The Mismatch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the NBA Season So Far

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

Verno and KOC go through the good, the bad, and the ugly of the NBA season. Some of the good includes stars playing like stars, the higher scoring around the league, Jalen Brunson and Christian Wood fitting in with their new teams, the excitement of being able to watch all of Victor Wembanyama’s games for free, and more (01:11). The bad focuses on teams that have been most affected by injuries, as well as the winless Kings (40:21). Don’t give up on the Kings just yet! Finally, the ugly features the struggles going on with the Nets and 76ers, while the guys also debate what moves the Lakers can make to turn things around (59:52). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Join the fun and follow the Ringers'Phillies special now on Spotify. Welcome to The Mishmatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me he does every Friday from The Ringer.com. It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'O.C., Kevin O'C., Kevin O'Col, Kevin O'Killian, Kevin O'Colibus, Kevin O'Korchardot. How is your Friday morning going, man? Everything's great. This has been a fun first week and a half of the NBA season. And with that, today we're going to do the good and the bad and the ugly of what we have seen so far. And we're going to start with the good. The good.

Yeah, the good. For positive people. Especially me, right, Chris? The first one on the good that I have listed is stars being stars. Now, the sample size is still small, but we have a ridiculous amount of players in the league that are now averaging over 30 points per game, led by Luca Dantitch, who was absolutely spectacular once again last night at 36.3. He is followed closely by Janice Ante Ducpo at 36. Kevin Durant 33, John Morant 33, Jason Tatum 33, Devin Booker 33, and then Lillard at 31,

Curry 30.8, Fox 30.5, Kyrie Irving, 29.6. And then Shay Gilders-Alexander's at 29.3. So, I mean, you're almost to 11 guys so far. And you could say, well, the defense has been so bad so far. But even with the small sample size, the fact that we have so many guys that whether you are going to a home game or whether you are watching a road game, they're performing. Like at this ridiculously high level, we have on display some of the best players that we've had, generational type talents, and so many of them, if you pay for a ticket to go to the game or you decide I'm going to use the night to watch, you have so far seen stars being stars. And I think that's a very good thing.

one of the reasons why, Chris, I think we have so many stars scoring so many points this year. And for what it's worth, just to contextualize all the names you just said, last year at this time, there were only two guys averaging over 30 points. John Morant and Stefan Curry, only two.

And there was only one over 29, Kevin Durant. So, like, there's, just to put it in perspective. Even at this point in the season. At this point in the season, yes, exactly. I think one of the differences this year is them taking out the take foul in transition. And what we're seeing, this is according to second spectrum, on transition baskets so far early in the season,

68% of shots in transition have occurred in the pain. That's up from 63% over the duration of the last five seasons. Also, shooting percentage is up from 61% to 63%. minor differences, but those subtle differences all can add up to instead of 28 points per game to 30 points per game. Instead of 20 points per game to 22 points per game, when you're taking more paint shots, higher percentage shots, instead of, you know, floaters, you know, outside the lane or kickouts to bad shooters. I think a lot of that is making a difference. And we even saw that in last site's Nets Mavs game.

You mentioned, of course, Lucas scoring over 40. late in the game, Ben Simmons gets a steal on the break instead of, you know, attack. He didn't attack because he's, you know, hesitant to attack. But he also didn't get fouls because it would have been a take foul. And said he found Kevin Durant for a wide open three-point or trailing. So I think we're seeing some differences in the way players are attacking, the types of shots they're getting, and maybe that's making a difference here.

I don't know for sure. We need a larger sample size, but it's just my, My first thought that comes to mind when it comes to the amount of guys we're seeing score 30 plus. It also, I think, creates a much better flow to the game that in many cases, and again, the defense is not very good. But a lot of these teams want to play pace and space. A lot of these teams want to play fast. And I sense that there is a lot more open and free. basketball that has been taking place thus far.

And of course, that is going to benefit the stars the most, but that we're not standing at the free throw line, that we're not having these long breaks in action, and there's a lot more flow to these games so far that if you take those out, if you now, if you say the fast break is going to be a fast break. now these teams are taking it out of the basket and they're just running back the other way. Sure. And they're going. And so you end up having much more end-to-end basketball than you've typically had.

And you're not just standing at the free throw line watching this take place because then the free throw line, what that leads to is. Ben's going to have been filed last night. And then we're playing half-core basketball. Yeah. Right? taking that away, I think in this weird way, while you're not going to be able to draw a straight line to that's what's happening,

I do think that there is a profound impact in the fact that you are taking the ball out of the basket and you're going the other way, rather that standing at the free throw line, creating another dead ball, and now we kind of can devolve into half-court basketball where more of more of the fouls are going to take place. What is the, what's the domino effect? I think it actually taking those fouls away leads to there being less fouls overall.

Because now we're playing a lot less half-core basketball. And so we're doing a lot less standing around, walking the ball up the court. And it's very entertaining. There's no doubt. I mean, I watch a lot of these games. I mean, it's like a damn All-Star game. Think about John. Doesn't it look like it for him because you can't file him on the break right now?

So he's shooting more in transition, again, early small sample sizes, but he's shooting more in transition than he ever has. He's taken 4.7 shots per game on the break compared to 2.7 last year. So he's taking two more of the hardest shot in basketball to stop. He's only missed one of them all season long. So you have this dominant force already who now you can't, you don't have your best defense against him which is by attack him,

throw your arms at him, fall him immediately, unless he's in the process of taking that shot where it's a normal foul, but the take foul being removed from the game, that might not be the main factor, Chris, but it's definitely one of them. As you said,

like fouling as well, that trend. Ultimately, I wonder how much of it is just these dudes are taking more shots too. the teams are giving their best players more shots. I wonder how much of it is that as well, but then again, it's not like a big difference for the amount of guys

taking 20 plus shots per game. So, I mean, I think it's really has to do with the quality of shots. Yeah. And the fact that we have a wide array of unbelievable talent right now, currently in the NBA. They're peaking right now. A lot of these younger kids are getting better and better and better.

I mean, you look through that list. that I named. And I mean, these are these are great, great players. John Morant getting even better as a player. Jaws, it's amazing.

He gets better every year, man. Tatum got better. Dames back to normal. Even though he just got hurt this week. But I mean, Booker's averaging a tick under 33 a game?

With CP3's, you know, he's on the decline, or at least his role is on the decline. He's not getting as many opportunities on ball with Booker

seizing more of that in Phoenix. So I think, I think the stars being stars is certainly a very good thing so far, that if you're watching NBA basketball, you're getting to see the best players perform at an extremely high level on a regular basis. Another one is some moves that took place in the offseason that I do think have been, the returns have been very good early for these teams. And I think that they are probably lasting good returns, one of which is Jalen Brunson. You know, I came on this show after I had watched them play on opening night in person.

And that was an overtime game. And I came on the next day and I said, I know they lost. But this Brunton thing is going to reap big benefits for them because he is just so solid. He plays hard on both ends of the court. He gets to every spot that he needs to get to. And I do think he can make his teammates better.

And interestingly enough, the two that I wanted to touch on specifically are affect each other because the Mavericks lost Brunson. But they were able to add Christian Wood, who has been, he's been coming off the bench, but has been outstanding for them so far and looks to be a very good fit in that Dallas system. And so Brunson and Wood,

and I know there have been other additions. Obviously, Donovan Mitchell has been off the chart scoring-wise so far for Cleveland and has helped them out dramatically in the absence of Dair Scarlane. And there have been other acquisitions around the league. But Brunson and Wood kind of stand out as you see some of these teams and some of these guys trying to figure it out, trying to figure out where they fall into place in the pecking order and with these teams. I feel like those guys have kind of meshed in rather seamlessly.

What about you? Brunson has enhanced everybody around. around him. Yeah. It's been cool to see, especially the pick and roll of Julius Randall. Randall goes from,

you know, it's giving a thumbs down to Nick's fans last season and tell him to F off after the game. And now he's looking more like Julius Randall. And so it's been nice

to see Brunson help him. And then with Christian Wood, obviously I think Navs fans are still disappointed. They weren't able to get back Brunson. Of course. But you got it. Because you sit there and go,

imagine if we had both. Yeah. And I mean, it's understandably so that you would still feel that way about it. But ultimately, like, the Mavs, they get a figure out with Christian Wood. I know this is supposed to be good. But like, why is he playing under 30 minutes per game? It's my question. I still want to understand what Jason Kidd is doing there. Is this about motivating him, about pushing him, about getting the best out of him, a lack of trust?

What is it about? Because last night's game, that win for the Mavs, you know, I questioned while watching the game. It's the fourth quarter and they go to overtime and I'm questioning why Christian Woods not out there. But it was his worst game of the season so far. And his four games, he scored 25, 25, 23, and 11 points. So last night he scored, you know, least frequently, had four files in 24 minutes.

So I get last night to an extent. But I just wonder when is he going to break through and become a 30 plus minute? per night guy every single night because it's not really working great with Javille McGee in that starting lineup where as Christian Wood is shredding teams on offense and holding his own defensively with a better supporting cast there in Dallas. He looks like the sixth man of the year so far, a leading candidate for that. But I wonder, when is he going to be empowered as an all-star is where I'm at with that? Interestingly enough, the aforementioned Jaylor Brunson went through the same thing. Yep, he did. He forced his way.

into that line up. Isn't that weird that it happened with Brunson to? Isn't that strange? I mean, it's just how Jason kid goes. Or is it how the Mavs go? Because what kid wasn't there

the whole time when Brunson was a R. Carlisle. Yeah, well, Rick Carlyle doesn't like anybody. And nobody likes Rick Carlisle for that matter. It's just kind of strange. Yeah. I mean, I just don't totally get starting to bailing out.

I get closing the game. I get closing the game with Maxi Kleba. He's a very good defensive player. He's a good shooter. He was having a good night. He's a good matchup for Brooklyn. But I don't get the starting of Javille McGee. The closing thing is a fascinating one because certainly whether you come off the bench or not,

you would hope that you got your best players in in your closing lineup. That being said, I do think that there is, if he sat me down and said, look, the reason I bring him off the bench is because have you watched us in non-Luca minutes? Yeah. Who's supposed to score, bro? Who is supposed to score when Luca's not in the game? I don't have Jaylen Brunson anymore. Dinwiddie Hardaway.

Right. I mean, I do get it in that sense. I get it. But it's the minutes aspect. I get bringing him off the bench. I don't, I'm struggling to understand from, I've watched a lot of Dallas this year. And I'm struggling to understand what are the facts.

for them to keep him at 24, 25 minutes per game. He's doing good enough defensively. Javille McGee looks like he's getting shredded out there on the floor. I mean, he multiple times in pick and roll coverages, he looks like a statue. And I think Christian Wood looks much more effective on that end of the floor. I'd love to see him with starters. When will that happen at 30 plus minutes and how much does it help them have?

Because I think they're probably three and one. If Christian Woods playing, you know, 34 or 35 minutes a night, like the best players on teams usually do. I think they probably win that Pelicans game if he's empowered. Maybe they're four and all. They might even beat the Suns for that matter. He was shredded on that opening night game too. So that's neither here nor there, I guess.

Yeah, it's kind of chicken or the egg. I guess we would only find out if he does start these games. Not even starting. It's about the minutes. Yeah. Like starting, like I'm talking like off the bench 30 plus minutes. Right. Totally fair.

The results have been good for Christian Wood, despite last night. Oh, for sure. They have. It's hard to argue with the guy that's had multiple 23, 25-point games. Doesn't it feel like there could be more to give? Maybe. I mean, what do you want them to have?

You know, I'm 30? Why not? Why not? It's been pretty good so far. We got, what, 15 other guys average 30. Why not I had another one? And look, Jason. I'm not kidding.

Look, Jason, kid. he beat the knocked off the suns last year and did a much better job than i think any of us expected him to do with dallas and had a western conference finals appearance and so i don't know i know that some of his decisions can be frustrating but he's probably earned the benefit of the doubt that's what i would say the NBA season is underway and it's a perfect time to download fan duel America's number one sports book because right now new customers get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. And plus, Fandall is the only sportsbook that's giving all customers three months of NBA league pass when they make a $5 bet on the NBA. On the Fandual Sportsbook app, you can combine your bets for a chance in a bigger payout with same game parlays, whether it's with the money line, point spreads, player props.

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1-800-889-9-9-9-7-889. In Wyoming, call 1-800-2-470-70. In West Virginia, visit 1800 gambler.net. A couple other guys that have kind of been under the radar because they're not on national TV on a regular basis that have been absolutely spectacular so far are Shee Gildes-Alexander for Oklahoma City, who got a very big win last night over the Clippers, and he has been, I mentioned him as the 11th leading score in the league, which almost any other year ever, he'd be the number one or number two scorer in the league. I mean, you see his numbers and they seem so freaky, and then he's 11th in the NBA in scoring.

At 29.3, also 6.5 assists, almost five rebounds again. game. And while he has been in an undesirable situation since he has been in Oklahoma City as they are in a total rebuild, good grief. I mean, the numbers are the numbers. And he has been absolutely fantastic. And a credit to him, he is not let it get him down the situation that he's been in. and he appears to still be getting better as the years go on. If you look at the top isolation players in the NBA, Luca has 18 per game by far their most. The second and third players are the two guys you just mentioned Chris.

Shegildes Alexander gets 14.3 ISOs per game. Pascal Seacin gets 13.2. And next closest for what it's worth is DeMarter Rosen at 10, LeBron James at 9.5 per game. So those two guys, you mentioned having big years. They've just been empowered by their teams. They're saying, hey, you're our best player.

Go out there, create a shot. Pascal Seacom attacking little guys on mismatches after teams switch screens against him and SGA going at anybody. Like Seacom in that Miami game was picking apart. Their defense is a score as a passer out of isolations, backing down smaller Miami players. It's been cool to see both of those guys get these opportunities to be the man.

And I look forward to like Toronto's a good team. They don't have the best spacing. I look forward to seeing these two guys in situations where they have optimal conditions around them because that's when I think the efficiency in those isolation starts to catch up with the frequency that they get right now. But already, I mean, it's amazing what they've been doing. Yeah, the points and rebounds thing are a given with Siakum.

He has been a guy that's been able to get you a bunch of points of rebounds. The eight assists? Oh, I know. I mean, he's, there's a lot of guards in the league not averaging eight assists. Yeah.

A lot of point guards in the league that aren't averaging eight. In fact, how many guys in the league are averaging eight assists? Like a clean 8.0. Where is he on that list right now? On assist right now?

Yeah. He's 11th. 11th right now. So it's one way to fire off the top 10 really quick for you, rattle them off. Let me hear it. Chris Paul, Trey Young,

Tyrese Aller, Nicola Yocich, Luca Donchrist, Jalen Brunson, Terry Rozier, Dejante Murray, Fred Van Bleet. So if I'm not mistaken,

the only non-guards you've named, unless you want to say, you know, some of those guys are wings, were Yokic and Siakka. Yes. That would be absolute

front court players. Yeah, I mean, like, Luke is tall. You could say Luca, but he's effectively a guard. But he's a back-core player. Yeah, effectively, yeah.

But if we're talking front court players, Yokic and Siakum. The one thing I've wondered with Seacom is can you get the it's been unbelievable for Seaccom and his numbers are fantastic and he's one of the better players in the league

for sure so far in the very few games that we've played. Can this version of Seacom get you the full version of Barnes? I think that's one of the things we all wondered, right, when the Barnes draft came about is how much overlap is there between those two guys? Because while you can go small, you know, where is Barnes is not the kind of guy that you necessarily want out at three. Because he's not going to space the floor and bang down threes at a rate that you would want a small forward to. And so he's probably most traditionally a power forward in the league,

which is exactly what your best player is in Pascal Seacom. And so do you think you can get the full version, the best version of Scotty Barnes playing alongside Seaccom? What do you think? Maybe not in this current role. I mean, I think ideally maybe you have Scottie Barnes doing the Pascal Seaccom thing where he's, you know, running, picking rolls with Fred Van Bleeds,

setting a little rub screen for him, slipping out to three. Like a lot of the assists Seaccham's racking up are those. But also, like, sometimes he is helping out Scardy Barnes in a different type of role where Scardy Barnes is hanging around near the dunker spot, and he had an assist against the Sixers where Seacom penetrated the paint, just dumped it right off to Barnes for an easy basket around the rim.

And I think you're seeing the future of Barnes' role. maybe, and Pascal Seaccom. And we already know Seacum can be the offball guy, hitting spot-up threes, cutting to the basket, you know, making plays off the dribble when he, you know, off the catch. He's great in that role. So I think part of it is for the Toronto Raptors is about development, putting guys in different places.

And so many of them are interchangeable. It wouldn't surprise me. Like last year, remember last season for the Raptors? OGN and Owe started out the year, heavy isolations, heavy on ball. and then that kind of dwindled down. I bet you'll see this shift over the course of the year with different guys taking on different levels of responsibility.

The reason I have such respect for the guys that we mentioned, Gildes-Alexander and Seacom, is because I think that there was an old trope that I, you know, subscribe to in many ways, which is like, you know, you get three, four years into your career. We kind of know what you are. And yes, there's going to be small improvements, but we kind of get the gist of where you,

are within league standing. And that's just not so anymore. You just really don't know. And so many of these guys can improve so greatly a little bit later on. And these are guys, you know, certainly in the case of Siakum, who was playing for the 905 Raptors once upon a time and is like killing it in the G-Lea. And, you know, that's the trajectory for Akim, a guy that played a lot of of games on a great team in the G League.

And now you see he has, when you're, when you've been in the league as long as those two, which is not a long time, but still at a point where we don't expect you to get much, much, much better. And it appears that these guys' improvement has just stayed completely solid. Year after year after year after year, they keep getting better and better. And with SGA, I mean, it's a. Because for years, we've known about him as this just relentless downhill driver, getting to the basket at near-league high rates on drives to the rim. He can draw falls.

He can finish with quirky little, you know, English layups off the backboard. We've seen that for years, but we've seen the progression of his jump shot this year. He's making over 40% of his threes at 4.3 per game. So he's continued to extend his range, get better off the catch, get back. better off the dribble. And by becoming a better shooter, it makes you an even better driver. And when you're already such a high-level driver, that only further enhances your playmaking. And now he's this guy who's not just scoring. He's filling up the box score. He's ripping down rebounds because he's tall for a guard. He's getting stops on defense because he's so long.

He's tough, hard nose on that end of the floor. And he's a good passer too. I mean, this is somebody right now. He's not just scoring a lot of points. He's averaging 6.5 assists, five rebounds per game. I mean, this is somebody for OKC. he's, I mean, people talking about him as the next star to be traded. I don't see any reason why

OKC is trading 24-year-old Chey Gildas Alexander when they're building something special right now. They get a hold on to him as a keeper and alongside Josh Gideon, whoever they get in the draft with their many picks next year. It makes you sick. Every time you watch them and you

think about the Chet thing. I know, I know. It does. They would have been really competitive. Yeah. With Chet and Gidey and Gilges and, you know, Jalen Williams and, you know, add in Chet's defense on the back line. Yes.

Yeah. Right? And they got some role players to go around them. Like, they would have been a competitive team this year. It makes you sick. But at the same time, though, Chris, they're not winning anything this year, even with Chet. It's still about the future.

And maybe, I know Sam Presti said, this at his, and I think it was Meady Day, he's like, well, you know, sometimes, you know, I'm paraphrasing, bad things happen in your life and it turns out to be for the best, right? Like in the moment it sucks that Chet's hurt, but maybe this is the best timeline to have, the best road to go down. Maybe there's benefits to Chet missing this season where he's able to work on his body and get even stronger next year, which leads to better health over the course of his career. Maybe this is for the best. And maybe also he didn't say this. But maybe losing some more games leads to higher draft pick odds.

And that leads to somebody else special, whether it's Wenban Yama or Scoot Henderson. There's other good prospects in this draft. Cam Whitmore from Villanova. There's other guy, Nick Smith at Arkansas. Like, they could land another great young talent to pair with Gildes Alexander, who we're talking about as one of the better guards in the league this year, one of the better reporters in Chet Holmgren, one of the better playmakers than Josh Giddy. like also never mind

Trey Mann who looks like a great score in space creating off the dribble or Janelyn Williams who's been out who is so impressive in preseason in Summer League and even in his first game OKC is loaded with talent so for them it is disappointing we're not able to see

Chet this year but that doesn't change the fact they still have him and they retain perhaps the most upside of any team in all the basketball last thing on the good, the aforementioned Victor Wimbayama, the NBA announced that they are going to stream all of his games this year. I mean, this is unheard of that there's going to be his team, the Metropolitan 92ers, is that right?

92s. Remember our whole thing about what 92 is? Yeah, yeah, the Metropolitan 92's. And you're going to be able to, if you want to watch Victor Wimbabama games, the NBA is going to going to stream those. I mean, I think that speaks to, I know that, you know, for years, we've had high school great players that have been on TV, you know, even going back to LeBron and his St. Mary's team, St. Mary's St. Mary's St. Vincent team back in the day. But the league deciding, okay, here's another professional league that is going on. And we are going to stream their games because we know the immense amount of interest in this prospect and like promoting him already as the next big thing. I get it if like broadcasting partners and some, you know,

ESPN gets them on TV like they did a couple of weeks ago when they were doing the Vegas thing or if the NBA TV maybe shows a game here and there something like. like that, but the idea that the NBA not only gets this deal to do this, but then announces it as a huge announcement is just wild. I know. Absolutely wild. It's something else, and I'm excited about it for, you know, a couple of reasons. A, because it's Victor Weniam, now we have easier access to watch games.

And B, next Friday, Chris, I'm going to be on the broadcast for that game. What? Yeah, doing a one-off. Yeah, going to be on with Kevin Dana. It's going to be focused on Victor Wenban Yamma. Wait, on what? On the NBA's app? On the NBA app?

Yeah, next Friday. Let's go. Yeah, so just going to be testing that out next Friday and see how it goes and keep our eyeballs locked on Victor Webb-Banama and freak out over the crazy stuff he does over the court. Wait, what time is that game? I think it's 1130%. specific time.

So if I remember correctly, I'll try to get that time right. But it's in the morning, in the morning on the West Coast, in the early afternoon on the East Coast. Well, congratulations. I didn't know you were doing this. This is great. That came up yesterday. So I'm excited about that.

That'll be cool. Oh, I can't wait. But it's just so crazy because, look, and this is not a shot. This is simply an observation. All of us can find it easier to watch all the Victor Wimbayama games than we do. The Oklahoma City team we just discussed that very well may have a shot at Victor Wemba Yom. A average NBA fan is going to find it easier to watch Victor Wimbabeyama play basketball

than Shaq. Well, not if you have the app. If you have the app, they're both on there, though. If you have a league pass account. No, but no, you don't have to have league pass to watch the Victor Wimbayama game. That's true, you don't. That's true. You have to buy league pass in order to watch the Thunder.

Victor Wimbabiyama, they're just saying, hey, we want everybody to see this product. I wonder how much it is. That we don't even have. Like, it's not even in the league yet. I'd be resentful as hell if I pay for one of those teams that's never on TV. It's honestly kind of a good marketing move to get people to use the app. Yeah. Oh, for sure.

And like they're in the app. They're having fun. They're like, ooh, $99 a year. Mom, like I use your credit card. Yeah. The NBA has got something cooking here, Kev. Because I don't know if you know this, but I've got a bunch of buddies that are season ticket holders. Every season ticket holder in the league,

was given league pass this year. Really? Yep. Huh. They've got something cooking here where they're trying to get everybody ingrained in this. Huh.

Right? Because those people would have a propensity for buying NBA merchandise, buying things. Anyway, like these are basketball fans, right?

Doesn't that make sense, by the way? Doesn't it make sense that you get league pass for free if you spend thousands of dollars in season tickets? That should be part of the deal for every team.

And so there you have. And so now you gain more interest. Obviously, they get all of their information as soon as you are, which is of incredible value. Because these are your patrons of the league. And so you can promote all the other things to them, et cetera, et cetera. But you get them in the fold. You get them enjoying league pass. And when it comes to this next media deal and everything else, you know, there have been,

you can find articles written about this where leagues have, even spoken about taking over control of their own broadcasts. Of the RSN. Oh, yeah, of everything, right? Yeah. So that basically you would still have the Turner component. Yeah. That's obviously not going anywhere because they just paid Berkeley $200 million.

Well, there is an out on that deal reportedly. Where, like, if Turner's not part of the except broadcasting rights, there's an out. You're still going to have the Turner component, the ESPN component, the game. For the playoffs? For the playoffs, I think you're always going to have the finals on ESPN and ABC. I think that will always be a thing. It's a matter of everything else. No, no, no, no.

What I'm, yes, I think even regular season games that are premier games, the national TV games. All that will remain the same. But that lead pass thing, that's what will be different. The league pass thing now, if I'm the NBA, I provide the broadcast. This is what I would guess would be a discussion. I don't know the financials of how this would work. But if you're them, you've got to think, okay,

how about we make all the money off of the league pass? Like, you're not paying direct TV or Exfinity or whoever you're paid, right? If you want to do this now, and then now I've got this huge app, all the teams have their own sites within the app. So if you're a fan of this team, now you've got that part, and it's got all this content on there. I mean, I think there's a whole new world. You see the upside because I know, like,

A lot of people on Twitter have been complaining about games not working on the app for, you know, and I haven't had any issues using the app on my phone with games. I have on desktop. Like, I've had to clear my cookies in cash a lot for some reason to get games to load when I'm watched on my computer. But I haven't had issues on, you know, apps for TV or for on my phone. Regardless, this is a brand new app that they built from the ground up. this year. And it's still in the beginning baby infancy stages here for an app that as you're

describing, Chris, could be innovative in the sports world for having everything on their app in house. Well, this is a good trial run. It's the, 100% try something in France that's not, if it doesn't work or something, it's not the end of the world. And also, I don't even think ratings like need to be enormous for it to matter. They even try it on the NBA website with some of

what was it, Bronnie's games this summer or they had some of the, you know, the pickup, you know, games and the runs they had over the summer.

So the NBA is definitely trying things. Yeah. And I think experimentation or innovation and always is at least worthy of our respect. So in that sense, like even though it might be

clunky sometimes, not every plan might not work out, I think it's cool that they're trying these things, and I'm excited to see how it works out, especially for a guy like Wembe, because who doesn't want to watch them, at least check in for 15 minutes for a quarter, and then you go out on your day,

you go do your takeout here, your errands, whatever. You're sitting in the car, you're like, ooh, I'll pull up in a Webben, Yama right now while I'm waiting, right? Like, whatever it might be. You know, you're in a parking lot waiting for somebody to come out, like whatever the situation. Like, I think this is like something that people might not sit down in front of their TVs.

Only the hardcore, hardcore fans will do that. But it's another piece of content. And that's what the NBA, I think, needs to remember. The NBA is in the content business. And you're competing against people scrolling on TikTok. You're competing against YouTube. You're competing against Mr. Beast.

You're competing against us, listening to a podcast or, you know, tune into Win Banjama, right? So I think that's what the NBA needs to remember and why for them. It's very, very smart to invest in this app because it could. could also give them leverage, say, in the coming, you know, 10 years, whenever the RSN deal comes up, to say, you know what, we want to own it. Like someday, Chris, like, it's possible in some future that you, your pod, like the team is part of the NBA, like broadcasts. Sure.

Rather than the local RSN. Like, that could happen someday. Who knows? Same thing, like, you know, growing up watching Mike Gorman and Tommy Iins and now Brian Scalabrini on. the call, maybe someday rather than with NBC's Wars Boston, they're part of the NBA's call. We just don't know how things are going to develop here. Yep.

I'm only watching the Wembeiyama thing for Kevin O commentator. That's why I'll be watching. Well, I look forward to seeing how I do. I'm with Kevin Dana. Kevin and I did like a little thing during the G-League Ignite game versus the 92s. And I like the chemistry with him. So, you know, it'll be cool to see how. Oh, don't be cheating on me and then talk about how much you like is chemistry.

No, no, no, no, no. We got seven years here, you son of a bitch. It's not cheating when I go all the bills here and there. I can't do nothing about you. You're my main thing, Chris. You're my main thing. All we'll be. Let's get to the bad so far.

All right. The clippers start without Kauai. So we were just a few of in our praise about the Oklahoma City Thunder. All these little side pieces I have. There win, Kevin on sidepiece, the Clippers lost to that Oklahoma City Thunder team last night. And Kevin, we haven't even made it a week and a half into the season without Kuwait Leonard not playing. Now, we know he is, he's not the Mount Rush. If Mount Rushmore only had one face.

Don't say that. Jalen Rose is really angry with you right now. Okay. Sorry. Sorry, Jaylen. But if... If we... What were you saying?

I'm sorry. Load management. If there was a Mount Rushmore of load management, there would only be one head and it would be Kauai Leonard. While we can debate the goat, you know, people want to fight about Jordan and LeBron. Some old head pipes in with Kareem. Russell.

And then you got Kobe, right? Yeah, you guys can all argue. There is no debate on who is the go-to-load management. None. And he will never be defeated. Kauai Leonard. But we're like four or five games into the season. And he hasn't played in a year and a half.

This is just wild. Are you worried? Yes. I'm worried, too. I mean, it's been a year and a half, bro. Why doesn't he play basketball? And even, he ends, by the way, it's not like you brought him out and he played starter minutes, 35 minutes on night one.

And then it was like, oh, too much too fast. He was playing off the bench like 20 minutes. That one game, he came in with like five minutes left in the second quarter. It's like the first minutes he played in the game. This is crazy. It's scary because someone tweeted us the other day about a certain word that was used when he was on his hiatus from the Raptors. The injury at the time was quadriceps tendonopathy, whatever. I'm not a doctor.

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. And from the InjurySource.com, which sounds like a legitimate website, this describes the words we were using at the time, Chris, right? Do you remember this? It says, over time, if the tendon. itis persists, the tissue can undergo changes that cause the tendon to develop more chronic pain. The underlying changes to the tendon can include the generation of the tissue and increased nerve and blood vessel growth. The combination of these changes causes the tendon to be

unable to handle the same stress it could handle before maybe more sensitized to pain. Remember at the time when we were talking about, is this a degenerative issue? Is this going to cause long-term issues for Kauai Leatherd? That kind of went away. for a while. But it's on my mind again right now, watching him come off the bench, not perform at the same level on the floor. After missing one year with the torn ACL,

I'm scared, Chris. I'm nervous about it. And then they're so defiant about it. That's the other thing that scares me. Whenever you're over-the-top defiant about it, it's like, it's not the same thing. this is just load management, just being careful,

easing it back into everything, that kind of stuff, it's like, hold on now, right? Like he's been out for a, he's been out a year and a half, played some basketball and now he can't play basketball. And he wasn't even playing starter minutes.

He played 20 minutes a night. And not even, you know, close to the same level. He can't do that. And they don't play every other day anymore. There's breaks in the action. I'm nervous. about it.

Yes. How can you not be nervous about it? Well, the other thing is that's your, that's the lynchpin. That's a best player on your team. That's the best player in your organization. And very, very difficult to have any level of leadership that would come along with it.

Even if it's leadership, he's not, he's never going to be the vocal guy. But he is a guy that can lead by example. Sure. The example is almost never played. And these guys, you know, saddling up and having to go play another team the next night. And he's just not there. And every once in a while he's there and every once in a while he's not.

And it's like, how did this extended amount of time not get him back to the point where he'd be able to play basketball again? That's what I would be like, what is going on here? I haven't listened to the pod yet, but I know Bill Simmons did a panic watch. rankings with Rob Mahoney. I listened to it. And they had the Clippers on there. I didn't hear the conversation yet, but I'm going to pass along a thought to you, Chris, and I want you to tell me

how much did they discuss about this. Before the season, we were talking about the Clippers' depth, the amount of good players they have on their team. I had a phone call with an executive earlier in the week and we were talking about the Clippers, and he's like, yeah, they have a lot of good players, but how many have they have they been really good? Like, they're thin.

He's like, they don't have a lot of great players coming off their bench. thinner team. They have options, but it's like, you know, he's like, Don Wall at this stage is how good is Batum really? Reggie Jackson, your starter, you know, like Terrence, man, how good are these guys really after Paul George, Zubats, Powell, and theoretically Kauai? And I thought about it in that way. And I get it. I don't totally agree, but I do wonder with their depth, Chris, how much of that was a

part of their discussion, being a bit overrated than what we thought it was. That was not part of their discussion necessarily. I mean, they touched on it. What I would argue is those guys are outstanding players to have when they're your

4 through 12, which is what they should be. Next to star players. In the absence of 1 and 2, it changes everything. Now, yeah, I don't want to have to go to war with, you know, despite his playoff performance, Reggie Jackson is the second best guy out there or Norm Powell or whoever else. But if my three and four players through 12 are Norm Powell, Robert Covington and Batum and Kinnard and Terrence, man,

all these guys, like, that's where I don't think. gets overrated their talent. I'd, I'd rather have those guys. That depth is outstanding to have. We got wings on wings on wings. The problem is it falls apart if the top two guys are not the top two guys. And I know in that game against Oklahoma City, but George was crap too. Like, George has to be superhuman when Kauai is out.

That's, that's the way it goes. but that team, they got to the West finals by beating Utah without Kauai Leonard. And I think they've gotten some better players since then. So, I mean, I think it's a fool's errand to say that they're not as good as we thought they were. I think it has a profound effect when the guy that's supposed to be your best player, he's unavailable.

I think it's very difficult to build chemistry. I think it's very difficult to, You know, they got used to playing without Kauai Leonard. And then he's, maybe he's going to play tonight for 25 minutes or 20 minutes or no. He's not going to play at all. I don't know. I know, right? With him, it's so strange.

I don't even. So strange. It's very hard to recall anything like this. Like a guy that would be a top five. I mean, here's the thing, though, Chris. Like, they might just be playing it super, super conservative. He is coming back from a torn. ACL. The goal is to be great in April, May, and June. It might just be, they're being insanely

conservative here. Because as you said, he's on the Mount Rushmore of load management. That might be it. It's, they're treating him more, like, so Durant, like, just jumped right back into it, right? Yes. And Katie is wired a different way. And he's wired a different way. This is being treated like Clay. Yeah. So it might be, it might be. It might be. It might be. It might just, be that. All I know is I only put that other thought out there about what we were talking about back at the time of the Spurs absence when he went to the Raptors.

I said Raptors hiatus. I meant Spurs hiatus, my bad. But I just wonder, we haven't used those words for years. Yeah. But it's just been on my mind watching this weird beginning of the season with Kauai. It just came back. A couple other bads that include

injuries. Orlando, who was going to be a fun team, is a fun league pass team, still, despite their winless record. Just totally ravaged by injury. They don't even have Gary Harris as a guard anymore. They got no Fultz, no Sugs, the Cole Anthony oblique strain.

Gary Harris is out. I mean, poor R.J. Hampton's going to have to play 48 minutes. Like, I'm ready for point bowl bowl. Let's just go full NBA 2K. Did you see my meme I posted about Bowl Bowl? It's been tough on you, hadn't it? Did you see it, though? Yeah, I saw it.

The distracted boyfriend meme, that was pretty funny. I was laughing. Hey, look. I know you're laughing about that, but look, maybe it's a, if you're willing to leave Mo Baba, you'll kick me to the curb too. I'm not. I can love both, Chris. I can love both.

I thought you were, in that meme, you were looking at, you were looking at bowl bowl some kind of way. Some kind of way. I mean, bowl bowl still isn't, you know, the most impactful or, a willing defensive player. And I still want to see Mo Baba get, I think resigning with the magic. We should talk about other players on the magic,

but real quick, why did he go back when they got Wendell Carter and they had a top pick? They got Ben Carrow. It could have been Chad Holmgren, but like, you know, why did he go back there when they have so many bigs

and the opportunity just clearly wasn't there for him to be, you know, 25 plus minutes per game like he was last season? I just, I'm perplexed by his decision to do that, and I hope he gets traded to a team that needs a center who can offer room protection and do a lot of the stuff he did last season. I'm not worried about Mo Bamba as much as I don't understand why he went back or even why the magic wanted him for that matter.

Just strange. He feels locked in there. The team's just been ravaged by injury and has made it much less fun, but Van Ciro and Franz are still fun watches, for sure. Yeah, Wendell Carter, too? Yeah. They get some length, man. I want to see them throw out a lineup with Ben Carrow, Wagner, Carter, Bull, and Bamba.

Yes. Put those five out there just to see what happens. You're losing games anyway. What does it matter? Yeah, what does it matter? Just go for it. Have Bencaro be your point guard or Wagner be your point guard? They're your back court, right?

They're perimeter guys. Perfect. Just give it a try. Why not? Seriously. Come on, Jamal Moseley. What are you waiting for? Damian Lillard out one to two weeks of the calf strain.

Yeah, it's too bad. Started off the season blazing, no pun intended. But they have been one of the very good stories in the NBA. He has looked absolutely incredible. And now one to two weeks, and you know every year we talk about this, I always get super concerned with the muscle stuff. and so when it's a strained muscle, a calf, you know, a quadriceb, hamstring, groin, any of this stuff that comes up as a strain, the muscle, I always, you know, get a little timid on it. I know they give these timelines and here's hoping that he could just sit out one or two weeks and then be able to come back and not re-aggravate.

But these things always just take time. When you aggravate these things, we see it every year in the way. the playoff every year it has an effect on the playoffs somebody strains a muscle and it has a profound effect on the playoffs and sometimes the best player's ability to go and so and it many times takes a lot longer than we originally think it is going to take so here's just hoping that what started off as a fantastic story for Lillard that he is able to come back in a short amount of time Simon, who has been incredible, his show now, right? Like there's a lot of points on the board to get. A lot of responsibility for him right now.

Yeah, and well, you remember, he was so damn good. And him and Nirkage were so good that they just had to shut them down completely. They just had to stop playing them. Because they were like winning games down the stretch, him and Josh Hart. So, I mean, they are used to this. They did show it. at the end of last year, when they ended up being strangely, highly competitive

against teams down the stretch. So if you buy an end to the Anthony Simons thing, and like watching him, it's going to be a Simon show over the course of the next couple of weeks in the absence of Lillard. They get some tough games coming up, too. They play tonight against Houston. So they lost Wednesday night against Miami.

He got smoked that night. They got Houston tonight. But then next week, their last home game for a while is Wednesday against your Memphis. Grizzlies. But then they have a six-game road trip at Phoenix twice, then Miami, Charlotte, New Orleans, Dallas. Like that, that's a tough schedule. That's a long time to be on the road as well. A lot of games packed in. Like, Dane, like we talked about it Tuesday, how great they looked

and how Dane looked amazing. Without him, man, like, this is a massive test for that team. Like you said, it's going to have to meet the Simon show and also the Jeremy Grant show. Can he tap into more of the stuff he did in Detroit as a higher volume score rather than, you know, being a hybrid of Detroit and Denver? Like now he needs to be the 20 plus point per game guy like he was with Detroit. We'll burn through the rest of these. One other bad is Sacramento's bleak start. I'm sure this isn't ugly.

They're win. Well, if you want to call it ugly, here's the reason I called it bad. They're over four. I know. I think I'm in a shot. That's pretty ugly. for a team that we said we're you know, make the plan.

I agree with you. I agree with you. Let me tell you. I watched them last night very closely. Of course, they played Memphis. Lost that game. They did the, their grave mistake was

to try to get and allow the game to be a shootout. You're not beating Memphis in an all-star game. You're just not. Brooklyn did it. You can,

you want, want to get to 140, get to 140. You want to get to 130, 130. If 120's going to win it, 120's going to win it. But you don't want to get in a shootout with them where you're just flying up and down the court because they got too many guys that can hit threes in open space. They got Barrett. Like, they'll play, if you want to play the game with no defense, good luck. And so they devolved into that. They allowed that game to get going. And Memphis is better at that, especially because they're more used to each other. And they've got these gunners. Bain just goes bonkers on you. La Ravia is knocking down wide open threes.

It's a team that makes the extra pass. Like, they can play that All-Star game stuff. That being said, Kevin, I'm going to shock. I watched that game last night, and everybody's going to say, same old Sacramento. Sacramento sucks. Should have never believed in Sacramento. They got this, you know, bad owner and there's a reason they've stunk for 16 years on it on a night. I'm a shock you when I tell you I'm not giving up on them at all at all I look at it and I say

they ran into that buzzsaw with dame on opening night right they lost then to the clippers and they lost on the last bucket and they screwed up at the end of the game should have won that game they lost that game then they lost a golden state by five

and they were neck and neck it is a two point game in the fourth quarter of against Memphis till they start flying up and down and getting in this shootout. But Portland, the Clippers' goal to say to Memphis have been their games thus far. So yes, they are 0 and 4, but I think it's more a function of a schedule, them getting used to each other, you know, because there's going to be a transition time for these teams that have new players.

And they've got new players that play real minutes in Keegan Murray and Herder and Monk. they've got guys that have not been playing together. And so he's got to figure out the roles. They're never going to be an outstanding defensive team. But I still think their offense is going to be good enough. And they create a lot of space now, and they got some shooters out there. I think that they've played four teams so far

that I would not overreact to those losses yet. I think they're going to be okay. How do you think Sabonis handled Stephen Adams? I thought he got killed. Yeah, exactly. It's Stephen Adams. But, I mean, he's slight now. Sabonis is slight.

I know, but isn't that an issue with all the bigs in the league? Of course it is. That Sabonis is getting pounded by Stephen Adams? Yes, but I mean, Stephen Adams has been great so far. Oh, I know. He looks awesome. You know, and Subonis is, he's not that guy that's going to go to war with the big bruiser anymore.

I mean, they just don't, but they don't have room protection. They don't have perimeter defense. I got it. They have no defense. I got it. I got it. I actually thought in the half court, they were okay when they had Mitchell at the top. And I mean, they kind of figure some things out.

They certainly, it would be better off to have some more defenders. It's never going to be a very good defensive team. But I do think they're going to be really good offensively, enough to win them. a share of games that we thought they could. Sure. Well, Fox is shredding. Oh. Keegan Murray looks terrific.

I mean, there's silver linings. That's why maybe it's not ugly. It's just bad. And that's his first start last night. Yeah. Murray is going to be good. Keegan Murray, it looks like he's been in the league for seven years already. Except when he got put in the blender by Desmond Bain.

No, Desmond Bain's so damn good, dude. Welcome. Welcome. All right, the ugly. Let's just knock these out. We're not going to spend a lot of time because we talk about these teams too damn much already. But we have to mention, since we last spoke, we've mentioned that Brooklyn lost that game to Dallas that a lot of people watched on national TV.

But before that, the previous game against Milwaukee, Nash absolutely loses his mind. It leads to this meme where he's all cockeyed, cockeyed and crazy and everything like that and just going ballistic. and I tell you this, Nash is going through it, bro. I hate that I predicted at the beginning of the season that he'd be the first coach to go.

But he's going through it. I'll tell you that Brooklyn, the night that they played in Memphis a week ago, they stayed in town. They went to this very famous restaurant that was a lot of civil rights leaders back of the day went to called the Four Way. And they had stayed overnight after that game

and went up to the four way. And so I knew some people that were up there. And they said Nash just like, he looked beating down. You know, of course, people tried to get pictures with him and whatever. And he was like, you know, I had another friend, saw him. He was just walking around the streets of Memphis, like the next morning. Like, people saw him that I know, like just head down. He looked like just a depressed guy walking around town.

And I was like, man, I feel so bad. You know he's going through with all that crap over the summer with the KD stuff and now trying to figure out how to use Ben Simmons and won't shoot and coach his team and everything else. Oh, and I do need to mention this for as much as he gets pummeled. I think that, because look, I can be very positive to. You know who everybody in that restaurant that was there that night that Brooklyn went there here, from the dishwashers to the waiters to the owners, Everybody.

You know who they said was the absolute best Kyrie Irving? Wow. Took pictures with every single one of them. I was going to say

Edmund Sumner. No, introducing himself, you know, asking them about their lives and what they do or whatever. I'm telling you, it is always the weirdest thing.

Everybody I know that either knows him or has come into contact with him loves this guy. And every time this guy comes up to me in my daughter's soccer game the other night. And he's like, I had this perception of this guy and how kooky is and all that stuff last year and everything.

He goes, I met him when he was here. He was the nicest guy ever to us. He's taking pictures and doing this and that. And I'm like, I swear to God, I've heard this same story 10 times in the last five years. I heard Nick Friedel on ESPN said how Kyrie offered him a ride home one time. It's crazy. I remember my dad when he was at us, when Kyrie was with the Celtics,

he was waiting for me doing postgame stuff. And he was standing like in the family area where players going to see their families and friends after the game. And my dad told me after the game, he was like, yeah, Kyrie, Kyri was super nice in this family setting

and by asking questions about their kid, what the husband does. I know. I'm like not talking about himself at all, asking genuine question. It's like, damn, Like you hear a lot of those stories, but then you hear stories about him being a total big to people, too.

Not strangers, but like people in the industry, like sure representatives, people who work for the team, teammates. Like you hear that stuff, but then you hear these stories too, and it's people are complicated. I know. People are both good. Well, not both. They're good, bad and ugly, right, Chris? Yeah. People are.

There's bad, bad things about everybody, good things about everybody, too. So it's just funny. It's funny you say that about Kyrie. Yeah, he had, I'm telling you, there's nobody that worked at that restaurant that they went to that won't walk out there and like, tell everybody how awesome he was. There's a picture on their Instagram of him with everybody. What restaurant was it? It's called the four way. So you can probably type in four way.

I want to look at this up real. Yeah. Instagram, it's a very, it's a very famous restaurant in Soulsville from the Civil Rights area. Oh, yeah, yeah, I see the photo off there. See him? we won in more ways than one. We watched our gris grind and our very blessed defeat

the Brooklyn Nets basketball team after the game. It's a whole experience, y'all. Crazy. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah, they're very excited about it. Can you imagine if you're just a kid that's like a dishwasher there or something?

You get to come from the back and not only is he totally cool to you and taking pictures. I mean, it'd be a dream. Kyrie's all smiles. Yeah. But Steve Nash is not, he said, right? Steve Nash is not.

And he's in an experimental phase right now. Yeah, so what did you think about Simmons playing center last night? I mean, he played it more than he ever has. Last night he played it 24 out of 37 of his minutes on the floor. I mean, the results were mixed for them. In the first quarter, minus four, in the second quarter, even third quarter, a minus one. And then in the fourth into overtime, there were a minus 12.

I think it's worthy of continuing to do. I think you're a better team when you have Simmons at the five without Claxton or Sharp out there. Would that said, though, Chris? Like, you're undersized. You lack room protection. Certain teams that aren't Dallas, like even if they had Christian Wood out there that would exploit that lack of size. I think Brooklyn, assuming they keep Ben Simmons,

Carrie Irving and Kevin Durant and Katie doesn't demand another trade, assuming that happens. I think if you're Brooklyn, you've got to go out and get a center that can shoot threes, whether it's a Miles Turner or whether it's even a Daniel Tice. You've got to find a big who can shoot threes to provide size, room protection, and also floor spacing because it's not going to work offensively. This year they've gotten shredded when it's been Simmons plus Claxson or Simmons plus Sharp. They need help. You want me to get you all excited? MoBamba.

It's not a bad idea. I mean, a little down the list compared to Miles Turner, but I'd have him above Daniel Tice. All right. We're not going to talk all about the Sixers and the Lakers. Let's just say this. I think we're both on the same page where Sixers, I think, will figure it out.

They've got a bunch of new personnel. Yeah, they've got a bench. You know, we like the talent that they brought in. I think in the end, they'll end up figuring it out. A bunch of new people. guys that I know that's bad vibes. I know it's bad vibes. And if they don't figure out, they'll just

fire Doc. It's the same kind of thing with Brooklyn. And hire who? Dan Tony, Jeff Van Gundy, away from the ESPN broadcasts. I mean, they might just move Dave Yeager over. I don't know if it would be Jagger. I mean, he's been a head coach in the lead, you know, but is he going to get past

Sam Cassell? I know the players really like Dan Burke. Dan Burke's the name to keep in mind, too, off their bench. Yeah, so, I mean, it might be just somebody that they slide over. I know you are, Yeager. No. No, I've just, I've seen the situation before. It was right there.

Sure. When Lionel Hans got into it with management, Dave Yeager was right there, you know, friends with the management to take his place. They get some games coming up that they could win. They get Toronto tonight, which is tough, but then they get, you know, Chicago, Washington twice, New York.

I mean, they get to get it right. Yeah. It's like we talked about, like they have to get it right by Well, but they, see, they have talent. And so I think you got to give them the benefit of the doubt of being able to figure it out, which is not the Lakers. And you got these LeBron

Instagram posts, you got him stealing your line about taking him for granted. Oh, that was something else. How impatient do you think they get? How long do they let it go before we're talking about them pulling the trigger on something? I mean, this is tough.

This is tough because you don't want to waste a year of LeBron James. but at the same time, there are benefits. If your team is so bad that you don't think that there are any moves, one move or multiple moves that you can make that can save your season, the benefit to waiting is that on draft night, you can trade your 20, 23 pick, and you can trade 27 and 29. So you'd have three first round draft picks to trade rather than two,

and you'd be entering an off-season in which you have a lot of cap space. So the benefit to waiting is like, okay, well, we won't, We won't, you know, blow our load on this season, but wait till next year to do everything we can to go all in. That's the benefit. The problem is the fact that their defense has still been really good. Just with a couple of tweaks, maybe you can enhance the offense. If I'm the Lakers, anything I do is a three-way trade.

I think the Turner healed combination, to me, that's not enough. If I'm the Lakers, I need a third player or a fourth player in a deal. if I'm giving up both of those first round draft picks. That's the perspective I'm coming from. Those are two of the most high-value future first-round draft picks in the entire league. And if they're left unprotected, those could end up being high lottery picks. By that point, LeBron's going to be 50 years old, 80's going to be retired because he can't play anymore. Like, the team's going to look dramatically different.

The Lakers could be bad again. So they need to be very careful about what they get back for those picks, which is why I think, if anything, it'll be some three-way. Like, let's just say Indiana, Charlotte, where they get Turner and Heald and Terry Rozier. Right, like something like that, to me, is what the Lakers need to be angling for if they give both of those up.

That could be worth it. Do you see that report? The Utah thing? Would you have done that? It was Westbrook and the Picks, and it was Bogdanovich, Conley, and Rudy Gett. Who reported that?

I didn't see that. It was Tony Jones had it from Salt Lake. Yeah, so I don't know exactly what was Yeah, that was it I mean obviously Bogdanovich got moved elsewhere What I reported, what I heard is that they offered a first round pick For just Bogdanovich And I

But would you have done Let's say that deal was on the table Well that's probably what D&EH wanted was the bigger deal And he said that was three years Let's say that was on the table Westbrook and the picks For Conley Gay and Bogdanovich No

Bogdanovich is shooting the hell out of the ball right now. But you can still get Bogdanovich from Detroit. I mean, that'd be three guys in there, probably five, six-man rotation. I think the Lakers thought they were getting Bogdanovich for a lower price. I don't think that deal the Lakers were ever doing. I reported weeks ago the Lakers offered four Bogdanovich, one first-dra draft pick. I believe that to be true. And then Danny Ains instead took the Detroit deal where he got nothing in return just to dump him.

And I think Danny Ains and the Utah side of things are betting on. There could still be opportunities to get equal value from other teams or from the Lakers down the line. And with Bogdanovich, they just sent him to a new team. Danny Ate doesn't want to help the Lakers. Exactly. I think that's what it is. He doesn't want to help the Lakers unless it's for the most possible. So I don't think the Lakers were doing that deal at all.

No. I would not have done that if I'm the Lakers. I would have waited. And I think they made the right choice to buy their time here. It's just a matter of, is your team competitive enough for you to warrant giving up both of your first-round draft picks in the future rather than waiting? I mean, it's a difficult balance here. If I'm the Lakers, I'm going for Bogdanovich still. You could still trade for Bogdanovich from Detroit.

The question is going to be, would they let go of him? Would they want to trade him? And also, if you're Bogdanovich, like we talk about this from the team side, I'm sure Dwayne Casey would love to keep Bogdanovich. I'm sure he loves how he fits with Kate and Space Slee. the floor. If you're Bogdanovich, you don't want to be in Detroit. No, you're 33 years old. The best thing you can do for the player is to trade him to a situation in which he can win. Is that the Lakers, though? Yeah, right. Are they winning? I mean, like, Bogdanovich sure is how it would look great with the Lakers right now, right?

Anybody would, anybody with a pulse would. I know. That could knock down a three. I know if the Lakers make a move, I'd bet on it being a three-way deal in which they get more than just two, like, Turner heel players. I bet on it being like three or four guys going back to the Lakers, if they were to trade both of those future picks. Gotcha. All right, Kevin.

I will talk to you next week. Thank you to our producer, Jesse Lopez, as always. Thanks to everybody for listening to another episode of the mismatch. Kevin, I'll talk to you next Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it, man. Have a good weekend.