The Ringer NBA Show - How Good Are the Knicks? Plus, an OKC Deep Dive With Tyler Parker. | Ringer NBA University

Episode Date: April 21, 2021

Kevin O’Connor and J. Kyle Mann start by discussing how good the New York Knicks can be during the rest of the regular season and potentially in the playoffs (0:51). Then they are joined by Tyler Parker to discuss the Oklahoma City Thunder's young guys and what the future holds for the franchise (21:51). Lastly, Tyler drops a hot take about a future NBA draft prospect (58:10). Check out J. Kyle Mann’s newest video, on Anthony Edwards. Read Tyler Parker’s Oklahoma City Thunder Tank Diaries. Hosts: Kevin O’Connor and J. Kyle Mann Guest: Tyler Parker Production Assistant: Isaiah Blakely Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Football season is never over. The Ringer NFL show has got all your football needs covered from free agency to the draft and so much more. Check out the Ringer NFL show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Basketball is very good. Welcome to Ringer NBA University. I'm Kevin O'Connor and here today is the Ringer's J. Kyle, man. What's going on today, Kyle? Not a whole lot, KOC.

I'm just dealing with the weather, the wild weather swings here in Kentucky. It's cold. I need it to warm back up. But overall, I'm doing pretty well. How are you? I'm doing pretty well today. Just hanging out later on the show. We have Tyler Parker joining us to talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And on Ringer NBA University, if you haven't heard of the show before, we focus on the league's younger players and teams plus the draft. And today we're going to be without Jonathan Charks. But as I said, we're bringing on Tyler later. And first, before we get to Tyler, let's go around the league, Kyle, and start things off with the New York Knicks. We're a half game back from the Hawks for the fourth seed in the east. And those two teams play Wednesday night. Perfect. So here's what's been on my mind with the Knicks, Kyle.

So often it feels like conversations about the Knicks are, this is a great story. They're so fun. Their futures are suddenly bright now. And rightfully so. And we'll touch on that a little bit. But I've been thinking recently, how good are they right now? Because if they get the fourth or fifth seed, they could realistically face the Hawks, maybe the Celtics and maybe the heat in the first round.

And I'm wondering, can they win a series? So, Kyle, how good are the Knicks today? Yeah, I mean, have we transitioned from like Pat, pat you on the head and say, what a good story to like, I feel like we've been slowly working our way to like, hey, this isn't like a pat on the head. Like, this is a good basketball team. Yeah, it is a good basketball team, isn't it? It is.

Yeah. And I think that, you know, you asked the question about, you know, the fourth seat. And it's funny that they're playing. the Hawks in this situation because early in the year, I remember that them beating the Hawks was a sort of a moment where we, you know, we thought the Hawks were going to be X, Y, Z. We were excited about seeing, you know, how they were going to perform. The Knicks go out and beat them and they get really exciting. So there's been an interesting sort of symmetry to that.

But if you're going into a playoff series with the Knicks, you know, and you're one of the top four, you know, you're one of the top teams and you have to, and you have to play them, I wouldn't want to play them because, you know, if you're wanting to last to the end, um, this, This is a team that if you, if you beat them, they're going to take a bite out of you, like when you go to the next round. Like you're going to be walking into the next round like Ghosts from Game of Thrones where he has like, is the ear torn off? Like, that's how they guard as a team.

And I personally, yeah, that's their defense always, they dictate the way that they want to play. So whether or not they can put together the level of offensive performance that they need, they are going to dictate the way that you play, take you out of your stuff, make you uncomfortable because they guard as a group. route. Yeah, and I think they can win a first round series because their defense is legit. It's third in the year in defensive rating. And it's not like they just beat up on bad or average opponents against teams with a top 10 offensive rating. The Knicks are still third in defensive rating. And that's according to second spectrum tracking data. So they're, you know, they're for real. They're doing against good teams, great teams. Randall and Barrett have just been so active, so consistent on the defensive end. Bullock, Noel, Gibson, like up and down. the roster. They're playing just a connected brand of basketball. On defense, it feels like

they're one. When you're in defense, you don't want to be individuals. A weak link can ruin everything. They feel connected. And defenses that are this good always have a chance to win around. Or as you said, take a bite out of the opponent, taking it to a tough five games or even six or seven. But as you said, their

offense is weak. It's 22nd on the year and offensive rating. Why do they struggle those score points? So what is behind them being a bottom 10 offense, Kyle? I think it's funny that you were talking about, you know, togetherness, because we often overlook, you know, if you have like culture buy-in and you have players who are willing to, you know, part of being a coach, and I've heard somebody say this just the other day, was just that, you know, and I'll loop to the offense thing because it's relevant, obviously.

Part of being a coach is you just have to be like a salesman. Like you're playing with these players who have seen and heard a lot. at this point. They know the game. You have to win them over. And there's been a nice alignment between Tibbs's approach and the buy-in from the team. So you see sort of a cohesion that's worked really well. And the success has motivated that too. In terms of the offense, they've had a lot of improvement across the board. It's just, it's very funneled on to the improvement of Randall, which has had sort of a ripple effect, in my opinion. And the stats reflect that in a lot of different ways.

Now, Randall's, like, just flat out, just shooting the, him shooting the ball better has opened up. And I made a whole video about this. Shooting is, like, one of the great, it opens a multitude of pathways for your offense. You know, it's the key thing. So for him, it's opened up his driving and subsequently his creating, which he was always pretty capable of. But because he wasn't shooting the ball well, teams could sag back into the gaps. I'm curious what you think, like, where do you see growth, for them, like, in terms of what they have versus what they could have, where else could

their offense expand that could help them be competitive in a playoff series? You know, it's interesting because I looked at, you know, since the trade deadline, I was curious, what are the Knicks recently on offense? And they're actually 15th in offensive ratings since the deadline. So they're trending slightly up. You know, that's average during a dead part of the year for a lot of teams and where, like, a lot of teams aren't even at full strength right now. So not, you know, saying they're suddenly an elite average offense.

but we have seen Randall maintain his great play all season long. I think we've seen RJ get better. RJ Barrett after the slow shooting start that he had. He's shooting the lights out, 40 plus percent from three. Have a video coming out of him on Thursday. We'll put the links to the description to our videos to Randall and RJ below. My Barrett video is not up until Thursday, like I said, though. But those two guys have been just so good offensively.

The both of them in their own ways, especially Randall being an all-star this season. And I think the other factor for the Knicks, is Tibido tweak the rotation. So Elford Payton used to be playing more minutes than Derek Rose, Alec, and Reggie Bullock. That is not the case anymore. Peyton's averaging 20 minutes per game, playing less than all those guys.

And I think that shakeup has really helped just put better fits, better players on the floor alongside, especially Julius Randall. So, you know, I'm encouraged that their 15th in offensive rating. And I think that is another reason to feel some optimism for them to win a first round series. And it depends on the opponent too. I mean, I think Miami and Boston would be a tougher opponent for them than Atlanta, just based on the way they match up. And we'll get more into that come playoff time.

But I very well could see the Knicks winning a first round series. And I'm buying the improvement on the offensive on the floor. And that's because of how much I believe in what Randall is doing, how much I believe in what we're seeing from RJ Barrett. Those two guys have gotten legitimately better. Like, this is for real. Yeah, I'm curious about where you were on Barrett coming into, because I'd said this to you before,

that like I've had sort of an up and down relationship with RJ Barrett, because I've watched him a lot, you know, in the past few years because he was a really famous high school player. Like, he came on the radar really early. And some of the things with, well, I want to ask you first, yeah, where did you have him in the draft? Like, what did you see him in where he is? maybe this is be preview might be a preview i guess a little bit of your video maybe possibly you can

tell me yes or no but uh where where he was and where he is now what do you think in the broad sense has changed for him like what's what's going on with him in a way it's similar to your randall video he talks so much about his shooting improvement and i talked to drew hanlon r j barrett's trainer for this video and we just talked about like what did they do to improve his shooting mechanics and just the little things like they moved his elbow out um they they changed his posture so be less stiff, less upright to generate more power from his legs. And both of those moves have done a better job of allowing him to flick his wrist with better consistency.

And the shot just looks better. Like you don't need to be some shot doctor, Chip England expert to see that the shot just looks smoother, it looks more comfortable, looks more natural. And, you know, I always, I've always questioned RJ's touch, you know, on floaters and runners and layups and whatnot. And he seemed to love runners and floaters. and he just wouldn't make them. Yeah.

Yeah. And I think, you know, touch, it can be hard to improve that. But I think sometimes maybe we can say it's poor touch when really it could just be poor mechanics or taking shots from tough angles. And what I see with RJ Barrett is a player who just looks better shooting the ball. He looks better shooting free throws at 74% on the year. He's taking better quality layups and runners around the basket. he's still below average and efficiency on those shot attempts, but that's better than bottom of the barrel like he was as a rookie.

So, you know, talking to Hanlon as you, you know, if you watch the video, I'm very encouraged for what Barrett can be in the years to come on the offensive end of the floor. Not only that, though, he's been really good defensively too. He used to make a bunch of mistakes on the defensive end of the floor. He's more locked in on the off ball situations. He looks versatile on the ball. Barrett is a good player today at age 20. If he never gets better, this is a good player.

Yeah. And I get excited about what he could be in the years to come. Even if he's not a star, he seems like the type of guy that to me can be a star within his role. And that's sometimes the highest compliment you can give a player for embracing who they are. And R.J. Barrett seems to be doing that. Yeah, definitely. And I think that's something we talked about earlier in the year is he did have a bumpy, inefficient start. Last year was pretty rough.

For me, it was up and down because I was just like, okay, this guy has a role dissinence in his. mind like he he thinks that he's this and it could prevent him for being this good version of this which i was i was excited for him to push towards and i wanted to see that i've had a hard time i got so frustrated with him at duke um that i just i was down and it's been a slow journey back for me to be a believer um i know i had a lot of conversations with nix fans a lot of this about this specific thing but i think something interesting with in the dynamic with randall uh is that i was looking up on second spectrum that he's taking he is 29 for 48 on corner threes whenever randall throws the pass so

wow 60.4 percent which is a which is pretty good so i mean a lot of the yeah a lot of the growth from randall you know the the gravity that randall is is drawing you know and it's interesting that you talk to the handling yeah because when you would watch when you would watch rj shoot earlier in his career and at duke it just seemed like the energy transfer from his legs to his fingertips, you know, you're right about touch. Sometimes a player's energy transfer, depending on if it's like not fluid or if it's not consistent, they haven't had the practice or, you know, touch is affected by those things. And I think that his, he would, he would shoot like dribble pull-ups in college where it would be like, they would just seem dead. Like,

they would come off his finger and it'd be like, his lower body isn't under this shot. And I've seen a big improvement on that. And he's shooting the crap out of the ball. Yeah. In the corners, he's 46. 46.2. In the left corner. from three, which is where Randall is driving a lot of the time. So it makes sense. Are you seeing Tom Tibido do anything special with this system

on defense or offense to help elevate? I mean, he's a coach of the year candidate. So, I mean, is there anything that you're seeing from Tibbs that he, like, works in favor, you know, for him in terms of the coach of the year argument?

I think it goes back to what I said. I mean, schematically, I mean, there's nothing like, you know, revolutionary. It's like Tibbs has been around for a long time. The book is there on him.

he's very open about his defensive principles you can go find this stuff he does phoeba clinics he's he's like this is what i do like there's literally a pdf online i have it on my computer you can go through tibs will tell you the difference is because and that's what's you know what's funny is tibs and cal are actually good friends i'm pretty sure and that's a funny common denominator because you can know what's coming but if your team has really great buy in and i think that tibs has just been a a good culture salesman where in it you know in chicago he had he had players that bought in, he had the right personnel, and culture trickles down. If the good players buy in to what you're doing, you're going to have success. And in Minnesota, he had

struggles with that. There was a lot of trouble with that. And with New York, I think that's been the biggest thing is they're buying what he's selling. There is a more unified front in the NICS organization. And I think that's good for New York. You know, they deserve the good vibes, because like I've said a thousand times. New York is one of the basketball hubs of the world historically. And I'm happy for them. It's going to be fun to watch them. And I hope I'm not pushing for it.

But I think that whether it's safe or not, I guess we'll find out. But, I mean, it would be so fun to have fans in Madison Square Garden for the Knicks for a scrappy Knicks team. Oh, man. That'd be awesome. I've been to Madison Square Garden a handful of times. And like Zion, I quite enjoy watching. a game at MSG and I haven't even seen the Knicks be good at MSG. So I, uh, I hope they get an opportunity to do that.

Let's go around the league real quick and offer each other some teams or players and get each other's first thoughts on that topic. So let's start off Kyle with a team that has their first round pick back recently. Yeah, you excited? I'm super excited. What's your first thought right now with the Detroit Pistons? Well, I mean, it's in flux. I think we know that.

They are not good right now. I mean, over their last 17 games, they're seven and ten. So they're still struggling. They're still kind of trying to find their way. Like you said, Killian's come back. Just really quickly, though, I just wanted to give like a sort of a broad shout out to some guys. This guy we probably should have said something about in February. Saban Lee is a guy coming out of Vanderbilt.

Deep cut. Yeah, he is a deep cut, but he's a guy who was, you know, a second rounder. He went 38. You know, I don't know that Sabin's going to be a star, but I always, kind of envisioned him as sort of a value asset that he could be a rotation type guy for you. He's got a really strong downhill physical player, and he's had a few big games. He had one really big outing in February that I should have, and he shot it a little bit better than expected. He had a big game against Orlando and Toronto, but he's an impressive piece,

has been lately with measured expectations, but Sadiq Bay has been really good. He's shot the all super well. 43% of Sadiq Bay's offense is spot up and he knows where his bread is buttered

and he butters it well. 1.10 points per possession and spot ups and 1.07 points per

possession overall for a rookie that's really good. Really good man. And he's good defensively

too for his age. Yeah, yeah. And he's just he is doing what we expected. A good decision maker,

hit shots. The other guy that I like on their team that I was, and people that like are into the draft,

I would encourage you, like, I've just kind of learned this lesson and try to pound it into my head over the last year is just stick to your guns, you know? Like, if there's a lot of pressure out there in the public, I think, to like fall in line to like the popular thought and like conventional wisdom. And we know not to do that. And it's like Isaiah Stewart is a guy that I liked and I was unsure about it. But Isaiah Stewart is another guy for them. Big dude, you know, six, nine, seven four wingspan. He kind of is what I thought Anthony Bennett would be a little bit, what he could function as. And he's, you know, could shoot it a little bit. But Detroit is plus four with him on the court this year. I think that he's a really impressive drop defender. Like I think that he's going to really grow in that sense because he's versatile, really strong. He was pushing to Marcus Cousins around the other night, which was pretty funny size-wise. But he's another guy that I like, 10.2 points per game, nine rebounds, 62.3 true shooting. There's a lot of good in Detroit, which is a weird thing to say because the team is so bad.

I like their young guys, even saving lead, like you said. There's something there. They have three first round draft picks, Bay, Stewart, Killian Hayes. I mean, I still think it's ridiculous the amount of hate that he got after seven games to start the year when he was playing hurt. He's looked pretty good. His last six or so games ever since returning. I mean, I think the defense for a young player is very, very impressive on the ball and especially off the ball like he's so intelligent off the ball of his rotations he knows where to be and when

to be there and then offensively he makes some ridiculous passes and i'm excited to see him develop as his scoring continues to mature but um you know for pistons fans it's a good spot to be what do you get for me kyle uh i you know i was curious what your thoughts were on the the the cleveland cavaliers uh what do you have any finer points that you'd like to hit on with us i mean my first thought is just Darius Garland. Just Darius Garland, looking good. Obviously barely played in college at Vanderbilt. Rookie year was up and down. There were some worries about what he could be, but I think we're seeing him turn into the guy that we expected. And that's this spark plug, a playmaking presence. He had that ridiculous, nearly full-court bounce pass the other night, which just made me so happy. It made me, like, that's one of the reasons why I love this game so much. There's just so much beauty in the game of basketball. and that was one of those passes. And I don't know, I'm just really, really liking watching Darius Garland right now.

And I don't even want to think or think or talk about the long-term sexton Garland fit. Right now, it's just about like the pure enjoyment of watching these young guys get better. And Garland, I've been impressed, especially the last couple weeks with what he's been doing. Yeah, he has a lot of flare in his game. Like he's always kind of had that like quick, shifty. He got he got a lot of high praise coming in like into Vanderbilt. And it's a shame we didn't get to see him play more at that level. But, you know, really quick movement shooter, quick off the dribble.

I guess there are a lot of questions about him defensively and, like, the fit that I'm sure we'll talk about at some point on this show down the road. Kyle, I want your thoughts. And this is kind of a random player. But Malachi Flynn. What are your thoughts on him? Malachi Flynn, I mean, I just wanted to hit on really quickly. You know, coming in, there were worries about him. And he's had his minutes ramp up a lot in the last,

18 games. And we see this a lot. It can be misleading. You know, teams have different reasons that they want. At some point, maybe your expectations for how your season's going to go or you want to rest your players for the playoff. We start seeing younger guys get their chances. But, you know, his numbers have gone up to 24 minutes per game, and he's averaging 8.7 points per game. 36.2 from 3 and 4.1 assists. His pull-up game, I think the size is still a question. and I'm just curious about, you know, whether or not it's going to continue to be a thing, like making him make decisions in a crowd. It seems like teams are running him off the line, and I wonder if size has been having a factor with that

because his mid-range pull-up game has been really bad. So that's something to keep an eye on, and I just wanted to take a note of him as a first-round pick for Toronto. I think it's been kind of nice late in the season to see some younger guards get more opportunities. We're seeing that with Lewis and New Orleans, like, Flynn with Tampa Bay Raptors. I mean, by the way, like, I can't wait to see them playing into a full Toronto crowd at some point. And within the next calendar year, it's just going to be awesome to see them back home in Toronto.

This year's been weird for them. So it's good to see them leaning into some development to close the season. I know, like they're caught up with some funky NBA rules with, you know, reporting injured players and all that right now. But let them focus on development. They've had a hard year playing in Tampa Bay. And Malachi Flynn, I mean, like you said, some struggles. but overall I'm liking what I'm seeing, especially this past month, as he's been averaging, you know, 33 minutes per game in April.

Yeah, I'll allow to see that. But, um, Kyle, what video are you working on this week? Do you have anything coming? I have a video coming out today about Anthony Edwards. It's a rookie report. So I did, I did a dive on him, you know, back to, I tried to, I tried to take into like a holistic picture all the way back to as much high school as I can watch. So I haven't went back and watched some Under Armour summer games with Anthony Edwards. just kind of taking a look at who he is and where he's headed, I think, and what he needs to improve on and things like that. So that's coming out today. This month, Anthony Edwards averaging 23 points, three assists, five rebounds,

37% from three on 8.4 attempts per game. 8.4. That's a lot of shots. Yeah. We talk about that in the video. Yeah. I'm liking the development of Anthony Edwards, so I look forward to watching that.

We're going to take a quick break and then be back talking about the Oklahoma City Thunder with Tyler Parker. And now we bring on one of my favorite people at the ringer.com or maybe from the ringer family. I don't know if it's appropriate to say you're from the ringer.com. But it feels like you are. It's Tyler Parker. What's going on, Tyler? Man, nothing.

So happy to be here. It's a true honor to be here with, you know, gentleman as distinguishes yourself. So I appreciate you all, you all having me. One of my favorite writers, honestly. When you read something, we were joking about this the other night, Tyler and I were that, you know, when you read some people that, I'm, I think people try to assume this like official sort of like writerly voice. It's like Tyler writes so in his voice. Like you could you could pick something up and like no within like three or fourth sentences.

And usually I don't mean that like it's it's definitely you still write at like a high quality. It's just so in your voice. It's like a real talent that you have for that. Like one of the funniest writers. That's very, that's very nice to be to say. That's, you know, for better or worse, I sound a lot like me. So. Yeah.

Tyler's been doing. in this weekly tank diaries column about his favorite team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. So that's what we brought you on to discuss, Tyler. Yeah, so excited to be here, man. This is, I'm pumped. So, yeah, this is a time of an OKC has been in an interesting situation where you've had really good luck for like the market,

you know, the situation that you're in really well run. You know, you guys obviously drafted insanely, historically well out of the gate, had an insane run there. and you've really moved the pieces well. And I'm kind of curious, you know, what is the, what is the, if I stuck the temperature, the general vibe thermometer in the mouth of the OKC fan base? Like, what's the feeling? Is it excitement?

Is it, are you guys like? I mean, I think it's, I think it's definitely excitement. I think that it's that mixed with, you know, a pretty healthy amount of anxiety in anticipation of the lottery. But I think by and large, you know, there are definitely still some fans, you know, you see on Twitter who, you know, are not about tanking.

They do not like it. They have some sort of, you know, they're like morally against it. It's like an ethical thing or something. And that is odd to me. But just considering like the way that the league works, it just seems very obvious that the way to do it, especially if you're, you know, a tiny market,

is to do it the way that the Thunder are doing it, you know, rip it down to the studs as much as you can and then try to build it back up with high-profile guys. And generally, I think the fan base is, you know, is on board with that. They, you know, it's the whole fate for Kate is a whole cottage industry right now with on Thunder Twitter and like, you know, there's, there's a million threads going right now that are keeping track of like, okay, like, it'd be great if the Timberwolves could beat the Kings tonight, you know, and like that sort of stuff.

So it's, I think we're, you know, embracing the situation. So it makes it more tolerable to tank, you know, in the meantime. If you're just lost in the wilderness forever and you don't have anything to be excited about it, you don't trust your team to draft, that is just one of the lowest places you can be. There are some franchises won't name names in that sense, but we all know who they are. But you guys have some young pieces like you got a great piece in Shea, Gillesisdardis, you got, Dort was a home run of a, of a pick. I'm curious though, a big, you know, a really, really popular name that has sort of swelled.

I think in the beginning of the season, he was kind of taken as a little bit of a joke. He was Joku in the beginning of the season. And now, and he started off slow, but now we're in a situation where, you know, Alexei Pokysevsky is really coming on. And I was curious to get your feelings on why that's happening. What has he shown, do you think, that has maybe started to pull people over? because every broadcast that I watch, it seems like the opposing team's broadcast is like really like this kid's a got to watch.

What do you think is developed here? It has been interesting because like I check on the, you know, the opposing team league pass, you know, every now and again just to, you know, gets sort of diversify, see what's going on. And it is funny to see because early on, you're exactly right. Whenever he would get out there, they'd be like, look at this guy. What's this guy doing out of it? You know, it was just so, you know, he's just such a different.

looking player. And it's slowly become, you know, the Toronto Raptors announcers, they couldn't get enough of them the other night. And even Drew Gooden during the Wizards game the other, like you can hear the surprise in his voice whenever Poku, you know, shows the flashes that he does. It's been, I mean, Poku has been such a breath of fresh air. He's, he is so, he's somebody you can put a lot of your, you know, hopes and dreams into. He's like, but he, he, there's, I mean, this is a ridiculous comparison to make, but I'm a bit, I'm a big Oklahoma football fan.

And whenever Adrian Peterson got to Oklahoma, every thing, every time that the like the, the offense would come onto the field, like to change the series, I would be like looking to see like, is number 28 out there or is it Kiwan Jones? Is it number 20 or is it Adrian Peterson number 28? and that was like the thing that I cared about. And Poku is honestly kind of that way for me right now with the thunder. Like they'll come back from a break and I'll be like, is it 17 out there? You know. And if he's not, part of me is a little disappointed.

You know? I've been arguing for league pass player alerts. Like you should be able to set like notifications for when a player checks into the game. It's a no-brainer. A thousand percent. I mean, he, like, the gubble was so big for him in so many ways. Like, I think it just loosened him up. I mean, he didn't need any help, like, you know, trying to play as free as possible.

But, like, getting down there and being able to have the ball in his hands and being able to kind of initiate the offense, I think it just like, it really, I think it made him feel sort of secure in his abilities. You know what I mean? I think it, like, I think it boosted his already crazy confidence. and it showed like, you know, because he was just playing so bad at the beginning of the year. You could see him kind of get down on himself. Like, despite the confidence, there are times when, you know,

he goes back on defense, even now, and you can sort of see him beating himself up and not kind of getting on to the next play, which is, you know, it's nice that he has a high bar for himself. But, yeah, I mean, since he was shooting the ball so, so bad, since the G-League bubble, when like six attempts a game, he's shooting 32%, which isn't great, but compared to where he was, like, especially with like, you know,

his usage is like 21% now, I think. Like, he's, he's, they're putting the ball in his hands, which is just fantastic. And I really wish they would do it more, to be honest with you. Like, I, I wouldn't mind if every time he's out there, he's the guy that's initiating. Yeah, his, his BPM is still, as, hasn't recovered. That's going to be a lot of the, if you hear people sort of, point to in the broad sense his statistics from this year. Oh, for sure. His, like his number, his raw numbers look awful.

Because of that huge gaping, just vast sea of despair from the beginning of the year. But I'm curious, I feel like a transition has taken place here. And I think the word flash is, you know, is really interesting. You know, KOC, it's funny because KOC and I had a regular dialogue going on at the beginning of the year where we were like, we want to do a poker video. We got to do a poking video. And then when he came out and just like, did that, we were just like, oh, Let's take a beat and see if that's going to be a smart thing to do. Kyle, I wanted to write a Poku feature story. I remember.

Kevin, you got to. I know. We were going to do a tandem video and feature story. That was the plan. And we were just like, well, maybe we were wrong. But I feel like something has transitioned. And you said flashes. And I think flashes is the key word here.

You know, like the shooting and everything, I feel like personally, my transition has been, I had this idea of him when I would watch him, like, hilariously confident. Like, I would laugh watching Poku more than any prospect. I can remember you get this seven-foot guy who runs like this, and he's super skinny, but then he shows this just experimentation, which is something I want to talk about. But, you know, I feel like my idea of, like, what his role was going to be. I thought that this was going to be a guy that you could really ramp up the off-screen usage.

You could use him as a movement shooter because that's what he hunt. He'd hunt his shot. And I was like, okay, he'll give you some of that. that like weak side, you know, rim protection. But something has changed in these flashes. And you said something to me the other night that I thought was interesting, where you said that he has a 1% skill. And do you remember that?

What is that? What did you mean by that? I mean, I think passing is his 1% skill. And that's just like, I think that that's the thing that, I think that is his like special elite, you know, cream of the crop in the league. that's the thing that will that will set him apart. Like the shooting I'm worried about to an extent,

but the shot looks fine. It comes out a little flat. He shoots it a little funny, but it does. I mean, his release point is already going to be so high. Like, I don't think it's going to be a matter of him being able to get the shot off, right?

It's just going to be, you know, does it go in or not? I think that passing with him, it's not just his, because he's a great passer all. ready. Like his, he completes passes that are confusingly good. You know, like the, the, the pass that he had against Toronto the other night where he looked off Flynn and got him to kind of come up just away from Dort, just enough on the other side of the court, and then just, you know, one hand across the court. Like, that's high level stuff. And, you know, done on the

move and hit Dort, you know, like right in the pocket. And, you know, there was, There was no, you know, he wasn't reaching out of shoelaces or anything like that. It was a great, great pass. He had the one the other night against the Wizards where he, you know, went behind his back to Tony Bradley. That was just, you know, so great. And so it's like the ability is there. But I also, I mean, it has led to a bunch of turnovers this year. But I like that he has the imagination to make these passes.

Like I think that the thing with. him that can be discounted just because he is such a, like, unique blend of skills is his creativity is like kind of off the charts, I think, like as a ball handler and as a passer. Like he plays with pretty good pace now. Like, you know, he's, he doesn't get all that rushed. I mean, he'll still fall down every now and again while he's dribbling, but like, you know, there's, you, you, you see these things that they seem duplicable. You know what I mean? They don't seem like he's operating way over his head. Like it doesn't like those passes don't seem lucky.

You know what I mean? Like it seems like this is, you know, real in that sense. Isn't that kind of part of the appeal? I mean, Kyle, you and I talked prior to the draft. It's that confidence that he has to make those passes that most players just can't see. And you add on the fact that he's seven feet tall. I mean, right now he's 190 pounds. He's a light of seven footer in the entire league.

ever and it's a type of thing with him where as he continues to improve his handle so he's not falling down as much as he continues to mature and make you know better smarter decisions in the floor i easily easily see him turning into somebody that is a bit of a offensive hub for you maybe around the elbows shot creation run and pick and roll for you like he can be used in so many different roles in the court that like four or five years from now like he could be pretty special as a passer i'm I'm really excited about the prospect of him and Shea playing together specifically. Like those two guys working out of, you know, pick and roll, like at the top of the key or, you know, whatever.

If you want to, you know, spread the floor. Like, but if they commit two to Shea and he gets it to Poku, like, you know, he can be their Draymond. You know what I mean? Like he can like, and so it, he's got the ability to. be moved kind of all over the floor. Like, I mean, his, I don't know what to think about his room protection. I mean, he had those six blocks the other night. That's, you know, that's just an insane, just a surprising number of blocks for him.

So I don't know what to think. Gary Trent kept challenging him. Wasn't it Trent that kept trying to challenge him? Trent tried him once and then like a couple of possessions later, Bimbre tried him. Yeah, he diswalled them up, like swallowed it. The Trent one especially was sort of like, because Trent came in. I mean, he cocked it back.

Like it was one of those, like, I thought it was going to break, his arm was going to, like, snap. You know what I mean? But, yeah, I, like, defensively, he's going to have to get better on the ball. But he's so long, he can afford to give guys a little bit more space.

And even when they get past him, like the play's not done. He can still move well enough to kind of, you know, like stay on their hip and then contest the shot if they're going to the rim or whatever. But yeah, you know, like a lot of these guys, like I'm sure he'll get hunted, you know, if we're fortunate enough to make it into the playoffs and if he's still in the team, I'm sure he'll get hunted and he'll get tested on that end. But yeah, I was, when I first, like, when we first drafted him and I was looking at video, I was like, man, is this guy even

going to be able to, is he just going to be a traffic cone? Like, like, what is he, what is this and he's not that so that's that's good for me yeah i think we're at we're really really early with him in that sense but i think something else about the passing i'd add that and another question i wanted to ask you something something else with the passing like a gene a passer an aspect of the passer gene that he has that i think is as special like you were talking about it being elite is the fact that he's able to his feel is beyond what i thought it was and his touch is beyond what I thought it was in a lot of ways. But he, he can like see passing windows and exploit them to the very endpoint. Like it's a skill

that I was talking with somebody else about this one time that like Steve Nash has that ability. LaMello has that ability. He's not on that level. I'm not like jumping to that. But I'm saying he has shown flashes of I can, I can see a guy who doesn't realize he's open yet. Like he's that type of like real time decision maker. He's shown glimpse. of that, which is pretty wild for somebody his size. And they, like, he's a guy that people have to learn how to play with, too. Like, he, he will be that, go. I mean, there were, I think, at least a couple or a few times at the beginning of

the season where, you know, he would, like, go up. And it was, like, through, like, playing, like, he's going up trying to get, like, the defense to, like, he's, like, jumping and then trying to get the defense to commit and then trying to throw it, you know, quickly to, you know, Horford or whatever. And, you know, that's not. Horford's not ready for that type of thing from him. But as, like, I think that as they learn him more, he's going to become all the more effective. And he's also been doing all this while, you know, the roster has been depleted. You know what I mean? Like during these times where we've been

sitting all these guys, that's whenever he's kind of been hitting his stride. And so I'm really really interested to see, and I don't know if Shea will play again this year or not. Like, you know, he had another setback the other day with the planner for shyness. And so I don't know if he'll play, but I'm, I would be really interested to see them trot out like a lineup that's Shea, Dort, Poku, and then some combination of like, you know, Basley or Roby, something like that with like all the guys can do something with the ball in their hands. I would love to see that. just kind of for, you know, going forward, I'd like to see what that looks like. Because the way that Oklahoma City runs their offense, it helps guys like Poku because they're trying to share the ball so much. Everybody gets to touch it. And so he's able to catch these,

you know, off these handoffs and stuff where, you know, typically he's, if he's going to get the ball, he's probably, you know, he might not get it back. Like Oklahoma City is constantly, they're constantly, you know, moving in. And so that's, that's been, that's been good for him. because I think he could kind of stay in a rhythm a little bit better, you know. Tyler, you mentioned that ball movement system, and Shegildos Alexander, we'll see if he plays again this season. But, you know, Poku, awesome prospect, super fun to watch. But SGA is clearly the most talented player right now in the team.

And probably, you know, the number one guy moving forward. How do you feel about Oklahoma City and the system that they're building with Mark Dagnall there at head coach and how Shea Gildas Alexander is developing within this system and what it could look for him moving forward. I mean, I'm honestly so happy with what Degnault has done this year because I think he is invested in making all the guys on the team feel part of the success. Like when, you know, everybody on the floor gets to touch the ball and make decisions, you know, I think you're just nationally going to feel better about your place on the team.

It's going to keep everybody, you know, it's going to keep spirits high. And I like that. I mean, you know, I will never say a bad thing about my best friend Russell Westbrook. But, you know, in the past, Oklahoma City has not had a very democratic offense. You know what I mean? It's been, you know, let's Russell beat his guy, draw a guy, kick or not, you know. But it's been, it's been nice. I mean, Shea is so perfect for this,

because he can be your initiator or he can play off the ball. I mean, he shot, I think he shot last year, 35% from three, and it was on like, you know, four attempts a game. And this year he was up to like 42%. And, you know, he's taking like five a game. And it, it, he's just like that his handle has gotten so tight. and he's gotten his release quick enough to be able to, like, get to the step back when he needs to, and to be able to, he's not, like, you know, traditionally explosive at all, but he is long,

and his first step is really good. And because he can finish with either hand, he's crafty enough to be able to, if he gets, you know, if he gets just a little step on you, he can figure out, you know, a way to make, you know, a way to, make what needs to happen happen. But yeah, I mean, I've been, his splits, I wrote them down just because it's like, yeah. And so if you just take February and March of this year, and it's only 17 games because he's set out, he's obviously a bunch, thank God, because we've been losing like crazy. It's been amazing.

So it's, yeah, 17 games. On 33% usage, his splits were 50, 46, 18. His points for shot attempt was like up over 126. That's on like five threes a game. And that's with like the entire defense is really only concerned about him when he's out there. I mean, he is the guy that defenses are concerned about. He's number one on the scouting report every night. As the Thunder get more shooting around him and other guys that can attack off the dribble,

like if some of this playmaking from Dort, if some of this off the bounce, stuff from Dort is real. And if Poku develops and whoever they bring in, like, I'm really excited to see Shea, like, get to a place where he can attack closeouts and things like that, where he can start getting even easier buckets. Because a lot of his buckets this year have been, you know, in isolation. I mean, he's great in isolation. But it, I'm excited to see him, like this version of him, but in an offense that is a little bit more like last years where you've got, you know, multiple guys on the perimeter that can make something happen and everybody's kind of playing off each other like that. Because, I mean, Shea's like, his malleability is, I don't know

if that's his greatest asset, but it's way, way up. It's great for the thunder because in the draft this year, we don't have to worry about like, oh, we can't draft Lamello because I want to ask you about that. DeAngelo will be mad. You know, like, we don't have to worry about that. And that's, that feels very, very lucky. You used the name there that was funny, an interesting choice of name there. But I was going to say, yeah, the fluidity, the fluidity of his shot, like in release, that's, like, really huge for him because then he can, you know, the more, his game downhill

is so funky and angular and long. It's like, he doesn't need a lot of space. He dealt with, he dealt with that when he was here. It was just like, they had no shooting, no attacking other than him. And he's just really good at getting in the seams. But I'm curious about, you know, you mentioned the draft. That's sort of the takeaway between this enormous plan that we've got going here. Right.

I think it's like the OKC has, what, 34 picks in the next seven years. Is that right? KOC or something like that. That is correct. 34 draft picks, 17. 17 first routers. That's a lot. It's a lucky number.

It is. Kevin, it is. That's a great point. I didn't think of that. Honestly, I'm going to think about that for the rest of the day. My brain makes all these connections. Unlike you two. I'm the king of analogies.

No, I'm just kidding. I'm the worst of us three. It was, well, I was going to say, so the picks coming up. The big takeaway here is the plan. The plan's the important thing. And when you're in a market like, OK, C, you know, you might be able to lure somebody to, you might be able to lure somebody to OKC. but you know, you don't, you definitely don't want to put all your eggs in that basket.

We got a lot of good steakhouses. We got, there's, we got Frontier City, you know, they got some good, they got some good rides there. No, but you could convince, you know, you could convince Janus to come, you know, check out the blacksmith with his family or. Absolutely. Yeah. Branson is, Branson is a short, you know, it's a short drive away, you know, all the people in Oklahoma City will be furious with me that I, that the thing I picked was Frontier City. but no it's uh no for no free no free no free agent is going to come you know it's just it's it's like that's if they were they would have come when we had right right to the best to the best yeah five to 10 players in the league whatever you know however high russ got while the

while durant was there um but like and so i'm i'm i'm i'm thrilled at overall the ammo that we have but you can't develop all those guys you can't draft that many guys even if you put them both on your G league team and your main roster. It's like you got to do something with them. So it's like, what are we going to do? I think I think the plan is to like, you know, that obviously this year is the big, I think this year is the big year.

Like the more that I think I had thought initially that it was going to be like a many years kind of process. That was kind of the, and that was what Presti built it as in his letter that he wrote in the Oklahoma. And that this was, you know, there was, this was going to be an extended period of time. That was kind of the, you know, the vibe that you got from that. Do you have that letter in

your office or like hanging up somewhere? No, yeah, I've got it framed right here and then I've got it above my bed too. Okay. I kiss it every night before I go to sleep. Do you make your kids recite it every day? Yeah, yeah. No, we just use it as, instead of reading the Bible every night, I just, I just take that down off the wall and Lord's Prayer. Yeah. Say grace and recite St. Presti's letter to the family. Yeah. How little be thy Sam. Um, the, uh, sorry. No, the, like, but I, I think that Shea is so good now that that might speed things up a bit, depending on if they get a, like, this, this draft will be the whole thing, right?

Like, or not the whole thing, but like, if. That's the question. Yeah. If they're able to get a, one of these top five guys, if they're able to get a guy that they like there and can develop and he's, you know, as good as. as people hope that some of those guys in the top five could be, then, you know, there's a, there's plenty of draft capital to go out there and get the next disgruntled guy, right? Like the next guy who wants out, there's, we have, we have a lot we could throw out. Well, let's be specific. Let's be specific. So, so, so, so, so, okay, let's, let's, let's get to it,

right to it. You guys, you want to get the topic. You'd love to get, the real question here is Kate Cunningham. And I was thinking about this, you know, it's been, it's been a, a year in Oklahoma, I was thinking about this, that, you know, let's imagine if OKC somehow gets Cade and you roll out lineups of Cade, Shea, Dort, Poku, pick your fifth one. I don't really care who it. It could be, it could be, you know, Sam Presti for all I care, just roll them out there. That's, I, I need to splash some cold water on my face after that description. Well, Cade and Shea could play together, absolutely. And I think that that's like league, that becomes one of the best league past teams in the league, I think.

I mean, what do you guys think about that? If we got Cade, it's one of those things. Like, it seems that he went to Oklahoma State and that it wound up that Oklahoma City was so bad this year. It is one of those things. Like, you have a hard time not thinking in your head like, no, it's meant to be. It's supposed to, you know. And typically, if it's a thunder-related thing that's meant to be, that has not happened in their history. So I think that if you could get him, because he wouldn't have to be the main guy right off the bat.

Like they could bring him along slower than he might be able to be brought along, you know, if he does get picked by the pistons or whoever, you know, whoever. Like because you have Shea and some of these other guys, you know, like, you know, Kenrich Williams is a good player. I think is going to, like, I really hope they keep them. Like, you know, you keep hearing that, you know, like, nobody is untradable, you know, if they, if they have a particular guy that they just, like, need. But it, I really hope, I really hope Kenrich stays around. He's, he's a, he's a fun guy to have on your team. Well, who else are you eyeballing in the draft, I would say?

Like, is there anybody else that you, other than Kate? I mean, like, I like Jalen Green. I think like he he is he is a very exciting player to me like him and Suggs both I would be I'm trying to think what my I think he'll probably from USA yeah both he would I think it'd go K'd either Mowbly or Suggs flip those and then green over Kaminka for me but I mean I would be stoked for any of them you know what I mean like it would be it would be so I mean obviously the dream is to get the first and the fifth pick that you know if if if somehow Houston that Houston pick wound up in the five spot and we took that over that's the that's the that's the you know that's that's that's that's the I run in I run into

the street naked that's that you know like Tyler everything you're saying for a team that is one the worst records in basketball has lost as many games as they have is so positive. Are you surprised a couple years after the Paul George trade now that SGA has developed the way he has, that you're in this position that you're in? Like, are you surprised that you feel the way that you feel right now? A thousand percent. I am surprised at how, you know, obviously, like, obviously I am, you know, invested in wanting the draft to work out well for the thunder.

But I don't feel like this has been such a. relaxing year compared to some of the years in the in the past. It's it's felt pretty stress-free and you're really just you get to you get to pay closer attention to these young guys and like look closely at what they might be able to become. You know, you it's there's something exciting about watching somebody like Poku or somebody like Dort who is just clearly doing the work. You know what I mean? They're getting better and the organization is invested in developing them. It seems like in the right ways.

And so, like, I have been really, really having a good time this year despite all the losses. I mean, obviously, the losses are what I want ultimately, but it's, yeah, it has been, it has surprised me, especially just because we were so tied to that old Thunder team. I mean, like, you know, if you go back to when Russ was there, but Stephen Adams, you know, like these are those, you know, big franchise cornerstones that are now elsewhere. But I mean, I think Shay being as good as he is is really the ultimate thing that has, that has, you know, made it not hurt as much.

You know what I mean? Like it's, it's, that he, that he is, that he has gotten so good. so quickly, has been, because Thunder fans thought he was good, for sure. But, you know,

I don't think anybody thought he would be this at this point. Everything you just said, you described those guys that are gone, you know, Russell Westbrook, Katie, Stephen Adams, all these past Thunder teams. They had an identity.

And, you know, we're talking about this team and all these young guys and the possibilities in the draft, too, especially at Cade Cunningham, a big jumbo-sized play.

or Evan Mobley, a skilled seven-footer. I look at this Thunder team, and they just feel huge to me. Like, Dort plays bigger than his body at 6'3, Maladon is 6'4. It's very possible, depending on who OKC drafts in the coming years and other players they add, that they could have a lineup with, like, the smallest guy on the floor at 6-5-6. Like, SGA could be the smallest guy. That's the, I mean, it's one of the reasons that I really hope, you know, like, you know, Basley's been playing a little bit better since he's come back from injury.

You know, he struggles so much with a shot at the beginning of the year. But he does have size and some playmaking ability at 6-9. And when you look at them out there, you know, if you have SGA out there plus Poku, plus, you know, somebody at 6-9 plus whoever they have at center, I mean, like if you, if you've got Poku with the three, you know, a true blue footer, and then somebody with the size and length of Shea, I'm very excited for like the defensive potential, to be honest with you. I'm pretty pumped up about that just because like in the playoffs,

can you, you know, make tough baskets in isolation? And then, you know, you're probably going to have to just be switching all the time in at least one series. And like, do you have the personnel to be able to do those two things? And it, I mean, they're definitely set up for, you know, success. I mean, Mowgli would be very, very exciting for those, for those reasons. But yeah, I mean, you know, any, if we got Suggs, I would do back first. I mean, you know, yeah.

I think Mowgli would be a really, a really nice, like, fit for, for the needs of the team in terms of like what, you know, he'd be like a solid, backline, really smart positional defender. And obviously on the other end, and I think the more that you can surround, you know, Shea with with players that enable him to, because he's one of the most lethal pick and roll downhill scores like in the league. Like so. Was he leading the league in drives at one point?

I believe he still is. Is he still? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I said that stat when we were doing his like progress report. I wanted to ask you really quickly if you could compare Poku to a Garth Brooks song

Which one would it be? First of all, thank you for asking. You're welcome. I feel like I've been training my whole life for this moment. And I thought hard about it, Kyle. Because there was a part of me that was like, you know, maybe it's wrapped up in you for me. Okay.

Maybe. That's your relationship to Pockeye. I love him like a lyric, loves a melody, like opinions are wishing well. Maybe, maybe that works. You know, like there's, you've got, she's every woman, you know, because definitely Poku is sun and rain, fire and ice, you know, a stroll through Christmas lights. This is, I think these are all things that he is. But after thinking about it, I have, I have to say that I think it's standing outside the fire. That was my answer too. Yes. Go ahead. Why, why do you think that is? I mean,

Do you know that song KOC? I'm Googling the lyrics as we speak. Okay. Every day, every day Poku risks the tables being turned. Absolutely. Every possession. He has to dance within the flame.

Life is not tried. It is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire. And Poku's not just trying to survive. He's trying to thrive. No. Yeah, absolutely. That was my answer too. She's anything but typical.

She's so unpredictable. Oh, but even at her worst, it ain't that bad. She's as real as real can be. And she's every fantasy. Poku is my every fantasy. That's a percent. Oh, man.

I do like their lyric and wrapped up in you, though. No one in the world has ever done what you do for me, and I'd be sad and lonely if there were no you. There you go. If there were no Poku. Isn't it interesting that two of the, go ahead, Cassie. I don't know. I mean, these lyrics are something else.

I say, you grew up in mass. I was going to say, I don't know how big Garth was up there, but very important to, to, essential to my growing up and I'm sure Oklahoma big time. There's a there's a YouTube video of Garth singing that live in like 1994 on that one Jay Leno. And he's really getting after it. It's pretty great. This, this conversation sent me into a Garth YouTube wormhole.

I won't lie. Like you have to get, you have to watch live. But his, his harmonica player is pretty phenomenal. Tyler, you've done a lot of fun stuff with the ringer over the year. Some great projects.

Take Hunter. one of my favorite things is the podcast, the hottest take. Sure. There hasn't been an episode of that since before the pandemic. I think the last one was like March 12th, 2020. Yeah, I remember being at Gower and it would like, we were recording on a Friday and it was one of the seasons like, yeah, people might not be coming into the office next. Well, let's have a tribute to the hottest take and do a hottest take with you.

So let's cue the music. you have the floor. We have no idea what he's going to say, by the way. Go ahead. No idea. Palo Bencherro will be better than every player in this coming draft. Ooh. Okay.

Interesting. Kyle, you're excited about this one. You've been wanting to talk about some youth prospects. Y'all are more in that world than me. And I understand, you know, but everything I see, he just sort of seems like where the league is going. absolutely yeah i think that that that i mean that can happen no doubt about it there are a lot of people out there that are super super high on palo vincereo uh for people who don't know who he is you know big i

think he's he's six nine or six 10 six nine six 10 yeah yeah going to duke could absolutely be a special player i i think that that's um that would mean that he i don't know i i mean this upcoming draft is going to have a lot of talent in it and i know you're you're texting me simby frequently asking me about all these young dudes and things like that. And I could see... I do have a prospect that I want y'all's opinion on. Okay. Also.

Are you all big Johnny Zhu Zhang heads? Oh, geez. Because I'm all about some Johnny Zhu Zang, man. I love that guy. Juzang, I've had a funny up and down relationship with him where he came to Kentucky, you know, six, six seven, six six, six guy who I thought I was just like, all right, this is going to be a fun cake to watch bake. And I was just like, just please don't transfer. Just don't transfer. I was repeating that to myself all year long. He announces he's going to

transfer. They recruited over him, didn't give him the runway he needed to develop. And then he goes out to UCLA. They give him a lot of runway and he plays super well. And every shot that he made in March, I was like that Voldemort meme when like the last horrocks was destroyed and a little part of him died. So every big shot that he made in the tournament, I died a little bit. I mean, I think he's an NBA player. I'm kind of dialing in what my expectation for him is, but he showed things that I didn't know he was capable of, like ISO bucket getter type things,

going to the basket through contact, dictating pace, things that I didn't know were in his bag. I mean, what do you like about Ju-Zang? I mean, I like the isolation scoring and just the fearlessness. I mean, like you watch him in those games, and he thinks he's the best player on the floor. And I, like, you know, that's the kind of, of, I think that's kind of mentality that you have to have, especially if you're a prospect

like him, you know what I mean? Like his, I don't know, he just, he really, he's got stones, you know? Like, he's not, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, he really didn't blink at all, um, you know, in, in, in, in, in, in the big moments, particularly in March. So, but, yeah, that was, and it's also just an incredible name. And so, you know, you got a, mm-hmm, You got a root for great names. With Ben Chero, it's kind of interesting here how many big, you know, tall players are coming in with perimeter skills. You know, like we have Chet Holmgren who just committed to Gonzaga, Benchero going to Duke,

Comeoni Bates coming in a couple of years, six nine, six, ten with like Katie-esque skills from the perimeter and a Kevin Garnett mentality with the way he talks trash on the court. There's, it seems to me that, you know, even this year, Kate Cunningham. Right. there's a wave of jumbo-sized guys who can create off the dribble. Isn't this kind of a symptom of what's happened the last decade with the amount of perimeter shooting that now you just have all these tall players coming in because they're doing guard workouts. They're playing like guards when they're growing up now.

For sure. I mean, I'd like, I mean, you look at a player like Anthony Davis and like, you know, how he was playing when he got into the league and even compared to now, like, you know, he's sort of as the league has, you know, shifted toward this super skilled, you know, shooting is valued over more than anything else pretty much. Like he's been able, like, he seems like an archetype for, like, you know, I don't know how Banchero would have developed if he was, you know, coming up in the, you know, late, you know, what, you know, 2009 or something.

I have no idea, but, I mean, these guys have been watching Kevin Durant for years. And they probably would have been, he probably would have been shooting like 18 footers. and like, you know, playing that, yeah, like, Garnett type shot. Even, like, the shooting is one thing, but, like, Ben Chiro's got the ball in his hands at the top of the key. Like, he's, like, he's making all the decisions, at least in the games I want, I don't know, you know, but in the stuff that I've seen.

And they're a million people smarter than me with this stuff. So, but he just, he just seems like a guy that could, could do whatever you needed him to do. Like, he can go down into the post and handle himself. Like, you know, I mean, his, his, like, he has an NBA frame already. Yeah. Like, he's a big dude. And to be able to handle it like that and also, like, shoot on the move, I mean, he's,

you know, he's pretty much, he feels like the type of player who offensively is going to have a very complete game to me. And he also, but I just also. like the attitude. Like he just seems like he seems like a dog. You know what I mean? And that's, especially, you know, when you're that when you're got somebody who you want to be like the top of the top, they've, you want them to be trying to murder people in the game. You know what I mean? And he, and he seems like that type. He definitely has that, uh, that I'm, I'm coming for you kind of attitude. But I mean, Palo is, is third in the, in the class that ESPN just put out their top 100 rankings for seniors. You know, Homewear number one, Jaden Hardin, Hardy, number two. I think a guy

that you would like a lot too is Patrick Baldwin, a big, a big shooter. But I think, yeah, I mean, I think the movement shooting beyond the arc is like something that we've seen like, you know, Katie kicked the door down. Dirk, you know, deserves a lot of credit on that front too. For sure, just shooting with movement, but we've seen it even influenced guys like Poku, you know. You need these like switchy, do everything forwards that are, you know, whatever, six, seven and up that can go that can go get you a bucket but can also guard that guy the other team's version of that guy you know what i mean and and yeah just somebody like banchero who um it really feels like they could play him anywhere like i like where do y'all think he'll play

at dude like where will they put him i mean they they used jalen johnson in in that sort of handler role but i mean banchero is basically like maybe twice as talented Jason. I mean, I could definitely see, I could see them putting him in an initiator role, but I mean, they didn't really totally do that with Zion. It's hard to say in college anymore, man, and it's hard to say how much the reps. I don't even know that a college year is going to, he would have to come out and really just crap the bed and lay an egg for his stock to get affected, in my opinion, because I think if he was in this draft, me personally, I would have him near the top.

Tyler, before we let you go, I have a question for you. What percent odds would you give that Shea Gildes-Alexander becomes the best point guard in Oklahoma City Thunder history?

Evan, what are you doing, man? Why are you got to do that? What the best point guard in Oklahoma State Thunder history? Jesus Christ. I mean, so.

It's a good thing if he becomes the best. No, it would be amazing. Yeah, it would be a nice. It would be good. I mean, he would need to get an He needs an MVP to be the best. Woody? What he?

I know, I know I'm talking to, I know I'm talking to two rust detractors here. But like, come on. They don't need an MVP, though, I don't think. He doesn't necessarily, okay, maybe he doesn't.

If you consider the MVP that was, that was acquired, that's all I'll say. And I'll back away when I say that. Oh, my God. Did you see the winning percentage, remember he has triple doubles? I did see, I didn't, well, it's 0.798, right? Nearly 80% right?

How much that was in the playoffs? Yes, after, hey, you know, in those last few years, yes, they struggle. But, you know, there were other years other than the last few years where things went pretty well in the playoffs. Also had a guy by the name of Katie on the team. Yeah. I forgot about that. 30%. That's fair.

I think that's fair. Like, I mean, I am honestly, like, tickled to death that our main dude can shoot the ball now. You know, but it is, it is nice to have that aspect of things taken care of, that you're not having to worry about that. Because anymore, like, you know, if you can't shoot, you either have to have the ball in your hands or you can't play. like it you know when it you know it gets down to winning time but um

yeah I mean I don't know that she will ever be sort of as like because I always think there's something overwhelming about Russ that it wasn't just the on court stuff is like what he could do to a crowd like how he he could he could make a lead feel bigger than it was

you know what I mean like there was whenever he got going there would sometimes be this sort of like inevitable thing and feel like a wave. And I don't know that Shea will ever like play with that kind of like force. But that also doesn't mean that he won't be better. Like he he would have to improve quite a bit as a playmaker, I think. But he's never going to have the ball in his hands as much as Russ did. And that's a good thing.

So I, you know, I don't think the assist numbers will never reach what. Russ has did. And Russ, even though Stephen Adams did let him grab some rebounds, is a thousand percent better at rebounding than Jay. So, but yeah, I think 30 is, yeah, I think 30 is okay. Tyler, you know, I think he wrote that article this week, last week on the ringer about Russ and how he's doing in Washington right now. And you hit the nail on the head, in my opinion about them. Like you said, me and Kyle, you know, we're a little bit rust attractors here. however, you know, there's no denying the fun that he can provide the emotion that he can stir up, you know, good or bad, you know, for a fan rooting for him or against him. And with SGA, I hope for you in the years to come at leads to a lot of winning because it seems like things are on the up and up in Oklahoma City. So it's been really fun to have you on today. Oh, man. This was this was a blast. I really appreciate you all having me. And I'm sorry that my internet sucks so bad. you were smooth sailing ever since I

early couple of sputters. Yeah, you made up for it. The bandwidth of your great takes. So you did, you did well. All right, good. Thank you, Tyler. That was fun, Kyle. That's a good pod.

Enjoyed that. I had a good time. We hit all the things I like to talk about. Young players, Palo Benchero, Poku, Garth Brooks. Yeah, I was going to say, I'm going to have to put together a little playlist of those Garth Brooks songs that are mentioned and listen to them. I've never, I don't believe I've heard any of them.

So I look forward to listening to those. And I'm glad my recorder made it through here. I had two bars power to start off. We made it through the whole pod, no issues. Yeah, you were saying your, you were saying your, your, recorder had, like, misleading amounts of power left that could die on you. And it reminded me of a story. My sister had a car that I would borrow every once in a while.

It was like a 91 Cadillac, and I had, like, a digital display. And I was driving at home in the middle of winter one time. And we live out in the country in the middle of nowhere. So I was, like, driving through the woods, like, five feet of snow on the ground. Like it was like, I shouldn't have been driving. I think it was coming back

from basketball practice. So I was driving up this hill. It said I had three bars of gas left. It dies. Like it just is done. So I'm like seriously miles from my house. Pitch Black. It's 2004.

I had to walk like I don't even know how many miles in pitch black dark in the country. I find the I come to these people's house. It's like two in the morning too. So I like knock on their door hoping they don't kill me with a shotgun. And this lady comes. This lady comes. Luckily, and she was like, I explained to her who I was. I'm like standing really far back.

I'm like, I'm not a bad person. And she was like, oh, I know your daddy. So I got really lucky that she knew who my dad was. Let me call my parents. My dad came and got me. That's what they reminded me of. That was a rough night. And it was really cold outside.

At any moment did the thought to siphon some gas out of their car to come across your mind if they didn't. Out of her gas? I think that would have caused more likely to give me shot. Well, I'm glad you did the good thing. And they did a very nice thing to help you. Thank you, old lady. I appreciate it.

Brought you here to do this pod today. Kyle, have a good rest of your day. You too, buddy. Thank you for listening to today's episode of Ringer NBA University. And thank you to Isaiah Blakely for producing the show. Special thanks to Tyler Parker for joining us to talk about OKC. And please do us a quick favor. If you like the show, please give us a rating and review.

If you're listening on iTunes, and no matter where you're listening to the podcast, please follow or subscribe to the Ringer NBA show for all our podcasts. Thank you again for listening. I hope you have a fun day. Basketball is very good.