Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective - NBA Western Conference Win Total Reaction

Episode Date: August 1, 2025

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to react to ESPN Bet’s NBA Western Conference win totals for the upcoming season. The guys discuss expectations across the conference, who will have a rebound season and the teams you need to be paying more attention to. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Hello, welcome to the HOOC collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we are doing sometime before this actually runs, because this is one of those evergreen podcasts.

We're just going to be straight up about it. Joining me from Los Angeles is Tim Bonteps. Hello, everybody. And joining me from a gorgeous looking vacation destination in the Pacific Northwest is Ban McMahon. Howdy, Partners? All right, so we did the Eastern Conference overrunners from ESPN Bet, now that most of the East off-season maneuvers have happened. So now we're going to take a look at the Western Conference Overunders,

and we're going to go in Alphabet of Quarter, and we're going to get an alphabetical quarter, and we're going to get an alphabet of a corridor correct out of the gate. Unlike last time when I botched it. So that means we start in McMahon's hometown, the Dallas Mavericks. Without Kyrie Irving for some period of time, we're not really sure when, but with Cooper Flagg. So McMahon, the Dallas Mavericks over under in a very competitive Western Conference

is 40 and a half. Half wins by ESPN bet. I've been asked so many times this summer are the Dallas Mavericks contenders, and the over-under is sub-500. Something's not swearing up there, right? I don't think the Dallas Mavericks are contenders this season. I do think there will be better than a 500 team, though. Obviously, look, their upside is the primary.

factor there is going to be the return to form of Kyrie Irving, which is a difficult bet to make, just simply because it's a torn ACL for a smallish guard in his mid-30s. It does typically, it takes an 18-month period for a guy to get back to form. If Kyrie's not that 25, 5-and-5 guy, I think the upside of this team is fairly limited. But I do think this is going to be a very good defensive team. And offensively, it's interesting. AD's still a premier superstar type of player. They're going to have to kind of bludgeon teams a lot offensively.

They're going to have to beat teams up. They're not a very skilled team without Kyrie. But again, I think they can bullyball their way to more than 40.5 wins. Yeah, I mean, this is a really hard one because they do have a lot of talent, to McMan's point. But the Kyrie thing is a giant question. When is he going to be able to play? You know, they only really have DeAngelo Russell other than him as a guy you're going to give the ball to and handle the ball at all, which is... I'll move on, uh, country, Cooper Flag.

Go on. Oh, yeah, I mean, playing, I think there's a good chance they're going to probably play Cooper Flagg at the point a lot. I think that would be great for Cooper Flag. I don't think that's going to be great for wins, 25, 26 season. Anthony Davis is a great player who has hurt a lot and is already having surgeries for things. I'm going to take the under.

I just don't. The Mavs have a ton of talent. And if you told me that in Kyrie is back and fully ready to go in late March and like down the stretch of the season, he's playing and they're all healthy, they could be a beast in the playoffs with the size they have and the physicality they can play with and they could be just a monster team to have to handle for somebody as a team getting out of the playing

and getting in as a seven or eight seed. But from the baseline they're starting at, especially with how hard the West is going to be, it just feels like there's a lot more ways for this to go under this number than there are for the Mavs to end up with, you know, 50 wins and be the team that, people have, like you said, we've gotten asked a lot, are the Mavs contenders over the last month? It's like, I think there's a lot more passes than winning 38 to 38 games than there are to them winning 48 to 50 games. This is a tough one that's come out of the gate with. I agree.

This number is begging you to take the over, right? Like, they're begging you. They're like saying, take the over, but you know, they're not stupid. The thing is, is that while Cooper Flag is very exciting, you guys have heard me say this if you listen to the pod, it's unusual. downright rare for a rookie to truly drive winning, especially right out of the gate. Because they're begging me to take the over so badly,

I'm sort of leaning to Toy the Under, even though if you said to me, are the Mavericks have a winning roster, I would say yes. So I lean under, but this is one of those ones that we could come back on and look foolish, I think, possibly. But we'll see. All right, Denver Nuggets up next.

This is a number that I'm also surprised by in a conference that's, you know, that's very competitive. They are 53 and a half as they're over under. I have seen a lot. And, you know, the funny thing about this is I've been a big proponent of Cam Johnson being an underrated player over the years to the point where Bon Temps and I have sort of locked horns about it. But there has been this belief that the swap out Cam Johnson for Michael Porter

was this huge win for Denver. And well, first off, Cam was average 56 games for the last three seasons. Now, this last year in Brooklyn, there was a lot of nights where it was 50, 50, where he was shut down. So I think he played 57 last year. I think he was actually healthier than that. You know, but he is, you know, he, she shoots a high percentage. He defends.

Michael Porter was a good player for the Nuggets, okay? And he played 77 games through injury this last year. He played 81 games the year before. so he was very available. He made a ton of three-pointers for this team at a high volume. She's a 40% three-point shoot the last couple of years. I know he underachieved in some areas. But, you know, I'm not, you know, checking the box that that's an automatic upgrade.

You know, defensively, there's a good chance of that. So 53 and a half is a big number for the Western Conference. but bond temps, go ahead. What did you end up deciding? I go at the end. That's my privilege. You have to give an answer. I'm taking the under.

I don't think they got much better this summer. You know, as men have argued about their bench moves all summer. They won 50 games last year. I don't think they're winning four more games in the West. You know, I don't think they're going to be, I certainly think they're going to be bad. but I think they're a low 50 win team. I don't think they're getting over the number. There were 46 and 24 when Joker played last year.

That would be a 54 win pace. I believe that bringing in Jonas Valchunis is going to allow Joker to play more games. They had to shut him down for two or three weeks late last season because he was just so beat up. It's like he could have played, but they just had to- How many cuts did he have on his arm throughout the course of the year? The guy gets cut on his arm like no one I've ever seen. And that was the least of his problem. You know, he had the swollen elbow.

He had the ankle stuff going on. He was just beat to hell playing the most minutes of his career. And I, look, I thought they had a great offseason. Don't tell me what Bruce Brown did the last couple of years. Tell me how he fits with Joker. Tell me how he fits with Denver. I think Hardaway gives him that volume three-point shooter that they've needed for their bench. I'll take the over here.

Well, a big part of this comes down to Jamal Murray's health. If Jamal Murray has a healthy season, they're absolutely a 54, 5, 6 win team. I'm going to take the under. I think they could have won the last three titles, maybe not all three in a row, but like they lost in game sevens. And if they had won the two series, they lost in game sevens, I can see a pathway where they could have won the title in both the last two years. So I'm certainly not putting them down as a team.

I think they are their upside is incredible. I'm just not doing backflips thinking they're dramatically better. So I think they're a 50 win team. I'm not sure are there a 54 win team. All right. Golden State Warriors, big number, man, in my view.

Big number. This is again, this one looks like they're begging you to go one way, 46 and a half for the Warriors. Again, 22 and 5. That's what I was going to say. With Butler, Draymond, and Steph in the lineup. And they were up 1-0,

having one on the road in the semis, in the second round, year against the timber wolves when Steph hurts his hamstring and gets shut down. They lose the next four. So they've obviously got all of their summer business still to be played out as we're recording this. Maybe by the time this comes out, Al Horford's on the Golden State Warriors, the Cominga situation has been resolved one way or another.

22 and 5. Certainly is a hell of a lot better than a 46 and a half-win pace. True. God. I'm hesitant, though, and I'm hesitant because of, you know, are those guys going to be able to, how many games are they going to be able to play together? Are they going to be able to stay healthy at their age?

And then honestly, man, if Kaminga is on their roster when the season starts, I don't like that at all. Again, I don't want to go into too much depth because that might be played out by the time this comes in. but that has got potential circus written all over it. I'm going to hesitantly take the under ear. I'm taking the over. They won more games than this last year with Jimmy Butler,

not really on the team. I do think they're going to eventually have Al Horkford on the team. He will be a nice piece for them. You know, they could have a ton of injury issues and go the other way. It's certainly possible. But I think they have enough depth to withstand some of that. And I do expect Jonathan Kamen.

going to be on the team and I do think he'll there will be motivation on both sides for him to look good, shall we say, to move him on in the trade. So I will take the over while acknowledging that this could end up being a complicated one for health reasons. Yeah, look, there's going to be a bunch of teams squished together in the West. You know, there may not much be much of a difference between a 48 win team and a 46 win team in the West, 45 win team. I will say this in the Eastern Conference when I was on the fence, I went over with some, especially with the winning teams, because I just felt that way. In the West, I will lean under.

So I'm just going to lean under on this one again. More Hoop Collective podcast after this. All right, Houston Rockets up next. Big number here, big offseason where they trade for Kevin Durant. Fontems, 50, four and a half wins for the Houston Rockets as the over under. I've talked a lot about how much I love the Rockets off season. I still love the Rockets off season. I'm going to take the under. I'm a little concerned about Kevin's health just in terms of getting regular season,

playing games. You know, they've got, you know, Fred Van Fleet will see how many games he's going to play if he doesn't get banged up. I do think they're, you know, they're still got to have some growth from some of the young guys. Reed Shepherd's got a much bigger role. How's that going to go? So, you know, they probably played above their heads last year, getting to 52 wins. And like you in the West, I think we're going to have another big glut of teams all in about the same record range. So I could see a world where the Rockets go over 54 and a half. But I think it's more likely that they end up somewhere back around 50 and I'm going to take the under. Yeah, I'd agree with that.

And the point of bringing in Kevin Durant was about the playoffs, not the regular seasons. You know, it's about addressing their glaring void of a go-to guy down the stretch of close playoff games. If he plays 65 games in the Rago season, awesome. I would anticipate them airing on the side of caution there. I think there'll be a top four, probably top three seed. I just don't know if there's going to be more than one team that's got 55 plus wins in the West. Yeah, I really like what the Rockets have done. It's just a big number.

A lot of things got to go your way to get 55 plus wins. Again, I'm going to hedge under, not a commentary on the Rock. It's just a commentary on the strength of the West. I think everyone's going to kind of sort of move more towards the middle just because of, you know, some teams are going to take some losses. We're going to have a whole, we're going to have a run of those types of teams right here. All right. LA Clippers coming up.

next. I had to decide who was first between the Clippers or Lakers. Clippers. 47 and a half. They really addressed their depth with some older guys, but they got them in value. McMahon, L.A. Clippers, 47 and a half. I'm taking over. They won 50 last year with Kauai not playing a ton of games. Kauai will enter this season, knock on wood, as healthy as he's entered a season in quite some time. I think they've got, you know, we've talked a lot. I think they got better this offseason. So I'll take over. I think they win 50 games again.

Same here. I love the Clippers off season. I don't know if I love their ceiling in the playoffs, but I think they're sitting in the regular season is pretty high because they have a ton of good players. And, you know, James Hardin has shown he's in a regular season wins machine for a long time. So I'm taking the over.

Yeah, they're built to withstand the regular season, even if they have different guys miss games, they're super deep. They're built to win. You know, they won 50 games last year, and they were playing at a higher than that pace. They were probably playing at a two-seed pace for the last quarter, third of the season. And so while I hedge downward, I like, I think this number is too low. And the clippers go over. I think they're, again, knock on wood without major injury.

I think they're definitely the 50-win team. L.A. Lakers, again, addressed some of their depth to get a new starting set. and DeAndre Aiton, get two buyout players in Aiton and Marcus Smart. I would love to reassess this, Bontemps, after I see Luca play in Eurobasket, because I think the key to their season is whether Luca returns to MVP contender form, which we're all hoping, slash expecting, 48 and a half. You know, when there's Laker bets, they're always setting them for all the Laker fans

who would bet on them. So, you know, Laker bets are tough. It's very hard to get value in Laker bets. 48 and a half, the over under for the Lakers. This is right around. This is a really good number for me. I think they're going to be a high 40 win team somewhere. I'm going to take the under slightly, just baking in LeBron health, LeBron drama.

Let's see what happens with Marcus Smart. We talked about him on the last pod that we did. Can he get back to the level he was at a couple years ago? What are they going to get from DeAndre Aiton? There's enough questions to go slightly. under, but they're right in the same group as all these teams. Like, I think we're going to be in a similar situation last year where there's going to be seven, eight teams all in a band from 52 to 47, 48.

And I think the Lakers will be right in that mix with all these other teams. There's enough questions, but I believe the Lakers will have drastically improved play at the center position, which, look, they were starting Jackson Hayes there last year. And I believe they'll have drastically improved play. play at the point guard position because Luca was a shell of himself and he's got that revenge bod going and lean Luca is a mombo-jombo to deal with. So I'll take the over here. Yeah, I'm betting on Luca being healthier and being better and more settled. The LeBron thing is a big factor. It's a bit of an X factor. But the one thing I'll say about LeBron, he has a history of,

which is fulfilling his contracts. And I say he fulfills his contract, and I say they go over, but, you know, your points upon times are reasonable. Memphis Grizzlies, while everybody was taking a step back, I'm sorry, a lot of people taking stuff forward in the West

is there as an arms race. The Grizzlies take a step backward a little bit. Maybe they would dispute that because maybe they think Kentavia is called Wolf Pope. No, they wouldn't. Okay. Anyway, they trade Desmond Bain, their number comes way down 40 and a half.

I didn't run the number of games Jaws played for the last few years, but it's not a high number, McMahon, 40 and a half Memphis Grizzlies. Medical update. Oh, God. You know, look, man, Eadie's probably not going to be ready for the start of the season. We'll see about Jaron Jackson, Jr. You know, as he's also coming off of an operation that at least is going to put his status

for the start of training camp. In significant doubt, it's a reset type of season for them in a loaded Western Conference. I think under here is a safe play. I'm taking the over. I don't think they're eight wins worse. Obviously, if Jaron is out for a big chunk of the season, I will not look correct on that. But I still think they've got a pretty good amount of talent. I'm not saying they're going to get back to 48 wins.

wins again, but I don't think they're going to be some 500, so I'll take the over. I agree. I don't think this is a roster of a losing team, but taking the over here is a bet on their health. Tough bet to make, but I don't think they're a losing team, so I will bet on the over. Just don't feel great about it. Minnesota Timberwolves, back-to-back Western Conference finalists, they lose Nikiel Alexander Walker, bring back everybody else.

They are wagering on the improvement of some of their young players, Terran Shannon, Jr. showed some promise in the playoffs. McMahon, Minnesota Timberwolds, 50 and a half. A 49 win team last year? I don't think they got better during the all season. I think the Western Conference around them did. So, you know, I think they're probably still a top six team in the West, but I don't think they're a 50-plus win team.

Yeah, I'm taking the under. I don't think they got better. There were 49 wins last year. Rudy Gobert and Mike Connolly, a year older, probably worse. I still think they're going to be good, but I think there's enough reason to think they trend down a little bit that they're going to be under that number. By the way, Gobert, not playing Eurobasket, I believe for the first time since he's been in the league. So he'll at least be fresher going into the season. That's interesting.

Okay, so I would say here again, my rule if I'm on the fence is to lean under, so I'm going to lean under. I will just say the actions over words, the Timberwell's front office felt that they should chase to rant the trade deadline. Oh, that was a bit of a fantasy being in the second apron. They chased him again this summer. So, you know, I think they, you know, they think they may need roster modification. And I would keep that in mind. The contract that they traded, that they signed Julius Randall to, I think, is a tradable contract. So maybe he sticks there, but I think that's worth pointing out.

I will just add a little bit of optimism in that. it took them much of last season to kind of figure out how things fit after that match of trade and started trading camp. Right, but then they still looked at trading for Durant again. I know, but I'm just saying, like,

obviously they finished. They were a better team than the last season than they were at the start. New Orleans Pelicans, filled with question marks. This is an awfully low number. I bet the Pelicans fans did not like seeing this number, Tim Bond.

Who's it? Who's it? Who's it? McBanstern or Bond Temps turn? I lost track. I think it's Bond Temps turn. Who cares? 30 and a half.

30 and a half. DeJante Murray, obviously a key piece that's out. I expect for a big chunk of the season recovering from the Achilles. Zion with always perpetual question mark. They make the trade to move off C.J. McCollum. A new front office there with Joe Dumas, Bontemps, 30 and a half. The team is going to be motivated to win games because they traded their draft pick. However, I don't think they're good enough to win.

games and they have a lot of injury questions. So I think they're going to be under 30 wins, and I think the Hawkins get a really good pick. Wow. Is Jeremiah Fears starting at point guard for them? Zero fears. What an awesome, awesome jersey. I would assume so. He's 18?

They're not winning 30-plus games in the Western Conference. And who knows if Zion Williamson is going to play. And, you know, what are they, what is their overall roster going to look like? you know, Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, both are coming off, uh, labrum surgeries. We'll see where they were at. I, yeah, I don't. It's, it's going to be interesting because they're going to be very motivated to win

games late. And so maybe they squeak over this by continuing to win games down the stretch, but it's hard to see it. Well, they got zero fears and zero chance a lot of nights next year. Well, you, winning with a young guard, that's how you lose, man. So you're going under a McMahon? Yeah.

man I think that they're a better team than this but you guys present a compelling case it's hard to how can you have confidence in them by 30 is a low number guys you know who has confidence in them the Atlanta Hawks

yeah they bet with their with their feet the Hawks keep making trades with the Pelicans I will too I'm gonna say over but I don't feel good about it God I just, man,

30 is a low number. Oklahoma City Thunder defending champion. They have 14 of their 15 players. Jackson wants me to reassess, Fierce turns 19 before the season starts. All right. Then in that case,

you're going way over. More hoop collective podcast after this. All right, Thunder, big number here. They bring back their whole team. 62 and a half, McMahon.

It ain't like they went all in to get to 68 last year, Chet missed more than half the season. You know, they, Hartinstein missed a ton of times. You know, they, they managed Caruso's minutes very carefully. They prioritize development of guys like A.J. Mitchell early in the season.

I'm just glad I didn't say A.J. Johnson after the way I was botching brothers' names, I kept calling him A.J. Johnson or less. Anyways, I think they win 60-some-odd games. And if it's going to be some odd, I'll go ahead and say it'll be more than 63. I'm taking the over. Yeah, like for all the reasons you said, they didn't go all in last year and they won 68.

So I don't think there's six wins worse. So I'm taking the over. They're a winning machine at full power with continuity. I mean, holy hell. And they should be better than last year, just in general. And everybody's, but their young team that's all got more experience, and they're probably going to have better health.

And everybody's paid relatively. I mean, geez. The one reason to doubt is championship hangover. I guess. But these guys don't even drink. How can you be hung over? I'm hard over. I can't go under on the thunder.

The number's too reasonable to go under. So I think they're begging to take the over, which makes Giddish, but over. Phoenix Suns, Bontemps, 31.5. They bought out Bradley Beale. They do the deal to move out Durant, bring in Jalen Green, who they intend to play alongside Devin Booker and their backcourt new coach, rookie head coach, Jordan Ott, and Kamman, Malewatch their lottery pick that they got in the Durant deal, 31.5. I'm going to take the over somewhat reluctantly.

This is another team that's going to be motivated to win games. They obviously don't have control of their pick. you know, I think that they are a team. I would equate them to what Portland did last year. Portland, a team that we'll get to in a second that I don't think is all that good, but down the stretch last year, they won a lot of games and they got to 36 wins because there's a lot of teams not trying the back half of the year. I suspect Phoenix will be in a similar situation.

I don't know if they win a lot more than 31 and a half. I could see them win in 33, but I don't think they're going to be. in the 20s unless Devin Booker misses a ton of time, which, you know, Devin Booker has missed a good amount of time over the past few years. But I will, as I said, reluctantly

take the over on them. I'll take the over. I think they're the 13th best team in the Western Conference, but the 13th best team, the Western Conference, won 34 games last year. I would like to say that obviously

in pain, Devin Booker, is a reason to put a smile on his face. But you're doing this book at point guard thing again. And it's not that he can't play point guard, but it takes away from his strengths and it puts too much on his plate. They've got to figure something else out there sooner than later. Well, they think that their big weakness last year was weakness at the rim,

the interior defense. They obviously soured big time on you said. Nerkich shipped him out. They think that, you know, having Mark Williams and come on, Malewatch will make a difference for them defensively. I don't know. Well, having Dylan Brooks will, too. I'll say that.

Well, that's true. And don't forget that. So they think they're going to be improved in that end of the court. And maybe they're going to be improved enough to get a, you know, I think they're a non-playoff team, but I think they're better than 31 wins. So I'll go over. Portland Trailblazers, Bontents, you just mentioned them. strange off season.

They trade and take on $100 million for Drew Holiday, which is an indication of wanting to go now. Then they buy out DeAndre Aiton, and they signed Dame Liller doing a great feel-good move, but he won't help them this year. I mean, at least not on the court. They got $40 million in money, the guys who are not going to play,

and they're leaning into their young guys, especially their young bigs, Donovan Klingin and Young. hands sung. So, man, Trailblazers, 33 and a half. I'll go slightly over. They were an elite defensive team statistically for the second half of last season. I think the last 50 games might have been ranked number one.

Too money, Camara with a least extension eligible, I believe. Yeah. I mean, I think there'll be a really tough defensive team and a really yucky offensive team. Yeah, I think they're 35-ish-old. win team. I'm a bit confused on the, on the bigger picture in Portland other than I just, it's just a weird roster. You know, Jeremy Cran being there is a weird thing. But yeah, I think the 35-ish-win team, so I'll go slightly over. I'm going to go slightly under. I don't really buy what they were the second half of last year. They could repeat that again, but like you

said, there's just a lot of stuff here that's odd with the roster. I'm not sure how it's all going to fit together. I think the team we're about to talk about is probably going to win more games than they did last year, which will take some wins away just in general. So I'm going to, I'm going to go under on Portland. Is Scoot Henderson going to make a third year jump? Because if he does, it would be a huge boon to them. I just, I haven't, you know, I don't have a good feel that that's going to happen. So if I'm on the, I'm on the hedge here, I'm going to lean under on 33 and a half. But, you know, They did defend and they have built the team. I mean, Drew Holiday is a winning player.

So we'll see. Sacramento Kings, who had finally had momentum in their organization. And then for reasons that are still not clear, they started making interesting moves. Their starting point guard has gone from Deeran Fox to Dennis Schrooter. They do have some assets from the Spurs who are going to be a very good team probably for the next decade. But, hey, they got three firsts for them. and they've swapped out their head coach and there are now 36 and a half

bond temps over under. Under, I don't like where the direction of kings are headed in and, you know, I don't, I don't feel good about the situation overall. So saying under. Yeah, under. I think it's messy again in Sacramento. It's a Vec team all like top to bottom.

front office coaching staff on through the roster. The Vec teams don't win games. Ouch, Vec teams don't win games under 36 and a half on the same. San Antonio Spurs. Obviously, their season was blunted last year by Victor Wembeyanma's injury and our blood clot. He's now been cleared to play.

They ended up flipping that into they end up turning that into the number two overall pick. A lot of excitement around Dylan Harper. They have the rainy. rookie of the year, Stefan Castle. McMahon, 43 and a half winning team playoff. This is probably a play in level

43 wins in the West for the San Antonio Spurs. You know, I love me a Spurs over, baby. Yeah, we've been waiting to get to this one all day. Listen, man, I think this is a team that we're two or three years away from talking about them

as a contender. That means I believe they're going to take a significant step this season. I think they will be a playoff team this season. Might have to crack it via the play in, but I think there will be a playoff team this season. I like the direction of the Spurs, and I think they make a nice leap this year,

and let's knock on wood that Victor is healthy. If he's healthy, I think he's certainly all-MBA and potentially first-team all-NBA. As we have talked about before, if the spurs are in the real playoff mix in the West, I think that Victor is going to be in the MVP discussion. I'd be first team all-N-B-A. I think this is a great number. I'm going to lean the under combination of Victor's health being a bit up in the air. Let's see if he can get through the whole season.

And as we've talked about before, this roster is just very strange. They have a lot of, well, no, I mean, it's talented, but they have a lot of young guys. They're going to be playing a lot of minutes. Dylan Harper and Safon Castle and Deerrin Fox have to try to fit together. That fit is not clear. It's not clean at all. So how is that going to go? I think there are a little light on the wing.

I think there's a world where Victor takes a massive leap forward and they win 47, 48 games, and they're right in the mix for a top six seed, I think it's more likely they are in the low to mid-40s and probably right around this number. And like I said, the combination mainly of leaning into these young guys will have me take the under on it. But yeah, like the spurs, the spurs have the eighth highest total in the west.

So if that holds to form, we'll have Thunder Spurs in the first round, which I would just like to see that. So that would be that to happen. And I think that them being in the low 40s is low to mid-40s about right. So I'll lean the under. All right. I'm going to dust off my old slogan,

which is we don't put ceilings on Victory Wemba, I'll take the over. Utah Jazz, 18 and a half. I don't know what's fun to say here. Bontems. I'm taking the over. 18 and a half is very low.

I agree. I certainly I certainly don't think the Jazz are winning 10 more games than that I don't think they're even winning five more games than that but I don't think

they're winning 18 games again this year so I will assume they get to 20 and I will take the over I don't want to talk about the jazz Just take the over or under Fine we'll go over because I'm being friendly

Yeah 18's too low 18th that's so one 17 last year I know they get to play half their games at home I mean, they were intentionally losing last year. Now they have a team that has no chance to win. They're begging you to take the over right now. It's a bit of a trap. All right.

Thank you for listening to Hoop Collective. Thank you to Bontemus, McMahon, and Jackson. We appreciate you sticking through with us throughout the summer. We always appreciate our hardcore fans. Then we'll talk to you soon. Adios amigos.