The Deep 3 Podcast - Predicting The Winners Of The NBA Conference Finals | Ep. 214

Episode Date: May 18, 2026

NBA conference finals! #nba   Check out the TD3 merch: https://the-deep-3-shop.fourthwall.com/   Listen on Spotify!: https://open.spotify.com/show/3elbbqVumwqz8wlIdknsLW   Listen on Apple Podcasts!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-deep-3-podcast/id1657940794   Follow us on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedeepthree   0:00- Intro 3:11- Pistons vs Cavs game 7 12:44- Knicks vs Cavs Preview 34:52- Jamahl Mosley HIRED 42:48- Spurs vs Thunder Preview 1:10:14- Your Playoffs Hot Takes   Follow us on Instagram!: https://www.instagram.com/thedeep3podcast/   Isaac's twitter: https://twitter.com/byisaacg   Mo's twitter: https://twitter.com/Mojo99_   Donnavan's twitter: https://twitter.com/Dsmoot3D Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, Beasles, what is your favorite song off Made of Honor? Made of Honor? Yeah. Oh, I'm not good with song names, but. It's a great album, though. Great? Great. Fantastic?

That's the worst one. I form my own opinions, y'all. I listen with my own ears. Does his own research. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not a K-Bot. Not let me too. K-bots.

Damn. You have a happy Iceman Day? You're talking about a last episode? You liked you ice some candles, serenade yourself at night? Absolutely. I was not able to Drake and drive because I don't have a car. Drake and drive, you're disgusting. I never heard that in my entire life.

No, man. No. Is what to say? Yeah, man, that's what they say, Mo. Yeah, I wasn't able to Drake and drive, but I was able to Drake and sip, though. Is that allowed? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was fantastic, though.

Three classics in one night. All right, man. Anyway, wow. Fail on the objectivity test. As you guys see about our title, we're here today. Not to talk about

B. Solza's adoration for Drake. We're here today to talk about what might be one of the best conference finals we've seen in years. Might be the best playoff series we've seen in the last like 10 years if one of them goes to plan. We will see.

But we are here to preview the Western Conference Finals, preview the Eastern Conference Finals, get into what we think is going to happen, what we hope is going to happen, all of that. I'm very excited. Listen, man, it's almost that time.

I can't believe we're here already. Conference finals. So many teams didn't think they were going to be here, meaning like, you know, the next should have been here. But the Cleveland Cavaliers? Interesting. You know, yes and no. You say that.

I was thinking about it, thinking back to our preseason expectations of everybody, this is the exact final four we would have expected, except for the fact that we would have thought the Nuggets would be here instead of the Spurs. Yeah. Because nobody saw the Spurs come in like this. We'll get into it.

It's funny how everything went and the journeys teams went through, how by midseason we had no expectations. expectations the Knicks and Cavs could be here. They completely failed in our expectations by like January, but it all goes full circle. And it's kind of crazy how it worked out that way. Your life is on the line. Don't forget. Don't forget. What is it? What is it? Because remember, I said if the Knicks don't make the finals, they can shoot them down. Oh, yeah, they did. You said they'll give him their address. You'll give him exactly where to shoot and you'll give him the whole plan to strike him down. Yo, God, if you hear me, please come through one more time for me. Don't be praying to God. Pray to Jalen Brunson. Jalen brunt. You're four games away. You're four games away from death. Or four games away from being saved by Carl's New Town. B, you got to help me mute their maxisome.

So we'll get into that. We'll get into the elimination game that happened last night where the Cavaliers beat the Pistons. We'll get into some news of the week. Talk about some of your guys that play up hot takes that you guys gave us on a community post. Lots of talking about today. Cue the intro music. We're throwing it back. Whoa.

That's crazy He was bragging I hope you didn't The cranium is crazy Oh my God Crown eaters rejoice Before we get into The conference finals matchups

Like I said Let's talk about Game 7 Cavaliers versus Pistons A series that I think all of us Kind of thought would go to a game 7 Two teams that we've been saying The whole past two weeks

Very evenly matched When they get to a game 7 don't really know what's going to happen. I think all three of us picked the Pistons in seven? I did for sure. I think I had Pissons in six. Okay. So the resounding opinion of this couch was Pissons in a long series, we thought when it got

to a game seven, being at home, having the strength of physicality on their side, wearing down the calves over the series. You thought that the defensive acumen of the Pissons went out in game seven, like it did against the magic. The complete opposite happened. The calves did not get worn out as a series went on. They got extraordinarily comfortable, especially Donald Mitchell, who in this game seven was the most comfortable I've ever seen a basketball player in their life.

There was no resistance by the premier defenders of the Pistons. Donovan Mitchell did a fantastic job driving, getting to the rim, playmaking, which something he didn't really do a whole lot of the whole playoffs, was dimey shit in the first quarter feeding his bigs, just look like a team that by the time they got the seventh game of the series, kind of figured out the Pistons. Which is, we say that, but like, they were up three, two, and lost at home as well. You know, like, I think the, the Pistons and their offensive struggles, is the biggest story about all of this and about and about game seven because even de mits like

i think his game seven was more indicative of a very inconsistent playoff run where we've seen games where he's had very very high highs and then the lows we've seen shots not going we've seen the playmaking not be there i think yesterday was just the pistons just did not have enough and like we talked about it so so much so often but the the key for them is or for the the Cavs. You mentioned Evan Mobley, Jared Allen. They were rolling. Both of them scored over 20. And we'll talk about it whenever we talk about the Knicks series. It's very easy to do that when you are not challenged on the opposite side at any stretch of the imagination. When Jalen Duren is putting up seven points, when beef stew is not giving you anything, when you, when it's Jared Allen and Evan

Mobley versus Paul Reed, yo, we're good. We're good. Like, we have the ability to go out and make an impact on both sides of the ball and really carry the rest of the team because even you look around and you look you look at the box school with james harding still did the james harding game seven thing but this is the this is the exact situation that the calves have told themselves which is we have demitch we have eva mowgli on on a rise next jrudes and san merrill can come in and provide you know just a little bit of something for us we can insulate ourselves from a james hardin stinker and they did exactly that so now they're in the conference finals for the first time in dmitch's career and it's super interesting how they're going to react to a completely different team in the

next round. Yeah, the biggest shift that I saw in that game seven, and it tends to happen in every single win so far within this series, but this game more than ever, we saw going back to what you said, Isaac Donovan Mitchell, just dishing it off and him not pounding the ball as much and moving with more, like, intention and knowing that, yo, there's random guys like a sorry who's going to be coming out of fucking nowhere trying to see. send your shit to hell. And he did that a couple of times in this game.

So because it's just our Thompson's impossible to not deal with him the entire time. But seeing him just go to the rim, know that there's always going to be another guy coming because he can pretty much blow by anyone in the league. You know that there's going to be another guy rotating over and him finding easy dump off passes consistently to Jared Allen or moving the ball out to have him over in the perimeter. So he can do stuff and getting those big guys going is the fucking biggest key, bro. They obliterated these guys in the paint. I think in this game specifically,

it was like 58 points in the paint score compared to just a measly 34 for the Pistons. Yeah, Pistons couldn't score. You know, at the end of the second quarter, I think they ended up having a respectable amount of points score in the game. But end of the second quarter, there was like three minutes left. They had like 34 points at some point.

And I was like, how fitting is it that this Pistons team always talked about all year was how, you know, the regular season wins are nice. The Cade of Cension is nice. that Jalen Duren all-star leap this regular season is nice, but we all kind of have the feeling that when we get to playoff time, we've seen a team in this place before, that's defensive-oriented,

that's playing better in the regular season than we expected. Come playoff time, they just won't have the firepower to get it done. Of course, in a game seven, season on the line goes exactly that way. Tobias Harris, the second option just wasn't good enough. Jalen Dern, Lodeer in the headlights moment, had his Jared Allen, the nicer two bright moments. There's nobody else outside of that to pick up the slack, no other creators that you can feel good about.

there's a lot of Karras Levert ball handling in this series. Recession indicator for a team. That's ridiculous. Shout on damage Jenkins. He tried his hardest. It's not enough. Open on the roster, it's not enough.

Yeah. I keep on forgetting, you know, Kate had a collapse lung not that long ago, bro. Jalen Duren, Assar, all you guys got to answer to God for this,

but you're all going to hell. He had a collapse lung doing this type of carrying. This shit is crazy. Like, we haven't seen this level of carrying since, like, LeBron in 2018, LeBron in 2017, bro.

It's that bad over there in Detroit. I don't know if a SAR is damned to hell. Maybe the GM is for not taking the step to further this roster. Absolutely. But this is, like, we talked about a couple of other teams in the playoffs and like,

I hope this team loses in an embarrassing fashion so that they get the message very loud and clear. It's kind of the same thing with the Pistons. You've had your opportunity. And throughout the season, obviously we were very vocal about wanting them to go out and make a move. There was a small percentage of me that still can understand if you want to bank on the continuity. If you want to say Tobias Harris has been great for us, we're going to give him the opportunity. We're going to roll with our guys.

We're going to see what everybody can do in this run. That's over. There's no more chances for anybody. Tobias Harris played fantastic for a majority of these playoffs. the last two games, five points in game, seven, six points in game six. Your job is done. Your job interview is over, right? So when we're talking about moving off of somebody to bring in another creator,

obviously Tobias was one of the main guys in the regular season that we were talking about. It's going to be one of the main guys in the summer. We're going to have conversations about Jalen Duren and the contract extension. We'll see where that goes. But I think at this point, everything is on the table if we're talking about moving forward, trying to get a team that you are not scared of not scoring 100 points in a game seven. Can we get somebody else? Can we get one or two other pieces that we can reasonably rely on

and not have Cade and Tobias B.R. dynamic duo trying to get to the conference finals. Yeah, and just put Cade in a position where he can be the most gifted passer on the court. We can actually have play finishers around him to throw lobs to do to kick out to shooters and not have to play like Jalen Brunson. He had to do what Jalen Brunson did two years ago before. they got in this series where he was going straight mid-range buckets, hard using his size over smaller defenders, playing in a phone booth between the fucking hash. He was like, good.

I'm glad he had those reps to get better for that. And he did a very good job, played better than I could have ever expected in that role. Not the way you want to see kid cutting him have to play basketball in the playoffs. And it's nothing to do with him or his approach to the game. Like, I promise you he doesn't want to do that. He doesn't want to play like Shay taking all these mid-range buckets. He would love to kick out to shooters. He would love to be a real point guard.

You just have to give him a roster as capable of letting him play that way. Yeah. But, I mean, for what he did do and seeing how, like, he generally did grow from just last year to this year. And although he didn't have, like, the best game seven performance, I think he took like 16 shots, ended up with 13 points. It was one of those nights. I think he was like 0 for seven from three point line, too. Regardless of the fact, though, I mean, this is a really positive series for him. And the takeaway is, should be like, oh, yeah, this is definitely going to be one of those guys in this league for a very long time. Yeah. He was still very addictive turnovers in the series. which was funny that demon's never going to leave him especially when he has no help around him but part of the problem process we'll see it's hard for him to get oxygen right now yeah we'll see if ever gets that demon off his back but

he has a magnetic urge to turn the ball over in the biggest moment sometimes which again the pressure builds up and you have no help around you sometimes it happens yeah but sometimes they're so brainless it's hilarious that one turnover that he had where Jared Allen was on the floor and the ball just found him I was like oh yeah

it's kind of raps he just turn over rehab he needs his own hardin god Jesus it was funny that game seven Hardin fully came out that it didn't matter

because the Pistons had nothing going for him he tried his hardest to shoot like James Hardin bro two for ten like how do you even make sense of that like that's Game seven hardiness yeah it's what it is

it's like you have to actively try to be like that bad two for ten he hasn't done that all and again thank God that everybody else the team came to play and the Pissons were so poor in this game because after playing relatively well for the whole series and there's a lot of the first round

if he would have went out like that in game seven I would say something's gonna happen nothing would happen because we should need a hundred times but it would be further jokes further solidifying the James Harder reputation

yeah man we have another opportunity we do we do so it should be a long series actually shouldn't be but shouldn't be it shouldn't be

it really shouldn't it says that every single series well I've been right for it got to no no the first one should not have been Sure, sure, but it was. However, however, we all agree that they should not be serious. However, they will be.

We swept the Sixers. This is another one where, like, obviously, the Cavs are a talented team on paper. But I really think, like, it is going to be vastly different. Playing the Knicks and playing with their, playing against their offense as opposed to going up against the pistons. Of course. And you know,

yeah, you know if we can get up by 12, if Sam Merrill or Max Drews can hit two threes and we can get ourselves a seven point cushion, we're good for two and a half quarters. We're fine. And the amount of work that Jared Allen and Evan Mobley are going to have to do

is going to be much, much more guarding, guarding cat, trying to keep Mitch Robinson off the boards as opposed to going up against Jalen Durenne, going up against against Bees Stu. And I think Brunson, like, who's the, who's the Brunson's topic?

We talked about it briefly. Is it going to be Dean Wade? Because if it's going to be Dean Wade, that's Buckets, right? Dean Wade is the most regular NBA player ever. Yeah, but we keep on to mention them. Well, like, like, as, I think there was a world where the Knicks would be in a conference finals and Brunson's primary defender was going to be a Sart Thompson.

Now we're going to go from the idea of going up against a Sart Thompson for a second straight year going into Dean Wade. We are, that's vastly different. No disrespect to Dean Wade. He's now Sart Thompson defensively. So I think Jalen Brunson has the ability to have a really good series. We've seen Kat open up as a passer throughout these playoffs. OG is going to come back.

We've seen Mitch Robinson dominate, you know, on the board's series that they've series after series, I think that there's, there's just a lot less ways for the Cavs to get their game off in this series than against the Pistons. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, so let's get into that fully. All of the Knicks versus Cavs is a preview for the Eastern Carverts finals.

Let's start with that. How do the Cavaliers defend the Knicks offense? Well, the last time they saw them, they weren't doing this Carleton's passing hub stuff. Yeah. So that's a new thing, right? Do we feel like the, the way that Carlyleet Towns was able to really abuse Joel and B, because you're going to be the slow and can't hold them on drives anymore can't necessarily be the guy that's running around defending only durable handoffs as the hub all the stuff that

we saw work in the last series do you feel like that's got all neutralized by eva mowgli defensively do you feel like he obviously can do a better job but are you worried at all about them being able to quote unquote shut down the cap passing hub stuff um shut down relatively yeah yeah yeah maybe maybe a little bit just because obviously ever mowgli can can move yeah and jolly be kidding that's okay jerry don't know jerry allen both very mobile on the perimeter for Bigman. Yeah, so I, like, I don't think Kat's going to be out here getting 12 assist triple doubles. If he does, hey, man, it's, it's rap.

Good for him. Yeah. I don't, I don't think that that's necessarily going to be the thing. But I also think that, at least for the Cavs, I want to see Donovan Mitchell play an entire series consistently. And we've seen McHale Bridges rise up to a different level than what he was in the regular season. We've seen obviously OG. We'll see how he comes back from the hamstring. those two guys specifically on the perimeter, Josh Hart,

and his defense, him being able to play in the passing lanes the way that he has. I think that the Knicks should win this series pretty easily. Like I think they're going to come. They are the favorites in the series. I don't think that the, I don't think that the Cavs will win. There is a very real world, though. Like, I don't want to make it seem like they're going to sweep them and beat them in three. but like there's there's a there's a way that the caps could could win this series it still would be shocking

but it is on the table yeah i will say this is for the cleveland cavaliers this is like you're going against a completely opposite team compared to the raptors and also the detroit pisons you just came off a two back-to-back game seven series we're facing like some of the best defenses that the nb a bha has to offer they're both like top five in that and their category cynics not that but they're still very good like they've proven to be a decent defense defense team consistently throughout the year. And I think it'll be so much easier. It should be so much easier for someone like Donovan Mitchell to get to get his game off.

But I think I very worry. I worry very much because this is a Hardin series that they actually need him and he's super important in his performance. Day to day to day is wildly important. And that's why I ultimately would believe in the Knicks and would choose him to win in maybe like six games or so. Because I don't know if Hardin is going to consistently given that second punch or that juice or Donald Mitchell's

going to just go back to having tunnel vision. You know, it's super easy to get caught up in those moments when you're going up against guys like McAllow Bridges and O'Doninovi and shit. And they take away certain looks and if cats like improved defensively consistently

like we've seen, I don't know if like Hardin Ultimony is going to be the guy for them consistently and he's proven to not be that. We just saw that. Yeah. And so defensively whenever the Knicks have the ball. I don't hate the defensive personnel that the Cavs have for Jalen Brunson.

There's no Jailen Brunson stopper. There's no S.R. Thompson, obviously, where I'm going to be like, I assume Jailen Brunson have a poor series for his standards. I don't think that's going to happen, but I don't think that he's going to, like, be some crazy mismatch that can't deal with. Dean Wade's a good defender. A little more of like a lengthy guy, so he was good for Kade Cunningham. Maybe he's not the best defender for the shiftyness of Jalen Brunson, and maybe that

means they start Max Drews, who I think is pretty equipped to fight over screens, is a similar high body type that you would want to have on a Jelan Brunson. have the mobility to stay with him, but still have some length over him. So I don't mind that, Max Drews, as the primary assignments. Dennis is pretty good at fighting over screens, is a good, handsy, like in your face defender. I don't mind him getting minutes there.

We'll see what Jalen Tyson can do, or Keon Ellis, if they go deeper and get more options on him, these bench lineups. I don't think that's a horrible group for Jailen Brunsett defense. And I think we know that Evan Mobley and Jared Allen are going to give way more resistance to the Chronothie Town stuff than Joel Embed was able to than on Yeka O'Congway was able to.

So I think that the Cavs can do a better job of neutralizing this Knicks offense, so it's not just like them bashing their fucking skulls in with this newfound look that nobody can deal with. I think the Cavs are pretty equipped personnel-wise to deal with that. You all care about fatigue at all? Fatigue? For game one?

For game one, for sure. Yeah. But even then, like the fatigue that, like, Cleveland's game seven is much different than the Sixers game seven against the Celtics. Like that game was over for a big part of that. So it's not like, you know, we're going into the fourth quarter. We're giving absolutely everything.

We're playing 45 minutes. Like, it's not that level. So I'm not as like, oh, game one is is a wash for Cleveland. I do. I expect the Knicks to beat the fuck at them in game one. Really? Okay. Just game one.

Just for everything that we thought, like same thing as a six-year series. I think it's going to take a second to get used to all the things we're talking about. So I do expect a handed victory by the Knicks in game one. The thing that I think can work in Cleveland's favor, it has been 10 days off. Or, yeah, nine or 10. Yeah, nine or ten days off. And to be in that much of a groove, they were knocking every single three down against Philly.

I don't know if that's going to carry over after a week and a half. So that's the only thing where it's like I can see that kind of going both ways. Yeah, it's always the guess. Is it going to mean the rest or the rust that comes out to win? We'll see. But I mentioned that I think the calves are equipped to defend Carthalty Towns, decently equipped to defend Jalen Brunson. Did not say a word about OG and Anobie.

who was obviously the big swing factor in the series got hurt. I think we haven't heard any update reporting-wise, but I would assume he's going to be back for game one. He's been, yeah, he's been running. He's been practicing. Yeah, I would assume he'll be there. That would suck if he's not. How are they dealing with him with the level he's playing at if he gets back to that?

Because I made sure I named all these guys. They're going to do a lot of trapping of Jaylen Brunson, obviously asking their bics, get out there on the perimeter. When you have to deal with the guard like that, and especially a big, like cat, you're going to have to do a lot of switching, a lot of trapping, like I said, getting a rotation on purpose. that's going to leave so many opportunities for OG and Anobie to simply be out there

and be bigger than Donald and Mitchell, way more impact off ball, trying a lot harder on the cuts than James Hardin's willing to defend. That's the main thing for me is how do they do with him? If he's rusty or not rusty, but like not 100% because of the injury,

that's the path to the Knicks losing, I think, because if OG's not able to do OG things. The pathway to that, or the answer to that, simply for the Cleveland Cavaliers is where you should see the versatility for Evan Molde to go out and show out. I'm looking at the season series

for the Knicks and the Cavs, and it's hard to look at because obviously the guy's not there, Darius gone hasn't been there consistently. And the only game that they played in where this is like the new iteration for this team is, I think they played back in February, yes, and the Cavs won that pretty handedly. And O'Janinovies shot like two for nine in that game. And I remember vividly, I believe, like that was a good, that was a solid, that was a solid, that was a solid of movement specifically defensively.

And also within that game, too, Harden showed up hit like four threes. Jared Allen did his thing was hyper-efficient as well. That was like pretty much the hardened honeymoon phase and shit when everyone coined that term, which is hilarious. And I think that's honestly like the answer, the versatility of Evan Movie. This is like the biggest Evan Mobley series and this is where he's honestly the most important pillar

and X factor for these teams. Yeah, and it's an offensively too for Evan Mobley. In this past game, he looked really good driving, was able to get by those defenders. He had, Evimoby's offense is so inconsistent because obviously the jump shooting isn't there. And if teams do a good job staying in front of him on the drives, he doesn't have a lot of counters.

But when he's moving well and they're able to get the ball in rotation, which is the main thing for him. Last year he was so excellent offensively because Darius Garland was constantly keeping the defensive rotation. The Kenny Atkinson offense was constantly keeping the defensive rotation,

allowing Evamobli to attack close outs, attack from a place of advantage. If you give Evambley a crease, he's extremely good at driving and finishing and getting around defenders there. If you asked him to isolate and have to create one-on-one, shake it gets spooky real fast,

even though like a Josh Hart on him. But I feel good about him being able to succeed there and be the swing factor on both sides the ball. It really does come back down to James Harden, Donald Mitchell. They were so inconsistent against these past two defenses they played. To be fair, Scotty Barnes, Assar Thompson, all these brilliant defenders, great defensive teams or who they were facing.

So far, the Knicks have been in the postseason. They've been an elite defense because OG and McKell are defending so well. That's really the serious to me, is if that continues and this defense of the Knicks is just as elite as the offense, cats don't have a chance. But if we see McKell Bridges of the past, that has a hard time with shifted guards, and Donald Mitchell can continue to drive well, do what he did in game seven, feeding Femobil,

feeding Jared Allen, that's when I think this goes six or seven. Yeah, that's fair. I do think that we will get a good McHale series. I think the switch that he's flipped in this postseason where this is the most physical that we've seen McHale Bridges in like a year and a half now. And maybe even in two years of him

offensively driving to the basket. And I think some of that has translated to his defense. play and like he's he's not only getting to the basketball but he's shooting well i think everybody's just really really locked in defensively so i do think we'll get a good series from from the wings also in two games mitcher robinson a offensive rebounds a game in the in the regular season he he can still go and bash these guys heads in on the on the board and creating offensive creating offensive rebounds, second chance of opportunities. There's a world there where if that's flowing and the wings are defending super well,

that's where I get the five game series, which is the version of the Knicks that we've seen for the last two weeks, two and a half weeks. So I think that they, I think they should win. I think they will win. And I think your life would be safe. I do also think you'll be alive. I will go Nixon six. My heart's open to Nixon seven.

I'm open to the idea that it goes a little further than we expect just for everything I said that if the guards can get going on the cast because they have an easier time with the defenders now, great. But it really does hint on Ogen-Anobie. If he comes back and looks the same way he did in the first two series, then we could see a swift ass kicking by the Knicks. But I don't know if it was logical that coming off a hamstring that he's not going to be quite as like superstar O'G Donoby,

that he'll still be there and still be good, still be impactful defensively. But it kind of stands to reason to me that I should expect some sort of slowdown from the crazy pace when he was beating the shit out of the Knicks in the last couple games. mean out of the Hawks. He was shooting 55% from three. I've been like, I've been kind of waiting for, for one of like those kinds of games and

be like, all right, is this number going to drop back down? Like, surely he can't shoot 55% from three for the entire playoffs. Unless he does, and they're just a team of destiny. Yeah. If he does that, we're winning the title. Like, it's, it's there for the taking. Yeah, if you have a 6 foot 9 elite defender should be 55% from 3 for four rounds, kind of hard not to win the title.

That'd be nuts. Donald Mitchell, what are you going to do in the series? That's really the question. I think this is the most legacy series for Dominic Mitchell and his perception around the league just because obviously he's been very up and down. His inconsistency has been a big talking point. We do have to understand he played the Raptors in Darko,

a great defensive coach who did a great job attacking him, making every difficult shot he had to take was going to be with an athletic defender in front of him that he can't blow by easily. And then obviously, S.R. Thompson and everything did the pistons do well. We do have to understand that it was a hard matchup for him as a small guard. We'll see. This isn't that, but it's not an easy matchup either.

Yeah, for sure. Like, you're right. This is, I, so weird to say, but you're right, it is like a legacy career-defining moment for Donald Mitchell. This is your first time here, hard on the first time back since like 2018 or something crazy like that. Like, by all accounts, if the Cavs were to win, I don't think I'd come up here would be like majorly surprised at all. It's not like the worst upset of all time because they are fairly like match and head to toe from this like up and down on this roster. They are, they have, they do, they do have like a similar level of death. as the Knicks and I do think that the opportunity's up for grabs. I don't think there's necessarily anything here to stop. I'm like, yeah, McCall Bridges is like a tough defender. But he's not the last two guys that you saw in the first round at all. He's a sort of tough defender. Like, he's a cool defender, but it's not something that you'd expect him to shackle to these backcourt main.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I think like regardless of the fact, I do fully expect, I do fully expect this series to like be a Knicks to be a Knicks thing. And I think I have them going back to what you said of like six games or so. But man, I better see a good series. I'm very open to my heart to the idea of a Cavs victory, though. Like, I don't think it would be, like you said, you use the words, I wouldn't be shocked.

I wouldn't be shocked either. I'm not expecting it. I'm expecting the Knicks to win, mostly because the level of the plate they've displayed in the playoffs so far, if you tell me that that was a heater against teams that just weren't equipped to be there at all and they'd overachieve.

The Hawks never should have been there, never should have been in competition, should have been a sweep. The 76ers used all their juice against the Celtics. They get here to the second round. Don't forget to use that juice against the Celtics. Don't forget the impact you felt. No, I heard you the first time.

Yeah, so I'm going to make sure. Let me sure it caught your eye. But you tell me they used all that juice against them, and they didn't have what it takes to defend Carleton towns, and maybe we shouldn't have viewed the Sixers as an equal matchup at all. You tell me that's the case, and that means that the Knicks beat the hell out of two teams that weren't on the level of the Cavs,

and now we get to the point where they face some better competition, face some big men who can actually defend Carlythetowns, and the whole just, like, chain of events that lead to their offense being so good, kind of gets toppled. I'd believe you. It's definitely the, there. I do understand. The only reason why I, I do think that that version is a little bit off to the side is like, whenever you are facing inferior teams, the one thing that you want to see is like,

can you, can you win by 50? Yeah. Can you win by 50? They've done it multiple times. Yeah. Their, their point differential over these last two series and since game three in the Hawks is like all time point differential. They've been winning by at a margin that nobody has. ever won by so it's crazy we talk about it makes it funny y'all suck i mean happens to six or six i don't care i'm not alone yeah i mean listen you both suck i for for the cast a team that sucks yeah that did have everybody pointing laugh for the for the for the calves though de mitch fuck y'all um de mitch has to shoot well from from three though I do think like this can't be one of those series where it's like you're either getting your game off at the rim or you're getting your game off in the mid range.

He needs to be a full three level score. And that did not happen in it really had to happen all playoffs. But even this last series, you're shooting 28%. And there's always this line with stars where we go back and forth of yes, you do you do understand it is a, it is a tough matchup. That's why you are the star. You still do have to perform at a certain level. And 28% from 3 is not at that level. He does have to shoot better.

And even if we're having conversations, the whole playoffs about Donovan Mitchell's inconsistencies and how maybe the burst isn't quite look the same way it did in 2024 and all these little conversations around his standing in the league. All that conversation means is we don't think he's the 10th best player in the league anymore. We think he's the 15th or something like that. The 15th best player in the league in the conference finals still does have a lot of expectations. Even if you bake in the fact that he hasn't been quite as dominant as we once saw.

They got to make Brunson work, man. these last two series, they didn't really have an opportunity to necessarily sit down and play the simple, good old, like, less guy, whoever offense type guys at all, they had to face off against RJ Barrett, who was a big dude and who can, like, get into you and get you off your shot a little bit. Then same thing with when it comes to Cade and the Sarr, like you, there's no real weakness there. Duncan Robinson was in and out the line of, Dennis Jenkins is there too, but he's not necessarily a guy you can, like, single off as well all the time. Brunson's right there. They haven't had that opportunity at all. will they capitalize on it? Don't know because Hardin's there

and he's just doing whatever most of the time. The Knicks, it feels like you guys should be destined to win the finals, man, or to get to the finals, sorry. And this would be like, right? When's the last time you guys went to the finals? 99. Was it 99? Yeah, in the lockout season.

I think the big thing for me right now, we might have to go back to that Knicks bar for game one. Just like, Sina the crime. Oh, let's do it. Let's do it. Seena of the crime, game one. I forget. What?

Where was that at? I forget. It was a book. But it was like. So big. Yeah, we can docks each other. It's just like. I don't live at the bar.

You in the club, Mitch you can have. But yeah, I just like that, I do think game one is going to have a very, weird energy, especially if the Knicks get up by a lot in the third quarter, you will feel it through the TV of like, okay, if we can hold on to this game and not fold the same way that we did a year ago, then maybe this team feels a little bit different. So I'm very curious to see what game one feels like with all of that stuff looming in the background. Because after game three and whenever we were down to one to the Hawks, everybody was saying it was 2024 or or even last you're like was this our best chance like should we have should we have uh you know done it then

and now you're at that exact same spot and you have this like very just renewed team this fresh team i i don't know i'm i'm a little like nervous about it yeah to i didn't want to ask you that because now you're the favorite now you're like the easy favorite yeah it should like and even even last year it was kind of a similar thing of like we probably should have be we were favorite i think and that's going into the pacer series but it was very much on the table that the because you beat the celtics obviously obviously for defending champions, you guys got them out of here. You were all,

you honestly was the exact same thought we're having now that you should be in the finals. And if you don't make the finals, it'd be hilarious. And guess what? It was hilarious. If you guys weren't around last year, if you're a new viewer, he mentioned a Knicks bar.

There's infamous videos of us watching that Pacer series at this bar. I think we went two games in a row for the final two games. And your heart was getting ripped out by Aaron E. Smith multiple times. We should go back for every game just so you can get that taste of victory

where you have your biggest trauma. Yeah, man. Game one is crazy. But I'm ready to suit up. I got five minutes for Mike Brown. I can do it. Me and Hosea Averada, we can switch spots.

It'll be okay. We'll be fine. I think we all expect a Knicks victory in some capacity. Obviously, Donovan is very sure of it. I'm like 70% sure the Knicks win. 30% is a big number for an underdog. So like, there's a good chance that it goes to seven and crates as have happened. I don't think it's a walkover for the Cavs.

Well, if it goes to seven, I feel very confident. Oh, because George James is the other side. Come on. Yeah. So it has to be cabs in six if you're reading for the calves. Yes. So they have to come out here and carry momentum that they have from in the series.

Hope the Knicks are hell of rusty, still home court advantage, and then take care of business every single game in Cleveland. This is really like a thing for both of these teams. Yo, if either these teams, if the Cavs lose, there's going to be like major like roster implications. And if the Knicks lose to, there has to be major roster changes as well. Everything's online this series of both of these teams. There's no excuses for both of these teams.

teams at all to not make the final specifically the nix of course because it's there to be made for the second year in a row now and for the cabs it's like if it's not now it's literally never yep donovan call the series right now what's it going to we will go we'll go we'll go nix and six yeah we'll go nix and six i think that's a safe picture oh you said remember you said you're going to have some predictions for us just like uh the last when you had the crazy predictions for the playoffs with the stepon castle stuff the RJ Barrett game winner. So the altercation will be between Hardin and Alvarado.

I'm not laughing at that. Be souls, go to Shops's Twitter. Real quick. Oh, what happened? What? Let's see. Okay, I don't know how we should feel about this. We got some breaking news right now to talk about before we get back to Donovan's predictions.

Okay. Breaking. The new Orleans Pelicans are hiring Jamal Mosley as the franchise's new head coach on a five-year contract. Mosley accepts the Pelicans job after five Csons. seasons in Orlando where he got it the match to three consecutive playoff worths. How do we feel about this higher? I didn't expect Joel Mosley to get a new job before the playoffs where you finished.

I didn't expect him to be like one of the prime candidates at all. Did guys like Joe Dumars did his due due diligence? No. Probably not. I heard Ronda was in the makes. Yeah. Like I don't, if I was a Pelicans fan, I would fucking hate this. Why?

Because there's nothing been done. There's nothing that's inspiring about Orlando other than, yeah, a couple years ago. these guys really like played hard. That's what you're asking for. Maybe we'll try to get Zion going or whatever. But offensively, this is what you really want to see. Yikes. Yeah, I guess it comes down to whatever the staff looks like, right,

if they have some good assistance that are on charge the offense. But you know, you mentioned the Zion thing. I suppose you do want to coach that. Not necessarily just because of him. Who knows if he'll be there. But having him, having Derek Queen, having Trey Murphy, none of these guys, your three best players, Adjermai Fears in there are exactly known for the defensive effort.

I suppose you do want to coach that is like a culture setter for that specific group of guys. Now again, let's hope he has a different staff around him, some guys in charge the offense. Every defensive coach really does go as far as their lead offensive assistant takes them. But, you know, I guess I see the vision of a defensive culture-oriented guy for that team.

They need that. Just off the top. New Orleans, their offensive rating this year, 114.2. Can you guess what Orlando was for this season? For the 15. Yeah. 115.3?

11.8. Okay. What did you say the first time for the Pelicans? 11.2. And this is a team that has much worst offensive talent, I believe. The Pelicans? Yeah.

I don't know about that. I mean, with Zion, we'll see how many coaching staff uses him, what type of role they do from him. He was still good last year, just deprioritize. Chairman Murphy's a good offensive player.

Derek Queen, year or two without the rookie wall. Maybe he's a good offensive player. Jeremiah Fiergearge says Flash as a slasher. They have good offensive talent. You know what? Shout out Jamal Mosley for getting a five-year deal.

Exactly. That's the biggest takeaway. Listen, in three years after you set the culture, you're going to get your bread regardless. Yeah. This is not on you. Good for him. That's a big takeaway.

Good for him. Good for Jamal Mojee. He must be a really good job interviewer. He must be a really good locker room guy. Yeah. Must be real good with the boss. Oh, he has to be. He practices in the mirror.

Every single night. He's a fucking vibe. For the last three weeks. We got to look up because they did this before the playoffs I did. So they didn't really do a full search like that. What history does he have a Joe Dumars? Must be something there. Sue, Ben picked out.

laid out night before. They've been waiting on his, right? They're playing it before the season. Damn. Good for him. That's all that's all I can say. Good for him.

Salute. Salute. Salute. Super salute. If I'm a Pelican's fan, man, oh man. That's when you know it's cooked when we're just applauding

the bat. Exactly. It's like, yo, you got your money. Good job. We're definitely salute maxing right now. I'm kind of nice to say, but I don't got anything terrible to say either.

So just shout out. Yeah. We'll see how it goes. Yeah, I want to hope for the best for Jamal. You all these y'all are good. Thoughts and prayers. Salute. The Western Conference is not easy.

So I'm not putting any expectations on him. No first show. Jamo isn't going to be there on Judgment Day, man. Yeah. I feel like his fan, though. I'm pissed. No, I'm, I'm in hearing. We could have had our Jordan Aude.

We could have found our Jordan Fernandez, try to pillage one of these really smart teams get Jamal. Yeah, that comes. Before the season's over. I could have sold myself on Rondo being the next day, J. Redick, who I think has proven me a good coach. Yeah. We got Jamal.

Like, the only thing about that is I just wanted to see some new fresh blood, some creativity, you know, some new offensive sets. No, man, I'm pissed. They scored 100 points one time. Oh, wait, no, that was $20. Okay. Yeah, that was last year. They, this year,

Listen, they had a game, they had three games, four games where they scored under 100 points. What if we thought that Jamal Mosey was holding back Palo for being good? What if it's the inverse? And Jamal Mosey goes to here and he's an awesome coach and gets the most out of Zion. And they both win the breakup. Hey, man, there's a lot that can be uncovered right there with what you just said. Yeah, is there a world where the pelicans win 40 games? Of course.

They're in the playing next year. Of course. Yeah, there's certainly a world. Yeah. Like 40 wins is not insane This is a lot that has to happen I don't even know first of all I don't even know 40 wins Get you in the playing

So that's different you said two different things there But if it does Yeah they can certainly be a 500 team I don't know about certainly Can be not that certainly will be They certainly can be 37 wins Got you into the playing this year That's disgusting

The Warriors had 37 wins What an ugly year of basketball we just watched The Clippers were the nine seat at 42 wins If you can get to We'll say 38 38 wins can get you to the 10th seat Especially in the West where the top two teams are going to be really, really good,

where OKC is going to be there, San Antonio is going to be there. That can be the line. I will not predict it, but they certainly have the ability to. That's the high end, is playing team. The first three teams out. Which is a sad high end. Actually, really like the last four of the bottom five teams, because the Kings are not in this discussion.

But like New Orleans, Dallas, Memphis, Utah, those four teams have done things. They have high picks to where you can see a turnaround half. to get to 38 wins. For the Pelicans, that's hard. That's hard for the 10 seats still. The Pelicans is fucking fucked, bro. It's so bad with Derek Queen and Zion up there.

You know, and then they're back in shout out to Dejante Murray. I'm sure he's like a good motivator, good life of juice and all that. But at the end of the day, like this. He's a life coach. Damn near, bro. He's like he's always giving motivational talks and all that. But he feels like that at that time of like, like respect. So we're the ultimate guy right now.

We're salute maxing. I love dead ass. Good ass. but I don't see like all those scenes that you named just now like they're still the worst out of those bunch yeah definitely I'm not I'm not gonna predict a 41 season for the pelicans it's possible just because they have fears and queen

who could make your two leaps and that could be a huge difference like two players like that maybe gonna make a leap could that just have a thing that you look up and see a team better than you think but when we do a prediction I'm certainly not gonna put them in the top 10 yeah yeah yeah it feels very mystery boxes yeah with with fears and queen's just because you're young you could be anything

Yeah. Anything can happen. It's on the table. Yeah. That's what I mean. They certainly can because the range of outcomes is wide. Yeah. I'm not going to go towards a high end in my prediction. Okay. Okay, Donovan, before we move on to next series, what are your predictions for the conference finals? Tell me, Domis, yeah. So again, Nixon, Nixon, Six, Alvarado and Hardin will get into an altercation. Okay. Punch it's long? No, no, no, no, no punch his own. If it was Alvarado and like Jared Allen, maybe.

Because I feel like Ivarado. Who's punching Jared Allen? Listen, Jared Allen has low key been like, you know. He's been in a force of low key. Yeah. He's had some moments. But I feel like Alvarado, if he's fighting somebody that's like, that's like a foot taller than him, then he's like, oh, now I actually have to show you that like I can

stand with you. I will punch. But if we're, you know, around the same height, it's not going to happen. So I could see, I could see like them get into a skirmish and then Max Drew's coming over from the cut and just like shoving Jose Alvarado. he did because my shoes he had the headbutt in game seven two against the raptors which was hilarious so the head butt I thought he should have he should have had something a little bit higher but that's it for those two games honestly for the other series for spurs thunder i have no idea

what's going to happen i'm so excited for the series let's talk about the craziest or let's talk about the most anticipated playoff series of this season okayc versus san antonio spurs two teams the all year We've said 90% chance the champion is one of these two teams. At least speaking for us up here. I think most NBA public agrees these are the two best teams. We specifically have been very certain one of these two teams will win. And very certain though they will have to go through each other. And when it happens, it will be absolute cinema.

I saw an inertia touch video. Carson said that I'm not going to fact check this. I'm going to take his word for it. This is the first time we've seen two 62 plus win teams face each other in a playoff series since the 1998 finals. Wow. That's crazy. I didn't realize that.

But like even the year of 2018, the Warriors, win 62 games when the Rockets did. So this is truly like one of the two, one of the most stacked playoff series that we've seen in our lifetimes with fans in terms of two teams, both dominant regular season-wise. It's completely translated playoff-wise.

They both looked head and shoulders to two best teams in the NBA. What the hell is going to happen? Listen, man, the Spurs are riding real high right now. They have something that no other team in the league can say right now, which is, yeah, we beat the shit out of OKC a couple times of the regular league season,

handily as well, you know? And yes, there are guys in and out or whatever. But regardless of the fact, like, they were the only team in the league that made, for the first time in, like, really, like, two years for a year and a half, I guess, made OKC to feel like inferior. And when Binyama, this is like his first playoff run, he's running into the Western Conference finals. He looks across the OKC and he sees his biggest nemesis for no fucking reason for real and Chet Hungrim. And I expect him to go show up and show out. And there's like the most interesting thing though outside of Wembe is seeing how like seeing how these group of guards, Darren Fox, Harper and Castle maintain against the same like elite level group of guards. Obviously headlining by Shay.

But then you got like A.J. Mitchell who is in the same category of like interesting mystery box young guy who gives you juice. You can look Harper in the eyes. He can look Sifon Castle in the eyes. There's so much to get into an unpack. I have no idea where to start. I think so far in the playoffs we've seen both teams be exactly what we thought

and that is the two best players in the world on this team, on each team, right? When we did our New Year's predictions, we talked about the fact that we kind of anticipate a playoff run where Wembe solidifies himself as not just this cute top five player

breaking in a year three but in the running for the best player in the world and that's exactly what we've seen in those playoffs. You can't get to the room at all. Any of these good teams are playing against good drivers on both sides whether it be Denny

Anthony Edwards a little slow down version of himself, but still a great player. These offenses led by good drivers, good guards up and down, could not get to the rim whatsoever with him on the court. The defensive genius that we saw on the regular season, and we thought would be an insane weapon come playoff time that might make him the single most viable player alive at 22 years old, we've seen that.

And in those games that we saw the thunder get clamped up by the spurs and beat three times in regular season, that was almost explicitly why, was because the offense was completely thrown apart by the fact that Shay couldn't get to the rim at all, that J-Dub wasn't healthy for a lot of those games, same with AJ Mitchell. There was no ability to create room pressure and create open looks for each other, so it was just a lot of bad misjumpers by the Thunder.

If you're going to be the type of guy that is inclined to save the spurs, win this series, you've seen everything you need to see in the playoffs to tell you that's going to happen to get. That everything we saw, the way that Stefan Castle can guard Shea very well off of picking rolls, fight over screens, make it so he's very uncomfortable to get into his mid-range jumpers, and behind him is Wembie blocking off the rim, leading to Shee not playing his most efficient self, you can completely tell yourself that's going to happen to

Again, that hasn't gone anywhere. If you want to tell yourself that there's three-headed monster of guards is enough to be able to stave off the turnovers of OKC like they did in the regular season, OKC turned the ball over against the Spurs or forced turnovers against the Spurs, like 10% less than did against the rest of the league, that's still something you can tell yourself because Dylan Harper is playing his best basketball. Svon Castle is shooting extremely well. Every single advantage you can point you to the Spurs is clicking on all cylinders right now.

And that's why I think the Spurs might get this. They certainly might. Like, this is truly 50-50. I'm, I think right now, I think I'm like 55, 45, 45 spurs. Really? For this series. My brain tells me that, too. Yeah, I think, I think, I think regardless, um, I guess his dynasty.

It's going, it's going to, it's going to, it's going to win it in six. I don't think it's going to be a short series at all. And it's the, like, I just think that San Francisco, they just don't lose. And all of the time that they, that they have lost. Wemby has not been there. And he and something, something wild has happened for two of the three games that, that they've lost in these,

in these playoffs. And I would bank for OKC, obviously J-DW is coming back. They have like some of the best perimeter defenders, the best perimeter defenders in, in the world. So if you tell me this series, Caruso and Wallace and Dorrit,

they just come in, you get a little bit extra bump because of the playoff whistle, and they're just able to really neutralize a lot of what Fox Harper and Castle do on the Pruner. Okay, cool. I think right now from what I'm seeing from Dylan Harper and the shooting from Stefan Castle, I feel very confident that the spurs are going to be able to continue all of that stuff around. And Chet is owned by Winby. Like, he just, he punks him every single time and it's very hard to get that out of, out of my mind where that, the ability to neutralize

Chet, who has been playing very well and as Jado comes back from this hamstring injury, if he's good to go from day one, that's a different conversation. I do think there's going to be, maybe, and maybe it might just be one game, a ramp up,

but I think that they definitely have the advantage in that specific matchup, which then leads to San Antonio having a matchup, a matchup advantage overall. I'm still going to go Thunder and Seven. Everything you said, I'm also very, very, not confident at all,

in that opinion. It really can go either way. If you tell me it's game seven comes and it's a bloodbath either way and one team blows each other out, I'll believe you. If you tell me it comes down to the last play of the game,

one team hits a game winner, either team, whichever one you want to predict, I'll believe you. I have no ability to predict what happens that these two teams go to a game seven. I'll go Thunder just because

they weren't whole in pretty much any of those games that they got the shit beat at them by the Thunder. Having J-Dub back, who's going to play game one that was reported yesterday, I don't know if it looked good.

I don't really care if it was good. In fact, if they feel like he's at a point where they don't feel good about the on-ball stuff and he's more inclined to be a defensive specialist, 3-and-D guy, do some more cutting, I think that's better in some way because I think one of the main concerns you'd have right now is throwing him back into the mix after that injury with A.J. Mitchell ascending, is there going to be some sort of like there's only so many touches to go around and A.J. Mitchell is kind of just put to a bench roll and you don't get that same level of production

we saw in the last round. I think a hampered J-dub, offensively at least, makes that easier, is that you can still empower AJ Mitchell. J.W. can be a true wing, be fantastic running and transition, fantastic cutter, good attacking mismatches when he gets a small guard on him like Dylan Harper, do all that swing stuff, but the second on-ball star can be A.J. Mitchell. That kind of works out perfectly for me, especially in this matchup when you're going to need all the size in the world, all the intensity in the world from Jalen Williams being that big wing. I kind of think that's okay if he slowed down, especially in this series.

So that gives them points to thunder for me. And it's everything we say about the spurs. Like it's easy to forget We feel the same way about the thunder Yeah And late game We'll see I have no reason to doubt

Shea in the series I know he had some slow games Against Stefan Castle I've seen no reason To not believe that late game Late in a series That Shea won't put To figure it out

Every series they've won in the past Two years has been some sort of tough matchup Some sort of adversity He faces early in the series And he's got to figure out Pretty much every single series He's played in the playoffs Game 6 and game 7

He's been excellent I don't really see any reason To doubt OKC when we've known that they've been slightly better the whole year, that just sounds like, okay, seeing seven to me. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Like, going back to all these matchups, there's been so many different things going on. Of course,

Jay wasn't there for one of them, AJ Mitchell's missing something too. So it's been hard to talk about this because there's so many things that's been so much different. And now, going back to what you said, like, we're seeing, like, guys get promoted in the hierarchy in AJ Mitchell. And he's been, like, one of the biggest surprises that the NBA has to offer in general for the entirety of the year up until this point. And I think one interesting talking point, and one thing that I can say that OKC has the ability to do, that we haven't seen any other team in the playoffs do at all,

is not necessarily have to force Wemby, like, just sit in the pain all day. They have the ability to play stretch five out offense. And we haven't seen Minnesota do that because once Rudy's out there, they die. With Rudy's out there, they fucking die. And then Portland is Portland, of course, who the fuck is doing that?

that's like the only advantage out there that I can like imagine for for okayC that could like really be a big ass difference maker that's the only advantage really the biggest sorry yeah yeah I think like for them obviously like throughout the first two series there's been a very clear effort from every single team of we are just going to anytime when he does not have the ball and even when he does have the ball yeah we are going to send a forearm into his ribs every time we're going to be very, very physical. And then, yeah. Pick up that phone.

Send a floor. Them having, them having Ray Lewis on the floor and Isaiah Hartenstein as, as two guys who can do a lot of really, really good, tough work off ball on Wemby is going to be super interesting. And it will be impactful. Like, I don't think that's something that Wembe is just going to be able to, especially that second thing you said, to run through. Isaiah Hartinstein, to me, is the deciding factor in the series. That's not the obvious stuff.

Like, baseline, the two teams is good that have. Your legacy is on the line. It's all on you. Baseline level, this series will probably be decided by the role players who make open threes. Just because we know

that there's been questions in the past, it's Stefan Castle's jump shot ready to be at the highest level. He shot insanely well last series. In the close-out game, they put Rudy Gaubert on him. He shot the three

incredibly well, shut that shit down. That'll be deciding factor as well as Dun Harper and Deard Fox, right? When we've seen O'KC get pushed in the past, it's because Kaysen Wallace,

all the Lou Dorts, Alex Russo to some extent, all these role players become pumpkins from three and make Shays' life incredibly difficult. that's baseline like one of the deciding factors is which one of these castorough players

shoots the ball well. Assuming they both do the thing to me is what type of value is Isaiah Hardenstein bring? Is he able to do this stuff where he rolls to the room really well and is much stronger than Wemby and is able to close him out under the rim? Do the Gortat screen, seal him so Shay can get to the rim. That type of stuff will be important for Isaiah

Hardinstein to provide value and be the big bruser there. Because if not, Wembe's going to defend him when he's on the court and he's going to help off every time and be under the rim, closing it down. Normally when teams do that, they would throw lobs big to big stuff to Hardinstein. Wembe's big enough to come out on the roll man and still defend the lob from Hardinstein the dunker spot. So Wembe, as long as Hardinstein is on the court, will be a defensive nuke. How does Hardinstein do his best to find value on the other end? Because if they do what they're

going to have to do to negate that is put Chet at the five. Exactly. What's going to happen when Chad has to roll to the room with Wemby defending him in a pick and roll? We will see, but we kind of note that that's not a good matchup for Chet. For that matchup, Be sold you know what we have to do What are we doing? We have to roll the ball out For that specific matchup It is roll the ball out

Are you a mouse or are you a man And you've had literally Like two years of Wemby just coming out every single game Blocking your shot at every time Talking crazy in postgame conferences like Doing all the stuff that lets everybody know

I can dominate him whenever Whenever we play But it's not even if he is he a mouse or a man. I think Chet's a man. You can send your finest man out there. When Steve Rogers is over there, it doesn't matter how much of a man he is. But Steve Rogers has got that thing where he's like, I could do this all day. Sometimes, Chad, he'd be looking at a little with DeAnda Aden.

He'd be looking at. Chet be looking at the floor sometimes. Eyes up, son. I need to at least look him in the eye. Let me see him. He fits in the kids as possible. What are you mean? I think Chacon looks stupendous.

It can give us the. best minutes he's given us in his life. Yeah. When you have a freak that does what you do, but bigger and six inches taller, it's tough fucking sledding. So, I don't know. The really big design factor there in those Chet lineups at him at the five is how much he can do quick trigger threes.

Nozre he gave us some good looks in some of those games that the Timberwell's won because his quick trigger three from the corner relocating made Wemby have to respect it. Chet has a very slow jumper. And I promise you they're going to live with Chet shooting threes. Yeah. So he has to make a lot of them to make Wemby even care about closing out. And you know what, no matter what, they might not care about closing out. I expect Mitch Johnson is going to say, let Chet make 40% of them, keep doing it and just make it so he has to be the deciding factor shooting-wise.

So when we can continue to make Shay not get to the rim? That's the thing is, can he win this game with shooting? Which, that's never been Chet's M-O. When Chet wins game from them is because he's fantastic around the rim, obviously defensively rebounds well. We haven't seen a single series of Chet's career so far where the stretch big stuff has been that much of the deciding factor. Yeah. And I think this series more than ever, and probably for the entirety of his career, with Wemby being right. there will be the deciding factor, right?

Are you, Dirk? Let us know. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm so excited. I'm getting giggity. Giggity? Giggity? Oh, wow. You mean giggily or gitty?

Both. Both? You're getting giggity. Wait, isn't that what? It's what? It's what? You don't even realize. I'm getting giggly.

You keep the soul to your heart. You don't even know. Yo, you chill, bro. It's in the DNA. It's how much eyes, it. Yeah, but I'm just excited. That's, that's my point. She actually should be honestly, this is a very, very exciting proposition.

Yeah. And it's funny that like as we're talking through it, these teams are off camera. These teams are so equal that every single point that we're talking about, we're like, this is the X factor. This is the X factor because everything legitimately is so, so even and so important to every aspect of it. There's the perpetual X factor of the entire playoffs, which is Deer and Foxwood version of you. Are we going to see? like if if all of the other stuff from like from the unproven guys from castle from from from and even then i understand coming in coming into the playoffs dearest was the only one who had

playoff experience he had a seven game series that he played very well in against the warriors a couple of a couple years ago i'm still looking at you and saying you're unproven you haven't had this like insanely long track record so he in my opinion is still part of that he's part of Oh, Castle has to prove it. Harper has to prove it. I still do need to see Deer and Fox. This is his first time in the Western Conference Finals, playing this long in the postseason.

We have to see him get his game off and be able to make sure that it's, that the Spurs don't live and die on Ken Stefan Castle two threes or can Dylan Harper get, get to the rim every single time because, like, because Chet is going to be down there. So that, that trio and their combined play is obviously going to be one of the,

the big storylines and one of the big talking points where after every single game, it's going to be one of the first things I'm going to look at at the box score is what did you shoot from three? Was your offense good? And how did that affect the rest of the team? Dude, Stefan Castle, this whole entire playoff series has been shooting 44% from three, bro. Outside of like Julian Champaign, he's been like their most reliable and the most willing three point shooter. And that's something that we've talked about heavy prior to the playoffs starting. And he's like answered every single bell. And because of what we saw. from last year in OKC being the youngest team to ever win the finals.

I cannot necessarily rule out San Antonio from doing the same thing. They won't be the youngest team because obviously they have old guys, but just just in terms of like the idea of all these young guys in Harper, Castle, and Wembe, like figuring things out. And they have the potential to do so. It's a tall task because this is a team that defends every single area of the goddamn poor very well. But this is like, bro, this is, there's no bigger. there's no bigger question than this right now.

I don't even know what to predict. Like, whatever happens happens. I don't even have a prediction for you for real. I'm going to say OKC and 7 because I've said they're going to win the finals and I still think they're a slightly better team, but that's not a real prediction. My real predictions, I don't fucking know. We'll see.

Because who's to say? And you know what's the fun part is we're talking about all these swing factors, the shooting. Does a Jared McCain edition and the shooting of the OKC team make them so much more formidable than last year? Does the Darren Fox and Harper and Castle combination slow down OKC's turnovers, yada, yada, all these things that could decide the series.

We also just could see one of the greatest players of all time decide the series and have the razor-thin margins be decided by either Shea or Wembe, who are both playing like two of the greatest peaks you've ever seen. I don't think it's crazy to already say that about Wembe. We could just see those two decide the series

if one of them just has one of those moments. And I feel like it's been so long since we saw Williams All-Time players have one of those moments that decides the playoff series. Like, when's the last time you saw a legend in his prime come out and just like single-hand? finally decide a series. It's been a couple of years.

Brian? Yeah. 22, Curry. Oh, yeah. I guess the Yokh run, but they just beat the shit out of teams. Yeah. I guess some people would say he had some type of backpacking, but the defense was so good that, like, I don't really know. Jimmy Butler did it a few times, like, since like 2023.

But it's been a while since we saw, like, one of the legends of the game just put a stamp on a series. That's my favorite. I hope whichever way it goes, I hope one of these players just completely dominate the series. Well, let me ask is one thing to predict the winner. Who are y'all rooting for? I don't care either way. I mean, OKC, I like OKC, it's no secret. I love OKC.

I'd be very happy to see the Spurs one of the finals too. I don't know. I got none to lose, man. I don't give a damn much. I want to see good basketball. I don't hate to be a fan right now. Spurs, I think the Knicks have a better chance against the Spurs.

Fair, fair. Listen, that's literally, this series is so even and it's going to be such a fun, like, just, like, viewing experience. On the other side, I'm hoping that my team gets to, gets to play one of these teams. have a better chance against San Antonio. We keep saying that because you beat them in the playing tournament.

No, that's not one. I mean, I'm not bad. Inseason tournament. And other reasons I understand. You're not wrong. I agree. They have some better chance. The Spurs beat OKC.

I'm not worried about no goddamn Knicks. Either way, I think the winner of this series was the finals. And I think that's how a majority of people view it. Yeah. These two teams are so good where it's like, you either have to fight somebody with a knife or fight somebody with a gun. And it's two very, very hard, like, challenges. And you're not bulletproof.

I get it. So like we have to, we have to figure it out. You got to fix some kind of struggle, I understand. The best, I think, narrative-wise, and narrative-wise and, like, the best way to stay away from, like, uncomfortable conversations, whatever, would probably be,

spurs make it to the finals, lose in, like, a game seven to the Knicks. So that, hold on, hold on, hold on. Okay, keep going, keep going. Just so that. Just so that, right? Because if the Thunder win, win the title, now we're in a space,

where we have back-to-back, Shea MVP's back-to-back titles, and then you have to start having all of those combos about, like, where Shea ranks all time. Then if the Spurs win the title, this is the first time in 50 years that somebody is just going to walk into the playoffs, when every single series win the title,

then we're going to have to start, you know, talking about Wembe. I do think it would be kind of fun, unbiased, like, it would be kind of fun if a team, if a team that also, like, because I, here's the thing. If Brunson wins the title and if the Knicks win the title I think that like obviously he'll get a boost in all-time conversations

I don't think people are putting Brunson in top 25 conversations I don't think he moved I don't think they're having uncomfortable conversations with Brunson where on the other side we probably will have we'll be more inclined to have my question is why are you presenting this like uncomfortable conversations are a bad thing I would love to have those fucking conversations I would love if Richard Wemba Diaba is Michael Jordan and comes in and dominates everybody from day one because every time it's an uncomfortable conversation

they try to get Kobe about the pain. I don't know why. There's no other player. There's no other player that we start with. The starting point for every single uncomfortable conversation is, is he better than Kobe? And I'm sick of it.

I'm tired. That's life is the team. That's the player of all time. Can we pick another player? Only 10 can be in that group when you're 10th. I'm sorry, you're next up. Let's test. Carries chain.

Yeah. He's next. This is ridiculous. We already got him out of here. Now we got Kobe next. then Curry that nine through 10 range you're not safe they're the first names there the first names on the chopping black and I'm sick of it I'm tired you go to curry there too either way if Shay goes back to back those are my guys I'm tired of both of them having their chains tested

every single year every single playoff run somebody runs up to them with the diamond says let them who else you want to kick out top 10 we can go out for timunkin if you like I don't think you want that either listen tim is in my top five yeah but that's you most people have like seven or something like that so pick your point Jack, we're testing your diamonds. Oh, man. We're testing Shack's diamonds. Yeah.

We want to be uncomfortable? Let's talk about it then. Let's have this course. Let's test some APs, man. Yeah. I don't even got to watch. We are staring in my face. Yeah.

It's just like as a other. No, I have to watch it. Here you go. You got your dog? Of course. I track my steps. Yeah. That's under starter fact, man.

It's a regular watch. It's a daily driver for you. I have to. I have to know. Yeah, we wish 10K before 10 a.m. Get on the program. Before 10 a.m.? Uncomfortable conversation.

We record at 9. Yeah. Bro, Wembe was to go in and day one to win all this shit, right? Like, we're talking about. It is crazy. This is only things that we've seen from like Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson. And not even that.

Like it's different too because like there's no David Robertson here. Exactly. It's just it's unprecedented because it's like if Jordan did it in his first time in the playoffs and not year six. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And ultimately, so I think I'm going to go with OKC there to prove it. I think this is Shay's, this is Shay's era right now. Just won MVP last night or I guess early in the morning. and he has

not on every single man he's going towards his way but everything is pretty much made for him to make this it feels like everything is made for him to make this legendary moment happen and come into fruition and we're going back to what you say

like we've seen him struggle in like what games game two specifically and maybe one's or whatever magical game where he always fucking forgets how to play basketball yeah exactly I need like a 50 bomb I need you to go ahead

and solidify and stamp your shit going back to what you said like this feels like a series that we very much could see to happen And if Shea's going to, if she is that, I want to see like a defining moment because he didn't necessarily have that against what the Denver Nuggets last year where he just went off and scored like 45 or anything like that. It's tall tats to do. Yeah, what is his playoff career high? He just had, was it 42 against the Suns?

Yeah, he just had it against the Suns. It's 42 or 45. I forget. Let me see. Yeah. Yeah, you got to score 45. I mean, he's not going to score 45. I mean, it'll be.

If you don't score 50, the series is a failure. That's really what it comes down to. We often Kobe convos if you can't score 50. You can't score 45 against Wembley. It was up to him. Well. What are you going to do about it? Well, I don't know.

You're just talking. Yeah. That's all we could do. Man. One of these guys in hidden legend status, I mean, She's already legend status. We know like furthering it. One of these guys is having a great year because those East teams.

I'm glad you'll get there. I'm happy to see you there. A good story. Like I said earlier in the playoffs, I want the Knicks to make the finals because whoever wins out West, the real main characters it's such a good stamp in their stories if you were to take down New York in MSG

perfect lore building to be able to sacrifice the Knicks for one of their legacies. I love good writing. I love that. Good thing. Nick Spurt. Wait, didn't you guys go into Spurs in 99? In 99, yeah.

I built it. Man. It was foreworn. We weren't supposed to be there. I heard that story before. Yeah, exactly. Imagine we get a cabs. championship.

It can't be in Cleveland. You're right. I am rooting for the next. It cannot be in Cleveland. Harder for strength, though. Cab's Thunder would be the worst outcome. Watchability-wise? Yeah.

That would be a sweep. Yeah. Probably not actually it's hard to sweep teams, but like, maybe they'll get a singular game. No, I actually do think they would get sweat. Maybe. You never know. It's just tough to actually predict that.

In practicality, I would not feel any type of stress picking a sweep for the OKC Thunder. If it goes to five, boo-hoo. Like, there would be no thought there. Honestly, if the cats play either one of these teams in the finals, they're getting swept by both of them. I don't think they get a game off of either one. I can get a game.

I don't think so. A lot of people get a game, though. Like, shit happens. You can get a game. Fluky games happen. So I'm never going to say like a team's guaranteed to get swept just because it's really tough to sweep teams, even when they suck ass. But they definitely could get swept. You're right.

It's not impossible. Certainly not. Yeah, it's going to happen. Okay, C and 7. Hey, man, if the Knicks lose to the Cavs, oh my God, it's going to be hilarious. That can't happen. It can.

That's a funny part. I know, but that just should not happen at all. It really, it can't happen. It can't, but it can. Bro, you losing to James Hardin? James Hardin being the reason why you don't enter. I think the worst. So, okay, what's worse?

If James Hardin has one of, like a bad James Hardin series and the Cavs still win, or James Hardin, after all of these years finally just puts it all together for a crazy series and then goes off. Oh, what's worse does you lose to Game 7 Hardin who should in the bed again? That's way worse. That sucks. You'll never get over that.

Does that mean you got done up by Evan Mowgli, Donald Mitchell? What if, but like. But if Harding goes off, it's like, you know, we'll salute. The legend finally had his moment. Okay. But if he dropped back down to like regular playoff Hardin in the next series, is that worse that like we allow the situation that he can get good? Or I don't, I don't know. I don't.

He's so that we allowed it like we on the court. Stop it, they are. But like, yeah, I don't know what would be worse. It can't happen. Both would suck. Either way, yeah. You can't let it happen, man. Just lock in New York.

Locking. Josh, what are you prepared to do about it? Are you locked? I think he is. Mr. Rob is. You're locked? Oh, he for sure is. Better.

He for sure is. He better, man. Are you going to punk Jared Allen? He's. Been there punk that? Yeah. I'm not going to disrespect Jared Allen like that on these airwaves. No, but he's getting destroyed.

Not punk, but destroyed. It's a difference. The verbiage makes a difference there. All right. Next thing we're going to do today, I ask you guys on a community post to give us your best NBA playoff-related hot takes, things that you guys have learned in this playoff series and that you want to apply to your hottest take.

We're going to react to them. Give you a W or an L. Okay. Peace holds, what is up first? Let's test your reading skills again. All right. Here we go. whether you like it or not

Che is on pace to be in goat convos if he wins finals MVP and MVP again and back to back your goat convo's now being the goat is like impossible but is he in top five guard of all time convos if he wins the finals again

surely yes absolutely top five he's probably already on top five convos now is he gonna be in top three convos if he wins again okay guard combos top top three guard combos top so top three guards would be

Jordan Kobe and then it's Wade Jerry West got me Jordan Magic and he's Oh, yeah, just guard. So basically this aspect he can be in Kobe combos

if he wins again. I'm tired. Kobe Steph combos. I'm tired, man. But yes. He would be on pace to be there. I do think that at this moment,

if you put him over one of those two, I do think you are being premature. Yeah. Because Steph does have four, like I already saw it this weekend of somebody, had said like Shay over these last three years was better than Steph at his peak from like 2015 to 2017 to 18 whatever yeah and I mean I felt can we pot can't pot no no we can't

put okay okay and I'm no that's definitely an acceptable take for sure see I feel I felt so old because I don't know that I agree because I was like you weren't there like you don't understand I I disagree very very heavily, but... Very heavily. I disagree, but, like, not that heavily. I actually do think... I think the level that Steph was at was different.

I think the gap between... And it's different because LeBron was also at its peak, so it's like, oh, you were never the best guy. But I do think that the gap between Steph and number three at his peak is bigger than the gap between Shea and the second best guy right now. But that's the state of the NBA at that point in time. I agree that 2016 Steph is a big. the better player, the more impactful player, all this stuff.

I agree. Those aren't big margins, especially if She goes back to back. I'm not going to say that I heavily disagree. It's crazy to say Shea's on the same level. Yeah. It'll be a convo. Specifically, I think what makes it even more interesting convo is like how Shea does it specifically in this like very retro-feeling way

and how he like literally walks down his opponents. That's just not a part stuff game. He does things completely different. He can do it obviously. We know it. But it's just, it's a different level of like closing, you know? So I don't know if I agree because, like, yeah, you're right, like four championships and how Steph literally reigned the entire league and just, like, helped work crochet so many

different offenses. It's just, it's hard to, it's hard to injure those carnivals. But he can do it. This is also, again, based on the idea if he goes back to back championship wise. So we're going to be feeling differently if we see him hoist another ring. Right now it feels crazy to say he's better than Prime Steph. But if we see him go back to back, then he means he went through Victor Woman Yama, probably beat the fuck out of the Knicks.

Because if he got through Victor Woman Yama, he's not going to have any type of issues with Kat. we're going to feel differently. I'm going to say this is a W take. Yeah, it's W projection if he wins again. It won't be crazy. Yeah. But I mean, you say goat conversations

we're not going to go there, but like second tier goat guards if we add a little bit of realism to your take, I'm with you. Now, if he does it again next year. Three peat. Oh, that's different. That's different.

Three peeting of the parody era? Three peeting with three MvPs in a row. Yeah, that's scary. That'd be crazy. Yeah, get Kobe out of here. Respectfully. It's awkward It's like

Nobody knows any other basketball players When it comes to comparison Fine fuck stuff too Yeah that's what I'm saying It would be like not a conversation though if Jay went to get into it too Not a conversation We can stop the conversations

No for sure If what happened If Shane three repeats And three MbPs Okay that's Yeah we can't stop the Kobe conversation No they're literally modern day Michael Jordan No exaggeration

We do have to have like I think right now now the conversation for for she like and this is where i i kind of differ on like the oh it's just about the state of of the league it's not like today's league or even the uh the league 10 years ago didn't have five guys that were an all-time level there still is a yokic that four months ago we were saying oh he's he's the absolute like he's the best in the world right now and so i think right now that's the conversation i think she versus yokch and obviously yokch went out super sad so it looks it looks different and the conversation feels a little bit um strange to have

as he went out sad but yokech has three MVP he has a title as as well like i think that's that's the range and that's the player that i would zero in on for shay moving up all-time ladders yeah of course yeah he's not above yokech yet that that's the thing we all we agree with that it's just we're way even higher if he goes back to back it's we're leaving past yokic he's like he's on the way Like we have to pass him to get to the destination So we agree But man It's too much

We're going 400 feet of part Alright next Yokic is a luckier version Of Westbrook and heart Yo what type of hating shit is this People didn't wait for half a decade To get this off He was like

He's seen as this like nerdy Analytical white golden child That's above criticism As soon as he finally is down People aren't getting their fucking licks in Yeah this is an L take Because it's not even I'm not gonna lie

This is funny I was about to say it's not funny It is Lucky a version of Russ and Hardin As if those guys have been like Had to go through the had the worst scenario situations Oh my God you decided to have KGD Some people say that about Hardin

CP3 as a team I mean Hardin's really only unlucky because he's been in this era You know that's the only thing But outside of that like See that's the point that they make That's point they're making is that Yokes never had against the Warriors He never had a face off against Kevin Durant

Dremont Green stuff query Clay Thompson Nick Dowel at the same time Okay I guess He can't even get there because he's losing The playoffs shit still was there no matter what for Hardin That shit is traveling That's just time traveling

It's always gonna be there Yeah It's just 28 It's funny 8 It's funny hate It's funny hate Yeah People are gonna get the Lixen right now

Because that's the time That they can finally Have some criticism of Yokage Because they weren't allowed to For so many years Go for it It's understandable hate in this moment You can just say anything right

Go link come on You got the summer to be a dick It's fine All right next This is the Knicks Best shot at winning at all for at least a decade. Very true.

Probably more than a decade, honestly. You guys have... This is the best opportunity in 25 years. You guys later, you traded everything for this moment right here. This might be the best opportunity in 50 years. Like, this might be the best day passes in the 70s. No.

They might have a better chance to win this. They were in game seven of the finals in 94. Yeah. That's 35 years? Yeah. This is the best chance of 35 years. Yeah. So this is true.

It's not a crazy hot take. This is the best shop. They can't mess this up. What are you going to do if they lose? If they lose the calves. What is going to be your course of action to cope with that? I don't know, man. Yo.

I'm going to be a dangerous man. Yo. I might commit some crimes. I don't know. What type of crimes are we talking? Anything is on the table. You're just going to picking shoes out of a hat? Yeah.

Might be lording one day. Might be jaywalking the next day. Might be aggravated assault the next day. Grand larceny. Grand larceny. I'm planning the ice. Go make a take. talk out of this.

Yeah. Spend the will be so. All right, next. Brunton is a top four offensive player in the league up there with Lucashey and Yolkidge. Hmm. Top four.

This is a good take. I like this. Let's do it. It's really fierce. I do not. He's not number four, but I respect the glazes. Who you putting above?

Ant. When he's healthy, obviously, he's came off two-week knee injuries, Anthony Edwards, for one. Is Steph Curry still a better offensive player? I don't know, And now I'm going to say Brunson is.

Yeah. Fuck it. Yeah. He's going to stop you? Shit, is he better offensive player than Webby? Yes. Okay. Healthy zero?

Yes. Come on. It wasn't that. Yeah. I agree. Yes. Healthy zero. Come on, man.

Y'all is. Healthy zero. Yes, he is. Yeah, he is for sure. What is healthy zero going to look like again? I guess healthy zero does that mean previous before injury zero? Yeah, let's just even assume that. Yeah.

Yes. Sure. Yeah, yeah. The defense is white. He was dropping 40 on his head when he was healthy. Clutch shots coming back down from 20. You know first hand about that. You know what Brunson can do.

No, no, I respect Brunson. Once again, my point from last week since, everybody's better until it's time to be better. My point from last week comes. You got to stop parody, Matt. Everybody says it. There's not a lot of your point anymore. I'm telling him what I said last week. That's all I'm saying.

That's it. Okay. obviously everybody can say that my point still stands because I did make it last week regardless of the next take regardless of origin can I tell about time I'm wait no no no no I don't I'm

I'm crying if it is if anybody says something there's 10 million podcasts out there I'm sure somebody else has said something similar to the things that we have said it can because I'm saying it because we are saying it on this specific show is that no longer our point?

It still is your point. No one's taking it away from you. You literally just tried to take it away. I do like that I say we got to stop using that phrasing. I do this at all talking. Every stand base uses it now. I wasn't about you being allowed to say it. I was joking that everybody has parroted

about their favorite player. Everybody's better than blank. It's all the time you better than blink. It wasn't about you. It was about the mass use of that phrase. Certain people think I've made the phrase, let's pod. No. I did not make that up.

Now fuck that. It's hard to keep on saying he do. All right. Next take. Stefan Castle is a future top 10 player. He's so cool. He's so cool. Stefan stuff.

You know, so cool. I'm with that. If you're going to put him in top 10 talk, just because he's cool. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough.

I can't argue with you. You're saying that he's top 10 in the world because of a cool factor. What am I going to pull on anti-cool statistics? Wait, what cool is he, though? Like, I mean, what do you need to be a top 10 cool player in the league? You got to be tough. I don't know. Yeah.

It's not something you really like describe. You just feel it. I don't think he has that potential. You don't feel it? No. You don't feel Stefan like that? He's not like that. He's not cool like that.

He's cool as fuck. But not top ten. But not like that. He's cool. Drives a hell cat, you know. You know a little bit about it's cool more than I do. He does a hell cat? Yeah.

I mean, did you not see that video where like Wemby was in like a big ass aspiriner and shit? Nope. Yeah. All those first players driving by he was in his hellcat. He was way too big for that motherfucker. You're tapped in. Off of cool.

He is. Off of cool alone, I do think... That's how I'm saying he's not, right? No, but I do think Castle... He's tapped enough to know he's not cool enough for Thompson. He's a tapped and hater. He's cool. I'm not a hater.

What? You are hating on that. I love to Fawn Castle. Top 10 cool is crazy as fucking. No. Like from aesthetic standpoint, too? Yes. How he said he's not hot enough?

No. He's a top to a hater. Playing basketball. From a cool factor and from an aesthetic factor, I do think that the top 10 in that specific range is it changes so often and that's something that like what about his game screams cool

he's a good he can do you know he's a good he's a good defender he gets into alter cases no one ever says they defend cool in their goddamn life he defense cool he does he defec what about his defense he's a very physical defender yeah he's physical that's the answer he's very physical he's not weak and he's dunks

you get a lot of cool points by not being weak more this is elite hating that I go like I think he has a potential I think I think Stefan Castle has the potential to be a top 10 cool player in the NBA. I do think that that's on the board for him. I don't know. Name your top 10 coolest players in league right now. Got it.

Coolest players in the league right now. Okay. Obviously, Shea's there. Anthony Edwards been there. I'm going to go ahead and vote for Janice, even though he had an off year. For you, I'll go ahead and say Jalen Duren because he was mentioned way too much. Jim Dern is not cool in the castle. is not gender might not be top

25 cool he's not top 50 cool was how you all talked about him he was that cool you keep saying y'all it's him all right no also it's your list it's your list sorry sorry sorry sorry okay scratch jd number four I could say Cooper flag cool as fuck cool all right yeah hell yeah high fire that shit is cool that shit is cool

okay Sepaw Castle can jump Dunc contest point out by the way La Mella ball's cool your 11 cool as fuck bro no he's cool as hell he's still cool he's still cool He's entertaining as hell as well. Grown ass man. Thinking a little of those cool.

I mean, Tyrese, cool as fuck. Okay. Yeah. Brunson, cool. Little dude. Love it.

That's eight right there. I don't find Brunson cool. I find him respectable. I don't know if I'm cool. He's cool. He's cool. He's cool. He's cool.

He's cool. For him forever going to be cool. All those guys are cool, undisputely. Way cooler. There's no world where Tyrese is way cooler the Stefan Castle.

What about you? I actually don't even know. Listen, why? In this specific moment, I actually don't know if Janus is cooler. I mean, it's hard for him to be cool. Just in general.

Like right now, I don't think Janus is top 10 cool. Peak for peak. That's stupid fucking conversation. Peak for peak. I'm saying in this moment. In this moment, it's tough for yons. Yeah. In this, in this moment, Janus is not top ten cool.

Yonis isn't cool at all right now, actually. And he's on the, he's on. Yon is the deep part of cool. So. All right. Fucking take off Yonis, put Luke in there. Cool as fuck. Fair.

I'm just saying he has the potential. next question he's up there so bad take the era of parody shit is so over spurs and thunder about to run the league

for years maybe we're about to enter the two super era it's always hard to say because windows are so small these days one injury can change

things there's so many other good teams waiting but if you tell me that they are the two top teams in the West for like five straight years which is really what an era is these days

eras are getting smaller and smaller I believe you if the next five finals feature one of these two teams and they win three of them that's not crazy to me yeah we say we say this a lot of like oh this the dynasty say i'll talk to me in three years and then i'll and then i'll finally be okay saying like oh yeah the era the era

parody's over i feel more more look okay than ever like saying that because what okay c proved to be and then i feel like outside of again like unless like wendy has the most catastrophic injury ever that de rose is compared which i'm praying that we all pray that never happens like i don't see a word and where this is not true at all like over the last few years years we this hasn't been able to be true because of course like teams we haven't seen like a generational player outside of maybe like yonis and yokic have the opportunity to do so but even then they're co-stars all the guys in their team are like at the peak of their career they've been traded for and all that have had major injuries meanwhile the spurs it's clear as hell okay c's clear as hell yeah jada

has injuries here and there but he's their like third best player and he's not really like monuments to what they do. I could see this being true. Yeah, all air to parity means is people don't go back to back. Yeah. OKC might go back to back now. The Spurs, if you're telling me the OKC goes back to back now and the Spurs go back to back next two years, that's not shocking at all. This is a good prediction that the era

parody isn't going to be quite as parityful as we think it is now. Yeah. If you told me like for the next five years, both just both of these teams are going to go back and forth winning championships, I'll believe it. Yeah. Okay. Next. Oh my God. B. Souls has been a great role player,

even with his flaws. Thank you, thank you. I expect he'll work on his reading and shot during the offseason and take the next level to a leap as I'm struggling to read. Once Mo gets healthy again and especially if the cats take another leap, TD3 will be a real contender out east, especially with the changes to the lottery. Okay, hold on.

If I get healthy again and the cats take another leap, what the fuck do you know about the cats and what the fuck do you know about my health? I had an eye abrasion a couple weeks ago exactly You had an eye abrasion you couldn't see And you took a rock out of your ear That was there for years Not a rock

Holy fuck Oh rock is crazy It was a pebble It was a fucking like It looks like an earbud God damn That's worse muggeral You had an earbud that was there for years

And your eye got fucked up You've been doing You've been going through it Yeah You've been nerfed Yeah It's not It's not like a torn ACL

But it's a little A psal right A little one game I should say my My eye was ear I'm irritated how to use the eye drop again. Again, you're not fully healthy. Once you get fully healthy.

Maybe it was on a something. And the cats could have a little deep. And I'm like, they're not at their prime yet. Yeah. What is like the cats being at their prime look like? How much more cat can they like get into? Bro. More cat.

Stripes is like eight months old. That's true. Stripes can't get sick. He's 19, bro. Like he can, he can grow into a much better. He's like eight months old. Yeah. He can grow into a much better player.

But a lock in. The great lock-ins around the corner for Stripes. If we send Stripes to work out with Akeem in the all-season and Stripes comes back with a post-game. Body will be T. Come on. Yeah. Come on. IQ off the radar.

Strikes got athleticism. It's a little dumb sometimes. His first step is ridiculous. They really are young guys. Yeah, literally. You're right. Castle in Harper. Yeah, Dillon Harper is a lot of Castle.

All right. Next. Wembe is a top five center of all time. Let's say he wins a championship. Does he immediately become top five center of all time? Let's entertain that scenario when she beats the thunder and then beats the Knicks. Who are the five best centers of one?

Kareem, Bill, Shack, Hakeem, and Alma. And the Wilth. And Yokic slash Wilk. Let's say wilt. Is there a world he knocks out one of those old timers? Not yet, but he's on track. He's on track.

He's on track. He's on track. Yeah, it's on track in a way that we know was going to happen barring injury. So it's like we have to wait to say it, but like you're on the way. Who would be the way he not? knocks out though. You just take the cop out and say one of the 60s guys.

No, I, well, yes and no. It's not going to be Bill, but like, um. The real convo then is he, is he, if he wins the championship this year, is he on track to be better than the team? Honestly, for me, I think it would be yokech or will. That's crazy. That's crazy. When you win in championship, you're first in the playoffs. It was like, the convo's you went to right away. Yeah. This is year three. Yeah. But he has to win the championship first. Right now, he's not top five center at all time. So it's an L take. we'll be creative and say if he wins, is it possible to Hulanda get there?

We've got to slow down on that talk. I'll hype up Wimby. Maybe he's having a top 30 peak of all time already, but top five center of all time, you can't go that far. Yes. I'm going to give it a double, it'll take for now.

Or now. This is year three. It's crazy. It's crazy. Next. Dylan Harper and A.J. Mitchell have earned starting roles. They've definitely played well enough.

The question is, what are their teams prepared to do about it? Who are they prepared to ship off for it? Because you can't start a Harper, Fox, Castle. No. You can start AJ Mitchell of a Lou Dort

and just bench them. Yeah, that's fine. You'd have Jada be your wingstopper. Yeah, for O'KC, it's not more so an issue at all. For O'Ks, for the Spurs, yeah, uncomfortable conversations have to be had.

What if it's okay just being the six man for like the first three years of his career? He's just Mono? That'll be cool as fuck. That'd be tough. Yeah. Why can't that be DeAren, though?

The Aaron is $60 million. Politics. And Deeran's a better, like, offball player so he can be. some players. Damn politics. It is always politics.

Literally. God damn it. But okay, yeah. They have earned certain roles. Yeah, they'll be starting on so many,

well, AJ's already starting but Harper will be starting with so many teams. As a, as a very, very big A.J.

Mitchell fan could he take the Kings to 35 wins by himself? He's fucking Superman? That's dog shit, bro. No,

he's human. No. He's human. What? No. Stupid-ass question. Would you want him to go to the Kings if it meant they... Fuck, no.

Dude. If he had his opportunity, like, if you had two options and it's like, this guy has an opportunity to reach his full potential. Whatever you think. But he has to go to the Kings to try and do it. Can I ask a follow question? Please. Do you fucking hate AJ Mitchell?

Do you think he belongs in hell? That's what you're saying right now. I'm just asking where you stand on that. He's been real disrespectful to AJ right now. Let's go the next question. Fiss me off. Exactly. What team do you want to be? Pissing me off.

Next. Scotty Barnes will be in top 10 convos next year. Hell no. I'm going to say the W take because I want this to happen. Top 20, top 15. Tell me he's a 15 best player in the league for the next three years. I can get behind that. Cool.

Top 10 talk is real hard to break into. If he like carries on what he did in the playoffs when he comes to the office of scoring stuff and the jump shooting that he was able to display, display better than what he did in the playoff in the regular season, I can see the conversations forming and being a real thing. I mean you're getting to Cade, Jalen Brunson,

D. Mitch, that level of talks? He can get into D Mitch talks. Well, that's more about D. Mitch fought off. Not all yet, but, you know, hitting in his 30s. Yeah. Do you see Scotty Barnes and K-T talks? No.

That's tough. It's really hard. Okay. Especially if the Pistons go out and actually get somebody else so that Kade can be just like regular. Yeah. So that he could be like every other side

where there's somebody else who can dribble for 10 minutes a game, I think he'll stay around that range. I think the defense makes it tough to talk about because I think he still is one of the better defenders in the world, Scotty Barnes. And if he comes into the year, averaging like 23, 8, and like 7 or something like that,

which he pretty much did this playoff series, you can only keep him off for so long. That's a top 15 player for sure. Yeah. Top 10. Jamal Murray deserve more blame than Yokic for the Nuggets collapse. I can't say more blame. Equal blame?

Yes. Jamal Murray deserves to be equally as slandered. People just don't care about him as much. Whereas they love to slander Yokich right now. But Jamal Murray, multiple times

Jamie Jones has walked through those doors and made him look like a pumpkin-shaped man. Let's just not play Minnesota and he might be okay. Yeah, it might be. It's not play OKC. Let's not play Minnesota. Let's not play any good defense.

This is Jamal Murray. He's not play San Antonio. Yeah. Let's play a bunch of shitty teams and maybe Jimal Murray will have a fucking lightning fest. Oh, but you can play the Lakers, though. Exactly. Let him cook against DeLo and we'll get back to the finals.

Playoff riser, by the way. 35% from the deal. Are we loaded in his playoff rising chain up? Bro, that's just dead as fuck. He's dead? Hell yeah, he is dead. Is D. Mitch is dead. I hate playoff rising chains in general.

I'm sick of that term, honestly. We throw it around too loosely. I think that turns only deserves to belong to players who aren't that important in the regular season. But in the playoffs, they're like a major difference. Like Mitchell Robinson, for instance. Unless you're Jimmy Butler, I don't want to hear anything about Playoff Rising anymore. He's the only true playoff rising. For real.

I ain't going on. All right. Next. The Celtics don't need to make any offseason moves can run it back and will perform better next year. Hot take, the Celtics should do nothing. Do you agree, Bezos? Fuck, no. Something got a shake.

Please, please, we cannot run it back. This is how dynasties end. Well, it never says. We got one chip. Wrong turn. This is how championship windows. Yeah. And so the agencies don't form.

Yeah. Yeah. And you know, they could run it back and have better, they could get out of the first round for sure. But if you're trying to compete with OKC and the Spurs long term, just running it back isn't going to make you a tier one team for sure. Kada is not your savior. Not your savior.

But yeah, when you have to go to the other side of the league, it's chat on the other side. It's one be on the other side. And you're standing there where Kada, that's not going to work. It's not going to fly. There's a clear savior. I don't think he also might not be a savior Janice

I don't think that guarantee Janice is probably a savior not going to lie In terms of extending the championship window competing with San Antonio and OcaseC put in that time That's kind of a savior And we know this team is

The most equipped team To work the margins and get cheap players And deal with that second apron reality Janus is probably a savior Or some sort First round again With Janus and Tatum That'd be shocking

but you know we've seen a lot of shocking shit with Yonnes the past five years yeah fair Yonis has so much work to do to reclaim his status in the league now man he does but also he's kind of just stamped

if he just like is irrelevant for the rest of his career it would be unfortunate and he won't climb to those ranks you want to see him yet but he shouldn't be so irrelevant so fast you know yeah yeah unfortunate stuff happens in every era yeah injuries pile up

his fault hashtag his fault don't hyper extend your knee every year idiot It's your fault No be a man And ask for the trade And get out of there

Mm-hmm All right By the end of his career Dylan Harper will be known As the best rim finisher Of all time Ooh Dylan Dylan Harper have best

Guard rim finisher Below the rim specifically too Because he's not like Athletic guy like that Potential I don't think that's crazy He didn't even say guard though Yeah but no I'm not

I'm adding in some realism He's not Michael Jordan He's better than Shaq at the roof Yeah But like could he be the best Below the Rim guard Finisher Like lay a package in those

Kyrie conversations for people. That's not ridiculous. Yeah, I could believe you that for sure. How he ushers and literally like thrust himself into the rim contorts his body. And he's like a supreme athlete and is in a different way.

Yeah, for sure. I can believe this. No, it's doing a lot of projection. But that's what we're here to do today. And if you're going to throw, you're going to call your shot on an all-time trait, that's a good one to call your shot on. I'm trying to think who like the top five in this category is.

Because it's like, it's, Rinketish for guards? Yeah. Karee, Stan. Steph's not top five Grim finisher Shay

No, Steph is not a top five rim finisher He's a great elite underrated Not top five No, not Loki No, not Loki No, he's top five

No, he's Steph flavor package is It's crazy It's very very good It's forever underrated Not top five Like he's not He's not Derek Rose

It's prime Smoked Rose I don't even know who The top five are for real Westbrook He's more above the room Yeah I mean

Kyrie, Derek Rose Shea statistically Luca's up there It gets to a different way Yeah Yeah probably Lucas in that conversation Than like somebody old Like Penny Jerry West

What type of guys for other time We're insane to get into the rim But modern day It's Kyrie Is Derek Rose It's Luca and it's Shay So this is really Can you be a better rim finisher

Than Kyrie And have that moniker You have to be insane To take that moniker away from Kari I don't know if that's gonna happen Luke if was like cheating He's fucking 6-7

It's so tough to like Yeah I'm looking at that You don't have bounce That's a knock You're 6-7 You should be dunking You should be slamming it He used to

Start doing some plios man We always say used to He dunged once a year We compiled it all We're like how we used to fly He used to fly Once every nine months Yes

Now it's once every 13 months Oh no What a big difference It is It is It is It's really not though It is

It is A big difference The carried job by Cade this playoffs is damn near similar to LeBron in 2018. Disrespectful to LeBron? Gleaze. That's crazy. That's crazy. No, it's not that crazy.

In terms of, yo, his lungs lugs slapped. LeBron had healthy lungs. Kate's carry job is nowhere near as crazy as LeBron. What can be? I push to seven in round one. To the magic. This is not LeBron. Who lost fraud.

But who can we compare Kate's carry job to? Well, actually, hold on. The Pacers did go to seven against the Pacers. in in 2018. And with the Celtics? Who was round two? Round two? Toronto.

They swept Toronto in 2018. That's so crazy. You had to go to seven with the baby Celtics but you swept Toronto. DeMarre should be ashamed. That drink dis is real. Why did I think you go lit us a ring?

I understand this only through the lens of like your ass to do everything for your team. Fuck. That dish is so funny because with LeBron's up, it's like personal. I feel like you wrong me as a friend.

On the DeMard disc, on National Treasures, he was just saying straight NBA Twitter slander talking points It's kind of the same thing though Because DeMore was also had like the pop-out Sure sure but like he was talking about LeBron's not trustworthy He's supposed to be my brother and shit DeMar he was just like jumper trash

He'll defense trash not a passer Kawai better since he's sacramento But he just did like the same talking points that like we would do We're talking about DeMar not being good enough It was so NBA Twitter coded Don't ask about 23 and me man Come on Yeah

That man loves a pun I love puns Co-wide that I think you can win me a ring All right This guy loves puns You call it puns I call it wordplay You know what I'm saying

Tough You look up the definition of pun It is wordplay He loves the word pun so much Had to look up its origin They call me big pun Okay next thing Unless they try to

for Yannis, the Timberwolves do not make the conference finals again for the next five years. A lot can happen. You've seen crazier things. Facts. They have to get them about the paint. But I do think they need someone like Yonis. Whether it be honest, unless they trade for somebody large and something that's like a needle mover, I don't think they can just assume they'll continue to get back.

I think the Julius Randall thing isn't working super well. The point guard thing is gone on Michael Connolly. They couldn't replace them. I don't really see a path unless they make a big move. Yeah. Dante has one Achilles now, which makes everything so much worse. they have to get rid of Randall this off season.

He can't come back. We can close the book on the cat trade, right? Now? I feel like we've closed the book three times. We've got back and forth.

Because I think earlier, maybe earlier this season, I feel like we closed the book and was like, yeah, the Timbles got it. Who? I feel like most of that. The Timbles got what?

Most been the main one to decide the cat trade back and forth over the time. I mean, Bo keeps deciding the cat trade. I've never given a fuck about Julian's random versus cat conversation

Going into the playoffs Who did you think won the trade? This year's wayoffs? Yeah Man Maybe only because I never really spoke on it like that For this year's playoffs But going into it

I guess you could say like The Knicks because they're the most up And they're still around But I think a backdoor sneaky thing About this that people tend to forget Is like cap reasons The Knicks are going to be in fucking hell The Timberwols are not going to

to be in hell at all. Great. I love their cap flexibility, getting them out of here in the second round. That's why the yonest thing is like so impending, you know?

Is that meme of the rockers? Are you using cap flexibility? Exactly. Literally. Big cap room coming to the rescue in the second round to win a series.

It's the, it's the ugly answer, but it's the truth. Not even cap room. Flexibility. It's ideas. Yeah. Not apron paying. Yeah.

All right. Jaylon Williams gets traded when it comes to when it comes to extend AJ Mitchell's contract. Skip the word there. Jalen Williams gets traded when it comes time to extend

AJ Mitchell's God. You got to punch him to be. Yeah, that was disrespectful. It's cool, but I did skip a word. Or two, maybe. I don't know. No, but that was why I said, you missed the spot. Literally.

Is that wild? I don't think it's that wild. There's somebody misses a spot. They missed the spot. It's just an observation. I didn't say fucking. get the spot better. Would you say that to your barber?

If you missed the spot. Yeah. Hell. Yeah. You miss the spot. If you're missing barbara missing spots. God. There you go.

You saw shit. I'm not disrespect. I'm on your side. I'm never where that barber again if he misses the spots. Is it crazy to say that should trade J. Dub to make financial flexibility and empower AJ Mitchell. In this, in this moment,

I can see why people are saying that because A.J. Mitchell is ascending because we haven't seen J. in the in the playoffs and chet has been playing very well so there's an idea of like you can you can get off of him you can you know still be flexible a j mitchell's contract is still you know one of the best contracts in the league i think they need the trio of shade jadub and chet and you move everything else around there shout to a j mitchell and his ascension not they can they can find out other pieces around a j michael you said you said real well i can see why people are saying this right now that means you can identify the reason and the reason it is

these motherfuckers are bored and they haven't seen Jada play a while and need something to say because everybody always talks about this boogeyman that's coming for the thunder with the second apron they are fine they can have all three of them and be totally okay all the need to do is ship lu dort to Shanghai and they'll be all right financially he's going to be in Sacramento good god you always want to put someone in Sacramento they got to get good they got to get they got to get good I'm starting to feel bad for them god all right j j jredic deserves to be considered at the bare minimum top 10 coach, if not top five,

if not a top five one moving forward, Mrs. Spottagin. This is so funny because like when you read this, you would think, oh my God, did these guys like push O-Ks T to like six or seven games? I think I swept and belted. He made Shea have two slightly so far games in a row.

It's like, oh, he locked them up. I know. But I do think J.J. Redick is a great coach. Top 10 is cool. Top five is probably doing a bit much. He's not proven enough yet. But I think time and time again,

He's shown him and his staff can do great defensive game plans to put his team in the right position. Now, is his supporting cast around him good enough for any type of outcome win-wise to have come with that? No. But I do believe that we've seen enough that if he had one of the best teams in the league, they'd be a contender every year. Yeah, he's definitely being the he's just a podcast and allegations. Yeah. But give him a good enough roster, they'll be in the mix every year and he won't let his team down. 100%.

I think when it comes to, like, new coaches coming into the league and having certain expectations place on you, no one's had a harder time than that than JJ Reddick because you're telling me, okay, you come into the year randomly hired as the coach. You're starting the season with two years last year, like, Dilo as your point guard, and you have Anthony Davis. Shit changes real quick. Now you have no bigs. And then you got Luca who's not necessarily in the best Luca shape.

AR is there. LeBron there. You're trying to figure shit out. Make shit work. And you get slapped in the playoffs. Now this year, too, okay, you're playing like Luca heavy ball. You're trying to figure shit out. Marcus Marks here.

You're trying to give him a chance to do all this. There's so many moving parts. And I think at the end of every conversation, things end up always looking better than they should have been. It's a process of it. Would you rather have two forwards you don't trust or one big man that you don't like? Because they had all three. Like they had.

And so I'm trying to figure out what version of the Lakers would be slightly better for J.G. Ready for them to actually have confidence in a roster. moving forward because like especially especially last year when they when it really was like Jackson Hayes or nobody at the at the big position and now obviously like it's Aiden and Hayes but you still don't super like love Aiden yeah but would you rather deal with that or deal with two forwards where every time they're on the floor you're like oh what are you doing who are you referencing La Ravia and Rui on defense oof you get a vando none of the above give me some good players please and that is our last hot take for it today and that is the end this episode

If people were still here, what should they comment? Who do you want to send to Sacramento this year? Drop the news, man. My number one pick for Sacramento hell, Julius Randall. He's the perfect question. Oh, Jerry Vanderbilt. Come on. Enjoy your time.

Come on, man. I would say it's been a good time, but it's just been a time. Having fun in Sacramento. Nixon six. We fin of run them. We'll see you all on Thursday.