Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - NBA West Squad: Best Supporting Cast Candidates Reaves and Finney-Smith

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

In this episode of the Locked On NBA Squad Show West, hosts from various Western Conference teams discuss the best players and teams in the conference. They debate the merits of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic for best lead player, comparing their impacts and statistics. The conversation shifts to best supporting players, with names like Amen Thompson and Austin Reeves mentioned. The hosts also explore which teams might be overachieving or relying on "special effects," with Memphis and Denver receiving scrutiny. The podcast concludes with a discussion on struggling teams like the Suns and recent controversial trades, offering insights into the current state of the Western Conference. 0:00 Intro: Best lead player in Western Conference5:42 Debating Jokic vs. SGA for best lead player11:00 Discussing best supporting players in the West16:19 Teams held up by "smoke and mirrors"22:21 Are the Nuggets overrated this season?28:50 Analyzing the Timberwolves' playoff potential33:21 Outro: Wrapping up the Western Conference discussion Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizepicksNow’s the perfect time to join.Download the app today and use code LOCKEDONNBA to get $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup! That’s right—no need to win to get the bonus, it’s guaranteed. PrizePicks—Run Your Game! TALKSPACETherapy is a game-changer. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com/LOCKEDONNBA and enter promo code SPACE80 to get $80 off your first month and show your support for the show.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelFrom the first whistle to the final drive, FanDuel makes the NFL Playoffs even more exciting! Right now, new customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get THREE HUNDRED BUCKS in BONUS BETS – if you win your first bet! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. Make this playoff season unforgettable with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's show, who is the best lead player in the Western Conference? Yes, we're going to Oscar baiting on today's Lockdown NBA Squad Show West. You are talking ball with the NBA West Squad Show. From the Warriors to the Lakers, the Mavericks to the Nuggets, and everyone else in the West. The local experts of the Locked On Podcast Network bring you all the scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive look at the Western Conference. Trash talk and big takes included. No holding back.

we're giving the green light. It's time to talk NBA West. And welcome. You're Lockdown NBA Squad Show West. My name is Nick Engstead, host of the Lockdown Mavericks podcast. This is the squad show where we take over the feed

of your favorite Lockdown show, and it's an open invite for any host to join to talk about anything they want in the NBA's Western Conference. Joining me today at the top of the conference from Lockdown Thunder, Rylunds Stiles. The next top is Andy Kamenetski

from Locked Lakers. Then it's Matt Moore, Locked On Locked Nuggets. Then there's nobody from the Grizzlies. Sorry, Grizzlies. But then there's Lockdown Rockets, Jackson, Gatlin. So we got four of the top five represented here,

and then one that should be up there, and then did something, and that's mean. Today's episode, we will probably end up somewhere completely different, but we're going to start with doing some of our awards. We just saw the Oscars this weekend, and let's do some awards for the Western Conference, starting with Best Lead Player. Best Lead Player. It's not Best Player.

It's not like, who is the best player. It is who the best lead player. What's the best story? What's the best lead player? and I'll open it up to start making your cases for your players, which I can't believe I can't make a case for a player. I'm not going to make a case for Kyrie Irving is the best lead player for the Mavericks. Come on, Nick.

Listen, they've been missing the AD and Luca spot for 38 games, and they're still in a fighting spot for the 60. No, I'm just kidding. Ryland, go ahead. Yeah, I think that Shea deserves a lot of credit here. Shocker. It's a shocking revelation that Shea should be the leading, at leading member of the cast because it's just look at his on-off numbers look how historic the

thunder are when he's actually on the floor he's excellent he leads the league in scoring he's just an overall presence that helps the thunder not only score individually but he sets guys up very well he just does everything at the head of the snake and the thunder would not be here without she so i mean he doesn't do let's not say he does everything i think your case is really good for the MVP if you're just like, hey, because I think that's going to be like the case I make for for Shea down the stretch is I'm just going to be like, look, they win more when he's on the court. When he's on the court, they beat everybody by more than when anybody else is on the floor. And that needs a matter. Yeah. But come on.

The wins. He shot 42% from three last month. He's a three level score. If we're going to move past the MVP thing, 29, 13 and 10, he's shoot, Leok is just shooting 44% from three point range. He's shooting, I think he's, I think he's, He's still shooting? Yep. He's shooting 62% from two point range. I, it's, he's, you talk about like, oh, he does everything. There is nobody that does anything close to what Yokish does every single night.

Now, I think She's a much better defender. Again, I think that goes in the MVP conversation. I'm totally fine with Shea being MVP. But come on. Come on. We know that this is Yokish. In the spirit of this conversation being centered around, the Oscar awards and who the best leading man is here for the Western Conference, I think I

have to lean, even though I follow Matt's argument, I'm kind of in the same boat. I think this year is like SGA's MVP to lose at this point with kind of the narrative where the thunder are headed, all that stuff. But as far as who does the most on a nightly basis, who's carrying their production on a nightly basis the most, it's got to go to Yokic. That is, that to me is an absolute no-brainer decision here. Well, the other thing here is like, go ahead, Andy. Real quick, are Are we making the case? I just want to make sure before I start thinking about my own roster. This is the case for the Western Conference, not your specific team.

Not that it would be crazy to hear Matt make his case for Nicola or Rylan make his case for Shea. I just want to make sure that I'm following the exercise correctly. It's for the entire Western Conference. Do I have to play the intro again? This is the squad show. You are talking ball with... I just want to make sure sometimes, sometimes let's be honest. this show just becomes an exercising people caping up for their squad.

And that's fine. I just want to make sure that I'm in the Eastern conference. A host compared their team to Madam Webb. So it's not happening over in the East. It's not a real conference, Nick. I'm talking about an actual conference. Fair. I think the movie comparison actually is really great here, right?

Where Yokic is like the best actor. What? Or, like, what's the, what's the, the category that we're doing in best? You're what I would say, when you were talking about, right? Like, leading man. Like, Nicola is right now the guy that you feel like can elevate any material. Like, even if it's a bad script,

Nikola Yochich is so talented that he will make that bad script at the very least watchable. Shea may be having the more just brilliant year as an actor. Like you watch his, you watch him as an actor with his craft and you're like, wow. Like what he's doing this year is unbelievable, but he may be working with a better script in the projects that are blowing your mind as opposed to someone like Nikola Yokic who you know you put him in anything. They'll always be watchable. I'll argue against it though, because I think Ryan will have a good point where he says, what's changed from the 20203 team that won a title? All of a sudden, the Thunder have this way better roster. the Nuggets still have basically the same starting five

and Christian Brown's been better than KCP this year. So like from that perspective, I think you could actually say that the cast around Nicola maybe has been better and the movie hasn't been as good. Well, either way, is elevating better material, a bad material. Either way. I mean, it's a bad story,

but you're watching it because of Nicaa. But I don't think that we'd view this Thunder roster without Shay as talented as we view it with Shea. I think that he is elevating. You're winning with defense, though. You know that. You know you're winning. For sure.

But you got to, I mean, if you, if you take away Shay's offense and what he does for the other players around him offensively, you turn into the Houston Rockets. And we've seen what the Rockets are trying to win with defense and not a top score. Who cares about that? It's about what you do on the floor. It's about what's off the floor. It's about what you do when you're on. So we don't, we're not like, we don't judge a performance based off of, you know, the scenes without this guy sucked. We don't do that, right?

Actually, sometimes I do when I watch a movie. I'm like, man. He's just falling apart. See, I'm that way with Matt Damon. We're like, anytime Matt Damon is on the screen, I'm asking, where's Matt Damon? That's how I mean, sometimes you watch a movie. You're like, I didn't realize how little this was being held together until this actor or this actress left. And then all of a sudden you realize this is not very good.

And that guy knows something about Hollywood. That's for sure. It's a two-person race, though. It's, it's, it's, yeah. Is there, is there anyone else? There isn't. There's literally not a single other player that even comes close to those two right now. And like at the rate that both players are playing, you're really just splitting hairs of,

like I think that Yokic is a better player so you can give it to Yokic and I'd be comfortable with that. You know what? It's going to be wild when the academy swoops in and gives LeBron a legacy award. And this is in this. I'm going to say, there you go. Is it LeBron? They're number two in the West right now. He's never asked to be the leading actor or the face of the league. So we can't, you can't give it to him.

Wow. Fair. Andy, let's talk about the face of the league for the next 10 minutes. Which one? LeBron or Luca. They both play for my team. Oh, now he's the face of the league. Now he's allowed to be the face of the league. Oh, great.

Awesome. Let's do best supporting actor. Who's the best, like the, let's do this as like who's the best player that is maybe not the second best player, but the best role player in the Western Conference? This is a good question. This is a really good question. That was one of options. You thought jazz have a whole team of role players.

So they might be in this conversation. the most. It should be it should be Jared right but it's not because he's been their best player. I was wondering if jaron Jackson should be the he's the got the nominee for a movie that's not as good as all the other like Oscar non movies and you're like man he just deserves a spot up there because he's been their best player but I don't I think I'm not kidding here I think it's a man Thompson I really do I think it's a man Thompson has been like the best supporting player this season every time I watch him I am like there's I go through these clip sequences where it's just like block transition layup, assist, nifty layup move, makes an open corner three,

steal deflection. Like his, it's so compact what he does every single possession in his second year. Like he's going to be an absolute superstar. Like a great question is like, who do you want for the next five years? Do you want J-dub or do you want Amin Thompson? I love that debate. Honestly, at this point, Amin Thompson, his impact on like a permanent basis has been off the charts this season and he's just getting exponentially better as the season goes on.

It's been a bit of a weird dynamic recently, though, with him being thrown into the starting lineup, and suddenly shouldering a lot more responsibility as far as playmaking in the absence of Fred Van Vleet, not necessarily being able to exert as much intensity and intentionality on the defense side of the court because he's not playing that kind of, you know, pseudo sub role coming off the bench where he was kind of artificially capped at like 30 to 34, 35 minutes a night. And so he's kind of learning how to, I guess, readjust as a starter. And unfortunately, the rocket's starting lineup with him in the starting lineup has actually been atrocious. this season. And that's because they're sorely missing Jabari's the junior. They got to figure some stuff out because right now they're kind of

dealing with the politics of Dylan Brooks is still starting, but Jabari should be starting over Dylan Brooks. How can he be a role player when he's your best player? He's not the best player yet. He's coming. He's very close though, but in the drawing the structure of the rocket's current dynamic, is in that role player role. He's he is he is. He is, he is an ancillary piece. He is a complimentary piece to both Jalen Green and Alper and Schengen. We can argue until we're purple in the face, whether that's how he should be deployed this season or at all, but that's what the Rockets are doing with him right now.

Coming up, who else should be a nominee for best supporting player? What about best special effects? Who's a team you don't believe in that are all smoking mirrors? Talk about Adammore coming up. Today's episode of Lockdown NBA Squad show West is brought to you by DoorDash, NBA fans. If you think Shay or Yokic or anybody is gonna get 50 points in the game and the next day they do, you can go get 50% off an order

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50 off in order the next day up to 10 dollars off use the promo code NBA 50 that's the letters NBA the numbers 5-0 from noon to midnight after a 50 point game on eligible orders at participating merchants must have an active dash pass account team turn to supply visit door dash to learn more thanks for hanging out this on lockdown NBA squad show west we have a daily show that covers your favorite team check the link to the description to find locked on thunder locked on nuggets locked on rockets Locked on Lakers, and from the headman himself, locked on jazz, David Locke, who's the best supporting player right now in the Western Conference?

That's a really good question. I immediate thought as I go to teams that are better than we, like why are they better than we think, right? Does that make sense? So, I mean, that kind of gets to Memphis probably first or the Clippers. I don't know if Norman Powell counts as a supporting player, but if I had to go somewhere there, I would probably go like,

I don't think any of us expected the Clippers to be 32 and 28 and 6th in the West, so I would probably go Norman Powell or maybe Zubak is much better than we think he is on that team. So those would be the two names that jump there. There's something going on in Memphis. I don't entirely know what it is.

It might be systematic, and that might be my special effects claim here in a few minutes, so I'll hold to that. I think of Visa Zubots is actually a really good call for this category because he's between James Harden, Kauai Leonard, even Norm Powell, who was in screaming distance, even whispering distance of an All-Star knob this year. I would have loved to see him on the team. And I think Zubots gets overlooked, you know, between the lack of star power to his name,

the fact that he's just sort of been there for a long time. He doesn't have a particularly flashy style. he is really, really good for them, especially this season. He's been terrific. Can I allow about one more name here really quick? What about Austin Reeves? Any thoughts on Austin Reeves here? I mean, he's consistently playing third.

He's consistently playing third banana to LeBron, AD, now third banana to Luca in that dynamic. But this Lakers team doesn't have the success that they're having without Austin Reeves. I think he would be a great candidate. I wouldn't include Austin here because of the very least Lakers are trying to convince you that there's a big three happen. like they will not they will not take pictures of lebron and luca without throwing austin in there so it goes against their own messaging if you were if you were to look for a laker for this i'd say the answer is dorian finney smith and like he has been a plus minus advanced advanced numbers god

for this team since arriving like i'm not saying he should be the answer i'm saying that would be the better answer from the lakers ruy's been so good though since they got very good since they got rid of the anchor that is Anthony Davis. He's been really good. Like that's been, that's actually worked out really great. I think Rui's been phenomenal this season. Ruy's been very good. He's had a very good.

Ryland, is it Chet or J-L? I also think the answer here is like the Thunder defense. Like it's just your phalanx of endless defenders. Yeah, it's like a team award. It's like whenever the Hawks got the player of the week with all their guys. The Thunder's defense is the backbone of everything that's made them so great this season. everything that's made them title contenders this season. And take your pick of whoever their co-star is, Jalen or Chet, who I think is, you know, better,

just hasn't gotten to play a ton this year because of the injury. And they have a compliment of role players as well that help them out like Wiggins and Joe and Jason. And the list goes on. So I think the Thunder have a really good, you know, argument to have whoever you think their second best player is being the outcome here. We have a- following Andy's thing where you just take up for your team and the squad show is that.

that's what it's that's what it becomes uh the answer for the mavericks is p j washington he's been so important to their team he's so he's you know stepped up when kiree's been out when they had a top five player at one point and then he was out for some games he stepped up in that way he's he's scored a lot more this year his defense is super important for them his rebounding and they're three and one against the best team in the west right now and it's mostly because of pjay wisconsin riley well it's interesting the teams that don't have one here in this conversation like i don't think Sacramento has one because Keegan Murray hasn't stepped forward like they wanted to, which I think the Keegan Murray, Kevin Herder, lack of supporting actor role,

forced them to go get DeMar de Rosen. I don't know if Denver has had the supporting actor that they've hoped out of either Strother or any of the younger or Watson or any of the younger players they've wanted. It's interesting to me the teams that don't actually have that supporting actor this year that they probably want. Minnesota, I would say, probably has not had that supporting actor that they wanted out of their group. Nas Reid has been incredible.

The worst isolation defender in the entire NBA, but he's incredible. NAW has been so good for them. He has been really good. Jayden's been better since Randall went out, but I think NAW has been phenomenal. Trey Murphy, the third in New Orleans, deserves to go on this list for just being there and playing. Actually, we talked about Memphis before. Jalen Wells, I think, deserves. He deserves a mention.

He's been, I mean, beyond just having a good. season he's been way better than anything they expected uh kamara in portland i would go with yeah there's no one on the warriors there's no one there's no one there's no one on the warriors they're just held up by duct tape speaking of being held up walker kessler man walker kessler's been awesome but he's our best player how can he be our supporting actor that's sad yikes speaking of holding up things in duct tape best special effects what team is being held up by cg i smoke and mirrors Which team do you not believe in? David, you've already kind of mentioned the Grizzlies here. Is that your answer?

Well, Memphis is just playing a different style than everybody else, which is great until someone faces it for seven games in a row. And then it's not a different style because they understand it. And when I say they're playing a different style, let me just back it up so that it's not just, they're in transition 25% of all possessions, which I just don't think is translatable at all once you get into the postseason. If they are, that's a game change of thing. And so then you get into what their half court offense is getting all of this buzz because they don't run picks and they do this. It's only 15th in the NBA and a half court offense.

So I'm a little concerned when they get up in a series and that they're not playing against lesser teams or teams that don't have time to prepare for it or teams that don't have, you know, their difference is real. But I think that when you play a different style in an 82 game NBA, you have such a huge advantage. So I think there's a smoking regular season, smoking mirrors to Memphis right now.

They've also got, look, let's be honest, as great as Jalen Wells has been, as great as Zach Eadie's been this season, they're starting two rookies. They've had two rookies, you know, as a huge part of their rotation. That's going to be a huge shock to their system when they make it to the postseason for the first time

and have to deal with a seven game series and all that. And maybe they hold up great. Maybe they perform and they carry their excellent regular season performance into the post season. They also don't take care of the basketball. They're second to last in the NBA. and turnovers per game. And it feels like that is going to be Memphis's death knell,

that they do not know how to take care of the basketball. And to David's point, things are going to slow down on the playoffs, and their half court offense is not going to look great. I know Matt's got some. I'll add one other thing that's interesting. I watch the final seven minutes of every close game in the NBA. The minute they get to a close game,

they start playing pick and roll. They change the end up absolutely how they play. And the final seven minutes of a close game is representative of what the 48 minutes of a playoff game is. Sorry, Matt. No, you're okay. So I'll defend them a little bit here. I had a big, long argument with a scout that feels the exact same way David does a couple weeks ago.

And he was just like, they're playing too fast. It's not going to translate. Warriors can't prove in 2015, you can do this. Now, they had Steph Curry. I get it. I get it. I'm just saying that there has been teams that have run fast. And the other thing is, if you're facing OKC, do you know what?

OKC hates, hates getting sped up. It drives them nuts. They get all out of kilter. And it's one of the only things that actually messes with the incredible job that, that Che does at controlling the pace. If you speed them up, they get a little frantic because they're still a little bit young. That 15th in offense, I think is good enough when you look at the fact that they're built a little bit like Minnesota. They're like fast Minnesota is kind of how you need to think of it. And they've got a lot of, I think, upside in terms of how they can develop.

They've also got optionality with the rookies. They've got the ability to not play those guys and go to different kinds of options. I'm not saying that Memphis is going to make a finals run. I'm not saying they're going to make a Western Conference finals run. I think all of these teams are flawed. And I think Memphis is among those flawed teams, but they're also really good in Samarious. Can I quibble with one thing there from 2015 to 2020? or maybe 2019, Golden State's half court offense was number one in the NBA.

I hear you. Yep, I hear you. So, I mean, it's the question is just like, there's no golden state this year. So it's like, it's more. Maybe. Can you, well. Well, why is Oklahoma City not Golden State? They're 73 and two.

That's going to be the argument. I get it. Who else is being held up by Smok and Mirrors? We'll make some more nominations to talk about some more awards and more coming up. Today's episode of Lockdown and BIA Squad Show West is brought to you by Open Fund. Running a small business means that you're wearing a lot of hats. You're trying to do everything. You're Nikoliyokic, you're passing, you're rebounding,

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are sent directly to your customer ensuring you never miss an opportunity to engage. Right now, Open Phone is offering 20% off your first six months when you go to openphone.com slash locked on NBA. That's open phone, O-P-E-H-O-N-E dot com for 20% off six months. Six months is a long time. Openphone.com slash lockedon MBA. And if you have an existing number with another service, open phone will port them over at no extra charge. All right, we're here in Lockedon, NBA Squad Show West. We've got the host of the Western Conference teams. A lot of the teams at the top, and then we have the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks

who are in completely different places and weird places right here. We're talking about the team that has the best special effects, team that's being held up by smoking mirrors. I think my answer to this before the last couple of weeks, I guess, would have been the Houston Rockets. Yeah. Because they were up there, two, three, and the three. in the west for a long time.

And they have the worst half court offense in the Western conference. It worse than the Utah Jazz, worse than the clippers, worse than the Portland Trailblazers. And I think that that I'm interested to see how that team plays in the in the playoffs. But they've kind of proven me right in the last couple of weeks, Jackson going, like having the problems that you just mentioned earlier. Well, I mean, the biggest issue for the Rockets is they lost kind of what was their backbone of their defense. And as good as, I mean, Thompson's been this year as great as Tari Eason has been in that kind of dynamic duo coming off the bench, the Terra Twins, all that. That was a big part of their identity, but I think even myself included, kind of underrated

the importance of Jabari Smith Jr. with this Rockets lineup. And as soon as he went down due to injury, they had a strong January because Jailing was playing out of his mind and they really took it to the calves, the Celtics. They had some good games, some great wins there. But then things started to kind of come off the rails a little bit because they didn't have the defense, the positional versatility, the rebounding, the length that Jabaris Mr. Provid's,

he's grown into a really strong rim deterrent, playing next to Alperin Shingoon. And so I hate chalking things up to, oh, well, they got injured, right? They lost Jabari.

They lost Tari-Eason for like 13 games. They lost Fred Van Vleet early in February, and he didn't get him back until last game, and now he's probably going to miss some more significant amount of time because he re-agravated that ankle injury. The rockets are like, if you have links in a chain, right? They're greater than the sum of their parts.

And the moment you start taking out one or two or three, of those links in the chain, they're just not the same thing. They're not the same team more. They're just inherently a weaker product. And that's kind of what happened. And now you've got Emaudoka toying with the starting lineup. He wants to keep him in Thompson in the starting lineup instead of Javariousma Jr. That may or may not be the right decision. We haven't seen this team healthy in over two months now. And that's a big part of the falloff that did happen. However, I do have my reservations and concerns about whether or not they can keep up that same level of defensive intensity because EMA just preaches you outwork, you out physical, out hustle, your

opponents every single night feels like there's maybe just some diminishing returns on that where when other teams actually stop playing at 80, 90%, start playing at 100%, they can catch up to where the Rockets have their kind of margin for margin for victory. Any other nominees, best special effects? Denver Nuggets. Oh, 14 and 16 versus teams over 500. They've got losses to Oklahoma City. They've got losses back when the Dallas Maver's had look at Donches. Hold on. They've got losses to the Houston Rock. It's an insult now.

They've got losses to the Los Angeles Lakers. They've got loss of the Boston Celtics. They got smacked by the Cleveland Cavaliers in both matchup. Their home record isn't good. There are all sorts of red flags that basically suggests that the endeavor nuggets are just simply not that good. I've maintained optimism over at Lockdown Nuggets based on the idea that, like, look, you don't need to be the best team. You just need to win the three series in front of you when you're in the finals.

And I still think that when Nicole Yokicchitz, you still have a strong possibility of doing that. but if we're looking at the records and we're actually like if we look at the i always call it like win profile the win profile for denver is extremely suspect compared to a team like the los angeles lakers i'm sucking up to the lakers he just went in on his own team to suck up to the lakers wow i would have gone pretty soon the rest of the league's going to just get on board matt just bow down before the team that gets all the treasures one way or the other i'm going to open My- Yolk is going to look awful in Lakers yellow. I just want to point that.

They got to go to the gold, right? That's what everybody's asking for. I'm going to open myself up here. If you're in charge of nominating the Mavericks for either the comedy or the drama category, who do you nominate? Where do you nominate them? Well, I mean, the saying is just that comedy is- Tragedy.

Did you have tragedy in those categories? Tragedy is not an Oscar category, so I went with- Well, the saying is just that comedy is tragic. plus time. So it really can be both. Like it is evolving from one or the other or there's one comedic origin that eventually turns tragic or tragic turns comic. But the point being, Nick, you can have it both ways. It can be either one. No, I can't. No, I can't. Lucas not on the team anymore, Andy. I can have it anyway. No, no, no. I mean, the disaster can be comedic or tragic is what I'm saying. Don't limit yourself. We should have nominated Nico Harrison for best leading man because he's clearly the

leading man in his head of how the Mavericks work. It's weird. They don't have a best catering category. I don't, I can't find it. Well, that cake the other day for Lucas birthday, he was, he was looking at his eye and that, but he was not going to touch that for sure. It was like, Zion answered that question about Thanksgiving last year. He was like, I just, I can't, I can't answer. I mean, neither has nominated for best, look, Mavs should have been nominated for best

special effects just based off the Luca video alone where they scrubbed him and green screened him out of the video and put the logo over his face right that alone should have won the best special effects the maps didn't even make that video the like the artist dero he does that song ice cream paint job his team made that video sent it to the mavericks the maps posted and then they got all the flackboard the maps are probably a good example of of best special effects because they're above 500 they have a puncher's chance at six and they've missed of all their guys for so long obviously the luka trade was insane and they made their fan base disappear so that's They're CGIing people into the stands.

I'm there physically. There's not that many people there. They have to do a lot of sound editing. I'm still upset about this whole idea that Denver's not a challenger anymore, which means only the Lakers and Thunder are the challengers in the West. Somebody's going to make a run, I think. Terrible realization. I feel like somebody's going to make a run, whether it's the Warriors or the,

actually, you know what I still really like the wolf under the hood. Like I just, I look at that team. Their three point rate is really high. their half court defense is really great. Most of their problems in terms of their offense are things that will work better in the playoff setting. We saw that last year. I kind of think the wolves are sneaky dangerous.

I think they're a team that could actually make a surprise run. It's an interesting question. I don't even know if any of us can actually answer it. But you saying, Matt, that you like the look under the hood for the wolves, I wonder how much they like the look under the hood. You know what I mean? Like, because they have seemed in a weird space all season, the vibes coming out of that franchise are weird. It's like, do they not see what you see? Yeah. I mean, I think,

I think there is part of that. I think that this is kind of the question is like, can you make a run if you're internally unhappy? Like, if you're, if you do not, if things are not copacetic, if things are not all. Nico Harrison would say, yes, you can. If you're doing, if you're doing, the Lakers did it for the first half of the 2000s, but the difference is they were so talented. that, you know, when you've got Prime Kobe and Prime Shack, you can make a lot of things work, including the two of them, despising each other.

But, you know, that's a really high bar to reach. Yeah, and I mean, you know, it's not always going to be cute and copacetic and you're doing, like, little interviews with all the team on the sidelines after the game, all, all of the fun and doing the little commercials. You know, sometimes there's going to be, like, grown men disagreeing, and that's okay.

I think they can still make a run. I think it's possible, but you know, the question is just like, you want to know the nasty part of this is just like what happens when Julius Randall comes back. That's kind of the question is like, can they sneak him coming off the bench? Can they can he just be like, you know what? Let's ease him in and I wish. I think it would help. I honestly think it would help both sides. I think Nause has been great as a starter.

I think they could, I think it would help them. Problem is they haven't been winning enough that you can even make that argument. Yeah. Matchup wise, though, they are better without Randall, like for the biggest. matchups in the West. I think that they're better facing the thunder with Nas and not Randall. But again, can you really sell that to him? And can you sell that to yourself even? I just want to say, Mike Conley does not look anywhere near Mike Conley of three years ago. And I think that means that now Nikiel Alexander Walker, Dante DiVincenzo has to play point

guard late in that. I know Ants can have the ball most of the time, but I still think this be an issue i think nekeel's been so good they got to they got to solve there but and finch has been i will say finch was really impressed me last year where he walked into that sun series when pretty much everybody was like oh they're toast and then and then they were and then then finch was like oh how about if we just like don't do those things like what if we actually play the right matchups and then the son's like oh god uh hey rylan yeah only only only only a 6.23 net rating for as a and chet together your fan base is a little stressed out Uh-oh.

Yeah, I mean, the double big stuff. The double big stuff is not going to be their fastball, I don't think. I think that they're still out there best with only one center. And then you can mix in two bigs whenever you have the matchup advantage to do so. But they just can't play the same level of defense where they can switch one through five when they have two bigs on the floor. They've got to rework their defensive identity in those lineups. And they haven't quite gotten there yet on a very small sample size. But I think ultimately they will just stick with Hartnstein coming off the bench as he did the last time those two guys were healthy.

which was Friday, and you roll with Case and Wallace in the starting five, and you're easily going to stagger those two bigs, and then you can bring them in at times throughout games. The best script is going to be the Mab somehow, get to the eighth seat. They face the Thunder. They're healthy. They have AD and lively and Gafford and PJ Washington. They're massive against the team.

The Thunder, their weakness is going to be playing those two bigs. And then they'll make it back to the final. Shea wins MVP like 07 Burke. That's right. That's right. We're just running it back. It's all simulation. We're just running back old scripts. It's the reboot. They rebooted the We believe warriors into the maps. I just want to highlight here. We got the Madam Webb call out earlier, which I want to, I just want to take a stab in the dark because I know Nick was present, but nobody else was for that. I'm guessing that was in reference to the Charlotte Hornets. It was not. It was the Orlando, it was the Orlando Magic. Wow. What? Okay. I know. I was going to say, who were we nominating to be Craven the Hunter of the Western Conference? Is that the worst? The worst team?

Yeah. I mean, by standings, worst team is. I think by, there are only two games or a game and a half ahead and just vibes and just overall outlook, it's got to be the Pelicans this year. It's the sun. It's the sun.

The Pelicans. Wow. Okay. Fair. See, Madam Webb does not work for Orlando because that would be like everyone, like everyone, like everyone got cholera on the set of Madam Webb. Then you have the comparison of the Orlando magic.

But like, No, the sons are definitely craven the hunter where you're like, why is Bradle wearing a rhino suit? What's happening? All of these types, the sons are, I still cannot figure out. Does anyone on this panel have any idea why the sons are this bad? Why did they make that trade for the three first round picks? I'm still trying to figure out that from the deadline. I think they're still trying to figure it out too.

That is one of the most irresponsible trades I've ever seen. Like when they made that trade, the 2013 pick to Utah, that they basically broke up into three worse picks, I was like, okay, clearly something is lined up. Like, apparently they just did it for hashtag reasons. Like, I mean, it's, it was their best asset. It's crazy. Like, Matt Ishbia is a lunatic. He is a straight up, like the way I describe him all the time is, you know how in, Texas. There are those steakhouses that if you eat like an entire 96 ounce rib eye in an hour,

you win like 300 bucks and they give it to you for free. Matt Ishbia eats that three days, three times a day. Like that's the only thing he eats. Like he has to eat the most alpha thing possible. Everything he does has to be the biggest display of alpha. He is an awful owner. He's terrible. Vivek Renadivei recreated a bad Chicago Bulls team and looks like the patron saint of patience and reasons. He is a loon in Phoenix. And he's super happy that the Mavs made that dumbass trade because now they're not going to be talked about as much as the Mavericks the rest of the season. I've asked this question, how many books do we think are going to be produced off of the trade?

How many books? What's the over-under? Oh, my gosh. Well, I mean, Tim McMahon has the addendum in his upcoming book. He's got to add one to his book. Which, by the way, he will be a guest upcoming on Lockdown Lakers. And Locked on Mavs. We're still having them on. Good, good.

There will be, there's going to be at least a few. I mean, this is a, I mean, this type of trade never happens. Like, it truly never happens. It's a great way to end the show If you're listening on Locked on Maps Feed and you made it here, wow. You must really love me. Guys, thanks for hanging out of us

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