he had a game earlier this week where he had like eight points.
- 22:11SPEAKER_01: And you know he can get eight points and still be praised for it if you're LeBron.
- 22:16SPEAKER_01: No, let me say, let me chill on my goal.
- 22:18SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, more points on Zach Levine versus the Pacers.
- 22:22SPEAKER_01: Shout out to the Pacers, handing my Bulls another L the other night.
- 22:25SPEAKER_01: Next, I wish, I wish we had some Devin Booker in this matchup versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, but we do not.
- 22:31SPEAKER_01: Instead, we're going with Anthony Edwards more on points versus the Suns.
- 22:34SPEAKER_01: The Suns are one of my favorite young teams.
- 22:36SPEAKER_01: Well, not young teams, just teams in general.
- 22:38SPEAKER_01: They're not really young.
- 22:39SPEAKER_01: Um, teams to watch in all the basketball with book, without book, don't matter.
- 22:42SPEAKER_01: They get they can hoop over there.
- 22:44SPEAKER_01: But also, that boy Anthony Edwards can hoop.
- 22:46SPEAKER_01: So far in the season, it's 28 points per game, about four assists and five rebounds.
- 22:51SPEAKER_01: And now that makes me want to look at my notes from the first episode of this year where we were doing the pick six and we were doing the season long.
- 22:58SPEAKER_01: And I remember I went more on Anthony Edward's season-long assists.
- 23:01SPEAKER_01: I think it was at three and a half, and right now he's averaging about four.
- 23:04SPEAKER_01: So so far through a quarter of the way through the season, it looked like we hit on that one.
- 23:07SPEAKER_01: Um, but I went Anthony Edwards more on points.
- 23:10SPEAKER_01: He will probably get a really tough defensive assignment.
- 23:12SPEAKER_01: That's just the way it is.
- 23:13SPEAKER_01: The Suns got a couple good guys over there that can really defend, but he also is Anthony Edwards, and I've seen him take over quarters just this week, and I think he could do that again against the Phoenix Suns.
- 23:23SPEAKER_01: Usually we have four into our pick set, but today we only have three as I'm going with Devin Vassale more on points versus the Pelicans.
- 23:32SPEAKER_01: I've watched a ton of Pelicans as of recent because I really like Jeremiah Fears.
- 23:35SPEAKER_01: I really like Dare Queen.
- 23:36SPEAKER_01: I don't like the outcomes of their games.
- 23:38SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm having a lot of fun trying to picture her Jones and Trey Murphy III on different teams.
- 23:42SPEAKER_01: So I'm watching a lot of them.
- 23:43SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm seeing them get blown up on the shooting aspect.
- 23:48SPEAKER_01: Um, still no Wimby, so Devin Vassale is gonna have another green light opportunity.
- 23:53SPEAKER_01: A few nights ago, he had four threes in the first quarter in their matchup.
- 23:56SPEAKER_01: So I just like his opportunity again to go more on points versus the Pelicans.
- 24:01SPEAKER_01: How we feeling?
- 24:02SPEAKER_01: How we feeling about the pick set?
- 24:03SPEAKER_01: Zach LeVee more on points versus Pacers.
- 24:05SPEAKER_01: Anthony Edwards more on points versus the Suns.
- 24:07SPEAKER_01: Devin Vassale more on points versus the Pelicans.
- 24:11SPEAKER_01: I feel good.
- 24:12SPEAKER_01: I feel good.
- 24:13SPEAKER_01: And if and if we don't do good today, the next week when I make my pick set, I'm gonna go less on a lot of stuff.
- 24:19SPEAKER_01: What's the thing?
- 24:20SPEAKER_01: You know, if you let me down, we're going less the next time around.
- 24:24SPEAKER_01: All right.
- 24:24SPEAKER_01: When we come back, like I mentioned, there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of all NBA spots open, and we're gonna talk about who's out and who could be in.
- 24:34SPEAKER_01: For those who haven't checked out DraftKings Pick Six yet, there's an exclusive offer waiting for you.
- 24:38SPEAKER_01: Right now, new DraftKings customers can play$5 and get$50 in Pick Six credits.
- 24:43SPEAKER_01: All you have to do is download the PIC6 app and use promo code Enjoy when you sign up.
- 24:48SPEAKER_01: Pick six is available in most states, including Texas, California, Missouri.
- 24:52SPEAKER_01: So don't be afraid to get in on the action.
- 24:54SPEAKER_01: Right the upside with PIC6.
- 25:00SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna read you the all NBA teams for the 2024-2025 season.
- 25:05SPEAKER_01: On the first team, we had Giannis, Shea, Jokic, Tatum, and Mitchell.
- 25:08SPEAKER_01: Second team had Ant-Man, LeBron, James, Steph Curry, Evan Mobley, and Jalen Brunson.
- 25:12SPEAKER_01: And the third team had Kay Cunningham, Carnthony Towns, Tyree Saliburton, Jalen Williams, and James Harden.
- 25:18SPEAKER_01: Do you notice something out of that?
- 25:20SPEAKER_01: A lot of the guys I just mentioned are just not gonna hit the 65-game requirement to compete for an all-NBA spot this season.
- 25:30SPEAKER_01: And I feel I remember a few weeks ago we were asked about the 65-game minimum, and I was very firm on saying, no, I think it's okay, give it a few more years.
- 25:37SPEAKER_01: I maybe just turn it around just a little bit, and I'll explain why.
- 25:41SPEAKER_01: Some of the guys that won't make all NBA this season because of injury, and I don't mean like super significant injury like a Halliburton or a Tatum.
- 25:49SPEAKER_01: Um I don't think you can tell the story of the season without some of these names.
- 25:54SPEAKER_01: So let me read you the spots that are completely open.
- 25:56SPEAKER_01: Obviously, Jason Tatum won't make all NBA.
- 25:58SPEAKER_01: Halliburton, Jalen Williams, even though he's back, he already is gonna be, if he plays every single game for the rest of the season, he won't hit 65 games.
- 26:05SPEAKER_01: Cool.
- 26:06SPEAKER_01: Giannis just went down on an injury on Wednesday night, I think it was, when they won in a game versus the Detroit Pistons.
- 26:13SPEAKER_01: He has missed seven games at this point, and he's going to be reevaluated in two to four weeks, potentially missing a month worth of basketball games.
- 26:23SPEAKER_01: And in order to hit that 65-game threshold, you can only miss 17 games.
- 26:28SPEAKER_01: He's already at seven.
- 26:29SPEAKER_01: He's only got 10 more games to play with with an injury that at least is going to keep him out for the next four weeks.
- 26:34SPEAKER_01: And that's for him to get reevaluated.
- 26:36SPEAKER_01: That don't even mean he'll be back that next day.
- 26:38SPEAKER_01: LeBron James has already missed 16 games.
- 26:40SPEAKER_01: He's not playing all NBA level, but still, he's missed 16.
- 26:43SPEAKER_01: He only can have one more.
- 26:44SPEAKER_01: And they showed a picture of him and uh Jason Tatum in the locker room.
- 26:47SPEAKER_01: And LeBron didn't even have a shoe on his left foot because his left foot is so damn bad right now.
- 26:51SPEAKER_01: He's gonna miss another game.
- 26:52SPEAKER_01: Oh, also Giannis is on a seven-year streak of all NBA first teams.
- 26:56SPEAKER_01: I don't know if anybody thought about that.
- 26:58SPEAKER_01: That streak is just over.
- 26:59SPEAKER_01: It's over.
- 27:00SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe, unless he's made a vibranium.
- 27:03SPEAKER_01: Steph Curry has missed eight games so far this season.
- 27:05SPEAKER_01: And as far as we know, he will miss at least the next three games.
- 27:08SPEAKER_01: So that'll put him at 11 with however many months left in the season.
- 27:14SPEAKER_01: So he may end up playing less than that 65 games.
- 27:18SPEAKER_01: Giannis Tatum, Braun, Curry, Halliburn, Dub.
- 27:22SPEAKER_01: That's six.
- 27:23SPEAKER_01: That's just six players strictly off of injury.
- 27:25SPEAKER_01: From what we know right now, God forbid, knock on the wood of wood of this table.
- 27:29SPEAKER_01: Somebody else within that All-NBA team may miss a significant time in January or February.
- 27:33SPEAKER_01: Again, we don't hope that, but it's the reality of the situation.
- 27:36SPEAKER_01: And then we have three players that may not even be playing at all NBA level to get the knots.
- 27:42SPEAKER_01: The first guy's Evan Mobley.
- 27:43SPEAKER_01: Love me some Evan Mobley.
- 27:44SPEAKER_01: I think this season is good, but it just hasn't been the season that a lot of us anticipated.
- 27:48SPEAKER_01: It's not a bad season by any means.
- 27:50SPEAKER_01: He's still an all-defensive level player.
- 27:52SPEAKER_01: He's still an efficient offensive player.
- 27:53SPEAKER_01: It's just not the jump.
- 27:54SPEAKER_01: And maybe, maybe putting up the same stats as next last year is enough for him to make all NBA again.
- 27:59SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
- 28:00SPEAKER_01: James Harden is having a ridiculously great offensive season.
- 28:04SPEAKER_01: But I don't know if y'all know how these voters really be going with this All-NBA stuff.
- 28:08SPEAKER_01: You can't just have a really good offensive season if your team ain't doing well.
- 28:12SPEAKER_01: So in order for James Harden to be a consideration again for this award, his team, the LA Clippers, have to turn it around and have to be in a postseason.
- 28:20SPEAKER_01: They can't be the 11th seed with an all-NBA player.
- 28:22SPEAKER_01: At least that's historically not the way it's gone.
- 28:23SPEAKER_01: It's been a few cases, but historically, that's not the way it's gone.
- 28:26SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, Carl Anthony Towns is still having a good season, but there's a lot of times I'm watching the New York Knicks and they've been, they've been good where I'm like, man, where that boy cat at?
- 28:34SPEAKER_01: You know, he is the greatest shooting center of all time.
- 28:36SPEAKER_01: What that boy cat at?
- 28:37SPEAKER_01: And his numbers ain't bad.
- 28:38SPEAKER_01: His efficiency is down a little bit from last season.
- 28:40SPEAKER_01: It just ain't been the overall impact that we're used to as all.
- 28:43SPEAKER_01: So if those three stay the same, that's that's nine, that's nine All NBA spots potentially open.
- 28:50SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about some candidates, y'all.
- 28:52SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about some people that can be into all NBA.
- 28:54SPEAKER_01: The first guy's gonna be Luka Doncic.
- 28:55SPEAKER_01: He's missed a few games for the birth of his child.
- 28:57SPEAKER_01: Congratulations to the Doncic family over there.
- 28:59SPEAKER_01: Um, it seems like he's gonna miss maybe a few more, so he may even cut it close himself.
- 29:03SPEAKER_01: But Luka Doncic, he's obviously averaging the most points in the league.
- 29:06SPEAKER_01: He's Luca.
- 29:06SPEAKER_01: The only reason he didn't make it last year is because of injury.
- 29:08SPEAKER_01: And as long as he gets that 65 games, he's an absolute lock.
- 29:11SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read y'all some of these other names.
- 29:13SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, let me get give you my locks if they stay healthy.
- 29:16SPEAKER_01: I think Jalen Brown, if he stays healthy and the Boston Celtics continue to win at the rate that they are right now, Jalen Brown is a lock to be back to all NBA after missing it the last year or two.
- 29:25SPEAKER_01: He's been phenomenal.
- 29:26SPEAKER_01: Um, the only thing is he turns the ball over a lot at this moment in time, but like, not not these players are obviously so much different.
- 29:34SPEAKER_01: So maybe I shouldn't even be making this comparison.
- 29:36SPEAKER_01: Um, but I remember when James Harden was in Houston.
- 29:39SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
- 29:40SPEAKER_01: Okay, he's a bad comparison.
- 29:41SPEAKER_01: When James Harden was in Houston, James Harden turned the ball over a lot, but the team at large didn't.
- 29:46SPEAKER_01: It feels very similar here, where Jalen Brown turns the ball over a good amount, but the Celtics themselves, as a team, are pretty low in their turnover frequency.
- 29:54SPEAKER_01: It's like I have a high usage guy that turns the ball over.
- 29:56SPEAKER_01: But if nobody else has turned the ball over or nobody else has a usage as this guy, then it evens out to be like this team take care of the ball.
- 30:02SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that's what it is right now with Jalen Brown.
- 30:04SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm really enjoying this Jalen Brown season, by the way.
- 30:08SPEAKER_01: The boys on numbers on the board make fun of me because I've never really been a huge Jalen Brown fan.
- 30:12SPEAKER_01: I've enjoyed his game, but like he wasn't one of my guys.
- 30:15SPEAKER_01: And while the rest of the panel, they really love Jalen Brown.
- 30:17SPEAKER_01: Um it's turning, it's turning a little bit, man.
- 30:19SPEAKER_01: I've been having a ton of fun watching JB this season.
- 30:21SPEAKER_01: The other guy that's an absolute lock if he continues this and the team continues to be a playoff team, Tyrese Maxie.
- 30:28SPEAKER_01: Hey, man, let me hold on.
- 30:30SPEAKER_01: Let me let me get the true full stats of a Tyrese Maxie season because I feel like it's still gonna surprise me.
- 30:35SPEAKER_01: Man, 31.6 PPG right now.
- 30:39SPEAKER_01: Seven assists, four and a half boards, 46% from the field, 38% from three.
- 30:46SPEAKER_01: Producer Greg was at a game the other day with the Golden State Warriors played a Philly, the great game where VJ got the tip in and Tyrese Maxie got the block.
- 30:53SPEAKER_01: And we were talking about Tyrese Maxie.
- 30:54SPEAKER_01: And I say to him, Tyrese Max is so much of an anomaly because a dude that fast should not also be able to hit 40% of his threes.
- 31:02SPEAKER_01: It just doesn't happen.
- 31:04SPEAKER_01: And this is coming off this season where he had kind of lost his jump shot a little bit, 33% last year on about nine attempts.
- 31:09SPEAKER_01: Now he's jumped it up by 5% points and also getting to the rim and also he's playing 40 minutes a night, by the way, but ridiculous.
- 31:17SPEAKER_01: He is an all-NBA lock as long as they continue to play this good.
- 31:22SPEAKER_01: And the only other guy that I'm saying there's a lock to replace, and all these other guys have conversation, is Chet Holmgren.
- 31:28SPEAKER_01: If the OKC Thunder are one of the few 71 teams, which they're on pace for right now, Chet Holmgren, off like overall statistics may not look that much better than his previous year, but the the eye test is just so much better.
- 31:41SPEAKER_01: He he's controlling the ball so much more in the half court.
- 31:45SPEAKER_01: Uh, fluidity of his game has stepped up, his defensive impact is so much better.
- 31:48SPEAKER_01: So he, those are the four guys I feel like, again, assuming health for them are the clear-cut replacements.
- 31:55SPEAKER_01: And then get to another short list.
- 31:57SPEAKER_01: But like Scotty Barnes.
- 31:59SPEAKER_01: If the this little Raptor skid is just a skid and they're not just bad all of a sudden, Scotty Barnes has the luxury of being one of those ultra glue guys that can average 20 and also being one of the best defensive players in the league.
- 32:11SPEAKER_01: I mean, I got to give credit to the Toronto Raptors at large, even though they lost a game about the LeBron James thing when he only had eight points.
- 32:17SPEAKER_01: But a lot of that is just truly Scotty Barnes.
- 32:19SPEAKER_01: Scotty Barnes takes a lot of pride in the defensive side of the ball, and I love that for him.
- 32:23SPEAKER_01: The next guy is Jalen Johnson.
- 32:25SPEAKER_01: I was trying to figure it out, and I had a tough time on um stat head here in basketball reference, trying to figure out a player that went from zero all-star votes in his career to all NBA in one season.
- 32:38SPEAKER_01: And I feel like it's not that many guys.
- 32:39SPEAKER_01: And I think Jalen Johnson could potentially be doing that because of the circumstances, y'all.
- 32:43SPEAKER_01: It's not that crazy to think that he could make an all-NBA team this season.
- 32:47SPEAKER_01: Next guy, Jamal Murray.
- 32:50SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
- 32:51SPEAKER_01: Not only I think Jamal Murray's making an all-star game this season, if he could tease the play at this rate, he could be an all-NBA player.
- 32:56SPEAKER_01: Kevin Arant could jump back into that, by the way.
- 32:58SPEAKER_01: I haven't mentioned KD just yet.
- 33:00SPEAKER_01: He's missed it over the last whatever.
- 33:01SPEAKER_01: He could definitely do that.
- 33:02SPEAKER_01: I was having a tug of war between putting him or Alprin Sheng on this list.
- 33:06SPEAKER_01: I'm not completely sure who people look at or Raptors fans look at.
- 33:09SPEAKER_01: Is he more important or impactful or more deserving all-NBA player if they continue to do that?
- 33:14SPEAKER_01: But one of these guys should probably be locked, um, consider a team success.
- 33:18SPEAKER_01: Maybe both.
- 33:19SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
- 33:20SPEAKER_01: Denny, who we mentioned, but they also have the tough part of not being one of the few playoff teams right now.
- 33:26SPEAKER_01: I think they're like the 10th seed.
- 33:28SPEAKER_01: So maybe they get in there.
- 33:29SPEAKER_01: But if they're not a playoff team, you probably won't get the nod.
- 33:31SPEAKER_01: But the Ross stats, the own-off, all of those things are in favor of Denny being one of the best, whatever, players in basketball.
- 33:37SPEAKER_01: Franz Wagner, who we mentioned, just went down with an injury.
- 33:40SPEAKER_01: So we'll pause on that.
- 33:41SPEAKER_01: Devin Booker went down an injury, but I read a report that he might be back for the NBA Cup game, which is like in three A's.
- 33:46SPEAKER_01: So if he's back for the Cup game, he's here.
- 33:49SPEAKER_01: He's right, he's ready to go back to being an All-NBA player, y'all.
- 33:52SPEAKER_01: And then the last guy I have on my list as a possibility for All NBA, if these spots stay open, is Austin Reeves, man.
- 34:02SPEAKER_01: Austin.
- 34:04SPEAKER_01: I can't, I don't, I don't even know how much more I can talk about Austin Reeves.
- 34:11SPEAKER_01: It's 29, 7, and 5.
- 34:14SPEAKER_01: The 41 and 11 that he averages in the the four games, five games where Luka Doncic has not played.
- 34:20SPEAKER_01: He is the ultra complimentary spot for Luka Doncic.
- 34:27SPEAKER_01: And I think some some interesting conversations are going to happen if this this man continues to play at this level of efficiency.
- 34:34SPEAKER_01: The game versus the Toronto Raptors, the logo threes, the foul drawing, the get into the basket.
- 34:40SPEAKER_01: He looks top whatever.
- 34:43SPEAKER_01: And the guy was completely, completely undrafted, y'all.
- 34:47SPEAKER_01: Undrafted to all NBA.
- 34:48SPEAKER_01: It's not a pipeline that happens often, man.
- 34:52SPEAKER_01: It's it's in the works.
- 34:54SPEAKER_01: It could be happening.
- 34:56SPEAKER_01: When we come back, we will do Ask KB.
- 34:59SPEAKER_01: Why answer your questions?
- 35:05SPEAKER_01: This is where we answer your questions.
- 35:07SPEAKER_01: You can hit us up on Twitter or on Instagram with the hashtag AskKB, and I try my very best to get to some of the better and the cooler questions.
- 35:15SPEAKER_01: The first one comes from Ethical Hooper, who says, What is one trade a playoff team needs to make at the deadline?
- 35:21SPEAKER_01: Look, I have been absolutely obsessed with one fake idea I had on numbers on the board.
- 35:27SPEAKER_01: Like I was just kind of just, you know, just chopping it up with the boys.
- 35:30SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you just say something and see what the reaction is, and then you're like, wait a minute, did I just say something?
- 35:34SPEAKER_01: Um and it had to do with the Portland Trailblazers.
- 35:36SPEAKER_01: Now, the Trailblazers are not a playoff team at the moment, like I mentioned last segment.
- 35:41SPEAKER_01: But this is so interesting to me that their best player, Denny, is making$14 million this season, 13 next year, and 11 the year after that.
- 35:49SPEAKER_01: Damian Lillard, their franchise GOAT, or one of their two franchise GOATs.
- 35:52SPEAKER_01: I don't know how you feel about Mr.
- 35:53SPEAKER_01: Drexel over there.
- 35:54SPEAKER_01: $14 million this year, again, coming off a major injury, so at and 35.
- 35:58SPEAKER_01: So maybe he's just not as good next season, but regardless,$14 million this year,$13 million next year.
- 36:05SPEAKER_01: Donovan Klingon, your center of the future.
- 36:08SPEAKER_01: $7 million, and then he he's not going to get that contract extension any like this year, next year.
- 36:14SPEAKER_01: So there's an opportunity for the Portland Trailblazers to be buyers.
- 36:22SPEAKER_01: They have their own first-round picks, but also like two Milwaukee Bucks picks, which like depending on what happens with Giannis, those picks become infinitely more valuable in the market.
- 36:34SPEAKER_01: I don't know exactly what the trade is, but I think there's a world where you, if you can find the right star player, the scrunch guy, whatever, whatever, to bring him to this team.
- 36:43SPEAKER_01: Jeremy Grunt's$32 million is just something you want to move in anyway.
- 36:46SPEAKER_01: Even if it's Drew Holiday's$32 million and$34 million next year, he was good when he was playing, but it ain't like he's truly a part of the core.
- 36:54SPEAKER_01: If you know that Dave Miller's gonna come back and he's gonna be healthy, if you believe that what Shaden Sharp has done over the last couple weeks or so is good enough for him to be a real time, full-time starter, you don't really need Drew Holiday.
- 37:03SPEAKER_01: You don't need Jeremy Grant.
- 37:05SPEAKER_01: So there's a$50 million pool.
- 37:08SPEAKER_01: Robert Williams is making$13 million.
- 37:11SPEAKER_01: So even if it's one of those guys, it's Jeremy Grant and Robert Williams.
- 37:14SPEAKER_01: It's Drew Holiday and um uh Matisse Steible who's on$11 million.
- 37:19SPEAKER_01: You got$40 plus million dollars to potentially trade for while your best players is on a descending contract.
- 37:24SPEAKER_01: Come on, man.
- 37:26SPEAKER_01: Come on.
- 37:27SPEAKER_01: Hey, I don't know what that player is.
- 37:30SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's Giannis.
- 37:31SPEAKER_01: Hey Milwaukee, you want to hold your own destiny again?
- 37:34SPEAKER_01: Here, boom.
- 37:35SPEAKER_01: Get Drew Holiday back.
- 37:36SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you want Drew Holiday and I don't know.
- 37:38SPEAKER_01: But I'm so intrigued that maybe this is my 2K brain coming in.
- 37:42SPEAKER_01: I'm so intrigued about the possibility of them being buyers without giving up any of those young core players that I mentioned earlier in the episode.
- 37:50SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm in, I'm I'm truly, truly intrigued.
- 37:53SPEAKER_01: The next team, if you want a like a real um playoff team, is Detroit Pistons.
- 37:59SPEAKER_01: Detroit Pistons um are one of the best teams of basketball.
- 38:02SPEAKER_01: I mentioned Larry Marking for them quite a bit, which makes sense.
- 38:05SPEAKER_01: You know, Larry Marking is kind of the type of player that they would need.
- 38:07SPEAKER_01: Uh a guy that doesn't need to put the ball on the floor, he moves off the dribble, he hits shots, he does does whatever.
- 38:12SPEAKER_01: But another guy that fits similar modes that won't be as expensive salary-wise or um his overall trade value to his team, Michael Porter Jr., man.
- 38:24SPEAKER_01: Like if you are the Detroit Pistons and you can turn, I don't know, Tobias Harris and Jay Nivey to what Michael Porta Jr.
- 38:33SPEAKER_01: is doing right now.
- 38:34SPEAKER_01: Obviously, when he gets to the Detroit Pistons, his role is back to somewhat limited.
- 38:38SPEAKER_01: Um but he could he's show he's showing you right now what type of player he can really be.
- 38:43SPEAKER_01: And this is kind of the the Brooklyn Nets way where they get a nice wing, a part of a bigger trade, and then they get his value up like they did Cam Johnson, where he plays a lot, Mikhail Bridge plays a lot, puts up his stats, and you ship him away, and then maybe he loses some of his powers.
- 38:55SPEAKER_01: But it won't be as expensive to get him because I I guess the the Utah Jazz is out here saying we want to keep everybody.
- 39:01SPEAKER_01: So it might be like a Michael Porter Jr.
- 39:03SPEAKER_01: type of move for the Detroit Pistons.
- 39:05SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
- 39:05SPEAKER_01: I think I think it could be some I think it could be some really cool, cool stuff.
- 39:09SPEAKER_01: Um, the next question comes from Joey that says, best favorite fan moment, not sports.
- 39:15SPEAKER_01: And I really, really struggle with this one.
- 39:17SPEAKER_01: Not sports.
- 39:20SPEAKER_01: What else could I be a fan of?
- 39:23SPEAKER_01: I guess music is in there, art is up in there.
- 39:27SPEAKER_01: I don't have one that's not sports related, is basically what I'm saying, Joey.
- 39:30SPEAKER_01: I would have love for you to tell me your favorite moment, uh Fay moment that's not sports related.
- 39:35SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna shift it.
- 39:36SPEAKER_01: It will be sports related.
- 39:38SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
- 39:39SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm changing your question, but damn it, I thought it was cool to talk about some cool things I I hate the front office of the Chicago Bulls.
- 39:48SPEAKER_01: I hate the ownership of the Chicago Bulls.
- 39:49SPEAKER_01: That is not a not a surprise to anybody.
- 39:51SPEAKER_01: I've I've verbally said that for the last five years.
- 39:56SPEAKER_01: But I absolutely love the social team over there.
- 39:59SPEAKER_01: I love the people that are in charge of their talent relationships and stuff.
- 40:02SPEAKER_01: So the most um, the most interesting or coolest thing, fan moment, best fan moment, is when I was able to do the collaboration with the Chicago Bulls on the merch.
- 40:12SPEAKER_01: I had an entire merch line where it's Kenny Beachum ex-Chicago Bulls.
- 40:16SPEAKER_01: And I've been so blessed and lucky to do so many cool things in my lifetime because of this profession.
- 40:23SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's a lot of the times hard to internalize those things.
- 40:26SPEAKER_01: Hell, I was just Forbes 30 on the 30 like last week, and it didn't feel like anything.
- 40:30SPEAKER_01: But one thing that did feel like something was that collaboration piece, a bomber jacket that says the Chicago Bulls that I designed.
- 40:37SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
- 40:38SPEAKER_01: A t-shirt, some sweatpants.
- 40:40SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I don't, they ain't they ain't the best looking things three years down the line.
- 40:44SPEAKER_01: But like when it happened in real time, it was such a cool moment.
- 40:47SPEAKER_01: And then for them to give me like a spotlight day where I was there and I was a part of the team.
- 40:52SPEAKER_01: I was running on the court, throwing the um the free t-shirts in the crowd, and I'm on the jumbo trying Chicago's own, Kenny Beachum.
- 40:59SPEAKER_01: Look at his merch.
- 41:00SPEAKER_01: It's in the shop.
- 41:00SPEAKER_01: It literally is in the shop in the United Center.
- 41:03SPEAKER_01: That is the best and my favorite fair moment, bar none.
- 41:07SPEAKER_01: Um, I want to say thank you to the Bulls.
- 41:09SPEAKER_01: I also want to say thank you to House of Highlights because that was back when I was with them, and they are the ones that kind of made that connection happen.
- 41:15SPEAKER_01: So even though I'm not with them anymore, I got no hard feelings about my time with them boys over there because they really changed my life.
- 41:20SPEAKER_01: So, shout out to my friends over at HOH and shout out to my team over there with the Bulls.
- 41:24SPEAKER_01: But I will say not shout out to the people that's running a show.
- 41:28SPEAKER_01: The next one comes from Junior.
- 41:30SPEAKER_01: If the Lakers win a championship in the next two years, what do you think that does for Lucas Legacy?
- 41:34SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
- 41:36SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a very interesting thing because Luka Doncic, as of right now, is on pace to be the greatest player to never win an MVP.
- 41:42SPEAKER_01: Is that fair to say?
- 41:44SPEAKER_01: Oh, is that fair to say?
- 41:46SPEAKER_01: Wait a minute.
- 41:46SPEAKER_01: Let me think that through.
- 41:47SPEAKER_01: Let me think that through.
- 41:47SPEAKER_01: Who else is on their list?
- 41:48SPEAKER_01: Like Dwight Wade is on their list, Elton Baylor's on that list.
- 41:51SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say it.
- 41:52SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say it pretty comfortably.
- 41:54SPEAKER_01: Right now, Luka Doncic is on pace to be the best player to never win MVP.
- 41:57SPEAKER_01: With him being only 26 years old, I'm assuming that he will get one, by the way.
- 42:01SPEAKER_01: But um, with him adding an NBA championship, let's say, that puts him as a one, two, three, four, five, six-time all-NBA first-team player and a champion at the age of 26.
- 42:14SPEAKER_01: Um, I have always been a guy that won't shy away from the uncomfortable conversations of kind of leaving nostalgia in the back burner and thinking about what's going on right here, right now.
- 42:24SPEAKER_01: Um, he immediately jumps into conversations of top whatever player ever at the age of 26.
- 42:31SPEAKER_01: Because again, he's not one of those young guys that have the accolades but don't have the postseason success.
- 42:35SPEAKER_01: He's been to the NBA Finals, he's been to the conference finals twice.
- 42:38SPEAKER_01: And now you're telling me he's getting an actual championship on top of that.
- 42:41SPEAKER_01: And if in order for the Lakers to win a ring relatively soon, that man had to be on his stuff, man.
- 42:46SPEAKER_01: That team ain't super far away, but they far enough away that Luca Donce had to turn the Superman to make it happen.
- 42:51SPEAKER_01: Um, so it changed the legacy.
- 42:53SPEAKER_01: It was like some of these dudes, Giannis's, the Jokic's, the guys that we saw as top players in the world pre-championship, obviously they just jump up so much higher on those potential top player of all time lists with being the best player on the championship team.
- 43:07SPEAKER_01: They were saying, could you win a championship with a guy that plays like Giannis?
- 43:11SPEAKER_01: Could you win a championship with a big fella that don't defend like Jokic?
- 43:14SPEAKER_01: And both of those guys got it.
- 43:15SPEAKER_01: And now we look at Jokic as one of the best whatever players in the world, and we look at or of all time, and we look at Giannis in a similar vein.
- 43:22SPEAKER_01: So I think Luca getting the ring changes everything.
- 43:25SPEAKER_01: Um, so shout out to Big Luca.
- 43:27SPEAKER_01: So, you also can send us audio questions.
- 43:31SPEAKER_01: So let's let's see what we got on the audio air.
- 43:35SPEAKER_00: Hey, Kenny, which NBA star fits the best with Giannis?
- 43:40SPEAKER_00: Curious to know what team he'd fit best on, even if he's not willing to go there.
- 43:45SPEAKER_00: And let's go next.
- 43:46SPEAKER_00: We're winning the chip this year.
- 43:49SPEAKER_01: Y'all winning the chip this year, huh?
- 43:51SPEAKER_01: Um, this is this is very interesting because if you're saying just in this fictional world, Giannis is getting traded to a team that he fits the most perfect with.
- 44:00SPEAKER_01: If I'm being honest, and this is why I'm not an NBA general manager, I thought that his uh combination with Damian Lillard was one of the best case scenarios, right?
- 44:09SPEAKER_01: Dame, as a guy that runs a lot and can run a lot of high screen picking roles, he is a deadly guy in that pick and roll as a ball handler, can shoot it, can pass it, can hit it from the logo.
- 44:18SPEAKER_01: I thought that would be perfect.
- 44:19SPEAKER_01: But what we found out is through a few different um iterations of the team that it didn't work out.
- 44:24SPEAKER_01: They didn't run as many pick and rolls as you really would have imagined.
- 44:27SPEAKER_01: So I guess I'm kind of steering away from these high usage, high pick and roll players like a Luka Doncic, which is what I immediately kind of thought of.
- 44:34SPEAKER_01: Um, I think he might just benefit from just talent, man.
- 44:38SPEAKER_01: It may sound crazy, but just any anybody that is top 15 um Shay, Jokic, Durant, the answer should be Women Yama.
- 44:55SPEAKER_01: And because that is somewhat realistic, I will say Women Yama, De'Aaron Fox.
- 44:59SPEAKER_01: I will say women.
- 45:00SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's Jalen Bronson.
- 45:02SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
- 45:02SPEAKER_01: Uh be sure to stay tuned.
- 45:03SPEAKER_01: We got more EBA talk coming up.
- 45:10SPEAKER_01: Before we get out of here, I want to talk about a few of the trends that I saw over the last two weeks or the last week.
- 45:16SPEAKER_01: Um, and kind of just talk things through.
- 45:19SPEAKER_01: You know, it's not about whether it's sustainable or not.
- 45:21SPEAKER_01: That's not really relevant to me.
- 45:22SPEAKER_01: I kind of want to get my flowers where it's due.
- 45:24SPEAKER_01: The first place I want to get flowers is to the Dallas Mavericks.
- 45:28SPEAKER_01: They are the worst offensive team in basketball by a wide margin, or at least they were the worst team offensively in basketball by a wide margin.
- 45:34SPEAKER_01: And that is scary because a team like the Washington would just exist and they had the worst net rating for the first month of the season.
- 45:40SPEAKER_01: But as of recently, their offensive game has kicked up quite a bit.
- 45:45SPEAKER_01: In the last two weeks, in the seven games they play in those two weeks, they have the eighth-ranked offense in the league in the league.
- 45:51SPEAKER_01: I'm just, I'm just saying, does that change the dynamic of where they want to do with this season, right?
- 45:58SPEAKER_01: Um, it felt like a full-on guarantee that Anthony Davis was going to get traded.
- 46:02SPEAKER_01: But if they're playing, let's say okay, they're playing okay, you could kind of convince yourself that maybe AD sticks around for the rest of the season and really picks it up next year when they are completely healthy.
- 46:11SPEAKER_01: But in this stretch, Cooper Flag gave them a 35-point win against the Clippers, his best game of the season by a wide margin.
- 46:18SPEAKER_01: And you expected it to go down from there.
- 46:20SPEAKER_01: And it did go down, but not that much because they had a win against Denver where he had 24.
- 46:23SPEAKER_01: They had a win against Miami, we had 22.
- 46:25SPEAKER_01: They lost against OKC.
- 46:26SPEAKER_01: Everybody does that.
- 46:27SPEAKER_01: And then they went against Houston and he had 19.
- 46:29SPEAKER_01: He's playing great ball.
- 46:31SPEAKER_01: Not only is he playing great ball, undrafted, free agent, rookie free agent, Ryan M.
- 46:37SPEAKER_01: Hart over the little stretch year.
- 46:39SPEAKER_01: He had a 28-point game in that Denver Nuggets win, also with 10 assists.
- 46:43SPEAKER_01: The next day, um, they played against the Miami Heat.
- 46:45SPEAKER_01: He had 15 and 13, then 10 and 4, and then 11 and 7.
- 46:51SPEAKER_01: And then I mentioned that he doesn't turn the ball over often either.
- 46:55SPEAKER_01: Gets to the post-game interview, and he answers very uh candidly.
- 46:58SPEAKER_01: They're like, hey man, in this game against the OKC Thunder, we try too hard to give Anthony Davis the ball.
- 47:04SPEAKER_01: Sometimes he got to get away from that.
- 47:05SPEAKER_01: An undrafted rookie-free agent don't say stuff like that, man.
- 47:10SPEAKER_01: He's him.
- 47:11SPEAKER_01: He's him.
- 47:13SPEAKER_01: What more can you say?
- 47:15SPEAKER_01: Um, he he truly, truly is.
- 47:17SPEAKER_01: On the opposite side of that, we still do have a wide margin between the best offensive team in basketball and the second best defensive team in ball.
- 47:26SPEAKER_01: But another trend that is happening as of right now, during this stretch where the uh New York Knicks are seven and one in their last eight, they have the number three offense and the number four defense.
- 47:38SPEAKER_01: Now, I can't give you all of the reasons why I have to go back and watch it with a final two comb.
- 47:43SPEAKER_01: But right now, the Knicks overall on the season is up to the 12th ranked defense.
- 47:47SPEAKER_01: And I think they are one of those teams that fit into the OKC, I'm not the OKC Thunder, the Denver Nuggets way of doing it, that we want to be a firecrack on the offensive side.
- 47:55SPEAKER_01: And if we can be an average defense, then that should be enough.
- 47:59SPEAKER_01: Right now, over this little stretch, they're playing better than a well above average defense.
- 48:03SPEAKER_01: Again, I can't say exactly what's leading to this.
- 48:05SPEAKER_01: Could it be matchup related?
- 48:06SPEAKER_01: I don't really know.
- 48:07SPEAKER_01: But again, I just I just wanted to put that on on your minds.
- 48:12SPEAKER_01: Going back to a little negative, Toronto Raptors were a huge surprise.
- 48:16SPEAKER_01: A month into the season, they were a top 10 team on offense and defense.
- 48:20SPEAKER_01: And that is not the case anymore because their offense has fallen off completely to 28th in the last two weeks.
- 48:26SPEAKER_01: Um, some of these games, you have the two losses against the Charlotte Hornets.
- 48:29SPEAKER_01: One of them, whether they want to be a schedule loss or what, they just played against the Lakers one night and got gained by Rui Hachimura.
- 48:35SPEAKER_01: And then the next day they played against the Hornets, and it was bad.
- 48:38SPEAKER_01: And I'm saying this out of love, Raptors fans.
- 48:42SPEAKER_01: The Raptors fan base is an emotional group, and there's nothing wrong with being an emotional group.
- 48:47SPEAKER_01: But to see them on Twitter, on Twitter, go through these waves of boom, y'all doubted us, yada yada yada.
- 48:55SPEAKER_01: We are really like that.
- 48:56SPEAKER_01: To just on a little loop, two weeks' sample size, where they're four and four in these two weeks, the sky's now falling out completely.
- 49:02SPEAKER_01: To see them shift completely to like, no, we we're done.
- 49:06SPEAKER_01: So and so needs to be traded.
- 49:08SPEAKER_01: It's just that's what fandom is.
- 49:10SPEAKER_01: I know that's what fandom is, but it's just it's just surprising when it happens that fast.
- 49:15SPEAKER_01: I made this tweet two days ago when the Denver Nuggets were in Atlanta when they gave up 70 plus points in the first half to the Atlanta Hawks, that Aaron Gordon deserves some level of award, and I didn't want to go DPOI.
- 49:27SPEAKER_01: Some level of an award for the way him and Christian Brown kept that defense together.
- 49:32SPEAKER_01: That defense was so bad.
- 49:33SPEAKER_01: Now, in the second half, they ended up putting it together and they won that game, they came all the way back, but they are also um one point per 100 possessions better, just one point per 100 possessions better than the Washington Wizards defensively.
- 49:46SPEAKER_01: I listen, I ain't trying to be in conversation with the Wizards on any statistic, on any statistic.
- 49:52SPEAKER_01: So I'm just one point better than them.
- 49:53SPEAKER_01: Kind of crazy.
- 49:54SPEAKER_01: So those are some trends that have happened over the last week or so.
- 49:56SPEAKER_01: Um hopefully you enjoyed this episode of Smallball.
- 49:59SPEAKER_01: I'm trying my very best to get on my comfort zone a little bit.
- 50:01SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if you've been around, you know I don't love rankings, but I'm doing it uh more and more because y'all enjoy it.
- 50:06SPEAKER_01: This has been Kenny.
- 50:08SPEAKER_01: I will see y'all next time.
- 50:10SPEAKER_01: Peace.