The Ringer NBA Show - Most Exciting Matchups of the 2019-20 NBA Regular Season | The Mismatch

Episode Date: August 13, 2019

The NBA just officially announced the 2019-20 regular-season schedule. Which matchups are we most looking forward to? Hosts: Chris Vernon, Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Liz Kelly and welcome to The Ringer Podcast Network. Season 2 of HBO Succession is back, and The Ringer's Chris Ryan and Jason Concepcion are here to give you the latest in Roy family drama. Every Sunday night, they'll be breaking down what we just saw on our new show called Number One Boys, A Succession After Show. You can tune in live on The Ringer's Twitter every Sunday night right after the episode ends. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me as he does every Tuesday from The Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Conflict. K.A. Kevin O. Concert, A.K.A. Kevin O. Camera. Kevin O. Comment. A.k.a. Kevin O. Kandleand. Kevin O'Consel. Kavana. Kavanaugh. After our Beyonce and Kobe discussions last week.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Yeah. Let's move on from that. All right. The NBA schedule dropped yesterday afternoon. And though there were some major games that had been leaked prior to, there were some interesting. things that took place. One of which was, given the, so many of the premier teams are on the West Coast, you have seen a reduction in the late times of doubleheaders. So 22 of ESPN's 36 doubleheaders and 12 of TNT's 31 doubleheaders are now moved to 930 or 10 o'clock Eastern instead of 10.30 Eastern. And when you've got the Lakers playing a bunch of national television games, the Clippers playing a bunch of national television games, the Warriors on national TV quite a bit, and then you even have teams like Portland. This is certainly good for

the NBA in terms of ratings, but it's good for sports fans everywhere. I mean, I suppose the ones that would affect more would be you living on the West Coast, but that just makes the games earlier. Certainly in the central time zone, we all applaud this, and I would imagine imagine even more so in the Eastern time zone, just not having to stay up until 12.30, 1 o'clock to watch some of the best games that are being played. So I was very, very happy to see that. I was happy to see that those doubleheaders are going to start earlier and that those West Coast games are going to start earlier.

What about you? It's wonderful, Chris. It's great. I'm happy to see the NBA make this move. And you mentioned how it would affect me in the West Coast. Well, I don't know. I'll be splitting time, West Coast, East Coast, because family stuff. However, it's like when you're on the West Coast,

if you're going to like a 7.30, 8 o'clock Lakers or Clippers game, you're still missing that earlier game because you're doing pregame stuff, you're traveling to the game. So it doesn't make a difference in that sense. If anything, I think it's a good thing also for at least working on the media side because you're getting out earlier. I think it could be tougher if it's during a weekday for fans, maybe getting out of work to get to games.

But it seems like just from a quick glance, a lot of these games happen to be on like Fridays. and whatnot. So hopefully it doesn't affect fans going to games too much because that would be really my main concern. For media,

like whenever the game is, like deal with it. But for fans, hopefully it doesn't affect their travel to and from games. Yeah, Isaac, you'd be able to speak to this

the best. Yeah. Do you think that them starting earlier in these Clippers, Lakers games, is going to affect the crowd at all? I think a little bit,

especially for the Clippers, which has, obviously, we have a smaller fan base. I don't know if this is really a move with the local fans in mind. If anything, I feel like it's actually benefiting national fans

at the expense of local fans. But at the same time, I get it at the bottom line is, you know, you got to get eyeballs on TVs. So I understand it. I'm not particularly happy with it just being on the West Coast and knowing that, like, obviously I work in media so I can get to games on time, but a lot of fans won't be able to, if they're clocking out at 6 o'clock,

they might not be able to get to Staples on time or, you know, there's a lot of traffic around these metropolities. You don't say. Yeah. Like Staples or the new Chase Center in San Francisco, that's going to be really tough to get to. It's in San Francisco during rush hour. Here's the thing, though, like most of these games,

so I'm looking at the Clipper's schedule right now, most of the games that start or at 6 or 630 are on Sunday. During the weekdays, it's still largely 7, 730, 8 or 8.30. So it's largely on Sundays is that this change is being made. Yeah, these are national TV games. So primarily you're talking about Thursday, Saturday, Sunday.

Yeah, maybe there's like a bit, I don't know of this for sure, but maybe there's a bit more 7 o'clock starts than a 7.30 on a Friday, like I mentioned earlier, but it seems like the 6.630 start time is largely on Sundays, which is a great thing. So that's very considerate, actually, yeah. Yeah, but certainly for the rest of the country, this is great. Because you know, as you've been traveling back to Boston a lot, Kev, it's brutal. I mean, and I can only imagine it.

I can only imagine because they say these games, right? Like, I mean, you're talking about it's 9.30 central time, which is my time zone. So that's 10.30. And they usually don't get going until about 1045, I can imagine, Eastern time. And that's when the game starts. I mean, you're past 1 o'clock on these games on a regular for that late Thursday night game. Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's what I felt most, especially during the postseason.

because I've been in Massachusetts for almost all of the playoffs except for the end of the finals. And it's like, you know, I'm up at 1 a.m. 2 a.m. And that's something I've been doing my whole life. I'm used to it. But I'm getting a little older now, 29, which is not old. But it's like for a young kid who has school the next morning or for someone who has work in the morning, it's really hard to stay up that late. It's really difficult. And I think this is a good thing because there are so many.

fun and interesting teams on the West Coast that normally have those late start times. So now if on a Sunday night, that game's starting at 9.30 or 9 o'clock for someone on the East Coast that wants to watch one of these really vibrant and interesting players in the Western Conference, a young kid is going to be able to. A guy or a woman who has work early Monday morning, they're going to be able to more likely stay up for maybe the whole game or at least most of the game. So it's a great move for the NBA to do this. And it's great for fans on the East Coast and Central Standard Time to at least have to

an opportunity to watch more of these games, which is great. Not all that surprising because we talked about it last week, how many national TV, some of these teams were going to get the Lakers are the NBA's top draw. They are going to play a league leading 43 nationally televised games. I was a little surprised that Golden State is the second most, given, obviously, you do this prior to, but without Clay Thompson, I mean, this is going to be certainly a very interesting season. It speaks to the star power that they still have, even with Curry, just being like the main guy there. And I know they've added DeAngelo Russell and the winning that they have done recently.

But, you know, Golden State being the second most, I don't know. I guess maybe it makes sense. But I thought maybe their number would be down a little bit. But they just barely, I mean, they got one less game than the Los Angeles Lakers. And then the other one that we were going to pay attention to was what is the Zion impact? You know, for a team that got on national TV some because of the star power of Anthony Davis, but not a lot. What kind of TV schedule would a small market team like the Pelicans get just on the superstardom of the incoming number one pick? And the answer was 30 games, which is a ton.

So NBA fans who do not have league pass are going to be able to see Zion. an awful lot this season. And in fact, they were in the top 10 in the league. And so when we opined last week, what is the Zion impact in terms of getting the pelicans in front of a national audience? The answer is enormous. Like,

because we had known that it leaked out that they were playing on opening night and that they were playing on Christmas. And so was that a sign of things to come? And indeed it was. I mean, 30 is a big, big number for a team that has made, what,

over the last several years. Right? And they just lost one of the best players of the century in Anthony Davis, a potential future Hall of Famer. But what they did replace him with is a load of interesting players, not just Zion. It kind of goes without saying with him, but I think this team, if you're projecting forward,

yes, Zion is a guy that has a chance to be one of the next faces of the NBA, but you also have the Lonzo ball draw and what should be a fast-past-past. based high-tempo offense under Elvin Gentry, you have someone like, I think if you're thinking about rookies that could be more interesting than maybe their draft position, I think

Nikiel Alexander Walker could be a really interesting player to monitor this season within that system, within the improvements he showed in Summer League, and I don't know how much that necessarily factored into the equation with the people who make the schedule, but if you're looking up and down this roster,

Brandon Ingram, Alexander Walker, Lonzo Balls, Ian Williamson, you think about the style of team they'll have, they're damn right going to be one of the more interesting teams to watch. The rest of that team's all nice. This is 100% Zion. It just is. I mean, and that's the star power of this guy, which is crazy considering they had Anthony Davis. Most people would argue, like, you're not getting past five or 10 in terms of the best players in the league, the premier players in the league without getting to Davis. And you're talking about an immense amount of games more.

And nobody, I mean, I think the last rookie to appear on opening night was Rose in 2008. So that's a long time ago. And I just think that, like, it's hard to grasp. I mean, it's not, everybody thought that Davis was a generational talent. And he is. I mean, he is. He's going to, by his time it's all said and done, he's going to be one of the greatest players to ever play in the NBA.

But he didn't get them on national TV. And this kid, the day he steps on a court, is making them a big draw. And you usually have to, I mean, the way it usually works is rookies don't go to good teams. And those teams don't have national TV games. And so you are required. If you want to see these guys play, you are dependent upon highlights and league pass. So if you wanted to see Luca Donchitz play last year, and if you wanted to see Luca Donchitz play last year, and if you wanted to see Tray Young play last year,

and if you wanted to see Marvin Bagley and Jaron Jackson and D'Andre Aiton, you had to have league pass or else you just weren't seeing them often, hardly at all on national television. And the same will be true for some of those teams, even this year, that didn't get a large amount of national TV games. And so I think that's a difference too, is that what we usually grasp with is if you want to watch rookies, you really got to go out of your way.

And the hardcore NBA fans do, but it's not very often that we get the number one pick on TV 30 times. What's interesting is with New Orleans, I think part of the equation is, I think they're going to be a good team. And we'll talk about them later during this pod. But I think New Orleans is going to be good. But also, the way they scheduled it out, Norlands only has two national TV games in March and April, whereas someone like the Warriors has 13 over that stretch. show, most of New Orleans national TV games come early in the season. They have 11 before December, six of those being on NBA TV, the other five being on either TNT or ESPN.

So we're going to get an early taste of New Orleans. And then maybe later in the season, if they're a borderline playoff team, maybe there's somebody that gets flexed into those national TV games if they are indeed pushing for the playoffs, which is long ways away to actually being determined. but it's just interesting how so many of those come early in the year. It shows how much the NBA is pushing Zion as one of the next faces and pushing a small market in New Orleans as well as one of the more interesting teams for people to watch. All right. So we saw the schedule come out and what we decided to do is do the five games that if I was going to give you tickets, you could just go as a fan.

You're not covering the game as the media. I would give you tickets to five different games throughout the NBA regular season. season and you can choose whatever five games that you want to go to to be at in person. So we each have five. We have not spoken about this. So we might have a couple of overlapping ones. If we do have ones that overlap, I've got a couple extras that we can throw in there to try to get to the most amount

of games that we could possibly go to if we were each offered a pair of tickets to five games of our choice. I'll let you start, Kev. What is the first one that you would go to if I was going? going to give you tickets to it. March 3rd, Raptors at Suns. Just kidding. I'm kidding.

That's not the game. It is on March 3rd, though. I almost turned off my microphone. Just walked away. On March 3rd, Sixers at Lakers. That game really stands out to me because I'm thinking about this will be a premier matchup. It's on national TV, TNT, Tuesday.

night, we got these two jumbo squads, these new look squads with Philadelphia and Los Angeles that can play these massive lineups. If you're thinking about potential finals previews, this March, early March game could be one of them. And

that's a game that I would want to be at. It's a game that I hope to be at since it's in L.A. I'm fascinated by the idea that both of these teams can play so big, especially Philadelphia, what they can do out there on the floor. I think it would be a potential finals preview. in early March, Chris.

And we recall that M. Beat has come up huge, given that opportunity. When the big lights were on and he got his chance to play in L.A., he went absolutely off and then tweets and Instagrams up a storm afterwards. Remember when he tagged, what was it, LeVar Ball or something, right? He said that was in location after the game. And he was talking crazy to LeVar Ball after he had that monster game in L.A. but no, it's a huge stage for Mbid, too, that he has performed great on. All right.

So you got Philly. One thing about Embeded, though, like, I'm going to be fascinated to see this coming season. We'll have plenty of time for season preview, but with Joe Lombie, with this new personnel around him, how much that impacts the way he's perhaps used by Brett Brown? I wonder if there's any system changes that happen there. Never mind, like, what kind of shape will Joel Lombie be in? will he ramp it up a lot and being the best shape of his life?

There's so many little interesting sub-storylines with him specifically. And I'll tell you this. I think it could be massive for him because it would theoretically give you more of the inside-out look if you've got a big next to him like Horford that can stretch out the defense all the way to the top. And the closer to the basket, I can have Joel Embed the better off as far as I'm concerned. If he never takes another three, it's okay by me.

That's going to be the interesting thing, though, because you have Ben Simmons, though who can't shoot three at the stage. But with this lineup, I just wonder how unique is Brett Brown going to get here? Because there's going to be a lot of situations, maybe even the way you start and finish games, where Josh Richardson is the smallest guy in the floor, where you have Richardson at 6-6, 6,000, and then three true really big jumbo-sized players and Ben Simmons, Al Horford, and Joelle Ambide all on the floor at the same time. That's incredibly difficult for a team that might be smaller to match up against them because it's going to result in so many size mismatches where those guys aren't necessarily liabilities on defense either. So with Philadelphia,

they're the number one team that I'm probably maybe most interested in watching in the Eastern conference this year just because just how weird they are with their size. Well, and just on an aside, we had talked about a couple weeks ago, the duos that have been formed throughout the NBA. and we talked about being able to match up with the Lakers size, which causes such a mismatch when you have LeBron and you have Anthony Davis out on the court that we thought people would have to go big. Well, there's nothing bigger than what they've got

in terms of that lineup in Philadelphia. First game I jotted down was that opening night, which is Zion against Toronto. Twofold. You've got obviously the championship coordination. But beyond that, if Zion is to be the generational talent that so many predict him being, I do feel like that's one of those that you hold on to the ticket and you say I was there. His first ever NBA game, I got to be there.

And I look at it and say, in 20 years, that could be something extremely significant, like that you could always say, hey, I was at his. Put it on eBay. his first game. And I say that, and I don't know if I would necessarily say it, except for that buzz that was felt inside that Vegas arena. I mean, it's been a long time since there was something like that. I mean, I would say probably for me, the Kobe Shack Lakers and when Iverson would come to the building are the two that stand out the most, where it felt like during warmups, the crowd is packed and everyone is standing up for warmups.

And that just doesn't happen. And that entire arena in Las Vegas was standing up. The second he came out of that tunnel, it was pandemonium. And I was like, I mean, the energy. And that was frigging summer league. But it was just going to be the first time that he was in a Pelican's uniform. And so I can only imagine. And I get it's not going to be at home.

But there's just a buzz with him. that does not exist with other players. And in anticipation, it's like a rock star or something. And so being at his first game would be one that if you gave me an opportunity to go to five games, I would pick that just so I could say I was there. Yeah, I think that's a good one. What you said made me think of this, Chris. This is kind of an aside here.

You don't what bothers me is all my life. It's like my dad and I have saved so many tickets from sporting events we've been to and concerts we've been to. but it seems like in recent years, a lot of the time they just have virtual tickets on your phone that you scan when you enter the arena or like you just print it out. I love having the physical ticket. Oh, that is crazy.

It's crazy you said that. You know, over the years, I've moved several times from place to place to place. And my parents, when they sold their house and I had to do like, you know, children do and go clean out the house.

There were a lot of things that I kept. one of which was this enormous bag where I had this bag when I was a kid and every sporting event my father took me to, I would come home and I would put the ticket in the bag. And I found the bag. You know, and it had been stowed away and I had not thought about that until the St. Louis Blues playoff run and they won the Stanley Cup because my father took me to all those games when I was a child. And so I went and I found the bag and I wanted to find like the oldest ticket I could find. What is like the first year that we would have been going to these games? And I went and tried to retrieve it. And then it was just like a treasure trove of all these different games that he had taken me to over the years.

And now I've got to like, you know, I was going to go to like a hobby lobby or something. I got to create like a huge collage of them. But I agree with you completely because when I was going back through those tickets, it was like an artifact of a memory, right? And I tell you this is someone who's older now. I went back to try to find those, just to try to relive it and try to find like, hey, here's a record of something that took place between me and my father.

So I agree with you. I resent that. I resent that the paper ticket is gone. I think I'm not positive about this, but I'm pretty sure if it is the type of thing where it's a virtual ticket on your phone or whatever, I think you can go to the box office before and have them print one out for you. I'm not positive about that.

But still. Some places. Yes. Some places I think you can. Maybe not all. But I don't know. Like those mean so much to me. And I know like someday like 20 years from now, I'll look back at those and probably just ball my eyes out and think about.

No. You know what's going to happen? You know what's going to happen with our kids. They're going to go back and they're going to look at the screenshots on their phone. They're going to just save the screenshots of their phone. the tickets. I know, you know, that's the thing, like, people will save that, but digital data, like, disappear so easily.

It's like, I have photos off of some of my old phones that I have some of my old phones, but other ones I don't, and it's like, man, I wish I wish I had some of those. Having that physical ticket is still really sentimental, and it's great. What's your second game? Let's move

from the Pelicans to another Pelicans game. I have January 20th. Pelicans at Grizzlies. What? Zion. versus Jaron Jackson and John Morant and Brennan Clark, this exciting young, new grizzly squad against one of the other, more interesting, exciting,

promising young squads with the New Orleans Pelicans. So I would want to go to a game with two of the brightest futures in basketball, New Orleans at Memphis. All right, well, I'm going to take this a step further for you. Number one, we have to get you here for that. Number two,

it is the one, being in Memphis that we look for on the schedule every year. A, who is the opponent? B, is it going to be like on stage on national TV? Because it is like the Christmas game, I suppose, that some teams look for. It comes on Martin Luther King weekend, obviously with the Lorraine Motel being here in Memphis, and it has been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum. It is a massive celebration of Dr. King's life. that entire weekend in the city. And they have a symposium where they bring in, you know, the legends of sports.

And, I mean, they have honored everyone from Bill Russell to Willie Mays to on down the line. And they have a big symposium where they talk about race and culture and sports. And so it gives the opportunity to have center stage on that day. It is the one day that is cared about deeply. And so for it to be a massive premier opponent and be on national TV, was certainly caused for celebration because the grizz is only going to be on national TV twice and one of those is that game where Zion is going to be here but more importantly than that it gives the opportunity you know they put on national TV hey here's Memphis here's Dr. King

here's the remembrance here's the symposium and here's this jewel of the National Civil Rights Museum where teams that come to town routinely go and learn about the history of this country and abroad, and it has a profound impact on them, to say the least. And so that game is bigger than just whatever. And clearly, I mean, it's perfect to get Zion and John Moran on the same court for that day, too. Right. I'm getting you here for that. That's a three-day weekend Monday afternoon.

I'm glad you brought that up, Chris, because Martin Luther King Day and the NBA is more than just about basketball. It's a celebration of his life, a celebration of how far we've come. a reminder of how far we as society still need to co as well. And basketball, the fact that it can be a platform for that conversation and for that celebration is a really beautiful thing. And especially for them to have that game in Memphis on that day with these two teams around this great game. And that's going to be a great weekend and especially a great day.

I'm getting you here for that. That is for sure. Perfect. All right, Kevin, we'll get right back to it. But first, I want to remind everybody, today's episode of The Mismatch is brought to you by Google Five. Doesn't it feel like most phone plans just weren't made with us in mind? Between bad coverage, paying too much for data you don't actually ever use and crazy roaming charges,

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Learn more at fi.gogle.com. That's fI.orgul.com. Switch to GoogleFi, a phone plan by Google. All right, my second one is, well, it's not as nice as yours. It is more pessimistic than the optimism that you showed us. Right future sons? No. Phoenix?

In fact, maybe I'll come crash at your house. Oh. Uh-oh. It's right before Thanksgiving, Kev. Oh, I got this one too. That Kyrie returned to Boston. All right, good. That we can overlap on this one.

I may have to fly to Boston for this one. And maybe me, you, and Simmons can all go to this get. And Simmons' dad. We can go to this game. I mean, look, everybody's got the day off work tomorrow. too. So as if it were not going to be the most raucous, just vehement booing that has ever taken place. And I need to bear witness to this. When you're going to tell that entire crowd that they've got off work tomorrow, I mean, forget about it. Forget about it. That is like, I mean,

if you were going to draw up, how could you get the most ridiculous crowd possible for the kind of Irving return, that would be the way. And so I would love to be in that arena just to witness that because I think it is going to be so wildly over the top and ridiculous that I would be laughing the entire game. Seriously. I feel like every time he touches the ball, he's going to get booed from the time he runs out of the tunnel till the fourth quarter. And then I kind of want to see if he does the thing where he tries to go for 50,

you know, which would be even funnier. A couple weeks ago, or last week, you asked me, who's going to get booed more? Poor Zingis or Irving. And for some stupid reason, I said, poor Zingis. I was dead wrong about that. I'm a goof for even thinking that for a moment. It's definitely going to be Kyrie getting booed more. That's going to be a game to be at, a game to watch with headphones on, TV loud,

just so you can hear and feel those booze, just the test Boston has for Kyrie Irving. I'm excited for that game. That's the only negative, pessimistic game that I have on there. But how can you not? How can you not be excited for that game? It's going to be absolutely unbelievable. All right. So we overlap on that.

And I will give another one that I do want to go to. And that is Warriors Lakers on February 8th. And the reason is this. The trade deadline, as adjusted by the calendar, is February 6th. So Thursday will be February 6th. It seems totally plausible that these teams could make something big happen at the trade deadline. You don't know what position the Warriors are going to be in.

Also, could very well have clayback by then. And so you could get what would be full strength warriors versus full strength Lakers? I don't think you'll have clayback. You don't. Yeah. It's possible. He himself said he doesn't think he'll be back until after all Starbreak. Wow, I've heard a million guys say that.

All right. And then it's, hey, what? Oh, you watch, mark my words. Every story that comes out from now on will be like, he's progressing more than they thought. Yeah. Right. But anyways, here's the big thing. The reason I marked it down is because it's two days after the trade deadline.

And who knows what these teams could look like. But you've got two premier teams playing. in a huge game who I think there's a very good chance that they could be doing some tweaking and adding to their rosters come trade deadline. You never know. And so I would just mark it down to saying, hey, I want to be there anyway because if I'm looking at the games that are right after the trade deadline, here's a pretty good bet at teams that are going to be gunning and certainly want to be great teams.

And so they could be making some adjustments two days prior. and it would be the first time to get to see both those teams with whatever their new roster would be. So that's why I mark that down. So along the same lines, I'm picking Houston hosting Golden State on April 2nd. I think by this point, it's safe to say that Clay will be back. This is a point of the season where these teams could be vying for position in the standings in the Western Conference. Maybe Golden State, if they struggle at the beginning of the year, they're on the bubble. knows, who knows? But these teams historically have had epic battles. I think April 2nd with

Clay possibly back by that point, both teams, hopefully at full strength and full health. That is a game in Houston with the history that they have, I would definitely want to be at. All right. So Golden State Houston. With Houston, I have one Houston question for you, Chris. Yep. It's been a while since the Russell Westbrook trade happened. Have your feelings at all shifted on that dynamic between Hardin and Westbrook at all, the more time you've had to have let it settle in? Oh, I mean, I don't think I was one of those.

I goofed about, you know, their usage and everything, but I also freely admitted that while Russ can be banged up as a selfish player or whatever, but anybody wants to call him, here's what I know. Kevin Durant won the MVP playing with Russ, and Paul George was having his best season ever. playing with Russ. And so I do think he does not get as much credit as he deserves for making his teammates better, which I think he routinely does. I think he got Stephen Adams get paid, you know, $80 million because of him.

And there's a lot of other guys that benefited from playing with him and had their best percentages or seasons playing with him. So the idea that that could not work, I don't buy that in the least, but I do think, I think there's only two options, Kevin. I think it's going to be absolutely dynamite or it's going to be a disaster. I don't think they're going to be pretty good. I don't. I don't think they're going to just be okay.

I think it's either going to work and they're one of the best teams in the entire NBA or it's not going to work and it's going to be a debacle. But I would lean towards it working because usually great players figure it out. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they don't. I think I've gotten more excited just to see how it works out. I mean, I already was, but I've gotten even more excited about the potential of seeing those two play together, especially with James Harden, maybe using him more off ball alongside Russell Westbrook. That'll be fascinating to watch.

And one other just Harden comment so often in media on TV and news and on social media, we discuss negative things. I thought there was really good positive story that came out yesterday. James Hardin was in the Bahamas and saw this family that was struggling. He gifted the family $10,000 to help them out in the Bahamas. So I thought that was just a really nice thing to see James Hardin do that for a family that he didn't know. Certainly very, very nice deed by James Hardin. All right. My fourth one is Nuggets Jazz.

It is the regular season finale. And this could have big, big stakes. It is Tuesday, April 14th. It is in Salt Lake City. I think we both assume that the nuggets are going to be extremely good and the jazz are going to be extremely good. And this kind of stuff matters greatly, Kev, when you get to that regular season finale. We were recalled two years ago, Utah and Denver played for the right to get to the playoffs. Remember this?

No, no, no. It was T. Wolves played for the right to get to the playoffs. And then last year, Portland was down 26 to the Kings. and came back and won in order to secure the three seed, which kept them away from having to play the Warriors. And so maybe it's a different story for them, right? If it plays out differently, if they don't win that game, maybe they don't have a Western Conference finals under their belt, then the perception is radically different. And so we have just seen that once it gets to, after you played 81 games, that 80-second game making such a massive difference,

here would be me betting that the game between Denver and Utah is going to determine the seeds of those two teams. And very well may, with that being the point, determine how far they go in the playoffs, whether or not they have a real chance at getting to an NBA finals or whether they're going to have a murderous second round opponent. And so I'd be betting that that game, that last game, game 82, between the Nuggets and the Jazz, determines quite possibly the Western Conference playoffs and how it all plays out. So I'd want to be at that. By that point, boy, do I hope Michael Porter's still playing basketball. Oh, geez.

I mean, that's a lot to hope for it. But I really hope we're able to see him play healthy basketball. What a huge disappointment that was. Oh, my God. Summer League, I was so excited. And remember it was the night before, the night before we found out. I have heard that it was one of the last plays during their scrimmage the night before. Oh, no.

Yeah. I mean, brutal. Dude, it's scary. Oh, for sure. He has not been able to stay healthy. His whole family. Not just him, but his whole family. One of his sisters had to have knee reconstruction surgery.

His other sister has torn her ACL five times. The issue of his brother Jonte Porter has had. it's scary. I mean, I'm not sure. I mean, this family just has bad luck or there's something genetic going on. I would tend to lead towards the latter. And from Michael Porter, I just, I hope we're able to at least get some healthy years out of him because he has a load of talent. Yeah. And I do want to just put this. I'll put this as a 4B on mine in terms of that last game of the season. Pelicans play the Spurs. I went and because I was looking to see who plays like the last night. That could be a playoff battle. That could be. for the eight seat, seriously.

I think it's totally plausible that you're fighting, that those teams are fighting for a playoff spot, don't you think? I mean, look, we've got, we've got too many teams that expect to be playoff teams for spots. And the Spurs and the Pelicans would, by anybody's estimation, be in that six through eight range, right? And so if that is the case,

then you're talking about that last game of the season could easily provide us the most. moment where it determines whether or not those teams get into the playoffs or not. And then you would put in the extra thing of being the first time in like 50 years, the Spurs haven't been there, right? I mean, that would be like the first time, you know, there's kids that are like adults with kids that don't remember the Spurs not being a playoff team. And so that would be added to that also.

And that is totally possible that that last. game of the season that those two teams very well may have a playoff berth on the line. So I mark that down too. So look at me. The NBA's right. I'm marking down Zion games too. I mean, that's how big of a star of the guy is.

That's how much people want to see him. So I had them as a 4B. What was your fifth? My fifth. One quick note before we get to the fifth. You mentioned Denver. And I mentioned Michael Porter, but I think with Yokic, I wonder if we're going to see him reach.

an even higher level this season again, even if he doesn't necessarily improve in certain ways. I do think he can shoot the ball from three a lot better than he did last year. He's a better shooter than that, shot only 31% from three. Yokic is a 80 plus percent free throw shooter. He is historically a 36, 37 percent three-point shooter or a deep mid-range shooter. I think there's a higher level from Yokic as a scorer that we could see this year for Denver

that could even put him in that MVP top five conversation. at least. So Denver has a lot of continuity coming back, but I think we could see an even higher level from Yokic this coming season. All right. I am going to say this before you get to five, Kev. I have two games written down. I will choose between those two dependent upon what you choose. And I'm going to let you, if you take one of them, then obviously I've got the other one. But you give me your game, and I'm going to tell you if it's one of the other two that I have written down. All right, December 28th, Clippers at Jazz.

That's neither of them that I have. Really? Wow. Well, we're going to hear both of yours then.

The reason why for this game is Clippers and jazz play one time before December 28th. But at that point, there is a possibility Paul George could maybe be out.

I think by this point, he'll definitely be back. So I think this is going to be one of those early season barometer games to get a real feel for how these teams match up, a feel for where they're at

in the Western Conference pecking order. both of these teams, you know, they've made changes this summer, of course, with Mike Conley going to Utah and all the changes the Clippers made with Kauai Leonard and Paul George and everything else there. I'm stoked for this matchup. And I think Utah, there's been so much conversation about who the favorites are in the NBA. And rightfully so, the Clippers and Lakers and the Western Conference are largely discussed as that team. But I do think Utah has been maybe a bit overlooked if you're considering the fact that Donovan Mitchell playing a lot of alongside Mike Conley should conceivably make some type of mini leap this coming season in terms of

his scoring efficiency when you consider Boyan Bogdanovich, his versatility as a scorer on that roster. And then Mike Conley being the great point card that he's been as a steady and two-way player for the Memphis Grizzlies for many years now. Now with Utah, with the best supporting cast that he's maybe ever had in terms of top end talent, the depth that team has, Utah to me, is the real sleeper to make a real finals push. So I think for them against this loaded Clippers team is going to be very exciting in December. I agree with you completely.

And as someone who is known and covered Mike Connolly since he was 19 years old, he makes his teammates better. And he gets you open shots. And they have a ton of guys that can bang down open shots. I think the jazz are going to be absolutely awesome. I do. I think they are going to be awesome.

You know, I mean, because they added some other stuff around the margins, too. You know, I love Ed Davis, right? And he's going to be there, too. But I think as someone who watched every single game that Conley's played his entire career, you put him with that group and the group that they already, that team was already really good. And they didn't lose a ton. And they're adding him to the mix.

And I'm telling you, he is a bona fide winner, and he makes his teammates better. and if he makes those teammates even better than they were, holy mackle. I know your number one concern, though, Chris. Your number one concern for the Utah Jazz. It's Jeff Green. They signed Jeff Green. That's troublesome.

It is just a matter of how much he was. Jeff Green is like the eighth or ninth guy on the roster. Jeff Green in that role is not bad. Okay. As long as he's the eighth or ninth guy. We're less than 25 minutes. Got to be. Got to be.

got to be so that the other can outweigh it. All right, you didn't take either of mine. Okay, let's hear them. Well, because neither of us put this on there, I end up having to go with this one, which is January 25th, and that is the Lakers Clippers. By that time, theoretically, that's enough time for George to be in the lineup. And so I'm betting that it's full-strength Lakers versus full-strength clippers, and possibly for the first time, where they're both totally full-full-full-stripped.

strength. They have now played with each other for three months, and I'm going to get to see more of what a playoff series would look like between these two teams. And given that one of the teams added, Kauai Leonard and Paul George, the other team is completely different, but now has LeBron and AD, the Lakers Clips, it's got to be on there. I mean, if I could be in the arena for that to see those teams as they were or as they are supposed to be, then I got to be I mean, that's just mega star power. And it very well could be a Western Conference Finals preview or maybe one of those two doesn't work out like we think it's going to.

One of them is a disappointment as compared to, you know, our high hopes for them. So Lakers Clips, I would have to put that on there. And the one I kicked off is, is Russ's homecoming. Because I do think we think it's very rare that we get that nowadays where you get the real heroes welcome. He stayed there and signed contracts. He won an MVP playing in that uniform. He played in NBA finals playing in that uniform. You go to that arena. Every kid, every kid has a Westbrook jersey. Every one of them. Every one of them. And so it's a different deal than what you get. We have so many of these homecomings that are not going to be fun homecomings, right? Every kid that

owns a Porzengis jersey in New York is pissed. Right? And I do think that you are going to get, and hopefully Chris Paul is still playing with the Thunder by then, because that could be super fun. But Russ going back to Oklahoma City, you know, we don't get that many opportunities where the guy goes back and there is the massive standing ovation and the emotions that go with it. And we certainly didn't get that with Durant. But it is different in a small market. And, And the fact that he was their guy and he repped for them and rode for them for so long, I do think it's going to be a special night to see him go back there. But that's not on the list anymore.

I mean, if I only get five games, I got to go to that Lakers-Clippers game. All right, year five. Those are good ones. I've got these right. I've got Philly Lakers, John Morant versus Zion Williamson. I've got Boston and Kyrie. I've got Golden State, Houston, and the Clippers and Utah. And then my five games, if you gave me tickets, are the Zion debut, the Kyrie returned to Boston, Warriors, Lakers, two days after the trade deadline, Nuggets, Jazz, last game of the season.

And then the Clippers Lakers on January 25th. I think we did pretty good. We did. We did. But it's also really tough because I'm looking at this. It's like, how do we not have Dallas on there? with Luca and Porzingis. How do we not have Janus and the Bucks? It's like, I was tempted just to pick December 16th Bucks Mavericks. Like, there's no rhyme or reason other than just to get both of those guys. Yeah, I know.

Well, the other thing is we don't have, I guess the Lakers and that Celtics game, but that Celtics game, we don't have a ton of overlap. I mean, it's, I don't know. I guess we're kind of seeing some of the same teams, but in different moments and for different reasons. Yes, yep, exactly.

The one, if I could have one game with an unknown date, it would be Kevin Durant's return. And it may not come until October 2020. But if it comes in April 2020 or May 2020, I want to be there. I would love to be there for Katie's return. Yeah, and I think it's all cooled out now, right? I mean, since we've last spoke, he came out and said, hey, it ain't their fault that I got injured. You know they've got, you know, the owner coming out saying his number was going to be retired. So you got those things, which are kind of on the positive side.

And then did you read that story? I guess Chris Haynes was on with Cowherd and said that there was like a huge stretch of time post the Draymond Durant thing where Kevin Durant didn't talk to any of his teammates. Yeah, I did see that. I mean, good grief. I think Haynes said he was isolated or something like that. Yeah, like he didn't have any of that. He said he's on an island. That's what it was.

He didn't even talk to, he didn't even talk to his teammates. He didn't even talk to his teammates. And then you know what immediately came up when I was reading that article? What I immediately thought of? Who's the other guy that you have read the story of he didn't talk to his teammates for a month? Who? I wonder who. Hmm.

Kiree? I mean, these two, I swear, if things go wrong in Brooklyn, they're just going to play the damn silent game. I think these two, they're made for each other. I guess so. What happens when you put two guys that don't talk to their teammates together? We're about to find out. Oh, boy. Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see the leadership dynamic

and how that develops in Brooklyn over this coming season, but then the season after that, Katie's first full year back. I do wonder, I think it's important for Kenny Atkinson and Sean Marks on that team to add some veteran presence on that roster. I'm going to tell you this, though. And when I read that about the Kevin thing and then obviously harking back to the Kyrie thing, I've been around an NBA team for 17 years, okay? I'm telling you that is so weird.

I can't imagine just a guy not talking to the other guys. You are around each other all the time, all the time. Your whole life is spent with each other. You are at a shoot-around. You are back at the hotel. you're all running into each other all the time at the same hotels. You are riding on the bus together to the games. You are shooting around before the game together.

You're back in the locker room with literally nothing else going on. Like you're in a locker room with 12 other guys, 15 other guys. There's nobody else in there. So you're just in close quarters and doing the same stuff every day, all day. and the idea that it's been reported twice that there are these guys that just don't even talk to their teammates for like a month on end is so weird to me. I cannot imagine what that is like. It is more awkward than you could ever imagine when you realize, you know, it's not like, okay, I don't like somebody or I don't get along with somebody. Like if it was somebody like even at your work and you didn't talk to him for a month, it'd be different if like you didn't talk to Isaac for a month.

it'd be different if like you didn't talk to Isaac for a month. You know what I mean? Like what you have to? You're around each other all the time. You like you have to work together. And so this whole they don't even speak or whatever or they isolate themselves is just, that's strange stuff. Strange, strange stuff.

Especially for a top player on a team who travels with the team here on airplanes, bus rides. Checking into hotels. These guys are together constantly, way more than you or I or anybody is with people they work with. Way more. For sure. Yeah.

I mean, it's even more so than us. It's like if Isaac and I go two weeks without talking to each other, it's the type of thing where two weeks go by quickly, then you just pick it right up. But we're also not driving to work together and all that, you know? Right.

Like the NBA players too. It's a little bit interesting how that happens. And I don't know. I think Brooklyn's going to be great. They're going to be a finals contender once those. guys are hopefully 100% healthy and they're moving forward. But yeah, I'm curious about the leadership dynamic. That's my one hesitation with them.

Well, here's what we know. With the schedule coming out yesterday, what it did give everybody that Life's the MBA, it was the opportunity to look at the schedule and then get excited about what's to come. And it's not all that far away. Training camps are going to start at the very end of September. Preseason is going to start that first week of October. And then we'll be cracking. But at least with the schedule coming out,

gave everybody a chance to think about what's coming up and get excited about, you know, thinking about everything that could happen with this upcoming season, which because of all the player movement and everything else was going to have just an insane amount of interest. You have the most premier rookie that we've had in forever. And then we have all of these teams where it is not determined before they tip off this season, who is going to win the whole thing? And I don't even know if you could properly predict who's going to. to be in the Eastern and Western Conference finals.

They're certainly favorites, but if you told people that there are other teams that make it instead of the ones that you think, it wouldn't be all that shocking. It's pretty open. For sure. And even on the flip side, if you're picking the worst teams in the league, I think you can look at Chicago or Atlanta and Phoenix and some of these teams that they're going to be at the bottom. But even some of these teams, they remain interesting.

I think a lot of these teams are still fun and exciting to watch, except for Charlotte. it's the one team, it's like, I don't want to watch Charlotte, but 29 teams in the league, it's pretty exciting. I know. I hate to bang on Charlotte so bad, but honestly, like I, I even like Colin Sexton, and I certainly want to see if John B-Line does well in Cleveland. So, I mean, there was at least something. There was at least something that I could mark down like, hey, this is a bit interesting.

But Charlotte, I mean, I guess, here's how I can convince myself. Two guys that were on my ringer list in the last two drafts, Miles Bridges, And PJ Washington. They're on Charlotte. Oh, yeah, I like PJ. Yeah. I guess I'll hang on to that. Kevin, it is always a pleasure.

It won't be long until we're talking about games. And I will talk to you next Tuesday. Looking forward to it, Chris. Thanks to everybody for listening to another episode of The Mismatch. If you dig what you're here and go give us a rating and review on iTunes, five stars, five stars. It really helps. And we will talk to you next week.