The Ringer NBA Show - Ep. 36: 'Thirty Things to See' Season Tipoff With Kevin O'Connor

Episode Date: October 25, 2016

The Ringer's Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor celebrate the kickoff of the NBA season by selecting their top storyline for all thirty teams. Topics include: the Warriors' dominance (4:00), Doc Rivers's need for creativity (6:00), Boogie's ideal coach (10:00), What is Harrison Barnes? (13:00), Anthony Davis's eliteness (19:30), Emmanuel Mudiay's leap (22:00), Oladipo's scoring ability (26:00), How good is Dante Exum? (30:00), Danny Ainge's many assets (33:00), Sixers potential with Embiid and Saric (37:00), LeBron as an underdog (44:00), Drummond's defensive struggles (46:00), Kemba Walker's shooting clip (51:00), Winslow's opportunity in Miami (54:00), and Brad Beal’s massive contract (57:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the NBA show, and we have made it to opening day of the NBA season. Today, Kevin O'Connor, NBA columnist from The Ringer.com, it's going to join me, and we are going to go through all 30 teams, and we are going to give you something, one thing, that interests us about each team, either an individual on that team or a question concerning that team. Hey, Kevin. Chris, finally the day. It was finally the day. We have made it to the beginning of the NBA season. And by the way, what an unbelievable day for Cleveland, right? They've got the LeBron getting his trophy tonight, and then down the street, they got the World Series starting.

I would go crazy if I was like a huge – because you don't want to miss either of those, right, if you're a Cleveland sports fan. But I guess you've got to choose, right? I suppose you flip back. I know. Go with a double screen tonight, I'm sure. A laptop open on one, TV on the other. Yeah, shout out to Cleveland. It's a good day for them.

All right, so we're going to have to burn through these because we're going to try to touch on every one of the teams. Let's start with the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors. I think they're going to be the biggest story of the year by a wide margin. The thing that interests me the most about Golden State, I think the easy thing is to see, is to say, can they have more wins than last year, which I would be very surprised that they did. Honestly, the thing that I want to know is who's the best guy on that team? because is it going to be Kevin Durant? Is it going to be Steph Curry?

You've added Kevin Durant to a team that has the guy that's won the last two MVPs. So which of those two guys? Who ends up leading them in scoring? Who do you think, Kevin? You know, I probably... Wow, all right. Well, that is the thing that I want to know beyond all that other stuff. I do want to know, like, who's the guy?

Whose team is that? Does it become Durant's team now? And obviously they've got a chance to be one of the most devastating teams in NBA history. What say you on the Warriors? Tonight, and I'm thinking to myself, literally everything entreats me about this team. Like a lot of us played. But this is that super team in real life. And I'm just excited about, like, obviously what you're talking about with Durant or Curry,

whose team is it on a night-by-night basis, but also a young guy, like Patrick McCaw. How does he develop over the course of the year and give them another great bench player? How does Steve Kerr integrate his depth big men like Javelle McGee, Anderson Verzao for the season with the Warriors? And it's really not going to be a night. They're not going to be fun to watch. And you know this has been a huge topic. Is it good for the league that something like this happens where Durant goes there? I will say the one great thing is every time they lose, it is going to be a massive story. Every loss, every close game is honestly going to be a massive story. So they're going to be clearly an incredibly

intriguing team all year long. The Clippers. I said Griffin. You know, I mentioned him in the podcast that we did earlier in the year with Jason Concepcion, where I said, I don't know, well, what is going to happen with him. He now, you know, he beat the crap out of that trainer last year. We're coming down to the end. We're coming down to the end of a contract. And are they going to, is he a guy that can be moved?

is Doc Rivers, he was quoted last year talking about how things can get stale. He thought things can get stale. Like when you've got the same guys and you've got the same core guys that things can get stale. So you already know that's kind of like a philosophy in the back of his head. And you can't imagine them moving D'Andre or Chris. And they did pretty well without Blake Griffin last year. So just Blake's whole season is the thing that interests me most about the Clippers. What do you got on the Clippers?

as well. And I mean, one thing to touch on, you said how Doc said last year they got stale. I mean, they were open to listening to offers for Blake. They're not going to trade them, and I don't think they're going to share. I think they're going to run it back with more intriguing to me because Blake is shooting more three-pointers this season that he's supposed to be. They're going to be possibly, at least to start the year, staggering the minutes of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, which means Blake will get time on the floor alone, maybe handling the ball more, which is precisely what I want to see from that. I want to see Doc Rivers get a little bit more creative and start stealing plays from the Warriors and Cavs, how the Warriors use Draymond Green as a ball hammer, how the calves use LeBron James, and use creative play types to get Blake Griffin going because he, without a doubt, is a classic big man ever. I show it, he's sensational. So have him run a little bit more pick and roll with DeAndre or for him to get that unique switch. Dock get more creative with that team, and maybe. The Lakers, I've got, I think a lot of people are going to say Brandon Ingram.

I've got DeAngelo Russell. They came to town a couple of times last year, and I saw them in person. Talking to the L.A. media people, nobody, like, media-wise, liked Russell. I don't know if he came in with, like, arrogance or what. And Byron Scott obviously had some problems with him. But this guy is crazy talented. He looked awesome in Summer League. He looked really great in the preseason.

He had that, you know, disaster last season where people were kind of down on him, wondering if he was the right pick. Byron wasn't, you know, wasn't playing him all the time. And last year was just about Kobe anyway. This guy was very, very highly regarded coming out of the draft, and people thought he could be a potential star in the league. Now he's got Luke Walton as a head coach, and we are past the whole Nick Young, Igia Zelia Fiasco, a big from last year. And he looks, I mean, he looks so good in everything that was not real NBA games this summer that Russell is the thing I'll probably pay attention to the most regarding the last. Likers. For me as well, especially coming off last season. I wrote an article on the Ringer

dot com last month that detailed just how underrated Russell's rookie season was. Because without Kobe on the floor, he was really, really good, but he was, you know, playing Kobe ball. He was just dominating the ball. I think Luke Walton is going to be a blessing for DeAngelo Russell's game. He's, Russell is an ideal fit for that type of offense, and I'm just excited to see how he develops. He's going to have his inconsistencies, but how he looks in March and April, I think, could be their future. All right, Phoenix Sons. I think there's going to be a lot of people to say Booker, a lot of people that say they're interested in what Marquis Christ, some of these young guys on their team.

I am most interested in their tracking of high fives. I'm not really, let me be honest. I'm not all that interested in them. But have you seen the article about tracking high fives? I actually covered a college basketball team that did this. And this is what teams that suck do. They start doing things like this, like to build team camaraderie. It reminds me if Damon Stottomar once said,

You know, players-only meetings are for teams that suck, right? And I think tracking high-fives are for teams that suck, right? But I will now be aware of how much they high-five each other when I turn them on league pass. You know, the whole – I read your article about rookies this season, and I'm super intrigued with Marquise Chris. Booker is obviously a lightning rod and got the potential to be one of the great scorers in the league, possibly. but they're tracking of high fives because now that I know, and that's out there and a bunch of stories were written about them walking around trying to high five each other, I will actually pay attention to how much they're high fiving each other and if it feels fake or authentic. What do you got on the signs? It's actually capable of because I thought last year he showed some 42% on spot-up improvement from what he was in college.

And he was one of the more efficient players on the team, but it came on kind of a low volume. I'm really, really interested in seeing what he does if he gets an uptick in opportunities, which he could. I think he'll be starting the season next to Jared Dudley in the front court. So I'm really intrigued by T.J. Warren. You write like a big draft guide every year, and he did this past year. Where were you on Marquise Chris? Do you think he's going to be a big-time NBA guy? It's just one of those guys where, I mean, everybody said this about Chris, but he really was because, like, you can see it going wrong with him.

So, I mean, he had flashes in the preseason, but that dude still fouls a lot. And he's going to get in a lot of foul trouble this year with Phoenix, just like he did last year of freshman at Washington. So personally, I don't love his chances at rookie of the year just because I don't trust him to stay on the floor. But that doesn't mean he can't have an impressive rookie year coming off the bench for them. The Sacramento Kings, I've got, is this the coach for Boogie? You know, we've chronicled this a lot, the fact that he's had all these coaches in a young NBA career. He had a monster year last year, 27 points, 11 and a half rebounds, three assists. He had a great

year, but it just seems like there's always some kind of, you know, contentious relationship going on with the head coach. And now he's got Dave Yeager as his head coach. That roster is a bizarre roster filled with all kinds of things that don't necessarily look like they're going to fit. And obviously you've got the whole Rudy Gay situation going on where he may not be there for all that long or may want out already. But really, I think this comes down to, is our boogie and Yeager going to have a great relationship and be able to press forward together? Because if not, they're just back to square one once again.

And at some point, you stop hiring coaches and you just remove boogie, which seems insane, but how many coaches can you honestly go through? So I think the whole Boogie Yeager and then the quotes about each other as the season goes on is probably what's going to interest me the most. Maybe Boogie should just coach. Because I trade it. They could get a large package for him. If the Kings get off to a poor start again, and it's January, February, if I'm the Celtics or Lakers, I'm really, really pushing for Boogie. Or if I'm the Dallas Mavericks and my team is struggling.

And, you know, if you're Dallas and you have a projected top 10 pick, I'm pushing for Bullie. boogie too. So you could have the assets to get it done. And you're in that situation, and you have an opportunity to go into this next draft, which is probably going to be stacked, and you can have two top ten picks. That's a way for you to really, really infuse some young talent into your roster. Well, let me just say this. I've covered Yeager for the last several years, and the thing that would concern me is I'm not sure he's the guy that will get up in his face. And I feel like that's the best way to get that kid to respond, right? Calipari had him at Kentucky and Calpair was just willing to, yeah, fine, go ahead, pout, I don't care, right?

Like, really stand up to him. And I'm not so sure that Yeager is the guy that will really stand up to him when he inevitably flies off the rails at a postgame media session, you know? Seems to me in a winning situation. That might be so. That might be so. All right, let's move to the next division. Dallas.

Mine on Dallas, the thing that interested me is, what is Harrison Barnes? Like, I really, I don't know. his preseason has been miserable. There's no doubt about that. But is Harrison Barnes a guy that, and guys were like 50 yards away from him in the finals? It got to where you were feeling bad

for him, right? Everybody was leaving him so open. But is he a guy that can do a ton and is going to end up? Does he have star potential and he was just willing to be, he was just a role guy for one of the great teams of all time

in NBA history? So is that his destiny is. His destiny is just to be a role guy on a good team forever, or does he have star potential that he was held back because he was a role guy in Golden State? And I really don't know the answer to that. The preseason would lead to tell you that the former is true, that he's just a role guy. But I'm at least interested to see if he can be a lot more than that. What about you on Dallas? You mentioned his end of the finals and this preseason. over the last 10 games, so this is three playoff games, seven preseason games. He's averaging 9.9 points on a 22.8 field goal percentage over the last 10 games.

That's per 36 minutes. And right now with Dallas, he looks like the same player. And the issue there, he's not going to get the same wide open shots he did in Golden State. And over the last three years with Golden State, playoffs and regular season, he shot 40% on wide open threes, but only 32% on all other three-pointers. So when he's contested open and wide open, so he's going to get a lot more contested shots now with Dallas, and he's also not going to get the mismatches that he did

because of relation against the guard. But I'm not quite sure he's going to get those as often with Dallas, which takes away. I'm worried about him and his fit with Dallas. All right, let me give you an over-under. 16 points of game for Harrison Barnes. Over-under. I'm going to take the over-only because of volume,

not because of efficiency, though. All right. Next one's Houston. Mine is, can they average over 120 points? And I know that sounds crazy, but they are going to play lightning fast. Their offense was crazy in the preseason. They're one of the teams that looks totally ready for that regular season. Like, they were fine-tuned in this preseason.

And they, I know that sounds crazy, but they averaged 106.5 last year. And that's with Dwight and a team that all hated each other. So now playing this Dantone style and with Hardin, and I know you had Hardin as an MVP this year, I don't think it's far-fetched to think they could average 120 a night. And I think they'd actually want to, right? I don't think they'd mind playing everybody 126 to 118 every single night. And it just seems like now we're in a time where the league is willing to play that way, right? more so than there used to be a bunch of teams that would just try to drag you into the mud or slow you down if you were that high-power team.

Now there's a lot of teams that one out, score each other. So I don't think it's out of the realm of the possibility that they could score that much. What do you got on Houston? And Tony, just the way Dan Tony revised his usage, I just think we're going to see a potential really special year from James Harden. And like, sometimes I think we forget. This dude averaged 28 points, seven assists, and six rebounds over the past three years. So I don't think we can really rule out something like 28, 10, and 6 out of him because he's going to be spending more time as a playmaker as a points guard, as Dan Tony called him last month. I just think Hardin, he could have a really great year.

All right. Memphis is next 100%. It's just health. You know, when they have had Mike Conley and they've had Marcus All Healthy, they play at like a 55 win pace. when one of those guys is down, they don't play like a playoff team. So it's all come down to over the course of the past several years of Mike Conley and Mark Gassal are healthy. And if they can get 60 plus games out of Conley Parsons and Gassau, which might be far-fetched, I think that a lot of people have them really underrated. They're an interesting team because all of the numbers are down on Memphis, but that's because their point differential and everything from last year was just horrific.

And I don't want to say you could just throw last season out, but they literally had 28 players play, which is the most in NBA history. I mean, and they lost like 17 of their last 19 games. So to me, the thing that Memphis, I think, has the biggest swing. They're either going to, they have a chance to be a top four seed or they have a chance to not be a playoff team. And that's all going to come down to whether they're healthy or not. If they're healthy, they will have a chance at being a home court advantage team. Prior to the injury, a lot of players don't recover from the same midfoot injury that he had. He's already 31.

I really, really hope he bounces back. I'm excited to see him unleashing the three-point of this year. But in some ways, I'm hoping for the best. All right. New Orleans. Buddy healed. I love Buddy Healed. I love Buddy.

I enjoyed watching Buddy Heald play college basketball as much as almost any college basketball player the last five years. I love the kid. I love watching him in college. I do think he's NBA ready. I think there's going to be a night where Buddy Heald scores 40 points as a rookie. And I do think he has a great chance at rookie of the year. And I just had so much fun.

I had so much fun watching him in college that now I'm excited to see what he looks like in the NBA. And I think he's going to be really good. What do you got on New Orleans? He's healthy. he's, will he bounce back to what he was two years ago? I'm really intrigued by what we're going to see by him with Buddy Healed. Buddy Healed, obviously, I think he adds a new element to their team that they didn't have before. So I'm excited to see what we get from Anthony Davis.

Spurs, the thing that interested me the most is the Powell Aldridge front court and how it's going to work. Neither of those guys are really bulldog type guys. And I'm not sure it's going to work all that great, especially in this NBA where it's all small ball. I mean, Popovich many times had to, you know, just stop playing Duncan. You know, and then he would, like, he was just searching, obviously, that series last year. He was trying Bobon. He was just trying anything, right? And I'm not so sure as the way the league is gone and who the best teams are going to be that you have to be able to beat.

That that pal Aldridge thing is that great. The other thing is this now's got to kind of become Kauai's team, right? Duncan has been there for 19 years, and that was Tim Duncan's team. and he was responsible for, you know, a lot of the culture and everything that goes on. And so now is Kauai Leonard like a real leader? So there's actually two things with San Antonio, but those are things I'll keep track of the most. Because we know Kauai is no vocal leader by any mean, but is it now his team? Because Aldridge has kind of always been the guy.

He resented Lillard when it wasn't his team anymore. And then the whole Aldridge Pau thing, I don't know if that whole mix is going to work. as great as many people think it's going to work. What do you got on the Spurs? Yeah, you mention me. I'm just really interested in seeing how his opportunity changes. So every season of his career, his usage and field goal attempts per game have risen. I'm assuming that will continue this year.

Does he see another uptick and opportunity? Maybe he gets featured like a superstar. Over 25 points per game and wins defensive player of the year and maybe becomes a potential contender for the most valuable player. I think we are going to see an uptick an opportunity from Kauai but I'm just curious to see how it happens exactly because the Spurs, you know, over the years

have run such an equal opportunity system do they now kind of feature Kauai as the man on that team? Because as you said, the front court has questions and they don't have a lot of other options so maybe they do feed Kauai. Denver Nuggets. We'll go to the next division. The thing that interests me is if Moudier

takes a big leap. His shooting numbers were bad last year. There's no way around that. But you can see it with him. And he's got the requisite talent. Shooting is something that does come along. And so I know they've got a bunch of young talent

on that team. It's kind of an intriguing team and I think it could be a good league pass team for sure. But Moodye to me is going to be the most fascinating of all of it. And to see, did they nail it with him and is he going to be one of the great point guards in the Western

conference? Because I think by this second year we're going to be able to tell, you know, what he is or what he, what, I think by the end of the year, we're going to know what Emmanuel Moudier's ceiling is. What do you got on the Nuggets? I'm really interested to see what they do with the front court. They're going to start Nerkich and Yokic, but I'm wondering if it turns out that the Yokic-Gallin-R-E pairing is the best front court. I think they'll be a lot better with Gallon-R-E at the four instead of the three. So while I like the NERC-I-Yoch-Yoch-Lych lineup, I'm wondering how well.

that pairing will be able to defend compared to Gallinari Yokage. So I'm curious to see if at some point a change is made there in the starting lineup. But ultimately, I guess in some ways it doesn't matter who starts. I'm wondering what's going to happen with that pairing in the front court. Minnesota, I've got, here's a good Tate-Frasier note. The last seven years, the last three years he was in Boston, and the first four he was in Chicago, Tom Tibido had a top five defense. So where does Minnesota rank in defense throughout this year and at the end of the year?

Everybody's high on them. Everybody's high on the young talent, Carl Towns, Wiggins, a lot of people love Chris Dunn, the rookie that they drafted. But the mark of a Tom Tibido team has been elite defensively. And so does he harness these guys, the Wiggins and Levine and towns, and turn them into a defensive juggernaut because he's done it? but he's had maybe better defensive players per se in some of these other situations. I mean, listen, he was coaching a team with Garnett, and he was coaching a team that had Jo Kime Noah, when Joe Kim Noah was possibly the best, you know,

defender in the league in the front court. So where can Tibbs, what's the ceiling on? Where can he get that team defensively? If we look up at the end of the year, do you think Minnesota is going to be a top 10 defensive team? A whole lot better for the reasons you've stated. Carl Anthony Towns, I think Carl Anthony Towns will make elite. on defense. But I mean, I just think by the end of the year, I think we could actually be talking

about him as a potential legendary player. I'm just expecting a big year from him. The way he finished last season after the All-Star break, he put up numbers that few big men in league history have ever done. And if he carries it over to this year, like I think he could, I think he could put it this way. In league history, there have only been three players ever who have averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks before their 22nd birthday. Those guys are Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neill, Anthony Davis. I don't see why Carl Anthony Towns can't join that list this year with the opportunity he's going to get. With his upside, he's already shown, I think he could have a really, really special season

and possibly lead them to the playoffs. I'd put them in the playoffs right now if I did season of predictions. Oklahoma City, I'm lower on Oklahoma City than everybody else, but the, question. The thing to me is what kind of score is Ola Depot nightly? Because I said, you know, they lost a bunch of their leading scores. Obviously, Durant, Ibaca, even Waiters, was one of their bigger scores on their team last year. You know, three of their top five scorers from last year gone. And where do those points come from every night? Like I said, I don't, I don't care how many Russell Westbrook, even if we gave him 30 a night, which would be just a ridiculously monster

season. Even if we gave him 30 a night, they've got to figure out where the rest of those points are coming, and I've got to believe if they're going to be a really good team, Oladipo's got to be a big-time scorer. And I don't know what level scorer he can be. You know, he's on a bad team last year, and I really don't know. I don't know what the ceiling is on Oladipo's scoring ability, but I'll tell you this, if that's going to be a playoff team, if that's going to be a team that's way over 500, it's going to be a team that's going be because Oladipo can be a 20 plus per game score, and I don't know if that's so. What about you? Just from the last podcast I was on with you, but with Russell Westbrook, I'm just really interested

to see what happens with his usage. Triple-double field season, which is possible, level numbers, but my question is, do the Thunder really want that? Players that lead teams with a usage over 35% usually don't layoffs, and obviously ultimately that's what matters. So, I, you know, I'm wondering if they're going to tone down Westbrook's usage maybe for the greater good of the team or if they're just going to unleash Westbrook and he's just going to have a crazy numbers year, but ultimately it might lead them to only 42 or 43 wins, which I think that's partially what you might be expecting, Chris. All right. Portland, adding Evan Turner to the mix and how that works.

Evan Turner was like, you know, free agent signing. Obviously, they kept out of crab, but the whole adding Evan Turner into that mix, and he played well for Boston last year. There's no way around it. But he is a guy that needs the ball. And Brad Stevens acknowledged he needs the ball. Well, guess who else needs the ball? Right?

Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum? I mean, I don't know if adding him into that mix is going to be a massive positive. When they signed him, I didn't think it made all that much sense, but I'm certainly open to the fact that it could make all the sense in the world because, frankly, I thought they were going to suck. last year and they were they were a playoff team right so I got to I got to kind of concede to Neil O'Shea a little bit on this thing but when they signed him I thought why another guy that you know needs the ball to be really successful so is he going to be is he going to fit with them really well in terms of what they're able to do going forward or is it going to be what I thought it was which is just a bad fit what say you yeah so with him so

Just to give a little background, two years ago when the Celtics signed him, I felt like I was on an island, one of the only people saying, hey, this could be a good signing for the Celtics. He was low-risk. So I had a feeling Brad Stevens would be able to enhance his game, which he did. But the thing is, as you mentioned, Chris, Turner still has his limitations that hold him back for now. He's a poor shooter, which makes him a total liability when he doesn't have the ball on his hands. How do you use him with McCollum and with Lillard? I'd like to see them use him become that type of player hasn't yet

All right Utah's our last one in the West I wrote down the thing that interests me is how good is Dante Exum Because Exum was very highly touted coming out when he came out in the draft And then unfortunately last year He lost that whole year to the ACL

People are really high on Utah This year They're obviously going to be without Hayward For some amount of time But really, and I know they got George Hill But XM I think is a guy that is a total unknown because of losing

all of last season. So I'll be most interested in seeing how good he is. What are you got on Utah? Yeah, I'll watch Dante Exum, but besides Exum, Utah, the way Quinn Snyder is going to just use lineups. How creative is he going to get? Because they can play so many different styles.

I think Snyder can have a lot of fun with this roster with multiple ball handlers, including Exum, if Snyder gets really creative with some of his lineups, depending on the opponent. There's the things that interests us about the West, the things that interest us about the Eastern Conference after these words. Picture a world where putting on a new pair of underwear isn't just fresh, you're stepping into a better day. Think about it. Underwear is the first thing you put on and the last thing you take off.

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The Boston Celtics. The thing that interests me the most is, is Danny Ains rocking with this lineup and this roster or is another big move on the horizon? Once upon a time, he acquired a bunch of really awesome young assets, and then he flipped it for big time stars. And we've already talked about stars that who knows what could happen with them, like a boogie cousins or like a Blake Griffin or whatever. They got the free agent signing in Horford in the off season. And so now it's, okay, they've talked about how deep their lineup is, how many assets they have. Are they playing it out with these assets or is Aange going to swing a deal this year for some kind of,

massive star and that's how he gets his other member of a big three or whatever it may be. That's the thing that interests me the most. It's a given. It's just a matter of if another team is going to put a player out there. I know I talked to Wick Grosbeck for the feature I wrote on the Celtics earlier this month, and he basically flat out said. I mean, that's kind of what they're trying to do because it's what they're trying to do. So it's a matter of finding a dance partner for them.

and part of finding a dance partner is having intriguing assets, which I think they do have. And that's what's most interesting to me with their team is the X factors on their team. I think we know what to expect from most of their core players. Al Horford is going to enhance what they had last year. He's a stud the way he's looked in preseason. I mean, the way he's integrated into Brad Stevens system is really fun to watch. And we mentioned Evan Turner earlier in this podcast, and I thought last year he was a good player the last two years, very, very important

player to their success, but at the same time, he's still a liability off the ball. His role will be elevated. Terri strides ever since he was drafted two years ago. He might be a better prospect than Marcus Smart. So I'm interested to see how he, how he, opportunity he's going to get coming off their bench. You think it is a possibility?

Honestly, Kevin, you think it's a possibility we look up in two years and Rozier is a better player than Marcus Smart? I would take Marker Smart if, if, you know, you make me decide today. However, if you take away the name off their back, you don't know that Marcus Smart was the number six pick, that he was up top recruit. You don't know Terry Rozier, stayed two years at Louisville.

You don't know anything about these guys. I think you would look at Terry Rozier and see if that's not quite the defender, or the versatile, though, and you would put those two side by side, and you would think, okay, this guy is the better prospect, and that might be a character about them. They defend bigger guys and smaller guys. For Evan Turner is really something to watch from their bench unit, which is very important for their success. All right. Next, Brooklyn. I got nothing. I'm sorry.

Usually on a team like this, I would look to rookies. I mean, they got nothing. Linsanity going back to the New York area. I mean, there's nothing that interests me about them, except maybe like Prokeroff. I don't know. Nothing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Brooklyn. In many ways, this relates to the team we just talked about. I just want to know how much worse will that trade look after this season? Because I think they're going to be bottom five bad again.

And even if they're not, this draft is so good that that 2017 pick is going to be really valuable even just in the lottery. So how much worse is that trade going to look after this year? The Knicks are next. Porzingis Stardom. That's for me. I know they added Rose. I know they added Noah.

It's a different look of team. I'm a big Hornacek fan. You know, I was pretty high on the – I'm higher on the Knicks, and I think a lot of people that are analyzing the NBA is. But the big thing is Porzingis. You've got this guy who is, I thought, last year, a total revelation. He is so much fun to watch. He is worth the price of admission already just because he is freakishly big when you see him in person

and you see the dexterity and everything, how he's able to play. And so is he especially with a team that's got Derek Rose, Jo Kim Noah, Carmelo, Anthony, is he able to make the big second year leap that a lot of guys make? So clearly, Porzingis is the most interesting thing about the Knicks to me by a wide, wide margin. On that team besides Christaps Porzingis, I assume they're just going to be a fringe playoff team at best. Derek Rose is not good anymore. No one recently admitted that he's a step slow on D, and I don't think he's ever going to get back to what he wants. I look at that team, and I want to watch Chris Staps Porzingis.

I'm excited to see how he develops as a player. I think he'd really make elite this year. But besides that, I just don't. Philly, I would have said Ben Simmons probably, but obviously it's Embed. I mean, the thing that is most interesting about Philly to me, it's 100% Embed. Well, you know what? I'll give 98% Embed, 2% Dario Sarich. Because I am interested.

Every NBA scout and every personnel guy that I talked to, they were all high on Sarich. Every one of them said no Everybody said no, no, no, no, he's the real deal. Because you always wonder, right? Especially when you never get to see these guys, right? Which is he? Is he one of these guys that has been playing overseas and he's not, you know, it's not going to translate as well as a lot of people think it's going to,

because in the absence of being able to see him play regularly. But every personnel guy, I will say uniform, all were very, very high on Sarich, everyone that I talked to. So I'd say, listen, M-Beat, I saw. him in the preseason this year and I thought just spectacular. I thought like if this guy stays healthy, he can be one of the great players in the NBA. And I mean that. But yeah, I mean, I will actually flip on their games to watch Joel Embed and then maybe 2% Dario Sarge.

Yeah, me too much. And like you said, he could become one of the greats. And I look at him and there's not a lot of guys to come into the draft or come into the league that you look at them and say he has a chance to become one of the grades. Joe LL&B is one of those guys who do look at and you think that. Toronto, you know, they bring back a lot of their team, which was a very, very good team last year. I think the thing that would interest me is can that backcourt get even better, right? Was that the peak of Lowry and DeRosen last year?

I mean, they are so reliant on them still. But is that the peak or can they get even better? It's one of the best backcourts in the NBA. Sneaky, great, great backcourt. And just because they play in Toronto, they're not on TV as much as a lot of other teams. I think people don't get to see them as much. But those guys are both all-star caliber players, and can they get even better? Because they kind of, you know, they needed them to be as awesome as they were last year,

to be as good as they were last year. And so I guess they're the most two intriguing players on the team, and they play together. and they provide one of the great backcorts. But DeRosen got his money in the offseason. Was last year the peak of how good they can be as a unit together, or can that back court get even better? I think that's probably the thing that interests me the most. The guy out of the story, DeMari Carroll, he had knee surgery last year.

He obviously wasn't 100-painting camp this year that he wasn't 100% and he sure didn't look like it in preseason or low performance last year really limited. I'm wondering if serving him the contract that he received, or is he kind of can suddenly become a shell of his former self? And if that's the case, it's really going to hurt them. But if you think Toronto is probably the two-seat in the East. Next division, Chicago. The thing that interesting to me is, can this work?

I mean, you've got all these guys that are bad shooters. Rondo, Wade, Butler, like historically bad shooters, in terms of the volume of shots that they take from long range and the percentage of which they hit. These are three of the lowest ever for the volume that they've taken. And in today's NBA, I mean, they're all good players. They're all good, right? And I think everybody focuses on what's not good about them,

which is that they are not great shooters. And shooters have become the thing that everybody wants to talk about all the time. But they are all good basketball players. But I don't know if it fits, and I don't know if it works together. And so I really have no gauge. I could see that going a couple of different ways. I know you were really down on them when we did season predictions. So I'm going to imagine you're still really down on them, right?

You mentioned how all three are really good players, but I just don't see how it could possibly work. I just wonder how long it will be until it blows up. Rondo's a hot head. He's a leader with a domineering style. I don't see how him and Wade can coexist. Never mind with what happened with Jimmy Butler last year, with him being disgruntled. It's just waiting to happen. And I just don't know when it's going to happen, but it just feels like it's going to happen at some point this year.

And maybe by the trade deadline, we're talking about Jimmy Butler is the top available star in the market. Well, and I don't know if they got a big time – well, I know. I don't feel like Koiberg's a big-time strong leader that is going to be able to, you know, maneuver it. When the seas get rocky, you know, what's the captain like? Yeah. I was just not impressed with him last year at all, Foyberg. So I don't know if that's the right guy to deal with it, right? If you get off to a slow start and you start guys chirping in the locker room,

you know, is he the kind of guy that can manage through it? Because those are pretty dominating personalities, for sure. Cleveland. He gave him players of the opposite. Right. I know the coach's what you want in a motion offense that emphasizes three-point shooting. It's just weird not what they did this summer. Cleveland. It's Kyrie Irving for me. I mean, obviously they're coming off the championship year,

but he was so unbelievable, Kevin. 44% from three in the playoffs, 25 points a game. Is he best point guard in the NBA? And in an NBA that includes Steph Curry, you know what I mean? Like, I'm just telling you, we saw this guy, like, was last year the start of something where he caught on and like, dude, I could be one of the great players in the league, like a top five, top ten player in this whole league, and maybe be considered the best point guard in the league. I do not think that's out of the realm of possibility. That felt like the coming out party of all coming out parties last year for Kyrie during those playoffs and finals.

For me, I'm interested in Kyrie. I think about how important Matthew Delavadova was at certain points last season or the last two years, for that matter. This Kay Felder, the rookie point guard from Oakland, really sees that role. I think he's a potential spark plug. He's kind of built in the mold of Isaiah Thomas. Small guy, but built. He's not tiny.

He can handle contact at the rim. He's just a fiery spark plug off their bench. I think he can help them get some wins and gives them another playmaking ball handler. I mean, we have to mention LeBron James. Bill Simmons wrote a tremendous column on him today that everybody should read at the ringer.com. And LeBron, what's he going to do? Is he going to have another LeBron year?

Obviously it goes about saying that everybody's excited to watch him. Well, yeah, Andy cuts to come into the season. Like, he has always been Goliath, right? And now he's like an underdog for the first time ever, ever. 19s right now going against the school and state. Detroit. Tate Fraser gave me a great note on Detroit in this season packet that he puts together before the year. And my question is, can Stan Van Gundy make Drummond a big-time defender?

Drummond, people bring up that, like, Andre Drummond, he's a real rim protector, blah, blah. According to Sport VU, opponent shot 53% at the rim when Drummond was there to defend, which is ranked 48th out of 60 players who defended at least five shots at the rim per game in at least 40 games. Not only was he, like, is he not a good rim defender? He was pathetic. Pathetic rim defender. And that's kind of been the thing, right? You think like Van Gundy's kind of doing a Orlando Redux in some ways, right?

Where he's got Dwight. Dwight Howard was one of the great defensive players at that time. And Drummond just has not proven to be. And especially in this day and age, the guy cannot hit free throws. And if he's going to hurt you defensively, I mean, I know he's only 23. But I think what Stan Van Gundy can turn Andre Drummond into, I mean, he's already taking this huge leap. The guy is, he's an outstanding player and a great, great, great rebounder. But he is a pretty bad defender at the rim.

And so does that, can he transform him? Is there a way Van Gundy can actually turn Drummond into a force defensively? Start the year. They scored 6.4 fewer points per 100 possessions last year without Reddy Jackson on the floor. The differences now they have Ishmus, who I think could keep them afloat. but if not, how far do they get set back in the... All right, Indiana, the thing that interested to me is, how good is Frank Vogel and how much they miss him?

I thought Frank Vogel was a really good coach, right? I think a lot of people were kind of surprised in the offseason when Frank Vogel was let call by Indiana. Now, they've added good players, Jeff Teague and Al Jefferson, Thad Young. I mean, they've added certainly good, solid, eight-man rotation players for that team. I was not crazy about the Nate McMillan hire, But again, sometimes we give coaches too much credit. Sometimes we give them too little credit.

And I think the whole, what do they look like without Frank Vogel? And I do think people are going to point to that. I thought he's done a very, very good job there for a long time. And so it's going to be odd. Andy was one of the longest-tenured NBA coaches at his job. Andy, I thought he was good at developing players over his time there. So just the whole, how much does, did Frank Vogel, really mean to Indiana and am I going to notice that he's not their coach anymore?

What about you? I'm wondering, are there even any good to share? On paper, I love the Teague, Ellis Parry, in the back court. I've never been super high on Thaddeus Young. I love Miles to truly anchor the defense. They're in the NBA and they're wondering what happens with their defense because they will fall off without Mahaney and George Hill. Now with Jeff Teague and Al Jefferson kind of fill in the blank.

there. So I think they're a playoff team, but are they just kind of sneaking in as a 7-8 seed, or are they as good as a 4 or 5? All right. Milwaukee, I wrote down Greek Creek, obviously, and the possibility, watching and play point guard and maybe possibly

becoming an All-Star in the league. It's not out of the round possibility. He had a good season last year, but that team might be pretty bad. But you know my stocks in Jabari Parker. I'm super interested in him. I was so high on him coming out of the draft. I thought, you know, the whole Wiggins-Parker debate, obviously I understood taking

Wiggins, but I thought both of them were going to be great. The trajectory of Wiggins has been much greater than Jabari so far because of the injury that killed him his first season. But I'm still high on Jabari Parker, and so he will be something that, like, when it's a league past night, I will tune in, and he's probably the thing that interests me most, and that's just because of my own kind of feelings of personal stock. But by the way, I did the podcast with network and then everybody was sending me the things like the tumbler page about does jabari parker have friends and evidently there's a twitter feed there's a twitter feed at boring jabari i mean this guy gets killed for being like a boring guy or whatever so these are things i was

previously unaware of but i was really high on him coming out of duke so i'll i'll flip on the bucks just to see how he's doing all-star break last year he was playing nearly 40 minutes per game he was one of the leaders on the team in usage points, field goal attempts, and I, I've production carry over this year. It's not a lot of guys that are to his size with his quickness. He has our potential, but maybe the tier a little bit below unless he develops a three-pointer. So I'm really excited to see what happens with him this season.

Probably the least interesting division is the southeast, so let's us bust through it. Yeah, yeah. Atlanta, the thing that interests me is Dwight, right? I mean, this has been so bad. Ever since Orlando, the Lakers thing went crash. The Houston thing. Went good for a while, and they made the West Finals, and then it turned out sour at the end. And now he ends up in Atlanta playing for Budenholzer, who's not standing coach, but they're having to change their style a little bit to fit Dwight.

And so, Dwight, that's, that is the deal with Atlanta, right? Flipping on, when I'm turning Atlanta on, I'm flipping to see how good Dwight is now outside of playing for these last couple teams and how much he's got left. and is he still elite? Or can he be? Howard, who is a really, really like with him now. I'm just not convinced that they're going to be the same with Dwight. All right. Next is Charlotte.

Kemble Walker for me. I love watching Kimball Walker play. I really do. And here's a, here's it. This all began. So about, I guess it's two seasons ago, maybe three seasons ago. The Grizzlies played at Charlotte, right? Grizzlies played at Charlotte.

and Kemba Walker starts, he starts scoring. He's got, you know, six or eight points rather quickly, right? And Tony Allen has gone to the bench, and he is standing up on the side of the, he is standing up on the bench, and he is yelling at Kemba Walker, right? Every time Charlotte comes down the floor, Tony Allen's yelling, he's a human oozy. He don't want to pass it. He just wants to score, right?

So he's covered that every time. He's a human oozy, right? And so now every time I see Kemper Walker to think of him, all I can ever think of is he's a human oozy, right? Hey, the assistant coaches are going over to Allen. They've got him down on the bench. They are cussing him out. Will you please shut the F up, right? Walker goes for like 30-something.

He just lights the Grizzlies up. And Charlotte wins, right? And so forever, as long as I live, all I will ever remember is Tody Allen yelling, he don't want to pass it, he just wants to score. And Kimba just literally took over the game completely and just started laying waste to everybody. And so a guy that can respond to trash talk in that manner, I'll ride with him forever. I love Kimball Walker. He's the reason I turn on Charlotte when I do.

So Tony Allen on court defense. He's a human oozy. Anything on Charlotte for you? Ellen. The way he defends plays with such intensity. He can't shoot jumpers at all. His form looks like it's reverted back to that weird, twisted pretzel motion than it was before. But that dude, watching him play defense is fun.

All right. Miami, Justice Winslow for me, again, another guy loved coming out of the draft. Love Justice Winslow, now with Wade gone, going to have even more opportunity. It was crazy. Like, they had him starting, you know, guarding Bismack Biombo last year in that playoff series. So he's clearly like this crazy, versatile defender, and he's going to have the opportunity to have an offensive breakout.

So Winslow for sure. And I guess the other thing in Miami, honestly, is White Side, because he strikes me as the kind of guy that if you put a ton of money in his pie, he's kind of a goofy dude, and now that he, like, struck it rich, I don't know. I don't know if Whiteside's going to end up being the kind of player. that fulfills that contract, let's just say. You mentioned what I mean?

That just is on the court without Bosch and Wade, but I mean off the court, because I heard prior to the draft that he was one of the most ever came through. In terms of leadership, natural leadership, really make the Miami heat his team and a leadership role both on and off the floor. Orlando, I said Abaca without the other guys. because I always fought with people over the years. Ibaka's one of those guys that media love, right? When everybody talks about, you know, well, who's the third guy for Oklahoma City?

Everybody's always real high on Ibaka. Well, I guess we're going to find out. Now, he's got this odd fit because I just don't get it, right? They make the deal for him, but they've got Vucevich, and they've got Biombo, and they've got Aaron Gordon, and then they went and spent $15 million on Jeff Green. It's all kind of goofy roster construction to me. but I Baca was always the guy, much like we mentioned Harrison Barnes. Okay, so was Serge Abaka, Serja Baca because he played with Westbrook and Durant,

or in his own right, is he much better than we ever realized? And I would think the former, right, that he benefited more from playing with those guys than they did playing with him, but we're going to get to find out. Ibaka acquisition for them. I think, you know, him in a contract year could be a good opportunity for him to really potentially show what he could be with opportunity. but even then by adding Ibaka, by adding Jeff Green and Bionbo, it pushed Aaron Gordon down to the three.

And I don't love that. I think Aaron Gordon should be a small ball four. I'd prefer to see starting five with Ibaka at the five and Gordon at the four. That means by default, Vucevic would get pushed to the bench. He's a guy if I were Orlando, I'd be looking to trade. So you could play with that versatility in the front court. but to the start starting the season we're not going to see a lot of Gordon at the four just because the amount of bakes that they have but by the deadline I would hope they

look at their roster and say to themselves maybe we should move one of these bigs and the last one the Washington Wizards to me it's Brad Beale he got the massive contract in the all season there's been stories written about how much more he's getting paid than John Wall and Brad Beale has not proven on a regular to be able to play over 65 games. I think he can be one of the great shooting guards in the NBA, but he can't stay on the court. And so how many games does he play? And the other thing is, what do they look like with Brooks as their coach? Because Brooks was a really good defensive coach in Oklahoma City, and that was one of the most pathetic defensive teams you'll ever see last year in Washington. So how much

does Brooks improve them defensively and then how many games can Beal play? That's what probably interests me the most about Washington. All Bradley Bale dynamic is going to look like, because on paper, those guys should be a perfect fit for each other. But they haven't been partially because of Beal's health over the years. I'm just, I wish those guys could work it out, but I'm not convinced that they will. And I wonder if they're better off without one of them at some point. Maybe not this year, but going forward next summer or the season after. Opening night is tonight in the NBA.

Kevin O'Connor, you can read all of his stuff at the ringer.com. and you can follow him on Twitter at Kevin O'Connor NBA. Kevin, happy NBA opening day of the NBA season. Thanks for coming on the pod, man. Thank you for having me, Chris. So stoked for tonight. And there's another edition of the NBA show.