The Ringer NBA Show - MVPaul George? Plus: the Rising East | The Mismatch (Ep. 385)

Episode Date: February 12, 2019

Paul George’s MVP case grows as his scorching offensive streak continues (1:15), Marc Gasol bolsters the already-formidable Toronto Raptors (10:45), the Philadelphia 76ers’ new Big Four forms a threat in the East (27:35), and the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff berth is anything but certain (46:48). Hosts: Chris Vernon, Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey guys, it's Liz Kelly and welcome to the Ringer Podcast Network. The Ringer's YouTube channel is nearing 100,000 subscribers. So make sure you check us out on YouTube.com slash The Ringer to keep up with the latest MBA desktop with Jason Concepcion, slow newsday with Kevin Clark and tons of Ringer original videos like Holouca or Kobe come back. Also, be sure to check out all of our NBA trade deadline coverage. Kevin O'Connor wrote about the ongoing pursuit of Anthony Davis. Dan Devine wrote about the five biggest questions after the trade deadline. Bill Simmons and Ryan Rusilla recorded a live trade deadline reaction podcast, which you can watch on YouTube.com slash The Ringer or listen to on Apple and Spotify.

Going to The Ringer NBA show, I'm Chris Vernon. This is The Mismatch. And joining me as he does every Tuesday from The Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K.A. Kevin O'Bomber, aka Kevin O'Bomber, aka Kevin O'Candkeye, Kevin O'Candlein'Kee, Kavanaugh. What's going on, Chris? How are you doing today? I'm doing great. And last night was quite the eventful night in the NBA. Oklahoma City and Paul George have been on an absolute tear. And, you know, we go through this sometimes throughout a season and we're talking about, I don't know, 20, 30 games left in the year where a narrative gets going. And it feels like the Paul George MVP narrative has really gotten going over the last couple of weeks. And then last night, you've got it. He got him and Westbrook, both having over 20 points and triple doubles, which I read this morning is the first time that has ever happened in NBA history, which is incredible, considering how many games, how many years have been played in the NBA. And you've also got the Westbrook 10th consecutive triple double in a row.

Paul George now 28.7 points a game 8 rebounds 4 assist 2.3 steals I know you've been a big Harden guy but are you feeling this Paul George MVP candidacy Look we talked about

a little bit early in the year and with this recent surge now he absolutely deserves to be in that conversation Chris There's undeniably that he should be in that top five conversation like this is a loaded class with Janice Hardin AD Yokic Curry, Embedd, Kauai.

I'm definitely missing somebody. Katie off the top of my head. But Paul George, when you look at his two-way production, his defense alone puts him in the defensive player of the year race. And now with his offensive surge, over his last 26 games averaging 33 points, eight rebounds, four assists with 63 true shooting. And then over his last eight, Chris,

38.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, four and a half assists. over his last eight games of a 69.9 true shooting percentage, which is very nice. It's a remarkable run for Paul George. Nice. Let me give a little love here to someone who is not getting as much love, and that's because his teammate is doing so well.

And that's Russell Westbrook. If you look back, if you ask people what they think of Russell Westbrook, right, what are they going to say? The general NBA fan that doesn't like... Just watch triple doubles. That's right. So it comes off as what? Selfish, right?

Yeah. Like that is the narrative equals selfishness. It comes off oftentimes the way people talk about Russ that doing the things that he does hurts the team ultimately, despite the big numbers that it hurts the team. That's a perception of him. Yeah. Okay. And yet we have now for the second time in his career a guy having the best season of his life, playing alongside Russell Westbrook and very well may win an MVP,

much like Kevin Durant did once upon a time. So I do think there is a little changing of the thought process that needs to go on with Westbrook here. Because you think about other guys. Like, LeBron gets none of this, right? And you look and you wonder like how many guys, how many guys have played at an MVP level next to LeBron? Can you remember one? I mean, that was ever in the car?

And I'm not trying to crap on LeBron here. I'm just saying if the narrative is Russell Westbrook is this selfish ball hog type of guy. This is two times that he has played alongside an elite, elite level player. And Durant led the league in scoring and won the MVP, playing alongside Russell Westbrook. And now you see what George is doing. I do think, I know he is not intensely likable to some people, but I do think that needs to be mentioned here. And he can't even throw the ball in the ocean this year. And yet he is still, you know, he made NBA history himself with the triple doubles last night.

His usage is down 3.5% from last year. And I know you talked about this a lot in the past, you know, getting the usage down. Can Billy Donovan get the usage down? How about this? 11% down from that MVP year. When I remember you chronicling, you can't win this way. So with Russell Westbrook, he obviously has made a significant end to act on Paul George. Paul George has 518 made shots this season.

198 of those makes run passes from Russell Westbrook, which is a ridiculous share of shots created for Paul George. So Westbrook deserves a lot of credit for George's success. That's not taking it away from George. a compliment to Westbrook because of his play this year. So I think with Russ, my issue with him in the past was just with his high usage, I felt that with the surrounding personnel at KD at one point, then Paul George, he would have been better off playing off ball a bit more, you know, more cutting,

more screening, more spot-up shooting opportunities, more effort on defense. Those were the things that I wanted. And this year, unfortunately, his shot has fallen off, you know, shooting only 24.4% from three-point range, I think around 28 or 29% from mid-range 2s. He has been awful shooting the ball and also from the free throw line too. And that has warped perception of him when in reality he's having his best season on defense in years in terms of effort and man-to-man in terms of jumping passing lanes. He still makes mistakes off ball sometimes with his focus, but it doesn't matter.

The defense is better than it's been in a long time. And then his offense, his passing is still really good. Right? He's a really good passer. He's turned into one of the best pastors in the league, and that directly is fed into Paul George, getting easier shots on top of the shots that Paul George is able to create himself. Westbrook and George compliment each other very nicely. Those guys are a devastating pair. That team looks dynamite, and they've got a lot of athletes that they can bring in off the bench. I was listening to Rosillo and Simmons and the podcast they did at the trade deadline,

and I agree with Ricillo completely. They are the challenger for Golden State, if there is, one, in my opinion. You agree? Not necessarily no. No? No. I think with this Westbrook and the George that you've gotten this year, obviously Adams, and then you've got these wings, Ferguson, Grant, all these different kind of guys. I remember a game that took place last year and Carmelo Anthony went down at the very beginning of the game. Anybody could go look this up. And Westbrook and George in unison went absolutely bonkers. And it led to us talking about. And it led to us talking about, geez, look what it looks like when Carmelo Anthony isn't there, just because it never really meshed with all three of those guys. And yet, they were able to get that road win at

Golden State, and both of them just went crazy in the game. And that's stuck in my mind, you know, especially going into this season. And they're both at absolute peak of powers right now, even if Westbrook hasn't been hitting shots. Yeah, I think with OKC, one of the reasons why they might get that edge over that. I just think they're in that same lump with Houston and Denver. I wouldn't say they're the team from that group that has separated themselves, but they're in that conversation

for sure. With Oklahoma City, we saw this in last night's game. They're getting contributions from guys aside from Georgia and Westbrook. Last night, it was Deontay Burton who played 26 minutes at 18 points. Burton is, you know, when he was in school at Iowa State,

he came out of the, I believe, the 2017 draft for him It was one year in the G League and into this year as well. And suddenly, last night, he's looking like a guy who can contribute. I thought his shot looked better than I can remember in college, a lot smoother than it was then. He's a do-it-all guy. It'll be interesting to see if he's able to carve out a spot in the rotation because I think there's a chance he could with his style of game. Six foot five, but a wide body.

He can do a lot of things before for you. How crazy, too, Kev, because that's where the kid, the backup point, guard at Denver that I like so much. Monta Morse, that's where he went too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He was an Iowa State kid. Yeah. Deontre Burton was at Marquette then transferred to Iowa State for his last

two seasons. And he's still two kids from that Iowa State team that have worked their way up and become what they become. It's almost reminiscent of the old Buzz Williams teams from Marquette where you look up and it's like Wes Matthews

and Jimmy Butler and Jay Crowder and like none of these guys that were drafted particularly high, and then they became solid rotation players. Like that Iowa State team that certainly was not the big time premier team might end up having some pros off of that thing when we look back. And it's not just those two. It's also Abdul Nader, another player, a backup on the Thunder. So it's three guys right now from that same team.

Or are four, am I missing one? I'm missing one. George's Niyang, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got a couple calls. Yes, that's right. Yeah. So have three, four guys, depending on.

how you want to put it. But yeah, there's a couple quality players from that team. With Burton's so intriguing because he had, he shot the ball well in Iowa State, but I wasn't sure it would translate with his mechanics and his poor free throw percentage. But it looked good last night. Also, that took place last night,

I, like many of the people in Memphis, have become Raptors observers in a bigger way than maybe prior because Margasol is now playing for the Toronto Raptors, first time in 11 years. He is wearing a different uniform. He has integrated himself very well, even if he had no idea what they were doing in their pregame routine last night.

That was so great. That was hilarious. He's just standing there while they're doing, I don't know what either. This level of awkwardness is they are all doing what appears to be an old school exercise class on the ground. They're doing like rotating crunches of this kind of thing. And Mark Nassau's like, what is going on? I was not privy to any information of how this was going to work. That game against Brooklyn turned out to be a great game.

And then, I don't know if you saw the end of this game. I mean, the highlights are everywhere because Kauai hit the game winner. But if you watch, they come out and Brooklyn kind of sets up in what appears to be like this 2-1-2 zone with Jared Allen in the middle. Nobody's really guarding Kauai or, you know, they're all kind of guarding space. And so Kauai Leonard does exactly what you should do, which is run to the middle of the zone, to the elbow. And now it's him versus Jared Allen for a game winner, which is just preposterous. I don't, I didn't understand what was happening on the Brooklyn side.

Obviously, Brooklyn had a chance on the other end and came up short. But that was a wildly entertaining game between those two. And Russell has gone to another level. he has just been great. You know, it seems like every time I watch Brooklyn, I'm blown away at how much better he is this year than in some of the years prior. But that was a very good game,

and I don't know what happened at the end of that thing. That was bizarre for a game winner to come away like that. Yeah, I think for Brooklyn, zone's been effective for them for this season. It has. It's been something they've leaned on. They've used as a breaking ball to switch it up against,

opponents. Sometimes, sometimes they'll come out of a timeout, like the six minute mark in the first quarter and then suddenly goes on for no apparent reasons. It's just sometimes to switch it up. On that last possession, they, like you said, it looked like a two-one-two zone with nobody actually on Kauai Leonard. Yeah, Toronto picked that apart last night. They seem prepped for that zone. Listen, I'm no, I'm not a coach. I've never claimed to be a coach. It seems to me I would want somebody guarding Kauai Leonard. Well, they, I mean, with the zone, Jared Allen was. I don't want Jared Allen being the guy. He got a good contest on Kauai to be fair.

And Kauai hit a really tough fade away. Bank shot off the glass. It's not like it was a wide open shot. He was heavily contested. I get it. I think I'd rather have a wing guarding him. In actuality, you're probably okay with that shot. If you tell the Nets heading into the possession,

Kauai is going to take a fade away with Jared Allen's hand right in his face. And it's going to hit off the glass. It might go in. It might not go in. I think you're going to say, okay, we'll take that possession. That's what it would say. You'd be happy with that. I suppose if you could really do revisionist history and get it down to the way it plays out.

But I do think if you'd ask them, hey, on this last possession, you're going to have Jared Allen guarding Kauai Leonard. That's all you know. I don't think I'd take that. I don't know, man. You know the way it played out. Alan's become a pretty good defender. In the end, I would not want that.

Like, that's, we're not switching so that you get the big on the list. if you can. Markisaw got traded last week. Now, we did a show a week ago, and I said, I don't think Conley's going to get traded. I do think Mark's going to get traded. And as the week went on, I honestly thought Charlotte might be the destination.

Sure seemed that way. The Toronto thing did kind of catch me by surprise. I knew they had interest. I wasn't sure there was a deal to be made there. But in fact, there was. And so Jonas Valcunis, Dilanwright, and C.J. Miles were all in return for Mark Gassal. Your instant reaction when you saw that trade. Good for Toronto.

You know, it's a risk giving up some depth, but Gassol's playmaking and passing and better defense is a necessary upgrade for Toronto. What do you think it does with Ibaca? Do you think Gassal, the destiny, is he's just the starting center? because, right, they've been doing the Ibaka Siakum thing with great, great, great success. Or does he do the Valentunis thing where he's the guy that comes off the bench and changes stuff up? What do you think the eventual destiny is? Well, before Jonas Valentunas got hurt, they were switching that starting center spot

between Ibaka and Valentutus depending on the opponent, depending on how they wanted to set the tone in the game and all that. Since then, obviously, with Valentunis out, it's just been Ibaka and Siakum. I don't know what they're going to do moving forward. I'm curious to see if they do begin alternating those two or if they feel like they settled into something with Ibaka, Seacum, Leonard Front Court that they want to stick with. I don't expect them to go with two bigs ever going with Gasol and Ibaka.

And if they do, it won't be for that long of a period of time. But it will be interesting to see if they begin alternating those guys. It was effective for them to do that early. Oh, for sure. Well, look at their record. For God's sakes, they're 42 and 16. So, yeah, it's been effective this year. And what's going to be interesting, I think you might just be right.

It'll be matchup dependent. So if you draw, and they very well may draw in the East semis, if they draw Philly and they're facing Joel Embed, then you start Markasaw. But if you're playing Boston and it's Al Horford, you know, you might play a Baca in that. Because Horford's out by the three point line in so many sets. right, drawing him away from the basket and certainly more nimble of foot. Will Gasol be okay with coming off the bench for the rest of the season, you think? I'm assuming, yes, like it seems like he's bought in through two games,

but based off your experience with him, do you think he'll be cool with it? As long as they're winning. Okay, so as long as they're winning, he'll be fine with it. I think he's like a lot of guys, honestly, as long as you're winning. And if he thinks that, you know, he would affect winning more by being in the starting lineup. And the other thing is this. This is what I know about Mark. He'll never say a word about that, ever.

You ain't going to have to worry about any problems with him. He'll never run to the media and say something, ever, even if he was disappointed about coming off the bench. Especially if they're winning. It'll be private then, kind of like with the Fizzdale stuff. Correct. All Mark Gassol cares about is winning. All he cares about.

And on the flip side of that deal, I've always said, and maybe this, sometimes this can be foolhard but I think most of the time it works. Whenever your team makes a deal for somebody, I always want to pay attention to what the other side says. What do they say when you make the deal, right? So you harken back to like the Jeff Green deal.

Nobody from Boston was like, oh, God, you know, you got Jeff Green, right? Like nobody cared. They were like, good riddens. This one, I will tell you this, Kevin, because I heard from a lot of Toronto fans, these Toronto fans, they loved Valentinus and they loved Dilanwright. They really did. Like it was a little different.

And now, I've said this many times, Toronto fans are as nice of fans as there are on the internet. But I do think their opinion was true. Because I got so many people saying, like, take care of these guys, we love them. They'll always be, we'll always root for them no matter, blah, blah, blah. And so I do think that there's something to be said for making an impact on whatever franchise you're in, that when, while you might be happy about the guy you attained, that there is a level of sadness that comes with seeing somebody walk away. And obviously, everybody in Memphis felt that way about Marcosal.

But I was fascinated by how many people, the effusive praise that Valentinus and Wright got. What was your impressions of them in their first game? If Valentunus hadn't played yet, he can't get through the customs thing. Right. Yeah, yeah. My immediate reaction was Delon Wright's long, big. I mean, I guess I just don't remember. I only get to see him once a year in person.

He is really tall for a point guard. Yeah, six foot five. Yeah. Long arms, long wingspan. Yeah, and so when you see him out there, I liked him, man. His first impression was a great impression. Very, very nifty. I think he could be, he's on a team with Kyle Lowry who makes the all-star team all the time,

and Fred Van Bleet, who's probably the best backup point guard in the league. And so he was in kind of a gray area. to hear C.J. Miles say it. C.J. Miles thinks that, you know, this is going to be great for Dallon Wright, given the opportunity, and that he's capable of doing more. My first impression of him was outstanding, for sure. No doubt. And I haven't gotten to see Valenciennes yet.

You know, last night's game almost was kind of a, like a showcase of some of these late first round picks, second round guys that have turned into quality NBA players. I think, you know, with doing the draft guide every year, which I think we're going to drop the early version sometime middle of next month. But I'm like doing that every year. Like one of the most rewarding things I think is for me, seeing these guys on college who, you know,

you might have questions about turn into quality and ability players. Like see Ackham. The player he's turned into is just remarkable to see because of who he was at New Mexico State where like the energy was always there. It was always there. There's never a question, just like it's not a question now.

But he's turned that. He's really channeled that energy into improving the weaker areas of his game, like his jumper. It's shooting 33% from three this year after being ineffective from outside in college, improving his ball handling. So not only is he just room running now in transition, but he's become a guy who can handle the rock and drive him in the perimeter, it's so rewarding to see a guy like him improve. And so for Dallon Wright getting more opportunity now with Memphis Grizzlies,

you're going to see his defense, but you're also going to see his improved jumper. They got better since Utah. His improved handle activated his playmaking. I think you got a really good player in, right? Going back to the Seacum thing, and I just happened to be reading this last week about him, but do you know that he, have you ever read the story about how he was discovered?

It was Luke Richard Umbamute. It's pretty cool. Found him, and it was that basketball without borders camp that he was chosen to attend. And like, Umbaamute became like this mentor for him. Then he moved over to Texas and then he ended up getting recruited by New Mexico State

and playing there, which is super wild. I mean, it's just a wild story because you hear every once a while you'll hear about the basketball without borders camp, but I mean, he is just what a incredible success story from Cameroon for him to be kind of discovered and then mentored by a current NBA player and now fulfilling his potential to the max. I believe Jack. Mackie McMullen wrote a feature on Embed and Ciacom a couple of years back, just about, you know, Bob Mute, finding those guys, you know, basketball without borders, which, by the way, is unbelievable event. To say the least.

Yeah. So anyways, yeah. And then, hey, Isaac, little deal speaking of, because you and I have not spoken about this. Yeah. A little deal between the Clippers. I sense that Clippers fans, you guys did not have a period of mourning over Avery Bradley getting moved?

Not at all. No, we collectively drove into the airport, actually. We waited at Terminal 3. How dare you? You know what he said? Seriously. One of the things, and listen, you can take this for what it's worth. One of the things he said was, you know,

I went to L.A. And my role in the offense is, like, I was in the corner and I was, like, kind of exclusively a cutter. That's, that's not true. And I should have played better. Oh. But, you know, I wasn't, like, ill-suited.

That's ridiculous. To do what I was doing. Doc put him in so many situations for him succeed. He ran a lot of pick and roll. He ran too much pick and roll. That was a problem. The problem was that he wasn't in the corner enough. Absolutely.

He had too many dribble handoffs, too many pick and rolls, too many off screens. It's like, dude, that's not your game. All right, well, let me just go ahead and let me do this, because I know you guys have been there. Obviously, you've seen a lot of Avery Bradley. You have both defecated on him since I have brought it up. But the move was to move off of Garrett Temple and Jermik. Green, right? That's who you got. And I got to tell you, I've spent this season watching Garrett Temple,

Jamichael Green, and Shelvin Mack get blown out, like constantly with them on the court. And so I've been keeping up with it. And the first game, Jamichael Green was a minus 18. And then Shelvin Mac got to play for Charlotte last night. And he was a minus 20. And unbelievably, Garrett Temple defeated both of them. I think he was minus 32 last night. So we have dispersed the slaughter bug all over the country. So have fun with your guys since Avery Bradley stinks. Was he minus 32 ever? I'm sure he was.

He's minus 32 in like frigging 20 minutes. How is that possible? How can you always get slaughtered? I spent the whole year yelling this. How do you get slaughtered? every night. I want to say something that's going to make you mad, Chris. There are many contributing factors to a plus minus.

Oh, yeah. Well, here, I'm telling you this. I watch them every single night have negative numbers, and now they're playing with all different players, and yet the negative numbers have followed, and all those factors that you want to bring up. I mean, I meant for an individual game, there are many contributing factors that play into it.

Oh, sure. How about this for a contributing factor? They're not very good. How about that? How about that? How about that, Kevin? Have you ever considered that? I was just saying that to get you going.

That's all. And I succeeded. Have you ever... Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe they're the issue? And I had to watch all three of them play together. Like 40 to 12 runs every night. It's unbelievable. And now I get to sit back and watch like a Sheshire Kath.

the slaughter has been dispersed over the country, from Charlotte to L.A., coast to coast. Well, it's like Doc Rivers said about Avery Bradley a couple weeks ago. He's unstatable, whatever that means. It's like, no doc. You can not look at the stats and still see Avery Bradley is not good right now.

He's still a good defender. Yeah, he's still a good defender for his size. Yes, he's still a good defender. For his size, which is very notable. with switches like he still not the guy you necessarily want but you know against point guards when he's not on a switch

every rally's still a very very good defender like that's where the advanced stats I think miss on him sometimes where like for a long time now it said every rally has been a negative defender I don't necessarily subscribe to that but all you gotta do is watch the games it's not so

he's not the elite guy he once was but he's still very good can I chime in real quick yeah yeah he is good on point guards but most of the time Doc in his tenure with the Clippers, Doc would put him on small forwards. Exactly. And shooting guards, which is a misuse of his skills and abilities. So did you not have a Avery Bradley jersey?

No, he didn't. No. I didn't even have it to burn. Like, I just didn't even buy it in the first place. You might have had a Boban jersey. I would have had a Boban jersey if I were you. Now, you had to have been sad about that. I was extremely sad about that.

I tweeted my feelings out to the world. Yeah, it was painful to see him leave because he was such a fan favorite. He was a fan favorite like we've never seen. honestly, like you had to go all the way back to... More popular than Blake. I mean, Blake was a star. Well, hey, I was kidding. All right, hey, Isaac, let's just box out Kevin completely.

Like he's Carl Anthony Towns. He's favorite. Oh, okay. I'll keep putting up like 2814 then. In losing effort. Hey, so I said that everybody in Memphis is like watching. Markisal will always root for him. Do you feel that way about Tobias, or was it too short?

Are you rooting for Tobias to be successful? And by the way, it has been gangbusters with him fitting in with Philly. Or do you kind of resent the fact that he is there? I think I'm kind of in the middle because Tobias Harris, to me, and I said this on this podcast and on Heech as well, like, Tobias Harris was such a passive player on the Clippers on a team that needed him to be a star, that needed him to take. takeover and Gallo often took that role, Lou often took that role instead of Tobias. So I had my own reservations about how good of a player he could be as an alpha.

This is very fascinating. Yeah. But now seeing him in that fourth role, right? He's the fourth option on offense or third or fourth option. Maybe even the third. Yeah, maybe even the third. And he's thriving. He looks so good on the Sixers.

He's perfect for that role. and I think he was miscast as the primary guy on the clipers. And some guys fit perfectly on that. I mean, I've covered all kinds of guys like this. Like, Powell Gasol was miscast to carry a franchise and be the guy, but was great when it could be Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant and these other guys that he was playing with. Likewise, Rudy Gay, he couldn't fit into a role.

You know what I mean? And that's why having four was very hard to make work when you had Mark Gasol and Zach Randolph and Mike Conley. and Rudy Gay just wouldn't work. But I find it fascinating what you're saying about Tobias because it is that kind of, I don't want to say non-alpha, but, you know, he's not the guy. He's not give me the damn ball guy. Yeah.

Because Jimmy Butler is and Embedit is. And Simmons. You're right. So you've got to have somebody playing a role. And it's fascinating if a guy that talented can just fit into a role. And, you know, the instant return is that he's like perfect for it, which I did not, I didn't foresee. It's like, why does it work with the Warriors, right?

Yeah. Like, why does it work? Stefan Curry, you know, I'm talking pre-KD. Yes. It worked because Steph is the ball-dominic guy and you have Dremont Green who is willing to sacrifice, but also shares the ball. And then Clay Thompson, who just kind of does what he does within the flow of the offense is that spectacular shooter and he doesn't need to dominate the ball.

With Harris, it can work with him with the other three because he's not that alpha guy that you described. Isaac, he is that guy who can fit in. and fill the cracks and do whatever the team needs to do. Whether it is playing on ball, running pick and roll, or playing off ball, going through screens and handoffs, or even they've used him on the post a little bit already, too. Tobias Harris can do anything for you on the offensive end of the floor.

It's still really about how do those three alphas, Butler and B and Simmons, all coexist together. And I think it can work. It has worked since the trade in November, and that team is loaded and long. and as they're developing chemistry over the course of the season and maybe picking up some buyouts,

they're going to be a serious, serious final start in the East. Yeah, and to contribute to that, they didn't just get Tobias Harris in this trade. They also got Mike Scott and Bob on Mayanovitch, right? Mike Scott is a decent veteran player coming off the bench and he shoots

and they need shooting on that team and Mike Scott can shoot a three and make it. So that's actually a sneaky pickup by the Sixers. We talked about it yesterday on Heat that's going to really help them moving forward into the playoffs. Especially if you're getting the Mike Scott from last season or in Washington,

not the one that the shot hasn't. He was shooting the ball well with Clippers. I shouldn't say that. But what are you shoot with the Clippers? 30, 30? He shot decently. Yeah. Was it over 40%?

I don't think it over 40. I think 37, 38%. Whatever. Point is Mike Scott should be an upgrade over Michael Scala. And you're dead on about having the personality to be able to sacrifice for the greater good, which that is something I was unaware of with Harris. It's hard to find.

We have seen three work. Three and then surround them by with role players. Four is really hard to make work. You know, we have seen it with the big three, obviously in Miami, where if somebody has to sacrifice, you saw it with LeBron's Cleveland team,

where you've got three stellar ones. Obviously, Boston was the first real incarnation of this. And then you go back in time and there were a ton of them. but people have to be able to play roles around them. Like the Nash Howard Kobe Lakers too. Wow, what a team. Hey, look what's going on with Boston right now. It looks off sometimes.

You know what I mean? Well, and I'm not saying you can just throw. The three guys have to be able to fit together and somebody has got to be willing to play roles around them. And the idea that Tobias Ayers could be an amazing role player is what's fascinating. because you mentioned Draymond. Like, you've got to be cool with averaging six points a game, you know, for the greater good.

Like, and that is a hard thing to do. Yeah. To be cool with averaging six. Seriously. I know, exactly. It's like with Draymond, Clay and Steph are shooting the ball just as much as they did in that season before KD, that 73 wins season. Draymond is not true. Draymond shooting the ball about four or five less times a game than he did back then.

as he probably should, considering the other threats on the rest of that roster. All right, Kevin, we'll get right back to it. First, I want to tell everybody today's episode of The Mismatch is brought to you by Microsoft Surface. The new Microsoft Surface Pro 6 can help you get things done, whether you're on the field or running a business. Take Brian Arakpo and Michael Griffin, two former NFL teammates who have opened a cupcake shop. With the Surface Pro, they can do everything they need from setting schedules to creating promotions for social media and designing new flavors. Plus, it's light, super fast, and has a great battery life. Brian and Michael are proving that you can tackle all your passions with the power and speed of the new Surface Pro 6.

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Let's move on to Got any thoughts on the Knicks franchise record of 17 straight losses? That happened last night. It's actually quite inspiring, Chris. The New York and Phoenix have lost a combined. Is this your favorite team ever? Is this your favorite team ever,

the one that just loses every single night? You can't love them more. No, the Sam Hinky Sixers on my favorite team ever. Those teams, they really showed how you're supposed to tank. Because they didn't even have legitimate players on their teams. Like that was so gross that they had to change all the rules. It's funny.

Michael Levin from a certain Sixers podcast called The Rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast, tweeted the other night after the Sixers won that second game with Tobias Harris. Very clearly, the best Sixers team since 1983, such a shame that none of the fans will ever come back to see it because of the process. And Sixers fans obviously love that. And it's the truth. Like with those bad tanking teams, there's more interest in the Sixers right now than ever before. This team is so fun, so loaded, so great,

with so much potential to get even better, depending on what happens over the summer and moving forward to the development of their young guys, those tanking teams, all those supposedly rough years in hindsight were definitely worth it. For Simmons and Embed, if they don't win the title, were they worth it? Yeah.

If they don't win in the second round, were they worth it? 600 losses or whatever? Are you trying to argue the process was not successful? Who did it work for? If they lose in the second round, do you think that's a success? I mean, seriously? Ten years later, they lose in the second round and it's a success? Why all of a sudden does it seem like this season?

You're the one who's like, if they win in the playoffs, it's a success. When before in the past, it's like, it's not all about championships. It's not all about success defense in the postseason. Because they intentionally lost for five years. No, it was, I mean, it was really true. That's why it's different. It wasn't five years. It was three years.

I had to watch those games in person. There's a mockery of the game. Mockery. But it's great for the computer nerd age. No, it's not. It's not. Yes, it is. They love it.

This is the point. They love it. Teach your kids. Go out there and put out a horrible product and lose. Levin was tweeting. this for you, Chris, apparently. Well, congratulations. I didn't see it.

But I'm glad you could relay it to me. I mean, surprise, Philly fans are happy now. But if they lose in the second round for a couple of years and Ben Simmons ends up with Magic Johnson and best friend, then come back to me and tell me the process worked. If you never win shit, it didn't work. Oh, Jesus. End of story, Kevin.

The point is that they've positioned themselves for immense success. And that's the only way to do it, by being horrible. No, it's not doing the way. You know who else positioned themselves? The Bucs position themselves. The Warriors positioned themselves. The rockets positioned themselves.

There's a lot. Look at the teams that are the best, that have the best records. They all positioned to themselves too to be good. You're right. There's different approaches to becoming a good team. And I find the one that has intentionally losing to be disgusting. And I always will.

I think it's a joke. Okay. I'm not going to argue that. That's your opinion. I'm not going to argue. that. I'm not going to know. Good. Good. All right, that brings us to our NBA watch of the night. You can watch your beloved Sixers tonight, Kevin. They are playing against the Boston Celtics. Oh, no. Talk about a heart being torn for you. It's on TNT. 8 Eastern 7 Central. It's our NBA watch of the night.

and this is a very, very big game. You have had this weird stuff happen with the Celtics over the weekend. The Morris twin is saying they're not having any fun, and they hadn't had any fun in a long time. You know, you got one team that, like, the news coming out is bad. It makes you feel like they're, you know, a bit in disarray, and the other team that couldn't be happier right now because the Tobias Harris thing has worked great.

They blew out the Lakers over the weekend. and now Philly goes to Boston tonight. What are you most interested in about it? It's a battle between one team that did it the wrong way, in your opinion, and one team that did it the right way. And yet, the team that did it the supposed right way is unhappy despite winning all these games. I thought Bill Simmons put up an Instagram story the other day from an old SNL sketch, Will Ferrell, where they're just quietly sitting at the dinner table eating together.

Nobody's talking as a description of the self-time. locker room, and that certainly seems what it might be like for this team right now. Yeah. I think Kyrie harbors some blame for that. He's the alpha. I think it's his job, not necessarily to make everybody happy, but I do think they feed off of that. And how often do you remember feeling like he's happy this year?

Like never. I mean, I told you. I was at a game I had to watch. I watched Danny Ames talking to the guy at halftime, for God's sakes. I've never seen that before my life with an executive talking to a star player at half time of a game. And so he constantly doesn't seem very happy.

And I think teams feed off of their, quote, supposed veteran leader. You know, I think with that game on Saturday night, I did not see the game, but the Celtics blew a 25 to 30 point lead, and I was with my friend Bill, we were going to see Mews while

they were blowing that lead. And Kyrie, that was the night that Kyrie got hurt. And that was his right knee. The past knee injuries have been to his left knee. So in addition to, you know, in the stuff you're talking about with leadership, he's obviously an elite point guard. But the knee injuries are concerning for a guy who right now is only about to turn 27 years old with a potential five-year huge max contract coming up. It's a little scary for Boston with where they're heading the summer, where they could be in a position where they add a Hall of Fame player, Anti-Davis that manages to help them keep Kyrie or Kyrie could just outright walk, which if,

injuries persist or get worse, maybe you're locking into a good thing there. But if not, if he continues producing and playing 60, 70 games per regular season, you're losing a potential, maybe not Hall of Fame player, but one of the game's best point guards. So two extremes this summer are real possibilities for Boston. Remember, if you want to watch every NBA game, subscribe to NBA League Pass on NBA. com, Amazon, or your local cable or satellite provider. All right, Kevin, I do want to ask you about an article you recently wrote about Anthony Davis. And I got to see that team in person over the weekend, his second game back.

Maybe it will, I don't think maybe. He was the most passive I have ever seen him. I didn't know if he was just trying to be able to make it to the fourth quarter because they had sat him in the fourth quarter the night before. But that team just looked like a team that was going through a lot of. a crap and I think Andy Davis only had like eight shot attempts or something like that. I mean, it was bizarre, seriously bizarre to see happen in front of my face. And obviously you've got this intense awkwardness that has gone on now with the Pelicans and Anthony Davis to where he made

the trade demand. It didn't work out for him. And now the Pelicans are saying basically we want to kind of protect this asset. And so we were going to sit him, but Anthony Davis wants to keep playing. And so now you got a problem on your hands, and the NBA stepped in and said they would fine the Pelicans if they did not play him, considering he wants to play. And so take it from there. I mean, I think with Anthony Davis, you know, we discussed this on Friday's episode. I just tend to think, you know, AD has the right to play, or if he wants to play,

he is the right to demand a trade. That's fully in his right to do that. but I also think New Orleans has the right to protect their franchise. And the best move for them is to rest AD. It just is because you're preserving the asset, the player who wants to be traded this off season. If AD were to suffer a significant injury, suddenly the team will not be able to get what they want.

AD might not be able to get what he wants. He just saw with Boogie Cousins, the guy that he had some level of success with in New Orleans, just have a devastating injury. and he went from a almost guaranteed max player to a guy that signed for $5.5 million with the Warriors. So with any player, AD in the past that happened with Derek Rose, if you suffer a major injury,

and if you don't get your money like Rose did, you could lose it and never get it back. So for AD, I think it's best for him also to be resting here. In addition to New Orleans, being able to trade him for a significant amount of summer, he needs to be healthy. Why can't they all just be like Kauai, right? Just sit out and don't ever say a word about it.

Just keep your mouth shut, kid. I mean, Kauai like really was an innovator here. He laid the blueprint for Anthony Davis and he's just not following it. Hey, this is the crazy thing about the Davis deal. He has lived the charmed existence of being. generally universally beloved, right? When you're not in a massive market where you harbor a lot of blame

for everything you do all the time. I don't think he's ever had like a top 10 selling jersey or anything like that. No, no, no, no, but I'm saying if you asked, it's kind of like the Dirk thing that happened for so many years. Everybody just like Dirk, right? He's awesome. We all accepted. He's awesome.

And he wasn't like the subject of severe criticism ever. And I think AD has lived that, certainly playing for New Orleans. I suppose the biggest criticism levied has been his inability to win or win at a big level, but most people frankly blame the front office and the organization for not building properly around him when it comes to that. I do think now, I mean, this is kind of the first opinion that people have had of him, and it's just not a good one. Like, this has been the most significant thing that has happened with Anthony Davis

over the course of his career probably in terms of people talking about something. And I think if you ask people, do you like Anthony Davis? Prior to this, I think you would have been way over 80, 90%. And now it's way, I don't know what the number is now,

but it ain't close to that. Yeah, his approval rating undeniably dropped with everything that's transpired the last couple of weeks. Clutch took a calculated risk. and demanding the trade when they did and all the stories that were put out there trying to push him to the Lakers.

I think for Clutch, it was obvious that there's a chance that this could happen. It was obvious that there's a chance that he would end up not being traded to the Lakers. But I do think there's still a chance the Lakers could get him in the summer. But with Boston looming, with other teams having the ability to step up,

I don't think I'd put the Lakers higher than like third or fourth or maybe even fifth of teams most likely to trade for Anthony Dade. Davis for ranking the assets and everything. But I do think for 80, that was the window for him to go to the Lakers. And that's why you did it. Well, I'm glad you brought up the Lakers, Kevin, because I do want to get to this before we get out of here today. As it stands right now, the Lakers are 28 and 28.

So there's only 24 games left. No, no, no. I'm wrong about that. Was it 26 games left? Yeah. I went and looked at the basketball power index that ESPN puts out, which predicts teams every single day. and what their playoff odds are. As of right now, they have the Lakers at 40 and 42 and 10th place in the Western Conference

when it is all said and done. You will be happy to hear that they have the Clippers as a playoff team, Isaac. But I went and looked and I'm like, well, how can this be? And here's how it can be. Of their games remaining, now they are very, very, very home heavy, especially against their good opponents. But here's what they've got left. They have a game.

They have Houston, Milwaukee, the Clippers, the Nuggets, the Celtics, the Nets, Sacramento, the Clippers, and then their last two games of the season are Utah and Portland. Every one of those teams has a better record than the Lakers as of right now. Better record teams they play on the road. They play at Toronto, at Milwaukee, at Utah, at Oklahoma, City and Golden State. Fifteen of the 26, I suppose it is,

remaining games, are against teams that are currently better than them. And obviously, some of these teams, like the Milwaukee's, the Denver's, Golden State, etc. Toronto are much, much better than them. Do you think this is a reality?

I saw Simmons tweet this out, which gave me the idea. It's the first time I really considered that, damn, is LeBron really going to miss the playoffs? you know, there's definitely a chance, man. I think with LeBron, if you look at the games that he's played, the record is obviously significantly better when he's in the lineup. So if he stays healthy, I think the LeBron factor,

the variable of him just turning it on going into playoff mode early helps their chances. And that's something that the statistical models that you're citing sometimes have a harder time looking at. It's like last year or the past couple years with Cleveland, it ranked the calves as the non-favorant in the playoff race in the East. When it's like, well, they have LeBron James. That should be the favorite.

That's the variable. But with that said, even with all those factors working for the Lakers, that schedule is really, really tough. Really, really tough. I mean, those games that I mentioned, I mean, sheesh, you're not going to win a super high percentage of those. There's just no way. You're lucky to be a couple ticks over 500, and they're 28 and 28.

right now. I mean, what are they getting to? Are they, you know, I don't think 42, 43 wins makes the playoffs probably. You're probably going to have to have at least 44 or 45. It's easy to foresee a scenario where entering April, Lakers are like a game back or maybe they're in the seven, eight seat or something like that. But then their last five at OKC versus Golden State at the Clippers versus Utah versus Portland. Boy, I mean, murder. Yeah. I'll tell you what, in both conferences, you know, post-dedeline, we have been set up for a really, really exciting playoff race, you know, seeing how these teams are going to, you know, get ordered in the east, those top four or five teams, whether the nets can continue their push,

who slides into the back seeds in the east, and then in the west, it's really the top teams have been determined at this point. Like, I think it's safe to say those top four, five teams should be in the playoffs. the Warriors Nuggets, Thunder Blazers Rockets. So the chance one falls out, but I'm doubtful. But those last couple spots still with the Kings still scrapping and fighting their way for the playoffs. And the Clippers still right in there as well, even after the Harris trade. It's going to be exciting to see those teams fighting those last slots.

All-Star Weekend is coming up this weekend. Yeah. You are still going, right? Are you going? I will be there. Yeah. I will be there. So we will have to, we'll get to be to be the weekend.

together in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the All-Star game is going on, rather than go through every single event, because I'm sure other ringer shows will as the week goes on. I will just ask you what you are most looking forward to outside of my presence. Well, that was my answer. Now I'm going to think of a new one. I was going to say, for me, and obviously it's part of the reason I'm going, is because Jaron Jackson Jr. is going to be in the Rising Star.

That Rising Stars game and the young talent that is coming to this league, You got Team USA, who's got Jared Allen, Marvin Bagley, Lonzo, John Collins, who's been amazing, De Aaron Fox, Jaron Jackson, Jr., Kuzma, Donovan Mitchell, Jason Tatum, Tray Young. I mean, that is loaded. And then obviously, Team Worlds got everybody from OGNan and Obie to Luca Donchich to DeAndre Aiton, Lori Markan, Ben Simmons. That game, that Rising Stars game is a hell of a showcase for the next group of talent that's served. into the lead. I'm looking forward to the conversation that's going to revolve around those players that LeBron took. He's recruiting clearly. All the kind of free agents, guys who like could be traded or maybe should be traded.

Almost everything will pick on that roster fits that criteria. So I'm looking forward to like the conversation at like the All Star Media Day that these players get asked. I look forward to the response on social media. I look forward to Katie getting mad about people asking about his free agency. That's what I look forward to. All right. Well, Kevin, I will see you in Charlotte. Thanks to everybody for listening to another edition of The Mismatch.

If you dig what you're hearing. Go give us a rating and review on iTunes. Five stars, five stars. It really helps. And Kevin, I'll see you in Charlotte. Thanks, brother. I can't wait, Chris. Have a good week.

Talk to everybody next week.