The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - OKC Thunder are PERFECTLY set up to be NBA's next great DYNASTY | NBA Mailbag

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Jason answers mailbag questions from Hoops Tonight listeners on topics such as how the Oklahoma City Thunder will navigate the CBA when they have to pay Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Ch...et Holmgren, how OKC will manage the rest of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, what Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James's best chance to win another title is, and more.   #Volume #Herd See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.
Starting point is 00:00:12 We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.
Starting point is 00:00:30 you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:01:04 What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood.
Starting point is 00:01:19 That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis'clock, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Starting point is 00:04:07 Hope all of you guys are having a great start to your week. Well, just like we did after game one, we are going to do a mailbag that covers all your guys' questions about the NBA final, some stuff around the rest of the league as well. We've got a question about where LeBron's next best chance to win the title would be. We're going to talk about some potential trades for the Cleveland Cavaliers, some big picture basketball stuff. We may even go into some different sports down at the tail end of the mailbag,
Starting point is 00:04:33 where we're going to hit all of the NBA finals related stuff off the top. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under hoops tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Starting point is 00:04:54 Make sure you guys follow us there. And then last but at least, keep dropping mailbag questions in the chat so we can get to them in our mailbags at the tail end of our live streams. All right, let's talk some basketball. So our first question is kind of a big picture question surrounding the thunder in their future. do you pay J-dub and Chet the Supermax if they qualify next year? Now, in terms of the details surrounding the Supermax, it obviously depends on, you know, whether or not Chet makes an all NBA team next year,
Starting point is 00:05:23 things along those lines. But I'm going to try to reframe this question around the idea of, let's just say, max contracts. In theory, if you're building a roster, as we've seen around the NBA, it can get a little tough once you have three max contract players, to fill the rest of the roster. And like, even just in the big picture,
Starting point is 00:05:43 it's about whether or not they can continue to surround these guys with enough talent. Now, I am generally of the belief that it's not so much whether or not you can build a roster around three max players. It's, are these three players the kinds of max players
Starting point is 00:05:59 that are good enough to justify that type of resource distribution? And the short answer is, yes, I absolutely think they are. when we talk about team build, I tend to focus on these different archetypes at each position group, right? And when I look at everything in a vacuum, like irrespective of stars, because stars bring kind of unicorn traits to the table, right? Like, Yokic doesn't look like any other center around the league.
Starting point is 00:06:27 Steph Curry doesn't look like any other point guard around the league. Yana Santinacumpo or Luca Donchich, these guys don't look like traditional players. Even Shea in and of himself as like an old school mid-range scoring. guard is very rare around the NBA. But one of the concepts that I always talk about is like, ideally I want to have like a skill guard, a guard that is an excellent passer, shot creator,
Starting point is 00:06:48 floor general, all that kind of stuff. An athlete guard, a guard that can guard the other team's best guard, but also can drive closeouts and bring, you know, some more of the power element to that position group. And then at the forward spots,
Starting point is 00:07:02 I like having like a big physical forward. And then I like having more of a slender, wiry, perimeter oriented forward. and then you want a big that can defend in multiple coverages, a big that brings defensive versatility. And so as I go down the list of Shea and J-dub and Chet are my core, I think all three of those don't just fit into those groups, but legitimately bring more to the table.
Starting point is 00:07:24 Like, Shea is very much the pro-typical skill guard in that he is a guy that can be the offensive engine for a team. We saw him have one of his best offensive engine types of games of his career in game two of the finals, right? but Shea also brings legitimate athletic traits to the table. She is a very good defensive player when he's engaged, right? So he doesn't bring a lot of the shortcomings that typically come with skill guards. J. Dub, think of him as like a combination of a bunch of different things.
Starting point is 00:07:54 He is a guy that can do some of that athletic guard stuff in terms of guarding elite guards and bringing more power to that position. But at the same time, he can be a lot like what we see from a lot of foremen in terms of bringing like power ball handling to the table. I even think there's a lot of big picture potential for J-dub as like kind of a bully ball matchup attacker that he's still just barely scratching the surface of what he's capable of being. And then Chet, he is the prototypical big man that can defend in low drop, defend in high drop,
Starting point is 00:08:24 defend in switches, defend in zone. His defending in switches was a huge part of Oklahoma City's defensive success in game two against the Pacers. But also Chet brings the ability to be a legitimate. perimeter offensive weapon while still being the same vertical spacing threat that so many of his peers are at the center position. So to make a long story short, I think Shay, J. Dub, and Shet compliment each other extremely well. They're all on the same age timeline. All three of them have traits that extend out from what you would expect from their specific position group. I absolutely
Starting point is 00:08:59 think that you can commit long-term money to all three of those guys and still build a championship. championship roster around them. Again, when you have players that play the way that these guys do and that check all the boxes that these guys check, it actually just makes for smaller and more achievable roles down the roster for your teammates. And that just makes the general manager's job that much easier. Next question. After game two, you talked about how SGA did a much better job of playing the floor game. He invested in his own teammates, which allowed for people like Chet to get going. Do you expect Shea to keep that good floor game going as they go to Indiana. Love the show. So first of all, this has been a subject of some of the debate after the first two
Starting point is 00:09:46 games, right? We in, I noticed some of you guys disagreed after my game two instant reaction for the way I characterized Shea's game one. Kevin O'Connor came on the show yesterday and similarly said the same thing. And I want to, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, clarify in the sense that I shouldn't be saying Shea played bad in game one. He didn't play bad in game one. That's overdramatic. That said, I did think the box score was not necessarily a very accurate reflection of the way that he played. Like, I did think Shea played substantially better in game two. And he had 38 points in game one. But the big giveaway to me is we talked about in that show, if you remember off the top, I discussed the concept of floor game being a job
Starting point is 00:10:37 that a ball handler does, or that ball handler has, a responsibility he has, that extends beyond assists and extends beyond points and goes to you're the engine of the offense. You are responsible for the rhythm and flow of your team's offense as the primary ball handler, right? and the Thunder scored 20 more points per 100 possessions in the half court in game two than they did in game one. Does variance play a role in that? Sure. But what do I always say? For me, variance is going to be pretty far down the list behind basketball dynamics. And even though the box score showed a very productive offensive night in game one for Shea, I thought specifically early in the game, he shot his team out of rhythm, by taking a lot of mediocre contested pull-up jump shots early in the clock. In game two, I thought he made the appropriate investments in rhythm and flow early,
Starting point is 00:11:36 and it manifested in better ball movement, better rhythm and flow for his offense, and 20 more points per 100-half-court possessions. And so, again, I just wanted to clarify that because I did use the word he played bad in game two, and that's just dumb. He didn't play bad. he just compared on the range of potential outcomes for Shea games. I thought that trended more towards the low end. And before you tell me, oh, well, he had 38 points, you go look at his scoring totals. He always gets, he's one of the most reliable high volume scores in the league.
Starting point is 00:12:10 But there are differing outcomes for Shea in terms of his floor game, in terms of just the way he manages the way his offense is flowing. And I did think that Shea played substantially better in game too. Now, do I expect Shea to keep that going? Yes. Shea, you know, is a little bit more old, is a little bit older and more experience than people think. I talked about this concept last night. The thing with young basketball players is they struggle to identify failures and minimize them and they struggle to identify successes and repeat them, right? But with each passing series, with each passing moment for this Oklahoma City team, they seem to be growing and to be learning from their mistakes. and I do think that Shea learned quickly after game one,
Starting point is 00:12:51 that that's not the way that he needs to attack. And I think he made that adjustment. And I expect him to attack game three in a very similar manner. Now, that said, Indiana's really good. And they could go up by 12, 15 points at some point during game three. And it's possible that at that point, Shea reverts back to some hero ball. But that's just part of his archetype as a scoring guard.
Starting point is 00:13:17 I think overall, I think I can expect or we can expect his floor game to more closely mimic game to moving forward in the series. Next question. With Jaris Walker out, do you think Rick Carlisle, who do you think Rick Carlisle turns to as the next opportunity to give them something? I don't think this is a dig deeper in the bench type of series. I think this is on the guys that are playing right now. And a lot of it with the bench guys is about making better decisions. you know, Obie Toppin not as good a game in game two, some aggressive forces in traffic against rim protection instead of moving the ball. Ben Matherin, several examples of plays where he got into the teeth of the defense instead of taking easy reads that were available to him.
Starting point is 00:13:59 Guys just have to play better. And then as a group, the Pacers kind of in this series have a tug of war in terms of their offensive execution. When they take care of the ball and they get the ball up the floor quickly and they run multiple actions on the same possession, they break Oklahoma the city's defense down incrementally and they get good looks. When they get stagnant, when they start turning the ball over, things start to fall apart for them. And so I don't think this is like a dig deeper in the roster. We need a different player to solve our problems. I think it's on the group to just play better. Next question. Do you think Pascal comes out more aggressive to score tonight? Obviously, I'm assuming you mean Wednesday night.
Starting point is 00:14:37 They need him playing like he did in the next series and it feels like he's just gotten off to slow starts this far. I do think that we'll see an aggressive Pascal in game three. I think in general, the Pacers kind of got away from some of the success they had in game one hunting size mismatches with their bigs in the post. And I thought it just was a lack of intentionality in terms of the way that they were hunting shots. I thought that they were a little too quick to take early clock decent threes. And I'm not opposed to those shots. We all know
Starting point is 00:15:07 the Pacers can make those shots. But I didn't think they did enough of a job establishing the post early and often in game two. And Pascal is just the obvious pathway to make that happen. And so I do think that we will see a more aggressive Pascal, a more aggressive Turner, a lot more damage being done in the paint in game three. You've talked about how OKC's offense isn't really the main force of this team. My question is, is the Pacer's defense able to make significant adjustments to take one or two games at home? So I'm really curious to see how Rick Carlisle comes out to guard in game three. We talked about this concept in depth with Kevin O'Connor yesterday,
Starting point is 00:15:49 so I won't go into too much detail today. If you guys haven't had a chance to check that pot out, I highly recommended Kevin was fantastic, and we got into a bunch of the details in the series. But I'm really curious to see how they come out in guard. I thought that the at the level coverages for the Pacers didn't work very well through the first two games. Again, like they're not going up to the level to take away the pull-up jump shot.
Starting point is 00:16:11 they're not worried about Shea coming off and rising up from three, doesn't make enough of them for that really to be the issue. They're bringing the man up to the level to try to stop Shay from getting ahead of steam. But what ends up happening is when you come up to the level of the screen, you pick a side. So in a drop coverage, imagine this. Like as Shay's coming off of a screen, if you're in a drop coverage, you're sitting lower.
Starting point is 00:16:30 And if he comes off the screen this way, you're ready. If he rejects the screen and goes off the other way, you're ready. Right. But if you're up at the level, you're picking a side of the screen that you're coming up to the level to show. And so if you come up to the level and then Shea decides to drive the opposite direction, suddenly if he beats that man, there's nobody behind in that two on two, right? Now all of a sudden you're in rotation. You've now put yourself into a four on three.
Starting point is 00:16:54 And it was a lot of rejecting screens and all of a sudden no one's there to help. Coming off the screen and splitting the action. So if you come up to the level and you show and Shay comes off, but he just splits right in between you two, same sort of thing. It's a four on three. you come up to the level in the screener slips, you pitch it over the top, same thing, four on three. I just thought that the thunder were operating in a four on three far too often in that game.
Starting point is 00:17:19 And so I'm really curious to see if Rick Carlisle makes the adjustment of either doing some more soft switching, meaning like have the defender that switches switch a little bit further back to try to bait them into some early pull-up threes or in more of a deeper drop coverage in ball screen so that when Shea comes off, like this is the way I look at it. If Shay's going to get downhill anyway, like if you're going to get beat anyway, then you might as well have a fourth defender in the action rather than have three defenders in the action trying to rotate out of that situation, right? So like, we'll see. I think we could see Carlisle come out with the same coverage to start game three and just
Starting point is 00:17:54 banking on the crowd and the intensity and the urgency, kind of just bringing a better on-ball effort from the Pacers and maybe that's what he ends up doing. but I also think that it's in the cards that Carlisle is going to have to tweak coverage to deeper drop coverage, softer switching, something more of a contain the ball approach to try to keep things in front. Might even see some zone as well. I'll be curious to see how they guard. Now, on the other end of the floor, the Pacers defense in there, or excuse me, with the on that end of the floor, just in general for the Pacers. Oklahoma City has shown a little bit of like a ricketyness on offense in this postseason where they can get knocked off of their foundation. And so in terms of their ability to take the two games at home, it does come down to their defense in the sense that if they get enough stops, if they force enough long jumpers and long rebounds and they can play in transition, they're going to score enough points,
Starting point is 00:18:52 especially at home. But the defense is the job. If they can slow down Oklahoma City's offense enough in these two games, that is their best pathway forward in the series by knocking Oklahoma City off of their offensive foundation getting out in transition and getting the easy ones avoiding the loaded up thunder defense blending vices signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world of sports vice sports brings an exciting and diverse range of programming that goes beyond the game from action-packed live events to gripping behind-the-scenes documentaries to hard-hitting investigative pieces and in-depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams. Vice Sports captures the raw energy, drama, and passion
Starting point is 00:19:34 that makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive sports programs only on Vice TV. Go to viseTV.com to find your cable channel. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.
Starting point is 00:19:54 We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.
Starting point is 00:20:09 I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,
Starting point is 00:20:33 and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.
Starting point is 00:20:52 Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letter help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.
Starting point is 00:21:09 Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and I
Starting point is 00:21:25 on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she went. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck.
Starting point is 00:21:51 Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.
Starting point is 00:22:22 Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we've got five more questions today that kind of center around the rest of the lead. First question, what is LeBron's best shot at a fifth ring? So this has been something that I've thought quite a bit about since the disappointing exit for my Lakers in the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But this idea of like, okay, the Lakers have some realities in terms of the future
Starting point is 00:23:02 surrounding Luca and LeBron being a very, very expensive old player that still plays at a level that's deserving of the money, but comes with some realities in terms of when he does hail off, he'll present a barrier between, you know, in terms of roster allocation, between what the Lakers are going to be and what they are now, right? Similarly, he's, you know, going to be 41 next year by the time they make it to the postseason. And it's just going to be really difficult for, it's going to be really difficult for him to, you know, find an extended runway to try to make something happen. So if he goes anywhere, it'd have to be a win now type of situation.
Starting point is 00:23:45 I've seen lots of things thrown around. And when I start to dig into it, it's like, okay, let's say, let's say he got, got traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I've seen versions of trades thrown around with like Darius Garland and Jared Allen, for instance, for LeBron. So let's say it's LeBron and Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell and, you know, obviously that deep core of good role players in Cleveland. Like, that's a good team, right? How much better is that than him next to Luca Donchich in a revenge campaign, right? let's say he goes to Golden State if they were to pull some sort of magic along those lines
Starting point is 00:24:25 like LeBron, Steph, and Draymond, it's a really good team. I think LeBron would be such an amazing natural basketball fit in the Golden State system, but do I think that, you know, old LeBron and old Steph with Draymond is a better chance to win the title than LeBron James and Luca Donchich in a revenge campaign? You start to like poke around a different options. Oh, what if he goes to the Knicks? Okay, so it's LeBron and O'GN and OB and McHale Bridges and Jalen Brunson. It's a really good team, really fun team, open Eastern Conference. There's a lot of like kind of elements involving the East that make that somewhat interesting, but is it better than LeBron with a Luca Donchich on a revenge campaign is what I keep coming back to. I talked about this a little bit
Starting point is 00:25:12 last night. Luca did not have a good postseason. Um, never really got full. fully back into rhythm after his injury this year, looked in pretty poor condition in that first round series. But I really do think we're going to get a very, very engaged version of Luca next year and a very well-conditioned version of Luca next year. And when Luca Donchich is healthy and in rhythm, he's one of the very best players in this league. Last year, if you guys remember in our like,
Starting point is 00:25:44 Who's Got the Belt video after the season, I literally said that it was Luca. beating the guy that beat the guy and being more or less the most impressive player in the postseason last year. So as I look at it, I keep coming back to this idea that like give me Luca Donchich in a season where he's supremely motivated next to, you know, this deep roster of, well, not as deep as it needs to be and they'll need to make some changes this year. But they've got some high-level players.
Starting point is 00:26:15 Rui Hachamura is a high-level player. Austin Reeves is a high-level player. Dorian Finney Smith is a good role player. Jared Vanderbilt's capable of being a good role player, right? Like they've got, you know, they've got guys. And so they've got to make some changes. They've got to find a center. They might have to seriously consider moving a guy like Austin Reeves or Ruehachamura
Starting point is 00:26:34 that is a redundancy, but that's a vehicle with which to bring in additional talent. And I keep coming down to if you give me a group of athletes that can do, that are versatile enough to do the dribble shoot past defend stuff that they'll need to do off of LeBron and Luca. Give me Luca and LeBron and I think you got a better chance than some of these other situations that have been pitched around the league. So I've thought through a lot and I've seen a bunch of stuff get pitched and I keep coming back to if if LeBron gets a fifth ring, which obviously is a supreme long shot at this point, I think it happens alongside Luca. And so with that being the case, I think that in all likelihood LeBron sees that
Starting point is 00:27:16 and I think LeBron will be a Laker when it's all said and done. Do you believe trading a guard from the calves will unlock Mowgli? So this is complicated because obviously Evan Mowgli, I think, has developed as an offensive player. We saw a lot of like the inverted ball screen action with guys like Sam Marilyn and Darius Garland slipping out of action with him this year. Donovan Mitchell slipping out of action with him this year becoming a kind of like a worthwhile action for the Caves. We saw him in general just become a better driving kick player when he gets downhill. He's developed a three-point shot that is semi-reliable. Like Evan Mobley's developed a lot.
Starting point is 00:27:56 But I don't think Evan Mobley is about to go, you know, pull a Palo Boncaro and become this like super high volume on ball player, at least not anytime soon. I think he's years away from developing that sort of game. To me, trading a guard for the Cavs is about resource allocation. if you're going to have two high volume on ball guards, then you need to reap the rewards of having two high volume on ball guards. And every year, Darius Garland has been banged up
Starting point is 00:28:25 and lacking a little bit of that quickness. And even when he's been healthy, he's struggled to be super effective in the postseason setting. It just hasn't really materialized. And it comes with the downsides of like when he's injured, all of a sudden you're just down of like a very expensive conscience. slot that you're not getting anything out of or when he's being attacked on defense because of besides limitations like there's a certain amount of like when darius garland is not at his peak
Starting point is 00:28:53 it doesn't look like a championship roster and so if you believe that darius is going to like hum together and put it all together and be healthy and be the best version of himself when it matters then yeah it's worth sticking with it but like at a certain point you've got to read the room and be like, okay, this guy's just kind of struggled to hold up physically and maybe this doesn't ever come to fruition, right? And so what trading a guard would do is not so much to me about unlocking Evan Mobley as like some sort of super high powered offensive weapon. It would be about trading Darius Garland for just a much more reliable fifth guy, right? When you started to dig into it this year, it was like, oh man, Jared Allen didn't really materialize into a reliable playoff player
Starting point is 00:29:40 this year. Neither did DeAndre Hunter, neither did Ty Jerome. Like, and all of a sudden, you zoomed out from that playoff run and it was like, man, Donovan Mitchell and Max Truce and Evan Mobley were like the only three calves that you felt really good about throughout that postseason run. And so bringing in another wing, a guy that is basically like a really, really high level starting version of a DeAndre Hunter that can slot Max struce at the two and give yourself a little bit more, you know, just reliable ceiling when you get to the postseason would be something worth exploring. But again, it's all about, that doesn't mean you just trade Darius Garland for the sake of trading Darius Garland.
Starting point is 00:30:23 It's just something that I would consider if the right opportunity came up for a really, really high level player at the small forward position. What would be your ideal play style for a relatively smallish point guard to be one of your Star Max players on a championship team? what play style would you choose as a building block not curry obviously because he's one of one this is an interesting question and i think the pacers are honestly a really really smart kind of like um like like like model for how to do this so first of all i don't think the thunder count because all their guards are great defenders but when you got a smallish point guard who's not an elite defender what kind of play style do you need to play i think it's all about being fast you got to lean
Starting point is 00:31:03 into the strength right what is that smallish point guard going to be great at he's going to be great at fast. How has Indiana's defense managed to be still serviceable despite having Tyrese Halliburton out there? Well, he throws really aggressive hedges and he recovers fast in rotation and as a team, they're just great in rotation. They run and sprint around and they cover ground. I don't think you could have a small guard and then also be a slow team. I think you have to be fast. And so Indiana to me is the model of how you would build around a, like let's say that you're the heat and you've got Tyler Harrow or you're, you know, the Hornets and you've got La Mello Ball or you're the Wizards and you've got Jordan Pool. Like just a small but fast like skill guard who's like
Starting point is 00:31:48 the foundational player for your offense. I think you've got to surround that dude with a lot of athletic, like athletic, like kind of versatile do everything guys that can play fast, exist in rotation and just cover ground behind what that player does. And then it also accentuates what they do offensively because most fast guards like to play fast. Two more questions. What are some of the top traits you look for in a non-big role player? Things like perimeter speed you've mentioned in the past look to be dead on. So yeah, I think perimeter speed's a big one just because inevitably you've got to do a certain amount of existing in rotation in the NBA. I also think in general the game has existed more in transition. So as the game exists more in transition,
Starting point is 00:32:28 you've got to have guys that can get up and down the floor, not just running the floor on offense for buckets, but also getting back in your transition defense. Right. right? I think from there it's the big four. It's dribble shoot, pass, and defend, right? What that means is you've got a star somewhere on the roster. It doesn't matter where that is. It doesn't matter if it's point guard, two, guard, three, four, five, right? Wherever that star is, he's going to create advantages. Once you have that advantage, if you're wide open, you need a guy who can knock down the three. If he's got to close out, he's got to be able to attack the close out. Once he attacks that close out, he's got to be able
Starting point is 00:32:59 to make the reads, right? So that's the dribble and pass element. There's the shooting element. There's the dribble and pass element. The defend, I'm going to tie all of these things up into athleticism, right? So, like, the athleticism to drive a close out and finish at the rim. The athleticism to fly up and down the floor in transition. The athleticism to guard the ball. All of that stems around that defense concept. So, like, if you have a role player that's playing off of a star,
Starting point is 00:33:25 you need them to be able to play with an advantage, which means knock down shots, drive, close outs, make reads. And then you need to be able to have him exist within what you're trying to do defensively. The only other thing that I would add there is just overall competitiveness and motor. I think this is one of the most underrated things in the league right now. If you're going to build out a real championship character in your team where guys are always in the right spots and they always do the right thing and you pay attention to detail and just be more like the Pacers, for lack of a better word, you got to have some competitive dudes that
Starting point is 00:33:58 hate losing and that are willing to do the things that suck to win basketball games. And so I think the personality trade is a big part of it as well. Last question. Saw your baseball tweet the other day. Any secret baseball fandom you're willing to share. So like most kids, I grew up watching all sports and I've always been a fan of all sports. I grew up watching a ton of hockey. My dad's from Detroit, right? I grew up playing Little League baseball. I used to watch every single Arizona Diamondbacks game growing up. I am a huge football fan. I used to watch the NFL. very closely and consume a lot of NFL content. I haven't done nearly as much of that. Obviously, since I started doing this for a living, just because this takes so much of my time and attention,
Starting point is 00:34:44 but I still love the NFL. And every year in September, I pretend I'm going to follow it more closely. And then by week seven or eight, I'm just completely invested in the NBA. But I have always loved sports, all sports. I love watching golf. I still put golf on a lot on the weekends. And I love to play golf and I just you know it's the way that my job is currently structured I'm very basketball focused I can't promise that'll always be the case but maybe it will maybe I'll always just do basketball stuff but I do have a love for all sports baseball in particular I grew up in a family that was very baseball oriented we all played baseball growing up and I uh when the debacks made their world series run a couple years ago that was when I kind of had that love reinvigorated for me where I was
Starting point is 00:35:30 like watching every single postseason game and getting super, super invested, just because that was something that was such a big part of my life when I was younger. But yeah, like basketball is is the thing that has given me everything that I have in my life and the thing that I love the most. But I have always had a love and appreciation for other sports. And it just isn't something that we get to talk too much about on the show. But who knows? Maybe some point in the future that'll be something we explore more.
Starting point is 00:35:56 All right, guys, that's all we have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show. We will be back on Wednesday night after the final buzzer of game three. Colin Coward should be there this time. He had a flight get delayed last night. On Sunday night, that's why we didn't get him for game two. But we should have him for game three. We'll be breaking down everything after that game.
Starting point is 00:36:16 We will see you guys then. What's up, guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us. But if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate. Appreciate it. The volume.
Starting point is 00:36:38 Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. Nice.
Starting point is 00:36:46 We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.
Starting point is 00:36:59 Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?
Starting point is 00:37:26 We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:37:43 We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game 7, Marquis keep coming to you. He's like, you know I love you, dog.
Starting point is 00:37:58 You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man.
Starting point is 00:38:19 Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast, guaranteed human.

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