The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #130: Southeast Division Breakdown with Dan Favale

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Jack and Producer Jabari were pleased to be joined by Bleacher Reports NBA writer and host of the Hardwood Knocks Podcast Dan Favale for today's Southeast Division breakdown. The trio discussed changes and expectations for each team and offered total win predictions!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. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast,

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Breaking down NBA win totals, baby. And you asked for it. You got it. We're doing the Southeast Division today. Eagerly anticipated Southeast Division. That's right. You're going to get to hear about the Wizards. You're going to get to hear about the Hornets.

With Bleacher Report's NBA writer, Dan Favalli. On today's episode, I'm Jack O'Brien. And I'm Miles. No, no. I'm producer Jabari. I'm Miles Gray. Yeah. Oh, that's right. We got

producer Jabari in the house on this week's episode of Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots.

Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots.

Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots.

Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots.

Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles and Jack on Mad Boots.

Miles and Jack on Mad Boots. Miles on Mad Boots. Miles on Mad It's 10K. There you go. And the drive is spinning, fading, hitting. Banner number 18 has been secured. The Celtics are NBA champions. Over the double T. Oh! Night-night. Giannis with the take.

Uh-oh, look out. No showtime. What you got, Giannis? Dan Favalli in the house not in the valley on long island uh how are you doing i am doing wonderful how are you doing good man we're thrilled to have you here the win totals are up i'm puzzled by a couple of the uh picks that we've got here um so we're we're gonna we're gonna get into it but first we gotta talk about shack v gobert um because there is so shack did a complex interview uh like with the with the outlet complex not like the interview was complicated with somebody who i was like who is this future looking fellow and jabari informed me it is shaq's son and was asked who is the worst all-time

nba player of all time and his answer was jabari rudy gobert good Good Shaq. To which his son said, he's worse than Ben Simmons. He's a bum too. But interestingly, he then went on to be like, he said, I walk weird. If you've seen his toes, you understand that there's a very good reason that he walks in a way that looks very uncomfortable. He said he can't turn his head around like he's in the original Tim Burton Batman suit because he played for his 120. And Rudy Gobert, he mentioned, has 250, is not playing for his 250.

I just thought it was revealing that he knew he had both those numbers top of mind. I don't know. What do we think? Is this just, you know, I guess I don't need to know, like, a read on it. It's just funny to see how competitive these guys are exactly you know the funniest thing about guys like Shaq guys like magic guys that make you feel good you know what I mean because they're smiling they're charismatic and all of that but sometimes we forget even you know even 20 years after their career 10 20 years after their career they're still that type of cutthroat

you know competitor and while yes i do you know and dan you know if you want to chime in here you know feel free while yes i do think that shack means it i also recognize his commitment to the bit because he did this you know throughout dwight howard's entire career and you know being plenty of other bigs you know you know that that have followed but basically it really does feel like it's a bit for me. I don't know if you think otherwise. As a colleague of the company that employs me, I am

Team Shaq. Honestly, I don't understand it, actually. If this was a player who was kind of a star and didn't make a ton of money, but Shaq was a megastar. He still has... I see him on any live sporting event, he's in three to five commercials for different brands.

So I don't, I guess it could be a bit. I just don't understand what he at this point gets out of it. And I will say, I wish he brought the same energy when he was playing, because I think if you ask some of his teammates, they probably would have said, why is Shaq so out of shape? Kobe was probably pretty big on that

at one point too. So I get he can't turn and stuff, but could he have been in better shape when he was playing? And maybe he would be able to turn his head now while I've also made all those all-star appearances, making the Hall of Fame. I love Shaq. He's a great character. I just don't understand what he gets out of

this personally, other than looking hashtag petty. $120 million seems like a lot of money to us. this personally other than looking uh hashtag petty yeah you know 120 million dollars seems like a lot of money to us uh to someone with 120 million dollars you know what seems like a lot of money 250 million dollars so i think he yeah it's just weird competitiveness that like it's always revealing like when you hear the behind the scenes stories about these great players like that seems to be the thing that can't be missing from their dna they have to be competitive in a way that feels like petty right it feels like huh man that it

must be uncomfortable to be inside your head you know you guys think Shaq would be as revered if he played in the social media era? I feel like people would hate him. Well, yeah, I think it's tough because I think his behavior and some of the antics would have adjusted them. You know what I mean? It wouldn't be the exact same. But yeah, if a lot of the old school players had to deal with social media, had to deal with the fact that someone could just have a camera on you 24-7 no matter where you are,

we would have a different opinion about that. I think Shaq would have been even more famous and beloved. Assuming the game was the same as it was in his, like if we're just taking the game as it was when he played and adding social media, I think he becomes even more popular and famous because he's somebody who happens to have all those things that make you a good basketball player. just going around doing like the sorts of viral stunts that you see on youtube like before people

were putting it on before there were cameras present like you know there's all those stories about him just like buying people's like groceries for them buying like all these things and again like before it was a viral stunt that you did on youtube so i just feel like he was made for like, I feel like he might be the person that, in my opinion, would have like gone up the most in people's estimation due to social media. But it sounds like you think the opposite? Yeah, I think

he would be viewed like a Draymond Green. And just based off the way, I think it's cool that he's done a lot of charitable stuff, but he also talks about it a lot, which I feel like might defeat the purpose a little bit. So. Dan's got Shaq smoke. I'm sorry. The other thing you think people would let in the social

media, even if the game was played the same way, he would have retired early because he would have been bullied because of his free throw shooting. That wouldn't have skated as much of it through his career. I'm not even a mega Rudy Gobert fan. I just find his entire stick to me at points just gets not even a mega Rudy Gobert fan. I just find his entire stick to me at points just gets super

ridiculous. But Rudy Gobert is boxing now, so hopefully we'll get a celebrity match. There you go. Just don't get Wembing Yama boxing. He wouldn't even have to leave the... It would be Dawson. He wouldn't even have to leave the corner. It would just be...

Just stick you. Whooping people from his corner. Well, I'd be afraid he'd get snapped in half. I mean, Jesus. He's bendy. It would be like watching giraffes fight. Where you don't realize how strong they are.

Have you seen giraffes fight where they're whipping with their neck? That is wild. Yeah. You gotta check it out, man. Have you seen giraffes fight where they're whipping with their neck? That is wild. Yeah. Like you, you gotta check it out. You have to. Is Jack like a member of some giraffe fight club that I don't know about? We don't talk about that.

Uh, I'm just happened to have the clip right here, uh, that I will just send to you. Um, unmarked file, uh, Wimby versus Chet in the post. That's right.

All right. Uh, another thing, another little off-season story the nba's board has expanded the coaches review rules permitting officials to retroactively call a foul if one takes place on a play that's being reviewed because the ball went out of bounds is essentially what it is. And I think based on my extensive legal education, like this feels like you're reading a legal document, but it seems like it's basically the foul has to have led to the ball going out of bounds. Right? Yeah.

Yeah. Look, I basically think everybody's going to love it until, you know, it's used against love it until you know it's used against your team but you know if it's used in favor of it's like good the right call was made i feel like people already hate it based off the response that they're like oh more replays that's what the game needs to be slowed down um i'm a fan of just because i hate the revisionist where people like oh this one play changed the entire outcome of the game when that's not really how it

works um so i like the idea of getting it correct i do wish they could figure out a way they have that like you know superstation in sakaka it's like why do the referees need to stop the game for so like i feel like we could review even more things in real time and it could just be quicker um and i'm just surprised that we haven't made that transition yet so if people want to complain about how their team loses they should be a fan of these rule expansions. But I do understand the people who are taking issue with, oh, is this going to slow down the pace of play at all? I mean, we know how this goes.

Those are the same people, or a large percentage of them are the same people. If it's not gotten right, they'll complain about that as well. We complain. That's what we do. My only complaint with this is that like they're saying that the call can only be reversed based on like the time elapsed between the uncalled foul and the out-of-bounds violation under review so like the the foul has to have happened like right before the ball went out of bounds essentially yeah i think they should be reviewing all the way back just like it should be a perpetual like yeah game is 15 seconds in

uh there's a call you put it in review and that 15 second review takes 45 minutes for them to uh it's like chess it goes to the pace of chess i think then people people and i would be satisfied um hey call me weird uh all right All right, let's take a quick break and we're going to come back and talk about the magic. We're going to talk about the heat and some big, some people that Vegas thinks

are going to take a big leap this year that I can't figure out necessarily why. We'll be right back. I'm Kerry Champion and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I just come here to play basketball every single day

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go? Actually, before we get to the Southeast Division, I know, listeners, I don't want to do it to you because you're all saying, I don't care about the rest of the NBA. Just give me the Southeast division win totals. Uh, but Dan, I am curious, you have looked at, uh, all the, uh, wind total projected wind totals for this year. Are there any that jump out to you as, you know, a particularly good bet one way or the other? Um, yeah, I mean, I think there's been a couple, The one that kind of stands out to me and it feels like a very easy over is Oklahoma City at 56

and a half. This is a team that I feel like if they win fewer than 63, 65 games, I'll be pretty shocked. They're so deep. They're going to care about winning in the regular season again. Jalen Williams is going to get better. Chet Homer is going to get better. They added Alex Caruso.

Isaiah Hartenstein gives them an element if you want to face the Timberwolves or go up against the Nuggets with Jokic. He'll help there. I understand people's skepticism in the vein of, well, how will they look in the postseason? Sure, but during the regular season, this team wins fewer than 60 games.

All of their team will have been abducted by aliens or something at that point. This is to me very clearly a 60 plus win team. They came in first last year in the Western Conference and won 57 games. They are being projected to come in first again in the Western Conference

and win 56.5. This kind of ties into my overall that I guess a thing that I'm noting in these Vegas over-unders is that the teams that had a lot of wins last year

they're just teams that had a lot of losses last year they're just expecting everybody to like kind of get a little bit closer to the middle so like you know Boston who seems like they're going to be just like i don't know why they would be worse other than porzingis uh you know 64 last year they're being expected to drop five games this uh this year but like

as we'll get to some of the teams at the bottom are being expected to come up like 12 games where their roster kind of looks fairly similar so um yeah with okc even though it feels like they got better it just feels like they're like yeah but they're still not going to be like so good that somebody's going to have to like lose some of these games feels like where it's coming from. I don't know. But yeah, I agree with that. It feels like OKC could get to 60 pretty easily. 36.5 for the Spurs feels high, too. I love

Wemby, and I believe he could do whatever, but they added Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes. How many extra wins with some improvement from Wemby is that this team still has no shooting, and the offense could still be rough for patches so i think the um i think the people who think they're going to challenge for like the sixth spot or even get into the play and it's just like have we looked like everyone but the jazz and the blazers are actively trying to win and so i thought you know

the spurs feel like they should be more around like the 32 33 so i love when that was an easy under for me yeah the west is that that was we we covered one of the western divisions the pacific last week and that was kind of my refrain in that is like someone's gonna have to lose games in this in the west you know not everybody's gonna can like go up and wins and yeah san antonio going up by 14 wins just feels, yeah, it's like kind of the sexy pick and probably like a lot of public money on that prediction. But yeah, we'll get to the Eastern Conference equivalent in this very section. But up first, we're just going in descending order of the Southeast Division.

We got the Magic being predicted to come in at 47 and a half wins per draft Kings. They've added KCP, which is, seems like exactly what they needed. Um, they needed some shooting Corey Joseph. They drafted a rookie Tristan De Silva,

uh, parted ways with Markel Fultz and Joe Ingalls, the clown Prince of the NBA himself, while re-signing and extending all their core players, Franz and Paolo. All right, KCP. This is the move everybody wanted them to make. I personally, it it feels like a good move but it's also i feel like it's being treated like they added a number two guy who can shoot as opposed to just like you know somebody who's uh a good piece who can shoot you know like it's not like kcp is this like gravitational force who's gonna like change the spacing on the court i mean he is, but I don't know.

What are you guys' thoughts on this win total? 47.5 after last year winning 47. So it's basically exactly the same. It feels too high. I like the KCP signing, but I liked it a lot more when I thought that wasn't going to be

their entire offseason, basically. This is someone they needed needed a shot maker who could work off the dribble and stretch the floor and they don't get that in KCP. They don't get that at all. Even if you think Jet Howard is going to get some minutes and give them some motion shooting element. When we watched them play in the half

court last year, Paolo and Franz would just keep running into bodies and defenses are not going to respect this offense still. And KCP is good, but a lot of stuff he did in Denver was inside the arc from his off ball movement. He's not going to have that same wiggle room on the offensive end here.

So barring just another demonstrative leap from their top three players, which I guess is possible, but you know, you mentioned Franz shot under 30% from three last year. His outside efficiency has declined year over year since he came in the league. I think this is a really good team. When you factor in that I don't think their offense is going

to be good enough yet with at least a couple of these teams need to be healthier. Miami, Cleveland, and maybe Joel Embiid doesn't miss more than half the season. The wins and then Indiana getting a full year of Pascal Siakam with them after going through a training camp.

I think the East top end talent is definitely inferior to the West, but like that middle class, I feel like there's going to be fewer wins up for grabs to go around there. Yeah. So I just 47 and a half. So that's 48. If you want to go over, it's not a huge jump from where they were last year, but I think that they could theoretically maybe be a little bit better of a team, but win just as many, if not fewer games.

Where do you, do you think they're in that middle ground? The reason why I asked is because I've seen people saying that they could jump into that top three and be one of the, you know, one of the, you know, strongholds in the Eastern conference. Do you think that, you know, obviously you're not, you're not as KCP pilled as, as I am admittedly. But you, you just feel like there wasn't enough improvement? My whole thing, what's frustrating about them is that they could have done a myriad of different

things, and I just would have said, yeah, top three is possible. It didn't need to be, oh, they traded for LaMelo Ball. It could have been Anthony Simons. It could have been Malcolm Brogdon. You could have gone up and down the spectrum. You just needed a little bit of an upgrade in that department department and you kind of got someone who he helps you but kcp is more of a luxury than a necessity to this team where it's wow jaylen sucks and him is your defensive backcourt that's incredible you already had the second best defense in the league and so i'm coming at it from that

perspective i think we would need to look back and be like oh like franz wagner and palo bencaro all of a sudden just started in a bunch of off-the-dribble threes this year for their offense to have measurably improved. I mean, Franz Wagner went from shooting 35% from three rookie, 36% second year, and then 28% last

year. So I guess the whole win total for me kind of hinges on was that an aberration or was the first two years an aberration and then the other question of course is like paulo is going into his third season right that that's usually around the time people who are really good as a lot of people think he is continue to just like take leaps and like between second and third season is when we've seen a lot of our biggest leaps from some of our best players

so like that's i'm kind of a slight over on this one because uh i because i think palo takes takes a leap uh i think franz is at least on the like first second year side of 28 percent like i think he's probably low 30s uh this is based totally on the fact that uh they got rid of markel fultz and he was messing up his shooting the osmosis and now that he's gone uh franz will it's so weird that like there's so many every time faults not only did he just like suddenly forget how to shoot but then like he came on to a 76ers team and like ben simmons like was never a good shooter but like that suddenly became a thing where like he was just completely in his head about not being able to shoot free throws. And then Fultz goes down to Orlando and then suddenly somebody down there forgets how to shoot completely. I do think it is contagious.

And that getting rid of him was probably a good move, personally. So I'm a slight over there based on completely absurd reasons. Jabari, anything to add there? I am a slight over as well based on just as equally as absurd reasons. Again, I like the KCP edition a little bit more than you guys. And I'm not saying that you're wrong in any way.

In fact, in all likelihood, the person that's going to be most right out of this is going to be one of you two. But I can see this team winning 48, 49 games. I think regular season, they're actually okay. I still worry for a lot of those same reasons, Dan. I still worry about them in a postseason situation. That's a good point, too.

This could be like the classic. They really beat you in the regular season, but they're kind of a paper tiger in the playoffs. And also, they could make a trade that just kind of inflate their offense yeah just get some shooting yeah some more shooting um actual yeah yeah i will say kcp also uh prior to this played on two teams that had the best passers in maybe two of the best passers in the history of the game with lebron and the joker so you're saying they need to resign Markel Fultz still. They need another great slasher who can. Yeah,

exactly. All right. Moving on to the heat. Uh, they are being projected at 44 and a half wins. Um, I don't think it's going to be 44 and a half. I think it'll definitely be a whole number of wins.

Uh, but last year they were at 46. Um, the biggest changes, and this is never how you want to kick off the, the biggest changes section of the doc added Alec Burks and a ton of rookie talent via the draft, um,

and free agency, uh, re-signed or extended bam thomas bryant kevin love haywood high smith who i love um and then there's the jimmy of it all reportedly wants another max deal he is 34 hasn't played in more than 64 regular season games since I don't think this is right. 2016, 2017. I think that's right. I looked. I mean, probably the other two like shortened seasons that were 72 games.

That doesn't surprise me at all. Actually, didn't play in the postseason last spring. Now reportedly interested in playing for the Nets. If unable to extend with the Heat. That one blew my mind. They should waive him if he really wants to play for the Nets. Use a better team as leverage. I would dare him to go side with the Nets.

Go side with the Knicks. Yeah. We would definitely take you on the 76ers, Jimmy Butler. But the Nets is such an in like why it seems probably like a gambit like he's like well i'll go to this place that has like a even bigger market than miami uh it feels like a gambit that would not work with pat riley yeah you know riles is the last guy you want to play that game with i'm sorry and

i got i'm not even buying into the folklore of it like but just based on how he is negotiating how he has worked over the last 30 to 40 years i don't think riles is gonna you know even blink at this by the way the nets are predicted to uh win 19 and a half games this year. Last year, they won 32. They're being projected to be... They have the dead last lowest win total in the entire NBA based on

Vegas predictions. Maybe he's a Cooper Flagg fan. Is that what this is? He loves Flagg. Anyways, 44.5 wins uh they won 46 last year i don't know why they would be much different other than just the middle class getting better um which seems like a good enough reason to me so i'm probably right in there on this one this feels about right yeah i don't like this team particularly,

but as you mentioned, they won 46 while dealing with a whole bunch of injuries last year. And even if we assume that Tyler Hero and Jimmy Butler miss time like they always do, you have to assume Terry Rozier will be healthier. Losing Caleb Martin hurts, but I like Jack. I really like Haywood Highsmith. If Jaime Jaquez gets better.

And they should be really good defensively. And if Bam continues to shoot threes, like he kind of was with Team USA, I know the line is different, obviously, for FIBA. Maybe their offensive ceiling is a little bit higher. That's my biggest question with them, is they've been bottom 10 in offense the past two years. They play so freaking slow.

So can they speed it up? Can they get some rim pressure? But I'm inclined to go over um but i will admit this is the team i think more than any other team in the nba that i have such a bad feel for like what their floor and ceiling is yeah i think we all do because the reality is you look at it on paper and it's like okay i could see this or that and then they come out and they just grind their way to 46 47 wins yeah i'll take the over there as well it's just injury based basically and who knows how everybody's gonna hold up or like how many games everybody's gonna want to play

um and whether they're just gonna try and grind it out in the postseason as an eight seed like they seem to they're like that's where we want that's that we're bad. Okay. Up next, we have the Hawks who got rid of DeJounte, basically everything else intact. Uh, their coach is still the bad guy from karate kid three. Um, they won 36 last year. Uh,

Vegas has them at 33 and a half. I don't know. I don't mind the over here for some reason. I feel like, you know, the DeJounte experiment with Trey didn't work. Bogdan is maybe the person who like brings a little Olympic fairy dust back with him. He was pretty awesome. Seemed to be feeling himself a little bit. And I don't know, I've seen Trey. This is probably just like traumatized 76ers fan in me, like from years ago where he just destroyed us. Uh, but he just, he does have a ceiling that I don't understand why he doesn't get to more often.

And maybe just like letting Trey cook, uh, will lead to a higher win total. will lead to a higher win total. It feels like a couple years ago, they were expected to win like 50 games, and then that never materialized, and now we're just off them, probably for good reason. But I can't quit them.

I'm going slide over for the Atlanta Hawks. What do you guys think? I mean, they don't have their first-round pick for the next three years. They have an incentive to win, which is why I'd be inclined to go over. I do just worry they're going to be reliant on at least two really young players in Dyson Daniels and Zachary Riesesche.

And just the learning curves there, I wonder, like, okay, how does that look? Dyson Daniels, great defender, iffy on offense. Zachary Riesesche is not elite at any one thing, but are you going to ask him to check elite wings? What does he look like on offense against NBA length and speed? The

offensive ceiling here does feel really high. I still worry about their defense because they don't have a two-way wing. DeAndre Hunter is probably the closest they come, and that's if you really stretch the definition of two-way. it wouldn't shock me if they were like a 31 32 win team but i think what will help help them is they're you know unless something just happens with trey and he demands out or something they're not going to be a team that trades out of winning

games by season's end because they have no incentive to do so right and that's exactly where i was going to just quickly ask you. It feels like we've heard the Trae Young rumors the better part of the last two or three years. Honestly, right after his rookie year, it feels like we've been hearing it since then. Why do you think his name is always on the trade

market? What would that market actually look like for him? I think his name's always in the trade market because based off everything we know is that he has to be incredibly difficult to deal with. He also plays a very like grading style on his teammates because he has the ball so much. And if you're Luka Doncic, that's fine. But we kind of know now that like not everyone wants to play with that.

Not everyone wanted to play with peak James Harden and those guys, it's tough for them to adjust. I actually think of the three, Luka has probably done the best job adjusting his game. Like he played a lot faster last year. So until Trey's willing to play off the ball a little bit more, it becomes harder to build your team around him, especially when you consider, I know Hawks fans really into like, oh, he's been trying for like a season and a half on defense. It really doesn't matter when you watch because he's just so small.

So I think that's a big reason. And I really honestly do believe he would have been traded already. If that sentiment wasn't held around the league as well, because like, if you're the Hawks, look at what the nets got from a kale bridges was never made an all-star team probably needs to be the third option on a championship team. There's a real chance. If not a guarantee that

if you traded trey young right now he nets you substantially less than that and how do you win that press conference when you already traded away your first round picks and so i do believe just like i believe the nets would have traded mikhail bridges even if they never made that rockets trade if there was an offer in line with something like that i believe the hawks would have traded trey young already, that's fair. I think my favorite part of that is you mentioned him playing off-ball. If I'm not mistaken, I feel like when they got DeJounte, the Hawks team account put out a clip of Trey Young playing off-ball

in two possessions over the course of his career and saying, and they said he couldn't play off-ball. If I'm not mistaken, that did take place. I'm going to pray that into existence if it didn't. I hope it did, but I was in the bag for that pairing, by the way. I was somewhere here. I look at Trey, and I don't actually see a reason. When I look at Harden, and he's done some adjusting with the Clippers, some.

When I look at Harden, I don't see someone who's like, okay, if you want to throw the ball on the post or have him screen, I look at Trey and see someone who see someone who's like, okay, if you want to throw the ball in the post or have him screen, like, I look at Trey and see someone who should be able to fly around off the ball, set pin downs for him, make shots that way, and I don't know if he doesn't want to do it, or if they just haven't tried it enough, but, you know, people

were up in arms because, like, his catch-and-shoot frequency that accounted for his possessions went up by, like, 2% or something year over year, and it's like, that's not enough to be considered, oh, I can play with another ball dominant type playmaker so um i do believe he could play that way i i just i guess at this point we just have to default to he doesn't want to i don't like i don't know what the other right there would be all right these are the two that i found a little bit confounding i'm curious to get your read on this. We got the Hornets,

who last year won 21 games. They went 21 and 61. This year, they're being predicted to win 33 and a half, gaining 12 wins. Their biggest changes, they added Alex Saar, Keyshawn George,

and Bub Carrington via the draft. Cool name. Traded for Josh Green, signed Taj Gibson. Is that the same Taj Gibson who's been in the league for the past 45 years? Keontae Johnson, Musa Diabate, re-signed Miles Bridges and Seth Curry.

I don't know. This is one of the biggest risers in the projected win totals this season. And I can't quite figure out why. Like, is it because LaMelo is going to come back and be like a big wins above replacement guy? Jabari and I were kind of talking about this before we started recording and Jabari looked into it. I guess three years ago, LaMelo was healthy and played in 75 games and they won 43 so is this a situation where people are still remembering that and think oh you know one of these years is going to be healthy and then that's that's when we're all in big big trouble or is it just

like what why would they go from 21 wins to 33 and a half that's it so i was looking at fandle they have the hornets at 29 and a half that's like a pretty big difference between markets yeah yeah and there is like some variance yeah that's draft kings on our end i'd probably still take the over on 33 and a half um for the reasons you just outlined with if what mellows due for a healthy season and I do think he's a very valuable player. I also think they have sneaky depth on this roster. Brandon Miller

was really good on defense last year. He already had the pull-up middie going, so I think he's someone who will get better. If Mark Williams is healthy, that's someone who is pretty good. Miles Bridges is super useful if he's going to be able to stay on the court. And they have some interesting backups

where, okay, or secondary guys where if they're healthy, you know, a Josh Green, I'm a big fan. Cody Martin's like, before there was Caleb Martin, like everyone was up in arms in Cody Martin. That's why he's still in Charlotte

and Caleb isn't. So I don't, I'd be curious to see if this could be a team though. And maybe that accounts for the variance. Are they trying to bake in? Like, well, are they a team that's going to trade out of winning? Because that's what I can't figure out. Their new regime, the ownership,

the front office, they've done everything through, like, a real long-term lens, especially when you look at last year's trade deadline. And so if the Hornets are on pace to win, like, 35 games in January, mid-January, early February, what's to stop them from, like, oh, like, LaMelo has some injuries to made-up body parts, and-January, early February, what's to stop them from like, oh, Lomelo has some injuries to made-up body parts, and oh,

look, we traded Josh Greener, we traded Miles Bridges, so there's definitely combustibility there, but if you told me Lomelo's going to play in 60 or more games, I think I would take the over here. Okay. Yeah, that's fair. So, you know, if that were to take place, you basically have them as taking the

biggest leap, like leap across the league? Yeah, I mean, what did they win last year? They were at 20... 21. 21? Yeah, I think that's fair. It would not shock me. If they had good health, I don't know if they're a 500 team, but they seem like a 37 to 40 win team, maybe.

To be fair, I tend to be way higher um than consensus on lamello like i think he could be like a second team all nba player next season if he's healthy i just think he is so transcendent on the offensive end and so if he's going to be on the court i think they're going to win basketball games is that like do the metrics back is he like a big metrics guy i actually don't know he's like a big i love watching this guy uh i love like anytime that there is a lamello highlight on my twitter feed i am slowing down to check it out is he also like a big wins above replacement guy he is like so when you do like the breakdowns like offensively yes but sometimes like there are points where it feels like he gives back statistically like just

as much on the defensive end but offensively like just when you look at the assist totals the scoring the usage um he is like a i don't know if i would call him a stats like an advanced metrics darling offensively but like he's pretty close to it like those catchalls tend to love him on the offensive end all right and finally we've got to the team that everybody's waiting for us to talk about. And that is, of course, the Washington Wizards, who added Sadiq Bey, Malcolm Brogdon via trade, Jonas Valachunas, sign and trade. They removed the interim label from Coach Keefe and made him the organization's 26th head coach of all time they're expected to go up seven wins so after winning 15 last year yeah they won 15 last year uh they're being projected to win 22

and a half on draft gangs or no on mgm i don't know this is another one where i'm like yeah i could see i mean this one this is another one that feels more like it's just like a reversion to the mean, right? Like it's like they were so bad last year. Things went so badly for them. Like for instance, we were not talking about them in this episode, but just as another illustration, they're expecting Detroit to win 10 more games this year than last year because it's just hard to lose as many games as Detroit did last year.

So it feels like there's a lot of that going around maybe, but what do you guys read on how the Wizards will be? They will finish under. I think the front office will make sure of that. We will see Alex Saar play point guard or something wild if they're on pace to win more than those games. And I think, look, Malcolm Brogdon, good.

Kyle Kuzma's good. At least one of those dudes is getting traded. Jonas Valanciunas was signed to be traded, it really seemed like. I know that in the new lottery odds era, it's more about being a bottom four team rather than trying to have the worst record. But this doesn't feel like a team

that's going to leave anything to chance. Like they are going to be, if they are on pace to hit this over, um, will Dawkins and, um, is good. And Michael Winger are going to make sure that they do not hit the over.

I'm, I'm convinced of that. They're flagging for Cooper in the pooper for Cooper. Yeah. And the pooper for Cooper. This right here is why I definitely let Dan go first. Because I didn't... Full disclosure, Dan. You have to give your same take that you had heading in.

I was coming in here saying, I'm going to put it out there. I'm going to put it out there. Dan, talk me off the ledge. No, no, no. Well, hold on. I didn't say that. He said top four team in the East.

I definitely did not say that. But I will say, I like... definitely, I definitely did not say that, but I, I will say I like, you know, finally I'm looking at a roster. I was like, these are NBA players. These are actual guys that can be developed and be worked with.

I like, you know, I like the fact that they made, you know, coach Keith, you know, like the, the permanent head coach,

or at least, you know, for now they remove the interim deal. He's, you know, he's got a, you know, 16 year career of,

you know, player development. And if ever there were a team that needs that, this is that team. But I will thank you because you have talked me out of, I was definitely saying, I could see this team win 25 games, and I might have even

foolishly, foolishly put some money on it. Wow. So thank you. You sound like somebody who like you ever, do you guys play fantasy? Like you you sound like somebody who like you ever do you guys play fantasy like you ever talk to somebody who's like a die hard for a specific team like i play fantasy football and like people will be like yo the fourth string running back for the chicago bears man like people are sleeping on him but i've been watching him in the preseason he's like really really good like you sound like somebody who's just like read too much about the jack said i'm

a degenerate is what you just said you sound like you did too much research on the wizards is what it sounds like it's awesome like are you employed by the wizards trying to increase the trade value these guys like that person in jack's fantasy league who's trying to sell you on this poo-poo platter of players to get Patrick Mahomes or something. That's what that's out of. They have actual NBA players. They do. It's a pro time. Who's like the tank commander.

And there's a chance that Bub Carrington or Bilal Koulibaly who I love the latter might just be their best player on the roster by season's end. That's a pretty wild situation to be in. Okay, so Jack, I did say the Jordan Poole of it all. I did acknowledge that.

Nothing against him. I wish him well. You said pool party. That's about what it's like. America is being invited to the pool party again. Last year didn't go so well, but this year, get ready for some splash. We're back. Yeah, we're back, baby. year get, get ready for some splash back. Yeah, we're back,

baby. Uh, all right, let's take a quick break. And when we come back, Dan will be in the hottest of hot seats. He will be in the midst of the shootout at the rapid fire corral. Uh,

we'll be right back. I'm Carrie champion. And this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil.

I ain't really near them. Why is that? I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black.

I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

In a galaxy far, far away. No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember? Right, in our own world. We're two space cadets. And totally normal humans. Sure, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars,

discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time. We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right. And if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde. Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills. Hey!

Join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar laughs, and super corny dad jokes. Listen to In Our Own World as a part of the My Cultura podcast network available on the

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes. Most of the time.

It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey. But this was only the beginning in a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved.

football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron, and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And Dan, so this is the fastest segment in not just basketball podcasting, podcasting in general.

We can ask you questions. You're coming back with just the first answers that come out of your brain, just sounds, whatever. It can be prelingual we just want we want it fast okay and if you slow it down at all uh we will blame you and hold hold it against you does that sound good sounds harrowing let's do it yeah uh all right uh brian start the clock oh oh yeah i don't like that like that. I don't feel good. It's not becoming... Brian, it's okay

if you don't do whatever you want. Do what you say, Brian. Alright, we've been asking our guests what is the official state bird of your state, in this case, New York? Blue Jay. I have no idea.

Peacock. We don't know. We don't care about that. What is the unofficial state bird of New York? Like a crow? Black crow? Yeah. Okay. That is incorrect. We would accept

a trash pigeon, a big bird, but the suit smells like urine, or just straight up a rat. Any of those would have been. Okay. Yeah. All right. Jabari, on to you.

What is your favorite all-time throwback shoe and jersey? And I noticed you got a TMAC jersey back there, but would that be in there? No. My favorite throwback jersey would be those Vancouver Grizzlies teal jerseys. They're just spectacular. Yeah, with the bear. Oh, yeah. They got the bear on there.

My favorite throwback shoe would be a T-Mac shoe. I don't remember the actual edition of it, but it was from Adidas. It had the spider web with the blue. It was white, and it had the blue lines that looked like spider webs. It was in all those Got Milk magazine ads. When I finally copped a pair of those and i was playing youth basketball i thought i was so freaking cool um those those were awesome man i just googled t-back throwback spider web and uh google does not know what to do with that uh so uh all right What's the best slice for your money in all New York? Ooh.

Of pizza. Oh, not cheesecake? Might need to think about that then. Two Brothers or Two Boots. There's like a place in Rockefeller Center or something that's the best pizza I ever had. It's like some hole in the wall place. I think it might be called like Two Boots Pizza or something.

Really? Rockefeller Center. Hot damn. The Rockefellers still doing it after all these years all right um that is also incorrect but i won't get into it um i i'm a fan of uh john's uh or uh bleaker street pizza but those are both that happen to be around where i lived when I was in New York. Probably biased. Jabari, what you got? We're heading into the year. We're doing all these fantastic breakdowns. Southeast

division, of course. What is your biggest sleeper team or what are your sleeper teams heading into the season? I just want to pick the Pelicans so you guys can yell at me again like you have the pass. I don't know. I kind of like it. I feel like people forgot that dejante is on the pelicans now um i don't have any centers so it's like easy to forget them

i guess i'm just a center there uh i think for the sake of variety the houston rockets have like 25 guys that belong in an nba rotation and i actually think that we're gonna look back on this draft and wonder why reed shepherd wasn wasn't taken, number one. That guy gives off Steph Curry vibes, and just the way he gets to his mid-range, the shooting in general, I think he'll end up being a really good passer. I don't know how much they're going to play him because they have so many dudes, but Jabari Smith, really good.

Ahmed Thompson, really good. They have Shane Goon. Dylan Brooks is a psycho. Tari Eason is a defensive chaos creator. I don't know if they're interested in winning, but they won more. Were they 41-41 or 40-42 last year? That's a team that people don't have penciled

into the play-in territory or even the top six running. It would not shock me if their offense gets a little bit better, the defense is still elite, and this is a team that we're talking about late in the year as a dark horse. Well, he did it Jabari. I know you said no chance. He makes it through another rapid fire round of questioning, but Danny beans, Dan for Valley, you have done it. You have made it. Uh, thank you so much for joining us once again on miles and jack up Matt boosties.

And sometimes Jabari, uh, where can you, follow you, all that good stuff? They can find all my written work at Bleacher Report. And I am podcasting always about the NBA at large on the Hardwood Knox podcast. You can check out all my content there. Thank you guys so much for having me. Amazing. Absolutely our pleasure. Wonderful having you.

Jabari, where can people find you? I'm easy at Jabari A. Davis. All right. You can find me on Twitter at Jack underscore O'Brien. And be sure to search hashtag Mad Boosties, Mad B-O-O-S-T-I-E-S for show links and updates. And be sure to join the conversation on our Discord, which you can also find the link for when you search hashtag my boosties that is gonna do it for another episode back next week with more nba and we're only getting closer to the season folks uh and another uh divisional preview and over under preview we'll talk to

y'all then. Bye. Bye. Bye. I'm Carrie 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 Reese on the iHeart Radio 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, Caitlin 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. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, is sponsored by Diet Coke. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you stream podcasts.