The Ringer NBA Show - 20 Questions for the 2018-19 NBA Season | The Mismatch (Ep. 320)

Episode Date: October 16, 2018

The Ringer’s Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor preview the imminent NBA season by answering and debating 20 questions about the league. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to the Ringer MBA show. I'm Chris Varnan. Join me as he does every Tuesday. And the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k.a. Kevin O'Connor, A.K.A. Kevin O'Conflict, aka Kevin O'Candyland, aka Kevin O'Cryor. What? Oh, and by the way, welcome to the mismatch, everybody, because we got a name, Kev.

We have a name now, Chris. Thank you, everybody for submitting endless amounts of suggestions. And it took us forever to find one. but thankfully we landed on the mismatch. I think it works for us, don't you, Chris? It does because now all of your fans can tweet me. Yeah, you're right, it is a mismatch.

Kevin's so smart and Kevin's so nuanced and Kevin's so thoughtful and then you, you're brain dead ogre. But then you have the people that knock me for having nuance and so like, just pick aside, you dope. Chris, we're a mismatch because we disagree on things and it's authentic.

It's perfect. Hey, we are friends. It's just hopefully like your friends arguing about stuff. Exactly. That's what it really is. Yep. 73rd season of the NBA this year for the 2018-19 season and the season is upon us. So with the season being upon us, we are going to answer 20 questions about the upcoming NBA season.

And we will get right into them. Are you ready, Kevin? I'm ready for 20 questions. It's a great game. All right. Number one, the NBA finals will feature who? The Warriors and Celtics. All right.

I actually agree with you. I think it will be... We're really going out on the limb here. Yeah, we are, boy, right off the bat. No disagreement. So much for mismatch. I'm going to have to change the name. Okay, well, no, we're getting the number two.

If I told you, Kevin, I've looked into the future, and for certain one of those two teams is not going to be in the NBA finals. I am guaranteeing you that one of those two teams is not going to be in the NBA finals. So now you get a third team to choose from that you think could be in the NBA finals if it is not one of those two. I would go with the Raptors here. And here's why, Chris, I think when you look at that potential Celtics Raptors' Eastern Conference Finals matchup, if that's what it is, it means Kauai Leonard is as good as he was in 2016-17 or even better. It means that Toronto's younger role players like Fred Van Bleet and OGN and Obie got better. and it means Boston stayed healthy

because they already have a pretty loaded roster as is last year. And I think Toronto with Kauai Leonard, with a little bit of improvement, could knock Boston off in the East. And you could foresee a situation where it's like maybe a Pacers or a Buxers. I'm saying somebody gets them early in the

playoffs, right? There are enough strong teams, maybe in the semis, that somebody knocks them off, possibly. I could see you with the Raptors. I mean, you take that team and you're adding Kauai Leonard or two. We're obviously, you know, thinking about health. I'll give you one in the Western Conference. I really like that Utah team, man. And they got hotter than hell in the second half

of the season. And again, it's very strongly believe that the two teams that are going to be there are going to be, that they should be prohibitive favorites. I also like your Toronto pick. If I've got to go with somebody in the West, like out of nowhere, you know, something happens. You know, the Warriors have gotten pretty good health. And their depth is by virtue of extended winning, your depth continues to get hurt, right, year after year. And that Utah team, I think, throws a wrench if they could keep Rubio healthy, if they could keep Gobert healthy.

And obviously they've got Joe Engels, they've got Joe Engels. Crowder was really good for them last year. He was. And now you get a full season with him. I just like the teams that throw the, they've been great in the preseason. You know, they won every game in the preseason. I know that doesn't mean anything, but they've looked good in the preseason. And the other thing is they've got guys on that, you know, I think Grayson Allen can actually play for them this year.

And you get hopefully a season of X-em along with them. I don't know, man. I really like that team. And I think that they throw something different on the table than every, else does. And they were banged up by the time they got to the playoffs last year. I mean, they didn't have their point guard. And then they lost X them right after that, for God's sakes. I don't know. I like that Utah team, though. I think Utah is a good pick as well. And honestly, I mean, Houston has been talked about

a lot this preseason as a team that could be worse in terms of the wins column. And that's certainly possible. I mean, after losing Trevor Areza and Luke Baimutei, but the one thing I think to keep in mind with Houston is, A, as you know, you've seen him in Memphis, James Ennis is a pretty good player. And then Gary Clark, on a two-way contract, maybe by the end of the season, his shot looks significantly better than it did it in his four years at Cincinnati, and he's already a ferocious defender. And I think if you're talking about under the bright lights of the playoffs,

you might miss Trevor Arisein Bada Mute, but then again, Arisa was Mr. O for 12 in game seven, and Bob Mute's shoulder has literally fallen off. So maybe you're better off with N.S. and Gary Clark when it comes to playoff time in April, May, and possibly June. No, I'm an Ennis fan. Obviously, you know, like you said, had him in Memphis.

Solid. But I mean, every coach gives up on him. You know what I mean? And this is solid. But I will tell you that like he's been a lot of different places. Yeah. And moves on to different places. Nobody's like hung on to him for whatever reason.

And so no, that Houston team's going to be really good too. You know, I'm just saying if there's somebody outside of the pocket that people are not talking about as a possible finals contender, but we both agree that the two teams that are prohibited favorites should be prohibited favorite. We also did not mention LeBron James, by the way, who's in the frigging finals every year for the last decade. I know he's in the West now, but he has been in the

finals, and he has more often than not, we look up at the end and like, why am I betting against LeBron James? So it would be interesting to see how far he could get his team. Number three, the team that will surprise people. I had a hard time with this one. Who do you got? the team that I think will surprise people is... Don't say Memphis. What? How dare you think that I was...

How dare you think that I was going to be a homer? All right, I will tell you the teams that I considered, okay? I'm not going to say Memphis because you would just laugh me off the face of the earth. That's okay. So, I considered Cleveland, right? Because you are now without LeBron James. And so I think they're kind of an afterthought now, right? So if they did well this season, I think it would be surprising to people.

Would you agree with that? Sure. Okay. I considered Charlotte. You got a little change of pace. Again, total afterthought team. I considered Orlando because everybody thinks they're going to be absolutely horrible, and they probably will be.

But they've got some players I really like. And I know they are without a point guard, but like I saw them in the preseason. And the rest of their team, I mean, they got some guys that are coming into their own, and I didn't even get to see Bamba in the game. I thought about Dallas. Rick Carlisle, I've seen the guy win games with his back court being Yogi Farrell and Seth Curry. So now he's got, we'll see if Smith and Luca can play together, but he's got DeAndre there. I mean, they got some solid guys. I know at the beginning of the season, I mean, they're going to be without Dirk, and it sounds like Barnes is still banged up. I consider the Clippers.

Isaac, you love that, don't you? Love it. Absolutely love it. I know you loved that. They looked very good in the preseason. They were undefeated in the preseason, which, by the way, preseason, let's not read too much into it. But it's a good sign for them if they're healthy, they could be achieving. They were just riddled with injury last year. People forget.

Yeah. Well, they have a lot of guys that do get injured. This is true. Pat Beverly, Denelago, Gallinari, and Avery Bradley is not a great trifecta to lean on right now. But those are good players. Great players if they can stay on the court. Yeah. But I will, after all, I'll tell you, those are the ones that I considered as teams that could surprise people this year.

I think I'm going with Cleveland. Don't you think Cleveland is, you know I love Colin Sexton. I love him. You got a bunch of veteran guys on that team, on that Cleveland team. And I also think that you could get a monster Kevin Love season. Kevin Love is what? He's one of the 10 best for sure, right? In the East?

Sure, yeah, something like that. Would you take him over Simmons? No. You wouldn't. I'm saying for this season, just for this season. No. Do you think he would not take him over Benson? I might shoot with the wrong hand,

but he does pretty much everything else better than Kevin Love, except rebound. Or shoot. Yeah, he shoots with the wrong hand. You can't shoot well when you shoot with the wrong hand. Kevin Love is an outstanding shooter. And Kevin Love is also probably going to put up Minnesota Kevin Love level production this year

because they're going to use him more as a feature offensive player. Yeah. But Simmons is a better defender, more versatile offender, a transcend the playmaker. Okay, well, I'm just saying that we're not going to have down because obviously you've got Janus, you've got Kawhi, you've got the kids in Philadelphia.

Kyle Lowry or Kevin Love, who would you rather have? Probably this year's version of Kevin Love, but Kyle Lowry is a better defensive player. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I mean, it's tough. It's like really a toss-up between some of those guys. I think the East thinks they got, you know, George Hill, they got the two kids. kids from L.A. they got, I know everybody hates them now, but Clarkson and Nance are like,

you know, they can play in your rotation. And you still got the veterans in J.R. and Kyle Corver and you got Tristan. I know you like Jody. I'm the president of the Jettie Awesome fan club of the original, but I don't think I am anymore because he has a huge following now. It's quite remarkable to see how that's develops. I think everybody thinks they're going to suck. And I don't think they're going to suck. And that they could actually win games without LeBron games. so I'll go Cleveland. What about you?

My answer is a little, I think I viewed the question a little bit differently when you emailed it earlier for a bigger surprise. More so than like the wins, loss column. I think Orlando is going to be interesting.

They're not going to win a lot of games. They're going to stink. But with their length, with Bamba, Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac, I think there will be an interesting team to monitor and they might surprise some people with their youth

how interesting they are. I don't think they're going to be an eyesore to watch. Right? Like, some of those magic teams in the past have been like unwatchable. I think this year could be interesting. Guards are so bad. If they had some guards to go with that, those big. I mean, it's like Augustine, Jerry and Grant, Fornier.

I mean, it's rough. Yeah. That's, I mean, that's going to keep them from being good. By the way, love the coach. I'm a Clifford fan. I think he's really good. But they ain't going to win a lot this year. No, they're not.

I end up back off of them. Just because of the guard. To be clear, they're not going to win a lot of games. No, you can't, you can't win. without guards. You kind of went through some of the other ones anyway, so I don't want to repeat. Okay, the team that will disappoint people this year, that thinks is going to be good, but is going to disappoint people. Boy. I will tell you, I debated too. Portland. And by the way, moment of honesty, thoughts and prayers with everybody in that Portland organization. Oh, for sure.

Because it is very, very tough time hearing of the passing of Paul Allen, and that is the leader of their organization. He was obviously a Titan in the technology world, but he's been a very significant sports owner for a long time in multiple sports. He lived a fascinating life. He really did. He reached in so many different areas, football, basketball, sports, obviously technology, but also music too. Yep. So I considered Portland, and that is because you can walk around to people, and if I ask the question, I say, who is Portland's third best player? I guess people say Nerkich, right? I mean, you have a difficult time deciding who their third best player is. And there are some guys they lost in the offseason that I thought really helped them last year, one of which was Sabaz Napier,

who impressed me every time I saw him, because I thought he was done, like, I mean, I had just given up on him. And he was good for them. He was certainly solid when he came in the game for them. And Ed Davis is the other one. And I'm a fan of Ed Davis, and I think Ed Davis helped them. Played a lot of minutes for them last year, effectively. So they were one of them. And then the other one, which is the one I'm going with, is New Orleans. Most people have New Orleans as a playoff team this year. Wouldn't you agree? Seems like a lot of people have them in the playoffs. Okay. Most people have them in the playoffs. Well, if I am to believe all that I read last year about the significance that Rondo had for that team,

And I believe that to be true. I believe that Rondo had a major impact on them last year. You know, you read all those articles about them calling defensive plays from the sideline. And obviously, he played well for them last year and could keep the ball moving. And it worked out better than I thought it was. Their perimeter guys are not good enough, Kevin. You got Drew and then what? I mean, it's like Etouin Moore.

Etouin Moore's not a bad player. Ian Clark, I'm just saying, throughout, the regular season. You've lost Perimeter guy in Rondo who was significant for you. Rondo was really good last year for them. Really important, especially on, you know, playmaking, but also communication

on the defensive end. And you and I both agree on this front, right? That Holiday and Davis have not been the beacons of health over the course of their careers. Davis has been healthier in recent years, though. He's played over 70 games each of the last two seasons. That's for sure. But I'm not in love with any player

on their team past Drew and Anthony. And maybe that's enough. Maybe it's enough. I take that back. I love Randall. I just don't know if it's a great fit there for him. But I do.

I'm a big Julius Randall fan. I don't know. I look at the Pelicans and if I am to believe that Rondo had a major significant impact on him last year, then I think his loss could have an impact on him the other way. Nicole Amiritedich is a guy that can't be overlooked either. He was really good for the Pelicans after being acquired mid-season from the Bulls. And now you're going to get a full year of him spacing the floor next to Davis, or you can play bully ball with Julius Randall. I think that flexibility in the front court is going to be really interesting to watch over the course of the season.

I like them. I like how they can play different styles. It might not work out for the reasons you stated, Chris, but I like the fact that they can take on different shapes depending on the opponent or maybe force the opponent to play the way that they want them to play. because Anthony Davis is a top three player in the NBA, and you have Randall and Meritich who can be swapped. I wish the perimeter guys were better. I mean, obviously, listen, they're building around Davis over the course of the first years of his career

has been downright malpractice. And now he hired the guys from Clutch, and so it ain't looking all that good. All right, who is your disappointing team? If I got the Pelicans, who do you got? I have the Philadelphia 76ers. Is this because of the way Markell Fulte ate cheese fries at summer league.

No. I was thinking about this the other day. If I would have done that, people would have never let me live it down. But it has nothing to do with Markle Fultz's cheese fry eating. Nothing. It has to do with Markle Foltz starting. It has to do with the fact that floor spacing will be an issue for this team. And granted, Reddick is supposed to start second half.

I don't know how long that's going to last. It might only last until the end of the month, for that matter. However, I am, for them last season, they had that big win streak to finish the year that pulled them from like the seven seed up to the top of the Eastern Conference. And that was against a lot of non-playoff teams. And granted Philadelphia made their run. And Joe Ambide should be projected to be better. Ben Simmons should be better.

And the team is still really strong. I'm not saying they'll be bad by any means. All I'm saying is that maybe they're not three seed. Maybe they're the four. Maybe Indiana bumps them off. Maybe all the projecting forward. It's not achieved yet for that team because they're still so young. They were ahead of schedule last year.

I think it's more about the hype that's around them right now than anything else, Chris. Well, I will say that if you pay attention to any of those, like the stat guys, what they will tell you was post acquiring Bellanelli and Ilyosova, those guys were immense for them. Like, they're lineups that included those guys. They really were. These were massive positive impact guys for that team. and they don't have them anymore, and do you feel like they'd replace them, really?

We'll see. I think they certainly could. Muscala's not bad, necessarily. Landry Shammit, I think he's very, very underrated. And Shammit, I think he looks really, really good in Summer League, and yeah, it's just Summer League, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But, you know, he's 21 years old, played two full seasons at Wichita State.

It's really smart, high-a-Q player. He's the type of rookie that even though he's a late first-round pick, You can project him to have an understanding of the game and fit in early on. I think his shooting could be helpful for that roster. And he's not, it's hard to be worse than Bell and Ellie on the defensive end of the floor. I don't think he will be any worse than him there. I'd say this on Shamid. I was a huge fan of his in college.

You remember that Ringer story that I wrote about the nine guys that won't fail? Yeah. You know, he was moving down the charts on these mock drafts. And so I really considered him. And I had two guys taught me out of him saying, be careful because the kid gets hurt a lot. Because I guess he'd missed his freshman year, right? He would have been on the Van Fleet, Clee Anthony early.

And he had had a couple, like, real injuries in college. He did. And had a tough time staying on the court. And so they were saying, like, if you want to look up in a couple of years, like, it's just a risk. That's all. He just played four years at Wichita State, and he missed a lot of time, Chris. And so I was like, uh, right.

From the ringer's 2018 NBA draft guide, the first minus on there, quote, underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal on his left foot in November 2015 and then again on his right foot in July 2017. That's a lot of surgery on your feet before you're even in the NBA. Yeah.

All right. So the 76ers, that will not be popular around your offices once people hear this. They're super hyped around these parts. I feel like the ringer is higher on the Sixers than Sixers fans themselves are, but we have a lot of Philadelphia fans here. Yeah, they're still feeling themselves over

that Eagle Super Bowl, right? So everything's going their way. All right. Number five, the coach that should worry the most about getting fired. Usually this is termed first coach fired, but we'll just term it the coach that should be worried the most, that he needs to get off to a good start. Isn't it Tom Tibido? Isn't that the default answer?

We're throwing him out. Oh, come on. That's not fair. It's got to be too. We've got to throw him out because that's not fair. Fine. Fred Horiburg, maybe with the Bulls. Because they spent a talk.

of money, right? Yeah, and, you know, with a young team, you want to see some development, some progress. Maybe they sputter early and they take an opportunity to pull the plug. But I still like Hoyberg. I do. They threw a ton of money at Zaccloven. They threw a ton of money at Jabari. Yeah.

So, I mean, they spent a lot of money this time around, right? It's not a cheap roster. I don't know. They probably think they should win some games, you know? And that may be tough. Well, I'll tell you what. I'm intrigued by the marketing and Carter front court. I really am.

Oh, for sure. Marking in once he's back from his injury, they could be interesting. Wendell Carter's a guy who's going to contribute as a rookie. And then they've got what, 40-something million tied up into Levine and Parker? I don't know how it all works together. Jabari's going to be a four, right? I mean, that's... I mean, it's not about the season.

It's about development for the Chicago Bulls. Well, tell Fred Oyberg that. You know, piggybacking on, if I'm right about the team that's going to be disappointing, then it's Alvage entry. Stick into your other pick then. Well, no, I'm just saying he's been on the hook before. Hey, you want me to make people lose their minds? Yeah, who were you going to say, Brad Stevens or something like that?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Luke Walton. Oh, I mean, that goes without saying, though. LeBron gets every guy. Yeah. Osted. Yeah. It's unbelievable.

Tried to get Spolster out, too. I know. Spolster is literally the only one that has made it. Luke will make it through the season. Yeah. Luke Walton's a good coach, I think. Luke Walton deserves an opportunity with this young roster. And I think LeBron James is going to give it to him.

He's playing fast in preseason. And I'm very excited to see how long it sustains over the course of the regular season. I'd agree with you completely. I think Luke can do it. He's a good coach. Really good coach. And Portland is the other one that I'd mention. Oh, that's a good one.

Yeah. Right. I mean, Terry Stats had that job forever. Yeah. And they don't get out of the first round. And when Simmons did his deal with House, the over-under podcast, he was talking about Damian Lillard being a Laker. And it sounded like he knew something.

It sounded like he knew something. House even called him out on it. And he even like, what was the deal? It was Pope and Lanzo. LeBron wants to play with Damian Lillard. One of the guys he'd like to play with, and that's chatter around the league. It has been since before LeBron even signed with the Lakers.

There's one of the many indicators that LeBron was heading there. I just don't see, even in a theoretical world where it was an offer like that, I don't see Portland dealing within the Western Conference. How about Pope and Lonzo? Do you think that's a reasonable deal? I don't think Portland would do it. I think they would look east.

Whether you agree with that logic or not about dealing within your conference, it's what a lot of teams and executives and owners feel. All right. Number six, the first year head coach we will be most impressed with. We've got James Barago in Charlotte. We got Lloyd Pierce in Atlanta. We got Nick Nurse in Toronto. We've got Igor Cuckusional.

Cof in Phoenix. Which one, Gav? That's my selection. Nick Nurse. Nurse. Toronto Rappers. Yes, Nick Nurse. You're going to see Toronto playing faster, even more ball movement, more three-pointers.

I think we're going to see that team take a little bit of a step forward. And with these other teams, these other coaches, they're not really in a position where people are going to necessarily be super impressed by the changes because they're not quite at the same level that Toronto is. How about Barago, though? Charlotte's not ready to make a leap. You don't think so? No.

What if Malik Monk's good this year? I love bridges. You know I love my own bridges. I know, me too. I just don't, I mean, sure, I think Barago could. Absolutely. But I mean, Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors are in a position to win the Eastern Conference.

The Charlotte Hornets are not. You know what I'm saying? You're right. No, well, listen, the Nick Nurse thing is going to be 100% about the playoffs. And, of course, poor Dwayne Casey is like, oh, great. Now LeBron leaves the frigging conference.

I mean, that was the bane of his existence. He could just never beat LeBron, right? You know, he kept drawing LeBron. Even when LeBron would get a crappy seed, he drew him last year before he could get to the East Finals. Like, you wonder, by luck of the draw, we could have seen a couple of Raptors' Eastern Conference Finals appearances more than we did if they wouldn't have run into LeBron yet. I think there's a good case to be made that they could have gotten there. maybe if they drew somebody else. But they were always in that bracket with LeBron,

and now they're not. And so, listen, Dwayne Casey got, he didn't get fired for regular season success, that's for sure. Guy was freaking coach of the year last year. Speaking about Dwayne Casey, the Pistons last year attempted 33% of their shots

from three-point range. That was kind of towards the middle of the league. This preseason, they attempted 44% of their shots from three, which is near the top. So I'm excited to see how that team looks with, you know, Blake shooting more threes. Even Andre Drummond's shooting threes. He missed all of them in preseason.

But it'll be fascinating to see how that team looks with their new look system. Do they have anybody that can hit him? Luke canard? Who can hit threes on that team? Reggie Bullock. They have some guys. Well, I don't know if that's smart to be shooting that many. You know, right?

It's one thing to shoot that many. it's another thing to have the guys that can make them. You don't have to be that great at him to have a higher value than a deep two. You're right. It's really not even about deep two versus threes for a guy like Drummond. It's about do you want him in the dunker spot?

Do you want him rolling down the lane in the pick and roll? Andre Drummond is shooting threes? Yeah, he shot 11 three-pointers in preseason and he clanked all of them off the backboard or the not off the backboard, like off the side of the backboard. I mean like back of the rim. Do you play 2K? No, I haven't in years.

You can't hit a damn free throw with the guy. He's over 60% from the free throw line now. He's changed the shot. Well, not on 2K. He doesn't. All right. Next one. The player with the chance at being this year's Oladipo. Ooh, I like this one.

I wrote an article about this, Chris. A couple weeks ago. Number seven, the player that has a chance at being this year's Oladipo. Like maybe somebody that was highly touted. And now, you know, we kind of, I don't want to say gave up on them being a star, but then came into their own and became a star. Who do you have for this? I'm curious about your answer first. You know I love Justice Winslow.

I love him too. I'm just not giving up on him. I wouldn't. I'm just not giving up on him. Was he, he's still like 21, right? He is, every time I look at his age, I'm like, my God, how is he still so young? I'm just a big fan. Just turned 22 this year for what it's worth.

I was joking too, right? But he is. He's still 22 years old. And I loved him at Duke. And I think that the kids got more offensive game than he shows, that he has showed so far. I think Justice Winslow is going to be a big time player in the league. I've said that for a long, long time. And I'm just not giving up.

So he's my... I dig it. I really, really like that pick. I don't know if it's in the cards for him in Miami, playing next to Hassan White's side. I want to see Winslow in a role where he's playing more small ball five. The Dremon Green type of role for Winslow is where he would, where he would be at his absolute best.

And maybe Miami puts him in more of those situations. They have in the past. So we'll see about that. My pick, Chris, I have two guys that I had in that article I mentioned. They don't really fit that same description that you gave earlier about the high draft pick that people gave up on. But Chris Middleton for the Milwaukee Bucks, I think in Mike Boodenholzer's new system,

Middleton is going to shoot more threes than he ever has. And he's a stellar shooter. He's improved in other ways as well with the amount of spacing on that rock. with the Anastenton Dacompo taking another step forward in his game too. Middleton has an opportunity to become an All-Star in the Week Eastern Conference. And then the other guy is Taurine Prince on the Atlanta Hawks. He's made strides in each season of his career. And Prince is somebody who, out of Baylor, I worried about his shot selection.

I worried about his decision-making. And that's gotten better, but so hasn't every single other part of his game. His shot, his shooting off the dribble, is ball handling. He's still a ferocious, hard-nosed defender. Prince and Middleton are the two guys that I think can make a leap. Oh, that's good ones. And Middleton's obviously been in the league for a long time. So that would be cool to see.

With the Prince thing, you know, he was really good in the playoffs. I remember him jumping off the screen to me a couple of years ago. As a rookie, I mean, he was getting real playoff minutes. I love that guy. I do, too. In the draft, I wanted to love him. I really did. Just the decision making was so bad for an upperclassman.

I really worried about that. But Atlanta did. They took him at 12. Really high. A lot higher. than many people expected them to go. And not only that, they traded for the pick. And that's always an indicator that the franchise loves a player

when you're actually trading for them. Yep. And he, I believe he is, I mean, he's pretty well carrying the torch to somebody who's been very good out of Baylor. I mean, there have been those disappoint. I remember, Epke Udo, Perry Jones. Perry Jones. Oh, my God.

Just the Baylor kids have not really translated. Do you know how much I loved Perry Jones? Oh, you did? I loved Perry Jones so much in the draft. I loved them. Oh, no. All right, let's move to number eight. We had an amazing, amazing rookie class last year, Kevin.

Who has the best second year? And I'll even let you throw in Ben Simmons. I was going to say, it's Ben Simmons, man. It's Ben Simmons. Who else would it be? Donovan? I know. I know.

I'm only kidding. Who else would it be? For a moment, I wanted jazz fans. I think we forgot about. Donovan Mitchell. Of course we didn't. He's fantastic. It'd be the real rookie of the year. Donovan Mitchell? Yeah. Yeah. Hey, you know what? Going off your Orlando thing earlier and how much we keep praise on him during

summer league, Isaac, totally off the board. He is not mentioned at all amongst the Tatum's and the Mitchells and the Simmons's and marking in even. Guys that had like, I mean, God, the friggin' rookie class was crazy. Like Lonzo was like a disappointment to people, which is unbelievable, right? You know who we kind of glossed over though, Chris? Jason Tatum. Tatum was fantastic last season for the Celtics, and he should take another step in terms of skill.

But the question was about best season. And with Hayward back and all the other guys, I don't know if the opportunity is necessarily there. That's a lot of shots of Hayward and Kyrie are back in the lineup. It's going to be interesting to see how that all breaks down for Boston. They're going to be fantastic. Oh, of course, they're going to be awesome. I'm just saying if we look at the individual

output of the guys. Oh, yeah. Whose line suffers? Tatems? Jalens? El Horford. I think El Horford could score. I think Al Horford could be under 10 points per game.

Oh, really? Yeah, I do. I think he's going to sacrifice a lot. You could do like a Dremont thing where it's like some nights he's just got 10 rebounds, six assists, then three blocks. Yeah. And maybe hit a three or two to stretch out the defense or something like that.

Al Horford's going to be the guy. that's sacrificing points, and he's okay with that. It's not something that he necessarily does. He's not going to score more than he did last year, which was only 12.9 points per game, and this preseason, he scored 8.3 points per 32 minutes, and he's not going to play much more than 32 minutes per game. He could easily be under 10 points per game

for the first time in his entire career. All right, so like the end of last year, you've got Simmons, I've got Mitchell. But let's throw in a little bonus here. At the end of the year, do you think that when it comes to the number one and number two pick in that draft, do we think Fultz or Ball

is the better player after this season is completed? If we go back in time, you'd take Lanzo. Obviously, you take Tatum, you'd take Mitchell. I'm saying just between those two. Yeah, no question. No question about it.

By the way, neither of them could shoot. To me, I mean, looking back at the draft, my top three was Fultz, Tatum, ball. it was pretty tight between those three, in my opinion. I think there was a little bit of a little drop off from Tatum to ball, but it was pretty close, and I wouldn't have argued with somebody if they took ball over Fultz in the draft,

I would have disagreed with the decision, but I could see the logic behind it. There's just different types of players, and I think Lonsel ball moving forward with the factor that Markell Fultz will see about his shot, but it doesn't look that great. Needed as the free throws. At least he was a really good shooter at one point in his life.

I think Lonsa shot is better. people think it is because it looks so ugly, but it's not bad. It really is, though, ugly. It is. It is. It really is. Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine. The most triumphant return from injury.

Gordon Hayward, Kauai Leonard, Chris S. Porzengis, DeMarcus, DeMarcush, Kyrie Irving. Oh, and because I want to be a homer, Mike Conley. It's got to be Kauai, right? It has to be Kaui Leonard. because of the weirdness of that injury, the mysteriousness behind that whole season. And now he's back in Toronto, a team that's just got pounded by LeBron,

come up multiple years in a row. Disappointment after disappointment. Now, Kauai Leonard, here to save the day. It has to be Kauai. You think Kauai is the one. Gotta be. It's hard to save the day on a team that damn near 160 games.

I know, and that's why it's also not Gordon Hayward, because even Hayward himself was like, Jesus, you know, this team went to the Eastern Conference Finals with help me? Yep. Well, Kyrie, same way, right? I mean, and I know he didn't miss the whole season. But I agree with you.

All right. 10. The leading score in the NBA this year will be. Can we say this one at the same time? Like 3, 2, 1 go. I want to see if we have the same one, because I have a hunch we do. I don't know why.

You want to count it down? Isaac, can you count us down? Yeah, yeah. Okay. 3, 2, 1. Anthony Davis. What? No.

Yes. Yonis. I'm saying I'm saying. Why do you? So here's why I thought you had AD, Chris, because you projected them to not meet expectations. Correct.

My thought was that Anthony Davis will be compensating by scoring more. And that's why you would pick him as the leading score in the NBA. Is that right? Well, I know that these teams have to score like they usually score over 100-something points a night, right? Now go look through their roster and tell me where the 100-something are coming from. And they're going to play at a really fast pace this year.

Right? New Orleans is going to play fast. Couldn't you see him averaging 35 a night seriously? I mean, I could have. I mean, Justin Barry, editor at the ringer.com, used to cover the Pelicans for ESPN, and he mentioned how Pelicans are probably going to break pace records this year.

And in preseason, they led all NBA teams with 114.2 pace, which is possessions per game, they're going to be just fast. Well, and here's the other thing. He was second last year behind Hardin. And Hardin got his MVP and his scoring. title. And so is he going to, you know, every night the same way, go out there and give you 30 every single night like he did before?

Doesn't need to. Doesn't need to. No. AD kind of does. A hundred percent. And I mean, how's Hardin going to average 30 if he's got Carmelo on his team? Carmel's got to just stand in the corner. Get over there, Mello. Get over there. Hoodie Mello in the corner, huh? All right. Well, wow. I can't believe we agreed on that. One other thing with AD is, like, Cousins was also on the team for half the season. That's true. Sharing the Rock with him. I think AD

is going to be the guy. And it's weird to say this, Chris, but Anthony Davis could have a, and this sounds really dumb. Anthony Davis kind of a breakout season. By that, I mean, before the year he said in that interview that he thinks he's the best player in the NBA, if AD wins MVP,

if he leads the league and scoring and he's a defensive player of the year candidate, if not the winner, that conversation's going to start. If I'm right, gentry might get fired, and they may move him. They're not going to trade AD this season. They're not going to trade AD this season.

I would be floored. I would be floored if they traded him during the season. If you're the New Orleans Pelicans, what you have to do is do everything else before you trade Anthony Davis. That's making additions, trying to throw stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks,

and then maybe in the summer, that's when a trade would happen. But during the year, I would just be flat out stunned if he were traded. If you want to get the absolute most for him, though. Are you taking the side of blowing up, Chris? I mean, I'm just, listen. Well, what's happening?

It's eight years. It's eight years they hadn't built around him, and now he's got all the clutch guys in his ear. Chris, two years ago, two years ago when we first started doing this podcast together, you were so against blowing it up. You can't do it, no way. Never, never.

You're going to try. Hold on now. What are they blowing up? Kevin, they've been to a playoff twice. I'm not going to get into this. And then got knocked out in the first round. You talk about blowing up good teams. That's what you talk about.

But you wanted to blow up the damn raptors a couple years ago. Now look, they got Kauai Leonard on their team. What I wanted them to do is to go into the summer and assess the team. Oh, God. And then consider blowing it up. And they didn't have to. They didn't because the team got better. They changed the system, started shooting more three, starting passing the ball more.

You say blow it up. We're talking about, Anthony, they got one player. I wanted the clippers to blow up. They got nothing else to blow up. Yeah. know you got a Nithuan more jersey, but come on. There's nothing else on that team. I'm actually going to get a Jolil Okafour

Phyllic in Shurzy. You know what? He should just wear the same number as a Mecca because didn't he play for them last year? Yeah. So there's probably a mecca shirze is running around. You could just buy an Okafour on clearance

from last year and it would actually apply. I'm rooting for Jalalalekhawr. I'm just very skeptical that it's going to work out for him. But I'm rooting for him. Looks to be in great. He does. He does. He does. I saw that story about him.

All right, we've got to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll give you the last 10 questions for the upcoming NBA season. Today's episode of The Mismatch is brought to you by Stitch Fix. Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service that finds and delivers clothes, shoes, and accessories to fit your body, budget, and lifestyle. I have had Stitch Fix, and, man, I got a bunch of good stuff. Two of my favorite sweaters, they have sent stuff great brands that I did not know of before. and everything they send me ends up fitting perfectly. They can help you find your favorite piece of clothing.

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And this is a team that does not have a ton of regularly scheduled national television performances. The answer I had written down for this is not good. The team I'll end up watching the most. I thought you were going to say the Pelicans because you want to watch Anthony Davis score 40 every night. I'm not sure if this is the team I'll be watching the most, but The Atlanta Hawks are interesting to me. What? They're interesting, Chris.

Torrine Prince. Trey Young. Oh, my God. They have some fun young players on that roster. Is this real life? Kevin Herder. What? John Collins.

Omari Spellman. I saw Kevin Herder in person a week and a half ago. They put him in the game. And finally, Lloyd Pierce was like, dude, we got to get it. Ran three pick and rolls just right at him. I mean, he can't guard me. I'm serious. Does he look like an NBA player?

He doesn't when he moves laterally. I'll tell you that. But when he shoots the ball, he certainly does. And his playmaking could be good down the line. All right. So that is your... That's such a bad answer. The Atlanta Hawks, they're going to suck. I actually think

I'm going to be most intrigued with wanting to see what Luca does. He will draw... That's the real answer. Luca Donchard. You're going to have to watch League Pass to see him. I just don't want to say the Phoenix Suns. I didn't want to trigger you. Oh my God. I don't want to trigger you, Chris.

How dare you? How dare you? Phoenix Sons. I'll say, I'm going to say the king so I can watch my boy Bagley. Speaking of him on Kings, Chris, check out Harry Giles. His passing. He's looking like Gasol. I put up a video clip.

I retweeted somebody last week. I got a lot of traction on that one from fans because I had said I passed along a story, which is absolutely true. And some people say, well, that dude is not Chris Weber. I'm telling you, in high school, there were a lot of people that were convinced Harry Giles was going to be the next Chris Weber. But he was that level of skilled player. By the way, it was without question.

He was the best player in that class until the injuries just robbed him. And then obviously the year at Duke was a disaster. And he's been trying to come back from these injuries. And this is he looked good in Summerlee. league. He's looked good in the preseason so far. I'm really rooting for him because once upon a time, there's a couple of these kids that were like high school kids that they really got it taken away from them, what they could have been. The greatest example of this was somebody I was talking about the other night at a game with somebody. If you ever go back, Sonny Vicaro, his wife Pam ran the ABCD

camps, which is the elite level summer camp every year. And she sent me a bunch of the DVDs from this, and they're unbelievable to go back and watch. But there's one of them, and this is when all the best players were playing against each other, all the high school kids in the country. And Bill Walker, who ended up going to Kansas State,

I mean, you've never seen anything like this, Kevin. Bill Walker in high school was an absolute freak of nature. But, I mean, he ended up, you know, busting his knees 100 times over. Now known as Henry Walker. He just never fulfilled his destiny.

Anybody can go look up his high school YouTube clips? It's like watching an NBA All-Star playing in a high school game. It's crazy. I really liked him. It's a second round pick. Good flyer in the mid-late second round for the Celtics and what was it? 0-7-08, yeah, 08, I think for Bill Walker. Yeah, Bill Walker.

Anyway, but yeah, Giles, same kind of deal where he was supposed to be off the charts. And then it's really been robbed for him. Still could be. I mean, he's had a lot, a lot, a lot of leg injuries in his life. And we'll see how it works out for him. but there's no doubt the talent is there for him to be a multi-dimensional, switchable, elite rebounder who can pass and can space the floor a little bit. Giles is, I hope he really stays healthy.

I do. Back to our original conversation. The Luca thing is it's just so intriguing because it's, we didn't get to see him in college like we did most of these guys, right? I've seen a lot of these guys play a ton. And I've seen Luca play in the Euro League. but now is like the first go round where you're getting to see him

against all these guys. And so I am super intrigued. Number 12. People will think blank about Stan Van Gundy as an announcer. I think maybe the same as my reaction. Wait, Stan Van Gundy is announcing. Really?

You didn't know that? I mean, it's not something really on my radar. Interesting. I really hope. No offense to Mark Jackson. I hope they put brothers together. That'd be cool.

I'd love the scene. I do. Because they will fight like on the air and I will love it. Because, you know, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark can be kind of passive and I think Stan would like go right back at him. Or maybe they just agree on stuff. I don't know. But I mean,

you should have, I don't know if you've heard Zach Lowe's last podcast. Jeff Van Gundy was so damn contentious about everything. Oh, he really was. He really was so contentious about everything. I want to get Stan in there with him. I think Stan Van Gundy is going to be great. And I think fans are going to love him.

Is he announcing or just doing studio stuff? No, no, no. He's going to be, I think he's going to be calling games. Yeah, I didn't know that. I saw, like, you know, like doing the jump or all that. Yeah, and sometimes, and sometimes you never know with these guys. I mean, everybody thought Rex Ryan was going to be amazing. And he's just not.

No, he's not. He's an amazing personality as a coach, but he's an amazing personality as a broadcaster. Not a good coach either. good defensive coordinator not to get to NFL talking again but hold on now he did go to the ASC championship twice I understand sure it's not like the Jets have done anything since he's been

gone number 13 the Raptors could resign Kauai if do you know my first answer hey do you know my first answer I wrote down let me hear yours first if he understands math oh why

no because it's five years 190 right to resign there and it's four years 141 from anyone else and he already walked away from 30 million right? Because he could have signed the five year supermax for 220 with San Antonio like dude how much money do you want to lose on this deal? I don't know and obviously he's got the shoe deal pending

so who knows what he's going to do with that. But the answer is what? He goes to the East Finals. Maybe that's part of it. I think to your point, Chris, it's about the money as well for a guy that's had the injuries that he's had. you have to think about what's in the most financial interest. However, my response is a little bit more about whatever just makes you happy. And if Kauai Leonard is happy living in Canada, then they can re-sign them because it's still a lot of money, even if he signs elsewhere. I mean, if he's happier living in Los Angeles playing for the Clippers or the Lakers, making a little bit less money, you're going to do that.

He needs to like living in Canada. He needs to enjoy it up there, genuinely enjoy it. And then there's certainly a chance by that. Canada is a great country. and they have incredible fans in Toronto as well. They're going to be insane this season, rooting for that team. We will remember a year ago, if we had that exact same exchange about Paul George,

we would have said zero chance, zero percent chance. Especially an OKC too. Right, yeah. Paul George didn't have Drake recruiting in the whole season either, like Kauai's going to have. I wonder if Kauai's a big Drake fan. I don't know, I wonder. I'd love to know more about Kauai's tastes and music.

I would too. All right, number four. A dark horse rookie of the year pick. If there is a Donovan Mitchell this year that has like, you know, he's drafted 13. So if we say, you know, 10 to 20, guy that got drafted 10 to 20, then maybe that happens. I've been reading a lot of Gilgis Alexander love. Yeah, Gilgis Alexander's one for sure. A little higher than 10.

Wendell Carter from the Chicago Bulls. He stands out. Maybe if there's not somebody who's sticking. out in terms of the numbers, Carter moves up the charts like a two-way big, you know, contributes to winning, blah, blah, blah, this and that. Well, then the next guy's Colin,

and I love Colin. So maybe I go with eight. If I go lower, my next guy would be Miles Bridges. How about Harry Giles? We talked about him a little bit earlier. So, you know, not to repeat ourselves, but Giles and Sacramento with his two-way ability, maybe he's somebody that moves into that conversation as well.

I think Gildes-Alexander is a little too raw in my eyes to be the pick. Miles Bridges is another one. Yeah, yeah, I said him. I love him. Ultimately, if you're a betting man, Luca Doncher, DeAndre Aitin, or Trey Young, I think Luca could put up 15, 5, and 5 this year. Aiton could be one of the very rare centers

who puts up 20 and 10 as a rookie. And then Trey Young is going to put up volume numbers. He could be 20 and 7, or even like a 17 and 7 type of season. Here's the truth of the matter. The Donovan Mitchell thing was insanely rare. It doesn't happen, right? That's why it stands out so much, how great he was, though he went 13th towards the end of the lottery

and had that amazing rookie season. So probably not likely. The truth is we won't have a Donovan Mitchell this year because we almost never do. Number 15. The biggest star possibly traded, not named Jimmy Butler. You go first on this one.

Okay, here's what I considered. I considered Kimball Walker. I considered Anthony Davis. I considered Damien Lillard. And Damien Lillard is probably what I'm going to settle on. It is only because I listened to Simmons and House, and Simmons really sounded like he knew something. Maybe he doesn't.

LeBron wants to play with Lillard. I get that he wants to play with Lillard. And I could see Portland season going wrong. As I said, who's the third best player on the team? I think Kamba's more likely between those two. I agree with you. For sure.

Kempa's probably more likely, and that's who I would have said if I had not listened to Bill and House. Simmons sounded, I don't know. He kept repeating it. And House, kind of called him out on it. Like, it sounds like you've heard something. Like, that it's been talked about that if it gets in Portland, well, because couldn't you see

Portland pulling the plug on the Lillard McCollum thing anyway? Oh, for sure. Right? You know, the other one that could get broken up is Wall and Beal. Yeah, that's another one, too. You could see that one coming to an end, especially if the Dwight Bolivirus overtakes the wizard, and it's not going their way. Maybe one of those two guys could end up.

getting moved. All right. So who is your pick, Kevin? Marcus on. Ah! Ha, ha ha ha. Ha ha. Ha!

Oh, no. Oh, no. Sorry, Chris. Had to say it. I'll tell you. Just for you. During the preseason, he has not been engaged. No, he is not at all.

No. And I'm hoping that's because he is a veteran that doesn't give a crap about the preseason. He really does not look like he cares one. bit this free season. It's probably that. It has to be just about... No, it is. A lot of these guys are... A lot of these guys are like that. I'll tell you this. You know who the absolute worst was last year in the preseason? I was so freaked

out too. You know who was the worst? Tyree Evans. Oh, yeah. I mean, it just... He's throwing the ball into the 10th row, and I'm like, dude, what has happened? And the second the season started, he was friggin' amazing. Like, immediately. There's some of these guys, lights come on, you know, and it's go time and they go.

So I'm hoping that's Mark. You think they could get anything for Mark if they had to move him? Maybe a little bit. I don't think you're going to get much for him. Because guess why, Chris? Guess why? They waited too long to pull the plug. Oh, for God's sakes.

Let's go back to the other question. They're my surprise team. Screw you. They're the surprise team. We are a year removed from people having him and Conley in the top 25 players in the league, for God's sakes. And they miss one season and everybody's throwing dirt on top of them. It's a joke.

It's an absolute joke. Nobody's throwing dirt on them. Yeah, yeah, they are. They're just stuck in the middle, Chris. And they're old. Gassol is a player option for next year at almost $26 million. It's development time, Chris. No, we've seen Duncan.

We've seen Dirk. We've seen a bunch of guys play into the age and still be highly effective. I'm not saying Gassol is a fall of a call. brother. His own brother's highly effective at an advanced age. All I'm saying, Chris, is that Jaron Jackson looks special for you guys. And it's time to focus on development. Tank. Tank.

Let me back up. They just did it. They give up one of their picks in the next three years. The Celtics have their first round pick top eight protected this year, top six protected the following year. And then it's unprotected in 2021. So in one of those years, Memphis is going to lose their first round pick. If I'm Memphis, ideally, this is the year where that pick conveys to Boston, where you're like the 10th worst team in the league, right?

You trade Gassault in February. You hang on to Conley. You win some games. You stick as 9th, 11th worst. You give the pick to Boston. And then you're free to tank in 2020 and 2021. Did you not know they signed Kyle Anderson and Garrett Temple and Chandler Parsons as New Jersey? Yeah, maybe.

And they, I mean, they're ready to go. Shelvin Mack's in the building. Return to the Mac. Oh, Shelvin Mac, Orlando Magic, assist leader. Oh, boy. He would again this year for them. Yeah. We'll see.

Him and DJ Augustine. All right, yeah, we will see. We will see, Kevin. Hey, this shit's recorded. You say in this. This is recorded, Kevin. Blow it up. Everybody else should blow it up, too.

Blow it up, Memphis. Dallas. Why shouldn't Dallas just tank again? Why shouldn't they just tank again, Kevin? Why'd they go sign D'Andre Jordan? Where are they trying to get? 40 wins? Just tank again.

Why shouldn't they tank again? Get something to go with Donchich. They should tank, right? They should trade Harrison Barnes. They should trade D'Andre Jordan and just tank again. They should tank again, right? What's the point? They don't have their pick.

That's why. Well, it's actually protected, if I remember correct. Everybody loves Denver this year, but I mean, obviously, Listen, they didn't make the playoffs last year. Oh, come on. Should just trade Yokic and get rid of Gary Harris and build around Jamal Murray and tank again. And same with Minnesota and same with every team in the league.

That's not like one of the top four seeds you think should get in the business of tanking. No, I don't feel that at all, actually. Yes, you do. No, I don't. It's much more nuanced than that, Chris. Why should Memphis tank and Dallas not? Why should Memphis tank and why should Dallas not? Why I say tank?

I mean, tank next year. And the year after. Yeah, tank the following two years, not this year. This year you're competing early in the season, and then you're pulling the plug mid-year. That's the approach this season, if there's a deal that makes sense to make. No guarantees of that when you've waited until Gasol is 33, and Conley has had an Achilles injury to do that. Anyway, why not Dallas? Yeah.

Because I think they have a pretty good roster. And I think it's a younger ascending roster. Of course they do. Or as much it is an older descending roster. What's the younger ascending roster, Luca? Luca Dantritch DSJ Harrison Barnes

Still on the younger side DeAndre Jordan Yes he's older But plugging him into that situation is interesting Oh of course it's interesting And they wouldn't tank Because their pick is only

Top 5 protected And they're not bad enough They're just not bad enough To be in the top 5 necessarily They're not bad enough Because they don't have Kevin O'Connor On staff telling them to With the new draft odds

You can have the 8th worst record And still have a 6% 7% chance at winning the lottery. Ooh, 6%. With the new flattened odds. Sounds like good odds to me. It's much better than was in the past.

Good grief. All right. Number 16. The 2014 draft has seen these players get bailed on by their teams after a rookie contract. Top 10 picks that were either traded or not retained by their team.

Of these guys, which one is most likely to make the team that did not retain them really regret it? Jabari Parker, Julius Randall, Nick Stouskas, Noah Vonley, Alfred Payton. This answer is a little more complicated than it. It actually sounds like when I give it, I'm strictly talking about on court, not anything else. That's Julius Randall.

I think he could be pretty good for the Pelicans playing alongside Anthony Davis, and I think he was good last year for the L.A. Lakers. I think with the Lakers, they could have used a ball handling, sometimes versatile center who rebounds at a high level like Randall. So I think they could miss him this year. Granted, when you factor in everything else, it's understandable why they let him go. You say it's understandable.

I look at his contract and I still say, why? Why is he not on that team? He got less than $10 million. So what's the reason? He did, but it's still thinking long term. The deal was two years. You need cap space. But it's an option year, right?

It's a player option, though. So for that second year, you need to retain cap space to pursue a second max free agent. And it's other stuff as well. Maybe so in my world Getting a player of Julius Randall's caliber For that contract is well worth it Oh no doubt about it

I figure the rest of the stuff out Especially when I've got I mean I don't know Maybe they will have that cap space And they'll get Kauai or they'll get You know whoever Lillard Davis who are Maybe they'll just end up with like a Chris Middleton

Who knows Maybe Or they punt and wait another year And then they'll just use that money For Contavius call Will Pope again Number 17 after this season, what will people think of the Luca

Tray Young swap? My real answer is it's still too early to grade it after just one year, but what people will think answer is good trade. I think Tray Young will impress with Atlanta. He's going to put up big scoring numbers. His efficiency is going to not be good.

His defense is going to be even worse, but he's going to pass the ball. He's going to hit some big shots, and he's going to impress people. And then Luca is going to be Luca, going to put up big numbers for a rookie 15, 5, and 5 or so and going to be living on highlight reels

on Instagram and Snapchat, Twitter, everywhere. So you don't think there will be a declared winner after the year? I mean, people already declared Dallas the winner. I know. But now after they play a season, after a season plays out, you think that... You can't. You can't declare the winner until we find out

what Atlanta does with the pick. Like, the deal's not done yet. That's fair. We really won't know for another five or six years who quote unquote won the deal. Well, as we know, everybody is very patient about making decisions on these things. Oh, no doubt. Yeah.

And I think it was a better deal for Dallas at the moment that it happened. I think people are going to look up at the end of this year and go, God, that was stupid. Very possible. Because Luke is going to be so amazing to watch. And he's going to be. He's going to produce viral. Like, every little thing he does. Some of the passes that he's already made, like not just, like he had a pass to West Matthews in the corner.

I think last preseason game where he went behind the back. attacking the basket and then just whip this like LeBron's style pass, a dart to the corner, and Matthews just missed the three. He said highlights like that, but it's just like pushing the ball ahead in transition, moving and ahead, the little things that he does, he is, it's not an exaggeration to say. Luca Donchich is a transcendent playmaker, and I really, really hope Dallas feeds him opportunity to just play that point forward role this season, instead of distributing it amongst the team. I want to see Luca really handle that ball a lot.

I actually think that that would serve Smith well, too, because I don't think Smith's going to be run the team, big assist guy anyway. Yeah, he can run offense for sure. You mean, like, dominating the ball, and I'm with you on that. Yeah, and I'm saying I think the kid could be a dynamite scorer. You know what I mean?

Maybe that's more of his destiny anyway, right? More of the, rather than the set everybody up and throw the no-look passes to somebody or whatever. make everybody else better necessarily. Yeah, I mean, Luca's just on another level in that category. Number 18, and this is a great one for you,

because I know that you start paying attention to the NBA draft once the other one ends, and so you have an awareness as college basketball is around the corner, the college player that we will all go out of our way to be watching for these rat teams that are going to end up with the number one, two, or three-thick. Like the grizzlies.

How dare you? kidding. I'm sending you a Jared Jackson jersey. Please do. I would love one. I sent you a Roshan Holmes one.

It's now a throwback. It is a throwback. You know, I wear that as a night shirt usually. Sometimes I wear that Roshan Holmes jersey is a,

to go to bed. It's true. The answer for this one, it's Duke, the team, because on that team, you have R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish,

and Zion Williamson. I think from those guys, the NBA draft geeks, like me and you, Chris, And, you know, Friday show we have coming with Me, Charks and Danny Chow. RJ Barrett's going to be, in all likelihood, the number one pick and the guy that the draft geeks are watching.

But fans, Zion Williamson is going to put on a show. He is going to put on a show. He's been putting on a show on House of Highlights for the last four years. No kidding. Dude, Zion Williamson, when you think about it, he's not even in the NBA yet. And he already has over a million followers, almost two million followers on Instagram. That is so unusual. for a high school kid to have that much of a following,

bringing that into college. RJ Barrett, 330,000, which is a lot for a kid, obviously, but 1.7 million for Zion Williamson. He's the guy everybody's going to be watching, for sure.

I tell you this, and man, I should have wrote this down. I was talking to some, I think it was during, like, the workouts and everything that were going on. And then when we were at Summer League,

and I was asking guys around there, like, who to keep an eye out for, and NBA guys. And they told me the kid at Gonzaga. Hachimura? Hachimura. He's projected to go like in the top 10 already, right?

Maybe. I mean, we'll see. Depends on how a shot develops over the course of the season, I think. He's from Japan. And the reason I know about him now is because that's how it came up. The kid that's from Japan,

Utah Watanabe, is a two-way player for the Grizzlies. And he is going to be the second Japanese player to ever appear in the NBA. But that this kid, is like right behind him.

He's really good. He's an intriguing player. He made good progress last year for Gonzaga, but the shot still needs to come along for him to reach the potential that is very easy to see. Gotcha. I just had a couple people mention to him. And obviously, it's somebody I'll go out of my way to check out.

And obviously, it's so crazy that we are so aware of these guys, right? Like, I mean, I feel like I know Zion. You know what I mean? I'm aware of Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett and these guys. I've been following those guys for a couple years now, especially Zion. He's a great name, doesn't he? Zion.

Amazing. Zion. I've never known a Zion. Well, you know, what it makes me think of is it was just not that long ago. It was some big anniversary for the miseducation of Lauren Hill. And she's got a song on there about her son. And his name was Zion. That's the only other Zion I'd ever heard of.

It's an amazing song, too. I'm surprised you're not a big Lauren Hill fan. You don't know what I'm talking about? I know who Lauren Hill is. Yeah. It doesn't know who Lauren Hill is. I haven't listened to a lot of her. I mean, I know who she is.

It is by far the most underrated track on that entire record. It's about her son, and it's about how people told her not to have him. I know that. I know that song. I've heard that song before. It's called Two Zion. I think I've seen her talking about that song. It's like one of those Facebook posts.

Oh, really? Yeah, I don't know. Carlos Santana's on that track. Is that true? Yeah. I've heard that song before. Great song. It's the most underrated song on that whole record.

It's very, very touching. There you go. There's your music moment. Number 19, Isaiah Thomas. Isaiah. From all NBA a couple of years ago and top five in the MVP rankings to last year, obviously being a debacle to now playing with the Denver Nuggets, a team that a lot of people really, really like. Isaiah Thomas, he signed the one-year deal,

so he's got the Prove Yourself year. He averages blank points per game this year. I mean, well, first, hopefully he comes back soon, and hopefully he's healthy. be like 11 or 12. Oh, really? Yeah, something like that. You don't think he blows up and becomes this like super sixth man that like, I mean,

do you think his days of the big contract are over? Oh, long over. Really? I mean, I want to be proven wrong. I do. You don't foresee a circumstance where they could look at him and say, hey, everybody needs a, you know, Jamal Crawford type. And Jamal Crawford obviously just got another deal today.

Look at that Denver roster, man. Like, Nicole Yokic is the best passing center in basketball, one of the most talent. one of the most talented passing big men ever. He handles the ball. Paul Millsap back, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton all handle the ball. There's just not enough opportunity

for Thomas to shine in Denver. He can shine within his role, but that means 10 to 12 points. You know, it's sparking offense off the bench, scoring 20 sometimes, and maybe you bump up your average to 15-ish, like last year with the Lakers.

But yeah, I just don't know if the opportunity is there for him. It's about getting back, man. It's about setting yourself up for the next opportunity this year in Denver. I'm going to say closer to 18 because he's got his former coach that he loves. Zero chance. He loves that.

He loves that guy. And that guy's going to play him. If he average is 18, it'll be something like where. I said closer to than 11. I say it's closer to 18 than 11. So what's that? Let's split the difference. So if the over under is 14 and a half, you're over and I'm under.

Yeah, I'll say, I'll say you ever just 15. Do I make a bet about, I don't want to make a bet about that because we don't know when he's going to play. I was surprised you asked that. All right. Well, then let's, hey. Well, he was. a huge name just a year ago, and now it's all gone wrong. And I think people have forgotten about him. And a lot of people like that Denver team. I just wanted to stay healthy. I've loved

watching Isaiah Thomas for a long time. I loved watching him and Sack. And it was great to see him come back and shine like he did in Boston. And hopefully he comes back soon, man. Hopefully he does. Man, I cannot believe that McDonough guy traded him. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I had enough of that for the last week. Last one. Number 20. Jimmy Butler is no longer on the Minnesota Timberwolves

by... Oh, boy. Let's say mid-December, like when some of those contracts are available to be dealt. Once more players are available to be traded, mid-late December, something like that.

I think there's absolutely no way he makes it to December. No way. Time goes by quickly, man. Don't they hate each? They all hate each other now. Yeah, I mean, you can. And they're going to lose a couple games, and he's going to go in the locker room and start yelling at everybody again.

I mean, it's just going to be untenable, I think. I mean, put it this way. If there's a lot of outbursts, maybe it puts Minnesota into a position where they have to deal them quicker. Put it this way. It could be any time. It's just the team needs to step up. I think that's more likely to happen mid-December, even maybe into early January. And one other thing about that, Tibbs still does not want to deal him, period.

Still does not want to deal him. I think Tibbs is probably going to set up a deal where he trades himself and Jimmy Butler somewhere. Let me come too. That's why he can't get the deal done yet. He's telling everybody, I'll throw me in. I'll come run your defense. Me and Jimmy. All right.

I say he doesn't make it to December. You say he makes it to December or January. So you're saying early November or late November? I'm saying within the first month of the season, he's gone. I guess we start today for the season. So that's October 16th. I say by the end of November, he's gone. Okay.

That's what I say. Cool. Maybe within the next couple weeks. That's fair. After it all dies down a little bit. And teams are like, oh, maybe my team's not as good as I thought they were going to be and they're willing to make a deal, right? Or it's better than we expected to be. Yeah, everybody overreacts the first, you know, month of the season, right?

They look at their team and then they're like, oh, boy, we got to do something or we're going to bail on this or whatever. So yeah, I think something will come to happen within the next six weeks. Kevin, the NBA season is here. I cannot wait. Then we got a couple games going on tonight. And then obviously it's going to take up our lives for the next whatever eight months. I'm excited, Chris. I'm really excited.

And tomorrow on the ringer, we have NBA Paloosa, like 12-ish hours of content on the internet to watch right up top, wake up and dunk it in the morning. I was there when we filmed that live. and you might be listening to this podcast while NBA Paloosa is actually happening. So after you listen to us, be sure to tune in to Paloosa. We have some good stuff. It'll be on YouTube too if you don't watch live,

but we have a lot of good stuff to lead you up to opening night with Celtics Sixers and then Warriors Thunder. NBA Paloza on the ringer.com. Also, all of their social media platforms will be putting stuff out all day. If you dig what you're hearing, go give us a rating and review on iTunes.

five stars, five stars. It helps the cause for certain. Happy NBA season to everyone. And we will talk to you next week.