The Mismatch - Nikola Jokic Should Be the MVP. Plus: Wacky Western Conference Seeding and the Buyout Period Ends.

Episode Date: April 9, 2021

Verno and KOC start this Friday off talking about who’s left in the MVP pool and why Jokic’s case is the strongest (0:30). Then they get into Thursday’s contentious Clippers-Suns game and the swirling uncertainty over how seeding could shake out in the Western Conference (10:32), Victor Oladipo’s knee injury (24:39), and the impending overhaul of the Kings (27:17). Finally, as the buyout period ends, they mention any names that could still get bought out, look back at the transactions that were made (35:34), and examine the current Eastern Conference standings (44:30). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chef David Chang and the members of the recipe club sift through millions of search results to find the very best way to make the food you want to eat. Each week, they cook three recipes for the same dish, debate them, and ultimately declare the winning recipe. Check out Recipe Club on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And join him as he does every Friday from the ringer.com.

It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'O. Bomber, Kevin O'Concer, Kevin O'Chymner, Kevin O'Ocounter, Kevin O'O'Chyl. Cabo! Verdo! What's going on this Friday, buddy? Well, we have had a very interesting week in the NBA, and we've got a bunch of stuff that is coming up very quickly that we will get to. Let's start with some things that took place last night,

which on TNT, they start talking about the MVP last night. And it feels like, and I was just watching the video from our guys at the Ringer NBA show, the real ones, where they were talking about Nicola Yokic. And they were talking about the narrative surrounding him. Obviously, the nuggets have been great recently. And his numbers are downright freaky at this point. He's averaging 26 points, 10.9 rebounds, 8.7 assists, all while shooting 57% from the feet. and 42% from 3, 86% from the line also for that number. But the Yokic numbers are crazy.

And Barclay installs Chris Paul into the mix last night. And obviously this has been talked about in the past, like about a month ago, we talked about what Phoenix's record was. And I said that, look, Paul or Booker, one of them is going to start to get some talk. same with the Utah guys because there has been a standard over the course of the last how many ever decades you want to go back that typically the guy who wins is on the first place team or the second place team in either conference or they have had this just crazy historical anomaly season like what Westbrook did a couple years ago and there's a lot

of people that argue with Westbrook winning that year but he was an extreme outlier Typically, you've got to come from one of the teams that has the best records. And so if you're searching for those, I mean, somebody from Phoenix has got to get in the mix, right? If you're going to find somebody on one of the best records to get involved here, it's got to be somebody from Utah. It's got to be somebody from Phoenix. It's got to be somebody from Brooklyn. It's got to be somebody from Philly. Those are the four best records.

So what did you make of Paul being? mentioned last night on national TV as someone who should get into general consciousness of voters. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think with Chris Paul, he deserves to at least be in the conversation for the top five. You know, I think when you think about MVP, obviously it has to do with the on court. It has to do with the numbers. It has to do with the production that's easy to see and easy to measure, right? But it also has to do with some of the stuff that's harder to measure, the stuff that we can't see and the influence a player has.

on the team with team chemistry on bus rides in the locker room when things are tough in the fourth quarter and what they say or do in the huddle and how they instruct teammates. And that's where Chris Paul is better than maybe anybody. And his position as the point guard and the team, he has really helped change Phoenix and help enhance Phoenix with what they've become. As we've talked about all year, Chris, right? Like the Sons, they were on an upward trajectory. Chris Paul accelerated all of that and helped lift everybody.

That is a most valuable player quality. But I do think you can say a lot of those same things about Nicola Yokich this season, like just with the way in which he performs. And he's not necessarily as vocal off the court. But that guy just makes people better. He just makes people better. And like the criticisms a couple of years ago were defense, he's near the top of the league in deflections. He has become a very good positional defender. He's one of the league's best rebounders.

I mean, he really is one of the best players in basketball, period. and right now I'd have him in the lead pretty firmly as MVP. Well, and here's a thing with Paul, who I talked about a couple of weeks ago that if there was going to be a guy from Phoenix, that in my opinion, Paul would be the guy because he is the thing that changed. And you took a team that has not been a playoff performer in forever. Now we look up in there in second place. So what changed? And it is obviously the most noticeable thing that changed.

but I also have an awareness. You got to have the numbers. Like that's what the MVP is. Yeah. Right. Like in the end, you've got to have the numbers. And Paul doesn't have extreme numbers if you lined up his numbers versus a lot of people. 16 points a game.

Yeah, nobody is looking. And look, we can do the whole, he changed the entire culture. And I would argue, of course, that should be. a big part of, you know, it should be taken into consideration. If we are going to have the discussion of who is truly the most valuable player to their team, but that's not, like, we change the definition every year dependent upon. The truth is, it's typically best player on one of the best teams or somebody that is doing something that we haven't seen before. Because if we want to get in the business of, hey, this guy is actually the most valuable, well, look, Kemp, LeBron James would have seven MVP's.

He doesn't have seven MVP's. And the reason he doesn't have seven MVP's is because other guys had better individual regular seasons. That when you lined it up, of course, we could say, if I took this guy off, it would be the most damaging to a team. Like, yes, Chris Paul's in that mix. Jimmy Butler is in that mix. LeBron James, in that mix. There's a bunch of guys. Look, I'm watching last night, flip on that Milwaukee game.

And you tell me how many games Milwaukee's winning without Yonis. They ain't winning anything without him. Nothing. I mean, that's just a whatever team without Yon. I mean, you got to see him without him to understand what the difference is with him. But again, he's not going to get in that mix either. So I would just say,

Yannis will be in the mix for top five. But I'm saying nobody's going to give it to him. He may not. I mean, I'm sure. I think this year we're not going to see, like let's just say Yolkich is the favor right now, which he is and should be.

I don't necessarily think he's going to get over 90% of the vote for number one. I think they're going to see a handful of different guys. You're going to see some dame votes. You're going to see some. you might even still see like an Embed or a LeBron vote despite the names missed. It wouldn't shock me one bit. No, no, no, no.

All I'm saying it is, we're, Janus is not, he'll get votes, but they're not going to give him the award. He's not going to be a back to back to back winner. I would be shocked if he won. I'd be shocked. What would have to happen is,

I mean, like I don't even like to say it, but if Yokich were to miss some time, like Embedad missed time, like LeBron missed time. If that word took happen next over the next month, then maybe, they'd still find somebody else.

You think it would move to Dame? Daniel Willard or Hardin or whoever. Somebody else. Yeah, somebody else. But so all I'm saying is, which is, is that right though? Is that okay?

I don't think that's okay. We did it. We did it. He deserves to win it. Well, look, if I do think, much like the Paul thing, that if you want to have the discussion, if I took this guy off the team,

it would be the most devastating to that team. I mean, you got to really, I think you got a really good argument with Janus. That if you, the difference in that team with and without him might be as severe as any other team. Obviously, the Paul thing falls in there. LeBron, we're seeing, right? That's going to fall in there, a team with and without LeBron.

But I just don't think that Janus had these historic seasons. and now after it fizzled in the postseason, it's going to be a little bit before he starts getting most valuable player votes again. But this, look, every MVP case is falling apart. You know, Yokic might be the last man standing. You know, we, it was MB. And then we got a, like, there was like a real LeBron push.

And then we lost him. and then there was a real hardened push. And now we've lost him. So, like, Yokic might be last man standing. It might have really been Yokic the whole time, though. Maybe. It's just Denver was lower in the standings. I got off to the sluggish start and all that.

But Yokch's this whole year has just been ridiculous. He's been ridiculous on both ends of the court. And, I mean, we'll have, like, more extensive MVP conversations closer to the time the end of the season when votes are doing all that. but I mean, Yokage to me is the clear number one guy right now. I just thought it was interesting for Paul to get, you know, once something that happens like that on TNT, it becomes a conversation piece.

If nothing else, it gets Paul towards the, you know, in the consciousness of these voters as to, hey, you know what? But so he'll probably get a lot more votes just because he's going to be a talking point. But I think it's pretty far-fetched unless the numbers just became extreme. for him to be able to get it. A few notes from last night. I swear we talk about stuff on this show

and then the weirdest stuff happens, you know, following. This Paul George thing after we talked about him earlier the week and the level of concern that is going on with George and the whole having to play, you know, through an injury. And you had chronicled his numbers in an article. So it's not like we were just speculating. here, like the numbers were the numbers. For over a long period of time.

For a long period of time. And now the guy just explodes since the show. I don't know. Paul George must be a big mismatch fan. And he was like, yeah, I think he was listening. Paul George wants to come on and talk. I mean, we love to have them. Probably listening and was like, you know what, screw these guys.

Yeah. You know, whatever. Yeah, I average, yeah, I average like 19 points a game and my toe hurts a little bit. but I'm not dead ear. And so he decided to remind us, because we talked about they need all NBA, Paul George, in order for them to be able to reach whatever their ceiling is.

And he has been outstanding since that damn show. That's crazy. I mean, really. With Paul George, even with that recent stretch where he wasn't shooting the ball well, he still has ludicrous shooting numbers, this entire season. He's shooting above 40% from three in pick and roll

off screens, off handoffs. He's just shooting the lights out regardless of how the clippers use him, regardless of the position on the floor. He's been the best shooter in basketball, period. In terms of off the dribble and on the dribble combined,

the year he's having is ridiculous. It's just that was that recent stretch that was worrisome. And especially in the shot creation department, the finishing department. But the fact he's doing it this week is encouraging at least, you know, that he's able to play through it. Or maybe it is the type of thing where with this toe issue, it's, it's merely about adjusting to whatever physical pain it is and playing around that essentially to avoid the

situations in which you do feel the pain and it does affect you. Having to manage it, still a concern. But the results this week are undeniably encouraging if you're a Clippers fan. Well, and you have with last night's game, which is a, this is a potential playoff matchup. This is something that we could very easily get in the second round. And so I like there being a little drama possibly between the teams. The Clippers and the Sons, they've played twice this year. And there have been contentious moments resulting in technical fouls, flagrant fouls, ejections, and plenty of. chirping.

And this is the article from ESPN. After Paul George scored 33 to help them win, the All-Star Guard noted that for the second time this season how the sons do a lot of chirping. And he said, I don't know what that chirp is about. We focused on us.

I don't care what they're doing over there. I don't care who they are and I don't care what they're doing. I'm locked in. They can do all the chirping. I let them have it tonight. I love it. I love the energy. Oh, my goodness.

I'm kind of hopeful for this, right? And you know, look, Paul and Rondo will come nose to nose. Yeah. You know, if we can, if we can, I'm kind of, I'm kind of hopeful for this. That kind of happened. Yeah, you know, didn't really happen to going toe to toe, but necessarily. But Rondo had a great, had himself a great game. And he was asked about a play call that the sons ran.

And he's like, oh, number three on the other team called the playoffs. So all I really did is just repeat it to my teammates. He just referred to him as number three. And it was it. It was him and Rhondo in the spitgate thing, right? Oh, yeah. Did he spit? Did he not?

That's right. Yeah. They got some. They got some history. It'd be pretty good. If we could. And look, as it stands right now, we would. Theoretically, if they both won their first round series, we would catch them.

in round number two. And that could be an epic seven games, especially with the whole, you know, Paul George being the one talking, because now you get to the playoffs, if they get to that second round, and all of a sudden,

you know people love to come after his neck too. The playoffs in general could be just incredibly fun. The West, especially in the West. And here's part of it, Kev, because I was reading, this morning that, and you tried to tell me about this on Tuesday, the Mavs are like 20 and eight, I think, since the beginning of February. Yeah, I think third best record in the league.

Yeah, an outstanding record and almost the exact flip of kind of what happened with them last year. Last year, they started off like a house of fire and then, you know, you had the injuries and whatnot. And then they, like the last half of the season, they were really like a 500 basketball team. And it's always worthwhile to pay attention once we get to this back part of the season, which of these teams have these outstanding records? Because what it signifies is they are much more likely to be that. They're closer to that team than they are the team that started the season, whatever they started.

right and this is this is common place many times when you see like lower seeds that end up being extremely successful in the playoffs or very competitive and then you go back and look and go you know what like that team yeah they were the seven seed yeah they were the eight seed but they were like you know what 25 and 10 their last 35 games so they've been good for a while now it does feel like though the mabs are you know seventh, I believe still today in the standings, they are better than that, right? This version of the Mavs, and as they have played rather consistently now for a couple of months, is clearly better than what a normal seven seed would be.

No doubt about it. And right now, they're only a game back from Portland for the sixth spot. And that's what's going to make this stretch run for me personally, really exciting to watch because in a normal year, the NBA season, let's just be honest. Like towards the end, sometimes it can be a little bit of a drag because like so many teams are locked into the playoffs. And this year is so different though because the fact is that you're going to see teams fight for that six seat to avoid the playing. Because you never know what could happen in the playing. You just never know.

You could have two bad games and then be out of the playoffs. And if you can get that sixth seed, you lock yourself in. You're guaranteed a spot in the postseason. and right now Portland is only one game up on Dallas, only three games up on Memphis. Pretty good lead on Memphis, right? But Dallas, the way they're surging, I mean, like it's going to be fun to watch Dallas and Portland fight for that six spots, see how that develops over the next couple of weeks. And you still, Lakers, it's like we said, they're right now only two and a half up on Dallas,

only a game and a half up on Portland. Yeah, Portland really hasn't taken advantage of this, right? Well, they can't stop anybody on defense. No, I'm saying the Lakers swoon. This would be the time to really take advantage of it, but you'd need to reel off wins. Dallas has been like, you know, seven and three in their last 10, whereas Portland's been like a 500 team.

And you just, no matter how many times they lose, you can't gain that much ground being 500, right? I mean, it just takes too long. And so this would be the time. Any amount of games that L.A. has to play without LeBron, if Portland's going to jump ahead, they better do it now. Right? And they are not.

And even the Lakers, even despite missing LeBron and AD, still have an elite defense that's helping them at least be average, right? Their offense is really sputtering on that end of the floor. But the defense is holding them up to at least be 500. And Portland has not been better than 500. They're worse than 500 over the last couple of weeks. So with them, it's like we talked about all year long with Portland. Their defense is not good.

It's very bad. And that's going to kill them. at some point before, maybe before the playoffs or during the playoffs, it's going to be the reason for their demise this season. These other teams are just flat out better. Well, it's just going to matter. Can you get to the playoffs and just play the outscore thing? Be within a couple buckets with five minutes left to go and Damien Liller.

He either wins a game or he doesn't. The column that hit some huge shots. No one, Paul. It's like that. That is how they're going to play. You know what I'm saying? That's how it's going to be. It's got to be the formula.

You just better be up by, you know, three possessions, right? Because you don't want to get in a close game with that guy. Come playoff time, despite how crappy their defense is, just because he has proven himself as a guy that could come up clutch and certainly come up clutch on the biggest stages, too. And so, yeah, you're right. They're just going to play outscore-em-type game at this point because you wouldn't expect that they're going to be getting a ton of stops.

But back to that Mastin. Dam is something else, man. Look, the Yoki, or I mean, the Yokish, the Dantzich-Por-Zingis thing, the tandem looks good right now. It does. You know, and we've wondered, is that good enough, right? To bring to the table. And we know that Luca is one of the top five, ten players in the league, is Porzingis. You can stop at top five.

Reliable. But is he reliable enough, you know, Robin? And I mean, he's been playing so much better. You know, he's finally gotten healthy, finally gotten their bearings. And it's going to be, you know, dependent upon those two. And you know, so much attention that is given to Donchich that it opens the, it opens the opportunity for Porzingis to be the guy.

you know, that unicorn that everybody thought he was going to be once upon a time, you know, to look a lot closer to that recently than it has for a while. Yeah, I mean, offensively, he's incredibly potent in the floor spacing that he provides, being able to spot out from like 30 feet. It makes a hard-to-measure difference for Luca with his attacking lanes and for the teammates, too. It's, you know, not just Luca, even though he's like the center of their solar system. So he's important. It's just there's certain defensive matchups.

He gets completely shredded. And he is too slow laterally or not as impactful around the rim as you would hope for for a guy his size. And that's going to have to be the key thing is what level of defense are you getting out of Chris Stap's Porzingis? In addition to, you know, him getting 20 points, spacing the floor for Luca, you know, hitting shots and taking shots in spots he needs to. he's not the guy. Dallas Dallas is a threat. We just know because of Luca.

Well, and he is the question. The Porzingus thing is the question. He is always going to be a concern. And is he, he has to be great. He has to be great. He does. Because, I mean, you're thinking about, you think about this,

the way this goes to the playoffs and they can be a very dangerous playoff team simply because of Lucas presence. But there always has to be the ancillary guys. And so who are you counting on outside of Luca to be consistent and to have a great series? Is it Tim Hardaway Jr? Is it Josh Richardson? I mean, all signs point to it's got to be Porzengis. Like he's got to be the great second guy for Luca because it's not going to be those other guys.

It's just not. I mean, you're going to get good contributions from Jayland Bronson, who's, by the way, has been one of the better backup, you know, rotation guards in the league all year long. Tim Hardaway has been good, too. They have other talent on that team. It's just, like, to your point, the primary sources of offense are Luca and KP. You know, Luca, Luca with creation, with doing it off the dribble,

KP with spot up threes, attacking closeouts, finishing around the rim, off a pick-a-roll and all that. Luke is the creator. KP is the finisher. And you don't rely on KP to finish because he can't post up guys that are a foot shorter than him. He can only shoot over them occasionally. And even that's not the most efficient shot in the league.

Again, though, the issue is defense. KP has some good moments on defense, but some of the bad moments, especially when he's asked to be out on the perimeter, are really bad, really, really bad. And that's what I look forward to seeing in the playoffs. You know, when that time comes is how to teams attack him. How does he respond? And what do the Dallas Mavericks do from a scheme point of

view to put him in positions to succeed? Like Dallas, that's going to be the number one question for me. Can KP stay healthy and can KP be effective on defense? If yes and yes, then they are a real threat. I mean, they are even with Luca, but if KP can be that guy and say yes to both of those questions, they could beat anybody. They really could. And that really speaks to the the level of talent that Luca has and the level he's playing in now, because he's even better than last season when he was top five in MVP voting, Chris, because of the shooting. And they're a threat, man.

Dallas is really, really good. I was talking to you earlier this week. I was texting with you about, I was watching the Heat Grizzlies game, and Oladipo was just, I mean, I mean, it was bad, bad. And I'm thinking to myself like, geez, Louise, I really like this guy.

We're not that far removed. from being an all-NBA caliber performer. I know he's had some devastating injuries, but like what happened to this guy? And we kept saying, if you're going to get the most out of this guy, here is a great situation for him. Whatever is going to happen with Oladipo going forward,

he's got his best chance of being really good going forward when he signed with Miami. And then last night, he has this moment, you know, this viral moment for this dunk that goes around everywhere. And it's like, oh, wow, is Oladipo, you know, maybe this is a side of things to come. Here's the athleticism. Here's Ola Depot for the first time of forever,

getting a highlight passed around. And then, uh-oh, again. Yeah, he got hurt. And so now it's, oh, geez, for this guy who, you know, this was going to be the opportunity. And he turned down a big contract offer from Houston, right? And so you always worry about, you know, these guys making the right decision. He obviously thought, I don't, I'm going to. turn this 20 million plus down because I think if I go into free agency, I'm going to be able to

get a longer term contract. And so let's hope that Ola Depot is going to be okay and that this is not just some kind of terrible recurring thing. And he's just going to be branded as a guy that cannot stay on the court. But I mean, it wasn't looking that great prior to. And then he had this moment. And then it goes away within an instant, right? Yeah, he looked like vintage Vic. Yeah. With that dunk, you know, with that play, how explosive he looked, and then the injury is scary. And, you know, I know it was reported last night that x-rays came back negative, has an MRI scheduled today on Friday.

And maybe by the time this podcast comes out, we'll actually get news on that. But hopefully everything's okay with Victor Oladipo. Yeah, hopefully he's going to be okay. Another thing that we do on a bench it from last night is after the trade deadline, we talked about the teams that there were so few. that were not trying to improve themselves. And you talked about how the dog days can usually get a little bit boring. But this year, with 10 teams at least having the opportunity in each conference to be able to be playoff teams, that you had a lot more teams that were trying to augment their roster to take a run at that.

One of those was Sacramento. Like they tried to get better. They, you know, bring it in Delaan Wright, bringing in Terrence Davis. They brought in guys to try to help their situation. And holy mackerel, Kev. I mean, you do wonder when you get to the point of, okay, is this just not going to happen for us this year? Because you made those moves thinking I'm going to, we're going to take a run at this. But you, bro, you cannot lose at home to the Pistons.

After losing to Minnesota. I mean, I mean, you're trying to make the, you're trying to just get one of the top 10 spots and you're taking losses at home to the two worst teams going. Yeah. They're not even, they don't even care if they win. And they lost to the bucks without Yannis. And they lost to the Lakers without 80 and LeBron. Like during this, and they lost to the spurs who have been terrible the last month or so.

And so now you've kind of hit that you've, this is, this is the cautionary tale, right? Because now they're in that spot where it's not good enough and are now getting further and further behind the eight ball to be able to compete. But on the other hand, they're behind in the race to the bottom too. So like you're kind of in no man's land right now. You're kind of like a low lottery pick, you know, as the reward for whatever your season is. And so, look, I think what this signifies is it's going to be very problematic for Luke Walton. We've talked about this before, especially when it comes to talking to the owner, the GM's going to go and say, look, we fix this.

You know what I mean? We got more players. Did you know? Did you fix it? No, of course. No, again. I know, but if I'm the owner of the team, I'm saying, did you fix it though? Yeah.

Did you really? Right. Well, look, it's either that or, and they change, they change management every six months. So, I mean, or let me, let me change that. They do not necessarily change the litterhead. They change who the owner listens to every six months, right? And then they'll bring in some other, like, advisor. And then they'll have him, you know, be.

the voice that says this is the way it should go. So it's obviously, they got those kind of problems. But the one guy that will not survive it is Luke. And I thought it was funny the other day. People were like, hey, Luke, you want that Arizona job? Like, do you think you want that? Right? Because his old college job came open.

I was like, man, it's not the worst idea. I mean, you could get paid a fortune to do that. It might not be the worst idea to just say, you know what? See you, guys. I'm going to go catch the Arizona Wildcats if they want him because I can't imagine that this is going to be pretty for him

because you know they're all blaming him whether it's his fault or not. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's the type of situation ripe for a coaching change. I mean, like that that could be the fault of Luke wall and it might not be the fault to Luke wall.

The roster needs work too. It's hard to win with the roster that he's had the last couple years, but they should be better than they have. been, especially the last five games, like we just said, the teams they've lost against, you got to get at least one of those wins. You got to get at least one of those, especially Detroit at home, losing by 12. Killian Hayes dominated Tyrese Hallibor in my side.

Well, I'm not going to, I'm going to get to that, but I'm not going to speak on the game because obviously I did not watch this game. No, Kevin, they could be playing in my backyard and I would not. raise the blinds. I don't, I'm not watching the pistons and the Kings, but I did look at the box score and I saw the consummate. I'm trying to, I'm trying to win so I'm playing my veteran because, you know, I was getting used to seeing Halliburton in that starting lineup, especially since Bagley went out

and I, and I, and I, and I queued it up last night, and I was like, oh, God, he's already starting Mo Harclis. More Harclis, like, I didn't even know Moe Harclis was still in the league. like he wasn't even playing for Miami. How could you be so Mar-Harkis? Yeah, how could you be Mo Harkless? And now he's, and now he's starting for the Kings,

you know, uh, in the place of Tyrese Halliburton, who you say got, he got the wood laid to him last night. I mean, Killian Hayes had a great sequence last night where he defended Tyreys Halliburton's drive to the rim,

blocked it. Then the next play hit a step back three on. And it was part of the best game of, Killian Hayes' young career, only the 10th game of his career, 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting, three rebounds, two assists, one block on Halliburn. He looked pretty good. It was his best game, man. And, you know, he could get the rookie of the year talk.

Yeah, I'm not so sure about that. But me saying this is not some victory lap. It's not a Killian Hayes victory lap. That would be foolish after 10 games in his career to do that. but you know it's just it's just i thought earlier in the season after he played seven games seven games in which he was playing hurt with the hip injury i was floored by the amount of people that were saying he's a bust like it really blew my mind they know there's been so many instances chris and there were a lot of people saying he was a bus yeah after seven games

well especially in my mentions because i had a ranked number one you know so but it's just like there's been so many instances in league history where guys have struggled their first month or two or their first season or two or three sometimes even more than that and then they've turned into the guy that a lot of people thought they would be before the draft development's never linear and so with hayes a guy like that i think it's going to take longer than for him especially with the setback he had his rookie year but you know what chris i've really liked what i've seen the last three games he's made some spectacular passes especially in the open floor had some nice kickouts to shooters and the half court.

I like the defense that I'm seeing with him. And the shot creation ability is raw, but we're seeing some flashes of his ability to create a look with the stepback. So, you know, I think these skills give him a foundation to build upon. And I wouldn't have him ranked number one if I were to do my rankings again today. But I'd still have him five, six or seven. Still be a lottery pick for me. And I'm still very high on his game.

And I think it's really short, if people are giving up on a player after seven games in which they were hurt. It would be foolish of me after 10 games to do a victory lap here. But I look forward to seeing where he develops from here. And I think Pistons fans have a very nice core with Sadiq Bay, Killian Hayes, another good draft pick potentially coming. You know, the Pistons stink right now, but they have some quality young players that gave you something to feel hope.

Yeah, by the way, that game last night without Jeremy Grant. So it was the Pistons without their leading score. Yeah. How about that, man? You lose to the Pistonsville, Jeremy Grant, the Lakers without 80 and LeBron, the Bucks without Yannis, you know, you lose the Minnesota, you lose the San Antonio, who has only won two games the last couple of weeks.

That's a rough stretch for the Sacramento Kings, man. Man, no question about it. Kev, as of today, it is officially the end of the buyout market. Today's the buyout deadline. And so there will inevitably be names. There will be names that come out after you and I are off the air. We're always surprised by one or two, usually.

So far, we have had a group of guys that have been bought out by their respective teams. And so the reason we're bringing this up is because this is the last opportunity for some of these teams to improve their rosters for the stretch. run. So far, we have had, and these are guys that have been released. They came to an agreement with their team. And so now they become unrestricted free agents and somebody can get them cheap. Kem Birch, which I know you had to be thrilled about clearing the way for your guy, Mo Bamba, right, now that Ken Birch is out there. Kem Birch, Gary Clark, Terrence Ferguson, Justin Jackson, Darius Miller

Jabari Parker Vincent Poirier Austin Rivers Jerome Robinson these are names that are already out there I'm going to get to some names

that might very well end up being out there but any of those interest you Ken Birch for sure he's a solid player I mean all that stuff that's out there

about him going to Toronto although it does, it's been like that for weeks. Even before the deadline, I heard he wants to go back to Toronto. He's Canadian. He wants to play home next season. And this seems like part of his free agency, essentially. It's just early free agency. So we'll see if he gets claimed.

You know, he could be a waiver claim because he's a quality rotation player on an affordable contract. So that wouldn't be a total shock. But if he does hit the free agent market, he will go to Toronto. And it would be shocking if he does otherwise. Terrence Ferguson. I'm not sure how much you can help a team right now, but I'd like to have him and see what he can do, see how he develops.

Justin Jackson, wow. That was a, that was a, that was a, that's a king's draft pick, right? Darius Miller,

boy, Javari Parker just never. Oh, man. It just never happened. It never happened. I think you and I were both holding out hope with him, especially when he's in Atlanta, you know,

and then he moved on. It was like, you know what? Maybe this guy, you know, maybe his destiny's not being some kind of outstanding NBA player, but he just ends up being, you know, a guy that can come off the bench and give you some buckets and a reasonably good, possibly high level role player, you know? I was at the Boston College Duke game back in February 2014. And I talked to Javari Parker after the game and asked him about his defense.

I was like, this is the number one knock on you is your defense. and the effort you put in, the focus you put in on that end of the floor. And I said, like, how do you get better at something like that? And he goes, it's just about effort. It's about trying. It's just about wanting to do it. And I heard that response and I'm like, huh, you know, maybe he's one of those college guys who's just coasting, you know, and waiting to the NBA to really explode. He's never exploded.

Not once, not has he become the guy on the defensive end of the floor that he could be by doing the things that he talked to me about at the time. that he's talked about since. And that's disappointing, man, because that guy has talent. You know, with his size and fluidity and his handle, there's some, there's an NBA player in there. Just what happened along the way? Well, you also wonder what happened with just the extreme amount of lost time, you know, that you're spending in rehab, that you're not spending being an NBA professional as you normally

would. Exactly. You're just so much time where you're like, you're not even, I mean, you're not part of the team. Like you would be part of the team, you know, and this is soon into your intro to NBA basketball. And so how much does it all just end up getting stunted, you know? And maybe, maybe just one of those guys that like, you know, it wasn't going to happen, right? I could be, but I think, I think it's fair to say. He certainly is on that list of guys that nobody disagreed with his potential coming out of college. And it wasn't just potential. It was this guy. It is hard to imagine Jabari Parker not being an outstanding pro. I'm talking about if you watched him at Duke, It was hard to imagine, even if he wasn't that good defensively. And there was a lot of people that were, you know, it was not crazy for the people that were saying, hey, Parker over Wiggins.

That was a real debate. I had Parker over Wiggins. My order was Embed Parker Wiggins. Yeah. That was my top three that year. Well, I mean, that was a real debate, a worthwhile one too, you know? and it just never there he is bought out

and the Austin Rivers thing is Christ Austin Rivers this is going to be like his 15th team I swear he's on a different team three times every season it feels like Austin Rivers

that's tough man somebody's gonna pick up I guess it was rumored with the bucks right yeah but then they got somebody else so they got Jeff Teague so with Milwaukee

we'll see if they would also add Austin Rivers or if Austin Rivers wouldn't even want to go there when they got their first choice antique. Yeah, these are some of the names that have at least been mentioned on hoops app. And again, by the time people listen to this, it'll probably be out there.

I read Avery Bradley, Corey Joseph, possibly. You know, he just got added to the Pistons that he went crazy last night. He had a bit of himself a night. No, I know. Doesn't it feel like one of those nights where the Pistons brass are meeting today? They're like, all right, we just got to buy this guy out. Like, he's going to, we're going to win games.

every once in a while if this guy's going to play like this. Right. This is not what we brought you here to do. All right, my guy. What are you doing? Why are you sabotaging this by being too good? So Corey Joseph very well could go on. Maybe that was, it kind of does feel with the deadline being today,

doesn't that feel like Corey Joseph being like, all right? If you're thinking about buying me out, allow me just to remind you why you should. Because I'm going to go and put the team on my back in this game in Sacramento and win. And either buy me out or I'm going to help you win games. They're like, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. Okay, Corey, all right, look, let's just come to a deal.

No more of this winning crap. Otto Porter with the magic Maybe might get bought out I mean his name's out there Hassan Whiteside With the Kings As a name That's out there

Maybe get bought out The Avery Bradley one And that's been linked with the Lakers Maybe Polinka bringing him back Into the fold If he gets bought out by the Rockets And then I read one Where somebody opined

Mark Casol And I was like, no way I don't think so. No way, right? No way. I could not. That would be good. I'd be surprised.

Yeah. I mean, we'll see what happens today. I look forward to seeing if there's any surprises. There might be. I mean, because and then they'll all, you know, they'll all sign with the nets and become awesome again. Because that's what happens. Bro, Blake Griffin dunking like he was the other night. That is obscene.

Wednesday's game, Lamarcus Aldrich and Blake Griffin. I mean, it's, it requires. team defense to stop Zion, but I thought individually Blake and Aldridge did one hell of a job playing good positional defense, active, playing strong. Like the size Aldridge provides to Brooklyn

is, I think I underrated it at the time that it happened. He just looks huge out there as compared to even DeAndre Jordan, Nick Lax and Jeff Green, there are other guys who are using them that big role. Aldridge is a giant. And they used him pretty well against Zion

in that game on Wednesday night. It was impressive. Well, and they have now moved into first place in the Eastern Conference standings, a place that we eventually thought they could likely get. They are, actually, one win ahead of Philadelphia right now. So Philadelphia is a half game back. And then there's Milwaukee, and then there is this large gap. And I'll be damn, but Charlotte is kind of holding the fort down. Like they're in the mix And I feel so bad for them

You know, they lost Lamello And then they lost Hayward And it's like, geez, like Whatever Whatever the possibility of them being Like a really fun playoff team That could maybe, you know, win a couple games and make it interesting

And at least maybe have some good performances Those feel, you know, More and more far-fetched. Well, Le Mello could come back. He could. back. You know, it's about a month, they said for Hayward, so he could return before the playoffs. And right now, with the standings, they'd face Atlanta in the first round. That's the four or five today. So if you were to get Atlanta, they could win a first round series and

go to the second round and face Brooklyn or Philly, whoever ends up number one. Well, Atlanta's just got to get by, you know, win this time because they don't have Collins, they don't have Hunter. The other night they were, they were, the other night against the Grizzlies, they didn't have Capella, they didn't have Gallinari, you know, and so they had been outstanding since the hiring of Nate McMillan, but it's hard to watch them now and make any kind of conclusions as to what they're going to be. And that is the odd thing with a lot of these teams, okay, like, what are they going to be when it comes playoff time? Because so many are having to play without their full rosters. New York, I guess, is though they're the ones that are trying to

hang on for dear life with Indiana trying to get up there and get one of those eight spots and Chicago trying to get one of those eight spots. I think, you know, I think now we're kind of the point where with Toronto falling back the way they have that New York's going to be in a play-in, right? I mean, even if they do fall out, it's hard to imagine them not being one of the 10 teams. And so just having the Knicks in a play-in is the NBA's dream. Wouldn't you say? It's super fun.

Whether they got to win one or two, it's going to be fun. Either way, right? And the other thing is you don't want, I mean, I said this to you a couple weeks ago, I wouldn't want Tibbs in that kind of a situation where it's just like, okay, we only have to prepare for one certain game that we are playing, one opponent that we are playing against like I do think he can provide you an advantage in that type of setting. And we would see Celtics Knicks right now. They would play the way the plan works is the seven faces the eight.

Whoever the winner is gets the seven seed. The loser faces the winner of the nine versus 10 games. So if the Knicks beat the Celtics, they would get the seven seed. And then the Celtics would face the winner of Pacers Bowls. That would be a crazy fun week. Oh, that would be really fun. my goodness. Yeah. I think the plan is going to be here to stay. I'd be surprised because it was so

good last year. It's going to be even better this year. I would be willing to bet. And the lead up to it's going to be even better too because like you just said, Chris, they're fighting for a top eight spot because getting the six means you're automatically in. Getting the seven or eight means you only have to win once, right? Twice. Like if you're the nine or ten. So there's all these different little levels and the standings that matter now that make it just way more interesting down the stretch. Well, Andy, with Toronto kind of fading out a little bit, they've only won three of their last 10 games, that

they are, they're three games back from Chicago. So it seems like we're probably going to get, it's most likely we get those 10 teams. The 10 teams we see right now, the order will inevitably change, but that's the 10 teams that we will get.

And a couple of those, like a New York, like a Chicago, even Indiana, like you can, you can, you can come up with all guys there there's nothing off the table in the eastern conference you know because all of these teams have extremely mediocre records once you get past milwaukee you know um the only one that like if they fell off i would be shocked would be miami i don't think they're going to like fall off to where they're going to have to i think it's more likely that they

progress to where they don't have to be in one of those play in type situations and in the Western Conference, you've got these teams that have really, you know, cratered. And we talked about this earlier in the week, but it hasn't stopped for the Spurs. It hasn't stopped for Golden State. And New Orleans has been the team that just they really haven't made up the ground. Like they just don't, they haven't been able to make up the ground. I mean, they're sitting where 50, there's only, what, 30, what, No, 21 games.

21 games left in this season, Kevin. And they are seven games under 500 at 22 and 29. And so I think that much like we talked about Portland, not taking advantage of the Lakers, you know, losing these games without LeBron. New Orleans is just not taking advantage of the fact that San Antonio. Antonio and the Warriors have both fallen apart recently. You know? It's like you said, the NBA sure would love to see the New York Knicks and the playing in the East.

Well, they sure would love to see Zion Williams and the Pelicans in the West. And they just won't take advantage of this. They're not taking advantage. It's too bad. It is crazy, right? Yeah. You know, they'll do like what they did for the bubble, right? They're going to, Adam Silver is going to come in and say, you know what?

It's 11 teams. Yeah. If Zion's not there, he's going to, Adam Silver is going to, he's going to change the rules. He's going to say, you know what,

I know we said 10. But we actually, we've come to the conclusion that it's better if it's 11. So that we can get the pelicans involved here. I'll tell you what, though, down the stretch of this season for the New Orleans Pelicans,

there's a chance here. Like the San Antonio Spurs have one of the toughest schedules remaining in the NBA. this year. The Pelicans do not. Their schedule is in the middle of the pack the rest of the year. So if the Spurs do continue losing the way in which they have been, New Orleans is going to have one opportunity to face them the rest of the season.

They face them on April 24th. So later this month, they get a game against the Spurs. You win that. And if the Spurs keep losing, they're a really tough schedule. New Orleans could grab that spot. They could. They'll catch it in Antonio. I'd be a little surprised if they don't.

New Orleans should win some games moving forward. Their defense is not great, but I would pick the Pelicans if I had to make a prediction for one of those top 10 spots. Oh, yeah, I think they'll, they will either be nine or 10 for sure. They'll, they're going to bypass one of those. I think San Antonio slides out in all likelihood. And how about this? So you were talking about, and again, this is why this, what would typically be the dog days becomes more fun when we're standing, is watching. Because much like we just talked about how the NBA would be, they would love it.

If they could somehow, if the Knicks end up in, you know, the play-in scenario, which is like on track to happen one way or the other. How about if you had Curry and Zion? Yeah. Well, also Jha could be there too for, you know, seven or eight spot with Luca possibly or Dame in the seven-spot. Luca, J-Zion and Curry? Yeah. Is your playing in week? That's crazy.

That's crazy. Not as good as the East, though, is it? I'm kidding. I mean, it's not as good as the East. Randall Brogden. Randall Brogden. Who are our other ones? I mean, the East isn't bad, though.

Levine and Tatum. Tatum, Brown, Randall, Barrett, Sabonis, Brogden, Levine, Vuccivich. It's not bad. Frankie Smoh. The West is just ridiculous, though. Frankie smokes, yeah, Zach. Is he getting some run?

Frank Milakina. That's my guy. Is he getting some run? He's not. He's playing a little bit. He is playing a little bit, Chris. Yeah. Frank Milikina can play defense, dude.

He can defend. He hasn't played much this past week or so. I think he had like one game where he played two or three minutes. It's a shame he doesn't have a coach that values defense. defense. Yeah, I don't think he's played too much since the deadline, Chris. I think he played one or two games since the deadline. I mean, seriously, if there was ever a coach in the history of the world that cares about defense, he's there.

I'm not selling my Frank stock. You're just holding on for dear life. I mean, I'm not going to sell when I'm down. I do feel like you've got to move on, though. I feel like you have, I feel like Frankie was, you know, he's something from your past. and now, you know, your new toy is Poku. Poku. Yeah, I feel like you.

Yeah. I think you, I think you said, you know what? I've had enough of that guy that shoots 30% from the field. I have multiple players that I enjoy. And it's not, not subject just a one or a handful. I still like Frank Milakina. He's still only 22 years old. He turns 23 later this year.

Like, I wouldn't rule out four years from now, five years from now that it becomes a 37% three points. shooter in spot-up situations and and that's what gives him consistent playing time. I still think there's an NBA player in Frank Nillikina. It's just it's unfortunate that the offense has not developed really that much at all since a year or so ago. He's kind of plateaued there. And so that's disappointing.

He could be a big star in China. You know what I mean? Worked out for another Nick's point. I'm shaking my head right now to the listeners. I'm shaking my head. Stephon Marbury. I'm shaking my head. You can take Marbury's fate.

place when he's done. He's done. He's 46% from three this year, by the way, Chris. Only on 37 attempts. 37. 17 of 37. Oh, is that right? Yeah.

Okay. It's true. Oh, before we get out here, we do need to address this. This is not on purpose that we are talking about this at the very, very end of the podcast. Trust me all that, because we had talked earlier this morning about addressing it. So there were articles that came out this week because Tristan Thompson wants to kill Kevin O'Connor.

No, I'm kidding. Tristan Thompson, though, did say he had a memory like an elephant. And he was upset about some of the things that had been reported that were said on this podcast. So both of our names were obviously mentioned in regards to this. And a couple of weeks ago, this is prior to the trade deadline, that show. I had, I had just been to a Celtics game and I had talked about what I had heard regarding what was going on with that team from people that I trust greatly that I will tell you would absolutely know. And so regarding what I said about, I don't know I can speak for Kevin. I'll just speak for myself.

regarding with what I said, which was there was that there were people out on him, that there was a level of frustration on the commitment to team because he had been going out and had been breaking protocols of something, by the way, which I listened to a radio interview that Brad Stevens did a couple of weeks ago where he said, you know, some of the stuff was absolute fooey. and then the host, and forgive me, I can't remember his name, pointedly asked him, said, well, look, here is the exact thing that Chris Vernon said, said that, you know, the reason he is in these protocols right now, and this is weeks ago, all right, was because he had broken the protocols, you know, and it had been going out, and Brad Stevens just like, like, oh, I don't know how that would be possible. Like, he just didn't, it was obvious, okay, for anybody. that wants to listen to that.

And so what I said was what I was told by someone who would, like, what do I care about Tristan Thompson? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, this is a conversation I had with what the hell is going on with the Celtics from people that are involved with the Celtics. And they say, Marcus has been upset because, you know, and so he's kind of been on edge because his names in these trade things that he reads every day, and it affects a guy like that. And Thompson wants to be, you know,

he doesn't want to be a part of, he doesn't want to be a basketball player, right? He's a Kardashian star now when, you know, they've had a problem with him going out. Guys were just, they weren't down with it. And so, like, the whole, do I expect everybody to come out and be like, oh, I don't like Tristan Thompson, you know what? Or Tristan is whatever, right?

Of course, they're going to band together. Like, look, they all said they like Kyrie, too. And they loved playing with Kyrie too. So take it for what it's worth. I would just tell you that regarding what I had to say on the podcast regarding Tristan Thompson and what I heard about what was going on with that team, that was, I was saying that because I heard that from people that were involved. I mean, how the F would I know? How would I know what's going on with that team? I'm not around that team.

How would I know what's going on? Or why would I make that up, right? And so Tristan Thompson and I guess the Celtics, like, look, their season has not been going all that well. So I guess anything with the least bit of drama surrounding it can be a topic. But this is what I have to say about the whole deal and why I passed along the information that I did a couple of weeks on. the show.

But look, he doesn't want to, he doesn't, he, he, he didn't remember my name. He remembered Kevin's. Yeah. You know, I think if I had used the word organization instead of locker room, they quoted tweet from NBA Central would have been totally different and the response would have been totally different. But I think, you know, the whole experience for me, the, I always try to have a growth mindset with every experience I have, whether it's good or bad, I always ask myself,

what did I do right? What did I do wrong? How can I do this better next time? And with reporting or saying anything on a podcast that has any potential of being picked up in the news, I learned in this instance that wording can dramatically change the whole story or even make it a story. So I told myself two weeks ago after Jalen Brown and Kemper Walker initially responded to that NBA Central tweet. And I said to myself, in the future, when I report something on our show, I'm going to listen back to that clip before we publish like on my own file to confirm if a report is something I'd want to put out on a podcast. And in this case, while recording, it's no different than like when you're writing an article. Sometimes like you cut it out.

Sometimes you keep it in. And in this case, while recording, I thought my comment was only really a quick little one sentence response to your initial report about the Celtics after they came through. After the general chemistry stuff that I talked about with like the COVID protocols and that causing difficulties for the team and across the league. and I thought all that would give it a totally different meaning. NBC Sports Boston actually had me on TV that week to talk about it. I think they thought they were going to get something explosive. And I just told them, this is normal chemistry issues for a team going through tough times. I don't think it's as big of a deal as you're making it out to be.

And the story went away the next day. But the thing is, is what I realized is important is if I report something, it can't be left so vague. one sentence isn't enough for me and it requires even more context or it shouldn't be said at all. So in the past, when I've been criticized by others or I've been critical of myself, I've improved from it. And I will hear too so that I can do the best work that I can in the future. My man. Yeah. I mean, you know, we have nothing against Tristan Thompson.

Yeah. I'm sorry that he's mad about the situation. But when I ask people what's going on and they unload with all manner of things that's going on with the team, like I'm going to pass it along. I'll be surprised, Chris, when we were recording that podcast, like, you don't report that much. Like, you don't usually report. No. And, like, I was surprised. But when you have something that you feel is trustworthy that you can run with, you will in those situations.

So that, you know, that's why that recording, I was like, oh, wow, Chris, Chris has. something about it. The big question of like everybody is wondering what's wrong with the Celtics and it's not just one thing. It's not and it's a lot of things. Right. No, it became an easy like here's pointing the finger at this guy that doesn't even play. That's not

that's not what I was attempting to do. Exactly. I was trying to find out what's going on. You know, like why? Like this team, it's not right. So what's going on here? Right. Anyways, so that's that. But we will remember

forever that Tristan Thompson has a brain like an elephant brain like an elephant that was a great line that was funny it is a really good clip it is a great line all right that is going to do it for today's show

thank you to producer Sasha as always and we will talk to you next week hope everybody has a fun weekend