The Mismatch - Knicks Parade Reactions, No. 1 Pick Speculation, and Offseason Decisions

Episode Date: June 19, 2026

Verno and Jacoby return to discuss everything that went down during yesterday’s Knicks championship parade, including all the wild viral moments. The guys then turn the page to next week’s NBA draft and discuss how the top four could go. They also debate if Giannis Antetokounmpo will finally get traded, where will LeBron James sign, and other potential moves leading up to the draft. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (00:23) Jacoby details his experience going to the Knicks championship parade (8:33) Viral parade moments (17:29) Jalen Brunson’s parade speech (23:17) New York was still popping hours after the parade (27:07) Finals thoughts on Knicks championship (28:55) NBA draft incoming (30:41) AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson? (41:28) The Prospector will return (43:15) Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, and other potential offseason moves The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Visit WeatherTech.com for your Father’s Day gift today. Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone]Hosts: Chris Vernon and David JacobyProducers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, and Jeff ShearinSocial: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Misfatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me to see us every week from the ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Parade day yesterday, Verno, and I was outside. So I figured that we did not record last night because you had to have been in recovery mode. You guys started early. I saw, and I'm not talking about drinking, I'm talking about an all-day affair because it was early yesterday morning. that I saw the Jacoby gang on the subway headed to the parade. I asked you guys if you had gotten a viewing spot and you texted me back. We're on our way there and it was a picture of you and your kids in a slammed subway car,

which I suppose we're all going to a next parade, right? It seemed like the entire city was there. Well, a lot of what I want to say about the parade is like, if you're, not in New York, like, don't believe everything you see. Like, the clips that you're seeing are the craziest of the crazy stuff. You know what I mean? Sure. This episode of The Mismatch is presented to you by WeatherTech.

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and it beats another tie or coffee mug. This Father's Day, take an easy win. Visit weathertech.com to secure your gift today. Two nights ago, there's already people getting their seats, like the night before the parade. And then at 4 in the morning, you see it's packed. and then it's six in the morning, it's like, well,

they closed off all the viewing sections. So it's like they do everything they can to tell you not to go down there. But I was like, I'm bringing two of my kids. One of my kids didn't want to go. One's a baby, the baby that I forgot during the championship. Right.

And so two of my kids are with me, my 13-year-old son and one of my daughters. And I'm like, I'm not going down there at seven in the morning and waiting for the parade to start for three hours with two complaining kids that have to pee and are hungry or whatever. So I was like, I'm going at 10 o'clock when the parade starts.

Like, I don't care. And if I don't get to the parade, if I'm just around the parade, that's all that matters, right? Okay. Get down there. Get where. All right.

So I took the, I mean, I got, I went to Canal Street, right, on the Q train because it's pretty far. It's like a quarter mile away from where the parade is. Because I figured if I got out right at the parade,

it would be just too much. And your daughter wanted fake purses, jewelry, and Laboobos. No, she did not. They're very familiar with what happened. Canal Street is wild. Yeah, Canal Street is just, wild. It's another world.

How does every other guy on Canal Street have AirPods Maxes for $10? You can get dumplings for $5 or like a Gucci purse for $5, whatever you want. Whatever you want. It's all $5. That was the thing. When we went there last summer, every single guy offered be either AirPods or AirPods or AirPods maxes. Oh, yeah.

Like in the box. And I'm like, there's for sure no chance. No chance. So I get down there. And to make a long story short is it's very New York. You can kind of finagle your way wherever you want to. You just have to be confident and full of shit. So we climbed over some fences.

And we walked a circuitous route. At one point, I showed my Spotify ID because the Spotify offices are like by World Trade. So I was like, hey, I work. for World Trade and the competition is like, whatever. And then I was like, hey, I've got a resident. He's like, I'm going to go to that bar restaurant. And he's like, do you have a reservation? And I did have a reservation for 2 o'clock PM.

So I showed him some text message. And he's like, sure, go ahead. So I got past two barricades. Oh, you're doing good. You're doing better than Tyler Colick. Seriously. So we ended up getting in there. And the parade was still like a block away and it went by.

It was just like, it was just fun to be around the energy. and the people and the positivity and the chance and the pictures. And like there was so many people drinking and smoking weed before 10 a.m. I was just like, I couldn't deal with it. My kids are like everyone's smoking weed. I was like, I know. Don't worry. It's the next parade.

And, you know, we ended up staying in the middle of the street. I caught up with some friends and watched the parade go by. And it was just so joyous. You did get to see the, you actually got to see the parade go by, like, with a decent view. I don't know if I'd go that far. I was like a block away. Like you could tell it was going by.

Okay. But it was, I wasn't like I was high-fiving Josh Hart. You know what I mean? I understand. I was pretty deep because I got there late. I got there at like 10. Did your kids think this is stupid or did you kids like it?

Oh my God. They complained so much for the first hour. It was just, this is hot. Why are we here? So we're not even going to get to see the parade. What are we doing here? Why is everyone smoking,

weed. Like, are we, is this safe? Are we going to die? And then, like, once we kind of got past a couple of cop barriers, like, I feel like they felt like, since we got into like the VIP section, somewhere we weren't supposed to be, that made them happy. Also, I got them a slice of pizza and a soda, which also worked. Because they're, they're hungry. It's just chemistry. Sometimes they just, they just, they just, they just, they just, they just, they just need, like, food. And then they were happy. And we saw some of my friends and, you know, Uncle Mike was there. Uncle Sean was there. So, like, we saw some friends. We had a great time. And then I went home. and dropped them off at the house,

rested a little bit, and then I went back downtown around 2 o'clock and went to the bar, Blue Haven South, which was absolutely going bonkers. So was that, like, I know that every Nick's fan you talk to and you have expressed this as well,

I will, in the interest of full disclosure, you're one of those that still, I still can't, I still can't believe. that happened, right? Like, that's the, that was the feeling all the way up. Did that finally, like, make it sink in? The fact that you're watching a Knicks parade, they really did win the championship, that it was all like, you know, you guys are all kind of going through this, like,

dream state of, I can't believe that happened. I still can't believe it's real. But then, like, there's a parade, right? And the, and the mayor's giving a rousing speech that everybody's going crazy for and there's a billion people out on the street and you're seeing them, you know, march down through the city of New York as champions. Like, did it finally become real? This is a terrible analogy, but I'm going to use it anyway. It's almost like when a family member passes, you know that it happened, but until you have the funeral process that it sinks in, it's like, oh, okay.

It's sort of like you need to sort of like have the ceremony for it to. That is a truly terrible analogy. I know. Terrible analogy. I know. I know. Maybe the worst. How about a wedding?

How about a wedding? Can we do a wedding? You would do a wedding? Rewine the tape. Right. So it's sort of like when you get engaged, you know you're going to be married. Right. But then when you have the ceremony and you're actually married and you have the ring on that it really sings in.

Then it's real. That it's real. You're in the car on the way to the airport for the honeymoon. Holy crap, I've actually married. Or how about a child, right? The child comes out and you just immediately are totally overcome with an emotion, whatever. You with the dead person.

I'm sorry. That is the person that came to mind. But man, it was just like the scenes were crazy. Any elevated structure, every scaffolding, every, cliff and even like signs everyone's just like climbing on top of things it was it was like there's this multi level to it all which was kind of crazy

and there's this like a guy with just like Timberlin boots just like swinging them around and everyone's wearing Nick stuff everyone's selling Nick stuff there's everyone's selling like what they call them like nut crackers here which is just like or jungle juice or whatever it is it's just like

these little sort of like quarter water bottles full of like some sort of alcohol and I've learned not to drink those because if you have two of those things, you're done for the day. So I'm with my kids. You know what I mean? So I'm not going crazy. But it was just like, it was a very, very joyous occasion, very joyous occasion.

And man, like some of the videos that came out of it were just crazy. I know you say that we that do not live in New York City, we are experiencing this via the internet, right? I'm seeing the clips come across Twitter. I'm seeing them all on Instagram. you're seeing the lady revive the guy and he tries to make out with her. I mean, can we talk about that? Like how, first of all, like, she's pretty hot.

You know what I mean? And then there's a video where the cop is like, you can't go up there. And the guy's like, well, there's a dead man up there. So I'm going to help him out. And the cop is like, no, it's against the rules. He's like, what, we're following the rules now? We're following the rules. There's somebody dead.

And then there's just like a hot nurse and like, booty shorts that just happened to be there ready to revive somebody like what it seemed it seems set up it seems set up right crazy she saved his life anyways all right so we're experiencing it via the internet right did you see anything particularly crazy outside of the normal right like you see something crazy every day i know you are more numb to it than i yeah it's not it was all crazy It was more like a general hum of insanity than like the stuff that you see, like the woman with the orange panties getting hurt. That interaction between those two women is one of the strangest things I've ever seen.

She's getting her butt slapped and then like does the splits on a barricade. And her panties are like nicks colored, which is just like forethought that I couldn't imagine. You know what I'm talking about, right? Yeah, and did you see the guy that was sucking the lady's toes? I mean, he was, that, like, I've sucked a toe, but he was going hard. Right. He was committed.

Brumitted. I mean, and again, these are all the, again, we're getting the best of. You're getting the craziest. Exactly. Yeah, like, it's generally just a lot of people being like Nixon five, high-fiving each other and giving each other hugs to strangers, a lot of that. And a lot of people telling me, they're like, oh, you, they're like, a lot of, you were right about Wembe.

It was very much like, a lot of like, you were right about Wembe. Like, you're the guy. Like, you were right. You are the guy. I know, but it was very preacher choir. You know what I mean? Like, if I was in San Antonio,

I don't know if I would get that kind of a reaction. No, no, no, no, no, no. In fairness, you are, you were so far ahead of the curve on hating him. Like, I mean, it's frankly unbelievable. The mismatchers, no. I was there in November. I was there in November.

It wasn't a cold out. And I was already there. Because I would say when you started hating him, he was at like, he was more like Tim Duncan, Dirk, like the harmless, nobody hates him, right? We just appreciate him. He's fun. You know what I mean? And you're like, no, I hate this guy.

And it's like, nobody hates this guy except for you. And now you, oh, I. I love the huge. You were talking about forethought and the ladies orange, orange underwear, the, the, the posters and like, Wembe in a two-two and the crying Wembe heads that were being held up. Like all of that was just, I mean, bravo,

bravo to the people that had the forethought to bring those to the parade because it was funny as hell. It was a, it was a lot of fun. It was a very, very joyous, safe occasion. I did not feel outside of like the marijuana. There's a lot of marijuana. Okay. This is a bit much.

I was like this is a bit much, guys. There always is. It was just a bit much. I was just like, and my kids started to talk about it. It was just kind of like, okay. But like it was very safe, very crowded. But everyone was there just in their next year just to sort of give each other high fives. And just the amount of climbing on things, if there was anything to climb on, it was climbed.

Every tree was full of people like like a like a like a, a, like a, a, a, Murder of Crows. Any sort of like a newsstand just had people on it. Any scaffolding was full of people on it. And then there's like a dead guy on top of whatever that thing was getting revived by a hot nurse that had Narcan. It's just insane. That's the insane clip.

It's nuts. A couple of notes on this all as we're putting a bow on the Knicks becoming NBA champions for the first time of 53 years. Number one, the colic thing was absolutely hilarious. and him being apprehended by the police as he is high-fiving fans, and they think he is just someone, a fan who's gotten Luke. A guy. And he just, just explaining, explaining to the police that I'm a Nick is the funniest thing ever.

I mean, honestly, because we always joke about how is there anybody that looks less like an NBA player than the T.J. McCannels. and the Kyler Kola to whatever. Like there's no way a six-foot white guy is part of this parade. With that hair? Right. It's impossible, right? I mean, it reminded me of the funniest thing ever was about a year. No, no, this is two years ago.

I do this interview with Jalen Wells and the videos out of the internet. But they are explained, he is explaining the, story how he got to town and there is in this place where he lives there's a little supermarket next to the river called Miss Cordillas and so he goes into Miss Cordelia's the guy walks up to him and he says hey man my name's John a huge Grizzlies fan would you mind taking a picture with me and so Jalen Wells is like yeah I'll take a picture with you and so he takes a picture and they're arm and arm and they're smiling and then Jalen Wells goes to to the cash register.

And the guy's like, hey, you know that guy? You know that guy? And he was like, yeah, Big Grizzly's fan. He says his name's John. And he's like, that's John Conchar.

That's your teammate. And he was like, what? He's like, oh, my God. John Conchard ran up on his team. Yes. That's a really good bit.

That's a really good bit. That's a really good bit. You, look, people can go back and find it. The picture, we got the picture that Contchar took. We got the picture. Contra had his girlfriend take the picture of him and Jalen Wells in the supermarket. It's hilarious. As a big fan.

And that's what read through my mind yesterday because I was like, that's exactly what would happen, right? Like, because literally a player on the team took a, this is when he first got drafted, took a pitcher with him, not thinking he was an NBA player. That's really funny. I had the forethought to be like, oh, hey man,

like I'm a big, a big grizzly fan. Let's take a picture and then see him at practice in two weeks. It's just hilarious. Let me tell you that that guy is the sneakiest, funniest guy ever, and he is so unassuming.

He's the guy that, like, John Contra used to post on, we would all follow him on Instagram, and he would post like, like on his stories. He would post like, views and it would be like the most beautiful, amazing beach in the world, right?

And you'd be like, damn, man. And then I'd see him and I'd be like, bro, where were you? And he was like, I was in my apartment. He just, that's my beach. That's the kind of dude he is. But anyways, Tyler Colick, getting apprehended by the police yesterday was unbelievable.

You know, I mean, to come out of, I guess the Brunson thing was really, you know, uh, you know, he's just perfect he wants so badly he does want so badly to fire back and he's just playing it cool like he keeps

he keeps saying the things like you know even when he walked to the podium he's like should I pop my shit or should I just be my you know what I mean or should I just be what I've been

and then yesterday I'm like oh here we go and he's like you don't have to say a word like he it's like he keeps it's very clear that Brunson, and he said this on the postgame show when he was on with Ernie and Chuck and them,

I get my personality from my mom. Like he said that right in front of Frank Brunson, right? And so it's pretty clear that mom's like, look, you don't have to say that because if it was up to Rick, you know he would be popping off to everybody. Like, I mean, you, when you say he is perfect, like, Honestly, if that's anybody else,

don't you go up there and you say Stephen A. Smith, Becky, oh, yeah, because you know he knows. Mark Cuban, you should have paid me. Everybody's getting it. Everybody's getting it. Everybody's getting it. Somebody. Somebody's like, junior high.

Just everybody. And he's just doing the more powerful thing is, which is kind of like the, you know, you know what I mean? Oh, Bruno. Do you know what was? brought up, because a lot of people came out to me to talk about Wemby, and do you know what was brought up? Did you see Wemby went to a children's hospital? Oh, we did?

Yeah. You know what? Weirdly, I did not see that he went to Children's Hospital. I saw somebody reacting to Joe Budden criticizing him for going to a children. I did see that there was a- You can't criticize someone for going to a chief. Even I can't criticize Wembe for going. to a children's hospital.

I didn't know what it was about. I didn't know what it was about. Yeah. No, but they did like a PR thing and they went to a children's hospital like after they lost the championship. It was kind of just like, yeah. Listen, I'm not going to criticize someone for going to, even I can't criticize someone for going to a children's hospital. Oh, and I'm going to say this.

That organization, that organization is truly great. One of my, one of my core memories was in 2011, they won over 60-something games. And they were the one seed in the Western Conference. They played the eight seed grizzlies, and the grizzlies beat them four to two at Zbo went nuclear, right? And after that game, I've never seen this before. I've never seen this before or since. After that game in the locker room, now you got to think this is the most devastating time ever. R.C. Buford was the GM at the time.

He walked into the Grizzlies locker room and one by one walked to every single locker and congratulated all of them. I mean. And I was like, bro, like that's undone. Like they are classy, man. They are totally. And some things are just good. Like going to a children's hospital and like being with those kids and being seven foot six and being Wembe is like unassailable.

I can't criticize that. All right. A couple of other things. As we put a bow on it. The mismatch is brought to you by Fantool. Another NBA season is wrapped up in the books. Congratulations to the New York Knickerbockers. But the fun doesn't have to stop there on the biggest stage in the world.

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And no, a gift card isn't a cop out. It's just practical, like WeatherTech. Skip the guesswork this year. Visit weathertech.com to get your father's day gift today. Ben Stiller announced he's doing a documentary with the, I think the Safty guys, right? Like, I mean, you saw him. He was there.

Like, the whole year he had his camera. He was at work. He was working the whole time. Yeah. Now it makes sense why he was filming so much. Yeah. Because I was like, I do want to buy a DVD.

I don't even have a DVD player, but I want to buy a DVD, the championship DVD. They'll probably make time. The Sports Illustrated still do that. That's still happening. I know. I don't even know,

is Sports Illustrated is still making physical copies? I don't think so. I don't think so either. I'm disagreeing. But I would totally do that. Take my $60. I'll take it. I have the night.

You know what? I should grab it. I have one. Just for people to see. Hold on. Talk amongst yourselves. Just so people can see what this was like. This is when me and you grew up.

You said talk amongst yourselves. So I will tell you, I went home and dropped my kids off at the house. And then I went back downtown. It's around 2 o'clock at this point. So I had reservations at a bar. You're going to love this. I'm telling a story. Oh, okay.

Two o'clock. And I drop my kids off and I went back downtown. But I also have to produce game over on Thursday night with Max and Rich. So I can't really like party hard. You know what I mean? Right. So I go back downtown and it's two o'clock. And I'm thinking everything's going to be cleared out.

It's not going to be crazy anymore. The parade ended at noon. And it's going to be just like a normal New York City afternoon. No. Two o'clock, it was still like packed to the gills. Knicks everywhere, no cleanup happening, and just absolutely bonkers. There's lines outside of every single bar, and I was just not ready for the level of energy to last all day long into the evening.

So when we were just talking about the Ben Stiller thing and about how he was like running around with a camera everywhere throughout this entire thing, and then it's announced afterwards, he says, I'm making a documentary with 824, et cetera, et cetera. And it's like, and you just said, I want a DVD. So it's interesting. Kids have no idea what you would be talking about, right? When we grew up, it used to be that right after the championship, there would be a commercial for Sports Illustrated and you would then,

which was a magazine. You get 30 bucks and you get a magazine with like a special like foldout poster. Celebrate the blank championship. And then they would send. you either a DVD or even if you're old as us, a BHS. What, you have Cardinals? What do you got? Bro.

I can't see it. It is the Dallas Cowboys' 1995 video yearbook from Sports Illustrated. Look at this thing. That's it. Is that a BHS? Yes. Oh, my God. In the package.

It's never been open. You never watched it? No, I found this somewhere. Oh. I found this somewhere. And it's got the entire record on the back and the story of that team and whatever. I mean, but like you used to, you would subscribe to the magazine just so you'd get that. It was part of the thing.

If your team won a championship, you give $30 to Sports Illustrated and get a thing. It was just part of it. That was, yes, that you were obligated to if you're a fan. And so, look, there, I will say. All right, let me just make a pitch here. Physical media is making a massive, massive comeback. My son is 16. Last week, we went to a record store, okay?

And we went to this record store, and it has vinals, it has CDs, and it has posters. The three things I loved during my teenage year. Oh, posters were so big. He was in absolute heaven. He was in heaven going to this. I'm telling you this is all making a comeback. Bring back the championship DVD. Like the actual physical.

I would buy one of them right now. Ben Stiller, what I'm telling you, Ben Stiller don't stream this thing. Sell this thing. Don't stream it. Like, you can stream it, but I mean, actually sell copies of it. Because I'm telling you right now. And by the way, this record store, it just opened. And like kids, they want to have it in their hands just like,

we had it in their hands. It's like really making a comeback. I love it. I think a couple of those things. Anyways, all right. So that happened. It was the most watched finals since Michael Jordan's last dance. I'm shocked.

I'm shocked by that. I am not. What are the numbers on that? Like, how is that even possible? With all, because when Michael Jordan was doing that, there was like,

you had like to stand up and go to your television and change the channel. I know. That was during the DVD era. Yeah. Right. And then also. we have James Dolan who did the interview and said, look, we cannot go into the second apron. I will write as big a check as possible to Leon Rose.

And I actually, you know, when he said that, and I know that James Dolan, a lot of people have a very negative opinion about him. But that is totally reasonable. And I do think what you look at is you go, you know, that parade and that moment. And you look and you go, it's the Mitchell Robbinsons, the Landry Shammitz, the Alvarez. A lot of Mitchell Robinson discussions yesterday. And I'm just like, guys, let's just celebrate the parade. They're going to get to keep the core together. They're going to get to keep the starting five together.

They're all deals. Those extra parts are going to be changed over, right? And so I will say this is very close. A lot of times you don't get to keep your five. You know what I mean? Like, you know, Katavius Colwell Pope goes to Orlando. And then, you know, you're losing this guy. And we're losing this guy.

And we're looking at the Celtics last year. Right. Right. Like, it's hard to keep it together. And so at least, you know, they will have a chance to run it back and possibly go back to back simply because, yes, they are going to have to change bench players, but they've got their starters intact under contract. And we know that that that is the group. And you know that when you get to the playoffs, you're probably playing seven or eight anyway, you know. But those other two matter a great, great deal.

we are now leading into the NBA draft. That is going to be the next big thing. And my goodness, as living at a place that has the third pick in the draft, we knew, obviously I've been talking about this every single day. Talk to me. You're going to deal with the tsunami of news as soon as the NBA finals is over. So first we had, Darren Peterson is confident. He's going to go number one to the Washington Wizards. And he is, and he's not even going to visit with you.

Utah, right? Then you have, hey, then by the next day, Tim McMahon's coming out and he's saying, hey, Utah's really considering Cam Boozer because, you know, maybe the Boozer, Sharon Jackson front court, that's good. And, you know, the dad works there. Carlos Boozer works there. Right, right, right, right. So I think that what's happening right now is we got done with the NBA draft lottery and everybody has had the same. same top four. Basically in the same order. There's some that are switching it up now.

No, generally, generally it has been DeBonsta Peterson, Boozer, Wilson. Like that order. Well, you create no leverage in any way by doing that. So like when the Utah thing came out, I was like, this is textbook, Danny Age, right?

Because what you do is you say, you know, if you think that Memphis covets Boozer and as their said on Boozer, then you go, you know what, we may take Boosur. We love Boozer. Yeah, right. And then you, because this is what he did years ago, this is the playbook, right? He ends up trading out of number one.

The Tatum Fulst thing. He still gets the guy that he wants anyways. And so it's a lot of noise. It's a lot of news. I still think the most likely thing is that what takes place because of- Devonsa Peterson-Boozer-Wilson. Right. I think that is still the most likely scenario.

that takes place. But again, we have like, what, four days until that takes place. It's impossible for me to watch the YouTube clips of any of those four and not be absolutely in love with them and say they should be number one. It's just the last thing I saw.

Because I've done the research on like the top guys. Those four, every time I watch clips of any one of those four, I'm like, well, that should be the number one bit. Okay. So I was thinking about this the other day, that it is a very odd year in the sense that you could find somebody that is intensely persuasive and sit me down and you could say, look, AJ DeBonsta, who I first heard

about when he was like 13 years old, he has always supposed to be the best guy. He has been the best guy over and over again. He was destined for superstardom since he was a junior high. He has proven nothing to make you think he will not be that. And then he went to college basketball at BYU, no less,

and he led the entire country in scoring. What is wrong with you? Of course. And he's got the size. And he's exactly what you need in today's NBA. He's the number one pick. And I'd be like, you know what? You're right. Then you'd sit me down persuasively and you would say, bro, everybody saw them a year ago. They saw Darren Peterson.

They saw A.J. DeBonsta. And listen to Jonathan Gavoni. He just went on with Woege and he said, I've seen him in the same gym eight or nine times. I never walked out thinking DeBonsta was the better player. And that's what everybody said. Go look at 24-7 sports. See who the number one player in the class was. So they all played against each other. We saw them all and you can focus on what happened to Kansas, but this is years of them playing in these gyms. These are years of evaluation. And everybody told you that this guy's the better one and just go watch his first half when they played against each other, Kansas versus BYU. And you tell me who you think is the better player. In fact, just watch that. I know he said out the second half.

I'm going to say there is the second half. Right. Again, but just talent-wise, if you pass on him, you're going to regret it forever. And I'd be like, damn, man, you know what? You might be right. And then you say, Boozer, everybody, we live in a day at age where everybody classes down, right? So they can be the oldest guys so they can be better than their peers. Here's the one guy or one of the guys, just like we did with Cooper Flagg last year. He classed up. He played people older than him all the step of the way. So he's the youngest of all of them, and he won two-state championship, and he's won at every single level, like, you name it. If he played for, if he played for a high school, if he played for AAU, if he played for Team USA, if he played for Duke, and he reclassed up,

played in a college basketball that is stronger than ever because of NIL now, and is filled with guys that would not have normally been there because they're like fucking 24 and 25 years old. And of the 350-something schools, all of the schools and all of the players, everybody agreed he was the best one. He won player of the year. So he wins like hell.

Andy was the best player. And the analytics are like honestly Godlike. So if you just want to take your, if you want to say, if you start doing the number. Yeah, if you start doing the numbers, it's over. You spit it out of a computer and it's going to tell you, so are you stupid? Like, that's fine.

But what has the analytical revolution told us is that sometimes our eyes and heart can deceive us? Look at this guy's numbers. There's no way. And then obviously you've got a small contingent that would say Caleb Wilson has the greatest ceiling of all of them. You just play the tape of Caleb Wilson. You're just like, look, look at this man play basketball. Guys with this athleticism, this, this, this size speed, athleticism and motor, it, he's not failing, right?

Like, at the worst, you've got an awesome NBA player. And so as a Memphis person, how are you feeling? I think that when it all shakes out, they're going to end up with camera poster. I think it's actually good, because I am, I will say this, on the boozer stuff. It is much, much, much, much, much, much, much harder. And we just saw this in the finals. It is harder to have a four or five as your best player.

It just is. I know that Yokic did it, but he isn't extenuating circumstances. Yonich. Understood. But the ball is, and look, a lot of those games were closed by Chris Middleton. And you go back to, you know, finals MVP's, and you find out they typically have the ball on their hands. The guy that ends up with it is Dwayne Wade

and it's Kobe Bryant and it's Kawhi Leonard SGA, sure, yeah, yeah. Because you've got to have, you know, Doc Rivers was just on. Here, all right, let me just sum this up without going too long. Doc Rivers, which by the way, that podcast with Doc Rivers and Bill

is unbelievable just to hear how a coach thinks about things. Right? And one of the things that he kept saying is you have to have a closer. And he's even talking about, you know, when Yannis, even though he was the best player by a wide margin that had

monsters plays, he had Drew Holiday and Chris Middleton with him, right? Guys with the ball in their hands. And Milton hit a lot of big shots for them. And he said, you have to have a closer. And all I would say is, let's accept that that is true. And we all know that it's true. You got to have a closer. And one of the things that you told me the entire year in your confidence in the

next is we have a guy, right? because that's a guy that can navigate the pick and roll. He's a guy that can create his own shot, all this stuff. It's hard for a four or five to be your closer. Even Yokic Ed Murray alongside him, right? And it's creating for everybody else. But it is hard to have a four or five as your closer. Like, I'm throwing you the ball, go get me a bucket.

And I do think that that is what weighs heavily on teams when they're looking at. You see DeBonsta and you see Peterson and you go, that guy's a closer, right? We're going to get down to the end of the game. I'm going to be able to throw him the ball, clear out, go get a bucket. And that is a harder thing to do with the boozer than it is the other two. That's why I think it will shake out the way it is. And I think the Grizzlies will be popping the most amount of champagne and be on absolute close. out nine if it takes place because it's exact.

Again, whether he ends up being your best player or not, um, you know he's going to be awesome for a long, long time and his ceiling is probably lower than what people think of this. What? I haven't heard from the prospector. Have you heard from the prospector? The prospector is going to join us after the first round of the NBA draft.

Because the prospector, oh my God, you have no idea how DP has gone. What's he done? Well, one of the things, and somebody pulled this up from the mismatch from 2018, where we were talking about the draft, and I, everybody that's been a long-time listeners of this show knows. At that time, I made, and this one turned out good, because I've made cases for wrong guys, too. I made this case that the NBA is agist and this is stupid. why the hell would Jalen Brunson be going in the second round of the draft? What does he need to do?

Right? Yeah, I got it. And the case I made was you are going to take an 18-year-old that just didn't do shit in college, and then you're going to say, yeah, but when he's 22, what's he going to do? And my answer is he's probably not going to be as good as Jailen Bronson, right? If you project out, and it's like, what you hope they become is what he is. but he's older, he's short, he's this, he's that, or whatever. And so I am always keenly aware,

and it has taken place over the course of many, many years, where you get to the second round, and it's these conference players of the year who were massively accomplished. They probably won their, you know, they might have won their conference tournament MVP's, etc., etc. And then you sit there and go, yeah, but the 18-year-old is 6-9 with a 7-2 wingspan or whatever else.

At the combine. Between cones really well. And obviously Van Fleet went undrafted. But, I mean, it's happened a million times. Whether it's Jalen Brunson, whether it's Draymond Green, who was Big Ten player of the year, Jay Crowder, who was Big East player of the year, Chandler Parsons was SEC player of the year. Like, it happens a lot, right? These very accomplished college players that end up being good in the NBA that,

for second round draft picks, and you're like, how did everybody miss on them? And it's because you got enamored with the six, seven wing wheel that he wasn't very productive, but the reason he wasn't very productive is because you blame his college system that didn't have spacing and we could teach him how to shoot, we can teach him how to do this. It's like, this guy's already good. Like he has proven to be good at basketball.

He's going to be helpful. And all I'm saying all that. And sometimes, right, they are Jalen Brunson. And they turn out to be with Jailen Brunson. And sometimes they're the guy that got drafted by Sacramento, who was player of the year at Kansas, Frankie Mason, right, who did not have a career. So it's not an end-all be-all.

But again, I am always fascinated by. And the reason I'm telling you all this is because the second round is frigging litter. I look at these mock drafts, it is littered with these guys, littered with them. So you're telling me, because I'm not familiar with the second round players, the prospector will be joining the mismatch. Oh, there's no question. In between the first and second round.

I look at the second round right now, and I see guys, the prospector told me when he was looking through, he's like, this is crazy. Like, again, we won't do a show beforehand, but I'll just give you one. There is no chance that kid from St. John's goes in the second round. No way. No way. Zubi. No way. It's exactly what I'm talking about.

He played for Rick Patino. He's a dog. Dogs win, right? He was player of the year. Do you remember the game that we went to? Everyone was like, Zubi, check him out. And we were like, he sucks. No.

We went to his worst game of the season. We went to his worst game of the season. No, the second half he was great, but we were drunk. We were having a good time. Right. That was against Marquette, which, by the way, there is a play from that Marquette game. This is how you know. I don't remember it.

But you can find it. He, the ball is on the ground. It's like the quintessential Zuby. play. The ball is on the ground. There's like two guys in front of him. He splits them, sprinting as a big, picks it up and goes and finishes. And it's like, what the hell? He's just a try hard, right? At the parade, multiple Nick's fans were talking to me about potentially drafting him at the end of the first round. He was big East player of the year. He was conference tournament player of the year, which is right, like when they try the hardest, right? And there's a bunch of guys

like that, I'm saying, that are littered in the second round. That's why the prospect, the prospector will give his thoughts on the first round and also get into the second round. We also have a million things that are going to take place over the course of the next four days. Like, who knows what could happen by the time we next, by we talk next time. There are reports that the bucks are operating like they have the heat pit, which is wild. But I don't love the heat package.

Am I crazy? Am I crazy? I'm like, that's Janice. That's what we're getting for Janus? Again, things have changed dependent upon. Dependent, again, it depends on how many first round picks are in there. I mean, you get a bunch of good players and picks. I don't hate it.

I don't hate that package. If you get a bunch of good players and picks, but I don't see that as the offer right now. But again. And I'm also like, are Wiggins, BAM and Janus, like a content? tender in the East. I'm saying no. Right. I understand. And it's certainly like when the Jaylen Brown stuff gets thrown around, you're like, okay, that's like a all NBA player who just helped lead a team that had no business being a two seed to a two seed. Like, that's obviously that makes the other package look dumb. But ridiculous. As everybody has said, the Bucks love the

heats package. That would have been done a long time ago, right? Like, I was really curious about how this is going to play out because I don't, I don't love the heat package personally. I just don't see it. I don't know. Like, but I do think, look, there's two opportunities to reshape your franchise

and your roster before next season, and they are the draft and free agency. And if you know that there's going to be trades on the way, we're going to be looking at, it appears as if,

you know, Trey Young is opt that out of his contract that's just going to opt in. Brian Winhor said it's going to be a three-year huge deal, right? So it won't be long term, but that's what he said, which makes some sense.

and because then by the time that falls off, it's time to pay DeBonce. Right? And now you're moving into the keys, the key is Anthony Davis going to stay there? Right. And you don't know on that. So you have the honest thing.

That's the biggest one. And maybe we will finally get a conclusion to this prior to the draft. You have the Morant thing, which if the Grizzlies are going to move him, it stands to reason. You would probably do that before the draft, right? Of course. And I haven't heard anything about this.

Have you heard? I mean, you're there. No. I haven't heard anything. No. You know, Sam Ameth, who is an outstanding reporter, he threw outlawless yesterday for the first time. What does New Orleans have to give? I mean, like, you know, again, you're not giving up.

I wouldn't imagine you're giving up Trey Murphy and a deal. But, like, you know, it'd be, Herb Jones, Sadiq Bay, this kind of ilk, right, along with Pigs, probably, or whatever else. Or, but that was one that showed up, Sacramento, Brooklyn, dependent on- Zion and Jha. Well, but those are- I know, the one-and-two pick from a-same draft. Yeah. And also played together as kids in South Carolina. Yeah, they did.

Really? They were on an AAU team together in South Carolina when they were little. Anyways, you also have, so you got the Janus thing out there, you got the Brant thing out there depending on what happens you know i have said that i thought maybe a brooklyn or a sacramento would be likely for a morant trade just because they got their their teams sucked and they got wildly unlucky in the draft and you got to have something to move the needle a little bit right unless you want these places to be you know total ghost towns who are you signing up to play who are you signing up to watch play and so depending you know are you going to take somebody wherever

six or seven. And so six, seven, dependent on, sorry, we both got kids. We're past that. Even your kids are like, we're done with that.

It's over. But I'm saying, get a little boo-boo. Get a little boo-boo, dude. I still can't say it without thinking you. Because every time I said it. I thought it too,

when you said it. You're welcome. So anyways, dependent on those, like where you could see in a war room, somebody convinced themselves like, look, guys, like,

we could take McHale Brown Jr. Wonger. Yeah, whatever. But like, if we got Moran, we could actually move some tickets. You put them on the poster. Yeah, you put them on the poster. Yeah, we can move to the season tickets.

This guy has his face on it. So we'll see the way that hangs out. You've got also, I'll tell you one to keep an eye out for. There's two over the course of the next like three or four days. Are both the Lakers and the Warriors two premier franchises? Because what's going to happen? You've got the LeBron stuff coming out. Are they really, you know, are they going to pay Reeves?

The same way that we're talking about like, are the Pistons going to pay Duren? Like, these guys are. this is exactly what we've talked about we will find out if the NBA has changed, right? That like when Desmond Brain and Franz Wagner and you name the player, right? Guys that have not made all-star teams yet

or all NBA teams yet, but they get these max contracts. And I don't see. Am I crazy about Reeves? I just don't think Reeves is the right player to put around Luca. Like, what am I missing? Just pitch it to me.

like everyone's like, oh, well, they got to pay Reeves. I'm like, do they have to pay Reeves? Yeah, we're about to see. Is Reeves $45 million a year? We're about to find out. Is he? We're about to find out. I mean, again, it's not about, and look, Walker Kessler's pulling this one off too.

Yeah. Where it's like, you know, you saw they offered him a huge amount of money. And I think from, like, that amount that was reported, the four years, and $50 million or whatever the hell it was. Like, that is more money for a big than anybody that hasn't made an all-star team. And apparently he's like, no, not enough.

We're far apart. This happens because the reason the Walker Kessler stuff happens, because I've experienced this before too, is when you ask these guys to be on rat teams that lose on purpose and they are good soldiers,

it is a understanding that you will take care of me on the back end. This is actively hurt. And again, they have done it with guys in the past. Gilger's Alexander

got his max, max contract, and then they just sat him out and they sucked without him, right? Same with Lori Markinen, did the same thing. And it's like, all right, I'll be the good soldier. I'll be on the team.

You can mess around with my minutes and we can lose every night. But in the end, you better still make me whole like I was getting to play all the time and I was on a winning team. Because you are hurting my value actively for four years. Because they have sucked for four years. So I don't like, and again,

Walker Kessler, I think what happened is when it got to the trade deadline, you know your agents go and you talk to people, whether it was the pace or, whether it was anybody else. You know what I mean? And you already have that understanding. Like, hey, man, if he gets traded there,

you're going to sign him to the extension, right? Same way they did with Siakum and Indiana, et cetera. So he knows what his value is. He knows what other people would be willing to pay him. And that's why he can say, nope, right? Because he thinks somebody else. If we're talking to the offseason, I have to say this.

I'm producing Rich and Max's show game over. So I see Rich, I saw him last night. It takes everything in my body to not ask him about LeBron's future. Oh, I know. I'm just like, I'm trying to respect him. You know what I mean? Because like, you know, he's a professional. Like, he's not going to tell me.

You know what I mean? So, so it's just like I just, I just don't see a natural. I think that anywhere, LeBron, his production is such that he deserves a lot of money. He's that good. Okay. But if he goes somewhere and gets paid what he deserves. then that's probably not a contender. The Lakers are one to keep a lookout for it

because they've got to figure out this. LeBroner Reeves, one of them is getting paid and the other one's not. Probably. No, they're not paying both. They're not paying both what they think they're getting. That's the decision. Couldn't they just go into the tax

and their second apron and all that? No, you can't have anybody on your team. They're not going to pay both of them. They're not going to pay both of them what they want. Because also, if they pay both of them, they have the same team as last year, which was not a contender. And it's infinitely more expensive. Yes. Right.

So they're not paying both of them. So they're one to keep an eye on. Second one is the warrior. And I just keep thinking about this because more importantly than anything, I watch Steve Kerr walk off and have the hug and have this moment with Steph and Dremont. and Draymond says, you know, it felt like the end and whatever else. And then there's a report, hey, Steve Kerr's coming back. They've got to have something they know is going to happen. He's had a two-year deal too, right?

Steve Curry. They've got to have something they know's going to happen. Yeah. It's not Jimmy Butler will be back. He's not, I don't know. No, because he could broadcast. He could do anything. Why is he going back to coach them?

He knows something is on the horizon. horizon. I don't know what it is. Obviously, you know, there's the Kauai stuff, the LeBron stuff, they're going to end up. That's the one. Forget all the other baloney, forget all the other distracting news. When Steve Kerr had the hug with them, but then in the offseason said, you know what, I'm coming back?

I'm like, okay, he knows. He knows. And maybe that's where LeBron ends up. I mean, by our next show, which will be after the first round, before the second round, featuring the prospector, LeBron could be on a different team, Anthony Davis could be on a different team, Janus could be on a different team, Kauai could be on a different team. Well, and then there's, and again, Moran could be on a different team. Like, it's going to be crazy week.

Here's the other thing, Jacoby. Like, so we came to, we came to terms on the tray thing and he's just going to resign there. These other guys, like, You know, Duren and the Thompson twin are up for an extension. Reeves is up for a contractist. There's guys all over the league. And so if these teams decide, you know what, that's not what we want to spend our money on.

I saw a headline yesterday where I was like, because again, everything is viewed through the prism of who wins the championship. The headline was, are the Nuggets about to let the next OG and Ninobe walk out the door? And it was an article on Peyton Watson. And I was like, I'll be damn. God bless Peyton Watson. I mean.

But guys like that get to. I like Peyton Watson. I know, but guys like that when OG and Obie does what he does, it's like you look at him and be like, hey man, could he be the next like, you don't mean?

You didn't think that was going to, you didn't think OG and Nobie was going to be Ogeant when Yon was hurt and like Peyton Watson was putting up 30th night. Yeah. And then no, you know what it let to everybody go. Like, why the hell did you play Christian Brown? right because they pay Christian Brown

and now you can't pay Payton Watson you picked the wrong one I would rather have Peyton Watson than Christian Brown well PG and OJ and OB and that kind of ilk like the the wing you know malleable wing who's awesome like he made him a fortune honestly because

of headlines like that right I just want to say one thing about the finals again is the Knicks coming back and winning those games saved so much discussion about the referees and the suspension of Wemby. Like, you're right.

It's just, don't forget, the referees were going to dominate the headlines in game four and game five if the NICS didn't come back and win. It's all, we would, we've done an hour about the refs. And Wemby would have been suspended, and then we would have been like,

is this a real championship? NBA draft is coming up on Tuesday. The prospector. We will be back on Wednesday morning to talk everything about, what happened in the first round of the NBA draft and the prospector is going to give you a heads up on the second round. Can you get

text the target guy just to see, just get his thoughts just so he can chime in? Well, he's on Twitter. You can find them. All right. I'll check it out. All right. It's got to do it for today's show. Thank you to Steph, Jeff, and Jesse as always. And Jacoby, I'll talk to you

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