The Bill Simmons Podcast - Part Three: An NBA Skins Draft Plus Award Predictions | With Ryen Russillo and Joe House

Episode Date: October 12, 2022

In Part 3 of a three-part podcast, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo and Joe House to draft NBA teams’ wins and losses in a skins style game (1:24). Then they make their predictions for NBA awards for the 2022-23 season (15:53). Host: Bill Simmons Guests: Ryen Russillo and Joe House Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill finally gave the ringers Philly crew a podcast. I'm Ben Solak. And I'm Shiel Kapadia. That's right. Just a couple of Philly guys with a new space to fire off some Eagles takes, get caught up in the Sixers chaos and more. We'll be coming to you twice a week on Sundays and Thursdays, plus bonus episodes whenever we get breaking news or Philly drama.

Plus when Harden and Embiid somehow convince you suckers that this year's going to be different, our fellow Philly stands at the Ringer will have you covered on the Sixers and all your other favorite teams in town. It's Philly Sports Shield. What could possibly go wrong? Join the fun and follow the Ringer's Philly special now on Spotify.

This episode is brought to you by my old friend, Miller Lite. I've been a big fan of Miller Lite, man, since college days when I was allowed to have beer. I think nephew Kyle is a fan too. Miller Lite keeps it simple for us. Undebatable quality, great taste. Picture this. It's game day. All the gang's here.

You're tailgating outside the stadium. It's a great time for beer. Or how about when you're standing at the grill and the smell of sizzling burgers is in the air? Moments like that. Or when you want a light beer that tastes like beer, that's delicious. You don't want to load up on those heavier beers and then you only have two of them. Then you feel tired. Your stomach feels full. Miller Lite, it's your friend. It just accompanies whatever else you're doing. You're super happy with it. Opening an ice cold Miller Lite can signal the beginning of Miller time.

Miller Lite is the light beer with all the great beer tastes we like. 90 calories per 355 mil can. So why not grab some Miller Lites today? Your game time tastes like Miller time. Must be legal drinking age. This episode is brought to you by Prime Video. You know me, I can't go a day without sports. I really can't. And now Monday

nights are all about hockey. That's right. There's a new exclusive home for streaming Monday night NHL hockey, and it's on Prime. All season long, watch Prime Monday night hockey deliver unreal plays, The biggest goals can't miss moments. Matthews, McDavid, Crosby, the NHL is best. They're all on prime prime Monday night hockey. It's on Monday. It's on prime. All right. Listen to the ringer podcast network. We put up two parts of this over under extravaganza already. We did the West in part one. We did the East in part two. This is going to be part three, Ryan Rosillo, Joe House, still here. We have a little fun draft for you that you might want to steal for you and your friends. And then we're going to do some NBA awards and we're

going to get out of here. This will be shorter than the other two parts. Let's bring in Pearl Jam one more time, just for the fuck of it. All right, House, explain what we're doing. So it's a skins game. And the basic proposition is that every team in the league, you can select their total wins or total losses. Every time a team wins, that's a skin. If you've selected that team's wins,

every time a team loses, if you've chosen losses, that's a skin. And at the end of the year, you add them all up. Now, we stole this from country music superstar Matt Stell, who invited me. Friend of Verno. Friend of Chris Vernon. Matt Stell. Friend of my...

Matt Stell. Isn't that what I said? Yeah. Matt Stell. Great. Friend of Chris Vernon. And me. I hosted him to play golf.

Lovely fellow. Yep. Single. Top of the world, Matt Stell. Living the best life. He's friends with a lot of the world, Matt Stell. Living the best life. He's friends with a lot of heavy hitters, too. Bobby Bones, who's a radio guy. I didn't know him, but he's in this league. Do you know Bobby Bones?

You know what? He, out of nowhere, hit me up and said I do a good job. Oh, Bobby Bones. He loves nothing more than unsolicited praise is the way to his heart. Right, because Boston guys don't like other people getting praise. Former Buffalo Bill Scott Chandler is in this league. Holy shit.

A Nashville Predator is in this league. A guy who played hockey. I don't know all the guys. But it's an awesome league. We do it for football. And it makes sense in football because there's fewer wins and losses. It's easier. But it's a great setup for the soup season.

So we're going to pick. Do we do every team or just six each? You don't have to. It's up to you. What do you think, Ursula? Six each seems like the right number. 30 picks seems long. It would be too much of a draft. We'll do six each. We'll go snake fashion. And you have to designate losses

or wins when you make the pick. I think Russillo should get first pick unless you don't want it. Well, because whoever's picking third gets the third and the fourth. Oh, that's pretty good. Should we do rock, paper, scissors? Yeah, let's do rock, paper, scissors.

All right, let's do rock, paper, scissors. What are we playing for? What are we playing for? Lawn service. Stakes TBD. Stakes. Stakes, that's fine. All right. On three or three and then go? Rock, paper, scissors. Stakes TBD. Stakes. Stakes, that's fine. All right.

On three or three and then go? Rock, paper, scissors. One, two, three, go. Okay. Ready? One, two, three. Oh. Who wins that?

Nobody. All right. Nobody. That's like the only time we disagree in three hours. One, two, three. Okay. Oh. So I win. Yeah. Yeah. So I get the choice and I'm taking the three, four three. Okay. Oh. So I win.

Yeah. Yeah. So I get the choice and I'm taking the three, four hole. Wait, who said you had the choice? You two had the same thing. I was the different. Rock beats scissors. I know, but does that just mean you get the first pick?

I get to choose. Why would I? Why don't I get the choice? He wins and then doesn't get what he wants. That doesn't make a ton of sense. Okay, fine. I think it comes down to you and I for first choice. All right, let's go. One, two, three.

Wow. All right. So I get first, you're second, House is third. Yeah. Okay. Perfect. So I'm the first pick. And that means... Ooh, this is tough. Which crappy team am I going to take and grab the losses? I don't see a roadmap for San Antonio not having the worst record in the league.

I'm taking them. San Antonio losses is my first pick. We're so low, you're up. So if he gets 60 losses, that's 60 skins versus wins. Yeah, exactly right. So I have to pick a 60 win team. Or you can take losses. No, I'm just saying like in theory,

if I thought that's a 60 loss team. Absolutely. I think first pick was the pick house. I think you might've blown it already. We'll see. I feel like the loss is safer than trying to project out 60 wins too. It sure is.

That's strategy. Good one. Yeah. 60 wins. It sure is. Strategy. Good one. Yeah. All right. So you got San Antonio. I'm going to go Oklahoma City losses. Okay. Great.

House, you're on the board for two. I'm taking Utah losses. Yeah. And I'm taking Charlotte losses. Whoa, House. The Charlotte Hornets are going to be. Wow. Do you think they might be? Wow.

All right. This is a tough, tough, tough three-part podcast for Charlotte. It's almost like they hired the same coach they fired four years ago. Clifford quits right after the podcast comes out. Alright, so San Antonio, Oklahoma City,

Utah, Charlotte, all losses. We're still on the clock. We have not had a wins team picked yet. I'll take Pacers losses. Oh my god. Unbelievable. Now I'm on the clock. Now have not had a wins team picked yet. I'll take Pacers losses. Oh my God. Unbelievable. Now I'm on the clock. Now I probably should have gone Utah losses in front of OKC, but I don't,

you know, I'm not sure. I think Presti, again, that's juice on juice right there. Presti's approval rating in Oklahoma versus Ainge's approval. Like they can do whatever they want. Well,

those were the top five lost teams in my opinion, which means we're going to have to move toward the wins. I'm going to take the Milwaukee Bucks. I'm going to take the Denver Nuggets.

Okay, pretty good. Wins for both. Russella, you're back on the clock. Give me Golden State wins. So, so far. Oh, you go take your ninth pick, Hassan, then we'll go. I'm going to take Boston.

Okay. Losses. Good value. And the Sixers ah I was really hoping they'd be sticking around I'm going to take Brooklyn Nets trade demands and the alternative

third skin are you really taking Brooklyn no I figured no you just took the Sixers good pick good pick are you really taking Brooklyn? No. I figured. No. Uh, you just took the Sixers. Good pick. Good pick house.

Uh, you know what? I think I'll go back to the loser side of things and take Houston. Oh, fucking egg. That is a strong one. God. That's a nice fourth round.

It is. Oh my God. That's a solid, like 50 something. Cause it still could be terrible. Yeah. I had a nice fourth round value. It is. Oh my God. That's a solid like 50 something. Because it still could be terrible. Yeah. I had them lined up. Did you?

Take Portland. Take Kings wins. No, I don't think anyone else will have more wins than this team will have losses. As much as I

respect their potential, I'm going to will have losses. As much as I respect their potential, I'm going to take Orlando losses. Just because. Oh, man. No, because the difference between what we actually think of like Oklahoma City or Utah, or then we're all like Orlando,

it might be the difference of five fucking games. Yeah. If Orlando goes 30 and 52, that means somebody would have to go 52 and 30 to be a better pick. Of the teams that are left? Yeah. All right, so so far,

I have San Antonio losses, Milwaukee wins, Denver wins, and Orlando losses. House has Utah losses, Charlotte losses, Boston wins, and Orlando losses. House has Utah losses, Charlotte losses, Boston wins, Philly wins. Rosillo has Oklahoma City losses, Indy losses, Golden State wins, Houston losses. What a Rosillo-esque portfolio that is. It really is. Very on brand. It really is. How do we work? I can't wait. Please will you post this and just say each win and loss is worth it

just to see how mad people get that don't understand. I didn't understand until about round three. So promise me that somebody posts this on ringer social. I'm going to take Detroit losses. Ah, you beat me. That's a good pick.

Yeah. All right. Russillo's up. Some good teams left. Both LA teams left. I'm taking Phoenix wins. Okay. Good value.

Also on brand. Really good value. See, now I feel like we should draft everybody. Why wouldn't we? Take too long. We're halfway done already. Take too long. We've been here four hours.

This took 10 minutes minutes we're flying through we're gonna what do you got house repeat Clippers wins okay good value yeah

and I'm gonna take do it say Brooklyn say it I'm not gonna do it say Brooklyn say it I'm not gonna do it say it Pelicans wins oh

Jesus over Dallas and Minnesota taking Pelicans wins so why don't you bet New Orleans to win the division who said that

I didn't oh good point we're still here on the clock I think the best value is Brooklyn wins yeah yeah I'm the best value is Brooklyn wins. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm going to take Minnesota wins. And I'm going to take Portland. No, yeah. Is the Memphis still available? Yes. Oh,

Jesus. I'm going to take a, i do think portland's gonna suck though memphis would have to go i think portland's gonna go like 32 and 50 i'm gonna take portland i'm gonna roll the dice high value pick portland losses memphis won 56 games last year i'll take take Memphis wins. They should have gone. You didn't. You didn't take Memphis. No, he took Minnesota and Portland losses. Yeah. Yeah. So now I have two.

Yep. I'm going to take Chicago losses. Ouch. Jesus. A drive by share. You take Chicago losses over wizards losses. It's insane. Uh,

yeah, that is insane. It is. All right. Do I get a do-over? No, you do get no do-over at all. We've shat on it. I had the idea of it. I was focused too hard on something here. I'm going to stick with Chicago losses. Yeah, you are because you picked them, aren't you?

That's how draft works. I wasn't keeping a good enough track. I'll take Lakers wins. That's where House lost control of the steering wheel. Right there. Classic House. He threw a good six innings and then fell apart. I only prepared for six.

That's all we were going to do. You and Clay Buchholz. What do you got, Russo? We said we're going to do six for one second. He decided the last second. He just changed. He got his momentum. I know.

I'm having a good time, guys. I wish there was another list. The listeners are like, this is great. Keep it going. They wish there were 60 teams. I think they love that really long pause

on the back end between round six and seven. Give me, give me Wizards losses then. Okay. Wizards losses. So Okay. Wizards losses. So now I got two again. Man.

Oh. Okay. Cleveland wins still on the board. I'll take them. I can't believe I missed that. I can. I don't know I missed that. I can. I don't know who's left. We get like two more picks. That's why.

And then Dallas is on the board. And Miami's on the board. So Dallas or Miami. I will take. I'll take Miami wins. I'll take Toronto wins.'ll take Toronto wins oh they're not taken oh what a misfire that was that was my first mistake

god damn it yeah but the Miami Toronto one I mean is it really that big of a I'll trade you Toronto for Miami no I'm not doing that so I'll do Dallas wins and Atlanta wins. I think that's your last pick, Hess.

I sure hope so. Alright, Rosillo. So I think the Knicks are left in Sacramento. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Unbelievable. See, I'm so glad we did all 30. Because now it's like, do you have the balls to say Sacramento wins? I have the balls for Sacramento wins. Wow. I'm doing it. Man.

I'm doing it. Might be stupid. Now I have to decide Nick's wins or Nick's losses. This is the part that's let's keep drafting I've got the main Red Claws wins

I don't even remember what I did for the Nick's over I think I went over I'm gonna do I'm gonna do Nick's over the numbers you feel like

hey I'd probably rather go 42. I did the over on Chicago and then took their losses. All right, here's a recap. Bill takes the Spurs. First pick, losses. Rosillo, OKC, losses. House, Utah, losses.

House, Charlotte, losses. Rosillo, Indy, losses. I took Milwaukee and Denver wins. Rosillo took Golden State wins. House took Boston, Philly wins. Rosillo took Golden State wins. House took Boston, Philly wins. Rosillo, Houston loss. Me, Orlando loss, Detroit loss. Rosillo, Phoenix win.

House, Clippers win, New Orleans win. Rosillo, Brooklyn win. I took Minnesota win, Portland loss. Rosillo, Memphis win. House, it falls apart here with Chicago loss, Lakers win. Rosillo, Wizards loss. Rosilla, Memphis win. House, it falls apart here with Chicago loss, Lakers win. Rosilla, Wizards loss.

I took Cleveland, Miami win. Rosilla, Toronto win. House, Dallas win. House, Atlanta win.

Rosilla, Sacramento win. And Bill, Knicks win. When he gets, no, actually, House getting Atlanta win

in the last round in comparison to Sacramento and New York that's a good pick I think almost feel like the stakes should be every every number

should be like a dollar figure so if you're like 30 better than House and we're playing for like $10,000 a skin then House owes you like $3 million

that's a lot no I don't know it should be we'll have to we'll need somebody then Households you like $3 million. That's a lot. No, I don't know. We'll need somebody, the winner, we'll need somebody online to keep track of this somehow. One of the fun people online who does like the Facebook Excel sheet or something like that to keep track of all this. This has Cerruti written all over it then.

All right, there you go. All right, we're going to take a break. This episode is brought to you by Movember. The mustache is back with a vengeance. Look at Travis Kelsey. Before he rocked that Super Bowl ring, he rocked that super soup strainer. Grow a mustache for Movember. You'll do great things too. You won't win the Super Bowl, but your fundraising will support mental health, suicide prevention, and prostate and testicular cancer research. And if you don't want to grow a mustache, you could still walk or run 60 kilometers, host an event, or set your own goal and mow your own way. Do great things this November. Sign up now. Just search Movember. When you ride transit, please be safe. Yeah,

be safe. Because what you do, others will do too. Others will do it too. So don't take shortcuts across tracks. Don't do that. In fact, just don't walk on tracks at all. Not at all. Trains move quietly so you won't hear them coming. You won't hear them coming. See, safe riding sets an example. Yeah, an example for me. Because safety is learned. It's learned. Okay, give it up. Give what up? Really? Really, really.

This message is brought to you by Metrolinks. All right. One more segment and then we're done. We're going to do player awards. Regular season MVP. I have for you Luka Doncic plus 450 on FanDuel. Giannis 7-1, Embiid 7-1, Jokic 10-1, Durant 10-1, Jha 13-1, Tatum 13-1, Curry 15-1, Zion's 25-1.

Then it gets a little wonky. Kawhi 27-1, Anthony Davis 46-1. Edwards 60-1. Starts getting weird. Who do you got, Rossello? I just always like how the odds play out where they're already predicting the fatigue factor. Like, it's just what it is. Like, Giannis shouldn't be third going into any season.

And in this, like, Jokic is fifth. He's even money with the rant. Jokic, fifth, he's even money with Durant. Jokic, I think it's just... It's fatigue. For somebody who went three in a row, it's so hard to vote for that three times in a row. He can't. I would rather go 10-1 Durant or 12-1 Tatum.

So I'll go 10-1. Tatum's 13-1 now. I'll go 10-1 Durant. Is that what you have? 10-1 Durant. Is that what you have? 10-1 Durant. Yeah. Okay. What do you got, House?

It's the freak for me. I mean, we said it during the, when we were talking about Milwaukee. I think they're motivated. I don't think that they want to mess around and end up in the same position they were in last year. They played Boston in the semifinals. That was a mistake, right? I think that they don't want to have a repeat of potentially

finding themselves against a team in the semifinals that they don't have a distinct advantage over. I mean, I know the injury thing with Middleton affected it, but I like the freak. I like Milwaukee. I think they're going for it. Darius Garland, 240 to one, Rossella? I know some of them are reallyarius Garland, 240 to one, Russolla? I know some of them are really... Ben Simmons, 240 to one? What about Kyrie? Kyrie. Good payout.

Good payout. Was it 40 to one? 100 to one. It's 100 to one? Yeah. Because let's assume even if he was amazing this year, no one would want to vote for him. I was trying to talk myself into one of these high-end odds guys,

and it's just the only one is Davis, which I would never do. 46 to 1 for Davis. Yeah, but if you guys are doing what you do, where you put a little on a bunch of different things, there's going to be a worse couple hundred dollars thrown around on something. That's at least like, is he a top seven talent? I'm not talking about can he stay on the floor, all that stuff.

It's just like, talent-wise, is he a top seven talent I'm not talking about can he stay in the floor all that stuff is just like talent wise is he an MVP potentially I don't think he will win the MVP but the 46 to 1 just seems really high to me like why is he 46 to 1 but like I don't know Zion's 25 to 1

yeah that's too high I think it's too high because it's not like of all the scenarios that you play out of the other odds and like the guys that he's behind. I think it's too high because it's not, like of all the scenarios that you play out and the other odds and like the guys that he's behind when I was looking at it, I go,

if we ended a year from now going, hey, Anthony Davis had this awesome season. He's like 30 and 14. They were a three seed. That's not make-believe. No. You guys are voters.

Do you think that there will be any sentiment you detect amongst your co-voters? The possibility that Joel got jumped over last year? Do you think that there will be any sentiment you detect amongst your co-voters? The possibility that Joel got jumped over last year? No, people don't like that. They don't like the whining. The whining I don't think works.

I think that the whining may have backfired. I think it backfired and all the lobbying behind the scenes. But don't do that again, Joel. Just have your season. Don't do it, Daryl. Well, everybody. Everybody involved with the Joel PR machine, just dump it.

The reporter asked you a question, do you feel like people don't respect you? And then the player's like, yeah, they don't respect you. And it's just like, man. Just stop. Everyone respects you, Joel Embiid. Yeah, I had more of an issue with people around Joel

than anything he said. But I know what you're asking, House, and I think people collectively were kind of like, what the fuck? Take it easy. To me, I can't bet on it anyway because I'm a voter, but I just don't think there's a lot of value. The only one was Davis that jumped out to me. Rookie of the year. Paolo is 2-1. Ivy is plus 450. Keegan Murray is plus 450.

Jabari is plus 550. You mentioned Matherin in part two. He's 10-1. Then after that, I don't see it I don't see any of the guys left that he's even worth talking about

I do like a little Nikola Jovic at 65-1 because I think he might we forgot to mention him in the Miami thing I think he might actually play a little bit

yeah because they don't have a power forward so maybe he gets the run and now he's the guy I don't think he'll win rookie of the year but I just think his odds are way out of whack

he's really skilled by the way he might be good. I liked him when I did the tape for him. I don't really know where the value is in this one. Oh, I think there's real value in Murray. I think Murray and Paolo should be two to one. And I think Murray at plus 450,

I think has real value. The only problem with him is time and touches, right? Because the rookie of the year is a volume. It's points first, and then it's points, rebounds, and assists. But what's your best-case scenario of power last season, Marcelo? 30-15-8. I mean, realistic. Yeah, I don't know.

Probably like 18-8 boards and probably like five assists. Like I said, 18 and eight. Yeah. On a team that's going to win. I don't know if he's going to get that many rebounds because I got to know

how they're going to use him. Because if he's doing high ball screen stuff, which is what I actually really got me excited about is playmaking, that he might not be around. And then if it's too,

if they're going too big and then Franz is off of that, his rebounding numbers might not be that good. Like Cade was different. I was one of the few guys that voted Cade rookie last year. Because when I watched, it was like it was all on Cade. And voters didn't appreciate that as much.

So that's fine. That's fine. Like I love Scottie Barnes too. So it may not just be the raw numbers. I would have to see like, hey, the second half of the season, did they just hand Paolo the keys? And that's it?

Because it bothers me when people start getting into wins and losses for rookies. Because most of the teams all stink. So when it's like, hey, we won 32. I don't like when it's... The reason I vote for Cade is just like the last two months, big minutes, he put up stats. They were 11 and 14 down the stretch, but I still felt like compared to the other option, I just like the other option a little bit more. That's fine,

but I felt like it was all on him in a way it wasn't on the other guys. Yeah. Well, for this one, the roadmap for Keegan Murray would be like 15, 16 points a game, 40% from three, and Sacramento actually ends up being like a 40 win team. And they're in the mix. He makes a couple of big shots and there's a Laker game at Staples when he has like 35 on the Lakers. Yeah, it'll be a TNT game or something.

I don't know if Sacramento's in a ton of TNT games ever. That will actually annoy me though. If Keegan is clearly not the same player that Paolo is, Paolo puts up bigger numbers and Sacramento's flirting with a play-in game actually annoy me though if keegan is clearly not the same player that paulo is paulo puts up bigger numbers yeah and sacramento's flirting with a play-in game and orlando can't get to 30 wins and then somehow they'll change that because i don't i actually don't think that should be a

rookie of the year thing but if paulo's playing like 29 minutes a game for orlando like wagner's playing more minutes than him and he's putting up like 17 and seven or something. And that team sucks. You know? So you would factor in Sacramento playing for a play in game if Keegan weren't the same player. My whole thing is who jumped out the most. That's what I always go with. That's what I think it should be.

Yeah. Um, last year I thought Barnes jumped out the most to me because the stuff he was doing on a good team, I really valued, but I thought, I thought everybody was a good choice. Like I, Mobley,

I think until he got hurt near the end, I think he was right in the mix too. He was, he did. He was. So it was close. Last year was an excellent rookie. I mean,

that rookie class was probably a pretty iconic class. I think we'll look back. It's like all those dudes, like Franz Wagner. It's like, what the fifth best rookie? That guy's going to be excellent. He might make an all-star team in the next couple years. I don't think this class is as good.

Mathurin is a fun... I think you made a good case with that. That team sucks. It's just him and Hal Burton. They trade everyone else and he's like 25 a game down the stretch or some nutty number. What if Daylon Terry's the starting point guard for the Bulls because all the other ones are hurt?

Chicago losses. That's why I took him. Defensive player of the year. Go Bears 4-1. Adebayo 7-1. Robert Williams is on here at 8-1. He's not going to play enough games. Giannis is 10-1. Draymond 14-1. Bridges 16-1. Evan Mobley 20 to one. It's hilarious. Smartest 24 to one.

Yeah, I was waiting. People are like, we're never voting for him again. Never. Yeah, he'll never get it again. Embiid's 21 to one. Simmons 27 to one. I thought the smart campaigning last year was borderline as annoying. I know. I felt like I was somehow responsible because I was one of the leaders, but then I don't know. I don't know who the... I just wasn't going to vote

for Gobert. Spare me the fucking persecution the whole deal when it's like I might vote you the second best player in the league this year. I might vote you the second best defensive player in the league this year. And then it turns into this thing like no one in the world likes me. You're just like, it's fucking lame. No one values me.

Yeah. How soon do you like? The freak. 10 to 1. It's an all freak year. I think he's going to do on both sides of the basketball. I think they might win 60 games. I like those odds.

I think that Gobert 4 to 1 is pretty tasty too. Because if Minnesota is really good and their defense flips and it's a whole bunch of, whoa, did we value Rudy Gobert enough? That whole narrative, I could see that happening. Long shot.

Wait. I'd pick Bam, but I would also include him. Bam's a good one. Every fucking heat broadcast. National. Bam's really upset about the defense. And first of all,

dude, you missed a bunch of games. It was really simple. Yeah, play 70 plus games. Play the same kind of defense. I'll vote for you. I think from a value standpoint, Mobley at 20 to 1

is interesting. What about Bridges? I think he's probably a year or two away. Because Bridges would have to be just considerably better than any other swing guy and it's like is he going to be a better wing guy than herb jones or some of those other guys

in that position i just think he's both great on the perimeter and then like at the rim but then the other problem is is that you remind yourself of like nobody can hang with donchich right the physical part of like hey this is defensive player of the year it just looks bad when it's like, okay, but now it doesn't matter. Yeah, that's true. Mobley, maybe a year away. Most improved. Man, there's a lot. The great thing about most improved

is there's no real favorite. Edwards is the favorite of plus 850. Carson Edwards? Anthony Edwards. Then it goes in the descending order. Maxie,

Williamson, Halbert, Barrett, Brunson, LaMelo. Porter's 33-1. We're not even sure if he's playing. Barnes, 38-1. I love that Shea is an option. You're just like, well, did he get bad or just not play?

Right. Yeah, how did he improve? He improved by lacing up his sneakers. Jordan Poole, Simons, Ananobi, Jalen Green is on here somewhere. As it kept going, though, I thought that the Aaron Fox one was kind of inspired. And what were his stats? Didn't I ask you that while we were doing the show? Yeah, you did. You asked me that during the Sacramento one.

He was... You told me 120 to 1, I think. 120 to 1. He's just so weird. I don't even really understand what the criteria of this award is. You know who I think like 200 to one. I know. And I felt like pool was to me like,

this is how this should win. Right. He was in the G league and now he's a valuable guy and an awesome team. Isn't this the winner? And other, he barely won. Oh, he didn't win.

He didn't win. He didn't win. I voted for him. I'm almost positive. I voted for him. Cause I remember being at the end of it, being like, this is how about Kaminga 200 to one. That would,

the Draymond thing would really have to go sideways. Jalen Smith, 80 to one is a funny one. Um, yeah, out of the, out of the ones that are on here because he's always missing games so I was looking at Cam Johnson 50-1 for this because if they trade Crowder he's going to get way more swingman minutes right

and what if he just has an awesome year and he's 19 a game playing 35 minutes a game and 45% from three, something like that. You know who could get it is Colin Sexton. He just put up a ton of numbers on Utah.

They lose games. Just Jedi mind tricks people? But no, because he didn't play. Yeah. He didn't play last year. Because that ends up, it feels like it goes to who was hurt and then comes back.

And maybe that's why Poole didn't get it last year. Ja won it last year. What would Halliburton's numbers have to look like for him to win this? See, I felt like Ja winning it last year was disrespectful. Yeah, I didn't even vote for him in one of the three spots. He was good a year ago. How was he most improved?

I mean, it was a massive jump up, but he was already like on superstar status. No, this should be like my career either was irrelevant or I was found in a trailer. Yeah. Or the G League. What is Halliburton season have to look like for him to win this house?

25 and 8, 22 and 10. I think the team matters. So I don't think he has a chance. I don't I don't think you can be on a 25 win team and win most improved player. I would pick Scottie Barnes 38 to one. I don't think you can be on a 25-win team and win most improved player. I would pick Scottie Barnes 38-1.

I think those are the best odds. Because that could be a real jump for him where he's like an 18-8 Nate in all defense and that team's good. And like, oh my God, Scottie Barnes. I go Wiseman 50-1. I like it. What's your Wiseman intel?

You got some Wiseman intel for us? His eyes. These eyes. Sixth man of the year. Jordan Poole plus 350. Wood is 10 to 1. We didn't talk about Wood really in the Mavs thing. Blew right through it.

Do you want to do that now? No. Hero 16 to 1. Brogdon 16 to 1. Brogdon, 16-1. Bones Highland, 19-1. Dinwiddie, 21-1. Then it goes Powell, Clarkson, Quickly, Oubre, Clark, Tyus Jones, Portis, Oladipo,

Bogdanovich, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I really, really, really like Brogdon, 16-1. I think this is my favorite bet of all the player awards. Wow. I'm not allowed to bet on it. But I think he's going to be really important for the Celtics and he's going to play a lot of minutes. I think he's going to be a crunch time guy for them.

And if the team is good, he'll be a big reason. And I think they're going to be good. Why is he coming off the bench? Because they want him to be like a six-man finish games, Mikhail Havlicek kind of DNA type Celtics guy. So I think those odds are pretty good. That would be my only concern. I mean, if Smart goes down for any time

and he gets dinged because he plays so hard, then Brogdon becomes a starter for a sustained stretch, right? As long as he doesn't start too many games, they're still eligible. I think LaVert at 49 to 1 is fun, too. No, it isn't. There were some fun pieces about him, about how he was hurt last year. Oh, okay. Yeah.

What about all the other years? What do you got? I like how there's options for two guys or three guys on a team. Right. So if I take Bruce Brown, it's like cool. Clear him out. Yeah, Bones comes in.

It's really off the bench with this. Norman Powell, I think at 25 to 1 is interesting. I like that one. Caruso would be another one at 33 to 1. He might start though. But he might start. It looks like he's going to start

unless Io. And let's take a flyer on Rubio at 50-1 when he comes back in his healthy, gritty Cleveland team that actually missed him last year. Points per game. Remember, a player must play 70%

of its team's games. So you have to play 58 to be eligible. Embiid is plus 350. Giannis plus 420. Luka plus 480. Durant plus 550. And then it goes into double figures of Trey, Tatum, Ja, Zion, etc. Luka plus 480, removing the 16 points a game from Brunson

and not really replacing them. You beat me to it. Feels like he's low 30s. I like that much better than betting him for MVP. Yeah. I like him because, you know, we've already seen that offense. We know exactly what it looks like. It makes a lot of sense. If he is,

his Eurobasket performance was awesome and he's coming in, we think, in shape. So if he comes out, I mean, he can average 32 points a game starting October the 19th, their first game. And he hasn't won a scoring title, I don't think.

Who do you got, Vassilo? Yeah, usage alone, you know, he's going to have the ball more than anybody else. He's still young enough

where, like, it's better picked than Giannis because I just don't think Giannis, it's going to matter to him as much as the scoring title. All right. So Luka plus 480. I can

actually bet on that one. Rebounds per game. This is... I don't even know. I can't even remember who won the rebounds last year. Capella? Capella. Is that who won it? I'm just looking for long shots. Capella's 21-1 this year.

Wendell Carter 23-1 I would say this is a non-bet I'm interested by the assist per game though because we mentioned earlier Darius Garland 26-1 Harden's a favorite plus 175 Chris Paul plus 240 Halliburton 6-1

on down the line Lucas plus 850 but I like the odds with Garland there at 26-1. I could see him getting like 11 assists a game for this team. It's fun, especially if the thing that we talked through when we were going through Cleveland,

Rosillo's very compelling case that he wants to distribute. He did not want to take those shots. And he's got three options. And it's an offense that makes sense to our eyes with Mobley, with Jared Allen, with Donovan Mitchell. That's fun.

26 to one. Jokic 60 to one. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's fun to have him on the board. Rossello, anybody else you like little Hal Burton, six to one. No,

not, I mean, that's kind of it. Although Van Vliet's had some big assist stuff. I'm just trying to look at the payout. Instead of just going, oh, cool. Trey Young's probably a little too high as the fourth best option here.

Just because you imagine DeJounte's taking the ball out of his hands a little bit more. Three points made per game leader. Curry is the favorite at minus 190. And then it goes into Dame. Van Vliet's 12-1. Malik Beasley somehow is 20-1. He's fourth.

Buddy Heald, Clay, Trey, Mitchell, Kyrie, Simons, Lamello, Anthony Edwards, Bain, Tatum. I thought Tatum at 60-1 was mildly intriguing to me for this one because he shoots a lot of threes. And with the Curry thing, Curry just misses 20 games.

I guess it's made per game. Now this is just a Steph bet. I don't see any reason why he would have bet Steph on this. If it's made threes for the season, that would be different. But per game, I don't know. You guys disagree? I'm mentally checked out. You don't like this one anyway? This one, I don't know you guys disagree I mentally checked out I don't want to you don't like this

one anyway this one I'm like I don't yeah I don't have a ton to add to this one all right let's do NBA finals then I'm mentally checked out says an hour five

NBA finals what odds do you like the most? Click it on Fandle. NBA Championship. Celtics 6-1. Bucks plus 650. Nets 7-1. Clippers 7-1. Golden State 7-1.

Suns 10-1. Sixers 16-1. Miami 18-1. Denver 20-1. Memphis 24-1, Denver 20-1, Memphis 24-1, Lakers, and then it gets stupid. Best value. I think Golden State being behind four other teams makes no sense to me.

I just think they're going to be better. Interesting. So, plus 700. Repeating is so hard. I can't believe I recommend this but I think Philly 16 to 1 are the best odds

my favorite and I know James Harden is going to let them down but I just think those are great odds because I think they have a really good chance

to be the one seed and they have a really good team and that team might even be better but the Doc Rivers James Harden combo it's like you might as well set money on fire.

Why did you just do that? I don't know. Yeah, but 16-1. 16-1 is stupid. We could be looking at those odds three months into the season, two months into the season going, holy shit. Yeah, they're 5-1. You could have got them at 16-1. Right. Yeah. Those odds are priced in for Harden and Doc. Do you like my Harden is

due for a good playoff run? It's just like law of averages. It's kind of like the Paul George thing. I did like it. You can't be this bad every playoff season. We can't sleep on Denver at 20-1. I like Denver at 20-1 too. They're crazy deep.

Just wonder about the defense. If Michael Porter Jr. plays, I would recommend. What about the Grizzlies at 24-1? That's a really good teamlies at 24-1? That's a really good team to be 24-1. I think the thing not to do is to bet the favorites with this because you can just bet them by the series and you're getting half decent value.

What you want to do is do the 20-1, 22-1 range. Conference, same thing, where Philly's 7-1 for the conference, but you're getting them 16-1 for the title. So the odds for the title are actually better. Denver is plus 850 for that.

The play-in odds, just want to do this quickly. It's Bulls minus 110, Knicks plus 125, Raptors plus 130, Cavs plus 130, Hawks plus 130. And then Wizards plus 175, then the Heat plus 220, and Brooklyn plus 350 in the East if you want to get nuts.

What's your favorite out of all those, Russello? Man, I mean, I feel like this is way too much Detroit love if I'm looking for a payout, uh, that probably doesn't make a ton of sense. Maybe, maybe just that you're getting the plus one 30 on Atlanta. That's what I am. We're all there. It's amazing. It's exactly right. What's the bet. You know, not to say this is, Hey, I figured it out. No, I know. But that feels like you're, you're just getting free money. I find it hard to believe they're going to be a top six seed. Yeah.

I find it hard to believe they're going to be 11 or below. Yep. Yeah, I agree. At that plus money, it's really good. And then on the west side, Portland minus 140, Lakers minus 120, Pelicans minus 115, Kings plus 120, Mavs plus 140, Minnesota, and then it descends, Memphis, Denver, Golden State. I like Sacramento and Dallas for this.

I like Sacramento plus 120. I like Dallas plus 140. I think both of those are really strong bets. I don't think Dallas is the top six team. Right, but they will be if Luke is healthy in that they'll be one of the teams in front of them. One of the top five teams is going to have an injury problem. You would think.

Well, yeah. You would have to have... I like it. I'm not saying the bet's wrong. I'm not doing that. I'm just saying that law of average is like, it's kind of my Cleveland over. I like assuming their health

better than I like assuming a lot of other teams' health. I like assuming Luka's health more so than the collection of all five teams in front of them. Dallas is only in the play-in if Minnesota is ahead of them. It's Dallas versus Minnesota and New Orleans for the sixth spot

unless there's an injury. And I like New Orleans better than Dallas. I have Dallas, I think, eighth out of those. Okay. To make the playoffs... The Kings are my favorite at plus 120 because all you have to be is 10th in the West to win that bet. To make the playoffs,

I think Bulls minus 134 is just better value than Hawks minus 210 for the East, but I didn't really like any of the East odds. The West odds are way more interesting. You can get Sacramento plus 360.

And they could be, let's say, a nine seed in the play and they'd have to win two playing games. Other than that, these odds aren't worth it. Like,

New Orleans is minus 205. Yeah, but what... Well, we can parlay them though. You can put two together. Yeah, but I'm saying,

what if you just like New Orleans that much and you you're going all right i'm not getting the value that everybody's searching for in all these but you know you're just like hey they're making the playoffs well you could do new orleans and minnesota in a parlay which is basically even odds a little plan parlay house do you have a plan parlay. House, do you have a play-in parlay for this? Oh, I love this. A play-in. Well, right now we're looking... We like the Toronto, right? Yeah, I like Toronto in, for sure. New Orleans, Minnesota, and Toronto

plus 169? I think they're all three playoff teams. We're still at minus 250 Toronto to make the playoffs, to be one of the eight playoff teams. I see that's why I like... Makes you nervous? I like New Orleans better at 205 minus 205. We can have them both. What if you go the all California three-leg parlay

for the Clippers, Warriors, and Lakers to all make the playoffs? Minus 181. Minus 181. Wait a minute. I'm not going minus. I left out Sacramento. Sacramento? What's in there? You can't put the Lakers in there I mean you can

no I was just trying to think of something geographical something that your kids could you know if you want to teach your kids I like New Orleans man I'll have to tinker with this we'll do a boost we're going to do a boost on FanDuel for playoff bets at some point and then player props the last thing

if we think if you think Luka can average 30 points a game this year plus 125 you don't have to bet scoring title you can just bet Luka will be

30 it can't be 29.94 30 points a game. He hasn't done it yet. Hasn't done it yet. This feels kind of like it would have to be this year. And then, you know, a lot of the young scores, and then later on, they're not only tired,

but they go, this doesn't really work. Darius Garland to average eight assists a game plus 135. Pretty enticing. I think that's my favorite. Guys are speechless. All the side ones, I know. It's only been five and a half hours.

I know, we're wrapping it up. Anything else, house? It's enough. We've done it. It's a great year Priscilla

NBA is fantastic I don't like that we agreed on so many things way too much but that's how it goes yeah what are you gonna do thanks Kyle Creighton thanks Dylan Berkey

thanks to Corey back there we will be back on this feed on Thursday when does your podcast come back Priscilla be back tomorrow morning Lane K Thursday when is your podcast coming back Rosillo I'll be back tomorrow morning Lane Kiffin and Deontay Wilder

you're doing a pod tomorrow look at you nobody told me I could take it off what did you five and a half hours I was told Kyle's hands up here come on Kyle anybody want to let me know when I can take a day off, I would have.

You easily could have taken that day off. I'm not blaming Kyle. I'm not blaming Kyle at all. I didn't know. Cerruti is focused on Orlando. We already taped an interview. So I guess I got a pod tomorrow. Warren Sharpe and I, end of the week.

I think we're taping after the C-Words Bears game. Like after the Thursday night game. Oh, beautiful. The worst game of the year. Excellent chance that I will be less than sober for that podcast. Drunk houses in the house. All right. Thanks everybody.

Don't forget to check out all these lines. I'm Fando. If you want to follow up on anything, I'll see them on the way so I never say I don't have feelings with them. On the wayside, on the way so I never say I don't have feelings with them.