The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Top-10 NBA players SO FAR in 2025: Jokic, Shai, ????, Steph, Wemby, ????, Luka, Giannis, and more

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

Jason reacts to the Memphis Grizzlies beating the Minnesota Timberwolves and then breaks down his top-10 players in the NBA so far this season, including Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC Thunder), Luka Doncic (Los Angeles Lakers), Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors), Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs), and more. All lines presented by Hard Rock Bet. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming to. 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 I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. Hi heart radio. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers.

We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament. here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.

This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey.

with all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They had a bogo. Well, then you got them. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. Welcome to Hips tonight here at The Volume. Happy Thursday, everybody.

Got a quick show for you guys today. We are hitting Grizzlies Timberwolves from last night as Memphis has won nine of their last 12 games. And then I thought in this slowdown stretch here surrounding the in season tournament where we don't have a lot of basketball to talk about. It'd be fun to kind of take a step back and take a quick look at who I think have been the 10 best players in the NBA so far this season,

just looking at what they've done this season. Much harder than you'd think, because there's like 12 or 13 guys that have legitimate cases to be in a list like that. So just talking Grizzlies, Timberwolves, a little bit of big picture of Grizzlies, then we'll get into the top 10 players in the league.

You guys know the joke before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel. So don't miss any more of our videos. scroll down and hit that like button that helps us a lot on YouTube. And then lastly, if you want to get questions into our mailbag, we've already done our mailbag for this week, but if you want to get one in for next week's mailbag, dropping them in our full episodes here on YouTube in the comments.

Right, mailbag with a colon, write your question. We'll get to them on Fridays throughout the remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. So the Grizzlies beat the Timberwolves, 116 to 110 for their ninth win in their last 12 games. Kind of a fun game. It's back and forth in the first half. Minnesota made a run to start the second half.

They've been a very good second half team this season. They went up nine in the early part of the second half. But then Memphis really tightened the screws on defense and flipped the script. And they basically stiff-armed the wolves from there. As a matter of fact, from the 8-53 mark of the third quarter through to the end of the game, the Timberwolf scored just 36 points. 36 points in 21 minutes of basketball. There's two things to keep in mind there.

Yes, Anthony Edwards was out. But the wolves have actually been a pretty solid offense. without him. They have a 116 offensive rating and almost 1,200 possessions with Anthony Edwards off the floor. Now, obviously, when Ant is out there, that shoots up to a 122 offensive rating. Ant is one of the most valuable players in the league. He's going to show up on our list later. But the point is, they are capable of scoring without Ant. And then secondly, during this 9 and 3 stretch for Memphis, Memphis has been the third best defense in the league. We'll dig into some of the reasons why later, but the point is, very impressive effort from a Memphis

defense to shut down, a decent offense there without Anthony Edwards down the stretch. But Memphis took control by dominating that specific matchup. Minnesota did miss some decent looks, especially in the early fourth quarter, a few wide open threes, Dante got a wide open one, Nasreed had a wide open one, Jada McDaniels had a wide open one. As a team in the fourth quarter, Minnesota was one for six on catch and shoot three. So definitely a little bit of shooting variance there, but Memphis does deserve a lot of credit. Like they're loaded with good perimeter defenders.

I thought they did an awesome job on Minnesota's guards throughout the entire game. And then Jaron Jackson, he really dominated Julius Randall on both ends of the floor. But again, we're talking defense right now on the defensive end in that fourth quarter, multiple stops on Julius Randall one-on-one, forcing him into a miss at the rim on a drive

where he got a great contest and absorbed that physicality. He stonewalled a baseline drive off the right side and actually poke the ball away from him. Again, that's their primary offensive weapon with Anthony Edwards out. And I thought Jaron just did a great job on him. And then the team as a whole kind of swarming him and taking advantage of the fact that he can sometimes get a little tunnel visiony. And then Jock Landale, and again, he was the offensive hero in this game. But he also had some good deflections and rim protection sequences at the rim. They won that game with their defense, no question, allowing just 48 points total.

in that second half. Down the stretch on offense, Jack Landale was the hero. He just kept burning Rudy Gobert for helping at the rim with these catch and shoot threes. Now, some of that was Rudy Gobert's fault. There was one in particular where Jalen Wells was driving down the right lane line.

And Dante Devinchenzo kind of had him under control. He was chested up. He was in position. He wasn't going to have any sort of finish. He was going to have to basically pick up his dribble and throw a contested kickout pass. But Rudy Gober did him a favor. It's parked right underneath the basket and hell. and that allowed Jalen Wilson to just throw an easy little pitch out to Jock Landale on the right wing,

and he just nailed the catch and shoot three. And as a matter of fact, Landale hit three threes in the final seven minutes of that game. And each one of them felt like a shotgun blast to the chest to this Minnesota team as they were trying to get a win there. And Jaron Jackson, I thought he was the best player on the floor last night. We talked about the job he did defensively earlier against Julius Randall, but he went 28 and 12 last night, 10 for 18. from the field, two for three from three, six for six from the line. A lot of these old school one

on one buckets straight up against Julius Randall or straight up against Nasreid. The one-on-ones against Randall were hilarious because Jaron was really trying to back him down. And Randall's got a little bit lower center of gravity. So he's like getting up underneath him. He's clearly taking it personal trying to hold his ground. And so the ISO's turned into something that looked more like sumo wrestling rather than post basketball. But Jaron just kept getting to one of his little hooks one of his little short jump shots and he just kept scoring over the top. He beat him with a nice off the dribble drive too, getting to his right hand. Jaron's combination of size and power, but also really good touch and footwork going over both shoulders. That just makes him really

difficult to guard. As a matter of fact, he's 60% this season on floaters and hooks. That's not quite Yokic territory, but it's better than everyone else. A lot of, you know, most of the good bigs in the league are in the mid-50s in that department. He's just super efficient on his short-range shot-making. It's been one of his foundational traits as a player for a long time. And he just was the best player on the four last night. Back-to-back monster games from Jaron. He also had 31 a couple of nights ago against the Clippers. But once again, it's a lot of defense and it's a lot of gaining margin with the Grizzlies during this streak. Their third in defensive rating in their last 12 games, as we mentioned earlier. They are third in paint points allowed per 100

possessions, a lot of two big looks alongside Jaron Jackson. Brandon Clark coming back just in time with some of the injuries they've dealt with at the center position. They are plus 10 points per game in points in the paint. They've been doing a ton of damage in transition as of late, too. In the last six games, they're averaging 26 transition points per game. That's pretty far above their season average to this point. And they're only allowing 19 transition points per game. So that's seven more points of margin every single night.

They're plus 1.4 points and second chance points every single game. So plus 10 in the pain. plus seven in transition every night, plus a point and a half on second chance points. That's a lot of margin that they're gaining to help them win night to night in the regular season over the course of the last month. The Grizzlies are sneaky,

one of the most well-run teams in the league, especially when it comes to acquiring good modern basketball talent. Like, say what you want about their stars. Jaws, Jha, and we don't know how he fits really into any of this moving forward. He briefly came back for two games, but then he ended up spraying

his ankle again, so he's out again. And when he is out there, it just kind of changes the pace that they play with when they get into the half court. Jaron Jackson was awesome last night, but he's obviously a flawed player. He's not a good rebounder, and you basically can't play him at the five, which makes him complicated to build around, right? But when it comes to the depth of talent on this roster, you can tell they have a clear basketball identity, a clear type of guy that fits their basketball culture. They like these big guards. They like these big, garings, in athletic wings that have a good combination of like competitive motor and athleticism, but also high basketball IQ. They target smart athletes. They're not looking for

guys that are just athletic for athletic sake. They want guys that can make good reads. They want guys that know how to do their job in the defensive scheme. And then that competitive motor, meaning the willingness to both work within games in terms of their work ethic on the ball, getting up and pressuring, but also the work behind the scenes. And they're betting that even though those are not necessarily the most refined skill guys, they're betting on their ability to refine that over the years because they believe in their competitiveness and they believe in their natural basketball gifts and how those will eventually materialize into good two-way players. And they just have guys that are hits and guys that I think are going to be hits.

Like Jalen Wells has been a hit. And over the course of the last month or so, he's been shooting the hell out of the basketball as well. Cedric Coward, I think he's going to be a two-way monster over the years, and he's been a big part of their defense in this run. And he's got like this, you know, when I look at the offensive end for a lot of these guys, I'm looking at like natural fluidity. We've talked about this like with VJ Edgecombe, for instance. Like, I know that he's going to be able to get to his spots because he has a natural fluidity getting separation from defenders and getting two shots, even if he's not making them. And I see a lot of that with Cedric as well. Like there's a natural fluidity between ball handling and footwork

to where I think once he improves as a shooter, I actually think, have a lot more to his offensive game than people think. And then when they go to their bench, it's like it's Vince, it's Vince Williams Jr. He's got a ton of all around basketball skill. Cam Spencer, who didn't play last night, but he's been really good for them. Even a guy like Olivia Maxins prosper. Like, I know he hasn't played a ton this season, but when he does, he looks kind of like a natural fit. And I just thought he was a smart signing for them, a two way guy that was a cast off from Dallas. And you watch him last night and he's guarding and he's attacking the rim with athleticism on drives.

and he's getting putbacks and just looks like he fits into their culture really well. You could tell they looked at it and they were like, hey, this guy looks like a guy who might be one of our guys. It looks like you might be a Memphis Grizzly type of basketball player. Let's bring him in. And, you know, we talk about this all the time, but it's a proven formula. When you have a half dozen guys who can like really guard on the perimeter and you can really pressure the ball for 48 minutes,

that makes for a super strong defensive foundation night tonight. We were talking about this with Detroit yesterday. day. And then especially when you have guys who can protect the rim, which Memphis definitely does, it just makes for that classic kind of bracketing effect of having real size and athleticism at the rim and dudes who are getting up into the ball on the perimeter. I just think the Memphis front office deserves a ton of credit. There are a lot of teams in the league where it's really hard to tell what their front office likes. I mean, I root for one of those teams in the Lakers. You don't know what their basketball identity is. Each offseason kind of feels like a different approach. Not hard to

tell with Memphis. They just keep finding the same types of dudes who fit their culture and who add to what they're trying to do on both ends of the floor. Memphis Grizzles playing some really good basketball right now. Want to know where I bet on basketball during the holiday season? It's hard rock bet not just because it's the presenting sponsor of our show, but because they make it easy to bet on my favorite teams, players and leagues in just a few simple taps, especially with their brand new for you page that recommends picks based on my favorite. and who I like to bet on. I open the app,

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Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a podcast. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a couple of questions. 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, 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. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior. And that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier.

We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown. from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano.

You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives,

helping people in need with my sage advice. and thoughtful solutions. Sike! I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man.

If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream of chicken suit. Hey, cream. Cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite,

the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to help from a hip-hip. Hippocrat as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey.

And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. Wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. with all the snacks and drinks.

Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just a hit it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones?

Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Could you put it? I would buy it. Go. Go. It's like a hot knife through sponge cake.

That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. You are. I love this team. And I'm really.

trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the fly. man, he running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like,

after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so I was curious. I got into this, a little bit of debate

between Shea and Luca, I say a little bit, it was like 45 minutes. But with the nerdsetsch guys on their pod the other day. So I thought it'd be fun. Again, this is just worth, third of the way through the season. There are a lot of guys who could be considered here. So, like, for instance, Alper and Shangoon would have been like 11th for me on this list. I think he's been every bit as good as some of the guys ahead of him. It's just the nature of how

many talented players we have in the league right now. And I just wanted to briefly touch base on how I think the top 10 has looked strictly looking at how guys have played from the start of this season to where they're at right now. A combination of like their availability, how good they've been when they've been on the floor, how valuable they've been to their team when they've been on the floor, and how their team has been performing in the win-loss column. That's kind of what I'm combining here for these top 10 guys. Again, just how I feel right now, top 10 players in the league based on how they've played this season. Number 10, Anthony Edwards. Sneaky having the best statistical season of his career is averaging a career high 29 points per game on 50%

from the field, 42% from 3 and 83% from the line, 64% true shooting. He's been deadly with his pull-up three. He's been getting to the rim more and finishing at a higher clip at the rim than he ever has in his career. I think that's a sign of just like the level of maturity he's developed in terms of the pacing on his drives. Like slowing down,

not just flying downhill and throwing something off the glass, but being more methodical about when he hits his gaps, waiting for the defense to react in a way that gives him an opportunity to go to the rim. It's weird because he's been a little bit of a downtick in his playmaking this year. But overall, he's just been better because he's just been more methodical on his drives.

And I think that's made him a better player overall. What's hurting him on this list is he's already missed more games than he did in the entire previous two seasons combined. So there's a little bit of an availability issue. And the wolves just haven't been very good this season. They're 17 and 10, but they're just two and eight versus teams that are 500 or better. Obviously, there are some guys in this list that are also producing statistically, but that are winning at a higher clip.

Take, for instance, a guy like Jalen Brunson, right? Number nine, Tyrese, an insane year-over-year leap from him. 32 points and seven assists per game on 60% true shooting with only 2.7 turnovers per game. So really high efficiency from Tyrese Maxi. We're going to be talking a lot about turnovers, especially when we get later into the list. I think turnovers, especially in the modern NBA, when you're dealing with teams that push and transition all the time, the turnovers are like, they're not always pick sixes, but like teams are getting crazy offensive ratings off of turnovers around the league, sometimes as high as 130, 140. They can be really

deadly to your defense. And so taking care of the basketball is an important part of being a primary offensive weapon for your team. He's shooting a preposterous 49% on catch and shoot threes this season, generating a ton of offense with his ability to drive the basketball. And it's kind of a combination of that classic conundrum of like if you play off of him, he's got the threat of the shot, you play up on him, he's got this absurd speed. It's been a major driver of this team on offense. Again, I've been like a little disappointed with Tyrese in terms of some of his work on the margins. Like, I think he's been pretty bad off the ball on defense, losing shooters, losing cutters, losing crashers. But overall, I think he's been doing a carry job for the Sixers

offense. And I think he's taken a leap into a completely different caliber of player than what he was in years past. Number eight, Steph Curry. The Warriors have obviously been super disappointing this season. And that certainly doesn't help Steph's case on a list like this. But if you watch the Warriors, you know it's not Steph's fault. Like, I'm actually docking him more here. for availability than anything else. He just keeps getting banged up and missing games. But when he's been healthy and on the floor, he's been amazing. 30 points per game on 66% true shooting, literally some of the highest volume and efficiency scoring of his entire career. And then once again, just like last year, according to cleaning the glass, when Steph is on the

floor, they have an offensive rating of 120. He is a elite offense in and of himself. And it craters down to 109 when he's off the floor. If he can stay, healthy and stay off the floor. He's closer to like the sixth or fifth best player in the league. And just a guy who's playing some unbelievable basketball hidden in a franchise that has failed to provide him with the supporting talent he needs to compete in this league. Number seven, Victor Wemigniom. The best defensive player in the league when he's healthy, game-breaking defensive talent that is capable of feats like what he did to the thunder in the in-season tournament semifinal. A predictable leap on offense year over year is over 25 points per game and over 60% true

shooting for the first time in his career. He's actually at 60, or excuse me, he's actually at 26 points per game to start the season. A few issues that have popped up that have kept him down on this list. He keeps missing games. Again, he's only played in 13 games a season. And he's had a little bit of a turnover issue, especially when facing swarming defenses that don't let him work one-on-one. That was a big trend that kind of popped up there after the first couple weeks of the season. That first couple weeks, he was allowed to work one-on-one a lot. And he was putting up massive numbers. It's definitely gotten tougher for him since then. That's clearly the next step. managing physicality, managing double teams,

finding a way for him to get closer to the rim for easier shots without it resulting in turnovers, without him getting kind of blown up off of his base. Number six, Jalen Brunson, a career high 29 points per game on 60% true shooting in the season. He's been getting more spot-up opportunities than ever, thanks to the new offensive system that Mike Brown has installed. And he's functioned really well in that new system.

Fewer one-on-ones, more drives to start. possessions. He's starting the engine in a lot of ways for them, but then he's also having opportunities to rest and work off the ball and attack with an advantage. That really is the big one to me when it comes to the increase in scoring volume while maintaining efficiency, just a lot more attacking with an advantage rather than having to go one-on-one against a set defense. And he's helping to spearhead one of the best year-over-year offensive leaps that we've seen in the league. The Knicks, as a team this season, are five points per 100 possessions better on offense than they were the year before. And then within this season,

they crater by 13 points per 100 possessions on offense when Jalen Brunson goes to the bench. He's just become one of the best offensive engines in the league, and especially in the context of how they've been winning as of late in the in season tournament win, you got to have him pretty high on a list like this. Number five, Janus and Tenacumpo. To be clear, up front, I am not dropping him off of what I consider to be the top four top tier superstars in the league. This is more just how guys have played this season and he's just missed too much time. He's missed 10 games this season and that's what's docking him in this situation. But when he's been healthy, he's been an absolute monster. He's had the most efficient scoring season of his career.

67% true shooting on 29 points per game. Forty-four percent from three, albeit on small volume, it's been weird. He's been less efficient on his mid-range jumper than he was last season by pretty wide margin. But slight upticking three-point volume and he's been very efficient on those threes when he's taken him. Just needs to find a way to stay on the floor. It's the main thing standing in the way of his standing in the league right now. Like I had him four coming into the season. You know, there's a lot of like buzz about, oh, Yonis is actually every bit as good as Yokic or Yonis is actually every bit as good as Shane.

It's like, that may or may not be true, but he just can't stay on the floor and it's continued to be an issue, whether he's missing postseason games like he had in previous seasons or missing chunks of the regular season. He's just, as he's entered into his 30s, he's just become a little bit more injury prone than he was in years past. Number four, the guy you have to put past Yanis just because of how good he's been so far this season. Obviously, if I'm drafting a team for just this season and everyone's healthy, I would take Janus over Kade.

But Kade for me is number four at this point in the season based purely on what we've seen to this point. Just a quintessential offensive engine in this league. The Pistons score at a rate of 120 points per 100 possession. So 120 offensive rating when he's on the floor. He's been absolutely dominant in crunch time. he's 26 for 48 from the field in the last five minutes of games when the score is within five points. He's already made four more clutch shots than he did in the entire year last year, as he's turned a team that was 21 and 23 in clutch games last year to 14 and 4 to start this season.

Really the biggest difference between where they were this time last year and where they are this season. 27 points and nine assists per game, excuse me, on 57% for shooting. and it still feels like he's going to eventually get better as a shooter and as a finisher as the years go by. The three-point shot has been ticking up as of late. He's still just barely scratching the surface of his potential in this league. And he's already the best player on a 21-5 number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Number three, Luca Donchich. This has been one of my biggest changes from before the season.

I want to be clear, this goes both ways. It's not just that Luke has been somewhat disappointing, which we'll talk about in a second. She's also taking a leap. She's 5% year over year better in true shooting percentage while also cutting his turnovers to 1.9 turnovers per game. So Shea's just considerably better than he was last year, fueled by an improved three-point shot, obviously the drop in turnovers as well.

And Luca, I mean, after shooting incredibly well in his first three games, ever since the first three games of the season, Luca's just 43% from the field and just 32% from three with 4.5 turnovers per game. game and a lot of just like grifting in the middle of the floor trying to work his way to the foul line to bolster his scoring rather than focusing on making shots. And there's been just frankly, a massive chasm in efficiency between him and Shea Gilders Alexander. And that's become a big differentiator between them. I even think more so than anything on the defensive end of the floor.

I think Luke has actually been pretty solid on the defensive end. I, she's obviously a better defender than him. And I think some of the stuff with Lucas defense is more matchup dependent, specifically that can truly space the floor and drive. That's where he becomes a bigger issue. To me, the turnovers and the lack of efficiency on actual shots is what's hurting him. Again, like when you think about it, we talked about this a little bit earlier in the show, but when you look at how much the game is geared around the transition attack, like you have, you know, roughly, you know, one-fifth to one-fourth of the possessions

in the game that are played in transition. And you look at how efficient teams are off of live-ball rebounds. and you look at how efficient teams are off of live ball turnovers. And like, especially in the Lakers, um, ball screen attack because they don't pop. Like they don't have bigs that pop. They have bigs that roll. And so when you run pick and roll at the top of the key and you've got your big man rolling and you've got your guard driving, you're typically only going to have one person above the

foul line, which can lead to floor balance issues. So those turnovers on cross court passes or even when he's trying to grip, there's a lot of plays where he's trying to grift there at the foul line and he'll like pump fake, pump fake and then lean into the guy and shoot and he'll miss. And then he turns and starts complaining to the refs while the team's running out the other way in transition. He had a brutally bad one in that Spurs game at the end of the first half where they gave up a dunk to Harrison Barnes because he was complaining at the refs after a turnover. And it's like it's one of those things where just in general with

Luca, there's this obvious statistical performance. The free throws boost his true shooting percentage to where he's still relatively efficient compared to what you think looking at his shooting percentages, but you're just getting considerably more missed shots and considerably more turnovers per game, which are fueling the transition attack for the opponent, which effectively is like cutting him off at the knees in terms of how impactful he is. Again, I'm splitting hairs here. I'm comparing him to the very best players in the world. I just think it's become a differentiator between him and a guy like Shay. I was talking with Carson, and I didn't agree with everything Carson was saying. One of the things Carson said is like he thinks Shay is like

forever going to be better than Luca. I think Shay's obviously better than Luca now. And there's probably, it's probably more likely than not that Shea stays better. But basketball is a, what have you done for me lately sport? Luca is going to have his chances to improve. He could play better starting tomorrow, right? Like, or tonight I should say. Like there's a, there is a path for Luca to flip this script and to get back to being a better basketball player than Shea. But he's lost ground at this point. And it's going to take a long. And it's going to take a long. it's going to take a lot of work for him to get past. And the big thing is just cleaning up that efficiency.

You know, I think, I think in general with Luca, it's not just the turnovers either. It's the little grifty stuff around the lane line. It's the two or three awful step back threes he takes every game that are as bad as turnovers. To me, Luca's just got to trim the fat. This is the phase of the, like, he's averaging an efficient 35 points per game with what, nine assists per game or whatever it is. It's really easy to look at that and just be like, oh, he's incredible. and he is, but there's like a big chunk of that that's being undercut with some of the mistake making.

He just has to refine that over the course of the next few seasons. Sheikills with Alexander, to me, is the clear number two. Again, we talked about it earlier, 5% year-over-year leap and true shooting percentage fueled by a massively improved three-point shot that has been deadly for him in every phase, both off the catch and off the dribble. That off-the-drible three has become a go-to move for him in crunch time. Multiple teams this year have taken that shotgun blast to the chest. to the like, oh, we're making a run and it's a close game, but then Shea just hits a tough step back three, and it just erases any momentum that you have. And then again, doing all of this with cutting his

turnovers down to 1.9 turnovers per game. I don't think it'll stay quite that low as the competition has gotten more difficult. So for instance, against Phoenix and San Antonio, the last two games, he had nine turnovers. I think his turnovers will tick up a little bit, but they do clearly look like they're going to be trending to be below where they were last season. And that's really the case for Shea. Like if you're looking at Shea as a basketball player overall, his playmaking is at a higher level than it's ever been. You can't tell on the stats because his minutes are down. But if you look at a per 36 level, he's like right around seven assists per 36 minutes. So there's a level of playmaking that he's reached and a level of scoring and

scoring efficiency that he's reached. Like when you're a guard and you're scoring over 30 points per game and you're up over 65% true shooting like he is. I think he's at what, 67% for shooting. When you're in that territory, you're not talking like unanimous MVP Steph Curry 2016 type of numbers, right? Like that season, I think Steph was 30 points per game on 67% true shooting. Shea's going to rival that this year. That's the type of efficiency we're getting from the guard position. It's an entirely different ballpark than where Luke is at right now.

And then you combine that with the lack of turnovers, which then helps their transition defense. Shea, you know, if you want to tell me purely, if you're a Luca believer and you argue that Luca's better than Shea. And you want to tell me like, you know, Luca is a more high volume score who's still very efficient and he's a better playmaker. I would agree with you on that. Like, he clearly does score at a higher volume and he does playmake pretty well. But the gap between him and Shea is actually very small. As a matter of fact, on a per 36 minute basis, I think Shea's actually a little bit ahead of Luca right now. And then Shea's just dramatically more efficient and he's still a very good playmaker. So the gap,

there is really small. And where Shea takes a massive leap over, Luca, is Lucas shooting himself in the foot with damn near five turnovers a game over the course of this last, this recent stretch. And he's just missing so many more shots. And every missed shot is an opportunity for a team to run out in transition. I think Shea's been a better player than Luca this year. I don't think he's been quite to Yokic's level, which we're talking about in the second, but I think he's the clear second best player in the league to start the season. Number one, Nicole Yokic, 30 points, 12, downs and 11 assists this year. 72% true shooting.

So career highs in scoring and inefficiency. There's even a gap of pretty substantial gap between where Shea is and Yokic. And that just goes to show you the entire different level that Yokich is at as an offensive player right now. To me, he's the best offensive player in the history of the league. He's playing the very best basketball of his career. The nuggets are 17 points better for 100 possessions on offense with him on versus off. And then here's the last stat I'm going to leave you guys with tonight.

that is the clearest indicator of what separates him from the pack. If you throw the ball to Nicole Yokic in the post, regardless of what happens, he shoots, he passes. If you throw the ball to Nicole Yokic in the post, the nuggets have scored 61% of their possessions. Score percentage. So not points per possession, not field goal percentage, not anything. Just strictly, if I toss the ball to Yokic in the post, what is my chance of putting points on the board? 61%. he's the most reliable individual play type in the league.

He's the most reliable offensive player in the league. He's simply the best offensive player in the league. And when he's been on the floor, the Nuggets have scored at a completely preposterous rate. To me, he's the best offensive player of all time playing at the peak of his powers. He's been having a pretty good defensive season as well. I have Nicola Yokic still as the best player in the world. All right, guys, it's all I have for today.

As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We'll be back on Friday with a mailbag. I'll see you guys then. 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. 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 get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

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