The Deep 3 Podcast - The Lakers' Season Is Over Before It Begins | The Deep 3 Ep. 2

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

The Lakers are hopeless as long as Russell Westbrook is on the roster. Follow us on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedeepthree Follow us on Instagtam!: https://www.instagram.com/thedeep3podcast/ Isaac's twitter: https://twitter.com/byisaacg Muhamed's twitter: https://twitter.com/Mojo99_ Donnavan's twitter: https://twitter.com/Dsmoot3D Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As currently constructed, they have no chance with Russell Westbroke, I don't think. They have to let them go at this point. The Lakers are doomed. What's up, y'all? Welcome back to episode two with the Deep Three. I'm Isaac, joining here by my co-host, Muhammad and Donovan. What's going on, y'all? What's good.

And today we're going to do a preview of the Pacific Division, which means, of course, we've got to talk about the Lakers. This is going to be fun, Donovan, you got some strong-ass takes about them, boys. Do I? I don't even think that they're strong. They just... By Anthony Davis specific. Yeah, by him, for sure. I mean, if he doesn't have some strong takes, I definitely do, being a late.

Lakers fan. So it's always fun to talk about them. And let's just get right into it. Bro, point blank period. I feel like the biggest X factor for the Lakers is, of course, to no surprise, they got to be Anthony Davis's health. Point blank period. Yeah. That's like by far the biggest story. Well, I'm going to say that. I was going to say the biggest storyline is if Anthony Davis can say healthy, but that's not even true. By far, the biggest storyline is what are they going to do with Russell

Westbrook? If they keep them, is it going to be a disaster? Where is that going? I don't, I don't know. They have to let them go at this point. They have have to let him go find somewhere to where he's not playing basketball for the lakers in any capacity whether that's like you treat him like john wall and you send him home or you find a team that's like you know if if they decide to package that the extra first round pick and send him somewhere else i don't care what they do but he he's obviously not a good fit for what they want to do and he's not going to like buy into the role that they want him to play so he just can't be a laker if they want to be successful exactly

like i think the title of this video has to be the lakers are doomed because as currently constructed they have no chance with russell westbrook i don't think last year i kind of talked myself into it thinking oh if they make him this supercharged gary pey in the second mixed with draymond green maybe they can do it it just doesn't seem like it's going to work so obviously best case scenario they trade him to somewhere like indiana charlotte uh utah whatever but if he's on the roster even if even if he's not in the roster and they'd send him home by john wall i just don't think they have enough without his money because you know it's $40 million just out on the bench yeah i don't think they have enough pieces to survive without him either yeah i definitely agree dog

like you having all those types of hopes and aspirations for them to work last season was just 110 percent donovan we noticed them them lickers fans are so delusional and i'm sorry i said but you got some of i had stockholm syndrome it's in the blood for sure bro so like you said i agree like the only team in my mind currently that makes somewhat sense for them to trade for Russell West with a team like the Utah Jazz who has nothing to lose and nothing to game because they got like 10 million picks just like the OKC Thunder. And I think

y'all are just doomed, bro. Like, it's sad to say, but I'm, because of what your GM did, Rob Palinka, my goat is doomed. See, okay, when I say they're doomed, so I'm not trying to say that gloom gloom, that's time to make it seem more, you know, extreme that I'm trying to make it sound. It's sounding more extreme that I'm really trying to make it be. They're doomed at the

keep Russ, but I think they don't have to keep Russ. I think there definitely is a path to them making the trade, like you said, and I'm really hoping it's not the Utah one. I'm hoping it's the Indiana one that people hypotheticalize. Is that a word? Either way, bro, it's anything. It's anything basically at this point. Like, you have no room to be picky whatsoever. And

I think definitely something will happen because just today, I don't know if y'all saw it, but I saw some tweet talking about how Russell Westbrook went ahead and enlisted his house for sale or something like that in L.A. And so things like that happened, though. Yeah, things that happened so often.

Some like that happened last season about Anthony Davis, I believe. So, yeah, I tried to. Probably, Isaac, real quick, before we keep moving forward, talk about, like, what would that, that Indiana deal? And, like, if you trade in Rust to Indiana, what does that deal look like? Okay, so the popular one that people have been trying to get, talk into existence for the past few months with Indiana has to do with them getting Miles Turner and Buddy Healed over to the Lakers in exchange for Russell Westbrook.

a mixture of first-on picks. The lake apparently hasn't been happening because the Lakers want to only include one first-round pick, but obviously the Pacers are like, no, we're giving you two great players, you're giving us one fucking awful player, we want two first-on picks. So that's the hold-up.

And I think that would be a fantastic trade because whatever trade is out there, nothing is going to give them a higher ceiling than having the commendation of Miles Turner and Anthony Davis as their back-line of defense. Having those two rim protectors gives you the ceiling to be like a top-five defense, and nothing else out there gives them a ceiling

of a top-five defense or offense. Yeah. But go, go ahead. Go ahead, Mo, go ahead. I was going to say, like, but as a Laker, I'm not a Lakers fan, but for you, as a lifelong Lakers fan, you're here for the long haul. You're not, like, one of them fake Lakers fans, like, me part-time, whatever, LeBron's playing and shit. You'd be, would you be willing to give up, like, your future like that? Would you be willing to give up those 20-20-7 and 20-29 picks?

Because that's literally all you guys have. Yeah, I mean, so, yes. I think, I think, I think, yes. Push comes to shove. I think you probably have to, because what are you going to do, just waste the rest of the bronze prime. but I also understand negotiation-wise while they haven't done that. Nobody else has been, like with the Kyrie thing, people were like, why don't they go have two first-on picks to get them

when a Kyrie was available for a short period of time? The thing was nobody else was trying to get Kyrie. So why would you just go out there and throw your biggest offer on the table? It's the same thing with this. They have to try not to do it just because that's good use of assets. But I think when push comes to up, like I said, they have to put two and eventually if they need to. They have to do, right?

They have to do that. And they're saying like, they're saying like, okay, who else wants Kyrie, who else wants Kari? like you guys are going to be forced into the spot to where you have to give up these first round picks and when you ask like who wants these players you do like it's very clear I know that you want I know you want Kyrie and I know that you don't want Russell in in your in your building anymore so that's the price that it's going to pay because it's been made very very clear that nobody in Los Angeles is happy with Russell Westbrook on the team

yeah so that's the price that you have to pay so they're just going to have to get over it if they want to move off of them and that's what everything is Darry Reverend Hamm was hired. Every time they talk in the media, it's been about, oh, we have these plans to make Russell Westbrook work. We believe in them. LeBronza, I heard, tweeting about how Russ is going to have a bounceback season. They're just trying to, you know, propagandize the shit and try to make it seem like they're not desperate. But like you said, the other teams know they are, and the Lakers know that they shouldn't put everything out there all at once. So both sides have been pushing and pulling. That's why no deal is going to get done anytime soon.

You know what's interesting? Just the other day, our guy, Kenny, went ahead and posted a video. I forgot on which channel, because we got like 4 million of those things. but I pulled to some gaming channel Content machine Yeah exactly It pulls us some gaming video of Him rebuilding the Lakers on 2K And he traded for

Julius Randall On the next Yeah everyone's talking about that Hell of interesting I love the fact of the idea Of a reunion To give background on that A lot of people are

Hypotheticalize I keep seeing hypotheticalizing That's not a fucking word Why do I said that twice now I've never said that day in my life A lot of people are talking about a potential trade where the Knicks would take on Russell Westbrook in order to shed Julius Randall and Evan Fournier's salary.

That way they can just rid the books and try to, you know, get the rebook going through free agency. I would fucking hate that as a Lakers fan because we're getting rid of Russell Westbrook to bring in 6'9 Russell Westbrook. Yeah. So I prefer not to do that. And Julius, okay, I think Julius can have a bounce back season compared to last year, but he's just not a good fit with LeBron and AD.

So, like, he's not worth dealing with his negatives to reap the positives because those positive don't keep you that great of a ceiling. Yeah, plus also his contract is way longer than Russell Westbrook's as well. So it's just like you're stuck with a six-time Russell Westbrook for, what, two or three more years? So it's just all around down bad. Plus side, you got Evan Fournier, but he's Evan Fournier, so it's really that much of the plus. To make Julius, in his best case scenario, to thrive, he has to get back to where he was two years ago where he has a ball in his hands, and he's making a ridiculous amount of shots off the dribble, and he's not going to have this opportunities next to LeBron AD. You want somebody who doesn't need the ball in his hands in that way.

and that's just not 80s that's just not Randall's game yeah and look I think at the end of the day right so and let's let's get into this

right because so if the Lakers keep Westbrook right where do you guys have them in the West are they a potential playoff team because that's

yeah that's clearly the standard right right now is can you at least make the can you make the play in can you get there I'm glad you asked that so obviously last year

they didn't make the playoffs and people have been kind of talking about them as if they're not playoff quality at all because that record, but we know that record was what it is because of the ridiculous mind injuries to LeBron and AD. If they even think you for us, they're going to be a playoff contender. We're talking about them like they're going to be a 14 seed and I think that's way over the top. They're going to be in the mix for the 7, 8, maybe 6 seed. Well, I don't, I think

that 6 is kind of high. I, maybe, maybe. But again, when you have a healthy LeBron and AD, your ceiling's pretty high. I think, I think even with the, with those two healthy, I think they're probably going to be in the playing range they're probably going to be in seven through ten like because so like if you look at the top six from last year you have phoenix memphis golden state dallas utah and denver obviously utah is going to drop down but you're assuming that clippers are in there exactly assuming that the clippers are going to make that jump and i don't think even with all with you know with lebron and ad healthy i don't think that they're better than those six teams it's a it's a very real possibility but i feel like that's the best case scenario

and so I think with the Lakers it's going to be can you get to the 7th C to make sure that you only have to win one game and not have two random playing games that that's the ceiling that that can derail your season we're so cooked man oh no it's done it's done if they don't they don't get rid of rest man it's and it sucks because like I I want Westbrook to be good but he's not doing the things that he needs to do in order to do it so it's like I can't root for you like that yeah I'm glad you so that because I think I think yeah I think we should talk about what is what's the reason that he makes him so bad because a lot of people might see

that oh Russ the year before that he was still averaging a triple double with the wizards helping them lead them to the playoffs why can't they make it work so I think we have to talk about specifically on the court X's and O's why it's such a fucking terrible fit I think I just think it's the first thing his brand of basketball that's all it is bro his freestyle

free of play like his style of basketball is meant to uplift fans who have no hope and have never had anything good in their lives before. And the Lakers are not that. They've had they're one of the most spoiled our organizations in the entire NBA. You know what I'm saying?

Organizations like, okay, see, you know what I'm saying? The Wizards, okay, cool. He can go out there and do whatever he wants and everyone will love it regardless, bro. Not with LeBron. Yeah, now with LeBron, that shit not going to fly. And especially under that L.A. like, microscope that they have.

Yeah. I think, so whatever you think about the positives of Russell Westbrook, the few things that he does really well that you would think he'd bring to whatever team he goes on, finishing at the rim, playing at the rim, so creating shooters, creating open shots from the three point line by using his penetration to get to the rim. Running in transition. That's pretty much the main things, right? Using his pressure at the rim in different ways to make their team better. None of those things came to fruition with the Lakers. Let me think of these numbers I have. So their offensive rating without Russell on the court was a 112. with Russ on the court, it was a 109. So they got three points per hundred possessions worse. That's big picture, not great. But it gets more specific. The rim scoring with Russ on the court was at 66%. With him off the court, 68%. So again, they got better scoring at the room.

When he sat on the bench, they got better scoring at the rim, which is really weird. Their three-point shooting was better with him off the court. There were half-court offenses better with him off the court. Their transition offense was way better with him off the court. Every single area he's supposed to help you. He did the opposite. Yeah, it's, it's tough. Listen, all of that's tough, and it's because, it's because of the fact that Rush just can't shoot. And so, like, when you have, when you have LeBron up top and you're trying to put, you know, you're trying to put Westbrook on the wing or in the corner, people can sag off at any, at any point, right? So if you, so if you have him on the wing, you can, you can sag off. Those driving lanes are no longer there. And so past, so passing lanes get clogged up, you already have AD who, like, if he's playing down low, you're playing these double. You're playing these double.

big lineup sometimes with AD and Dwight if AD doesn't want to play center like it's just not enough shooting you kind of revert back to like 1995 NBA space exactly and everybody else is just kind of progressed past that offensive system so you just you're playing pretty historic basketball with him on the court so it's just not the fact that they were starting games in beginning of the

season with the Andre Jordan in the same lineup as AD and Russ is fucking malpractice you cannot have Russ and 80 in the same lineup without a stretch five or no five at all it's bonkers dude whatever what DeAndre jordan's reputation in the NBA had the last what what has how long has he been like absolutely done for like four years has been in starting linus for contenders about being ass yeah garbage bro dead garbage bro it's been ridiculous but yeah like to touch on your point just things like that absolutely like bro brooke oh my god that's a whole other discussion that i don't even want to get into bro but we can leave him in the past yeah exactly

When it comes to strictly the X's and O's, there's just absolutely no breathing room like Donovan said for us to do Russ type things. And because of the type of players that he, that's around him, who, like LeBron, for instance, who excel at the same type of thing, they just, you have no one to feed, feed off of and bounce back off of, like in my mind, the perfect NBA duos and just teams in general are full of players who can do what the other player cannot do. Like, the perfect example in my mind is, like, they're not a true duo or a trio, but someone like Steph Curry and fucking Sean Livingston, Sean Livingston, bro, completely different players, bro, completely different players, but they bounce back off of each other's extremely well. And they do things that they both, they do things that they cannot do physically. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just something I don't like. And that's another reason why I love Trae Young, DeJante Murray. I'm going to mention a little time I guess. So it's not even the fact that they can do things that the other person can do. What's really important is that they could do the things they're good at while the other person is on the court. So even like Kyrie and James Harden with KD, all those players kind of do the same thing in terms of creating shots off the dribble and making their own shot. But because they're able to be off the ball shooters really well and playmakers off the catch and drive, they could do that while the other person was on the court with them.

Being going to be scalable and do your game and provide value next to other stars is like the most important thing. And Russ is literally the worst star in the history of the NBA when it comes. that that's so that's so tough that's that's so tough i don't want to give him that category because like it's yes he's great listen with these very specific circumstances that's what i'm saying it's probably true i just i like have this i have this innate like want to just you know cape for for russ for his entire career because i feel like this i feel like this last stint with the lakers everybody's taking it and it's kind of expanded it to his entire career and it's just like I mean that's that's not it's not necessarily true like he's always had like these

flaws but it's never been to this you know you know what I'm saying like it's never to this to this magnitude so like you've still been able to create winning situations around him so like I don't I don't want people to turn around and start saying that you know rest his whole career has been like this or whatever yeah no no the last year is obviously you just have to move on the thing about him is that like I said his scalability next to other stars is nowhere near other people's caliber and you can see that people like off from refute that by saying he was still making deep playoff runs with kd or pg etc and that's true he has the talent still i know he had one good year he had the second round i think um yeah you know

what i'm saying he's still in good teams with those players they did oh yeah they never made out the first donovan mitchell sent them home in the first round too true yeah okay so but anyways people were saying that he's existed next to the other stars before so like to say he can't is not true same thing with james hardin but the thing is he has a talent to make it work still but he you pick somebody who's just as good of him but with different types of skills that work better other stars like let's say him and chris paul are equal if you would put chris paul with katee maybe they wouldn't make the western carman's finals maybe they'd make the actual finals no i mean it just takes you further when you have skillsets that match better with the stars you're with yeah yeah listen i think

i think for the lakers though like because i listen whatever happens we're whatever happens with russ like that's that's going to happen but the key for them anthony davis has to play like like the star that they need him to to be like that's that's a huge part and yeah and if he if anthony davis does not come out and if he's not like you know the brow or whatever they thought that they were getting whenever they traded for him they're going to have serious problems yeah okay but see now we're going to get into this you say that as if when he's on the so the problem is he's not on the court he's been injured the past two years but you say that like he hasn't been great when he's on the court he's still been exceptional when he plays so we really set the hope he stays

healthy which yes he's injury prone but at a certain point it's just bad look so I agree but it's not we talk about it as if he's a worse player now than he was two years ago and that's not true the thing the thing well part of part of it is is that that he is worse and and the the main way that he's worse is that when you when you go back and you look at what he was doing in the bubble anti davis turned into like a shoot he was a shooter right yeah he had the best shooting run of his entire career in the bubble and so when i'm talking about anti davis needs to step up clearly lebron is declining i'm not saying he's not great but it's started you're trying to get it to to where it gets like this right to where like lebrons coming down a little bit ad's coming up and for

ad in the in the bubble right in the playoffs from from mid from mid range he was in the 75th percent tile of all of all bigs he was shooting 49 percent from from mid range so crazy since then since then he shot 40 he shot 43 percent 38 percent and 39 percent dropping down to the 40th percent tile in those in those categories if he's not going to be the shooter that he is right i need him to be be absolutely dominant in everything else that he does. I'm talking about like MVP level because clearly that, that, that aspect of it, which helped push the Lakers, huge, huge, right? They got a champion shoot out of it.

If he's not going to be that as a mid-range shooter, I need that everywhere else. In my mind, not even that is enough for the Lakers to go ahead and be propelled towards the top of the east of the Western Conference or even in the middle of the pact. Along with that, you mentioned in 2021, bro, they're, they're supporting cast. needs to, like, absolutely step up. What's his name? They call that man, what? AR-15, Hillbilly-Cobie.

Yeah, they call that man, Hillbilly-Cobie, bro. Exactly. Like, he needs to have an insane amount of progression in his second year. And I don't know if you're going to expect that out of what was he. He wasn't a drafted rookie, I believe, correct? And, like, you need some, like, Malik Monk-type production out of someone like Lonnie Walker. And I don't know if that's just feasible because he's never been.

known to be that type of caliber of shooter in my opinion so we're asking guys we're asking guys who are 77 78 overalls on 2k right like like like that like that caliber like that caliber a player to go ahead and and give them like 82 83 overall production and it's you're really asking for a lot of people to stretch like you look at this entire lineup outside of lebron ad you have mellow there's pat bev um Troy brown junior uh wantiscona Anderson right like Damien Jones The most uninspiring group of names ever heard Bro, is Kendrick none okay?

Is Kendrick none okay? Because apparently... No, he's dead. He doesn't exist. He had the craziest bone bruise ever. I've never seen anybody out an entire year.

He got it from bumping his knee on a coffee table and he's been out for a year and a half. Is that for real true? Yes, he bumped his knee in a car and it's been about a year now. He bumped his knee in a coffee table and he's just now getting back

to five on five activities. He had to, you know what I think? Listen, conspiracy theory. Let's open our, Let's open our third eye. He had to secretly tear his ACL. And they just didn't want to tell anybody. And they didn't want to tell anybody because they were going to make fun of him the same way,

like John Wall, like, slipped and tore his Achilles. They were like, that's crazy. We got a shield. We got to shield Kendrick Nunn from the haters. Random. John Wall tore his Achilles by dancing in the shower and falling. Isn't that fucking crazy? Bro, that got to be some captain.

There's just no way. There's just no way. How bad, bro, how big of it? How big of it is his show? shower how bad did he slip he's a million I bet you his shower is huge like yeah he's a million he's not a door room shower my guy

yeah his shower's got he's got to be the size of my fucking living room he got he got walls in his shower like that's funny right I think we all kind of feel the same about the Lakers if they don't move rust

they're not going anywhere they do move him they have a chance but even if they do move him they still have a big hill to climb up because their supporting cast is horrible so I don't even like talking about the Lakers anymore, bro. It's just, it just like killed my mood, and it's so depressing, bro. It's fun to talk about what's depressing. Who are you fucking telling?

Right, let's move on to the next team in the division. Let's talk about the Kings. People are you, they're really a popular sleeper pick for the playoffs. Let's not talk. Oh, my God. I like, I like, I'm a Deerrin Fox believer. If I'm buying stock into any NBA player who seems to have low stock, is Deerrin Fox easily.

Okay. People have, they've been a very big favorite for like a sneaky playoff talks conversation. I don't think I'm willing to go there, but I see why they're interested in people. Why? Can you guys tell me? These guys suck. Yeah. They suck. So last year they were horrendous, right? They had a bottom five, they had a bottom three

offense and a bottom three defense in the league. It wasn't great. Deer and Fox also wasn't great for most of the year, but in the 16 games after they got DeMontesabonis, he got hurt so he didn't play the last few, but in the 16 games he had him with, he averaged 29 points, seven assists, four rebounds, shot 38% from three, and 50% from the field. that's why it's exciting is Deer and Fox

with actual spacing within a second star next to him now you had Keegan Murray now you had Kevin Herder and whoever else small signings they made that potential for him making that jump

and playing like that full time makes him at least interesting in that same stretch right so they had they had a bonus for like the last they had a bonus for 16 games post all-star break they played 22 games

they weren't great the king the king's net rating is minus six it was 25th in the league so like even though that everything else is is going on and you might see a little bit of progression it feels a little bit more like empty stats and they still suck they're still not there's still not a good team

they're not thinking is before then they sucked but before then they sucked and Aaron Fox was mid so at least now you see a version of him that has potential to be enabled by the star and then I think the big thing is though is adding Keegan Murray people have really high hopes for what he can be right away in the league and I get he's gonna be really fucking good yeah I but my more so like all like you said like you guys said when you were when you were pointing out towards donovan Mitchell being not Donald Mitchell my bad um the Aaron Fox actually improving his game's second half or during the last few games the regular season it all falls on

his shoulders at the end of the day of course injuries and blah blah all those type of things happen but if the Aaron Fox can be that dude once again I feel like he's like a forgotten star in the NBA I don't even want to call him he's at a star but even like he he has that type of potential. No one can debate that. He has that potential. How many years if you say that, though? He's been in the league for what, six years now? Exactly. He's 25. I got a certain point.

Like, how many years can you, he's going to be a star? Maybe he's just a really good player that's not ever going to be a star. Maybe he'll, maybe he'll get that Andrew Wiggins type treatment. And whenever, like, you know what I'm saying, the Sacramento Kings get tired of him. He gets tired to the Kings, he'll be released from his shackles and be traded to a random team like the Minnesota

10 rules are fucking, who fucking, know at this point but I just feel like it all it's all on his shoulders because now like you know what I'm saying all the excuses are out the window he has talent he has his spacing Tyrese Halliburne's not in the picture anymore and like yo if Tari's Halliburne's going to be flourishing over there in Indiana and putting up all types of crazy efficient stats and you over here still shooting like fucking 28% from the three point line that's going to be a dirty look and that's when I decide to yank my all my all my bucks away from the You mentioned the, you mentioned him shooting 20% from three point line.

That's the biggest thing for him. I don't know if it was 28%. Yeah, whatever. It doesn't matter. He shot that one year he was really good. He shot like 38% from three. And then the next two years he shot like 30% or whatever it was. And then that stretch where I just mentioned he was really good.

It's because once again, he shot 38% from three. When that shot is falling for him, he's a completely different player. But for the majority of his career, that hasn't been the case. We've just seen those flashes. So you just roll on the dice every year that he was going to have a hot hand or not. Yeah. a and as we've seen that's not a sustainable way to to run a franchise or to have like you know to have your star player be like hey listen if he if our star shoots well then we're going to be okay

and if it and if he doesn't then we're going to suck and for most of the time he doesn't shoot well exactly so like look for the kings I think what they are doing culture wise is the right thing to do I think I think trying to make a play and to I think I do I think I think at a certain point trade in Tyrese Halliburton for a wind-down move that gives you like... What would you have done, Isaac? I think at a certain point, look, listen, maybe Halliburton wasn't, maybe the Halliburton trade wasn't the, that wasn't necessarily the move to make. But I think for them...

I think it's a disastrous move. Listen, I think for the... I also think that it was a bad trade. But I'm saying, I think that for them to say, hey, at some point, we have to stop saying, oh, we're going to keep rebuilding, we're going to keep rebutter. At some point, like, they haven't been to the playoffs in, like, 17 years. or you know what I'm saying like they have the longest street without the playoffs you have to make a conscious effort

to try and say we're we're not going to be losers anymore so I think that they're making the right deal I do think though that Deerrin and Sabonis isn't going to work out I don't think that it's going to get them to the playing and so why is it a good move why is it respectable and if you think it's not going to work I think that's the whole point is that you have a young star and you get rid of I think the principle of trying to of trying to win I think that is putting them in the right direction. However, I don't, I don't, I don't, no, no, the principle matters because when you're

It's reputation. Principal, principle means nothing when you don't have the material conditions to make that principle matter. If in principle, I wanted to say, I'm going to win now. Okay, full officer, Isaac. I just be like, sure, in principle, we want to win. Great. Everybody wants to win.

But when you have a young star like Terry Taliburton, who I think has a much higher a ceiling of deer in Fox, and you get rid of that for a win now move, which you're version of winning as 42 games maybe it's ridiculous if you have somebody listen everybody has everybody has has different levels right the standard even even when when the lakers are bad and when the kings are bad when the lakers are bad and they're saying like oh okay we have to we have to fix this their version of fixing it is we need to build a championship contender for the kings if you have not been anywhere your version of fixing it is to get to is to get to to the playoffs to the plan at least give your young players an opportunity to compete on on a higher stage they have not done that in

nearly two decades and if you're going to bring up players you're going to keep drafting good players like kegan murray you have to be able to cultivate them in a decent culture and so that's what i'm saying like being able to say we're going to try and win now that's the that's the that's the principle that they have to lean on whether whether or not they want to they're going to tear down or or even make the plan that's still to be seen because i may be wrong and they may make the plan i don't think I'm wrong but but but you're wrong either exactly yeah but I think that trying to create a winning culture that's the right move I think that for them success this year just has to look like progress yeah and I'm not trying to say that like a championship or bust for the

Sacramento Kings that's it's ridiculous there is value to being a good team and bringing winning basketball to your city I just think when that doing that necessitates getting rid of your only promising prospect that's where you lose me and you and from what I'm understanding to you believe that they could have done literally the exact same thing, possibly gotten more value out of someone like Aaron Fawkes because it's undeniable he's the better player right now. It's very close. It's very close.

I personally would have tired of me, but it's very close. Like, you think they could have literally replicated the exact same thing and maybe their time might have been pushed back instead of this year contending for 42 or 39 games or whatever. They could have done it next year or the year after that and had a much higher ceiling. So I definitely see where you're coming from. I think if they could have done that, they would have done that. I think from all the reporting, they were shopping both of them,

and there just wasn't a deal out there for Deerran, so they cashed in on Tyrese while they could and try to build around Deeran, which is just like, you know, take the money in hand thing, which I think is the wrong way to do it. Obviously, like I think you should. If you can't trade Deeran and maximize your time around Halliburton right now, wait, keep Halliburton. This win-in-move can come at any point.

You don't know need to force it. Can that? I mean, listen, I don't know. if you're the if the win now move can come at any point um if you're if you're the king because it's not like you're getting guys yeah it's not like you're getting guys in free agency like you really have to build through the draft and through trades and so you kind of have to like you have to make your own luck if you're in these cities like sacramento utah right minnesota those those types of small market so i i think that for them again i like i like tyrese hallibur

and i think that he is going to be a good player and i probably wouldn't have have traded him this soon after after drafting him but the aggressive nature is something that I like from the Kings yeah and that's kind of the only good thing that I can say about the Kings because they are going to be a bad basketball team again I just I just don't see the division even if like again unless the Aaron Fox turns into like a near 40% three-point shooter they're not going to have they're not going to have the scoring from their primary options to be able to be you know competent like that Yeah, I think it'll rest in Keegan Murray's hands

All in, yeah, Keegan Murray's hand Just for him to average fucking 13 a game, bro Yeah, if he's Kauai, then they're going to be good Yeah, but all in all like I just realized that the last time that De Monta Sabonis and Ian Fox played Over 70 games was back in like 2019 and that feels like ages ago bro

And for how competitive the West is Even though they got like slightly worse this year It's still a dog fight and that's just not going to fight that's not going to fly bro they both each need to play at least 70 games and they need to be out there on a consistent basis for them to even have a chance in the plane

for sure yeah they don't have both those guys available they're cooked yeah there's no way okay we've talked for 15 minutes about the sons now I mean about the Kings that's way too much time to talk yeah it should have been two minutes especially because none of us think they're going to make the playoffs so let's move the hell on let's do it who's next

let's talk about the Phoenix Suns okay who are quite the i'm also going to say polarizing team but they're not even polarizing they're just completely shit on and belittled and totally not believed in it all right now see my first thing about the sack i mean about those phoenix suns is like bro i just feel so icky about their whole situation um when it comes to specifically like deandre hayton and shit like they didn't want to pay that dude and there was a whole bunch of back and forth going on you know and i think for a second he was dangles out there and i'm pretty sure there's no way in hell he wasn't involved in no trade talks with like kevin derain even though

i don't think that was going to happen he was definitely involved in some talks bro and i'm just like there's no way the chemistry is going to ever hit the same like it was last year him and all them boys going to be out there grittying and y'all remember that uh that post game win that they had against i think it was against the warriors or whatever he slapped he slapped up devon booker's hand he was like winners work baby or some some fucking cringe as bro they were clicking on all cylinders last year there was such a well-oiled machine of a team like they were a top three offense, top three defense. They were basically in terms of types of players you need

and how they affect each other, a perfect basketball team in that way for the regular season. They were the most perfect. How are you going to do that again? Yeah, and I believe like one of the biggest reasons for that, of course, talent's a huge key, but their chemistry was one to none. One to none, bro.

And I think it dismantled a little bit after like all the drama, how they went out and all that stuff, bro. It's an excuse. For sure. This whole thing is going to be super, super interesting, right? Because like you said, like this is a team that post-off star break, they were still top three in net rating. Like they were clicking on all cylinders. We're still getting really good Chris Paul play, which I think is very, very important, especially with him. Every year at the dice roll at this point.

Yeah. And but like, listen, like Moe was saying, the way that they handle the DeAndre Aitin situation is absolute just mismanagement, right? Because they matched him. they matched the offer sheet the day got signed and if you were going bro they probably intended to the whole time and that's the that's the problem that that's what the mismanagement lies is that if you were going to if you were never going to let him walk out the building you give him the extension up front and you keep him happy and you keep everything going but and as today like you know the the the robert sarver the investigation the penalties came out and you see that from the top

down right there's this miss there's mismanagement listen we're not going to get into But there's mismanagement. That boy was swinging his dangling out, bro. I'm sorry, I had to say it. I'm sorry, but that shit is so violating. I try not to, but you mentioned it. I could resist. Oh, my God.

And that is, listen, and you're not supposed to be swinging. You're dangling out in the workplaces, right? Like, it's just misman. It's not a joke. It's not clear. Yeah. I'm trying, I'm being, I'm being very serious. Like, that's mismanagement from ownership down.

And so from whether, like, what the culture looks like to how they did that i have no idea what the chemistry does what the chemistry looks like they looked completely torn apart lucca took their absolute soul in game seven yeah it was nuts we've never seen the meltdown like that in india history in terms of a team that's that much that highly favored going out in that fucking down bad of a fashion we'll never see it again probably i i don't i don't know and so like they were listen they were eight games ahead of of the grizzlies who were who the two seed they were eight games better than the second scene in the west gap right I don't know if they end up as top three this season I don't the problem with

them is like I agree that you might be right that might not happen again but I think we have talked about the reasons why they were so great last year because of a variety of factors but those factors were such high volatility their offense made no sense on paper you know in a modern NBA everybody focuses on shooting shots in the three point line and from the rim the most efficient places on the court they shot by far the highest amount of mid-range shots in the league like it's not even close 41% of their shots came from the from mid range the league average is 30% but they were able to do that because they shot 48% from the mid range which is also ridiculous league average is 42% can they replicate that again they've done it two years

in a row now but can they do the third year I think so because I think they can because you have because you have Chris Paul and Devin Booker taking their shots and it's not and Bridges and Aiden also shoot extremely well from that range if you forget it's like their whole team yeah you know it's not it's not like you have you know D.R. Fox shooting those shooting those mid-range shots. But, like, when you have those two guys who have made their entire careers

off of that shot, like, I think that's, you know, you can replicate that. I really, really just think that the intangibles are going to get them this year. And everybody else coming up. There's one other thing that's replicate. On top of being ridiculously reliant on mid-range shots, they were also by far

the best clutch team in the NBA. If you look at their shooting numbers in the clutch, which is, I think, qualified the last five minutes when the scores within 10 or within five, whatever it is. They shot, they won a ridiculous amount of those games where it came down to the fourth quarter, like to an almost unconstistent, I mean, unreplicable way. They were like 17 and 0 in clutch games. I don't remember the exact side of my head, but it was like something absurd.

That is absolutely not replicable. No team in NBA history would be able to do that consistently. That's just pure luck at that point. They, but again, they did it the year prior, or no, actually no. Not to this level, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have continued to be clutched. If you look at the season before, they had the second best record in the clutch, right?

And so they've been able to execute down the stretch of games for two years now. So I think for them, for the Sun's really what it is, is are you going to be able to translate what's on paper a great situation and you still have all the pieces there? Are you going to be able to recover from the way that you went out, from the way that the Aiton contract was, was missing? handled and again i'm i'm not joking and the the um the robert sarver stuff are you going are you are you are you going to be able to take all of this offseason turmoil term tomorrow put it to the side and

keep going to work and keep doing what you're doing and i personally just think that that's a lot to that's a lot to overcome yeah but then again yeah you're right there's a lot of factors but we've also seen him do it maybe we got just believe they'll do it until they don't yeah they have the talent i i personally believe this is kind of off slightly off tangent but i feel like this this season is probably going to be their last real chance of having championship type contention a championship type contention season

and because after this fucking CP3 is going to be what like 36 he's going to be 38 years old come May entering and entering that season will be 38 and there's just no way in hell in my mind a 38 year old CP3 can help carry this organization as well as and help him play as well as they did

over the last two to three seasons at that point and something that just irritates my soul that I don't know why nobody talks about this bro but in the 2020 NBA draft they had like the ninth or tenth overall pick you know who they pick fucking Jalen Smith he sounds like a created oh he sounds like an auto generated player from 2K bro no and then they traded him

they got rid of him in the offseason exactly for yeah exactly bro he's a he's a 55 overall dudeu shirt you know what I'm saying he's I think he's a good player for Indiana no he was he was solid last year actually he was actually looking kind of promising which is why to cash in on him exactly but like during that timing i'm just like you see someone like tyrese halliburton who is an older rookie who will be an older rookie at that point in time and he kind of he directly matches the timeline for everyone else feeds on it just it irritates my soul and i don't think they're going to

see success bro this year i'm glad you brought it up it's raps i'm glad you brought that up because we're talking about the ways in which they're being very volatile happen to replicate very tough situations that's another reason why they don't believe in the draft since james jones got there they just punt the draft every year and just say that's not how we build like they've come out on record and said that we're not a team that builds through the draft that is so not they're not well-ran you can't you can't keep that up like you're not well-brown every the team does i feel like they're they just stumbled onto this this success that they had it just happened right timing CP3 had his down bad moment with okay c thunder value was at an all-time

low and it just all has like a silen it's a cinderella story that's all it is at this point broke they haven't made no legit real movie they were they were garbage for a decade before this little run they're probably bad after like they're catching lightning in the bottle right now and at a certain point it's going to have run out yeah exactly right facts yes they're an interesting team i'll give them that i think we can move on to the next team now we got our we got our sons talk out there who we got next we're going to talk about the probably if in this little group the most polarizing team on those lists the clippers because i know one of us here has very strong opinions about them okay

listen listen my my opinions about the clippers are more about the clippers culture and just the way that they like present themselves you know because on listen on paper on paper the clippers are great and like i'm not you know like i'm not going to say here and act like they're going to like they're going to suck they have they have they have listen like they have you have stars in in kawai and Paul George, and then you're going to be able to have your three and D guys like a Robert Covington, like a, like a Norman Power, right? You have depth a little bit at the point guard position with Reds Jackson, John Wall, like they have, they are, they are deep, they have stars, they have people who can defend, they have shooters, they have kind of everything on paper. And so.

Except for a five, uh, big man depth, except for big man depth. Can me Zublock. Zubok is solid. Zubox is solid. He's serviceable. He's serviceable. but if you're saying hey we're going to we're going to go we're going to go small and kind of and try to run people out of the gym they have the personnel to do that yeah and so them and morris they're going they're going to be really really good and if kawai can stay healthy right because the last time we saw kawai he was listen kawai was moving up there

in the in the player rankings the last time he saw him he was yeah dynamite so if he can stay healthy they're good yeah what do you do you think is their ceiling mohammed peak like everything goes well i think that they are a top three seed everything goes well that's the peak to you yeah peak top okay let me get let me get out we're we're on different wavelengths we're on different wavelengths here if everything clicks right for them they're going to be the best team of the NBA and it's not going to be close yeah i don't think people realize how mind-boggingly deep they are like we're going to get into the season starts and people are going to just like it's the realization is going to hit them like a truck

that this team on paper is by far the best in the NBA. It's utterly ridiculous. Let me read out their roster to you, or not their roster, but their core. So obviously they have PG, Kauai, and Zubak as three lock-in starters. After that, they had to start two of Reggie Jackson, Morris, John Wall, Batum, Norm Jackson, and then they also have some other bench guys that are pretty good.

Being able to start only two of those guys is fucking madness. And having the other three off the bench, they're ridiculous. Listen, I, and I don't know where you, guys are on john wall i i'm still relatively high on john wall i think that he's i think that he's going to be able to to give the clippers like some like really really good minutes and he's going to be more than just like you know 12 13 minutes a night spark like i think he's going to be playing like valuable minutes for them and yeah one of one of the things that they haven't necessarily had right is a is a really really like smart point guard and and somebody who knows

the game and john wall john wall could do that he can get Kawhi the ball in his spots he can set up Paul George and Paul listen PG he's he's an underrated facilitator I think I think that he can he can you know he can kind of orchestrate the offense a little bit but if he can just focus on scoring the ball and not have to worry about getting everybody else you know involved then that's when you that's when you maximize Paul George and that and that's when you maximize kawai Leonard and so having john wall there is going to be huge for sure that is absolutely true go ahead I mentioned the fact that they have to start only two of those players next to the two stars in Zubak who do you guys think are going to be those

two players they start because it's going to be an incredibly hard decision for them now that's super tough bro yeah she's now that's hell of tough now they have so I'll tell you the options again so they can either start a point guard it would be John Wall or Reggie Jackson or they can start norm Powell or Nick Batum Markief Morris Robert Cove I would feel comfortable starting John Wallace soon because I know he's more of a past first player and at this point of his career he's definitely passed first and I like the thought of Reggie Jackson being like a spark plug type player offensively just a fucking machine getting whatever shot he wants and keep an offensive float and asked for that what that four spot correct yes yeah I could do the beer three or four maybe you can push quad someone someone interchangeable I think that's really up in the air and it just really really depends on who the hell you're going against on that night it's either going to be rob or um or morris i think i think they end up i think they end up i think what happens with the point guard position i think reggie ends up starting at point guard but john wall's going to finish

games once once we get into like march and april and we start like curating lineups for the playoffs that's when you're going to see john wall on those closing lineups and i think yeah i think covington takes the takes the fourth spot um that that that way you can just have somebody who's who's you know straight 3 and D and very versatile and then you can just have Paul George and Kauai focus on the offense hey I ain't a lie but it's just looked at the Clippers roster brought right and I forgot I completely forgot Luke Canarblsen on the roster and also they got Brandon Boston Jr and I hey man bro I got to he has Atlanta ties to him he's disgusting he's

listening this okay so yeah let's assume they start John Wall and so last year Marcus Morris started every game let's just assume they start John Wall and Marcus Morris go chalk yeah so that point their lineups are going to be John Wall Paul George Kauai Marcus Morris Zubotch top five in the NBA probably but their bench bro their bench is Reggie Jackson norm Powell Nicholas Batum Rodney Hood Robert Covington Luke Conard who else they got that's nice what's his name what's the Terrence man yeah some other young guys who I'm not super familiar with Jason Preston dude they're like 10 11 D

deep of really solid players that could be starter caliber for a lot of good teams they're they're they're nasty i'm listen i'm i'm i'm with you i think at their peak i think at their peak the clippers win a championship i think at the it's not going to be close if it if it clicks on the if it if it if it clicks they can they can do it i'm not going to sit here and and say that they don't have the talent or or and on top of all of this you have tie lou as your coach right top three in the NBA you have you have you have a great coach who's a who's amazing at adjustments who's a players coach like you have you have all the pieces there the problem is and where my problem lies with the clippers is that they are just a lame

or they're just a lame franchise that's the that's the that's the problem is that is that what charles barclay say huh what charles barclay he said i've been rich i've been poor i've been skinny i've been fat but the clippers have always sucked yeah you know what i'm saying like l a l a r way is a sham and it's like they don't they don't really have they don't have a culture but they listen as a basketball team and if we're just talking about exes and o's and playing games they're they're going to they're going to be great they however the the clippers can go 82 and oh right and that first playoff game those tickets are still going to be ten dollars like it's it's never it's never going to click in in los angeles for the clip bro facts they get three p and i

promise you there's going to be zero Lakers fans I'll become Clippers fans. That's what I'm saying. It's just, that's just the problem. That's my problem with the Clippers. It's like, and there's so many teams across so many different sports. It's like, if you can just overcome the fact that you're that franchise, like in football, it's the Chargers, right?

And listen, that's Isaac's team. I know, I'm taking another shot. And so like the Chargers, Chargers always have great, they always have great rosters, great players, but they just find ways to lose because they're the Chargers. It's the same way, it's the same way with, with clippers they can just find a way to not be the clippers for one year they can get a championship out of it and that it's almost like they're cursed yeah and that's that but that's a hundred percent their ceiling is championship and they they should be championship robust okay so one thing i want to know

mohammed i'll ask you again so what's their floor everything was wrong no why i get hurt again oh whoa we say collie gets hurt again well i'm saying because i mean they get injured sometimes not catastrophic injury but like no they miss games like the worst case scenario happens he gets hurt PG gets hurt, which they're prone to do. John Wall's crappy. He looks like he looked like in Houston. What's their four? Because of their depth, they're no worse than a six seat. They're not playing.

They're not playing around whatsoever. No worse than the six seed. They're solid. Their talent, bro, the talent is going to take them a very long way. And I think having maintaining and finding out a way to like consistently orchestrate having so much depth year to year to year. Over the last like five years, they've had the deep, arguably the deepest bench consistently in the NBA

to still have that now after so many cycles no Lou Will no mantra so you turn that into like so many other good parts there's no

they're gonna be no worse than the sixth seed bro even through all the injuries they would have to lose Kauai and Paul George for the season yeah like and obviously you can never predict that

if it happens that sucks but I think they're definitely the highest floor and probably the highest ceiling in the NBA I actually think I'm talking myself into making them my finals pick for next year

I was on team Warriors repeat but now that I put it out there I might be on the Clippers Van Wagon Okay I like that that's not bad at all I can't fault you for that Now it's nasty as fuck to say out loud I'm on the Clippers bandwagon it's disgusting You can't go outside bro

Hitchfork's waiting for you right now But it's undeniable They're incredible on paper Yeah gotta admit it tough to swallow Yeah but like I said I would have to go in the Clippers bandwagon from where I am now because the last thing we have to talk about The Warriors are still the Warriors

Yeah I think we should get into it Let's do it, right? Okay, so with the Warriors, they, first off, as long as you have Steph Curry, like, you're going to be okay, right?

Like, you're going to be a competent team. The losses that they had this off-season, right, you lose Gary Payton, you lose Otto Porter, and you replace them with Jamichael Green and Dante Divencinzo and kind of like the same type of architect players still getting,

you're getting James Wiseman back that's the big thing you're getting you're getting wise men back moody or comminga you only need one of your two draft picks to like really take the next step jordan pools obviously like we're expecting him to get a little bit better like Clay Thompson a nut like another like healthy off season for him to get his basketball legs under him and you're wiggins just to there they they that's strength in numbers mantra like that's all back and they have they have the right pieces to play around step curry and draymond right now Yeah. Mahmah, what do you think about them losing, like he said, Gary Payton and Otto Porter?

Do you think it's going to matter, or do you think the fact that they're believing in their young guys to come in and take those minutes? Do you think that's going to work out this season? I think it definitely could work out, but I think their roster, like, I think, I don't want them to become overly reliant on someone like Curry. I mean, he's obviously able to do those fucking great-to-greating shooting the world, and Amir, in my opinion, might be the greatest point guard just ever. but they just have blatant holes on their roster and I hate the idea of 110% relying on one of these two young dudes to do They definitely have a potential to you

What are the what? Yeah, spell what are these holes that you believe in They have right now? On the bench, on the bench. Okay. The holes on the bench is what I'm saying. Like they don't have that as much depth As one of you guys said earlier in my mind

You mentioned death of course, okay like I just All in my mind One of the biggest X factors for them has to be, of course, Clay and his health and how much of Clay Thompson he can be again. Clay was not very good last year. Yeah, exactly.

They won with the Spide, but for being honest, he wasn't a top 10 shooting guard in the NBA. Yeah, he was very mid, very mid. But in my mind, you're banking a lot on Moses Moody and Jonathan can meet to go ahead and take that next step. You need someone to be just as good, someone to be damn near elite defensively off of the bench. Who's going to give the other opponent guards hell?

You know what I'm saying? Gary Trent, I said Gary Trent. Gary Payton, Jr. was fucking elite last season on that end of the floor. So those are the type of holes that I see, and it's all up to the young guys in my mind. I'm not counting games-wise because he's such an unknown,

and he's played like five games over the past four years, bro. I just can't count on him like that right now. I think him and Moses Moody are ready. Like, Moses Moody is 10. I know Moses-Roodie is right. That man is ready. We're going to have him and Jordan Poole off the bench as a one-two ball-handling combo.

that's a lot of scoring punch to have behind the best point guard of all time like you said probably second best in my opinion but that's another topic for another day yeah but having that combination and then if james wison can come in and we saw a little bit of flashes last year but if he can come in and really take those auto-porting minutes and give them that big forward who can defend hopefully shoot better even if wise men doesn't do anything if he just misses the whole season again they have potential to be better than they were last year i think i think so i think so too and and moham i think you're kind of understanding the depth that they have right because Like Wiggins, Wiggins average 17 a game last year, right?

As long as, as long as Steph, right? And Seth didn't even have like the, the Steph Curry season that we saw the year prior where he scored. It was one of his worst offensive seasons. Yeah. And so like if, if Steph comes back and if Steph's shooting is 1%, 2% better, right? I think everything else just falls in line to where you have Wiggins and Poole who last last season gave you 35 points combined, you're going to add clay to that mix.

They have, they have, they have, they have a lot of guys that, that offensively, they don't, they don't need, they don't need three, three, 20 point scores. I think the main thing for the, for the war is, is you have to make sure that the defense is still solid because that's one of the things that's kept them through, you know, that's kept them afloat through this entire run, is that their defense is amazing. And their defense is what was able to win them the, the title, obviously, along with step curry but their defense being as good as it was helped them and so offensively i don't think that the holes that you're saying are going to be um you know too i don't think they're going to be

detrimental you know so so so that that's why i don't necessarily like consider them holes yeah i don't know just them putting that much light for the first time ever in their like reign of this dynasty on these young players it's just it's never been seen before and of course as a dynasty you have to evolve and incorporate all these young players and things like that in order to like revive and ignite the fire into flames i just i just don't have that much it's it's scary it's scary because it's never been seen before for the warriors and i'm putting all my yeah definitely is a risk he's my guy i'm putting all my yeah we're talking up the the high potential of if they all click they can be better than last year but there's also

potential they don't click like you're saying because these are young guys it is a high versatile high variability situation so i get the hesitation but so what i got to ask you wait real quick real quick listen i'm i'm looking i'm looking at their basketball reference page last year damian lee who's only around because you know oh my god he was ass right he's on he's around he's a he's a family hire right he was playing he was playing 20 minutes a night last night last season he was playing one minutes than than gary peyton the second so like if you can have comminga or moses moody come in and take a little bit of his way better than him last season anyways if you can if you can hey i have to interrupt you real quick what's up i got

interrupt you real quick uh we just hit 20 000 subscribers right now as we recorded on the channel pretty big number let's go let's go that's huge it's a nice little live reaction that's huge before the season started we started the channel the beginning of july so already hit 20k before the season starts is pretty great all this momentum is happening during the off season so we're gonna be at 80 by the end of the season bro hopefully hopefully people keep watching wow that's crazy that's crazy appreciate all y'all y'all that's that's fire for sure that's insane yeah can i can get back to talk about nepotism damien lee yeah yeah damn dame lee so he was playing he was playing 20 minutes a night last night more more than gary peyton

the second if if comminga um who played 17 minutes a night last year or moody who played 12 minutes a night. If they can come in and take three of his minutes, I think that the boys are going to be just fine. Right? They have a lot of pieces. Yeah. So I guess the question is, I'm sorry with you Mohamed, do you think they're going to repeat?

Do I think they're going to repeat? That's going to be hell of tough. That's going to be hell of tough because there's so, like, bro, like the nuggets. Are the Lakers going to win the championship next year? Yonnes, you got hardened. I don't know, bro. I said that like these to see our reaction

but I'm going to for the sake of just I'm going to say no I'm going to say no okay I'm not going to say confidently though I'm not going to be confident about it whatsoever I'm going to say now simply because like bro the clippers are coming back

and I think the east is more I mean the west is going to be more competitive towards the very top um Darren Dice Jr and MBoers are going to be back and a lot better than they were last season, in my opinion. So it's just going to be a lot tougher for them. It's going to be a lot tougher for them, bro. This path to the finals is going to be a little harder.

So I definitely have been, yeah. I don't think they're going to. Yeah, like you said, the path of the finals is a big thing. They had a relatively easy path last year compared to most years. Like facing Luca in the conference finals and just him alone, it's kind of a cake walk. He really didn't have a chance, as well as great as he was, as a transcendent as he is. He's not going to have been a world by himself. He's never going to happen again next year.

Next year they're going to have the warrior. years, maybe a year older Luca, yokechita full squad. It's going to be tough to get back. Yeah, exactly. Their path was who they played in the first round. They played a... They played the Nuggets. MPJ list and Jamal Murray list Nuggets.

And then in the second round, I think who'd they play again? Was it Luca or was it the Memphis Grizzies? I don't know. Memphis. They played Memphis in the second round. And Jock and Jock had a game, too. Yeah, exactly, bro. And I'm just like, there's, they're going to be a lot more...

It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough, bro. And I don't think they're going to have. that same type of i hate to say it but i don't think they're just going to have that the same type of path because that goes a long way yeah that matters a lot they took yeah and they took advantage and they did what they're supposed to do and you can't blame them or anything like that oh for sure no asterisk bullshit like yeah exactly that's so lame that's so i just don't think it's going to be 17 year old talk yeah exactly it's going to be a lot harder bro it's going to be a lot harder

to win this year so that's why i don't have them making it yeah that's valid again i think it's going to be them or the clippers maybe the bucks out of east like there's so many good teams you can't really say the words for sure going to win but i think that was good of a chance as anybody but all right i think is that the last team of the division yeah that's the whole pacific division let's go we've got through it in one hour now we move on to the time we're all here for the tic tic tics all right let's go i think let's start with the hot takes you know we do we do this every week we have you guys comment hot takes on one of our videos and we respond to them and tell you if they're w or nil take so let's start with that let me say the ticot

intro because you know i got to make sure we get that good hook they see it's live and full effect hey all i got a fresh i said that last time i got some hot takes for y'all and i want you to let me know if these are w takes or l takes let's get it jose santos says the nets are going to be in the play in i'll take i'll take i think i think that listen the nets are going to be one of like the three or four best teams in the east like i agree for sure but listen ben simmons is i i think i think that i think that i I think we talked about this before. Bent Simmons is really, really being underrated right now. And if he is like, if he's like in the Draymond role with Kady and Kyrie,

that's a, that's potentially a top two team in the East. No, absolutely. I think this is definitely going to be an L-Tek. I feel like someone like Kyrie and Katie are going to come into the season, and I've came to a conclusion that they're going to do some serious damage. And like you said, bro, yeah, like you said, bro, you said, Ben Simmons is going to be in that Draymond-esque role. alongside Seth Curry, Joe Harris, KD, Kyrie.

You got Lydry Shaman, I believe, still, bro. He got snipers everywhere you look. They're going to be lethal in the regular season. I think they're going to be a top two season. Yeah. I think rim protection might be a real issue, but, okay, I'm going to go out of take as well. I think room protection might be a real issue, but their ceiling is the best team of the east and their floor is like the fifth best team in the east.

Yeah. They're out of lock. Yeah. So we've got to keep a snapping. You got to get those TikTok sound bites in. you got y'all talking too much just the TikToks show up and keep it moving

Beastiness I don't need Beastiness I can't say that right It's a weird name Beastiness says that Littiness says that the Lakers are going to be in the Western Conference finals

El Tate They suck Move on The only way this is possible The only way this is possible Is if they land Somehow Buddy healed and Miles Turner Yeah

LTIC for now because they have rest in their team exactly L take for now because they have Russ maybe W take if they get rid of him but even then it's probably so an L yeah bro must be from the future with that type of take bro he must see something that we haven't seen yet man I wish he was right

all right Devin Booker says that his name is Devin Booker on YouTube Devin Booker says that CP3 is a top three point guard of all time I think it's got to be an L take I wanted to be W because I feel like he deserves that third spot, but I think it's an L.

I would say the top three talent for sure, easily. No. But talent. I would say talent, definitely. When I think of, yeah, I would say talent, but there's a lot more that goes into being top three and an elite player all time. Talent's not going to carry you there, bro. Point-play period.

Okay, so top two are obviously Magic and Steph. Who's number three? I have no. I have not thought about this in a long time. But like, me neither. Just because the conversation is, the conversation. the conversation's magic and stuff that just stumbled all of us bro

holy shit okay I mean listen it might be CP3 all time all time are we taking are we taking Russ or are we taking CP?

CP get the fuck out of here listen I was just asking a question I was just trying to see but like Isaiah Thomas yeah Isaiah Thomas Isaiah Thomas

yeah I forgot about that man so L take so yeah it's an L take but it wouldn't be crazy to put him there. If he won a championship, there's a lot of good players. If he won a championship this upcoming season,

nah, that's the W take. But I don't think that's reasonable, so I'll take for now. Okay. Yeah, that's all right. We only think about it in terms of the top two. After that, like three through seven are a really bunch together. He got Steve Nash, Jason K, all these names. Yeah.

We've got to make a video where we rank these players. That's tough. Yeah, it's okay. Yeah, it's okay. Nice time. I'm going to be up there soon. All right. All right.

King Tomeader said that Steph isn't going to be a top two point guard after next season. Is Steph going to fall off? Nah, no way in hell. Like in the current top two? Yeah, I'm assuming that no way in hell he's going to fall off that quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

His game built to last. His game built to last. He's going to be number one for at least like three or four more years. Damn, really? Whoa, wait. I forgot Luke. I forgot Luke. Yeah, for the lot.

I think, listen, I think he'll be, I think he'll be top two. And it's really just going to be. going to kind of go back and forth between him and luka i got it's going to be him and lucca and then dame and dame and trea as like the three and four and that that's kind of yeah going to be like the the tears of it yeah i agree it's an l-take he's going to age incredibly well and i'm not going to predict the fall off until we see it yeah okay Antonio says that devon booker is a top 10 player right now out take out take it's an l-take but i don't think it's super crazy i think he's in the 10 to 15 range. Yeah, I don't think this is

an L take whatsoever. I don't think this is a L take. I want to hold this on my chest and say it out loud like that man bro. I hope he was on his burner account. That's because that's crazy. But I'm going to give it a W take for now. What? Wait, W. You think he's top 10? I wouldn't

I wouldn't rep it in my chats, bro. I want to rep it and be like and say it out loud. I'm not going to say it out loud. You're saying it out loud right now? I'm not saying it out of I didn't say it. Hey, I'm hearing it. I think the 10th best player is either Damian Lillard or Jason Tatum. Do you think those players are worse than Devin Booker?

Bye. All right, move on. He's not top ten, obviously. Okay. Trey says that D-Lo is going to be an all-star again. I'll take. I think he's done. He's done.

Gigantic L. I think I can see why he says that because they're going to be such a good team, but he's going to be the fourth-west player in the team. It's not happening. Yeah, exactly, bro. There's no way in hell. We're never, ever going to see. like three or four we're never going to see four all-stars come into the all-star game

just like the fucking warriors or the hawks did back in 2015 or 16 or 14 whenever it whatever they did it bro and also the angel also is i think a lot of people have come to accept the fact that he's a middle to late 20 tier pack point mid you know what i'm saying and that's not bad at all the it's just deep this is a deep solution to the league right now so it's not bad i mean you're mid but it's not it's not his fault none really he's just nowhere near all-star caliber he never was in the first place the way the fact that he got in set really high expectations of people it's because

he never should have been in that culture it's because he played for the lakers that's why yeah he played in l a new york it's yeah he's not all-star caliber yeah all right last one nathaniel says that the lakers should trade anthony davis he's a source of their issues oh i'm gonna say i'm gonna be out loud this is the

w take bro i would do this oh go fuck yourself this is the biggest l do you know do you can you imagine how much a lot of teams will give up for Anthony David, but you could get win now players right now who can actually play the game of basketball on a consistent basis, and also you can preserve

for your future. That's a W-TECB. What trade would make them better and help maximize LeBron's Prime? Who was out there? Off the top of my head. Off the top of my head. That's Anthony Davis. Right now there's no one out there, but if a team like the Washington Wither were going to offer me Chris out of Prisignis and Bradley Beal or something of that nature,

oh, I said, what the fuck is wrong with you? I can't think of Listen, he started off by saying Christos Porzingis as to why I should be excited. Bro, pay attention to the name. It's Bradley Bill. No. Listen, if it was, if LeBron didn't sign the extension, I would say it's a W take, right? Because then I would say you don't know what he's going to do and tear everything down and kind of like rebuild.

But you have LeBron on the books for the next two years. So it's an L take and you have to maximize LeBron. And Anthony Davis right now is the best way to do that. Yeah. I can't go. So for right now, L take. Yeah,

that was an L-Troll. Thank you. As to me a good TikTok, I'll tell you that. That's funny. Okay, so the next one, this is going to be a good one.

So there's been a lot of talk like we just talked about is Devin Booker, a top 10 player. So I'm going to name some NBA players. I want you, so I'm going to name some players. I want you tell me

if they're better or worse than Devin Booker. Let's do it. Let's go. Trey Young. Better. Actually, let me restart that.

I'm going to name some players. let me know if you're going to take them or devon booker trey young i'm taking tray young okay i'm gonna go trey young but i think it's closer than people give it credit for it okay i'm not that's cool i'm not that's gonna say

trey young over i don't think i don't think you'd see a lot of souls taking devon over trey but yeah no it's got it's just definitely trey yeah donovan mitchell devon i'll take devon bucker good donovan mitchell is extremely underrated but it's got to be Devon Ben Booker's entire, Devon been better his entire career. I never understood that. I don't know about the entire career, but needless to say, we'll keep going. Carl Anthony Towns.

I'm taking Devin Booker. Easy. Listen, you know who you're talking to. Like, I'm taking Devin Booker. Easy. It's just much easier to win with the diamond. It's so much easier to win with a versatile guard like that than it is with the center who doesn't play defense. Yeah.

Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler, easy. Easy. I think I'm going to take Devin Booker. What? Why? Listen, I get the whole playoff Jimmy thing.

He has these spectacular games that really stick in your mind. But I think on a consistent day-to-day basis, especially going forward, we don't know how, especially going forward with the age gap, I'm taking Devin Booker. We're talking about right now, though. Fuck the age. I'm talking about right now, today, Isaac, 22, September. I'm taking Jimmy Butler.

If I have a game seven, I'm taking Jimmy Butler. If I need someone to go ahead and win me a final, taking Jimmy all day every day. Fate of the universe? Listen, I, Martians have the dust beam pointed at us. I want Jimmy Butler. I want Butler. Exactly.

Listen, I get it. He has the very high highs, but I don't think the gap is nearly as big as you're acting. Yeah. Okay. I guess that's good. Any of the names you're still in there? What about John Morant? Everyone picking John?

I'm taking John, yeah. Yeah, I'll take John. Yeah, I can't take Booker over for God. I want to test you guys the limit. What about Jason Tatum? You're picking Tatum? Easy. I'm taking Tiam.

I'm taking Tiam. I think Tatum is a bigger gap than Jai's to Booker. Oh, for sure, yeah, yeah. Okay, I'm with you. I'm taking Tatum. I'm just trying to see where you're all at. Okay. What about Pascal Seacom?

What? I'm taking Booker. What? I don't know. That's tough. That's tough. That's tough. I think that's kind of tough.

Pascal Seaccom is all NBA. He's a great two-way player. I understand that he's all-N-Ba-2-way player and all that stuff, but I'm taking Devon Booker at the end of the day. He plays in Canada, so you don't like them. No. no bro he's african i half this man hates canadians

he's not he's not he's not Canadian he thinks he's like Moroccan or something that's funny okay so we want the next one I'm gonna name some teams and I want you all to grade them

and how should I phrase this I'm trying to see how much good of contenders they are I'm gonna name some teams and I want you guys to give them a grade for how real of a contender they are all right the Atlanta Hawks Contender

A D No like letter grade Oh letter grade B plus B plus I'm gonna go C plus I think C plus They're not a contender

Maybe they have that potential They're not like an F But they're not a contender That's nasty bro My only real question about the Atlanta Hawks Of course is the fucking depth on that bench It's kind of scary Just a little bit

and I don't know how well Dezante and Tray. I don't know, cut that part out. I don't know how well our team is going to be coached by Milk by Nate. I don't know how well our team is going to be coached by Milkud Nate. That's my biggest concern. I just, I think if you're two best players, there's potential about how they fit on offense. It's not a great, it's just not a great formula. Exactly.

D. I'll take. The Lakers. D plus. I'll say D plus. They might have to be an F right now if they have Russ. They're just not a contender. They got LeBron and A-D, and it's just crazy to say that, you know what I'm saying?

You can't give LeBron an A-D. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to give them a straight-up. Maybe they're a C-minus, you're right. That's okay. That's fair. The Clippers. A plus.

A-plus. Easy. The Suns. B-minus. Oh, look at that. Okay. I think that's fair. I think we're all in sync here.

Look at us. Yeah. I like that. What about the Mavs? Oh, that's a I'm gonna go solid B. Flatline B. I'm gonna say B minus as well

just because like without Brunson you don't, you're putting everything on Luca again and so like offensively I think that there's some potential that he might wear out in the playoffs again just because you're... That's fair.

So I'll say B minus. Yeah, I'm just not putting Luca below would be for probably the rest of his career. Yeah, that's fair to say. I'm gonna rock with y'all. What about the next? that's a minus a minus a minus yeah a minus is fair they have like the potential be a plus but there's some volatility there that probably takes me down to a minus yeah yeah

exactly politics bro what about the heat I'm gonna say B I don't know why I say B plus plus like like not not quite an A I feel like they're like a move away but like they're right there though Kyle I'll give him I'll give him B minus how to respect for how good I'll give them B minus out of respect for how good they've been but I really think they're like a C. I just don't see it. Yeah bro. Kyle Lauer was a can of Kyle Lauer was two cans of bounce that ass bro last postseason and I just don't believe him whatsoever. He's going to be better. He's going to be a great team. He definitely will be better. Like they're a good team that deserves to be put respect there but I just don't I think there's a zero percent chance

they actually win. Maybe there's an 80 percent chance they make a top three seed but they're not going to finish it. If those Kyle Lier from three years ago then yes I'll I'll probably give them a higher grade but he's not going to be as good as they need him to be he's going to be better but not as definitely as they need him to be okay what about the 76ers b plus b this is straight b i'm gonna go b plus as well i think when you have joel and b who's been arguably the second best player in the NBA this by MVP voting the past couple years you have the ceilings high now they have great depth james hardin's going to be a little bit better you got you got a p jucker under that team but then you got a great six man and montres harrow bro i think

their team's got a lot better i i i start i'm regularly. I still have questions. I still have questions about James Hardin. You still have Doc Rivers as the coach. There's still like there. There's still some pieces there that can go extremely sour, extremely quickly. So that's why I was, that's why I'll put him straight

at B. Okay. What about the Raptors? B minus? B minus. That seems kind of that's kind of generous. Yeah. I want to say C plus actually. B minus is kind of high. I think they're a C. I don't

think they're a C. I don't think they're contender they're a good frisky team but they're not going to win it all yeah they don't have any star yet unless scotty pimping i mean yes let scottie barnster and a fucking scottie yeah scottie pitton there's no way it's happen bro i you sway you swayed me see okay what about the calves i'm gonna go a minus i think they have a lot of potential i think a minus as well this up-and-com they have a lot of potential but potential is towards the future and as of now this now meaning this season i think i'm going to go ahead and give them a B-plus.

Okay. That's not bad at all, though. It's not bad. I'm not going to fight you on Cleveland, you know, two week before the season starts. I'm not doing that. I'm about that passing it. What about the Grizzlies? I'm going to give them a B-minus.

I'm going to give them a B-minus simple because they're missing on Jared Jackson, Jr. for like half of the season. Yeah, I'm going to go B-1 too. I think they're a serious candidate for big-time regression. Yeah. They, last year, said really bad expectations. are not going to replicate. Yeah, they have the perfect recipe for regression.

And their second best player, in my mind, a top three defensive player in the entire NBA is out for half of the season. You're going to be a little bit worse. Yeah, it's tough. Last one. What about the Nuggets? If everybody's healthy, A.

Yeah, if everyone's healthy, solid A. Solid A. There's no way in hell they're not below a B minus. They're not below a B plus. Solid A. You've got the two-time MVP, best player. I mean, you've got the two-time MVP. MVP.

Oh, that's a hot take. No, no, no, no, no. That's something you've been waiting to unleash right there, I think. You let the room come out you for a second. Don't hold back. No, no, no, no. We know what you. We know how you feel about it, bro.

No, no, no. But you got the two-time MVP, best offensive player in the NBA with his best co-stars next to him, some solid depth. They're going to be fucking nasty. Yeah. For sure. Nice. So I think any of the teams that's relevant?

You want to say the Timberwolves? Sure. What about the Timberwolves? I'm going to give them a B. I'm going to give them a B. A C plus. They're going to be a great regulation team, but I don't see the way their team's constructed

them having good payoffs. But because their way their team's constructed, I don't see it in the playoffs. Yeah, I can't be mad at you for that. Okay, so that concludes that segment. We've got a couple more TikToks to go through. Oh, this one's going to be fun. Now we're going to do a young player draft.

We're going to keep it real quick, real brief, because, you know, it's a TikTok. we're going to we have a pool of the young players under 25 and we're going to basically go through drafting a whole starting five of them so i send you guys young players obviously if you think of any more to add them add that but let's start this off i'm just going to say donovan go out to order my screen donovan gets first pick mohammy gets second pick i get third pick we'll do a snake draft let's go let's go let's go you know what that means you know what that means i'm taking luca first Hold on, let me do the intro first I got to do the TikTok hook My bad, my bad Settle down Settle down

All right y'all We're going to draft Let's draft the starting five With Let's draft starting fives With only young players You go first don't know All right

First pick You know who I'm going Luca Donchitz Can't be mad at it I'm already I'm already winning I can have bums next to me and I'll be okay

That's a W take Second pick I got Zion Williamson I was gonna pick Zion You got me Okay third pick I gotta go Jason Tatum Okay

Oh I got back to back picks Oh true Ooh who don't want to put next to Tatum Yeah This is where the real thing It comes on bro This is where it gets tough Give me Trey Young

Yeah I know you're mad about that one Fuck Shit. He's bad. Who you going? Is it my turn? Yeah. Yeah, it's snake draft.

Wait, who did you take Donovan? I took Luca. And then Isaac took... I took Luca. You took Zion. Isaac took Trey. Tatum and Trey Young. Yeah.

Well, you took Tatum and Trey Young? Yes. You took both? Yeah, because it's a snake draft. So I went third. Oh, okay, gotcha. Yeah. Okay, got you.

So I pick two players or one player now? One. No, one player. One. I've never done a snake drive for. Okay, cool. So I got Trey Young right now and... No, you don't.

My bad. I've got Zion. My bad. Fuck you, me again. That's confused. Yeah, I got confused as a bitch. Okay. Damn, you're a bastard for that, bro.

I didn't even think of a backup. At this point, I have to go by talent, and I'm looking at this text right now, and I think the most talented player. out of this I'm going to pick Evan Moble I needed Evan Mobley That's a good pick That's a good pick

All right Give me Ah who don't want to go Here who don't want to go here Who don't want to go You know what All right I'm gonna go Desmond Bain

And because I Okay Since I may have a snake But So I'm gonna go Desmond Bain And You could got him later

I'll tell you that Probably And I'm going to go with Jaron Jackson Okay Okay So you got Luca, Bain, and Jackson Okay

Solid, solid So you got the Grizzlies But Luca instead of Jha? Okay Your turn again, Mohamed All right, so I pick Two players now? No, one player

You're in the middle, you're always in a one player Okay, got there, okay So I got Starting five You have two fours right now Yeah, I got Zion and I got Evan Moby

So my front court Is solid Now I'm looking at my back court And the guards That I'm probably gonna settle with for the future, damn, is this going to be a hot take or not? Is it going to be too controversial if I go ahead and take Cade over Lamello? I don't know, bro.

No, Cade's better. I don't know, bro. Go ahead and do it, though. I want to see it a lot. For the sake of fucking defense, I'm going to believe her in defense, I'm taking Cade. Okay. Okay, you took Cade? I need that D.

Yeah. Oh, shit, pause. That's funny. Nuts. Okay. Okay, so I got Trey and Tatum. I got my offensive fucking superstars. Yeah.

So I'm going to round it out with some defense. I'm going to go, oh, this is a good one. I'm going to go back-to-back picks. I'm going to go Robert Williams and Scotty Barnes. That's good. That's good. Robert Williams and Scotty Barnes. Damn, that's nice.

Damn, that's nice. Yes. I got some sighs around, Tray. Pause. All right, it's on you. son you mo okay so i got i got my point kade at the four i got zion and at the five i got evan so i need some wings i need two and i need three and you got barns already zon's already out the table table's out the table bro uh can i damn see now the i don't like my options left i really

i'm not i don't care i'm not picking r j barry bro i'm not thinking away from that man so the two I'm gonna go ahead don't do it bro Joe Moran is still there I'm taking I'm taking jaw oh I'm gonna my John Moran I'm taking jaw I'm putting him at the one I'm putting Kate at the two kiss my ass I won this trade I won this draft bro oh my God that's nuts you turn Donovan all right okay damn so I'm gonna have I'm gonna have Luca at the one I'm a slide bane over to the three because I'm gonna put Shea at the two. So I'm going to have Luca, Shea, Bain, Jackson at the four, and then I really wish I had Mobley in this spot.

Give me Jared Allen at the five. Okay. Mohamed, your turn, your last pick? You're three. Last pick. I need a fucking shooter, bro, because that Zion and Joss spacing and Evan Mobley's racing is kind of fucking nasty. So I need an absolute sniper. and the only people I see right now left is, what did you say?

Kelden Johnson? Kelvin Johnson. 40% shooting? Yeah, you saw like 40%, but is it on high, is it on high, is it a high level? Is it a high clip? I don't think so. I don't remember it being high clip. In my mind, the best shooters on this list, either got to be Tyrese, but I need my people

with the ball in their hands, you know what I'm saying? So, do I want to say Tyler Hero? Do I really want to do that? Hero? Do it. Pull the trigger, do it. Fuck y'all. Of course y'all want me to do it.

I ain't listening to y'all. I'm talking myself right now. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. I kind of fuck myself, bro. I'm going to say Lamello. Fuck y'all. Okay, Lamello, two, three.

Bro, we forgot Anthony Edwards. Give me Anthony Edwards. Give me Anthony Edwards is my two guards. I was waiting for, I was waiting for, I was waiting for, I was waiting for Mo to take him. I was waiting for, bro. We forgot about Aunt. I saw my son.

have tray young anthony edwards jason tatum who else i got uh rob will uh scotty barns and robert williams give me the chip i don't know bro i've lucca so like everything's okay like i'm you got luca but i got luca but i got kate well hold on let me get my order right now your team is definitely the worst though no hell no your team is the worst you kidding me right now i got job i got lebello i got cade i got zion and evan Moby. That's a, that's a, that's a godly line. That's a weird ass team. It is a weird ass team. Luca, it's, Luca, Shay, Bain, Jaron Jackson, Jared Allen. That's better than yours. You have the worst team. No, you have the worst. Your team are straight ball handlers. Everybody, everybody needs a ball on your team. Out of all of our teams who has the worst player, you do.

Yeah, you have, yeah. No, I'm too, I'm too, Bain can play off the ball. You can play out, yeah, you can play out. Jerry Jackson can play off the ball. Jared Allen, then all i need jared island to do is block shots and catch logs that's it mellow all those to say i obviously the best team and y'all got fucking smoked so hell not how many all-stars did you have on your team right now fucking four fuck you're right wait and's gonna be an all-star this guy like it i have luka like it i have luka he doesn't look at man tray and jason taitem scotty barns you can have all that ant man would a change amman would have changed my whole trajectory bro

fuck i was praying you didn't know this yeah bro now people won't be backhand i think fucking lemello's better than aunt damn so that's all the topics i got i think we're done here yeah i think that's it great day we got a solid hour and a half in yeah i was solid bro that flew by great day and we hit and we hit 20k fantastic lovely episode all right episodes over