The Deep 3 Podcast - What's Next For the FAILING Phoenix Suns? | TD3 Live

Episode Date: April 29, 2024

Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/thedeep3pod Today we react to all the latest NBA news! Check out the TD3 merch: https://the-deep-3-shop.fourthwall.com/ Join the TD3 discord!: https://discord.gg/RUkjpMPp7E Listen on Spotify!: https://open.spotify.com/show/3elbbqVumwqz8wlIdknsLW Listen on Apple Podcasts!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-deep-3-podcast/id1657940794 Follow us on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedeepthree Follow us on Instagram!: 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

There you go. Now you're here. We're not meeting anymore. Eaters. Where are they at? High people see me. Oh, they spam me right now. Damn, we got a lot of eaters in the chat.

Ew. Okay. But like I was saying, to see Anthony Edwards go ahead and take the league by storm in, literally, with our two eyes, to see him, like, elevate and escalate over certain NBA players, like, maybe a Kevin Duran or Devinbuck or wherever else. makes me proud as an Atlanta Hawks fan knowing that he's from Malian we have an ET alien representing him.

Shut up. This is all I got. This is all I got, all I got. He brought out the Hawks. He brought out the Atlanta hat. You're so shameless. So this is all I got. He's glazing.

This is all I got. What do you want me to do? Respect greatness. All right, let me do we do some donations before we get into the new stories of the day. Shout out to MC Cray. He said, donate $10. said hey fellas first time long time ding dong the wicked witch is dead mo katie is number 19 all times take is aging like a fine bottle of italian wine what layer versus magic type

rivalries do you want to see the next generation let's focus on the katie slander there we're going to get to that because i'm sure you guys are very opinionated on how the sun season ended this is fucking hilarious right 100% what was your immediate reaction to like katie being out and all that donovan like how has your perception changed at all when it comes of Katie? Um, he's always felt negative about him. So I don't know how it changed.

Yeah, no, not really. And also, I didn't have a lot of belief in the suns coming into the playoffs, right? I thought that like their ceiling was like a second round exit, but I picked the Timber Wolves to win the series. So everything that happened was kind of just like, okay, this is like, this is kind of just where we're at. So nothing changed, but you get another like data point to look. at across his career and some i mean for somebody who isn't a huge kevin direct fan and

tries to argue you know against him this certainly helped right like it helped the case of like you know kd's not top 15 and that whole conversation so um that was nice but nothing nothing changed yeah yeah we'll we'll get deep into that after we get to these new stories we're going to go through all the same playoff series like as usual and obviously we're going to spend a lot of time on the sentence today it's the whole title of the stream right now so we'll get to that Let me read off these quick donations real quick before we keep moving on. Shout out to JRM 37 for donating twice. He said, Isaac is a tyrant.

He only wants us to hear what he wants us to hear. Shout out to Secret Twinkie for donating $5. Shout out to Donovan. Talk that shit about the city of brotherly babies. We'll get to that too. Wow. Shout out to Ray for tipping $1. And shout out to Dell Sol for tipping $3.

He said, damn, Isaac's making Mo glaze in silence. And shout out to Matthew for $10. You could have me. Talking about anything words for an hour, bro. I could have been muted. I won't give a damn. They let us say real fast. Our first new story of the day.

Let's start with this son's related story. As soon as they lost, they immediately put out a story via Shams, Serania, basically airing out the locker room issues, and basically what it said, if you guys didn't get a chance to read the whole thing, Frank Vogel tried to fire them up before the last game and really get them going, yell at them, who were all this stuff,

and a certain player in the locker room rolled his eyes and laughed. And apparently he lost all respect for players in his locker room, or vice versa. How do you guys feel about the story coming out right after they lost? Oh, before you get to that, before you get to that, shout out to Philly Loving Ginger for donating $100. One of the most consistent donors. Appreciate you, man. Oh, my God.

Shout out to you. You're going on the TD3 Hall of Famer of Crayon Eaters. Good God. Man, that's beautiful. Appreciate you, man. How do you feel about the story? How do you feel about the excuses flowing immediately after they lost? How you feel about it?

It's just so fun. like as soon as the game ends all these reporters like shams and chris haines have all these tip-offs from insiders and they're getting off all their propaganda and stories and all the like things that's been happening throughout the entirety of the year just spamming all that stuff as soon as the season ends like folks just got to the locker room it's crazy as fuck and it's disgusting inside and out that they have so many rats and moles and guys like you know like rats and moles yeah like fizzling out and trying to protect their own player images and and just like pointing fingers like we do not fuck with this guy as if any other guy in general would help this situation or flip a situation

on his head it's hysterical like this is like literally politics and NBA yeah another part of that report was Kevin Durant saying he was never comfortable with the offense he didn't like having to stand the corner so much while they focused so heavy on picking roles between the guards which is true he definitely did that and fans talk about that like why isn't Kegg more involved interesting that he felt the same way and it was reported after they lost so donovan is don't tell us what you think you're holding it in over there I mean I'm honestly not this is like listen Frank Vogel is gonna get fired we all know that right they but I don't it's not his fault though and I can I a hundred

percent understand why Kim in Nore it feels that way because we've said one of the biggest problems with the sons the entire season is that they don't have a point guard and that they don't have somebody who can come in and facilitate their offense and get your, you know, elite of elite score in, in the spaces where he wants to, wants to get to. You have three bucket geters and nobody to help them get buckets. That's not, that's not anybody's fault except for the front offense. And it probably even goes beyond the front office. This is probably, this is Matt Ishby's fault of just being irrational and just trying to, you know, play 2K, get all the talent.

and get highly rated players and then put them together and think that it's going to work. But that's not the case. And so, yeah, it's not shocking at all that two seconds after they get swept that this comes out. Yeah, man.

It's one of my biggest, listen, we make a lot of observations and predictions about everything. You know, it's the whole point. I never care if I'm wrong as long as the logic was there. One of the biggest, most embarrassing things that I've ever been wrong about

was believing in this motherfucking son's team. I cannot believe I gas let myself into thinking that they had a chance to put it together for a playoff run because April and late March basketball convinced me they were getting good at the right time. We talk a lot about young players making big leaps in March and how you should never believe it because it's fake basketball. It's also fake basketball when these contenders randomly do well against those shitty teams they're playing like the Suns did. And I let myself believe it and think this would be a really good series going 7 and even having the Suns potentially win it. That was so stupid.

I am so ashamed of that. I will say I'm going to give you a little bit of credit because the Suns, sons the sons had one of the hardest schedules down the stretch of the season so while like while everybody else was playing fake basketball they were kind of they were kind of like in the trenches with it and that like their schedule in the last 15 20 games is was one of the reason why I thought that they were probably going to be in the playing because I didn't think that they were good and I didn't think that they would survive that but you come out you play Minnesota multiple times beat them right beat them handily you beat a lot of the

other top teams. And so I can, I can understand why somebody could see the way that they were finishing the season, say, okay, they're starting to peak. They're starting to find their groove. And you get that out the way. But it's, I don't know, the NBA is really, really weird because it's like, it is, it really is one of the, like, main leagues and main sports where you know for a fact, like playoff basketball is so much different. 100% than regular season basketball whereas like in football it low-key like is the same in baseball like some of the decisions may be different but it is largely the same game playoff basketball regular season basketball are two different things so maybe what it's maybe this whole the point in this conversation

is maybe it's less about me believing in the suns and more about we should have believed more in the timberwolves for being able to translate to playoff basketball and everybody was all kind of like you know they're great we need to see it in a playoff setting cat's not healthy we know that they've found a way to make these big work in the regular season let's he forish really well in a playoff setting gets great teams and they proved immediately they can cat is playing out of his mind fitting that role he needs to play as the second big offense and defense perfectly so maybe yeah maybe it's less about the sun's being embarrassing and more about the timberwolves are just that good and made them look awful even though they're probably respectable i'm so so sorry but there's

way more to it than the sun's being embarrassed what was that gonged they just played at them being swept are you not going to acknowledge that did you just play that them being swept is irrefutable you have two top ten players and you let anthony edwards and rudy gobert walk you the fuck down matt ispia what is going on he came in this bitch switch everything up traded hella players bro got rid of mccall bridges CP3 all them boys jondra a and everyone went to shit their team got so much worse you let him have the series of his life car Anthony Towns he just came back last month

shout out to the Minnesota Timber Rules much love to Anthony Edwards of course but not getting a game is damning bro this man is the undertaker it is gross not getting swept Isaac me and you said that they should at least like take this shit to six or seven

I said six or seven swept god y'all are in the trenches oh yeah honor Again, it's embarrassing. In the macro, it's very embarrassing. Like you said, to do this new owner syndrome shit

and make these big moves and have it flop so colossally in a very predictable way, all the problems you could have predicted with three ball handlers, none of which are good passers, none of which are the strongest offenders in the world, none of which are, well, Kevin Durant and Booker are a great off ball,

but, you know, they all need the ball in their hands to really thrive to a certain extent. The fact that that didn't work out is very predictable. So in that way, you're right, Mo, this is very embarrassing to have done this when you had such a promising team beforehand.

But again, I watched this series and was more impressed with the Timberwolves than I was disgusted by the Sons. You know, by proxy, they're going to get the criticism because they were on the other end of that. But I'm really impressed with Timberwolves just being able to dominate them physically in every way possible,

which is, you know, the whole construction of the team was based on this idea of being bigger and you at every position, beating you on the boards, beating you inside, being in all these ways that give you a leg up before gaming starts. And that worked out perfectly. So I'm more impressed by them than otherwise.

Listen, that's true. But I want to take this moment now to transition into an early debate of the day. Okay. Because, listen, Anthony Edwards went in yesterday. This, over the last week, snatched Devin Booker's chain. Talk about it. I am crowning him the best shooting guard in the league. It is now his title.

This is Anthony Edwards League. It is his title. He is the guy at the top of the mountain that everybody has to chase. When they get into Team USA later in the summer, Anthony Edwards, you better have the starting position. When we go into next season, everybody better understand. Anthony Edwards, he's the guy that everybody else has to catch up to. Devin Booker finally, finally had an amazing elimination game. 49 points, 13 of 21, 3 of 5 from 3, right?

He was, Devin Booker was hooping, and it didn't matter. Because Anthony Edwards was here. He was playing on both ends of the floor. He was jumping out the gym. He was hitting timely shots. He was making critical passes. He was doing everything that you want the number one player at his position to do. And even though that Donovan Mitchell is still here and Devin Booker got eliminated last night,

this is Ants Lee. And it is his time and he is now number one on the shooting guard list. bro i can't even argue with you he put up nine points wasn't forcing it sharing the ball being a connective piece all that shit once the fourth quarter started second ab he dropped 31 and once a fourth quarter started

he locked in on both ends we saw him i believe it was at like the right elbow hit a turnaround fader super smooth j over bradley bill next possession comes and I believe Devin Booker He has he tries to attempt to dunk And I think Carl Anthony Towns is trailing behind him

Anthony Ever just swoops in out of nowhere Sends that block to fucking hell That moment right there was when I was like all right man You got it like that Not only did he snatches a chain by blocking Devin Booker driving to the rim Minutes before that he almost dunked on Kevin Durant But Kevin Durant fucking ducked out of the way to avoid it

He sailed the game with a dunk and a block. This motherfucker thinks he's LeBron. This is incredible. Donovan, all year, I've been a Devin Booker defender, still am. My biggest point of the son's team is that he never should have been made into a point guard. He is the best shooting guard in the league beforehand for a reason because he's so good off. All these reasons that this team kind of deprioritized what makes him good. All that's great.

He's still fantastic. I'm not moving him down my list at all. But I'm moving Anthony Edwards, way the fuck out my list. He is proven to be a playoff riser two years in a row. came in, when they need clutch shots from the mid-range, from the rim, from three, he's making them. When his shot isn't falling, he's passing super well out of the double teams. He's defending super well as a health defender, as an on-ball defender, in picking roles, transition, everything. There's nothing that he could have done this series to play better besides just making more shots,

but he checked every single box you want from somebody that's your best player on the best team that could potentially win a championship. He's making that leap. Listen to this. Listen to this. In a four games, four games, in a four game, in a four game series, one in which Anthony Edwards scored 15. This is what he averaged for the series. 31 a night, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals on 51% from the field and 44% from three. 31 points in four games when you had 15 and one of them is crazy. And we, again, we talk about Devin Booker, almost having 50 last night. And the fact that Anthony Edwards had 31 in the second half and essentially closed the deal is it's it's amazing right watching him watching him take that

leap this is what everybody thought like at the beginning of the season whenever aunt was going crazy and everybody was like wow like this is this is like insane this is what we wanted to really be solidified in like NBA rankings and to like legitimately start moving up you know that you have to do it in the postseason and to go up against your main rival and your like childhood hero he snatched Devin Booker and Kevin Durant's chain both of them and laughed in their face and talked all in their face

the whole time he is now man he's he's getting up there and we're going to have to have like serious conversations going into next year he's I saw a tweet that said Anthony Edwards is saving USA basketball in terms of young stars from America how we talked at length now about how like the current generation is kind of

ran by Europeans the top three players in the league are all big men from Europe of some variety We were looking pretty bleak for American stars coming up. They were trying to push John Moran and Zion to be that Hasn't worked out for different reasons between those two guys as being the face of the league He's coming in to snatch that crown. He has he checks every box of being the next marketable chosen one Like the fact that not only is he really good as a number one pick not only does he play in the same style of a Michael Jordan and and Kobe Bryant a very aesthetic piece and style everybody likes Not only is he very marketable as a personality. He's very funny he has commercials now with Adidas that perfectly shows personality.

He has that fashion line side of him now. Not only is, he even looks like Michael Jordan in the face. Like, he makes every single box you need to be the next face of the league. Like, it's hard to not over-hype him because that's happened at times. But a lot of it was because people knew he'd be this player. They were just early on it.

Now he is that player. Like, now he is everything everybody ever hoped he could be. I love this because all Celtics fans are over here like, what about Jason Taylor? This is Jason Dave, you're describing too. Shut up. No one's talking about him right now. He's still better than that

But all the other things I just described Of what makes something marketable And the face of the league and all that stuff Ant checks the box Because that Jason Taylor doesn't quite have And I'll say this Two things One shout out Elena

Right One of one of TD3 Stables Timberwolves fan right Happy for Elena That's one Two How much longer Until Anthony Edwards

Passes Jason Tatum Oh my goodness What would it What would it take That's the real question. What would it take for y'all to look at Anthony Edwards and say he is better than Jason Tatum? Consistent efficiency is really the main thing. As much as we like to harp on Tatum and like holding back, especially for having this super team that's holding back his individual production and all this stuff.

And like he, it's fun now to shit on Jason Tatum. He is a 29 point pregame score on elite efficiency, an elite defender that can have size and versatility in that side. can either match that level efficiency because he's just as good of a defender I think when he's at his highest level of playmaking or he makes a passing jump that passes with Tatum bringing that end otherwise it's going to be kind of hard

because Tatum kind of does the same things you know okay we harp on his late game issues and went out of the team Tatum's pretty consistent Tatum is he is more consistent than Ant is at this point of his career

he is I just feel like with a whole bunch of the young stars that have been rising this year like especially with like with lucas solidifying himself in the in the top five shay moving up right and even even uh like devon booker all these people are every time you think about like okay like how high are they tatum kind of seems like the line of like okay well are they better than tatum are they worse we can't really disrespect tatum and so that that's why that's the only reason why i'm using him as like the barometer

because he's probably going to be the next guy, the worry that when you're looking at the list, Anthony Edwards is probably going to have to pass. Yeah, we'll see, man. He's definitely on that trajectory. I agree. I 100% agree. Also, shout out to everyone else felt like in line with Anthony Edwards.

You gave shout out to Carr, Anthony Towns. Like, he played phenomenal. He is a great second option and did all the things that you'd want him to do. Wasn't, there was a funny press conference going around where Anthony Edwards is like, hey, stop making those stupid files. we need you on the court and blah blah and all sort of shit very true car anthony towns locked in defensively didn't do just out-of-body stuff and he was just like you know very patient defensively knew where he had to be was all was all in the right places jane me danes was obviously like

he's one of the best defenders at his position you can't name me two more people than you'd rather have than this dude at guarding any position on the court you know yeah and like rudy ober this was like he was spotless defensively where he was everywhere he was so good so good to the point to where draymond green gave him gave him credit he said you know rudy gobert isn't trash anymore so back-headed ass compliment but he's like yo like this dude is actually good your biggest hater gave you props that's hilarious this one is going on another point to bring up you mentioned cat and aunt uh being like got us on making fouls all this stuff another way that Ants really separating himself

and being like that next young star that is a leader I'm not typically the type that cares about that I like to like focus on what's on the court and whatnot but like it matters and it's a difference between like I can't think of an example who's a leader who's not from the previous generation

but you know we like to talk about Kevin Iran a lot he every time he touches the mic he'll tell you I'm not a leader nobody looked to me blah blah blah blah and is the opposite immediately every time he touches the mic he's like my teammates are all the best y'all not fucking with them

you're not fucking with me you're not fucking with us he is the type of guy that rallies them he constantly talks about cat being the best player you know he doesn't believe that on the team but he knows what to say to hype cat up and still confidence in him and that's important like he's a type of guy to come in and set a culture of trying hard putting an effort in every

aspect of the game having the whole mama mentality stuff he's just like that and that shit is infectious when your player is like that to to that degree a hundred percent especially because like for a guy like cat because I saw I saw somebody say on Twitter today

like for Anthony Edwards to come into this organization and be the complete opposite of what Jimmy Butler was and show that you can that you don't have to be right this this kind of guy yeah you don't have to come in you know and berate everybody and be like okay like I'm taking the third stringers I'm going to show you that you're trash and that's why like you're not going to win this and that like you can come in and put your arms around everybody and people will still want to follow you and you can still be successful and do all that stuff that's that's massive especially for two guys and Kat and Rudy who get criticized more than, you know, a lot of players in the league.

Positive reinforcement can work sometimes. That's the takeaway. And so for me, like, I don't know what positive reinforcement we have to give our viewers because there's like, listen, there's 12, there's 1,200 people in here. And we are not even at 500 likes. We're not even 300 likes. Exactly. What do we have to do, right, to reinforce you guys?

Come on. If that is your solution, that's on you. Okay, I'm gonna go, we got a lot of donations there during that time for the Timberwolves talk. We're about to go talk about the Sons and what's next for them. First, I'm gonna go ahead and read the donations. If y'all can do me further and like up the stream while he's doing it. Exactly.

One, two, three, four, tip three dollars. He said, is Spow the best coach of all time in American sports? No, but he's one of the best coaches in the NBA history, I think. Probably top 10. For sure. Guarantee. Agreed. For sure.

Broken Sons fan tip $5. He said Phoenix Sports are pain Where the largest exporter of depression in the US Glad the stream is going to make things better That's an amazing line The largest exporter of depression You were in your bag, it's a bar You know how bad down bag you have to be

To be deep in your bag like that, bro? Oh, you must be in deep pain shit That's a writer Shout out to Dale Sulfur tip in $10 He said this money is to get mow a pair of aunt undies To go along with the Shay undies About to have a drawer full of undies I might have to make it happen.

I might use your money for good use. They're rocking with pride. I wouldn't be mad. Shout out to Elena for tipping $5. Said all my agendas have been proven. I love my wolves. Hey, you're up right now. Enjoy it.

Enjoy it. Because Nicole Yokush is looming, so enjoy the time while you have it. Shout out to KJ for tipping $10. Love the pod. I appreciate you. And shout out to Matthew for tipping $25. He said nothing more consistent than superstars

skate goping their coach. Skate gooping their coach. That's so true Shout to all you guys I appreciate the no-noes A perfect transition Because let's talk about that scapegoating Like we said earlier

We mentioned it Kevin Durant And I shouldn't say Kevin Durant Skategoating him Because it was a reporter doing their job You know he wasn't out there At a podium being like Frank Vogel's the problem

Whatever that's not exactly what happened He's probably just honest to report it Which is fine But it seems like the organization Is going to scapegoat Frank Vogel They are locked into the team they have Bradley B.L is making $50 million a year

with a no trade clause. Kevin Durant is 35 multiple years left on his deal. Devin Booker multiple years left on his deal. They have no pick control into 2030. No cap space anytime soon. What is next for the Phoenix Suns? What can they do to somehow try and save this team? They're going to have to sell again.

They're going to have to sell again. That's the only thing. Yo, I don't know what you do. Your best asset is Devin Booker. And so if we get a month down the line and Devin Booker looks around at literally everything that you just said, and he's like, I just can't do it. If he's like, I can't do it anymore, we had a finals team three years ago. It's all blown up.

That was my first taste of success in the league, and now it's all gone. I went out of here that Loki might be good for like the long term future of the Suns so that they can get some building blocks back. But they're going to, they're going to have to trade either Devin Booker or Kevin Durant. you think so shameful yeah they newt everything when they decided to make that trade for bradley veal because like not to say bradleyville's like a terrible town or whatever first he played terrible but he still has some type of value in this league good players still but his contract trash that's like contract from mail that contract right there tombstone pile drives your organization just mithereens there's no coming back because you are paying getting paid like max player type money and he's not a max type player. just yet or he hasn't been over the last few years and for him to have that no trade clause makes his value diminished like he easily has one of the worst contracts in the entire NBA

and all you can do was hope pray that I don't know who else is like up there word for word bar for bar band for ban for ban with worst contracts is it Ben Simmons those conversations those are nasty not a lot of bad contracts in the league these days right now we're pretty lucky to not have like these huge flameouts like Ben Simmons,

Bradley Beal's pretty one amongst. He's the lone as the top of the worst contracts in the league, I think. The fact that he has the no trade costs makes him the worst. Yeah. Because there's no flexibility for the sons to maneuver around it. And so they are going to be, like, they're stuck with him until he wants out. And I don't, after the game that Bradley Beale had last night, I don't see any scenario where a team is like,

I want Bradley be on my team Especially now that he's gonna be over He's gonna be over 30 It's coming off of a bad playoff series Gets her every single year And has a no trade cause It has a bad contract He's gonna be in Phoenix for the foreseeable future

Yeah, I legitimately don't know what they'd get for him Like salary dump Maybe a protective first-on pick Like if we surveyed the league out there What team needs a guard? Like needs a scoring guard They have a point guard already like I don't know would the Pacers want him in an ideal world if there was no downside maybe maybe

you could see him fitting next to a playmaker like Tyrese but you're not you're not you're not giving a value right like you're maybe going to protect the first round pick and then salary that you don't care about it all from revenge like not real role players you know and why would the sons do at that point you're not getting better by bringing in a bunch of nobodies yeah like Donovan said I think you I think I heard you say Orlando yeah that's like a solid option because he just he's that shooter and obviously you can create off the dribble and shit like that and that's as much needed spacing that they need but it's them then it's like a team in the dumps i guess you could always throw out like the Detroit pittons because it's a piston they have no need to be they can't be they have no need for rather do like they have jaden ivy and it's like i might rather prioritize him and see what his potential could be so i don't know it's like it's tough no there's no real space for him right now with that contract at all Listen, there's a team that has two point guards. Bradley Beal, you are in Atlanta Hawk.

Welcome. Welcome. It would be a blessing if they can get to Janté Murray for Bradley Beale. They would be up. It would be godsend. That would be so funny. If things were to change and if, you know, like KD went ahead and requested a trade, we know KD.

He doesn't be staying on. he don't be stand on teams for more than two or three seasons it's normal look at this track record if you requested a trade a team that would be number one on his doorstep though would have to be the Atlanta Hawks DeAndre hunter whatever you don't have many picks left I'm sorry if what DeAndre hunter did you just start a Kevin Durant package with DeAndre Hunter let me clarify what you mean hold on let me clarify what you mean you're saying if Kevin Grant wants to be traded the first option to trade him to me will be the Atlanta Hawks

Yeah You're out of your fucking mind You're drunk What? It's not a bad idea Tell me the package It's a terrible package I'm sorry I didn't cut you off Go ahead

DeAndre Hunter Dezonte Murray I might throw you a yaku Kongu Or maybe Quincapella That's a very well-rounded team You're so generous One of those Yeah of course

I got you Of course I care about the people that I'm doing transactions with, you know? And whatever second rounders, maybe we can give you guys a picking 30, in 20, 31 since y'all are down bad as fuck.

You ain't got no picks. There you go. I'll go ahead. Second rounders, that's the picks they need. They need the Atlanta Hawks second rounders. They ain't got shit. They need something. In seven years. A second rounder seven years down the line. This is elite fan fiction. I think unironically, I can think of a better trade package

to get them at the Lakers. Oh, you could. Definitely. But, okay. So, they're going to be stuck or badly be all right. We can all agree on that? There's no escaping that.

Obviously, something changes if either Devin Booker or Kevin Rand end up requesting a trade. Let's assume that doesn't happen because, I don't know. It is very realistic, though, that Devin Booker could. That wouldn't be that shocking.

But let's say they don't. There's the option of obviously standing Pat and trying to just get better minimum signing some ring chasers to fix their issues and keep their core, five or six players but outside of that what are the realistic options are they're assuming no trade have requested and they have to do it on their own volition i don't know if they have real options they just we we talked about all if if booker or katy don't say this summer i want out

and you bring back those three guys grace and allen is also going to be a part of this of this core so you so you have you have those four guys there's the only move that you have is to bring in the coach or to maybe see is Chris Paul willing right to come back play on play on on a minimum find any find any point guard that you have that's that's that's that's kind of the only thing you have to find like these buyout guys in buyout but like you know yeah vet minimums in the summer to come and fill that role and that might be it because they don't have anything else they they don't have a lot of flexibility when it comes to trades we'd all We talked about the draft stuff.

If those three guys want to be there, Ishp is going to bring them back, and you're just going to have to roll with it. Yeah, I think Chris Paul is going to be a very sought-after player at this office. And I think if he's willing to take a minimum, that maybe the Spurs would be like come run our young team, the Sun's the appoint guard, maybe the Celtish, like, come beat the backup and be when it rang,

I don't know, whatever may be. He doesn't have options. I like the team a lot more if they could have, even the corpse of Chris Paul, who probably isn't giving you much realistically, but maybe, Maybe he can stay healthy Maybe he can do just enough

In that roster construction To give them what like The Lakers got from Rondo in 2020 Where there's another playmaker To add to their players around them And just do a little stuff And if that's the case Does Bradley Biel become like the most expensive

Sixth Man in the world Like do they just try to make him Of the bench I was thinking the same thing Probably Yeah that might be the move Like that would help the line of flexibility You bring in a point guard

Whatever may be If it's Chris Paul thank God If it's anybody else Just somebody who can pass a ball and, you know, be scalable next to the stars. You start them. Bradley Bill still plays big minutes, but it's heavily staggered with Devin Booker

and being a true shooting guard. It's weird as fuck. You should never be a scenario that you would hate that. That he would... Then wave that no trade clause. How about that? Hey, don't.

How about you hate playing for the Sunza and like pick somewhere else? I think he might, I don't know. Dude, he just doesn't seem like the type of person to be like, all right, guys, I'm coming off the bench. He's just 30 years old. Well, it's not about his age.

He's not washed. He just doesn't fucking fit there. You know, like it's, you're not supposed to like it. It sucks, but that's what it is when you have a no trade clause, and you're kind of handcuffing your team. The one who's doing the real handcuffing is Matt Ishpia. He needs to get in the fucking lab and watch TD3 podcasts or fucking Kenny videos, thinking basketball.

Put him, Bill Simmons, fucking at this point, like, watch a little bit of first take. Maybe you'll grasp something, bro, because what the fuck he did? like he he what he did he it seems like he went on NBA 2k my league difficulty on fucking zero controlled every single game what happens if I put Katie in Bradley bill alongside you know Devin Bucker and he just speed run through this shit and he was like this has to work like he's the issue there was another there was a report that came out saying that Frank Vogel really preferred having a point guard onto the team and he was his his request was just absolutely declined and that does nothing but come from the top

which is james jones on top of him it's met ispian on them but so it's like this team is under his shackles yeah and maybe we're saying all these things as options they have maybe it just comes out they have to blow it up which you but like can you blow it up when you have seven years of no pick control like that's absurd you can't like blowing it up with no picks is how we end up making fun of the brooklyn nets Like you're just in hell. They would be an even worse hell unless they got like blue chip young talent

for Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. And so that's always an option, obviously. But I don't know if you can initiate a Devin Booker trade without him wanting to be out first. He's like a top three player in franchise history. Like you don't really push out of Devin Booker, you know, just because you fucked up. That is true.

For politics reasons? Yeah, it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. So like, you better hope that you can get Chris Paul back and see what happens from there because you don't have any options you have backed yourself into a corner for the next half a decade

that's that's what that's where you're at that's where you're at for the next half a decade literally eighth graders are going to be starting their freshman year in college when you guys have control of a pick again you know what's fucking frustrating this team in 2021 was promising as hell Chris Paul and Devin Booker were an awesome backcourt.

Bridges, Cam Johnson, and DeAndre Aden were an awesome supporting cast. I get it. Kevin Durant became available. You got to get him. If Kevin Durant wants to come to your team and he's available, you got to get it. We don't turn down Kevin Durant. But even after that trade, coming into Lashers' playoffs, I thought they were the best team in the West. I thought they were going to go band for band with the Nuggets and really challenged them.

They got injuries got in the way. Aton and Chris Paul were hurt, so we never really got to see it, especially off of the little bit of time they had together. they took two games. So they were the best team against them during that entire run. Without Chris Paul and Aiden. Without Chris Paul and Aiden. Yeah.

The fact that they felt the need to make another big move, I get it, Chris Paul was getting old. I didn't hate the deal in the time from a business perspective because you basically got rid of Chris Paul and Landry Shama who's irrelevant for, you know, another star level player that was a better use of your money than Chris Paul on that big contract. I understood that part of it.

but why not just run it back? Like sure Chris Paul is washed he would have gave you something and I still don't really I remember understanding in the moment why DeAndreaten had to be traded because he had a falling out

with the team and all the chemistry was probably terrible wasn't the biggest part of that Monty Williams his ass was gone why did they have to get rid of DeAndrean for you Steve Nurkich who gave them fucking nothing in the series

dude did Devin Booker hate him? I don't know like does somebody else who don't know probably like if if I

it wasn't it probably wasn't like as clear as like the money williams hate but if you have a former number one overall pick on the team that drafted him you are a year or you are two years away two years removed from a finals appearance and you fire the coach and then and then he also gets traded yeah like it was probably him they didn't want they didn't want him in the first place right

Indiana Indiana offered offered a in the contract And Phoenix took a long time before they matched it And they ended up matching it because they figured Let's just have him as an asset And then we'll be able to trade him So that we don't lose him for nothing But if they if he was unrestricted They would have let him walk

Or traded him before But they didn't want him in the first place Yeah and I know he had a really terrible start to the year Everybody on the trailblazers had a terrible start to the year That team was in Samples He closed the year well But again March is fake basketball So maybe don't take it too well

but Aiden in the second half of the year when nobody is paying attention look like what you would have expected from Portland Aiden just getting a bunch of touches. So you guys know I'm higher on Aidan than both of you and most people. I've never thought he was a lost cause and I understood why

for maybe politics and chemistry reasons you had to get rid of him but it's just another example of just bleeding yourself of all young talent for very, even if it's understandable just questionable, just questionable motives that just led you to where you are now.

Yeah, exactly. All the blood is in Matt Ispia's hands. I 10010% agree. Like, me personally, I probably would have wanted to keep DeAndre Haynes, even though it was like the vibes suck and maybe Devin Booker didn't necessarily get along with him. I remember, like, his first game against Devin Booker, uh, eight and eight, he went to, he destroyed, he dominated or whatever he calls himself. And Deebuck was like, yeah, I wish he would play like that like every game.

I would try to motivate him and blah, blah, and I was like, so there was clear, like, static to me, but even with that still being said, someone like Yusuf Nurchich decimates all your flexibility lineup-wise, and he kills strategies. Like, there's not much that someone like Yusuf Nurgich can do because of this the old prehistoric archetype of player big that he was. That's what it feels like at this point. Like, child to Yusuf, he's, you know, shooting threes here and air and whatnot. not like cool stuff, cool beans, but it doesn't fucking matter at the end of the day.

It's cooked. Yeah, man. We're in for a long summer talking about the Phoenix Islands and how they can potentially fix their team. We'll save that talk for once it finally comes to that point. Let's move on to Donovan, your favorite series with the playoffs. The Philadelphia Sixers versus New York Knicks. It's been a great, great four games. The Knicks are now of 3-1 coming off of the heels of a Jalen Brunson,

Masterclass, how are you feeling about the series? Man, we're special. We're special. We're here, man. We're here. I was like nervous because Joelle and Bede throughout the first three games of the series, like, literally got better. Like, we're scoring more and more points every single game. And then the fourth quarter came, and he turned in right back into Big Hardin.

And I was like, this is the Joel. and b that i've been waiting on right this is this is the this is the one i need that joel and bid that's missing shots i need the one that's going to pass up an open jumper to foul bait that's exactly what i need on that side and then jalen brunson yo first of all no we already know that they don't have julius randler no mitch robinson boyon goes out josh hart doesn't make a josh hart It's like 0 for seven in the game. There's nobody else is making shots. Dante Divencino didn't have a great game,

hit a couple of big threes. It really was nobody else. The Knicks scored like 90-something. I forget the final score. But they scored high 90s, low 100s. And Jaylen Brunson scored 47. He put the team on his back. He is amazing.

He schooled everybody. And now we're going back to your crew with a chance to end it and potentially play the Indiana Pacers, maybe get to the Eastern Conference finals like the path is wide open and if we could just get past Mbed because I will say this I will say this

even though that he's still going big harder the talks that we had at the beginning of the season where you were saying I think it was both of you guys were like no like I actually believe in the Sixers team I believe in this version of Embed because Nick Nurse is locking him

all that stuff I can see that and it's showing up in this series Yeah. But sometimes you are who you are, and he's going to fail at the very end. So it is what it is. So that's how I'm feeling. I don't really feel like them being down 3-1 is the fault of him being playing poorly.

I think you said he's getting better and better. He hasn't had great fourth quarters. It's more, this time, listen, he's never had great fourth quarter to his career. We can pinpoint each different team and look at different reasons what led to that. Maybe it is just something in him. This team, particular, with the way they're having to do rotations, this man can't sit. He has to play such heavy minutes And especially in the second half

That was a problem That was a problem He was so clearly tired Yeah and that's the problem This team has nothing outside of him When he sits they get fucking blasted These lineups without Embed Are worthless

You just bleed points To the point where he has to play Big Manson in the third quarter To keep them float in these tight games So he gets to the fourth quarter And he's gassed And the New York Knicks Are full of super soldier conditioning

motherfuckers from 1 through 10 That don't get tired Hit the boards every time Swim every time the exact type of players you want against a big man who's tired as hell putting his hands on his knees

and it's just you know that's just something that they have an advantage over him with and over the whole team with because outside of Maxi and Embed this team sucks

they so desperately need to use that cast base this summer to get more parts and that's how biggest takeaway is that these are two comparable teams the Knicks have the physicality the conditioning all these advantages

that come out in the fourth quarter and give them advantages the sixers aren't good enough against a team who's a little bit better yeah like someone like tobias harris and paying him all that money just absolutely like nukes any chance of you needing like consistent physicality shooting and that's all this because he honestly just doesn't

do shit i i hate players like tobias harris i'm sure he's a great dude but it's just like bro you're like six nine you're supposed to be a good shooter and you're telling me you're only good for three buckets a game three buckets that's It doesn't be rebounding, doesn't bring physicality down low as a help side defender, doesn't bring passing, doesn't bring off-and-ball movement shooting, just a whole lot of mid-range buckets that don't fall for $40 million a year. That's terrible. That's, yeah, that's terrible. Also, and you said that they need to, like, use that cap space to get some more parts. They don't need parts.

They need another star, right? Like, you, like that, and that's probably like, you know, that's probably part of what you meant. Not necessarily good. I feel like they need a star. As good as, like, Ubre has played really well over the last two games, Battoom has been decent in some stretches, right? He's giving him something. The fact that, like, they went out and got Buddy healed,

and he's in absolute nothing. The fact that at the end of the day, even as well as they're playing, you are still relying on Kelly Ubrey and Nick Baton and campaign to come in and be, you know, contributors, you need somebody else to go. and really have like that high level star power they should have considered right getting getting bradley bill i think like he probably would have been better or he would he would have fit better with them rather than fitting in with with booker and kd and i can see

that vision a little bit more obviously the contract is crazy but if you feel like you need to go all in that that may have been something that you wanted to do but like i think they need Dante DiVincenzo and O.G. Ananovi. I think they need two really high-level shooters and defenders who can keep the ball moving. And when Joelle and Bied and Tyra's Magazine you get two thrown at them every time I touch the ball and they kick it out, it's not Buddy Heald being scared of the lights.

It's not Tobias Harris pump-faking and taking a mid-range jumper. It's not Kyle Lowry throwing his caboose into defenders because he can't make a shot because there's no athleticism. It's actual high-level shooters that can keep the ball moving. That's precisely what they need. Sure, a star would be great. If you can get a Paul George, you get them. but that's not the only thing

that could give them a roadmap, right? Like, oh, they were in the talk for OG and Nobi. They didn't do it because they believe they can get them in the offseason for free.

Maybe that's dead, but that's the exact type of player they need. They just need more high-level role players. They need their KCP. They need their Michael Porter, Jr., Aaron Gordon,

whatever may be, they need the guys to fill the edges around their two stars. And something that encapsulates all that is that they need fucking impact players

who games translate into the postseason. They would have got, it's not crazy to say this at all, but they got Kyle Larry, like for free, basically. He was a buyout, left Miami, whatever, and went back to his hometown. Without Kyle Larry in the series, they would have gotten swept.

That is embarrassing to say. Kyle Larry has been the third, maybe fourth most important player in this series for the Philadelphia 76ers outside of Embed, Tyrese Maxie, of course, and you could say Kelly Euberk because he's been great. Yeah. That is embarrassing to say. The Knicks had 21 second chance points in this game. 11 of those came in the fourth quarter

They have 52 rebounds total I forget exactly how many Offensive rebounds and show on here A bunch of them came in the fourth quarter They don't get tired They don't stop playing Knicks basketball No matter who's on the court They're gonna offensive rebound like crazy

They're gonna get second chance points They're gonna get in the paint Do all the small stuff necessary That listening games 1 and 2 On the last episode of the pod I said Donovan that Thank God they won those two games Because they had outlier shooting

And if they didn't win both those games with shooting 50% from 3 as a team it would have been a problem big missed opportunity that turned around in these last two games the three points she went back to normal 25% in this game

it doesn't fucking matter when Jalen Brunson drops 47 points he makes up to that you're either gonna get your role player shooting 50% or Jalen Brunson being Michael Jordan one of them has to happen and three times

at least one of those things has happened and it's led to wins and you listen you mentioned OG when OG and Ninobe just decides yeah I'm just gonna lock up in B. Like, I'm just going to, I'm just going to work harder than anybody has ever worked to front, to front Joelle and B. Then, like, that's just that coupled with the fact that

M. B, even though it looked good, still, and this is part of the reason why I was really okay with the Knicks playing the Sixers was because he is still coming back from that injury. And I just wanted to see Embed play a full series. I want to see what he would look like. with all this like posting the physicality you're going down right like these games are such rock fights and they are so physical it's it's crazy and i mean oh g was working like a madman to guard to guard and beat precious precious achua yo he third string center because izaa hartinstein didn't want to be smart for like 15 minutes he had no fouls in the first half And then over five minutes, he's like, yeah, I'm just going to keep fouling you

on the same plate every single time. He didn't want to do anything. And, bro, as soon as he got his fifth, he didn't see the full another second. And he was just being dumped. And precious to chew, it was like, all right, I would do everything that you need me to do except for make a layup. I will play insane defense. And so, like, that combination of front court defense is amazing for them,

especially when you are obviously playing one of the biggest and most, you know, bully ball type centers. the league. It's crazy. Yeah. They just wanted more. They just wanted more. They wanted more at everybody. And I can take you far when you have elite role players and a star who rises to the occasion as a score. You know, Jalen Brunson started the series off bad

when people were like, hey, maybe Becky Hammond was cooking. Maybe you don't want to bet on a small guard. He quickly showed us last year playoff Jailin Brunson. He did Jalen Brunson things in this game. And there's going to be times where he has small guard moments where it's hard from to get a shot off against a really good defense. You're going to have some bad efficiency from time and time. He has these outlier games where he goes berserk that makes up for all of it.

And when you have those elite role players and that great coaching, all you need is for him to do it a few times and still use some wins that you wouldn't otherwise have. Because of that small guard, my Joe Willembead first playoff run take is in that absolute shitter right now, dude. It's not over. It's not over. I think it's not over. it's not it's not over just because there are like the fact that the sixers are winning the minutes with and beat on the floor like if you if that if you can still get that to happen and then find

a find a way to like minimize the second chance points which is obviously going to be hard because like that's what the nix do but if you can try and do that then you can you can get to a situation where this can get to a game seven and then anything can happen but it's going to be hard when Josh Hart is 6-4 and has 13 rebounds, 15 rebounds and 17 rebounds in three of the four games. Tough. You can't give that up to him

and also not take advantage of Mitchell Robinson being out and Hartnstein getting into foul trouble. But it's not over. It is not over. You can't do that. The sixers are good. It's going to be a tight series. We all thought this would go six or seven.

Still could. So I'm not going to get my hopes up yet, but it's hard to come back from down 3-1 so it's pretty close to a death sentence i think this shit is over man it's just with the way they lost and how they decided to execute one of their final possessions seeing like them them having some one-minute time out or whatever the hell it's scenario was and having your first play be like okay kelly ubrae bring the ball up and jack up a three-border like seeing how it all just unfolded it just felt so deflating yeah it's tough it's tough You don't, going back to Madison Square Garden with all those maniacs in the crowd and being in that environment, having Joelle Embed, who's gone through more than enough already this series, asking him to go back there and play another 40, 45 minutes.

Like, I just don't know if he has enough to go ahead and give you. Yeah, right, right. We'll find out. We'll move on the next series. I'm going to go ahead and recent donations right now. While Donovan does whatever he's doing right now, bro took off. y'all we're at 623 likes can you all get us $2,000 by the end of the stream let me find out

shout to Fire Viper 2001 for tipping $1 he said would I be crazy to say Murray could have won finals MVP last season a little bit but shout out Jamal Murray shout out to Louis King for tipping $1 $8,000 Katie back to OKC listen if we enter a Katie trade saga

I would love to see him in OKC Reunion will be beautiful let's bring it back shout out to Broken Suns fan tipping $5. He said last night the Dave and Busters manufactured more sadness

than the sweatshop that made those lame-ass Devenbucker ones. Devin Bucer ones are terrible. You know, they are atrocious. They look like shoes that belong to like

toddlers. They look just like where you can't be for real. It's a miniature. So that's a YC. Goosey for tipping $5. He said, not going to lie,

as a Denver fan, Minnesota's got to be kind of hyped. Could be a great series. I agree. It's going to be a fantastic series. And shout out to Ethan Foley for tipping $5. Been watching for a year now.

And Don, will you finally admit that Cat is him? Hmm. Him? No. No, he's playing well. He's playing okay. But Andy Edwards has to come in and be his big brother. So, like, no, it's not him.

No, he's finally just in the role that suits him. That's what we can finally admit. He's in a great role for him. And he's thriving in it. And good for him. For real. Like, shout out Cat, because I did not think that. that he could do this.

And I thought that the Tim Wolves would probably be out of the playoffs this year, partly because of cat. And he has done his job to an elite level. So shout out to him. And shout out to Eye of Avocado for $5. Appreciate y'all. Let's talk about Clippers versus Mavericks.

What an awesome series. Quai Leonard missed game four once again after missing game one. And the Clippers won again without Kauai Leonard for the second time in this series. And it was a great game back and forward. as the whole series has been for the most part, came down to Kyrie Irving and James Harding

going ban for ban in the fourth quarter. It was glorious, straight shot making. How are we all feeling about the series? Feeling so sad, bro. Sad for who? Me and Donovan were on the same boat. We had no expectations for the Los Angeles clip. We're like, yo, wrap this shit up in five.

Bro, it's two to right now. That agenda is so finished. How dare you doubt Tailu? I told you. It's going seven. You're right, and that's where the real focus belongs on this. This is an out-coaching masterclass by Tailu, seeing how we schemed around the Dallas Mavericks playing and relying on MaxiC, people would be the back-end defense and taking advantage of, like, the Dallas Mavericks for some reason, just wanting to force James Harden to write and allow him floaters and have him just consistently capitalize on that. and seeing Jason Kidd just like not go ahead

and adjust and want to stand 10 toes and rely on max people on a consistent basis as a fucking crutch. It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing. And also, Luca Donches, this is not a great look for all of the agendas that everyone wants to push, you know? We're so down on Luca Donches, dropping a 29 point

triple double and like 42% from the field. Like, we're acting like he was a bum. Like, it's so funny that he did play, not great, which you can tell by watching. Like, you can tell it's not quite peak Luca. but it's so funny how high his floor is on even bad Luca Donchard's games

that's still a 30-point triple double. What a special player. But yeah, he hasn't been quite to the level we've seen him be in past playoff series against the Clippers. I've seen some people speculating that he might be dealing with some kind of injury. He does look a little slower

and he hasn't been getting to the rim quite as much as he normally does, which is a problem, especially going against the team this elite and if you look forward to the next playoff series, Luca has to be able to get to the rim and score when you're playing with the Chad Holmgren in the future or even this team.

I don't know if he's hurt or if he's just getting a really strong defensive game plan by the clippers but last night kairri made up for it kairy went berserk did that surprise you guys to see him play at that level no no i mean we know we know we know we know karee has this like jean in him right he has the the clutch gene and by the time you come back down from 31 the layup that he made over like four like three or four clippers where he's just holding the ball for like 10 seconds in the end like that's that's crazy but

Yeah, I don't know I'm just I'm just not I'm not shocked That Kyrie was able to to raise his His game like that People in the chat are so reactionary about Luca I was seeing people were saying he was a best player in the league No one thinks that now he's trash Or not close to the best player in the league

Blah blah blah people love guards who don't play defense to shoot threes Dribble a lot blah blah blah Why are we acting like Luca Donchich had 12 points Like he put up a Joel and Bede playoff stinker He didn't shoot great from the field but it's not like he went out there and bummed it up he hasn't been to the standards that we all like held him to and wanted to take him to like we're over here

fantasizing about like you know what if obviously we know it doesn't have not a real chance of this happening but what if he went ahead and won a championship you know and now he's over here in this series it's not praise to say but like he hasn't even been the best it feels like at times he's not the best player in the series like James Harden this is his fucking series he's what the goddamn taken bro that's what it looks like so

far. He's shooting like Lucas soon like 38% from the field and he's seen like 22 or 25% from three. Yeah, it's a three point. He's one for nine from three last night, game before that three for 13, five for 14 before that, four for 12 before that. So threes aren't falling and he's having a hard time getting to the rim, obviously. If the threes are falling at a normal rate, it'd be a lot different when you're being so dramatic. And obviously you got to take, you know, make the shots you take. So in the day it is a make or miss league and that comes down when you're volume score that decides if you're playing well or not. I think he needs to play better because we know him to be a crazy playoff riser who can be the best player on the fucking world

in any playoff series he hasn't been that but i don't think he's been this just like black hole that's ruining his team no and it's he's the whole team is built around lucca doing what he does so like they if lucca if lucas not getting and granted they were down 31 anyways but if lucas not getting like 29 10 and 10 they're going to be down 15 14 anyways right like they need him to have they need him to to to have the ball a certain amount of time so that everybody else looks like looks solid this is another case and it's a more like extreme case than what's in Denver but you can like kind of argue that as well even with carry out on the team you take luca off of this off of this roster and this roster is not good yeah think think about

the level that we were like oh wow the the math got so good because they brought in p j washington and daniel gafford who are good players but if those are like the massive in-season signings, in-season trades that you're making. That should tell you about the quality of your roster as is, and that's just because Luca is able to take people to a certain level. So I want to give him credit for that. But, like, no, he does have to show up, especially when Kauai Leonard's not on the other side.

I don't think that the Kauai Lennon, they've been better to the series, not Quai-Lennard. And I know that's easy to identify just because they won the games. But, like, when he played in game three, they obviously lost. and that wasn't a coincidence it wasn't just like confirmation bias because he wasn't there he did not look 100% at all

he did not have the confidence needed and it was like you know you could easily whenever some stars you put in the lineup you're like oh he slows down their offense they move the ball better without him or all that a lot of times it's bullshit

it was just true this time and they were I think Lucas said it in game one they game plan to stop a Kauai Leonard offense and it's a lot easier to stop a Kauai Leonard offense when Kauai isn't 100% because the ball slows down It gets real predictable.

And if he's not going to be able to beat you one-on-one and especially against double teams and whatnot, the clippers are very easy to stop. But when he's not there and they're whipping the ball around playing James Harden basketball,

Russell Westwick looks really good as a four in a lot of these lineups, playmaking other short role. Granted, there's a lot of bad Russell Westwick moments around that too. It's kind of who he is. But he's providing playmaking value. James Hardin is killing

as a score and a passer. Paul George actually had a good first half today after looking like a role player for the first three games. And he came alive in the first half. they're not necessarily care that Kauai Leonard's not there because they're still playing great despite it

and obviously if he's healthy they'd be even better but I think it's a bit of a disservice to how good Tailu and James Hardin and all them are doing to be like oh they're doing this without Kauai Leonard it doesn't matter they're an elite team still without them yeah I absolutely agree and going back to like the Dallas Maverick side of things

things are like so interesting considering how much again like the whole Max Levitian thing their big man rotation thing and how they have to pick and choose then there's that that has to be figured out and then on top of that whenever you have luca and kairi on the court you're killing them they're basically unfuck with unfuck with them but the second luka or kairi had need the breather that's when the game really starts to slip and a lot of the advantages that they have are just gone you know the on enough numbers are kind of like staggering and it's a little alarming considering like how this team was built specifically for like luca or

kary to be able to survive even while one of them are off the court so it's a lot of things that Jason kid you're so fried man I I just know his job is so gone if the Dallas mavericks lose this series for sure and it's interesting that you know the clippers in the past we've had a lot of skepticism around them before James Hardin because they had these two forwards who were always hurt, neither of which are elite playmakers, it really shows you why they made the James Harden trade for how he's able to keep them elevated without Kauai Leonard and play James Hardin-style basketball and just have that insurance of having a third guy. The fact that they were to get him for so cheap because of how dramatically he left

his last team, such a blessing from a team building perspective. Yeah, I 110% of you. I feel like whenever, like, we talk about guys like the Nicola Yokich's and Lucas of the world or LeBron's just like big dudes who can doves who can just shoot the hell out of not shoot the hell out of the ball while also facilitate feel like James Hardin is always like you know the butt of that conversation and people would rarely mention him but his mind and just how he's able to read the floor from top down and understand what's going on it's up there with the best of the best of all fucking time he understands he understands the games inside and out from every single angle. And it showed with this game, bro.

Was the clipper shot 62% from three? The fact that they had a 30 point lead in the first half is hilarious. What an absurd shot-making game in the first half? We've talked a lot about like three-point variance being the key in a lot of these series. And I mean, it's kind of, it's the case for the clippers. The two games that they've won, they've shot, well, they shot 62% yesterday. And then in game one, they shot 50% from three.

So like when they're, when they're firing, right? everything's good. But when it's not, it's not. But we'll obviously see what it looks like because I think is, is Kauai out indefinitely? Yes. I saw that, right? Yeah. So, like, so they, listen, it's probably going to be better, right? Like, the offense is going to have a rhythm moving forward that if, like I just said, like if you're not getting Kauai landed at 100%, it does more damage than, then helps your offense. So it's a best of three now, and it's, I'm not going to lie, it's looking kind of scary for Dallas.

It's looking kind of scary. I'm still going Dallas and seven. I think the shot variance thing is real. And, no, it's kind of hard, though, because in a game seven, no, I really want to trust Jason Kidd. Because the reason they're having these big shot variance games is because they're giving up a lot of threes on purpose to these role players and really showing two on the ball all the time,

throwing a lot of help when Luca donches is in action and giving up a lot of corner threes. It's very much on purpose. And like you said, Mo, they gave up this James Harden Flurry of floaters on purpose. But the clippers are able to punish them and beat them in all the ways that the Mavs want them to be beaten by. So you would think if it was a battle between two great coaches that the Mavs clearly has a talent advantage that in a game seven, they can take away those levers that the clippers are hitting on. But do we trust chasing kid to make an adjustment rather than Tyrone Lute? Fuck, no.

But at the same time, while you say that it's a double-edged store, do you try? trust James Harden to consistently be the best player in the series because that's also alongside like Tailu's master class or mastermind it only there's only so much that he can plan prep and strategize for because you need your player your best player which is looking like James Harden in the series to execute on these things can that be done well if they're going to give him a million floaters a game yeah I trust him's hard to make him at this point he's done it like he looks fine he looks fully healthy I don't know why I wouldn't trust him at this point Which, and that's how he gets you.

That's how he gets you. He rives you in. And then game seven, it's not going to be pretty. But I am a little bit like, I don't know. And maybe I'm setting myself up to be tricked. But after game one and after yesterday, I'm starting to feel a little bit better about James Harden going into the second half of the series. Wow. Chat, what do you guys think?

Who's winning the series? but chat let us know your prediction who's winning the series and in how many games is it going seven are we seeing a team win the next two i'm still going to for sure lean towards the dallas mavericks way because i believe luc is going to eventually got out of the slump he made that three-point shooting leap obviously like the injury concern with his knee or whatever is very real but at the end of the day i he's a great player and i think great players like him go ahead and surpass obstacles like this so i i think it's shots going to eventually fall.

I think that's the biggest swing factor. Then threes are hitting, them stepback threes are hidden, and he can get to the rim with the maxi-cleba ways that Jason Kidd fully believes in. I think there should be no reason why he won't go ahead and surpass and eventually

beat the clippers in six or seven or whatever it might be. Yeah, it all comes down to his three's into fall. We can make big observations about what's making his game slow down. If the three's fall, we're talking a lot differently. And that's the swing factor. Because he has him again to the rim great. It doesn't matter if you make three more three is a game

and it's suddenly average 35, you know? Yeah, I agree. But it's going to be a long series. For sure. Let's talk about some interesting team. Let's talk about the Cavs versus the Magic. Before the playoffs started on our last stream, we did our predictions, or there's two streams ago now.

We picked the Magic. Came in here and we said, we don't really trust the Cavs based on what we've seen as of late. their offense has been clicking the backcourt doesn't look good the front court doesn't look good yuck and the magic who are consistent

gonna make the games tough defensively we'll see what palo does two games came by and the calves beat the shit out of them the magic looks like the worst playoff defense and the worst playoff offense I've ever seen and we're all like ah shit I guess the calves got it

maybe we overlooked them because of a poor stretch gotta yada yada and then they came out and shit themselves twice in a row and I was two two I'm done thinking I know what's going on in the series the calves are so up and down

they are who we thought they were in terms of inconsistency. I don't know what to think anymore. Tell me what I should think, Donovan. You should think that the Orlando Magic are going to win this series. Okay. They, obviously, like, the shooting variants, like, they're going to need people to knock in shots.

But for, like, for the Cavs, that inconsistency is 100% scary. And the fact that Darius Garland is, it's not looking good, right? the fact that that Evan Mobley had breakout 16 points in game one, right? Right? Every Mobley arrived as an offensive threat. His last two games, he's had 10 points, he's had 14 points, roughly on the same efficiency, at least in game four. So it's whatever.

But he hasn't made a three in the last two games. I think Orlando has shown, even in the game one loss, there's a toughness to them and there's a mental toughness that they can go in and they can be just as, if not more physical than Cleveland. And I think that that was something that I liked about them going into the series. I think it's proven correct over the first four games. And I think it's going to be right over the last three games. And so I do think that they win this series.

Can someone tell me where the fuck Playoff Donald Mitchell is? Do I need to put out of Amber earlier? Do I need to put his name on the back of a milk carton? Do I need to do a countrywide FBI outreach to go find him? Because he's currently averaging 21 points, five assists, and four rebounds, and four games of this year's playoffs.

Game one, he had 30. After that, straight downhill. It's been under 20 for two games in a row. I get it. The rest of the team is inconsistent shooting. He has no spacing. All these reasons. He's shooting 25% from 3, 42% from the field.

A big part of why they're struggling is because in game one, we got a 30-point game for Donald Mitchell. When he does well, this team does great. He carries his team offensively. Hard to exaggerate just how much they live and die by Donald Femis were shot-making. He has to be able to get by his guy every time and create advantages, make the defense rotate, be a high-level shotmaker like we've seen him do in the past. Game one, it was a high-level shot-making we saw.

He's making a lot of threes, I think, if I remember correctly. but his burst wasn't looking quite as well as you might think because you know that injury that's been recovering from we're seeing that lack of burst start to show itself later in the series he's getting worse and worse as the series goes on it's yeah I mean it's no surprise for sure donva Mitchell should by far in a way be the best player in this series and he hasn't been that on a night in night out consistent basis

like there's no reason why Jared Allen should be the leading score for your team on any given night it doesn't matter bro And for that to be a thing, it's, it sucks. I look at Donovan Mitchell, I'm like, damn, bro, of course, like, what everything that just said about Evan Moby, Donovan, you're right. It's very alarming. Game breaking 17 points. That's not what's needed.

And then Darius Garland, I believe during the series, he's been averaging like 12 points, and he looks like one of the worst players in the playoffs right now. Dude, he has no rhythm. He looks like he's so devoid of confidence. You see him take these routine mid-range jumpers that even, last year would be instant buckets for Darius Garland. He has been a good shooter pretty consistently for a long time.

Not anymore. You know, this season has been a little rough for him, given all these up and down factors with him and the whole team around him. We're seeing the worst version we've ever seen him put Darius Garland in the series. Right now, right now, Darius Garland, for the series, 12 points, six assists, three rebounds on 42% from the field and 41% from three. And at least the three is there. Listen, listen, listen, that's fine.

If you are the backup point guard, yes, right, that's, that's fine. If you're coming off the, if you're coming off the bench and this is what you get in 23,

24 minutes, this is shout out to you, right? You're doing your job. You're helping the team. That's Nikila Alexander Walker's right, the numbers right there, bro.

What the fuck? Exactly. You can't be doing, you can't be doing that. You can't be one point three free throw attempts per, per game, right? Like,

he is just not being, he's not being aggressive, right he's not finding a rhythm he is not being an impact player and a lot of the construction with the calves is you're okay having two bigs who aren't super offensively talented because you're supposed to have two dynamic guards who can play off of each other or at the bare minimum do a your turn my turn and both of them can go get buckets set up the offense do all of that and it's not the case and it's part of the reason why i do think that this team is going to be blown up in the offseason and at least going into the last three games

of this series if franz wagner has has woken up if this is obviously like i don't expect him to average 34 for the next you know four three four games but if you are getting this version of franz then yes the magic will win if palo can get consistent help from another creator on his team. Yes, they will win on top of the defense that Suggs and Isaac and the rest of the team provide. They feel more complete. The only reason this Demich trade was done is off the idea that no matter what you get out of your front court defensively, offensively, if the Emily makes a leap, whatever, we'll see what that happens. If you can have elite point guard play for 48 minutes a game with one of DeMitch and D. Mitch and Darry's Garland on the court at all

times, that'll keep your offensive flow and give you an advantage against every benchline if you could possibly come against. They're not getting that in Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell's solo minutes and that's the biggest difference. This team won't work if those two can't eat

on their own even. Eating together is a whole different thing. That would be great but if they can't do well in their solo minutes together and really thrive against the bench units of the Orlando Magic who don't exactly have elite shot making,

this team is going nowhere fast. Having Mo Wagner look into your soul after dunking on you making just some classic Mo Wagner play. Great. Best, second best backup five in the entire NBA, by the way. Having him

stare, yeah, Nas is better for sure. Cool. But it's, yeah, Nas Mo Wagner. But anyways, having him staring to your soul and just like yell at you and you guys not doing a damn thing about it, tells me another issue about this scene. They have no fucking dog in them.

They need a body porters to come outside and just toke some sit or something like that. They need someone who has nothing to lose on that bench and right now should be Tristan Thompson but obviously he's getting no fucking burn it's there in the dumps and it all starts and ends with Donovan

Mitchell the hotter he gets the further he goes and the further the Cuban Cavalier goes and that's that's like the end all be all with this of course there's other minor issue not minors real issues underlying issues in this team whether it be like like you said Isaac Donovan Mitchell

or Darius Garland his connectivity and overall his ability to bounce back and forth between Donovan Mitchell, find his spot and really kick, turn things up as a player himself, and then obviously there's the Evan Mobley thing like Donovan said. There's real issues, but Donovan Mitchell turning up itself will deplete all of that. And it should, but instead we're having conversations with them, with them being demoralized by the magic.

Hey, but shout out the magic, though. We're talking a lot about why the Cavs suck. Shout out to Magic. We're just playing their game. We knew that they have the high-level defense. Jonathan Isaac is a starting big now just destroying everything at the rim Jalen Suggs, wrecking ball defensively

Marcus MartV-2 They have two wins Because one game Palo Bancaro went Superstar mode Won you the game Second game Franz Wagner Superstar mode won you the game

This is the formula for Orlando Magic Your defense keeps you in it And one of your top two guys Preferably both of them If things can go happen at once will win you these games Offensively by making enough tough buckets Is that enough to make you have a deep run this year?

Probably not but it's not to beat the calves because the calves are awful. Now, we say that. We were saying the same thing about the magic in the first two games. We were like, you know, this team sucks. They can't get any offense, right? The defense, like, we knew that they were limited. And then you come out and you make the reason everything's fine.

We can very well go back to, go back to Cleveland in game five. Everybody settles in at home. The calves start making some shots. Darius Garland gets involved early, right? Like, it's going to have. happen. We're going to be in the first 10 minutes of the game. Darius Garland's going to take five three or five. And what's going to be like, oh, wow, this team looks pretty good.

And we're kind of like, I can 100% see that scenario. So it really is who's going to show up on whatever night we play. I'll see you guys in game seven and we'll see what happens. Yeah, they're having an unserious off. We've been said this since start the series, since it's all the first two games. Literally just comes down on three-point shot variance. We've said this a lot throughout these whole playoffs. This is the poster child for that.

phenomenon in the NBA. Two great defenses with lackless or offenses. I think every game has come down to who's made more threes. And it will continue to be the way, like you said, which it's just two teams that are going to get blasted in the next round probably. Yeah, for sure. You're absolutely right. Like, neither of these teams have any real life in my mind in terms of like aspirations to make a deep run at all. So it's just like at this point in time, it's just really embarrassing for the Cleveland Cavaliers to have to go through this. Like, you should be. be over the stage, over for something. Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. After you wanted this matchup. Exactly. Donovan, you were like, oh, yeah, we said the same thing about the magic. That's why I feel so much stronger about the calves. Because after those first two games where we saw the magic not going to make a bucket and we saw the cabs blow them out, that felt like what we should have expected. We just couldn't predict that because the calves looked so shitty for the end of the season.

But that was the norm. The calves should be above this. They should not be punching in this tier. For what we know about the team and their ceiling, what we saw before Donald Mitchell, than adding D-Mex into the mix, they should be in the tier above this. They should be in Nix's conversations. They should be in 76-Rish conversations.

They should be in Bucks conversations, whatever may be, but they're going band for band with the worst offense in the fucking playoffs because they're also the worst offense in the playoffs. It's baffling for the talent in which they have. Like, it's ridiculous.

They did not graduate from the phase that we were in last year. Last year, what happened was very embarrassing. Julius Randall didn't do a damn thing in the playoffs, but that didn't fucking matter because they just got out physicaled and just outdogged in every single way and couldn't get over those playoff demons fair like of course it was embarrassing but year one whatever cool but this year against a team that's fresh off of like finally

completing completing the rebuild you should have graduated from this but instead your dumbasses you're like you're retained you can't go no you have not evolved and you thought you did you thought you put in the work you went to summer school you added new additions did your thing. You got a Max Struis and you found a Sam Merrill and you continue to invest

in Yeme Wade and shit like that. Niang, of course. Oh, great. George Nying. I'm just saying, guys, they picked up. That's all I'm saying. Jay Bickerstaff, get ready to speak

G League. This is not going to be a good summer for you, I promise. That's disgusting. Not going to be a good summer. I'm telling you, maybe for this whole roster. Imminent changes are coming. I agree. Let's see.

What other, we can save some of the other series for the episode coming up because there are a lot of them will be decided tonight potentially. But we can talk briefly real quick about the Pacer versus Bucks before you're out here. Cicers. Pacers, welcome to the second round. It's looking like Damon Janus aren't going to play in game five either. Shout out to the Bucks though, because they did make game four as interesting as possible for a team that didn't have, you know, Damon Yannis.

I don't really know what to say Like without those guys Like yeah like without those guys You just you don't have enough talent To to play the Pacers At this at this stage And if Tyrese is He's starting to get back there right

Like he's starting to look a little bit better So if he's starting to reach his form Pascal Seakum's whooping Yeah this series feels done to me It feels so disappointing Which obviously it is because the interesting like you said But it just feels like I'm watching regular she's in basketball. I'm watching Bobby Portis

get ejected in the first half because he wants to throw hands and then I'm watching the Pat Bev and Malik Beasley show. I'm like, is this the playoffs? Like, I'm watching Aaron Neesmith and Pat Bev Beb exchanged threes. Like, this is horrible. You're also watching Pascal Shaftan go ahead and get a flagrant foul for just staring at somebody

after he dunked the ball. It's embarrassing on all ends. But at the end of day, if I'm a butt fan, the only thing that makes me happy is like seeing Chris Middleton show that he can be that guy when needed most when it actually matters what we saw over the weekend him hitting back to not back to back but consecutive pretty much consecutive clutch shots off the bank tough shots like that is just

it's it's encouraging to see and this series was well this season overall not even the series the season overall was cooked for them and this is just like a quicker waiter with the mandate off if i'm like a bucks fan at this point that's how i'm talking if i'm coping yeah i don't even have much to add good for the Pacers taking care of business seemingly we'll see how they match up against the New York Knicks exactly the bucks are in for a lot of question marks around their team and what they could do to make themselves better going to next year

I don't know if there's much of anything to do but they'll try and run it back I'm sure because you know especially when they lost because of injuries you're not going to blow it up like they're going to give Dame and Janus more time and another off season with Doc Rivers to try and gel but just going on sad yeah is Janus going to give them more time No he would be

You know Because he went out With injury If they would have got Blasted in the first round Then maybe we would have had Conversations Yeah

But I imagine now You don't It's not part of the psyche To be like Oh I lost because I got hurt Let me request a trade Yeah Unless you don't like

The direction That the organization is Unless you don't like Doc Rivers And you're just like Hey I don't like Playing with Dame I can't do this

Yeah maybe he just hate the name Maybe there's a name That would be ridiculous Yeah man It's 4 o'clock Pacific time games are about to start soon we appreciate you all for coming out tuning in for the newest episode this week

we'll be live at this time every day for the playoffs and every Monday for the playoffs we'll be here at 230 PST we'll see you on a few days eaters disperse