The Mismatch - Davion Mitchell Cements His Defensive Reputation in the Summer League Championship Game. Plus: How Can Patrick Beverley Help the Timberwolves?

Episode Date: August 20, 2021

Verno and KOC start off the show by wrapping up their thoughts from summer league after Davion Mitchell shut the Celtics down with his lockdown defense and cemented his reputation as a fierce defender (0:45). Then they get into some of the news from around the league like Terry Rozier’s extension with the Hornets (23:00), Patrick Beverley’s potential impact on the heretofore struggling Timberwolves team (25:35), and what they expect to see from the NBA 2021-2022 schedule that’s dropping later today (41:35). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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at YouTube.com slash The Ringer, so you never miss an episode. Welcome to The Misfatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me as he does every Friday from the Ringer.com. It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K., Kevin O'Bombermer, Kevin O'Climber, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Bless, what's going on this Friday? Well, we finally have a little break in the action. It's felt like a tremendous whirlwind over the course of the past couple of months because we had the playoffs and we had the NBA finals. Then we moved straight into draft preparation and the draft. And then we went straight to Summer League, but with the conclusion of Summer League.

And while Free Agency isn't completely over, most of the big stuff is done. A little break here. And kind of starting to look at next season. And I know we will today as fans are going to be listening to this on Friday. at 2 o'clock central time, 3 o'clock Eastern this afternoon. I believe the NBA schedule is going to come out in full, so people are going to be able to plan their falls and winters. But let's start with just kind of a wrap-up of Summer League,

which when we last spoke, the championship game was going to take place. You told me Peyton Pritchard was going to be flying back to play in the game. I bet he wished he hadn't. Dominant force. He ran into Davey on Middney. And a reason for Kings fans to feel good, right? Like Summer League titles sometimes aren't indicative of anything, but sometimes they're indicative that you do have some very good young talent to be excited about.

And there is at least one that they drafted in the top 10 that, I mean, if I'm a Kings fan, I'm absolutely over the moon after what I saw out of Mitchell in the Summer League. Yeah, man. I mean, with Davy on Mitchell, we saw multiple times throughout the entire summer league, Chris, just the way he contained Peyton Pritchard, that clip that went viral on the finals night. Earlier in the tournament had multiple possessions where he just was sticking to guys like Lou mirroring their every motion. This is who he's going to be in the NBA. It doesn't matter that he's only six foot. Doesn't matter that he's undersized as a guard. The fact is, is that this guy can just get in your face on the offensive end of the floor. He can continue. He can ball

you, he can blow up your plays. And there might be some matchups, you know, for him against a bigger guard where maybe he's overmatched. But for most nights, I mean, this guy just looks like a terror, right? And I think for the Kings, we talked about Kada earlier in that week, earlier in the week entering that game. He didn't score at all, but still makes his impact defensively. We, he still has shown throughout the Semmel League what he can do. But ultimately, I mean, Lewis King, of course, was I believe their leading scorer that night, not a big name prospect, by he means Robert Wardard got some minutes too. But Davy on Mitchell overall, for Kings fans,

has to be the number one takeaway here. The number one thing to feel good about that there's a potential lockdown defender in the back court to compliment Tyrese Halliburton and Deerrin Fox. They could have a three-headed monster in the back court. It's going to be exciting to see the way Luke Wallen uses those guys. I mean, like it's either going to become these guys are impossible to stop because they're so dynamic and so quick, and they can also get stops on defense,

or it's going to be the type of thing where one of them becomes expendable. And if one of them does become expendable, that's not the worst thing in the world for the Kings because all of them are going to be pretty good. And ultimately, that's what you want is good players, then you figure it out later.

It's a good problem to have if you're a Kings fan right now. Finally, good problems, not bad problems, Chris. I know one of the things that you just mentioned, which is so hilarious to me, because last year was not a fun year to be going to games. I went to every game throughout the year that was played in Memphis, and there were not fans until the very, very end, right?

And so many nights, it was, you know, there's just a lack of energy in the building and whatever else, but you do see odd things happen still, as is the case, with NBA games. and Lewis King, the guy you mentioned, might be the most incredible, who is that guy game that I might have ever experienced. I had one early in the season you remember with Nathan Knight. You know, inevitably when NBA fans are watching their team and somebody starts going crazy,

you're like, who is that? I've never even heard of that person. Lewis King, I saw Lewis King's career high in person. He came in a game at the end of the year and had 27 points, nine rebounds and three steals and two blocks. And I'm like, who is Lewis King? And it was like a game that went all the way down to the wire. And this guy was like unbelievable all night. And I mean, he was a guy that.

got minutes throughout the year or whatever. And so it's fascinating to see him come up in Summer League. It would be a name that even that you would mention because I just happened to see that last year. And I mean, I'll never forget the guy's name simply because I'm sitting there going, who is this guy? And why is he like playing like he's Michael Jordan out there? This is crazy.

Well, Chris, back in my 2019 NBA draft guide, we had two shades of comparisons in the guide. one of them was tall Rodney Hood. Who do you think the other one was? What do you think the other comp was? Michael Jordan? I'm kidding. It's your guy. You're your favorite player.

Otto Porter Jr. Oh, for goodness sakes. Do you remind you of Otto Porter at all? In the Summer League finals? No. No. He entered the draft after a freshman year at Oregon.

A good year there. Good year. Shot the ball well, you know. Yeah. But played solid defense. you know, scored, I think. It's a kind of guy that you're just like, where did he come from? If he turns out to be really good, it's like a where did he come from type of story.

Yeah, exactly. It's the type of thing where maybe he, you know, if he pans out, it's like maybe he entered the league a little bit too soon. You know, he bounced around a couple of years and then maybe in Sacramento things will work out. Who knows? You never know. But I do think one of the things that stands out about Davian Mitchell is when you talked

about that's what he's going to be defensively. I remember that a long time ago, and whether it was Darren Collison or Luke Richard and Bammute, or Russell Westbrook, or Kevin Love, or there was a myriad of players that came out of UCLA, and they were all having a level of success. And they were having a level of success early in their NBA careers. And that was different than many of their peers. And so at one point, I read this article, and it actually featured Mbamutei. And he talked about how they asked him why he thought UCLA players were having, you know, success and being able to get minutes and get on the court and whatever else.

And I remember this to this day, and that's over a decade ago. Because it was very wise. He said, when you get to the NBA, the coach. will generally put up with offensive missteps, right? What they will not put up with is defensive missteps. And we, when we played for, at that time, it was Ben Howland. When we played for Ben Howland, you had to defend. He was just going to pull you out of the game if you didn't defend.

And so once you're a part of that culture and you get to the NBA, and not only do you know how to play defense, you have a willingness and you know that that's the way that you're going to be able to stay on the court, then you're going to be able to get minutes faster in the NBA. And there is nothing that can replace getting NBA minutes for your development. And now we fast forward all these years. And you can keep track of that. whoever is the rookie or the young player on your respective team that you root for, that is key because that's what drives coaches absolutely crazy.

They will play a less talented player that switches correctly or that goes over screens when you're supposed to go over screens instead of underscreens or whatever the case may be. And Davian Mitchell, it's going to be undeniable. you said there's going to be a choice to make. Luke Walton, I promise you, he's getting minutes. He's getting on the court. Some way, somehow. You just figure it out. But that guy, he'll be on the court. And it will do wonders for his development. There's another guy that I do want to ask you about, because I had a buddy that came back from Las Vegas, and I have had others since we last spoke that I talked to and, you know, all the same name. that came out of Summer League are pretty much the same names.

I had multiple people, though, mentioned to me a player that we never even touched. And I was like, well, man, I should have watched him more, should have talked about him more. And it was the kid from Duke, Johnson. Jalen Johnson, is that right? Am I getting the name right? Yeah.

I had multiple people tell me that's the guy that I saw that I was like, like, whoa, he's better than where he got drafted. And I didn't get to see him enough. I feel badly about it. I'm going to have to go back and try to find some clips and watch some of it. But I just didn't see much of Atlanta for one reason or another. Maybe it's what time their games were, whatever it may be.

I wasn't seeking it out. But I had multiple people tell me that they were really impressed with that guy. And, you know, he opted out of the season. You know, he kind of got dogged out, even by his own team, you know, for opting out of the season when he did. But he's a talent, nonetheless. We knew that coming into college. What do you make of that?

And the idea that maybe very well, the Hawks got one again in the draft, because I tell you, like, I wasn't expecting to hear that name, but he came up in two different conversations I have. On this Monday's Ringer NBA show with Jay Kyle, man, we talked a bit about the Hawks. And like the main point that I made on that show with Jalen Johnson is that the amount of front court versatility that they're going to have now.

Because Jalen Johnson provides a new element. On that team, you've got your Clint Capellas of the world. You've got, you know, a rim running presence, a lob threat. You have a John Collins who's a lob threat and a shooter. Now you bring in a you get O'Kongwu, a versatile defender who can also do some stuff on offense. Jalen Johnson now brings more of a primary ball handler. in the front court for you, someone who maybe you play some small ball with him at the four, in Okongu at the five, you're switching all screens and doing a bunch of stuff on the defensive end.

And then on offense, Jalen Johnson has, you know, always been one of those guys who handles the ball. Like passing is his best talent right now at the state of his career. But I thought he looked like a more complete player with Atlanta during Summer League. And we were able to see at Duke, then we were able to see in high school, because we just barely saw him play. Yeah, I didn't see much of him. He left high school early. He left Duke early.

And like there's always been, you know, character concerns with him, maturity issues with him. But ultimately, man, the fact is that put all that aside, put all of it aside. And the production on the court, this dude looked like a versatile defender. He looked like a guy who could handle the ball and be utilized in creative ways. Like think about, think about the stuff with Tray Young. Tray Young is going to run a lot of pick and roll. Trey Young is going to get trapped a lot. pick and roll. If Jalen Johnson is your screener, he can be an outlet for you. He can make the right

decision or score himself. He could be a guy that you run some offense through at the elbow areas, something like Bam style, you know, offense in the half court. He can do that for you. You can bring the ball up the court sometimes, help alleviate the pressure off of Tray Young. To me, you know, he looks like one of the steals of the draft already. Well, and he does be able to learn some tricks of the trade from Gallinari, who he'll be playing behind. Yeah. You know, Sure. Because Gallin R's got the ball in his hands a lot. The Hawks have a lot of depth, dude.

They have a lot of depth on their roster. A lot of vets, a lot of young guys. They have one of the deepest rosters maybe in the entire league, which is impressive. You know, at the very beginning of Summer League, I said that the second year guys, the guys that we didn't get to see in the Summer League last year, I was very impressed by them. And I do think that for anybody that watch Summer League, the league is in very good shape in terms of an infusion of young talent.

Because I said one of the things I think we'll see is that second year group of players, the ones that many, you know, derided and said it can't even come up with a rookie team, you know, for this, right? You had great seasons from Lamello. You had great seasons from Anthony Edwards. But like there just wasn't a ton of mega impressive rookies that that group, because of the circumstances of last year and how difficult it was. was to enter the NBA, that that group might take a collective leap much greater than ones that we have seen before. I mean, that is the sentiment that I felt coming out of that Summer League, because so many of those guys were just so much better.

And I get it. It's Summer League. But Summer League, in many cases, I could point to many times where we've seen guys, we've talked about guys on this show, and then it did pan out exactly. You know, that was a sign of what was to come. Most famously, we, I remember the show we did in Vegas, and we gushed about what we had just seen from Donovan Mitchell. How'd that turn out? You know what I mean?

Like, I mean, Donovan Mitchell was not thought of in that class as somebody that was going to be special in the same way that many of the high draft picks were. And he turned out to be. I mean, like even that year, you can think a guy is going to be good. I wrote an article like Donovan Mitchell is the, you know, it could be, is a combo guard. They're going to be the steal of the draft. Yep. And I never expected him to turn into the player that he has.

No. I thought he might be a steal. I thought he might be a really good player. I didn't think he could be a face of your franchise. Speaking of, the game, I remember this to this day. I mean, I'll never forget this game because it was in the big arena, Thomas and Mac. I watched him play a game.

scored over 30 points. He had 10 steals in the game. And I remember coming on the air. I said, it's like you took a five-time NBA All-Star and threw him in a summer league game. He just murdered everybody. It was the craziest thing I ever saw in my life. Wild. That article headline for us with Donovan Mitchell is a point guard prospect of these strange NBA times. I think that's for you, Danny Chow headline. And it's turned out perfect. Shout out Danny Chow. Yeah. I mean, he has turned out perfect. I mean, he's shown it on defense sometimes. He's had, you know, up and down since he's carrying the offense. But offensively, I don't know, Chris, like even at Summer League, we did, we did gush about him. Like he said, I don't think even

we could have seen it then. We couldn't have seen it before the draft. We couldn't have seen it during Summer League, but not to reach, not 50 points in playoff games. Not to reach the level that he has. And that's what that's what's so interesting about some of these guys we're talking about, whether it's, you know, a forward, like a Jalen Johnson. We've talked a lot about Cam Thomas. We don't need to go over him again. But we haven't talked a lot about like Bones Island, you know, who the Nuggets drafted.

He had a great summer league. Didn't it make the all summer league team, which he tweeted about Nuggets fans weren't happy about that? But I mean, disrespect, chip on the shoulder. It's just a silly list. Like, it doesn't matter at all. It's a summer, all summer league team.

Ultimately, what matters is the production. and Bones Highland, everything he did at VCU, everything he did, the scoring, his ability to create a have to bounce, stepbacks, pull-ups, contest and shots. It all translated to NBA Summer League competition. The next stage for him, does it translate to preseason? Does it translate to the regular season? Because I'll tell you what, dude, he's going to have a lot of opportunity with the nuggets this year. I mean, I know they have veterans in front of him, but without Jamal Mari for most of the year,

there's going to be opportunities for Highland to slide into a role and prove himself as a guy who at 6-2, 6-3 deserves minutes in that rotation. And he could be a successor someday to a Will Barton who just signed a new contract with Denver, but still it's a short-term deal. Highland looked great, man. Bones Highland is such a great thing.

Great basketball. I mean, it's a 10. It's a 10. It's a great name. Yeah. And oh, what other thing? I don't know if you saw the one other thing just going back to Davy out Mitchell real quick. They had like, if you were watching Summer League, like you'd be watching the game, but then

there'd be this break in the action, and then they'd have like these Andy Katz interviews with prospects. And they'd be like these two minute, three minute vignettes. And it was Andy Katz asking these different prospects, like some questions. And one of them that I happened to catch there at the very end of Summer League was Andy Katz talking to Davy Ann Mitchell. And he was talking about him as defense. about how much everybody makes of his defense or whatever else.

Where did that come from? When did this start, this whole real attention to detail and want to be defensive? And he goes on and he tells this story about he was playing for Auburn. They played a rivalry game, their biggest rivalry game, against Alabama. And Colin Sexton murdered him and them. And it was that night that he was like, no more. This cannot be. Like he had talked to different people in his life.

He talked to a trader, whatever. And he just decided, that cannot be me anymore. And just decided I am going to dedicate myself to that side of the ball. And I thought that was like mega fascinating for him to mention that. And I went back and looked up the game. And Sexton had like 31. And I think Davy on Mitchell had like four or something in the game. And like, it was like that was the flash.

point is what he was explaining. There's a flashpoint where he just decided this is not, this is not going to be so anymore. And I mean, look, you created a monster. With that, thanks, Colin. Like that one night created a monster. Since you mentioned Colin Sexton, it brings to mind a tweet that I saw from Jason Maples on Twitter the other day who co-host a podcast called Temple of Hoop. Great show.

And Jason tweeted out, what am I not seeing with Sexton? Because I see a guy on the verge of stardom, and that's not the typical discourse at all with him. Oh, that's me. Yeah. Me and Jason, same page. Yeah, I know. I'm with you. It's, I love him.

So, like, yeah, he's great. I love Jason Maples. I ain't calling Sexton. But I'm like, well, what's, what is it that people don't see? When you lose like hell. When you lose like hell. Is that all it is? Yeah.

Well, and there's advanced stuff that doesn't like him. But, I mean, you watch these games. I mean, I watched him. Go back and watch that Brooklyn game that they went to double over time where he's just going heads up. Go back and watch the three on five when he was in college. Yes. Yes. He's a dog.

And he's a dog. And the other thing is this. I think that so many times I was having this discussion with somebody yesterday because you're perfect person to ask about this because you were covering the Celtics way back when and paid great attention to them right and i said if i would have told you five six years ago that the story this morning is going to be terry rozier signs a 96 million dollar extension what would you have said and you go back and look and the i mean his first two years he's not even he's in the 30s from the field.

Yeah. From the field. Yep. Like not, I'm not talking about from three. He's not 30 something from three. He's 30 something from the field. Just to give you some numbers, his four years in Boston, Terry Rozier average 7.7 points per game on 35% from three, 77% from the line, and 38% field goal percentage.

And for that matter, only 40.4% percent. from two, only 40.4% from two. In the two years in Charlotte, he's up to 19.3 points for a game, 47.5% from two, 39.6% from three, and overall, 44% from the field and 84% from the free throw line. So, like, his efficiency is skyrocketed the last two years with Charlotte. And by the way, Fortisville, he was slightly up the last two years in Boston, but overall still was much lower. Well, and just another amazing example of a guy that we decided what he is early in his career,

and he is a much different player. If you would have evaluated him after two years, if you would evaluate him after four years, if you would have evaluated him after six years, you know what I mean? Like you've got different, way different opinions, way different opinions. People have kind of, I think, anchored their belief after four years, after the four years in Boston, when really the player we've seen the last two years in Charlotte when he started every game and he's been great on both ends, who has improved so much as a shooter. Like if you look at his numbers shooting the ball from midrange, if you look at his

numbers every year from three, basically anything off the dribble, he has improved every year of his career as a shooter. I think especially the last three, four years, it's just a steady ascension upwards. So I don't think with him it's a small sample. I mean, the, But the last two years, he's taken over, I think nearly 1,000 jump shots. He's shooting, yeah, last two years with Charlotte, shooting 39.6% from three on 994 three-point attempts. That's incredible. So, I mean, he has become an efficient three-point shooter doing it off the catch, off the dribble, off of, you know, movement, screens and everything.

This is what you want next to lamello ball. When you have lamello ball, a tall point guard who can, you know, grow into somebody to defend bigger players, you can handle having a smaller guy like Terry Rozier, six foot one, who, by the way, is really tough on defense. You know, talking about he's not like a lockdown guy, but Terry Rozier's tough. He'll go. He plays hard, right? He fights. Right. So, you know, for Charlotte, like it seems expensive on paper, four years, $97 million. But the production, the last two years, a 20 point per game score who shoots efficiently, I don't know, man. It's pretty good to me. It's one of those, it's one of those, Kev, that you've got to do

the you got to do the blind test. Line up the numbers. Line up the salaries. And you tell me if you think this guy's worth it. And in a day, you're like, look, man, he's worth it, I think. You saw what Duncan Robinson got?

Like, it's the price of doing business. Yeah. Salaries like, guys are making 50 million now. Yeah. Like, it's, we need to adjust here. If you got really good starters, you know what I mean?

It's not crazy. Right. Yeah, we got to adjust the way we think about this stuff. And, you know, the Rozier thing makes me think because I, you know, over the course of the last couple of days, we've got a lot of feedback. And so I do want to send a shout out to Minnesota fans that when that trade came down, the trade came down right before we were about to record. And we talked about the Jared Culver and Wacho Herni Gomez for Pat Becker. And we didn't really cover it from the Minnesota side.

And I think, my bad. Well, in large part, because we were talking about young prospects in the NBA and Culver and the fact that he was the number six pick that they traded up to draft Jared Culver. And then by virtue of the circumstances, his loss of confidence, poor play, whatever you want to call it, you know, they spent free agent money on Malik Beasley. they drafted Anthony Edwards number one overall.

He's eventually, you know, not productive and at the end of a bench, a guy that was very highly thought of not that long ago, right? And my opinion is, was on the surface that, I mean, Patrick Beverly, I know what he brings to a team. I know that he is a $14 million backup point card. and you hope that he has a profound effect on that team. I have my, I wonder, because I saw that what happened with Jimmy Butler and make no mistake, they are cut from the same cloth. And so can he extract a level of fight and attitude or whatever?

Or is he going to become disenchanted with Towns and Russell and Anthony Edwards and those guys? We will see. hopefully he can have a profound effect on that team. That being said, with somebody like, Jerich Culver has played less than 100 NBA games. And we just had this discussion about Terry Rozier. Now,

maybe Jericho's never going to end up being any good. It's possible, right? Sometimes that happens with guys. But how many times have we talked on this very show about if we would have judged a guy through? And I was stunned. There was not one Minnesota fan that did not absolutely love that trade and could not be, even media. It was time for, it was time for Culver to go.

No doubt. Good, great deal by Gerson Rosehouse. And I'm like, bro, when you trade the number six pick within two years for a backup point guard, like, God, where, what, you can't get lower stock than that. Absolutely. You know what I mean? And by the way, like, you got to respect Roseanne. us for, you know, admitting it. We made a mistake.

After two years, you're pulling the plug. And ultimately, I look at this deal for Minnesota. Like, we know who Patrick Beverly is. He's been in the NBA for nine years. We know who he is at this point. And now you look at Minnesota in the context of what they are and who they have. They get a lot of good defensive players. They do.

I mean, we're talking about like Delo and Kat. They're two, you know, big name players. But look behind them. You got a Kogi, very good at the wing position. you got Patrick Beverly now in that back court. You got Jada McDaniels who as a rookie was really, really good. Vanderbilt coming off the bench. Prince is solid.

I mean, Nas Reid for that matter, like behind towns, solid. They got a lot of good defensive players. The problem is the two guys that play 30 plus minutes. And that's where it's going to be like cat, I thought cat in the latter half of that year when they started playing him a little bit more often in the wing, he was. better in that role. And I wonder if we'll see more of that with the team this season. But even then, I mean, if Kat's able to continue getting better on the defensive end of the floor, that will mitigate, you know, what might be a zero with Russell on the perimeter. Can Russell improve?

We'll see. I mean, we're going to find out he had better improve, right? He had better improve with all these guys around him that are playing and playing hard, fighting, defending, you know, you know, with the intensity and focus because they have some of those guys, Chris. They do. It comes down to can cat get better, can Delo get better. If those guys do,

let's say Edwards also continues to improve. Suddenly their team could start looking pretty good. It is very, it is very rare to see somebody give up on a top six pick. It's rare. Within less than 100 games. And that's why like, Like, so maybe that says something about the kid or maybe that says we gave up too soon.

Well, I guess we're going to find out. It could. We'll see. I mean, ultimately for Minnesota, this has to be like a move to accelerate things. Bring in Patrick Brevely. And I mean, you know, when you get new owners, you got to win. I know this. You got to win.

And so you can forego the future for trying to show promise right now. because when you get new guys coming in, you're worried that they're going to bring in their own guys, right, to run that thing. Because they don't have the same loyalty to you. They didn't hire you. And so you're trying to win now and show promise now so that they don't feel like they need to go elsewhere to find whoever they want to run their organization in the future. Here's the thing, though, for Minnesota too. you know, we, I'm expressing some optimism, you know, with what they could be. You could say the same about New Orleans.

You could say the same about Sacramento. You could say the same about Memphis. There's only six slots that are guaranteed for the playoffs. And then there are four for the play. And there are only 10 spots in the West. Somebody has to be below 500. Somebody needs to miss the playoffs. And yet, like you look at some of these teams that will miss the playoffs.

and it's like, oh, geez, they're not bad. They're not bad. No, honestly, the only ones I think that are going to go into that season without the expectation of being in that top 10 are Oklahoma City and Houston. I agree with you 100%. I mean, everybody else in the whole conference, everybody. I think San Antonio, like front office might view it as like we're in on playoff team. Greg Popovich and that coaching staff will not view it that way.

Oh, absolutely not. You know, so like they fall into that category you're talking about. But, I mean, that's 13 teams that are, that believe they have a shot to make the playoffs for 10 spots. In the east, it's more. I would imagine if you're Cleveland, Orlando, Detroit, you've probably come to terms with the fact that it's not happening right now. I don't know. I don't know, Chris. I don't know.

I don't know. If you're Cleveland. I'm talking about it. You're not firing J.B. Bickerstaff if he doesn't make the playoffs. Sure. Sure. That's understandable.

But like you might feel like you get a shot if you have sexton and Garland. You know, you get a moldy now. Yeah, I know. They're still young. I'm with you completely. I'm just speaking like, you know, from their perspective, they might view it a different way there. And they might be

Toronto as well, you know, losing Lowry, getting younger, but like, then again, like you can flip it the other way and say,

what if Cacum has a leap? And what if Van Bleak gets even better? What if, you know, Barnes, you know, is a top contender for rookie of the year? What if O.G.

And Obie gets even better. Like, you can, like, you can keep throwing out all the stuff with some of these young teams because there's so much young talent.

That's the thing. There's so much young talent in the NBA right now. Do you see that story this morning about a Scotty Barnes? He got a, He got an endorsement deal. Nike got him. Nike got Scotty Barnes.

We haven't gotten a ton of the big endorsement stuff that's happened just yet. But Scotty Barnes signed a deal with Nike. And so he's going to, yeah, he got himself an endorsement deal. In fact, I was talking to one of my buddies. Nick DePaul had broke this. Number four picks, Scottie Barnes has signed a multi-year footwear and apparel endorsement with Nike. And so he's got the bag.

And he has certainly shown a lot of flashes and showed a lot of flashes when he was in Summer League. I saw him Raptors Rockets last week. Yeah. Dude's big. Like he looks huge on the court. And during that game, there's a proposal at halftime.

The guy, he stood at the free throw line, blew a kiss. and proceeded to brick like five or six free throws in a row. And then I think he moved back to the three point line, took like four or five threes before making. Then his then girlfriend came out to the court and he got down on one knee and proposed to it half time of Summer League rockets or raptors. It seems she said yes, despite the misses on the court, but the happy congrats of the happy couple. wait

what yeah I proposed this is it summer league yeah I wonder if he better than I before it's like it's kind of like a shotgun wedding

in Vegas yeah yeah like the hangover I couldn't believe what was happening because I was watched contently you know those competitions

are serious business and he blew the kiss I'm like this guy he's major serious here oh my gosh he's very serious

wow I don't think I could I don't think I could ever propose at a sporting event. No. I want to do that. No way. How did you propose, Chris? Anything, anything fun?

Anything special? You know? No, I did not have a bunch of pomp and circumstance and all that kind of stuff. Like, you know, a whole like, you know, a video like for, you know, like nowadays. Is there pressure on proposals nowadays to like make them cool? Probably. I wonder if there's a pressure. Probably.

I don't know. I did. What did I do? It's been a long that's been 14 years now. Oh, Oh, it was her birthday. Oh, that's cool.

She opened up her gift. Ah, I like it. That's what I did. That's nice. That's creative. And I killed two birds with one stone. Look at the big brain on me. A big brain bird right here.

What a genius. I killed two birds with one stone. She didn't have to get her a gift. Yeah. Did it get her a gift? The best gift. of all, Chris. That's right. Yeah. No, it was her birthday. And it did shock her because she opened up her gift and that's what it was. And that's when, yeah. But we didn't like, we weren't like out in a field with some photographer and then, you know, take 50 pictures of us embracing and is that like Bachelor, Bachelorette universe pressure? I don't know. Did that foster it? You know, is it social media? Yeah, I think, yeah, I didn't. It wasn't the same thing. Like I see this now with the baby thing too. Oh, yeah, baby reveals.

These reveals and all this stuff? Yeah, none of that stuff applied to me. Everything's for the gram. I think that has happened in the last, like, yeah, probably like seven, eight years. It's a social media thing, I think. Yeah, yeah, right. Kind of probably influenced a little bit by, you know, dating shows on TV like The Bachelor. Yeah, you see it a lot.

It's omnipresent. And so, therefore, you think you need to do it. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't do any of that. I mean, sometimes. I will tell you this. Our reveal? Our reveal? No lie. I probably should. I don't care. I, we went into the gynecologist and,

you know, you're getting like the, they rub the thing on your, on your wife's belly. And so they're showing you the baby. Yeah. Ultrasound. And so anyways, this is first child. Now, I only, I have a sister who is seven years older than me. So my recollection, you know, you don't really have that many memories before you're like seven or eight years old. And that's when my sister was a teenager who fought with my parents like, I mean, hell's fire, right? And so that's what I knew of growing up with a girl in the house. And so I was absolutely petrified. You know what I'm saying? If I'm being honest, if I'm being honest, and that's why, because that's what I knew. And so I remember we're in the, we're in the doctor's office and she's rubbing the thing over there. You can

start to see you can see the head whatever and she goes and that's a penis i jump hey bro i jumped up out of the seat i pumped my fist i said yes i went crazy oh i was so excited i mean it's not what you're supposed to do i was so excited because i was just terrified like geez man i'm going to be a parent for the first time like i know i know what to do i i know what to do I'm going to feel comfortable with this. And obviously, I have a daughter also. And by the time that came around, I was so excited. Yes.

You know what I'm saying? Because I'd been through it. But when all I knew of was, you know, like this, like, those are my first memories of, of parents and girls. Was this like a teenager, you know, which teenage girls fighting with their parents is, you know, a story as old as time. but just because I guess it would, I don't know, probably traumatized me that I was like, oh, please be a boy, please be a boy, please be a boy. And sure enough it happened. And I went nuts.

That was our reveal. You know what I mean? That was and then. That's hilarious. Obviously now. That's what she said. That's what the lady said. That's what I jumped up out of that chair like I just won the title.

I went crazy, absolutely crazy. And I will say now, you know, you know, growing up to be good kids. Yeah, and now, and now with my daughter, who is eight, I'll say this. Like, it's a different world. There's a different level of love and affection and feelings and all of those things that I think I'm much more prepared for that I'm older, you know what I mean? And that I, you know, had my son first, that I was more prepared for.

dealing with because having a daughter is ridiculous. I mean, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. They're different. It's different. Boys are much different. Girls, I swear to God, you, little girls, I mean, like, when my son, if I tell, if I bark at him, he's just like, yeah, whatever, right?

And we just move on and then we're watching a game together. If I bark at her, I hurt her feelings. I mean, it's like. geez man if i would have gone through this first i don't know i don't know but i i i guess my uh my celebration was warranted at the time it worked out it worked out it worked out i think it worked out for them too probably a lot better you're learning how to become a dad that's right with william and then you know you have a daughter and you you learn some things you know some stuff it helps you that's right well and i have him as a buffer yes you know what i have him as a buffer exactly he can he can help

in the situation. He's a good older brother. We are going to get the schedule coming out later today. We have only had a couple of things that were announced. Atlanta, New York, you love it because of the whole Trey acting like he's in a Broadway show in the playoffs and the level of booze and middle fingers and everything else. That'll be great for Christmas seeing New York booing and flipping off Trey Young and yelling F you Trey, while we're all having our wonderful family diamond

Christmas and watching New York City scream at a few tray. That'll be real wholesome. I love that. And then Nets Lakers? Owee. I mean, that's like an all-star game.

Seriously. LeBron, Anthony, when you think about it, that's a fun part about getting the schedule is just thinking about what that can be like is if God,

you know, hopefully, God willing, everybody stays uninjured. When you get, when you're going to get Westbrook A.D. at LeBron, versus James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant. I mean, that is just, that is a ridiculous amount of star power. Six Hall of Famers. And I guess, well, I mean, Kyrie's got a finals MVP.

And, well, Russ has got a regularity. And I guess, I mean, I. I guess the least accomplished award-wise is Anthony Davis of those six, which is outrageous. Something else when you think about it. That's how much star powers on that court, right? I think that we'll probably see both those teams. I think that was probably a sign of things to come to New York and Atlanta get more games on national television than they have had in the past. You'd imagine the clippers will go down a little bit, right?

in terms of national in terms of national TV games anybody else that you think is Milwaukee will go up because they won the title should go up oh yeah that's true and I mean I mean we'll see when the schedule

gets revealed you know later by the time you hear this it might all be out but I look forward to seeing like some of these teams that had high draft picks as well like even though they might be non-playoff teams do the rockets or pistons get a slight up tick you know for Janeland Green and Kate Cunningham I'm going to be intrigued to see that as well

because those guys could be really popular players. I could see the NBA wanting to promote them, even if the national TV game they get are them facing each other, like Rockets Pistons, you know? I think they're going to fall a lot more into the Morant category than the Zion. Or just like the NBA TV national games. Yes. Yeah.

Because they put Zion on TV a million times. I don't think any of these guys have that kind of, you know, cachet where they're going to, where the NBA is going to really feature them. Zion was different. That was different than everything else, you know? Because for the most part, those rookies, those high picks, I mean, look, Anthony Edwards didn't get on TV last year.

Lamello didn't get on TV last year. I'd imagine Lamello and that team might get out a little bit more this year. Charlotte may get a little bit of an uptick, right? I mean, they were, especially when they became everybody's league pass team. Right, that we were watching last year as Lamello was going through his little run. Phoenix will probably get the biggest boost. I mean, they were not on national TV much last year. No.

Right? And now with their finals appearance, you'd imagine they'll probably get the biggest uptick. And then some of these other teams might go down a little bit. Portland might go down a little bit. Golden State, they were already featured on national TV. quite a bit, and any team with Curry is going to be. I do wonder what happens with New Orleans. New Orleans has been one of those teams that two years in a row have gotten a lot of

national TV games and yet has not had a tremendous level of success. And I wonder if now we fast forward to this season and if the Zion draw is still there for the NBA, if they're going to, if they're going to feature him a lot in big national TV games. What do you think? Maybe. I mean,

I hope so. I hope so. I mean, the one thing I thought that was interesting was our friends at Statmuse tweeted out. And Nicola Yokic is the first reigning MVP to not get a Christmas day game since the NBA went to five games on Christmas in 08.

Wow. Yeah. Now, do you think that's because of Murray, the Murray injury? I think, I think it's a, it's a Denver.

thing. I just think it's just not that interesting. I don't know. Maybe their internal analytics or something say they're just not as much of a draw, which is a real shame.

I mean, that's one thing I am disappointed by. I know there's a lot of great players, a lot of players that like deserve attention on Christmas Day national TV games. Like it is a shame that Yokic isn't going to get to showcase his skills, man.

He's a fun player, dude. He's a guy that I would have had on there. When Brooklyn's going to get 50 national TV games and the Lakers are going to get 50 national TV games. There's only so many spots for everybody else. I mean, those two teams are going to get absurd.

Because they fall, because they also fall into the perfect situation where that six start time, that six or seven start time for the Brooklyn, the Brooklyn, you know, their home games are going to be early games. And so you can

put them in in a lot of of different situations. Same with the Knicks, too. The Knicks will be on TV a lot more. I think you're probably right. Nick, Chicago, Brooklyn, those teams. And then of the new ones, Atlanta will get more.

Phoenix will get more, for sure, you know, than what they've had in the past. And so I look forward to it. I just, you know, it's that deal where you, you see that schedule come out, and then it just gives you the opportunity to start thinking about all of the, the different games that are going to be coming up.

And you also get to see who has extremely difficult schedules. And then you get to look at the very end of the year and kind of envision the fact that if playoff races are coming down, you know, to where one game really matters, there's a lot of matchups that end up being at the end of the year that you could foresee a circumstance where everything's on the line, right? Yeah. Something that was on my mind this week, you know, with the schedule reveal. And it was all my mind because the Facebook Horizon Workroom thing that they announced.

Did you see that? You saw that right? No. So, like, Facebook has this new thing with their Oculus headset, the virtual reality headset, where you can, like, be in an office workroom with, like, up to 16 people. And there's, like, an augmented reality, you know, part of it where, like, you can kind of have your laptop screen in your virtual reality. Oh, my God.

And so. Just what I want more meetings. your keyboard and laptop. But I mean, yeah, like, it's just me. This one's just meetings, but it's theoretically like someday you could watch a game together with your friends with a VR headset on, right? Like you could all be in the same room together and like there's a TV screen in the VR room and you could all be hanging out theoretically.

No, no, no. That is the future. Yeah, definitely. And I mean, I know like the NBA already has like VR games. I think it's like every Monday. And I was just thinking this week, I want to watch a game. on VR because I did it years ago like three, four years ago, I didn't

like the quality wasn't great, but I hear it's improved a lot. This will be the, I've thought about this and that while you do not, you will never be able to replicate the environment that you are in, right? That is the one thing that the live event is always going to have. You feel it.

Over this. Yeah, same way with a concert or something, right? And that's not going to be able to be replicated in your living room. But in terms of just like, watching it, there will come a day, and I bet it sooner than later, where you were going to be able to strap on a headset, and you are going to be, you are going to feel like you are sitting

like in Jack Nicholson seats at the Lakers game, or you're sitting on the baseline. The commissioner seats, out of silver seat, you know. And you're going to be able to watch the game from that view in your living group. That will take place. Absolutely. And that's going to be weird as hell. Yeah, I think there's going to be a day where maybe they charge, you know, it could be free.

You know, it could be a subscription-based package, but maybe someday it's like a court side seat for $10. VR, right? Yes. I mean, it'd be fun. It'd be fun. And I'm sure it would be spending hundreds of dollars for parking and concession stands and the ticket itself and the train ride back, whatever it might be for a lot of people to have that option to do it from the comfort of their own home. You know? Yeah.

That day will come. But I know the quality is improved. So I just want to see how much it's improved because it used to be very grainy before. But the Oculus headsets are supposedly like super high death. But I don't know. I was on my mind this week with that Facebook news. A lot of tech advancements, man. A lot of tech advancements.

A lot of people react to that news this week saying we don't need more meetings. We don't need more. That's like, yeah, but this is just the beginning of that technology. Did you see that? that Elon Musk article this morning. The Tesla bot. The robots? Yeah,

the Tesla bot. They can do menial things. Yeah, there could be a, there's a lot, a lot of advancements there. Boston Dynamics as well. Make one that cleans my house, bro. Yeah.

I will buy that Joker in a second. Buy. Elon Musk, you make a housekeeper bot is on. One of my favorite podcasts is the Lex Friedman podcast. That's a podcast. I try to listen to a lot of episodes. And he's super into robotics and engineering and everything. And yeah, he used to be very much about Boston Dynamics. I'm sure you've seen their videos with their robots and some of the scripted, you know, parkour stuff that they're doing. I look forward to seeing what this Tesla bot can do. I look forward to it. Don't be like, look that up. But Boston Dynamics seems to be more for like warehouses, you know, like the Tesla bot seems to be more for like at home. Like you said, cleaning.

So I... Tasks. We're living in the future, Chris. Oh, I know. We're living in the future. In 20 years, I'm going to have a robot making me breakfast. Clean it up my house. Yeah.

Have a good day at work, crass. It might be driving your Tesla. And do, hey, and doing this podcast. I'm going to be replaced with the robot. Yeah. Oh, God. No. All right.

Last thing before we get out of here, a massive congratulations to our friend Mirren Fader, whose book Janice, let's go! Did, in fact, make the New York Times bestseller list. Go, Mirren. She's number three on the bestsellers list. Yeah, she was in absolute shock and borderline denial over the whole thing because it was just, you never, I mean, I told her the other. night after it happened. I said, look, enjoy this accomplishment. And I was like, you know,

people have been writing books since the very beginning of time. And there's only a very few that ever end up on that list, you know. And so soak that in because that is a very, very special accomplishment that no one can ever take away from her. And I'm so happy for because anybody that listened to her on the podcast last week, I joked with her what she was on. I said, are you going to remember us when you become a New York Times bestseller? And then after it happened, she messaged me.

And I said, look, now, sometimes you just have to speak things into existence, right? And sure enough, spoken into existence, she is a New York Times bestseller. So congratulations to her. Congrats to me, we've spoken into existence. she worked it into existence as well. I mean, 221 interviews for the honest book, all the hours for interviewing,

writing, editing for the book. But ever since it dropped or was available for pre-order, I don't know how many she's interviews she's done, podcasts, radio interviews, TV stuff. It must be like around 221, right? You know, the promotion for that book is just like the hustle. The hustle is really admirable and inspiring more than anything else. it is. And here's the other thing, Kev, and you know this. In the end, it has to be good.

Yeah. It's great. And that's word of mouth. People have to like it. Read it. Enjoy it. Post about it. Because that's how something becomes a New York Times bestseller. Buying one for a friend. Because it's good. Yep. Because it's good. Because it's the type of book that even if you don't like basketball, you could like the book. And that's a really hard thing to pull off. And she did it. Yep. She did it.

Also, a bit of an homage to Jackie McMullen. I do not know Jackie McMullen personally, but I have been a fan from afar for many, many years. Obviously, she does some regular appearances on Bill's podcast. She is one of the best NBA journalists ever. I have read books that she has written, not the least of which is a very good one that you could probably find a very cheap paperback on Amazon. It's called Bird Watching. It was a book that she wrote with Larry Bird, and it's outstanding. Outstanding.

This is post him coaching with the Indiana Pacers. And people don't talk very much about Larry Bird's coaching career, but he had a lot of success coaching. Indiana, and I believe, in fact, one coach of the year, one of the years. But there's a lot of stuff about coaching and him coaching the team there that's very, very good in that book and insightful. And whether it was writing those books or writing for Sports Illustrated or writing for ESPN or being on Around the Horn, Jackie is one of the absolute best. I'm sure that we have not heard the last from her. She will still be present. But it was announced. that she is not going to be a presence on ESPN after August.

Yep, Jackie McMullen, one of the all-time great journalists. I mean, you know, growing up, Boston sports fan, I always remember my dad saying like Jackie McMullen and Bob Ryan. You know, those are two of the legends that, you know, he always loved reading, two of the people that he always said I should read and always did read Jackie. She's outstanding writer, outstanding journalist. And like you said, we're still going to hear her voice, still doing podcasts. with the ringer. I look forward to seeing what she's going to be doing with us in the months and

years, you know, maybe to come. Yeah, Jackie's a true legend. And it's going to be disappointing not to see her over at ESPN anymore writing. But I look forward to seeing what she does on the podcast side with us here with the ringer because she's kicking ass still. That is for sure. All right. Want everybody to have a good weekend. Thank you to our executive producer, Sasha as shall as always. Kevin, I will talk to you to you. next week. Have a good weekend.