Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - NBA West Squad: Lakers' Luka Doncic's Impact on Postseason Hopes

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

The NBA Squad Show brings together hosts from various Western Conference teams to discuss progress and expectations. They analyze which teams have made the most strides towards their goals, with Memphis and Oklahoma City emerging as top contenders. The hosts debate the challenges facing teams like Houston and Minnesota in the competitive Western landscape. They also explore the delicate balance between financial constraints and maintaining a competitive roster, particularly for small-market teams like Memphis. The conversation touches on coaching hot seats, potential roster shakeups, and the impact of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement on team-building strategies. Throughout, the hosts offer insider perspectives on their respective teams and the broader Western Conference dynamics. 0:00 Intro: Teams making progress in Western Conference5:40 Thunder's progress towards championship goals11:17 Defining success for Rockets and Grizzlies16:55 Can play-in teams feel good about progress?21:43 Coaches on hot seat in Western Conference27:34 CBA challenges for small market teams 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, which teams in the Western Conference have made the most progress towards their goals? Goals can be anything. We'll talk about that 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 are locked on to the NBA Squad Show West. My name is Nick Engstead, host of the Lockdown Mavericks podcast. Yes, still. This is a squad show where we take over the feet of your favorite Lockdown

team. It's an open invite for any host to talk about anything they want in the NBA's Western Conference. Joining me today from Lockdown Thunder, the number one team in the West, Ryland Stiles, from the number two team of the West, Joe Mullinack's, Locked on Grizzlies, from the number three team in the West, Lockdown Nuggets, Matt Moore, and then the number six team of the West. in the West, Locked on Clippers, Darius,

almost got one through five there. Gentlemen, we're going to talk about a bunch of different things. We may end up somewhere completely different, but let's start here today. Which team in the West has made the most progress towards their goals? The goals can be anything, right? The goals of the jazz are different than the goals of the Thunder. But which team do you think has made the most progress at the beginning of the season until now?

I think it's tough because if we look at the top of it, right? I think Memphis probably, I think, has made the most progress. I think because there was questions about, Hey, and now we have number four. We just got number five. Logged on. There's number five. There's Andy Gimnetsky joined.

Yeah. All the teams that are in the actual like one through six playoffs. No, unfortunately. Unfortunately, number four has, has ISS today. So, Jackson, you dirty dog. It's a suspension. Got I get that homework done, kiddo. So I think the Grizzlies, I think I've made the most progress

because the beginning of the season, it was like, Can't score in the half court, don't know if they have leadership. Are they really going to be good enough? Yeah, they should be better because they were so bad last year in the injuries. But now it's like if you look at the overall profile, it's like, hey, this is the team is top seven in offense and defense. I'm making the case for Joe here. But Joe, I feel like the Grizzlies have made like really big progress from where they kind of start out of the season as far as being a contender. I just want to say that it's nice for the Memphis Grizzlies to be a leading topic on this program.

Folks on the lockdown Grizzlies feeds have been complaining that Memphis gets, tagged in this stuff and then it's like a minute and a half and you move along to what's going on with Dallas who Nico Harrison's traded this week. So it's nice to be back back in the saddle with you guys here on the squad show. I'm sorry, Nick. Darn. We gave your people 90 seconds, Joe. I'm sorry. Tell him to calm down. Yeah, that's fair. No, I think it's definitely the Grizzlies. You know, you can obviously make an argument for the thunder because it's hard to say that they're not closer to being at NBA finals. tender, especially given what Dallas did to themselves. So I think OKC is very clearly the class of the

conference, of course, Denver kind of creeping back up in there, sneaking up on Memphis as the two seed. But when you look at where the Grizzlies were compared to where they are now, you know, De Michael and I over at Lockdown Grizzlies, we've said all along this team is going to pop back up. And they've done exactly just that. What that means when it comes to the postseason, of course, that's where the next step is for the franchise. But it's good to have them back in this mix. they're closer now than they were last year if that is the criteria. Dallas, I don't not think, has made good progress. No, Dallas has gone in the opposite.

I don't know if I made that clear enough, but Dallas is going backwards in that regard. They've made progress in the sense that they're faster. They're more in shape. They are more. They are closer to having a casino connected to their arena in some ways. Closer to gambling in Texas. Closer to a lot of different things.

They're BMI. They don't have a lot to do with basketball. No, I was not going to bring up the Mavericks in this because they're, I mean, I don't really know what. I guess their goal is to be competitive right now. And they've zigged while everybody else is zagging, I guess, by just being huge and having a lot of defense. But they're also super injured all the time. So I don't know. I don't know.

And while everyone else is zagging is in the zaggers want talent. And the Zigg team has decided. Usually a young superstar, right? And to go in a different direction. Although I will say, of the things. three principal players in this deal, Anthony Davis, Luca Donchich, and Max Christie. Max Christie has had the best season with his new team so far of those three. So I do think we have to acknowledge it's a small sample size, but so far Dallas Mavericks have won this trade.

Wow. Wow. I've admitted you can't do this for another show. I have admitted that if Max Christie turns into SGA, I will call Nico Harrison a G. I'm not saying it's a very small sample size. Yeah, we have to take this back. You're not talking about the straight anymore. I didn't bring it up. Every Wednesday, every Wednesday just needs to be Nick and Andy

talking about this trick and it will be better numbers than this stuff. That's all I'm saying. Show me the lie. Okay, let's bring the thunder back into this. Like that, that would be my, I want to hear from Rylan about that. Like, how do you feel about being closer to the goal? Obviously, obviously the thunder

or the class of the conference, do you think they're closer to the goal of an NBA finals or is it, you know, this regular season success? Yeah, I mean, if you look at the goals, the Thunder have an all-time great young superstar. They have casinos in their state. Trekking all the boxes here.

I tried to pivot and you're not letting it happen. No, I think that the Thunder have made significant progress toward their goal of winning a championship. Are they actually going to do it? They still have questions to be answered. But the number of questions, I think, have shrunk from where they were a year ago on this date. Therefore, they've gotten closer to their goal of winning a title with this young core. And they've made necessary changes this off season, bringing in Hartonsign to finally give you some front court depth,

swapping out giddy for Caruso. And these changes that even amidst all the success, we haven't gotten to see a whole ton. They've still played zero minutes together fully healthy. There's only been three games of the double big stuff. And so there's still room for them to improve over these, last few games before the playoffs that really is encouraging for the thunder but ultimately i mean every statistical measure tells you that they're a title contender they are a bona fide title contender and now it just comes down to can they actually pull it off what questions do you think they have

answered i i think that they've answered that sGA can be a number one that he did last year in the playoffs which at this time a year ago we have we did have questions about what she was going to be i think that they've answered this defense does translate to the postseason like the defense was not the real reason that they lost to Dallas for as much as PJ Washington went off. I mean, it was just not. And they've proven that they've gotten better on that end. They have a historic defense right now. I think that Mark's proven to be a really top tier coach and that you would kind of trust him to lead an organization. I think that they've also proven that they're willing to adapt and they're willing to change things. I mean, they gave up the sixth overall pick that was once thought

of us as a part of their core. They went out and signed the biggest contract in club history. They're understanding what it's going to take to make these moves to make their team better. And I think that they have gotten better. And this is going to be something that you can't really know until it actually happens. But they have gotten better at putting guys in position to succeed. Whereas last year, yes, they were the top three point shooting team percentage wise. It was on extremely low volume. And it was really an outcome that stemmed from bad defense where it was all shade driving gravity,

stationary catch and shoot stuff. Guess what? Dallas is not giving up stationary catch and shoot looks in the playoffs because nobody is. and they had to go see that, they had to go fail in that and make the adjustments this regular season, where now you've turned Isaiah Joe into a movement shooter. There are still questions of if he can do that in the playoffs and if he can repeat that success. But they're at least trying to make the changes to address that big flaw. Yeah, and like they were 12th in offense to start out.

Like it was they've just started, they've just climbed offensively. Like the defense continues to be on pace. It's second best all time era adjusted via Jared Dubin over his substack. like that's ridiculous. That's just stupid how good their defense is. They're so far above everybody else. And the offense is now sixth and schedule adjusted. Like they're climbing up towards being top five in both categories.

Clippers, I think, are another one interesting, Dary. And like, I don't, the Clippers got off to like a really good start. And we're like, oh, hey, look at the Clippers. And now it's like, Clippers are still here, I guess. They're that guess that you didn't think would show. And you're like, you're still here. Do you feel like they hang around? I think they should hang around because Kauai Leonard's now back.

I definitely think that we've made, we've overachieved this season, especially if we can end in a top six spot. I don't know if we're going to end in the top six spot. I think the clippers could easily be a playing team, but I just wanted to quickly piggyback off of what you guys were saying. I mean, for Memphis, I think the goal was to get them to the back to where they were before all the injuries last year, which was a top two, three team in the regular season, and then we're going to see what they can do in the playoffs, and they've done that.

And then Oklahoma City, as you guys said, getting closer to the title, having Isaiah Hartenstein and the fact that they've even been able to be so good with Chet out for so long. I think with the Clippers, though, yeah, I mean, Norman Powell's had a great season. We've heard a lot of his, we've heard his name a lot in terms of the All-Star chatter and who didn't make it. The ratings would have been higher. Yeah, it's with Norman Powell instead of LeBron for sure. But James Hardin has had a really solid season in terms of, you know, raising the floor as he so often does and creating good jobs. And then Zubat is at an awesome season.

And the team definitely hit on some good role players in the offseason with Derek Jones Jr. And Chris Dunn. So we've definitely overachieved. But the team that we were not talking about that would have been my answer for who's made the most progress is the Houston Rockets. Because, you know, their goals were to let's see if they can get in the play in this year, maybe get a playoff spot if it all works out. I know they're dipping. They were second seat for so long.

But I'd be a little surprised if they didn't make the, the time. top six playoff spots outright. It's kind of shaky, but I think even if they make the plan, that's still a successful season. For them, if they get into a playoff series, you know, you're taking the spot of somebody like either Sacramento, Golden State or somebody that had higher expectations than them coming into this season. So for me, I think despite their dip, the Houston Rockets would probably be my answer.

Coming up, what is success for the Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies? These teams that we've been talking about making progress. We'll talk about that and more coming up. Western Conference Squadro. Today's episode is brought to you by TurboTax. This is a message from our sponsor into a TurboTax. Taxes used to be waiting, wondering, worrying

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See guaranteed details at turbotax.com slash guarantees. Thanks for hanging out of us on the Lockdown NBA Squad Show West. We've got a show that covers your team, every single day from these great hosts all the time covering every single team in the west. Check the link to the description to find your team. Dariun started talking about the Houston Rockets and how they have been a team that has actually gotten closer to their goals. What is it what is success for the Houston Rockets going forward? See I think that they've kind of changed the bar though.

They got to such a great start and they've won all these premier games versus the top stuff. So I'm doing tiebreakers because I'm a psycho and one of the things that I found is that the Rockets are in great position with all the teams above them and in terrible position with all the teams below them so there's like a really good chance that they start that this slide continues that they're actually going to dip down and this is one of the problems is when you set the bar when you're this great team in December and January but you're punching a little bit above your weight which I think that they did if you slide it wants that feeling a little bit like yeah like they should be really excited by Darien's point like it should

be like hey made the play in tournament like hey made the playoffs that's great but after you were the two seed and it looks like hey could the Rockets win the Western Conference. And if they wind up sliding into the plan and get bounced or if they lose in the first round, it's going to feel a little bit different. This is one of the problems with not only preseason expectations, but the expectations that get built when you have those kind starts, I think. And I think the Rockets and the Grizzlies have the same problem in different ways. Like I think for the Grizzlies, you know, we talk about the nuggets sneaking up on Memphis. They have Yokic, right? SGA is there with the Thunder. The Lakers now have Luca and LeBron.

Like there's numerous of those great, I'm sorry, Nick, I'm sorry. I just, it helps me make my point. In theory, the Grizzlies have that in John Morant, right? Theoretically, and Jaron Jackson Jr. has had a great season. But can either of those guys really be the guy in the playoffs? We haven't seen it from Jha consistently this season. And that makes me nervous. We've talked about that a lot over at Lockdown Grizzlies, how to get Morant going again,

even with this new look offense. You know, there's questions about the Grizzlies. And then with Houston, it's the same thing. Houston has numerous veteran pieces. They really are in a spot where their profile suggests that they should be able to compete a little bit, even with their younger core. But how does Houston get to that place? You don't know until you see it.

So I think with both of those teams, it's so much wait and see that it's really hard to project. And again, they get there in different ways. It's can Jog get back to what they need him to be in Memphis? and can Houston find who that guy is when that moment comes? That's exactly what I was going to say, kind of piggyback me on at Joe's point and Matt's point earlier. Like, I understand what Matt means about being a two-seed and falling and some of that excitement going away with it.

But at the same time, there was probably a degree of punching above your weight, and then eventually you're going to come down to who you actually are and who the Rockets actually are is still a good team. But as long as they end up getting into the point, playoffs and then they start getting clarity between their young stars about who really are the guys we can prioritize and it feels like that clarity is real that to me is the big picture success for Houston this coming season is figuring that stuff out because then they know in the off season who can we look to add who can we look to move like what really is the direction of

this team and how we want to build it like not to take this back to Luca and Nick's misery again But like Lucas, the arrival of Luca gave, I actually asked Rob Polinka about this during the press conference, it gave the Lakers a roadmap for the future that they did not. Look, this, sorry. That's what happens when you have a generational talent, all into your laugh. They very clearly didn't know what to do before. Like before this thing became real, they didn't know what to do because they, I think were having doubts about. both the validity of the LeBron and AD pairing at this point, but also like how much longer is it going to last? Like what should we commit to it? And, you know, if you don't commit

enough, then at that point you're potentially wasting Anthony Davis's prime, or at least not maximizing it the way you would look to. So just clarity is so important for general managers as they look to create, not just for the season they're in, but the season moving forward. I think that's the big goal for Houston is just figuring out these questions. The league's bailout of the Lakers continues. I should answer it for the nuggets. I mean, become important, Matt,

and maybe they'll do it for your team. I think the nuggets, mine is pretty simple, is the nuggets at the beginning of the season were a team that lost to Washington, and they are now no longer a team that would lose to Washington. Like, that's progress. That's good. Like, they beat the, they beat the,

teams that they should now. They're Nuggetz fans are very excited about the about the winning game winning streak. I get it. Should be excited. If you're a fan, you should be excited about winning streaks. But like as an analyst like yeah, it's bad competition and teams that were, good teams missing key components. So this next stretch for Denver, they're facing the really good teams. We'll see if they can get there. But this is always kind of the plan with Denver's entire offseason was the goal was be a better team by the end of the season than you are at the start. And they've accomplished that. Like Russ has fit in. They've gotten that to work. Christian Brown's been great. Yokic is I have no more words left for the man.

So like they're in position where they're never, they were never going to be the, the team looking down, the hunted. Like they were not going to be the top of it. That was never going to happen. And that wasn't just because of how good everyone knew OKC was going to be, but it just because Denver was not going to be that good, but they're dangerous and they can make a run.

And so they've pretty much accomplished their goals this season. They got better. They fit in the new guys. They've gotten through the season. knock on wood mostly healthy so far they've accomplished what they needed to in terms of progress i fully agree with that with the rockets it kind of depends on how much of the kool-ed you were drinking though like as a fan if you're a houston rockets fan and you were actually believing that they could win series i mean that's on you in my opinion as far as the players yeah i think they're just

young you know they don't have experience in their best players what alpren shangoon i don't know if in the first year they make the playoffs led by alpren shangoon or whoever it may be they're going to beat one of these teams with a true superstar on it or more playoff experience than them. But as far as the players, I don't know what they're thinking. Because it's a valid point what Matt said about, you know, being the second seed and then dipping down. It feels like you ended the season on a down.

But I think getting into the playoffs, if they compete, they should be able to, even though they're all competitive guys, walk away from that and feel like they've made some real progress and getting the Rockets back to being competitive going forward. Can any of the teams in the plan feel good about their progress by the end of this year? Can the Warriors getting Jimmy Butler? That's progress to them. They at least got more talent. Just them.

Because like you look at the Warriors. Yeah, like the Warriors, I get it. Like it's Jimmy Butler and he's older and maybe you don't feel comfortable with the price tag. But for what the Warriors could have realistically accomplished, Jimmy Butler is the best option out there. Like Steve Kerr was outwardly saying that they needed to do something. So you can only imagine what they were saying. privately. And that's something, like the best something that they could do was Jimmy Butler. And yes, he's locked in on a big contract. But like it takes them through this window where they're

going to have to reset anyways. And he's a known playoff riser. He's a guy who's who's able to put out these epic performances. And alongside Steph Curry, like they could realistically pull off something. It's an interesting question for the Timberwolves because honestly, I don't think this is a season they were looking to make progress to begin with, like in terms of the moves that they made. And look, maybe it ends up working. working out and that would be great. But this was, I think everybody recognized a very potential take a step backward to create more financial flexibility or just money moving forward. I mean, I guess they made progress in the sense of they hopefully got better owners. But this wasn't the

year for the Timberwolves to build on what they did last year. They didn't set themselves up to do it. Here's what's weird. When I look at the board, well, they're the ones that you might keep coming back to being like they're like they're better than their record in a lot of the key areas and the and like the playoff map could go their way like they're one team i'm really interested in right now because i expected to look under the hood and be like well this is a mess and instead like it's gotten better like they're in a pretty good position here and to your point matt like if if the wolves are willing to like strategize for each individual series for example like against the thunder playing Nas Reid more and playing Rudy less, playing Julius Randall a lot less.

If they're willing to do that and take away the reputation of those guys, they can create matchup problems even against the thunder at the very top of the West, where as long as like you trust Finch to manipulate the rotation each passing series, they can really have the bracket, like you said, break right for them. Imagine if we get another Minnesota Memphis rematch after the Timber Rules have made it to the conference finals before the Grizzlies now, even though a couple years ago, the Grizzlies with a two-seat in Minnesota was seven. That'd be hilarious.

That series was just like the most disorganized but fun series I've seen in the last couple five years, like last five years. It wasn't fun at all. I disagree with that take entirely. And you were. It was very stressful. And it's a reminder of, you know, where the team used to be. And that's what makes me the most nervous about the Grizzlies.

Again, what is John Morant at this point, right? What is Jaron Jackson Jr.? We think he's an all-MBA player? He's shown that level of productivity. What does that mean in the process? postseason because that Jaron, we have never seen in the postseason. How will this work in the playoffs? The Grizzlies have expectations that Houston does not.

Like Taylor Jenkins is a really good basketball coach. If Memphis loses in the first round, I think he's gone. That is where Memphis is at in terms of their expectations of winning. And there's just so many questions around your top two guys in particular and what they're going to be able to do. Denver doesn't have those questions. The Thunder doesn't have that question. That makes Memphis a really fascinating team to look for going into the playoffs.

Coming up, let's get into who has more expectations on the West right now. He just talked about Taylor Jenkins' job is at stake. Who else has expectations like that? Talk about that and more coming up. Today's episode of Lockdown and B, squad show West is brought to you by Hungry Route. When it comes to grocery shopping and meal planning, I have this problem where I just have too much going on. I'm doing a squad show West. I'm doing a squad show East.

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Hungryroot.com slash locked on MBA. Code is locked on NBA. All right gentlemen. Let's get into more of the West. Joe, with some shocked faces here in the squad about Taylor Jenkins's job on the line in the first round series. I entirely believe it. And I think that that should be the case because, again, the Grizzlies have three guys

that are entering their primes. Jaron Jackson Jr. is about to get, if not a Supermax contract, near that number. They're about to have three dudes making hundreds of millions of dollars. If you put the Grizzlies roster, just their salary cap money, and you put it in Los Angeles or you put it in Miami and you don't look at where the city is and who the team is, you would expect that team to compete for the Western or Eastern Conference finals. That is the reality that they are now in. And the thing that makes me nervous is they have those three guys in Morant, Jackson, Jackson, and Desmond Bain. And then you're counting

on G.G. Jackson, who can't drink yet legally, right? You're counting on numerous guys, Jalen Wells, Zach Eady. The starting five for the Memphis Grizzlies is one of of the best starting fives of recent times, and yet two of them are rookies. So there's just so much uncertainty. There's this new look offense that they're trying to implement. I think Taylor Jenkins is walking a fine line here. There is a lot to be said for having to accelerate, put the foot on the gas, more and more, can Jenkins compete in the postseason?

I think if they get out of the first round, he's fine. I'm not saying it's a Western Conference Finals or bust situation. but if they're the two seed and the Minnesota Timberwolves come in to go off of what we were talking about earlier and the Timberwolves win that series in six I think Jenkins is gone. Denver and remember the only two teams that I think if they lose the first round playoff series or coaches are fired. That's the only ones I can think of. Denver, too? Yeah.

If Malone gets balanced in the first round and so the question with that is that that's about the ownership, that's about the management coaching divide. like Booth and Malone are not on the same page. So that becomes like a whole game of thrones with who can get Josh Cronkey's favor and went out. And most of my Denver colleagues are like, Mo will win. He has a stronger relationship with the Cronkies.

And I counter with, ah, but Mo makes more money, which is all Stan Cronkey cares about. And if you offer him a cheaper plan, he will always go in that direction. So yeah, I mean, look,

I think the nuggets have to, the nuggets cannot go backwards again. They can't go from title, second round, first round. somebody, somebody gets fired if that happens. And there's a crack in the Grizzlies in a similar way when it comes to Zach Edy. Because if you watch the Grizzlies play, as I do pretty regularly,

Zach Edy only averages about 20 minutes a game. There's times where he's not utilized at all. And then you see where down in Miami, who if you watch Memphis and how this offense executes, where would have made a heck of a lot more sense, the way that Memphis runs this offense than Zach Eadie. But when Eaddy's out there with Morant, setting those traditional pick and rolls like Stephen Adams used to do, Valenus used to do. That's where you see the peak of jaw offensively.

So there is kind of a, again, reading between the lines, Edy as a big being utilized the way that he's being utilized, I don't know that that would have been the pick if Taylor Jenkins got the chance to make it. So to a lesser extent, I think that is something that's happening in Memphis too. Joe, I have an instigation thing here. Okay, let's hear it. You can't keep all three. You know you can't keep all three. Nobody can keep all three. You wind up the suns. You can't do it. It's two-three cars and then supporting structure. Rylan, your time's coming, but you can wait a little bit. Joe, of the three, it's everyone's going to say, Bain, I'm just saying, what if you call Dallas and talk to him about Joss? I would, first off, I would say, I would say that if there is a team, if there is a team that is in a

position to survive a little bit longer, because you have G.G. Jackson and Vince Williams Jr. and all of these guys on these multi-year deals where they're only making $1.8, $2 million, Memphis has a little bit of wiggle room. But to your point, Bain is the one that everybody is going to say, John Morant two years ago was the face of the future of American basketball. He is not that anymore. He just isn't. Now, he could be, right, a couple of viral dunks, and he has a run of 10 good games, and I think the people will fall back into place. But that has, I would keep him offline, Joe, if I were you. That's all it takes in America. Ten good games. Just keep jaw offline altogether.

I mean, people have very short attention spans in America. I don't know if you've noticed that, Nick, but we move on very quickly in this country. Oh, we're not moving on. It's not something we do. Well, yeah, well, except for Dallas, right? I think that I think the answer would be John Morant. And I think that you find somebody, whether it's Dallas, whether it's the Brooklyn Nets, somebody that thinks that they can make the fix and rehabilitate Joe. I think that would be the answer. It's not what I would do.

I would try to keep those three together as long as humanly possible. Let me just say. Nico Harrison would not do his whole culture bit about Luca didn't fit in the culture. We want to find these culture fits and then go get a John Morant. Wait a second. Who does Nico have connections to historically? Any Nike athlete ever. Okay, who just released the jaw too with cool little diamonds on the side?

Who's a known liar? Make Mavericks fans root for jaw. This is going to be so good. Again, I want to stress, I want to keep those three together. But if I'm having to choose, I'm not saying that it's Desmond Bain or Jaron Jackson, Jr. Well, Matt, do you think that they could, unlike the sons who are kind of three players that do a lot of the same things? Do you think that Jodd, Desmond Bain, and Jaron Jackson, even if they don't have a great

supporting cast around them could be a little closer to, you know, conference finals team? It's just the money, man. The CBA has just destroyed things. Well, the good thing about the Grizzlies, they're not all making 40 until like, like three years from now, right? That was the son's problem. And the cap's going to keep going up. So it's a little more tenable.

I think to Joe's point, I think it's a little more tenable. When they hit on all those second round picks is what saves them in the here and now. It's actually a good thing that they're- For like two more years. And in two more years, I don't know,

anything can happen in the NBA apparently. The Grizzlies are a perfect example of why at minimum the CBA needs to be amended. So where if you're talking about one of your own players who you drafted, only a certain percentage of it should count against the cap, or there should be some type of maneuvering, because especially a team like Memphis,

the small market teams that supposedly the CBA is always trying to fix things for, why are you making them of all teams break up the great team that they drafted? They didn't even trade or buy this team. They drafted it. Why on earth would you try to incentivize them having, to make a choice between that trio. Like, it makes absolutely no sense. Well, they can keep them in their supporting cashers won't be that great.

And they have the second apron penalties, right? Isn't Boston, like, way over the tax right now, but they're just doing it because they're, because they have the squad? So, like, the problem is, like, Zeke Noggi was supposed to be kind of, Ziegnaudu is the fifth highest player on Denver. Think about that.

The fifth highest player on the Denver Noggins is Zik Naji. They can't offload him. You make one, this is the problem. If you pay all three guys and you make, one mistake one you make one miscalculation you're screwed you got no mobility you're in the second apron you can't aggregate salaries you can't sign sign guys off the street for the to fill in minutes you can't do any of this kind of stuff you're stuck that to me is the problem here is you it's not about if the situation if you plan it perfectly can it work it can but you have to allow for some

margin of error and the cba allows for zero yeah that's fair do you think there's any examples of teams that are in the second apron that have done a good job staying competitive the los angeles lakers seem pretty good at it oh the i mean the Celtics is the best example right in the second apron still being you just have to like get all those guys in right we'll see they just want a title they've already they've already succeeded they put their chips in for the next three four years these guys right i mean a question is like is one title enough for you because like that's problem in denver is like there's an there's an expectation of yes it is yes it is Yeah, I was going to say,

absolutely. Three out of the six here would say absolutely yes. And even probably us. Well, look, I think even in the case of someone like the Celtics, the answer is still yes because it's built around two of their own guys. Like, they did this about as well as you can realistically do in terms of building it. And then we just have to keep perspective. Like, titles are hard to win.

Like, there's a reason that repeats don't happen often. There's a reason that three peats haven't happened in, like, 20 something years, it's really hard. And I think in, I think in Rings culture, and I don't mean you Matt specifically, I'm just saying broadly, I think we lose perspective on just how difficult it is to win a championship.

Yeah. Because rings become the only thing that matter. And therefore, in weird ways, they become seen as like the ultimate prize and too easy to win. I think the real test is going to be Oklahoma City. Like if the thunder can't pull it off and they can't with this long run way of all these draft picks. And the reason why they're not going to trade for a superstar or not going to go trade for Cooper Flag is because you want to keep these draft picks and they keep kicking the can down the road. Oh, now they have three 20, 20, 31 picks because if you make a miscalculation like a Zignaghi contract, throw a pick with them and get him out of here.

And as you pay these guys, yeah, Wiggins, it's been fun. But guess what? Got to go draft another 50 fifth overall pick and hope that he hits. And like you just give yourselves more bites at the apple of getting these cost-controlled players to supplement your roster at the very top. So the Thunder, who Sam Presti worked very closely with getting the CBA constructed, funny enough, instead of favorite draft picks, who would have guessed that if the Thunder can't pull off a very long runway and their time doesn't come up to do, then nobody can pull it off. So the Thunder, I think, will be the case study of what the CBA can do for small markets.

For more on that to follow a team for, I don't know, the next 10 years to see if it works out. Go to Lockdown Thunder, go to Lockdown Grizzlies, all the other ones. Take a look at the link in the description to find your show. Thanks so much for hanging out on LockdownMBA Squad Show West.