The Mismatch - The Dangerous Mavs, Inconsistent Suns, and Uncertainty Surrounding the Knicks. Plus: Is Joel Embiid Close to Returning?

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

Verno and KOC recap last night's slate of games, beginning with the Suns as Devin Booker goes off against the Pelicans (01:47). Luka Doncic has the Mavs riding high as the guys debate whether they are the scariest team headed into the playoffs (05:46). As the Celtics continue to dominate the regular season, the guys debate who is going to be the key bench player for their playoff success (15:40). Josh Hart doesn't sound too optimistic about the Knicks’ health issues (24:03). Also, how close is Joel Embiid to returning (35:23)? Last, the guys discuss which prospects’ draft stock rose and fell over this weekend’s Elite Eight games (42:34). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out http://theringer.com/RG to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey there, humanoids. This is David Chewaker. The pro wrestling world is currently on fire. And so we've got you covered five days a week on the Ringer Wrestling show. Every Monday and Thursday, hang out with me and Kaz on The Masked Man Show. And this is Peter Rosenberg, the host of Cheap Heat. Join me and my guys, Stack Guy Greg and Dipperstein, on Tuesdays and Fridays. We talk wrestling, we have bagel breakdowns, mage interviews, and so much more. And Ben Cruz here. Come kick it with me, Cal and Brian, on Wednesday. Worldwide, where we hit the most interesting headlines and even react to some of mass mans, cheap heats, or even your hottest tics. Don't tap out. Tap in to the Ringer Wrestling Show feed. Now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.

And stay mage, everyone. Worldwide. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And join me as he does every Tuesday morning for the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k.A. Kevin O'O. Bomber. Kevin O'O. Concer. Kevin O'O. Conflict. Kevin O'O. Candlein.

Kevin O'Blessarian. How are you doing this morning? I'm doing great. All right. We are right at the very end of the NBA season. We've got a lot of jockeying for playoff position that is still left to be done. But there was a big one last night as Devin Booker went close to home in New Orleans. He's from Mississippi.

And he said he's always got tons of family and friends. And you could hear the New Orleans announcer saying, It's something about this gym. He's always got a bunch of family and friends here. Booker dropped 52, huge sons win over the Pelicans. Now they're going to play again over the weekend, but we're getting down to the very end of the season, and just a game and a half are separating Dallas,

the Pelicans, Sacramento, and Phoenix. Man, I don't know what to make of this Phoenix thing because much like, I felt like both of those two teams, both the Pelicans and the Sons, I watch them sometimes and I have 100% full belief and I'm like, oh my God, they're devastating. And then other times you see them

and you're like, should I really believe in this for winning four games out of a seven game series and last night was one of those where you walk away, especially when it's 60 to 37 in the second quarter and in the first four minutes or five minutes of the game, Bookers already hit four or five from three And you're like, man, when it all clicks, they look scary. And I know the sun's schedule was going to be murder down the stretch,

but they give you those glimpses where they really look scary. What do you think about what took place last night with the Pelicans, or getting smacked around by the suns like that? I mean, it's hard to trust Phoenix, right? Like you said, you see what they can be when Devin Booker, going off and he's unstoppable, it's just all net. It's been like the ball is barely even touching

the net on some of his shots. And, you know, guys on that team can have knights like that. But you also see nights where they get, they lose by 25 points to the Thunder without SGA last week. So I think with this

son's team, maybe that's just what they are, this untrustworthy, up and down team. maybe that is exactly who they are. And there's been showing us all season long, where they are just this untrustworthy team and that this is why that you can't put them on the same level

as some of these other contenders. With that said, though, Chris, the highs are high, right? And with this team, that's why I don't think you can necessarily rule them out as an upset team in the first round, depending on their opponent. You can't rule them out having multiple games, where they are just on fire in a row.

But picking them over some of the more stable teams, definitely not Denver, but even Dallas, Luca is an every night type of guy right now. Every night he's putting up 34 points, 10 and 10. Every night, Minnesota is going to give you elite defense. Every night, some of these other teams, you know what you're going to get.

Phoenix has these valleys and just peaks that you don't know when it's ever going to come. Like the kings are like that at the bottom of the conference as well. Well, they are so up and down. Granted, the Kings now also unfortunately have a Malik Monk injury, Kevin Herder injury. They look like an easy first-round exit or even a play-in team that's going to lose. I just think with these teams at the bottom of the conference,

there is a separation, except for the Lakers. The Lakers are trending up. But Warriors, King's sons have been pretty inconsistent throughout the entire season. I have a hard time trusting them over the top six right now in the West. And the other thing is with Phoenix, it's like, can four times Booker and Durant score 75 to 85 combined? It feels like that's going to be, right? Feels like that's going to be what it takes. Are these guys going to be able to cut?

Because you have 52 last night. And we know that they are capable. They're unbelievable scorers. But it's going to be interesting to see how many they could combine four out of seven games. You mentioned, you know, I mentioned those four teams, Dallas, the Pelicans, Sacramento, Phoenix. There's no question. Dallas has separated themselves in a big way in reference to the other three. They have just been absolutely positively unbelievable.

God. What? I mean, they're like 11 and 1, and the 1 is like the night Lucas sat. And it seems like ever since they changed that lineup and they put Gafford in there. and they put Derek Jones Jr. in there, they are now, like, they are the avoid team. Is that fair? Dallas is the avoid team. Oh, yeah. I'd say Dallas is the avoid team right now, for sure. I mean, they are playing at a higher level defensively and offensively. Every night, Luca is, you know, either the best or the second best offensive force in the league. It's Hamer Yokic are the best player on the offensive end of the floor. And with Luca performing at the level that he is now, he's putting up pretty much equal numbers to what he did before the All-Star break.

It's around 34 points per game, 10 assists, 10 rebounds. Pretty close to that is exactly what he did prior. But he just feels more effective with what he's doing, even if it doesn't show up on the numbers, in part because of the fact that that traded the deadline, getting Daniel Gaffer and PJ Washington, the pieces just fit around him. So he always has a roller and Gafford are lively on the floor with him. The team is healthier right now. You had Kyrie miss time this season, Cleva missed time this season. Josh Green and obviously Kyrie Irving missed over 20 games as well. So now the team is healthy around him, and Luca just feels better than he ever has.

And I think it's at the point that it is not just a two-man race for MVP between Janus and Yokic, but it's a three-man race for MVP, Yokic, Janice, and Luca. Luca, I believe, has played himself into that. I know Dallas is currently the five seed, but it's only, you know, six games of wins separation and the standings between them and Denver right now.

He could steal the four seed from the Clippers. The Mavs are only two games back as of Tuesday morning. I don't see any reason not to throw Luca in there. He is absolutely unstoppable on offense, and he's playing the best defense he has. as individually as well. Well, it feels like they fell into something with the, you know, Josh Green with the ankle injury and having Derek Jones Jr. is their best offender.

And so they got like the Gafford and Derek Jones Jr. thing, it's like they've got like perfect role players that just play roles. You've got your stars and your role players. And we'll see kind of where Green fits in, but Exum's been really good for him. Obviously Hardaway gives them a pop off the bench. Like I would just want to steer clear of them when it comes playoff time because they're the team that, I mean, they're obviously the hottest team in the NBA. But I would put no ceiling on their, you know, capabilities in the Western Conference. You know, we keep looking for, hey, who is the team if it's not Denver?

Because we find Denver to be the prohibited favorite. If it's not Denver, who could it be? Then it felt like the Clippers for a little bit. I know we did a pot at one point. It's like, hey, is it Phoenix? Just kind of like an outscore thing. Like, as the season now comes to a close, again, we don't feel like anybody's going to beat Denver. But if we're drafting teams and we're saying, all right, Kevin, you've got to beat Denver. Who do you want? Is your first pick Dallas? I think my first pick's probably Dallas. Right now, today. And maybe I'm being prisoner of the moment. But again, I don't.

don't think anybody's beating Denver four out of seven. But if I could foresee a circumstance that somebody did, I think I would take Dallas with my first pick right now. How about you? Yeah, I'm with you. It's Dallas right now. And that's just because of Luca with who Luca is. Yeah. And I think with that guy, isn't it realistic?

You know, it's not unthinkable for Luca to average 40 points in a playoff series. It's not. No. I mean, if you're picking somebody to surpass Kobe's 81 during the regular season, it's Luca. That's who you're picking, right? So I think with him, he is capable of anything. You can't rule it out. He is an all-time offensive talent. And he has now the best supporting cast he has ever had in his entire career. And with Dallas, they've already been to a Western Conference finals with a far inferior team. You know, and I think you look back at the best. that roster, you know, Finney Smith and Bullock are solid players and, you know, but they have Frank Millikina coming off the bench and, you know, like the team was not anywhere close to what it is now. And Luca himself is also better now than he was then. He's in better conditioning now than he was then. He's a better overall player than he was two years ago when he led the maps to the Western Conference finals. I don't think you can rule them out. You wouldn't pick them over Denver

yet because Djokic has an ideal supporting cast, the dream supporting cast around him. It is a perfectly constructed team around him. And he also reached an even higher level than he did after some of their losses in the postseason. Lucas still has room to grow, which is the scary part in all of this. He can get even better. But I think at this point, they are number two in terms of the threat to Denver in the West. And a huge shout out to their front office, because they did this on the fly, you know. We liked the Grant William signing.

The Grant William signing didn't work. But they didn't like just see it through. They pulled the plug on it. You know, sometimes it's about admitting your mistakes and then trying to make the most of those mistakes. They didn't let it go too far. You know, there's going to come a payment time for some of those. We may look up and we go, oh, well, remember when they traded those first round picks? But the truth is this is all about having a generational talent and building around him.

And as we've said 100,000 times, you're always on the clock when you've got a generational talent, putting a group of guys around them that gives them the opportunity to win at the highest level. And there's sometimes where we look at these guys and we say, yeah, he's generational talent, but he doesn't have enough around him. Like they have done this on the fly with this roster and built it out because the Gafford thing is worked. The PJ Washington thing is worked. Bring an XM back over? you know, Exum is valuable for them.

The Derek Jones Jr. thing, he's a great role player for them and is a great defender. And most importantly, the Kyrie Gamble has worked in spate. You know, when they made the Kyrie thing and then at the end of last season, because it was kind of clunky at the end of last year, it's like, now are you going to keep him? Like, is this the right pairing? And they looked at it and said, we have the. These two unbelievable talents, now we've got to figure out how to build out around them. And that's the trick. It's like, okay, you've got your stars.

Now what kind of role players work well with these guys? And I think you watch it, and you're going, boy, they built this thing well. And kid, you know, maybe it's by virtue of an injury or maybe it's, you know, the Gaffer thing looked kind of weird at the beginning. It's like, are you still not going to start this guy after you gave up the first round pick and whatever? but now as time has gone on and they've evolved and they've had this run up to the playoffs, it feels like they've kind of figured it out. They've got a bunch of vets on their team that have played in big games. And so, I don't know, man, they look really, really dangerous right now, really dangerous.

And I would not want to see them. They look much different over the course of the last, you know, a couple of weeks than they have looked at, you know, this season. You know, they've had stretches where they've been really good, but this whole roster, it looks like it fits together right now and

really good, really good. They seem like the avoid team. It's going to be fun to watch those teams separate themselves. But of those four, with Dallas,

the Pells, Sacramento, and Phoenix, certainly I think we're both in line that Dallas is the, they're the dangerous one. That's not maybe a home court advantage team.

And they could be. They could get that first round home court. Yeah, if they never lose, they could, there's no, there's no tell her what seed they can end up, right? They're obviously not going to be in the top three, but they could get to four.

And the Clippers have won three in a row, but they beat the Sixers, you know, the magic and the Hornets. I mean, the magic win is impressive, you know, doing that on the road is a 197 game. But the Philly win, you know, they don't end up beat the Charlotte game. Charlotte is, you know, I'm terrible right now.

They face Sacramento on Tuesday night, Denver on Thursday, a little bit of a more challenging schedule. And they got Utah, Cleveland, then two games against the Suns. They have some tougher games coming up. Like, I think this is going to be a better overall barometer of the Clippers rather than their three-game winning streak. They've won five out of seven as well. But it's been a very light schedule for them.

The other two wins were against Portland. So I think with the Clippers, some of these games will be a better barometer of what whether this team has actually flipped the switch or if they've just beaten up on, you know, mostly largely inferior opponents. On the east side, let's start with Boston. I mean, they're running away with this. Double-digit game separation between them and the bucks.

And, you know, I will say it's pretty impressive how they keep on cracking throughout the regular season. They'll have some, you know, blips here and there, like the Atlanta games. But by and large, they play it at an extremely, high level over and over and over and over again throughout the year. Brown's been fantastic. Tatum has really gotten going.

And then I was most interested in their game last night where Hauser's got the 25 points. And he's 7-Eleven from three. And you think about, you know that there's always bench guys that matter greatly. There's always some guys that end up mattering greatly that are coming off your bench when you're making any kind of a title run. Who do you believe in most? Is it Hauser in terms of a guy that could come off their bench? We get to the playoffs and they're able to duplicate what they've done or maybe even exceed what they've done throughout the regular season and actually be a real weapon because their depth has not been needed in. some kind of severe way this year.

They have been a relatively healthy team this year, especially with their best players. But in terms of the Celtics depth, it stood out to me because of the Hauser big game. Who do you believe in when it comes time, when we start these playoff series, and you know those guys are going to matter? I mean, I think all of them have their role on particular nights.

Pritchard, sometimes you're going to need his shot making from the backcourt. Sometimes it's going to be Hauser benefiting from double teams or increased attention on a Tatum. It could be, you know, somebody like if it misses a game, if Jalen misses a game and Hauser needs to play more minutes, which is exactly what happened against the Hornets, it can be him that benefits with the increased shots. And I do think if you're picking one, it is Howard or Hauser because of the shooting ability. I mean, he shot over 40% from three on four attempts per game in his entire career in the NBA. He's as steady as he gets as a shooter. And so I think for Boston, the fact that he can step in for, you know, Tatum or Brown, if they're out or in foul trouble, he can, he can play

those minutes and be that lethal spot-up guy. And like, he, he's the type of guy that makes me always think about, I always think about this Brad Stevens quote from like 10 years ago. Brad Stevens talked about defending Kyle Corver. And he said, Corver averages 13, but you get to defend him like he averages 30. And I always think about that when it comes to some of these sharpshooters, like a Sam Hauser, where you know this guy's not going to score a lot, but you have to defend him like he averages 30. And that's, I think, where the benefit is in a guy like Hauser coming off your bench,

because he's just so lethal from behind the ark, you can never forget about him out there. It's a spacing, right? It's the spacing, and it's the Duncan Robinson thing. And you wonder, and because he's not a guy that, it's going to get left. Some guys that come off the bench, it's like, you know, you pick your poison. Like we saw, you know, the famous Grant Williams game where he hits all the threes.

It's like, that's what we want you to do. We want you taking Grant Williams threes. We know that is a little bit different with what they've got coming off their bench now because it's not guys that you say, all right, we want you. We've much rather have you taking the shots. It's just like how Caleb Martin killed him or Andrew Wiggins killed him. It's like, you got to pick your poison with some of them. And I do think that the Hauser thing is interesting.

Because if he gets left, he tortures you because he does hit such a high percentage. On the other hand, you know, is he going to get targeted on the other end? We will see. Yeah. I mean, I think, I mean, that's true with ultimately any role player, right? That's right. I mean, they all have their pros and cons. Also, just one of the thing on Boston last night.

Drew Carter is their play-by-play announcer on the road games. Mike Gorman, long-time announcer, 43 years is retiring. Drew Carter, NBC Sports Boston hired as Mike Gorman's replacement. And hard to replace a legend like that, but Drew Carter announcing his final game of the season last night. He's been stellar. Drew Carter, I think, is one of the best young announcers in the game. I've really enjoyed him on the Celtics broadcast this year. he's funny, he's got some cleverness to him. He knows the game. I thought he did a great job this year as a

rookie in the Celtics broadcast booth. And as someone who, you know, grew up listening to Mike and Tommy, RIP to Tommy Heinz and another legend. And now Mike Gorman is retiring after 43 years. Drew Carter looks like a longtime voice for that team for kids to grow up listening to. I think he does a great job. And, you know, great again last night on the call in Charlotte against another amazing play-by-play guy and Eric Collins on the Charlotte's side. We're not, we're not, I, I, I am sad to, I'm sad to do this, Kevin. I'm not talking about him. I invited him in my studio when Charlotte came here.

Oh, no. Broke my heart. Oh, my God. Broke my heart. Declined. He did the, it's a game day getting my stuff together politely declined. I mean, I didn't talk to him directly. But they reached out to him.

Oh, stop it already. Your teams won 20 games. You can come to the studio. Come on. You're not Kevin Harley. You know what Eric Collins said about you? Who cares? Who cares?

Who cares? Who cares? I mean, I've celebrated this guy like he's, you know, more of Albert or something. At least you could, I'm your biggest fan. You think he has any awareness of us? Broke my heart. I know see on Twitter

I don't know I don't know but he like I mean we've been his biggest fans maybe he was a friend that you directly didn't ask him maybe that's why maybe so

you couldn't have taken the time yourself to ask me you big shot I got people for that come on Kevin Garnett's been in my studio Marcus Saul's gonna be in my studio today come on

let's go broke my heart I mean it's like look they always say don't meet your heroes we'll meet your heroes so maybe it's best maybe it's best he is on X except he hasn't been on there since 2014 so it's been 10 years kind of hard to get in contact with the guy so he didn't know he didn't know I'm his biggest fan

hey he doesn't know he may have no idea I've heard he's a dunked on listener hey he's a dunked on guy It's not a misguatch guy. Oh, shoot. He's got to pay for that. We're free. We're free, man.

For a reason. We're free for a reason. Ain't nobody paying for this shit. Fandals putting the ball on your court for the rest of the NBA season because right now new customers get $200 on bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $200 if you're betting. Bet wins.

Bet on the NBA with a wide range of bet types, including quick bets, live same game parlays, player props, and much more. And the weight is over North Carolina. Fandul is officially live in the Tar Heel State. So visit fandul.com slash mismatch and make your first bet a layup. Fandul, official sportsbook partner of the NBA. Must be 21 plus and present in select state's gambling problem. Call Warner Herr gambler or visit RG-Halt.com.

First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issue does not a drama bonus bets that expire. or seven days after a seat. See terms of sportsbook. Fandbill.com. All right, let's get to the rest of the east. On the east side,

a game is separating Cleveland, New York, and Orlando. Okay. And I was of the opinion. It's like, man, you know how dangerous I've thought New York is all year. And I was at the opinion. Cleveland and Orlando, they need to play each other so one of them can advance and feel great about things, right? Because they don't like their chances.

it's at New York team, but now I'm kind of changing, and it's because of our old buddy, Josh Hart. Josh Hart left me feeling like this is an ominous situation, and I know he didn't mean to, but Tim Bond Temps had that article where the quote from Josh Hart where it said, now, where he said, you know, I'm playing like this is the team that we have, and then I'm just going to be pleasantly surprised if OG ended up. Nob he could come back and Julius Randall could come back. Mitchell Robinson could come back.

He said, I'm not in those medical conversations or anything like that. So I don't know shit from shit, which is, by the way, a great quote. But we've got to approach every game in the end of this season that those guys aren't coming back. And if they do, be pleasantly surprised. I just don't like anybody broaching. Like, I like the hopeful thing. Like, it started to get hopeful with Embed and we'll get to that here in a moment. On this next thing, I'm starting to worry.

Like, this was the risk for trading for Andanobi. He's not exactly been an Iron Man. And the Randall thing, I feel like we've never gotten, like, truly good news about that. It just feels like the shoulders really hurt. The guy's going to end up having to have surgery. And we'll see. And then the Mitchell Robinson thing, again, it's all, you know, they don't want to give any kind of, it feels like they very rarely give hopeful quotes.

it's always like day to day, we'll see, we'll see. And I just don't know if they're going to have the roster that I think is dangerous when it comes playoff time. Are you reading this the same way? Like, it's like with every day that passes and every game that these guys got to sit out in this whole elbow thing that's going on with Anadobie and the shoulder thing going on with Randall, I just, I can't know what kind of roster they're going to have going into the playoffs to find out if I think they're going to be mega, a dangerous. And so maybe I'm, maybe that's,

maybe that's not the right tack to think, hey, if I'm Cleveland or Orlando, I'd want to play each other. Because the Knicks just, you know, you may catch them just wounded. They're still deep, but they're wounded, man. Yeah. How are you reading?

I don't, yeah, I don't feel like there's a lot of hope about them having the roster. Yeah. I, I, I think the Josh Hart quote, we should listen. And if he's as worried and lacks the optimism of getting guys back, I think we should feel that way too. And, you know, I think you look at some of their losses on the past week.

They lose the spurs. And granted, Wemby has an absurd game for San Antonio. Brunson also had 61 points of the game. He just didn't get the help that he needed from the rest of that depleted roster. They lose to Oklahoma City by one point. And the thing is with OKC, like maybe you win that game if you actually have all your guys for the Knicks side, which is again the issue in the playoffs where there's this margin of error where you need an OG and Ninobe to help you get those extra couple stops. You need your Julius Randall to get those couple extra rebounds and points in the paint. Mitchell Robinson to alter a shot around the rim.

That's where those guys make a difference around the margins. with some of those possessions that all add up over the course of the game. So if they're not going to have those dudes, it's hard to feel a lot of confidence in them. I think their depth is impressive, a Miles McBride, who we love, has stepped his game up. Others have as well. Die Venchenzos had big games, hearts playing 45 minutes a night. Hartinstein's really been good as well, ever since Robinson went down early in the year. But you still need some of those guys.

You at least need O.G.N. and Obie in order to take a leap in the Eastern Conference. you got to have OGNanobie and even if we say look the Randall thing has never been we've never gotten a lot of clarity we've never gotten true reason for hope that he would be able to come back and be himself if you got Ananoby and Robinson back in the mix then I find you dangerous again but Ananoby came back with the elbow thing and try and you know and was playing and playing well and they were back to win it again and we did the those numbers and it's like, when they have had Brunton and Ananovi, their numbers are downright freakish, freakish. So they have to have him. They've got to have O.G. But if they got O.G. and

Mitchell back, I would think that they're, they would be the team that I still think is dangerous. I don't think they have to have Randall. They don't have to. Obviously, that would be a huge bonus. But they don't have to have him. But they for sure need Ananovi. at that minimum. One of the interesting things, Hart said what he said. Woge also said something along the lines of, when OG comes back,

they don't want them in and out of the lineup. They want him to just be back or not. And he was talking specifically about OG and and Obie, but I would imagine it's the same logic behind Randall and Robinson. We saw Mitchell Robinson come back for two games, and then he missed their most recent game. if that's the logic with OG, I can't imagine that it's any different for Randall or Robbins.

They want these guys to be back or not. And I mean, I guess there's always a possibility that with OG, he could just end up missing him the rest of the season. I would hope it's actually that they're just waiting and wrapping him in bubble wrap for the playoffs and then they bring him back. Maybe that's what ends up happening. Maybe all these guys could show up for like the last game

of the regular season and then the playoffs begin and suddenly the Knicks have their full starting lineup. Maybe that's what it's not going to end up being. Considering the fact that I mean, yeah, sure, you would love to move up and get the three spot. You're only a half game behind Cleveland who brought

Donovan Mitchell back, but Mitchell has been absolutely underwhelming ever since he returned in his four games back. He's shooting inefficiently, averaging like 12, 13 points per game. He does not look anywhere near the Donovan Mitchell that we have come to expect over the years. The Knicks could surpass the calves and steal the three seed, but it's home court either way.

It's not like you're playing for your pick of first round opponent. There's not a lot to gain there as long as they retain home court in the first round. And, you know, there are only a half game up on Orlando as well. Well, and the crazy thing is we're talking about Boston, like running away with the Easter conference. They could have an absolute murderer's row draw if this breaks. wrong way for them. You know, you would think, all right, we're playing eight,

and then we're playing the winner of four, five. And it's like eight is, like, you can be playing the heat. The heat right now are trying to avoid the play in because they're won back from Indy. I mean, it's not outlandish to think that if you're the Celtics, you could run away with this whole thing and you would have to go heat, nix, bucks in order to get to the NBA finals just because of the way it's breaking with the standings right now because as I mentioned the heat right now they're trying to avoid the

play in their one back from indie and you've got to imagine both Boston and the bucks are hoping like hell they do too so that the three seed has to play against Miami rather than Miami playing in that 7-8 game and then either Boston or Milwaukee is drawing them in the first round. So in this weird way, Celtics and Bucks fans, in my opinion, have to be the biggest heat fans on earth for these last like week, week and a half, just to not have to play them in the first round and let whoever ends up three deal with them, whether that's New York, whether that's Cleveland, whether that's Orlando, whoever. But could you imagine you catch the number one seed and then, hey, congratulations, you're playing the heat in the first round for either the buck.

And by the way, you know, the Celtics have had their issues with the heat. And last year, the bucks, that's what I mean, you know, the loss, their coach is not coaching anymore because they lost in the first round of that freaking play in team. It's just you got to be you got to be Ruth like L for Miami if you're a Boston or Milwaukee fan, I'd got to think. Oh yeah, for sure, especially because Philly right now, they're, you know, unlikely to get out of the play. And there's just so few games remaining. You're two and a half back from the Pacers for the six seed and you'd have to surpass Miami. It feels like Philly in all likelihood is going to be in the play. And so you're going to at least hope Miami gets out of it.

And that's a disaster too, right? What if the play in is Miami Philly? And so one of them gets Boston and the other one gets the bucks. Yeah. Unless there's a Chicago or Atlanta upset, which could happen in a single game elimination. But yeah, it could end up being Philly, Milwaukee, and then Miami Boston, which would be wild if that ends up. The greatest first round in Eastern Conference playoff history. Really?

Yeah, I think, again, you just got to hope that Indiana falls back down there if you're fans of one of those teams. Because this is very similar to the whole last year when you're looking up and it's like, geez, you're going to have to play the Lakers. Like Memphis was the two seed and they draw the Lakers. Sacramento had their best season in forever and they draw the Warriors. And I know you're always in favor of getting to pick your opponents, but there is no picking of the opponents, and this is the way it's playing out. Yeah.

The only thing I'll say, Chris, is that Indiana is four and one against the bucks this year, and granted those games were all, you know, prior to the coaching change there. It's just another, you know, concern for the buck side. We're like, okay, these guys have played us really tough this year. Granted, it was a long time ago, like November, December, January games.

The Pacers are a high-powered offense, too, but Halliburton is still not the same guy, like right now, dealing with his lower body injury. Yeah. You'd mention M.B. coming back for people that are listeners of the mismatch, and it appears as if, now it doesn't look like tonight, because there's already reports that he wasn't at shoot-around this morning. But it seems like sooner than later, Joelle M.B. would be able to get a little run up to whatever the play-in situation is. Is that still kind of what you're thinking? It does seem so.

I mean, miss a shoot-around. It seems like Tuesday, which is the day they were kind of circling on the calendar for his return is not happening. I wonder if that has to do with the fact that Maxie also may not play in this game as well. He's questionable for the game with a hip injury. Maybe they want all those guys back at once, but, yeah, it would have been nice to have him back for that OKC game at home in front of Sixers fans. And it seems like now it would be the Miami game on Thursday night, a big game, by the way, against the heat. That could determine home court in the plan for the seven seeds. So we'll see if it's going to be Thursday, hopefully.

But sooner he comes back, the better. They need him be to build, you know, get back on the court, back, get his conditioning, but also build chemistry with a buddy heels. two-man game action. Let's see how those guys can build before the playoffs. I hope he does come back because I would have him here in Memphis on Saturday get a chance to see him in person because that's their one trip here is that night. And so I'd had a couple of national media guys reach out telling me that they were going to be here if he does come back, that they're going to be coming.

You know, because obviously it's going to be a huge story, him coming back and how he he looks. I mean, you know, it's easy to forget. Hey to tell you, Chris, though, it's the first night of a back-to-back, though. He might miss that one. He's got San Antonio on Sunday. So, I would imagine he misses one of those games. One of those is probably going to be out for. Well, you know, he probably wants to play against San Antonio.

You know he wants to play against them. He has 500 points last time, right? Yeah, I'm sure he'd like to face Victor again. game. The guy was like Wilk Chamberlain this year. It's hard to remember what that was like before he got injured, but the guy was averaging over a point a minute. A point a minute. Yeah. He's averaging 35.3 points per game. It's absurd. He's unbelievable. He is so good. I mean, even if he's 80% of that, he's still like one of the best scores of the NBA, right? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I think with Philly, I mean, if he beat is that version of himself, they could beat Boston or Milwaukee. They could. Of course they can. If he's that version, well, yeah. I mean, the trick has been,

he has not been that version in playoff series. Well, and that's where the time missed could end up a blessing in disguise, where if he does come back and he's that guy, he's fresh, he's healthy, he's rested, And he has a way better coach, better at making adjustments, a better supporting cast,

maybe all the time off ends up the final piece of blessing in disguise for Embed to be back and be 100% for a playoff run. No, that time off can be a big deal. I mean, hell, it helped the Lakers win that phony bubble title. Oh, please. I mean, you get two months off, regenerate all your old bones, and then you can come back and win. So maybe MB being out for a long time can help him.

He gets a great version of himself. The real example is Stefan Curry when he missed the end of the regular season in 2022. No, I think the phony bubble title is a better example. Okay. All right. We'll move on. Not worth discussing. Since the break, the best teams have been Denver, Boston, Houston.

OKC and Orlando. Those have been the best team since the All-Star break. And so keep an eye out for that. We talked about Dallas earlier. We talked about these other teams getting their guys back. But all of those are worth keeping an eye on if somebody can carry over into the playoffs. And then we go, we should have seen it. And I think of those, look, Denver, Boston, OKC have been there the whole time.

Orlando still got the opportunity to surprise everybody to go, this is a different team now, and their record's been great since the All-Star Break. They've had the number one defense, which is not going to be getting viral headlines every night. They've had the number one defense at their top five in turnovers forced, in points in the paint giving up, in second-chance points. And so we will see if they're going to carry it over,

but it seems like they are the ones. Everybody else is kind of out there and plain sight. I think Orlando is the one that could sneak up on anybody. If we do the, what team has been radically different since All-Star Break

and could carry it over into the playoffs and surprise people with how good they are. Doesn't it feel like Orlando's that team? Because all the others are the usual suspects. I mean, it's an unbelievable opportunity for them to do exactly that.

And with this magic team, we've talked about them a bunch. You said before the season, they're going to make the playoffs. We've loved Bencaro. I've loved Franz Wagner for quite some time. Jalen Suggs, the leap he has taken overall. I mean, he's

arguably an all-defensive player. They have multiple guys who should be in the conversation for making all defensive teams. Jonathan Isaac looks like the best defender in basketball on a per-minute basis. The guy is I mean, yeah, you said it, Chris, holy macro. He's unbelievable.

He absolutely is. It is defensive highlight reel this season is, you know, 10 minutes long. They just have so many different guys on that team that I look forward to seeing them in a playoff setting, regardless of the opponent, by the way. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they end up winning a first round matchup and you end up seeing them in the second round against the bucks. or the Celtics. It wouldn't shock me at all. And then in that series, you're not picking, them to win it, but I think they'd at least put up a fight because they're that type of team. They put up a fight. They have a great defense. They have guys that improved offensively. You could have a Bancero go off. So I look forward to seeing him in the postseason. I'm very excited

about the magic. Things are trending up. They have a loaded young roster, and they should only get better from here in the years to come. Last thing before we get out of here. tournament, the final four has been set. I saw you put DJ Burns number one on your big board. After he mangled Duke with the 29 points in all seriousness. The Duke kids, it was a dud for Philpowski for sure. McCain was kind of the revelation, it seems like, despite his much goofed on nail polish. NIL deal that he signed.

I'll tell you this. Brave guy, I'll give him that. McCain had 32 in the game. Kim and Caleb Williams. Yeah, him and Caleb Williams. Two peas in a pod. I got to imagine McCain moved up. Philpowski might move down.

Is that fair? On the Duke front. McCain will move up. Philopowski, I haven't changed his positioning on the board. as I'm recording right now Tuesday morning oh it was updated they updated it this morning yeah I put it in last night philopowski I have at 24 which is where I had him prior McCain I moved him up to I believe 16 17 I moved McCain up to 13 I have McCain at 13 that's so the tournament helped him we talked about who could the tournament help did it help

with the huge game against Purdue? Tell me where you think, well, first I'll tell you, McCain, I moved him from 23 and early March to 16 in late March, and now he's at 13. So he did improve. Connect.

I had him at 14. Where do you think he should be in this year's draft class? And then I'll tell you where I have him right now. Where do you think Connect should be ranked? I think that's probably right. I think he's probably between 10 to 15, right? I put him at 5.

Wow. For now. I mean, this board could change. But I'm in the back of my mind, basically the whole year, I've been like, is this guy a top 10 pick? Is he a top 10 guy? I mean, look at this year's draft class. Here's my logic between moving clinging up to three. Gavoni did that over at draft Express as well, and then moving connect up to five.

this is a draft with a lot of uncertainties. A lot of guys that you can look at and say, okay, he may or may not turn into a good player, even Stefan Castle, who I have ranked second. You know you're going to get a great defensive player. You know you're going to get a good playmaker, but shooting is so important from the guard position. You're really gambling on him figuring out as a shooter.

Same thing with Saar. You're betting on him improving as a shooter. Same thing with Topich. He's a good playmaking guard. he can create up the dribble, but is he ever going to improve as a shooter? Reed Shepard, he's small on defense. Rob Dillingham, is he going to continue being on as good behavior as a playmaker? Is he going to be a defender?

Like every single one of these guys, there's big question marks that will influence what they can offer a winning team. With Connects, I know for a fact that this guy is going to give me knockdown shooting, high IQ movement off the ball. He can run off screens. He can adjust and hit tough shots. the catch, he can come off a handoff and slingshot around the rim to get to the basket for an athletic layup or a dunk. You know he's going to give you high effort. You know he's going to

try to make the right play. And if the scoring develops, he had over 30 points eight times this season for Tennessee, largely on bulk production. If the scoring actually translates, you could have a go-to guy, even if he's your second option, a Jalen Williams type of guy, a Desmond Bain something in that spirit, not exactly that type of player, but a number two behind a star. Connect could end up becoming that guy. He has a high floor and he has a ceiling. I know he's 23 years old, but everybody's trajectory is different. We've seen plenty of older guys enter the league before and continue to get better, Bain included. So I think with him he's a deserving top 10 guy. We'll see where he finishes. For now, I have him at five. And it's the same logic with Klingin.

You saw him for you connie. He had an eight-block game. He had a five-block game. That eight-block game may have actually been 10 blocks with some of them not being recorded. The dude is going to be a great defensive player at a minimum. He's going to be a great at-room finisher at a minimum. He's a good decision-maker and screener as a big man.

That's your floor. If his offensive skill set continues developing with his post-game, he wants to be a shooter. I'm skeptical there. But if that were to ever become a spot-up, threat for him, you're adding onto a high floor. So I think in a draft of a lot of uncertainties at the top, these guys are rising in my eyes because of the fact that they offer a lot of certainty with what they can be

for an NBA team. This is a draft made for me where you just take a guy, this guy's not going to suck. To the point where you're just convincing yourself, okay, I don't know who's going to be good. or if they're going to be an all-star or if nobody's changing franchises. It doesn't seem like on the surface. But I'm positive this guy's not going to be terrible. Yes.

Because I'm listening to you and you're just giving me reasons as to why these guys are, at least you're going to get a player, somebody that can play and be in your rotation. And that may just be the draft. This may just be a draft where if you get high-level rotation guys, you've hit. Is that fair?

Yeah. I mean, I think, I like this draft for finding a good role player. I mean, how many times have I said it to you this year? If you're a draft that has a, if you're a team that has a direction and a centerpiece already, you can find a guy who fits around that for you. If you're a team like the Wizards or the Pistons and you don't have a direction, I know Cade's been great, but like the rest of that roster is kind of a mess, they don't have that necessarily that clear star.

The draft, I mean, the draft, I mean, doesn't have the clear star. By far the most interesting. What are we doing with Edy? I have Eadie right now on my board at 17. You think that's fair with Edy? Is that too low? Is it too high? What do you think?

You're not persuaded by the 40 and 16. Oh, no, I am persuaded. I have him at 17. That's pretty good, I think. There's plenty of people who still have him ranked in like the 40s or the 50s is a second round pick. I think Edie is Gavoni over at Drafts Express

has him at 13 I have him at 17 I think that's a fair spot right now and the block he had on Dalton Connect at the end of that game against Tennessee where he kind of stretched out his arm it was a really athletic block and the left side of the rim

Connect went up for a layup that showed that when Edie wants to contest shots around there where he's not just using his size to avoid foul trouble, with it being only five fouls in college, that he can make an impact around the room. His improvement year by year has been quite significant. I'm not saying he's going to be some great defensive player.

You can still, with quicker players, you can still get him in trouble, pulling him out, or even inside the paint, change inside the side, get him into trouble. But he's not some stiff in the way that he would, was in past years. He's better defensively at changing directions. And I thought that block was a good indicator

of the improvements there. I'm starting to warm up a little bit. I am. You know, I talked to you about this a couple weeks ago where I said, I think the Walker Kessler thing helps. I do. I also just think that, man, you need size.

You need size. I mean, you look up and down. It's like Oklahoma City's got shit. and Denver's got Yolkits and Minnesota's got trees and you know Dallas kind of changed their thing around by getting some more size with Gafford and lively and you know PJ's got some size and New Orleans has got some size and we know that on the on the east side there are you know there's big guys that you've got to deal with and so I'm starting to find him to be more useful. useful on the NBA level, simply because, I mean, he's bigger than 99% of the league. You know, I really didn't like him. He's going to be the biggest player in the league. He's not the tallest.

He's not the longest, but he will be the heaviest and one of the tallest and one of the longest. So, like, you can say he'll be the biggest player in basketball. And it's not like he's, it's not like he doesn't have some skill. Like he's got super soft touch on his hook shots. He's just a really, he's not just big is the point. I think he's going to be a really valuable regular season player who then you got to probably have something else with size when you get to playoff time.

People are going to play them off the floor in playoff time. They're going to target him and try to pull him all the way away from the basket. But I think they're the regular season, and you can stand in front of the basket, for the most part. Maybe. But do you think that there's any chance? Let's just say he becomes the Brooke Lopez replacement in Milwaukee. Brooke Lopez, he is in a perfect situation for his skill as a drop defender.

He's surrounded, you know, he's got Janus in the front court with him. If you see Edie go to Miami and he's next to Bam out of Bio, who could play that roaming role as the first. If you put him with Oklahoma City with Chet and a bunch of long-armed defenders, if you put him next to Wembe, like, is it possible that Eadie can just be a guy who drops back, Brooke Lopez style, uses his size and vacuums rebounds and just deters people around the rim? Is it possible that Eadie could be that? I wouldn't rule it out personally.

I think it's something to consider when it comes to fit in situation with him that he actually It could be, you know, a 20 plus, 25 plus minute per guy in the playoffs. The other thing is he's going to get rebounds that he's going to get his flat foot dunts. I mean, if you don't have to jump to dunk the ball, like, you're going to get some, you're going to get some footbacks, that's for sure. Did you see him cutting down the net, cutting down the net without a ladder? That was ridiculous. That's when I was like, okay, like, you're just so frigging big that it's like.

because he's he's wide-bodied too he's got more of the like yow build than like the bobon or taco fall build right yeah just why as well as obviously just extreme height i don't know i think i warmed up to him a little bit you know a story i heard about edie i was talking with tate fraser we were we were at the games together at the west regional in los angeles And we were talking about Edie. And he said last year at the award and awarding award ceremony, Edie asked if all of his teammates could come with them. This was after they're upset in the first round. And so this is over a month later they lose in the first round. Then in April at the wooden award ceremony, Edie asked if all his teammates have come.

And I was told that's the first time that a player has had every single one of his teammates come. And I think that's an indicator of the camaraderie in that locker room. but also how much they like him as the star player. And so Edy is a well-liked guy by his teammates, despite being the star, despite being the go-to guy that's not always the case. So that's just one little, you know, little midbit of information that I think is relevant when it comes to Eadie.

He's a team player on top of just being the guy for Purdue. I also think that, you know, it's a fun draft pick, too. If your team takes him, it's fun. it is fun it is yeah is it's just so it's like a circus act I mean I think he's more than that though I mean he's not no I know he is but I'm saying it's just so bizarre

yeah I know to have someone so big than everybody yeah I know I know I mean that's the coolest thing about the NBA though is like that we got guys like wemby you know mugsy bogs on the other side of it you know all these smaller guys Nate Robinson types like it's just like we have some of the best athletes in the world who are normal people height and then like seven foot four 300 pounders like edie coming in you have all the extremes in the game of basketball which is one of the reasons why i love it certainly can be super fun to watch it play out and dj burns who's your pick who's your pick who you think wins at all i think per do you con i think peru con you con come on Purdue you con okay then who wins that

Yukon? Yucon. Yes. Yeah. I think Yukon's such an easy pick right now. They destroy everybody. Yeah, they're winning like 28 points every game. It's not like I'm going out on a big limb.

But after I saw them the first weekend of the tournament, I will say this, there's a video. After I saw him the first weekend of tournament, I was like, nobody's beating that team. He just watch them, anybody, you don't have to be some kind of basketball, somebody. You watch them one time, he'd be like, oh, Jesus, like this. Teams up 50 to 17. This is ridiculous. How about the 30-0 run? They had over the weekend.

30-0! It was 23 to 23, and then it was 53 to 23. That is unfathomable. Unfathomable. And Illinois is not a sack of crap. 30-0. Oh, they're devastating, man.

Devastating. All right. Thank you to our executive producer. Jesse Lopez, as always, and Kevin, I'll talk to you Thursday night. Have a good week. It must be 21 plus in present in select states. Fandahill is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with the Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem.

In Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Call 100 gambler or visit fanbill.com slash RG. In Arizona, call 100 and her to next step or text next step to 533442. In Connecticut, visit ccpg.org slash chat. Indiana, call 1009 with it. Kansas at 1-800-5-2-470-7-M-AIDS.com. In Louisiana, call 1-8777-7-7-0. In Maryland, visit MD-Gamblinghelp.org.

In West Virginia, visit 1-800-Gambler.net. In Wyoming, call 1005-2-4-7-0.0. In Massachusetts, visit Gamblinghelpline, MA.org, or call 1003-2-750 for 24-7 support. In New York, call 1-8-8-Hope New York or text, Hope, New York.