The Mismatch - Spo Keeping the Heat Hot, Bucks Defensive Evolution, and the Flawed All-Star Process With Nekias Duncan | The Void

Episode Date: January 27, 2022

Welcome to ‘The Void,’ where Kevin O’Connor brings you deep inside the NBA with the people who know it best. Basketaballnews.com writer and podcaster ('The Dunker Spot') Nekias Duncan is today��s guest. In discussing the Miami Heat, Nekias believes this is Erik Spoelstra's best run as a coach (02:34). Also: Have we all forgotten about Victor Oladipo (21:00)? Nekias points out how the Bucks have evolved defensively and why he has them repeating as champions (23:20). The guys then go into why the NBA All-Star voting process is flawed (36:28). To much of everyone’s surprise, the Mavs have been playing elite defense all season, and Nekias tells us how they’ve achieved this without a defensive anchor (41:41). Lastly, Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little are having breakout seasons and bringing some fun to the Blazers while Dame is out (51:28). Host: Kevin O'Connor Guest: Nekias Duncan Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Top MMA voices, Ariel Hohani, Chuck Mindenhall, and Pizzie Carroll are live on the Spotify Greenroom app for every major MMA card with the Ringer MMA show. Here the guys react to weigh-ins in real time and find out what they think of the fights the moment the final card ends. Plus, when breaking MMA news happens, they'll be live to talk to you about it. And if you miss the Green Room show, you can hear it as a podcast anytime on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, thank you for listening to The Void. Today we get on Nikias Duncan, one of my favorite writers and podcasters.

he's the co-host of the Dunker Spot with Steve Jones. You late with Jasmine Watkins. He's a writer of basketball news, analyzes and comments on the NBA on Twitter at Nikaias NBA. Great Twitter follow, except for your succession threads. I don't know how you managed to tweet while watching a show like that. My brain is not capable of doing that, Nikias. How are you doing today? I am doing pretty well.

Thanks for having me on. As far as I don't know, like, I like people. How do you do it? I don't know. Like, it helps me center myself, I guess, because it's easy for me to kind of zone, I guess it's just an ADD thing. But, like, I don't know.

It, like, helps me stay focused. And also, like, people tend to enjoy my live tweeting experiences for whatever reason. Like, I don't know why. Like, I did something similar with Game of Thrones when I did that in, like, nine days, I think is what it was, which would not recommend that. Nine days for Game of Thrones? Yeah, that is objectively a terrible idea. Never watched that.

How long for Succession? Was it an all. three seasons for you. A couple days, one day. Nah, I had too much work to get done. I think that ended up being, I think it was like a week, which is still insane, but I got through it. I think I'm pretty good at multitasking, but you are elite. It makes me feel dumb. You are smart. That's why I wanted to talk to you today. We're going to cover a lot today. A lot of what you've actually been doing over at basketball news, and I guess we'll get started off at the top of the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat.

They lead the East right now for best record in the East number three offensive rating in the NBA, number eight defensive rating. And they've done this despite Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lari,

Bam, Atabio, and Tyler Hero playing only 12 games together. Eric Spolster said on Tuesday that Heroes back from protocols and he should be playing in Wednesday night's game against the Knicks.

How have the heat been able to sustain all of the success despite so many guys key players being in and out of the lineup all year long, including Kyle Lari right now? I don't know how controversial opinion this is, but like this is Eric

Postcher's best coaching job. I think it starts there because it's one thing to, you know, try to plug holes with role players and empowered guys. Like that's obviously a part of coaching. But Spoh has had to do that while also shape shifting on both ends of the floor. Like this is a team that it's been

post-split heavy. We're going to grind you out with a bunch of back cuts. This is already going to go ISO-heavy. We're going to grind you down and get into the paint. They lose all of their stars or all-star adjacent players. It's like, all- cool, we're going to bomb 43s a game. And then there was the stretch of December where they broke their franchise record for threes made, like it felt like every other game because that's how they had to win.

And defensively, it's, okay, cool, we have all our guys who are going to switch a whole bunch. We're going to mix in some drop coverage. We lose bam. All right, cool. We're going to have brain Dwayne Dettman in, but instead of going with more drop with him, we're going to show him of all the level of the screen. We're going to trap with Dwayne Dettman. Deadman goes down too.

All right, we got yours. We're going to go pure drop. We're going to mix in zone too. And it's just like, how are you? able to press all of these different buttons. It then closes to the guys that are actually stepping up. Omer Yard 7 has stepped up in center. Caleb Martin, I was in Miami for their win over the Milwaukee Bucks in early December.

So I was there for Caleb Martin hitting, I think, six threes in the game. I'm just like, wait a minute. This is not at all what I expected. Gabe Vincent, who finally has put it together offensively, because the defense has been there since he's been in Miami, but we just didn't know if he was going to be able to score. Three-point shot fell, more comfort getting downhill. he's plugged in holes when Kyle Lowry's been down. It's just been up and down the roster,

and I think it does start with Eric's bolster, empowering these guys, and also just doing whatever needs to be doing scheme-wise. And it's been wholesale changes on both ends of the floor. Even a guy like Max Struz coming in, even finishing some games over Duncan Robinson at certain stretches in December. I mean, with Eric Spolster integrating all these guys,

I'm also amazed from the players and their adaptability to really, I mean, flourish in all of these different types of schemes. That's a testament to their ability as well. And also the front office for targeting guys who, you know, are smart basketball players and that can take on all of these responsibilities. Yeah, it seems like low-hanging fruit to get not only good players, but to get smart basketball players, but that's what Miami does. Like, as much as you talk about heat culture and how much conditioning plays a part,

and it does, like it also, it does require, going to sound like a Jay Cole fan, It does require a certain level of intelligence, ideally, to play in Miami because you're supposed to with third curveballs at you. You will be forced to do different things and thrive with different roles. Another guy, PJ Tucker, what he's been in Houston and Milwaukee is, hey, two corner threes, defend all over the place, crashed off into Glass if you're a dunker spot. Cool. Miami loses Vams. Like, all right, PJ, you're going to be the hub where we're running post splits now.

And it's just like he's done it. And so you have to be able to be, you have to be a multi-examble. faceted basketball player to thrive in Miami. And they've done a great job of targeting those guys. Spoha's done a great job of empowering those guys. And those guys have played well. And that's why Miami's sitting at the top of the east right now. With NBA nowadays, like so much of the talk with basketball is versatility,

like switching screens, being able to play on the inside, on the outside. And I think with Miami, they kind of show the importance of the ability to play a variety of different schemes. You need to have versatility. We saw that with the bucks last year, making their run at the NBA finals. They could play their drop coverage with Brooks. Lopez that could also play switching. They could play with smaller lineups or bigger

lineups. The ability to play different styles is of the utmost importance. And I think with Miami, as you said, like they've been able to plug and play different guys into the lineups, regardless of who's been out. I mean, like, Omer You're at 7 coming out of nowhere. Like he said, Gabe Vincent figuring it out. Max Struz, there's so many guys, Caleb Martin.

Like with this team, I think that's why Chris Vernon before the year said he picked them to go to the NBA finals. And he was right about them. think I underestimated just how much this team could just shape shift into different styles. And is that kind of the, from a team standpoint, is that what teams should be striving for now? Is the ability to just be different regardless of maybe you either are, when you're different,

you're doing one of two things. You're forcing the opponent to adjust to you or you're adjusting to the opponent with what they do. I think Miami can do both of those things. And that's going to be critical for them come postseason time. Yeah, I think that's the hallmark of a team, especially nowadays, which, you know, as much as the versatility is important. Like, their versatility is important because the league has changed so much over the last 10 years. And so with that, you've kind of had to adapt those different styles just to stay in the running at the top of the league. And so I think it's less about, you know, we're just going to be super dominant in this one style, good luck matching up with us.

Like, that can work in a very specific context, but it's more foolproof if you're able to. to shape ship. And I think the Milwaukee example is apt because defensively, they were, I think, number one, number one and number two in defensive rating when Bud first got there running primarily dropped. And they kept running into issues in later rounds because once teams were able to counter that with, you know, a hot run of shooting or just good shooting overall, or if they just found

particular matchups they wanted to attack, Milwaukee didn't really have a counter for it. And then you fast forward to last season, like drop was still their main ingredient defensively. But because they could shift to switching or because they could downsize, they had enough of a counter to complement what they do well. And so at the very least, you need to be able to do that. And what makes Miami special this year, it feels like it doesn't matter what they do. They can do it equally as well.

And so that's what makes them a dangerous team in East if they're able to get some semblance of healthy. Right now, they're without Kyle Lari, who's not with the team right now. He's back in Philadelphia, I believe, with family. You know, Jimmy Butler's handling more playmaking without Lari there. What type of balance does Lurie provide to this heat roster that they might have lacked in past seasons. He gives them some juice.

Like, particularly the transition attack, just they get a defensive rebound, quick outlet to Lowry, he's pitching the ball ahead 60 feet. Like, and even if it isn't something as flashy as that, after a miss or after an inbounds, like he's watching him after a make is fun. Make a shot,

he's pushing, Miami's getting into their action with 20 seconds on the shot clock instead of 16. And like, even that difference, considering what Miami likes to do in the half court, with their splits, with their cuts,

even with their, they're mixing in more Spain, picking rolls this year, which is, you know, music to my ears personally. That's your favorite play. You love the same pick and roll more than I think anything in the world. There we go. Best set in the league.

But like even with them sprinkling in more of those actions, like the fact that Lowry gets them into their action faster allows them to flow into different things if it doesn't work. And half court offense in general was my question mark about Miami heading into the year. I was like, okay, like they've added Lowry. They're going to have Jimmy. They're going to have Bam. Let's see what the shooting looks like around that.

But what is it going to look like when the game slows down? Lowry kind of prevents that because he just pushes the pace to a certain degree. But also, even when it does balk down, there's just a level of passing that they didn't have before. You know, like he just seized the floor a little bit better than Gorin Draggish did. And, you know, he kind of aged towards the latter part of his run in Miami, too. But just that level of juice, that improvisational matter, like he screams for Jimmy Butler, that inverted pick and roll has been pretty good this year when they've been able to do it. and being a little bit more sturdy at the point of attack,

like Lowry is a little bit worse defensively than it was over the past couple of years, but he's still solid. And even that just makes Miami's defense a little bit sturdy when he's on the floor. So he just stabilizes things on both ends. How is Bamadabio's role changed? Obviously, he just got back, but I haven't seen a lot of him this year. But how has his role change? I mean, I think just looking at the basic numbers,

assist down from over five of the last two seasons to just 3.3 this year. See less handoff actions with Duncan Robinson. granted, like, that's something defenses have maybe learned how to defend a bit better. How has his role evolved this season for the heat? I think he's become more of a play finisher this year, which I think is a positive thing for his development. Because I think he's probably, question mark has like a negative connotation. But I think in terms of what do we really have here, like he's probably the biggest one in Miami. Because he's obviously an all-star caliber of talent.

He's an all-defense team caliber of talent. but Miami kind of needs him to go from all star to star, or if you already feel like he's a star, from star to superstar, to really reach their ceiling this year and beyond. And I think the big thing with that with Bam is, okay, what kind of creator is he going to be?

Like, we know he can catch lives. We know he can crash the offensive glass. Again, he has the chemistry with Duncan Robbins. And defenses have largely figured out that pairing over the past couple of years, at least statistically. But again, like he can, flow into those handoffs with Kyle Lowry. He can flow into it with Max Drews. Like, he can do that and just kind of inject some randomness into your half-quarter

attack. But how can he get his? Does he have the skill set to do so? Like, that's developing. He's a really good finisher. You get to the free throw line. The mid-range jumpers improving. Does he have the mindset? That's the really big thing. Because there were plenty of possessions last season in which Ban flows into a handoff and he already has a mismatch on him. It's just like, wait, why are you defaulting to the handoff? That may be the quote-unquote right thing to do within Miami system, but like, if you're going to develop into this alpha, sometimes he's got to say, okay, forget the system. I have a six, seven guy on me.

Let me put them underneath the basket and get to the line or just dunk on them. And so I think- Do they need that right now, though? Do they need it right now? Like, because you got, you got Lauer, you got Butler. Tyler-Tiler-Tyro is clearly the sixth man of the year at this point. Do they need that from BAM right now? I think they do, because I do think they're still kind of running into

some problems in the half-core and like clutch moments. And like with that, you know, the sample is obviously small, last five minutes of a game or last two minutes game or whatever. But it does still feel like a lot of, it feels like hard work for Miami leading games. And they rely on Jimmy Butler a ton. He has not had a good stretch. The Atlanta game sticks out in my mind where he had some issues.

We'll just leave it there. But I think in a perfect world, BAM develops into that because I think he's the walk and mismatch. Miami has. As good as Kyle Lowry is as smart as he is, like he is still a six foot point guard at the end of the day. You can throw size on him and makes it difficult for him. As good as Jimmy Butler is, like

the jumper limitations already are, and with him getting to the free throw line as much as he does, it's mostly because of brute strength and tricks. It's not, I'm about to blow by you and you have to file me to stop him getting to the rim. He just kind of works it that way. Bam is the guy Miami can identify. It's like, okay, this is a six-nine dude that is

faster than your center or he's bigger than your forward. Or he might and he might be skilled in more skilled than both. And so he's the guy that Miami points you say, okay, if all less fails, we should be able to give him the ball with eight seconds on the clock. He should be able to get something. And so that's where I feel like it would solve

a lot of problems for Miami if Bam does develop into that kind of go-to option. That's a great point there. I mean, like different types of players here, but just how you were talking reminded me so much of Yokic. Remember a couple years ago when Yokich would like have games where he'd take three shots?

Michael Malone after games would be saying, how we need more from Yokic. He's going to be our score. He's our guy. And part of being unselfish is accepting, oh, okay, yeah, I am the guy on offense that needs to do everything for our team to win. And with Bam, I wonder if that is the next step for him. He's still only 24 years old. Still only in the fifth year of his career, even though it feels like he's been around forever. He's had, he's had like the career moments, the block on Tatum. He went to the finals. Like, he's been around a long time now and gotten better every single season of his career. with him, like you said, that could be mindset.

Maybe it's something that needs to develop over the course of time. Maybe from Miami, like, we'll see it in the postseason. Maybe that's when, like, all this talent around him, he'll have to do it. But they also do have Tyler Hero, who has taken a leap this season for the heat after last year. It seemed like maybe it took a little bit of a step back. You wrote on basketball news recently about him. You wrote, don't watch the ball with Hero, even when he has the ball.

You may miss out on the slightly tighter handle, the cleaner in and out dribbles. he uses to reject picks. You'll miss the headfakes. He uses to sell his moves, but that's okay. To fully understand the leap hero has made the season, you have to start with his footwork.

That's what you wrote. So what do you like about Hero's feet? They're elite, man. Like, the shot prep is... Elite, elite feet. There we go. Shout out the Rex ride. But no, like, he just...

The shot prep is incredible. The shot prep is incredible for him. Like, he's able to flow in to pull up and side steps, basically whenever he wants to. Like, he doesn't have, he isn't super bursty. The handle isn't great. It's good enough to get to his spots. But just the way that he's able to decelerate, he's able to shoot ugly.

Like, even when, even if he is crowded, like, he's still able to balance himself. Like, he can just, in terms of just pure shock creation, like, he's really freaking good at it. And it starts with his footwork. Like, yeah, like, you can't really bother him. Even when you press him, he's still able to find a way to balance himself, anchor himself, in the rise of her a shot. And with the kind of touch that he has, like this is why he's able to go on the heaters that he's on,

even when it feels like he's well defended. How much of his success? I mean, I'm just tying this to your thought about endgame situations, postseason, the importance of Bam being able to beat on those mismatches. How much of Hero's success is due to that six-man role where maybe sometimes he's not defended by the top opponent on the other side? That might be on Jimmy Baller or Kyle Lurie or even on Bam. How much of it is here like picking up?

on these smaller defenders or weaker defenders with the success that he's having in his role. And that's not a knock against him. It's really a compliment to him for fulfilling his role at the highest level. No, I think it's a fair point. Like, I think that's certainly part of it. And I think the handle limitations that he does have,

the handle hasn't proved since he's been a rookie. But like, part of the limitations really do shine when, okay, this is a heat game with no butler in the lineup. So now that top defender is getting hero late in the game. And then you stare at the seat, okay, wait, he still needs a pick to get

free initially. It didn't even kind of flow into the jumpers or the floated from there. And so, like, this is kind of what worries me, you know, headplayed to a game because right now he's probably their best shot creation option. And I just wonder, what does that look like when you face a team

that has, you know, two or more good perimeter? Like, if we're eyeing a Milwaukee matchup in a second round or something like that. What does it look like when the bugs have Drew and Chris Middleton and Janice and Dante or West Matthews on the floor where Jimmy might still get the top guy, but Tyler's also faces someone that can really press his handle? Like, is that enough? Again, that kind of shifts it back to, okay, bam, what can you do? But in terms of hero, like, again, it's hard to sneeze at what he's been able to do this year. Again, just the way that he's able to get to the jumper.

He has gotten stronger, so the drives look a bit cleaner for him. The passing field has always been a little bit underrated for him. Again, the windows that he can access are kind of dependent on who's defending him just because of the handle, because of the burst. But he does see the floor well. So once he gets cooking and pick and roll, particularly against drop coverage, like he can make every decision you need them to. You can go into the pull-ups.

He can get downhill a little bit better than he used to. Can make skip passes, can make pocket passes. Like, he's developed some nice chemistry with Bam, with Dwayne Dedman even. He's become a much more talented offensive player. like as you say a little bit earlier, I think he's the clear front run for six minutes a year right now. Yeah, absolutely is.

I mean, like if you look at Fandul odds right now, Hero is minus 500. Next up is Kelly Ubre at plus 1,800, Montres Harrell at plus 4,200. You have a face on like, really, that's the next one up? Yeah, like that's a one.

It was like, one, that's a massive gap. Two, where is Kevin Love in this? Kevin Love is plus 6,500. So that means, if you bet $20 on Kevin Love, you'd win $1,400. And Kevin Love is not going to win six men of the year. But he's, that those are the odds. Hero's the runaway, though.

But who else is even in it, though? Like, is there anybody that could even sniff first place for six men of the year right now? Like, I would wonder, I would worry with Tyler Hero, like, not that he hasn't been six man a year good because I think we both agree he has been for like. Only one point for a game. Like, he very clearly, yeah. Yeah. But, like, the heat half started him throughout the year when they were missing a bunch of

body. So, like, maybe you hit another rash of injuries and then the hero has to start more, and then that kind of takes them out. Me and Steve did a mid-season awards episode not too long ago. Hero was number one for me. Number two for me was Kevin Love. It's like he's been really freaking good for Cleveland this year. It's kind of shocking that he's behind. He's way behind Harold and Ubre and the odds. It's kind of interested to me. Like, I would have love in there. You want to know who else they have to love behind? Want to know one of the name? You're never going to take one guess. So like a name that Kevin. have a love is behind. One guess.

It's the Eastern Conference Flair. You're never going to guess them. It's like ludicrous. Oh, goodness. This should be good. What division? The Atlantic. Oh, the Atlantic Divit.

I'm going to tap out. Don't do by that podcasting. Dennis Schroeder. Oh, come on. How does Kevin Love have lower six men of the year? I think my guess is the odds makers here are just not paying that much. attention to the sixth man

in the year. Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not. That 100%. I mean, it was the same thing like with

McKell Bridges. Mackell Bridges at one point for not that he's going to win defensive player of the year, but Michael Bridges at one point was like plus

$25,000. For the first defensive player of the year, it's like, whoa now. You never know. Like this is egregious. Come on,

man. One last thought on the heat here. Variables. You mentioned like maybe Hero moves into the starting five.

They've shown they have the ability to do these types of things. Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald tweeted out this morning, Oladipo moving around very well, sinking jumper after jumper on heat practice court following practice just now. Is Victor Oladipo somebody we're kind of forgetting about right here the Miami has on their roster? Or is that just like an X factor that maybe, maybe comes back? I think he is kind of the forgotten man.

That's mostly because, again, Gabe Vintor's stepped up, Max Ruce's stepped up. You've got good stuff from Caleb. And so now here's Victor de novo, who was supposed to be the X-Factor like those three guys to kind of step up randomly whenever he's available. Now he's kind of fourth on the list, which is insane to think about Victorola Depot that way. But he is a guy that can give you some secondary playbaking, that can give you some slashing. The catch and shoot numbers for him have been good the last three or four seasons. And so, like, if you give him some spot up, looks, he should be able to knock those down.

And he's a solid defender across two, maybe three positions depending on where you put them. So I'd say like he Will he be better than Caleb Martin though? Would he be better? Caleb Martin provides what this team needs? Like what can you what does Caleb Martin do that's so important for the heat? One he takes on really tough defensive matchups. I think I start there with him like he's gotten the Trey Young matter.

He's gotten point guard matchups for them. He's been at the top of their zones when they go to it. And offensively like mostly off ball stuff for him like a lot of spotups a lot of cuts when Miami does go to the split action. But like he's handles on ball reps like he has some juice as a driver as well. the three-point shot has improved. We'll see how that tracks as the season goes on, but he does a lot for this heat team.

He's been able to plug a lot of holes. So I think for Victor Oladipo, you kind of watch the gay Vincent minutes more than anything. Okay, yeah. If Vincent slips at all offensively, then Miami's going to give all the people a shot during it. Because, like, he is the, he's the ex-factor among that bench right now.

And if he's able to provide something, goodness, those closing lineups, can be nasty defensively if you're throwing Victor Leopoldo in there. Let's talk about the team that won the NBA finals last year and knocked off Miami. All the last season, Milwaukee was integrating switching into their defensive scheme. They were moving away from traditional drop coverage with Brooke Lopez, but you wrote recently on Basketball News article with the headline, The Bucks are reinventing themselves on defense again.

What are the Bucks doing this season to continue to evolve their scheme on defense? And how might that also be a positive for them the rest of the season going into the playoffs as they look to repeat? They have gotten more aggressive in pick and roll coverage this year. It's, I think I wrote in the article as well, like how much of that is them just wanting to evolve and how much of that is Brooke Lopez being out. So they kind of have to do something different with Bobby Portis at center. But regardless, they are blitzing a ton. Around 17 picks per 100 possessions of the good folks at second spectrum, which is the second highest rate in the league. their top five in points allowed

when they do show or blitz against the pick and roll this year and the teams above the teams above them in points allowed they blitz are like one third of the rate that Milwaukee does

so for like in all intents of purposes like Milwaukee's the best blitzing team in basketball right now and it makes sense when you have Drew Holiday at the point of attack or you have George Hill

who's been having a pretty solid year this year when you have that kind of length and activity at the point of attack when you have Janus roaming behind that like it's just

it's controlled chaos you're forcing the ball out of the hands, you're forcing the ball into a worse decision maker in theory, and you're trusting a whole bunch of ranging defenders to kind of plug holes behind that. And by the time you try to find a window to attack, now they're recovered, and now you're late in the clock. And now, hey, you have six seconds in a rush clock

in a rush context against Drew Holiday. Good luck to you. Or, hey, now you're ISO against Janus. Good luck getting a shot of. It's just, it's been a lot of fun watching this Bucks team play defense. You seem to have some reservations about Miami with what they can be, you know, offensively, end-game situations with the Bucks.

Are they the favorite again in the Eastern Conference, in your opinion? They are my favorite. I will say you always have to kind of keep an eye on Milwaukee's half-court offense as well. It's less about their talent and more about their method of attack offensively. I point back to the, I guess the emphasis now, the Bulls' Bucs game, in which we get the Grayson-Alin foul or whatever. But late in that game, their fourth quarter process was really good to start. What made it good to start and what changed in that game?

Like, they were getting to their actions a little bit earlier in the fourth quarter. It was a lot of Chris Milton and Yonnas pick and roll with an empty corner. And so they were able to flow to that. And this is a thing that I was hammering on the podcast during last postseason. It's like, you can do this. Like, clear aside. If they switch it, it's Yonis against a mismatch. If they're playing drop, it's Yonis rolling into an empty side.

And he's the most dominant finish in basketball. And if you give too much of a gap, it's Chris Milton flowing into elbow jumpers. And like there are maybe five people on the football. planet that are more reliable on that shot than Chris Millington. And so, like, it doesn't have to be that static, but that particular action, like, it's, you're getting a good look at least, just about every time now. But, like, they were starting with that, quick hitters with Chris. They were getting Yonis downhill and stuff.

And then, you know, they attack Nikola VucciVichavitian pick and roll. And it's a Drew Holiday ISO turnaround jumper. And it's like, okay, why was that the shot? And then it's, Yonnas getting isolated against Vouch on the left block and he takes a turnaround jumper with like 10 on the clock. And it's like, okay. why is that the shot? And so they have those kind of moments

where it's like, okay, let's make sure the process remains sound. Like I can deal with, okay, this corner three missed, this shot in the rim missed. But what I don't want is what happened in last season and postseason where it's like, okay, it's Chris Yonis pick and roll in the middle of the floor

and teams are able to load up on it because of where their position or where their position and their shooters. And it's like, okay, no, let's make this make sense. Let's get the best shooter on the strong side so you can't get help. Or so, you know, just little things like that. So you want to watch out for Milwaukee within that sense.

But ultimately, they have the best player in basketball, at the very least they have the best player in the East, if you think Yoko is the best player in basketball. But, like, they have a top two guy in Yonis, a deep cast behind him. Drew's been All-Star good. Chris Milton, probably a tier below All-Star this year, but he's still a very good player.

They have a deep bench. The defense, they can stifle you and drop. If Lopez comes back, like, they're going to have that back in their bag. They've shown that they can switch last year. and they have more forwards and guards to downsize when they want to. Shout out George Hill again. Dante Dimitchenzo was back.

Pat Concent still was good defensively. Jordan Nora has given him some stuff. We'll see what his role looks like in the postseason. But like he looks like he could be a piece for them. And then you're seeing what they're doing with the blitzing. Like just being able to toggle between those different schemes, it's important. We saw how important it was from the last year. They built off of that and the roster seems deeper and better.

So for me, like I haven't. been moved off. I have Milwaukee as the East favorite last year. I haven't as the East favorite this year. I haven't seen anything to move me off of that yet. If we assume Brooke Lopez is able to return at some point and be healthy, is there a team with a more, with more versatile good options on defense than the bucks too? I mean, because blitzing now, drop, switch. I mean, is there anybody that can do what they do as good as they do in so many different categories? I don't think so. Like, I think the only answer to that question is Miami. And that's going to be dependent on help as well. But that's kind of it. The flip side of this is we'll talk about the Utah

Jazz. They're a team who have had top defenses for years now. They've had a top three defense and four of the last five years. And that's largely thanks to Rudy Gobert. This year, it's the opposite. They're 11th in defense, but have by far the number one offensive rating. They've fallen to fourth in the Western Conference. You've got players, including O'Ber, questioning if they're actually a contender. Dallas and Denver right on their heels. And that's Denver, would Jamar? Murray likely coming back around sometime in February. They've lost eight out of their last 10 games. Their upcoming seven games leading up to the deadline, Nakaius.

Suns on Wednesday, then Grizzlies, wolves, nuggets, nets, nicks, Warriors. That's in the lead up to the deadline on February 10th. That could be a lot of losses coming up. Why the slip for Utah? What's happening right now? The defense is kind of a mess right now. And like a large portion of that has been Gobert missing some time. and Gobert, I don't want to say teed off because that's too sensationalist,

but like Gobert had some thoughts about what the defense looked like while he was out. And he mentioned building winning habits. He didn't feel like the team was doing there yet. You wanted guys to take pride in playing defense, which is that a shot? Is that not a shot? Who knows? That's your prerogative. But he was right.

I don't think it was a shot. I really don't. I mean, from Eric Walden, you had this in an article as well at the Salt Lake Tribune. His quote was, Devin Booker is playing his ass off the fence of Lee. I've been watching him compared to two years ago. Guys like that, they buy in, and you can tell they take pride in playing defense and stopping their man, doing whatever they can't defensive way to stop the other team and be part of a winning culture. I just think we're not there yet, but I think we're going to get there.

So that's the way the quote ends. I think we're going to get there. Of course, you know, adding a little bit of optimism. I interviewed Rudy Goberr last year. He did the same thing with me. Sometimes he would say something like mildly critical. And then at the end of it, like, add like a positive note as if he's realizing in the middle of as he's talking, oh, I'm talking about my own team here.

I'm talking about my own situation. Like there's one point when interview to me is like, let me redo that answer. And I was like, Rudy, like, I said to him. I was like, it's fine what you said. You didn't say anything bad. Like, there's nothing that's going to get. And he's worried about people getting clicks.

But in this case, people did click on that. And they did view it as like a knock. But I really think it was just a fair and honest criticism. He's the best defender by far on that team. And who else? Royce O'Neill, pretty good. Mike Conley, solid. Mitchell, when he wants to

be solid, but like there's nobody else that's a good defender on that team. I don't even think it's on his teammates as much as the front office personally, but can they solve this from within? Is there any solutions within for Utah? Because they're permanent defenses. It's garbage. I don't think so.

Like that's kind of a move then. Yeah, they kind of have to, even if they make it through this stretch relatively clean, and that is a ridiculous schedule coming up for them as you read that out loud. But even if they make it through the stretch like at 500 or above 500 or whatever, They need something because they were going into experimental bowl this season,

kind of similar to Milwaukee last year. It's like even the offensive approach changed. Like early in the year, the headline with Utah was like, okay, wait, this was a team that passed a ton and also had a really good offense. Why are they like bottom five in passing for a game? And the offense is still clicking while they're not shooting well. And then that kind of normalized. They kind of going back to their style.

But defensively, like they wanted to have the option to downsize. It's part of why they brought Rudy Gay in in particular and get Eric Pascal in there so they can be a switch of unit, but that unit is not getting it done. It's been really bad. That's not been good. I like the idea. Yeah, like it just hasn't been enough. And so now they do need to move, but I'm kind of curious to see, like, where they go with

it exactly. Because it's easy to pinpoint, hey, Utah needs perimeter defenders. And it's like, all, cool, we all agree. Who are those perimeter defenders that are available in the market? What does Utah have that those teams would want? And that's where I struggle. I floated the question on my timeline a little earlier. It's like, hey, when is Jordan Clarkson,

when are they going to look for a Jordan Clarkson upgrade? And even that's touchy because it's easy to point out, hey, this, like the volume that he provides in terms of shock creation is valuable, at least in the regular season. There are also some limitations as a playmaker. And defensively, I don't really have to talk about it because he doesn't need it. So it's easy to pinpoint, hey, maybe Clarkson is a guy, you move at some point. But if, but even with that, it's like, okay, which team needs a,

Jordan Clarkson, who also has like a 3 and D wing, basically on the cuff. How about this? I get an idea for you. Joe Ingalls or Bogdanovich, whoever it might be. Talk to Boston. How about Marcus Smart, Josh Richardson, both of them, or one of them, especially Marcus Smart. What do you think about that for Utah? Ooh.

So Engels and Bogdanovich for Smart and Richardson? No, no, no. Just one of them. Oh, one of them. Oh, one is it. Let's just say Ingalls. Moving Ingalls for Smart and Richardson, something like that, along those. lines.

That's kind of tapping my issue. Like if I'm Utah, I'm doing that 10 out of 10 times. Yeah. But from Boston you're giving up, you're giving up

Picks to, maybe you're giving up Jared Butler and that. I'm just saying it's a baseline. As a base line. Okay, I got you. It's a baseline. Those are the key names.

Everybody knows those names. Yeah. Okay. I got you. Well, then like, yeah, from Utah, like I'm doing that. Like, I think Utah's at the point,

especially offensively, like the scheme is really good. And if you have Mitchell Connelly and Gobert on the floor, if you have two of those three on the floor, you're guaranteed to get good looks, I feel like. So I think you're at the point to where you could probably afford to sacrifice

some offense for a little bit more defensive versatility. Like, I think you have to kind of trust your guys and trust your system at a certain point. I think you're right about that. I mean, a couple weeks ago on the podcast, I pitched, you know, Boyan Bogdanovich and X amount of young players or picks, you know, Butler or whatever, first for Jeremy Grant with the Pistons. Even then, I'm not sure

that might get it at a time because you got, you know, the Hawks, Kings, among other teams that are calling them a grand. A lot of teams are. I just don't know if it's there for Utah. I mean, the flip side of this is, you know, they already made one trade to save when the tax. If ownership is in a position right now that they feel like the players might, is this a championship contender? I wonder if this is the year where maybe they shed some salary, get off some contracts that maybe reshuffle the deck, maybe help the team, but also help really set them up for getting back on the attacks and a future season.

Because right now, I mean, I'm not, I'm not sure what the move. It really is. That makes a lot of sense. I'm just not sure. I mean, like, is Marcus Smart and or Josh Richardson or a guy like that really going to put you over the top of a Phoenix of a Golden State? I don't know, but I do think it helps, though, because, like, the offense is great enough.

Gobert is sensational. I mean, I know, I know people hate on Gobert and people make fun of them for all, for what he can't do on offense, but this dude's magnificent on defense. And I think for Utah, if they're able just to figure out some type of way to succeed when he's not on the court, at least be average when he's not on the court, but make it also easier on him when he is on the court because there's so many blowbys on that defense, like having better point of attack defenders would go a long way. I'll toss this one at you. Like, is there something to be done with Houston to where you're looking at a David Nubb and Eric Gordon? Like, is there something you could package together to get those two? Gordon's been pretty good on defense this year.

Like when he locks in, he's had some great possessions. And offensively, he'd still provide that spark for you. I mean, he'd be a great fit offensively. You don't lose a lot there. Eric Gordon's interesting. I hadn't thought about him for Utah. Hmm, that is good. You get your point of attack D.

You get offense, some shot creation. That makes a lot of sense. Engels and a pick for Gordon, like that type of thing we talk in here. Yeah, like I think you start there. I like it. I think that makes a lot of sense, that Chias. We're good GMs.

There we go. Hashtag hire us. Why are they hired Danny Angel that could have hired us? It's pretty true. It's pretty true. I had a, when we were DMing about you coming on the podcast today, you said to me that you liked my note in my column on Monday with All-Star voting.

Because I wrote in there how I had a, like, so the NBA, media votes for All-Stars, You vote for three front court players, two back court players. And there's some weird stuff in there. Like DeRosen's listed as back court instead of front court, even though it's been more before for the polls this year. But like my issue is is that I voted for the no-brainers in the West, LeBron and Yokic. And then I'd go bear as my third front court player.

And the back court was difficult. Like there's so many different guys you can choose, you know, Steph, Jha, Chris Paul, Devin Booker. And I probably would have had Chris Paul in my starting five if I were able to choose three backcourt players. I just wish the NBA would change it to either positionless ballot for AllStar and all NBA, which is a totally different discussion because of the financial implications of all NBA teams. That's a totally different topic. But with Allstar, it's like, why do they, why have three front court? Let me customize my team to positionless game. Have two back court, two front court, one wild card, or just make it all positionless. Because that's the nature of the game today. I don't know. I'd love that. Thank you for preaching the gospel internet, is something I yelled about on the pod. I've been yelled about on my timeline for the last few years. Like, I don't, within the context of all-star discussions,

I don't want to care about positions. I don't want to be pedantic about this. The funnest players, the best players. There we go. Like, it should just be, hey, five spots on each from East Conference. Who's been playing the best? Or I guess for the fans, who do you want to see? Which can be who's been playing the best?

But that's a whole different thing. I don't want to go on that ran today. But, like, give us that. Give us the top five. and I'm cool with that. But if we're going to limit it into two back court, three front court, then that's when some of these positions have to go under scrutiny. Like, the Easter conference All-Star starters kind of bothered me

because it's just like, for my personal ballot, I think I had, I think I had Trey Levine DeRosen, Durant, Yonis at the time, or something like that. And then, you know, obviously, M.B. has been incredible the last month, so, like, he's probably a start either way. But I had that because DeRosen's been playing the three and the four for Chicago. Like, he should just be a front court guy. but because he's a back court,

there are so many guards in the East, like one of those guys are probably going to get shafted this year. Just within the guard pool, like Tray Young, again, Levine, they have the Rosen listed, Fred Van Fleet, Darius Garland, Lamello Ball. Drew Holiday. Drew Holiday. Like one of those guys is probably going to miss out,

barring like an injury or something, just because the Rosen is listed as a back court guy, despite not starting in the back court this year. And so if this is the method that the league is going to go with, to back court, three front court, we got to be very sure about who's playing where and get that right. And if we're not, like, it deserves to be called out. Like, it's petty.

It's ridiculous in the grand scheme of things. Like, functionally, doesn't matter if the Mars are two or three. No, it doesn't. But if this is the ballot, and ultimately, when you get into Hall of Fame voting, a player that has seven all-star game appearances on his resume, is probably going to look a little bit better than a guy that has five. Like, that stuff matters. Like, you can argue if it should.

But since it does, we have to get this stuff right. And it goes to the All-NBA discussion where you have two guards, two-fours in the center. It's like, sure, last year, Embed and Yokin absolutely should have been

on the first team. They were both that good last year. However, this is what it is, so it has to be this. I mean, the NBA has been a little better with All-N-B-A. Like, they'll list a lot of guys as guards and forwards

or forwards and centers. But even then, it's like, well, is Yokic also a guard? I mean, like, is LeBron also a five? considering he's played half of his minutes at the five this year. And then like there's situations where a couple of years ago, Chris for third team all-N-B-A two seasons ago, Chris Middleton got more total points with the vote.

But he didn't make all-N-B-A because Russell Westbrook and Ben Simmons got more votes as guards. And it's like, but Middleton had more points. Like more voters put Middleton on their ballots than Westbrook and Simmons. Like it just, I don't understand like. And like, okay, just because a voter put Simmons as a guard instead of Middleton and Middleton as a forward instead of a guard, now Simmons and Russ. I don't know. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I got for all NBA, which has significant implications for players financially, never mind the historical implications of when we look back years from now, like you said, voting on Hall of Fame or whether it's just like talking about these guys and who they were as players.

When we talk about the history of the game, it's important to get the process. as great as it can possibly be. And not that it's like totally flawed or anything like that. It's not. It's worked for decades and the NBA is flourishing. But there's always ways to make things a little bit better. And also I think with the nature of the game today,

I mean, what are positions anyway? I mean, players are using so many different roles. It's based on skill, not size as much anymore. I don't know. There you go. Like, you made the point about Yokic, like, I think he was eligible on the ballot at Ford and Center. I'm just like, why is he more forward than guard

if he literally runs the offense? Like explain that to me. A couple seasons ago, I think that Luca was a guard and a forward, but LeBron was only a forward. And it's like, what? Like it has to be both or none, right? Doesn't make much sense. I think there are certain teams like the Dallas Mavericks who we're talking about next, where they have some guys in, you know, hybrid roles, like Christaps Porzingis on defense,

more of a traditional big man on offense. You have him spacing out at times to 30 feet from three-point range with Dallas. their fourth in defensive rating this season, which is really, really surprising. Considering their roster, you wrote about them. Why is it surprising that they do have a top defense this year without really like a true anchor or any true stoppers? There's your answer.

Like, who is the – I started the piece with, like, who is the elite guy? Like, you look at the top 10 of defensive rating. Like, everyone has at least a guy that you recognize. McKell Bridges and Phoenix, Draymond and Golden State. like Miami has Butler win healthy, Bam when healthy, P.J. Tucker, like, they have guys. Cleveland with Jared Allen, who's all-star good, all-defense team good this year.

Evan Moore. Like, you can just point to, okay, this makes sense. I got you. This is an elite coach. This is the personnel. This is a star. Cool. You look at Dallas. It's like, okay, what do we have here? How many people outside of the state and Texas in this podcast are right home about Dorian Vinnie Smith? Right? Not many.

That's what I'm saying. Unless you would highlight the Maxie Kleber, baby. Superstar. There we go. Like, you don't have a guy like that. And even in the front court, you're looking at,

you know, Christops, who has been a good rim protector this year. Like, you're not talking about him in the Goberr class, the Alley class, the Baner healthy class, the Ambique class. Like, he's a step below those guys. So, like, they don't have, they don't have the elite guy

in the front court or the backguard. And it's not even it's not even a case of them having like like six B minus or B level players across the roster. Like it's really Dorian Christops and, you know, Josh Green when he's out there, he's been fun. But like it's really those got Frank Nealiki, I don't want to sleep on him. But like it's not an elite personnel. I guess it's the simplest way to say it. But they're still able to do it.

Like it starts with their transition defense, which simple as it is, getting back and matching up quickly, stops those fruitful appearances, you know. And if you're able to get back and stop those easy points, you can able to set your base defense, like it makes it harder for offenses to score. Very basic, very boring. You would like to see, like, it'd be fun if some young guy just broke out and became the next Mikhail Bridges.

But like that hasn't happened. It's literally just fundamental for Dallas, it feels like. Get back on defense, communicate a ton, execute the scheme. Like, Luca looks more energized defensively this year, even though they're still not moving him around a ton. still switch them and kind of keep him in a general area. But like he's more...

You're comparing him to like Hardin on defense, he said like a hang more engaged. Like when Hardin's engaged, you said he reminds you at Luca. Right. Like you can't, you're not posting up Luca. He's a very strong dude. And again, like if they're running like a side pick and roll or a hand off on Lucas side of the floor, because they typically have him like guarding a guy in the weak side corner.

If you run an option, like they're just going to switch it and kind of keep it in front. Like he's not going to be out there fighting over screens, stuff like that. Which is fine if you can execute around that. And Dallas has been able to do that. So like, I don't mean that as a slight. It's just like functionally. they are used the same. But even with that, like on the week's out,

like Lucas peeling into the paint, tagging the roller, and getting back out to close out on shooters, he's doing that better than he did in years past. That's cool. Tim Hardaway Jr., like he's a guy that I highlighted in the piece. Like, he's busting his tail to get back in transition.

Like, you're not going to confuse him with Danny Green stopping two-on-ones or anything like that. But just the effort that he's showing, matching up and not getting bold over, like that shaves a pointer to off your total. Just being able to execute those little things. And then you get into the, the actual personnel, like Christophis just looked good as a run protector.

Massa Cleaver does not look like the introversion of himself that we saw a part in points last year. Like Dwight Powell's been fine. Do you mean, Finney Smith has been good, overtasked, but he's still been good. And it's just been a collective unit of nailing the little things and not getting beat. Combined that with a little bit of poor shooting from three-point range for your opponents, and you have a good defense. You mentioned Chris Stap's poor thing.

He had this block the other night in his big game against the Grizzlies against John Morant. And it was on the right side of the court. Morant was dribbling left into a Stephen Adam screen. And then as KP was stepping out high to defend Jha, John went left to right behind the back to go back to his right. And KP pivoted to recover. John went back left, pump faked, and KP just stayed sturdy in the paint,

arms straight up and used his massive frame to block the shot. And it was just, I mean, there was just another reminder of just how great Chris Havasorzingis has been on defense this season. Are they doing anything different with him this year? Or is he just straight up just playing better? I think it's mostly the latter. Like, in terms of, you know, like picking roles, like they are playing him a step or two higher.

They're not flat out blitzing him. Like, that's not a thing you want to do with him. But he is playing a little bit closer to the screen, which I think helps. And they're like passing him off, passing their assignment off to him a little bit more, kind of some late switching when guys get downhill. And they're doing that around the free throw line area.

So, like, now it's not, you know, I go back to the king. last year to where if you run a high ball swing 30 feet from the basket, it's just a pre-switch. And now it's Rashon Holmes who can switch out. There's Rashon Holmes defending a guy 28 feet from the basket. With Christops, they'll funnel the guy downhill. And then they may switch, but it's in like that 18-foot range, the 16-foot range.

And so now you're just asking Christop's like, hey, just stay steady. Like, you don't have to navigate a whole bunch of space and it exposes like the limitations with him laterally. If he could just stay solid within that 18-foot range, like play with a little bit of a gap, use that massive wing span of that size. Ultimately, that's just not a lot of space for a ball handler than navigating. So, like, even that's a way to kind of insulate him, and it puts him in a position of strength, like the length, the size.

You close up a bunch of areas. Like, if he stays solid, you get to play like you just described, where Jod does a whole bunch of stuff. And Jah is an absurd finisher and can beat bigger players and has done so decisively. It's why he's in an MVP race. But at the end of the day, Joss still 6-1. Christoph's still 7-3 with a massive wing for him. And if he stays solid, like, there's only so much you can do.

Like, the fact that Jock can do it makes him special, but it takes special to win that way consistently. And that's kind of the point. More often than not, the size is just going to win out because the size is the size. So Chris thought being more solid combined with Dallas putting him in better position to succeed, taking away some gaps early, and then, again, like, when they do switch them onto a guard, you're already kind of in the painted area. There's only so much you can do.

With Dallas, do you buy them as like a top five team right now? now on the defensive end of the floor. Or is this a situation here in which either changes need to be made, Josh Green, guys like that need to continue to get better. I mean, is this real, I guess is my question. Like, it's a tough spot for me. Because, like, they aren't doing anything fluky. Like, with opponent three-point shooting, like, it's not like that is a,

it's not, right? Like, it's a little bit of that, but, like, it's not, oh, these teams are shooting like 9% worse on OpenShed. It's nothing egregious like that. And like the structural changes have been like, hey, talk, get back on defense, rotate a little bit earlier, close out hard. Like, it's all stuff that's manageable. So like, I don't think what they're doing differently is fake.

But my disconnect is still like at the end of the day. Dorian Finney Smith is a good defender. It's the Royce O'Neill problem that I've been yelling about on the dunker spot for a year and a half. Doerian Finney Smith is a good defender. the fact that he is their best perimeter defender worries me in a playoff setting because if he's getting beat, you don't have a counter. Like, I think that's where the flashes

from Josh Green are encouraging, because he does have this activity level, he does have this brand of athleticism that isn't really matched elsewhere in the wing room for Dallas. So, like, if he can develop and be, even if he's not a stopper, if he could be a good defender, that gives them another option to toss on guys, right?

But it's hard for me to kind of disconnect from what the personnel is, even though they're executing at a high level. do get into the postseason. It just gets kind of tough. If I'm not mistaken, like the four or five matchup would be Dallas and Memphis, right? Yes.

And so it's just like, okay, for seven games, who are you putting on Jha? Like, do you want to give Frank those? If you're playing Frank, then who are you taking minutes from in the guard room? Because you're going to need the offense still. And again, like, if you're putting Dory on Jha, like that's just a speed matchup that you don't want to do that.

You don't want that. You don't want that. If you do want to do that, one, I don't know if it's going to work. Two, is it Max and Cleaver on Desmond Bain? Are you, I don't, it just gets fuzzy from there. So like, I do think they need another move. Like, I would feel better about Dallas moving forward if they had another wing guy that I could really depend on. They're in a tough spot, though, because it's like, what, with what?

Yeah. You know, is it Finney Smith? He's been involved in some trade discussions, even though he's been their best perimeter defender. Jane LaBronzen has been very important for the. them. I mean, especially when Luca was out with the offense that he was playing and now integrating those two guys together. I saw, I mean, I talked with Charks about this on the void two weeks ago when he was on. And I still think there's more upside with Brunson and Luca together. It's just like, what, what, what do you do? And with Dallas, I'm kind of reminded of a former team that, you know,

still, I mean, they hope to be in the playoffs every year, the Portland Trailblazers. And this is a team that like, it's close. They have a megastar with Luca. You like, they, like, they, got to figure it out around him. And I'm just not sure what the, what the actual move is. And let's talk about the Blazers, though, because they don't have game right now, but yet they're seven and four in the new year. Anthony Simons has averaged 25 points and seven assists, only three turnovers on 44% from three on 11 attempts from three per game. Dachias, you get Nasir Little on defense, too? He's hitting threes. Was Michelle L. Shea, right all along.

my God. Like Simons and Little are killing it, dude. They are doing fantastic job. I will not be the one to defend Neil Loshay on this podcast. I'm going to be honest with you. But I will say it has been nice to see Anthony Simons take the step that he's taken this year. It's nice to see in the cereal. First, it's nice to see Nassir Little healthy.

That's the big thing. Like, I'm glad that he's playing basketball. And he's also looking good. So, proffered them. But we can start with Simons, though. He just has, like, I don't want to get into that boy, nice territory, but he just has a shake to him that I enjoy. So fluid. Yeah, he's just a smooth dude.

He's got great, great feet. We got the podcast episode right here. But no, he's true, though. Like you, although he's got good end. Oh, I mean, he's in a spectacular handle. But he also has good footwork, too. there you go. And like he can just kind of get to his spots and can get to the pullup in a multitude of ways. He's shooting very well. Portland has been emptying the corner a lot with him and Yusuf Nurgens is just mowing down dudes with screens. And that's allowing that simplifying things for every time. It's just like, all right, cool. If my guy just got washed out by this pick, I'm just going to flow into a pull up. If you send some extra help, going to take an extra dribble, going to hit Yusuf Nurgent on the roll, who's playing well right now, actually finishing it at the basket, not going to slander him today. So like, they just have. have the foundation of a simple action that works for them.

And while Simon's on his heater, like, you kind of have to send the extra attention at a certain point. Like, this isn't a random 40% from three stretch. Like, he's doing it on 11. Like, he's literally having a dame stretch right now in terms of the shooting right now. So you kind of have to send the extra attention that opens up things for everyone else. That allows to sit a little to knock down, catch a shoot threes, or to cut to the basket and get fed.

That allows him to hit other guys, you know. And if he's playing this well, it makes a little bit harder to load up on C.J. McCollum. Makes it harder to load up on normal. Powell when he's out there. So it's just been a lot of fun. And the Blazers need some fun with the last eight months, nine months that they've had as an organization. Like, fun is good for them.

And Simons has been good and fun. Yeah, Simon's has been a lot of fun and little for that matter, too. I mean, I think with this team, like, there's a light at the end of the tunnel for them. Like, despite some of the issues they've had on and off the court last seven, eight months. Like, if, if Damien Lowell it is able to get back healthy. And you got some type of moves. I'm not sure what move there is to make exactly.

Like the C.J. McCollum, Ben Simmons stuff has really died down. I personally, with the execs that I have talked to, haven't heard anything of substance involving C.J. McCollum for any of the other teams in the league. But if they're able to shuffle the deck a little bit, this is what they needed. They needed a guy who could be a stop, a potential stopper for you. Nassir Little, good on ball, Simons. They needed another ball handling presence. and he could make McCollum

far more expendable if you are able to flip McCollum for like a wing or a larger forward something like that but there's still there's pieces there with Portland

well what should their deadline approach be like this year like they are within play in range but like I just If I'm Portland I don't I don't either

I want a top pick I want odds yeah like make this to solve relaunch like it doesn't have to be as drastic it's trading CJ now if you don't want to, though honestly, I felt like that back

court should be broken up for the last few years. Like, I'm not alone in that. Not a hot take, but, like, I do think at a certain point, like, the size matters, that the size complications in the back court defensively just kind of matter. I mean, how much money they have committed to Dame

CJ Powell, Simons, when he gets resigned? Like, that's like $100 plus million dollars for four guards. Like, you just can't do it. Somebody has to go. It's just a matter who it's going to be. Right.

And it's similar to the Utah thing, right? To where, like, you have to trust, especially if Dame's healthy, you have to trust that your offense is going to be good enough. Like, if you have Dame, you have Simons and you have Powell, like, you should be okay with saying, okay, CJ, you can go. Or even if you want to keep CJ, you're like, all right, cool. Love what you did for as Norman Powell. Like the Gary Trent Jr. trade is looking pretty good for both teams, honestly. But all right, we desperately need to upgrade defensively your dog man now. So, like, choosing one of those two guys between McCallel and Powell, like, that's probably your ticket.

If not at the deadline, then in the offseason. Because overall, like, Portland isn't going anywhere until they figure the defense out, period. That's adding more wing talent. That's getting some more versatility up front. But between those two spots, like, that's where the upgrades have to come before Portland can be serious.

Because, like, they have to make a start name. They have the hardest part. They have the most important part. They have a star that can just, that can be his own offense. Fill it out with some defenders. On the athletic, John Hollinger, it had a column about the Blazers earlier this week, in which he talked about some of the things we're discussing here with Simon's emerging and

all the money they could have to commit to their guards. And he's like, well, maybe playing devil's advocate here. What if you trade Dane? If two, like, let's say Philadelphia for Ben Simmons, the Harden Package, Simmons plus picks and pick swaps, a young player in there. Is there any logic to Portland going down that path ahead of the deadline trading Damien Lowe and going with a full on, you know, totally new roster makeup here? Is there any logic for that? is there a logic to it sure like if you're of the mindset like even when portland gets right or even if they make a move golden state of phoenix is just a tear above them which if you ask me like i'm probably there like i think even if they get it right and they can get healthy like at best they probably get four because like as much of a mess the lakers have been like they still have two megastars and like portland doesn't have that either way so like if you're of that mindset then like yeah i get the logic is realistic like no like i think if there were if there was an honest intention to trade dame it would have happened a while ago honestly and like even with this

if you do decide to trade dame for you know you get simmons and all this good stuff like you bottom out this year like is this even the year draft wise that you get the that you get the guy that you want to end up building the thing around ridden this thing around like i don't think so like i'm not a draft nix i'm not going to pretend to be but like i don't know like is let's say portland trades same. They bought them out this year. And they ended up with a top three pick. Like, is Jabari Spiff going to be the guy? Is Chad Holborn going to be the guy? Like, I don't know. Like, I feel like this is a question that would make more sense for me like next year if they're in this spot because that puts them in range for it in that 2023 draft, which sign me up for

anything Victor Win Benyama, honestly. But. V-Dub. He's amazing. I love that, too. Yeah. But like, yeah. So again, I guess the answer, Like, I get the logical. I just don't see it. I agree with you, man. I think this year, you don't need to trade Dame to have good lottery odds. You can have good lottery odds, missing the plan without trading Deemian Lord. All we need to do is just miss the rest of the regular season.

Take it slow with this abdomen surgery real slow. Hey, hey, Dame, we don't need you back. Let's let's get some run here. I mean, don't come back here. So I think, like, they can get, like, I don't know, the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, the best lottery odds, and that's enough to move into the top three, you know, in terms of the percentages with the change lottery odds. After changing the lot of odds, I used to be all about blow it up for these teams that

were stuck in the middle. You can't, like, it is not as clear cut of a path without the 25% incentive to get the number one pick up top that teams previously had in the past. It's at 14% now. The guys, how are you doing, man? How is life of you, man? How are you enjoying the season? You're living in a different state now, right?

Where are you at now? I'm in Charlotte now. You're in Charlotte now. What's Charlotte like? Are you enjoying it there? How are you? One, I'm doing well. This has just been the busiest NBA season of my life. This is the first full season of the Dunker Spot. So it's a lot of potting. In addition to rioting, like I'm traveling and going to games and stuff now. So it's been a little bit hectic.

Charlotte's a cool place. Like, I haven't super explored it. Like, I moved there last January, but like that was in the pandemic so I just didn't do much. Things are opening up a little bit more now, but like opening up and being safe are two different things. So that's a thing. But like overall, like I'm doing fine. Like life is pretty good. I'm in a good spot. I mean, you're killing it, dude. For real. Seriously. I mean, I had you on a pod last year and we talked a little bit about getting your start writing on like Facebook and stuff. It's, it's crazy to see your eyes, man. And I think also like it's the workload and the volume, but also the quality together with everything you put out. I just, I just see that. And I really appreciate everything that you do, man. And I think you do a sensational job of combining. education, but being entertaining. You know, blending those two is what I think fans deserve, you know, more than anything else watching the sports or whatever it is, whatever your interests are.

Educational and entertainment, you check both those boxes, man. I love your stuff, dude. You're one of my favorites. I appreciate it, man. I feel the same way about your stuff, man. Thank you for having me on. And, like, just in general, like, this is kind of what, I feel like that's what NBA media needs to be.

It needs to be engaging and also fun. In general, like, NBA content has never been smarter than it is, right? now. You just kind of have to know where to look for and where to get it from. Because like the X's and O stuff is out there. The cap stuff is out there. The transaction stuff is out there. Like a YouTube man. The YouTube is Ben Taylor. I had him on recently, Gibson Piper with Half Court hoops like the like never mind Jay Calamann now with the ringer. It's like there's like there's so much great content out there covering the NBA and so many different styles of content too, whether it's the analysis or entertaining stuff. Yeah, as more people

pop up doing what we do. Like I feel like it's going to be better. Like, NBA. covered in general is going to be better forward as we get more people with not just doing the content but giving them platforms as well no doubt about that man you had like jason you're like jason's awesome like he he's like one of my top twitter followers like he's like outstanding yeah so like and that's what you do like you you pinpoint the kind of content that buys your content but also give people a platform and like not that either those guys need to me to give them a platform or anything like that but it's just like that's how you kind of grow the community you pinpoint those guys, give them a bigger microphone, more people get to them, they'll get better opportunities moving forward from there. Like, that's how we, you know, that's how it gets better.

I think Jason Maples is one of the best doing it right now because he, because he mixes like some hard-hitting analysis sometimes, but then also, like, he's just fucking funny. Yeah, like he's just funny. Like, that's the people, that's how you vibe with people, man. Like, I made the tweet, I think yesterday where I was like, my account isn't a basketball account. It's a personal account with a bunch of basketball talk on it. And like that's, like more people should do it like that.

I get to tweet more. I don't tweet as much anymore, Nikias. I feel, I'm at the point and you might get to this point at some point, like, where I do so much work that like Twitter has just taken a back seat for me. I just haven't put as much into Twitter, which is hard, man. But I don't know. I got, I got to carve out the time. I got to make the time.

Less war zone. More tweeting. Or at the very least if you're playing war zone, hop on Twitch, man. Like, it's so. It's so easy. connected. It is, man. Nakaias, I appreciate you joining me today, man. This is fun. No problem, man. You have a good one. Well, that's going to wrap up today's episode of The Void. Thank you to Nikias Duncan for joining. Thank you to Jesse Lopez for producing. And thank you to you for

listening to The Void. It really means a lot. Please give us a five-star rating where you're listening to this show. Subscribe or follow. Pass it along to a friend. It all really helps. Thank you again. I hope you have a fun day.