The Herd with Colin Cowherd - NBA Finals Game Six

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

The NBA Finals have reached a boiling point, with the Oklahoma City Thunder up 3-2. Action Network hosts Chad Millman and Simon Hunter are on the precipice of cashing their OKC-in-six series bet from ...last episode. The series moves back to Indiana for Game 6 on Thursday night, following a big Thunder win on Sunday. Back with us to discuss all things betting in this series and beyond, the host of Action’s NBA betting podcast BUCKETS, the effervescent Matt Moore. We also get some talk about Kevin Durant, future NBA free agents, and so much more. #Volume  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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.
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Starting point is 00:02:14 Welcome to the favorites, the podcast. We are part of the Volume Podcast Network. I am Chad Milman of the Action Network. Today I am joined, as always by my co-host, my companion, my compadre, my BFF, professional better, Simon Hunter. I'm giving you a very special, very exaggerated, very English, Hello, Simon. Hello, Chad.
Starting point is 00:02:41 Perfect day here in Burnley. Lovely, lovely sunny day here in the United Kingdom. It's beautiful. Well, listen, I know you've been in training, trying to throw down as many pints as you can, getting ready. You've been in England for less than 12 hours. Are you drunk? Have you entered into any coal mines? Have you joined Peeky,
Starting point is 00:03:07 blinders? Are you carrying razor blades in your cap? What's happening in Burnley right now? God bless my cousins. They bought me Coors Light because they said that they think I only could drink light beer. So I had a Coors Light and I've said a couple of in it. In it. In it. So other than that, that's as British as I've gotten so far. So early days. I've only, Chad knows I landed this morning. I'm on two hours of sleep. And yeah, tonight I'm sure it's like 630 here. So I'm sure after this call, I'm going to have a couple of drinks and my cousin. I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, what's going to happen? Are you going to go to a pub? Like, what happens in England? Yeah, like literally, I mean, that's why I love England. I'm a block away. So we'll walk down to the
Starting point is 00:03:49 local pub, have some fishing ships, have a couple of drinks and watch some football matches. It'll be a good night. I feel like you on two hours of sleep flying overnight is no different than me staying up to watch the end of the NBA finals, which is about two and a half hours past my bedtime. We're going to talk a little bit about that today with our brilliant analyst, host of the Buckets podcast, the man who made us last week bet the OKC Thunder in six, as well as the Pacers in seven. You know him as the man. who says the word subsequently subsequent, Mr. Matt Moore. I did it again this week.
Starting point is 00:04:43 I did it again on a show and was just killing myself for it. I'm like, what is wrong with me? I'm going to go to like a hypnotist therapist to get me to say subsequent correctly. I don't even think they say it like that in England. Like it's not even a word. Nope, it's just me. It's just me. I'm the problem.
Starting point is 00:05:02 It's me. You're not the problem for us, Matt Moore, because after our conversation last week, me and Simon both bet on the Thunder to win in six. And it's looking decent. I mean, Tyrese Halliburton, we can talk a little bit about the game. There's a lot to say, not just about the game, but since the last time we spoke, there's a lot of activity in a variety of markets for the NBA, whether it's what's going to happen with Kevin Durant. I think that has subsequent value in the betting markets for where we think he might land. There are conversations for top five markets for the NBA draft. Desmond Bain was traded from Memphis to Orlando.
Starting point is 00:05:48 That got to me kind of an outsized reaction from people, but also having an impact on what people think now of the Eastern Conference in the NBA. So there's a lot to break down when it comes to NBA right now. We're entering into that super dramatic high school drama offseason of the NBA, which I love. But right now, as we talk about it, the thunder of a 3-2 lead, Shea Gildjus Alexander is averaging about 33 a game. Jalen Williams had 40 last night for the thunder. They're up 3-2. Tyrese Halliburton has injured his calf. He played with a tight calf. Here's what's interesting to me. I don't know what's going to happen in the next few games,
Starting point is 00:06:32 but I do know that it seems very strange to me how frequently, frequently, it takes Tyrese Halliburton to get into the offensive flow in these big games. When he's great, he's great. But why is it so hard for him to find buckets in these big games? Too often. It's like the second quarter,
Starting point is 00:06:54 and you're seeing Tyrese Halliburton hasn't scored yet. Yeah, so I think there's a couple of things that happened depending on what the matchup is. You know, last night I think the injury really was pretty severe and it was enough to really hamper him. Now he's going to get so much treatment, like the amount of treatment you would not believe. I don't think people really understand. It's like, oh, he'll receive treatment and they think it's like, oh, he'll go in and they'll work on him. No, it's like they go to his house, they work on him, he goes to sleep, they wake up. They come to his house.
Starting point is 00:07:20 They work on him. He goes to the arena. It's constant over the next, you know, 72 hours before they're. they get to game six. So that was part of it. The other thing is that the Thunder have high pickup points that they're pressuring him up the court consistently. And they've gotten to where there's like, all right, we have to pressure him all the way
Starting point is 00:07:38 up the court. Then there's the matter of the pick and roll coverage. Like, okay, what's the easiest way to get Tyreeks loose? Let's set a screen for him and separate. Starting in game four, the Thunder, we're like, fine, fine, we'll switch. They never want to do that. They want to play drop because it helps them protect the paint. they started switching.
Starting point is 00:07:56 And like we called it on buckets pregame, which you can catch every, uh, every pregame before the finals and however many. We have left at 630 Eastern. We talked about how look, Tyrese Halberton unders are a great spot here because they're going to switch everything and Tyrese is not good at challenging that.
Starting point is 00:08:10 And that means the other Thunder guys don't have to help off. So his assist lanes are not there. It's just one on one go get a bucket. And that's not Tyrese's game. He wants to shape it. He wants to force gravity and then separate things and create open lanes for guys or work off ball and he's willing to defer if he feels like that's the right play yokech had the same problem a couple of years ago or not a couple years ago like five six years ago where i would actually
Starting point is 00:08:35 like joker and i have like this ongoing tension because i'm always i would ask him i'm like as the like do you feel like you're the best player on this team and he'd always be like no not at all and i'm like joker like come on and tyrese has the same thing where he just wants to kind of be part of a team that makes everybody better he doesn't want to be the guy that scores 35 he wants to win the game by shaping it. But the thunderer are saying, no, you're going to have to beat Chet Holmgren one on one and get a bucket. And you're going to have to do it enough that we help off.
Starting point is 00:09:05 And that challenge is what really works against Tyrese. It's what makes him disengage. And they've beaten the Knicks and they've beaten the Cavs because Nemhard, Neesmith, Miles Turner, Pascal have been able to attack those matchups off ball with the space that's provided. OKC's a different beast. and that's why I think you're seeing some of this with Tyrese on top of the injury. Simon, did you want to jump in? Because I haven't had the question.
Starting point is 00:09:31 Yeah, I mean, I'm just like you. I've loved this series. There's just so much that's going on that's, I mean, anyone that's just been knocking the series just really is missed out on what is why we love basketball. And to me, that game forward, that pivotal moment of SGA and just OKC stepping up, right? They're down 10 points set into that fourth quarter. And I don't know about you, but I thought this is over, right? Like this is, they're down to a team in, you know, the Pacers that can close these games out.
Starting point is 00:09:59 Can they, can they live up to the moment to come back? And the fact that, you know, we've all seen it. SGA at the end of that game stepped up, hit some big shots, had his moment. And now here we are in the next game, right? And, you know, Halliburton goes down. He does not look like the same player. We're all sitting here, right, that it's over for OKC. I would love to know your view, Matt, on this opening number because it opens six.
Starting point is 00:10:21 professionals came in obviously quickly took that number. They've taken the five and a half. I know some pros that have taken the five and now you're seeing some four and a halfs. Is this because of what you just talked about? Is Halliburton going to be game ready? Is that why this number is moving? Or is just professionals taking a stand on a number where, you know, this is a Thunder team that struggles on the road? Is that simply as simple as that?
Starting point is 00:10:45 So this is one of those, and we don't see this as often the NBA really takes until, I think, the finals until we see this. from what I'm seeing, it very much looks like groups are fighting over the number. And we don't see that very often in NBA because there's not enough interest or money on it. And then the limits are lower. So this opens, like you mentioned, this opens six. It immediately pops down to five. There's some four and a half showing. But now we're going back up to five, five and a half in the market.
Starting point is 00:11:08 Because now today, we're seeing sharp action coming back in on OKC. And whether that's Intel saying, hey, Halliburton's probably not going to be ready or the immediate move was just based off of, all right, look, you pop this at six. Indy's been competitive. OKC is 0 and 8 AT, or I'm sorry, now 8 and 1, or 1 and 8 on the road, ATS in the playoffs. This is enough to get me to go ahead and take Indy as a reaction here with this price point. Now we're seeing some of those coming back on OKC. All the trends are going to suggest OKC is the spot here. It does look like OKC's gotten to be themselves.
Starting point is 00:11:43 They look, game five was the first game in this series where I was like, oh, there's the thunder. Like, I haven't seen them since the Wolf series. and if that I'm resistant to these momentum shifts because if you'd ask me, if you told me like, hey, they're going to they're going to split in in OKC one and two. I've been like, oh, Indy wins three, OKC wins four, OKC wins five, indie wins six. Like that's the game script. The trends and the spot with Tyrese Halliburton probably suggests that OKC is better than what that that suggestion would lead you towards. The number's been really interesting though where this is, I mean, this is also fighting over literally two possessions here, right?
Starting point is 00:12:20 Like, this is right on the verge. If it gets to four, that's, like, where the margin inside of, like, five seconds, the team will let it go. Like, all right, we can't get this. We're not going to be able to close this gap. But at six, now that's a different kind of margin here. So you're fighting over these very, very careful price points, I think, here. And you're seeing a little bit more sharp action fighting over this number than we've seen
Starting point is 00:12:42 in most of the other finals, I think. Are we getting a clue from this number in the movement how much Tyrese Halliburton is worth to the point spread. Probably not because it's like he's going to play. Like Rick Carlisle said, he's going to play. And the question is now we're in this spot of trying to put a number on an ephemeral thing. Because we always talk about like he's 90%, 80, like there's no way to quantify that. You can't quantify the human body.
Starting point is 00:13:08 So it's, is if Tyrese is 50 or 40%, this number has to move two and a half three. If this is Tyrese is 70, 80%, you're talking about a half. half point, maybe a point. And I think that there's probably some of the buyback today based off of, look, if Tyrese isn't 100%, how are they going to win this game? Like, that's got to be some of this conversation. It's just, how are they going to win this game if Tyrese is literally a decoy in the corner? Now, the funny part is a really good reaction would be, it's Indiana.
Starting point is 00:13:38 Do not bring your logic in here because they have defied that consistently all playoffs. But that's more of a gut feeling than a quantitative edge perspective. So I think some of this is probably reflective of the idea of, OKC's got momentum, the trend support game six road favorites trying to close out the series. OKC is better based off of the power rating still. They've reestablished control of the series and Tyrese Halliburton is not going to be 100% no matter what. Whatever he was before, because nobody's 100% right now. He was 90, now he's 70.
Starting point is 00:14:07 Wherever you land on that has to, I think, impact your cap on this. That's why it's going to be tough for Pacers, backers, I think, in the spot. What's a little bit deceiving is, Matt, maybe we'll be. while I'm asking this question, you can look up, what was the number in game four in Indy? Thunder were down 10. Shea hits, then they're down, I think, five, or they're down four. Shea hits the three-pointer, they're down 103, 102, I think. Then he hits that two-pointer in the corner when he bumps Kneesmith off.
Starting point is 00:14:48 and now they're up one. From that point on, the Pacers only score one more point. I think the game closes seven. What was the spread in that game? Game four closed minus six ended at seven. Thank you, Matt Mitchell, throwing that in there. So the Thunder ended up covering that game. What a deceptive cover and what a bad beat.
Starting point is 00:15:16 I think that's what you're talking about when you're saying, look at this number, at the end, the number might be bigger than the game appears, than the final score appears. And it took off ball fouls, too. That was the killer, right? It was like they kept picking up off ball fouls to get one and the ball. And that to me is like absolutely crazy. Like Mitchell has commented here that they covered for a total of 6.7 seconds.
Starting point is 00:15:40 Now, I was on Thunder to cover in that game. And that was one of the all time, like, thank you, Jesus moments in that game. But yeah, like, O.KC's a. ability to win by their, what is their overall margin on the road has been extremely difficult throughout the playoffs. We saw this, not just the Nugget series. We saw this in Memphis. They go down 30. They have to storm back, but they don't cover. We see this in Minnesota. They don't cover. They've consistently struggled to cover on the road here. The problem, I think, is also a series flow, though. If the thunder are up in that fourth quarter and Indy gets that sense of, we can't do it.
Starting point is 00:16:16 Like, we're out. We've run out of gas and we're done. there's a lot of spots where I've seen teams in that kind of situation facing elimination down in the fourth quarter and like you just don't and the other team meanwhile is like just keep punching just keep punching them we can finish this we can win the title that momentum shift like that's the highest point of adversity is you are down in the fourth quarter facing elimination after playing for six months of basketball you've gotten all the way here that's a really tough spot and so I think the both those things are true. Like, it doesn't feel like to me this is a, I thought game five was a good, Pacers cover, Thunder win spot and the Thunder got over the line because they were forced turnovers for the first time,
Starting point is 00:17:00 which is out of context for the series. This one does not feel like that. This one does not, I feel like if you're, look, if you like Pacers, you need to be on Money Line. If they're going to be within range of this game, they're going to have the extra edge. We can do this. We're right there. We can win this game. Thunder winning close to me is the least
Starting point is 00:17:16 likely of the outcomes. I was in the sports book for that game, that game four. Just being of the professionals who bet on the NBA, I love talking about it because the NBA finals, the books get so sharp. I remember at some point they were down, like you said, they were down one or two points, and SGA gets them back into the game. He basically gets them up by one. And my buddy turned to me, said, they're going to somehow cover this game while only
Starting point is 00:17:39 hitting two made threes at the time. And then I think he hit one more. So they're up to three made threes. He's like, this is why I love betting, though, because every sucker in this room is on the Pacers because everyone knows that stat that OKC has not covered on the road. And he's like, I know this is going to land on seven. And sure enough, you know, the exact, what was it, at 111, 104? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:58 And I turned to him, I was like, I love, this is why I love betting so much because it's like, you knew, any better knew that was coming, right? Those stupid free throws, the Pacers missing free throws. So my, my view of this, Matt, is, like you're saying, the back and forth on this number right now is the professionals are fighting because the books are getting so sharp, right? I mean, last game, what did they, what was the cover? There was nine to half. I think the final point was 11, right?
Starting point is 00:18:22 Was a 109? Right. So like the books, even with, you know, Halliburton being injured, is still right there. Like, the books are so sharp right now. So anyone listening to this, just be careful. Like, you're betting to a right now a market that is at the highest level. Like the books just seem like they're capped at so well. So I like what I'm viewing here with Matt Moore's talking about.
Starting point is 00:18:44 I like the adjusted line, right? Is this not a nice spot? to take OKC minus 12 and a half, a little Brandon Anderson, or take the Pacers money line, right? I love that type of scenario here. Do you think this is going to be a closer game and I'm giving a credit for him?
Starting point is 00:18:56 I don't mind this as an alt spot. The trick is, though, one of the things that, because I started a live bet in Thunder alt last night first quarter because I was like, man, Pacers are dead here. They're just looking like they're out of it. OKC's got this. If OKC wins at home,
Starting point is 00:19:10 their average margin of victory in the playoffs is 26 points. This is a good value here with this kind of number. Indiana's got a rare ability to just never get kicked off the ladder. Like, okay, Tari's Halliburton's hurt. Pascal C. Occamcy and three defenders. Miles Turner can't do anything. Here comes T.J. McConnell, gonna make things happen. Here's Benedict Mathurin, hitting big shots to keep them within range.
Starting point is 00:19:40 And O.K.C.'s half court, this is the big thing. If you really want to know the reason, it's that O.K.C.'s half court offense, never gears up. Their defense gears up. Their half court offense stays at the same level or lower. That's all they really do. They never hit this gear where you're like, man, what an incredible offensive performance.
Starting point is 00:20:00 They got an amazing game from J-dub. They got a good game from Shea. They generated a lot of free throws for Shea. But like, this wasn't a, they're absolutely killing them because they don't really have that gear offensively. It's all on the defense event. It's why I like Thunder team total over
Starting point is 00:20:14 and didn't want Pacers, anything on their on their on their on their team total or the combined over i only wanted thunder team total because i was like they're going to go over this number because of the speed of the game but their offense never really gears up it just you hit a couple more threes or not they're not going to have this dominant performance where they blow you out because they shot 48% from three that's not going to happen if they're going to blow you out it's because you score 80 and that's hard to do against an indiana team that's whose offensive floor is so high Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news.
Starting point is 00:20:47 What's the news, name? Huge news. 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. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?
Starting point is 00:21:06 I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And 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, for 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.
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Starting point is 00:22:08 Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart 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 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 Chinchin win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.
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Starting point is 00:23:29 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you look at this Thunder team, I was watching this game last night, And everyone talks about dynasty. They threw up that graphic about the Blazers. And this is the second youngest team since the Blazers that has a chance to win a title. And Shea is 26 and Jalen Williams is 23. And obviously, Shea's going to get a bag. He's going to get 70 million a year.
Starting point is 00:23:53 And Jalen Williams, when he's eligible, is going to get whatever Max deal he's eligible for. You're going to have a construct similar to what the Celtics have, right? where you're paying north of probably could be by then $400 million to Shea Gilgis, Alexander, and to Jalen Williams. It's hard to maintain a dynasty when you're spending that much money on two players. Handicapped for me, what this team looks like over the next two, three years. Who are the pieces they can keep? Who are the players that are going to have to go somewhere else to get a bag of cash?
Starting point is 00:24:30 Yeah, it's a great question. So I think there's a lot of interesting elements in this. One of the things that we're seeing, Zach Lo was talking about this this morning on his show and this thing I've been talking about for a while, one of the reasons that Memphis made the Desmond Bain trade, it is very difficult right now to build with three players making max money. And the numbers I've kind of put on it relative to where the cap is now,
Starting point is 00:24:51 it's going to go up with the new media deal. But you can't have three guys making $50 million. You can have two, never three. You need two guys making $50 million, one guy making above 30 million and then a bunch of guys making between 20 and 5 and that's how you fill in that roster that's the new model the owners built into the CBA well guess what chet homer and j dub are both extension eligible this summer and they're going to get the bag because you can see how valuable they are if victor wemnon yama had not gotten hurt and chet holmgren had not gotten hurt i still think chet might have won defensive player of the year that's how good he is defensively. He's insane. J-dub, I mean, last night was for all of us on J-dub Island was like, take a look at this. So they're going to extend those guys. They got one more year because those extensions don't kick in until 26, 27, the year after next year. They got one more year. And guess who
Starting point is 00:25:46 comes off the books then, Isaiah Hartenstein? So you clear off the money then. Chet moves into the center roll. Hopefully he eats some spaghetti and gets a little bit thicker so he can handle getting bumped on the interior and play small ball five. You're going to have. guys, they'll fill in the rest of that roster, but here's the big question I have, Chad. I look at the J-dub situation and I think a lot of James Harden
Starting point is 00:26:10 2012. And the misconception has always been that that move was made because ownership was cheap. And that move was made because James Hardin knew that he could be an MVP candidate with an exclusive deal with Adidas being the front of their entire shoe line and be
Starting point is 00:26:26 that kind of a star in that kind of a market in Houston. He knew that kind of earning potential. J-dub is going to be faced with that same decision. And J-dub may have a different set of priorities. I may be like, nope, I want to be here. This is what I want. But even then, I'm of the belief. You're going to have to choose between Chet and J-dub eventually. You can do it for maybe a couple of years. If Ben, it's like, yes, we've won two championships. I will pay for the the second apron tax for a year or two. But eventually, you're going to hit that snag where it's like things didn't go right. The chemistry wasn't right. The fit wasn't right. Guys missed shots. Someone
Starting point is 00:27:00 and got injured. And now it's the second round. And now the pressure is how do you get back to that top level? And the only way to do that is to trade one of those big three because the second apron rules and the NBA CBA do not allow it. Um, the other big one, Kays and Wallace is extension eligible next summer. And to me, Kays and Wallace is a guy that I would absolutely want to be investing in. Like he's a sneaky guy that can wind up being an elite level defender. He's got more bounce off creation. He's a good shooter. Like Kaysen Wallace next year, maybe one of the biggest names that we're talking about on the free agency market and talking about possible sign and trade situations for OKC.
Starting point is 00:27:35 Kendrick Williams next summer, I think it's going to be a big choice. OKC's got next year to contend they might be the first team to go back to back since 2018. But they talk around the league and all these shows of like, how many titles is OKC going to win? I'm setting the over at two and a half. I'm like, let's settle down because this era is absolutely designed to prevent that. and it's even harder in markets like OKC.
Starting point is 00:28:01 All right. So that's exactly what I wanted to hear. And what will be the salary Jalen Williams can get? What is the salary at Holmgren can get? What is the salary Shea can get? He can get like four for 280, right? So is that what it is? Yeah, I think it's four for 280, depending on whether or not he qualifies.
Starting point is 00:28:22 I think he's going to qualify under first team all NBA for the Supermax. I'll have to check on that. So that one's a tough one. The reality, the better way to think about it instead of getting caught into the specific numbers is just to think about if you're making this money, you're making over 50 mil.
Starting point is 00:28:39 And if you're making over 50 mil, if you're north of those numbers, even at 40, it gets really tough to keep those course together. And then you're going to think about the next time they're extension knowledgeable down the line and what that's going to look like as well. All right.
Starting point is 00:28:51 So, Simon, before we came on, we were talking about Kevin Durant, how do we play this market, Matt? How do we think about where Durant is going to go and how can we preemptively get into the Kevin Durant sweepstakes by predicting the best landing spot with the best value? So there's a couple of these that I think are interesting as ways to kind of look at it.
Starting point is 00:29:17 I think the best way to do it is to think about what you're going to do immediately in the aftermath. An ideal situation. I understand because, Chad, we were talking about, before a show about like the outsized reaction to Desmond Bain, right? Arthur you Mitch on the show, like the outsized reaction of that trade. But like the dream scenario for a lot of us is that Durant gets traded to Miami and Miami immediately gets steamed and then Orlando will fall in division odds. And that's going to be, I think, a great opportunity to get in on Orlando.
Starting point is 00:29:49 The biggest thing I do want to tell listeners, don't bet into the market in the first 24 hours after a trade. Do not do it. Like unless you are ahead of the move. Like if you're in the 13 seconds that you've got before a news breaks and that market moves, unless you're there, do not buy into it. It's never worth it. These moves are always, these trades are always exaggerated in the market and you're always going to be able to get a better price, no matter what it is.
Starting point is 00:30:12 Like, it's very rare that you don't get a better price. And if you're saying, Matt Mitchell, I mean, Matt Moore, it's be careful people. When you're betting into those markets, that's how you get banned. Like people don't realize it like books, they're looking for people like you that are ahead of the market or you're getting Intel quicker than them. So I feel like he's giving you good advice here of just being careful betting these type of numbers because either you're going to get got because you're getting bad information or you're making a bad decision trying to buy in early and try to get a good number.
Starting point is 00:30:40 So as far as Katie's landing spot, right now the favorites in the market are tied between Miami and Houston. I would say Houston is more likely because that's a solution where everyone wins. Katie wants to go to Houston. Houston gets an offensive upgrade. and Houston can afford to send stuff back to Phoenix that Phoenix isn't going to be thrilled with. It's not the haul they want.
Starting point is 00:31:02 But if the options are Andrew Wiggins and a bad first or Jalen Green, potentially Jabari Smith, and a pretty good first, especially if it's one of your own that they own all of, that's a pretty good situation. Phoenix will, Houston will try and squeeze them for it. The best way to kind of think of it for Houston, there is a disagreement there.
Starting point is 00:31:26 I think Ima O'Doka wants Kevin Durant. He wants to win now because coaches want to win now. And he knows, like, give me Kevin Durant and my defense and we'll go win games. Rafael Stone, GM, I think, is like, we can get a top, like, if we keep squeezing them, we can get Devin Booker, who's younger, a lot more upside. We can have him forever. Or we can go get another guy with all these assets. Our investment in Phoenix's draft picks are only going to improve.
Starting point is 00:31:54 how desperate they are and that battle i think is really interesting like this phoenix want to this houston want to help out phoenix in this deal but they are a team that can help them out without saving them and then so to me between those two is valuable the long shot for me is the clippers at 50 to one um they have consistently been they got popped up over the weekend first it was like oh yeah it's it's houston um it's houston san antonio miami new york minnesota and then all of a sudden the clippers started popping up over the weekend they've had had a lot of talks. Like I've heard about Clippers talks for weeks. Now, I don't think there is substantive as talks between Minnesota, Houston, San Antonio, even Miami. I don't think they're
Starting point is 00:32:32 a substantive. But I do think that those conversations have been held. And I think that the Clippers, especially, if you're mad Ishbia and you're like, I don't want to be bad. I don't care about draft picks. I want to win games. I told them that we would win. Let's win. We got Devin Booker. Let's win. The Clippers can at least give you like Norman Powell, guys that will help you win now. They're going to want Zubotch and I don't think the Clippers are going to give them up. But if they were to ever change on that, then boy, would that be a really great situation. It'd be a terrible trade for the Clippers. But I also think Balmer, you know, coming off of that playoff loss, wants to get more people into that great new arena.
Starting point is 00:33:08 I think that KD makes a lot of sense for them, putting them back with Hardin. So Clippers 50 to 1 to me is the best long shot in the market. And I feel like what you touch on, like we all know the East is wide open, you know, the professionals and it feels like the public are fine. It's Orlando, right? Is that the team that everyone's just piling in on now to win the East? Because they're just a team that people think they can make a Pacers run here? Or is that kind of fools gold here that we're buying? I think that nobody really knows yet.
Starting point is 00:33:37 Like, I wouldn't buy into the East Market at all right now. Because you don't know if the Knicks are going to move somebody to make another thing because they got a lot of chemistry questions. Like, they got things they got to figure out, I think. Indiana, you got to wait to see what Miles Turner does. like Miles Turner is up there. If some team just comes in as like, yeah, we don't care. We'll pay 40 million.
Starting point is 00:33:56 That's a huge price for Miles Turner. It's also 10 more than what Indiana wants to pay him. I think they settle at 35. But if somebody offers him 40, then you could probably get Miles Turner and free agency. The calves are probably good value just because they're going to return the same kind of guys. But they might make a move. I think Jared Allen might be gone.
Starting point is 00:34:13 And you don't know what they're going to get back for him. Orlando is maybe a good value at plus 800, but I'm still kind of like, Are you really going to want a big position on Orlando if they're in the conference finals versus a veteran team that's been there and knows what they're doing? Like, I like Orlando a lot, but I'm not sure that I feel like they're going to be the thunder. I don't think they're going to be that kind of a team. Pistons, actually, to me, is probably the best value at 20 to 1 because they're only going to get better. And they got some, they are shopping in free agency.
Starting point is 00:34:42 Like, they are going for it. So I think Detroit's really interesting at 20 to 1. That's going to be interesting, though, Chad, to see what free agent wants to go to Detroit, though, right? Like in this NBA, like we're talking about Miami, San Antonio. Like it's, it's going to be funny with Kevin Durant to somehow ended up in Detroit. Well, look, he doesn't want to go to Minnesota, we know. And a lot of guys that, but it becomes like one of those things. How much do you want to ring?
Starting point is 00:35:08 How much do you want to play with Kate Cunningham? How much do you like J.B. Bickerstaff? That roster showed so well against the Knicks. That was a much closer series than I think anyone anticipated. And so if I want to win, I'm sort of a mid-career free agent, you get a really young team that's got a great culture. Why wouldn't you go? Take a shot, four years, try to win your title. Matt Moore, I like it.
Starting point is 00:35:35 Tasty, tasty stuff. Thank you for giving us the Thunder and Six. I hope you continue to give us more and more prescient nuggets in subsequent. episodes of the favorites, as well as buckets. Don't forget, Pacers, Thunder, Game Six from indie number open six, now down to five, moving back to five and a half. Simon and I will return with our next episode of the favorites Thursday on the Action Network YouTube page. Download us from Spotify, Apple Pods, wherever you get your podcasts. Rate, reviews, subscribe, leave us five stars, say whatever you want. Feedback is a gift. Until next time,
Starting point is 00:36:14 love you. Action Network reminds you. Please gamble. If you or someone you care about has a gambling problem, help is available 24-7 at 1-800-Gambler. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick.
Starting point is 00:36:37 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.
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Starting point is 00:37:26 Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns
Starting point is 00:37:45 of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. Jen, she's an outsider to win the French name. and she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now and I actually can win on any surface. 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.
Starting point is 00:38:10 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, at all embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
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