The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Draymond Green Show - Jalen Brunson vs. Carmelo Anthony + Mavericks Adjustments

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

Draymond Green discusses the New York Knicks beating the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of their NBA Playoff series with Knicks super fan Jason Calacanis. Dray talks Jalen Brunson vs. Carmelo Anthony, how the front office in New York deserves praise for getting good culture fits such as Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and OG Anunoby, plus what the Knicks must do to continue their deep postseason run. Dray also discusses the Oklahoma City Thunder being up 1-0 on the Dallas Mavericks behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Nikola Jokic winning his third NBA regular season MVP award. 00:00 - Start03:00 - Brunson vs. Melo38:00 Thunder vs. Mavericks46:00 - Jokic MVP Produced by: Jackson Safon #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. The NBA playoffs are heating up. Man, they have been so good. I know it's over, but Lakers Nuggets may have been a five-game series. It was great. Nix, Sixers, amazing. Why don't you sign up for the Draft King Sportsbook app? It takes 90 seconds, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.

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What's up, everybody. Welcome back to the Dremont Green Show. The Knicks continue to run behind Jalen Brunson. Incredible play. Every series has at least one game play so far, so we'll talk about those. We got an interesting, fun guess. How about this? It's actually the first non-basketball guests on the Dreymine Green show,

but he is a basketball guest in an interesting way, and we'll get to that. I'm going to keep that a secret for now. But for those of y'all out there, you know we are on live on the Bleach Report app. So make sure you throw your questions in the chat. We will get to those later before we finish out the show. And like I said, in the meantime, in between this time, we'll have a guess here. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, YouTube.com slash at Draymond Green's show.

Let's get into it. The Knicks beat the Pacers 130 to 121. And remember, I said the patients kind of need to be the first to 120, and that only doesn't work if you give up 130 points. We also discussed how I didn't think the Pacers was a 16-game team. I think they're more of an 82-game team because they don't play defense. And you give up 130 and J. Lambrunson misses an entire quarter. You give up 130, and OG Ananobe has 28 points in 28 minutes

and goes out the game with a hamstring injury, you're kind of playing no defense. And that's who the Pacers has been all year. I think they've had an incredible season, but the buck stops at some point when you don't play defense and you think you're just going to outscore people. That has never worked in the NBA.

It never will work in the NBA. So that's that. Some more interesting news out of the Knicks camp. Jailen Brunson has. has now passed Carmelo Anthony in playoff points. And I know it's been this debate about is Jalen Brunson, like one of the greatest Knicks ever already and all of these things? And I have a hard time saying Jailen Brunson is higher up than Mello

because I came in the league underneath Mello. You know, Mello is one of the superstars in the league when I came in and, you know, just watching Mello my entire life. You know, I feel like one of those old. heads that be hating on the younger guys. Like, when our generation, when this guy did that and can never see past that, but I still got a role with Mello for now. But Jalen Brunson is making his mark.

And I think right now is a great time for us to bring on our guests because if we're going to talk Nix, I want to talk Nix with these crazy ass Nix fans that they just banter and banter and banter. So let's welcome our guest to the show. The host of the All In podcast, one of the most successful angel investors of our time. Jason Cal can, is my friend. J. Cal, what's up, my brother?

It's good to be here. And I have been watching and taking notes on the Draymond Green Show. I know you have a lot of feelings about the Knicks. And you know I have a lot of feelings about the Knicks. And I've been rooting for them my whole life since the Patrick Ewing era when I got to see Jordan and Ewing and Alonso Morning and all this stuff. And you've been dogging me in the group chat and that poker for over a decade about my Nix.

And here we are. You're in Cabo getting that fishing in in May, getting that early sun. And my Nix. My Nix. In six in the first round versus the MVP with our future MVP. And here we are. Looks like the brooms are out for Pacers. I called it a gentleman sweep five

and I'm ready for Celtics. I'm ready for Celtics. And you know what? The Celtics do not want to play the Knicks. I can tell you that. Y'all actually think that you're... Number one, he talks about me being out of the playoffs. So again, when I talk delusional Knicks fans,

he talks about me being out to playoffs, being in fishing in Cobol in early May, as if they've won a championship. Y'all are in the second round. It's the second round of the playoffs. You have no idea, Dremont. If you have a man who's dying in the desert, right? And you give them a Dixie cup of water, that's like swimming in an ocean for us, man.

You just pop champagne bottles. I'm at the buffet. We have been starving for decades. We got a little bit of Carmelo, you know, but since then, you know, we've had a lot of pain. You know, we had Dead Tony. We had Eddie Curry. I mean, we've had pain and suffering, man. Let us enjoy.

it is what I'm trying to tell you, Dray. I let us enjoy it. But I have questions for you. And by the way, I just want to say, your podcast is so great out of the gate. Thank you. And you went from doing, you know, what's really easy, you know, being part of a panel or popping in other people's podcasts to the second most difficult, which is doing solo podcasts.

And, you know, doing a solo podcast is so hard. And you do it so tight, especially after you're getting off the course. court, you know, when you do it after a game, I mean, unprecedented. And so I just want to give you a lot of a lot of kudos for that, because it's, it's impressive to me for somebody who's done 2,000 episodes of podcasts. Thank you. I appreciate that. The question I have, you know, for you is, you know, Brunson, we as Nick fans have been watching him get better and better and better. And he had those moments, you know, on the Mavs when Luca was out. And I asked Mark Cuban, we're friendly.

And I said, how good is this kid we traded for here? And he said, he's very good. I said, how much upside is this? He's got upside. But this is more upside than the entire NBA expected. So putting aside, you know, the fact that you're very rarely not in the postseason and the Knicks are never in the postseason. I wanted to ask you as a player, what are we seeing from Brunson? Because there's people, you know, Chuck and and Shaq who are kind of dog in the Knicks.

You're a dog at him. But let's talk about that play. because I've been watching all season as he gets better and better and more unstoppable and more unstoppable and the floater, the three, the picks, I mean, the mid-range, this kid can do it all. So how good is he, putting aside the Carmelo comparison, just how good is he and is there upside left? My two questions for you. Y'all see this crazy bromance going on.

This man just gave us a complete rundown to Jalen Brunson on a Draymond Green Show. But I'm here for it because I actually like and respect Jailen Brunson. Jaylen Brunson is a winner, has been a winner. So he got my respect. But here's the thing, J. Cal, if Jailen Brunson was who he is today and everybody believed that he would be who he is today, he wouldn't be a Nick. Because you don't let star players get away, let alone walk for nothing. And he walked from the Dallas Mavericks for absolutely nothing.

The fact that they are actually in the position that they're in, when you lost a guy like that for absolutely nothing one year prior, is absolutely incredible in itself. But no one expected Jalen to be this. No, he also wouldn't have, when Jalem signed his deal, which I think is right around four years, $100 million or something like that. Yeah, about $25 million a year. Everybody was like, oh, my God, he's overpaid.

I can't believe they paid him. that money. Do they think he's going to be a number one option? Worldwide West is paying him because he's had a relationship with him since he was a kid. You know, Leon Rose, they're taking care of their CAA guys. And although it appeared that way that that's what was happening, I mean, the NBA even launched an entire tempering allegation thing over because Uncle West was so close to Jaylen and the family all these years. And all of those things were launched from the NBA standpoint, meaning nobody thought that this was who this kid would be and that it was only happening.

They were only signing him to the Knicks because they were taking care of family. And Jalen has made everybody look like idiots. He's made, he's put the New York Knicks on his back. He's got people talking about him within the ranks of the great. greatest Knicks of all times. And although the Knicks hasn't won a ton, the great Knicks that have played, like there's been great Knicks that have played for the team. And when you look at what he's done over and over and over again, he missed the entire second quarter last night and has 20 plus points in the second half to carry those guys to a win. I mean, it's been incredible

to Mark's point. He has some upside for sure. But, No one believed that he had this much upside because no one, well, the Dallas Maveris would have never let him walk. No, they would have got some picks. They would have done a side in trade. This was the best signing that we've seen, like a straight up signing since when. Like when do players ever just get signed in the free market? It doesn't happen anymore.

It doesn't happen. Unless you're Kawhi Linder, Paul George, who's just trying to get back home, right? Like they were trying to get back to Los Angeles. but you don't really get sign-ins like that. And like I said, it's not even so much to signing because we've seen big guys, like Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors, right?

Like we've seen Shaquille O'Neal, like you've seen over the years star players sign other places. But the thing about Jalen is, the thing about this signing is, again, the value of the contract. It's incredible. So they got this guy.

Now, here's the thing for Jalen. When, like, he has to make all NBA and do these things so that he can get the full max extension. Because if not, if he doesn't, and I'm not even sure that that's how to rule work. But Jalen with years of service on, I don't think he'll be able to sign a max extension. And don't fully quote me on that because I could be a little off with the rule. But I don't think he'll be able to sign a full max extension. unless the Knicks have cap space, and if they have cap space,

they can use that. But because the extensions work on the last number of your contract, so you get a seven and a half percent raise, I think he's able to get on the last number of his contract. That doesn't put him near to four max. That's the situation the Knicks are in, and that's what makes this sign even better than the players looking.

Okay. So now I got another question for you. And I think that that's a really important way to set the table for my next question because Dallas didn't know what they were given up. And obviously nobody in the league knew he had this much potential. And the Knicks obviously knew he had potential. But they were putting him alongside Randall and our number three pick at the time, mid-J. I'm sorry, RJ Barrett.

Oh, the RJ Stray is crazy. I never liked the kid. Jesus. Come on, man. Every time he drove the basket, he would miss layups. You can't miss layups. So Knicks fans hated RJ Bear. We just felt he was a blocker and not committed.

He didn't feel like he had the conditioning, the heart. He didn't drop. He didn't fit the dog mode that Tibbs and the Knicks fans want. We want dogs on our team. We want Mason. We want Oakley. We want Starks. We want grit.

We want people who play both sides, defense. And if there's a Scruff, you know, we basically want Oakley-Dremont-level players who are going to fight to the end. This is why when I met you, I said, you know, like in another lifetime, you would have been a nick because the garden would love you, Draymond. You know that. And I don't know how many years you got left in the tank, but there's any way to get you on my nicks. You think y'all got better with getting RJ out? I absolutely believe RJ was a blocker for our success, 100%.

Wow. Because you got to remember, who did we get when we got rid of RJ? We got OG. And OG is the Tibbs, Tibbs player. he'll play 40, 42, 48, whatever number of minutes you give him, he'll play defense, he'll set screens, and he can score the three. This is what Tibbs wants, so this is my next question. How much credit you give to this front office?

Because you worked with the best front office, I don't know, in 20 years, and you put together the two best, most beautiful teams since, you know, the, what was it, the 73 win bowls, the 72 win bowls, whatever he did. And there's only one team was 73. 73 of that year. And then 72 was theirs. So let's pause for a second here. They got OG, the year before we got Hart, we got your guy Aldante.

He was underrated clearly. And then this kid Hartinstein, who is like, I mean, a passing big man with the soft touch and the floater, how good is our front office? Because we have nobody, I think our highest rated draft pick is maybe the 16th or 17th. know something about going low in the draft and then becoming an all-star and a champion. How good is our front office? Because we've now established that we got Brunson for a Stio. Now go down the line, the four players I just talked about, Hart and Stein Hart, O.G. And you're a guy, Aldante. How good is our front office right now? I think y'all front office has done great. For all those, for all those things that has happened with your team that you just named,

I think the front office has done a great job and putting together a team that is just good enough to excite Knicks fans in the garden and just good enough to win a couple of playoffs series and not quite good enough to win a championship. I think y'all front office has done an incredible job of that. I'll also tell you another underrated move of the front office. Bringing in Tibbs because Tibbs actually fits,

like to your point of what you just described with the New York Knicks, Tibbs actually fits what New York, New York culture is. It's go, go, go. Hustle, bustle, you hit the streets of New York, you're walking to this meeting, you're running to that meeting, you're crossing over in front of this taxi. Like, it's go, go, go, go, go. Josh Hart's playing 48 minutes. Jalen Brunson is playing 46 minutes.

Dante's playing 45 minutes. Like, that, he actually fits the New York model, like, bar none. Now, here's the thing, though. when you start talking about all of those Limpic, excuse me, all of those minutes, O.G. Ananobe, hamstring, you know, like, it don't always show up right then, but it shows up in the most important times and yet kind of the worst times. Like, O.G. Ananovi is probably now out for this series. Like, that's a big game changer. Hamstring is not pretty, right? That's a hard one.

He's probably, like, he probably won't be. back until midway through the next series. And when he gets back from that, he probably still won't be right. Like, that's going to take a while to get over because you also got to get over that mentally. And so to your question, I think the front office has done an incredible job from the coaching staff they've put together to the roster that they've put together. But I'm going to tell you this. Coachizo used to tell me this term all the time. And he used to say, Draymond, we have this term in basketball and coaching.

We have this tournament coaching that we like to use. And when you look around, a lot of guys really fit into the mode. I'm like, all right, coach, what's the term? Just good enough to lose with. And that's what I think the Knicks are. I think the Knicks are fun team to watch. I think they're hard-nosed. I think they got guys that compete.

But I don't think they quite have enough to get over the finish line. And guess what? It's looking like there's going to be a new champion. in the NBA this year, a young champion that we've never seen in the NBA before as a champion leading a team to a championship. That looked like it's pretty much going to happen because I think Denver's toast. And so the only chance that doesn't happen is if Denver wins again. They don't stand a chance. However, I'm sorry to tell you, J-Cal, I don't quite think it's the next year. I don't quite think so. We don't necessarily think like this is the year, the year we've lost.

We've been down, we've been down basically three starters, four starters, this year. And we still put up a 50 burger. 50 burgers on the grill without, without the Blockness Munster, Mitch Robinson, without Randall, who's a bulldog and had his best season. And he seemed to got his head straight this year and accepted a roll and, you know, got downhill and just made quicker moves. Because I don't know if you saw the Atlanta series a couple years ago, man. The big stage of the garden, he was bad.

It was real bad. He was bad. Yeah, it was bad. I mean, this year was his best, best performance. I'm kind of bummed about him. And so, you know, we're realistic. It ain't pretty, but it's gritty. And nobody wants to face us because you were out there saying,

oh, we're not getting past the 76ers. Joel M.B., we got no answer. Man, Joel could move. Zip, zip, zip. The guy could not move. He was out there planning on. He was 80. What was he, 70%?

He's out there playing on a half of a knee. Can't move. Like, come on. But listen. You still thought they were going to beat us. You still thought the Pacers are going to beat us. You want me to tell you what this is going to lead the Knicks to? I'll tell you what this is going to lead the Knicks to.

Okay. You just mentioned the Atlanta Hawks. Okay. And when they beat y'all. And when they beat y'all in the garden, that team then thought that they had a squad that was ready to compete. And they haven't reached near the conference finals since then. They've barely reached a playoff since then.

Because, like, in the Eastern Conference, the Eastern Conference week is fuck. In the Eastern Conference, you can sometimes get the right matchups, even all the way up to the conference finals. So I'm going to tell you this. There's a zero percent chance in the NBA. I mean, excuse me, in the Western Conference,

that you're going to get to the conference finals without facing, like, a dog-ass team. And in the Eastern Conference, you can get to the conference finals a la Atlanta Hawks with, like, playing very mid teams. And so that's kind of what y'all are doing right now. And I think what this is setting up for y'all up for is what happened to the Atlanta

Hawks three years ago when they made the conference finals and they never got back. Another team to give you some perspective on this. Nope, but one second. Another team that did this to give you some perspective on this was the Portland Trailblazers years ago when they had Al-Farukamino, Allen Crabb, all those guys, they had. all those guys and they went to the conference finals and we swept them pretty much without Steph Curry to comment because Steph Curry came back, game four to sweep, came off the bench, had five points or six points the whole game and then went crazy in overtime.

That's and that Portland Trailblazer team, they never did anything again. However, you know what they did? They ran off and paid all of those guys because they thought they had a team that had a chance and it was a flute. And so that's what the Nix are setting y'all up for right now and it'll be probably another 15 years of misery that we all sit around and laugh at Nix fans

with their delusion about. Here we go. Knicks for clicks. You don't believe it. Because you know what's going to happen. You know what's going to happen. Now everybody wants to play on the big stage. You set it yourself.

You love the garden. It is the MECA. And now we have a high functioning team. And our owner, he's busy. He's busy with his sphere. He's happy. Dolan's happy. He's got music.

He got tech. He's in Vegas. He got the Eagles. He got you two. He's not court side. And you know who we got courtside? We got Oaks, Stubes. I mean, we got to Bush recipes.

But we got everybody. They got the barber on the sunless. We got the Knicks dialed in. We have more picks than we could ever use. We have more picks, first round picks, second round picks. We are stocked. And you know what? This is the time that a great player

could be spider, could be somebody else says, you know what, if I was part of that squad, I'd be the missing piece. And you know about getting the missing piece because you've helped maybe sort of kind of, you know, no tampering, but you've kind of sort of talked to people about, you know, where maybe their future lies.

So you think, you are, I don't believe, they're not going down, they're going up. You think Donovan Mitchell gets all those picks? You think if y'all get Donovan Mitchell, that gets y'all over the hump? Is that what you and Nick's fans believe? I'm just talking about getting better every season,

which is what we've done since Tibbs has gotten here in the front office. Here's the problem, J-Cal, you only get so many seasons to be getting better and not win until they break it up. So who is the guy that you think or here, and before we get out of here, who's the guy that you think or you hear that is available around the league that Knicks fans will want to see come in and not only see come in

but can see past the Knicks fans blinder because y'all ain't never won shit in 40-something years can see past those blinders and say this guy can actually get us over the top not come in and get us to the conference finals because we're just happy because we're Knicks fans and we never win. Who is the guy? I mean I hear people say Spider

I hear them say McKell Bridges. I hear a lot of people. of names come up. You tell me, I mean, you're in the league and, you know, we had KD go to the New Jersey Nets instead of coming to the Knicks. I mean, the worst career move in history. Not only did he leave the dynasty where he was cherished and loved out here, he went to the worst franchise, like, in the league, and it was a complete disaster. So, I mean, are we not a place that player? I mean, you know the back channel. Do players look at the Knicks differently in 2024 than they did when KD and other people just say, you know what, it's whack, the owner's whack, don't go there?

Be honest. If I'm honest, I think it may be a little more intriguing than it was then because people, there was a time in the NBA where guys weren't really looking to go to a Knicks, weren't really looking to go to the Lakers, to LeBronwin to the Lakers. The Lakers weren't getting any free agents for five, six year period, right? Like, where they weren't getting any they were trying Roy Hibbert and free agency. Timit B. Mav Gossgov and free agency.

They gave him a big check. I love Lu Auldang. They signed Lou Aldang at the tail end his career and gave him money. Like, so there was a time where the Lakers couldn't give free agents at all. The Knicks couldn't get free agents at all. And I think guys were really over

playing in the big market like those. Like it didn't really matter if you went to the big market. At that time, you know, that was around the time. Paul George was a free agent. Kaua Linder was a free agent. Like, you had guys that could go to these

two huge market teams and they chose not to. And so, however, I think that has changed now and here's why I think it has changed. I think that has changed because of social media. I think that has changed because of all the other

things around basketball. all the business around basketball that is not basketball, I think that has changed because guys are now looking at these particular organizations in these cities and saying, that organization, that city can help me with X. So if I go there, then I'm able to do this.

For instance, LeBron James came to L.A. He, Maverick, Rich, they built empires in L.A. in six, seven years, right? And so I think guys are now starting to look at those two teams in particular. Warriors and, you know, from a Silicon Valley standpoint. Like, I think guys are starting to look at these teams now and say,

what does that city? What does that organization have to offer me from a standpoint that is much bigger than basketball? And so I don't think you guys will struggle in free agency like you have before because I think you can sell those. If you got good free agency pitch, you can sell those things. Like, if I'm, if I'm, you know, if you're in New York, Knicks, you can take someone like yourself in a meeting and say, yo, like, you know, like there's just so many other things now that you can do.

And obviously, you have to be very selective in what you can do if you take someone like yourself into a pitch because the Knicks aren't just allowed to say, hey, we bring you in. You can invest with J-Cal. But these are the type of people that are our fans that would love to mentor you. In the stands. They'll be around after the game. You might be able to network and people are really savvy now coming into it. So in my dream scenario, we get better.

We use these picks wisely. Final two questions I have for you. If we have Mitch and Randall, do you think we would make it to the finals? And how far will we go? You don't think we're going to beat Boston. I think it's going to be a dogfighting is going seven games. We'll see if OGs there or not. And then, so that's first.

If we have Mitch healthy and we have Randall healthy or either one, how far we go. And then number two, you already told us the worst case scenario so you can get your Nix for clicks. I understand it's a business. Everybody rate and subscribe, post in the comments, turn on the alert bell. It's right here. Okay, we got that out of the way. Professionalism. Best case scenario.

But when I'm on next year and we're in the finals, finals, not just the Eastern Conference finals, who will we have picked up? What is the best case scenario for the NICS? If y'all go to the finals this year. we can we can do an entire like you I won't even come on the episode

you take the dream and you take and do whatever you want to do with it that episode it could be all nix

it could be it could be like crushing like whatever you want to do you take a draymond episode and you run with it if the nicks are in the finals

there's zero chance the nix are going to the finals if y'all had Julius y'all had Mitchell Robertson, I don't think either one of those guys put you over the top. If you got Julius Randall's, if you got Mitchell Robinson, neither one of those guys make you better to the Boston Celtics. I don't think so. I also think if you got Julius Randall, and early on, I actually thought opposite, and Jailens changed my mind. Early on, I thought if y'all had

Julius Randiwick gave you all a much better chance because you had that second score. And it's that. However, the way Jalen is playing, I think Julius would actually be in the way. Wow. See, I said that. And people on like Knicks fan TV and everything, they were like giving me tomatoes in the chats. And I said, I feel like the offense flows much better. And I think the ascension of Brunson has to do with getting RG out and Randall out of the way.

And they flow better. So that means you maybe think we trade him. the summer and maybe find another piece? Well, I don't know if it's necessarily that you have to trade him. However, the pieces, all of the pieces have to fit, right? Like, you got Josh Hart getting downhill. You got J. Lambrunson getting downhill. And then, you know, even Dante's getting downhill.

And so if you have Julius on the court, A, I'm going to sag off a little more because I'm going to trust that. Yeah, Julius is going to shoot the three, but I'm much better being in help position and then closing out late than getting a good contest. And he can make some threes, right? But like, that's not the strongest suit of his game. Too much ISO from him. You know, every time he gets in the playoffs, he defuses his ISO game instead of the, when he catches the ball, making a quick decision like you do. I mean, I think like the basketball, there's like his fitness is amazing. His skill is obviously unbelievable. But on a basketball, IQ basis, he kind of gets into this ISO and it's not what the league's about right now.

It's just so easy to counter, right? No, the ball stops. The ball stops for sure. And so if you look at it, and here's how I also look at it, J-Cal, again, and it's not necessarily that it's like, oh, he needs to be traded. But if you look at how well the Knicks are flowing, right? You got Jalen, you got Dante, you got Josh Hart, you got OG, and you got Hardenstein, right? Well, you got to pull one of those guys out of the lineup to put Julius in there.

Yeah. And so which one of them do you pull out? And quite frankly, all of those guys I just named has been extremely vital into the success that y'all are having right now. So which one of those guys do you pull out? All of a sudden, Hart's not playing 48 minutes, right? Like, I actually think him playing 48 minutes is helping y'all now, like in a major way. Now, I don't think it's overall good for him in the long term. But right now in this moment, it's helping y'all.

And so when you now, with OG going down, that's where Jew would like really make a difference, right? Because you have depth. But as far as the way the team has, this team has been flowing for y'all, I don't think it flow to say if Julius is out there. Just because of the dynamic that he has, not necessarily like the pieces can't go into place.

And could you ask him to lead the second unit or would that just not work? Well, I mean, that's a sacrifice is the highest-pay guy. Most coaches won't do that, right? Like, Steve will do that. And, you know, but most coaches in the NBA will not ask an All-Star to take a role coming off the bench. It just, like, it never really works. Like, we want championships and all that.

You've seen it work. There's proof in the pudding of it working. But, like, you're going to ask Julius Rana, hey, man, I want you to come off the bench so O.G. I don't know if he can start. Julius first thought, he ain't never been an All-Star. I'm an All-Star. Well, what are you talking about? about, you know? And so I don't think that it's just apples to apples. Like, oh, he'd be in

and we'd be better. Like, because you're really pulling out. Even if it's the same number of minutes, players don't want that because it damages their, it damages their brand in their next contract, right? Exactly. Exactly. So it's money at the end of the day. Absolutely. Jake, my brother, I appreciate you coming on, letting people hear this delusion of Nick's fans. Absolutely. And I appreciate you being in denial and good. luck. I hope you got a good box of lures and I got the right bait lined up for you to get those big marlin. I'm rooting for you out there. Raymond, this got to be tough for you to be watching the playoffs. Does it make you crazy to watch it and not be there? We'll end on this note.

I was just telling, it makes you crazy. I was just telling a friend yesterday. I said, it's very interesting watching these playoffs because all year, I said all year I watched the NBA. You could kind of see a change of guard happening. Of course. You could 100% see it happening. I said, and for me, I think a couple of things. I think it's funny. I think it's cool to watch.

And I was telling him, I feel like the reason that I feel like that that's how I feel about it, like it's funny and it's fun to watch and like it's super dope seeing these young guy. Because I've been a part of the change of guard before. Like, I've been in the league and been a part of the change of guard. and watching it from that standpoint of the change of guard and not watching it from this vantage point, it's super dope to kind of see both sides of it and actually understand it.

However, in winning four championships, I'm cool with the change of guard. However, I think there's a lot of guys in the lead that if you start talking about the change of guard, they ain't really feeling that. They're holding on. They're holding on. Yeah, and so I said all of that to say,

I'm enjoying watching these playoffs. I think it's been fun to watch. I think, you know, just really sitting back, spending time with my family, you know, taking it all in with no dog in the fight. It's been great. But we back next year, J-Cal. I can't do this shit again.

Of course you are. It's wonderful to watch. It's been wonderful to be friends with you and to watch your career. And now this second act here, you know, with the new media. I mean, you're just so good at what you do and you bring joy and fun to it, you know.

And, uh, that's just like such a great combination. Somebody who's having the joy and has the skill, and then you put another axis on there that you don't care. You're going to do you. That is what makes you so special. Don't lose it. You bring it to the pod.

I've watched so many games. It's just so beautiful to watch those Warriors teams, both iterations when you had Boget, when you had DeLay, and then now, I mean, it's just been extraordinary to watch and to be your friend. and just love you, Bestie. I love you too, Bestie.

I appreciate you. I got you. I'll see you soon. Yes, can't wait to see you soon. And if these bones make it to, and not bombs literally, like I like the guys, but just the Knicks overall, I don't think the Knicks is,

if the Knicks make it to the finals, we'll do that. I'll drop in for when we're up, you know, three, two games versus Boston. I'll invite myself on the show when we're three, two versus Boston. We'll have a little conversation about your ability to predict with the Knicks

which this is something you can improve on as a broadcaster. I think you've got to watch a little more of the regular season to get a flavor for how the Knicks are playing. We're dogs. It ain't pretty, but it's gritty. Well, I'll have you back when they get those gentlemen brooms out. Oh, I think that's what do you think Pacers is going to be a six game series? You think it's six now?

No chance this is going six. Five max. Five max. All right. Love you, brother. I love you too, brother. Thank you. Oh, man.

That was fun. great friend of mine. So how about this? So J-Cal, and we're going to talk about these thunder and mavericks. J-Cal, back at Oracle, way back in the days when I was a bench warmer, Nicks, Bogot and David Lee, who was the once-a-nick, they play in this poker game that I play in and is with J-Cal and a bunch of other our friends.

And this was before I, A, signed my first big deal. but B, got it in a poker game. I hadn't even learned how to play poker yet. And it's this guy sitting next to our bench, like going apes shit, like, trolling Bogot, trolling David Lee, like, going crazy. And I'm sitting here like, yo, this guy is nuts. And this was before, like, you know, the NBA would kind of really monitor that. And so he's just going crazy on David Lee, crazy on Bogan.

He's crushing them. and then come full circle. They're like, yo, that's our boy, J-Cal. Huge Knicks fan. So I'm happy you all got to see the delusion of the Knicks. Thunder and the Mavericks, 117 to 95 on Tuesday. Kyrie 20.7 for 14 from the field, three assists.

Luca. Luca has been struggling, 19.9 assists, six rebounds, six and 19 shooting, and only one eight from three. and who a lot of people believe were the MVP snub, Shea Gildjus Alexander, 29, 9, and 9, 8 for 19, 11 for 13 from the line. Man, I know I told you all, I think the Dallas Mavericks are winning this series, and they just got mopped, and I've spoken to you all about how hard it is to win game two

when you win game one the way the Thunder did. They won game one in the worst possible way you. you can win it for yourself moving forward in game two. They now are going to have a very upset Luca, very upset Kyrie, a very upset Dallas Mavericks team, and they got to hold that off. I still think the Mavericks ultimately would take this series. But I saw something that the Mavericks were doing

that I think they really need to, I think they really need to, to, I think they really need to, I think they really need to, adjust on the offensive end. And that is, a lot of times Kyrie Irvin was standing in the corner. Dallas was bringing a guard into the ball screen to set the first screen on Lou Dork, essentially to try to get to switch off of Luca,

and then they were bringing in the big. And what was happening was, the big was all the way up at the level of the screen. But even more importantly, the guard who was supposed to switch the initial, wasn't switching. He was almost just jumping into a corral and corraling Luca and then letting and then letting Lou Dork get through.

And now Lou Dort's back into the body of Luca. He's closer to the sideline and you just got that big up at the level. What then proceeded to happen from that point was one of two things. They weren't honoring, number one, they weren't honoring that first guard to say, you had Derek Jones said that you had Josh Green said. they weren't honoring those guys at all. They did not care about those guys set in the screen. That was number one.

So then what proceeded to happen was Luca had no other choice but to hit Gafford on the roll. Luca had no other choice but to hit Derek lively on the row. And when he's hitting those guys on the road, oh, excuse me, on the roll, Gafford was just going to the whole trying to finish, but he's catching the ball so far out that it wasn't the type of finish.

that Derek Gaffer was getting, excuse me, Daniel Gaffer, when Daniel Gaffer was making 33 shots in a row, and we were hearing about this throughout the season, free field goal attempts in a row, he was getting dunks, he was getting lodge, he was getting rebound putbacks. Now, so what being up at the level of that screen did was it made the pocket higher,

meaning Gaffer's catching the ball so much further out, to where by the time he gets to the rim, okay C's having three guys at the rim contestant. And although they don't have much size, it's a lot of bodies to get through and they're in such great position that legal garden position, if they just jump up,

it didn't really matter how much size they had because he was jumping from so far out. And so I think, number one, if they're going to continue to hit Gafford in the pocket that high up, Gafford at some point is going to have to look weak side and spray. Now, in looking weak side and spray, you're spraying to Josh Green. This is also where the Mavericks will miss Maxie Claver. So nobody wants to talk about Maxie Claver being out.

That's a big loss for Dallas. They're spraying out to Josh Green. They're spraying out to Derek Jones. They're spraying Jones Jr. They're spraying out to PJ Washington. And those guys didn't shoot the ball well at all last game. So, OKC, live with those guys catching and shooting. And it did not work.

It did not work at all. Derek lively, I actually thought was the opposite. He wasn't aggressive enough and was only looking for the skip out. But with his skip out, again, who were you skipping it out? Who were you skipping it out too? And so I think that was really big. And I think if Dallas is going to continue to set that screen, first screen with the guard to try to get the switch,

the screen has to be set with Kyrie Irvin. And the reason it has to be set with Kyrie Irvin is because when Kyrie Irvin slip out in college. When Kyrie Irvin slip out in space and they're in coverage, Kyrie Irvin can now make a play. So guess what? They can't stay in coverage. They can't corral. Because if you hit

Kyrie with a man down, remember, the big is up the floor already on the opposite side, waiting on Luca to come off. And Kyrie Irvin, the man, is there. Now you got Kyrie Irvin coming downhill. Forget the other two shooters. You can bring all three guys in. Carrey Irvin's finishing over. Three guys, two guys. floater, mid-range pull-up.

Kyrie Irvin is finishing that stuff. And so I think they're going to have to bring Kyrie into more action. More ball screens with Luca and Kyrie setting it for each other. Let's see how they handle that. Now we got the switch. Now you sprint the big into it. Now they're trying to react. Now you got Lou Dork got to pull in for help.

Lou Dort's been all over these guys, right? So once Lou Dort then switches off and he's on Luke or Kyrie, he's not helping off those guys. Now you got that guy coming off to make the play with the big rolling fast because he's came up sprinting, now you can get into the actions that you want to get into. Now you can have Luca making the reeds that he can make. Now Luca won't be one for A from 3 because he'll be more in the rhythm.

And those shots will get easier. It'll soften the defense up. And so I still think Dallas is winning this game. I mean, excuse me, winning this series. OK, C looked really good. You got to get those guys a lot of credit. But I still think I got Dallas taking it. and who's going to have to play better?

And he's kind of down year. Tim Hardaway, Jr. Tim Hardaway Jr. going to have to play better. You're going to have to make some shots. If this team is going to win, like I said, especially without Maxie Claibor, Tim Hardaway Jr. must have a game or two in order for them to win this series

because they need the shooting. They really need, really need to shooting. And so, Tim, I think Dallas has to win this series. a real chance of competing to get to the finals. I really do. And Tim is going to have to play better. And I think J.Kid does. They're going to have to do some things to loosen up Luca more

and not have him operating at the free throw. And I also think they're going to have to speed their pace up a bit. You speed your pace up. Now the defense isn't getting set every time. And if Lou Dort wants to pick up Luca the way he was, Start setting that screen up higher. Start setting that screen up at half court. You set the screen at half court.

Now you got Luca coming downhill at the big, and the whole floor opens up. Now you got a little door chasing the play. Well, guess what? Lucas 6-8, what, 240 pounds? Big body. Once you get behind, he's going to put you in jail. You're not getting back in front of him.

And by the way, if you fight to get back in front of him, welcome to the world of Jalen Brunson. step back because you fight and recover as opposed to riding the hip. And if you ride Luca hip, he's got so much size. He just put you on the hip and see over you get the shot he wants. And so I think they're going to need to play with a little more pace as well, set some higher up screens, free Luca up, and then also get the ball in Kyrie Irman's hands a little more.

20 points on 7 for 14 shooting, and Luca only took, what, 18 shots, 19 shot? Kyrie Irman needs to attempt more than 14 shots. So as you all know, I got the Mavericks beating the Thunder, and I still think it's happening. I'm not getting hell bent over a 22-point loss. It's 1-0, and that's all that means. Before we get out of here, we'll take our questions. Joker, third MVP in four seasons, Shay Runner Up,

do I feel it was the correct decision? Here's why, I mean, Joker's great. However, I think the way She closed the season, he had a great season all year, but the way he closed the season, the way it came down the stretch of who was going to get the number one seed, like the number one seed and all that stuff mattered when Joker got the number one seed, but now it don't matter when She get the number one seed. I thought the way the season closed out, I'm not necessarily going to say She should have won. I think it should have been a lot closer, though.

I think the race should have been a lot closer. But a lot of these voters have their mind made up far before they should. You know, guys see it in January. Like, this is my MVP. Mine's made up too early, and it's hard to move them off that. And I think, you know, She was hit with a case of that. And it's unfortunate, but he got, you know, She'll continue to get better as he has in this league.

And I think his time is coming. But congrats to Joker, well-deserved. You know, the work that he continues to put in, what he continues to do to opposing defenses every night is unmatched. And unlike pretty much anything we've ever seen in the league at the way he's going about it from the position that he's doing it. So shout out to Joker. Congrats on another one.

Jackson, before we get out of here, can we get a couple questions, please? Yes, sir. From Kev GZ, has Jalen Brunson become the best point? point guard in the NBA with his performances in the playoffs so far. Fuck no. Steph Curry and the NBA, dude. Are you crazy? What?

Come on. No. Next. That's ridiculous. Steph Curry's still in the NBA. Still great. Come on. Stop it.

What? From at Savtee, should the Timberwolves be the favorites to win it all right now? Luca Donchers is also a point guard. as is Shay Gilders-Alexander. Jesus. You kidding me? Godly, what is wrong with these people? Sorry, go ahead.

Say that out of gear. From ad savte, should the Timberwolves be the favorites to win at all at this point? Should they be the favorites? What has Boston done wrong to take them off being the favorites? Like, I don't know that Boston has done anything wrong to lose their spots as the favorite. The Timberwoods are playing great.

But Boston is pretty much doing what everybody expected them to do. So I don't know what they did to not be the favorite anymore. And saying that, I think, yeah, I believe in, I believe the Timberwell should win. But I just don't know what all these people in the world are like, oh, Boston's not the favorite. I was never of the assumption that Boston was the favorite because I thought we were the favorite. but that's a story for another day. Okay, let's do on the topic of the MVP and on the topic of the Celtics

from at Bean XPack, has Jason Tatum become underrated? People are discrediting him because of all the talent around him. Has JT become underrated? I don't think he's become underrated. I just think when you're in superstar territory

was Jason Tatum is a superstar. When you're in superstar territory, there's this imaginary clock that people start on you. And once they start the clock, you essentially have a certain amount of time to step your second foot through the window, like your first foot in,

you're halfway in and halfway out the window. And then they need you to step your second foot in the window. How do you do that? Well, Jason's clock started with going to what, five or six conference finals in the first six, seven years this career. And so his clock started. And because his clock started on that front, obviously he was already a great player. But his clock started on that front and they have not won.

And so now because they haven't won, what Jason is up against is not winning. Because everybody viewed, oh, this guy, they went to the conference finals, he's young, they're going to win it. And he hasn't. And so people are now holding that against him. And so, no, I don't think he's underrated. I think everyone thinks very much still that Jason Tatum is who Jason Tatum is. However, that imaginary clock that gets to running on people when they have success early in the league, a la Devin Booker.

From a scoring standpoint, his clock started running on, is he going to become a superstar now? Right. That clock starts running. And if you don't step in it. it closes. The Memphis Grizzlies clock started running because they start barking. They were playing against us.

We're going to beat them. I'm running up the chimney. They clock started running. They haven't stepped into that window. Guess what? Everybody's on to no longer talking about John Morant. They're on to Anthony Edwards in the Minnesota Timberwells.

When your clock starts, you've got to step through that window or people are on to the next one. And that's what I think Jason Tatum is up again. So I don't think he's underrated. I think that a lot of, imaginary clock is getting him right now and unfortunately it's not much you can do about the imaginary clock so in order for jason to get back what people believed and to get back to

being viewed as that got to win the championship and it's unfortunate and it's unfair because it doesn't happen to everybody but you know like that ain't fair as they say, although I think life is very fair, and I think everybody end up getting what they deserve in the end. That's what they say. So we shall see. But that is a wrap from this episode of the Dremont Green Show. Thank you all for tuning in.

Thank you, J-Cal, for coming to show the supporters of the Dremont Green show how fucking delusional Knicks fans are, how satisfied they are with a first round win and being up to on the second round, and they'll get to the conference finals and act like they won four championships. And that is just who the Knicks have been, but good luck to them. Until next time, peace.