The Mismatch - Offseason Loves and Loathes

Episode Date: September 22, 2026

Verno and Jacoby return to discuss some of the latest news around the league, including the contract extensions for Ausar Thompson and Keyonte George, Henri Veesaar's season-ending injury, and more. With the offseason coming to an end, media days around the corner, and preseason games coming soon, the guys dive into their full offseason loves and loathes. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (07:13) Ausar Thompson and Keyonte George sign contract extensions (13:45) Doc Rivers to join NBC’s NBA broadcast (15:52) The Hawks’ Henri Veesaar tears ACL, will miss the whole season (17:05) Jalen Brunson set to host 'Saturday Night Live' this weekend (22:06) Verno loves: How much stronger the teams in the East have gotten (26:02) Jacoby loves: LaMelo Ball on the Timberwolves with Anthony Edwards (28:25) Verno loathes: A weaker Western Conference (33:41) Jacoby loathes: The Knicks' championship summer is coming to an end (36:22) Verno loves: Rookie class (39:57) Jacoby loves: The Cavs trading for Peyton Watson (43:34) Verno loathes: Long-tenured players with new teams (50:04) Jacoby loathes: The Pelicans' offseason (50:39) Verno loves: New head coaches (54:29) Jacoby loves: The Rockets have true point guards now (55:59) Verno loathes: Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul retiring (57:00) Jacoby loathes: Ja Morant with the Blazers (1:01:04) Verno loves: The 76ers' offseason (1:05:21) Jacoby loves: OG Alvarado (1:07:03) Verno loathes: Blazers owner Tom Dundon being cheap (1:10:36) Jacoby loathes: Kyle Lowry’s dinosaur statue Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hear that? It's your money calling. It wants a promotion. Elevate your savings with the Scotia high-interest savings account. Always earn high regular interest rates that grow the more you save and invest. Conditions apply. Visit scotiabank.com slash h-I-S-A to learn more. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me as he does every week from the wringer.com is Dave Jacoby.

Bruno, I'm looking at the rundown. We have a lot of items to get through. Somehow, in the middle of September, we've got like 40 things on the rundown, so let's get going. Okay, 20 second time I'm out to start the show. Two things very quickly. The first of which is,

I'm wearing a John Conchard jersey in honor of you. I can't imagine that there's many of these that exist in the world. but I have one because locally he had a 17 rebound game against Minnesota Timberwolves and an homage to John Conchard, I went over to the team store and had a Conchar jersey made so that we could honor him the next day. And no one wears 46 in the NBA. And I will forever love John Conchart. and the fact that he is now going to be on your favorite team is,

I was so thrilled. It is beyond comprehensive. You should not be allowed. The CBA should say you can't have Alvarado and Conchar on the same team. It's a guaranteed championship. New York, you're going to love this guy. He's one of my all-time favorites. Also, one of these guys that was like a long-tendered player for a team

that you wouldn't expect to be a long-tendered player for a team. So he's got like a hive. And just a quick little John Conchard story. I think my son was turning 12, I think, was turning 12. Love John Conchard, of course, right? The white guy that hardly ever gets to play, but then does get to play. And then when he does play, he gets 17 rebounds. And it's like, so anyways, I run into Contra.

one day and he knows that my son loves him and I said it just so happened that day I was like it was his birthday and I was like bro send him a DM and he will be the king of the school and he's like

you got it so he sends him a happy birthday message and hey hey listen and starts following him he was oh I mean you want to talk about the best birthday ever. So I will forever have a warm spot in my heart for John Conchar. And the fact that you get to root for them now is the best thing ever. The other quick little thing, take everybody

behind the curtain. We're starting a little bit late. You were getting ready for the show, getting everything together. I am hustling around the house because it is Hawaiian Day at school. and for every parent out there, you don't find out it's a theme day for a school until it's 20 minutes until they're about to hit the door. And I promise you, this is going to have a basketball tie yet.

So I am out walking the dog and my wife says, Haley needs a Hawaiian shirt. I'm like, of course she does. So I'm going back inside and we're done with the dog. We got to find, I have one Hawaiian shirt. I have one.

And do you know what it is, Jacoby? Oh, the season hasn't even started. We're going to go ahead and rip off the Band-Aid. We're going to open the wound because the one Hawaiian shirt that is in the house was a giveaway at a Grizzlies game. The Jo-Jewan shirt. It is literally a Hawaiian shirt. with John Moran

all over it. It's the only and I was like, all right. So what do we do here? And she's like, I'm wearing it. And I'm like, you got to do it. She's wearing a Jowaiian shirt. I mean, it's brilliant marketing.

Whoever thought of that. Somebody in the conference room is just like, what if we do a Jaiian night? And everyone else at the table is just like, yeah. Yeah. You want to talk about rip it off the Band-day. We're not even getting into the season. So my daughter is at school today

walking around in a Julyan shirt. Just John Morantz all over her shirt. What else was I going to do? We didn't have any other Hawaiian shirt. Well, you texted about this. I was like, you either have a Hawaiian shirt or you don't. You can't fake it. It's not coming up with the Halloween costume

last minute where he's like throw something together. Like, it's a Hawaiian shirt or it's not. It's binary. No, we have a Julyan shirt. Yeah, Joaquin shirt. All right. News. Oh,

the Raptors this year, Kawian Night. Jack guaranteed to happen. A Kawian shirt. There, you just gave him a night. You're welcome. He won't play. All right.

Jalen Duren, the saga that never ends. Sign the deal. The saga that never ends. Now reporting that, and I don't know why, why is Trajan Langdon upping his offer?

He's just like, all right. Like, all right, fine five years 200 million and so at some point the math doesn't math here for jayland durring like you were saying just sign the deal what are you doing you get a you get a play on your qualifying offer and then sign basically the same deal elsewhere going forward like no chance in playing the qualifying this is just just such a mess just a deal too such a mess and now by the time this comes out it should be signed and we are

a week away from less than a week away from all of these teams having their media days. And so the last thing on earth you want is this hovering over your franchise. And so timeline's getting short now. And I think that's why

probably the offer changed a little bit. But at some point it's like, dude, it's $200 million. And now I get the sense that Pistons fans are now getting mad. Like, all right. Seriously? Nobody looks good except for the mismatch podcast because I was on NBA Reddit and there was this big post about who his agent is and how he all represents football players. That was much like Pablo Torre.

That was journalism investigation that we did on the last episode that involved about four seconds of Googling and unconfirmed sources. So I expect to get a Pulitzer, Peabody, which one? Both. both of them and a grammy i think you deserve both um yes keante george got a big contract as did uh sir thompson a sir thompson five years 155 keante george five years 157 and so we do have a slew of signings that's still going down the thompson brothers have both signed within the last week and then kiante george um who is an interesting proposition you know much like we talked about with walker kessler when he was

what we thought possibly overpaid to end up with the Los Angeles Lakers. It is always hard to gauge guys that are putting up, you know, really good stats and having really good nights and look very promising when a team is functionally tanking for their entire careers. Like they have, you know, when the, when the goal is for the individual player, get minds, have the best night I can have because despite my team losing every single night, at least I can still get my numbers. Like, how does that translate into the form? And the other thing is how the most important thing here is,

how does George fit? And I know there's going to be some people who are like, well, he's going to fit perfectly. Like, you know, you're just expecting. But the thing that matters is, how does he fit with Peterson? I think that is the bet. That's what they're saying. They're saying we have,

but this is the backcourt of our future. Yeah. You know, I looked at Georgia's numbers just a little bit because I take this podcast very seriously and I prep and that's why we started late. It's, they're trending in the right direction over the three years of his career. You know what I mean?

And it is a good stats, bad team. You might look at like points per game, but like efficiency numbers are trending in the right direction over his career. And I think no one knows his ability or the potential fit with Peterson better than the jazz. and I think that they, you know,

put their money where their mouth is. They showed us. Their actions are so loud that the words don't matter. It's like they clearly are committing to him and Peterson. And I think it's really cool. Like I just like the vibes around the jazz.

Like they went to Finland, you know, to hang out with marketing. Right. And then at this press conference announcing this deal, like a bunch of them were there. You know,

I'm just getting like, I'm getting good vibes around the jazz as the season starts to change. Super likable guy, always smart. Island and everything. It seems like good vibes. And the other thing is, this is a incredibly reasonable contract for a player.

Yes. I mean, from the raw stats numbers, like, yeah. The only thing that's going to matter is can he and Peterson simultaneously be great, like be the best versions of themselves. And that is something that we will see going forward, right? Do they both need the ball in order to be the best version? versions of themselves. But even if it doesn't work, that's why we were talking about the palatibility, as it

were, of the contract. That's not a contract that somebody else wouldn't want anyways because it certainly stands to reason that he could very easily even exceed being a $30 million player. We have to recalibrate what these contracts are now and what guys are getting paid because 30 million used to be like, you know, you would have to, you would have to be an all-star, all-N-V-A player to validate that. That's just not true anymore. No, it's a percentage of the cap thing.

Right. This is a good deal. And on paper, I mean, Peterson hasn't dribbled the ball on an NBA floor in the game yet. Yep. On paper, they should be complimentary players. Yep. Just the styles. Another contract that was signed.

One of the prospectors guys, Jaden Bradley from Arizona, got a four-year deal with the Toronto Raptors. They locked him up. Now, the reason this is interesting to me beyond the fact that he was a Prospector guy. You know, the Prospector likes to find these guys that are mega accomplished in college, might be veterans, so it's held against them.

They might have played four or five years of college. But this guy was like conference player of the year, conference tournament player of the year, the whole thing. And I will only say that the reason this is fascinating to me is because this is one of the great market inefficiencies now that can be taken advantage of is if you do find one like this, which is a second round guy that you can lock up to a four-year contract who can wildly outperform that contract. Like if you have a conviction in that player, there's just, there's no other value like that,

especially with the salaries going up so high on the high end that if you find somebody that you are not paying a fortune to on an extended deal and he does become like a real contributor for you, that is just, I mean, it is. It's the market inefficiency of all. And I'm not telling you, Jaden Bradley is going to become that. I'm saying these are the good flyers to take because, boy, if it hits, It's as valuable as you can get in the NBA landscape now

is to find somebody on a cheap contract for four years. Yeah, it's getting, I mean, four years, $9.3 million is something that you can stomach if he doesn't play a second. You know what I mean? You can. And if he does end up being a contributor, he's not going to start, you know what I mean?

But Via ends up eating minutes and being a contributor, that's the value that you want. And I didn't tell you this. I was driving the RV. in Colorado and in a in Costa Mesa Verde it's called with there you know these hairpin turns driving up this mountain and it was nighttime and I'm not gonna lie I was a little scared and I saw just a fire to my left and I stopped the RV because I thought someone who might be in trouble and it was the prospector with a with the ham radio yeah listening to Fiba Feeba games

By the fire. And he was a rotisserieing squirrel. He has his pick. He have his pickax? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And he's just living in a nomadic lifestyle. I didn't want to bother him. So I just moved on. Totally. I just wanted to catch you up a more. Doc Rivers is going to be a broadcaster for NBC. So, all right.

I guess this is good on two fronts. A, it's, Doc Rivers didn't take our job. We were worried about that. Right. Right. Given his relationship with. Simmons and his appearances on Bill's podcast, there was always a possibility that we could just look up before the season.

It's like, actually, Doc Rivers is going to be doing your show. So thank you to Doc Rivers for not taking our job. Appreciate it. It will be, I think Doc Rivers are really fascinating broadcaster. I find them to be likable, and I'm glad he's going to be on the broadcast. I am. I think it'll be good. I think he's going to be good.

Distinct voice, good analysis. Coach in the league so recently that he's got all of the information in intelligence that you want about all the players on the floor. Also, you know, great story for NBC to be able to put out there that Doc Rivers is joining because kind of flew under the radar, but doesn't sound like Michael Jordan's coming back for your favorite segment. I mean, we're not right up right, for him. I sniff that out so early. People that listen to the mismatch know that hating Victor Wibbenyama and then spotting Michael Jordan as a fraud on NBC. We started the movement here at the mismatch.

I think the story went that it just took too much time out of his schedule. It was just too much of a lift. It's really hard. You know what I mean? Jordan said he wanted to focus on his family. It just too much time away. all the travel and the preparation that it takes to have someone sit down in your house for 45 minutes and have a conversation. It's just too much for him to handle, you know, especially with his focus on his philanthropic work.

And NASCAR. Big NASCAR guy. Big NASCAR guy. Yeah, yeah. A couple other news and notes. Henry Vsar, who could have been useful. Like could have been useful for the Atlanta Hawks. big time team, unbelievably useful if you move him down to the G league.

He would just destroy the G league. He said unbelievably useful if you move him down to the G league. He would be amazing. I mean, nobody, that guy would have like 30s and 20s on a regular basis in the G league because there's just not big guys like him. But he could have been useful for the Hawks and was an interesting pick because that was the kid that just like was cratered. His draft stock just cratered for draft night.

they were able to get him late. But a torn ACL and already going to lose his rookie season. That's just brutal. Brutal. You hate to see this before we even, before we even get the training game. The offseason injuries are the worst. Offseason injuries are the absolute worst.

The worst. You know, like we talked about Mark Williams in the last show. It's just like this stuff just. Brutal. You know, these guys are just working out trying to get better, trying to get ready to perform.

And they end up being unable to perform. And he was kind of interesting at Summer League. I got to say. So I was fascinated to see kind of, kind of how he would fit with the Quinn Snyder thing, but we're not going to get to see him for his rookie year. So tough break for that kid. The Brunson, SNL is coming up this weekend.

Never do I go out of my way to make sure I'm good. I will go out of my way to see this. I used to watch SNL as like when I was a kid. Like in the 90s, like the Dana Carvey era. Of course I did. I was like, I would stay up until one every Saturday watching that thing. And I just don't anymore. I mean, SNL isn't on my radar anymore at all.

It was on, like a repeat or whatever recently, and I watched the opening credits when they do like, they take seven minutes giving you everybody's name and showing a picture of them. Way too long, by the way. But I didn't recognize anybody. I didn't even know who any of these people were at all. I will go out of my way to check out the Brunson one.

And I think he's actually going to be very good. He's going to be great. Have you never been to it? Have you never been to it? Oh, hell yeah, been to it. I was at the, yes. I've been a couple times, and I will say this, is the show ends at one, and they have an after party, and that's usually at, like, a bar or restaurant, and you just kind of have to know,

like the word kind of gets around, and then you go there, and the bar restaurant closes at four, and then there's a second secret venue, and at the after party, the word gets around to the after after party. And the next thing you know, it's like seven in the morning, and you're just like, what am I doing with my life. I have to go to work on Monday. It's like Sunday morning at that point. Like I've got a couple times.

I was at the one where it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It was I think it was Andy Samberg doing an impression of Mark Wallberg talking to farm animals. Yes. Oh my God. I was in the building for that. Say hello to your mother. Yeah. I don't.

It was one of those times when you're laughing so hard that your body. you can't control it, your body. Like you're laughing with their arms and your legs, not just your face. I was rolling during that because you're also watching it during the commercials. Yes. Right? And so some these like production dudes come out

with like a chicken and like put the chicken on a pedestal and like a goat and you're just like, what the fuck are they about to do? Is it hard to get tickets to it? Yeah. I mean, obviously I got them. You had a connection.

Our Knicks correspondent, got it for them. You had a connection. Our Nick's correspondent. The official mismatch Nick's correspondent got me tickets. Anna Hathaway's got a new movie out I saw. Every two weeks. Every two weeks. How is she in a thousand movies?

How is every movie this summer got Anna Hathaway in it? Dropping five movies. Did she just record these at all different times and they all just happen to drop at the same time. So crazy. That's exactly how it works. I know. That's exactly how it works.

I understand, but how long? I mean, what is the delay in these? I went to the, I watched the end of Oak Street, the one with the dinosaurs. Okay.

Rocked. It rocked. It's good. It rocked. Yeah. It's just like, it's exactly what you think it is. It's an every block in America gets into all of a sudden just dinosaurs to send

on like your street in like anywhere America. It's awesome. I watched Resident Evil yesterday too. That does sound awesome. That thing rocked as well. It did. Okay. Hear that? It's your money calling.

It wants a promotion. Elevate your savings with the Scotia high interest savings account. Always earn high regular interest rates that grow the more you save and invest. Conditions apply. Visit Scotiabank.com slash H-I-SA. to learn more. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think.

We've got all the media days starting for teams. Really a week from yesterday, which will be the 28th of September. And then everybody's going to start their training camps. Except for this week, there are actually weirdly two media days. I think the rockets are going today. And then the Mabs are going to be later this week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're going to see some news because those teams are going to like China.

I think it is early to do like a set. And so they're doing theirs. So get out of the way and then get in the plane. Yeah. They're doing theirs this week. And then they are headed out. So there might be some news from those teams. But generally all the news is going to start next week

when everybody is doing their media days on the 28th. With that being said, we have our offseason loves and lows. This is really, for all intents of purposes, is the last offseason edition of the mismatch that we will do because by next week, these teams are all going to be in training camps and then they're going to be playing preseason games, like right around the corner. We've got, you know, I think by the weekend, we will have had, by next weekend, we'll have preseason games that have already taken place.

I know, it's crazy. When are we going back to twice a week? I need more Verno in my life. Once a week isn't enough. Right, right before the season. All right, good. Right before the season. All right.

I need more verno. Loves and lows from the off season. All right. I'll start. My first love is how much stronger the Eastern Conference got. You know, when you just look at it, and obviously we're going to be doing all of our season previews right around the corner before the season. The bucks, the bulls, and the nets, I think are fair, it's fair to say,

are the only teams that you would be shocked if they ended up in the playoffs. The bucks, the bulls, and the net. Every other team in the Eastern Conference, the amount, some of them got way better and some of them got a little better, but fill it out. Would you be shocked if the Bulls were the 10 seed

and won two playing games and end up getting swept by the, you know, the Knicks or whatever? Yes. You'd be shocked. Yes. Why am I the only person that thinks the balls are good? Honestly, the one you should have mentioned is Charlotte.

Charlotte might be the one that I threw in there that I shouldn't have. But again, we don't know if they're going to be better or not. I mean, they're doing this. You said bucks, bulls and nets. In a different way. I'm saying I included them in a team that I would not be stunned if they made the postseason. But Philadelphia, better, Toronto, better. Cleveland, better.

Indiana, way better. Atlanta, better. Miami, better. Washington, better. Detroit, it's a wait and see. If they got better, you know, they're doing, no, no Tobias Harris. And who knows if the John Collins thing.

Yeah, and John Collins and Isaiah Joe, we'll see, right? They're kind of shuffling chairs around, but we'll see if they're better. Nick's Contchar. Nick's Contchar. Boston, it's going to be hard to be better.

the regular season wins from last year. And then Orlando's got the new coach. We will see what level of impact that has. Healthy, I guess. Yeah. Health. Yes. And they're still young.

So the internal growth is something that could absolutely take place. And then Charlotte is rearranging some things, and we're going to see it without Lamello. But just the fact that, I mean, you go through all of those teams that we will juxtapose it with the other conference. But look how many teams I just listed that, unequivocally got better than they were when we talked about these teams

five months ago. It's crazy. I don't know if all of those teams are better objectively, but they're all different and trying to be better. I think they're all better. Did the Celtics get better? No, no, no. Look, the ones that I need were...

Are we sure the pistons are better? I put those down at a... I put those with Ornics. Orlando. A little asterix. I named seven. All right. Polka hole in any of these seven.

Philly, Toronto, Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta, Miami, Washington. That's seven. Yeah, Atlanta would be the only one

that maybe didn't get better, but like those are all better. Yes, I agree. And then you've got, and then you've got Detroit, Boston, and Orlando as question marks.

Let's see. And Charlotte. And Charlotte is a question mark. But, I mean, that is, the conference is loaded. Just load. It's so hard to figure out who the eight teams are that are going to be in the playoffs because you've got to leave a couple out that you're going to be surprised you're leaving out. Like the Western Conference, it does feel like there's a top tier of two or three teams,

and then there's just like 12 teams in that second tier that you can just, that I could see any sequence of them finishing the regular season. you know in the western conference like three through 10 no idea not i'll get to that your first love i've always loved lamella ball i always have i just i just fascinated by i think he plays with so much joy and pizzazz and just like he's just a goofball and the idea that him and anthony edwards are going to be on the same team is just if that is my number one league pass team i will watch if i will watch that over a Knicks game. I'll watch that over anything. I can't wait to watch the Timberwolves play basketball.

I mean, they're just so thin in the front court. I'm just fascinated by it, too. Like, what are they going to do? I am also fascinated to see the relationship with him and Chris Finch. That does not seem like the most natural fit between those two. The guy that cares deeply about defense and not making mistakes. With Lamello ball? We'll see.

We'll see. It's just such a weird team. I'm looking at it. I'm like, Oh, I know. It's just. And Kaminga now? Dissu,

I mean, I wish Jimenzzo was healthy, but like, you know, maybe Terrence Chan Jr. Yep. They could have a lineups where they have like, where Lamello is the tallest person out there.

Seriously. It's just the back court becomes so fun. It does. So fun. And getting Anthony Edwards, like, off the ball. You know what I mean?

It's two players that draw you to watching them anyway. And they just now happen to be on the same team. Like you would watch Charlotte games because you like watching Lebello. And you would watch Minnesota games because you like watching Edwards. And now they're together. And they're both goofballs. Yes. I love it so much.

No idea how that thing's going to play out. You could see it. You can see it either going unbelievably well. and they are just offensively devastating, or you could see it being, like, they're both so annoyed with Rudy Gobert. It's like,

it is, you know. But it's the number one draw. Of course, I want to see LeBron and Jalen Brown and Jalen B, but like, I kind of know what that's going to look like. You know what I mean?

I can see it already and I haven't seen it. I have no idea what the Timberlub is going to look like. They're my number one, like, my number one league pass team is, is easily for the first month at Timberwood. All right. So my first load of the offseason

is a complete opposite of what I said about the Eastern Conference and how much stronger. It got, it is the weakness of the Western Conference. Okay. So just hear me out here. When I look at the Eastern Conference

and I throw out all those teams and it's like, you know, could you foresee a circumstance where Toronto's in a Easton East Finals, sure. Or Indiana's in the East Finals? Sure. Or maybe even Miami because they have Yanis is like, you know, there at the end.

Sure, right? Okay. So you knew that there are two B-A-M-M-thes at the top of the Western Conference. Okay? That's fine. Who is better equipped to knock those teams off than they were last year? and I would argue nobody. I disagree.

I have one coming later. Who? The Rockets. Because they have Van Vleet now? Yeah. I mean, this is one of my loves later. Okay. I'm just answering the question.

You asked the question. I'm just answering it. The rockets are better. Just simply Fred Van Vleek going to the Rockets and performing as a point guard. Yeah. I mean, this is, yeah, this is my love for later, but I'll just do it. now is they got their problem was point guard play and they're like let's van vliel be back we got marcus smart and whatever we can get from boggs and buttonovich like we have three point

cards now veteran point cards that was at the table all right so you think they are so one i'm just answering your question no no no yeah yeah i mean yeah i mean yes i think that the rockets got the rockets are in a better position the timber wolves who knows but i would say that the lakers and Nuggets. And, yeah, I know. I mean, the jazz are in a better position, but I don't see them in the Western Conference finals. I'm just saying, is there any, okay, so you would throw the Rockets in there as a team

to compete with the top two? I would just, you said, you know, which team got better? And I would say the Rockets. Yeah, I'm saying better, I'm saying better equipped to deal with those two teams. Is there any, is there any of these teams that. made it so it's not a foregone conclusion that we will see a outside of injury. This will be the same Western Conference Finals that we saw last time. And not only that is they're going to end up on other sides of the bracket because I expect

them to be one and two in regular season wins too. Yeah. So it feels inevitable. Do you remember those years that we've both been covering this leave forever? Like when it was just like it's going to be Cavs Warriors in the finals, like what do we even do it? You know what I mean? It's like it feels like one of those years. in the Western Conference where it's like it's going to be spurs thunder again and we'll see

what happens with J. Dove. Yeah. And then once you get past and then there's just a, I mean, you're going to see a bunch of teams kind of, as you mentioned, from three to ten on a level where they're beating up on each other every night. But they're not particularly better equipped to deal with either San Antonio. And I just think the difference between, you know, because what you wanted, and this is the this is the rub, is like, hey, maybe the Warriors will do something to give a last hurrah for Steph Curry and we look at them and they're a real problem. Or maybe there is a bolstering that goes on with Denver because, you know, they've got to

build something around Yokic that has a chance to compete at the highest level with these guys. And maybe just having healthy Aaron Gordon, maybe we, you know, maybe they can't have another life doing that. So I guess just when I was looking at the Eastern Conference, it seems like there's, all types of teams that can compete at the highest level. And on the Western Conference, the more you look at it, the more you go, all right. It's a collision course of the top two at the end. Is there anybody?

I guess we'll play out the season and we'll see. Maybe somebody will convince us that they can compete with those two. But one conference, in my opinion, got way, way stronger. And the other one is two teams and then everybody else just kind of fighting amongst themselves. I would say it's, I feel like I know who the top six teams are going to. in the Western Conference. Outside of the Spurs and Thunder, the Lakers, Rockets, Nuggets, and Timberwolves will be three through six. I don't see the Jazz, the Suns, the Warriors, Blazers, anybody else, Grizzlies, sorry, entering that top six. It's hard to foresee a circumstance where they do.

That is for sure. You threw out there. You didn't say, you didn't say the Mavs, Ethan. I just want to say, it is kind of BS that your first love is that the Eastern Conference got better, and then your first loathes at the Western Conference got worse. I just feel like that is, I just want to say for the record that that is lazy. It's lazy. No. Okay.

I thought it was perfect. I thought it was a perfect job by me. Agree to disagree. Okay. Your first, what are you doing now? Lose. You bounced around. Go ahead.

Loathe. It's the end of the summer. Football started, you know. Monday Night Football. last night. I'm wearing a sweater right now. You know, I'm thinking about getting the, putting the shorts in storage, getting the long pants and thick sweaters and winter jackets

out of storage. And it just feels like the summer of Nix elation is just starting to, starting to see the sun go down on the party. You know what I mean? The lights are turning on in the bar, the DJ's playing slow jams. It just feels like I knew it was going to happen, but with Mitchell Robbins is going to be taken photoed in a Celtics jersey.

It just feels like the Knicks are champions, and we had the parade. But it's not going to last forever. Did this coincide with finding out that if you want to go see and play the Charlotte Hornets, it's going to be five grand a ticket? Do you see what happened with that? They had to freeze ticket sales because they're like, we messed up and overpriced the tickets. It's like, you think?

It's like $3,000. It's like literally stand on like a catwalk. Yeah. Like at the top of the garden. Yes. Farms are going to start charging $100 just to watch the game with sound. They call them, they call those the sting seats. You remember what sting used to come down from the raptors.

You got the sting seat. a kiss from a rose or that's seal. No, no, no, that's seal. Seal, yeah, it got back. I thought about the wrestler's thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I know him.

Yeah. His thing seats. Yeah. But it does feel, it feels like a new year, man. The Knicks won. The Knicks champions. They're going to have ring night. It's going to be great.

But like, you know, everything comes to an end. And I'm lazy. Wow. Also, you putting, getting to, getting to where your you know what? Getting to wear your. sweatshirts. My daughter's soccer game got moved for heat yesterday. He was 100.

100. He got moved for heat. And you're like wearing a sweatshirt. I couldn't be more jealous. I couldn't be more jealous. I'm wearing, I want a Joaquin shirt. I want a Joaquin shirt. I'll send you this Godjar jersey and you can wear it in the sting seats at Madison

Square. I can't afford the Sting seats or the Contchard jersey. All right. Next thing I love about the offseason, the rookie class played out exactly like we wanted it, too. We talked so much about the top four guys in this draft. And then the Bonsa looked awesome. Peterson looked awesome. Boozer looked awesome.

And Caleb Wilson looked awesome. So we went four for four in terms of all the hype. everybody's excited. Now watch all these guys. And then we will see as it goes down, Wogler, etc. I love buries, the kid from the bucks.

But we're pretty clean on the top 10. Once you get past 10, it's going to be like a we'll see. But certainly when we had booked this thing as, hey man, you could make an argument for any of these four guys as possibly going number one. And then they all showed out like the, fact that we're going to get to go out of our way on league pass to seek out these rookies

and know they're already going like these guys are going to be good immediately and some of the performances we talk about are going to be crazy and so that was an unbelievable revelation of the offseason was a lot of times we build up all these guys and then you see him and be like eh i don't really know you know what i mean like it was sorry it's only 19 You started telling yourself, like, he'll develop. It doesn't always work, especially for bigs, early. Yeah, and these guys are all going to have the ball in their hands. All of them.

They're all going to have the ball in their hands. What? Trey Young is like, I don't know. Trey Young is like, oh, okay. They're all going to have the ball in their hands. All right. It's saved to Bonn's stuff. I don't know.

He just stopped the car. I was like, wait a second. What now? I'll tell you this. The first night. the first night that Young and Davis miss a game, that kid's putting 30 up. I'm talking to tempt.

Attempts. Here we go. I know, I don't watch every summer league game. You know what I mean? It's the summer. I've got kids and stuff and doing stuff. But man, I watch with, because you always talk about Caleb Wilson. It's like, I was an athlete.

You watch the tape and he's like, you know, he's Dunkin and stuff. Do we hit those threes? I was like, what the hell? hell is this? I was just shocked. The first game, the first game, which was Boozer Wilson, was the most entertaining summer league game I've ever been to. I was just in absolute shock and awe watching that game.

I was like, oh my God. Both these guys. Both these guys. The two best players on the floor. There's two best players on the four. Oh, yeah. And he came out and not, he made more threes in that game. It was he couldn't miss.

No, then he did the entire North Carolina season. It was like Clay Thompson or something. It was just like heat checking and hitting. It was like, what is happening? Oh, it's so good. So good. And the fact that those four were so great in Summer League now just leads me to be so excited about like tuning them in

the second the season starts. All of them. Next love. My next love. And you know, I did start this about being like, we have a million things on the rundown. we have to pick up the pace and then I started talking about

Mark Wahlberg and farm animals so I will keep this brief you'll keep this brief Payton to the Cavs you know I'm an Easter conference guy and like I just feel like he's a perfect fit

the more I look at it and everyone's going to be so focused on the Knicks and the Celtics and the Sixers and it's but the calves are like we've seen this core four well I don't think that's fair

because you got to get Harden or whatever But like We've seen Mitchell And Mobley and Allen Like For a long time now And it gets a little boring

Because they do just sort of flame out In the playoffs year after year But this team went to the Eastern Conference finals And I think Peyton Watson is going to be an absolute perfect fit for them Just a perfect fit There's no there's no We know that rim protection is there Regardless of who's on the floor

They have rim protection and Peyton Watson is an excellent point of attack defender. And I just think that he's going to fit really, really well. One of the things about the Cavs is they don't really get out in transition. Peyton Watson, you know, I looked at some of the numbers. He scored 1.3, 2 points per possession in transition. He's the 89th percentile. Three and a half transition points a game.

Like, I think he's going to be exactly what they need. No, it has been forced to and has learned how to play without the ball. Yeah. To be elite. And I keep going back to, and we will see how it plays out. But we said there's always anytime there is a team that is highly successful, and especially wins a championship, players that fit the archetype of their players benefit from it.

And you will recall that this was long before we knew that the nuggets were not going to be. retaining Peyton Watson, even though that was always a question. There was an article that came out that I read about right after the season that I brought up to you, and it was about finding who is the next OG and Anobie? And the answer that the author came to was Peyton Watson, and we brought it up. And it's like, because OG, because of what he did throughout that Nick's playoff run and championship, that people are inevitably going to look and go, who's the next guy like that,

that somebody could go and get that's kind of a really good on offense, really good on defense, perfect three man. And again, it's high praise. It's a ridiculous thing. It's like I worked in sports, like, you know, development forever, like sports media development at ESPN. Everyone's like, how many times people said, it's the daily show but for sports.

It's like, yeah, yeah, it's like, sure. But The Daily Show is really, really good. And you have to be really, really good. Like, it's like, who's the next OG and Nobie? Like, oh, great defender. Can knock down threes. Can create his own offense. Great teammate.

Like, consistent. Like, I mean, of course, you want the next OG and Ninovi, but there's one OG in but the Phaeton thing is fair. I mean, if you are looking for, like, who could we look up and become? Because OG was not that version of OG. So you're betting on the come, right? Like, I mean, you're sitting there and going, okay. Like, Peyton Watson's going to fill out even more, and maybe you look up and he's even better than you even thought he was.

Peyton Watson is like, you know, he gets these highlight blocks and stuff. Like, he's a weird, like, wing that protects the rim and help defender. He's just awesome. Hear that? It's your money calling. It wants a promotion. Elevate your savings with the Scotia high-interest savings account. Always earn high-regular interest rates that grow the more.

you save and invest. Conditions apply. Visit scotiabank.com slash h-I-S-A to learn more. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think. He's awesome. All right, my next one,

my next load. Teams losing long-term players. So there's some that are headliners, which are, you know, guys like Lou Dort, who had been longest-tenured player for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mitchell Robinson,

I believe, was the last draft pick with his team. from the 18 draft. That ain't that long ago, Jacobi, from the 18 draft. And so he's now. And then, of course, we had Janus and of course we had Jalen Brown.

But I found a list from last year of like longest tenured players with their teams. And we've talked a lot about how maybe one of the goals going forward, whenever they do a new CBA is, allow teams, especially with their homegrown players, to be able to get some cap relief by signing those guys. These were the longest tenured players. I'm going to run through these very fast. These were the longest tenured

players in the spring on their franchises. And wait to you notice how many of those are now not going to be on the same team. So Joe L&B, 12 seasons with Philly, right? He's named. Shaden Sharp?

Whoa. Okay, with the Blazard. Janus with the Bucks, gone. Kobe White with the Bulls. Gone. Dean Wade and Darius Garland for the calves. Both gone. Both gone. Jala Brown with the Celtics. Gone. Ivaca Zubats with the Clippers.

Gone. Jaron Jackson Jr. with the Grizzlies. Gone. Anneka Ongu for Atlanta. He's still there. Bam out of bio for the heat. Miles Bridges for the Hornet. gone Walker Kessler for the jazz gone DeMontes Sabonis for the Kings not there for long right it's not going to be that long and that's only good four years

Mitchell Robinson for the Knicks gone LeBron James Lakers gone Jonathan Isaac Magic gone Dwight Powell Mabs Mike he just signed a training camp deal I think yeah I think he just showed up yeah he showed up in some like team event or something yeah it's the craziest thing it's not all the

I'm mad. He's not gone. Not yet. Nick Cleckss. I've always liked Dwight Powell. All right, listen to this. Nick Clackston, net. Good.

Nicolioch is still there at the Nuggets. T.J. McConnell, Pacer, still there. Mm-hmm. Zion Pelicans. Still there. Isaiah Stewart. Pistons. Gone.

Raptor. Scotty Barnes still there. Rockets. Jay Sean Tate. I think he's still there. I think. Yeah. I don't know if he's a free agent or if he's still there or not.

Oh, look it up. Jay Sean Tate, is he still a rocket? He was the longest tenured in the spring of last year. I think he's still a rocket. Does he still play for the Rockets? Yes. He does? It's like that, you know, people also ask when you Google something?

Yeah. The first question is, does Jay Sean Tate still play for the Rockets? Not a good sign. But it sounds like he signed a one-year deal. this summer. So yeah. Okay. Keldon Johnson Spurs still there.

Booker's son still there. Lou Dort, gone. Nas Reid, gone. Steph Curry's still there. And then here is the bar bet of all barbets. I don't know if this individual is still on his team or not. But you want to talk about,

and I host an NBA podcast for God's sakes, Jacoby. Which one? What one? This one. And I watch NBA games all the time. The longest tenured wizard. Oh, wow. At six years,

and I don't know if he's still there or not. I'm going to look it up. This is the hardest question ever. I have no idea what name you, but let me think. When I tell you, this person could walk into my studio right now, and I wouldn't know. The longest tenured wizard.

I have no idea what you're about to say. I'm looking up their roster. So I've already cheated. What do you got? Anthony Gill. Not even listed here. What? Not even listed.

He's gone? I think so. Oh, man. Yeah. He saw it all the way through, and then as soon as they got some good players. As soon as they got some good players. Oh, he resigned.

To one-year deal. He did? I think so. The longest-tendered wizard. He just resigned six days ago. Unbelievable. It's all-time wizard. Yeah, but you got to retire the number, right?

When's Anthony Gill Knight going to be? Unbelievable. This will be year seven for Anthony Gill. Legend. But anyways, look, the reason I put this on my load, I mean, I just named off, and literally two-thirds of the league's longest-tendered players are not on their teams anymore.

by the time we get to this year. And it's a function of the CBA too. It's just like at a certain point, it's because if you're done with, if you're in your second contract, you better be playing 30 minutes a night. You know what I mean? Yep.

And I hope that I hope what happens is going forward that you do catch a little bit of a break. Cap relief. Yes. Cap relief for resigning your own players. That's, yeah. I mean, what's a, imagine you're a Wizards fan. What do you do if you can't attain Anthony Gill.

What do you do? What do you do? Why even go to the arena? Doesn't feel right. It doesn't. Where's Anthony Gill? Honestly, I would have never gotten that in a million years. Me neither.

A million years. Also, Anthony Gill has been on the Wizard for seven years. 60 years. Unbelievable. He's got eight starts. He started eight times last season. Longest tenured wizard is just an impossible question. Shout out to him.

Here's my next loath. And I'm just going to make this one real quick. The Pelicans off season. Like I'm researching for the show. I'm looking stuff up. It says, it's like Pelicans off season, key additions. None.

Just what are we doing? My God. Like who's like at the meeting in the, you know, in the Pelican's front office. It's like, what should we do this off season? Nothing. Love what I saw last season. Don't change a thing. Perfect.

This plays in actually to my next love. So I'll just go ahead and do it, which is the coaching changes. I always love coaching changes just to see what level of impact it can have. We talked about Jordan Ott last week, Mike Brown, who was the, champion whose team changed. Yeah, Will Hardy. But this year we got six. Tiago Splitter with the Bulls,

Dusty May with the Mabbs, who's coming from college, Taylor Jenkins with the Bucks. There was an off-season move for the Pelicans, and that was Jamal Mosley. Jamal Mosley's all we need to add.

Micah Norrie with Portland and then Sean Sweeney with Orlando. The only one it's in there. Like the only one that's getting to coach a good team that we think could have a profound impact like is Sweeney, right? Like if he has a profound impact,

they move into where we thought they were going to be a year ago. And that team was atrocious to watch offensively. Atrocious. But they were a team that was outstanding defensively two years ago.

But last year they were just total blah. And it seemed like they had tuned out mostly. And so we'll see if Sweeney can inject some life into a team that's got good players. I mean, they still got Paulo Franz and doesn't bank as a core there. Yeah, I mean, can you see a world in which they're healthy and like Suggs and, and Paolo and Franz are all playing together and they're winning a bunch of games? And Jamal Mossey's like at a bar with his friend being like, if these guys were healthy, I could have done that too. You know what I mean? Like can't you see that, that world?

And the other one is you do wonder if there is this year, if one of these guys, we look at all of these rosters and say they should not be able to compete on like a playoff. No, no, no, on a playoff level. And we go, okay, Splitter, Dusty May, Taylor Jenkins, Mosley, Micah, Nory. Can any of those pull off the crazy, which is. is we didn't, we thought the sons were going to be terrible last year. Yeah, the Blazers are on that. I think the Blazers had that potential.

Like, I had like a Dame resurgence and like, you know, Denny. And everybody's always like Mike Adori. I'm just saying, if there's, it's, hilarious. It's going to be interesting to see if there's any of these coaches that come in and do the profound impact thing. And like the team is way better than we thought they were going to be. Sweet. He's got the best opportunity to it. because they are not

in the Western Conference. Well, because nobody's going to have Orlando in the top five. In the top five. I can see it. I could see him at five. No, I'm saying nobody's going to pick that. Would I pick that?

You're not picking them over the Knicks, Philly, Toronto, or Cleveland, and you're not picking them over Indiana. They're right there. And you're not picking them over Detroit. Yeah, yeah, I probably don't have. down the lid. It sounded good at first.

Yeah, they're done the ones to start putting the butts in the seats. You're like, yeah, they're not in the top five. I mean, are you putting them above a Miami? Going into the season.

No. Oh, would I personally right now, David Chacoby, no. Right. I mean, Yon is a bambor,

it's like, how do you score? You know what? I'm just saying. I'm just saying, you know, and coaching like, you know what's foe is.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I see what you're saying. They're not top five. You're right. It sounded cool when I said it. And then you start, you start, you know, like filling in the spots.

It's like, no, they're not there. That's why this Easter conference is crazy. All right. Next love. Where am I? Next love. Oh, I mentioned this earlier. I'll do this quick.

Rockets, Rockets addressing the problem. Like, the point guard play was the problem. They didn't address it. They just got the guy. They addressed it. They got a guy helped and they got smart and Bogdanovich. Oh, that's fair. You know what I mean?

They're like, we have zero point guards. We have a men Thompson playing point guard. Now it's, you know, or Reed Shepherd. Now it's like we have three point cards with a combined 750 years of NBA experience. Somebody that can handle the ball so that we don't have to run it all through Durant and Shengun. Yes. Or like, you know, I meant Thompson like trying to be the point card. You know, Vambly, smart Bogdanovich.

You get two of those people healthy. They're not going to do much for you on defense. But they're going to get you in your sets. And Houston's a fascinating one that you brought up as like, if there is a team that you don't want to play against that they become the one that could actually challenge those top two.

I'm telling you, man, because you've always... And they lost Stephen Adams by the time it got, like Adams was a profound impact. And Kevin Durant, they lost Kevin Durant and they had that complete collapse. Like, when you think about the NBA, you're always sort of like left with the,

not first impression, but the last impression of the Rockets was so bad that you had this gross taste in your mouth. But from a roster perspective, and Kevin Durant, like, I could see it. I could see it. Next, Lowe. Russell Westbrook gone and I guess Chris Paul on another level,

but it just made me lament when I was going through it all, and you're thinking about the offseason of what took place, and these guys just both going off into the sunset, very polarizing guys, certainly. Westbrook much more. And I do wonder, like, who, who takes that mantle? Are we done with that? That now all these front offices are run by analytic guys.

I have the answer. Oh, you think there is a, you think there's a, you think there's a. I have the answer. Okay, perfect. The natural, who takes the mantle of the, we all admit he's awesome, but that he's a constant argument. John Morant. I mean, it's right there in front of you.

It's right there. I mean, that, I mean, this is my next, my next loathe is John Moran in Portland. So let's just naturally transition into it. It's like, I didn't, this is not something that I prepared before you asked the question. But when you did, I was just thinking like, scoring guard that's got efficiency question marks and locker room question marks. That is John Moran. like that this is the this is the like which side of the

jaw morin fence are you on season in Portland he's just in such a horrible spot he really is that's why it's my load my next loathe is jaw in Portland it's so weird they got four point guards they got like seven

also like dame he's also like and I just saw that video of damy lillard hitting 1,200 out of 1300 3s or something look fine to be And it's like, you don't get to, he's the guy. Like, he's there, Moran, right? Like, he's the favorite son.

He's the one with the ball. And Dame and Jha together. Jaws is going to be announced second in the starting five. Seriously. And also, John, Dame together is not a fit. Like, that's not. No. It's not a fit.

And then Drew Holliday's there who's probably a better fit with either Dame or Jha, but not Dame and Jod. Right. Right. it's just it's a very awkward fit so I'm gonna come out of the off the bench like you're one of those players

gonna be like a six man I don't know if he's gonna have enough success but I mean I feel like we went through this he's polarizing though can't you see the Westbrook cop though like we I just feel like these best guys Wambi Brunson SGA

SGA I guess gets beat up over the foul stuff and whatever else but I feel like we went through that span where it was like Hardin was mega polarizing and arguments about Hardin, arguments about Westbrook. I'll put Trey and that list.

Arguments about Tray Young. Arguments about Lamello. Yes. There's arguments about these guys like all the time that we went through. And you can see both sides. Like you could you could put numbers in front of me

to make Tray Young look like the most valuable basketball player in the league. Right. But nobody's really arguing about Luca and Janus and Yokic and Wembe. You know what I'm saying? That's where I'm saying. Who's going to be the next guy? John Moran.

No, he's not MVP. He's not going to be MVP level, though. I'm saying like where you're... Westbrook, I guess, yeah. And Harden, yeah. I see what you're saying. I'm saying that make like real impassioned cases against the people. Jalen Brown.

Jalen Brown. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Yeah. There you go. He's like, once you put the MVP clause in the question, I had to sort of like go to. a different file folder in my brain.

And Jaylen Brown is the one there. Well, he certainly fit the bill of the analytics versus the eye test. Yes. Yes. It's like, I got Baylor Shireman here and we're second in the east and I'm the problem. Well, and it's also, me and Peter

Baylor Shireman and like, it's the Yomize Kada and I got to go. No, this is good because it did break people. The whole we were better without him. No. Nobody accepts that. Nobody accepts that.

But they will even say that. Like, we're better without it. But nobody believes that. But how do you watch a Sunday's day last year and be like, that guy's the problem, the guy's scoring all the baskets. I know. Holding the basketball, the entire possession. Yeah, he's the problem.

Oh, also good on defense and rebound. He did break the analytics thing where it's like, everybody, like, we know what the numbers say. We don't believe. My twin girls that don't even watch basketball if I took him to a Celtic game, they'd be like, they got to get rid of that guy. They'd be like, what are you talking about?

They're better without him. You mean the guy who scores all the time? Right. All right. Last love. I mean, it's what the Sixers built. Like, when we're thinking about this upcoming season, they will be the big bad wolf.

They are the one. They built it up. They got LeBron. They got Jalen Brown. to go along with Maxie and Embeded and Edgecombe, by the way, everybody for kids, they still have to Edgeco. Also, their bench is loaded.

Not only did they draft five, Ron. Henry Simons. Dean Wade. I like Lordlow. Yeah. You got Huck 40, KCP and Dem Boni. Like, they got guys that can play for them.

Just think of, here's what I think about. There's a bunch of role players that can mix and mad. Just think about their first national game. right on one of the big networks or streams or whatever the hell we watch now and they're going to show the starting five introductions and just think about their starting five too it's like

yes it's going to go maxi maxi edge comb brown James and meat what are we doing? It's like an all start thing what are we doing? No and then we get the whole like

this is exactly but you do get the whole like if becomes where people are going to revel in them losing. We have not really had that. We're losing to. I'm saying we haven't really had that since the Warriors thing was thrown together. Where every time, like, bro, you threw that together and you still can't win.

Like, you don't mean? Like, where it's like people will be tuned in to watch them, you know, get beat. And like those losses are just going to be so magnified. And it just makes it so much more fun. It really does. I like when there's a big bad wolf team. There's a big bad wolf in the East. There is.

You know, and then Knicks won the championship. And then it does feel a little bit like the Warriors loading up with Katie. Look at their starting five. Edgecombe is so good. So good. And he's the fifth option. And he's standing in the corner. It's going to be standing in the corner.

Seriously. I know, just playing dumb wars. Yeah, he's standing in the corner on offense. And Dean Wade just, Dean Wade will never take a contested shot. Oh, no. And he can play D2. I, yeah. God.

You know what I had? I didn't read all of yours. I had this is my first love. I was like, this is, I'm on the same page. Like this is, this is exactly what we needed. Yeah. You want to see things like this happen. It just makes everything more exciting.

Everything. Because it would have been excited. Oh, the cat's got, Pete Watson. Okay, cool. Guess what they got, LeBron James and Jalen. Brown. It is kind of great. It is crazy when you sit back and you're like, bro,

Jalen Brown, what are the chances that we could have ever guessed at the end of last season that Jalen Brown and LeBron James are playing for the same team? Like, how? How are they playing for the same team? There's no way. I think I told the story to you on the show, but I was talking to Max Kellerman before one of the game over and before LeBron made the decision. And we were just talking, this is another.

this is like inside information. And he was like, he's like, yeah, LeBron like really wants to win. I was like, well, if he wants to win, he would go to the Sixers. The first thing I said, I was like, if you really just wanted to win, he would go to the Sixers.

Right. And next, you know. Well, and now every, you have a huge amount of fans that are going to be resentful that want them to fall on their face. Oh, you know what? And that's what makes it fun.

It makes it fun for people to be able to actively root against some of that. Bro, you threw that all day. What do you need 10 all stars? Like, what's enough? Ferno. Verno. Just hurt my feelings.

Why? You said, you have a huge amount of fans, and I thought there was going to be a period. But you just meant you have a huge amount of fans. They're going to be rooting for them. My bad. My bad. You also have a huge amount of fans.

Yes. I believe there's 17 people follow me on TikTok talking about soup. Next one. is a piece of sound from our Lord and Savior Jose Alvarado's daughters about what they should refer to their younger brother as, please play it. Did you just call your brother? O.G. Anna name. That's not his name.

No, it's not. That's no fair. Why can we not just going to go to O'Giananoi because of his thing? They named their little brother O'G. Anovi. I mean, oh, that's amazing. They're like, why can't we call him O.G. Ninobe? It's just perfect. I wonder what his name is. I don't know. I don't know.

It's not as cool as that. It's not as good as O.G. Ninovi. His sisters are like, he's like, that's not his name. And his sister's like, I don't care. That's O.G. Anobie over there. Calling your little brother, O.G. I know.

I mean, at worst, everybody needs to just start, you know, they just need to stick with the OG and just say, fine, we won't do NN and Obie. He's O.G. Alvarado. O.G. Alvarado. It's unbelievable. I mean, that is pretty good. It is unbelievable. Yeah, that sounds like a character in the new, like, uh, Granddad's Fattano. Yeah.

O.G. Alvarado is the gang leader, the boss, the big boss at the end. O.G. Alvarado. I think the kids are on to something. I don't know what that kid's name is, but it would be way cooler if it was O.G. Alvarado. I think I'm on the daughter's side. Yeah, I'm definitely on the daughter's side. Yeah.

I know adults are supposed to stick together, but I'm on the daughter's side on this. Daughter side. Yeah. All right. Last load. Just this Portland owner and the fact that this is going to be like hanging out there. Like they're going to be announcing they're going to do NBA Europe and they're going to do expansion or whatever.

All the while there's going to be these like Harvard stories coming out of Portland all year about this Tom Dunnard. most importantly about him like, like that we're on the horizon. They've been, they've been shooting up the flares since he did his opening press conference, like all the writers there.

Like, bro, this dude's going to try to move this team. And that thing is going to get so messy. And I just, you see it coming. You see it coming. They sold the team to this guy. And they're already blaming Jody Allen for selling it to him. Because it's like,

you had to know, You know what I mean? If you cared about the community, you wouldn't sell to a guy that you knew was going to come in here, try to force a hand about a stadium. Then he'll do what he's doing and he's going to try to move this thing elsewhere. And it's like, bro, there's nothing worse than that hanging over a franchise. We have not had that happening in a long, long time. It's been a long time since we have had like the fear, like the legitimate fear of a team getting relocated.

and there's just nothing more depressing to watch unfold, honestly. For someone who loves a team and is a sports fan, and especially in a smaller market, and watching that stuff unfold and watching what's taking place in the off-season is just mega-depressing. And so that was for sure a load at the off-season. Imagine you're an assistant coach of the Trailblazers,

and the head coach is in a gambling scandal, so it was no longer available. You get bumped up to head coach, something you were not expecting, a salary that you are not compensated for. And then you end up leading the team to the playoffs and developing this sort of like feel-good story throughout the course of the year.

With a star, a new star. With Denny Advia, yeah. I mean, they just, and then you go to the negotiation table and they don't want to pay you. So I was here, coach that just one day woke up and was the head coach and was an objective success. No one can really say that this was not a successful season for the Trailblazers,

and he was not compensated with a long-term deal. That's insane. Also, people don't understand. They cleaned out, like, their business side. The broadcast booth. I loved Kevin Calabro. Love him. And Kevin Calabro was so insulted by their offer.

that he's like, I don't have to do this. That is so depressing to me. Like all those moments, like the Damian Lillard shots and everything, like that is Calabro. And it's like, dude, what? The longtime voice of the team who, you know, and by the way, Collabro was originally Sonics. Catch a break. He's Northwest. You know what I mean?

He was the Sonics guy. And then he became a spreadsheet. So the spreadsheet. So the spreadsheet looks better. So the Excel spreadsheet looks better. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. And you know what?

And by the way, also credit to us, made it through all of my loads, as did you. Not one mention of the story that took over. I haven't finished. Our whole long season was taken over by Kauai, though. And it's not. I don't care.

I'm so over. I know. We're done with it. Here's my last load, which is Kauai related somewhat. Kyle Lowry is like the, I don't think they actually retired his number. I think I said in the last episode,

they're going to, but they gave him the key to the city in Toronto. The mayor showed up. They were celebrating him. And then they unveiled a statue in his honor outside of the stadium in Jurassic Park. And my last loat is the statue is a fucking dinosaur. And if I'm Kyle Lowry, I'd be like, I'm not a dinosaur. I'm a human being. So why the dinosaur is wearing my jersey and that's supposed to be a statue to celebrate me?

A dinosaur? And the dinosaur is kind of short, too. It's like in like stocky. It's just like, is that it? How does this have anything to do with me? That's a dinosaur playing basketball with my number on its chest. And they're like unveiled it like new statue honoring Kyle Lowry. And it's literally a dinosaur playing basketball.

I mean, unless it's his choice, it is intensely bizarre. Who would choose that? I mean, look, if you saw the Todd Helton statue over the weekend, if you saw the Dwayne The Twain Wade one. The Cristiano, Rinaldo. Yeah, I mean, of course. Yeah, maybe he was like, instead of making a bad version of me,

just make it the stupid dinosaurs. Just make it a raptor. Just make it all-time raptor. Yeah. I know you can do that. And I won't be insulted. Yeah. Maybe.

But certainly, yeah. You theoretically, you would want it to be a statue of yourself rather than an animal. Yes. Yes. Then a prehistoric being that hasn't, you know, existed for millions of years.

But who knows? Except for in Ann Hathaway's neighborhood. It's a good movie. Good movie. Tell you, you will not be upset if you go and put down $10 to watch that thing, man. Same with Resident Evil.

Good ride. Very enough. Thank you to Jeff. I just want to apologize. I want to apologize to Sean Fantasy because all the movie, the movie people are all going to migrate to the mismatch podcast now.

You know what I mean? So I just want to preemptively apologize to the big picture and rewatchable. that's probably smart thing too you don't want to offend him thank you to Jeff Steph and Jesse as always in Jacoby

I'll talk to you next week