The Mismatch - The James Harden Drama Continues, Getting Giddy About Giddey, and All-Star Game Predictions

Episode Date: February 15, 2022

Verno and KOC begin the show discussing Jake Fischer’s latest article, which details Kevin Durant’s role in the James Harden trade (03:59). Will drama ever stop following Harden? Josh Giddey’s rookie stock continues to rise after his 28-point triple-double performance helped the Thunder defeat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden (16:39). The guys debate how good Giddey can be. DeMar DeRozan is on a historic streak as he continues to carry the Bulls amid all their injuries (25:32). The Celtics are on a quiet run and playing excellent defense, and KOC fully believes this team has turned it around (31:10). With no show this Friday, the guys give their All-Star Game predictions (40:50). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer Gambling Show is here to help you place your bets on the biggest sports around the world. Join NFL analysts Warren Sharp on Mondays and Fridays with guests Chris Vernon, Ben Solac, and Joe House to guide you through the NFL betting landscape. Each week, they'll cover everything from spreads, game totals, and parlays to player props, futures, post-game reactions, and more. Check out the Ringer Gambling Show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mishman. And join to me as he does every Tuesday from The Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber. Kevin O Concert, Kevin O Conflict, Kevin O Camry, Kevin O'Bondola, Kevin O'Bomba, Kevin! Bruno!

How's it going? We got to make this a good one because... My mic is back. My mic is back. I just have to say that, Chris. It's back. I have a great setup now. No more audio mistakes.

I'm sorry to you, Chris, Jesse Lopez, and to all of the listeners. But we have a full, beautiful audio now. Kevin O Audio. We got to make this episode a good one because it's all. the only one we're doing this week, of course, by Friday, we will be in the middle of the All-Star break, but there's a bunch of stuff that has taken place since we last spoke. Of course, we talked right after the trade deadline last Friday, and since then, you knew that there was going to be, especially with the biggest trade that took place. This is when the information dumps take place.

after a guy leaves somewhere, now all of a sudden we find out the real story behind everything that took place. Now, we haven't gotten, it'll be interesting to hear Ben Simmons talk, if he ever does talk and sit down at length and kind of explain himself and everything that he was thinking over the course of the past, you know, nine to 12 months. but there is always a all right that guy's gone now so now let's everybody can say what was really going on while he was here and why this got to this point and we will see what becomes a bit I'd imagine some people will shoot some stories down but Jake Fisher from Bleacher Report dropped a monster, James Hardin, Kevin Durant, weren't getting a long story this morning. And amongst the details in this story are, you know, you've got your basics, which are, Hardin was frustrated with this, Hardin was frustrated with that, Hardin came into training camp in San Diego fact, you know, this kind of stuff. But then you have like these last couple of weeks where it's like James Hardin showing

up at half time of this. James Hardin leaving the team to go party and then coming back. Then James Hardin instead of traveling with the team to the next city, going to Las Vegas to party and then coming back. And then you've got this whole like, hands. hamstring thing, which, you know, the nets, you now in retrospect, you know, understand that they weren't exactly playing cover up for him. And you understand why I joked on Twitter that Patty Mills didn't get the memo that day

when he was like, yeah, James was here today. And he looked perfectly fine to shoot around. Like so I don't understand why he's not playing. But you've got this whole dump of information. including, you know, kind of what James Hardin was involved in and leaving different cities to go party. It's, you know, James Hardee, James Harden doesn't take care of his body. James Harden wants to play ISO basketball. James Harden wants to go party and, you know, is separated from the team.

And now he's in Philadelphia. And so we find out all of these stories. As you're reading through it, what do you make of it? Do you look it as a James Harden hit piece? And I don't mean hit piece from Fisher. I just mean that the people that are unloading these stories and unloading these quotes are obviously attempting to make James Harden look bad. Or do you look at it as cause for real concern for Philadelphia who just acquired him?

I mean, it's like a little bit of both. It's Philadelphia. You kind of already know what you're going to get. You know this is James Hardin. He's going to have those nights in Vegas and you just deal with it because you have Joe and Lundib. I guess the main thought on my mind reading through it is just clearly how the realization built within Kevin Durant that I'm not going to be able to win with these guys.

But on the other hand, there was a line in there by Jake Fisher of a heart. And the realization that he came to. Hardin saw another talent hungering for his first ring according to several people close to him. Irving, on the other hand, was willing to miss half of Brooklyn's playoff games. So, I mean, I don't look at it as like anything remotely like some hit piece.

I look at it as like we see information on both sides here. Kevin Durant realized over the course of time, despite his desire to keep Hardin, that Hardin wasn't fully bought into Brooklyn. Hardin over the course of time realized that he had a better chance to win his first championship, then with Kyrie Irving, who already won, and is willing to miss half his games,

and with Kevin Durant right now who's injured, and who knows? And meanwhile, Joel Labid is, you know, averaging 30 plus points for since early December at this point, dominant force, and he wanted to go somewhere else to win his first ring with another guy that's hungry to win his first ring. So, I mean, it's just fascinating to see how these guys

who came together as friends end up breaking up for these really odd reasons after just one full season together, not even a full season together. And the fascinating thing is there were reports about Chris Paul getting upset about things. I remember Russell Westbrook, who was very regimented in terms of like, you know, parks in the same place, does practice at the same time. He's just like one of those guys, you know, very regimented schedule. And there were those stories after the Westbrook stuff fell apart.

about how it drove him absolutely crazy that they would play in the game in Orlando and the schedule would be to fly out to the next city and then James would say, no, I want to stay. And so then the team would stay. And it's like it was his operation. It was his deal. And that that got under his skin. And now you have another situation where it's like James can do or James does whatever James wants to do.

So if the whole team is getting out of plane and going. to Utah and he gets out of plane and goes to Las Vegas then obviously that's not right like he is acting differently than the rest of the team and I do think there is a comfort level

with Daryl where you probably realize like you can't you can't pull this crap everywhere and it'll be interesting to see if he if everybody's just fine with it and Daryl can sue the James B and James and so when the

rest of the team has a loss and jumps on a plane and is going to the next city, but they've got a day off in between, and he jumps on a plane and goes to clubs in Houston? Are they fine with it? And everybody just had to be fine with it forever in Houston. And Daryl obviously let that happen. And so this does feel a little bit to me after reading it, like running back into the comfort of Daryl's arms, which is ironic considering that picture of him getting off the plane running into Daryl's arms, you know, he's the, like, he's the guy that will put up with that bullshit because of the results, which have been, you know, good for Daryl, certainly. It's been great for his career.

James Hardin has been great for his career, right? And so he's let him act any kind of way. But I think one of the questions that arises is, can you act any kind of way when you're 33 now, right? That's a young man's game. Sure. No doubt. No doubt about that. You know the way it feels.

You go, I mean, even now. No, not really. I've never, I've never had like a, like a serious hangover. Really? No matter how much I think I might be immune to hangovers, to be honest with you, Chris. I had a conversation with my friends about this recently. Never, never woke up on a hangover. Never woke up with one.

Have you drank like to excess? I mean, too, I've never like blacked out or anything like that. Never had any experience like that. So I haven't been to that level where I forget. what happened. All right. How about this? Have you been very drunk?

Yeah, totally. Yeah. But I've never woken up with a hangover. But I've never woken up with a hangover. I drink a ton of water. I drink a ton of water. I have a glass of water right next to me now. I got to tell you, Kev, if that was, if that was me, I'd have a problem on my hands.

Because I just, I feel so terrible. Like, I, I had to stop because I feel terrible now. Yeah. I mean, I don't, I don't. I don't drink that off, but anyway, I don't like the way alcohol makes me feel. It's not, not my preference. I'm not going to ask you. I'm not going to ask you your preferences.

What's so funny, Chris? I'm not going to ask you your preferences. Oh, okay, all right. We saw it on Sunday during the Super Bowl. I'm going to wait for all. They wrote a New York post story about them. You saw that? Yeah, I did.

I'm going to leave it all. I'm with Colin Coward. Kevin O Cannabis. All right. It's also the NBA's preference, too, for being honest. Hardin's the one is different, but that's a different story.

Okay. Are you going to defend James Hardin? I mean, I don't know what I have to defend. Like, everybody knows James Hardin has a good time partying and going out, late nights drinking at the club.

Everybody knows that already. I mean, there's nothing to defend. That's part of the deal with Hardin. Like, severely, severely reduced play while being a terrible team. Yeah, I mean, look, dude, like, how much of this was this him, like, passively aggressively

trying to push his way out of Brooklyn to get them pissed off with him? Like, how much of that was about the trade? Like, I think with Jake's story, the things that I've heard is, like, Brooklyn knew going into it, like, this guy doesn't want to be here. They knew he didn't want to be there. That's why, like I've been saying, for weeks now, read between, the lines of Woj's report. Between the lines of what Shams is saying, all these guys.

Woj said weeks ago, he's like, Kevin Durant wants a fully committed roster. He said that after saying Brooklyn doesn't have intentions of trading Hardin. Others have said Hardin hasn't indicated to, you know, Brooklyn management that he wants out. Well, I mean, but he has done other stuff or he might, he could indicate it. I think with like these reports leading up to the deadline

and free agency and all that, you've got to read between the lines of what the Woj and Shamsas of the world are saying, because it's not like, like I said, that line Woj had, I put it in my story last Monday, Wodge saying, Kevin Arant wants a fully committed roster after the trade deadline. I mean, what do you think he's talking about?

James Harden. So, I mean, I think this whole story here that Jay Groh, like adds the weight behind a statement like that. It gives the story, the real story to it, that Kevin Aran over the course of time realized this guy doesn't want to be here.

Let's get a guy who does want to be here and that can help us win a championship. So it's the flip side for Philly. They have a guy that didn't want to be there and now they have a guy that does want to be there. To me, like, it's really as simple as that in terms of the, I guess, the personality side of things.

All the other stuff is extra. And all of it is concerning. All of it could come up, playoff time. But overall, though, both of these teams win. that trade despite all those extra concerns for basketball reasons. That's just the way I feel about it.

And this stuff about Hardin is amazing to read about. But we also kind of know that's part of the deal with him. And maybe it'll change this year in the playoffs when he's playing with Embed. And maybe he was doing even more of it because he's like, F you, I want out of here. I want to get out. So he's going crazy, doing all this stuff for that reason. It is interesting because you say, you know, you read a comment like that,

want everybody on the same page, everybody all did. and you know exactly who he's talking about. The same was true. Of course, last night with Brooklyn, who looked fantastic in their game against Sacramento. And everybody's, like, cheering each other on the bench. Like, it felt extra. But then Bruce Brown,

at words, he says, the locker room, it's just a great vibe in here now. Everybody likes everybody. Bro, he's the only guy. the only thing different is James Hardin is not in it. And you got somebody like Bruce Brown saying, great vibe in here now.

Everybody likes everybody. And you get Seth Curry going off. I mean, just unbelievable. Like that's not exactly coded language if it's like there's nobody else to say, okay, well, what's different about the locker room? There's only what? What do you mean?

Everybody likes everybody. There's only one guy that's not here now. It's all the same people except for one dude and these new guys who you've known for 24 hours. I mean, I mean, look, dude, there's an absolute chance of this blows up in Philly's face. There's a hundred percent of chance of that, that Hardin doesn't, you know, that he does the same stuff that you're describing in Brooklyn. And that the vibes go from great and Philly to bad. there's a chance of that. I think it's worth the risk.

And the cool part is, despite the Nets losing nine in a rowed until their win against the Kings, is I like the fact that, you know, with guys in and out of the lineup, they've been able to give Cam Thomas more opportunity.

He's averaging 22 points over his last six games. And, you know, granted he's just a bench guy for them as a rookie. I think sort of like during the replacement player, you know, that three weeks stretch during the regular season with G Lear's coming in and all that. There is some value for teams to get a look and give opportunity to guys deeper on their bench.

With Cam Thomas, I mean, that dude's a bucket. And I think with him, he's the feel and the pace he's starting to operate with. His three-point range seems to have, you know, be more consistent for him. Who knows? Like if Kyrie, if Kyrie is a part-time player in the postseason, there could come a night where Cam Thomas needs to be relied on, especially now like trading Seth Curry away. maybe like you have to slide into that. And yeah, dude, I think this opportunity for him could be valuable.

Well, and he is the kind of guy I could absolutely see benefiting for playing with Simmons too. Simmons has been very good at setting up three-point shooters, right? You just got to knock them down or shooters in general. And this guy is a score. And so between Curry and between Thomas and between KD, you know, you hope that that's what Simmons can provide. You know, the driving down the lane, he's got to get extra attention. he can kick it out to somebody or whip it around to the corner to somebody. He's very good at that at setting up three-point shooters.

Kevin O. Cannabis. My man. Let me tell you something. That's what the world needs. Josh Giddy. Josh Giddy became the youngest in NBA history with back-to-back triple doubles, 11 points, 10 assist at 12 rebounds, and a losing effort against Chicago on Saturday. and that he turned around and he did it last night in the garden.

He tweeted after the game, I love the garden. He ended with 28 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds in the game. And they end up beating the Knicks 127 to 123 in overtime. The 19-year-old from Australia, who is having an outstanding rookie year. did this in a game where they snapped the five-game losing streak and they were playing without Lou Dort and they were playing without Shea Gildjus Alexander. Unbelievable performance last night on a big stage and it felt like this was the night that Josh Giddy certainly broke through in terms of attention.

It felt like everybody was talking about Giddy in that performance last night. night. It is always bigger when you do it in the garden. Everybody knows that. But my God, to have your best performance in the garden certainly vaulted him more into the NBA consciousness. He does just all the little things, man. All the little things on the court. I mean, like, it's kind of comical, like just watching the accuracy of his passes off the dribble. It's funny. Like you just left hand, right hand, like it's right where it needs to be. He had this play, I think it was third quarter of last night. It was like a lefty kickout pass to a corner of three.

And you know how sometimes when Steph makes those kickouts, he'll immediately relocate to behind a three-point line. Giddy just immediately like sat down the baseline, hands up, ready for a catch and finish. Nick's defense all scrambled up. And he got exactly what he wanted. I mean, like he just has the ability to see the play after the play. The next moment, his vision, it's not necessarily, I don't ever want to compare anybody to Yokic, but how many players in the NBA are close in terms of vision and accuracy as a playmaker right now? Giddy is up there, man.

He really is. And if his scoring can develop, like we saw Giddy's three-point shot is very inconsistent. And he needs to get better as a perimeter score. But if his perimeter game is working like it was against the Knicks last night, We are going to see a lot more nights like this, 28 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds. He's going to have a lot more games like that. And with him, like, he has already got the passing ability. It's just about can the scoring become more regular like it was in MSG?

When I came on here after I had seen him in person earlier this year, and I raved about him. And I talked about how, you know, when you see him in person, it's startling how big he is as a guy that operates on the perimeter. is a big guy. And this guy that was in the back court with him last night, another guy, Trey Mann, he had 30 points. He had 30 in the game. Let me tell you something. You know, I don't always like the way they conduct their business, but this guy, this guy can talented evaluate. My God, Presti. I mean, you can go back and the Hardin thing was a no brain. I'm sorry, the Durant thing was a no brainer. The drafting of Westbrook wasn't a no brainer at for the drafting of Hardin wasn't a no-brainer when they drafted him.

And you could go through like Ibaka. They like even Sabonis even, you know, he did draft him at one point. Reggie Jackson, you know, he found, I mean, you could go on and on. This guy, he can't evaluate talent. Nobody's 100%. But this guy can really evaluate talent. And I think everybody, when he took Giddy 6th, we were all like, what? And let me tell you this.

You redo that draft tomorrow. He ain't lasting until 6. And I don't know if that will be right or wrong in the long term. But in terms of what we've seen so far, this guy, as I said, after I saw him in person, he has a chance to be very special, very special. Yeah, dude. Yeah, dude. I mean, just look at that O'KC roster, man.

I mean, like they, they're not a good team right now, but they have a lot of good talent. I mean, even some of the guys that weren't in last night's game, like Lou Dort, Lou Dore could help any contending team right now. Kennerick Williams coming off their bench last night. He could help any contender right now. They have guys in that roster who have NBA talent today, but more than anything else. Even Aaron Wiggins. They just sign Aaron Wiggins to that new deal, getting him.

in the second round last year with the 55th pick. And Aaron Wing is looking like an NBA regular right now. And granted it's on OKC, but he looks like an NBA guy. He looks like an NBA guy. He looks like an NBA guy, Trey, man? I mean, it's the second spectacular game in a week or so. I saw somebody jokingly tweet last night that they're going to figure out something to be wrong with Josh Giddy because he's too damn good.

They're going to have to pull the, uh, something's wrong with him. got to sit out the rest of the year. Otherwise, he's going to, he might just win them games. I mean, he won that game for them last night, man. There ain't no way around it. They, you know, he's too good. He's too good, this giddy. So he's going to help them win games down the stretch.

We might have to find that ailment for him. Giddy, this last seven games shooting 35% from three. And that's not spectacular numbers here. but if Giddy, if Giddy can shoot 35% for his career, he's going to average like 22 points, nine rebounds, eight assists for the rest of, you know, his prime. Like that's always good. He doesn't need to be a 38, 39% guy.

35% is enough for him to be like all-star caliber. And I think last night we saw a preview of what could be a lot of his knights as he, he's only 19. He's only 19. and imagine him at 23, 24, 25 years old. Just, boy, I go, how good do you think Giddy can be, Chris? We talk about a all-NBA guy, All-Star.

I mean, how good do you think Giddy can be? I would not put a ceiling. I would not put a ceiling on it at this point. At 19, see what I've seen so far. I would not put a ceiling on it. It turns out how good he could end up being. I mean, I think you're going to have a segment of people who are like, it's an overreaction

to last night's game. It's really not an overreaction to last night's game. It's kind of last night's game is more like a culmination of everything we've seen throughout the season. And he's also had other great games like this too, you know? Anybody could go back to when whenever I saw him in person. He wasn't a part of the first time

when I had the opportunity to go see Oklahoma City. That was the 70-something point loss. The second time he was in the lineup. And I saw him. And he, he, I mean, he had a quarter where he was the best player on the floor. Really? He was outstanding in the game that I saw, the game I was at.

And so I came on here and I raved about the kid. And so, yeah, I'm not going to be in the business and putting a ceiling on him. This is not a first time thing. This isn't because he just did it at the garden last night. When I saw him earlier this year, I came on here and talked to everybody about him. He is really good. And he is start a little. He can pass over guard's heads and smooth as hell.

So skilled. You know, I love guys that can dribble pass, shoot, do everything. I mean, this guy, he's a basketball player, man, a straight basketball player. His feel, I mean, like, he makes, he makes some, like, difficult passes just looks so natural and easy. It's just his flow, his flow playmaking off the dribble is just so smooth. It feels like it's never, it's just completely natural to. him. That's the way it just feels watching him play. Like there's never any hesitation. It just flows.

And having a guy like that, you know, next to a Gilgis Alexander, next to a, you know, a Lou Dort, I mean, this is something that they can grow with over the course of time in Oklahoma City. And granted the team's nowhere close right now. I mean, Giddy, guys like Giddy give you hope. They really do. Another guy that is absolutely killing it is to Margarozen. Bulls have kind of gotten back going here. Kevin, he now, in six straight games, has had over 35 or more points and has shot over 50% from the field. In the history of the NBA, there is only one player that has done that outside of DeMard de Rosenz. It's not Chris Stas, Forcingis.

It is actually Wilts Chamberlain. Oh. All right. So here's the list. According to our buddies at Statmuse, players in NBA history with 35 plus points on 50% shooting for six straight games. Wilt Chamberlain, Demar de Rosen. And so if Darosen, if DeMarre Rosen gets one more, he'll set the record. And I venture to say that Will Chamberlain's over 50% was compiled mostly around the basket.

DeMarter Rosen's not necessarily all around the basket, but over 50% shooting, 35 plus. I'm surprised Jordan never did that. Or like LeBron or like some of the great scores that we've had or hard. And I guess it's just the over 50% is really hard to. pull off, right? Being that efficient while scoring 35 or more points for consecutive games. But six straight games he is now at. And if he does it, he will surpass Wilts friggin' Chamberlain. That's incredible. I mean, it just underscores what a freakish season this guy has had. Absolutely. I mean, the games, just you mentioned the efficiency, 18 of 30, 16 of 27,

13 of 19, 14 of 22, 12 of 24, 16 of 24. And I'm not going to go through the free throw percentages, but he's not missing much from the line either. Like, this guy's efficiency is off the charts right now for the Bulls. And, Chris, it's happening during a time. Like, you still don't have Caruso. You still don't have Lonzo. And now Zach Levine's getting a second opinion on his knee.

Like, you've got all these guys in and out of the lineup. up and yet the bulls over the six games. I've won five of those six games and with one loss against, sorry, they've won four of those six with losses by just a couple of points to the suns and then lost by about 10 to the sixers. So they're winning games with all these guys out, which is why like now DeRosen is going to be the guy people are saying, well, what about DeRosen is the MVP?

Well, he should be in the top five conversation, rightfully so. When you got really good talented players that are willing to sacrifice, that when the other guys go out, they can step up, they are capable of doing more is really the story of Vosovich. Because go look at his numbers. Totally. You're right. Great point.

So Vousovic kind of has to take a step back. He's not going to get crazy numbers, though we know he is capable of doing more. He's getting 25 shots a night now. Look at the run. He's on. I mean, production, man. Big time production. This entire month, February averaging 24 points.

Wow. And multiple 30 plus point games as well. I mean, even guys like I.O. Dosunu stepping up. I mean, his responsibility is constantly increased. You know, Lonzo Cruser go down. He's getting minutes. Now as Levine gets up, goes down, more ball handling opportunities. Kobe White, you know, he's starting for them right now.

And he's been, I mean, after looking like a little bit like a little busts, you know, first two years, starting to come along in year three. he's looking like a steady, reliable spark plug guard for you. They just have so many guys. There's so many layers to their roster. Yeah. This ball seems crazy, man. I can't wait to see them fully healthy.

I hope we see him fully healthy. Team that we could end up seeing them playing interestingly enough, depending on how the seeds all break, is a team that is now sixth in the Easter conference after a 9 and 1 run in their last 10, the Boston Celtics. Ime Udoka was getting beat up a little bit. The team was getting beat up a little bit.

Talks of breaking up, guys. Now, do you think that this is a really good run, or do you think there has been a real sea change in this Boston team? team and they are something now worthy of paying attention to as a threat to some of the teams that we have thought if healthy are going to be the ones to be trifled with. And that includes Miami, that includes Milwaukee, that includes Philadelphia, that includes Brooklyn for sure, you know, those four, even though Milwaukee is really not been great.

anyway, we figure by the time it all comes down there, you know, do you think Boston now, do you think this is real? Do you think this is, you know, maybe they're not a team that goes nine and one over the course of 10 games, but do you think they've turned a corner? Like, do you buy it? I buy it because I buy their defense. It's now like a month and a half. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, it's been a long time. Like, the defense was great even before the winning began. like this defense just just think about the names right you know Marcus Smart and Derek White you know those guys are on the court together that's one of the best

you know back court defensive duos in the entire league Tatum is a very good defender Jaylon Brown is a very good defender Robert Williams has turned into an interior shot blocking force who can switch onto the perimeter at least reliably

not necessarily a lockdown guy but reliably this is a team that can play drop coverage with Williams They can switch screens. They can play aggressive, depending on the personnel on the floor. And offensively, the team's starting to click a little bit.

And that's despite the fact that Jason Tatum still hasn't figured out as three-pointer. Jalen Brown are shooting below what he's done the last two, three seasons. If those guys, Tatum and Brown, are able to return to prior levels as three-point shooters off the catch and off the dribble, that's going to further

boost their offense even more. they're winning these games, despite their offense, not being fully, you know, what you expect from some of their star or best players. And if they're able to figure that out, if Tatum's able to go on a run, if Brown can go on a run, I mean, I mean, it's like they're going to look even better than they have already. There's still an opportunity as this goes on. They still, with those, you know, two talented players, either one of them has the opportunity to be the best player on the court on a given night. and they've got two of them, right? I mean, this is, this is why breaking those two up never made that much sense. Like, if it fails and you entered the summer, you know, the next trade deadline,

maybe then you do something dramatic, but we're not, we're nowhere near that point with Tatum and Brown. It's about the rest of that roster. And Derek White looks like a natural fit. He looks like the way he passes the ball with those guys. It looks like he's been playing with them for years now, not just two games, not just a week. I don't know. This Celtics roster,

Marcus Smart as well, you're going to give Marcus Smart credit. There's all these calls about the Celtics need a point guard, the Celtics need a point guard. So Marcus Smart just says, okay, I won't shoot the ball as much anymore. I'm going to be a playmaker first.

And he's played since early, mid-January, some of the best basketball of his entire life. Better shot selection, more of a focus on playmaking, and defensively, he's looking more like Prime Marcus Smart with the effort

with which he plays with on the floor. The first play of the game the other night against Denver just deflex the ball, dives on the floor, sets a tone for the rest of the game for the Celtics. Marcus Smart feels like he's back in that mode for Boston. And this entire defense, I'm buying.

I'm buying the Celtics defense. They're just going to get their offense even better. While they cannot always have the level of success they achieved in San Antonio, you do have to give Popovich credit because we know about that spur system, Spurs culture. When you're talking about Derek White, the first thing that came to my mind is that has been commonplace among Spurs players is that you could take them out of there and you can plop them on any team and they know how to play team basketball. They know how to play team basketball no matter who it is. You can put them on any team like they know about sacrifice. They know about making the extra pass to get the better shot. They know about, you know, selfishness and not partaking. You know, these are things that and they know about.

defense because otherwise it's just not tolerated. And so you end up, you know when you get a player from there that if they were able to play, if they were able to play for Popovich, you know they were a teammate. Right. And so certainly they are the benefactor of that in the case of White. And it's unsurprising to me that he could be a, you know, just plop him in and he can start contributing and playing. Do you think they can win the final?

Who? Boston. What finals? The NBA finals. I'm just asking the question. Absolutely not. This year? Are they a sleeper?

I do not think they could beat Miami. What if the Bulls continue to have health issues? What if Hardin has a hard time getting integrated into the Sixers? Oh, if you get all those breaks? Yeah, I'm just saying like, Is it unreasonable? I think you would need four teams to have problems. Some of them already having problems.

I mean, and you not have any. Well, I mean, let's factor that in. In that case, you think there's a chance, but if that doesn't happen, you don't think there's any chance for the Celtics, even with their defense playing at the level that it is. So you don't, you buy him as like a, as they fixed it in the regular season,

but you don't buy it as in like this can translate to the postseason. I mean, I think they are better. I think they are certainly better than what they have been. But I also think that their schedule has lightened up. I mean, they had the very impressive win against Miami at the end of January, you know, where they ran Miami out of the building. But look up and down, you know, the wins. Like their schedule lightened up big time, Kev, big time.

If you want to count the Denver win, they won 108-102 against them. I mean, let me see them against Philadelphia tonight, right? They're at Philly. No hard of them, though. I know. No hard. But, I mean, that's still, you know, the best record team they've played in forever. Their schedule lightened up a lot.

So I just need to, I need to see this up against better competition, you know, and that, you know, they played a much more. difficult part of their schedule early, for sure. But the schedule has been light, and they have taken advantage of it. But in terms of getting me to have big buy-in, I don't think they have the requisite depth to be able to deal with those other teams if they are healthy. The depth is definitely a concern. I mean, we were just talking earlier about Chicago, how they've been able to withstand all of these major injuries to key players.

and now, I mean, let's say if Boston, let's say if Robert Williams who has a history of knee issues, he has been absolutely stellar for Boston on both ends of the court, shop blocking, switching, communicating, rebounding, on offense, the rim running,

the playmaking. I mean, he's just been absolutely terrific for the Celtics. If you lose him, like, what do you have behind him to replace that? What he offers to the team? You don't have it. If you lose a marker smart,

smart. D.S. slide Derek White into that role, but who slides into Derek White's role? Is Neesmith ready for that with the lack of opportunity he's gotten? Is it like a Sam Hauser? You know, the lack of depth is an issue for the Celtics,

which is why the buyout market for Boston, like if you're, if you're Gorin Dragich, I believe the teams Woj said are interested in him. We're like Lakers, Nets, bucks, and I'm forgetting another team or two. But if you're a dragage, I mean, I'm also saying, oh, I can play ahead of Peyton Pritchard in Boston. We've all predicted that that was going to be Dallas.

Don't you think it's going to be Dallas? I mean, maybe. Maybe they have Dinwiddie now and Brunson still. Maybe. It's possible. But, I mean, I don't know. We'll see about that. But I think Boston, like if I'm a player that gets bought out, like Gary Harris from Orlando,

I would look at the Celtics because they do need the depth. And you would be guaranteed to get play up playing time. on a team that will be in the postseason. And then even it's realistic or not, they have aspirations to go deep. So I think they should be a buyout candidate team to bolster their depth. So we'll see.

They could get even better, Chris. They could. Well, and there's a lot of teams that have dealt with, you know, depth issues because when they have guys out, they aren't easily replaced it. One of those is even Milwaukee. Go look up and down.

I mean, you know, they played that Yonnas last night. This Blazers team hilariously. I mean, Oh, my God. You think you're going one direction, but instead you've gone the other direction. Anthony Simons. Oh, yeah.

I knew you. And why don't you take a look at his back court for the last two games? I know, I know. Josh, Josh Harthead, I'll give the stats, Chris. Against the Knicks on Saturday, Josh Hart had 23 points on 12 shots.

And then last signing. against the bucks, 27, a 27 bomb on 16 shots. That's your guy, Chris. You can read off the rest of the stats, too. The Josh Hart is okay. Oh, I know, I know. The rebounds, assists, blocks.

Yeah, he fills up the box score. I know, I know. He does it all. And, hey, the Blazers are like, this guy's too good. We got to sit his ass. Yeah, right. It is super hysterical.

Like, they win that game against the Lakers, and then they go beat the Knicks. Now they smash the friggin' bucks. Big ups to Jared Allen. We talked about it. We thought it was wrong that he did not make the All-Star game, ironically replacing James Hardin, who he was once part of the trade to acquire in Brooklyn.

And his numbers this year, this has been a great season for Jared Allen. And, of course, the game's in Cleveland. he's replacing James Harden. It's his first All-Star selection. He ranks second in field goal percentage at just under 67%. He's tied for sixth in double-doubles with 30, ninth in rebounding with 11 and 13th in blocks per game so far this year. And it has been an outstanding season for Jared Allen. And as I mentioned, the game is in Cleveland.

So now Cleveland has two different All-Star. and Darrys Garland and Jared Allen. I'm glad because once they, you know, named the first replacement and it was, they replaced Durant. They named La Mello Ball. I was worried that like Alan was just going to go down as a, as a snub.

But instead, he is going to get to play in that game. So congrats to him and you and I both talked about how we wished he had, we wish that he had gotten in the first time around. Yeah, Jared Allen is definitely a deserving player. I'm happy that he made it. I thought he should have made it the first round. His defense has been absolutely fantastic this year for that Cavs roster. And offensively, he plays an integral role.

All-Star weekend is coming up this weekend. It doesn't do be particularly any good to go through the Rising Stars games and how that's going to play out and get a pick for that because we don't know how the hell that thing's going to work anyway. I still don't understand it. I'm just going to enjoy watching it. Do you have a three-point contest winner? I'll give you a chance to look up the participants, Kevin, because this is the last show we're going to do before the All-Star break.

Yes, we're no show Friday. You know you, I know you love Desmond Bain. He is going to be in it, Kevin. I will tell you he is going to be in it. So we got Canard, Mills, Bain, Towns, Levine, Van Bleet, McCollum, Young. That's the full list. Correct. I'm going to go with my guy, Desvin Bain.

You think he's going to be? are going to win it. Bain. Let's go with Bain. Why not? All right, Desmond Bain. Then, well, I wonder what kind of odds we can get on. Who do you get? Yeah, no, I'd be curious about it. I wonder what kind of odds we could get on, uh, Desmond Bain. I do like Bain's chances. I mean, it's not, you know, it's not like the usual suspect. It's not Curry. It's not clay. It's not some of those guys. So I do think that, uh, yeah, I like Bain's chances in this deal. I think, uh, you and me were going to be

the same page on that. I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised who you're picking this. Well, and a guy in his first, look, that's his first time around. It matters a lot to him. You know what I'm saying? As time goes on, it's not as big a deal to guys. But when you get to an opportunity to be on that stage,

I don't tell you, man, he has a repeatable stroke. Yes. It looks the same damn way every time. So when you set up guys like that in contest format, they can usually be a problem because they it's just the same thing every single time sometimes it goes in sometimes it doesn't but when you're repeatable like that i do think that that that bids you well when it comes to a contest format and i think cat same thing applies there carl anthony towns is a sleeper i don't know the odds but like i would imagine he's probably an underdog for this contest because he's a big but cat's an underrated one. winner of it. All right. Dunk contest. Obie Topping, Jalen Green, Cole Anthony. I'm rocking with Juan T. Juan T. Wantzano Anderson. I feel like Juan T's had a lot of time to plan out some epic dunks. I think it's Jalen Green for sure, right? It's going to be Jailen Green, yeah.

Let me tell you something. Cole Anthony, I think, is a big sleeper because short guys always look better if they pull off something incredible. Jaylen Green is not big either, though. His dunks could look very cool. I know. And he's got the, I mean, he's got the 18-year-old, you know, spring. I mean, he flies, truly. I mean, his frigging eyeballs are above the rib.

How about the skills challenge, Chris? You didn't mention that. Skills challenge. You have the team Antenna Coupa with Janus, Thanassus, and Alex. You get Cavs, Jared Allen, Garland, Mobley, and then team rooks. Barnes Cunningham and Giddy. That'll be fun. I like those teams.

I like the middle one. Team Cavs, Alan Garland Mobley. Yeah, I like that. I'm into it. I love how they have Team Anta Tocumpo. That's cool. I like Team Antitacupo too. It's pretty sick, right?

Yeah, I think I take the Cavs. Home court advantage. And then regarding the game, I mean, LeBron had like the infinitely better. team infinitely better. It was almost disgusting to watch that draft play out. Kevin Durant has shown to be so far maybe a better GM with the debts than he has been with his own All-Star team that he picks. Big part of the Harden Simmons trade according to that, according to that

and drafting Cam Thomas. And drafting Camp Thomas, but damn it, his draft for the all-star game was terrible. It really was. As someone who had, look, I got, I got a stake in the success of, I wanted John Morant to be set up for success.

And I mean, when it got that to, I'm like, bro, are you going to draft one player that he could throw a lob to? And finally, he drafted like Levine.

And I'm like, there is literally one player, John Morant could make a spectacular pass to. Like, for a lob. On the whole day, team. I'm like, it's an all-star game. How? How do you end up with one player that you could even like run a break with or throw up some crazy stuff with now Jared Allen. That'll help.

Jared Allen will help. He'll catch a lob for Morant. Chris, you're missing it. They already have Andrew Wiggins. They got Wiggins. Cut the crap. They got Rudy Gobert. You're going to see John Moran throwing lobs to Rudy Goberte. I'm going to tell you, I was stunned to see Steve Kerr talking last night about how horrible their defense has been, and now they, for seven games, they've dropped three of their last four,

when they have got Gary Payton reincarnate playing, you know, on the defensive perimeter for them. It is shocking. that you could have a legendary defender like Andrew Wiggins. That's what I was told was the reason, right? There's two ends of the court.

The guy is an amazing defender. But to have Gary Payton, by the way, they have Gary Payton, his offspring on that very team. But the recreation of Gary Payton, the father is not necessarily the son, but rather Andrew Wiggins, who is just locked down. The way he stops people, wow. High praise. Tune in, folks. You can hardly get a shot off the guy.

The tenacity at which he plays with, whoa, wow. It's shocking that their defense isn't so good right now. You have real love. Real love for Andrew Wiggins, Chris. Wow. I'm highly impressed. What a special defensive player. Well, you're grizzlies.

I mean, right now in the West, we got... Two back! Two back! Well, two back from the Golden State Warriors, the Memphis Grizzlies are, but the Warriors are now five back from the Sons. The Sons just continue separating themselves from the rest of the pack, 46 and 10. Right now, today, with uncertainty about Draymond Green and his back injury, we'll see. And we'll see back injuries are scary.

Right now, the sons are the favorite. They are the favorite, and they continue to separate themselves. There is no question about that. They are the prohibitive favorite. Right now they are. Yes. Right now. You're going to have to knock them off to win the title for sure.

Kevin, it is always a pleasure. We're going to be off on Friday. And I'm going to be at All-Star weekend in Cleveland this weekend. And so I'll try to gather some observations from being out there. then we will reconvene on Tuesday. I look forward to it. Everybody, have a great week. Thank you to our producer, Jesse Lopez, as always,

and we'll talk to you next week.