The Ringer NBA Show - League Pass Rankings, Season Schedule Insight, and Opening Night Expectations

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann and Tyler Parker get together to discuss the release of the 2025-26 NBA schedule, expectations for the opening night matchup between the Rockets and Thunder, and the weakened East. Plus, Kyle presents his NBA League Pass rankings for the upcoming season. (00:00) Welcome to The Ringer NBA Show!(04:33) Expectations for Rockets vs. Thunder on opening night(13:20) Honorable mention League Pass teams(17:25) Los Angeles Lakers(21:31) Washington Wizards(25:58) Orlando Magic(29:44) Denver Nuggets(33:23) Detroit Pistons(38:08) Atlanta Hawks(43:58) Dallas Mavericks(49:30) Houston Rockets(56:08) San Antonio Spurs Hosts: J. Kyle Mann and Tyler ParkerProducer: Jessie LopezAdditional Production Support: Ben CruzSocial: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, hello, basketball is fantastically good. My name is J.com, man. This is a summer offseason episode of the Ringer NBA show. This is a chair I haven't sat in in a while, especially with the guy who's on the other end of the line here. I never know where he is exactly. He might be in Delaware. He might be riding through the desert in his truck to Las Vegas. I never know what he's up to.

Tyler Parker is on the other end of the line here, Tyler. How's your summer been? Have you been outside? Have you been, I mean, are you just coming down from the champagne drunkenness of the OKC title? What's your life been like? Just kind of a tour of celebration? Give me a rundown. Yeah, no, I mean, I haven't gone full JR like I've worn a shirt, you know, about trying to keep the shirt on.

Yeah. For the most part. But the, no, it's been, it's been a, you know, a summer of Thanksgiving, a summer of joy, the summer of feeling much better than just I ever have before, I think, you know? Yeah. And so it's nice, man.

The view from the top of the mountain is, there's a reason that people, you know, try to get here. It's pretty pretty. Yeah. Did you, but did you, was there any kind of measure of you that once you got to the top, did you, was there any part of you that was like, oh, this is it was as fulfilling as you thought it would be because you never want to tie it well you've got oh you i guess you've got that pitiful thing over there oh you football i mean let's really humbled

in the SEC i think let's chill all the way let's chill all the way out let's uh do i don't know if we need to restart the pod jesse or what's going no i'm in my right mind i mean you guys talked a big game and you came in the cc and i think you know who did coming back down to earth a little i don't know i'm not saying kentucky's going to beat you but Not ruling it out. No, I'm not saying that either. And I feel like that hell is freezing, hearing a Kentucky fan talk about football in a, in a big-chested way. But, you know, I'm not going to take, I'm not going to take any shots at UK because I have a lot of respect for the stoopses. Yeah. I'm sure. I'm not going to, I'm not going to cut market the knees or anything.

but no, I mean, yeah, hopefully, hopefully OU wins a few more games this year. Sure, sure. No, I mean, it's been a good summer. It's been nice to, you know, have a little bit of downtime, getting to play with the girls and stuff, and just enjoy not having to have my eyes on a TV all night, you know. For now, for now, we're getting, there's a little exhale here. We're a little bit like teachers.

We get a little, we get a little break, and then it gets intense, you know. So that's kind of been the vibe across the NBA scene. A lot of people unplugging because the race is long and it is a sprint. You run, there's no jogging. You got a, you got a sprint. And before the fire hose of basketball opens, one of the, one of the little bones of news activity, there's a few little small things that if we get to them, we'll get to them. They're amusing pieces of news that I hope we can get to.

But one of the things that is a very strict official order of business is the schedule. The schedule came out. So the schedule is dense. I want to get to sort of the fun parts of the schedule before we launch into the competitive, nitty-gritty, measuring teams against each other. And we'll get to that. But from 35,000 feet, Tyler, we're just looking at this schedule. The big thing that they kind of pitch it on is opening night.

opening night we're going to have OKC versus Houston we're going to have they've done an interesting thing here where they put the sort of geriatric superstars against each other they're not trying to kind of we're getting the Youngs versus the Youngs how are you feeling about

my first thought here is do you think that there isn't a possibility that on opening night Houston how riled up do you think that Houston is going to be to come in there and sort of spoil the broth from the beginning here and get a new cycle going of like, oh,

Houston is coming for OKC? And is that on your mind at all? Yeah, no, I mean, I think that that is definitely the mindset they'll come into the game with. How could they not? Like,

if you're on that team, yeah, you would want to be, especially if that's Ring Knight, and especially if you're Kevin Durant coming back to Oklahoma City for Ring Night. Yeah, I think that there will,

that will be a, extremely motivated visitors locker room that, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't, I don't think it would shock anybody if the Rockets beat the thunder. You know, if it's, if it's some beat down and it, like,

then yes, I think news cycles will probably start regardless, you know, if it's, unless the thunder just walk all over them, in which case it'll be like, well, it's still early, the Rockets got to learn how to play together. But like, if it's a close game, you know, I think that it'll be a something that leads a lot of pods. You know, like I think it is if people are,

people are deservedly very excited about the rockets. I mean, they basically project to be really, really good and really fun. And so it, I love that the Thunder are playing them on opening that. I think it'll be a fun game with two teams that are just filled with a bunch of dogs that, you know, are going to try to kind of meet the moment. Yeah. From a broader perspective here, I think something that comes out. We get all kinds of cool analytics about like back-to-backs and what teams are going to be playing the teams that are on the fewest back-to-backs versus the most back-to-back. So we start to get an idea of like what schedules are harder than others.

overall, you know, it ranges in that like 13 to 16 back to backs total on the schedule. So five teams are going to be playing 16 back to backs. One of them is the Philadelphia 76ers. There has been a lot of, oh God, energy from Sixers fans who are already, you know, they're seeing Ball, George in the, in the brace. They're wondering, will Joelle Embed ever be Joelle Embed again? I can imagine how seeing that would be a tough beat if you're a Sixers fan. No, yeah.

I think even like taking Paul George out of the equation, right? Like it, yeah, you're devastated if you see that if you see that that's happening with Embed coming back. I mean, the one, I'm kind of excited to watch the, or at least intrigued to watch the Sixers. You know what I mean? Like, it's, uh, Maxie and McCain are a really fun duo back there. And I think could, uh, really light things up if,

if, uh, things fall the right way. Um, especially if MBEed or PG are able to give them anything and they're able to play off of those guys too. Like that, that just, uh, I, um, I'm really high on McCain. Anno Maxi, I think that is a, that in a few years, that backcourt will be lava. Like, I think that that's a, I think that that's one of the most exciting backcourts that the league's going to have going forward here for the next, you know, whatever, seven, eight years.

So I, it, I think that having those guys a year older and able to, carry a little bit more of the load. I think, you know, hopefully that let's George and Embed kind of, you know, jog back into sort of playing these games. They don't have to come into it

from a full sprint and have to carry the load. But yeah, no, if you're an Embed fan, you can't have been pumped up to see that schedule. No doubt about it. Another sort of point of order to point out

here. The Pelicans, according to positive residual, have, in terms of strength of schedule, have the hardest schedule in the league, which is, you know, I'm not trying to pummel a dead horse here with a sledgehammer, but that's a tough beat when you consider the guy that they traded up to get is going to be out for a few months with a wrist injury, Derek Queen, in a ruthless. You made a point here about it's never been more valuable to be a member of the Eastern Conference. this year. Oh my God.

Yeah, how many wins is that worth? Like being in the East at this point? It's one of the reasons, you know, that these teams like, you know, I mean, the magic are a good team, but it's one of the reasons that like, you know, your eyebrows kind of go up whenever you start looking at that roster and stuff like. The same thing with the Pistons, right? You're like, oh, all of a sudden these teams that feel like they should have been

a couple steps away from making a conference finals. Like now it's extremely feasible that one of those two teams could wind up in the Eastern Conference Finals. So it's, it'll be cool that it gives maybe another team who was on the doorstep a chance to kind of play in the waters of the conference finals and see how they react to that sort of stuff. But yeah, I mean, it, the East is wanting this year. And the bottom of that conference is

a shit show. And to those teams, you know, the Knicks, um, the Pistons, people like that, that are going to be at the top of the East. I mean, they could feast. You know what I mean? Like there's, yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, the Cavs are the Cavs going to win? what 65 games i mean like how many games are the cabs gonna win i like the alonzo pickup for them yeah i mean i think that it's you get you know you'll offload some of the issues i think you add more connectivity obviously he's got the size it's good to just see him healthy period but um another kind of broader point here that i was going to say jesse brings up in our chat that the sixers also another another head shaker for them is have the biggest uh second biggest decrease in national

games the sons are first uh fall by the sixers and the Pelicans. The Celtics actually had a pretty huge drop-off in national games this year as well. I think they're down to like 25 or something like that. But when that's all the, that's the vegetables. You know, we get the, we get all the matchups that we want. It's different from college because the college schedule always gets me really excited because, hey, it's more condensed. We get to see the home-and-home atmospheres. You get the one shot at some of the teams. With the NBA schedule, you know, basketball is just more, available than it's ever been and a big reason why that that's the case is because league pass is more in the streaming era is more accessible than it's ever been for me um

well i wanted to just kind of talk about because tyler this past year did uh league pass rankings for the site that were awesome they're always it gives it gives you a lot of leg room to sort of flail and kick and uh do whatever it is that you want to do a lot of studio space um and those were like those were players specific yeah like it wasn't it wasn't team driven it was like you know amen thompson is a jet plane you know what i mean like there's more of that stuff yeah yeah yeah what i wanted to do today getting to sort of the the why we're here what we want to accomplish is i just wanted to go through the league pass rankings uh meet my league pass rankings for for teams we're going to go into more we're going to go into some of the more specific players or people that we

have a chance or they are candidates to be, you know, premier sort of league pass entities. Last year you mentioned to Amin Thompson, whose middle name is Excellency. I just always have to bring that up, as is his brothers. He was your MVP, and we'll talk about him more specifically, but I'll count down. These are my, I didn't do 10. We'll do the top nine. Number nine for me is, you mentioned how the east is sort of a wasteland, so it was sort of hard to pick. There are some sort of honorable

mentions. Like I do think that this person will probably come up more over the course of the pod, God willing. Like the Nets, I think could have the potential to just be funny on some nights because you have the, just the fact that Cam Thomas and Michael Porter

Jr. are going to be playing next to each other is going to be some like A, A, A, UY, B, L shit. Like, it could be just, it could be wild. Yeah, that's my first honorable mention. No, I mean, there's going to be some, you know, knock down dragouts to see who gets to shoot the ball between those two guys. Like, they, yeah, they may just stop passing to one another at a certain point. But it, no, yeah, MPJ taken a bit of a step down from playing with Yokic to, and I'm a Cam Thomas apologist.

I think he lives Moss. I think he is one of our final. heater heat check artists and one of our finest gunners you know what i mean like i and that that is that's a virtue as far as i'm concerned but um yeah probably a little different playing with the shot a minute camp thomas uh then it's it's probably good that they're alive that the nets drafted all passers than the draft maybe that was their thinking it actually makes a lot more sense we need a lot of passes to go around a lot of passes and uh yeah that one that one makes a lot of things sense for me. I was going to say that

has any player benefited from being imported into a situation with a particular teammate than MPJ did with Yokic? How would his career have been different? I'm not going to try to make this an MPJ pod, but it might

end up being inevitable. I just can't, is there a more perfect person on earth for him to have been paired with? Because you mentioned how Yokic is such a giving lover on the court, how he could take a What did you say he could take a pile of sticks and turn it into a connecting, a bonding moment with someone else? Like, I just can't imagine a better situation for a player.

Yeah, he fell, you know, ass backwards into the lap of luxury for sure, getting to play with him. I mean, it's, you know, he falls in the draft because of his back. All those things are well known. But, yeah, for a catch-and-shoot guy who is, gigantic and can see over the defense and be seen over the defense, maybe more importantly, in this case, yeah, no, you can't ask for a better situation than what he found himself in. So yeah, I don't know how it'll go. I really, I think that he might be in for a pretty rude awakening and look back.

I can be like, oh shit, that grass was really green. I thought it was green, but that grass was like, that's... Grass is green in Colorado. It's beautiful out there. It's Kelly green. Yeah. And so, yeah, it's... Yeah, the nets will be an interesting much. I don't imagine the nets are on your...

No, they're not. They're honorable mention. Another honorable mention that I wanted to bring up, I know we both have an affinity for this situation is the jazz. I really just, I like the Walter Clayton. Jr. Ace Bailey combo. I'm so excited for Walter Clayton Jr., man.

Yeah, especially after watching him in Summer League, too, and seeing some of that stuff kind of translate. I mean, I know it's Summer League. I know that if they play bad, it doesn't matter. If they play good, it doesn't matter. But something about the confidence and how smooth everything still was, yeah, no, I'm big Walter Clayton Jr. guy. Yeah.

Number nine on my list, and this is driven by, you know, Revenge Tour, I think is going to be a theme for some of the teams. There's going to be, oh, you forgot about us thing going on with some of the teams in the East specifically. Number nine, though, is just Skinny Luca, the Lakers. I'm very curious to see what is going to happen with Skinny Luca here. And also potential weirdness, ongoing weirdness. There could be like some LeBron behavioral kind of stuff driving, some of the new cycle stuff with the Lakers that I think is going to be interesting. My first question, though, for you with the Lakers is how skinny is too skinny for Luca? Do you think he risks losing something with losing all the way,

like with the way that he plays? It certainly risks it because he uses those shoulders like battering rams. And, you know, if he gets you on his hip, he's strong enough that he, you know, nobody's going to be able to really bump him off his spot. Does that take a hit with him? you know, hopefully he maintains enough mass, right? That that stuff is still able to be part of his game. It is like, you know, I remember when LeBron got super skinny, you know,

like it was like there was all those rumors about like, did he just get really skinny to be in train wreck? And then he put more or was it like what? The bronze had like a Ben Affleck body career. You're like Ben Affleck, he's real thin. Oh, he's probably more. That's probably not fair, but it's very up and down. Right.

I'm sure the rumor that he lost weight for train wreck is wildly unfair too. But like I just remember him coming into that season like noticeably thinner. And it didn't, he was he was better at a higher playing way. You know what I mean? Like there's, to me, Luca never like, you know, body style-wise, like, looked all that out of shape. It was just, the conditioning seemed to be a disaster, and he could, he was always comfortable taking a few seconds to complain about a no-call before he got back on defense and that stuff kind of puts you behind the eight balls. Like, it's obviously good that he is more in shape. Like, I'm not trying to zag and be like, uh,

oh, you know, but to answer your question, yes, there probably is a too skinny version of Luca. Yeah. I mean, Cade went through some of that when he first came into the league. I was pointed this out a lot. I'm not ready to say that, like, I don't think Luca is in any danger of being too skinny right now. Like, maybe the season starts and, uh, you just wonder, you just wonder, that's all I'm saying. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not passing a verdict or something here.

I'm just, I've wondered. I have. Kentucky had a kid named Dakari Johnson. who moonlighted with the thunder for a little bit. I remember Dakarie. And he had a big old butt when he came to Kentucky. He was a heavy kid and he would just pummel people. And it was fun to watch.

And then he lost weight because he thought he needed to do that to go to the NBA. And it just neutralized him. And I just thought, I'm just pointing out. That's all I'm saying. You know, I was pretty fat in college. And DeCore Johnson have a lot in common. Yeah. What you say?

No, I mean, I went to college. My uncle, actually, who's outside my house with my dad, working on something right now. He was like, you're going to game. weight in college. He was like messing with me, I'm pretty sure. But I was like, no, I won't. Totally did. Went to college. He gained like 50 pounds. But I remember people bouncing off of me in the lane in a way that they never did the best. And I just was like, oh, anyway, it always comes to my. No, but I think if you tell, I think if you hit up Luca, if Luca, if Luca does struggle early on,

I think if you hit him up and say, look, when I was at Murray State playing. Yeah, 100%. I think that that stuff, I think that that will, that analogy will bridge that gap and get him to see. He'll probably dat me and give me a pair of Luca threes and be like threes and I guarantee he'll bring me into the fold. No doubt about it.

Number eight is a total chaos pick. Now, I think that the broader nature of League Pass appeal, I was going to defer to you and you're like League Pass aura is just different than competitiveness, right? The stakes are lower. not like, you don't have to win.

The sort of piss and vinegar sort of part of it is something that is a common denominator, I think, with some of the teams that draw your eyeballs. And I think the Wizards have a chance. I know I've talked about them off and on this summer quite a bit, but I think the Wizards have a chaos good thing going on with them, where especially they pick up Cam Whitmore, if they just spin Cam Whitmore like a top out there and he's like, has some like, you should have been playing me energy out there.

Um, that's fun. Obviously, the, um, the Kulibali. You got guys flying around. Dunking, I know, is, is, dunking a key tenant of the league pass or, Tyler? Is that a key part of it? I don't think it's a key tenant. I think it's definitely a factor. I think if you excel at it, then it's obviously a huge plus for you. It's not a requirement to be a high profile, you know, uh, league pass option. But I don't, it, it, uh, it, uh, doesn't hurt, but it's not, if it's a team that doesn't have a bunch of leapers, but there's still, it's possible to still be fun to watch even if you're not playing above the rim all the time, you know what I mean? That's true.

I mean, it's okay. It's not as good, I would say, but it's, I, I just think, I just think there's a, there's a teenager driving the Ferrari manual shift thing going on with young teams where they, you know, moment they're going 170 and a 55 and then they're and then they can't shift the gears because they don't know how to play yet together and i think the wizards have a chance to be a team like that and they're going to be pissed and they're going to be playing when they play a good team they're going to have that okay c poku teams they just be like oh we're going to beat the best team in the league tonight and we think we can like that i think that is like the that's the essence of league pass power

i think no i hear you i mean i do think you have to consider that poku's a one-of-one as a competitor and we're not going to see the likes of him again. His like again, yeah. Unless someone in the league smartens up and brings him back overseas. When you sent me your list, the Wizards at 8, it definitely made me raise my eyebrows.

Would I put them at 8? No, but I would be absolutely lying if I didn't say I was stoked to watch Trey Johnson and Kishon George and Kula Bali and these other dudes try to kind of figure it out together. I think you're right that Whitmore there, like, I think he's going to come out

and be very much in that mindset of, you people don't know what I've had to hide for these last few years. You people don't know how I've had to, you know what I mean? Like, you people don't know how I've had to tamp my own brilliance down. It has been a pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about. No, you know that there's going to be a moment in December where there's going to be a text for Apple.

I want Apple TV to let me program the notifications because that's where I watch League Pass through. I just want me, I want them to let me write the headlines. I want them to be like, turn the fucking channel right now. Trey Johnson has eight threes and they're going to beat the, you know, they're going to beat the Warriors and it's the fourth quarter. I think there's potential for that to happen. I think Trey Johnson drives a lot of that. Moving on.

Do you have anything? I do. I want to, Bob Carrington has earned the right for us to mention his name, I think. And also Alex Saar, I mean, like he, you know, it wasn't lighten the world on fire or anything like that. But the end of the year was better than the beginning of it. And, you know, former number two overall pick. Like that's a factor there, too, to watch his. development.

And I'm part of one of my favorite moments ever with you in a casino when we were walking behind them. And that guy said them some tall brothers. He was walking with his brother, them some tall brothers. That's right. Summed it up. Number seven, the Orlando Magic. Orlando Magic.

I do think that there's some Mufasa voice you've forgotten me going on. I think that both of them with the, it was Labrum, right? Was it the torn, it was shoulders. They both basically had the same injury. them coming back and adding the lubrication of Desmond Bain's shooting, subtract some of the, I don't know, you talk to Magic fans, and a lot of them, I think from the outside,

the national NBA people or the average fan would look at the Cole Anthony experience and be like, oh, I don't know about that, but you talk to Magic fans, and a lot of them would defend Cole Anthony in my experience. But I just see a season from them in the decimated, East. You were talking about making a run, taking a step forward. I especially think when you consider the pistons, I was thinking about Days of Thunder, as I often do. And there's that part where, you know, Cole Trickle was the new hotness. And he is away for a time because he gets his

egg scrambled in a couple different wrecks. You know the story. And Russ Wheeler comes in, played by Carrie Elway. I don't know how believable that one is. You know, Carrie Elway, NASCAR, but he comes in and they have a rivalry. And I could see. that ramping up between the pistons and the magic who the magic we're like we're not gone but you forgot about us and some tension could arise there so I think they could be fun to watch this year to do all of that and to also get Jalen Suggs back I think yeah I just I think defensively they're going to be a nightmare

once again maybe even more so like Bain is is not a bad defender at all right like he's very capable on that end too and I I'm very, very excited to watch how Bain's deep ball can open some things up for Franz and for Palo kind of in the little in-between areas that they like to operate. You know what I mean? I think that he's going to loosen the defense up a lot. And I think that their offense was in desperate need of more spacing

and will can only take a step up now that Moore's going to be there. You know what I mean? I'm a big Anthony black guy. Like I'm excited to see what he looks like this year. Yeah, I just, they are a team that is, extremely scrappy and extremely competitive, and they don't take shit. And I think that that stuff just travels really well.

You know what I mean? Like that, like, I think their floor is going to be super duper high. I think their defense can keep them in games. That if Paolo and Franz show up to the gym a little frosty, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not,

they're a team that, I would be, like, I would really be really, really surprised if they did not look significantly better this year, at least on the offensive event than they did last year. You know, like, it's, um, big, big energy, I think with them. I think they're going to be pissed. I mean, Moe Wagner coming back. Like, is, is, he's a good player for them. You know what I mean? Like, that'll be a thing. Like, they're. Could have a Franz All-Star leap also. That's also in the car. so that could be interesting.

Number six, just moving through here. Number six, I think just the reliability and like the consistent brilliance has made him maybe less of an imperative to watch on a nightly basis. Granted, you could always, you could on a nightly basis just watch Nicola Yokic

and have a just very bountiful, plentiful basketball diet in your life. But I think he alone justifies just being number six. And on any given night, be number one. I just think that we kind of know, I feel like league passes a little bit more for the fresh, you know, the teams that we know a lot about, I feel like it becomes less of an imperative for them. But I think them figuring it out with Cam Johnson, bringing Brucey back, maybe we get Doran Holmes into contributing at some point. But I think the six or the sixers,

the nuggets, I think are going to be a consistently fun watch because I think, and you mentioned that they, were they one A or one B on your concerns? Cern list for you. You're talking about like as threats to the thunder as a thunder homer. Yeah, they were, I mean, they're kind of interchangeable with the rockets at 1A and 1B, to be honest with you. Like the, the, I think the Cam Johnson pickup is massive. And I think that that'll be a seamless fit.

I've always been a Bruce C.B. Apologist, you know what I mean? I think he, for what he does, it just fits so well with how they like to play there, you know. And I just feel like that offense isn't going to lose a step, really. And, you know, they took the Thunder to seven games. So it's like it's a, that's, you know, respect to them. And then the Rockets, I feel that way because of just, obviously that Tady ad, Dore and Finney Smith. I mean, we can talk about that later, but yeah,

those are kind of the, but yeah, I'm, I'm very, very pumped up to see what the nuggets look like, just because it'll be a little bit, it's, you know, it's not just like that the, it's not just adding a new skill, a new player with a new skill set, right, or whatever. I mean, there's some, there's definitely some overlap with MPJ and Cam, like it's also just a new vibe kind of in the building, you know what I mean? I think retooling around your core is just essential.

If you watch over the best dynasties, I mean, even the Celtics and the 80, they were in the 80s, they were like moving pieces on the periphery to sort of keep things fresh and to keep it moving. The Spurs, the way that they were able to elongate those timelines, is that they did such a good job doing that. Yeah, I think that Cam is a more intuitive cutter than MPJ. I think he doesn't have these sort of attention lapses that MPJ has on both ends of the floor. I don't think he's going to struggle to learn some of the ways that I just don't think it's going to be a steep learning curve for him playing next to Yokic.

And Yokic bridges a lot of those gaps. No, like, Johnson, Cam Johnson is a very, very smart player. You know what I mean? Like, like, offensively, like, that's a thoughtful. thoughtful guy who understands what he does and where he needs to be to be most effective. And yeah, I think putting a shooter like that with Yokic, yeah, it could just be Bonanza, you know. Next on my list, the Pistons. The Pistons, I wrote in my notes, the Pistons are an old mechanic at a body shop in eastern Kentucky,

just sitting on a tailgate during their break, deeply inhaling the smoke. they just they take those deep draws um they they don't um ron hollin is nuts man i mean he's i wasn't i wasn't i wasn't a gigantic fan of his coming into the draft because i was just really skeptical of him offensively putting it together but the defense um you know we talk a lot about the terror twins with the with the rockets um a sar and ron holland together are entertaining uh because they can guard anybody up and down the food chain they're both great bouncy athlete, spinly, sinewy, powerful, and they got some shit to him.

Both of them do. Holland took Reed Shepard as a personal affront to his existence at Summer League. He was just like, there was a really funny moment where Reed was miced up. I think I talked about this on the Ringar, MBA, on the draft show, but Reed was miced up, and he said something like, can't do that, can't leave me open, can't say something. And Ron Holland proceeded to make his life hell for the next for the next, for the next It was incredible. But the Pistons, I think,

Beasley had one of the best most productive off-screen efficiency scoring seasons in a while last year. I think he was top three up there with the usual suspects of the staffs and the guys like that. But they lose him, but they gain Duncan Robinson.

The question, I guess, is just going to be, are they even going to miss a beat? Because they might not, honestly. And that's before we even get to Jade and I be coming back, which I think is going to be massive. just beyond him being good for them. Like if we are just talking about it from a league pass perspective,

like that's a big ad. You know what I mean? He's one of your sleeper guys you were saying for could be one of the key players in the league past landscape this year. Oh, I think so. Just because as the roster, as the Pistons have kind of filled out the roster, I think he's just going to be able to focus on the stuff that he does well, you know? and that's playing like a madman and getting out in transition and like, you know, making shit boom a little bit.

And that is something that we at League Pass headquarters love. You know what I mean? So it's I'm I feel very excited about that. But yeah, I mean, just the Pistons in general, I mean, just completely grimy in the best way. and very about it, right? Like, they're not going to back down from anybody. They are going to feel like they're in any game. I think Cade gives them a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger.

And yeah, to just to watch them last year kind of carved themselves into this into this thing that is extremely sturdy and isn't going to really get rattled. You know what I mean? Like as a young team to watch how they handle themselves in that next series,

like it was, that was not a young team that just was in over their head playing it. You know what I mean? Like that was a, that was a, that was a blow for blow kind of series. and could have gone the other way.

If a couple shots do some different things. So, yeah, I'm really excited about the Pistons. And, yeah, that's another team that I think it wouldn't shock me at all to see in the Eastern Conference finals. It's, yeah, of all the years, too, it's very impossible. Yeah, right out of the gate, we get on October 24th, we get them at Houston, which will be, That will be a feisty one. And then let's see, the first time that Orlando comes on, see, they play, that's all the way in April, though, April 6th. And they play March, they play Orlando at Orlando.

So they're going to have a lot of opportunities to get feisty with them. And November 28th at home. Yeah. I think that them in the Knicks, though, like, I think that that series, that series kind of established something. and I'm excited to watch that kind of blossom. At number four, you were surprised by this one. I put the Hawks. A driving reason for this is the ascension of Jalen Johnson.

I don't know. I always joke about there are these I know ball things that come up in basketball conversation where you can kind of like... He's definitely, yeah. You tip your cap, you're like, I see what's going on. You pick that thing

that's just fringe enough. I feel like Jalen was that for a while, but he's 100% graduated too. Like this isn't just some, and it's not that strange. I mean, Jalen was like an RSCI composite high school rankings. Cream of the Crop, top of the pops.

He was one of the main coveted prizes in his high school class. Weird year at Duke, gets undervalued, gets pushed back into the first round, gets taken, 6-10 guy with ball skills, shooting has been the question for him. Passing the ball has always kind of been there in transition.

He shows a lot of things. He's built like a freaking Adonis. He's gigantic and ripped and just so handsome. I don't even, I've just said, I was just going to. I was like, Kyle, you having a moment there? No, he's just a great, great athlete. And I think some of the, some of his ascension, some of his strength as an on ball presence, I think,

has sort of paved the way for the, hey, Trey, you know, the Samwise on the Mount Doom thing of like, hey, share the load. I can carry the ring a little bit too, Trey. And that is what I'm going to be most interested to see because this past year before last, six percent of his touches were pick and roll on ball reps in this past year that went up to 14%. He's still only 23 years old. The shot isn't something he's hunting, but it is something that he can hit when he's one, two, open, you know. then you also got some of the most curse words

in the basketball lexicon if Porzingis is healthy lightning strike and then you've got the fun tandem of another set of terror twins in Dyson Daniels

and Reza Shea. I just think it's an interesting roster and I think you're talking about the openness of the east they might have some scrappiness to jump in there and seize the open the vacancy

I wasn't that surprised to see them, to see the Hawks high. To see them at four, it did make me think for a second. But as you know, a huge member of the Jalen Johnson fan club and have been for a minute.

I think... You know ball, man. You know ball. Oh, man. I'm so, dude, I'm so smart. Have you... If I were you, I'd watch this LeBron guy this year. Okay. I'm really interested in.

see what, no, please take that joke out, Jesse. I don't think, like, I think you're spot on with Jalen where it's like, if the three ball does come along, my God, you know what I mean? Like that, that's a perennial all-star if the three ball comes along. He and Franz, I think, are like right there at the threshold of, especially with the guys that are out that we could see both of them. make that kind of a job. Like, yeah.

And Jalen, there's a lot of fun passing stuff with Jalen too that I think gets swept a little bit under the rug. But, like, that's a guy that can dime some people up. You know what I mean?

Five assists per game this past year. No, I mean, he's, he's, and I think that, as you said, if the on ball reps go up, that goes up too. You know what I mean? And to see Risa Shea in his second year,

I mean, for the second half of the year, Risa Shea shoots like, I think, like, 41, 42 percent from three on like five attempts a game or something. Like he was playing well for the second half of the season. And you see him another year better. Same thing with Daniels. I also think adding Nikiel Alexander Walker is pretty massive for them.

Just he's he was huge for the wolves and I think elevated his play in the playoffs to this past season.

I think that that's a guy that they'll miss as much as I love Terrence Shannon Jr. But the but yeah it, Alexander Walker

being added to that mix in the back court to also just that's now kind of two guys that can be your point of attack defender at the top of the, you know, at the top of the shell a little bit. And that's another guy that you could play with Trey that can take some of that defensive pressure off of him. You know what I mean?

Yeah. And so it, I'm excited about that. I'm with like, Porzingis is to the point where, like, yeah, we'll see what happens. You know what I mean? Like, he's,

his health is so up in the air all the time that I don't even really know what to do with, like predicting anything with him. You know what I mean? Like it's like, well, we'll just, we'll see what his body says. He's icing on the cake.

And they have a Kongwu and they have, you know, they drafted, A's and Nul's more of an energy big. So the depth there could be a question. but yeah, number three, number one picks drive traffic, typically. People are going to be curious. And I think this situation, especially if he starts to figure out on ball life,

if he starts to detangle that in the first two or three months of the NBA, the Mabs. I just think Cooper is going to be in a unique situation where, you know, if Kyrie were there, I still think it would be pretty fun to watch. But I think he, you know, they brought in DeAngelo Russell. I don't really feel like they're going to just throw the keys to DeAngelo in that sense. I mean, I hope not. If I'm a Mavs fan, I hope not, I guess. But I just, I think Cooper's unique situation, I think he's going to be fun to watch anyway.

But I think in this particular scenario, playing with the players that he's playing with, I think we could see some pretty cool early returns from him. I don't disagree with what you said on Cooper. the MAVs would not be at three for me. But the flag factor is obviously a big one, and I agree with you that with Kyrie sitting, more of the ball handling, I think they're going to try to put in Hooper's hands,

and that will be, it'll be fun to watch to see what he's capable of. and where the holes are in his handle, and how he tries to compensate for those, what kind of counters can he add, just stuff like that. As great as he looked as a scorer, I did feel like there was like a little bit to be desired handle-wise,

and that's to be expected, right? Like he's a rookie who is only just now starting to really explore what he can be as like this dominant one ball kind of guy, but like it I agree with those things. I'm not going to be like tuning into

every Mavs game or anything like that. Like I don't, I don't, they don't get me going in that way exactly. Now that said, if play comes back and, you know, post Megan the

Dallion has a little bit more pop to his game. You know, he's got some life, which is not out of the possibility. She's amazing. And I hope that for him. Clay, you said Clay, just as we as we drive by this, we got to get off the interstate for a second here and just talk about you. You had a shack.

I didn't. I didn't. I was unfamiliar with your game to that. I didn't. Yeah. You were, you were. I mean,

I always thought Clay was a charming guy. He's got his own boat. I was explaining this to Megan. I was just like, I was like, I think women like Clay. I mean, he's got his own boat. He wears the hat. He's lighthearted. His dad was a famous, you know, you know, I just, well, we won't go too much in the detail there.

But yeah, I just think what surprised you? I wasn't super surprised. It wasn't any shots at Clay. Like, you know, obviously a magnetic individual, you know, like with a lot of charisma. It's more a comment on how high the esteem that I hold Megan the stallion in. You know what I mean? Oh, I see. Like, you know, this is one of the greats.

Okay. And to see Clay with her, I was just a little bit like, hey, man, I was not familiar with your game. So, you know, it's, uh, yeah. No, he could take a big step up. You know, it could be like, you know, like a sort of an inverted version of whenever Fred Van had his kid, you know what I mean? And he just goes ballistic. Maybe this is, you know, maybe this will be that for Clay.

I'm not trying to wish fatherhood on him, but. No, no, just like something changes in your relationship status in some way. And then you take it and then you take a leap up, you know, who knows? Yeah. But yeah, I mean, like, there is a version of the Mavericks that I think is appointment viewing and legitimately fun to watch. I mean, in the same way that, you know, if Porzingus is healthy, has become, you know, an exciting collection awards. I think you can do the same thing with if AD is. I mean, you know, will both of,

Will Gafford and lively, like, can they stay healthy? Will they be back? Will they be able to be as effective as they can be with like the current ball handlers that Dallas has? You know what I mean? Like, obviously they're not going to eat and pick and rolls like they were when Luca was there, you know, where they get where they how they get their stuff will change um but yeah that's that's one of those

like i just want to kind of see how it works before i start putting them too high on my rankings you don't i mean sure sure um we'll just rattle off the last two here for time's sake uh the rockets at number two they were high last year they were really fun last year some of them some of the biggest uh line stepping energy in the whole league um in was your league pass MVP. I expect them since they offloaded Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks. His on ball opportunities are going to have to go up even more, but I think there's room for him to expand. And I think he's probably the best athlete in the NBA right now, would you say? I mean, yes. Yeah, he is, he's the guy in the NBA now that is most likely to do something that makes you think there's something wrong with your

internet. Like, you know what I mean? Like, he's the guy who is going to go from, point A to point B, and it's going to feel like that there was like a glitch and like the screen jumped a little bit. Like there's, because it's not just jumping, right? Like it's not, it's incredible. Laterally, he's incredible into end speed. It's just, it's bananas, man. Like the, is he the, is he the best close out defender in the NBA right now?

Like I know, on his own ball stuff is you're better at that sort of stuff than me. Dude, the stuff that he dissuades, there was a play that I was watching where he was literally in the short corner by the free throw, like the free throw line and the baseline, like by that corner on the baseline. Nasreid caught the ball on the right wing and Amin starts to move towards him. And Nasri was like, no, I'm not going to be able to get this off. He kicks it to the corner. And Amin shifts and goes over. I've just never seen someone so territorial. like covering ground like he just contests things he recovers and contests things that's just what i mean

like in terms of like covering open space he's just a phenomenal talent i mean it's like oh g it's it's it's a it's a it's a high list of guys kai's not flying around quite like that anymore but um amen does some incredible stuff closing out on on shooters he would be a reason to buy a ticket you know what i mean to get to see him in person like he he is i think he's one of those players now where that physically he's capable of so much. You just, yeah, you want to see, because sometimes it's not the plays that wind up as highlights, right? Like sometimes it's just he tried to take a ball off the back,

like try to take a layup off the backboard, and like the layup just barely beats him to the glass. But like he's ripping it at, like the top of the square and stuff like that. Like it's just these, there are these sort of in-between things. You talk about with that close out, like just him getting back in transition is a show.

And so, like, to, like, the other thing I think with getting rid of, getting rid of Jalen is that, that was a defender that he was having to help cover for. You know what I mean? To remove him, like, I think they'll be able to put out some lineups where it's all positive plus defenders, you know what I mean? And so to see him able to kind of, like, if he's so valuable on ball,

they might not want to do this type of thing. But him in like a Draymond Green put him on the non-shooter and let him roam. and you just kind of let him free safety get back there and just Ronnie Lott shit all game. Like there's, that they added Dore and Finney Smith too, I think, is a big thing. Just these, these,

they're going to have waves of these long defenders. It's kind of like, well, it's a more, it's a taller sort of version of what the Thunder have a little bit. Like, you know, the Thunder are, better equipped. Yeah. Right, yeah. But the Thunder

or better equipped maybe like, um, point of attack. You know what I mean? Like, uh, Kaysen, Peruso,

Dort, these sorts of guys. But as far as like wing defenders are concerned, right? Like this, like this collection that the rockets have put together, like, uh,

it's, it's scary, man. And, um, and yeah. And I mean, Phenie Smith has shown the ability to like,

make plays on offense when he has to, hit shots when he has to. Yeah, it's, it's there, I think they're going to be really, really exciting. I think Durant has been, will have been hearing a lot of people kind of

talk about him like he's not quite what he was, you know, which is, which is true, I think, but I think that motivating factor he's going to, they're going to be, I think they're going to be very good, very quickly,

you know, because he is such a seamless fit. Like, I don't think they're going to be the, record scratches that you can see. Sometimes whenever you add, like, a big time offensive player to these new teams,

like I, I think that'll go, that'll go well. So it, it, yeah, I'm, I'm,

I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I think they, they're a Goliath now. You know what I mean? Like before they, depending on the night, they could be, you know, really difficult. But yeah, to add to add someone as sure of themselves on offense as KD, I think just it can't not take them up a level, you know? Yeah, I think he'll slot right in there. And I think some of the scheming gridlock that the Rockets would run.

run into in late game situations in terms of just shot creation end of clock into quarter end of game he'll alleviate some of that stuff because he's just one of the best uh no dribble you know off the catch she can just make then i mean van vleet van vleet will be better in those situations because he's not going to have as much of a burden offensively like he's just going to have more juice late in the games like it uh yeah no i there they're i think they're going to be um a bear to the list uh finally number one um largely because of Wimby, I still just think Wimby's

one of the most singular, all-time aliens. Can't believe I saw that. No one else can do some of the things that he can do. I just still think that he's one-end. We had the truncated season last year. It was cut short.

We didn't get to see him in Deer and Fox together. And you compound that with the fact that Dylan Harper is going to be fine in his seedleg. So I think that, and he'll have some exciting moments. You got year two, Stefan Castle, coming off a great season. And I just think that team is going to have a lot.

I'll be curious to see how close they are to Houston, honestly. I think that alone. I just think the state of Texas, that triangle is going to be a really strong league pass entity. But I just think Wemby, if he comes back and he's healthy, hopefully that doesn't continue to be a thing in the way that it has been for Porzingis, where we worry about it all the time. But I just think San Antonio is going to be a really fun watch. Oh, for sure.

I mean, I think, like, a large portion of it is like, I think because Wimby is capable of just doing things that people haven't seen before, right? Like, there's, there is still, as he, as he develops and becomes capable of more and more, like sometimes when the, when the crazy new thing has been around for a few years, it stops being a novelty. but because he's developing and adding all these parts to his game, like he just sort of remains one. You know what I mean? He remains this sort of new thing.

Like, what can this guy do? Like, you've talked about this before. I know, but it feels like it's, like, will his, like, running one-legged threes that he will take off of, like, two bounces? So not really running, but, like, you know what I mean? Like, will these things start to be a third? thing that he's doing in the league.

Like what just, I'm interested for a lot of these, especially a lot of these big dudes, the thing that always lets them go to the next level. Other than

developing like a consistent jump shot, I just think how tight can you get the handle? Like how how locked up can you have that? Right? Like if, if, if,

if everything is smooth off the dribble, then that makes all the other parts of your game open up more. You know what I mean? And so, like, to see where he's at with that this year, I think we'll, that will be a thing that will be of interest for, I think, the next, like, five years.

You know what I mean? like as he as he just continues to grow and figure out what he needs to do but um yeah i mean could he get 20 blocks in a game like probably not but like 20 20 could he get 15 wait 10 is very possible i mean i think he got seen i think he's done 10 yeah yeah could he get 15 can we get in that 15 20 range yeah like what like what's what is what's crazy for him you know what I mean, like, because if you would have, like, when Yokic first came around, like, these 30, 20, 20 games, everybody would have been like, shut up. Are you insane?

No way. And how many times has he done that? Yeah. And so, like, it's, there is something to Wimby where it's like, the things that he's capable of are things that nobody before him, like, you know, there's the Will discussion, obviously, but like, it, uh, yeah, there's just, there's, there's, he is he's the one guy in the league who can sort of rip the roof off of whatever people think is possible for a basketball player like he's the guy who can reset the ceiling height a little bit for like what we think is is um

able to be done on the floor and so you know for that i i don't blame you for having them one Yeah, yeah. So that's my league pass rankings. We were going to do League Pass Hall of Fame, but we ate up all of our time. Just some of the ones I wanted to hit really quickly. Vince Carter, 98 to 2001, some of the best appointment TV of my lifetime. Rookie Zion, rookie Wimby. 24 to 2014 to 2019, Steph Curry had some of the craziest hot streaks, you know, almost 400 drivel threys and 1516. And he hit 43% of them. uh john moran blake griffin though is the overwhelming one i don't want to dwell too long of this but i from a lot of the people that i heard i mean blake was nuts during that time frame um and then uh in terms of just specific runs you know linsanity i think was a pretty crazy league pass run coby's run in oh six that culminated with the 81 point game the heedles the warriors during their 73 and nine season lob city um there are a lot through there uh you know seven seconds

or less. You smartly brought up the O3 Mavs. Yeah. When they got Van Axel. Yeah. When they got Van Exel. Shiny shorts, baggy. Yeah. I mean, what he did in that series against the Kings that postseason, like there was,

I forget what game it was, but yeah, he went ballistic in one of the games in that series. And yeah, just another guy who like in that Nelly offense where they were just running in gunning and and it was yeah Nick whatever you want to do man go ahead yeah that was i i that was that was well like a found weirdly like a foundational basketball thing for me watching that being like this i can't this guy i just it was it was it was it was he was so interesting on that team because it was dirk and nash that team went to the conference finals yeah yes uh van x Seul, Dirk, Nash, LaFrance, let's see, Finley, Rajobald,

as I said, Walt Williams, Nahara, another good one, Oklahoma, right? Anyway, fun stuff. Fun stuff. And other than that, yeah, we talked about Gallinari's wife got bitten by a shark. You had a quick take on that? Do you want me to say that thing?

No, I mean, my joke take was, well, she deserved it. You know, that's where he lives, not her. Yeah, that's, uh, that's, uh, maybe it was a, maybe it was a female short, but, you know, um, you know, I don't know if I want to be saying that on a podcast. That's fine. That's fine. Um, and, uh, all right. Well, yeah, I guess that's, that's all, you can continue to hit us up with your league past rankings for this year or start to do it. However, whatever, um, and we're going to be coming back with, uh, as we ramp up to real

basketball time. Enjoy your downtime. Formulate your theories and hit me with them, whatever it is. And Tyler, good to see you. Jesse, good to see you as well. Are all hearts clear? If so, we're going to get out of here. Good to see you guys and we'll catch you.

We'll catch you next time.