The Ringer NBA Show - Real or Not! Week 1 Overreactions. Plus, NBA Rookie Roll Call. | Real Ones

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

Week 1 of the NBA season is officially in the books, and Victor Wembanyama continues to wow with his MVP-like play so far this season. Logan Murdock, Raja Bell, and Howard mf’in Beck discuss whether it’s possible that we’re seeing the first player since Giannis who can win MVP and DPOY. The rookie class has shown up and shown out in their first week as professionals. Who’s in the very, very early lead for Rookie of the Year? The Sixers are 3-0 even though Joel Embiid's seen limited action. Is it time for the Sixers to keep their focus on Tyrese Maxey and rookie sensation V.J. Edgecombe? Plus, the mailbag returns! (0:00:00) Intro (2:15) Real or Not: Is Victor Wembanyama a lock for MVP, as Logan has predicted? (16:10) How realistic is it for San Antonio to seek to trade De’Aaron Fox? (21:22) Who’s been the best rookie so far this season? (30:06) Are the Sixers better off not relying on Joel Embiid? (43:12) Will LaMelo Ball keep up the efficiency this season? (49:58) Mailbag: We talk about the Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga and why Mike Brown is playing everyone on the Knicks. Hit the mailbag! ⁠[e-mail]⁠ The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out ⁠rg-help.com⁠ to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Logan Murdock, Howard Beck, and Raja Bell Video Producer: Victoria Valencia Audio ProducerClifford Augustin Additional Production Support: Ben Cruz and Conor Nevins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping? Real Ones. Logan Murdoch. You know who it is. Logie Boone out the two. I'm here for another edition of Real Ones. We got Raja in today. We got Howard in today. And we play a little game of real or fake. Who was doing good? Should we be believing Lamello's raps? Should we believe in the Sixers start? Should we believe that the Sixers are going to make this happen throughout the season when Joelle and B. Maybe might be a full strength in off a minute's restriction. Or when PG comes back into the fold, we talk about superstar egos. We talk about a lot of things in this episode. It was really, really fun. It was great to get back in the lab with Raj and Howard, my faves. And got a great show up for you. So, Real Ones, up next.

Cliff, play the theme music. Bobbi. Real ones. Logan Murdoch here. Roger Bill there. Howard Motherfucking. Howard motherfucking. Howard motherfucking Beck in the cut guys. Keep all that shit in there.

No, it's that time of year. We're working in the form. It is time for our, the game we like to call periodically, that we do periodically, called real or fake. In order to do that, we enlisted Cliff, who was, says it's brick in Philly. You got the, got the flyers long sleeve on. I ain't seen them in a long sleeve in about eight months. But how you doing, man?

What's going on? How's everything? So, buddy, man. This is quite the. turn around going from the beautiful California son to the coldness of Philadelphia. That's the coldness in my heart, man. It's ready to go. Roger was invited, by the way.

Roger was invited. Raj, you was invited you didn't pull up, man. That's crazy. Usually when someone gets, like, if you're invited to something, someone alerts you to that, right? Like, that's typically how that works. Okay. Nobody hits you.

I mean, I don't know. It's all good. I'm glad to know that I wasn't invited. You're invited. Hey, man, maybe next year. Anyways, let's get into it. Let's get into it, man. Real or not.

Real, real, real ones. Real or not. What I've reacted about week one in the NBA. A lot of things went on. Looking like Logan's pick for MVP, Victor Wimbanyama has been going absolutely bonkers this year. Some people even say you might even win defensive player of the year. Real or not?

Is this real that Victor Wembeyanma could possibly win both MVP and defensive player of the year? I'll go first. I think it's real. I'm not here saying that it's definitively going to happen, but I think it's very real if he continues on the pace he's on. We've already, you know, offensively talked about the type of things that he does for a guy that size with the agility, the shot making, the creation, the skill set. All of that's, it really is alien.

And, like, I mean, I would challenge anybody to find someone that's done it at that level. Aesthetically, the way he's doing, it's pretty remarkable. But defensively, I mean, he's a human eraser. I do think that there's something to be said for you guys always talk about on the media side as writers and voters that narratives are important. I do think that's something pretty cool that would, I don't know, was it MJ? Was he the last person to do that? Did he ever do that? When both in the same year?

1988 or 87? I believe that was... Yeah, so I think, I mean, listen, as far as what people would vote for, I think there's something there. From a skill set and from a production standpoint, I don't think there's a question that it's possible if we're going off of what we've seen early. Yeah? That's the thing. Yeah.

No, go, Logan. Go ahead, Howard. No, go Howard. Like, the wins have to come behind it, right? And the spurs are one of the last undefeated teams right now. So as long as we're doing early season, one week over reactions. Small sample size on everything, but, you know, the spurs look really freaking good right now.

Wemby, I mean, look, we saw it last week. We talked about it last week on the pod. Everything looks better, right? Like the shot blocking was already there, but like his handle looks tighter. He looks more fluid. He looks stronger. Everything about him offensively just looks devastating in itself. And the defensive part was already devastating.

The defensive player of the year in the MVP stuff are both going to come down to. like are the spurs one of the best teams in the West at a minimum or one of the best teams in the league? And that's probably the higher bar. It's the part that Wemby can't control as much. But the great players elevate their teams. And what he is doing is certainly going to make everybody around him better and the spurs better. Plus on top of that, Dylan Harper looks like he is firmly in Rookie of the Year running. We'll probably hit that later in the pod. Like they have so much talent. Deering Fox isn't even playing yet. And the talent around Wembe means that he doesn't have to do everything all the time.

I think this is actually a pretty well-balanced team, which bodes well for their win total and their ability to finish in the top four or five in the West, as top as the West is. And all of that would then bolster MVP and defensive player of the year candidacy. So yeah, it's real. I think it's real on both counts right now. And I'm saying that as somebody who was skeptical of getting carried away with MVP hype, Logan Murdoch. As someone who was right. On both ends, I'm not even surprised by this. The thing, he has a lot of going for him, right?

The Spurs have a lot going for them. They're 4 and O, but they've had a really bad schedule. I mean, a really soft schedule, excuse me. Play Dallas, New Orleans, Brooklyn, Toronto. They're going to play Miami on Thursday. Then they're playing Phoenix. who is, to start the season. Then they have the Lakers who are hobbled.

Is Luke going to be back by then? Then they have Houston for the NBA Cup. Like, I don't see like a formidable, formidable opponent until like Golden State they have, but they have them twice at home. And Wemby, who's going to guard Wembe? I don't go to say right now. I don't know, right? Like, there's a chance for the spurs to run it up and really have a great start to the season.

If he continues to play like this. The one thing then, like, about Wimby, that is crazy, other than the six blocks per game, you know, other than, which is fucking nuts. He's down to only 4.75 blocks per game at the moment. Oh, sorry. Was that after, that was after that was three three. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. My bad. I'm sorry. That was three games. Excuse me. The pace is way off now. Yeah. But he's one of those guys.

And I think I was talking to Beck. I might have been talking to my editor recently. But he's the guy. When you talk about it. face of the league. And I know it's just arbitrary and stupid and all those things in the discussion. But the thing that Wimby has going for him is we haven't had a player since I think Steph, who is like the group chat MVP, like when you're like, yo, man, he's cooking right now. You need to see this live. You need to watch this right now. There's no, no, I can't wait for the

highlights. He's cooking right now and he's going to do something that you haven't seen before in about 30 seconds. Because two possessions ago, already did something you haven't seen before. What was the play that he had a couple days ago? I think it was against the Nets that we all talked about where he got up, where he blocked two of the Nets Biggs, right? And then Gets and then Logo 3. And then he had one last night that was fucking crazy.

He just has these crazy, crazy plays that he had the one against where he does the rock the cradle against the Mavs. And then he just, he just has plays. or when they were playing against New Orleans that he got put on a poster by Zion, what they didn't show was the possessions later in the game where he's just like taking Zion to task, where he's just blocking everything Zion tries to put up

and he takes it personally. I think if they continue to play the way that they play right now with the early season schedule, they can be right in the mix for the top four in the Western Conference. I know this is a lot of superlatives, and I'm feeling myself because I've been right so far, but I do think with this schedule and who they're playing to start, they could be something and they could be one of the surprises of the NBA just off of schedule alone right now.

Of all the tracking stats we have, the one that I don't know if is available, but I want, and somebody will start tracking this. Like, he's going to lead the league in blocks on the same possession. I don't know anybody else who it's like, block, boom, block again. And then it's going the other way. And then, of course, he's the only one who can do that twice and then go finish it off with a fucking 30-foot. with three-pointer. He's just, he's so much fun to watch.

Quick note on the blocks. He's got more blocks than 20 NBA teams right now. He has 19. He has 19 through four games. That's more blocks than 20 NBA teams. Hey, Howard. Is that more or less than Tim Kawakami? That's a deep cut.

The Bay Area ones, no. The Twitter lifers know. No, he's way behind. No one's passing Kawakami. ever. How Tommy's got lifetime record. So, quick note on the blocks pace, just because I found this absolutely fascinating, especially when he was, as Logan mentioned earlier, at one point, he was at six per game. It was on pace to be chasing Mark Eaton's all-time record. Mark Eaton has the all-time NBA record 456 in

1985. He played all 82 games, notably, and guys don't do that now, so it's a little harder. You guys know the last time, so that was 456 is the all-time record, and it's a thousand years ago. Do you guys know the last time anybody even hit 300? Not even 400, much less the 456. When's the last time? When was Mark Eaton? 8, 485. And I'm saying...

De Kenbeth? No. There's only one guy since 2000 who has even hit 300 blocks in a season. Do I know? No, but Raja, I think you played with him. Not a... It's not a Mari, bro. No.

Theo Rattlet. Theo Rattlet? No. Talk about a deep cut. Did you guys not overlap? I didn't. DeKembe came for Theo. Oh, you're a trade deadline.

You came for the playoffs. Then you came after. Yeah. Okay. All right. All right. So you just missed him. Theo in 2003-04 had 307, 307, 307 blocks.

Playing for the Hawks? I think that was still with the Hawks, yeah. The Hawks. But that's the last time anybody even got to 300. The last time anybody got, again, Mark Eaton, 456 is the record. The last time someone even got to 307. was Akeem Olajuwon in 1989-90. Like this, guys, it just doesn't fucking happen.

Like, what we're seeing with Wembe and the, and it's not just that, like, most of the time when you see these guys who are just absolute, you know, blocking machines, obviously they're not doing all the other things that Wembe's doing because nobody's ever done all the other things that Wempe is doing at that size. So like, everything is a first. But he's going to chase, if not the record for blocks, he's going to be the best shot blocker in like 40 something years. And on top of it is possibly going to, you know,

hit like three threes a game, average 25 and 12 and whatever else is behind it and five assists. Like it's, it's awesome. It's insane. It's awesome. Nobody should miss a single spurs game this season. Sign up for all the streaming services because you don't want to miss any spurs games. That's my pitch today. I'm so mad.

His blocks for possession, like that double block is a real interesting thing. even cats like Mark Eaton, Manu, Theo, Theo, you know, I watched a lot of those guys and you don't remember as many true like double blocks per possession type of, type of results. Dekembe comes to mind though when, because Dekeme was good at that. And it might not sound like a lot, but it's not an easy thing to like block a shot, have your momentum and the guy's momentum that's coming at you, you know, basically pulling you down to the floor and then get back up and block another one. it's a little harder than it than it really sounds. I thought you had an interesting point about like watching Wembe and kind of, you know, group chatting and the only other player you remember is like Steph Curry because he's doing shit. Like when Steph was doing, we're kind of immune to it now.

He still has moments where you're like, holy, wow, look at that. Like I watched him the other night and it was, it was very remarkable for a dude that age running around like that. But when we first started seeing it, I mean, you hadn't really ever seen that. I mean, since Reggie Miller almost, but like. but Reggie Miller on steroids in terms of what he was doing just flying all around the court.

I would put that in the like that's how I felt when I first saw MJ. Like that's how I felt. I was like, holy shit, what is that? Like no one's doing that. He's having those moments and his, his just size skill set overall

the way it looks. It's exactly what you said. Like it's when Steph was doing that. You've never seen anything do that. So being locked into it is the only prudent thing, right? Like you've got to check that out live because it's crazy. You've never seen it. And then lastly,

for a team like the Spurs to have the type of success that they need to have for him to potentially win those two awards, they have to have that upfront schedule. Like that's exactly what you want them to have. Not just for the pure wins and losses of it all, but for the easing into who we're going to be as a team and finding that stride and that confidence so that like by the time you see some smoke,

you're already dialed in. Confidence is high. Rules are established. Like there's a lot of chemistry development that happens in that early window that if you can capture it in the right way, can kind of catapult you into playing, maybe even better than you ordinarily would over the course of a season. Yeah.

I mean, they don't have a big, like a team with a, like a generational big until like November. They play the Denver Nuggets on Black Friday, which I will be watching. two notes and then we can get to the next question. One of those notes is the last person to win MVP and DPOI and the NBA was Akeem O'Giwan in 94. Akeem.

And Asia Wilson just did it this season, which she was a fuck a beast. And the second note that like I love about Wembe defensively is not only is he a great shot blocker, but he can guard for some. Someone of his size, he could guard all five. Like, I trust him with all five positions, which is, if you catch him on a switch, even if you're out and at the logo, like, he's guarding you all 94 feet, bro. Like, it's, I don't think we're ever going to, we have not seen a defender as good as one. And I know there's a lot of superlatives, but like, if he does what he's supposed to do,

it continues his trajectory. He's going to be the best defender of all time. Not only that, sorry, not only that, but Howard was talking about stats that they track. I don't, you know, I'm not into all of the true stats. So I'm sure they have like, you know, rim protection numbers and stuff that factor into how many you change. But just pure shots that he deters from a, hey, I'm looking, I see him, and I'm not even going to try that shit.

Like, that's a thing too, right? We're talking about ones that he affects around the rim where he doesn't block them, but he makes you take a really tough low percentage shot. Like, those are trackable. But you can't track the ones where I catch it and I look at that like opening. And I'm like, no, I'm not doing that. Like, the amount of those that he affects is incredible too, because people are just not that confident in running up in there.

Quick note on that Theo Ratliff season, 0304. He actually split between Atlanta and Portland. So just a quick back check of ourselves. All right. What's the next question? Cliff. Let's stay in San Antonio, man. Let's talk about the return of Deer & Fox,

the possible return of Deer & Fox coming soon here, participating in five-on-fives. Now, the Spurs guards are bowling. We talk about Dev of a Cell, Stefan Castle, and the rookie Dylan Harper, all average and above 16 points per game. Now Fox did sign the extension. He's there for four years. He might be some trade bait.

I don't know. I don't want to speculate. I don't want to get anybody aggregated here on this platform here. But how does he fit into the fold of the Spurs when he comes back? Like, is it just seamless he's going to go in there, you know, take up whoever's men is, or is he going to mesh with Wimby in the offense? Like, how does this work with Fox returning to the Spurs line up soon? I want to go Howard first because I know Howard's going to say something spicy.

Listen, if overreaction theater one week in, the spurs are undefeated, Dylan Harper, by the way, does not look like a rookie. Him and Edgecombe both. Do not look like rookies. You watch them play if you did not know they were rookies. You would not know. Dylan Harper has been awesome. Stefan Castle's picked up where he left off.

You mentioned Bissell. There's a really well-rounded cast here. And there's a thought that hits me at some point where it's like, Is Deerne Fox just kind of superfluous? Like, do they really need him? And at the time that they traded for him... Excuse me, is he what? Superfluous.

Excessive. Unnecessary. Okay. A luxury item. Here we go. Like, there was a case for acquiring Deer and Fox at the moment they did. Last season.

They were very young. Wembe, you know, was a one-man wrecking crew, but he needed help. and you certainly wanted an elite playmaker around him. They had brought in Chris Paul, but obviously, you know, end of his career, Chris Paul. Like, who's going to be his running mate? Is Stefan Castle really going to be a career point guard? Deer and Fox is established. Like, it made a lot of sense, but you didn't know you were going to get Dylan Harper. And you also couldn't know for sure, you know, the trajectory of Castle. At this point, if you would come into this season without

Deer and Fox, would you be making a trade for a Deer and Fox? And this is not a knock on Deer and Fox at all. I want to be very, very clear. This is not a knock on Deer and Fox at all. But if you were the spurs with this team right now, doing what it's doing right now, without a Deeran Fox as part of it, would you be rushing out to make a trade for a max-salaried point guard? I think the answer is probably no.

And I do think not to get hot takey and aggregation-y here, but like there's a case for when he's eligible to be traded, which is going to be in a few months still because of the extension that he signed over the summer, Is there a case to unclog the, like the guard rotation and get other stuff you might need to help bolster the front court maybe? I can't say that there isn't a case. So, yeah, maybe he's superfluing. Can I can make believe real quick?

Because I'm sure there's, there's, it would never be able to happen for salary reasons. But just send them, send them up this, like send them like just up the road a little bit. To Houston. Yeah. Well, Houston is, unfortunately, is it in, um, like the West and the East Coast. Like they're into division. Could you imagine them trading him in the division?

No, I mean, that'd be crazy, but it's not like you're trading. No, that's very fair. That's fair. No, I'm just saying logistically. I don't, I think that it would be a good trade and I don't think this. Let me not. I don't know what this first. I don't know what this.

Look, when I saw a phrase, like I think people know me well enough to know now, but I've done no research on the on the actual cat numbers or who has assets to get. Well, I don't know. Well, like, if you're talking, because. I agree with everything Howard just said. Like Howard's question, do you trade for him now with what you have going on? It's a simple answer. No, you do not, right?

And it is early, right? So, like, you know, I don't think Dylan Harper. I think Dylan Harper is a better pro than he was at Rutgers. I think he's been bred to do that. So I don't think he's going to have much, you know, regression. I don't think it's always going to be great. But I think he's really solid to good. and he's only going to get better.

I'm just looking at that, like, that team I know needs a PG, and I know how badly they need it, and I think they're that close with one to being able to make some real noise. So, like, aside, all of the rest of it, obviously, like, full disclosure, I have no idea whether it would work or not. I'm, like, send him to Houston.

And it's not a disgruntled situation where you'd look like an ass if you were San Antonio for doing it, right? Like, it's not like... And he's from Houston, if I'm not mistaken. I think he's from Houston. Yeah, I don't know. That's the first thing I thought

when Howard started talking about And Husset is desperate enough To be like, yo Which y'all won't Yeah I know I know if you can really use him You can really use him Who's that?

You can really use the Earn Fox The Kings Yeah Sorry Sacramento Kings I'm going up in there And I'm going up to second A couple weeks And it's I'm just expected

It's super sad Just super sad Huh Why did you do that? Anyways, next question. Speaking of rookies, there's a rookie there in San Antonio who's been balling out, Dylan Harper like Roger just mentioned,

averaging 16 the game. There's also another rookie in Philly, you know, my hometown, going crazy this season. Vijay Edgecombe, Raj, you called it out before the season, would you say? No, he's electric, bro. He's electric, right? Yeah.

Howard, I want to know, give me the rookie standings right now as it stands for rookie of the year. This is very, very early, first week of the season. the top four rookies are averaging over 15 points each player. Cooper Flag, Concanipple, VJ Edgecombe, Dylan Harper, all averaging over 15.

And you also have a sleeper rookie as well. So give me your top rookies right now, and who's going to win this award? I think some of those averages might have come down a little after last night. But yeah, dude, no, the list of rookies who are off to phenomenal starts, like noteworthy starts, like, ooh, like we need to pay attention type starts.

Definitely your boy, VJ Edgecombe. who's been absolutely fucking incredible. Cedric Coward is right in there. Trey Johnson, he, I mean, obviously coming in, a lot of people were hyped about him and thought that he was going to be like the, like the, I don't know, if there's a sleeper in the class, but like the guy to keep an eye on outside of the top three. Connipples off to a really strong start in Charlotte. The Hornets are actually in general looking really good.

Dylan Harper, we mentioned and flagged. this rookie class so far again uh you know early early on and this is like small sample size theater cooper flag after all the hype nearly nearly unanimous rookie of the year pick all that stuff among rookies he is only sixth in scoring sixth and assists and fifth and rebounds um we won't bring in his shooting because boy um so like set so here we are in a in a year where we had an absolute consensus number one pick, a guy who's been talked about as generational, best since Zion, best since AD, best since whoever, best, you know, not best since Wembe, but like one of the all-time great number ones of the last 10, 15, 20 years. And a week in, Cooper flags struggling a bit,

his team is certainly struggling. And this rookie class looks so great that I don't think we should be getting too carried away with crowning anybody. Um, I, listen, this is not pandering to our producer Cliff, but like if we had to vote today, which is preposterous, VJ Edge comes out in the lead, I think pretty easily. And I think Dylan Harper is right. I just, I feel bad for Cooper, bro. I feel so bad for Cooper, man. This is what happens when we overhite people. No, no, I mean, it's that, but also, I want to note, Roger did not overhype him. Roger was actually spit in facts last year. He was the part, he was the one that like, you'll pump the brakes and he's usually good with those things. He said he would be a really good

plug and play type of player in his first year, but not necessarily the generational type of talent, at least to start. But what I am sad about is, the reason why I'm sad about Cooper Flag is it seems like, and who am I to question a Hall of Fame level point guard who is knows, who has forgotten more than I'll ever know about the game. But I do feel like at this point with the experimentation that Jason Kidd has put on the Cooper flag, the same what he did with Yanosad de Kumbo back in the day, is kind of backfiring on Cooper's rookie of the year candidacy. Because when you play Cooper alongside DeAngelo Russell,

he plays pretty well. But Jason Kidd has helped in on making him a point guard or putting him and giving him point guard minutes that is kind of point shaving his eligibility for, for rookie of the year. And it's really messing it up right now. But when he's playing the position that I feel like he's supposed to be playing or that he's that he's the more effective in,

he plays really well. And I think he's on the, and also on the level of, you know, VJ and all of those guys, I think he does play pretty well. But the fact that he's being shoehorned as a point guard is going against him right now. And maybe that'll help him in the future.

I think that, you know, it's a valuable skill to have to be able to run an offense. But right now, like, I feel bad because it feels like, like his talents aren't being used constructively within that offense because of what his coach wants. So that's why I'm sad for what's going on with Cooper because he absolutely should be in that discussion. Yeah, you got to be. It's a tough conversation. They're all playing so well. And Coup was always, I don't, I don't, he was, he was always going to be some version of, of this. what exactly like the ceiling for this year versus the floor?

I don't know. But he was always going to come in despite what you heard. He was not coming in to drop 25 points a game. He didn't do that in college. He doesn't project that when you watch him play. That's not what he wants to do. Some of these other dudes, Trey Johnson, you know what he likes to do? Get to the cheese, bro.

That's what he's trying to do. He is trying to get the buckets. Like you can feel that when you watch them play. And that's not a knock or anything. That's just their style of gain. So, like, I think you've got to be careful a little bit in watching, you know, this first year. And although we will, you know, reward whoever looks best in the first year, using that first year as a true indication of what they're going to ultimately be in three or four years from now. Because Kuk has the type of game where he might not look the best this year and could very easily be, like,

like the number one or two guy in a couple years from now, just because of all the things that he does. And I would just say, again, like, there's a void that you get when you hit an NBA floor that doesn't have, you know, their best players on the floor. And there are a lot of shots available to you in some of these instances, right? Whether your team's not just great overall or, like,

there's not a true number two or number one in place. And you get the opportunity to just go crazy. And, you know, you're content with your, shot attempts or or or or what have you and sometimes if you're a true score in a league like the one we play in now or scoring is at a premium and you can't do some of the things physically to stop these guys from scoring the courts wide open you could come out of the gates and be like really really good at scoring the ball in the NBA and it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be the guy out of that class in three or four years from now that's all I'm saying right

that's not trying to force shade in anybody in particular I just want to go back to Vijay because you know, I've watched your sisters play a couple times because I'm, you know, obviously I'm from St. Croix. One of my favorite places to go with my family or to vacation around here is the Bimini Bahamas, right? Like we hop over to Bimini all the time. You catch a ferry, you catch a little PJ over there,

like, because the island used to offer one, I don't, I don't fly PJs, I don't want to get that straight. But the island when you visit them used to sit. No, real talk. Sure. I used to be, I used to be, I used to be buddies with the guy who developed. dad and his dad was a developer and they'd let you take their company jet over to hang out for a few days.

And I want to say this because I used to go to a gym there that's just off. Rob, let me hold $20, bro. Let me hold $20. Dog, let me finish my thought, boy. Like, it was just off the property there, right? And it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a gym. And there'd have the kids running around that gym. One of those kids, I've told the story about him being in my high school gym.

I also saw him when he was a young buck in, in, that gin, like a pub, probably like second or third grade. I ran into a woman the other day who used to, you know, work at that hotel. And she asked me if I remembered that. And I said, was Vijay one of those kids? She said, yeah, Vijay was one of those kids. So I'm locked into watching him and seeing how he progresses. His athleticism, his burst, his fearlessness when he launches himself, it's tailor made for coming out of the gates being really, really electric.

You know, like, it is. Now, he's still slight a frame. If you watch him, like, he's not, you don't have his man body on him yet. But you're playing in a league where there are not too many dudes that are going to take you down out of the air and make you get, you know, get up and shoot free throws over and over again. Right.

So, like, you're okay. I would say this about Willie. Cliff, I like them without the big. You know, yeah, let's keep it there. I like them without the big. That's the next question. Let's keep it there. Philly's three and O right now.

Joel and B played two games. He has a 20-minute, minutes restriction for the season so far. He scored 20 points at last game he played. Set out last night versus the Magic. I believe the Sixers played a Wizards tonight. Let's keep it with Philly, man. Obviously, I'm a little bit biased here. I'm a little bit biased here.

Hey, we'll always keep it with Philly. We'll always keep it in Philly, okay. Yo, Raj, I still can't wait until they wear them jerseys, man. Them jerseys, it's a lot. Yeah, that should be tough. But let's keep it to Philly, though. Three and O right now. What are your expectations for the Sixers?

Like, look, as somebody who's been here, it's been hype, they got the same hype almost as the Eagles right now. So bye week, so everybody's locked into the Sixers. Like, how are we feeling about the Sixers early on this season? How are we feeling about the Sixers in the Eastern Conference? Right now with playing without, you know, a half of Embedd, playing without Paul George and Jared McCain. How are we feeling?

It's funny because as somebody with no like emotional investment in this, I've still been on this weird roller coaster where as you guys know, I was, I was the one saying, I think they're going to be all right this season. I think they could be top four. But that was all predicated on the idea that Embeddead and Paul George would eventually be some semblance of themselves. Opening night of watching and they're looking really kind of rough around the edges.

And Embed in particular, like, Joelle Embedd looks like he doesn't, he can barely move at times. He is so clunky. He doesn't want to leave the perimeter. He doesn't want to get inside. They're curtailing his minutes, obviously. And so there's a part of that that's just like the big warning sign. But then there's a flip side of it, which is that Maxey and Edgecombe looked like the most explosive backcourt in the league. And like at the end of last night's game, the magic announcers while their their team

is losing are like kind of clowning M. Bede and Paul George without naming them. They're laughing about how it's Maxie's team. And it's not like, quote, the other guys when they come back. And they're like, they're like they were, they were like laughing about this. They were having fun with it. But like the truth of the matter is, like, they, they've stumbled into this completely unintentional two timeline thing. And unlike the Warriors two timeline thing where the back end was never going to work out, like the

Sixers feel like they're firmly in transition right now, right? And look, it could, it can change. Embed, maybe just needs to get his legs back under him and like ease his way back in after eight months out or whatever it was. Paul George, we haven't seen yet. We'll see what it. But when Paul George comes back,

Paul George as a, as a win, who's like a third or four jobs? You just made Cliff depressed. You just make Cliff depressed. No, look. No, dude, the thing is they're legit, right? They're legit exciting right now. They're good right now without Embed even being himself and without Paul George even being on the court. Like, that's, it can only, I think it could only get better from here within this season. And the fact is, you can be really confident about who they are after in the next era. I don't know about that, bro. I really don't know about that, man. I'm sorry. I, let me, let me.

The schedule has been soft. Let's be clear. The schedule has been soft for sure, but never underestimate a superstar ego. I'll just say that, man. Like, when you're trying to, like, I mean, you kind of saw it last year when Paul Drewers kind of threw a little shade at our guy became. You know what he was bawling, right?

Like, it's, it's, it's, on 2K, it's easier. You're worried about the two vets are going to be like, the little bit of shame. I would. I would. It's not, it's their team. It's M.B.'s team. And he's already pissed off.

He can't play more than 20 minutes. It's the, like, it's good vibes for the young guys doing it, but that's the problem. I've lived the two timelines. Trust me. I know that it does not work under any circumstances, right? Like, it's cool when you have, like, the young vibes and they're doing good. But then you have these vets come in and they're trying to put their mark on it. Like, Embed is, and Cliff knows this because he lives it.

And Bid is a bit, a lot sensitive to everything that is being said about him, about the team that he plays for, right? you mean to tell me he's not going to try to take back his team when he comes back in the lineup fully, right? Paul George- He doesn't look like he can, Logan. He can. Well, that's not the point that I'm saying, no. I'm saying, like, when he gets the guard rolls taken off, I'm saying what he's going to try to do. Paul George- Yeah, he don't know that.

Yeah, he don't know that. And Paul George had Gilly yelling his face for 45 minutes about what it means to be a Philadelphia 76er. He's going to be trying to prove himself, too. This has the potential to be a little toxic transition, man. Is all I'm saying. Paul George, Paul, Paul George, a much more natural fit with what they, with what they're currently doing that's successful and allowing those young guards to continue to develop and be the engine than Joel and Bede would be.

Right. And the only argument I will listen to for Joelle and Bede coming back and being allowed to be the guy again is if he is at 95% of his former. self. That is, that does not look like it's going to be the case. Now, if you told me, hey, we're getting 95% of Joel and feedback. Sam it. Let's have the conversation. Let's chop it up. I might still err on the side of saying let these young guys, you know, be the engine. But we could at least debate that. If he's not that, this is a no-brainer for me. Their pace, like, you can't slow that down. These young bloods are getting up and down the court.

They're getting, they shot the ball. I mean, I stopped counting. But, you know, it, it took me back to like, I know other teams play like this now, but it was like, they were getting it up with 16 seconds on the shot clock. Into the front court, quick pick and roll, finding a shot, boom, it's in the air. Or they're in your paint and they're spraying it out.

And I don't think you can play through Joel Embed and continue, you know, to have that type of pace and let these guys spread their wings and flourish in the way that they're flourishing. And I don't know that either one of them keeps the, numbers of but I like them playing this style I think they're a tougher they're a tougher matchup even though they were getting pummeled on the glass last night right like because Orlando had a few possessions or whatever they're four offensive rebounds like they were just

they were bullyballing you but what they're saying to you is you know we're going to get it out the net and we're going to go get three you just got two you know and they're just they're just going and I like that it looks better it feels better um for me personally than it did watching them try to go through MBE. I'm just keeping it above. Cliff, before we get this out, you have the final say as a Philly Bowl. But I have a question for you. Four games in, three games in.

Is VJ a Philly Bowl? Is he a Philly Bowl yet? Has he earned it? Does he have the title? No, don't do that. Don't do that, Cliff. You know we don't give it. Not yet.

Come on, Cliff, don't do that, bro. The BJ is super like, he already super. Has he earned the right? Has he earned the name? Yeah, he come from the churches, man. We respect VJ around. these parts, man.

In all seriousness, though, I, like, I can't go anywhere without people talking to me about VJ. Like, I was just in the general When you get in the jersey?

Come on, you know, I'm not grabbing no jersey of nobody, man, unless it's a throwback six years. As you're wearing a jersey right now. This is, but this is an old school

Eric Lindrauss joint. This is, okay. This is from 90s, Eric, you know what I mean? Early 2000s Philly stuff right here. This ain't,

this ain't nobody new on the team right now. It's ain't Matt Babe Meachkov or anybody like that. I'm not grabbing the edgecom jersey, but I'm a support. I like what the young sisters are doing, honestly. And Maxie averaging 37 the game, he's been on one, and I don't think that's been talked about enough. Like, I want to know, like, your thoughts on the hierarchy to the Eastern Conference.

Like, how realistic is it that the Sixers, if healthy, can actually compete with the Knicks and the Cavs? Like, before the season, Howard, I know you kind of, I know you kind of said, you know, they can, yo, if healthy, they can really compete. Let's say you do get a version of Joellen B that's 85, 90%. But my problem is, right, and this is just me speaking personally, is the backline defense. The backline defense. Lo was going to spray his neck. He's shaking his head so hard.

But it's the backline defense. It's relying on Audrey Drummond and Edem Bono, who's in his second year, who's also a foul magnet. And Drummond who's, all right, I'm not going to say the word, but drummer who's, you know, maybe a little bit past some years where, you know, he is a rebounding monster and maybe can defend a little bit. I think being a backline defender is probably the most crucial part of what the sixes actually need because they don't play a lick of defense. And that's the problem. So I can't take this team too serious until they. get a backline defender? The front court, without M.B., being somewhere close to even 80% of himself,

the front court is just, it's a mess. But their ability to just get up and down and just throw, you know, just rain points on you, they can be in a lot of games. Like, they're not going to be a threat to win four out of seven in a playoff series against a really tough team that actually plays D. But, you know, listen, the, the, Eastern Conference after the Nixon Cavs, I think there's nobody you can rely on right now. Nobody. And the magic are off to a really, like, magic got all the hype in the world.

Oh, they got Desmond Bain, all this. Like the magic look really rough right now. They're going through it. The everything in the top of the east after Cleveland, New York is open. The Sixers can be in there in the regular season, Logan. I'm not saying that means they're a threat to like make a run of the conference finals. but throw that every fat ass-ass asterisk you want on this sentence. But if Joelle and Bede and Paul George are anywhere near themselves in the spring with Maxie and Hedgman playing like this, I mean, come on, we can't pretend. Why do we keep, okay, bro, this is my problem. Why do we keep giving Joelle and B. and Paul George the benefit of the doubt when they

haven't earned it? How many times are we going to see this? I'm tired of this. I am tired of this. I'm tired of the caveat. They already to prove it. I'm sorry. Cliff do where I was going with this.

I'm not proclaiming them back. I'm saying if we, listen, there's no reason. If they come back that you go get disappointed. You're acting like these guys are like 40 years old with like, you know, I saw them when they were in their 30s.

Did they disappointed? I saw them when they were in their late 20s, did they disappoint? I saw them when they were in the early 20s and they disappointed. I would, I would, look, Paul,

Paul, if you said Paul George was three or four of, in terms of your perimeter scoring options and was bought in to doing that in a supporting cast role, like Paul George, I'm good with that. Yeah,

that's all they need for me. It's to be their third option at most. Absolutely. But here, the sticking point, first of all, Mike De Antonio, you should say this all the time.

Like, and if you're not going to win a championship because only one team's going to get to do that, we're going to be fucking exciting. Yeah. Right? So I would ask the question, hey, bro,

like you worried about, you know, whether their backline defense is going to, I don't think they're, went into chip anyway. So would you rather see games hovering around 100 or you want to see them in the 120s? I'm going with the 120s. So, so like, I'm really not tripping off of that. And I think that playing that style and they are soft and they did get pummeled on the glass and defense will be an issue. But to Howard's point, you score enough in this league, you're going to be in a lot,

you're going to be in a lot. You're going to have a chance to be there, whether you win a championship or not, you know, I don't think you can, but like you'll be there. If you get Joe L&B back as a defensive presence and a supplementary offensive piece. We can start talking. I'll talk to you. Like we can have it. But if Joel Lindbita is going to come back and it's going to bob down the offense because we got to play through him just to get the defense.

And I think Logan's concerns about the chemistry aspect of this, the ego aspect of this. I think that's real. I think it's valid. I think that's fair. But neither Roger or I are saying Logan. that we're expecting like MVP level Joelle and beadback, nor do they necessarily need that right now just to be competitive. All they need is for him to give them some semblance of rim protection and,

and fill it up in the back line. That, that, he has to be okay with that. Just be Mitchell Roberts. Back to the chemistry and ego part. But, but yeah, yeah, he has to be a super expensive Mitchell Robinson, hopefully or hopefully healthier than Mitchell Robinson because that dude can't stay on the floor either. But like, they don't need. MVP Joe L.MB. Now, that's the beauty of what they now have with this incredibly explosive backcourt.

So it does require Joe L&B to be okay with sliding into a different kind of role at this stage after all the knee surgeries and everything. That's hard for guys. But there is a, there's an outline there. That's hard for, that's hard for regular low maintenance guys. I know, right? Like that's hard for just your average. you're doing. Okay, let's do the, let's do a mellow question and let's go to mailbag because I know there's a mellow question there. Let's blow this pot up early. Let's blow, it's October 28. Let's fucking blow this pot up. If there's, if there's two players that absolutely makes his pot go crazy, one is La Mello Ball and the other is Russell Westwood.

But I won't say that. I just, I will say this. I will say this. I will say, La Mola Ball is off to a crazy good start. Probably the best start of his, I was say his young career because he's always hurt at some point in the season. But look, he's mad efficient, averaging 28, 8 and 9 on pace to have his best field goal percentage by far. I think his 3-point percentage is at like 36% and he's averaging just from the field 48%. I think his highest in his career is 43% in any given season. Think about that. Howard, I know you got plenty of thoughts on lamella ball, the efficient lamello ball. The hornets are actually looking decent. How are we feeling about the mellow ball, guys. I'll just say this. This is early reaction theater. Don't do this.

For good and for bad. No, no, I'm just going to say, as somebody who's been pretty critical of the mellow ball, I've been a skeptic. Like, I think he's super fun, but not super winning player. I've been impressed. I've been really impressed. I've watched the horn. It's a week in, Logan. Shut up, man. It's the whole point of overreaction theater a weekend is to overreact a week in. Take the towel off your head. It's not overreacting to call. This is where we always disagree. Sorry.

Like this is where we always, the two of you, it's not overreaction to acknowledge what he's doing. Yes. Thank you. Like, that's not an overreaction. And all I'm saying, look, this is, I ran the stats every which way you can on stathead. This is the best three games start to the Mello's career on every count and not just counting stats.

Efficiency stats. His, he's a 9.7 assists per game that would easily be his career best. he's shooting a career high on threes. He's shooting a career high on twos. He's even rebounding at a career high rate right now. He's getting to the line at a career high rate, 6.7 attempts per game, making 5.3 of them. This is the best three-game start of his career,

and it's not, it is not Lamello like, you know, pulling up, shoes and crazy, like one-footers from 35 feet just because he can. He's not out there just screwing around and putting on a show. He's playing winning basketball. The only thing I've ever asked as somebody who has been occasionally on this pod critical of him is, the skill set is obvious.

And he could do incredible things with the ball in his hands as both the score and playmaker. Can you do it in a way that contributes more to winning in that? And that just filters out some of the nonsense each game, like a few less just crazy plays, crazy attempts, wild passes, whatever. He's done that. That's all you can ask.

And like, they're slowly building a sounder supporting cast around him. And maybe that's part of it. Maybe he's just maturing into it. It's three games. I'm not going to get carried away, but I'm impressed with what I've seen so far. Logan's got the towel off his head, so maybe he's ready to chill.

It's only three games, bro. He played against Brooklyn and fucking Washington. Okay, did you see the shit that he did down to stretch against Philly? Like, yo, he threw the fucking ball out of bounds. Like, they fucking lost a lead against a good team. Like, I'm happy. He has been more under control than I've seen him generally.

It's been, like you said, it's been three games. I'm not about to annoy it. any like transformer to bride. Did I say he's MVP? Did I say he's all NBA? Did I annoy it? I don't think you annoyed that. I think he was impressive. The Washington game was impressive. That was a great triple double. He could do that. But I'm just like, yo, man. So far so good. He needs to keep it up. That's all we can say about anybody. One of the best three games stretches of his career. I'm broken. You broke me. I'm broke. It's, oh, bro, don't kidding me. I don't want to do it. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it.

You're not going to bait me today, Cliff. I'm not doing it. If we can't acknowledge the players who we've got to go of or actually having a good run, then what are we doing? Exactly, Rod, just either Lamello or Russ. You got to get it. I'm not doing it. Russ had a crazy end of out.

He had a crazy end-in-out last night, too. Russ, no, Russ. Look, look, I ain't even seen Russ play, bro. I'm not. He's out. I just hope Russ finished his career in NBA. That Russ King's Jersey is nasty, bro. It is gross.

It's a gross. I just, it's always, it's always difficult for me. It will always be difficult for me, even though I sit on this side of the mic. It will always be very difficult for me. Even having Bing in the NBA and made an entire career out of it to throw slander at dudes that are that good at playing basketball. It's always, it's always, it always hurts me. Mello.

Now, things can be true about like, you know, to Howard's point, like, so childish, possessions and some loose possessions and and you know doing things through the course of his career so far that that people could construe is not necessarily in the best effort to win games at times like we can have those combos and I'm with that like I'm not here to not call a spade a spade but you know it was my argument around the all-star thing last year is you have to acknowledge when people are really really really really fucking good at something and that dude is really really good at play in basketball. And, you know, we sit here and we split the hairs about, like, whether he's good at winning. And that's fair. Like, that's fair at the end of the day. Because at some point,

that's our job. And the best players in the world are great at it and win games. So I'm here for that. I do that too. But like, that dude can hoop. He can who. Fair. Fair. I'm going to say this. And y'all know me. If they win, which is what the ultimate metric of this is, because he can score, like, dog. His stats are crazy last. year. And if they win, y'all know me, I'll shut the fuck up and call the spade to spade too. Y'all know me. Yeah. I'm not saying that they will. Donovan, I want you guys are misconstruiting. All I'm saying is that it's three games and he played and the wins. It's Washington and Brooklyn. Yeah, look, I think we're having two different conversations

because I agree with everything that you're saying and what Howard said. And I'm, I was on like, hey, look, that's only three games. So, but bigger picture, I mean, even if he shouldn't, you know, Like, he's still pretty, some of the stuff he does is crazy, man. Like, there's sometimes where I just like to sit back and, because like, and be like, yo, that's pretty crazy. He could do that. Like, that's pretty wild because not a lot of people could do that. Michelle, respect.

All right, we mailback time. Wait, can we get one more? I just want to get one more in with you specifically, Logan. Is it time, contract year comminga? Oh, I mean. I thought that's why I wanted to get. No, no, no. No, I'm serious.

Let's get the mailback, man. Why are you doing me like this? I don't want to talk about. All right. I don't want to talk about Kaminga, bro. I'm not doing this. You know what? Just for that, just for that.

This is the first Mellwegg question. Howard, I said this to you already. This is, hey, my name is Alicia, and I'm a long-term listener of the pod. Do the Warriors have a genuine path to the title, or is it all overhyped? Thanks, guys. Is Jonathan Kaminga contributing to a possible championship? I hate y'all. Let's go, Logan.

Take it away on you, Logan. Is this Alicia? Alicia. Yeah, her name is Alicia. Shout out to the homie, bro. Alicia Stout. Yeah, Alicia Stout. Shout out to the homie, man.

I really appreciate you listening, man. What's this, six seven? No, that's my kids. My kids told me the night, that's ICE. Oh, no. When they want to govary joined, the Kobe LeBron join. Yeah, the ICE on their ICE on. Just get out the way, though.

Why don't do me like, okay, no, they're not winning a championship. I'm tired of the hype. They, like, also the Warriors are another team of like, we'll see what happens. Because I think Howard was talking to me about this. I'm like, yo, man, the Warriors look great to start the season. They're going to look good. Grass season. Howard Beck impression, by the way, phenomenal.

Last season. season. They went like what, 12 and 6 to start the year, the year before that, 12 and 2 to start the year. They're great at starting seasons. What happened after that? Injuries, right? This is the oldest team in the league. I don't know if it's the oldest team in the league. I think there's another team that's older to know, but they're one of the oldest. Clippers are older, right? Um, yeah. There's, they, they signed Al Horford to, to solve their, uh, front court problem. And Draymond is still starting at center, ladies and gentlemen. Like, that's a rotation thing though that's a that's a that's a we want to finish games with al horford if we start games with him and he's only on a 20 minute restriction then we can't play him for like the middle two quarter like that's all right thank you wasn't about thank you thank you sir sir sir sir sir sir sir i didn't you know steve care said to us on the podcast no more but here he is um that was what steve told us said to us all right he said to us said to us all right he told us said to us all horrid said to us all horrid is also all horford said to us also al horford and i were sitting there together also al horfer is also not playing back to x also al horfer

is not playing back to backs, right? So Draymond's going to also be closing. Those are limitations. Those are problems. He's also going to be closing games even despite what Steve Kerr says. So, no, they're not going to win the title, bro. They, like, they went 45 games. You should be happy in the Bay Area. But like, like, they're going to, they're going to ride Steph's brilliance

into the ground. And then they're going to, they're going to, like, when they're supposed to be healthy, they're going to have a two-week stretch where Howard saying they're the great, Howard and Bill and everybody on the ringer is going to say, oh, they're at a great stretch. Oh, the Warriors are back, baby. And they're going to disappoint. Like, this is what's going to happen? This is late stage warriors' dynastic run, okay?

They're not even at the dynastic run. They are where they're supposed to be. Okay, they're just going out sad. They should have made trades years ago to fortify this roster. They haven't done it. And you could be to tell me after the offseason that they had that we're supposed to expect them to be good long term. and consistent, stop. I'm tired of it. I don't want to hear it no more. Why did you do this, Cliff? Next question. I'm not trying to hear this stuff. Now I got to go to Chase and I got to hear

people talking about, oh, look you what you said on the pot? I'm standing on. I'm tired of the propaganda. Rupert. Did you see Draymond, did you see Draymond, Mike Aldama after he missed a free throw? He's a P.EL. Honestly, he's in midseason for him. To be fair, Draymond is hilarious. Dramon is in mid-season for him. Did you guys see that there's like some new like NBC like medical sitcom, Draymond's on a, like, gurney being wheeled into the emergency room or something. What the hell? I don't know what the hell is going. It was like on Peacock last night.

There was a promo for this. I don't know what's going on. I just want to be clear to Alicia's question and to Logan, I have never acclaimed that the Warriors have a path to the title. I think they can be really, really good. I have never said path to the title, Logan, for the right. I do. Can we be, can we talk about the coming a piece of it though?

You can talk about. Not without Logan's head exploding. I don't want to talk about it. But, I mean, you could correct me if I'm wrong. You watch Raymore. I didn't have to watch every one of their games this year. But he looks a lot more complimentary and bought into doing what they would need him to do to be a contributing part of that offense. I mean, I was watching pretty intensely.

He damn were better for the next team no wants to sign him. But I mean, that's all you can ask for, right? Like, you got a guy who's kind of stubborn about his role. You know, he's young. he wants certain things out of it. He's bucking up against the system. But, you know, the hope would be at some point he gets to this point where you can have him out there. And he's contributing in the way that you need him to contribute to win games.

Like, that's progress. And even if it's because he's thinking about the next team, Logan, I mean, Raja and I talked about this over the summer. Like, the problem for Kaminga could be if you were auditioning for the next team, it may mean that you're you're forcing the issue, you're going the other way and forcing the issue because you're trying to put up numbers to show your worth to somebody because you want someone to trade for you and you want them to give you a big contract that you could not get from the Warriors, that he's playing under control and playing within a format and moving the ball and everything. Those are all good signs for him and for the Warriors. And if it ultimately

still ends up in a trade at midseason, you know, that's probably good news for everybody because it means that they found a good return that they think does bolster their chances of making a deeper playoff run right now. Awesome. I just got to give him a little credit because he looks like he bought it in in a way that awesome points. At least in the awesome.

Very great. Astute points. What's the next question? You're going to hate me for this next question, but this is from Adam Boe greeting real ones. Since it's never really to talk trades. I wanted to know your thoughts on some realistic

trades that could actually make a difference. The obvious example is I can think of is a John Dick Kaminka trade. I guess the Warriors and other my unlikely my unlikely dream trade would be for Bam out of bio thanks Adam Bo

oh boy I'm not doing this the the listeners obviously have it in for Logan panel you don't have to think of a comminga trade though

it could be anybody like panel the Rock is finding the point guard like it could be any of that panel panel anybody anybody got anything no I do not think the Miami Heat

are trading Bam out of bio for a package built around Jonathan Cominga. I think that one's safe to say. Yo, man, here's the other thing about the Warriors, bro. Sorry. You can't shit on Cibinga behind the scenes for three years and then try to get a return for like Bam out of Bia. Like, I'm sorry.

Like, every, I think the, I think everyone knows because. I don't think the Warriors expect that. I think the Warriors, never mind. I don't want to talk about the Warriors next time. Next time. I just don't have it. Next. His question was actually, are the realistic,

trades that we could come up with. That was just an example. That was just an example. So is there any, Howard, is there anything you can see like the Rockets doing? If you could have just left out the second part instead of dealing. No, what, what does it take to Gator Fox at a, out of San Antonio? My question. For you, Howard, Beck. What would you? No, listen. If, if I'm, if I'm any team in the league, maybe not the Rockets, because, as Logan pointed out earlier, like, they sending them right up the road would be, I think, difficult for both teams to make that deal. But who knows? Any team in the league that needs a point right now,

I think Deeran Fox is one of the guys I would keep an eye on. I'm not saying it's automatic that he'll become available. But I mean, the Spurs have a long road ahead here with a really young, fun roster and a lot of potential. Hey, Howard, Deerrin, John Moran, who says no? Spurs. But the right up the road of it all keeps not. sitting well with me because, and I don't know why, because I mean, maybe I'm crazy, but like,

I understand it normally. But in this scenario, if you're San Antonio, you have an embarrassment of riches problem, right? Like, hey, we've got this piece. It doesn't necessarily fit because we've got all these young guards. We're not on the same timeline. We want to allow them to develop with, with Wembe closer to his timeline. So, like, it's just we have excess here. The fear would just be you'd have to face him all the time in Houston. Like I don't I don't I don't see it necessarily like the ones where guys just want out or like you can't come to an agreement on a deal and you don't want to send them somewhere because it's kind of contentious when you play them. Those I understand why you don't send them closer in conference. But like sometimes I deal and I'm not saying again I've not done all the legwork to parse out whether it could work or not. But like sometimes it's like just a win win win like here dude this helps you. It helps us. If we're if we're going east west thing which is like the traditional thing when you're sitting you know, You know, sending out like a big star and you don't, you know, it's the whole I don't want to face him, blah, blah, blah. And like teams don't always abide by that. But if you do, like Chicago Bulls could use deer and fox.

There's one. Miami Heat, I think probably love deer and fox. I'm not saying that based on intel or anything. I'm just saying like here's a team that absolutely needs, uh, just high end talent, period. But who would Miami part? Could the Milwaukee Bucks make a deal for him and make they don't have the goods? But like, you know, Janus could certainly use another running mate. There are teams out there that if he becomes available.

The Nets as a rebuilding team, maybe. Michael Porter Jr. at the Texas, baby. Let's get it. Michael Porter Jr. is throwing up some crazy shots right now, by the way. As if we couldn't see that coming. I'm going to just be real. The Nets are like a low-key cool league pass team just for the hubris. Just to see Cam Thomas fucking chuck shit up, not pass the ball.

Edge Lord Michael Porter Jr. He had a 40 ball with zero assist, bro. So you had the Cam Thomas game along with the wimby game. That was a phenomenal game to start the season, bro. There was a lot going on there. I also am proud of myself. I now understand or now can pronounce Yeager Diomans name correctly. Yeager Diomann.

I've got it down. I've got it down. Finally, it only took like the entire summer. The kids are right in my back. Are you making your Barclays Center return at some point in the future? Should be soon, right? Knocked me out because we were all out in L.A. for Core Week last week. But now they're on the road.

But yeah, I'm going to go see some Nets Cam Thomas show in person. Let's go. Let's go. All right. We got one more. We got one more. Yeah, let's close it up over Rashab B. No, no, no, no, no.

We got one. We got one. We got one. We got one. We got one from our guy. Oh, yeah. Sorry, bro. What's his name? We can shout him out, though. What's his name?

What's my band's name? Hold up here. What's my name? His name is Keith. No, no, no, no. Not Keith, Keith, Keith from the social, for sure. But the other dude, I wanted to shout him out because we're not answering this question. Adam Bo?

Yeah, shout to Rashad. Rashad. Yeah. Adam Bo was the other one. I was about to say Rashad's question. So Adam was a... Oh, shout out to Rashire. Shout out to Adam.

But we're talking... We go on Keith from Social, bro. We got to hold down. Let's hold down Keith. All right. Well, Mike Brown keep up the rec league. Every dude gets minutes rotation. The streets need to know.

Shout out to Keith, man. Shout to my brother to Keith, man. The cardigans, bro. His cardigan game at Core Week was insane. Bro, he had the Cheryl Swoops Team USA jersey and a cardigan, bro. It was out here. Oh, he's got to fit off. And had the hair dye with the long hair, bro.

He was out here getting fits off. You were invited, Roger, just what you know. You were invited. Good enough. good enough. I just want to, I don't know, like probably, I don't know the intricacies of Mike Brown's offense. I just want to say, it's just hilarious, just how polarizing Mike Brown has been over the years,

God. Just all of the things. He's a great guy, but the way he is, the way he has been so polarizing the fan bases and fans and some people in the locker room as being such a nice guy has been, been very wild. And I just, I think I wanted to use this opportunity. I wanted to shout Keith out, but also to be like, damn, three games in we're already getting Nick's questions

about how they're going to do and Mike Brown questions. It's tough Howard. It's just tough. It's also like just the shock to the system for the Knicks and Knicks fans like going from Tibbs with the 5.3 man rotation to let's see,

11 guys averaging double digits in minutes right now all the way down to Tyler Colick at 12.3 minutes a game. Like I don't think Knicks fans are used to the idea of a bench playing. And yeah, it might be too, an excess right now,

what Mike Brown's doing. But like, listen, like some of this is they don't have like their regular rotation yet. Like Josh Hart missed the start of the season. He's playing now. Mitchell Robinson's still out. Like when you've got your core seven or eight guys, and I think someone's just him figuring what that is,

figuring out what that is. Like, I don't expect that Mike Brown's going to spend the entire season playing an 11-man rotation. No. I think he will be more expansive than Tibbs was with the with the rotation. I think that was probably part of the point of the exercise of changing coaches. I think he'll give them that.

I think he will lean less hard on Towns and Brunson and try to keep them fresh for the postseason. I think that's probably the plan. But no, I don't think he's going 11 deep for the whole season. Good job. I think Roger agrees with Howard. There you go. All right. We're all checked out now.

I think that'll do it. I think we're good. That has been another edition of Real Ones. We are back on Friday. I have no idea who's going to be there. I know I will be there, ladies and gentlemen. We do this every Tuesday and Friday. I am Logie Boo, not the two.

Big C.C. Cliff is on the boards. Big VV. Victoria is on the video. That's Howard motherfucking Beck. That's Roger Bell. Tap me. We'll see you guys Friday. All this shits. Bye.