Latest / Front Runner Podcast Collective / Southwest Win Totals Reality Check

Transcript

Southwest Win Totals Reality Check · Front Runner Podcast Collective

• 0:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All right, all right, all right.
• 0:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We are going to be talking about the Southwest division of the NBA today, and we're going to talk about all the teams.
• 0:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're going to talk about their win totals.
• 0:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're going to talk about how they're going to get to their win totals.
• 0:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And we're going to talk about 19-year-rookies who have a real shot at rookie of the year.
• 0:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We are going to talk about Dallas and getting back Kyrie and teaming him up with Cooper Flag.
• 0:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're also going to talk about that 7'4 alien or 7'5 dude, depending on who you ask.
• 0:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're going to talk about the dysfunction in Houston.
• 0:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, we didn't forget about the we didn't forget about the DMs.
• 1:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: KD.
• 1:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We didn't forget about it.
• 1:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because I'm petty.
• 1:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm petty that way.
• 1:08
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not going to hold it.
• 1:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not going to hold you.
• 1:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm petty that way.
• 1:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But we are going to talk about that 38-year-old brilliance.
• 1:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're going to talk about how he's still getting it done at an advanced age.
• 1:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then we're going to talk about Memphis.
• 1:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And we're going to talk about New Orleans.
• 1:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And it's the Southwest Division, baby.
• 1:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So buckle up for one of the greatest podcasts that you've ever listened to.
• 1:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Welcome to Frontrunner Podcast Collective.
• 1:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Let's get it.
• 1:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: What's good, everybody?
• 1:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Welcome to Frontrunner Podcast Collective.
• 1:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This is where we talk like friends, we argue like cousins, and we still walk out just a task smarter than we came in.
• 2:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I am your host, Vince, and I'm your occasional hoop therapist, your absolute favorite bad influence when it comes to completely reckless NBA overreactions that low-key make perfect sense, and we will have one of those today.
• 2:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're setting the table, we're getting into the film room.
• 2:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, I got a lot of notes about yesterday and what have you.
• 2:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So buckle up for that.
• 2:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We talk about the grown conversations about players, coaches, in front office, actually how they move in this league.
• 2:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And we're going to talk about some of the rumors in the PR spin, but we're going to celebrate basketball today because it's back.
• 2:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And we're going to give you some of that barbershop ammo that you need to take straight back to your group chat and completely nuke the argument.
• 2:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If you're NBA Sicko who wants more than a highlight talk, you want context, you want numbers, and you want a point of view.
• 2:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Well, you found your spot.
• 3:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It's FRPC.
• 3:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm Vince and let's go.
• 3:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So this is how it's going to start.
• 3:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Uh, if you are with us, like last week, we got into the Eastern Conference and their win totals.
• 3:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Today we're doing the Southwest Division.
• 3:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're going to talk about their win totals over under where we see it, how we see it, and get into it that way.
• 3:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So we will go from least to first.
• 3:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So you know we're starting in the bayou.
• 3:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're starting in New Orleans, and it's not as bad as you might think, but it's not as good as it could be.
• 3:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Ain't all sweet in New Orleans.
• 3:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But let's see if we got some hopeful notes to pass on to our brethren in New Orleans.
• 3:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So DraftKings has the New Orleans Pelicans at a 25, 20, 28.5 win total.
• 4:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All right.
• 4:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So obviously, they don't think too much of our Pelicans.
• 4:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's the thing.
• 4:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Last year, they were 26 and 56.
• 4:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They had a net rating of negative 4.5, which was 21st in the NBA.
• 4:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They had an offensive rating that was 114.4, also 21st in the NBA.
• 4:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And their defense was an astounding 118.9, which puts them 25th in the NBA.
• 4:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now you can look at this new this next piece of news is good news or bad news.
• 4:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 14 of the 15 players are back.
• 4:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 85% of the last year of minutes are here to stay.
• 4:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: What has changed is new head coach Jamal Mosley.
• 4:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yes, that Jamal Mosley, who got unceremoniously dropped from Orlando for Sean Sweeney, who was an uh assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, who made it to the NBA Finals.
• 5:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's in Orlando.
• 5:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's the new man there.
• 5:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Jamal Mosley brings his tough-minded, no-nonsense defensive approach to the bayou and hopes to change the direction of the New Orleans Pelicans.
• 5:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Obviously, their executives are Joe Dumarz and Troy Weaver.
• 5:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, we have had a lot of stuff to say about them, and we're going to get into it because uh it didn't help them this, it didn't help them this year, but we're going to talk about it.
• 5:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Where to start?
• 5:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And this is where we're going to start.
• 5:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If you look at the players, if you just look at the just the collection of players that are on the Pelicans.
• 5:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Deontay Murray, Herb Jones, Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, our guy Jeremiah Fears, who we're absolutely in love with, and we think you're gonna have a big season this year.
• 6:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You can't get the cover is not bare, right?
• 6:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The cover isn't bare.
• 6:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now 58, their shot diet might have to change a little bit because 58% of their shots came with inside the paint.
• 6:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They shot only 55.4% from there, which was second worst in all of the NBA.
• 6:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They shot 32.13s a night at a at a 34.7% rate.
• 6:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Not bad, not great, obviously.
• 6:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And they had a clethera of injuries.
• 6:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Tell me if you have not heard this before, New Orleans Pelicans fans.
• 6:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: DeJounte Murray missed 14 games, Herb Jones missed 26, Zion missed 20.
• 7:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Murphy and Misi also missed 16.
• 7:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And we talked about the defense and how it worked out.
• 7:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, these teams will have a reason to play harder this year, obviously, because Adam Silver put in the anti-tanking rules.
• 7:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So hopefully, what that means is that these teams will have some pride towards the end of the season and not just be relegated to how many games can they get under 500 and how closer to the ping pong balls can they get.
• 7:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because obviously, you know, if you end up in that bottom three, you lose a ping pong ball or two, you know what I'm saying?
• 7:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then obviously, if you're four through ten, you have like the best, those are the teams with the best odds.
• 7:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So the Pelicans have every reason to go ahead and try to win.
• 8:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We always start the New Orleans Pelicans off with Zion Williamson, and the problem with this is that now at age 26, at 6'6, and he's listed at 284 pounds, I think he's in the best shape than we've seen him in since he's come into the league.
• 8:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I say that not in jest, but in real seriousness.
• 8:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I can't believe it took this long, honestly.
• 8:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um the talent is so immense, and to see it just kind of be flittering out there like we don't know what's going on, and we are just you know having a good time.
• 8:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Every once in a while we'll make a dunk.
• 8:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Every once in a while we'll do something, you know, tremendous, and we just keep it moving that way.
• 8:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But his numbers over 62 games last year are like this.
• 9:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He played 29.7 minutes, he averaged 21 points a game, 5.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists.
• 9:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He had a 60% field goal percentage.
• 9:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He only shot 25% from three.
• 9:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's terrible.
• 9:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He also shot only 71.6% from the free throw line.
• 9:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now his true shooting percentage was 64.4%.
• 9:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His usage rate, remember point Zion was a thing?
• 9:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It was down last year.
• 9:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His usage rate was 25.7.
• 9:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His uh box plus minus was actually a positive 2.9.
• 9:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So here's the thing.
• 9:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He took 791 paint attempts, third most in the league.
• 9:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He hit 60.3% of them.
• 9:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay, his best mark in three years.
• 9:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His free throw rate was 57.6%.
• 10:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay.
• 10:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This is the problem.
• 10:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The three-point attempt rate.005.
• 10:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'll say that again.005.
• 10:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, if you're saying, hey, I have just given up on that shot, okay, then depending on the pieces around you, this might work.
• 10:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But if you have a big who doesn't shoot threes, and then you're also trying to hang out in that dunker squat as well, it's probably not gonna be fantastic for you.
• 10:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His defense is being an issue, which is crazy because given his athletic gifts and his just tremendous bounce, even at this age and also at this size that he's been at.
• 10:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And keep in mind, this year, I seen him in a couple preseason games.
• 10:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He looks phenomenal.
• 10:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He looks like he's in phenomenal shape.
• 10:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And honestly, to tell you the truth, I think that this is going to be a very big year for Zion when it comes to that.
• 11:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think once you see the health and the uh you know the conditioning get better, I think you're gonna see a better Zion.
• 11:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't know what that means though anymore.
• 11:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Again, he played 62 games, which was the third time he reached 60 in his uh career out of six years.
• 11:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And one person said that he his fit problem is the spacing and the rim protection he can't supply.
• 11:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It isn't his production.
• 11:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So Zanyon's availability is like Ngri A severance.
• 11:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Nobody knows what's happening, what's happen, what happens in January.
• 11:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is this dude going to hit the 65 game mark this year?
• 11:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's what I want to know.
• 11:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is Zion gonna actually play 65 games?
• 12:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I want to hear it from all my Pelicans fans out there.
• 12:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't know how many are there out there.
• 12:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I know LSU is giving y'all the blues down there.
• 12:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So it's been a tough, it's been a tough situation with Lane Kiffin at the helm, down Baton Rouge, you know I'm talking about, but at the end of the day, the Pelicans are your, you know, I listen, the Saints are the Saints.
• 12:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They uh you know, I love the uniforms they played with last Sunday.
• 12:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They were tough.
• 12:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I like those the white ones with the gold, the gold trim.
• 12:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That was that was nice.
• 12:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But what about the Pelicans?
• 12:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: What about Zion?
• 12:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is he gonna get you the 65 games?
• 12:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's the other low-key thing.
• 12:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is this the year?
• 12:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is this finally the year that that front office pulls the trigger on Zion?
• 12:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And here's the most important part of this.
• 12:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Who is the actual team that takes the chance on Zion Williamson?
• 13:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Y'all let me know.
• 13:08
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, to better things, the two listen, Jeremiah Fierce and Derrick Queen are the two guys that they are trying to build around.
• 13:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: These are the developmental uh bets that they're taking on.
• 13:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Fierce played in all 82 games last year.
• 13:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He averaged damn near 26 minutes a game.
• 13:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My man was scoring 14.3 points a game.
• 13:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And for somebody as small and slight as he is, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists, he didn't shoot the ball incredibly well.
• 13:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But I just think it will get better as he ages because remember, he was in his he was 19 last year.
• 13:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shot 43% from the field total, 30 33% from uh beyond the three-point line, and 78.9% from the free throw line.
• 14:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: True shooting percentage, not right, not a lot to write home about, 52.5 percent, and he had a usage rate of only 25.5 turnovers, kind of bad.
• 14:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 13.8.
• 14:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Not here's the thing, though.
• 14:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's a rookie, also 19, also he was like a buck 65 soaking wet.
• 14:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So all of these things as he matures, as he grows into his body, will get better.
• 14:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The one thing I will say about the kid is that he was absolutely uh just a swashbuckler going into the lane.
• 14:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He never passed up a big tough shot.
• 14:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He could get to all three uh phases of the offensive uh tiers, which is he can get to the rim whenever he wanted.
• 14:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's got a nice little teardrop at the paint from like eight feet, and he also can shoot the three.
• 15:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, I know the numbers don't tell us that, but I think he will just get better with time.
• 15:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I I'm really high on Jeremiah Fierce.
• 15:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I just think they need to figure out what they're gonna do with the other pieces of talent that they have around him.
• 15:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, the other guy that is that they now remember, New Orleans did not have a pick this year, and this is the reason why.
• 15:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Derrick Queen, who they drafted last year, a six foot nine center or power forward, however you want to put it.
• 15:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, he's out of the DMV, which is that you know, that district metro area of Washington, D.C.
• 15:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Troy Weaver is absolutely um in love with uh kids that come out of the DMV.
• 15:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Loves them.
• 16:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And Queen was no exception, so they drafted him, they moved up in the 2025 draft, they gave up their unprotected 2026 pick, which ended up being Atlanta's pick.
• 16:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And guess what?
• 16:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No pick in 2026.
• 16:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So Derek Queen must be very, very good.
• 16:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, last year, he you know, he was a rookie, he averaged damn near 12 points a game at 11.7.
• 16:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He had 7.1 rebounds a game and 3.7 assists.
• 16:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's a real, really good uh facilitator of the basketball.
• 16:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, he shot 47 from the field, he did not shoot the three very well, which is something that was promised to us.
• 16:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He only shot 26% from the feet from the three-point line and 80% from free throw line.
• 16:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, here's the thing: if you hit that 80 mark, that three-point shot and that three-point percentage should go up.
• 17:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I have a lot of faith in Derek Queen getting it done.
• 17:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, the true shooting percentage for somebody who took a lot of shots in the lane was only 54.6 percent.
• 17:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He had an assist rate of 21.1, his turnover rate was atrocious at 18.
• 17:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But here's the thing that we want to talk about with both of these guys.
• 17:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This is basically the start over.
• 17:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're now moving, we're starting to shed the Zion era.
• 17:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I understand that Zion is still there, but we're starting to shed that era, and we're moving into the Jeremiah Fears Derek Queen era.
• 17:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, I don't know if that includes our guy, Trey Murphy III, who we will get to momentarily, but at the end of the day, these are the two young building blocks that the Memphis that the uh New Orleans Pelicans are building around at this point.
• 18:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So keep that in mind when we go through this.
• 18:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Ben Golliver of ESPN calls Queen and Zion awfully redundant.
• 18:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, people uh who have been in uh rival front offices have said these two are developmental bets, not production.
• 18:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The defense has to move, move for fears, and the shot has to show up for Queen.
• 18:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The jury's still out on the kids, but my whole deal is that you gotta give them a little more time, and also you gotta give them the development uh runway to be able to get better.
• 18:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you know, we got a really crowded backcourt with DeJounte Murray and Jeremiah Fears.
• 18:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Who's gonna get the minutes?
• 18:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Are you moving uh DeJounte Murray to the two?
• 18:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I mean, you could.
• 19:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You could your defense is already shit, it's already terrible.
• 19:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So you can just lean into the offense at this point.
• 19:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And another way you can lean into the offense is give my man Trey Murphy the third the basketball.
• 19:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Trey Murphy III to me can't do any wrong.
• 19:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know how much I love this kid.
• 19:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He averaged 21 and a half points a game last year, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists.
• 19:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shot 38% from three-point land, 47% overall, and a scintillating 88.6% from the free throw line.
• 19:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He played basically about 35 and a half minutes, and he shot 8.6 threes a night.
• 19:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My man was getting it done.
• 19:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay, he is one of the pieces.
• 19:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If you are the Pelicans, that if you decided to move off of him, Zion is a crapshoot.
• 20:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's theoretical as far as what his value is.
• 20:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This is one guy who is does not have a theoretical value.
• 20:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If you put Trey Murphy on the market, you are going to get a lot in return for Trey Murphy.
• 20:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Either picks or play of yours, whatever it is that you're looking for, I think it would be picks to replenish what you don't have.
• 20:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I would think that would be the route that they would want to go.
• 20:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, another piece that they might think on moving on from is DeJounte Murray.
• 20:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, he only played in um 14 games.
• 20:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
• 20:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He averaged 17 points.
• 20:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He is we still waiting for this defensive dynamo.
• 20:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It was funny because when he was in San Antonio, he had this reputation of playing defense.
• 20:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He went to Atlanta.
• 20:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, granted, you can't play defense in Atlanta when Trey uh Trey Young is also there.
• 21:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You had two itty bitty guards.
• 21:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, you had all the trees that Atlanta have now, and you drop DeJounte Murray in that situation, he would be better off.
• 21:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He could probably gamble a little bit more, put more on ball pressure.
• 21:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He he can definitely uh anticipate in the passing lanes.
• 21:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: These are things that we have seen of him in the past.
• 21:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But my whole problem is that right now we have not seen that defensive um dog mentality out of DeJounte Murray for several years now.
• 21:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I'm wondering if is it all gone?
• 21:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Did how much is the Achilles tear that happened to him where he only he missed basically the whole entire season uh last year?
• 21:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: How much is that gonna play into effect of that situation?
• 21:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We don't know.
• 21:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But if he comes back this year.
• 22:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And he puts together a good first half, I'm like, let's see what we can get for him.
• 22:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
• 22:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Get his value pretty good.
• 22:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You're not going to get the hall-haul for him.
• 22:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You're not going to get the mother loader picks and you know, players or whatever the case may be.
• 22:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But if you can get like a good clean first rounder for DeJounte Murray, it might be well worth it.
• 22:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because DeJounte Murray is a pretty good player.
• 22:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And depending on your guard situation, wherever you might be at in your contendership level or trying to make the playoffs or whatever it is that you are in the NBA, DeJounte Murray is a really good player.
• 22:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And the one thing also that DeJounte Murray is, he's a really good human being.
• 22:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He definitely does take a lot of pride into the work that he puts into his skill set and what have you.
• 22:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you know, you can't, that's something that uh a scouting report doesn't tell you.
• 23:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But from everybody that I've ever talked to around that young man talks about what an outstanding, not just like an outstanding citizen, but just his work ethic is really great.
• 23:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So if anybody who can bounce back from this situation, it will be DeJounte Murray, and I hope nothing but the best for that young man.
• 23:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They also picked up Benedict Matherin, who was on the Clippers via the Pacers.
• 23:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I am really interested in how this works.
• 23:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Benedict Matherin can score the basketball, but that is not what the Pelicans need.
• 23:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They need somebody who's going to play defense.
• 23:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And that is the one area that we have not seen from Benedict Matherin since he's been in the league.
• 23:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He gets lost sometimes out on the perimeter.
• 23:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He gets backdoored a lot.
• 24:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Sometimes it's when they are in that scramble drill, when you're, you know, um you come out of a pick and roll, it's not working, and they start swinging it around.
• 24:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He doesn't know where to go.
• 24:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He doesn't know like organically where his assignment is supposed to be.
• 24:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, he's going to the wrong team to help him with that.
• 24:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because the the Pelicans suck on defense.
• 24:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So you got another dude who looks completely lost out there on defense.
• 24:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, will he score the basketball for you?
• 24:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yeah.
• 24:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Let's talk about another guy they got.
• 24:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It's Sadiq Bey.
• 24:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Sadiq Bey scores the basketball.
• 24:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shoots 37, 36.7% from three.
• 24:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He actually plays a little bit of defense.
• 24:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It's unfortunate that everybody else doesn't.
• 24:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Really, actually, it's him and also Herb Jones.
• 25:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't want to disrespect our guy Herb Jones.
• 25:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because he was all he was first team all defense in 2024.
• 25:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, injuries have kind of derailed him a little bit the last couple years, but he is a defensive stalwart.
• 25:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The problem with him is with Herb Jones is that he only shoots 31% from three.
• 25:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And that is not great.
• 25:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That is not great at all.
• 25:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And sometimes I forget, but Jordan Cool is still on this team making$34 million.
• 25:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now he's expiring this year, which is great.
• 25:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't know who's going to want to take that on.
• 25:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I mean, if you're looking for an expiring contract, I guess to help you out, but you have to give stuff back.
• 25:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know?
• 25:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And what are you willing to give back?
• 25:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Or is this one of those bad contract for guy, bad contract type situations?
• 25:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Are the Pelicans taking off somebody with extra gears?
• 26:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I have no idea.
• 26:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But Jordan Poole is in the last year of his contract.
• 26:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's still somewhat of a sharp shooter.
• 26:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I still hate his shot selection because he thinks he's Steph Curry.
• 26:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shoots uh the three-point ball at 37.2%.
• 26:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's the thing: he doesn't help on defense either.
• 26:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Do you understand why they hired Jamal Mosley?
• 26:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And we're going to talk about our guy right now.
• 26:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So Mosley was fired from Orlando after three straight playoff trips.
• 26:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The problem is that the Magic did not really get any better on offense.
• 26:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But their defense under Mosley, check this out.
• 26:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Top three in the 2023-2024 season, and also top three in the 24-25 season.
• 26:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He will put you through your paces.
• 26:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You will understand the principles of his defense.
• 27:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And if you do not play defense or you don't give effort on defense, guess what you end up doing?
• 27:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You end up sitting on the goddog bench.
• 27:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That is what happens.
• 27:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So good luck with that.
• 27:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I thank God he doesn't have a lot of hair.
• 27:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because uh he'd be pulling out because he's gonna look at Zion and some of these dudes on this court and just be like, What the hell are we doing?
• 27:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Dumarris and Troy Weaver, we talked about that's the front office as far as CERN.
• 27:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They're hoping for internal growth with this particular team.
• 27:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We'll see.
• 27:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, I would have loved to see like a you know a draft pick piece come this last year, but it obviously wasn't in the cars, you know, due to the fact of the Derrick Queen uh situation where they moved up from 23 to 13 in the 2025 NBA draft.
• 27:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So you're hoping for jumps in fears and also Queen, and hopefully they get better defensively.
• 28:08
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Both not a strong suit for either one of those young men.
• 28:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: What are you gonna get out of Zion?
• 28:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Can Zion play some defense?
• 28:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is Troy Murphy gonna put himself out there to play the type of defense he could play?
• 28:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, which he's not known as a great defender anyway.
• 28:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you also have a bunch of guys who probably want out of New Orleans, at least probably Trey Murphy III, Zion, and DeJounte Murray.
• 28:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, Williamson for the fact that you know he just it just hasn't worked out.
• 28:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: What was promised never was delivered from him, and maybe just a fresh start will help him out.
• 28:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Trey Murphy the third has a lot to offer a team.
• 28:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So again, if you can if you can find a team that has a plethora of picks and they feel like they're one piece away, and it's a Trey Murphy uh type of player, then I would go ahead and do that.
• 29:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now I will tell you how they go over.
• 29:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If Murray plays over 55 games, Zion plays over 65 games, and the defense that Mosley will try to extract out of that particular team, and everybody that is there, if he can get it from where it was last year, which was 25th in the league, to somewhere towards the middle, they have a shot of going over their win total.
• 29:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Fears got to cut down on his turnovers.
• 29:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Uh, Queen has to score without needing a ball, and Matherin has to just be more productive and also find his defensive assignment.
• 29:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Their big bugaboo is rim protection, they don't really have a center.
• 30:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Ease Misi is their center uh right now, but he's still very light.
• 30:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, he's he's kind of a Jackson Hayes type dude in the sense that he just doesn't have a lot of bulk on him, and that's the problem is that dudes like Nikola Jokic are gonna eat him up, um like Nurkic, Donovan Klingon, uh Zach Edy, these guys are gonna eat him up.
• 30:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's not great.
• 30:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And the guy who does have bulk, you want him to slim down a little bit, which is Derek Quinn.
• 30:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And does he does he provide more rim protection that way?
• 30:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Who knows?
• 30:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Not not I.
• 30:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I feel bad for Milwaukee, I mean for uh New Orleans fans, I really do.
• 30:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I feel bad for you.
• 30:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I just think that um you your first are not your own.
• 31:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The 2027 pick is is a swap.
• 31:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, so who have whoever has the better record between you and Milwaukee and Atlanta if it's top four protected is crazy.
• 31:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then the 2028 pick and 2029 picks uh go to San Antonio.
• 31:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I'm gonna tell you right now, there's not a lot of hope coming unless you somehow start making trades of the players that have value.
• 31:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I'm gonna get to this right now, tell you what I think about this team.
• 31:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Are they gonna go over their win total of 28 and a half?
• 31:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't think so.
• 31:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think they're gonna be right around that number.
• 31:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Keep in mind their division got better.
• 31:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Like everybody in their division.
• 31:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The West isn't as good as it was last year, but the east is better.
• 32:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So we'll see how it all works for the Pelicans.
• 32:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm starting to wonder if the Pelicans are gonna have one of the worst records in all of basketball this upcoming season.
• 32:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now we're gonna move on to the Memphis Grizzlies.
• 32:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Memphis Grizzlies have a win total of what?
• 32:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 29 and a half.
• 32:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Well, we'll see.
• 32:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Well, let's talk about them a little bit real quick.
• 32:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So last year, obviously, it was the year from hell, 25 and 57 last year, down from 48 and 34 the year before.
• 32:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Uh, their net rating was terrible.
• 32:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It was negative 5.9, which was 24th in the league.
• 32:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Their offense was also uh terrible at 112.9 points a game, and they also had a pretty awful defense as well.
• 32:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They ranked 24th in the NBA and let people score 118.8 points a game.
• 32:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: There has been a culture shift in Memphis gone.
• 33:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Jaron Jackson Jr., he was traded during the um trade deadline last year.
• 33:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He went to Utah, John Morant, gone this summer.
• 33:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He went to Portland.
• 33:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Good luck with that.
• 33:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We'll see.
• 33:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And now the grit and grind 2.0 is over.
• 33:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now it's time for something else.
• 33:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't even know what you want to call it, Grind City, the rebirth of Grind City, however, you want to do it.
• 33:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now it's gonna be real simple for the Memphis Grizzlies.
• 33:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They got Cameron Boozer out of Duke.
• 33:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Cameron Boozer to me was the safest pick in a draft, even though he was drafted third.
• 33:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay, you had AJ DeBanza and also Darren Peterson go ahead of him.
• 33:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Boozer was the AP national player of the year at Duke.
• 34:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This dude put up monster numbers at Duke.
• 34:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 22 and a half points a game, 10.2 rebounds.
• 34:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And by the way, if you're putting up double-digit rebounds in college, you are going to rebound in the pros as well.
• 34:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He also averaged 4.1 uh assists a game.
• 34:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shot the ball extremely well at 55.6%.
• 34:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He damn near shot 40 from 3.
• 34:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And he uh shot uh 78.9% from the free throw line.
• 34:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Also, he didn't turn the ball over that much.
• 34:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He had a 4.1 assist to 2.5 turnover ratio, which is you know pretty good for somebody damn near 610.
• 34:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: In the summer league, he averaged 18.5 points a game, eight rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 steals.
• 34:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This dude is excellent.
• 35:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Do I have concerns about him?
• 35:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I mean, if you want to go ahead and talk about some of the physical limitations, you can't.
• 35:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because here's the concerns.
• 35:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is he the most explosive athlete?
• 35:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No.
• 35:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Does he have you know the elite lateral foot speed?
• 35:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No.
• 35:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is he the greatest rim protector?
• 35:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No.
• 35:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He only averaged 0.6 blocks last year, 2.2 block rate when he was in college.
• 35:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But here's the thing: this dude knows how to play basketball.
• 35:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's what I do know.
• 35:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He knows how to put the ball in the hole, he knows how to distribute the basketball to open people and cutters.
• 35:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He can set up your offense if need be.
• 35:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then the best thing about him is that obviously his dad was Carlos Boozer.
• 36:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's not gonna be afraid of the bright lights of the NBA, and he damn sure wasn't scared of the national stage when he was at Duke.
• 36:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I don't think we're gonna have a problem with him at all.
• 36:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think he's NBA ready.
• 36:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think he will be able to score in this league.
• 36:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think he'll be able to rebound in this league, which is actually a defensive skill.
• 36:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because if you're grabbing rebounds at the rate that he did in college, I think that always translates when you get to the league.
• 36:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, he's gonna have some help.
• 36:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, hopefully, this help will stay healthy.
• 36:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Zach Edy has been injury marred since he's come into the league.
• 36:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His rookie year, he played 66 games, and then obviously last year he just had a terrible situation, just couldn't stay on the court.
• 36:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But when he is out there, he's an absolute terror on the on the on the boards.
• 36:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He can get you some buckets, you know what I'm saying?
• 37:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He can do all these things.
• 37:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is he quick?
• 37:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No.
• 37:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But you know, you play drop coverage with this dude because he will block the shots.
• 37:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I love their wings.
• 37:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I love I love Wells.
• 37:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I love Coward.
• 37:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you know, Ty Jerome is a good little facilitator at the point guard position, and he can get you buckets.
• 37:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Cedric Coward had himself a pretty banner rookie season.
• 37:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He made the all-rookie first team, you know what I'm saying?
• 37:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He averaged damn near 14 points a game, six rebounds, damn near.
• 37:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And also, 2.8 assists.
• 37:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Does he play the defense?
• 37:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: For sure he does.
• 37:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Does he fit in to that team?
• 37:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yes, he does.
• 37:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think this is the start of something really cool in Memphis.
• 38:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I like how they pivoted.
• 38:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They weren't scared to get off their guy, John Morant, even though he was like beloved in that town.
• 38:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Beloved.
• 38:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But they have flipped over to a brand new page and they got some talent on that team.
• 38:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And it's gonna take a second for it to all jail, you know, but they got a lot of pieces that I really like.
• 38:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And their coach, Ayasolo, he is going to get the most out of that team, I believe.
• 38:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And they got some veteran leadership when you took when you think about it.
• 38:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They got Jeremy Grant, and they also got Isaiah Stewart.
• 38:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: First of all, Isaiah Stewart passes, gives them some toughness.
• 38:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Jeremy Grant gives them a veteran uh score off the bench, if that's what they decide to do with them, which I think that's what they're gonna end up doing.
• 39:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And basically, you're looking at a situation where guess what?
• 39:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, if all things go well, everybody does what they're supposed to do, they're gonna be out here doing it real big.
• 39:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, what do they have as far as picks are concerned?
• 39:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Well, they have their own first.
• 39:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Uh, they have the Lakers first if the Lakers don't completely tank and end up in the top four.
• 39:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then they, you know, they got they got a lot of their picks when it comes up.
• 39:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So they have they have ammunition if they need to go out and get something through uh, you know, when the trade deadline comes around.
• 39:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I'm gonna tell you right now, this team is supposed to be looking at um 29 wins.
• 39:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They should go over that.
• 39:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They should definitely go over that.
• 39:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They should be, if everything goes right, boozer is who I think he is.
• 40:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This this team can win 36 to 38 games.
• 40:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If he's not as good as I think he is, and we have the same issues with Edie that we did last year, they still should go over the win total, but it'll create more like 32.
• 40:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm more leaning towards this team taking a you know a decent little leap, getting to that 36 to 38 wins type situation.
• 40:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But we'll see how it all goes.
• 40:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, to a team that also has some promise after basically, in a sense, uh having their franchise burned to the ground, the Dallas Mavericks are now completely the flag era, and now they get Kyrie back.
• 40:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So let's talk about the Dallas Mavericks real quick.
• 41:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Last year, rough season, 26 and 56, a lot of injuries, a lot of people out.
• 41:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Messiah Jeary comes over and now is the new president of basketball operations.
• 41:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They get Mike Schmitz out of Portland, who is a great talent evaluator.
• 41:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They also get the national champion, uh, championship coach from Michigan, Dusty May, to bring his program to Dallas.
• 41:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So, do I think what do I think of this team?
• 41:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Well, the first thing, let's talk about some of the players, shall we?
• 41:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Kyrie Irving, not, you know, hey, when you hurt, you're a little bit older, it's gonna take you a little more time to recover.
• 41:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But what they get back with Kyrie, obviously, is they give back a absolute uh floor general and somebody who can get into that paint, and he can throw that ball up on the glass, and it will have so much spin on it, it's going in.
• 42:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Kyrie is an absolute sorcerer when it comes to just dribbling, his packages are saucy.
• 42:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And here's the thing: he is starting to advance in age.
• 42:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That is no doubt.
• 42:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But as far as the bag work is concerned, I have no doubt that the bag work is still saucy.
• 42:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No doubt whatsoever in my mind.
• 42:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Cooper Flag came into the league last year, became the rookie of the year.
• 42:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My man was out here doing it real big, 21 points a game, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists.
• 42:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shot 47% from the field.
• 42:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, the three-point shot, suspect, 29.29.5 percent.
• 43:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But what gives us hope and promise is that 82.7 percent from the free throw line.
• 43:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's gonna figure it out.
• 43:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He is going to figure it out.
• 43:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This is one of them dudes that I sit there and go like that.
• 43:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That dude's gonna be great.
• 43:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I know people sit here and be like, oh, Vince, why are you so big on him?
• 43:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Why do you why do you push this dude?
• 43:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Why are you always pushing up against these white dudes or whatever?
• 43:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's the thing it ain't about his color, my guy.
• 43:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It's about the game, it's about the attention to detail that he brings to the game, and it's about how he competes at the highest level.
• 43:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He doesn't like to lose, he doesn't like to get embarrassed, and I'm what I mean by that it's not like oh I'm gonna shy away from competition.
• 43:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No, no, no, no.
• 43:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: When you embarrass him, he's trying to come back at you, he out here in.
• 44:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: These streets trying to get it done.
• 44:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay.
• 44:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So, do I I just have a lot of I just think a lot of the kid now?
• 44:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Obviously, he's gonna have to fix the three-point shot, you know.
• 44:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's gonna have to fix it, but all the other stuff, all the connective tissue, all the things that you want, and mind you, they had this dude playing point guard.
• 44:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: At 6'9, they had this dude playing point guard.
• 44:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Oh, by the way, there's a little rumor going around that Cooper Flag has grown.
• 44:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, I have not seen him up close, obviously, but if that's true, if this dude is like 6'11 now, good luck.
• 44:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because he's gonna bring that defensive intensity and he's gonna find a way to score, and that three-point shot will improve.
• 44:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Guess what?
• 44:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It might improve because of this dude.
• 44:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Kyrie Irvin obviously missed the entire year because of the left ACL tear that he suffered back on March 3rd of 2025.
• 45:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Right now, now my man is making basically$39.5 million this year with a 40.2.4 player option for next year.
• 45:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So he's owed basically about 80 million.
• 45:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: What you get back when he steps onto the floor, that's the guy who's gonna be handling the ball.
• 45:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's the guy who's gonna be putting the others in position to find their best shots and what have you.
• 45:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He is now the floor leader of the Mavericks.
• 45:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: When he last played with the Mavericks, as far as that's concerned, you know, he was out there with AD and everything, doing their thing.
• 45:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And, you know, it was only a couple years ago that he was playing with Luca.
• 45:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But he will be the guy handling the ball, getting everybody in place now.
• 46:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I feel good about him, and I feel good about just what he's gonna be able to bring back to the offense.
• 46:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And everybody loves Kyrie, so they're gonna want Kyrie to do well, you know what I'm saying?
• 46:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I can't wait.
• 46:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, here's the thing that we have to worry about if Kyrie does play well, are the Mavericks gonna trade him?
• 46:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because here's the thing: Kyrie does not fit the timeline that the Dallas Mavericks are currently on.
• 46:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Dusty May was not the coach when this dude got hurt.
• 46:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So he can say all the platitudes about Kyrie, about how the work ethic is great, how intelligent Kyrie is, how he's such a joy to work with and build game plans with, and all of these type of things.
• 46:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But at the end of the day, if a contender comes a calling and gives you the right draft capital assets back, are you keeping Kyrie Irving knowing that this dude is 34 years of age?
• 47:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't know.
• 47:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I can't see it.
• 47:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I cannot see it.
• 47:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And a lot of this has to do with just what he looks like.
• 47:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's all it takes.
• 47:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think Kyrie can average 20 points a game still in this league.
• 47:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think Kyrie can get you seven assists in this league still to this day.
• 47:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But if I'm Dallas, I'm trying to acquire picks, I'm trying to get more bites at the apple to build up my uh my draft war chest, if you will, to continue to get young players to surround Cooper Flag.
• 47:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That is my goal, that is like my primary agenda.
• 47:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I think when you brought Messiah Jerry in and you brought Mike Schmitz in, I think you understood what that was all about.
• 48:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I think that uh Vasai will be on the phones in January if Kyrie looks awesome.
• 48:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Just saying.
• 48:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, a couple other guys that are building blocks that can surround our guy, Cooper Flag, is Derek Lively.
• 48:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's another guy coming off injury.
• 48:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's another guy who has had his share of just things just going awry.
• 48:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: When he's on the court, he's electric.
• 48:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
• 48:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He only played seven games last year, and that's you know, you just hate to see the injury bug just just kill what you got going on.
• 48:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But at the end of the day, our guy is back, hopefully healthy, and we will see what he gives you.
• 48:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because when he's on the court, a true shooting percentage of damn near 70%.
• 48:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He has a block rate of 5.9%, and I'm gonna tell you right now, that's that's pretty elite type shit that you get right there, type shit.
• 49:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Another guy that they can depend on is or could can they depend on because they try to trade him, they try to trade him all last um during the trade deadline and also during the summertime is Daniel Gafford.
• 49:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Daniel Gafford is a pogo stick walking around.
• 49:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He gives you good defense, uh, he provides outstanding offense if you know how to throw lobs.
• 49:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
• 49:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, you don't know how to throw lobs, and you're asking him to create his own offense, he cannot help you.
• 49:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: PJ Washington, on the other hand, is a solid contributor.
• 49:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's gonna play good wing defense, he's gonna get you 14 points a game, seven rerounds.
• 49:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's on a really good contract through 2029-30.
• 50:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And, you know, again, is this a contract that at some point gets traded, gets moved?
• 50:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because they also brought in Santi Aldama, and Sante Aldama is basically a carving copy of PJ Washington, uh, 14 points, damn near seven rebounds, 6.9.
• 50:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then you also bring in the rookie who came from Michigan, who was on that national championship team, Morris Johnson Jr., who is a 6'9 defender, can play out on the perimeter, can shoot threes, and he gives you that basically that defensive versatility that you're looking for.
• 50:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He can play either the three, four, five, and I'm gonna tell you right now, that's the move.
• 50:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That dude is the move.
• 50:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Also, another guy who uh I was intrigued by during the uh preseason was Sergio De La Reya.
• 51:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He looked like he can play.
• 51:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This dude looked not only like he can play, but like he can get real minutes early on in the season.
• 51:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I like this kid a lot.
• 51:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm I'm big on Sergio De La Rea.
• 51:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And we'll see how it all goes.
• 51:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, I don't know how he will hold up to the physicality of the NBA.
• 51:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That might be the one thing, but he's a big kid, he's like 6'6, 6'7, you know what I'm saying?
• 51:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Can handle the ball, shoot threes, don't look scared whatsoever.
• 51:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And also, I look at this situation with Zachary Risache, who they brought in on a flyer, they got a lot of dudes on this team, so they're like prime to make a trade or two come as we get closer and closer to you know the February, the February trade deadline.
• 51:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I'm looking at this team, and do I think they will go over?
• 52:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think they will go over if the bigs play.
• 52:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Whatever you get from Kyrie in the first half of the year is just gravy because, like I said, he's probably gonna get traded.
• 52:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, I think they will go over their win total for sure.
• 52:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now that win total, 33 and a half.
• 52:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Some people have them going to the playoffs.
• 52:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I want to hold on.
• 52:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I want to hold on to the night on that one.
• 52:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think they will be fighting like Portland and uh Utah and a couple other teams for that, like that 10th slot, as far as they're.
• 54:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Maybe he can grow into it, but last year he could not get it, get them into really cohesive offense.
• 54:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So having Fred Van Vliet back is absolutely a godsend.
• 54:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you know who's gonna be a godsend to Kevin Durant, and we'll talk, we're gonna talk about him.
• 54:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: First of all, let's talk about all the great things.
• 55:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Kevin Durant is a 16-time all-star, okay?
• 55:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He was all NBA second team last year.
• 55:08
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My man would still get buckets.
• 55:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He 26 points a game, five and a half rebounds, damn near five assists.
• 55:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shot 41% from the three-point line.
• 55:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shot 87% free throws.
• 55:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He had a true shooting percentage of 64.1%.
• 55:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's still a bucket.
• 55:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He played 78 games, he played 2,840 minutes, all right, second most in the league.
• 55:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All the things that you will want, okay?
• 55:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All the things you would want.
• 55:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, what's the problem?
• 55:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Why is Kevin Durant, who is one of the most lethal scorers in the game, a problem in Houston?
• 55:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You ask this question.
• 55:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It's the alleged or whatever we want to call that DM situation that he had on Twitter, or X as we want to call it now, like bad mouthing players on his own team around the All-Star break last year.
• 56:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And remember, they were on a heater until that situation.
• 56:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then all of a sudden, you get back after all-star break.
• 56:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You can't buy buckets.
• 56:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Tari Eason Jr.
• 56:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: goes into the tank.
• 56:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Alcor and Shangoon don't look the same anymore.
• 56:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Jabari Smith Jr.
• 56:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: looks hesitant to shoot threes, and the offense falls apart.
• 56:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All I know is this.
• 56:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Durant is a hell of a player.
• 56:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He can fit on any team.
• 56:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You click him on any squad right now, he will find his way to 26, 27 points a game.
• 57:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's still that dude.
• 57:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My problem is that is that dude ever going to be happy ever again?
• 57:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's my whole situation with him.
• 57:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Never you mind about the coins, the accolades, the championships, whatever.
• 57:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You goad it.
• 57:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You're semantic, bro.
• 57:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You're gonna be a Hall of Famer.
• 57:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Not even a question.
• 57:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Your game still looks tight to this day.
• 57:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My whole thing is that can you provide the leadership to help Houston get to the point where they don't get beat by the Lakers who did not have Luka Doncic, did not have Austin Reeves, you know what I'm saying, in a playoff series.
• 57:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Y'all got beat by a fucking 42-year-old LeBron James.
• 57:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Well, at that time, 41.
• 57:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But some dude who had played 23 years in the league, and then some other dudes.
• 58:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: DeAndre Aiton out here giving you buckets.
• 58:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you know how much I don't like DeAndre Ayton.
• 58:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Rory Hachamura out here looking like prime uh shit.
• 58:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Who he looking?
• 58:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He was looking like prime uh Glenn Big Dog Robinson out here.
• 58:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And y'all can't buy a basket in the second half, can't buy one.
• 58:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yeah, yeah.
• 58:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yeah, yeah.
• 58:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We we happy that Fred Van Blee is back.
• 58:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, here's the thing: he is 32 years of age, he's coming back off that ACL surgery, but when he was there in 2024, 2025, he was 14.1 points a game.
• 58:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But that's not what I'm like more in involved with.
• 58:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: What I'm involved with is just the offense that he can get you in.
• 59:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He provides a leadership and a calmness to that team that they absolutely need to have.
• 59:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then they also brought in Marcus Smart, who I hated to lose as somebody who is a follower of the Lakers.
• 59:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Marcus Smart was a an absolute great addition to the Lakers.
• 59:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It was terrible to watch him walk out the door, but he's gonna provide leadership.
• 59:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um if he's gotten to this point in his life where he's starting to take his shot selection, which got way better last year.
• 59:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It got way better, and he can still provide the defense that he did last year because his LeBron um defense was point it was positive three point three point one uh three one point three seven.
• 1:00:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His war was 3.34 with the Lakers last year.
• 1:00:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Trying to tell you, trying to tell you, and then you got Alcran Shangun.
• 1:00:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know Alkron Shangoon is still 24 years of age.
• 1:00:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: When I saw that, I was like, damn, he's been around for a while.
• 1:00:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But when I saw that he was literally still under 25, I was like, God dog.
• 1:00:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Alcorant Shangoon averaged 20.4 points a game last year, almost nine rebounds and 6.2 assists.
• 1:00:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All right.
• 1:00:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We call him Baby Jokic for a reason.
• 1:00:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He can get you into offense, he can score.
• 1:00:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is he gonna defend?
• 1:00:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We have no idea.
• 1:00:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're hoping that the wings and the added addition of Marcus Samar and Fred Van Vliet will help uh Alcra Shangoon in that paint.
• 1:00:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And also bringing back uh the Aussie, who missed a lot of time last year, uh, will also help.
• 1:01:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So you if you got the whole squad back together again, and Eamon Thompson got his five-year$208 million extension, and Chip England is now in Houston to help this dude shoot some threes.
• 1:01:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Cause I'm gonna tell you right now, that three-point percentage needs to come up.
• 1:01:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You gotta shoot.
• 1:01:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 28% on two attempts a game is still terrible.
• 1:01:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My man, shoot the ball.
• 1:01:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, he's a Spider-Man of the Houston Rockets.
• 1:01:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Great power, no jump shot yet.
• 1:01:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It's kind of like, you know, young Spider-Man out here.
• 1:01:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, it's like a lot of talent.
• 1:01:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Just, you know, a little inconsistent with it.
• 1:02:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, the Houston Rockets are still one of the deepest teams in the league.
• 1:02:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, they like I said, Adams comes back, he's gonna help them as far as the defensive rebounding and the offensive rebounding.
• 1:02:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You got Atari Eason Jr., we got Jokari Smith, and we also got Ree Shepard.
• 1:02:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Can I Adoka let Ree Shepard play basketball?
• 1:02:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's my whole thing.
• 1:02:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I know he's not a great defender.
• 1:02:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I know you're sitting there going like, oh, well, whatever.
• 1:02:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Maybe now with Van Bleep back in the, you know, in the top seat, you can still give my man consistent 20 minutes and let him get buckets.
• 1:02:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's the spacer you need, even though he's not the defensive terror that you want him to be.
• 1:02:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's why you got all these damn big ass wings.
• 1:03:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Jabari Smith Jr.
• 1:03:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: is 6'11.
• 1:03:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Atari Eason Jr.
• 1:03:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: is 6'8, 6'9, damn near.
• 1:03:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Steven Adams is 7'3.
• 1:03:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Bro, play, let them play some defense.
• 1:03:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Reed Shepard, you can hide him.
• 1:03:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It's not until the playoffs where they're gonna terrorize that kid.
• 1:03:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
• 1:03:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Or late in the, you know, late in the um in the season when you playing for playoff seed.
• 1:03:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So here's the thing.
• 1:03:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Eman Doka has turned this team around with Raphael Stone.
• 1:03:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't have any complaints when it comes to that.
• 1:03:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He enters his year four with two straight 52 win seasons.
• 1:03:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Fantastic.
• 1:03:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's the problem.
• 1:03:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Two first round exits.
• 1:03:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I understand you want a tough team.
• 1:03:55
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I understand you want a defensive-minded team.
• 1:03:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I understand you want a team that basically straightens up and flies right when you tell it to.
• 1:04:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But you gotta you gotta loosen the reins just a little bit, my man, and allow these guys their you know, a little bit of creativity, a little bit of, you know, whatever it is that makes them feel good.
• 1:04:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because right now, right now, you got the reins too tight.
• 1:04:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you gotta let them play basketball a little bit.
• 1:04:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And that's more for more that's more for Reed Shepherd than it is for anybody else.
• 1:04:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And again, here's the other thing.
• 1:04:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Did that burner thing go away?
• 1:04:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, do we have underlying resentment still lingering in that Houston Rockets um locker room?
• 1:04:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, here's the thing, you're not trading Kevin Durant just to get rid of him.
• 1:04:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's not gonna happen.
• 1:05:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Right?
• 1:05:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I mean, I don't care, I don't care what he said in that DM.
• 1:05:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't care how he said it.
• 1:05:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But at the end of the day, I wonder, I don't know, if Trey Murphy came available.
• 1:05:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not saying that Durant would go to New Orleans.
• 1:05:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Maybe there's a three-team trade in this situation, but I wonder.
• 1:05:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I wonder because the Houston Rockets have their own pick.
• 1:05:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They got an unprotected pick from Phoenix, and they got a swap arrangement with Brooklyn coming in 2027.
• 1:05:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, they get the two most favorable picks out of either themselves, Dallas or Phoenix, in 2029.
• 1:05:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then also they added a 31 Philadelphia pick as well.
• 1:05:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So they got picks to trade.
• 1:05:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now I wonder if, for some reason, if they decided to make a little bit of adjustment.
• 1:06:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And bring in, you know, somebody who can shoot the ball.
• 1:06:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Maybe not as big of a malcontent as Durant Cook Cook can be.
• 1:06:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know?
• 1:06:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I just wonder.
• 1:06:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's 38.
• 1:06:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, he's 38.
• 1:06:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I'm not saying like the game is it's over.
• 1:06:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not saying that.
• 1:06:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm just saying that sometimes you gotta figure out where you're going with this.
• 1:06:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Cause he's the only dude on the squad that you're sitting there going like, that guy is gonna play 35 minutes a game.
• 1:06:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And he's gonna we need his production of 25 plus points.
• 1:06:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's the he is the only guy.
• 1:06:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's the only guy on that team for that.
• 1:06:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So what do I think of the Houston Rockets in their situation?
• 1:06:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Are they gonna go over 51 wins?
• 1:07:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Are they gonna go over 48 the way that the uh DraftKings say they will?
• 1:07:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think they will.
• 1:07:08
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They have way too much talent.
• 1:07:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They have way too much talent not to.
• 1:07:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, I don't think they'll go far over 48.
• 1:07:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think they might be a 51 team.
• 1:07:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But I I'm looking at this team and going like they should be battling for home field or home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
• 1:07:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So that's where I am with that.
• 1:07:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And last but not least, let's get to the San Antonio Spurs.
• 1:07:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They have a win total uh prognostication of 60.5.
• 1:07:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They went 62 and 20 last year.
• 1:07:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They were way ahead of schedule last year.
• 1:07:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay, they were out here, they made it to the NBA finals, and I'm gonna tell you right now, they had some heart-wrenching losses to the New York Knicks.
• 1:08:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Boy, did the Knicks track them down in every single game.
• 1:08:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Game four was terrible.
• 1:08:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Game five wasn't too much better, but game four ripped the soul out of the San Antonio Spurs.
• 1:08:20
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So all the cast of characters are basically back.
• 1:08:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: There's a couple of additions or whatever, we'll get to it.
• 1:08:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They had a great net rating.
• 1:08:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They were positive 8.3, which was second in the league.
• 1:08:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They scored the basketball with awesome efficiency, no 119.6, which was fourth in the league.
• 1:08:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They had a top five defense, which was 111.3.
• 1:08:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They were out here doing it real big.
• 1:08:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And this is the gauntlet they went through in the playoffs, by the way.
• 1:08:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Portland, 4-1.
• 1:08:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Minnesota, and that's Minnesota with Julius Randle and all the guys.
• 1:09:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 4-2.
• 1:09:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And then they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game series.
• 1:09:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, Shea Gilges Alexander put it on their ass last night.
• 1:09:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay.
• 1:09:13
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Shea was not having it.
• 1:09:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: When we had his worst shooting game that he has ever had last night, they got beat by their um Western Conference Finals, Nemesis, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• 1:09:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They came into their court and they snatched all the candy away from them and they won that game.
• 1:09:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, do I think this is a precursor of things to come?
• 1:09:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No.
• 1:09:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But what I did not like, what I did not like, and we're gonna get into it, is their rotation.
• 1:09:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay.
• 1:09:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, one of the big additions they made is Tobias Harris.
• 1:09:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Tobias Harris didn't play last night.
• 1:09:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's fine.
• 1:09:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't care about all that.
• 1:10:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Care about what you're gonna do in the playoffs, buddy.
• 1:10:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Can you provide some leadership and can you provide a couple buckets?
• 1:10:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Can you get to 12 to 14 coins again?
• 1:10:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's all I care about.
• 1:10:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, their payroll is about to go up a little bit, but here's the thing.
• 1:10:19
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Look at all this goddog talent they have on their squad.
• 1:10:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We start, well, you gotta start with Victor Wimbanyama, 22.
• 1:10:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: 22.
• 1:10:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Ridiculous.
• 1:10:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He averaged 25 points a game last year, 11 and a half rebounds, and he had 3.1 blocks.
• 1:10:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He shot 35% from three, 82.7% from the free throw line.
• 1:10:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Uh one of the crazy things is that he shot uh he only played 29 minutes.
• 1:11:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now that's gonna have to go up this year.
• 1:11:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I know they've been kind of preserving him as his body starts to acclimate to the NBA rigors and things of that nature.
• 1:11:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But yeah, we saw him get real tired in the playoffs, so we're hoping that he's up into that 34-minute array amount per game this year, you know.
• 1:11:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And, you know, I mean, here's the thing Wimby is gonna be good.
• 1:11:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We don't have to worry about Wimby too much.
• 1:11:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, the numbers speak for themselves.
• 1:11:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I mean, he's just an absolute freak of nature when it comes to defense and now also offense.
• 1:11:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The offensive game is stupid crazy.
• 1:11:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Here's the thing that we need to talk about.
• 1:11:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He signed an extension, he left money on the table, five-year$252 million, which starts in the 2027-2028 season, and he's not taking any raises over 25% throughout that deal.
• 1:12:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So keep that in mind.
• 1:12:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If he's on the floor for 70 games, this team is gonna be exactly where they need to be.
• 1:12:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Just saying.
• 1:12:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He will not be the thing that we need to worry about.
• 1:12:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You want to talk about like crazy numbers and stuff like that?
• 1:12:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You want to talk about like, oh, we got a war of 11.25?
• 1:12:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You want to talk about defense, you know, and all this type of stuff?
• 1:12:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: This dude is an absolute he's gonna get three, he's gonna get three blocks and sometimes not be in defensive position.
• 1:12:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He's just long.
• 1:12:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Love him.
• 1:12:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now let's get to the let's get to the nitty-gritty here.
• 1:12:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay, so there was a record last week that the San Antonio Spurs were going to play a different type of roster, and that roster was going to look like this.
• 1:13:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Dylan Harper is now a real dude.
• 1:13:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You saw what he did in the finals, and we'll talk about his numbers in a second.
• 1:13:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But one of my questions during the offseason, and as the play and as the finals were going on, what are you gonna do about De'Aaron Fox?
• 1:13:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That was my question.
• 1:13:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: De'Aaron Fox played like absolute ass in the finals.
• 1:13:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, did he have an ankle injury?
• 1:13:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yeah, he did.
• 1:13:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I will not sit here and go, well, he just played like ass.
• 1:13:45
  FROC Host Vince Carter: No, it was an injury.
• 1:13:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But your decision making shouldn't have anything to do with your ankle hurting.
• 1:14:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And there was a couple plays in that NBA finals that he made that that were not just head scratchers.
• 1:14:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I am sure there are some people, I don't know if TVs have a casualty rate in San Antonio or in the surrounding area of San Antonio, but I wonder how many TVs got blasted because this dude went up for a damn layup when he didn't have to.
• 1:14:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He could have pulled that ball out, got fouled, went to the free throw line, blew some time off the clock.
• 1:14:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yeah.
• 1:14:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, it's just things like that.
• 1:14:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Just things like that I was worried about.
• 1:14:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now, he's never been a great three-point shooter.
• 1:14:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, he's never been like a true, true point guard, which they already have, and we'll get to Dylan Harper in a second, or Steven Castle, however you want to deal with that.
• 1:15:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But at the end of the day, De'Aaron Fox is starting for this team, as well as Stefan Castle, as well as Dylan Harper, as well as Devin Vassell.
• 1:15:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So they are literally starting basically four guards and Wimby now.
• 1:15:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is Stefan Castle 6'5, 6'6?
• 1:15:28
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yes.
• 1:15:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is Dylan Harper going to rebound better than his 6'5 frame?
• 1:15:34
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yes.
• 1:15:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Is Devin Vassell a guy who could guard a multitude of guys?
• 1:15:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yes.
• 1:15:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Does Wimby solve a lot of problems for you on the back end, no matter what?
• 1:15:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Yes, he does.
• 1:15:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But the problem is that you need a con you need a little bit more of a conventional lineup for what you saw last night.
• 1:16:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because what you saw last night is the OKC Thunder had the ability to put two seven-footers out there at all times.
• 1:16:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And guess who was guarding that?
• 1:16:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Oh, we out here with Devin Bissell.
• 1:16:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We out here with Keldon Johnson.
• 1:16:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: My guy Harrison Barnes is like the elder statesman of the San Antonio Squares.
• 1:16:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He is six foot eight.
• 1:16:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He got no business guarding a dime Mara on some sort of pick and roll situation.
• 1:16:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You get caught up in the in the mix.
• 1:16:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's seven foot three of Spaniard.
• 1:16:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Okay?
• 1:16:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you're not gonna win.
• 1:16:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You're not gonna win on that.
• 1:16:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So I don't know if this had to do with Tobas Harris being hurt.
• 1:16:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't know if this had to do with we're just trying to um quell some of the the angst that's going on with you know Dylan Harper and De'Aaron Fox and you know who's gonna play and the minutes and how's it all gonna work.
• 1:17:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But I'm gonna tell you right now, it's not gonna, this cannot sustain.
• 1:17:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not saying they're gonna lose a ton of games off of this because they're way too talented and Wingby way too good for them to lose a lot of games, but this is not a championship type of lineup.
• 1:17:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They need to get a little more conventional as we get later on into the season, whether it's via trade or whatever the case may be.
• 1:17:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not saying you gotta trade Dearon Fox.
• 1:17:43
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not saying anything like that, but what I will say is that that number four position needs to be manned by somebody who is 6'9, 6'10, preferably.
• 1:17:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Hopefully they can shoot a J.
• 1:17:59
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Well, hopefully they are really good ring protectors, they rebound the ball pretty decently, and whatever the case may be.
• 1:18:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because I'm gonna tell you right now, at this second, I do I did not like that lineup.
• 1:18:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And when I heard about it, I was like, oh, maybe they're just trying some stuff out.
• 1:18:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I didn't think that we would deploy it on game one.
• 1:18:22
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Did not think we were gonna deploy this, but they did.
• 1:18:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All right, so let's talk about Stefan Castle because he had a major jump last year.
• 1:18:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, now he was a rookie of the year, his first year, standout, whatever the case may be.
• 1:18:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But here's the thing that I absolutely loved about him is that uh he went to 16.7 points a game.
• 1:18:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He went to 5.3 rebounds, another good rebounding guard, 7.4 assists, uh, which is a 34.5% assist rate, which is ridiculous.
• 1:18:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Ridiculous.
• 1:18:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His defense, crazy.
• 1:19:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: His flaw is the turnover rate.
• 1:19:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Turns the ball over too much, and that showed itself in the finals.
• 1:19:10
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Right?
• 1:19:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So turnover rate 33.2%.
• 1:19:14
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Uh, did not like that whatsoever.
• 1:19:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think this is one of those things where you sit there and you just go, okay, well, that's gotta get better because he's also 21.
• 1:19:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And he's not a natural point guard, which then brings me to the guy who should be playing the point guard position, which is Dylan Harper.
• 1:19:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Dylan Harper, as far as his rookie season, might have got off to a slow start.
• 1:19:39
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I got you.
• 1:19:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But man oh man, when he was in the playoffs and also in the NBA finals, did that dude not squirm, not look overwhelmed about who he was playing, where he was playing, and what scenario he was playing in.
• 1:20:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: A 20-year-old rookie coming in, now his you know, during the season, 11.8 points a game, not you know, it wasn't anything to write home about.
• 1:20:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But how many key plays did he make in the playoffs?
• 1:20:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He was rebounding the basketball exquisitely, he was diming up people, getting wimby lobs, you know, he was doing his thing, hitting clutch threes to keep his team in it.
• 1:20:37
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Dylan Harper grew up in the playoffs.
• 1:20:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: He showed us a lot of um this was the reason why I was screaming for him to be the starter, and then they they deployed this lineup where we got four guards out here.
• 1:20:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Telling you right now, it's listen, just because Wendy is an alien doesn't mean that the rest of your lineup can be all the people from munchkin land.
• 1:21:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: All right, and I mean, no disrespect to everybody, but when everybody is 6'5, and y'all know that the league has put themselves in a position where we're trying to have almost damn near two seven-footers.
• 1:21:25
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Hopefully, one can shoot the three, and then the other one is just a rebound eating fool, or whatever the case may be.
• 1:21:35
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what Utah's putting out there, and we will get them to them.
• 1:21:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know, there's gonna be a part two to this, and we're gonna do the Northwest division next.
• 1:21:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Utah will have three seven-footers out there.
• 1:21:51
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They're gonna have Nurkic, I think he's hurt still, but at some point they're gonna have Nurkic, Jaron Jackson Jr., and Laura uh Market uh Laurie Marketing.
• 1:22:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Oh, and then they come off the bench with Ace Bailey, who's six foot nine, six foot ten.
• 1:22:12
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So, yeah, it's not look at all the sizes in Dallas that we talked about.
• 1:22:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We talked about Houston and they're just tree trunk dudes that they got going on.
• 1:22:26
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You can't play this game like like this.
• 1:22:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Like I said, there are gonna be some teams that you're just way more talented than, and you're going to be able to beat them with skill and the amount of talent you have on your squad.
• 1:22:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: But the situation of watching this team do his thing and go, oh well, this sounds like a good idea.
• 1:22:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Hurry back to Wyis Harris.
• 1:22:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We need some stuff, okay.
• 1:23:02
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Miss Johnson did a great job, you know, man in the ship.
• 1:23:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um Billy Donovan is now a offensive like coordinator for the Spurs, which I find to be very interesting.
• 1:23:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And Brian Wright is their executive, and basically he's the guy that I want to kind of lean on when it took when I talk about you know having some upgrades to this roster.
• 1:23:30
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I don't they have a lot of picks.
• 1:23:33
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not saying you have to go out and spend a ton of money, but there's gotta be a way that they can fix this lineup before they get to the point of uh uh going to the playoffs.
• 1:23:46
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They they just they have to fix it.
• 1:23:49
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Now they're over under 60.5.
• 1:23:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And I'm gonna tell you right now, uh, it is going to be a tougher year this year.
• 1:23:58
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'm not saying they are going to lose a ton of games because they're not.
• 1:24:03
  FROC Host Vince Carter: They're probably gonna go like 58 and 24.
• 1:24:07
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Are they gonna hit the over?
• 1:24:09
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Probably not.
• 1:24:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And some of it's gonna be because of this dumbass lineup that they're running out.
• 1:24:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
• 1:24:17
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, you know, yeah, like I said, I am fading this lineup on a real level.
• 1:24:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I love Wingby, I love all the talent.
• 1:24:24
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I understand that you might need to build up De'Aaron Fox's trade value before you're able to trade him because his contract is very, very heavy, and it's at the beginning of it, but at the end of the day, there is no way you can take that many steps back because this that lineup is not a championship lineup.
• 1:24:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Let's just be honest about what we're looking at.
• 1:24:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It is not a championship lineup.
• 1:24:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So good luck to the San Antonio Spurs.
• 1:24:56
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I think they will have an incredible year, but 58 wins sounds good to me.
• 1:25:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So, with that being said, I hope you guys are enjoying now.
• 1:25:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: The season is here.
• 1:25:06
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Again, we're gonna hit you with the Northwest Division win totals.
• 1:25:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, that will come out with this particular actually come out tomorrow.
• 1:25:16
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Uh, also beware.
• 1:25:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: On Friday, we will have the Pacific Division win totals and also our award predictions.
• 1:25:27
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So MVP, rookie of the year, sixth man of the year, most improved player, coach of the year, all of that is also gonna come out on Friday.
• 1:25:36
  FROC Host Vince Carter: So we we are loading you up for this first week of basketball.
• 1:25:41
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And if something awesome happens, or whatever the case may be, you know, we'll talk about it.
• 1:25:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That game last night and that lineup last night that I saw pissed me the hell off.
• 1:25:52
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I ain't gonna lie to you.
• 1:25:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I ain't gonna hold you.
• 1:25:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: It was what it was.
• 1:25:57
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Um, but with that being said, we've talked our talk.
• 1:26:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We empty our clip, and you know that's what we do here.
• 1:26:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If Frontrunner Podcast Collective is your squad, do us one favor.
• 1:26:11
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Share this episode with people, share this episode with somebody in your group chat who needs to hear it the most.
• 1:26:18
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Pull up on us on X.
• 1:26:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That is at FrontrunnerPC, and also at socially underscore FRPC.
• 1:26:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's one of my people behind the scenes.
• 1:26:32
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Our Instagram account is uh at frontrunner pc.
• 1:26:38
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And our TikTok is FRPC Vince for sure.
• 1:26:44
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Also, that's the YouTube situation.
• 1:26:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Get with us on that.
• 1:26:48
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You're gonna have a ton of clips, you're gonna have funny stuff, you're gonna have music behind it, you're gonna have great production value, and hopefully, you're gonna have um good thoughts.
• 1:27:01
  FROC Host Vince Carter: You know what we say about takes here.
• 1:27:04
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And you know how we like to end the show is this the best part of you is still you, not your win-loss record, not your timeline, or your algorithm, just you.
• 1:27:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: And what we hope for you is that you surround yourself with people who actually give you light, the ones who bring you the insight that you absolutely need, the joy and the real accountability that you have to hear.
• 1:27:29
  FROC Host Vince Carter: That's your max deal.
• 1:27:31
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Appreciate those people out loud and don't wait till later that nobody has ever promised.
• 1:27:40
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Hit those people up immediately.
• 1:27:42
  FROC Host Vince Carter: If something is done to you that you feel compelled, don't wait.
• 1:27:47
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Go ahead and appreciate them right then and there.
• 1:27:50
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're your hoop family here.
• 1:27:53
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We get loud sometimes.
• 1:27:54
  FROC Host Vince Carter: We're going to get some things wrong, but we're always going to come back and own it.
• 1:28:00
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Because we respect your brain because anybody can yell a take.
• 1:28:05
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Very few can actually defend a thought.
• 1:28:08
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Until the next episode, keep your mind sharp, your heart open, and your circle tight.
• 1:28:15
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Protect your peace like Cap Space and never waste it on bad basketball or bad energy.
• 1:28:21
  FROC Host Vince Carter: I'll Vince and we out.
• 1:28:23
  FROC Host Vince Carter: Peace.