The Deep 3 Podcast - The NBA Should BE TERRIFIED Of Zion WIlliamson | The Deep 3 EP. 4

Episode Date: September 30, 2022

Zion Williamson is healthy, in shape, and the Pelicans are ready to dominate. 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

What's up, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Deep Three podcast. I'm your host, Donna Smoot. Got the homies, Isaac Gutierrez with me. Mojo, 99 is in the building as well. We're talking about the Southwest Division for our season preview today. We're talking about the Grizzlies, the Rockets, the, the, who else is in this division? I'm blanking right now.

Spurs, the Pelicans, of course. Can't forget them. And there's one more team. Spurs, Spurs, Pelicans, Grizzlies, rockets, and Mavericks. Mavericks. There we go here. I was going to have the team with Luca Donchage on it. Exactly.

So we're hearing all the stars. Luca, Jha, Zion is apparently skinny right now, right? You guys saw on that immediate. Much to talk about. Yeah, there's a lot to talk about. We're going to get into that, obviously. And we're going to, you know, peel back the current a little bit, get into our TikTok bags later in the show.

Of course, like always. But let's start off with the New Orleans Pelicans. Hold on. I got to stop you there. Before we get into that, we've got to react to some hot takes like always. Oh, facts Okay, let's go for us So like always every week

We have you guys comment Give us your best hot takes We react to a few of them On the pot every time Just to see where you guys are at So let's get it started right now First one Grass Eater

Lovely name Says that Jordan Poole Will be better than Clay Thompson next year I don't think that's a bad take This is W take Yeah W take Oh yeah I've heard to say I got a list of hot takes for you guys

Let me know if there's W takes or L takes I get the TikTok hook Yeah I think this is definitely a debut take like clay look washed and i love clay i think every i think everybody in the NBA had the same feeling is that we love clay and so like we weren't going to like harp on him but he was not great down the down the stretch you know also he was two counts of he was two cans of bounce that ass bro he saw like sub 40% from the from the field and also like he was pretty average from the three-point

line as well which is okay good but front of talk shooting that we've ever seen in history that's not good at all. And I think that he's going to be worse and no one can really harp on in front because he's literally got a train ran through him full of injuries. I'm going to go L take. I think you guys have been a little too harsh on him. He wasn't as good as old Clay, but he was also coming back from devastating injuries. I think with year two, another year of rest under his, I mean, another year of rhythm under his belt, I think he'll come back and be not as good as he used to be, but pretty good. Yeah, that's, I think that Jordan pool progression is just a real thing. I think, I guess, I think the internet has showed me that I'm lower on Jordan Pool than like

everybody else because people were talking about him like he's just like automatic guaranteed star already and i just do not see him in that late i think you both are right though like i think i think i think clay looks good and he comes back and now he has like a full off season to kind of just like get back into his rhythm he has he has he has game speed that he can like rely on but at the same time like jordan pool as at least in the regular season he's he's not unplayable the way that he was like in the final so like he's going to be out there he's going to be getting bucket so yeah i think i think i think he takes that step to you know taking that next step offensively so both of them kind of go up this year

yeah it won't be shocking at all up to common consensus that jordan pool is better but i don't know if he's realistically going to be more valuable to winning basketball than clay assuming we see some positive progression yeah that's fair on to the next one penny hardaway says that if russ gets traded he'll be an all-star again that's a that's a major l where he getting traded to the shanghai sharks or something like that bro the Beijing bears there's no no way in hell he's going to be an all-star game. It's wrapped. We saw him at his last all-star game a couple years ago.

Maybe he could sneak his way in just off the name alone in sheer numbers because he could probably still out with a triple double and crappy efficiency. But the thing is no young team that isn't contending is going to want him. So the only way as a veteran you can get onto these teams is if you're good. And what team is going to want him to have that usage? Did he make the all-star team when he was in Washington? I think he did. I'll bet he, I would guarantee he did.

See, but I don't even know because that his whole like the impressiveness of that run was in the second half of the season. Like I'm not. Yeah, he made off his name. He was still there. Okay. Yeah, that is true. No, no, he wasn't. He was not an all-star that his season in Washington.

Really? He was not. The last time he was an all-star was in Houston. Oh. So, yeah. So even if he goes to, even if he goes to some like bad team and he's putting up these numbers, it's not a guarantee that he's going to be an all-star. So I'm, I'm going to say. say I'm going to say L take I think we've seen obviously like the best days of Russell

Westbrook are behind him and so I'm going with an L take here yeah like I really like get the fact in there that people are every time we talk about Russell Westberg the comments on the TikToks stuff are always the Russell disrespect is crazy but like it's not the fact that he's not capable of putting up a triple double and 40% shooting from the field he can do that it's just what team wants them to do that at this point and that leads to my point there's no real market for Russell Westbrook at this save his career anymore. No team is in the perfect scenario for like, yo, like, we have nothing going for us this season.

Let's just go ahead and see this dude who. The worst teams in the NBA are going to be who. Like, okay, relax. You got to, you got to calm down, bro. All right, you got to calm down. They got Deere Fox. Not to say that DeN.R. Fox Scoops a superstar or anything like that. But they're not, they're not even in the market for that. The only team that I can think of is in the market for some like that,

like, yo, we got nothing going for us. It doesn't seem like the Utah ass or the jazz. Clever. Yeah, they got to be. be a team that is bad and not a playoff team, but also isn't trying to be young and rebuild. So they got to be purposely trying to be mid. So they've got

to be the Washington Wizards, which is like the only thing that makes sense, which is the team that got rid of them. So I don't know. Yeah, it's an L-Take. It's out-take. He's not, he's done being an all-star. Yeah. Yeah, I love him, though. It's funny because he's going to get the end of career, like D-Wade, Dirk one where they let him in to

finish his career if you were going to like... You think they love him like that? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Everyone, I feel like everyone around the game respects has the uppermost respect. No, the NBA loves the fuck out of Russell Westbrook. A lot of people like us and like other, like, different types of fans that are like, you know, more analytical, don't like him. But general consensus is widespread NBA fans and especially in the league, respect the fuck out of him. Yeah, exactly.

And number one reason why, because that is because he plays hella hard. That's the first thing you hear about Russell Westbrook and he's committed and blah, blah, blah, all those other. Yeah, he makes a lot of mean faces. That makes it look like he cares a lot. Yeah, bro. Well, she does care a lot. I'm not trying to say he doesn't, but it's like,

it's his demeanor is the type that makes you really want to root for him because he just seems like he's all effort. Even though the effort's not really there on the defensive side, but that's a conversation for another day. All right, all right. What's next?

What's next? Okay. Next one, Santiago says, at the end of the season, Luca will be a top three player. That's a W take just because it's very realistic. Yeah. I think, like,

I probably wouldn't have it right now, but one thing. From what we've seen from Luca in terms of him playing overseas, like in the Eurobasket, if he comes into this season in shape, he might win the MVP that he's been, like, expected to win for two years now. Yeah. That would be shocking at all. It's always about his shape with him, and clearly he's in good shape. Yeah, there's a different level he can go to.

I think there's a very real chance that he gets there. Yeah, bro. I thought those are supposed to be a hot take. Get this comment out the fuck on my face, bro. Like, this is nothing crazy at all. people have been talking about he was like you said people have been talking about he was supposed to be MVP over the past like what two years feels like a damn decade now you know he's been a lead for a few years but it's not it'll no one it'll surprise no one it won't surprise me at least

bro i mean it'd be a little bit surprising if he if he was ahead of yonis kd imbid yokech lebron like he's ahead of all but two of them that'd be kind of surprising i mean but like you said it's very realistic so you can't go out take it's obviously a w yeah but like if lou who wins mvp this year are any one of us going to be shocked no no i would be shocked because that means that, yo, he either put up a triple double and was at least like a sixth or seventh seed, just like Russ was a couple

years ago, or like, the NBA is done with that narrative and you've got to be like a top of three seed, and like, I'll be shocked with the Dallas Mads are that good, bro. I'll be shocked if he'd that good. There's definitely a path for him to make it. I don't think that would be it. It would be, when you say surprising, it's not like we're going to predict it to be it happening.

We're not going to say he's the favorite necessarily, but it's definitely in the realm of possibility. Is he the favorite? Let me see it. I just want to take this. You look, he might be the favorite, actually. I said that, but he's probably up there. He's usually up there in the betting odds. I thought it would, I would assume it's Embedd or something like that. It's probably, I don't know, it's probably Yonis every time.

Okay, so, nope, nope. Right now, right now, Luke is the favorite and it's kind of clear. So, yeah, it makes sense. The narrative is lineup. It's either him or Embedd is like the clear narrative favorite. It's, I bet Mbid is two, isn't he? Uh, he, so top five goes like this. So it's Luke at one, Yonis and Embedid are tied for two.

Yokich. Yokich is at four. and he's tied with KD. And so that's the top five. No way in hell, Yolk is getting that. They'd be awesome. Yoker's going to be good enough to do it, but you know that I can let him three p.

It's such too rare of a feat. Yeah, exactly. I've never been seen before. It definitely not happening. Yeah. We can go on the next one now. Eris says that Prime Hardin is better than Prime Russ. Amen.

Give me the biggest W take. That's a good thing. You got it. Are our view, bro, are our viewers just like inept of hot takes? Do the, like, what happened right now, dog? What's going on? This is common sense to me right now. I think you'd be surprised.

A lot of people are going to say 2017, Russ was better than 2018 or whatever year of Harton you pick. They're wrong, but people are going to say that. I don't want to praise James Hardin. Yeah, I got it. Nah, I want to hear, Donovan. What you'd be? He'd all to me. I want to hear it all right now.

Damn. He said, oh, whoa. That's a pulpious moment. No, listen, James Hardin was good at basketball. Like, he was, he was good at that. That's the, that's the most you can say, oh, my goodness. I don't like you. I respect you.

I don't like James Harder. I don't respect you, fuck you, regardless of the situation. You carry it regardless. I mess with it. Okay, what's up? Next one, you're talking about these takes are hot enough. I mean, let me give you a hot take. Okay.

Pockass says that Stockton is a better player than Magic Johnson. Oh my good. That's a hot take? no way this comment didn't come from a warming dude he's a former clan member bro there's no way he just said that out of his mouth there's just no way I'm sorry

I just imagine right now white mask profile get him out of here dog ban him I'm a ban him after this podcast I've never heard no crazy shit in my life before holy shit John Soxton just plays the game the right way him Larry Bird

right Mark Eaton they all just fundamentals play it play fuck man nobody out there's had the passing game he has the outside shooting the hatred of vaccines the hatred of marginalized groups the love of Donald Trump oh my god

the full baggage out take out take out of that worst take that of my life genuine sorry paca I set you up yeah oops

fuck man that's terrible last one Uday says that Deeran Fox is going to be an all-star. El-take. Oh, now this is a nice scotch and a hot take. No. I'm going to say, I'm going to say W-take because there's room now in the Western Conference.

And if something happens to say, if he gets hurt, if the Minnesota's rule, don't make that jump and have a stagnant. Yeah, there is, bro. Donovan Mitchell is gone, bro. So there's space now. There's four of the guards to replace him. Like, there's so many good players in the West. I'm not. Oh, yeah, Damien Lord is coming back.

Yeah, Damiener is coming back. I'm going to say W-Take, bro. Clear L. I mean, what do you do. If there's a way. If there's a way. You just agreed that they were four guards ahead of D.R. Fox. You're saying it's a D.S. Listen, but injuries happen, though.

Not that I'm praying on it or anything like that, but injuries just normally happen. If he ends up being a guard replacement like Lamello Ball last, why are you making that stinky-ass face, dog? Listen, if this man ends up being a all-star replacement like Lamello ball last year, then that's a very possible world. That's not crazy.

But that only happened if, like, the Kings were no less than a nine seat. They have to be a nine seat. Yeah, and you average, like, 26 points. Like, I don't see it. If your path, if you're, if you're path to one calling this a W take and thinking that De Aaron Fox is going to be an all-star saying, like, yeah, he has to be, like, you have to cross off five names off the list to get to De Aaron Fox for the 15th spot on the all-st team.

And the Kings have to break the longest playoff drought in professional sports. Exactly. Like, if you have to go through all of that to get to D.R. Fox being an all-star, it's an L-take. It's not going to happen. Why are you so attached to Sacramento? We need to unpack this. I'm not attached to the second. Let's unpack this for a second.

Why do you love Deer and Fox so much? Did you play with him on 2K? Is he a 2K player? I'm just kidding. No, I didn't not play with Deer & Fox. I too. No, I didn't do none of that, bro. I just like optimism and hope.

People I haven't liked this team is completely dead in the water. I'm not completely dead in the water. I'd be hating. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not a, I'm not abiding by that, bro. I feel like the Kings have some type of hope. And I'm putting just a little bit of stock, not a little bit. I'm putting a good amount of stock into the, into the Sacramento Kings, bro. I feel like I'm no one in the goddamn planning a room for him or standing for him, bro.

They got Kevin Hurder, Dave Yon Mills is bound to be. You are the only one. You are the only one. look i yeah watch me this clip going bite me in the ass come what february when they fucking come october come october i'm crazy dude that's in two days the fuck you crazy that's funny

well that's all the hot things i got for us i think we can move on to the division preview now what do you don't want to start let's do it let's start with zion let's start with the pelicans um i think everybody like the number one thing that jumped out is that zion looks in shape and he looks like ready to go and yeah he's saying he's the most in shape he's been in his whole life he's running faster usual jumping higher looking the best he's ever been if that's the truth this is a scary ass team yeah i do we think right so is there a path for zion if he's if he stays healthy to get to mvp level this year like does he take does he take

that does he take that that jump okay MVP level is a hard thing to break into like lots things need to go right for you. That's like, are we saying he can be a top five player in the world? Probably not. But is there a path to him being like all NBA level, maybe first him all the NBA level? Well, I guess I'd make you a little bit of five as players. But like, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah.

In the mix for all NBA teams, yes. MVP's hard, though. Why is it hard, though? Because it's an exclusive group. I know, but like for someone like Zahn, I feel like he has that potential this season to go ahead and be in that exclusive group. Okay, sure. Maybe he'll be like fourth or fifth in MVP voting like Devin Booker was last year.

but, like, realistically, he's not going to be in the contention to win it. Well, I'll say this, right? So we talked earlier about Yokin's not being like, like, he's probably not going to win the MVP because of voters. But he's probably going to finish top three no matter what, though. Do you think so? I don't know. Yes, he's going to finish top three, but he's not going to win. I think it's a lock.

I bet my life on that. Damn, oh my God. That boy is crazy. What? I don't know. So he's going to do the same thing you did last year, before that. He's going to come out here averaging 26 points per game, eight assists, the most efficient score in the league. But teams aren't going to want to run.

vote for him. I mean, media members aren't going to want to vote for him because of the fatigue. So they're all going to say, oh, he's second, he's third, he's in the conversation, but he can't win. Like, that's going to happen for sure. All right. We'll get, we'll get to Yokin. Your life is crazy. Eventually. I think that, I think

the main path for Zion in terms of like MVP really comes from the Pelicans, like, as a whole, and just how much we believe in them, like, as a top five, see, because the West in itself is going to be a gauntlet. And if you can get to, you know, if you can get to a place where you have home court advantage, where you're, like, in the top four seed, I think that puts you in a really good spot, you know,

to win MVP. But I'm also very curious how this whole team is going to fit with CJ and Brandon and Zion now and kind of who's running point there. Well, CJ's going to be the point, apparently, but it's going to be like no true point guard. It's going to be like point Zion, point Brandon Ingram, a little bit of CJ. So, yeah, you're right. It's definitely the biggest concern.

Yeah. I think that will work out because they all, at some point in their career, has been, like, except for Zion, but I think his passing is very under rate of a B.I and C.J. have been secondary creators on, like, all of their career, basically, and I think they're very capable of that, and they all, like, have their three level scores. I have zero worries about them. My bigger concern and what's making me now double think about my take about Zon easily being an MVP candidate or whatever the hell it is, is that, yeah. Yo, that defense is going to be ass, bro. Like, Yonis Valatunis, and then, I don't know how he could be better. He could be right.

I don't know, but I'm just going by, like, what I've seen last year or the last time I saw him on the court, and he was, like, not good at all. And on top of that, you have B.I. Who's, like, known to be, like, a lousy defender. He has a potential, but he just lousy, bro. Then Cidem McCollum. I just feel like Herb Jones is just not enough to, you relying on this man, like he's got, bro. And he's not.

Yeah, Herb Jones is going to be defending for his life. He's going to be out there running around defending everybody. plugging holes. It's going to be a hard job. Yeah, exactly. And back to the playmaking thing. Maybe Zon, lose the weight helps, but yeah. Yeah, I think Zon's for sure

can be a better defender. Like, it's hard to project him not becoming a plus defender in his career. But back to the playmaking thing, I think that you guys are right. It's going to work. And I think you got to think about it in the same way that we thought

about the Raptors team from last year. There was no true high-level playmaker, but there was three or four, maybe even five, really good secondary playmakers. And you kind of add that all together and it leads you to a competent offense. I think that's what they're going for,

but competent isn't the floor because they have such high level creators in terms of scoring, especially one-on-one, that you give them all decent playmaking from everybody and then really insane scoring from a few guys. That can take you to a high level. That's really interesting. It also like doesn't hurt whenever, like, Zion gets every offensive rebound imaginable. Yeah, exactly. It's like, it doesn't matter if the offense is like clunky because Zion's going to come in and clean everything up. But so, okay, so what's the, okay so what's the ceiling for the pelicans and what's there and what do you think it's like

realistically going to happen for them this season like are they are they top six are they top four yeah ceiling is top four i think i think if everything breaks right the thing mobile's talking about was really important their defense like that's going to be the biggest question mark if they can scrounge together a competent defense they can be a top four team and the floor top eight nine maybe if things don't go well people just injuries there's there if they're like an 8C some catastrophic injury like must have happened bro

there's no way in hell I would say I would maybe just because I have high expectations for them things could break wrong there's things there that can make this team not good like in a realistic way

while so being healthy like you said no playing other defense no playmaking and if he defense without a great rim protector like there's a reason to believe this team

might not be as great as we hope I yeah I think I think A being the floor and listen we are extremely nitpicking right now but like yeah i would say like seventh seed is probably that their their floor like i know big difference but like if they are on if they are once again matched up with the with like the top

seed in the uh in in in the west or if they can't win a playing game they end of you know having to to fight for their playoff lives at the end of it i think that is kind of like that that's where that's the situation that you that's the situation that you were in last year you add an all NBA talent like Zion and if you end up in the same place and you stay stagnant I think that is a complete disappointment of a season I think that the floor like that I don't know if they can be stagnant if you add so do you guys think they're like certainly going to be out of the plan like you're very confident they're going to be a top six seed I am I well there's a lot of get too something goes wrong then if something goes wrong then like you know

I'm obviously going to be less confident that they'll be not a playing team or whatever. It's very possible, but I think top six, like, whatever Donald was saying, I agree with 100%. And, yeah, I just don't see them being a playing team like that at all. It's possible, but I won't bet my money on it. I think their roster from, or at least their lineup, from one to eight, maybe nine. It's pretty nice and it matches up well with basically every single team. in the entire Western Conference. Okay, so if you're penciling it in, let's just do a rough penciling.

Let's say the suns are juggling on their regular season again, which, whatever, one seed, Warriors 2 seed, Clippers 3 seed, Nuggets 4 seed, what, Mavs 5 seed? Do you think the Pellicans be higher in the Mavs? Yeah, they could definitely. They have the death. They could be as high as a five seed. Like, who else can be above them? And so now, and so now we- Timberwolves are going to be hired in the pelicans, right?

I don't know. I'm not sure. I don't know. There's a lot of change happening. in the regular season, the Timberwell is going to be a regular season wins machine with Rudy Gobert, it brings you regular season wins. The three teams that I would have in that tier, in terms of

like, is it a question? Because I actually have Memphis above Dallas. Oh, Memphis too, yeah. Yeah. I've Memphis. I've Memphis above Dallas, even with the, even with the Jen and Jackson injury. But so I would have, I would have Dallas, New Orleans, and Minnesota, and they're going to be fighting for 5, 6, 7. Okay, so I agree. But for saying that then, then,

It won't be shocking at all if two of those three teams end up being better than them and they're in the playing. Like that's a very reasonable outcome without catastrophic injuries. You're right and I probably overstated that like I won't be shocked if New Orleans ended up as the seven and they ended up in the plane. But I am very, very confident that they are going to be better than seven, that they, that they would be out of the playing. Okay, so which are those teams do you guys think they're going to be better then? I think that this would be a good TikTok, Isaac. All right, TikTok time. Let's go.

We're going to ring the bell, TikTok time. I'm gonna list of NBA teams. I want you telling me if they're better or worse than the pelicans. Let's run it. Let's do it. The Timberwolves. Worse.

Better. Wait, whoa, my bad. My bad. I got my lingo fucked up. Worse. Okay. Let me re-stay that. I'm going to listen to NBA teams.

You tell me if you're going to take them or the pelicans. All right. Or you tell me who's better. Them are the pelicans. Let's run. The Timberwolves. The pelicans are better. Pelicans.

Easy. In the regular season. I'm taking the Timberwolves and the playoffs maybe they'd win the series but ready to season wins give me the Timberwolves yeah that defense

might put them over the edge I'm still going to say Pelicans yeah I'm still going to say the Pelicans the Dallas Mavericks I'll take the Pelicans

I'll take the Pelicans they're deeper bro they got so many bodies on the team the Dallas Maverts are clinging on to Luka yeah well Luke is there to be clung on to

so I mean he takes them pretty far I understand that I think the loss of Brunson is going to hurt. And then now, like, for your second guy, you're either leaning on a, you know, past his prime, Spencer Dinwiddie with Tim Hardaway Jr. Who's coming off this injury. And you're going to, you know, basically lean on Luca for 82 games. Is he going to get tired? And I think that it's a very real possibility when that offense is so, like, Luca center.

So I'll take, I'll take New Orleans. I suppose so. I was going to say the trouble agent West is so tough It's tough What about the Lakers I'll take the Pelicans as well Easy

I think there's a world There's a world where if There's definitely a world where if LeBron and AD are healthy And Russ is at least Average NBA player They could definitely be a better team There is there is a world

But that is like If we do like the doctor strange Looking through all the possibilities that's the one third eye open yeah that's that's the one where it's like all right we got to we're in the end game now

where we're kind of displaying for that one there's a lot more where Russ isn't great or isn't average this year you're going to be having some crazy ass psychedelics to see that world oh my good it's on earth all right what about the Grizzlies I'll take the Grizzlies

I'll take the Grizzlies I think I think you have to get the Grizzlies after they're just a Tuesday like they deserve that respect at least exactly yeah they deserve that respect but jaron jackson also deserves that respect as well i'm not going to give that to jane jacks nothing to be out until february for like he he he wait when do you think will come back that's the big extractor to me he's saying he's close to returning he's back on the court but he's going to miss the start of the season so i'm thinking he's going to be back by thanksgiving that's a lot that's a long time it's a long time

that i don't know that i don't know how long they'll be able how i don't know how good they'll be without someone like if they were so amazing last year without jaw they can be amazing without JJJ no but it was different though because they had other I don't know it was so they were mainly good in my mind because of their defense

their defense is better than I mean it's a team thing I mean yeah you're right Jaron is very important to that but they have Brandon Clark they have Stephen Adams they have other bodies there that can help facilitate that you just said Stephen Adams in 2022 I should go over and slap Stephen Adams was good last year I'm not going to pretend like he wasn't decent bro he played his role

he was okay he wrote he was okay he was Hey, but he's not nothing to rely on it. It's not a coincidence that traded Valchino's for Adams and got better. He fits that team really well. That is true. He fits, he fits John Moran, surprisingly, a lot better, too. Yeah, exactly. His game is very well made to be with the players he's playing with.

Maybe on other teams he'd be pretty ass, but he's not another teams. And also, it's okay if a team's, listen, their identity, they're still going to play hard, they're still going to play defense. It's okay if things change up a little bit from year to year. So as Jah ascends and his offense gets better and he becomes a better shooter, he becomes even better of a playmaker, like the team dynamic and kind of just the way that they run things is going to change. And it's okay.

I think that that evolution still might bring them to a very, very good place. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like Jha has, I feel like coming out of college, people knew Jha for his athleticism and more so his passing is, not more so, but definitely it's passing as well. And since he's been in the NBA, he hasn't had at least a chance. to go ahead and showcase is passing on a high low because everybody's still caught up on the amazing

Dungeon. I feel like this could be the year that he takes his offense and passing to another level. And people are going to say, you never hear people say this, but he's a top 10 pass or whatever in the NBA. One of the best basketball. Nobody said that. He's not. I think he could be. Let's talk more about this. Because this is a perfect segue

to the next team we have on the list for this division, the Memphis Grizzlies. And we're already talking about them, which is keep going with it. I think you have a good point. Jod definitely does have room to grow there from where he is, which is scary because he's already so fucking good and I don't know if he has top 10 passer potential that's kind of lofty he was the best bro he was an elite

passer in college I guess but there's a lot of passes in the NBA regardless we're nitpicking when we're talking about a number that's what you mean he has a potential to be a high level passer and I think he already is well above average for the position yeah for sure for sure but there's levels to it though yeah yeah yeah I think the 10th best passers

probably like DeAngel Russell or something like maybe he could probably pass him up yeah So, okay, so with the grizzlies, though, they, last season seemed very, very, like, weird, in my opinion, because, because they had that stretch where, hey, Josh not out, like, you don't have your, you don't have your best player, and you still rattle off, you know, 20, like, you're 27 and 5, and if you extend that pace over an entire season, you're still, like, the one seed or the two seed without your best player. I'm not sure I'm very curious to see how much of a better shooter Giants because I think that if he continues to be the same level of shooter that he is

and they kind of just rely on like Bain to be the main shooter how does Dylan Brooks come back and play like what is what does this offense look like I know I mentioned Dylan Brooks Dylan Brooks he's happy that Jerry Jackson's out because he's like listen that's more shots for me Yeah

It's crazy Because last year They had the number four offense And the number five defense That seems so fucking crazy For the talent they had on hand But they just made it work We're just like you're saying

Without draw Winning this fantastic team That's well put together And it almost feels like It shouldn't be replicable But nothing changed Like I don't know why it wouldn't be right Wow

That's insane dog That's insane to think Oh he just blew my mind I literally this entire time I thought that their deep ones It's a lot better Than damn that's crazy Just about watching him

yeah but something else to think about too is that like yo now that Darren is gone also he wasn't like an elite three-point shooter or anything like that he was bad fuck a fly yeah he would but he would let that motherfucker fly and people would have it sometimes respected bro he looked like his shot this is such a side tangent bro but i'm gonna say it anyways he looks every time he shoots the ball he makes it look like he's heaving from half court facts he's a weird shot where he like he's all his momentum for his body yeah and it's so weird because he's fucking jacked and shit but Anyways, the spacing is going to be a little worse for, I don't know how they're, who's going to start for them at the four? Is it going to be Brandon Clark?

I assume it's going to be Brandon Clark. Well, Jared's out, yeah. There's a lot worse than a shooter. Yeah, so the spacing is going to be kind of rough for him as well, for jobs. So he has to become a better shooter. Yeah, it's going to be, but if it is rough, they're going to pivot and they're going to start, what's the name of the rookie from last year? Zaire. Yeah, they're going to start Zaire there, if anything, if the spacing is a big problem.

Yeah, okay, that makes sense. I think, I think something else for the Grizzlies is in, like, I'm looking at it now. So they played at the fourth fastest pace in the league. And they were, they, they were point, 0.07 points behind the bucks for, like, for, for top three, right? So they obviously play at an extremely fast pace. In the regular season, if you do that and you have the talent, like a job that's driving your engine, you're going to be fine. Like, you're going to be, you're going to be okay.

So I think it's pretty safe. Like, I would be shocked if, and I, I, you know, I actually will, yeah, I'll think about this. I will be shocked if the Grizzlies aren't top four. Another thing real quick is they were number one in offensive rebound percentage, but like a healthy margin. They got an offensive rebound on 32% of their shots, which is kind of fucking ridiculous,

or not other shots on 31% of their misses. And that's something that's like historically hard to replicate. Like that's, it takes a lot of effort, a lot of specific types of talent. That's definitely something the whole drop your offensive rating a lot too. yeah can they replicate that I don't know

probably probably not because that's like that's an insane rate yeah because even if we go back to the pelicans wasn't Zion's offensive rebound percentage

there was a point where he was getting like like 40% of all of his misses or something it was something ridiculous yeah and so like to see them kind of reach that level is a little bit it's a little bit just like

shocking But I think, I think with the pace that they play at, with the improvement that, with the improvement that John's going to take, top four is definitely where they should be aiming. And like you said, it's not like Darren Jackson's going to be out until the All-Star break and he's going to come back with 20-something games left. He's still going to be very involved in the season. So they have the majority of the season. Yes, their ceiling and their floor, their floor is very high and their ceiling is also very high as well. yeah I think the floor thing is definitely the most important part like we saw last year we've been talking about harping on the fact they can win

without their best players it's almost impossible to predict them being lower than the five seed right yeah and which in that case like that's I think we there's been lots to talk lately about how the regular season doesn't matter in basketball and it's like only thing that matters is the playoffs casual fans don't even watch the regular season but that shit is important in terms of seating like for a team like them that doesn't have the maybe necessarily the best high-end talent wins off a team play being able to be a guaranteed top four seed because you take it so seriously in the regular season is a big advantage come playoff time absolutely dog like the fact they can play lashers wolves in the first

round and not the warriors in the first round is a big deal yeah exactly bro that it goes a long way absolutely right about that i feel like a lot of people don't care about that thing that type of thing because they see teams like the fucking phoenix suns or i can't even think of it or like the houston rockets or whatever just do all they make all this crazy loud noises they just like shun it and act like it's nothing because they think of pretenders or whatever the case may be. But no, you're absolutely like I said, you're absolutely right about that.

I just see that like natural like in my mind if they regress there's just nothing that they could be able to do about it. It's just natural in my mind. And I feel like they're just going to have to be some tweaks made maybe not on the roster

but when it comes to like play style wise like you said Donovan and it's going to be interesting to see because it just would be really interesting, bro. Y'all want to know something else interesting, some of these numbers that, let me know what you think about this. So I mentioned they had the number four offensive rating, right?

Incredible. Great numbers you want to see. But in terms of efficiency, just effective philosophical percentage, they're only 23rd in the league. And at the rim, you would think they'd be one of the best teams in league given John Morant,

but they're 17th in shooting at the rim. And three, you were talking about their spacing isn't good, it's not going to be good next year. It wasn't fucking good last year either. They had the 29th three-point shooting. Mid-range, 25th. They just were not an efficient shooting team from any place, but they still had the top four defense.

I mean, top four offense. Yeah. So how is that the case? I mean, but that's so wonky. But that's just because of the offensive rebounding. Offensive rebounding and pace. When you play at a faster rate,

you get more shots up there and you get so many second chance points, it holds you up real high. But that's something that's kind of, you know, could you say those things are something that's very replicable by just putting a lot of effort? Or could you say it's not replicable because it's hard to put in effort. The pace is showing us basketball in mathematics, bro. This is beautiful.

So should I do, man, I look math. Yeah, the pace, you can definitely replicate the pace, and that's going to be the driving force. And if the offensive rebounding is a product of fast play and effort, then yeah, then I guess we can say that it's going to be the same. And then we can kind of expect the same offensive output from the Grizzlies. I guess it's a coaching issue then, right? It's the thing like you have to keep your team with that buying that level effort from every single person, one to 12 on the roster, or one to 15. yeah it's difficult but it's only year two so or year two of this run it was like year four of this core whatever so i guess there's no reason to think of what happened yeah yeah bro another important

thing to factor is that i like zire williams a lot and i think he's going to take that next step and once he's in that starting lineup there's no way in hell he's going to find his way out of the starting line you when jen jison goes back i think dylan brooks is going to have to eventually like come off the bench and i think i think dill brooks has eventually come off the fucking team i think that's right we're going to send dillan brooks Utah so he doesn't shoot them out of another playoff series he single-headed lost them a game against the Warriors in the fight in the fucking playoffs

because he decided as Dylan Brooks time and took 36 shots or something like it was ridiculous yeah bro yeah most definitely but he's he thinks he's the man and he has to defer to jaw he doesn't want to do it so send his ass to Utah yeah get him out of here who's I'm glad you brought him up

yeah who's that who do let's go to Houston let's go to Houston I was about to say fun team I want to talk about Jalen Green Let's go for it. I'll bring Sangoon me up, boy. Yeah, so as we know, he's a Houston Rockies.

Not a competitive team, but also not an uninteresting team. With the Young Corps, with Jalen Green, Sangoon, Jabari Smith, Jr. now. Even some deep cuts like Josh Christopher, Usman, Harrowba. KPJ. What do you guys think they're going to be next year? Obviously, not going to be a playoff team, but, yeah. I don't mean what they're going to be in terms of their amount of wins. But in terms of the development of the Young Corps, where do you see them

this in this timeline i think i think jalen green takes takes a step forward um how does it look like off offensively i think i think he becomes much more efficient we saw towards the end of the season his he was he was starting to be very very efficient down down the stretch of the oh he had a crazy run yeah yeah scoring the ball and with kpj i'm very very interested to see kind of his role and if he can really like just sink into being like a point guard right because I'm interested to see when they're going to give the fuck up on that because he's not a point guard this listen and that's that's that's that's the key there's there's times though with kpj that the ball sticks in his hands too long and he thinks that it's like listen

it's two k it's two k time i'm going to come and i'm going to use every single dribble move that i have and he uses up a lot of the shot clock if he can keep the ball moving and get that into jalen green so that he can be the primary score which he is like he's listen i think that he fits that role he looks like he's gotten much bigger he looks like he's actually added a lot of of weight over the off season and you would assume so he's skinny like it was bound to happen oh in but the amount of the amount of weight that he put on it looks like it looks like a lot in one off season so i'm very i'm surprised about that but i think that jalen i think that jalen takes a step forward offensively i think that sangoon um

Gets more run, and he's like, Sengoon, he's... Oh, yeah, Chris Wood has gone. You're right. It's more... Oh, yeah. Yeah. Sangoon, he's a mini-yokage, you know, like, say... Okay, come on.

If you ever... 80% works at everything. He's... It's the same... It's the same thing when you call, like, Eric Bledso, baby LeBron. Like, it's that same... It's that same sentiment.

But I think that... Yeah. I think that offensively, the Rockets are going to go as far as Jalen Green is. I think you're going to see a lot more of... his jumpers fall this year and i think just development wise everybody takes a step forward yeah makes sense so what do you guys think there's so it's too early to talk about the ceiling of this young core or anything like that but in terms of a team being built around jalen green

what is a vision of you with that team what do you think is a best case scenario what the team could look like what the other pieces built around him i would uh go uh shit well like the piece that i really like next to him is the only pieces that right now that I'm like sold on is someone like a Jabari Smith Jr. A lot of people are insane and they're like A lot of people saying like bro I saw the nastiest graphic from ESPN fucking

comparing him to Chris Middleton. What the fuck? Ew. Weird comparison of all people. What the fuck? Yeah. That's disgusting. So I'm like ew. That's just terrible. But like a old classic just imagine like a Sergi Baca-esque type player in the year like 2022. Hella valuable.

Someone like him next to Jaylen Smith. I mean, Jeline Green. Yeah, is it really? Just a 3 and D type 4? Let's talk about this. Let's talk about this. We clearly disagree on what how a player

Jabari Smith is going to be. Let's talk about his game and why it fits. I don't, yeah. Who do you think he's going to be? Who do I think he's going to be? So, let me tell you what I think his game is like and you let me know what player just remind you of. So offensively, like you said, he's 3 and D in a way, but he can dribble the ball.

You can put a little. a little bit on the ground, especially in transition. Oh, he can't fucking dribble. What the hell? Barely. No, he can dribble. Let me finish. In transition, in terms of he can move with the ball in his hands and take it up

the court. But he has no creation ability in the half court with his handle. He's not blown by any defenders one-on-one. He's not running pick and rolls. So somebody that can get the rebound and go on the half court can be a pick and pop guy, a spot-up guy, a trailer guy. So like Jaron Jackson, Jr.? Yes.

That's kind of exactly what he is. But no, Jaron Jackson, Loki has a good handle now. So maybe he's like rookie Jerry and Jackson, uh-huh okay well a lot of people compared or at least i compared jerns x you used to fucking sergey balkas so i said 2022 meaning like you know what i'm saying you kind of want him to be a little advanced and involved in that but we're on the same page i feel like for the most part so like back to my thing someone like him uh i'm kind of unsure about afrin sangoon but i in general i like the idea of him playing next to jailing green as well someone like uh

uh uzman gruber one of those two i hope i said his last name right my bad but yeah one of those to, even though he's like 6-9 or 6-8 or whatever, it's an NBA in these, and it's, and it's, and it, fuck, holy shit, I just had a stutter attack. It's NBA these days, I don't really think that his height matters. Oh, too much to someone like Luzman Garaba, Alfred Sengoon.

My biggest worry and the only question is like, yo, who the fuck is going to run their point guard position? Because I just don't think KPJs. They got the chemistry, their best friends or whatever, but who gives a shit? Their point guy the future isn't on the team right now. Like, we can just say it straight up, like, the KBJ might be a good player,

but I think the end goal with him, he's going to be an off-ball two-guard like he was originally. Because when you look at his numbers, he's actually an extremely good shooter off-the-catch and shoot. Off-ball he's a great player, but they're trying to pigeonhole into being this on-ball creator, and he doesn't have the vision for it. He doesn't have the creation of ability for himself

or other people going inside. Like, yeah, he's just not built like that. Yeah, exactly. You're trying to force it so hard, and it was so fucking ugly to watch last season, but I think he average, like, what, four or five turnover? He averts like three or four assists the game, maybe five, I don't know.

He has such a high-level skill set as an off-wall shooter. Just most people don't realize it because that's not how they're choosing to deploy him. Yeah, exactly. And it's irritating because now it's like, yo, you know what I'm saying? It's about his time to go ahead and get a bag. Everyone in his drive class getting the bag. Fucking RJ Barrett just signed a crate. This is random, but I just like to.

I'm interested, okay? If you were to take one of these two players for the future of your franchise, I think I already know the answer, but I just want to ask, R.J. Baird or K.P.J. Barrett? What? Listen, I'm the biggest R.J. Barrett hater in the world, but come on. It's obviously R.J. Barry. Okay, cool. Because I kind of want to say KPJ, but I just... What the fuck? Why?

Yeah. That may be one of my worst. Because I would you want to do that? Look, the bag fools me, bro. I'm going to be honest. The bag fools me. That's what it is. Watching and one mixtape on the court instead of impactful basketball. Listen, I think, I think, I think KBJ, and when you talk about that skill set, I think that we might be able to see that unlocked a little bit more because even though that Jalen isn't a point guard, he's going to be more ball dominant this year. Oh, for sure. And so, and so, like, if Jalen starts the season and his scoring is on point, what's the next point of growth for him, playmaking? And so if he comes out and he's getting buckets, now we're going to start talking about, okay, can he take that next step, be a playmaker?

We're going to see the ball in his hands a little bit more. and then we can see maybe, you know, then we can see KPJ use that catch and shoot ability and start, you know, molding this team around Jalen Green a little bit more, having him be that offensive benching that they want him to be. So I think, like, the last 20 games for Jalen Green last season, 22 and a half points, 48% from the field overall and 40% from three, right? Like he was on this, he was on this really, really great run. And for a guy, if he starts the year like that in year two,

you, yeah, we're forced to be to meet you the ball and you're like we don't have we're not playing for a playoff spot if you're Houston so go go do you and I think that's I think that's the path for Houston

I think that's the path for Houston to get better this year yeah they still have Eric Gordon on the team that's so weird yes they refuse to train him they just love him to have him here as like a veteran

to help nurture the young guys listen he'd be he'd be working sometimes Eric Gordon he's good yeah he'd be he'd be working he's good yeah I'm glad you brought up the way they're going to deploy

Jaylon Green in the future because I think you could like view him in the mold of he's going to be sort of like Donovan Mitchell in terms of he's a go-to guard, he's score first, but he has underrated passing ability. Jalen Green can be that same type of mold as your lead guard, but he's bigger, has more explosiveness. He could be an elevated version of Donovan Mitchell, I think. And because of that, Jabari Smith is like the perfect fit

as that guy who doesn't need the ball in his hands and has like the perfect complimentary skill sets to be able to play off of him and cover him up on defense. Definitely a potential, there's definitely so much potential there between those two players yeah i we saw we saw in summerly like jibari obviously like the the ball handling the the finishing like that that stuff needed a little bit of work he was great defensively all also also all summerly long i think for him that's the main thing that you want him to to to work on because we can you can teach i think it's much easier to teach like

offensive skills than it is to teach like defensive IQ and yeah you just can't teach defensive IQ like some people get better over time but like look at someone like jalen brown who's like the most hardworking player we've seen in the NBA who improves every year we blossoms into the star his defensive IQ is still fucking terrible like his one flaw is that his off ball the events is so bad because he just doesn't have that built in him so it's super hard to break through that if you just don't have it exactly and if we can if we can see jabari come in and understand the game and understand where to be and like and how to you know how to be a good on ball defender and team defender and do all that.

You know, we can 100% like just have a mitt in the right spot moving forward. So that's the only thing that I'm looking for from Jabari this year. I'm just looking to see how good his defense is. I'm fucking dying over here, bro. You know what I was about to do? What? Bro, I got to fart. I'm going to mute the FaceTime call.

But I was like, oh, shit. If I fart, these dudes can, I just, well, I just go fucking hear, like, a lot ass of rep when I send over the footage. this is wonderful podcasting I'm leaving in there not eating that out yeah maybe that's

all you got a fucking 3.9 Spotify rating fuck you that's funny anyways aside from momas need to fart

let's move on to another Texas team let's talk about the Mavs the interesting one all right cool so we were talking about

we've been talking about the Mavs a lot in relation to other teams I think when you talk about you keep referencing than the fact that they lost Shailon Brunson and you're kind of worried about what their teams don't look like with too much reliance on Luca. So if that's the case, what do you think their ceiling is?

I think that their ceiling is, listen, if Luca comes in, comes into the season in shape, which I expect him to because he's been playing all summer in your basket, their ceiling is still very high, right? They could potentially get up to the four seed or the three seed just because, like, defensively they were really good last year. And if Luca, like, second half, Luca is always just on a different level. And everyone's like, oh, like, he's probably taking that step. But if we get that over, if we get that over 82 games, then you're going to get an elevated version of Dallas.

So, I would say top four, top three is their ceiling. Top three is tough to imagine, though. Like, there's so many good teams out there with so much more talents. If this is the year, we've been saying it for two years now, this is the third year that we're going into the season where we're like, hey, Lucas is like the he's he should win MVP this year and we're we're expecting a lot of him this is going to offensively right and obviously it's not going to look like as money ball as what Houston did but this is definitely like the James Hardin system of yeah everything is going to run through you at all times and you are going to make every major

decision for this offense and yeah we saw that lead to regular season wins a lot with the rocket so I guess there's no reason believe we can't eventually go get there with Luca as he elevates to that next level yeah and yeah so i got a question i got a random question is this the worst team that lucca donches has had no his first couple years were terrible yeah or well like of course like outside of that since lucca has like been certified this dude is that fucking dude i mean that was that was day one though like lucca came in day one and was kind of certified he's been a star since year too so like it's hard to the first year he had K.P. And nobody else. Last year, Brunson elevated. K.P. was gone. And then they added

Dinwiddie. So, like, I guess maybe it's the worst one. But, like, it's not that different. You know what I mean? Yeah, I don't know. I just don't trust it that much because I like, I'm like, I don't know how. I think Spencer Dinwiddie, he's good. But like, they're going to miss. They really going to miss someone like Jalen Brunson. Now, of course, they do have fucking, what's the name, Christian Wood. And he may be coming off the bench as a six man or whatever the case may be. And I think he's a real which he doesn't like L.O.L. Yeah, I said

which Christian Wood doesn't like the fact that he might come off the bench. For those who didn't know during the media day yesterday or day before yesterday now, whatever it was, there was a lot of talk

when Jason Kidd was saying that Christian Wood is potentially going to be their sixth man that's kind of how he's doing him at the moment. And coincidentally, two hours later Christian Wood tweeted LOL and there's a lot of debate on if he was saying LOL to the fact

he's a six man, LOL to the fact that people thought he'd be upset about it. We don't know, but very, Christian Wood thing to do. It's a very moody guy. I think it's right to assume that like he's saying L.O.

Because he doesn't want to come off the bench because I know we had hell of drama back and it used to lock. It's a contract here too. So he probably wants his minutes. Yeah, exactly. So it makes sense. But I don't think someone like Christian Wood would, I don't think that matter for Christian Wood at all.

I think people realize how good he is and how talented he is. And for this situation scenario, he may, I think it actually makes sense for him to just be strictly coming off the bench because they don't have that many spark clubs outside of Spencer Dinwood. Now, is Spencer Dinwiddie going to start for them? He might, right. Yeah, he's definitely going to. Let's talk about that.

So their starting line up is, in all likely, going to be Luca Donchich, Spencer Dinwiddie, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney Smith, and Javelle McGee. That's a pretty stall in starting five. It's very complimentary players to Luca Donchich. Like, we're talking about the Grizzlies who win without the top-level stars around Jha. This is the same type of thing.

These players fit around Luca so well that the potential for a really high-skilling the regular season is there. Yeah. Yeah, bro. Luca's really him, bro. This team is, yeah, this is the team catered towards him, but, like, Take Lugach's a goddamn team, and they're literally, like, 10 wins, bro. Oh, horrific, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so it's just, it's a, it gets a secondary creator, two three and D wings. One of them, when Dore and Phaney Smith is, like, a borderline elite defender. And then Javel McGee, who's, as we can see on a contender, is a very good, you know, starting big, who's not going to play starting minutes, but can come in and do the things you want next to Star Ball Handlers. So I see the form of it. Donovan. Donovan, what's you're going to say? speak your isn't not that i think like my only concern and i guess this is more of a

playoff concern rather than a regular season concern is just how how much can we put on lucas plate and is he going to burn out because i think i think last last season was very very helpful to him the fact that listen he missed the first two games of of the series against the jazz and when he came back they were up to they were it was tied one-one Like, everybody kind of thought that, you know, if Luca's out, this team that, that you said is probably like a lottery team without him, he's going to be down 02. He's going to have to put on some heroic effort. And he comes in and it's a tie series, right? And you have that luxury of having another ball handler and Brunson, who's averaging 20 and 7 whenever Luke is out.

And that's great. You don't have that anymore. So if Luca's not there in those non-Luca minutes, what does this team look like? And so is Luca playing 30, 37, 38 minutes a night? Is he going to leave the league in minutes? And if he's not, are they going to be able to sustain 13 to 15 minutes? So let's give the opposite view of that then. What you're saying is definitely a very relevant concern.

But the answer to that from the optimist point of view is that, one, yes, Luca can take the next step and just have that much of usage and put the team on his back. Two, there's clearly room for Deen Whitty to have a higher usage. And those games when Luca was out, he elevated a little bit along with Jalen Brunson, obviously. So you can kind of think that, okay, we'll just give Dean Woody 36 minutes a game and see if he can rekindle that early next game. And then thirdly, Christian Wood. If we're talking about him as a six man, he's also going to be in closing lineups and provide them a little more of an offensive punch. You add that into the mix, and you start to see where those shots can come from, as well as Jane Hardy, who people have hoped for as a rookie.

I'm not sure by him being impactful one in his first year but eventually down the road you start to see lots of different places where those shots be redistributed The shot distribution isn't necessarily my concern More so the creation of it Like you're not giving Christian with Right like you're not giving Christian with the ball and said like

Hey go get us a bucket for two minutes straight You know That's not really happening And again in the regular season I don't think that this is going to do it It's a playoff it's a playoff thing for sure Yeah The playoffs is where this is going to matter

Yeah, and that's where it's going to be like We need Luke to do fucking everything And that's going to and that's going to be a problem Yeah, I see what you mean That's definitely a valid concern Yeah, so I think As good as Dinwood he is stepping into the shoes He's not the type of like individual shot creator that

Brenton is Yeah, in March, in April and May and June I definitely have concerns with the Mavericks In the regular season, especially if they're deep defense is you know kind of close to where it was last year they'll be fine right they they have the potential to to win 50 games and to be a really really good team probably get get home court and and and host the playoff series and we'll see where they go from there but yeah yeah that's now that you now that you mention the playoffs on to think about it I think I have I do

do I swear I changed my opinion like 13 times across like so many teams but I don't give the fuck I have my rights I think that the yeah I think that the Mabs are going to be better because better in the regular season at least because like with all those things all those great points that you guys pointed out on top of like a team the best team in the Wednesday conference last year

the Phoenix Suns they're just not going to be as good at all in my mind this season because their morale is all the way down the toilet and because I think that's a huge factor the vibe are off. Yeah very off bro. Yeah I think we're all in agrees to this team that they're a good they're a very good

low-level contender who maybe if things break right can make themselves up to the mid-tier of the contenders, but they have the floor, they're not going to be like a play-in team or anything below that. Exactly. And it's hard to have a different opinion about the math. Like, there's such a, we know what the team is going to be.

Exactly. Probably more than any of the team in the division. Like, we know that this is good. No, we know what the San Antonio Spurs are going to be like. See, we're not going to talk about San Antonio Spurs. I think we should just skip them. Greg Popovich and Media Day said that you should not bet on us. I think they're not worth us giving time to you

There's nothing there I think this man said what motivates me It's at my paycheck I I kind of hope And this this would be my spurs take I kind of hope that they Get Victor I kind of I kind of hope that

That they end up with the number one pick And they end up with Vic And yeah That's my spurs take guys It's more than I have to say Kelvin Johnson's a good player He's gonna be back The second month for season.

They have him, they have Yacopold, and they have Josh Primo and some other players that... I want to see Devin Vassel go crazy, bro. He's used born in Atlanta, you know what I'm saying? Gwinnett, baby. And, you know, he's a good player. I wanted him on the Hawks over at Congo. But other than that, I ain't got much to say about the fucking San Antonio Spurs. Yeah, it's a cop-outs that does not talk about a team.

But, like, they're going to be a bottom feeder. The coach knows it. They traded their best player. They're just full-on tanking. And I'm not even tanking with interesting players, so what do you want us to say? Yeah. Yeah. Listen, that's it.

Let's get to talk time. Yep. Now we're going on to the TikTok segments, the part that everyone's going to see outside of this video. And honestly, we're going to start off with something that we've done a couple times that people seem to love. It's fun as hell. We're going to guess 2K ratings. Oh, wow. So I'm going to listen to NBA players.

You let me know what you think their start of the season 2K rating is. Why don't I say it looking into the camera? That was weird. I'm a list of players You let me know what you think 2K has a rating at to start the season Let's go crazy First one, Lamello Ball

84 88 84, damn, no 87 84, so okay, yeah great They got them real high

And that W to my plate That's on me To my plate That's on me Damn, you hate Lamello Fuck I don't listen I've been watching ball in the family since

For years I was every week I was on Facebook watching ball in the sand I was gonna be in the gym you are so down bad bro oh my you were actually watching on on Facebook yeah I was every week that was appointment television for me I had

I had BBB merch you're sick oh you I'd a bean you dead ass yeah wow how much was that 5,000 no it was like 25 bucks yeah yeah okay next one so keep in mind the mellow balls 87

Ben Simmons oh this stuff I say 84 now. 85. They have him started off as an 83. He got to get it. He hasn't played last year. He's out of earn the rating back.

But come on. He didn't get that much worse of basketball. Yeah, 83 is kind of nuts. No, he got to earn it. He got to earn it. I guess. Okay, so again, keep all this in mind. Tyler Hero.

Now, this is tough. I'm going to say, like, he's definitely so much worse than both of those dudes. So I'm going to say, like, I like that rating, but I have to go lower, 81. I'll go 82. 84. Whoa. Tyler and George, 84? Love the white boy over there.

That's crazy. 84. What is his answer? What is he wants to ask? What is his badges? Who knows? What is Jordan Pools rating? I think he was also in 84.

He was 84. I looked by anybody down We're hooping We're hooping with Jordan Pool Okay next one Gosh What about R.J. Barrett? 85

I'll say 86 on RJ Yeah 84 Whoa Same as Wow They don't they're not watching Okay this one I think

I think Tyler here might be better than RJ Barrett right now I'm not gonna lie Yeah that's not that crazy That's not that crazy to say. They're not watching. That's not that crazy to say. What about Jalen Brunson? Jalen Brunson.

I'm going to go ahead. After that, R.J. is 84. I'm going to go ahead and say 86. They may have him over it, R.J. He's lower than R.J. Baird at 83. Yeah, I don't be watching R.J.

I'm telling he's. Yeah. He plays in New York and it still slipped on. I'm going to go on a limb and say that Jalen Brunson is the best player on the Mav. I'm going to go on a limb and say that Jalen Brunson is the best player in the Knicks. Man I think as of now That's true

But hopefully everyone And their mom is hoping that Arjavir will go and take Those next steps So you're not crazy for that Yeah Hope's carrying this man far What about Jordan

Oh Jordan had Jordan Pull in here Everybody did Jordan Pool Okay That's funny That's funny Okay What about Draymond green 70

Actually no I can't answer this Because I think I already know His rating I think you already know go straight 80 Mohammed I think it's like

87 or something you're both drunk 83 wow how am I drunk that's close he said 77 was high as fuck I said 87

I said 80 oh okay I didn't hear you that's like 77 yeah but yeah Draymond Green is worse than RJ Barrett apparently that's

that defense Dremont Green said he's so hard to have basketball conversations with bro because like He works in a certain system He's not hard to have this basketball conversation He's way fucking better than R.J. Barry I'll tell you that.

It's not fun to play with Dremont Green and 2K. You were nasty bitch You can pick Draymond Green and blacktop, man. You're a nasty bitch You're a nasty bitch, are you kidding me? It's more fun to play with R.J. Barrett than is with Draymond Green. I guess this is a fucking mid-off.

Yeah. He's saying screens all day. Yeah, send screens. You're going to fucking miss open 3. all day with R.J. Barry? Have fun. You do the same with Draymond. John Ms. Layups? Have fun with that. Oh, I'll play effective team defense. Nice.

Okay. We'll move on the next segment. This one's going to be real simple. I'm going to name two players. You let me know which one you want to build around. All right. Let's get it. Actually, maybe we say that for the TikTok hook, because you know that is important. I'm going to list two NBA players. You let me know which one you want to build around. Lamello ball or Scotty Barnes.

Ooh, give me, give me. give me oh this is spicy bro I got Lamello yeah I got Lamello I'm not mad at you to say Scardy though I'm taking Scotty I'm taking Scotty I think Scottie Scottie already Scottie already Listen I know what I know what Willamelo does Scottie already plays great defense

I think that he's going to take a leap offensively And being able to have like a very very rangy wing Who could do it on both ends of the floor as much it's i like building around that rather than lamello who might just be a very flashy and fun player see scotty maybe has a higher ceiling because like oh what can he be with this size and the skill but it's a lamello ball i know what he is and he's a star in the making he's gonna be a high level playmaker a high level score give me that guy every time yeah yeah give me care i need someone to carry my franchise don't give me hope to carry my franchise too that's

who'll give you the hope i i we still we still we you still got to see about if he's going to be able to carry the franchise on stuff like that we'll see i faith he got to get through the play you got to get through the playing whatever he's 21 yeah it's a major iroll got to do it okay interesting one ruddy gobert or jalen brown jalen brown yeah jalen brown in my sleep i'm sorry bro what's a guy what is a jaylin brown lead team getting you what is a where are you going with jellon brown is your best player What are the Rudy Gobert team let team get meet? The one seed, and obviously didn't work on the playoffs,

not every team can win at all, but we see that he gets teams wins and he brings you victories. Like, what are you doing with just Jalen Browner won? I'm having fun, and I'm watching highlights. I'm watching crosshows. I'm not seeing a big-ass man not improve his game. Bro, I'm going to go here and do it for one-stead. What the hell does Rudy Gobert do every off-season?

What does he work on, bro? Tell me. What is he getting the best, fucking, being one of the best defensive players of all time? What do you mean? But what does he do to build his repertoire and his skill set? Great. Jailen Brown improves every year and he's still on his good as ridiculous. What do you want?

What do you want to hear? That's all I need, bro. But both of those teams are going to be losing, bro. They're not going to win anything. And I'd rather have more fun losing than just be super frustrated and seeing the same player do the same shit every year. Like, bro, let's be real. We're both losing, bro. We're both losing and I want to have fun while.

I don't know about you. Fair enough. Okay. Okay, next one. Zach Levine or Shea Gilchus Alexander? Ooh, that's kind of tough. I think Shay's the better player. So I'll take Jay.

Is better right now? I'll take She's better, yeah. I think Zach is definitely better right now, but I see a path to SGA being better when you both hit their primes. I think I think I'll take shade to build around, though, over, over Zach Levine. And I, yeah, Zach Levine, and both of them are like low-key. in this conversation, but not all the way in it, but like, they're, they're kind of empty

stats guys, but like, not all the way there. Not, hell no. What? I can't believe you just said that. They're borderline. I'm not, I'm not entertaining this bullshit. No, they exist, but they're only, bro. I'm not going to say, I'm going to get mojo, man. But, uh, oh my God.

But, but, but I, I think, I think, I think, she's overall ability, his, his, his, his passing ability is better than, than zacks and if i'm if i'm building a team i kind of just want a little bit more skills so i'll take sGA yeah you want layers to your game and you want players who like at who who do more at the end of the day on the core and i agree i'll take sGA over exactly what i think exactly better right now for sure yeah darius garland or bam out of bio

darius garland or this one's interesting i'll take bam's a defensive player at the year level defender but that's what that's a really talented creator he's proven yeah dare i feel like darius is more proven you know what he can be oh bans more proven what do you mean is he really i feel like dari is gonna maximize he's he's pretty much maximizing the most of his potential and he has so much more to go and bam out of bio he's underwhelming that's what i mean by that band's underwhelming in terms of you wanting to be his offense creator that he's just not but in terms of being one the best defenders alive and leading teams on that side of the ball and helping win the games he's clearly proven yeah I will in terms of building my team

I think it would be a lot easier to build someone like bam a lot easier because he's more he's so much more versatile and there's no player in the NBA that you'd be like ooh he's not a good fit alongside him bro yeah I take band yeah you can say that bam's a top five defensive player and garland's probably never gonna be a top five offensive player so yeah exactly yeah who knows but it's hard because garland's fucking incredible so who knows

And last one R.J. Barrett or Tyrese Halliburton? Tyrese. And I'm not even thinking about it twice. I'll take Tyrese. That hurt. Clean sweep. Give me Tyrese. That hurt to say. It'll hurt me one bit. I'm sorry, RJ. I'm sorry. Yeah, bro. I'm not even, I'm not even bad in the eye on that at all, bro.

Give me Tyrese easily. The passing gap is absolutely insane. And, uh, yeah, bro. The everything gap is absolutely insane. Yeah. I set you go for that one, RJ, my bad. Yeah, I know. You know what you're doing. Good TikTok soundbite, though.

Thanks. All right, before we get out of here, we got one more thing I want to talk about, and I want to know how many teams have a realistic chance of winning the finals this year? Let's go for it. Obviously, we got the Warriors, Bucks, and Celtics. Who else? The Clippers have a real chance. Clippers for sure. And I think.

I would say the Nets. Yeah. Nets, definitely. Definitely, if things break right and they don't have half their team for most of the year. Yeah. That's kind of it for me. I'll throw the sixes in there. That's it.

Yeah, the semi-sense definitely got a chance. Okay. Yeah. I got it. I'll definitely throw the sixes in there. Are we throwing the heat in there? Yeah, I have. You have to.

I think you'd be fools. You don't have to. I think you have to, bro. They were the one seat last year, and they made the Eastern Conference Finals last year, too, bro. And, like, they're like a Jimmy, they're a bad Jimmy Bullard three-point shot away from making the final. And we saw the finals three years ago, like clearly this core can make it that far. And if you can make it that far, you have a chance of winning. Exactly.

So you have to respect. It's not a sexy pick. Like everyone knows, like, you know what they are. But like, it's, it's a truth. What about the nuggets? I respect. What about the hookah? Yes, yes.

Denver. Oh, yeah. I don't know why I forgot about that. Absolutely. Denver for us. For sure in there. Is there any world, would have a Lakers have a chance? Listen, with Russ, no.

Without Russ, yes. got you well they still are right now so I'm gonna give it a no yeah if you're in psychedelics then yes if you're not then no pretty much what about the suns any chance they recoup nope no hell no

they were never gonna win the chip last year tough what about the Timberwolves stop that that's nasty there's no there's yeah there's no way rob it up rob it up

no that's right no of the teams no nuggets It's, I mean, no calves, Mavs, grizzlies, none of those? I would throw in my hawks. I would throw in my hawks if you go ahead and trade away. I would not. And y'all see jump shot a Kongu in this thing, but I'm telling you, I'm telling you, man.

I'm telling you. I'm going to guess. I don't guess. No. Yeah. Yeah, they're not winning. Clint Capella doesn't think that they're going to win. Yeah, his goal for this is.

Dude, Clint got Finesse, bro. He literally got finesse. And this is a propaganda. Everybody wrote on those polarites like, oh, I want to win a championship. I want to win a championship. And Clint Capella's like, hey, if we could make the East and Conference finals again, that would be lit. Like, you see a tweet that Dragonfly Jones had about saying his goal is to play fundamental defense and defend the fuck out of the pick and roll? Wait, who said that?

Dragonfly Jones. I can't look at the tweet right now. But he's like, Clickapel is my guy. His goal for the season is to maybe put up a good fight against the bucks. and defend the fuck out of the pick and roll. Yeah. I love that. But those are contracting incentives,

his role. That's why he said that. Yeah. He got set up for sure. That was funny. Yeah, I think that's all we got to talk about. We hit all of our segments. We previewed all the teams besides the Spurs.

I think we're done with this episode. Yeah. Yeah. Good stuff, guys. Yeah. As always, if you enjoyed it and you're still watching at this point, do us a favor. Drop a subscribe. Drop a like.

If you're watching on Spotify, rate us five stars. Follow us on all socials. Yep. Follow us on all the socials. be links in the description and I'll see you next time.