The Ringer NBA Show - Bledsoe Is a Buck, Kyrie Is Basketball Houdini, Kristaps Is a Superstar (Ep. 157)

Episode Date: November 7, 2017

The Ringer’s Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor react to Eric Bledsoe being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Greg Monroe (0:24), address the Jahlil Okafor trade rumors (14:43), and marvel at the Celtics’ surprising early-season success (16:40). Then, they discuss the drama within the Miami Heat concerning Hassan Whiteside (26:12), speculate on the meaning behind LeBron’s Instagram post (28:32), and debate whether Kristaps Porzingis could be in the MVP conversation (33:18). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me every Tuesday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Connor, A.K.A. Kevin O'Connor, Kevin. Verno, we got a trade. We do have a trade. We have talked over the course of the last couple of weeks about Eric Bledsoe once he was banished from the Phoenix Suns. After his tweet saying he wanted to get out of there. I don't want to be here anymore.

Well, now, you know, listen, in NBA terms, it is great to move from Phoenix to Milwaukee. I will not imagine that non-job related. A lot of people have made that choice. But for his purposes and getting to play play playoff basketball for the first time since he played for the Clippers, you've got to imagine Bledsoe will be pretty happy about that. On the other side, Phoenix is able to obtain. Greg Monroe and a first round pick. Heavily protected first rounder.

I still think good value because you can get something for Monroe if you want to flip him. I mean, I thought this guy's stock was killed. Like, you know, their leverage of being able to get something for him. So I was kind of impressed that Phoenix got something. You know, that's a real like possible starter, certainly eight-man rotation guy and a pick for him. So I thought I thought they did. I thought Phoenix did pretty good. And you know, it's cool that Milwaukee was the place.

that he landed because sometimes, you know, in the NBA, when you hear a trade room or you think about, oh, here's a team that makes sense for a guy, here's another team. And one of the first teams that came to mind was Milwaukee for Eric Bletso, because they were a team that needed really another guy, another playmaker. And look, I'm not, I'm not the biggest Bletzo fan because his off ball shooting is quite average. And so if you're taking the ball, if you're keeping the ball in Janus's hands, Bletzo doesn't really help you space the floor. But the fact is, is that, like, they needed another playmaker.

and Bletsso is really, really good in the pick and roll, and he's another guy who can attack off the dribble. So it's a risk worth taking from Milwaukee, especially with the protections on that pick, where Bletso's a good player, man. Like, he's the 12th or the 13th best point guard in basketball. He's got injury problems and there's concerns with that, but he's good.

And so I'm excited about this trade for both teams. Like you said, Chris, Phoenix had no leverage and to get a first rounder out of it, it's pretty damn good. My first instinct is, I'm thinking, my God, they're going to be. be able to throw Bledsoe and Brogden out as a back court two guys that can, you know, you feel comfortable with them on ones, you feel comfortable with them on twos.

You know, if they get switched, you know, they're not easy guys to post up on. These guys are both got these condor-like wingspans. They've shown a willingness to be able to defend, certainly Brogden. I mean, it's demanded by kid. We just haven't seen it in so long from Bledsoe. Once upon a time, I thought he was as difficult a perimeter defender to go against. in the league. And then I don't think he's lost the ability to defend.

I think he's lost the will. And so if he gets that back, I get the offensive side and the playmaking. I'm more interested in the defensive side because I think they could throw out lineups where, you know, I don't even know how great they have to be offensively because they might be able to just strangle you out

and you not be able to score for four and five minutes stretches. I think they could be devastating with all that length and speed did everything they've got defensively. That's a great point, Chris, because there's going to be so much focus on the offensive end of the floor, as there should be, right? But at the same time, there's also another end. And that's where Bledsoe, in the past, was elites.

When he was a younger player with the Clippers, he was probably one of the better perimeter guard defenders in the league. And it wasn't just he could defend point guards either because he's so strong and because he's really so long, he's able to defend some bigger guys, too. So I think it makes a versatile Bucks team even more versatile having someone like Eric Bletsow at the point guard position now. The thing is, is like, as you said, he lost the will to defend in Phoenix? So will he turn it back to the level that he did? He could.

And let's hope that he does. But there's no guarantees of that. It could be something where he can't flip the switch right away. But, you know, I'm essentially just playing devil's advocate to myself because I'm with you where he's going to be able to turn it on. defense is about effort and I think he's going to really you know feel a lot of new energy playing on this new bucks team and I think it's fair to say for anybody that has seen blood so play in person or even frankly if you've watched them on a league pass they don't get a lot of national tv games but have you seen him the last couple of years to me that's why I hold out hope that he can be

that guy again defensively because he just did not give a crap he just didn't he was not playing hard the other thing and I will say this all offensively keb he's much better suited to have a lower usage to me. Like he is not your lead guy, best player on the team. And clearly he will not be. I don't know where he falls in the pecking order there amongst the other players in terms of usage, in terms of number of shots he's going to be taking. Certainly he is, I mean, he's no better than the third best offensive player they would have.

I mean, no way. He's clearly not better than Janus or Jabari. Yeah, of course not. He's a better plate maker than Jabari, to be fair. But, like, scoring-wise, Jabari better pure score. You know those guys are going to get the ball more offensively, Jabari and Janus. Assuming Jabari comes back healthy. Correct.

If he comes back right away, I mean, and hopefully he does, especially losing Monroe, they need another guy that would be coming off that bench like Jabari. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see what he does. This happens with a lot of guys. what happens when they kind of fall back into a role when their usage has been high and they can kind of he's pretty well been able to do whatever he wants to do in Phoenix like nobody's going to bitch if eric bledso takes 25 shots in a game right i think it's a good fit i do and i actually think kids a good coach for him you know it's funny like preseason we talked about you know coaches that might get fired or surprise coaches that could be in the hot seat and like reading reading bucks you know twitter or on read it. Like a lot of people have been saying like would the books be better off without Jason Kidd because their defense has been just really, really bad so far this season. And

you mentioned Brogden. I like Brogden a lot. You know, he's, he's a really good defender, but at the same time he's had some moments this season where he's just got totally blown by. And I wonder if it might be because of the left ankle injury he had early in the season, or maybe he's lost a little bit of his lateral quickness. But having Bletso on the perimeter, I think we'll help them a lot. At the same time, though, like, I wonder how much of their issues defensively are systematic, because they have the personnel. They have good individual defenders, and yet they have the 26th best defensive rating,

or the fifth worst defensive rating. So that's something where I think they'll get better over the course of the season, especially having Bletsow there. Where are you at on Greg Monroe? I think he's an interesting case because he can, get you buckets off the bench, for sure. I think it is 11.7.6.6.6 rebounds off the bench last year. But here's the thing. He is one of these guys of a bygone era.

Virtually everybody that is a big guy outside of the Andre Jordans and the white sides and the drummins, virtually everybody else. And we've chronicled this a lot are shooting threes now across the league. even guys that you would previously have thought have no business doing it. He is a skilled guy. He's always had good footwork. He's always been good around the basket. He does not take any.

It takes none. Right? And in this day and age, it is this, he is this throwback guy. Wouldn't you think if you're Greg Monroe, like you would start to add that into your arsenal given the way the NBA has moved so dramatically over the course of the last couple of years, yet he has not. He's still the same within 10 feet of the basket guy for the most part. The funny thing is, is like, you know, as solid of a player Greg Monroe is, in some ways, like for the bucks, he's really just a salary filler. And I think that speaks to, for them, the return that they got for

Bledsoe, a guy that they benched, that they sent home, as you said, a guy that who has been injured significantly over the past couple seasons. He's a lot of knee injuries. He's had maybe one, a fully healthy season. Past few years, 66 games last year when they shut him down at the end of the season, 31 games the season before, 81 the season before that, and then 43 the year before that. So Blentsoe's had a lot of injuries, so there's risk there for Milwaukee as well. But with Monroe, he's a guy who's been very available and very consistent. Like you said, Chris, he hasn't expanded his game, but at the same time, he's still a pretty good player.

And I wonder if Phoenix could flip him and get maybe another second round draft. pick in the trade because the picks that they got, one of them is heavily protected where it's unlikely that they get it this season unless Milwaukee just misses the playoffs or just makes the playoffs. And it's the same thing next season as well. So they might not get that first round pick until 2020. So maybe Monroe's a guy you look to flip because I'm not so sure that he's a guy you'd want to keep because I think despite the problems that you outlined, he's still a guy that could essentially help the team considering where they are. And I don't know if you want to get help right now when you want to bottom out, baby, you want to take.

Yeah, he has taken. He has attempted 12 threes in his entire career. Not everybody's with the three-point shooting revolution. Yeah, but like, do you think about the teams right now, the good teams? There's, there's, it's just few and far between. And frankly, as you get older and you're that guy, it's going to become more, it's going to be harder on you. Because right now, so many, especially when you are playing a big guy who,

plays more like a traditional big like Greg, the opposing coach puts a laser pointer on you every time the team comes down and either tries to pull you all the way away from the basket or throw you in a million pick and rolls. And I mean, Monroe's gotten better though. I mean, like he hasn't added a three pointer,

but he's gotten a lot better over his career defensively. And I think, I think like he deserves credit for that. He's, he's a great rebounder. He's a great interior score. He's a, he's a solid passer and he's gotten better defensively he's not he's not like a complete player i just

think i think monroe is somebody who can he like here's the difference between greg monroe and jolil okifor four doesn't monroe defends okifor doesn't other than that like they're pretty close to the same player but having the defense and the rebounding is what enables monroe to still be a consistent rotation guy even even you're right like he would be a 30 minutes per game guy if he could shoot a three but the fact he's turned himself into a guy who can get you 20 to 25 minutes, that's not too bad. I mean, he's a solid player. And if I'm a team that needs a scoring big off the bench, I'd be happy to trade with Phoenix and try to get him. Yeah, I just wonder if you're a really good team because you're always keeping an eye towards the highest level.

Is he playable in the biggest situations? That would be my question. is he one of these guys that has been rendered much less useful against the teams that you might have to beat? Whether you're talking about what is talking about the warriors or the rockets or the calves for that matter or the Celtics or whoever, right? How useful is Greg Monroe when the stakes are the highest? And I've got to believe if the bucks thought he was intensely useful when the stakes get the highest, because they would fancy themselves as a team that could play maybe for the Eastern Conference title, that they wouldn't have, they wouldn't have given them up, right?

That would be my thinking. I mean, the thing is, though, is, like, for Phoenix, he's really just filler. I mean, for them, it's about, this deal is about creating cap space in 2018 and then maybe retaining that cap space in 2019. And because they could have about 20 to 22 million open cap space this coming summer and they could easily make that, bump that up to 30 million. There's not a lot of teams that can create max cap space. So maybe if you're Phoenix, you can make yourself into a destination for not a top guy, but you could become a destination for other guys. I mean, they've gotten free agent

meetings in the past couple of years, despite not being a great team. They met with Aldridge, didn't get them. They had a meeting planned with Blake Griffin, but then the Clippers blew him away with their presentation. So they're at least an appealing spot for some guys. So now you've created some space, see you later to Greg Monroe to wherever he goes, whether you keep him, you trade him or you wave him. It's really just about the cap space and then that draft pick where a lot of people, a lot of Suns fans are going to be like, damn, like those protections stink. Like we might not get this pick till 2020.

But at the same time, like you have so many young guys already. Getting that pick in 2020 could end up being more advantages for the organization. So I love the deal for both teams, really. I don't know if you love it for. both as much as I do, Chris, but I think it's just a good deal for Phoenix based in the fact they didn't have much leverage. And then for Milwaukee, the fact that they are taking a nice calculated risk that could really, really help their team out, which does need some help right now. I only hope, like, the same thing can happen for other guys on the block like Julea Loka

for. I totally agree with you. I like it for both. And again, it's all relative. You would like for it to have never happened if you are Phoenix. You'd like for him to never send out the tweet. You never banished him from the team and then be able to go shop him around, right? Rather than everybody in the free world knows you're going to move him. So I thought given the circumstances, they did great. I really did. I think they did great. Getting a real player, no matter what you're going to do with him, he's a real player and a pick for it. I wondered if they were going to be able to do that. Let me ask you real quick, Kev, because you mentioned him in passing, Okifor, Jalil al-Ocalfour, because he's a guy that clearly wants out of Philly.

Nothing's really happened so far, as we know of. I was an Okleford fan. I was, especially coming out of college. I thought he was, you just don't see a lot of guys that are that skilled offensively. I get he can be a liability. And here's the other thing, Kevin. I've talked about this a lot. So much of your possible success in the NBA is about fit.

And I thought he was drafted to possibly the worst. situation you could have been drafted to, right? And it wasn't just because of the losing. It was the losing and they like every year took another guy that played the same position, right? Like it wasn't like you could be the one in four out guy. Those high draft picks were used on Joe L. Embed and Nerlin's Noel and, uh, you know, your boy, Rashon Holmes was there too and I don't Sean Holmes, baby. That's what I'm talking about. I get the Jalil, stunk, but like everybody saw that talent once upon a time. That talent is still in there, and many times he just did not show that. And there was too much talent there for me to give up

on what he can possibly be, because I've got to at least take into consideration the situation that he's been in over the course of the first couple of years of his career. I think he could still be good. I do. I hope he does become good. I'd love to see him really get back on track on a new destination. And it would be cool if it was back home in Chicago, too. Yeah, that's for sure. Well, he was good coming out of Duke. He was really good. Remember, people were talking about him towns. That was the discussion once upon the time. Silly discussion, in my opinion. That's beside the point. Well, let's just say their career trajectories have gone radically different since they were drafted. Yes. Yes. That's for certain. All right. Let's talk about some of the other

stuff that took place. So that happened this morning. Last night, the Celtic streak continued, and Kyrie Irving put on the show of shows in Atlanta. I mean, some of the, it was like, it was like an and-one mixtape at some moments. You have that, you have these two kids on the wing, Tatem and Brown, who like, after opening night against the Cavs, I was like, do both of these kids have a chance to be stars? Like, you could just see it. And for so early in the careers, I mean, you're talking about still first 10 games. If you did not tell me that one of them is in their second year and one of them's a rookie,

I would never have suspected from either of them. I mean, they've been fantastic. They've kind of gotten their sea legs after the devastating loss of Hayward for the season. And they kept on rocking last night with another win. Tell me what you're seeing. Tatum is really the guy where all the flogatory. that people pointed out with him correctly based on his play at Duke, you know, defense, you know, shooting range, passing. All of those flaws are, have somehow just been erased. And I've heard that for Tatum in college, he had a, he had a foot injury early in the season. And I've heard that coming back from that and getting into basketball shape was very difficult. And that's what limited him on the defensive end, because he could defend playing USA basketball. And that was really his first time playing defense. being asked to play defense, and he did well in USA basketball.

And now playing for Boston, a defense first team under Brad Stevens, he's being asked to play defense, and he's doing it quite well. And then offensively, he's extended his range every single season, every single year of his life going back to high school. So it's really, to me, not much of a surprise that he's hitting spot-up threes. And then for Jalen Brown, I mean, he's the guy really taking on the tougher assignments defensively. Tatum's been good, but Brown's been great defensively.

And he's also been up and down offensively, but at the same time, like, here's a 19-year-old kid in Tatum and a 21-year-old kid in Jalen Brown where, as you said, if you told somebody he's 27, he's 25, he just looks really young, you'd believe him. Like, you would believe that person when they describe Brown and Tatum that way, just based on their performance. And not just their performance, but the trust in which Stevens has showed in putting them into big moments, like that three-pointer Tatum hit from the left corner last night. trusting him late in the game to be out there and to to make the right plays defensively but also perform offensively it shows a lot of trust by stephens and his young guys and to enable his young guys and heyward's a huge loss if he doesn't come back this season it's going to hurt them in the playoffs but at the same time getting this experience for these young guys is is really remarkable to watch must be all that uh you know with these young guys that appear to be as you said if you

told somebody they're 25 or 27 must be all that uh danny a brain doctor crap, right? I don't know a whole lot about brain doctors techniques, but all I do know for a fact is that personality really means a whole lot in basketball and in sports and in life and any job. There's a reason why Google, you know, gives personality tests to the people that they hire.

All right. So here's something that ran through my mind last night. Just hear me out. I know Porzingis has been amazing. Janus has been amazing. There's all kinds of great players and great seasons already being had throughout the league. But as I am watching Kyrie Ir,

closed the door on Atlanta last night. This ran through my head. So over the course of history outside of last year, which was an outlier, an extreme outlier, in fact, with Westbrook winning the MVP because he averaged the triple double, generally you look to see who are they going to be the best teams in the NBA, record-wise, at the end. And then it is typically the best player on the best team or the best player that's

on the second best team. but by and large they're on the first two or three seeds, usually the top two seeds in either conference. So as I'm watching it last night, at least for a minute, it slipped into my mind. You know, it's not far-fetched at all to think that Boston could end up with the best record. Like I think that could absolutely happen,

that they have the best record in the Eastern Conference when it's all said and done. If that is so, then the best player on the best team would be Kyrie Irving, giving him a real opportunity at winning MVP. And then at that point, I'm like, could you imagine if one year the guy that was the sidekick for Durant and kind of overshadowed breaks out and then wins the MVP? And then the next year, the guy that was the sidekick for LeBron goes in place for another team without LeBron and ends up winning the MVP.

I don't know what the odds are right now for Kyrie, but I don't think that that would be that bad of a bet, honestly, to throw a little on Kyrie Irving as a possible MVP, just given his team's probably going to have the best record in that deal, don't you think? It wouldn't be a bad bet at all. And to be honest, that's why I said before the season,

Brad Stevens will be coached the year because I think he's going to take this new team, you know, with only four returning players and people are going to see how quickly they get on track. Celtics are going to be really good. They'll probably be the one seed. and then Stevens will kind of get the love that he deserves. I think he'll be rewarded with Coach of the Year,

especially with the Hayward injury now. The narrative's there. And that's another factor, you know, in terms of Irving being MVP. And I don't think he's going to win the award. But if Isaiah Thomas can place fifth last season, I think top five is certainly within the realm of possibility for Kyrie Irving, especially because the fact that as good as he's been, he's been really, really good and really consistent on defense,

he's been better passing the ball. His scoring still hasn't really, he hasn't had that 40 point game yet. He hasn't had to carry the team yet because so many guys are performing. So when he has those performances, it's going to up his scoring averages, and I think there's a possibility

he does get some MVP votes, but ultimately, I still don't think he's going to win the award. I still think it'll be a guy like Janus or a guy like LeBron or even, you know, one of the Warriors players maybe. more so than Kyrie. But the fact is, is that he's going to be up there

in the conversation with those guys and Westbrook and whatnot. So I think the fact is, is that regardless of MVP, like he's gotten way better. He has gotten, he,

and in the new system, he has gotten better. So that's been impressive to watch. It went through my mind last night, especially in that fourth quarter, because that was like Thomas Time last year. You know, Kev. This guy was,

he was outrageous. And he was outrageous in the fourth quarter. The king in the four. Yeah. The little guy. And now you're watching another guy. I mean, he just, it was so deflating for the Hawks. They just got to be thinking like, what the hell?

Like, they had the guy defended, right? And there's just nothing you can do if he's going to hit like fade away floaters, you know, after making moves through four different guys. He is, he is so awesome offensively. My God. And poor Schrooter trying to keep up with him on that crossover. Oi. You got no chance. He's basketball Houdini.

I love watching him dribble. that ball. It's amazing. All right, Kib, we'll get right back to it. But first, a word from our sponsors. Buying tickets to sports and concerts can be complicated and confusing. But there's a better, simpler way to buy with Seat Geek with their seamless mobile experience, you can buy and sell tickets in just two taps. There's nothing quite like seeing your favorite team or musician in person, and Seatgeek will get you closer to the action for a great value.

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Seat Geek will send you $20 once you've made your first ticket purchase. Download the Seat Geek app and enter the promo code Ringer NBA today. Ringer NBA show also brought to you by Stitch Fix. If you're like a lot of guys, you probably think of a million things you'd rather be doing that's shopping for clothes. Between the parking and the crowds, the mall, and the endless browsing and lack of advice online, it's enough to make you want to rock the same t-shirt and jeans forever, but you can't. So let me tell you about Stitch Fix Men.

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Whiteside got thrown on the bench. It appears to be a message that Eric Spolstra was trying to send. When he, after the game was asked about it, he said it was a coach. Coach's decision, and then Miami's three captains discuss the situation with Whiteside after the game with reporters. Gorin Dragich says, sometimes you just don't have it. Whiteside admitted, hey, guys, I let you down. Look, we're here to help him. He's a team player.

He's our player. We love him, and this is the only thing that matters. And Sposter basically said the benching is nothing bigger than that. Don't make it more than that. It's just one game. And so at least for one night in a very high profile game, Spolster had had enough and ends up putting a guy that's a big minute guy for him. He only plays 16 minutes and throws him on the bench.

You know, Whiteside, I think you've seen it too, Kev. Every once in a while, this guy can really let the emotions get the better of him and then starts to check out on you. And I think Spolster probably, you know, frustration level got pretty high last night. He's like, listen, man, if you're going to check out on me, you're just going to sit next to. me. That's what's going to happen. I think like Spolster said, it's not worth overblowing right now, but it's worth monitoring at least. If it becomes a trend, then I do think it's something to worry about because it wasn't too long ago that Whiteside was just a D-leager, a guy trying to get

his career back on track after a really, really bad start out of the league for two seasons into his three in a row until Miami gave him an opportunity. So if he's fallen back into bad habits, then obviously it's definitely a big time concern. But one game of hopefully, hopefully it's just an aberration and he gets back on track because he's a fun player, isn't he? Whiteside? Yeah.

I mean, I don't know if I'd say fun. You're not a fan of White Side. Fun? He's fun? Yeah, fun. He's shop blocker, big dude, you know, talk shit. That's fun. I mean, I don't know.

I guess he's fun. I guess. I don't know. He's got a good story. I mean, he's great on social media. That's what I'll give him. He's got a really good personality. But in terms of like the way he plays basketball, I'm not, I'm not crazy about him.

I mean, we're at the point now, Chris, where what players do on social media, like affects how much you like those players. So like LeBron last night, posting the author clenching fist meme. Did you see that on Instagram? All right. Do you know what is so funny to me is the, you know what happened when that, when that meme went up there is I'm aware of it. But I am aware of that as a meme. I am not aware of Arthur. Like, I never watched Arthur.

I don't know anything about Arthur. He's not still around and relevant with children now, so I have no way of, like, that was all happening at a time in my life where I wasn't watching, like, cartoons or anything. So, yeah, I think it is a meme for most people. I really do. I think for most people, it's a meme. Kind of like for, like, really, really young people, they might know Michael Jordan as the crying Jordan face. Okay, well, this is good. One of the greatest athletes ever.

No, this is good because now, like, unlike the Dragon Ball Z thing, I was worried that you were going to be like, you don't know, Arthur? I'm out, man. I don't know. I don't even know what it was, it is for kids, right? It was a kid show. Yeah, it's a kid's show. Okay, good. It's a kid show, yeah.

Good. At least I didn't. At least it wasn't some kind of pop culture phenomenon I missed. It has transcended from author to meme status. Right. So it's like almost like an upgrade in some ways. I understand. All right, Kevin.

So what do you think LeBron meant by putting up the meme? There have been many that have pontificated on the meaning of him putting up the Arthur Fist. Well, last night when it first happened, my first thought was LeBron is looking at the standings. And he sees that if the playoffs started today, Cleveland would be out. He's seeing that Cleveland has the 30th ranked defense in the league. He's seeing Cary Irving just go off. That was my first thought. And it could be that.

But I like the theory tossed out there by J.E. Skeets. He tweeted earlier today that there's a new Arthur meme theory. LeBron knew about the Bledso trade last night and is salty slash angry. I'm not sure the Arthur Clenched Fist meme is the perfect choice, if that's the truth. But it makes sense that Rill Barne might know that his fellow clutch sports client, Eric Bledsoe is about to get traded to a team that's not his, a fellow rival. I could see that as possibility. How do you feel about it, Chris?

That would certainly make sense, given that they know each other, friendly, and they're represented by the same people, right? Because we didn't know until this morning. He would at least have an out to say that, right? Even if he was tweeting about Kyrie Irving and Atlanta, not beating Boston, he could still, today, what he has asked about it,

say, no, man, that was, I knew about the blood so trade and whatever. But then it would be like, but then that is still kind of weird. Like, why are you making passive-aggressive meme statements about Eric Blentzo getting traded to the bucks? Like, I don't, that's kind of bizarre too. So I don't know. He should just do the Blentzo thing, right? What do Blentzo say?

I was at the salon. Maybe that's what LeBron should say. I was at the salon. I was mad. I'm losing more of my hair. And it just, it infuriated me. And LeBron tweeted this morning, fresh day, fresh start. make the most of it hashtag live laugh love hashtag strive for greatness so he's in a good mood this

morning do you like the passive aggressive stuff i think it is so weird i do i think it's weird it's funny funny it's like when lebron put out the the zero dark 30 23 activated photo before the playoffs last season it's so it's it's just funny it's good it's humorous i i like the cryptic tweets and cryptic Facebook posts and Instagram photos. I would like it if I thought I like I like solving riddles Chris. No I would dig it if I thought

that he was doing it and thought it was funny. But I think he does it. He probably does. No shit. He just wants the attention. Stop it already. The internet. Yeah, the internet goes crazy. If you were Bron James, you might do you might do stuff like that too. No, I wouldn't. I got no celebrity, but even today. I wouldn't go to friggin' Twitter and put, I'm sick of this.

And then just like fucking walk away and be like, people, people be like, are you talking about the podcast you did with Kevin? Are you talking about your job? Are you talking about your life? All my friends would be fucking calling me and they'd be like, hey, man, what's wrong? Like, come on. Stopping already. You're just doing it though that everybody like starts, you know, you're just feeling like

you need a little attention or whatever. All right. So I don't know about all the cryptic LeBron stuff, Kevin. You obviously love it. One other thing we did need to touch on today is this crazy run that poor Zingas has been on. And these highlights that are, you know, being passed around virally, seemingly every night are just outrageous. He is truly the unicorn. And he kind of, he gave this, he gave this postgame interview on the court that would make everybody in New York love him even more,

talking about representing the city and on and on and on, as if the guy wasn't already beloved. And I wondered as I'm watching that interview and then seeing the numbers that the kid has put up already this year, I'm like, could you imagine if James Dolan just said, nope, I hired Phil Jackson, who's got all these rings to run this thing, and I'm going to let him see it through and whatever. And that dude would have traded Christavs, poor Zingis.

Like, that would have been the most unbelievable catastrophe. It couldn't go down as like the worst, the worst of, uh, transaction anyone was ever a part of. Uh, so James Dolan obviously gets a demerit for bringing a Jackson the first place, but, you know, as the story goes, it seemed like he kind of stood by, uh, Porzingus, right? Like you kind of, if, if he's planting a flag, it was like, you know, you're not trading Chris Stav's Porzengis. Um, after alienating Carmelo and all this crap. putting Kurt Rambis on every bench that you've ever been a part of and all this stuff. I don't know, man.

That's what ran through my mind. And he has gotten out of the shadow of Carmelo. And he has been even better than I would have ever imagined so far this year. Give me your thoughts on Chris Stapps. Well, he's played nine games this season. And seven of them, he's looked like one of the best players in basketball. And truly, truly, for,

Chris Staps, Porzingis to perform like this, I think it's ultimately just a big, big, happy birthday to Jason Concepcion. Today's his birthday. And Chris Stap's Porzengis performing like this is really just a tribute to our friend Network, Jason Concepcion. That's ultimately where I think Porzingis's mission was this so far the season. It's just to make Network proud because he has just been an absolute joy to watch. That's like I said to you last week, Chris, watching these young guys blossom, it's just

beautiful. It really is amazing. been he's been unbelievable and not just scoring points but everything defense he's been great he's been running hard up and down the floor um he's been better passing than he has in the past um he he's blocking shots he's doing literally everything like i said nine games so far and seven of them he's looked like one of the best players in basketball and for the nicks i mean that that's amazing they are five and four so far could you four see any circumstance in which the Knicks are competing for a playoff spot.

For sure. Yeah. The reason is simple. Because if Porzingis is one of the best players in the league, which he looks like through nine games, anytime you have one of those top tier players, you have a shot at the playoffs. So that alone is reason why they have a shot. Never mind the fact that they're getting contributions from other guys, too.

Rookie point guard, Frank Nili Kina, already looks like a 10-year veteran on defense. and he's been better offensively after improving his ball handling, which has enabled his passing to really open up. And so for someone like Nilly Kina, the fact is that he's one of those guys, like we mentioned Tatum earlier, or Jalen Brown, if he doesn't get any better at all from what he is today, he's still going to have a long NBA career. That's how good he's been as a rookie on the defensive end of the floor. Never mind the fact he started to shoot threes. And Tim Hardaway's been solid as well. Cantor has had some moments.

Jared Jack has been a stabilizer for that team. they're getting contributions from other guys around their superstar and poor zingis so i do think they have a shot at the playoffs and that that's a crazy thing to say after expectations were so low for them do you feel like that they have a shot or do you think that they're going to start to fizzle out and poor zingis is going to be the only kind of uh the light coming from new york the second i do not no come on give me a break who's their second best player hardaway junior canther come on I mean you just- Frankie smokes, baby.

Put them in the starting five. Frankie smokes. All right. That's your second best player and you got- Are they going to be better than Detroit or Orlando? Like Detroit and Orlando have better records than them right now. Do you think they finish above those teams? Those teams should finish above them.

Should. How about who's behind them? Like right now, one, two, three, four, five. Miami's going to be better than them when it all shakes out. I don't know, man. What? Maybe. What if the way Miami ended last season was kind of just a mirage?

And they're actually somewhere in the middle of what they were at the end of the season at the start of the season, which is average. Well, hold on. If they're average, then they're on the same bubble as New York, where they're fighting for the six, seven, or eight seed. A 31 and 10, Marage? Come on, Kevin. They're 31 and 10.

Are they that good? Are they 31 out of 41, a 75.6 win percentage? That's the equivalent of 62 wins. They're not that good. They're not that great. I'll bet you they win at least 10 more games than the next, at least. 10? So how many games is Miami going to win?

Miami will be over 500 for sure. Hear me out. Okay, Miami so far. They got six losses, okay? They lost opening night to Orlando. And it's an opening night. It's the one team's home opener. I don't want to give them a complete pass.

But their losses are the spurs, the Celtics, overtime to the T-Wolves, at Denver by one point. And then last night, the Golden State. outside of the opening night against Orlando, which Orlando started hot, none of those are disgusting losses. Now, again, they don't have really good wins so far. Their four wins are Indiana, Atlanta, Chicago,

and the Clippers win was pretty good. At the Clippers on Sunday was pretty good. But the Clippers were coming off a tough back-to-back with Memphis, though. But, yeah, no, I think, again, it's 10 games. 10 games is a lot, though. I mean, Miami might finish with a better record, but I think they're going to be in the same general range. like maybe 38 to 45 range, something like that, 38 to 44.

I think they could both be around the same ballpark for win totals. I just think New York has a shot because of Porzingas, as long as he stays healthy and continues shining, and I don't see any reason why he won't continue playing at the level that he is not like 30 points per game, but if you get 26, 27 from him and then you're getting contributions from other guys and like Hardaway and Nili Kina, those younger guys get better, I think they get a shot. They make the playoffs.

That guy should win MVP. That's what I'd say. Hey, man. Who knows? We could be talking about Zinger as a potential MVP by the end of the season. You never know. Look at his number. The numbers are just outlandish so far.

So I don't deny that, right? I mean, Yonis is averaging 31. Chris Staps is right behind him averaging 30. He's averaging 30 points a game, for God's sakes. Three of his last four, he went 38, 19, 37, 40. Awesome, awesome player. Beautiful a watch. Yeah, thank God, because they put the Knicks on TV quite a bit, right?

And so now they got something fun to watch at least. So we will keep an eye on him. A monster game, for those of you that are listening later, forgive us. But there is a monster game coming on tonight. And that is the bucks and the calves. That's the last thing I want to talk to you about. Do you think there have been all these problems with the Cavas? You've got the LeBron meme.

You got Dwayne Wade calling people out. It's a bit a bad start of the season for sure for the Caz. but it seems like when they have, there have been these moments where it's time to rise up like it was against Milwaukee the first time they played him, like it was when they just played the Wizards and the Bronn went supernova. You got to set up tonight where the bucks are playing against the Cavs

and it's at the Cavs. Do you think we get this Grand Slam effort and the Cavs want to remind a team that is considered to be a challenger for them that there's still the Cavs? or is it just like they can't do that? Like I'm so torn on them. I don't know what the hell to think.

Is it literally just LeBron at 57 and that's why they were good for one night? Or do they wake up when it's time when they know that the team across from them is somebody that they need to let know that there's still the calves, then they come up with this big effort? I think LeBron's going to ball out. I still worry about the personnel, but I think LeBron's going to try to ball out and they're going to play with effort. The fact is is that

LeBron seems pretty inspired right now, so I think they're going to give an inspired effort. You can't put up that meme and not ball out. You gotta. Kevin, I'll talk to you next week. Thanks, brother. One last thing. For Jason Concepcion's birthday,

just send him pictures of Chris Stap's Porzingis. Just tweet him photos and videos of Porzingis. It'll make his day. Just do that up. Have a going, Chris. Thanks, Kev. It's going to do it for another Ringer NBA show. If you dig what you're here and go give us a rating and review on iTunes,

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