The Daily Zeitgeist - Bold Boosties Predictions with Dragonfly Jones

Episode Date: October 20, 2022

Miles and Jack were honored to have the absolute legend Dragonfly Jones join them for a special edition in honor of the new NBA season. The trio reacted to the bold predictions from a panel of NBA experts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball.

And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refuse to ask for directions. It's Space Gem.

There are no roads. Good point. So where are we headed? Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time.

Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. The NBA season is finally here. After a very long wait, we can finally bask in the glory of the new NBA season and now that the new season is upon us we reached out to some of our former guests for some of their wilder predictions

and we'll be discussing all of those and getting some more from today's guest the volume podcaster Dragonfly Jones I got a Dragonfly Jones I got a Dragonfly Jones what's up fellas Good to be back. Yeah. But before we get to that, Dragonfly Jones, got to let the people know I'm Miles Gray.

And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack. Jack got mad boosties. Boom. Dragonfly Jones. Welcome. Welcome. The co-host of Jenkins and Jones for the volume on iHeart. Welcome back to the show, man. How you been? Appreciate y'all. I've been good, man. How's everything going with y'all?

It's the most wonderful time of the year right now. Yes, it is. It's the most. Yeah, it is. It's here. It's real. The NBA season is real, and it's glorious. So as we speak, the first game is like moments away from tipping off,

so we don't quite know what happened. But I feel comfortable in saying that the Los Angeles Lakers will ruin the ring ceremony this evening and probably beat the Golden State Warriors by at least 50 points. And that's what this episode is about. Making bold predictions that are going to make us look stupid. I believe mine was fact based. And we will revisit that in the next episode. Right or wrong. But my energy right now is a Laker fan.

Oh man. Couldn't be higher, lower, higher, higher, higher, higher. Yes.

You're, you're actually enthusiastic about this season. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Russ for sixth man of the year. That's my, that's my,

uh, bold prediction. Who? Russ for sixth man of the year. Oh my goodness. He embraces it. Look, we're sixth man of the year. Oh, my goodness. He embraces it. Look, we're going to hear some takes. I'm telling you, Austin Reeves, he's most improved.

We already know. We're already seeing it. Okay? I've got it all. Some people, including people in my family, say, Miles, please come back to earth. But I'm telling them, this is all I got, mom and dad. So please let me have these predictions.

Ground control to miles of gray I look I think I was talking about this with Jabari who's also a Laker fan you have to start off the season you can't go into the darkness right away you got to have a glimmer of hope in your eye I feel like every fan does so I'm I'm leaning into that and I might just lean into that all the way to the point that I'm completely, you know, untethered from reality. But we'll see. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I'm a Bron stand. So, of course, you know, I'm rooting for Bron.

You know, I want Bron to get number five. But, you know, I'm kind of approaching this season, you know, with some apprehension because, you know, of course, Anthony Davis. No guarantees with that guy. Nope. Yeah. So, I mean, we don't know how Russ is going to fit. I mean, Pat Bev said himself on his own podcast, Russ ain't coming off the bench.

You know, as a Laker, he said that. So, I don't know, man. Yeah. Look, and I appreciate your take because I think I would call that more of a grounded and analysis-based take, which we need more of that. But, yeah, see, that kind of gets in my own dreams and visions of a wonderful future. So I will stay over here for the moment. But yeah, Jack, how are you feeling? Because you got the Celtics tonight.

Yeah, so I'm a Sixers fan. The Sixers are playing the Celtics. I think the Celtics have been one of the most slept on teams during the offseason. They're not necessarily slept on, but I think people are underrating how good they're going to be. And the Sixers are the sexy pick, the fun pick to be like, well, we haven't seen it.

So that means we're going to see it. I think I even heard somebody say that James Harden is due for a great playoff performance. a like great playoff performance and as you know my my type of fandom is like the pessimist and then never be never be disappointed never be hurt again um i i don't necessarily think that a player's entire career like showing one thing means they're due to show a completely different thing um right right so we can dream so we can we can dream. So we can, we can dream. I have a glimmer of hope. You know, Maxie always,

I go to sleep with just visions of Maxie dancing in my head. But we'll, we'll see. We'll see. Yeah, we will go back to what you said about the Celtics, man. I think that that Malcolm Brogdon pickup is a pickup that no one really

cares about because, because, you know, Brogdon, he's kind of just, you know, he's like a plain turkey sandwich. You know what I mean? Like, like, there's no flash to him, but he's super effective. Like, he's probably the most random member of the 50-40-90 club. But, you know, that's that was a great pickup for the Celtics. I think he's going to be do phenomenal there. OK, so we'll put put a pin in that prediction, Dragonfly, but let's go to our first prediction that we have from past guests.

Josh Eberle from Spotify Live and Sporting News. Let's listen in for his bold prediction for this upcoming season that has just begun. Honest one, second honest one. I think Trae Young gets his first MVP this year, and then it launches a whole incredible dialogue about young gets his first mvp this year and then

it launches a whole like incredible dialogue about how he's actually better than luca and then atlanta won that trade but then like we just flip again when luca wins an mvp the next year so yeah trey young mvp okay you love it would love to see it you heard it here okay and we're back to being just hours from the start of the nba season and that seems yeah i i have not heard that is not a pick that like picked up steam as we got closer and closer to the nba season i haven't heard anybody but this was we asked for bold predictions that's bold i mean i've got the hawks as being like a brink playoff team like perhaps a play-in team. So, yeah, Trey Femme VP wasn't even on my radar, and I love Trey.

Yeah. What do you think? What do they have to do for that to really all come together? DeJounte has to be like the perfect fit next to him. Without stealing his shine, too, right? For him to be a VP. Right. Yeah.

Like the way Trey seemed to be at his best when he was just very ball dominant and like the number of plays they ran for trey dwarfed any other point guard i think like the the pick and rolls was just like at another level than most people i guess with the possible exception of luca so like they're gonna have to be showing something else but i don't know i could trey young definitely has the ability to do things that we've never seen people do before and you know be like that next level player who's like putting up kind of mind-boggling stats so i i just maybe i don't have the imagination to understand how a jante trey backcourt turns into a Trey Young MVP award. But I would love to see it because it would definitely be something that,

unlike anything I've seen before. Right. I noticed there, too, I think he mispronounced Trey Young. We should have said LeBron James would actually win the MVP. But, you know, that's fine. He's looking at it from his perspective. I will be firmly here in my straight jacket with the purple and gold on it

shout out to Super Producer Jabari wanted us to shout out the Hawks for releasing a video showing Trey off the ball twice and captioning it and they said he can't play off the ball that was a couple weeks ago I mean you know maybe we'll see another couple

off the ball plays from him we'll see oh just a couple right don't want to overdo it let's move on uh to ben golliver from the washington post author of bubble ball and get his take which i know we've been talking about this for a little bit jack ever since he told us about this so let's listen in to ben Ben Goliver with his bold prediction for the season. All right. I would say my wildest prediction for this upcoming season is that I'm selling stock in every team. That was super good last year. So the Final Four, Warriors, Celtics, Heat, and Mavericks, none of them will be in this year's Final Four.

None of them are going to make it back to the conference finals. And not only, I mean, that sounds crazy, but let me tell you this. The last four years, nobody has ever repeated as a conference finalist. So it's not actually that hot, but it sounds hot if you don't think about it too hard. So that's my hot preseason take for you. There you have it. golliver saying none of the conference final teams are going to make it back because it seems like history would or recent history would show that that's just sort of a recent trend yeah i mean i don't i don't think it's hot to say the maps don't make it back that i wouldn't have been making it to the western conference finals here um i feel like we count out the heat every year because you know it seems like you know every

offseason they don't really do anything to make themselves better They don't really take any strides in the offseason. But then every time the postseason rolls around, Jimmy and Spolster are looking like, you know, Phil and Mike. So it's like, you know, you can't really get a read on the heat until the playoffs. And I have decided not to do that because Jimmy was looking like, like I thought Jimmy had fallen off until last postseason. So like Jimmy's reached, he's reached that category where I do not evaluate him as a player until I

see what he does in the postseason. Like he's earned that for me, but yeah, I think that the warriors are going to make it back. Of course, I don't think the maps are going to make it back. I don't, I wouldn't be surprised if the Celtics don't make it back either.

And like I said, we never know with Miami. Yeah. Yeah. Miami seems to be another one of the teams that everyone's sleeping on. Right? Like the team that was good last year that everyone's just like, well,

it's boring to say the heater can be good again this year. Let's go with the Sixers. Look, just going off of Jimmy Butler's hair, I feel there's something about his lightness of being like, yeah, let me put these extent, let me just see where this goes.

That I feel like he might be tapping into another part of his consciousness that I think could elevate his game. So I never count out the humor in the preseason. But yeah, I feel like he might be tapping into another part of his consciousness that I think could elevate his game. So I never count out the humor in the preseason. But yeah, I feel like, yeah, the heat probably. And obviously the Mavs will be there. Right. I mean, it is surprising, though,

that we haven't had a repeat for the past few years. And I think we asked him what his his explanation for that was and he was saying injuries right like yeah you know milwaukee won it the year before and then their second most important piece got hurt going into the playoffs and you know wasn't able to contribute so that's just a thing to keep an eye on is like wear and tear and maybe like how good and fast and strong everybody is at this point in the league means right you get one deep playoff run every couple years and like that's just the that's what the human body is capable of how bad do things have to go for the dubs though they yeah the the dubs look stacked yeah i'm but hey look i'm willing to entertain anything

at this point. I'm just trying to figure out how the Heat, the Celtics, and the Sixers all missed the Eastern Conference finals. Because the Sixers feel destined to stay at the second round as currently constituted. Right. And so who, I guess Milwaukee and Brooklyn maybe would be the Milwaukee and the Hawks. Nobody saw the Hawks come in when it was them a couple years ago. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true.

Okay, let's keep it moving to Mr. C.J. Toledano, fellow co-host on the network or host on the network of Running the Break. Let's get his very grounded, very analysis, static or statistics based, I guess, view into this upcoming season. And I think just like everything being sorry. And I think I think we asked him also for most improved rookie of the year, defensive player of the year. And he's given us a little title. So, yeah, he's going to he's going to come through with a lot of heat. Here is my wild, wild take.

I was going to ask Jabari if anyone said this. I feel like it's on the tip of everyone's tongue, but no one's going to say it. But Russell Westbrook is going to have an insane revenge tour season. He's going to be that third superstar that LeBron and AD have needed or expected last year. Listen, I'm not even saying like mediocre. He's going to be like, they're going to be trading off games. LeBron's going to be the superstar one game. AD, Westbrook, Jabari is on silent, just taking a sip from his cup as if it's tea. Russell Westbrook, guys, revenge tour. So that's my wild take. I'm going to say my, I guess my like general prediction here is, I mean, my heart wants to say Lakers are

going to get the Larry O'Brien trophy this season, but I'm going to go with the Bucs. The Bucs are going to have another stellar season to get the championship back. I just think adding angles and then hopefully them being healthy is going to get them the championship back i just think adding angles and then hopefully them being healthy um is going to get them uh the championship this year um what else what other predictions am i missing here i mean he's gonna say he's gonna say defensive player of the year let's go alex caruso he's gonna get some minutes here with lonzo out and he's gonna put up a stellar defensive season okay cj coming with the defensive player of out and he's going to put up a stellar defensive season okay CJ coming with the defensive player of the year he's going to join that tier with guards like Michael Jordan and Gary Payton I don't know about that one man I love it I was looking at the history of defensive

player of the year and it's usually big man big big man, big man, guard, big man, big man, big man. So they'll throw onto a guard as an offbeat, clap-on-the-downbeat type thing, but they're not usually ready to do it two years in a row. Except for the one example where they did it two years in a row, Kawhi Leonard. And I hear he's healthy again this year, so we'll see. I mean, he was in a uniform. That's what I hear.'s healthy again this year. So we'll see. I mean, he wasn't in a uniform. You know, that's what I hear. Those are the rumors. Dragonfly, what do you think about the Russell Westbrook revenge tour?

I'm open to it. You know, for one, I'm a fan. So I'm going to have my Lakers shades on here like you've been having on all episode, Miles. So, you know, I'm a Russ fan. I think the whole thing is just figuring out his fit. Like, you know, the production is still there. It's just like, you know, Russ suffered from a lot of brain farts last season.

You know what I mean? He wasn't fitting the schemes and playing, you know, that way. Like, you know, he had a pretty decent year, like 20 points per game on like 45% shooting, but it just wasn't production that kind of mattered he wasn't getting in where he fit in so to speak so so maybe darvin ham will figure that out i hope

so yeah i mean i can already see it wow just like he said one night it'll be ad one night it'll be lebron the other would be russell and there we go the six man him coming off the bench and just like leading a second team that is like a totally off speed pitch like really hard to deal with like that makes sense to me that's the first kind of version of russ being on this team that has made sense to me is it really just a question of like you can't get him to buy into that or do we think that there's something about the fit that like doesn't actually make sense yeah i think i think it's all about the buy-in like right yeah it all comes down to russ and like i said pat bev said there's no way russ is coming off the bench i'm skeptical if he buys into that himself so i mean that's basically what it comes down to yeah i feel like also too there's

just there's a friction with the fans too that i feel like is also weighing on some level like psychologically because i i don't for a second think he doesn't want to be successful as a laker right right like that's just hard for me to believe and i know with all like a lot of the real toxic stuff that he went through and some of the fans being extra not dignified to put it lightly that must weigh on some level in your ability to be like well why am I like how am I going to fully buy in when I don't feel like I'm getting the love back so

bro the whole the whole arena yelled no that one time when that man shot a three like that was wild yeah like we got so I feel like there is a I feel like there is a dimension to where you know the the fans can also meet Russ halfway. Okay, let's take a quick break, and we'll come back to continue with our NBA season predictions right after this. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from the New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down

on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. No days off.

And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it. Ha! Yeah! Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit. Who is it? none other than psych you have to tune in to find out so tap in to off the edge with cam jordan's podcast your ultimate

playbook for all things football and not football listen on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hey this is mike wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the Fantasy Footballers, only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty Fantasy Football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been living in the Dynasty fantasy football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level.

Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the Dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast has something for you, and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, this is Jimmy O'Brien

from John Boy Media. I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. It's called Jimmy's Three Things. Episodes come out every Tuesday, and for about 30 minutes, I dive into three topics in Major League Baseball that I am interested in. Breaking stories, trends, stats, weird stuff. Sometimes I make up my own stats. Sometimes I do a lot of research, and it ends up I was wrong the whole time. So that's something you can get in on. Use Jimmy's Three Things podcast to stay up to date on Major League Baseball

and to make you just a smidge smarter than your friend who's a baseball fan. You listen to me and then you go tell him, hey, I know this and you don't. So I make you smarter than your friends. That's what Jimmy's Three Things is all about. Listen to Jimmy's Three Things on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find it on the Talkin' Baseball YouTube channel, and new episodes

drop every Tuesday. And we're back, and it's time to continue this prediction train with Dan Favali from Bleacher Report. Let's check in with him. What is his bold prediction for the upcoming season? My most reckless prediction for this coming NBA season is the Pelicans are going to be a top four team in the Western Conference, which makes absolutely no sense because of how injured Zion has been in the past

and how just deep and entrenched the West is at the top when you have Golden State, Phoenix, the Clippers and Nuggets are supposed to be healthier. The Mavericks still have Luka Doncic. The Grizzlies have the second-best record in the league last year and didn't lose anyone too mission-critical over the offseason. But I look at that series against the sons and that team, that Pelicans team with the emergence of Herb Jones,

Trey Murphy, uh, adding at CJ McCollum and now getting Zion Williamson to come back with Brandon Ingram and maybe a healthy Larry Nance jr. I think the Pelicans are closer to championship contention status than not already without doing anything else. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm pretty high on the Pelicans myself too you know of course zion coming back like what 27 points per game or like 62 from the field or something absurd you know brandon ingram is a star um herb jones i

think he's going to be an all defense guy this year that dude is a straight jacket um you know alvarado's a hooper you know they finally got an og a veteran and cj you know so yeah i can for sure see the pelicans probably finishing top four yeah i feel like this so you know in contrast so the trey young so some of these we got a while back like some of the some of these bold predictions were a little bit earlier in the off season um some of them a couple years ago i don't know if you could hear the youthful exuberance in our in our voice no they were like you know between a month and a half and like a couple weeks ago and so like trey young we got a while back that is not one of the like you know dark horse picks that picked up steam but pelicans being a top four team in the

west does feel like it's picked up some steam like that that's one that has become less of a you know wild off the wall take and i after watching zion come back and have that eerie smile on his face for the entire first quarter as he was just gobbling up shots just doing things on a basketball court that made it look like he had never left i think a lot of people were like, wait a second. These guys could be really freaking good this year. Oh, yeah. Especially after that. Did you see that side-by-side where they were comparing Kobe and Ingram's fadeaways? Yeah.

That was amazing. I was like, wow. I saw the fans getting pretty excited about that. And I was like, well, I like the way he moves. fans getting pretty excited about that and i was like well i like the way he moves i mean as somebody who looks at brandon and is like like i'm like that meme of wolverine on the bed where he's looking at the picture the one that got away i'm like oh i wish we brandon i miss you uh yeah i i can get on board with that for sure and again just seeing just that like off season zion and like long pants 360 windmill i was like yeah go ahead and he's like and I'm

jumping higher than ever before those are all things I like to hear just as a neutral to be you know that'll excite me for sure but as we've discussed you know Zion should be allowed to play in long pants and overalls yeah yeah yeah it's exciting so I So I think technically as a fan, you can't be mad at a trade that brought you a championship like Anthony Davis won did. But I do feel like this is the season where maybe that starts getting hard for the Lakers. With Ingram being the maybe leading scorer,

second leading scorer, putting up like mid to high 20s a game on a team that is like making a lot of noise. I feel like that's pretty painful. Okay, let's move on to a fellow Laker fan, Raj Chapalu. He's got his very

special take for it this season. Hey, I'm Raj Chapalu and my wild prediction for this upcoming season is the denver nuggets could finish as the first seed the one seed regular season yes okay i can see that and yokich repeat as the mvp i don't think anyone wins it three times in a row uh so i wouldn't i wouldn't see him winning it again but i think they're they're gonna be really really good michael poor jr jamal murray back that team was hell as lake of family remember 2020 that team it again, but I think they're going to be really, really good. Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray back.

That team was hell. As a Lakers fan, you remember 2020, that team was hell to play with. That series was a lot closer than people remember. It's interesting because if he doesn't win MVP, who does? It's not like there's a candidate that has come in second

multiple years in a row. Who comes in second three times in a row, but who would win MVP since it's not Jokic? There's a guy in Dallas who might have a thing. Well, they might not be good enough, but we'll see. A guy in Dallas. Not familiar. He's been favorite for the last few years.

Couldn't be him. But not Joel Embiid, huh? Who? Oh, yeah. Embiid. That's definitely a thought that's interesting i just seeded right now in this conversation mbp please nuggets number one seed yeah yeah shouts to homie raj i'm with him i think the nuggets get them one c2 um i do not think they win the west i think the warriors are coming out of the west again um but you know the warriors are the ogs now you know they're not going to be going ham every night you know what i mean they're going

to be pacing themselves keeping those legs fresh you know for the postseason and denver is the hungry young team on the come up so yeah i can for sure see them getting the one seed who do you like for mvp then i'm just thinking yokich obviously like three in a row that seems like a lot do you i'm not gonna do it again i'm not gonna do. I'm not going to do it again. I'm not going to do it again. You're not going to do it again? You're not going to harm yourself again with that thought? Maybe? I mean, could be Embiid.

I've heard people say that he's due. And in this case, it does matter. You can say someone's due because narrative is such a big part of it. But I don't know, man. He might just be over it. And at this point, just want to come out and win defensive player of the year,

get out of the second round or something. I personally have Giannis. A big reason is back in 2016, I had a tweet that Giannis was going to get three MVPs in five seasons. So this is going to be the fifth season there. And I need that tweet to come true. So that's a big reason why I root for it, besides being a huge Giannis fan and thinking thatannis is flat out the best player in the

world too so i think yannis gets it this year yeah and he's i mean every year he just looks sharper physically mentally especially mentally just all his comments after the euro basket stuff i was like oh yeah like he's i don't know every time like he's he's sort of like underlining his like elite mentality and i'm like yeah yeah yeah he had he had a great quote when someone asked him who does he think the best player in the world and he was like it's that the last guy Stan is always the best player in the world like that shows you exactly what he has his eyes on you know right exactly yeah because I feel like some people are like well that's the diplomatic answer right it's like well I'm not going to be say like oh well so-and-so who didn't win the chip is the best player that

it's like the very down the middle answer but yeah to your point i think it's more indicative of like no you got a win to have that honor and that's the honor i want therefore it's him right for sure right and i think janice was was genuine when he said like i remember all all the flack he caught during the net series was saying katie was the best play in the world if y'all remember that right like so you know janice is a dude who I think he, he, he wears his emotions on his sleeves. He shoots straight.

I think he genuinely believes that at right now, at this moment, going into this season, Steph is the best play in the world because like he said, he was the last guy standing. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense for Steph.

It doesn't make sense for Katie, I guess. Right. He was saying that about Katie while playing the nets. Right. Yeah. I mean, back, back then I had Katie over Giannis during that series.

So, I mean, I don't think he was that far off base. But then 50-14, five blocks, game six finals happened. I was like, I don't know now, man. Oh, so that was the Milwaukee Nets series where KD was just trying to do it with an injured James Harden and nobody else. That was one of the coolest performances in a losing effort in a playoff series. Just what KD was doing there, remembering that that was less than two years ago, does get me excited about the next season again. Right.

All right, finally, let's check in with Mark Schindler, NBA and WNBA writer, and check in with his hot prediction for the upcoming season. What's up? This is Mark Schindler, NBA and WNBA writer, and check in with his hot prediction for the upcoming season. What's up? This is Mark Schindler. My bold, potentially hot take this season is going to be that both the Pelicans and the Cavs are going to end up with home court advantage and win 50 plus games. I just totally see it happening.

I believe in both these teams. Granted, injuries can make this look like a real bitch of a take in a month but i believe it man it's gonna happen 50 wins is a lot of wins 50 is a lot i don't even know if you need 50 wins to get to get a four seed but um i do love this take i i love the calves as we've already discussed i love the pelicans but i mean this is one that we got fairly recently so it was after the donovan mitchell trade right how are you feeling dragonfly about the about the calves this year i'm pretty high on the calves too i mean they've got a really mean rotation you know darius i think darius is is

probably going to stake his claim as like a top three point guard this year. I think he's that good. You know, Evan Mobley, who is just a freak of a man child. You know, he's a guy who I think is probably going to be a defensive player the year before it's all done. You know, you got Jared Allen, you know, providing rim protection there. You got, you know, the backcourt of Darius and Donovan now. So, yeah, I've got pretty high hopes for the Cavs, too. I think that they're going to be, you know, a force to be reckoned with this season for sure. I mean, 50 wins is a lot.

50 wins is a lot. In the West, especially. So, like, maybe a little too much dip on his chip with the Pelicans getting to 50. But we'll see. I mean, what does Vegas say? That's 50 and 32. That's like 18 games over 500 that's pretty yeah I mean they got

yeah Vegas says Pels are coming at 44 and a half Cleveland 47 and a half so not not too out there yeah and then the Lakers oh 80 cool that's really cool thank you Vegas wow I'll take

those odds Vegas loves the Lakers. Vegas loves the Lakers. They got us winning 45 and a half games. Sir, look, if I put on my Laker color glasses, I say, that's numbers too low. If I take them off and come crashing back to earth, I say, I think we could go

maybe down a little bit. But hey, I'll put my glasses. Let me put my glasses back on. I don't like it when my glasses are on. Let's take a quick break, and we'll be right back to close it out with the very famous or infamous rapid-fire round of questions right after this. All right, here we go.

It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints. Here to tell you it's going down. On season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday all season long.

That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. No days off. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it. Ha! Yeah!

Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit. Who is it? None other than... Psyche! You'll have to tune in to find out. So tap in to Off the edge with cam jordan's podcast your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football listen on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hey everyone this is jimmy o'brien from john boy media i want to quickly tell you about my podcast it It's called Jimmy's Three Things. Episodes come out every Tuesday, and for about 30 minutes,

I dive into three topics in Major League Baseball that I am interested in. Breaking stories, trends, stats, weird stuff. Sometimes I make up my own stats. Sometimes I do a lot of research, and it ends up I was wrong the whole time. So that's something you can get in on. Use Jimmy's Three Things podcast to stay up to date on Major League Baseball and to make you just a smidge smarter than your friend who's a baseball fan. You listen to me and then you go tell him, hey, I know this and you don't. So I make you smarter than your friends. That's what Jimmy's Three Things is all

about. Listen to Jimmy's Three Things on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find it on the Talkin' Baseball YouTube channel, and new episodes drop every Tuesday. Hey, everyone. Jake Storielli here from John Boy Media. I want to tell you about my podcast, Wake and Jake. It's your go-to spot for anything and everything sports. Baseball, football, basketball, hockey, golf, college, whatever's hot in the street, we're talking about it on Waking Jake. So if you're a diehard fan or looking for the latest buzz, we've got you covered, no matter your favorite sport.

We're breaking it down with the passion that'll make you feel like you're in the stands with us. Plus, we've got a bunch of guests. Foolish Bailey, Jolly Olive, Chris Rose, and more. Mock drafts, rankings, whatever you want. It's the sports world. And come on and join our friends in the Wake and Jake family. You will not

regret it. So, new episodes Monday and Wednesday. You can watch along on the Wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen to Wake and Jake on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Dragonfly

Jones, you have entered the danger zone, which is the rapid fire round of questions. Now, we're just going to ask you something. We're going to ask for a quick prediction. Your thoughts on a certain award of this season. Just the first answer that comes to your mind. Just send it right back.

No time to dawdle on the answers. We keep this moving because it is known as the fastest segment in podcasting. So we appreciate your cooperation ahead of time. Are we ready? Yeah. Let's get it. Start the clock. I said i was ready like like there's a lot of pressure on me well there is jack we can't mess up these questions because

it's also incumbent on us to read quickly um you want to go first sure all right let's go let us get your mvp pick you mentioned yannis but if not him, who do you got? If not Giannis, I think it will be Luka. If not Luka, who do you think? If not Luka, I haven't thought that far.

But I think that, you know, with Jokic winning it as the sixth seed, I think, you know, with Russ winning it as like, what was he, the sixth seed too back when he won it, I think seeding might not matter as much. I do not see the Mavs finishing that high in the seeding. If not Giannis, I could see Luka for sure getting it.

Okay. If you had to pick maybe someone who was also in the Eastern Conference, maybe somebody who may have Cameroonian. There it is. Again, an may have... of Cameroonian. Oh! There it is, there it is.

Again, an interesting thought that I hadn't considered. That's pretty... Okay. All right, well, you heard it here. The biggest odds just went up. Embiid for MVP. You heard it here first. Thank you so much, DragonFighters.

Next question. Defensive player of the year. Who is it? Giannis. That's part of my hot take. I guess the cat's out of the year who is it janice that that's part of that's part of my hot take i guess the bag now i think janice pulls off the 94 akeem this season i think he wins mvp defensive player of the year finals mvp okay okay i like that very interesting um again i just in believing what players tell us about themselves uh joel and b did say in a

preseason he wasn't really interested in the mvp and was more looking at defensive player of the year award this year um which i think does make some sense for the sixers if like you know they have more of a perimeter based offense to just use him as like the third option. I think that it might be the most dangerous version of the Sixers. So just putting that name out there, Joel Embiid, who plays for the 76ers. Yes, he's got before.

Who do you got for rookie of the year? I think Paolo. I mean, I, I know that that's probably, you know, the boring answer here, but I mean,

those two summer games that he just went crazy, you know, the kid answer here. But I mean, those two summer games that he just went crazy. You know, the kid looked NBA ready from his first game at Duke. So, yeah, that's what I'm going with. Yeah. Oh, OK. I like that pick. I'm not going to suggest Embiid here because it would. Nobody on the Lakers, huh?

No, nobody there. Yeah. Who's who's your pick, Miles? Don't make me say it. No, say it. Go ahead. I don't like. Don't worry about me me let's just let's keep this fact-based i don't i don't i don't need to be like i haven't even seen a game yet okay next week i'm coming with very strong takes i want to feed my data set uh oh we'll see we'll

see moving on next question dragonfly jones most improved who is getting most improved next year most improved is such like a weird award you know i know is it is it like the you surprised us we didn't expect you to be this good or congrats on you know the progression we expected right it's like oh you were washed and then came back and resurrected like which what yeah i guess if you want to give versions maybe we'll give the who who came back from the depths most improved. And then maybe give us a, okay, young man, you're on your way. Most improved. Yeah, because I don't think any of us would have predicted Ja last season.

Okay, so the natural progression, you're on the way, way to go award. I would give that to Bones Highland. I think Bones Highland for Denver, like, you know, I expect Denver to be a one seed. You know, one seeds usually rack up in the awards.

So Bones is probably my, we predicted you getting better and you proved us right. And MIP. Okay. I do like Tyrese Maxey too, though. Oh, I think,

I think, I think another hot take is Tyrese Maxey could possibly be the best player in that backcourt I like that this episode slowly turned into the Jack being like slowly coercing the guest and to be like I mean what do you think about this guy like yeah I'll give you let me give you another shot at answering that Jack the vibe right now the most improved so I was actually on a podcast with a super producer jabari called baseline and we were doing like awards predictions and i was looking back at the history and it typically like it really seems to recently go to people who made the leap from

being good to being like either good to all-star caliber or last year all-star to like you know all nba caliber like six of the eight last most improved or jaw ingram oladipo yannis yannis with like one four years ago uh cj mccallum jimmy but. That's six of the last eight most improved. So it feels like it might be someone like Zion coming through and being in the MVP discussion. All of a sudden, people are like, well, we got to give him something. And that would be, I mean,

he'd definitely be better than last season. Hey, and then look, I hate to do this, but Dragonfly, Jack, I'm sorry, Dragonfly, I hate to do this, but, you know, Dragonfly, Jack, I'm sorry, Dragonfly. I got to apologize on behalf of the host here. This is the rapid fire round of questioning.

So we really, we really should keep on. We got a little lazy. You know, we're leaning into a little bit, but we have to focus. I was going to get to the, I was going to get to the part

where I thought Anthony Davis was an interesting pick for most improved. Oh, OK. I'm sorry. He's also involved in the MVP discussion, but no, that's OK. Start the clock again from the top.

What were we saying about Scottie Pippen Jr.? Don't worry about it. I think you got the last one. What's your finals prediction? I've got the Bucks, the Warriors. I've got the bucks the warriors i've got the bucks and six wow okay i like that i mean if the bucks have their three and they're healthy i think

they're gonna be pretty hard to beat is chris middleton back yet nah risk still it's still right when's he when's he back shooting risk though so so no real need for concern there but okay oh because they say first few weeks of the season okay yeah i'm i'm pulling for i really like chris middleton so i'm not gonna i'm not gonna lie i would like to see him back at his full full potential all right and finally dragonfly jones the most important question jack or miles jabari the most important question Jack or Miles Jabari wow that makes sense

I don't know if you saw I tried a power pose I saw that yeah you definitely got on your Clark Kent hero vibe right there no that makes sense that's cool yeah Jabari's cool too I'm not gonna lie well Dragonfly Jones thank you so much for joining us on this predictions episode of this.

You know, first of all, happy new season to you. And thank you for joining us. Where can people find you and listen to you and follow you and all that? Yes. Follow me on Twitter. Dragonfly Jones with a Z at the end. My podcast is on the Volume Network, Jenkins and Jones, with my good friends LeJethro Jenkins

and Mike Cardabasio. Appreciate y'all having me on, fellas. Always a blast. Oh, of course. Always great having you. And yes, you know where to find us. Check us out

at MadBoosties, B-O-O-S-T-I-E-S, because we spell it the right way, on Twitter. So be sure to follow us there. And again, happy new season to you, the listener.

Happy new season to you, Jack. And with your spirit. Yes, yes. And also with you. The league endureth forever. Thanks be to the league. Under his eye. Yes, exactly. Alright, y'all. That's been it for this edition of Miles and Jack got mad boosties.

We'll be back next week and I will probably be grinning ear to ear. Almost definitely. I'm Carrie Champion and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil.

I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first,

I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture.

Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos,

but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refuse to ask for directions. It's Space Gem, there are no roads. Good point. So, where are we headed? cosmos but we've lost our map yeah because you refuse to ask for directions it's space gem there are no roads good point so where are we headed into the unknown of course join us on in our own world as we uncover hidden truths navigate the depths of culture identity and the human spirit with a hint of mischief one episode at a time buckle up and listen to in our own world on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts trust us it's out of this world