The Mismatch - The Dominant Jazz, the Faltering Hawks, and the Rising Suns

Episode Date: February 16, 2021

Verno and KOC have so much to talk about this week. They get into the Utah Jazz just dominating the league (1:00), Julius Randle’s 44-point game (16:30), and the Hawks taking a nosedive in recent weeks with De'Andre Hunter out (26:30). Then they talk about the Suns’ success with Devin Booker and Chris Paul (45:00), AD’s injury (50:30), and Draymond Green’s comments about Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin being benched after their teams made them available for trades (56:00).  Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, this is Kevin O'Connor. On today's episode of The Mismatch, Chris Vernon and I got into a bunch. We talked about the unstoppable Utah Jazz, Ben Simmons going off in recent weeks. The Knicks and the Hawks going on opposite directions. Phoenix! The Suns, they're continuing to win a bunch of games. 80s injury, the Drummond and Blake Griffin News. And of course, we also had to talk a little bit about NBA Top Shot.

There's a big story written about that and ESPN that we discussed at the end of the show. This is a really fun episode. All that's coming up next. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Farnan. Join me as he does every Tuesday for the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k. Kevin O.

O. Kandahomber. Kevin O. Candyland. Kevin O. Kavanaugh. Kevin O'Brien. Kevin O'Brien.

How are you doing? Well, I've been better. We're snowed in in Tennessee. Okay. From a half an inch of snow or something like that, Chris. No, it has been several inches of snow. Okay. Several.

In the south, several inches of snow is an apocalypse because there is no, there are no salt trucks. Like, I mean, I grew up where winter weather was commonplace, much like you. I mean, the two places I grew up were New York at St. Louis. And so you'd wake up in the morning and you would have snow everywhere. But the streets are clean. That is not so. We don't have like salt trucks. We have like a guy in a pickup truck shaking a salt shaker trying to like.

melt these streets. And so everybody just ends up getting shut in in the south if there is a polar vortex, as it were. And so I'm stuck inside, hoping that the streets could get better, but the temperature's got to get higher for it to get better. Yeah, it's not the life you leave, the life you lead, which is just walk outside, shovel it. Streets are fine.

Life goes on as usual. No, life shuts down. How many snow days have your kids had in their lives? We haven't had snow like this in over three years. Oh, wow. And I can't remember. I think they said yesterday, but they're supposed to keep snow in the rest of the week,

and it's going to be the most snow since 1988. Wow. That's a long time ago now. Yeah. That's a long time. Since before they're even a thought in your mind. Yeah, that's how. That's how uncommon all of this is.

Yeah. And so, that's amazing. Yeah. Like, you can't, you can't get anywhere. Everything just shuts down and everybody's,

I mean, look, as if everybody wasn't staying in their houses already. Now they're really staying in their houses, they're not even going anywhere. Maybe it'll help with the virus, you know, I don't know.

I mean, nobody could be around anybody. Maybe, I don't know. I'm trying to look for any positive because everybody's just shut in right now. There is so much going on. We are going to hit seven different things

today at minimum. Just to give some context of what I'm looking at real quick, Chris has a baby Yoda shirt on right now, a sweatshirt. And there's a poster in the background of Jabberant ducking over Aaron Baines. It's just a great look. Chris looks like he's chilling right now.

And I'm enjoying it. First explanation. I am one of the very few people, in fact, maybe the only person in my family or extended family that has not watched the Mandalorian. I mean, you got to do it. You'll love baby Yoda even more than you already do, clearly.

My daughter is seven years old, and this is what she gave me for Valentine's Day. She gave me this baby Yoda sweatshirt. I'm not kidding. She came home with it, and she said, Dad, I got you a Valentine's gift. And she pulled it out of the bag, and it was a baby Yoda hoodie. and I said, I love it. She loves Baby Yoda. And so now I've got a Baby Yoda sweatshirt.

It's amazing. Yeah. It's great. You should watch the show. I binge watched it a couple months ago. It's amazing. Season two especially, like it really, really gets great. Oh, look, they were watching it.

I've never heard kids laugh so hard at any. The kids laughed harder at that. And I think Baby Yoda than anything they've watched. I mean, they were howling from the other room. I could hear them. So as long as Baby Yoda, it makes me happy. I'll rock him. You, you get to check it out. You get Disney. Plus, I had to borrow one of my friends.

I know my friend, Dano, one of my long time best friends. He's like, you got to watch the Mandalorian. Here's my password. And it was well worth it. Thank you, Dano for pushing me to watch the Mandalorian. Kevin O. Pirate. All right. We've got a lot of stuff. All right. Look, do you want to go ahead and issue the apology before we even get started here? because you know what we're doing number one,

and that is the scorching Utah Jazz. I think my void video last week was an apology. I know. You did do the void video. Now, I was told after the game, it wasn't reported anywhere, but sources told me that they said, one of the major motivations for this run that they have been on,

which has been absolutely insane, was they saw Kevin O'Connor's power race, rankings. And once they saw those power rankings, though they had lost Mike Conley, it added the necessary motivation for them to keep trucking the league. This has really gotten crazy, Kevin. It really has. I mean, they are nine of their last 10.

They've won eight in a row. And if you go back, I went to look at this because I saw somebody mentioned the other day that they are on this crazy. against the spread streak. Okay? You know they put lines on these in Vegas for every game. And typically if a team gets hot, you know, eventually the lines catch up to it. Okay.

Like at some point, the odds makers start inflating the line to deal with what is taking place, which is a team winning all the time. I went back and looked, and this was when I pulled it up from team rankings. in their last 20. If I have this right, when I went down the list and I marked, they are 19 and 1 against the spread. That's wild.

Wiles. They're one loss. One. They were a two and a half point favorite against the Denver Nuggets. Wow. And they lost. It's wild. Listen to this.

128 to 117. Nicola Yokic had 47 points and the Nuggets shot 64% from 3. That's the one loss. One. And it took a guy scoring 47 and a team shooting 64% from 3. Like what in the hell is going on here? This is madness. Madness.

I mean, we touched on it on Friday with Zach and, you know, it's the type of thing with this team. It just feels like they are complete. It feels like they are a complete unit on both ends of the floor. Even right now with my, without Mike Conley out there who's very important to them and what they do with their ability, like Quincyter's ability to play two guard lineups almost all the time. Conley is critical. But it just feels like this team with Rudy O'Bare playing at the level he is, defensive player of the year caliber guy, I'd have him as the favorite right now. Jordan Clarkson, I'd have him as my sixth man of the year right now. Donovan Mitchell, who isn't putting up the numbers that are popping in the way that I think

people might have expected following his bubble run when he was dropping 50 plus points. But I feel like Mitchell is playing a more seasoned game, Chris. You can see it in his playmaking. You can see it in the pace with which he plays. You can see it with really the unselfishness and the willingness to go off ball and attempt more catching shoot threes instead of you know attacking the basket and taking pull up too he's doing a lot more of that this season and that buy in when you have that from your best players everybody on the roster's doing it joe ingles boy on bogdanovich royce o'neill all these guys

on this roster have bought into their roles they're bought in completely and into each other and that's where you see those moments where they're just whipping the ball around the floor and like they're telepathic where they're rotating on defense and they're they know where to be, they know when to be there. It just feels like a complete team with a bunch of smart players and no weak lengths. And the fact that they're on pace, like during a normal 82 game season, Chris, they'd be on pace for 67 wins right now. That's insane. This is wild. You know what it feels like? It feels like the old Spurs teams. It does. You know, those teams that went up against heat. And it should come as no surprise that Quinn Snyder learned under Greg Popovich. Right. And to your point on

Mitchell, you know, you're right, Kemp, it's not like in the bubble. It felt like Donovan Mitchell and then the four other guys, right? But he was. And no, Bob Donovic, too, for that time period. He was like the superstar and then there was like a step down and then the other guys would get what they get. This doesn't feel like that, right? This feels more, much more like that Parker, Genobley, Duncan, you know, Danny Green's knocking down threes and whoever you want to say is in that role. Patti Mills, Bruce Brown.

It's like, you're going to get a whole bunch of guys over the years of the spurs that just filled their roles. Tiago Splitter. And it's not just like one guy and then the other four guys. And the other thing is we talked about this at the very beginning of the year. And I said, and it was actually in conjunction with the Nuggets. And I said, you know, there's that shot at the end of the bubble when it went to, number one, they blew a three one lead. And that's become more commonplace now where else it would have been a. bigger deal. And obviously no one is ever going to surpass a 3-1 lead, you know, sorry Warriors fans

blowing that in the finals. But and, and obviously, unless a team blows a three-o lead Sunday, which we'll see. It's inevitable someday. See, the Warriors one covered up the Oklahoma City one, even that year, right? Because they had blown it. So everybody forgot about that one. But this 3-1 lead that was blown and it comes down to Mike Conley's got a shot. And it's either going to be Denver that moves on or it's going to be Utah that moves on. And Utah is the one left with their hearts ripped out. Right. And it's the ultimate lump to take.

Number one, you've blown it. You've blown the series. And then at the end of the game, you had one shot. And it was a great look by Conley. And if it goes in, you're moving on and who knows. And if it doesn't, you're going. home. After you've just stayed for these last couple months of hotel, you've given it everything you've got.

And I think that when, and this is why I say in conjunction with Denver, Denver has not come back as this hungry, scratch and claw for everything team. Miami has not come back as this scratch and claw by any means. And there was a level of success achieved by those teams that I do think creates a comfort within them that they come back the next year and say, all right, line them up, we'll play whoever because we can do whatever we want. Whereas

Utah, that came back like a team that got its heart ripped out in the bubble. And that is certainly part of this. I believe that wholeheartedly that once you get, once you have your heart ripped out in that fashion that it's going to go one of two ways. It's either going to fracture you or you are going to come back. And this happened, by the way, to liken it back

to the Spurs on the Ray Allen 3. Because they came back to, you know what I mean? They came back after that and beat asses. And they were just, they were in a mission the entire locked in. On a mission. And right now, Utah, they are locked in. I mean,

you can see it on the court when you just put on the game and watch it like it just shows them the numbers too they're number four in offensive rating on the year number two in defensive rating on the year i look this morning chris you're the only team ranked in the top ten for both that's crazy that's unusual like the top 10 the sixers are are seven and offense 11 in defense the lakers are number one in offense and number one in defense but number 12 in offense so it's like all all these teams are either great at one towards the middle of a pack and the other Utah's near the top and both. And that's because this is a team that is completely bought into each other,

completely has the belief of what they're capable of doing it, what they're capable of doing together. And they're executing at an elite level on the court, man. Like this team, I don't know what you can say about them other than like questioning what they can be in the postseason against a locked in Lakers team or locked in Clippers team. That is still a question that we'll see and that won't get answered for months from now. But every single question that you may have had about them during the regular season when it comes to predicting ahead, they're answering everything.

In my video last week of the void, I asked like, well, I want to see how they operate in games in which they're not hitting their threes. We saw that the other night in their win. We're seeing how they operate when a guy is out right now. Mike Conley is not playing. We're seeing what they do. Every step of the way they are proving that they find ways to win because they have so many guys in that roster who, to take your line. Chris, they don't play guys who suck. The roster is filled with

good players at worst and some great players too. And when you have a guy like Jordan Clarkson who can come off your bench and drop 30 points on a hot night, but on regular lights, he's still providing that spark. He's giving defensive energy. He's making the

right passes for you. Those are the ingredients that championship teams need. Those guys who can pop on any particular night. And there's nobody who has proven they can pop more in big games than Donovan Mitchell. And that's when it comes to the playoffs months from now. We'll see they're going to need those moments.

But I mean, in just every week, every week that passes Chris, my confidence in them grows and grows and grows and grows. Clarkson really deserves some love too because you and I both guilty. When the free agency thing came across, it was like, oh, wow. It's a lot of money. Yeah. Look, considering who signed deals in the summer and you're looking around and you're seeing Burthons

and you're seeing Gallinari and you're seeing all these guys that signed in the off season for the numbers that they did. He has proven the jazz's confidence in him correct because he has been better than ever after getting that contract.

That was not a contract of here is your reward for past performance. That was, we believe in you going forward. That's why you give a deal like that out. And he has proven them correct. He is.

He is that dude. He is the guy that comes off the bench and does give them 30. And there ain't a lot of teams that have a guy that comes up. There's a lot of teams that have a guy on the bench that could give you 20.

There's not a lot that could give you 30. He gives you 18 every night. Every night you get 18 of him, you know? Right. And so, yeah, they have been scorching hot. Let's move to our second thing,

which is on the flip side, how confusing is Ben Simmons? I mean, it felt like last night, there was part of me that said, this is what a team built around Ben Simmons could look like. When we talked about maybe he's the move that is made to Houston, maybe like if there's a team that just says,

okay, he's the guy. And here's kind of how you build around him. Now, of course, they lost and they lost to the jazz. But, I mean, Kevin, he was otherworldly and a level of aggression that we have not seen not only this year, but maybe ever. Like he said, I've been aggressive before, but I just end up with a triple double and we end up winning by 20. But he looked up and said M.B.

It was a late scratch. And he just dominated the game. And right at Gobert, I mean, just right at him over and over again. he scored what, 44, he didn't take a jumper. Yep, 42 points, all of them in the paint. Come on. You know what? With Ben Simmons, I think after that trade didn't happen, after Philly didn't get James

Hard and there's the question naturally, it's human nature. How would a player react to almost being traded to thinking that they're going to be traded? Well, Ben Simmons, I think, the last month, is playing the best basketball of his entire life. On the defensive end, he had the moments against Damien Lillard. He's had plenty of other lockdown moments throughout the stretch. His playmaking and aggression attacking the basket peaked last night. I mean, but he's at a lot of other moments where it just feels like he's driving with more aggression to get to the basket in ways he'd ended before.

It's at a higher level. And he's doing the little stuff, man. Like, I know it's silly to say, but he's screening off ball. He's setting good on ball screens and rolling to the room. We saw that last night where he rolled to the room and had some right-handed hook shots. he had some lefty scoop shots around the rim. Like he can score around the basket with finesse and athleticism when he's rolling down the paint, which to your point, like what would a team built around him look like?

The Sixers can do this with Joelle M.B. Like, Joe L. Embedd has become a 40% three-point shooter. We'll see how much he sustains it. I'm buying it with Embed in addition to all of his other improvements this year as a shooter off the dribble. But you can space out Embed and read and run the type of pick and rolls they're doing with like with Tobias Harris at times, with Simmons just rolling or slipping the screen, we are seeing a player who is playing a complete brand of basketball, a winning brand of basketball, and it's making up for the flaw. You know, what we've talked about for years, the lack of a jump shot.

He is doing everything else to make up for that. And I think he deserves a lot of respect for doing that, man. Like, he has turned up after almost being traded. He has turned up in ways that we've never seen him do before. And it's a heck of a lot of fun to watch him right now, dude. He's an all-star. He should be an all-star as a reserve. I'd have him on my team for sure. And the other thing, Kev, is you watch last night and, you know, going back to what

you were saying on the Jazz rankings, that's a different, that's a different 42 to do it against that team. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's not, that's not like he just did that against the Hawks. He did that against the Jazz in a road game, you know? And so that's why he becomes so confusing for us is because, like, holy macro, like, you see what he is capable of, right? You see, and that's not going to be every single night. But, like, in terms of projecting forward, and it is not out of the question.

And we're going to get to this with AD because that's, that's hanging out there. It's not out of the question that that was a finals preview last night. obviously it was without Embed. And so we will get the Embed and Yokic. We'll get that matchup, you know, if they do both end up making it that far. But those are- You mean Gobert. That's what I meant.

That's what I meant. I'm sorry. We would get Gobert and Embed if they did. But those have been the two best records in the respective conferences at this point. And that version of Ben Simmons is just out of this one. world. And is there now, you know, the moment where a team does just decide, we are going to double and beat every time he gets the ball.

We're going to get that ball out of his hands. We're not going to, yes, he'll be able to take some of his jumpers. And that Simmons can just take over a game and win the game for you. I mean, you know, that would be part of the maturation. I think that's what we look for when it comes when it comes playoff time. another thing that was big that happened last night was Julius Randall and he was the one with going off. Knicks fans hate me.

Do you want, do you want, well, by the way, there's always, every time the Knicks win, there's a small group of Knicks fans that want to send us a video of us talking after free agency, as if they're free agency. As if they're free agency,

like I would change my opinion at all. I still don't like what they did in free agency. And that had nothing to do with them winning last night. That being said, Julius Randall has been off the charts. And last night has 44 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and is seven for 13 from three, which is like a Steph Curry line. After the game, Tom Tibido, well, not only did it. teammates stump for him, as you probably heard, stump for him being a all-star.

But Tom Tivodeau took to the podium and said, absolutely. And it's not just what he's done statistically, but the impact on winning, I think. He's making other people better. He's played an all-around game, strong on both sides of the ball. He's played an unselfish game. He's doing it a number of different ways. He's playing multiple positions. He's doing it all.

But the most important thing is the impact he's having on winning, and hopefully it be recognized. Wow. So, I mean, that's obviously high praise. You know, Tibodeau's stumping for his guy, but there's no question. This is a different Julius Randall. This is the best version of Julius Randall that anyone has ever seen. Absolutely.

100% of both ends of the court. Both ends of the court. The questions with him in the past have always been playmaking, decision making. Nick's fan saw this as recently as last season, like rumbling into the lane and not making a proper pass. He has addressed that problem and has improved his playmaking. Defensively, he's been better than ever before. Better than ever on that and before.

One of the reasons why the Knicks have a top defensive rating. You know, you don't have a top defense with a liability at your big man position. With Randleman, like I left him off my fake reserves ballot, media members only vote for starters. Reserves are going to be really hard this year, man. Like I was talking with Bill Simmons on Sunday night for his pod. and it's like I had 46 players that I considered total in the league for 24 roster spots. Like this year's tough, dude. And with Julius Randall, he's deserving of a spot.

And I'd probably have him on my reserves today. After I did it on Monday. But like, that's the way it is. Like it's so close with a lot of these guys, whether it's a bonus or Bam or or Jeremy Grant, like there's a lot of guys that you could put as a Ford or as a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. And it's going to be tough, dude. Randall's deserving.

And I'm hopeful coaches choose him, but we'll see how it happens. Well, I think he will make it because it's just given that they're sixth. They are sixth. I think right now in the Eastern Conference. Like, you're going to get your best players makes it off of a team that's sixth. I mean, it's, if you're a playoff team, especially one that is, um, defeating expectations in the manner that they are their best player, I think they'll get rewarded. Yeah.

No, now here's an unbelievable trivia question. And maybe Nick's fans will probably know this. I don't think anybody else will. So last night, when Julius Randall scored 44 points, it had been, I believe, the longest streak of the NBA, but it was been 183 games since a Nick scored 40. Wow. You want to take a guess? How many games?

183. 183 games. So that's what, four years ago, three years ago, something like that, right? Well,

no, you play 82. Well, but the last year was shortened and then this year, obviously we've only played, what, like 30 games? It was March of 2018 in a game against the Hornets.

The last 40-point game before last night's Julius Randall game was, Trey Burke Trae Burke Wow That is impossible Trey Burke Unbelievable It's an impossible

trivia question You would have to be a hardcore fan You would have to just like Really have a great memorator Have to remember that No I mean you would have to be a hardcore Knicks fan

To remember that The last time somebody went for 40 in a Knicks uniform was Treyberg In March of That's not And then Julius Randall last night with the 44. That's wild, man. We say now that they are six.

Their win, which we did not mention their opponent, was over the Hawks, who have just taken an absolute nosedive. Now, they lost DeAndre Hunter, and I believe since that moment, they've lost 9 of 10. Now, D'Andre Hunter was having a fantastic season and is mega important to what they do. He is also not, look, teams all around the league are losing players for significant amounts of times. Some teams have played their season so far without some of their best players, right? Like, you can't, like, you can't cry, hey, we lost D'Andre Hunter when you've got, you know, We just mentioned Utah keeps on winning without Mike Conley.

And Portland is still playing great. And it's like the fifth seed right now in the Western Conference. And they've done it all without C.J. McCallum. Like you don't get to say, oh, well, you know, everything was fine until we lost DeAndre Hunter. But, I mean, this nosedive that they are on, look, we said at the beginning of the year, Lloyd Pierce is this this this becomes whether it is his fault or not it becomes one of those where Travis Slink inevitably went to ownership and said you know we're going to get to a situation where Trey young is going to want to get out of here if we don't start building around and trying

to win so he went out and they spent money and they brought in Gellinari and they brought in Rondo and they brought in Bogdanovich and they you know obviously they made the deal for Capella last year. And so, like, they did that stuff to win now. And it is, it's a catastrophe, really. It is. When you decide, like, okay, we're not saving up, but we're not doing the build where we're looking out to the future.

But once you start getting the pressure of, we got to get to the playoffs, we got to start winning, and then you make those big decisions, they have to work out. They have to. Because if they don't, now all of a sudden, you've set yourself back

and it's starting to feel like they've set themselves back. For sure. I mean, Rondo looks like he's near the end of his career, the way he's performing. Gallinari looks like a shell of his former self after dealing with some injuries early in the year.

Bogdanovich has not played. O'Kongwu, their first round draft pick, has barely played all while he was dealing with an injury for that matter. And then, you know, like, it's Trey Capella and Collins. That's it. Yeah. I mean, and even with John Collins, you have him who wants to sign a max contract,

but then 40 plus points get put on your defense. And the only reason why your defense isn't at the bottom of the barrel is because of Clint Capella. Capella is what helps make that defense average, you know, statistically. Trey Young is what helps make that offense average statistically. Besides those, you know, a couple of guys on the, team that you're talking about. I mean,

it's like they're not getting anything there. And at some point, I would not be shocked if Lloyd Pierce is replaced by Nate McMillan, who was hired to be the assistant, obviously a former head coach and deserving enough opportunity to be a head coach. So at some point, it wouldn't be a shocker if that change is made. But does that fix

the roster personnel issues? No. It does not. Maybe it injects life in your team for a couple of weeks, but the problems the Atlanta Hawks have. This is what happens when you try to accelerate things when the team is not quite ready for it, Chris. This is what happens. And with Atlanta, they are years away from really being a playoff threat until then. Maybe they sputter in.

Maybe they get a playing tournament spot and they win that out, grab the seven or the eight seed. But they're just going to get blasted. I just wonder, though, Kev, if it's that it wasn't the right time or that they didn't get the right guys. you know, that they got more, how do I say this? If you weren't going to get the Rondo that was the leader, that they got him who's getting the money, he's getting the money grab, and then inevitably he'll get traded to a contender, you know, midway.

The second he signed that deal, we said that, okay? But the other two guys, Bogdanovich has never been a guy that's like, you know, kind of, the locker room guy, like, you know, he's just a guy. He's a meek guy. Same thing with Galinari, right? He's just a teammate.

He's not the guy. And you're putting a lot on a third-year guy in Trey Young, if you're expecting him to be the guy. We're seeing it happen with Luca, you know, in Dallas where, you know, you're asking him to be the guy in the locker room, right? That, like, everybody looks to after wins, everybody looks to after, more importantly, after losses. and you wonder if it's the difference between bringing in the Chris Paul J. Crowder types and the Bogdanovich Rondo Gallinari types, right? Like if it's a different world and you bring in more of those kind of dogmatic, you know, veteran guys, I think maybe you'd add a different deal there in Atlanta.

but you brought in guys that are just kind of like going to, they're all going to have to fall in live by Trey. That's Trey's team. And I feel like they did kind of the same thing with Dallas, where they brought in, you know, Josh Richardson's not the guy. And like, it's Lucas thing, right? And he's going to be the guy.

And it's a lot to put on a third year player that hasn't been through, you know, the losing streaks and the playoff wars and everything else. You know, I think, And those guys, frankly, have never won dick. None of them that they brought in outside of Rondo. And Rondo's just there to get the money. So I don't know if they accelerated it too fast or they just accelerated it and didn't add what they needed to add, which is veteran leadership.

Like somebody that could really be the guy people would listen to in the locker room after you lose a game like last night's game. How much is this on Trey Young, Chris? I mean, I think it's a lot to put on a third-year guy to lead a team. I do. I think that's, I think you're asking a lot, you know? I think that, you know, he's not, in my opinion, the easiest guy in the world to play with. With the ball dominance, you mean? Yeah.

Yeah. With the ball dominance. And I mean, like, yeah. Like I saw the other day, like, you know, the assist, the player assist combos. And like his assist to Capella are there at the top and his assist to Collins are there at the top. But how many of those are just like him doing his shit? The other guy comes over and so he lobs it up or he tosses it over to another big guy, right?

It's not like, you watch them and you watch, say, like, in fact, this is a, for example, I watch them and then I watched the jazz last night. it's I mean it's not even the same sport the way the way the teams you know just play with each other right like the player how they communicate how they read and react

how they share like the chemistry and the talent level is just on is in a different tier and that's why I would Trey young I mean Trey there's some there's some flaws on his game that like are going to get completely exposed in the postseason someday on the defensive end he's going to get attacked relentlessly. I still think he needs to play more off ball and become the best shooter off screens

and handoffs that he can be to maximize his value. With all that said, I cannot blame Tray Young even a little bit for what's going on in Atlanta, Chris. Not even a teeny weeny bit with Tray Young because he is the reason why that offense is average. They score 115 points per 100 possession when he's on the court. They score under 100 when he's on the bench. Under 100. Do you know how hard that is to do in the NBA today to score? Impossible.

Yeah, it's really hard to do. Like, you really got a struggle. And they've struggled a lot in the 440 minutes that he's been on the bench. They have been bad. In their infinite wisdom, they sat down and they said, you know what? Let's get Ray John Roddow and Chris Dunn because they could be big defensive guards. and then they, but what they didn't realize is that you can't score if those guys. Well, and that's the thing.

It's like you were banking on Rondo. You were banking on Bogdanovich. You were banking on Kalanari. You were banking on Cam Reddish to get better as a ball handler. He still looks lost right now. And I liked Cam as a draft prospect that by my confidence him is waning more and more and more is a slow start last year as a rookie. It's a slow start this year as a sophomore.

Maybe he'll finish strong again. but it doesn't look good right now. And I don't know, Chris, like you look at this team and I look at Tray Young and it's like, who is getting him the ball if he's running off screens and handoffs? This team isn't ready for Tray Young to have to do that. And that's a shame because I was looking forward to seeing Tray Young really dip into that this season. But it's really all for loss because they cannot do that right now with Tray Young because the other

players and the other personnel are not there. he is the reason why they're even able, even able to stay afloat on the offensive end of the floor. Well, and you know the way this plays out, which is they're going to have a big fight amongst each other on, is it the,

you know, the GM, the management's going to blame the coach. That's, that's what's going to happen. And, and we'll see who's got the owner's ear, and they probably won't let Lloyd Pierce see it through,

whether it's his fault or not. I mean, I do think it is a well, they should be better than what they have been. I also think that there are roster flaws that

you, that you had to know what you, come on. I mean, Rondo turned up for the best team for three weeks. Like you did a, you did a video before,

you know, which is not, I do not think, worthy of criticism because you were right in what you did, which is, hey, they may need to,

this may be a little blessing, because they get more Caruso out there because the numbers were the numbers. I mean, Rondo was not, like, he's not at the point of his career where he's going to give a shit about the regular season. That's why we call him playoff Rondo. And so now, all of a sudden,

you're going to bring him in and he's got to be, you know, that's who you want them to look to. He's the guy that just won a ring, and he's not going to be a starter for you, and you're expecting him to be like the guy, like, you've got to bring in guys that have won something, and some guys that have that gravitas within the league because I just don't think, you know they don't listen to Trey.

Shit, John Collins yelled at him in a foam session. It is that, Chris. I do think it's also an element we're seeing with a number of teams across the league. Like with Miami, they have a lot of holes. Teams attack Duncan Robbins and they attack Tyler Hero. They attack Kelly Allenick. With Atlanta, teams attack John Collins. They attack Trey Young.

They attack so many guys on that team. because they have holes in their defense. And some of those players have limitations on offense that defenses aren't worried about them. There's just too many weak links on the Atlanta Hawks for them to be any serious playoff threat. I mean, they might sneak into the playoffs because they'll play in tournament spots, but they're no threat. They're not even close. Right now, would you, and again, like, it's still all within a couple of games.

Do you think the Knicks have a better shot of making the playoffs? than the hawks do. Yeah. They play with heart. They play with toughness. They play connected basketball. And like their offensive rating, you know,

their offense, like statistically isn't good. But I'm buying their defense. I buy the way those guys play together. I buy the camaraderie that I see and observe. There was part of me last night that thought, as I'm watching that game, I said,

I mean, the difference is Tom Tibido. I mean, like, Like, look at the talent that you have on that Atlanta team. And just look at, like that, that next team, they're thrown together. Derek Rose just got there yesterday. Quickly was just drafted.

These guys are, Noel, been on five teams. He's playing, you know, crunch time center for them. It's like, what reason do they have to be, to have that kind of chemistry and playing together and all that kind of stuff? Like, it just goes to show. Like, once you get. buy-in, like real, legit buy-in.

That your personnel, like you can have holes in personnel. Because that is just like that, that whole next thing is that is a Tibbs creation. It really is.

To get that, there is no reason personnel-wise that that team should be what it is defensively. No way. Especially given what, you know, all of their, it would be like if John Collins became like a guy that people weren't attacking,

but was like a big time defender. I mean, that's what's happening with Randall. People, you know, like he's like, he's doing everything. And they're on a string offensively and defensively. And there's no, like, like I said, they closed that game with a back court of Rosen quickly. And their wings were, you know, RJ and Julius Randall and their centers. Reggie Buller playing minutes. It's crazy, you know?

And I think you're right. You know what I mean? Like there's something. And you saw when those guys ran to that microphone, when Mike Breen was going to do that interview after the game, and they all started yelling, that's an all star, that's an all star, what more does he have to do? Like, that team really does.

They have a level of camaraderie. Like, you would never see that happen with the Hawks. Ever. Ever. And like that Knicks team was thrown together. And yet they all like, they're in like, Emmanuel quickly, IQ, he's running in front of a microphone. Remember that Jaron Jackson Jr. quote a couple weeks ago we talked about, we like each other.

Yes. It feels like the same thing can be said for the Knicks. They like each other. Yes. They genuinely like each other. Yes. And I think that coaches can really nurture this. They really can.

You know, that sense of family and that sense of camaraderie and, you know, part of its personality of the players, but part of it is the coach. It really is. Are we seeing right now kind of what we touched on before the season that this year for the Nix was all about changing perception and changing how people view them? This is it happening right now. Even if the NICs get walloped in the playoffs, four games sweep, even if that happens, if you make the playoffs,

and if you're fighting, and if you're fighting, which they will, if they were to make the season, that says something to people around the league. And already, I mean, no matter how the rest of this year goes, even if things go sour, even if they go sour, the Knicks have done enough. The Knicks have done enough. They got a positive point differential. I was looking at it and I was thinking, you know, look, when it's all said and done, and we talked about Miami has sucked, but Miami's going to be there. They're going to end up with a playoff spot. Okay. So then I got and I'm not talking about top 10. I'm talking about like one of the top eight.

So I know you mean top six. Yeah. No, no, no. I think they'll be in the top eight and then they'll, you'll have to beat them. I'm saying they're not going to be nine or ten in my. It's like I feel like sports media and fans are still trying to figure out how to talk about the new play in tournament, you know.

They will have the advantage. They won't be. So you're saying they won't necessarily be a playoff lock with a top six seed. but they will have the advantage as a seven or eight. Correct. That would be your prediction. That's what I think. So then you got to boot somebody out.

And, you know, Nick's Hornets are probably the two. When you look at it, it's hard to boot somebody out. Nick's Hornet. Yeah, I mean,

right? Because Toronto's got their bona fides, right? Just to go through it for the listeners, get in order. Sixers, bucks, Nets,

pacer, Celtics, that's your top five. Nick's six, Hornet seven, Raptors, eight, Bulls,

nine, heat 10, then hawks, magic calves, and so on. Yeah. So I would say, wouldn't you say, if we're just talking the eight, we're talking to top eight, Hornet Snicks in all likelihood. Yeah. I mean, I think that's very fair. Yes. And the heat's going to get one of those slots. I mean, you would think so. They looked pretty bad last night. They've looked pretty bad for a lot of games. But you would think so that there's more the thing I can do. Even if, even if New York just got top 10, bro, you don't want to face Tibbs in a friggin' do or die. I wouldn't. I would not want to face that dude in a do or die. Like with my chance to go to that team and that coach, I would not, like, remember me saying this right now.

If they end up with nine or ten, pray for whoever has to play them who is seven or eight, because that is going to be a bitch. In a do or die situation, you take a team like that that really like cares and loves about each other and you've got a game planner where it's just, we got to win two games. like, I don't know, man. I think that that would be, it could end up being a very good story as the year goes on.

All right, so we talked about, I said with Atlanta, like, it's the difference between signing these big free agents and then guys that have never really won anything and somebody like Phoenix who goes out and they get Chris Paul in a deal, and then they sign Jay Crowder, they get like winners,

like guys that are dogs in that locker, guys that people will turn to, real leader type guys. And if it were not for the Utah Jazz and this crazy-ass run they're on, the story would be Phoenix team-wise, Kev. Because they're nine. The sons, baby. They're nine and one in their last 10 games. Phoenix, let's go.

Yeah, I went and looked. They've won six in a row. They've won nine of ten. In those last ten games. So I went to go check. I was like, so what's really the difference here? Well, it stands out rather quickly that this whole back court relationship and having them both be at peak of powers has finally come to fruition. It's February and obviously these.

But Chris Paul last 10 games, 20 points a game. 53% from the field, 45% from 3, 96% from the line, and then 7 assists the game to steals. Meanwhile, Devin Booker, 27 points a game, 53% from the field, 41% from 3, 82% from the line. And then obviously you got Bridges who comes along with 14 points a game at 53% from the field. But they have, like, the differences, and they are plus 13 points of that rating with Chris Paul on the court in these last 10. So, I mean, the big difference, like, it's, they've gotten the best of Chris Paul. Like, he, he now, it started off kind of slow when those numbers weren't all that great. These last 10 games, he's been one of the best players in the entire NBA, and he has helped make Devin Booker also one of the,

I mean, it took time, but now, now it's devastating. Yeah, and over the first 14 games that Paul and Booker played together, the Suns got outscored by five points per 100 possessions. And the last 10 games that you're talking about since January 28th, they're outscoring teams by nine and a half points for one under possession. So those guys are starting to click. I was on a great Suns podcast, the Timeline Pod, a couple weeks back talking about Phoenix.

And this was before, I think this was mid-January before this run really started. And I got talking with Mike and Sam, the host of that show. And we're talking about the Booker, Paul, Fit, and how those guys are meshing. They referenced one of our conversations that we had weeks back. Because it wasn't. It wasn't. They weren't blending perfectly yet.

But we are starting to see that mix just shine. And it's so fun to watch those guys play off each other at the level that they are now. Booker, I mean, like I had Chris Paul on my All-Star. reserve ballot. It's really a coin flip for me between him and Devin Booker for a spot there. You could argue for both of them. I really think you could. And the way Devin Booker is coming along and recent weeks is, it's special, man. Like, Ricky Rubio was a good point card for that team last year, but Chris Paul is just another level with what he does for book. It's got to be Paul. It's got to be Paul. Yeah. I mean, for the full duration of the year, Chris Paul has been the more impactful

defensive player. He's also the reason they're good. Yeah, I mean, he's elevated their play with his play. I mean, he runs that offense no differently than he has in any other situation he's been in. But Booker's been fantastic too, man. Like, he's their leading score. It's just Paul brings more in other areas. But yeah, those two guys are clicking. The first month, month and a half, it was like, geez, man, are we going to get the full,

are we going to get the full Devin Booker experience, you know, with Chris Paul? Because it's a Chris Paul team. play still their pace is still slow when he's out on the court right and so we talked about booker and kind of how being out in open space but they have figured out a way to get the full dev of booker experience while being a crisp ball team and that that makes for a devastating backcourt and you look it's that i went to go check i was like well maybe their schedule is really lightened up oh no go look at those wins those last 10 wins or they played uh you know Los City, Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Philly, Orlando.

So a couple easy games, some really tough games mix in there. Like, no different than any other schedule. They've just been straight up good. Straight up good. Great, really. And by the way, one of the quick known on them, Chris, it's not just Chris Paul either. It's getting a guy like a Jay Crowder. We're seeing like the loss of a presence like that from Miami.

We're seeing the value in having a guy like that with Phoenix. They're another complete looking roster. They're not Utah. they're not that elite level team right now. But they're a fringe contender. They're really, really good. And I think they can only get better as a year advances too. Yeah, no.

They're already a home court team as of today. I mean, Phoenix is sitting there sitting at four, right? So, I mean, you go from not being a playoff team in forever to be in a home court advantage team. Something is going way right for them. a team that we assume is going to be a home court advantage team. But now their trek is going to get a little bit harder because Phoenix is hungry and they're playing great in Utah. And then you've got these teams, the Clippers who are still able to get a win even with their bench last night against Miami.

But it is the prohibitive favorite Los Angeles Lakers, Kev, who are now going to have to do this without Anthony Davis for two to three weeks. at minimum, at minimum. And I'll just say this, Keb, when I saw that story, I got a little worried because, you know, they said that he added Achilles thing, and then they said they did the MRI, and then everybody was fast to, you know, jump out and say, oh, no, it's not ruptured, it's not ruptured, it's not ruptured, and then they said, which is great, you know what I mean, okay, great, you didn't tear your Achilles. But then they said, we're looking forward to more tests once we get back to L.A.

And that's the only thing that freaks me out. It's like, okay, we did the MRI. What it did conclude is that he doesn't have a torn Achilles. But it did not conclude enough to where they feel like, okay, now we know, here's the injury. You know, we always talk about this, right? You get injured. You get the diagnosis. You do the rehab.

And then you return. Like that's kind of your normal timeline. But this went injury diagnosis and now we're to another diagnosis. Right. So we ruled out catastrophe, but it still feels open-ended. It's scary. Anytime you're dealing with an Achilles, isn't it? Anytime you hear that word, it's very, very terrifying.

And for the Lakers, like for them, this is all about the postseason. And like you're not going to play AD as long as you, you don't need to, right? Like even if you end up the four or the five seed, well, that's life. That's life. You deal with it. Like LeBron's teams have been four seeds, five seeds, you know, in the past making the postseason. That's what you're going to have to deal with. And those are the circumstances with AD.

With AD, it's just about getting him healthy for the postseason. Like that's literally it, Chris. It's scary, though. And without AD that, like it goes on saying Captain obvious here, but I'm not so sure they're going to be Utah or the clubbers. without Anthony Davis. You're not going to beat those teams. No chance.

And the thing is, man, is he has been somebody who's always had nagging injuries throughout his basketball life. And we saw that in New Orleans. We saw how often he would get pulled at halves or we get pulled for a quarter. We saw the little stretches he missed game with a lower bodily injury or whatever else it was. This is that happening right now with the Lakers. And it's just all about getting it right. It's all about getting it right before the postseason.

They don't have to scratch and claw to get in there. So if I'm a Lakers fan, I'd feel some level of, you know, comfortability that a team is being proactive here and not trying to push them through it. Because it's not about now in the regular season. Let other teams play for the number one seed. Let other teams, you know, try to win as many games as they can for higher seating. For the Lakers, you know, just take it easy right now. That's what it's about.

Here's the other thing that I thought about. And this is because of last week, because you watch. watch that team and they play like a team that won the title. And I think Laker fans would even admit this that like you saw those games. They had the two versus Oklahoma City. There was another one that was in there that I'm talking about last week. And I mean, they tried for about five minutes. Yes.

Yeah, the coast. Like, yeah, they just like they turned it on it. And then they ended up having to play overtime. But I mean, three games last week, LeBron was playing 43, 46, 42. Like, what in the F? And that's the part where it's like, you got to just decide we're okay would take some losses because if the sacrifice is, we ain't running this guy out there, 46 friggin' minutes against Oklahoma City Thunder.

But that's what they've needed to win in the absence of AD. Like when AD has been out, they've needed LeBron playing 43 and 46 minutes. just to win those games. And it's like, all right, like, are you okay? Is Frank Vogel and the organization going to be okay and say, like, we can't, like, we're going to be without AD? But that doesn't mean that LeBron's going to play 42 minutes every friggin' night so that we can eke out every win while or as many ways as we can when Anthony's not here.

Because that is what it took. And that is the downside of this, right? They've got to start playing better to the, point where they don't need LeBron out on the court for 46 minutes to beat the thunder. Right? Because that's the danger here. It's not just Davis.

It's you're running out a guy in year 18, 40 plus minutes a night in the absence of Davis. And that can't be. And you can't overwork LeBron. That would be not be wise. No. And who knows? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows how they're going to end up?

And obviously, hopefully, Davis is able to make it back. A few more things before we get out of here. Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin. So that story has hit and both of them are being sat until they can find destinations.

Drummond is the much more likely trade possibility. And the Raptor's name came out in conjunction with him yesterday. Like somebody, I could see where somebody trades. Yeah,

I can see where somebody trades for him. Blake Griffin, nobody's trading for Blake Griffin. Like, what? Like, it'd be surprising. I mean,

I'll be honest with you, Chris, like even with Drummond, like I said, I reported that last week that there's interest from the part of the Raptors, but like,

are you trading Kyle Lowry? I mean, the salaries are tough to really figure out there? Are you giving Lowry to a third team? And you're getting Drummond as an expiring, and I don't know,

how that would work exactly. It's just it's tough to figure out the salaries here for what's going to happen with Drummond. And by the way, Cleveland gave up a second round pick for him last year, a second round pick. The value of Andre Drummond has gone unchanged. You know,

it's unchanged. The pistons fought tooth and nail not to have to attach a first rounder to him. That's just a year ago. Yeah. You know? And I could see somebody, you know, especially with like just contracts that people want to get off of.

You never know the way this stuff works. I read one thing on ESPN this morning where it was like it brought up the Celtics, but it talked about them, you know, swinging like this auto porter where he gets involved. Oh, yeah. The trade exception idea. Yeah, you just find shitty contracts around the league, you know, in order to try to make it work. Maybe it's not necessarily what's on your roster. but rather, you know, things get moving with teams that are trying to offload salary. And if you're the one taking on some salary, then all of a sudden it becomes possible.

With Andre Drummond, a lot of the questions of him are so very similar to the Dwight Howard question of years past. Will Dwight give up the post up and be a rim runner? Will he set on ball screens and be a pick and roll guy? That's the question now I'll have with Drummond. Like if you insert him into a new situation, if you take away his most inefficient plays, you take those away, remove them and have them in a situation in which they're spacing and which there's superior scores on the roster who can deliver you the ball. And he's just attacking the basket as a big guy who can score around the rim.

You can maximize his value. You can, and with him, a lot of it is due to effort. Early in the season with Cleveland, he was really busting his butt on the floor. In recent weeks, he has not. And I think that's probably partially due to the fact that he knows he's not wanted there. He just knows it. He knows it. There's been rumors for weeks that Cleveland has interest in moving him for weeks.

We've been talking about that. So ultimately. As soon as the Jared Allen thing happened. Yeah, pretty much that too. Pretty much that too. Like Jared Allen's the future. And by the way, he's a better player than Andre Drummond. He just is.

And Cleveland is better off investing in that and giving minutes to their youth instead of having a veteran player who isn't part of their future blocking the young. the minutes of a younger player who they want to give opportunity to. So for Drummond, you know, Chris, like, would it shock you if he ends up getting bought out? Like, nobody trades for him and he gets bought out. And then it's like the Nets and maybe a handful of other teams that are going after him. Yes.

It would shock you. So you think so many trades for him. And if somebody trades for him, they're also sort of blocking the Nets. Yeah. If you trade for Drummond, you're blocking the Nets from getting him. And, by the way, like, I'd love Drummond on the Nets. I think you got to do it because you think you do it because it's it's the last contract you know it's the last year of his contract that's why I think somebody's

going to trade for him because that money's going to come off so you don't have to reinvest and you look around and you go if I'm in the West I need a big guy if I don't have one and if I'm in the East I need a big guy like the two best teams you're going up against Gober and you're going up against Davis and you're going up against you know, teams with real guys, Ibaka, you know, Marcus, whoever, right? And then obviously M.B and Janice

and these kind of guys, you got to have some big bodies. And so I could, yeah, I think somebody's going to trade for him. I do. I just don't know who it is because you talk about need and needing a center. Well,

who would be willing to pay or has the ability to acquire a player who's making around $30 million. Yeah, no, you got to move stuff. The contracts are tough. man. That limits the, even if you want Android Drummond, that limits the amount of teams that are even capable of trading for him.

Is there any way, any way that Blake Griffin does not just end up getting bought out and signs with the Lakers? Is there any? I mean, like, is that the most obvious? I don't know who would trade for him right now. He still has the player option for next season, way over $30 million. Right. I mean, dude, it's sad to watch Blake right now.

It makes me sad watching him at this time. Yeah. like, is that not the ultimate, like, all right, I'm going to go there to the other team in LA after you. How about back to the Clippers? Hell, no. You hung my jersey in the rafters anyway. But it just feels like, you know, that is the natural thing that's going to happen here,

that that's going to head to a buyout and he's going to end up back out in L.A. He could go do his stand-up comedy and he can. can play for the other team in Staples Center and, you know, be a role player, a role player on that team until 80 gets back and then he's a D&P. He's probably not, I don't,

I don't know if I don't think Blake Griffin's getting minutes on the Lakers of 80s healthy, which is again, sad to say, sad to say. He gets some minutes. Maybe. Maybe.

Maybe over Harold. No, over, over Coosma. Nope. Over Morris, maybe, but no,

guarantees. What happened with the Andre Drummond by Griffin News that after all that came out, you saw last night Drummond and Street Clothes, and Draymond went on this preacher-esque rant last night after the game, talking about the treatment of players versus when they want out or when a team wants them

out. And the double standard, and this all stems from the Cavalier sitting Andre Drummond while they're exploring trade options and that there is a massive double standard when players want out versus when teams want to get rid of guys. And I think it would be very, very difficult to not be persuaded by what you heard from Draymond Green last night. I think anybody that's a fan of the league sits there and says, you know what? You expect these guys to be professional about everything. But here we are with teams. We don't want the players saying, I want out or dogging it or whatever else.

On the other hand, a team can throw a guy in street clothes. And it feels like the drumming thing's different than the Blake thing. because the Blake thing, that was pretty well explained in a document that they put out saying, like, this is an understanding. This is an understanding between the two parties of what is taking place here and why I'm not going to be plaguing. And we've come to an agreement on this, right? The Trump thing's different because it feels like a one-sided agreement. I mean, my impression was it was kind of mutually agreed upon as well. Well, but Drummond went out and said, but Drummond like, you know, he did the here,

here to Draymond last night. Oh, of course. Like, thanks, brother. Yeah, and ultimately, I mean, rightfully so, like Draymond made good points. Like when AD publicly demands a trade, he can get fined by the league. When James Hardin publicly demands a trade, he can get ripped by the media for for the way he's handling it. But when the cavaliers publicly say they're looking to trade Andre Drummond, there's no penalty. That's the big thing here, right? And yeah, and that's what Dremont is saying.

Like, what he wants is the same respect for players making business decisions as teams get for making business decisions, which is a fair and perfectly reasonable point. And with Drummond, you know, Cleveland just wants to move on. They have younger players that prefer to invest in with the Pistons. I hope for Blake he's able to land with a contender and figure things out and get on the core and be productive. I hope it's for the best for all parties involved.

But yeah, Dremont's right. Dremont's right. I don't think it's always it's not always across the board. Like, all right, here's what I'll say. The flip side of this, Kev,

is as far as I know, Andre Drummond is still going to be getting his checks. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, he is. So he is not necessarily, like, he's still getting his checks every two weeks for playing for that team. Whereas if you are a player, you can, the fans care about their own team. And so if you are dogging it and you're a reason that the team is losing just

because you're not getting your way, it has, it has a profound effect on that. that team. When Anthony Davis says, I ain't playing anymore, you know what I mean? If I do, I'll just go through the motions. Or if James Hardin says, I ain't playing anymore. If I do, I'm just going through the motions. Like, you know, is, would Draymond be in favor of those guys not getting their checks? That's what they're going to do? You know what I'm saying? Like, in the end, like, you do care about the money of all of this. And you are, like, they, they, that's who you get your checks from, is from that organization, right? Like, that is the, difference in the way this thing is perceived, right?

It's not just a, it's not necessarily a totally mutual relationship, right? Teams still do have, like, they've got 14 other players too, right? And while a player can just be worried about themselves, organizations have to worry about an entire franchise. And so, I don't know. it's complicated. I agree with him, right? It's not right for teams to leak out.

Hey, this guy's out on the market. On the other hand, right? Like, are you one player hurting the rest of the team? It's complicated. That to me is where this becomes complicated, right? Because you are. It goes. Yeah, it really goes to the saying.

That's the nature of the league. Yes. It's complicated. All right. Last thing before we get out. of here. There is an article today. It's the first one that big, like, ESPN's putting this out. Brian Winhorse wrote an article about a hundred thousand dollar Zion collectible, and it is this article about Top Shot. Now, you and I talked about this a couple of weeks ago. A bunch of people

have already, you know, texted me this article as soon as it came out. Like, look, look, Top Shot's getting. You know, this kind of, whatever. I know since we talked about it, you got it, you've dabbled in it. A little bit, right? NBA top shot. Did you get a pack yesterday for the drop? I didn't get one. Did you?

I did not. I mean, I tried early, but then I did not. I got the first cool cats, the ones that dropped. And there was like, I don't know, four or five players you could get. I got Tobias Harris. That's the one I got of the cool cats. I got that one. I haven't bought any in a while, but I will tell you, of the ones that I, like, have in my

whatever, marketplace. or that I've kept up with. Yeah, your moments. The one that's gone absolutely nutty is the Lamello. And it's not even a good highlight. Oh, the first assist to Gordon Hayward, that one? Yeah, it was like, you know, at the very beginning, it's like two, 300 bucks, you know, like when it started getting going a little bit.

It thinks almost $1,000 now. That's wild. Lamello is like the collectible right now. He really is. Cards, too, because the cards aren't even really out. yet, but people are buying the ones in his, like, Australia jersey for crazy amounts. Like, he's the hot new thing. Like, I like the ESPN's, you know, NBA page.

And the first thing that popped up was Wendy's story on, you know, Top Shot. Yep. And that was the first thing I read, even before, like, catching up on some of the stuff that I missed while watching stuff live last night. And, yeah, dude, like, at first of all, it's a great, well-reported story by Wendy. I thought he did a really good job. about very fair and balanced, talking about some of the risk involved with investing in this type of thing, something new. But also about the upside and how this is something that could really modernize card collecting.

You know, and like one of the people interviewed for that story said, the cool thing about Top Shot, and like I have some cards as well, like that I've bought on eBay, there's some of them that I'm already like, well, what if I put it on eBay? Like, and I ship it and the guys like claims it's, you know, make some claim about it or says he never receives it or whatever. Like I worry about that anytime with any eBay transaction, even if it's like a $10 item. I worry about that. With Topshot,

like everything is verified with the blockchain. Transactions are so easy. It's simplified that you feel a sense of security with what you have, you know, with your moments that you don't quite as much with cars. Even though the card is physical, physical, and you can feel it and you can touch it,

you can hold it. With this, it's, it's, there's a sense of security that I don't have with the cards that I quite enjoy and quite like. Well, I tell you what. It's fun. I like, I like opening packs. It's a good time. I do too.

I love it. The Jal ones I have, I bought three of those at the beginning. And people, some people have like, tweeted me. They'd be like, do you have the $100,000? I don't have the $100,000. I've got the, I got the $2,000. Yeah. But like, I bought them for like a couple hundred bucks.

Yeah. It's beginning. Jaion. Tyler Hero I bought a couple other like the first like investments that I made in it and you know

in retrospect obviously I should have I should have just bet on the jazz every night for the last two months yeah I know right whoever that guy is who's 19 and one

whoever got on this jazz against the spread thing early congrats to you man because in the world of top shot and collectibles and GameStop and all that shit the greatest investment on earth has turned out to be betting on the Utah Jazz.

There's no greater investment on Earth. And so congrats to whoever hit that one. My God. Crazy. Kevin, it is always a pleasure. On Friday, we do want to answer some mailbag questions, right? Yeah, we do. We're going to bring back the mailbag on Friday.

So this week, if you want to email me and Chris at NBA Mailbag at gmail.com, Sasha, our producer and I will look through that and find some questions and answer those at the end of Friday shows. I'm looking forward to. So that's NBA Mailbag at gmail.com to send us your questions. Can we about anything. Basketball, NBA draft, life stuff, whatever you want to talk about. Thanks to producer Sasha as always, and we will talk to you on Friday.