The Ringer NBA Show - How Will the NBA Handle Growing Concern Over Its ‘Campus’ Environment? | The Mismatch

Episode Date: June 12, 2020

As the restart of the NBA season gets closer and closer, there are rumblings among some players about how comfortable they will be about staying in the campus environment of Disney World without the freedom to leave for two months (0:33). Plus, we answer your questions about which underdog could win the title when basketball comes back, fixing the Knicks, ‘The Bachelor,’ and more (35:12). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon. Join to me as he does every Friday from the Ringer.com. It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O. Camer, Kevin O. Camera. Kevin O. Climer. Kevin O. Candyland, A.K.K.A. Kevin O. Blazarian. Kevin O'Coster. Kevin!

Burnow, where are you at in the world right now? I am down on the Gulf Coast, actually. You know, my family, I had had, we had this, my kids were on spring break when the week that everything hit. It was that Wednesday night, I believe it was. and so that upcoming weekend, I was having to work for the Grizzlies Magic game that week, and then after that was going to get done, I was going to get through the middle of the week,

and then I was going to go meet them for the rest of the weekend, and we had this whole thing planned. Thank goodness, I ended up being able to get it reimbursed, but all that stuff hit. Nobody really knew what was going on, and they were going to be canceling stuff. I was actually, I had taken my son to the SEC tournament last year, and I was like, well, heck, if we're going to go down to Nashville, my sister-in-law had

recently had a baby. Anyway, let's go do that. I can take him down there. There's like an indoor water park, all kinds of stuff. And then all of that stuff hit, and it all got canceled. And so we, like everybody else in the free world, been inside our house since March. We have not gone anywhere, like nowhere out of town at all. And obviously, the kids haven't really been.

able to, you know, maybe some neighborhood kids here and there, been able to play with. My daughter just had a birthday party, barely got any kids over for that. You know, so this is the first time that I have, I have gone anywhere since everything took place. So I tried to find a place that was kind of away from everything. And we did. It's great down here, honestly. I'm glad.

I'm glad. How many days have you been there now? We got here on Wednesday. So it was Friday. Yeah. So we did like basically the last part. of the week got down here. I'm glad you're able to carve out a little bit of time to do our Friday show.

Hope so. Yeah, no, we got plenty of time. All right. So this week we have had news, Kevin, including a lot of news has come out from Agent O'Worgenowski about the Players Association and issues that have come up, one of which we discussed last week. We thought that one of the major sticking points is going to be the timeline of beginning and ending, that ending a season for some teams in mid-October and then turning right around and playing at the beginning of December is probably going to meet great resistance. But in fact, that has not been. In fact, we have been talking almost completely about how you resume this season.

And one of the things that has come up has been, you know, that players are. not so excited, at least some of them, especially non-contenders, about being away from their family for a long time, about not being able to leave the Disney World Campus. Obviously, you've got coronavirus. Obviously, you've got the emergence of some social justice issues. And one of the things that came up again was you can't leave the campus unless you undergo a 10-day quarantine when you come back. So you're really just not able to. You're not able to. You're to leave once you get there. What have you made of the news that we've heard this week and the fact that there's at least a portion of the Players Association that they're not loving this?

It's all very fair. I think for any player who feels some unrest about the risk of going because of coronavirus or any player who feels uneasy about, you know, going to Disney World for possibly two and a half months when they feel an obligation and they feel like they have the power to make change in the world with all the movements going on right now for racial justice i mean chris haines had a great article at yahoo this morning where he said there are many players who are you know complaining about the fact that first of all like you're there's risk and going to disney world but now that there's the movements uh has happening being away at a camp for entertainment reasons for two months of what the they say the

chris haines wrote you know a lot of players feel that that is bad optics for a predominantly black league to be at disney world for that long when there um are all these protests happening all this movement happening when there's more important things happening that many players feel like they want to be part of and you know there was a a really interesting conversation on the jj reddick podcast of Tommy Alter yesterday with Malcolm Brogden who you know you and I spoke about before who was at one of these protests and Brogden really laid it out there both sides you know there are certain players who who feel like you know going back to play basketball is something that diminishes their opportunities to have a voice and to make change but then there are other

players who in JJ Reddick kind of alluded to this too that feel like by playing basketball with the spotlight on you cameras in your face everybody focusing on what you're saying and doing that there's our opportunity opportunity with that stage to really make a difference and bring more awareness to potential changes to make society better for all um you know and i i tend to lean on on the optimistic side here that like with basketball coming back it could be really uh an agent for change. But I also see the side that Chris Haynes wrote about today, that Brogden brought up, and that many others have as well. That this isn't as easy as, you know, just going to Disney World and getting tested every day. There's so many more layers to this that make it a complicated

decision for any individual player to go back. And regardless of their reason, whether it's coronavirus or whether it's, you know, wanting to be part of, you know, the protests and not be, you know, sequestered at Disney World for so long. I can understand any player not wanting to play. It'll be interesting because you do wonder, are guys really going to be able to or be willing to give up their salary? If they're not going to get paid for not going and not playing, are they going to be willing to give up their salary for that?

I mean, I think it feels like a confluence of everything, right? That this is not an easy way to go do your job, right? Right. And maybe things are a little bit different if you're just starting back and you're playing in your home arenas and things are back to normal and you're able to finish out your season. Garrett Temple is a guy I got to know when he was with the Grizzlies. He's the vice president of Players Association. And I thought he made a rather persuasive point in saying, look, there are a finite amount of black millionaires in America and in the world. And in terms of the wage gap and what? we represent to so many people and the fact that we can with that money is not everything, but money does enable us like you have seen with LeBron's Promise Academy that goes on in accurate. Money enables us to enact change. It will also give us the opportunity, and this is what he said to the players. It will also give us the opportunity to truly get together and put

together great plans where we could really affect change. And he said, and I can't in good encourage anyone to leave that money on the table when I do believe that not only does it set a great example for many others, it also gives us the opportunity to exact real change. I mean, he's a very, very bright guy, Garrett Temple. And he said, I would be, I would have been out there in those protests. And I believe him wholeheartedly. He comes from a family that from the time he was born. If you ever look up the story of Garrett Temple, Garrett Temple, Garrett Temple is been helping people since he was a child. His parents went out of their way to teach him about helping other people. He's even gone out of the country to help people. And he said, I would

have been out there except his wife is pregnant. And so it created a greater risk. But I mean, he's a very, very smart guy who I thought made a rather persuasive point to a lot of players in the league. I understand what's going on. I'm with you and I am one of these guys. But I'd but I don't think that it's the right thing for us to say, hey, we're not going to go play, right? Yeah, I mean, listen, it's understandable. But I mean, and obviously, we'll see. There's going to be peer pressure from your team too.

You know what I mean? If you're not. No, no, that's what Chris Haynes reported this morning. He said sources said several players have been reluctant to express their views in fear of opposing the superstars who are adamant about playing if proper safety measures are in place. Interesting. Yep. I mean, I'm not shocked by that. Like you said, there's a peer pressure aspect if like, you know, the top two players on the team and like the fifth guy and the sixth guy, you don't want

to play. You think the fourth best player on that team is going to be like, actually, guys, we shouldn't play. You know, if the majority want to and including the top guys, probably not. Probably not. It's no different than any other like workplace dynamic necessarily where a boss says one thing, or like a leader on a team says one thing, sometimes people are afraid to speak up, which is why, like, it's a good thing that this counter viewpoint is out there these last couple days. Because like I said, I tend to side with, like you said, Temple. I tend to feel like, you know, like Brogden alluded to that there is a platform here that players could really utilize and that could really make a difference. Because

the NBA, it doesn't just need to be a game. It isn't just a game. Sports has never just been about the game itself. It has always had, you know, whether it's like Muhammad Ali doing what he did, no matter what it is over the years, there's always been people who have used this platform for good, including this week with LeBron, doing what he did with Tray Young and the other athletes on that team with more than a vote, trying to not only raise awareness for voting, this isn't just get out and vote, but showing people how to vote, what to be aware of with some of the anti-voting measures that are out there in certain states. Athletes have always used their platforms for good.

And with NBA returning this year, I think there's opportunity here for players to use this Disney World stage from July 30th to mid-October, which is going to lead right up to where the election is for really pushing for positive change in the world. But I can also understand, though, like I said, if somebody individually, and this is like, it's an individual decision. If somebody feels like they can better use their voice away from Disney World, I can understand that. If somebody feels like on a personal level, there's too much risk for them to go to Disney World, maybe on a personal level, if they have a medical condition, or one of their loved ones has a medical condition, that they just want to be home with that person, I get that too. this is an individual person-to-person decision for every player in the league. And I can understand anybody's viewpoint on this personally.

I mean, it's a complicated time, man. There's a pandemic happening. There's a pandemic happening right now. Still, I mean, it doesn't feel like it because things are opening up. And, you know, the news is mostly all about the protests, even though this week it's weirdly not been covered that much, even though there's still thousands of people in the streets, they suddenly these mainstream news stations are not covered. them as much as they were last week. I wonder why that is. Maybe not to promote and amplify the voice out there. I don't know. But it's a time we're never going to, we're never going to forget.

And we're living through it right now. And if like if Jalen Brown or Malcolm Brogden decides, I want to seize this opportunity and not play basketball, I fully get it. I totally get it. I would just say I do think their stage is greater and they could have even a greater impact by being a part of it. It almost, I don't know if it defeats the purpose by you not playing, because then a story becomes you not playing, sometimes more so than the message you are trying to get across. And the other thing is this, Kev, look, in the end, the NBA is being very, very understanding. It is a job. I mean, it is your job. You could very well tell Bill, hey, Bill, not going to be doing any podcast. This is very important to me. I'm not going to do any

podcast. I'm not going to do any writing. And I want to go be a part of change. And I want to go be a part of protest. He may say, okay, okay, go ahead, you know. And, you know, you won't get paid for the time of you hear. And then we'll welcome me back when, when time comes. But I mean, it is a, it is a difficult situation, you know what I mean? Like they are, they are part of an organization and they, it is a job that they have. It's not just, you know, you get to play whenever you want to. And so we'll see. We'll see the way it all plays out, you know?

I don't know. And obviously, there have been some other things outside of all of the social issues, the coronavirus, if you are scared of playing in that, it feels like, as I said, Kev, it's all of these things that come along with it. Like, you're staying at Disney World. You're not going to be able to see your family. You can't leave the campus. And guys are like, this sounds.

this does not sound fun to me. I'm not winning a tie. Like this team's not that good anyway, right? I mean, we're going to be scratching a claw to try to make the playoffs. The younger, hungrier players, I don't think there will be any issue generally with teams with a lot of those. It's the teams that are laden with veterans that are going to say, because more than likely, they're the ones with families.

More than likely, they're the ones that have been through real seasons before and real playoff runs before. And the idea of them being inside of a campus for a month, two months, maybe more, is just not, that's not what they want to do. And so I think that'll be probably more so of the, if we have players that don't show up. But I would guess that this is probably, in some ways, it's a negotiation. and I'd imagine you have a very, very, very high percentage of the league show up, and there's only a few guys here and there that are part of the 22 teams that don't.

I believe Woge reported earlier this week that he's heard like 40 to 50 players was the number that he heard that have some hesitations about going back. And that's a large chunk. That's a large chunk of players, right? Oh, you only got 450 in the league. So, I mean, you're cutting down, you know, 8. nine teams that aren't going to be there. And you're already down to like 3.30.

Yeah, 22 teams will be going there. So 40 to 50 of 330, that's quite a lot. You know? Yeah. But I mean, I would still imagine, as you said, that of those 40 to 50, that you know, most of them will decide to go. I mean, this is, it's a complicated time. And this sort of touches on what we hit on, you know, over the last couple weeks and that for,

guy, you know, if you're not on a championship contender, like, that's just, I'm just throwing a name out there for an example, but like, if you're Darmardo Rose and Lamarcus Aldridge just had shoulder surgery and he's out and like already, you're not guaranteed to get that eight seed. I mean, you're probably feeling like, do I really want to like do this like training camp getting tested every day for three weeks, then go to Disney World and do a quarantine there for 36 hours, getting tested every single day away from my. family. I mean, I'm sure you would because like it's your job and you're getting paid and it's part of the team. And like for him personally, he can be a free agent this summer. I mean, like, there's a whole lot of factors in play here. But I could also understand like any player being like, do I really want to do this? Is this worth it with everything going on with a pandemic happening? I'd rather just be one of my loved ones right now. I get it. You know what, Kevin? It's interesting you brought up him because that would create. And I, We don't know anything about Demard de Rosen or how he feels about this or anything else.

But it just so happens. His coach has been one of the most outspoken members of the NBA over the course of the past couple of weeks, whether it be the article by Dave Zeran or whether it be the podcast that he did with Pete Carroll and Steve Kerr on the ringer. He's been an outspoken guy. So unlike maybe some other situations, I'm not casting Asperians, on anyone. I'm saying you would actually, in that particular case, might have a coach that would say, I stand by him 100% and he can do what he wants to do if he feel this is an important time in our history on and on. The other thing that we learned this week and the other thing that the Players Association

has been talking about is finalizing these roster rules, which have not been finalized yet. but so far it appears there's going to be this one week transaction window right before July 1st and then teams at that point can sign or wave players. They can convert two-way players and then replace them. But what has changed a little bit is that they can sign and roster players that played this year or were eligible as of March 11. That opens up the guys like DeMarcus. cousins, the guys like Jamal Crawford, J.R. Smith, I'm on Schumpert, all manner of players.

And a lot of these guys, when I look through some of the list, you've got a lot of heat checkers, you know what I mean, that are out there that are actually can be, especially if you've lost some scoring, could be nice additions as the guy that one night in a playoff game, he comes off your bench and heats up for five minutes, you know, it gives you a 12 points, out of nowhere and changes things. You know, I mentioned cousins and Crawford and J.R. Smith. You've got also Trey Burt, Isaiah Thomas, Alan Crabb, Jamal Crawford, as I mentioned before,

Gerald Green, another like kind of come off the bench, maybe heat up and hit you a couple threes in a short amount of time. And then you've got a couple big guys like Joachim Noah, who was already on a 10-day, though he hadn't appeared for the Clippers so far. So anyways, you've kind of opened the door to a lot of different guys. Do you, we've talked a lot about J.R. Jamal, those kind of guys. The Cousins one is interesting to me. I mean, we did see him win a game in the playoffs.

I just want to make it clear that like Shams that report this week that it's for players that were signed in previous seasons as well. Yeah. So not just this year. So it could be at Joe Johnson, somebody like that. I mean, like, he had the success he had in the big three. I mean, I can't really foresee a team signing him. But like somebody like him or Pao Gasol said this week,

he'd love to end his career with the Lakers. Of course you would to get another title. Oh, wow. Potentially. But, I mean, it is interesting to dig even a little bit deeper at some of these guys who are on the older end to see if they could get opportunities as well. But I'm glad that the NBA decided to do this instead of kind of this strict, you know, if you were on a roster this year decision because this should open it up. I mean, why shouldn't Jamal Crawford have the option to sign with a team?

Why should he not, you know? Right. Because he would have had the opportunity to do that if it were, you know, things were normal on the morning of March 12th. The season hadn't been suspended. He could have been assignable player. He should be today during this transaction window period. So I'm glad the NBA made that choice. The Cousins one fascinates me simply because, I mean, the kid has been through all manner of entries.

But, you know, there was talk of him when he was with the Lakers like, hey, this guy might be able to play in the playoffs this year. He might be able to come back. And we're already to one year removed almost from tearing that ACL. And so it'll be fascinating to see if somebody goes out and signs him. in these odd circumstances because, right, he would have just probably not been available, maybe been available for some of the playoffs in the situation that he was in. But now he might be ready to play. You know what I mean?

And if you bring, especially now, you bring him off your bench like we saw last year in the playoffs. He heated up for a couple of games and could really make a difference, especially, you know, with so many teams playing small, he's the kind of guy that could come in one night and just punish you for being small, right? For the Lakers, too, I mean, like, I can't imagine many teams having interest in signing him for the same reasons that they haven't in the past for injuries and, you know, the locker room aspect with cousins. The concerns always with him in Sacramento.

know. But the Lakers and the Warriors, like, they just had success with him. Both teams did. And I do wonder if maybe that will change things in terms of like him being, you know, part of a winning atmosphere, being a good teammate. He did it with Golden State. And even though he got hurt, he was doing it with the Lakers and he didn't get the opportunity to play. If those two teams have success with them, if you're another contender, maybe you do want to give him a shot. But ultimately, I mean, the Lakers are probably the number one team for him from his side. And if you're ranking the teams that would have a willingness to sign him, of course it would be the team that already had him as part of their locker room

and had a guy with AD who was his teammate. And they like each other. And they played fairly well together. We were starting to figure things out before cousins got hurt that year in New Orleans. So, I mean, it would be really, really awesome if he were to get an opportunity. wherever it is, but I still would love to see what that AD boogie front court could be like because we got glimmers of it in New Orleans with those four or five pick and rolls that they were running together. I don't know if it ever would have worked as well as you know,

you would have wished it would have in today's small ball NBA. But he's like you said, as small as the league is, it would have been fun to see that size. Oh, yeah. Also, you know what else would be crazy? As much as they've been competing for players, what if the clippers went out? and they'll have a roster spot. You know, I like these two, that would be storyline-wise, that would be hilarious. Yeah, that would be. And then the Lakers go and sign like Joe Keeve-Noah,

who had just signed with the Clippers before all the pandemic stuff. So who knows? I mean, and then, again, you've got a bunch of those, like, heat up real quickly guys, Jamal Crawford, J.R. Smith, Isaiah Thomas, Alan Crabb, Jerry Green,

these kind of guys. The other thing that is fascinating to me is, You'd imagine, Kev, that if you're going to make these roster moves, you need to do this at the beginning because one of the stories that came out is they're going to have the 13 active, two inactive during the playoffs for your roster, right? You can sign someone if someone tests positive, but that new player has to be subject to a minimum seven-day quarantine. So the reason that this is fascinating is because if you're thinking about, God forbid, you'll lose a bit. big time player in the, you know, in the, in the middle of the playoffs. And so now he has to go off. At that point, yes, you can replace him on the roster, but, you know, truth be told, and I don't know if you'd be signing anybody to replace, you know, somebody of real significance.

But just even if you, if you only got a couple shooting guards and one of your guys goes down and you don't want to have to move everybody around and you go out and sign like, hey, J.R. Smith could come in and help us or whatever. Like, J.R. Smith can't play for seven days. So he ain't really going to help you in that playoff series right then. And I think that's a little, I want to say surprising, man. I understand the way it goes. But it feels like you need to kind of have your roster together now because if you lose

a player to coronavirus, it's just like, you better have somebody else on your roster right now that could step up because you don't have somebody you can go sign and is going to be your lineup for at least seven days. And we still need clarification on the two-way players as well. Because right now we don't yet know what the ruling is going to be for them in terms of what their roster definition is. The expectation is that if the two-way player is, you know, designated as one of the 15 playoff spots that they'll be allowed to play, but that has not been clarified yet from

the league or the PA. All right. The biggest story of the week. and I say this a little tongue in cheek, I need to apologize very quickly because at the beginning of all of this coronavirus stuff and we knew there was going to be an extended amount of time that the NBA was going to be off.

We opined who could come back and just not look like they looked before. And one of the players we had even mentioned was Nicola Yokic. And it was not in the way that it turns out to be. We thought, oh no, Is Yokic really going to go out and run every day and eat every great meal? I mean, hell, he doesn't even run on the NBA court.

You think he's going to go outside his house and run around the neighborhood? Well, a pitcher has emerged of Nikola Yokic and he looks unbelievable. He looks like a different guy and clearly has shed a ton of weight throughout this quarantine. And I cannot wait to see what he looks. looks like. Now, there's going to be a segment, especially of those that are not, I will say, minorly out of shape that have held him up as almost a hero of sorts, right? He's our guy. He's the guy that represents everybody that's a little bit chubby and doesn't love walking around with their shirt off. Well, he has ditched us, Kevin. We have lost Yokic,

and we've got to find somebody else that we can be proud of. But my goodness, I mean, what a transformation he has made and has made it in the total opposite direction that I think many, including us, would have predicted. Yokic, you know, he had the baby fat on him, but now he looks so lean. Oh, my goodness. His face. I know. Yoked Yokch was not what I was ready for. Me neither, man.

It's going to be interesting to see how it affects his playing style, because he used to. his size to his advantage around the rim. And like I commented yesterday that like he went on wonder what sort of the Kevin Love glow up. He doesn't have the facial hair. He's not doing GQ photo shoots yet. He's not doing ESPN body issues yet.

Hopefully never does. Yep. But, but Yokic, you know, he did undergo a glowup. He's dressing nicely and everything too. And people said to me, but Kevin Love was better when he was bigger. I mean, I don't think it's going to matter for Yokic.

Kevin Love was better when he was the guy in Minnesota. And then he went and he was the third wheel in Cleveland. That's what happened more than anything else. Well, I saw this happen. I saw this happen with Mark Gassol. And one year he came back and had just, I mean, he had been running the mountains of Spain and had changed his diet completely. He started growing a garden in his backyard. and that was what he was eating.

He was big. He was big really in his career. Oh, and he was a monster in high school. If you ever see a high school picture of him. But even, yeah, he was big early in his career in Memphis. And then he came back all leaned out. Like, I'm talking like definition in his arms, the whole thing. And I remember it was that the beginning of season, and he caught the ball at the top.

And he drove in on somebody, little nifty, like crossover that spun and laid it in. and we were like, hold on now. Like, I mean, just the, the nimbleness that it gave him and how he transformed himself as a player. He did not lose his ability to beat you up, though he was not, you know, clearly when you lose some level of girth, but that's just not the NBA now. You need to be able to run up and down and you're having to guard so many rim runners on the other side. I am excited to see this yoke. because I would imagine, especially as nifty as he is, dribbling and passing,

this guy could be, look at what he was like when he was big. I mean, you take that weight off of him. He could be something really special, even more special than he is. He's one of the best players in the world. Yeah, man, like with Yokic, yes, he used his size to his advantage, but the weakness with him with his defense, he was, he's a much better defender than he gets credit for. Let me just first make that clear.

He's a good positional defender who uses his size to at least make an impact around the rim. But in terms of switching onto perimeter players, that is not something he did at a high level. And it's not necessarily going to be something that he ever does at a high level. But if he can do that at a better level than he previously did, if he can become an even better defender than he has this season, which was an improvement over past seasons, you're talking about a guy that's already one of the best bigs in basketball. And if there's any marginal improvements that can be made to him as a player on the defensive end, that elevates him further. And then on the offensive end, there's still ways for him to get better. I mean, Yokic is the most talented playmaking big man I have ever seen in my life, ever, ever.

But he also still is only a career 34% three-point shooter. He's a good shooter for a big. but if he can become a great shooter for a big and maybe part of that is fatigue, maybe part of that is tired legs because he has amazing touch. He's an amazing free throw shooter, but the three point percentage

has always been a bit lower than you would expect considering his touch in free throw numbers. If that number can tick up to 38, 39%, like we saw from him in that one season a couple years ago when he shot 40% from three, if that becomes a regular thing from him,

it might be a byproduct of him just being in better conditioning, not being as tired as end of games where he's on his last legs. And you can visibly see him sometimes when he's playing those 35, 36, 40 minute games where he is clearly tired and he's busting through and it's still successful. But if he can be even better, even better, that takes Denver from an already really high level to even something more. So I'm really excited to see whatever player, whatever version of Yokish that comes back, my expectation is he'll shoot better and that he'll

just be a bit more nimble on the defensive end. Overall, he's going to be in the conversation as best big in the league. I mean, A.D. is a different type of monster, you know, and B's different flavor. You know, you got all these different types of big men, nobody like Yokic, but he'll be in that conversation more than he already is. Well, the other fascinating thing, Kev, is when you get into the playoffs, one of the things that people bring up regarding them is, do they have the guy? Right? the guy. When these playoff games come down and there's a couple of minutes left and like this, now it's the time for your best guy to deliver. That, yeah, he is the best guy, but he's also not a guy that typically brings the ball up. Somebody's got to deliver him the ball. And they have been pretty equal opportunity when in the history of the NBA, there's usually Kauai gets the ball.

LeBron gets the ball. I mean, you are going to see generally your superstar is the one that's got to get you home. And so people have had a little less confidence in that when it's a big guy. But now, who knows? I mean, it's another, it's another element to this that if he is even better than he was before, that may be the answer that you're just going to be able to give him the ball down the stretch. That's your go-to guy and get a bucket. I mean, I still think he is that guy. Yeah, I still think he is, you know, with the playmaking ability.

And, you know, he's got a clutchness to him, too. but like if that can be even more truer I mean he's already a special player well him and Mb is him and Mbid are going to be the case studies can your best guy your go-to guy be a big because we really haven't had you know it's usually a guy with the ball in his hands for a long perimeter or I mean you mentioned yonnas who is big he's effectively you know a big man but he's also a guy

who does it from the perimeter you know he receives the ball from the three point line or deep mid range and goes to the rim, but his actions start from the perimeter. And sometimes I start in the back court. He takes one dribble and gets to the rim. All right. As always on Friday, we'll answer some of your mailbag questions. Our great listeners usually have sent in some very good ones.

Bobby Wagner, what do we got this week? What's up, guys? I just want to say really quickly on the Yokic thing. This is definitely, you can mark my words now, going to be a C.C. Sabathia thing. And he's going to get bullied by LeBron. He's going to put him in the basket stanchion. And then he's going to need to come back same size.

he was last year. Oh, no. All right. All right. We'll see. C.C. Sabathia might be a ringer edition. Rumor said I saw, right? Friend of the ringer. Are we allowed to comment on that? That's excited. Yeah. Friend of the ringer.

Negotiations. Cici's great. Big fan. All right. First question from Jared. Outside of the Lakers, Clippers and Bucks, which wild card do you feel like has the best chance of winning a title? Lakers. Aside from Lakers, Clippers, Just making sure I heard that correctly.

I'm actually going to say an Eastern team. So I would say, I'd say probably Toronto. Why Toronto? Because they have proven. It is hard to come back after you won the title. And they have proven that they can play at an unbelievable rate. They've got a high seed. So you wouldn't see, if they could keep moving on,

they wouldn't see Milwaukee until the conference final. finals, assuming they hold on to two. And they've got a pretty significant lead there. So you don't have a game lead right now over Boston. So the lowest they could fall is three. Yeah. And so now you're in a best four or seven. You're on a neutral. They've got they've got the star power. They'll have Gasol back healthy. You know, they were down. They, they, they, they won despite having some guys injured. And they've got Gasol. They've got Abaka. They've got Siakum. Fred Van Vliet should be totally healthy when he comes back along with Kyle. And then they've got depth. go through this thing.

I just think that this year, they proved that when this was the season that they were going to go down a notch without Kauai Leonard. And they're clearly, when it comes to the playoffs, probably they're not going to be as good as they were last year. But over the course of this regular season, they proved that they are still a really special team that now you've had guys step up all across the board. So I would say just by virtue, I would have to pick an East team. So whether it was Toronto, and I'll go with Toronto because they wouldn't have to face,

they wouldn't have to face Milwaukee until the end, because otherwise it'd be, honestly, the two others would be, I'd be picking between Boston and Philly. And they may square off very early in this deal. But I think, I think Toronto, they'll have the seating that enables them to be able to get there. And then. If things stay is, Boston, Philly would face each other in the first round. I know. If things stay as is, is a three six. And one of those might get knocked out by, you know, Miami in the next round, right?

Like that's a, that's a, from three through six is going to be an absolute war. And you may be able to stay out of that a little bit, right? Like, their first round opponent, they're going to win. You assume they're playing Brooklyn. So now I'm already past one round. So I got to win a pretty hard series. But then I'm one step away, whereas I just don't think somebody's getting through those I can't I can't foresee a situation where the Lakers or the Clippers aren't the team you have to face in the Western Conference Finals.

Yeah. And that definitely makes it more of a problem. But I think you could also say like it's hard to see somebody going through Milwaukee too. But I do think the gap is slightly larger for the Lakers and the Clippers than it is for the Bucks. They're obviously a great team, but Lakers or Clippers are just on a slightly higher level. but just, you know, to throw a Western conference team into the conversation, what about Houston? I know you, you aren't the biggest fan of James Hardin, but there's no denying that Yokic got in better shape,

but Kelly Eco from The Athletic also did a great piece on Hardin with the shape that he's gotten into as well. And so the conversation with Hardin has always been like, oh, he gets tired during the postseason. He's out of shape. He's clovering too much and all that. Well, right now he looks like he's in the best shape of his life. And he's had the time to rest, and now he's going to be returning with fresh legs.

And so isn't Russell Westbrook, two guys that carry such a massive load with Houston, with a really strong supporting cast around them, PJ Tucker, Robert Covington, the ability to play different lineups. If you want to play big plug in Tyson Chandler. If you want to play small, put in PJ Tucker, Robert Covington at the five. They're a really tough cover, a tough team to match up against, because their standard lineup is small. I feel like if there's any team in the Western Conference

that could get through the Lakers or Clippers, it very well may be the Houston Rockets this year, despite some of the past concerns. I'm not sure they're going to apply quite as much considering the variables that have entered the equation this year. All right. I mean, look, they started off like a house of fire when they just dedicated to the small ball thing

and they move Capella. And I remember us talking about this on the show and I'll stick with what I said then, which is, I think in these one-off situations that they are a bitch to go against, that it's kind of like playing against the spread them out, throw them 70 times football team sometimes, or playing against the triple option in if you only got a week to prepare. But so in one-offs, I think these teams, they're not going to know what to do and they're not going to be able to match up. but when it comes playoff time and you are only focused on how to make life hell for a team like that, I think that the fact that they don't really have a change up, they are what they are,

they're going to do what they do, but I actually think it makes them, I think it's going to make the playoffs more difficult at the highest level, because I think with these very good coaches, they are going to punish them for being small. You're really just counting on them knocking down 33s in a game. game in order to get their buckets. Sure. I mean, you know, or getting to the line. I know, again, like you hate James Harden, but like he also is a master at getting to the basket as well. They are surrounded with shooters. They drive and kick opportunities. I mean, they're a tough cover. And I also just want to mention Boston, too. You know, at the time the season was suspended,

Kimber Walker was just coming back from a knee injury. Definitely was not totally himself at the time. but Jason Tatum over the last five, six weeks prior to the season's suspension was averaging around 30 points per game, looked like a legitimate top 10 to 15 player in the league. The way he was playing during that stretch as a scorer, as a main option, and also as one of the league's premier wing defenders. Boston with Tatum emerging with Kemba being healthy after time off, you would think. Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, Jalen Brown. I mean, this is a strong team at wing and guard.

Then the guys who can play different roles as bigs, Daniel Tice, Robert Williams, Ennis Cantor, they can plug and play different bigs for certain matchups. You can have Tice as your floor spacer, or you can have Cantor as your banger. Boston's right there, man. Like the way they were playing healthy,

they're right there in that conversation in the East. I would say there's, if you told me the Raptors, the Celtics, the Heat or the Sixers, any of those teams, if you came on air and you said, I think they're going to be

in the Easter conference finals, I would not fight you over it. I would be surprised if the Pacers are, those other four, I could see it. I could see it. I picked Philly before the season, changed from Milwaukee,

but maybe after this break, they go from a team that are struggling to a team that's figured out. Who knows? All right. What else we got, Bobby? It feels like there's never been a better time for Ben Simmons to whip out a three-point shot. Like, nobody is talking about it now. Whereas, like, the regular off-season, it's all anybody is talking about in Philly,

but now there's too many distractions. Okay, let's change gears a little bit. Question about the draft from Alex. Do you think the draft system will ever be scrapped? Instead, replaced by a system where teams can develop their own talent as they do in Europe? No. No. Never? Not in any of our lifetimes? No. Why is that?

I mean, first of all, like for the NBA, they want to invest in youth basketball by having academies around the world, by finding and mining and developing talent. But what they don't want to do is have teams necessarily make that investment until like a 15, 16 year old kid when that investment doesn't need to be made yet. teams like especially front offices like there are certain players out there who you may target as a potential potentially valuable player but you won't want to draft that player it's 18 years old because he's four years away and if you're that team you'd rather see another organization make that investment and then go get him in a trade or in free agency a couple years down the line if he's turning into the guy or shows signs of being the guy that you you had hoped for when he was 18. That is like a hundred times more true for a guy who might be like 15 or 16 years old.

And I just don't see the league ever being in a position to want to make that direct investment. The way they're doing it is the road they're going to continue to go down. Yeah, they also had the infrastructure and the way to do it because of soccer. you know, in some of these overseas situation. There was a standard at which they had done this with soccer players prior to doing it with basketball players. That being said, you know, once upon a time, the NBA didn't like the idea of their scouts being in high school gyms in the first place.

You're talking about, look, there are people ranking third graders now. I mean, it's sick, but there are. There are people that rank the best of the class of 28 or something, right? right now. And so I don't think the NBA wants to get into that business, whereas, you know, because it would be getting into that business, whereas overseas, that's been standard operation for the biggest sport there for many, many, many years. So it was nothing new for the basketball players to be done the same way, signed early, continuing their education, etc. All right. Here's our weekly required fix the next question. This comes from Javon.

from Brazil. He says he's a Knicks fan in Brazil. Let's play some Knicks My GM. One, hire a head coach. Two, draft a player. Let's say you have the first overall pick. So you have your choice of players from this year. And three, sign one free agent.

First pick. First pick. Lamello. Can we trade down? Is that an option? Is that an option? Can I trade down? I'm taking Lamello.

And put the ball in his head. I'm taking Gey's Hayes. That's my number one trick. I have Lamello and R.J. Barrett going forward. I'd hire Tom Tibido because I think he's the best coach available. I do. I think he. And he's the rumored favorite too.

Yeah. No. I think and they need something. You know, they need to be taught. They need to pick up a structure. You know, I think there's something about it. They need to play 39 minutes a game. No.

And I'd imagine Tibbs. Tibbs has been away now for a little bit. bit and I would imagine he's probably going to be a little different guy than he was. Especially you got to remember this too, Kev. That team is run by a former agent now. So I do think there will be a little softening of that. That being said, I think what he did in Chicago, he won 60-something games of Chicago. Before Jimmy Butler got hurt, he had that Minnesota team as a home court advantage team.

Tibbs is an extremely good coach. So I'd get him a good coach, and I'd take Tibbs. I also think he's perfect for New York, gruff, hard-nosed. Like, the whole thing just adds up to me. I think he's perfect. And also, by the way, like, remember a couple weeks ago we talked about

Tyrese Halliburton, went to CAA. Thibodeau was also a CAA client. Leon Rose, who now is running the NICS came from as an agent. So just something to keep in mind. And then let me think on this, let me look up,

let me get a good list of the, of the free agents. Yeah, that would be available, right? And that's this summer. This summer. And there's not much out there, man. There is just, geez. We also, we also don't know what the salary cap's going to look like either.

This part's tough. This is, this is tough. To go out there. I would argue, I would argue I'd want to punt. I think I would punt on 2020 with signing a free agent. Poor Giovanni, he writes into the mismatch. poor Giovanni writes into the mismatch and says Kevin fix the Nix. The first thing you do is trade down.

The second thing you do is punt on signing a free agent. This guy's going to be like Kevin. Hey, hey. Kevin is always one year or two years away. Just keep blowing it up, baby. I'm forward thinking. No, it's not blowing it up. It's having a long view here.

And for the Nix, would you rather like drop $30 million on Gordon Hayward? Or would you rather wait until $20? 2021, which is a far stronger free agent pool. I know what I would have. No, you're right. I like Hayward. Nice player, but I'm not going to give $35 million max contract a guy this summer. I'm punting on free agency.

And I'm trading down. You don't need a wing playmaker, man. You got Mitchell Robinson with all these handles on Instagram and stepbacks and corner threes. I tell you this, I'm scrolling through here just to refresh my memory on this stuff. And my God. Oh. I'd throw a bag at Montres Harold.

There's one. I wouldn't. I would. I'd throw a bag. Monter's. Who's Montres Harold going to lure to the Knicks? I love Montres Harold, but who's he going to lure to the Knicks? The appeal of them trading for Chris Paul is the fact that he's Chris freaking Paul.

And he's still really, really good despite his age. Like he's somebody that could get another guy to come. Harold's not bringing anybody else to the Knicks. Good player. but I wouldn't I wouldn't throw money at him this summer. Here's what I'm saying. That whole recruiting other players is vastly overrated.

What recruits other players is winning. And they're going to come if you win or be much more likely to and they're not if you don't. And so somebody like, the Knicks aren't winning. And they're not going to, they wouldn't win if they sign Montrose Harrell either. I'm trying to get guys that can help me win.

Aaron Baines a free agent. I'd take Baines. I do think trading for Chris Paul hiring Tom Tibido and then combining that in New York is either, that's just a lit fuse. It's either going to be good or bad. I don't know. Someone's going to end up pissed off though.

I would love it. I would love it. Freddie Van Vleet's a free agent. I throw money at him. Those are the two that I like that I think could end up being, you know, even more than what they've been. You know, again, the free agent, the pool's not, This is not the

I'm just saying if you're going to I mean hell they They already did it with a thousand power forwards last year Van Bleep for what it's worth would be I think Van Bleak can probably Do even more than he's shown That's what I'm saying Toronto

Yeah Yeah He would make some sense And the leap he's taken this year I mean what are the higher level Can he reach with more opportunity All right we got time for a couple more This one comes from Max

Says he's a long time fan of the NBA and his girlfriend is a long-time fan of The Bachelor. Over the past two years, his girlfriend has become rapidly more interested in the NBA. She has her heart set on the Celtics, and now she even makes fun of James Dolan. However, he says he has not been able to reciprocate by watching The Bachelor. He's tried, but he simply finds it to be stupid and misogynistic. Says that he notices that Kevin makes a lot of Bachelor references on the podcast. I'm wondering if he can make a case for how I, as an NBA fan in particular,

might find value in the show. Well, first of all, your girlfriend likes it, so you'll be able to just share in the experience of watching that show on them. I would ask her, why do you like this show? It's, first of all, it's a love story. And I'm sure that's one of the reasons that she would give. But it's also just funny. It's just a funny show.

The way in which it's produced, the way in which the stories are told, the things people say and the drama people stir up, I wouldn't take it so seriously. it's just fun and it also connects people. Like there have been successful relationships that have come from it. And the journey for you, the viewer, like in recent seasons, there have been some things people have done,

you know, choosing one person and then deciding two weeks later to choose somebody else. And you see those real conversations and you get a window into what is truly reality TV. It is oftentimes truly a reflection. of what real people go through and their real relationships. And for me, you know, watching this, I've watched this with my mom for maybe like four or five, six, maybe seven years now. Like for us, like when we talk about the show during commercial breaks or after the show, like half the time, it's just about, you know, this show is so stupid.

It's funny. But the other half of it is like, wow, you know, like that really captured, you know, the human experience with what people go through. So I would go into it not taking it too seriously. Just look at it as like a goofy show. But you're going to get like real experiences from it too that you can connect with and feel empathetic with towards them as real people, whether it's a successful relationship or a relationship that fails.

Wow. Chris, do you watch The Bachelor? No. My answer would be this. This is how me and Kevin are different. bro, you said she didn't give a crap about basketball and now she's to the point to where she goofs on James Dolan. Watch what she wants to watch

so that you guys can have a connection over it. It's very easy. You want the relationship to work? You know what I mean? Like she's clearly gone out of the way to start caring about something that she didn't, but you did. Right? If she wants you to do it and you ain't got a virtue signal over everything that's on TV,

man. Just watch a damn show and laugh. everything doesn't have to mean something or be some kind of social issue you know, it's a damn bachelor, who gives a crap? I would give it a try, Max. And this next season,

they just announced the Bachelor for this year and it's the first black, you know, male Bachelor, Matt James. And he is a beloved person from Juliet Lippman, hosts of Bachelor Party for many years. She has really been...

Did Julia break that news on Twitter? I saw her tweet that and everybody responded to it like they didn't know yet. I think Juliet might have broken that news on Twitter. I first saw the news from Juliet's tweet. So maybe she did. Sources say, right, Juliet? So Juliet has always said Matt James would make a great bachelor. So I would love, I look forward to this coming season and seeing how he does.

It's going to be great. It's always great. What else we got, Bobby? Okay, final one. This is kind of a ridiculous one, but I'm interested to hear your guys's answers. This comes from Eddie. Other than your jersey and shorts, what would you guys wear on game day

if you were in the NBA? Would the pregame fits be conservative or wild? Then what kind of accessories are you wearing on the court? Would you guys be tight skies, arm sleeve, headband, etc.? And most importantly, what type of shoes are you going with? I would go,

the shoes I go with is whatever company gave the most money for my shoe deal. Dude out here, Kevin's out here wearing the leanings. Leaning. I go all out with the accessories. Sometimes I used to do that playing pickup basketball with my friends. It's just a joke.

Are you headband guy? You headband guy? I wear a headband and like an arm sleep. Arm sleep. Arm sleep. I would rock an arm sleep for sure. Yeah. Yes.

I'm rewatching One Tree Hill right now. I'm rewatching One Tree Hill right now, which it takes place in the early to mid 2000s. You know we don't have enough of it anymore? The like forearm sweatbands? Oh. The ones that like really make you look buff in the forearms, we need more of those back. Everybody was wearing those, huh?

Yeah, arm sleeve I think would be the only thing for me. I wear the arm sleeve. And then I'm trying to think what's the most comfortable shoes I've had. I tell you this, I really, they're more for fashion than they are for basketball, but I really like those concords, the Jordan Conchords. the Jordan Concords. I like those a lot. With the 45 on the back,

the black and white ones. I like those a lot. And in terms of, you know, you don't see people playing in those all that much. The Kyrie twos that had like a strap on the top,

they were crazy comfortable. And I've got another, I've got some LeBrons that I love too, that are super comfortable. And the only ones I don't have any KDs, but I've heard they're comfortable. But yeah, I would say Kyrie Too's or the, yeah, that's probably what I really like.

I really like the laceless dames. You do? Very comfortable. Yeah. Super, super comfortable. Those are great. I'm not much of a sneaker head. My recent years have started to wear more sneakers.

Sneakers? And I will say this. It is becoming something that I'm more and more into. Oh, really? Yeah, because I obviously love the way to look, love the way they feel more than anything else, though, too. Very comfortable. Have you bought any new sneakers, Kevin? No, not recently, no.

Not recently. I'm very open to a shoe deal with anybody. Just so. Hey, you're going to give you a shoe deal. They never see your frigging feet. I mean, I'll be able to get a hat deal. Maybe a hat deal. take a hat deal. You can probably get a frame deal. If new era, if new era is listening,

I'll take a hat deal. You mentioned frame deal. I'm the only guy here not wearing glasses right now. I was thinking earlier this week, I want to get like a nice pair of. I was talking about frames on your wall. Because that's all we see is the frames. That's no. This background, this is the last time you're going to see this background. It's like a new cooking. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Astro, Kevin. I bet you're going to be in outer space next time we talk to you, aren't you? Green screen. I'm always an out of space now. All right. Thanks, Bobby. As always, Kevin, I will talk to you next Tuesday.

Looking forward to it. Thank you, everybody, for the questions. Submit for next Friday at NBA Mailbag at gmail.com. Thank you. Thanks to everybody for listening to another episode of The Mismatch. We will talk to you next week.