The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #134: Northwest Division Breakdown and Bodega KAT with Tony Jones

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

The guys were happy to be joined by The Athletic’s Tony Jones for today’s Northwest Division breakdown. They also discussed the KAT trade and expectations for Tony’s Knicks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's so much beauty in Mexican culture like mariachis delicious cuisine and even lucha libre Join us for the new podcast lucha libre behind the mask a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre and I'm your host Santos Escobar emperor of lucha libre and a wwe superstar listen toantam! Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you stream podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs?

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in to Off the edge with Cam Jordan podcast your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football listen on the I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast Muhammad Ali George Foreman 1974 George Foreman was champion of the world Ali was smart and he was handsome story behind the Rumble in the Jungle is like a Hollywood movie, but that is like a Hollywood movie. But that is only half the story.

There's also James Brown, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba. All the biggest black artists on the planet. Together in Africa. It was a big deal. Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman and the Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. MTV's official Challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The Challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride.

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with our Northwest Division expectations with the athletics very own Tony Jones. On today's episode, I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is... Myles and Jack are not boosies! Raw! Dacic did three! Got it!

And Luka Dacic hits 10K! There you go. Indeed, driving, spinning, fading, hitting! Batter number 18 has been secured. The Celtics are NBA champions. Over the double team. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH息9, Yannis with the take. Uh oh, look out. No show time. What you got, Yannis? Tony Jones from the Athletic.

You cover the Sixers nuggets and jazz this season hey first of all welcome to the family the Sixers fam baby hey why don't you get in here for a hug welcome to the family yeah bring it in bring it in when you hear your family yeah good to see you man so I'm also that that's an interesting triangle of cities to be going between it's like, okay, you got Salt Lake, Denver, and the Sixers. So yeah, you're getting you're getting some mileage. This year. Listen, man, like, you know, if you're not versatile, what are we doing? That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The best ability availability is availability. availability. Is availability.

Yep, yep, yep. But yeah, it's good to see you. I mean, like we said, there's actual basketball to talk about rather than just sort of these fleeting fantasies of what it might look like. And I think the first one that I think we were excited to see is a cat making his debut as a Nick. And I know you're Nick's guy. So I'm very curious from your standpoint, like what's your expectations are to see cat?

Uh and Tibbs back together everything's gonna be fine. And so everybody's calf starts falling off the bone because they're playing 46 minutes a night right No, seriously, right? Yeah, I think you know if you're being objective about the Knicks like I think the starting five has probably supplanted Denver is the best In the league women is boston starting five the best in the league Yeah, I think so boston starting five is the best in the league, but I think the Knicks are Comfortably in the top five right like we can say they comfortably have one of the best five starting fives in the league because of

Cat and probably not number five. Yeah, I'd either like competing with Boston at this point, right? Yeah Yeah, but I operate off of a Twitter mentality where everything is arguable So I say top five so sure right not to make it arguable, right? Right. Yeah But also if you said it with your chest you more engagement, because we know how Twitter works, too. You know, you're like, it is the top five. And then you get more engagement. Unquestionably, the top number one, the top one starting five.

The top one started five. But the question for the Knicks is, where's the depth, man? News McBride is the sixth man at this point. Oh, you didn't know. You don't need depth in the NBA. You just play everybody the whole time. Yep. But in the tips.

And he has tried to do that for 20 years. I did enjoy, I think it was Josh Hart called him the big bodega, which I think I could see that sticking, you know, cats, bodega cats. There's just like a A to C kind of poetry brain aspect to it. And I feel like, yeah, I feel like we need something to make him New York. So I like that, that Josh Hart, you know, who's a DMV guy, who's a DC guy, you know, is, is, has figured out a way to ingratiate himself as much as he has

with, with New York and the culture of New York. So, you know, him saying him coming up with Bodega, you know, the big bodegas is, um, is, is pretty impressive. Right. He's from Washington. Yeah, I know. Yeah. I mean, or, you know, you could make call him big Dembo or something.

Cause you know, he's Dominican and you're in New York city. I feel like you could do something a little more, a little more nuanced, but I guess, I mean, we wanted to go to Dominican route. We could call them the big Washington Heights. Right. Let's do that. Yeah. The Carl Anthony cities instead of towns is a pitch that I've been working on. Wow. Because New York's a city more than a town in many ways. Right. Right. Right. Do we think he's the final piece? Are they ready for a title run or they need a couple extra? It sounds like you're thinking. I think they need more depth.

Mm hmm. You know, that's what I think they need. I mean, you're not going to get through. OK, so right now they have what eight playable guys. Sounds about right. That's what they had in the playoffs. And then they traded a two for one. So. Yeah. Can you get through 82 games with eight playable guys? Because the first five are great like right no question. I mean, you know Brunson heart

Ananobe cat I mean like that's just Really rock solid Yeah, it's a dynamic five it can defend it's got so much versatility you can do this But you can't count on Mitch Robinson to be there You know, obviously count on Deuce Deuce is really good So I think you have to get something out of maybe Tyler Colick. I think you have to get something Out of pressures, which you got to get a lot out of pressures of sure I feel like pressures that you can play some minutes, right? Yeah, he can play some minutes He can be an innings either in the regular season, you know, Landry Shamett TJ Warren campaign

Yeah, I don't know man. I'm not I'm not too worried about I think I don't know. I'm just being I'm listen I'm just being me. I'm being pessimistic because I'm a stick Knicks fan. Yeah. I would not know anything about that. As the Sixers fan. I would say this. I think the Sixers, the Celtics and the Knicks are on paper to class of the Eastern Conference.

I honestly think you can add the Indiana Pacers to that group. I know that a lot of people are adding Milwaukee to that group, but somehow I don Indiana Pacers to that group. I know that a lot of people are adding Milwaukee to that group, but somehow I don't add Milwaukee to that group. Cause I don't think outside of Giannis and Dame, they're good enough. Right.

Yeah. Double ankle surgery. Not a huge fan of that for Middleton. No, never, never, never. We got to see though, there was a moment in the Memphis game where we saw Jaws ankle slip for a second and I got very very worried but Jenkins said it was just a minor little tweak And he will be he'll be fine for the regular season, which is a few weeks away

So I'm not sure what exactly that means if he needs that whole time or no, it's it's it's not no It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Jaws, the guy. I mean, Memphis is the team that I think has a chance to make a lot of noise this year. Yeah, yeah. I think they're a great overpick on wins, although I think I think like Vegas is onto them, too, like they're everybody is feeling Memphis right now. Yeah, it's a lot.

It feels like a lot of pressure on Edie for somebody who like heading into the summer league. I was like, I've got this secret sneaky sleeper team. It's Memphis. And I think Edie is going to be good, but now he's like the favorite to be rookie of the year. And it just seems like a lot of these hopes are resting on his shoulders, but we did get to see Jaya throwing up for him and him put it down. So yeah, his best attribute this year is going to be his ability to set screens for Jaya.

Yeah. And I think that he might walk into the league is one of the best five screen setters in the league and If you give Jah great screens good luck stopping him from getting downhill Yeah, good luck stopping him without screens, but especially when you win Yeah, you can scheme for that and then if you have a great screener, you know creating mismatches and stuff like that It's a bad for the rest of the league. We did have our first bad business decision of the season.

Kim Whitmore baptized Walker Kessler twice in under 30 seconds, which I don't know, is that how baptisms work? The more you can do, it's like rate of baptism. And I think you just need the one. Oh, really? I don't know. You just I don't know if you ever double dip for a baptism. Hey, can we get another one for like cheap? 50 percent off.

Priest. I mean, I'm already in the water. I saw it in the first one was ugly. Right. Yeah. The second one was just like the first. I said, well, it was like he cut back door. He cut Right. Yeah. The second one was just like, the first kind of like he cut back door, he cut baseline. Yeah. Yeah. And Walker Kessler was still like, Hmm, I want, I want to, I want a taste of that. I want to have a little taste of that. He was still moving in such a way that suggested he did not learn his lesson. But hey, what's this over here? Yeah, no, you actually should know by now Walker Kessler what this is.

It's a bad business decision. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Where did you go to business school? I mean, Whitmore does sound like a business school. Yeah, it does. Did you go to Wharton? No, I actually went to Whitmore.

That's Columbia's business school. It's actually pretty, pretty nasty, man. It gets pretty nasty up there. I'm not gonna lie to you. So yeah, it's pretty tough It's pretty tough. The other thing too is you know as a Laker fan We got to see or I mean just generally I think for the first time in the league. I always forget you're a Laker People forget that I don't know why yeah understated about it. Look I like I'm humble I don't like to let people know you know, I don't that why. Yeah. Understated about it. Look, I like to, I'm humble. I don't like to let people know, you know, I don't, that's just, that's just not me. But anyway, we did get to see, you know, I think a sentimental moment, right? Father and son sharing the court for the first time in league history as a parent. I'm like, Oh, that's, that's

nice. That's nice. Um. Part of me really is worried. I want this experience to be as positive for Brawny as possible. And I am a little bit worried about some of the rumblings in the Laker fan base sometimes. They're just like, I'm sure that's fine, but now please go to the G League so you can actually properly develop.

But yeah. Wait, are they being toxic about this? I can't even imagine that. I think it's more that they're concerned for the young man. Yes, yes, yes. I think they call it concern trolling. But alongside with, I mean, in his debut,

he had three blocks, which was, you know, fine. That was great. I think he's- He can get up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He can get up. Yeah, he looked fine. And Dalton Connect looked really good too. That's the one I'm really got my eye on. Connect gang, connect gang, Bing Bing, bang West side. Uh, I feel like could be, you know, something, uh, something fun to watch potentially as we barely maybe get into the plan. Um, if everything goes

according to plan, Tony, did you, did you shed a tear to watch father and son take the court together? I mean, I didn't shut a tear, but it meant something to me. Yeah. Shout out Kelsey Jones. My daughter is in her third year at Morgan State University, and she's in the journalism program there. I, on a very, very different level, know what it's like as a parent to have a an offspring kind of trying to break into the same business that that you were on and

Right, you know my daughter sent me like a eight second reel and I'm like tripping over myself to share it on Twitter and yeah, yeah, yeah like that and you know being a parent and being proud of what your kid is developing into I think Ronnie is 20 my kid is 20 and you know so being kind of being really proud of what your kid is developing into you know that means something to you as a parent now that being said as a basketball objective basketball journalist LeBron James jr. Is minimum three years away from being an NBA player an NBA rotation player So, you know once this preseason is over

Like said they need to ship him off to the G League so he can develop. Yeah, there's something there Yeah, I mean there's something there because you know, we talked about the three blocks that he had and he's a unique defender He's a defensive playmaker. He can block shots. He can get in the passing lane for steals He can stay in front even by NBA standards. He's a really really good NBA athlete, but he's just so far away offensively There's not one part of his game offensively right now that you can say he does at an NBA level, right? So, you know right now that you can say he does at an NBA level right so you know right now. He's a guy Who defensively is probably close to an NBA level who's offensively not close to him to being at an NBA level so You know he just has to go to the G League, and he's gonna have to develop

Probably all definitely all of this year probably all the next year and then at the end the next year You see what you you look and you see what you have when he's 22 years old Yeah, right, but cool to see nonetheless Maybe maybe keep him around for a regular season game. Maybe like, you know, maybe just the one. Yeah for sure Yeah, yeah, I'm not I definitely I kind of think it can't be any of the first ten games Yeah, if you have looked at the Lakers schedule the first ten games Yeah, it's not Come out pretty strong, right? Am I misremembering that? Jack have you seen this got a little first ten games is insane. Is it they have the Sun four times in the first ten?

The entire season seer four game season series with the Phoenix Suns is in the first ten games of the season Wow It's a real anomaly that I'm not sure I've ever seen And my ears are covering the NBA. They just want to look we got up we got to prove it early That's all it is. That's all it is. Yeah, and then you know, they open up with Minnesota there I mean then you know their first tenor against playoff teams. Yeah sons Kings sons calves Raptors Pistons Grizz Sixers Raptors Grizz Spurs Pels jazz. I mean, yeah, it's it and then yeah, it's it's it's not easy The one thing that I really did enjoy though

Just I'd like you know as a parent and like to your point about watching your kids develop and like sort of achieve their dreams There's a moment where like Savannah was playing 2k and she was like practicing with like brawnies You know like character in the game and she was just so excited to just like be playing as her child into game right That's that I totally like even though you have millions of dollars and you know, you're you know have such a career like that There's still that sort of purity about you know rooting for your kids So like that's the one part that keeps me from fully becoming so cynical about it How about Bron idling up to Bronnie for the follow-up at the at the beginning of that like yeah

Like he was gonna pick up full court in the preseason Yeah, that is a underrated thing I hadn't thought about is get you know everybody like there's always the news story about buying your parent the house when you when you make it into the NBA, but Letting your parents play you in 2k Control your character in 2k is kind of fun. Yeah Yeah, it's a dream. It's a dream for some Yeah You I think you'd have to be a millennial parent for to have played 2k and know what it means for your child

I'll be into that. Yeah. Yeah. All right, should we do it? Should we get to the northwest division? Yeah, we must All right. Should we do it? Should we get to the Northwest division? Yeah, we must. All right. Let's take a quick break and we'll come back and we'll get into our final divisional preview. It has some of the top teams in the entire Western Conference, in the entire league, and also a couple of the teams. A question we've repeatedly found ourselves asking is, who's going to eat all these L's? There's some L's to go around everybody's You know, hope springs eternal preseason everybody's Thinking wow, I mean they're they're definitely gonna win more games this year. Somebody's gonna have to eat all these L's

Yep, L distribution. L distribution. So we're gonna talk about a couple teams who might be helping out in that department as well when we come back. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon. Our podcast Hungry for History is back. Season two, season two.

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There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the 9th century B.C. Puerto Rico. Oh, awesome. So all of these Latin... We have, we thank Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the 9th century B.C. B.C.?! I didn't realize how old the hot dog was. Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Kultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you

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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. podcast. Oh, and we are back. It's true. We're back. Northwest division. So who are we talking about here, Miles? Okay, see Minnesota. I should have done the research.

I know. I know the Utah jazz. I know you put the bulls, you put the bulls in here. It have done the Denver research. I know. I know the Utah Jazz. I know you put the Bulls, you put the Bulls in here. It's actually the Blazers. Okay. Yeah. But there's a B and an L and an S. Utah Jazz? The Utah Blazers? No, no, Portland. But yeah, first team. Okay. C. As we've been going through these, we've always been kind of looking at what the over and under is just sort of on what their win projections are so Oklahoma City won 57 games last year. They're projected with wow this one 56 and a half Per fan duel. Yeah, I mean, I think obviously the last piss Mac biombo

Chianti Johnson Mike Mascalla, but then they traded giddy and Gordon Hayward shot out educational reform and they traded for Alex Caruso, added Isaiah Hartenstein. And you know, and got some picks there. I felt like, I think when we saw those trades happen, we were like, oh, KC. I think you had this, this is looking pretty good. Jack, last year, before the season started, you took a punt on saying, you know what?

Let me, let me pick OKC to win this year. Summer league. I saw, I saw Chet in summer league. I was like, OKC, I'm going to bet on them to win the title. It came a lot closer than I think anybody expected. So true. Disney is thinking about optioning the rights to this story, but I didn't end up winning anything, but it was, you know, I felt like they had a

chance to be really good. They were. And now look at everybody on the bandwagon. I don't know why I suddenly sounded drunk there, but it feels like they're everybody's pick this year to like win the most games, if not for Boston. And obviously they have poor Zingas out. I mean, in the GM survey that they just did, they were the second pick after the Celtics where everyone's like, I think OKC has a shot. I mean, like, yeah, they did.

They're having great momentum coming off of that semi-finals loss and You know that they're adding the right pieces is you know, Tony You think this is is this time to have some healthy expectations in terms of a title run or you think there's there's some more growth ahead? I think that they might be my NBA title pick. Okay Wow Yeah, say say more. I just I think that they might be my MBA title pick. Okay. Wow. Yeah. Say, say more. I just, you know, they took the base of what they did last year and they added maybe the

two perfect pieces to that quarter. They could have added, right? You know, taking a defensive playmaker like Alex Caruso, who's not an offensive minus and who can guard anywhere from one through two to three. Who can play 12 minutes one night, play 31, 32 minutes the next night, depending on what the rotation is, depending on what the matchups call for. And then, uh, Hartenstein's ability to allow Chet to play the four when their biggest issue last year was rebounding the basketball, uh, as it turned out down the stretch against the Dallas Mavericks while still allowing Oklahoma city to play five

out because of what his offensive skillset is. Um, you know, the heart and steam and Bruce. So to me, we're just the two perfect conditions, uh, to, to what they already have and what they already have is one of the most dynamic cores in the league It's it's gonna be really really difficult Now that these guys know what they're doing and now that these guys have gone through a playoff run together It's gonna be really difficult to beat these guys four times For somebody beat these guys four times. Yeah. Yeah. I so then, you know, obviously they have a plethora of assets at their disposal Do I know you just said they're your pick to win it all are there any needs that need to be addressed?

Still if you're if you're Sam Presti, well, you can always you you can never have enough shooting, right? I'm always a believer that you know Maybe they can figure out how to get in Maybe they need another guard another somebody who can really run a team But yeah, they're just so so dynamic and I mean think about it I did like you have Lou Dorton Alex Caruso on the same team now. Yeah, they're Perimeter stoppers. Yeah now you got two guys in the playoffs that are going to be playing football instead of one.

Right. Right. J Dub and chat and you know, now they have the ability to be big instead of perpetually being small. They're just going to be a nightmare matchup. I still think that Denver can give them a lot of issues with yolkage, but now they have, you know, another guide that you can credibly put on Luca. Now you have a guy that, you know, why you have a guy on your guy on Luca. Now you can have a guy

simultaneously on Kyrie Irving. I mean, there's just so much you can do. I just thought that Caruso added so much to what they have on. I couldn't be more impressed with the roster that they put together for this year. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Caruso like all last year, I was just like, who's going to get Cruz? So I want to go on the sixers like so cruz is like he, he shot 40% from three last year. Uh, super producer Jabari is pointing out, uh, and shot a lot, like made almost two threes a game. So, you know, he will knock them down

if you give them to him. So not an offensive minus. The rebounding like Hardenstein is a great addition, but it does feel like maybe we need a little bit more because that was, you know, having some interest in their winning. Like that was the thing that was hard to watch in the Maverick series is just like the complete lack of rebounding was tough. So I mean, maybe Chet gets a little bit better, but maybe they can give Hardenstein some help. There's a difference between rebounding from

the five, which is where Chet was trying to rebound from last year, and then rebounding from the four, which is where he'll be rebounding a lot from last year. There's a difference between from, from, uh, Jalen Williams, having the rebound from the four to rebounding from the three, the difference between Lou Dort having to rebound from the three and rebounded from the two. So you see, like they were just so undersized at every position and Hartenstein the bowling ball sequence, you know how like you knock one pin down and all the pins get knocked down. Chain reaction. The chain reaction is it it puts everybody physically in

their right spot. Yeah interesting. So it sounds like you're going with the over based on that. I mean I feel like- What's the win set at? 56 and a half. They won 57 last year. So it's standard. Oh my God. Yeah, they'll be fine.

I'm not going with the over. Like, they'll probably be at the same. You know? So, I mean, that would technically, that would be the over if it's 56 and a half. Yeah. You know, just the safe bet. But I mean, yeah, I think I'm really excited for them.

And I think, yeah, those two additions had me just what I wondering how they do it, how they just make the right moves to improve their team. Now, the wolves. Now, this is an interesting one. You know, as somebody who pays a lot of attention to the Knicks, I'm in trade. It was good to get your heart and Stein take. And it was kind of in line with what I would have expected. The wolves are now getting a couple of your Knicks. I'm curious to get your thoughts here because, yeah, I feel like they're going to be maybe worse. I feel like the Knicks got the better end of that trade.

Well, what do you guys think? Do you want my pessimistic Julius Randall take first on my optimist? Julius Randall take first relative to optimistic Julius Randall take first relative to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Let's go optimistic first. I think there's I think many people are in the pessimistic zone, so I'd love to hear some optimism. The optimistic Julius Randall take is that by the end of the playoffs last year, Anthony

Edwards was the only ball in hand guy that they had. He was the only guy with the ball in his hands against Dallas that was capable of creating advantage basketball. And Julius Randall gives Minnesota one more guy that can create advantage basketball in a playoff setting with the ball in his hands. So from that perspective, I think that that Julius Randall helps Minnesota morning cat because you can put the ball in his hands on the other side of the floor that Anthony Edwards is and you can say go and create a bucket go and get

this bucket against a defense that's stacked and you know he can make tough shots he can make difficult shots now they're gonna be difficult twos and they're gonna be difficult 18 footers, but he can make them and he can create advantage basketball in demand coverage. And Edwards was the only guy by the end of the playoffs last year that could do that. It went a long way to leading towards their demise.

Yeah. Okay. So that's the optimistic take. Sounds like you're an over. We can just move on. Uh, definitely a person. This is definitely a person. We got it. I was, I was on board and I mean, from what I'm seeing on Timberwolves Reddit, Dante DiVincenzo is the greatest three-point shooter, including Steph Curry, in the history

of the NBA. So I think we're good here. Dante's a good addition. Yeah. Julius Randall is going to compromise their spacing because Kat gave them a lot of spacing at the four. Julius doesn't offer that spacing. Julius needs the ball in his hands as good as he is with the ball in his hands.

And he's definitely going to have to balance that with Anthony Edwards needing the ball in his hands as good as he is with the ball in his hands and he's definitely gonna have to balance that with Anthony Edwards needing a ball in his hands and on top of that Julius doesn't defend or he hasn't defended in the past and on top of that I mean I just don't know the fit is clunky so we're just gonna have to see how it works out. Yeah they won 56 last year this year they have them go on 52 and a half so again skeptical about that half a win, but uh, you know, the Vegas, Vegas, let's do that again. 54. We're over on the wolves. All right. Just slightly, just a bit, just a slight over, just to buy this next one is kind of one of the ones that I'm a little surprised at how much they have your Denver Nuggets falling off from 57 wins

to 50.5 wins this season. 6.5 win drop off after losing KCP basically. Yeah. What are your thoughts? I think that they're reacting to Westbrook more than KCP. Do you think? Subtraction by addition? I mean, I would think so.

Listen, I just wrote a story on Christian Brown and Julian Strather relative to the open shooting guard position. I don't know what to think. Like on one hand, I think Christian Brown is bigger than KCP, he's more athletic. I think he's ready to be a starter. I think that Denver can really really use that athleticism and

They can use the physical size for the position on the other hand He's gonna have to prove that he can shoot it or it's gonna wreck the spacing offensively not wreck it But it's gonna compromise a little bit and you already have Westbrook. So that compromises the spacing a little bit on the second unit I'm not nearly as down on Denver as people seem to be. I think that the ceiling for the Nuggets this year is still winning the NBA championship. Like, I think if everything goes right for the Nuggets, I think that they can win an NBA championship.

I think in the Western Conference, I think that Oklahoma City is on its own tier, but they're not so far above the West that they can't be beaten. They can still be beaten. And then in the next year, I think you have Denver, Minnesota and Dallas. And I thought going into the playoffs last year, I thought that that was the tier system. And I thought any one of those four or five teams come out of the West and win a championship. And I still think that that's the case. And I think that if you have Nikola Jokic,

he's the best player in the league, he's in his prime, then you have a chance to win a title. And I think that Denver has a chance to win a title. Okay. You said that the fall in losses might be less KCP and more Brody coming in. I saw when I was watching him his first game and he came in and just shot a three immediately. I was like, oh, and he made it.

I was like, oh, okay. Okay. That I had a bit of a one you don't want to go in because if he makes that, guess what happens? That's so my question to you is how do you see this fit? Because it felt like you know Was it really like yokich who was like, you know, I wouldn't mind playing with Russell Westbrook I know there were some

Campaign for that, right? Okay. So now seeing this what is your is this like is this the right fit? I mean, he's is this finally do you think Russell Westbrook has maybe found his basketball home in Denver? Denver desperately needed somebody that could that could generate rim pressure last year, right? And Russell Westbrook if he can do nothing else on the basketball court, he can generate rim pressure so from that standpoint, it's a good fit and from the standpoint if he's going to be able to get out and run and Push those other guys to get out and run with him.

That's a good fit from the standpoint of two years ago, Bruce Brown. You know, he was a master trash talker, right? And Denver kind of missed that last year. They missed having that one guy, right? Who was just out there kind of crashing out on the floor. Right. And you know, Russell Westbrook is good for that. So it's funny because I kind of asked around and Denver kind of denies it, but it feels

like just from a difference perspective, just a different position. I feel like Denver is trying to recreate the Bruce Brown Effect with Russell Westbrook It's just that Bruce Brown was playing the three and Russell Westbrook plays the one but like Bruce Brown You know when they won the championship of two twenty twenty three there were a lot of times where he was running The team while Jamal Murray was playing off the ball last year There was nobody that could run the team and have Jamal Murray You know play off the ball so I just think that like they're just trying to recreate a lot of what Bruce Brown bought to the to that championship team

by bringing in Russ and You know, we'll see if it works But I don't hate to fit as much as people seem to hate it because I think unlike the Lakers unlike the Clippers You know Denver has An opening on its roster for what? Russell provides like because you're not gonna give Russell Westbrook the basketball over LeBron James because LeBron James is probably your best player ever to live and

you're not going to give Russell Westbrook the basketball over James Harden or Paul George or Kawhi Leonard because those guys are better than Russell is. So if you have Russell play the non-Yokish minutes, you have him play the minutes that Yokich is not on the floor. You have him playing with Jamal Murray. He can come out and do what he does best for 15 minutes a night. Right.

But it's got to be 15 minutes a night. Can't be 30. I feel like that motor will come in handy in the altitude too. You know, that'll be an advantage. All right. Last two teams. We got.

Uh-oh. We got your Utah Jazz. Yeah. Who won 31 last year, expected to win 28 and a half this year. And your Portland Trail Blazers 21 last year and Vegas sees big things for this team because they have them rocketing from 21 wins last year to 21.5 wins per fan duel this year.

I think these are convenient teams for other teams. When over unders, do you see either of these teams taking a significant leap in either direction? Either of you guys, what are you thinking? How many wins do you think that Utah Jazz have if they play? Collin sex in Larry marketing and Jordan Clarkson 33 minutes a game every night whoo, you know, it's a question. I ask myself every day

Probably Probably like 31 again 30. Yeah, I was gonna say like not more than what we've seen probably. Okay. I think the I think the jazz wants to go 23 and 59 this year. Oh Uh-huh. You think they want to they want to get in that flag territory? I think you want a flagship draft pick if you gave them all true serum and said hey This is your over and under 31 and 51 they're gonna be like that's too much Too high we would be unhappy with we are unhappy with that

We need to lose eight more right? Yeah. All right I do want to just give a shout out to Miles and I had the pleasure of hanging out with a Blazers fan this week yeah, the partner of one of our producers and the optimism of this fan base. Like we were like, Oh, Blazers fan. Okay. And they were like, yeah, I feel great about our team this year. Like it's going to be fun.

Yeah. It's going to be so fun. Like it was just, they, a print there. And also they've already taken it for granted that they're getting Cooper flag in Portland, apparently. But it's just it is the photographic negative of a Sixers fan. They love their team. They love being fan of their team.

They love the process. Super producer Jabari was like bless their heart. But I feel like and that that's kind of my initial reaction. But I feel like, and that's kind of my initial reaction, but I feel like they are right. They're like, I'm going to enjoy being a fan of this team that is in my town and plays hard every night to entertain me. Yeah. It was like a pure form of fandom that hasn't been like someone who isn't jaded, who is pretty being objective about what the expectations are. So it's just like yeah

But the ones we win those will be fun and we probably won't get terribly blown out and I'm like Wow I'm like looking at myself in the mirror. I'm like man I have I have fallen so far into the abyss I aspire to be a Blazers fan like 70s fan this year. That's what I'm aiming for First of all, there are two things. First of all, I think the 76 is gonna be very very good. It's good I love to hear that Well as long as Paul and Joel stay out Mm-hmm, which I think we can take for granted and move forward. Yeah

82 both of 82. Yes. Love it. They have a level of depth I think they need another big like I really think they need another big who the Sixers. Yes. Yeah. Yeah But I also think Tyrese Maxie is a monster. Yeah, the cutest little monster like literally Okay, I don't know it's Halloween season Yeah, you can't just say someone's a monster without me thinking, wait, like Jack, he's a Dracula. He's a hooper. Okay. Yeah.

But if I'm a Portland fan, I just want one thing. There's only one thing I want. And the only thing I want, if I'm a Portland fan, I don't care about the wins or losses. I just want Scoot Henderson to prove to me that he is worthy of the number three pick in the draft. And because last year was not it. And I just want, I need him to pop this year. Right.

Yeah. I would love that. Where do you see his potential at? I mean, granted what you saw in year one, I guess you need to see more to really fully assess like where does this thing stop or end? Well, there's a couple of things. I thought that he was an elite athlete by NBA standards and he wasn't last year Like I thought he was gonna come into the league and he would be from a point guard spot

I thought his athleticism will remind me of Russell Westbrook Derek Rose You know John Moran that kind of athleticism, and it was just good athleticism. It wasn't eye-popping athleticism. It was good, like he was a good athlete. It wasn't eye-popping. Second of all, he's gotta learn how to shoot.

And I do think that he got better towards the end of the year, but like the only thing that matters to me, if I'm a Portland fan this year, is that he pops. Yeah, everything else will fall into place. Yeah, everything else will fall into place Yeah, everything else fall into place just like the Trailblazers fans believe yeah. Yeah, I feel pretty good. I feel like this is Like even when we lose we don't lose that bad So it's like fun to watch the games was one of the things that he said I love that man get Donovan Klingon in the rotation playing 35 minutes a night, right? You know, he's he's gonna take his lumps, but just play

Scoot and Donovan Klingon all of the minutes figure out what you're gonna do with Anthony Simons and Lose a lot and hopefully Cooper flag is on your team next year. Yeah, there you go Well, we shall see the season gets underway very soon. So we can start putting these theories to the test. But in the meantime, let's take a quick break. We're gonna come back and wrap this thing out with the fourth quarter rapid fire round of questioning with Tony Jones right after this.

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MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right, the challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride. Woohoo! That would be me, Devyn Simone. And then there's me, Devon Rogers.

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So join us every week as we break down episodes of the Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Listen to MTV's official challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. said, love. And the kid said, I'm black and I'm proud. Black boxing stars and black music royalty together in the heart of Zaire, Africa. Three days of music and then the boxing event. What was going on in the world at the time made this fight as important as anything else is going on on the planet. My grandfather laid on the ropes and let George Foreman

basically just punch himself out. Welcome to Rumble, the story of a world in transformation. The 60s and prior to that, you couldn't call a person black. And how we arrived at this peak moment. I don't have to be what you want me to be. We all came from the continent of Africa.

Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and the Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more

than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance, it's tradition, it's culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, the emperor of lucha libre and a WWE superstar.

Santos! Santos! Santos Escobar. Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport, from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes

in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of my cultura podcast network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. 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 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 gonna happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catching new episodes every Wednesday all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more.

No, that is wrong. 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 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 Sike you have to tune in to find out none other than, Syke, you have to tune in to find out. Ha ha, hoo hoo, hee hee hee.

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. And we're back, Tony Jones. We love having you on. You know, it. We love having you on. You know, it's always great having you on.

You're a great person. We love your energy. We love your overall just just coming here and blessing us with your wide range of knowledge and experience as a journalist. But this is the time where we grill you in the hot seat. This is the fourth quarter rapid fire round of questioning. You've done this before. You know what time it is.

We ask you a question. You just respond rapidly. No thinking. Just go just straight from the heart. Okay. Because we have to maintain our title as the fastest question answer segment in all podcasting history. Tony Jones, are you ready? I am ready. Okay. Well guess what?

Brian start the clock. This is going to be good. This is gonna be good. Oh yeah. Tony, these ones are gonna come at you real quick. And I'm gonna go first. Tony Jones, you can sit courtside at either of the opening night games. I have a feeling I know how you're going to answer this,

but you are either heading to Boston to see them take on the Knicks or to LA to see the new look wolves. You're going to Boston or are you going to LA? Oh, man. Just get me Boston, baby. Get me Boston. Boston. Boston, bro.

Yeah. Take me to Beantown, bro. I want to see these Knicks. And you know, you have to actually like go to Boston, right? To for the like, you have to be in the city of Boston. All right. No, I just wanted to make sure that's interesting. I mean, I'm guessing. Yeah. The expert. I mean, even for me as like a Laker fan, I am so in on the Knicks. I'm like, please, please, please dethrone this up, please anything. All right. So we're playing pick up basketball.

We've been giving people the second pick in a pickup game with presidents, but we're going to move on now. We're playing pickup basketball with actors. We just got the first pick and took my favorite actor, Anthony Edwards. Unfortunately, we instituted a rule immediately after that says nobody else is allowed to draft anybody who has ever played professional ball. So you have the next pick. So that's the good news.

Unfortunately, the bad news is it cannot be anybody who has ever played professional basketball, but they have to have appeared in a major motion picture. Who are you taking? Denzel Washington. Denzel. Denzel played on the JV team at Fordham and He was supposed to get as the script and He got game. He was supposed to be shut out by Jesus shuttlesworth and

He went to Spike Lee and was like I'm not being shut out. No way. I'm getting buckets There's something it's just doesn't feel right Against ray allen That was supposed that was supposed to be like 11 nothing by the script and Denzel this is true story denzel went to spike and was like no i'm scoring And just that that game if you looked at the movie that game was like You know at one point it was like four four before before Ray Allen's character finally took over the game. Yeah. Wow. I mean, his jumper did not look pretty, but it had a high release and it did appear effective.

And it was going in off the backboard from three point range. I know. Hey, using the square efficiently. So you're telling me that game was like a real game him verse Jesus shuttle By the script it was supposed to be 11 nothing right Wow, that's actually I like that ending better Unfortunately, I like that ending better It's like this big moment and then he just yeah 11 nothing

Come on that's kind of funny. And I just bought these new Jordans too, please. They're so clean. Now I have to go back to jail. Yeah, oh well, great seeing you. Yeah, you got the two, we actually only had time for two rapid fires. It was a quick double tap and you got them both correct.

That would be wild though, if we didn't change the rules, though you think about everybody else you could have picked, who's just brushed up against the silver screen, which would have been like Jordan bird shack penny. Yeah. Yeah. Kevin Garnett, a lot of, we could have credibly picked Adam Sadler as well. Yeah.

Come ball. Oh yeah. You can hoop a little bit. Oh yeah. Pocket full of, I don't think he like played, I think he's just like a, a legendary, like very good for being a weekend warrior, but I don't think he like played I think he's just like a Legendary like very good for being a weekend warrior, but I don't think he like played college hoops or anything Yeah, in fact, I think he was on SNL when most other people were in college So he went he went pro early in that respect, right?

All right, Tony Jones. Yes, but what a pleasure you aced the test Now it's time to tell the people, first of all, thank you for joining us again on Mouse and Jack. I'm Matt Bustes. Where do the people find you, follow you, read you, embrace your work and support you? You can find me at the Athletic.

Please subscribe to the Athletic. Yeah. Subscribe, subscribe. And I am on T Jones at the NBA. On Twitter, I am on T Jones Athletic. On Instagram, and don, I am on T Jones Athletic, on Instagram, and don't follow me on Facebook because, as my daughter said, nobody reads Facebook anymore.

Yeah. Unless you're people of a certain age. That's right. And we respect our elders. Amazing, Miles, where can they find you? Find me at milesofgray, where can they find you? Oh, me? Who, me?

I am on Twitter at Jack underscore O'Brien. That's right and you can follow the hashtag madboosties B-double-o-s-t-i-e-s for show links and updates and then that's also how you can get info on how to join our Discord server. Shout out to our Discord mod Paul Garaventa who's also a Blazers fan with a heart of gold. Alright well that's gonna do it for us this week We'll be back. podcast, Lucha Libre, Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your

host, Santos Escobar, Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre, Behind the Mask on the iHeartReyo app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you stream podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? And like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejón. Our podcast Hungry for History is back. And this season we're taking a bigger bite

out of the most delicious food and its history. Saying that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita, followed by the Mojito from Cuba, and the Piñu Colada from Puerto Rico. Listen to Hungry for History on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up y'all? 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 cam Jordan catch new episodes every Wednesday and I have the biggest NFL stars join me to give a player's perspective of the biggest storylines trends

and that really just happened moment from around the league so tap in to off the edge with cam Jordan podcast the ultimate playbook for all things football and not football listen on the I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Muhammad Ali George Foreman 1974 George Foreman was champion of the world Ali was smart and he was handsome story behind the rumble in the jungle like a Hollywood movie but that

is only half the story there's also James Brown, Bill withers BB King Miriam the Kiba all the biggest black artist on the planet together in Africa. It was a big deal. Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and the Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast

is back for another season. That's right, the challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the season. That's right. The Challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride. Woohoo! That would be me, Devon Simone. And then there's me, Devon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes

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