The Ringer NBA Show - Sizing Up the Most Crucial Playoff Races Left on the Board | Group Chat

Episode Date: March 24, 2025

Justin and Wos are joined by Michael Pina, who just wrote about this final stretch of the NBA season, to discuss the close playoff and play-in races, mostly in the Western Conference. They also talk a little bit about the fourth- to sixth-place race in the Eastern Conference. Hosts: Justin Verrier and Wosny Lambre Guest: Michael Pina Producers: Isaiah Blakely and Ben Cruz Social: Keith Fujimoto The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to group chat. I am Justin Verrier and joining me, Big Was, but no Rob Mahoney today. But in his stead, we have a guy I like to consider the Tracy Letts of the Ringer MBA coverage. Michael Pina. What's up, man. What a comparison. I'm speechless, Justin. Thank you so much. Always happy to be here. You're just a distinguished takesman and officiado of the craft. You know, you guys are very similar in that regard. Also, apparently Michael Pina is a swinger if the internet is to be believed. I don't get the reference. Y'all didn't hear about that? No. Y'all ain't here about Carrie Coon going on Mark Marin and basically saying that she's in an open marriage and then having to like tamp it down and being like, yo, I wasn't saying our marriage is open, blah, blah, blah, which we know.

That's what she was saying. So shouts to them. Very 2025 of them. I know that Tracy Letts, who is just on the big picture podcast with Sean and those guys. Hopefully he's not a big NBA head. He might not be guesting on group chat and time soon. But shout to Tracy Letts and shots to our own Tracy Letts. Who's a little bit probably more prudent with his extracurricular activities, I assume.

To be clear, I am not in an open marriage either, but let's continue this podcast. Let's go. Um, waz, what's up with you? Have you been plugged into tourney time? Are you like, are you smarting from the Johnny's just getting wasted out of? That was tough. That was tough, especially losing the Caliperi. You know Calipari took extra joy in dispensing with Rick Patino.

It's the first St. John's team that had any chance of doing anything since probably run our test. Some people would say the Marcus Hatton era. Um, but yeah, it's tough. It's tough to watch that happen. the way that it did. But we're fine. I got to watch the Dukies, which were pretty impressive.

I'm not going to lie. Duke is good. Seems like they're just going to kick everybody's asses. But, yeah, I managed to watch the Lakers game. That's not if you could even call it that. Just a lot of basketball this weekend. Soccer was on international break, so had a lot more extra time to watch sports this weekend.

A lot of time to do your job, basically. Yeah. That's good to see. Unfortunately, the Huskies also were felled in the second round there. They came pretty goddamn close. And unfortunately, unlike Duke and some of these other prospects that are kind of taking flight here, Liam, not really looking forward to him and his NBA career because he basically submarine the Huskies in that second round because he couldn't hit a goddamn shot.

So I guess two titles in a row will have to suffice. Three would have been nice, but we'll be fine. Dina, are you watching any college basketball in between like, Kraman jazz tape. The first college basketball game of the season I watched yesterday was Yukon, Florida, and it was just so disgusting. I've remembered why I hate the NCAA tournament. I hate college basketball. I have a question for you, though. So do you think Hurley coming off the, you know, I know he's a total lunatic and, but coming off that loss and kind of the temper tantrum that he threw, do you think he feels a little bit of regret in turning down the

opportunity to coach Luca Donchich for the next 10 years and to stay in Connecticut? Like, what do you think is his mindset right now? I guess I question how real the offer was to begin with. Was he actually in line to be coaching that team? Because if he was, I bet, but he also kind of lives for this shit. Like, it seems like his favorite thing to do is yell at college referees and also be caught in viral moments where he looks like it in like a pretty big dickhead. I have to say, like, I was a Jim Calhoun just, like, Stan for the longest time,

and he makes Jim Calhoun look like, just like a Good Morning America. He's like, Michael Straitan. He's tough. He's a tough hang. I don't know if you guys saw it. As he was walking off the court, he tells Baylor, like, I hope they don't fuck you. Like, they fuck does. It's like, I don't know.

Maybe you guys just didn't make three-pointers. Yep. Yep. But you know what? He's had a pretty successful. run there. So we'll give him a pass. Yeah, college basketball has been fun. But in between watching Duke, I have been cramming some Blazers games, some other games out here. So that's why today we're going to get into some of the best playoff races still left on the board. What do we have

here about like two weeks left in the season? Three weeks. So kind of like a month here. A couple of things still left to play for. We're going to go through the biggest seeding races left on the board. I think we have to start, rather, at the top of the Western Conference, where last night we saw a big old competition between the Nuggets without Yokic and the Rockets, battling for that two seed. Was, what is your take on the two seed here? Are there any of these teams, Denver, Houston, I guess we can include the Lakers and Grizzlies, too, that you like who might pull it out here down the stretch? I mean, I think Denver, if they try, can probably, get the two seed, right?

Last night, they're playing without Yokic. And Murray, who, look, I'm about as big a Jamal Murray apologies as there are in media, but the guy just straight up doesn't play hard every single game. Like, that's just not what he's here to do in the regular season, particularly. But I think if Murray decides, like, yo, we really want to get this two seed,

I think they'll be fine. and you know but but I do wonder do you want the two seed if it means you played Minnesota in the first round I don't know and and I I understand some people being realist about this and being like yeah you should avoid your worst matchup and other people being like that's bad juju why are you like trying to game the system and ducking opponents you're supposed to be a pet competitor and feel like you can beat anybody and so I think if Denver wants it it's there for them for the taking But I wouldn't be surprised if they kind of just eased into the playoffs and was just like, you know what?

We want to be as healthy and whole as possible. We'll deal with the repercussions of who we have to play when, you know, when that comes. What do you think, Mike? I tend to agree. I think that the nuggets are the second best team in the Western Conference. And Justin, how down bad were you watching Jamal Murray Cook, one of the best defenses in the league without Nicola Okich yesterday? just curious. It was tough.

I did get to see the flip side of that where he could barely score against Tumani Kamara in Portland. And so I got the good and the bad right back to back there. But he practically ran out of gas in that game and they almost dropped it toward the end there because they needed him to be so great. And he was great. He had 39 against the Rockets. Very fair.

So I was looking at some playoff probabilities over the weekend when you told me what we were going to be talking about today, Justin. And the Denver Nuggets had a 9% chance of getting the second season. before that game. And after they beat the Houston Rockets, it jumped up to 20%. So obviously still not great. And we don't know when Nicola Yokic is coming back. But I thought that that was pretty meaningful.

They also have a game against the Rockets in the season finale, last game of the year, with the tiebreaker on the line. And I just feel like if Denver wants the two seed, regardless of who's down at the bottom, because I feel like all these teams in the 6, 7, 8 range, and we're going to talk about them later, they're all really good playing pretty solid basketball with superstars on their roster. So I don't know if there's a right answer for Denver.

I just feel like you should win as many games as possible going out with the idea of health also being a priority. Yeah, this time of year is a little difficult because we're constantly looking at the strength of schedule and trying to determine who's playing who, like who's actually going to be available for some of these games. For instance, Portland had a stretch here where they were playing Memphis, Denver, Boston. and now the calves on Tuesday all in a row. But then it's like Memphis without John Moria. And then it's Denver without Yokic. And then it's Boston, even though they got crushed without a lot of their players.

And so it's really tough to tell what a strength of schedule actually suggests here. And so I kind of look at it how much is like how much do these guys need it. Right? And I think the Rockets, a team still trying to prove themselves who has been playing very well of late right before this Denver game. I think what was it like nine in a row they managed to reel off. They just need it more than a team like Denver who,

it clearly seems to be taking its sweet time with Yokic in order to rest him for the playoffs. Mike, what do you think about the Rockets in general, though? Like, are you believing that, like, the recent stretch before this game is real? Because it seemed like they had found something. But I think part of that is that Jalen Green is such an essential part of this, and you never know what you're going to get with them. Yeah, I'm split on the Rockets as a, like, a threatening playoff team. I respect their defense, obviously.

I respect their depth and I respect their confidence level, one through eight, one through nine, however, whatever they want to do. I also am skeptical of their ability to space the floor. If Dylan Brooks isn't hitting ridiculous shots, their offense kind of goes in the tank. I am not a Jalen Green person either. And he is so important to like their offensive efficiency, which is disturbing to me. me. But I do like, you know, in that nine game, once that nine game winning streak began, it coincided with this double big lineup with Stephen Adams and Alper and Shingoon playing together. And it's a small sample. But when those two are on the court together, the rockets

look ridiculous, like really, really, really good. And they're grabbing like half of their own miss shots, which is to be expected with those two on the court. And then, you know, they're playing this like funky zone defense, which is like antithetical to everything Eme O'Doka stands for, but has worked so far. So I feel like it's a little gimmicky, but they have these little different wrinkles on their team that they can toy with. I mean, Jabari Smith coming off the bench since the All Star Break really has been, I mean, if you can bring someone that talented off the bench, like it says a lot about the different

looks you can throw and the different lineups you can play. So I like them, but I just don't know even. now with them in the two seed today as we talk like how serious they are if that makes any sense yep i think the the rockets it would mean most symbolically for them to get the two seed right to have all of these years of a rebuild happen then last year they kind of make a breakthrough into like basically announced themselves as part of the western conference upper crust okay see getting the one last year we have arrived exactly um a especially with a team that relies on so many young guys,

I think it would be a big deal to just to say, like, we were the second best team in the regular season in the Western Conference, which everybody agrees is just like a tough race, a tough conference. And so that's why I think they'll probably end up with it. They're number two right now, and it feels like it means the most to them to get this number two. Like, the Lakers don't care if they get the number two seed.

The Nuggets don't actually care. the Grizzlies are just trying to keep their roster, you know, together with bandages and whatnot and gauze pads. And so I think the Houston Rockets have, you know, the most want to. Like, they absolutely want to be the number two seed. And they've played their asses off all regular season, especially in terms of, you know, I talked about Jamal Murray, not always treating every game like it's do or die or game seven. Like, the Rockets are the opposite. These guys come out and they play.

hard every single night, which has been one of their distinct advantages all year, particularly, as Mike mentioned, on defense. So, yeah, I think the Rockets are going to end up taking this thing, and there'll be a big deal for them. They should celebrate that. Can I ask you guys a quick question? Would you pick the Rockets in a first round

series against literally any team at the bottom of the Western Conference? No. It's tough. Maybe the Clippers. I think they could beat the Clippers, because I have just a general lack of respect for what the Clippers are doing. In terms of like their talent. I can't wait to talk about the, I can't wait to talk about the Clippers.

In terms of their talent, I just have a straight up. And, you know, like, Kauai Leonard hasn't finished a regular season on the floor since 2020. Like, people need to realize that. So, yeah, no, I think the wolves beat him. I think the Warriors definitely beat him. But I still love what they've done this regular season. Yeah, I agree with Waz that the Clippers probably are the best matchup on the board for the Rockets. only because I just watched them play the thunder

and seeing the thunder is just like swarming, attacking, like swipe down guards against Kauai who's lacking a little bit of mobility still, despite being an absolute killer over the past month or so, I think would be the most advantageous, but I do think they're very susceptible to virtually anybody they're going to face. But you mentioned the Lakers was, I think that that's the team that you probably have to take more seriously in this,

if only because they had this little bit of respite for LeBron James. And it almost feels like, like they need the rest of the next two to three weeks in order to still build continuity and consistency with some of these players. Like they've only had what about a month since the trade deadline to begin with. And now on the one hand, I assume LeBron and all these other guys will get a bunch of rest down the stretch, especially how well Austin Reeves is playing. But I also want to see them like put together like a full, what, two weeks of good basketball before they go into the playoffs and try to do this against high level opponents. Did you watch that Bulls game by

I think the Lakers are like trying to build continuity right now? Well, here's the question. They gave up 150 to the Bulls. I know. Well, and how much of that was the Bulls just playing out of their gourd practically since trading Zach Levine? I think it's pretty interesting that like they've gotten better since that trade and not worse.

But also like they weren't around. I mean, the Bron's been out for a while. Hachamura has been out for a while. They basically ushered everyone back in and one big wave and they looked like a team that was rusty. Yeah. I tend to just discount the idea that you could be rusty at trying on defense and executing some level of a game plan and getting back in transition and stuff like. I don't know.

Like to me, that doesn't seem like chemistry issues. And the thing is, I don't think they're going to build a more interconnected offense. It's going to be what it is. It's going to be we rely on the greatness of Luca Donchage and LeBron James. and LeBron James even at 40 to take us home. And we play, you know, hard-nosed, be in the right spot on every possession kind of defense, a sort of physicality-based kind of defense and go from there.

So I don't know. I tend to think, again, LeBron pulled a freaking groin, man. Like, this is a usage kind of injury. And I don't know that these guys are going to be going to pedal to the metal, especially since, you know, they got three. three games, or excuse me, four games above the seventh seed. It's like, they're in pretty good position to avoid the playing, which I think is all they actually care about.

I fundamentally don't trust the Lakers defense. And that Chicago Bulls game where Josh Giddy, I mean, they have like the Will Chamberlain graphic up with nearly getting the quadruple double. Like, it's just, that's just insane stuff. I know that the- Greats of all time. Exactly.

Like, only the Thunder have a better defensive rating than the Lakers do with Luca on the court. And that just does not feel real to me at all when I watch them play. Like, overall opponents are shooting 28% from the mid-range over the last month. And we talk about three-point luck a lot as pundits. Well, I feel like there's like a little long two luck going on, too, the Lakers, if that makes any sense. And yeah, like, I don't know. I just, I go up and down their rotation, and it's just a lot of guys who I don't like still.

And I will credit them for the stretch that they had where the deep where they were flying around when Vanderbilt came back and they had Hachimura and they had some athleticism. And Gabe Vincent was hitting shots and LeBron looked great. But I just look at like Austin Reeves, Luca Donchich. I'm waiting for LeBron to, I mean, it already happened with the pulled muscle against Boston a few weeks ago, where he kind of shows his age a little bit physically. They don't have a lot of size in the front court. And so I just have a hard time taking this team too seriously. Am I too down on them?

No, I don't think so. I do think their success defensively was because of how hard they played and also. how hard they executed. And that's a credit to JJ, basically taking a bunch of quality or just like average level players and coaching them up to a extent where they were pretty good even with AD before the Luca trade.

I think the question I have is how much of that do you not want to add where on the tires before the postseason? Because if that's the way they're going to be successful on that end, do you really want to push them? Or do they need to be on a string in order to play like that? And so you actually want to build the muscle memory

in the continuity in order to bring that over into the playoffs. It's kind of a chicken and egg sort of situation here, so I don't know. But I also think they're probably good enough offensively with just Luca or just LeBron on the court that they could win regular season games. So if LeBron wants to sit down the stretch and it's just Luca playing like he has been plus stuff, like I think they'll have a good shot at this two seat. I also have liked, frankly, the Lakers fans who have now started posting like sizzle reels or photos of just Luca looking hot.

and like dropping 10 pounds, but it's actually just him with different lighting. I don't know if you guys have ever seen the photos side by side of Alex Jones without his shirt on. And it's just Alex Jones like with a little bit more of a tan. That's what seems to be going on with Luca. This is not in my algorithm. This is not in my algorithm. To be clear. It will be now that I've spoken into existence.

But he has been playing well. And when he's engaged and when he's like trying to fight Josh Kitty, that's a scary player you want, even in a regular season game. Yeah, I think Luca in the regular season is going to be fine. Like you said, I think Luca's good enough. Even in the regular season, even if he looks a little bit diminished to me still, in terms of burst and lift, they're good enough to get by on the regular season. They're not going to fall into the play in.

But I don't know. I just don't see them getting that two seed ultimately overtaking the rockets who are trying like hell to get this thing. And the Luca thing for me is, is like, how many teams have the capacity to make him look the way Boston did? Where it's just like, all you're going to do is get step back jumpers and nothing else. We're going to send minimal help at you. And we'll live with those results. Like, to me, unless Luca can show that he can be a threat in the paint like he used to be. you know, like this switch thing,

this switch a big man thing is not a new strategy. Teams used to try to do this and he used to cook it consistently. And now it's like Al Horford, who's 80, can just straight up be like, yeah, I'll be on the island with Luca Donchinch, no problem. Jalen Brown is like, I will rip this man, rip his handle. He's a freaking point guard. And I'm just rip him multiple times in the game,

barely across half court like if he can't improve on that I don't think any of this stuff even matters I have a personal disconnect because I have all the respect in the world for Luca I think that when he was in Dallas it was like oh if Luca's playing then the Dallas Mavericks are a contender

and that's kind of how I felt about them but I also look at that supporting cast he had with the Mavericks and like a lot of the talent in terms of how it was built to fit around Luca and accentuate Lucas strengths and cover up Luca's weaknesses. And I just don't see that.

To be fair, they plop him into this roster in the middle of the season. So I understand all that. But like, it's just it's not the same roster. And so to me, it's like them being in the four seed, according to projections, their highest likelihood is the fifth seed, which I don't know necessarily that they're going to drop a spot and Memphis is going to pass them. I don't know if that's going to happen. but the two seed just doesn't seem like a thing.

And when you look at the schedule and the, I mean, they have two games against O KC. They have to play the Bulls again and we know what's going to happen in that game. So I just, I just don't see them as a serious contender for the two seed. Well, you mentioned Memphis.

Technically the last team here, although they are the farthest away here currently in fifth. Was, do you have any faith in the Grizzlies at this point? The faith is definitely waned. I will say, I just don't like these guys used to get after people on defense And I know a lot of people have come in and out of the lineup

And there's just been no continuity But I just think the defense has been so Disappointing And these they were never going to be Light you up absolutely light you up on offense kind of team It's just the effort and the consistency Just hasn't been there For me where I was really high on them

in like January, where I'm like, hey, Memphis is so deep. I think John Morant is a sort of six-fifth-gear kind of guy where he, like, can ratchet it up when he needs to, in terms of getting to the basket, getting to the free-throw line, becoming like, you know, one of the more dominant on-ball guys that we have. But I don't know, just something that hasn't jelled with them for me. And I get it, Jaws missed so many games,

which, you know, it's become a trend now. Like, it's kind of become reliable that John Moran's going to miss a bunch of games. That's been his career. So, yeah, I'm a little bit more down on them now than I was in January. I was like, these guys can go to the finals. I don't feel like that at this moment. The finals feels like a bit of a stretch, unfortunately. Yeah, they were my preseason pick to go to the finals,

and I feel like an absolute moron for making it. You know, missing the last four games. They've lost four of their last five. He's got this hamstring. And it's obviously, you know, he's obviously their best player and kind of the engine to their offense. But to your point, like the defense is really like falling off a cliff over the last, I don't know, six weeks. And so, you know, Brandon Clark going out for the season, I feel like he was an important part of their rotation. particularly with how he compliments Jha.

And so, yeah, I don't know. Like they, I have a lot of respect for how they were built and kind of the Jay Huffs and the Scotty Pippin Juniors of the world on their team that have contributed throughout the season. And Jalen Wells and Zach Eadie being in their starting rotation, their starting lineup, I don't know. Like, I just, I've kind of given up on them, to be honest with you. And it stinks because I like so many of their.

players. I feel like Desmond Bain has been playing really well and Jaron Jackson Jr. might make all NBA, but I don't know. I just, to be honest with you, I didn't even like seriously consider them and do research about them for this exercise because I was like they have no chance of getting the two seed. Yeah. Yeah. The things I think that we like about them are how well they've job proofed the roster that

they have been so good consistently back to when Jaya was first starting to miss games without him. Jaron Jackson has been on another level this year. He's completely recalibrated his ceiling, at least according for. me as a player. And also just the way that they've changed up their offense, kind of democratized things. And so they're playing more within the flow. They aren't as reliant on Jha.

But to Waz's point earlier, like, Jha has such an incredible game against the Cavs, a game they ultimately lost. But like one of the better games of the past like month or two that I've seen, 48, 44, 8 and 7. And then he misses four straight games. He's up to 28 absences on the season at this point. And because I've been doing this throughout the year, I have to give you the different maladies that he's faced at the,

this point. And we have in total, knee bruise, sprained shoulder, shoulders, shoulders soreness, thigh soreness, foot soreness, back soreness, illness, and now a hamstring soreness. And so we're getting into double digit different things. There's just these little nagging things. So if I don't know if he's going to be available and it doesn't seem like they know that on practically a game to game level at this point, it's hard to really know what to expect for them in this race. So I agree with you guys. Are we letting Jha off the hook because he's skinny. Do we know that he's working on his body?

As much as we know Luca isn't. You know what I mean? Like Jop, what's the name? Zayam Williamson isn't. Is Jha getting off the hook of not being in the cryo chamber and, you know, going to Germany and doing all the psychotic things that the guys do at the top level?

Because he's a slim guy. We're letting him off the hook, man. Let me take this a step further. Is chasing Jha off of social media why we don't see the hard work he's putting into his body. And if anything, it's the NBA's fault for not giving us full access to this guy just working his ass off. And now we think of him differently. I like that, man. You could be this guy's agent. I know. Hey, let me tell you about one of my favorite

bets that Fandall has right now. They're called player performance doubles. If you don't know about them, you got to check them out. There are these two leg parlays already made for you. Fandall takes an NBA player prop then combines it with a bet on that players team to win. They have a bunch of them for every game. You just have to pick the one you like. So we're looking at Monday slate in the NBA. And I like the Dallas Mavericks minus two and a half at the Brooklyn Nets. I know, I know, Dallas struggling of late. I think they've lost a bunch of games in a row before they beat the Pistons the other night. But they have been better when PJ Washington plays. There's also an outside chance that Anthony Davis might be playing in this game, at least as we're recording this right now.

but PJ Washington kind of puts them on another level surprisingly enough. He practically took down the thunder at least once or twice earlier in the season. And so that's why I like him to score 20 plus points at minus 120 in this game. Minus 120, not the best odds,

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Why don't we go off to the sixth seed then? below this because we're talking kind of around there. Warriors, wolves, clippers are the teams in the mix there, Warriors currently ahead, wolves half game back, Clippers,

one game back after last night's game against the Thunder. Mike, who do you like out of those three teams? To get the six, I like the Timberwolves. I don't necessarily like the Timberwolves

as the best playoff team out of this group. But again, just looking at how, I mean, they have the easiest schedule remaining in the Western Conference. I love how their bench has played over the last month or so. They have, you know, it's really difficult for me to get too excited about any team that has Julius Randall on it. And it's really funny how great they've been with Julius Randall on the bench, plus 26 net rating in March without it. him with like, shocking,

the greatest defense of all time. But a lot of it is schedule based, to be honest with you, where if you just look at who they're facing, who they have to play, there's just going to be a lot of wins for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but I don't think they're the best team.

Yeah, you can mind that with Steph Curry's, you know, knick-knacks and the general age of the three best players by far on the Warriors, these guys are all older kind of guys. And so, like, you have to be extra mindful when they have a certain ailment. Like, this idea of, like, yo, just play through it. Like, with older guys playing through it can mean playing yourself into a permanent season-ending injury, right?

Like, it's different for guys of their age, with their minutes load throughout their careers. But again, I think Golden State would really, really, really like to get the hell about the play. You know, it feels like it's something that they care about. And the way that they've ratcheted it up, again, their defense, like it's not hard for guys to get up and want to drop 30 and want to be one of the best. Everybody gets excited for that. But the fact that this team has turned their defense into just a straight-up steel trap, where at certain points, even when it's looking bleak,

these guys flip a switch into fourth quarter the other day. And just a game that they, it looked like they were about, to throw away and just in the fourth quarter just put the clamps on a team. I think they're still in it, but as Mike said, that the schedule just might not be permitting and add that to

Steph Curry's, you know, nagging situation. And then, you know, like the playing is not going to be the end of the world because these teams at the bottom of the playing in the West are not good. They're not good teams. Can I ask a Warriors related question for you guys?

Do you think Jimmy Butler's going to get MVP votes. Do you think you should? I'm I'm not going to vote for him. He's not going to be on my ballot. But I want to see who has the balls to do it.

Because you combine this turnaround that the Golden State Warriors have had where they have like the second highest net rating and the best defense as Wazz was talking about since the All-Star break with what has happened to the Miami Heat? And it's like, Jesus.

Yeah. And it's like, is this, this guy's obviously an extremely valuable basketball player. Turns out. He's like really good. And like when he's when he's on the court without Steph, like his individual production in a Warriors uniform is insane. Like way more points. Higher true shooting. Significantly more free throw attempts.

His at-rim field goal percentage goes from like 60 to 70%. So I just think he's, he's. I'm not going to do it, but I want to see if someone does. Here's the thing too, but the problem I think is that a lot of people in the Bay, the writers who would do it, we're kind of down on the deal when it happened and have been slowly being like, all right, Jimmy thing is pretty freaking good. He's better than Andrew Wiggins. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, I don't know if even the Bay Area guys are going to. have it in them to be like, wow, like, this is, this was a home run deal. Shoot, man. Steve Kerr was slow to, it's like, ah, do we really need to replace Andrew Wiggins with one of the best wings of the era? Like, should we really do that and give up a pick in the mid-20s to do, oh, how could we even think about doing something like that? Like, I wonder if people are just too slow to get on how genuinely great Jimmy has been, man. I don't disagree with what you guys are saying. To play devil's advocate, though, I do think it is the pairing of step with Jimmy because

he rounds out Steph in a way that he hasn't had since Kevin Durant. Just the fact that, like, he has this playmaker who could shift into foul drawing mode practically whenever they need a bucket. They are just, like, symbiotic. And the way that Draymond is with Steph, and to that point when I was watching the Hawks game, because for whatever reason, I was watching Hawks Warriors on a Saturday afternoon because I have no self-respect. Me too, Justin.

Me too, baby. Hell yeah. Nerds unite. I did feel like the offense lacked the necessary juice without Steph there, which is to be fair. Like that's going to happen. But I will say, like, I think it was a nice little reminder of like the impact of Steph even before Butler got there, which I don't think any of us were really putting into question. But I did hear a lot about this, especially when we do the top 100 all the time.

It's hard a lot of pushback. Like, oh, Steph, too high. Do you not see like he's missing all these games? The impact isn't there. It's like, well, no, he just doesn't have the right guys around him. And he's definitely proven that, especially when he's been out of late. Dude, these are the guys they were trying to try it out as second best guys. It was freaking Pajemski.

It's Kaminga. It's, like, what are we doing here? Like, these guys are not actual second best players on a six. serious team. Like it was insane. Like the second best, your second best offensive player was Buddy healed when we started the season? That's insanity,

guys. To be fair, buddy was on, on a heater for like a month, but then he hasn't made a shot since. Crazy talk, you know, and then you got Jimmy Butler who's barely,

who's not even two, at the time of the trade, not even two years removed from an insane finals run. You know, it's like, oh, Steph, with really good players. Oh my God.

It's like good. Like, who could have seen that coming? It's craziness. I have a question about the Warriors, though. Like this reintegration of Jonathan Cummenga into their rotation because he. It hasn't been pretty. No, it hasn't. And he is so like duplicative of what Jimmy is.

But Jimmy is obviously like the good at it. Yeah. version of that player. And so I just don't, I don't know what role comminga has on this team when he was hurt. They made the trade. Now he's back. And it just hasn't really worked in any type of cohesive way. Whereas someone like Moses Moody or Pajemski, those guys make sense.

And those guys in the starting five, when they're small with Dramon at the five, that lineup is killing it. And it is cohesive. and it just fundamentally works. But Kaminga, I don't understand. I don't know what to do there. You know, he hasn't found a role because he doesn't embrace a role. The guy has to realize...

A lot of mustard on that line. Yeah, you're right. He has to realize, like, yo, get off of my ball. Like, you're not an on-ball guy. Get off my ball. If anything, you will let you attack a close-out. every now and again, but, like, you should be shooting wide open shots,

and I mean wide open, attacking closeouts, attacking in transition, a cutter off the ball, good screen setter, physical on defense, on the way. Like, he's trying to get paid. Like, you know what I mean? And now that they have paid Jimmy Butler, I just, I just, I'd see a real disconnect there. And I don't, I don't know what, what they did. What role does he play on a good team? If he would make himself a winning type of player, I bet you he'd get paid.

If he showed himself to be that kind of guy, but he's, he's not doing that. He thinks he thinks he's Kobe and he's not. He's a power big who whenever he has been able to attack downhill, play with force. He looks like the type of talent that we all kind of expected him to be. The warriors have desperately been hoping for him to be, but it just doesn't also. fit as you as you mentioned with butler and everything else going and you see guys like moody guys like pizemski who play more of the warriors for free flowing style just slot into roll so seamlessly it's so tough because he seems more outside of that than ever before honestly i think commingo would be at his

best if he's rolling hard if he was playing next to a spacing big like for instance if they traded him to wizards uh to the wizards like if they basically the golden state just decided we're gonna we're to send every problem child to Washington. Like, I actually think he makes a little sense with playing off of Sarr where you could have that front court compliment that he needs. But I just don't know. Like, if he's not going to be a defender, like, you're not going to let him run your second unit because you have Jimmy to do that now.

Like, what role is he playing? It's tough. Yeah. But I do think this race probably comes down to Steph and what they're calling a pelvic contusion. I don't really know what that is, but maybe the Lutz family can, can shine for us. I think if he has been reportedly traveling to Miami

to meet the team, he could play as soon as their next game. We'll see. That seems a little bit soon for such a pretty single play against Miami. They're the worst team in the NBA. They're horrible. Really bad. But I think we also have to talk about the Clippers in this race who has completely righted things. Pina, you have long been on the Clippers ship.

Are you excited to see Kauai back in killing? mode yet again. This is just, this is what we want. You know, I am over the moon about the Kauai Lennard that I've seen over the past couple of weeks. His game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was euphoria in my living room. Even, I know that they lost against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but just watching this dude get to his spots, play real minutes, the mid-range turnaround is there.

The fall away from the baseline is there. He's overpowering. I mean, he had a play where he's, and I know how the Oklahoma City Thunder play defense, but they had Alex Caruso on him for most of the second half, and he's got him at the nail and just backing him down. And he drew a triple team at the nail. And it's like, okay, I'm just going to kick it out to Norm Powell for three. So it's just like, I love Kauai. I love the Clippers depth.

I love how Zubots is playing. I love Norm Powell. I'm a little nervous about this James Harden foot injury. We don't know what's going on there. He heard himself last night. But I just, there's so much to like in terms of how they've kind of ramped everything up to the point where you can play Kauai. He's played 35, 37 against the Memphis Grizzlies in a win and 40 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. So yeah, to your point, of course, Kauai does not finish seasons healthy.

That is obviously a thing not to be argued with. but the way that this season has gone for him where he, you know, last year makes all NBA, plays a ton of minister in the regular season, gets hurt in the playoffs. I feel more confident. I think the Clippers could feel more confident with how this season has gone where he's basically not playing at the start and slowly working his way up and getting into game shape, getting into playoff ready shape, in a role where he doesn't need to do a ton of stuff because all these other guys have spent most of the regular season winning games. games without him. And they've assumed this defense-first identity. They make the moves at the

trade deadline to get someone like Bodombo Degovic who's played really well for them so far. Even Ben Simmons. Like honestly, he's their backup center and their backup point guard right now. And he's looking at the rim. He's like a aggressive in transition. Exactly. On like a vetman dealer, whatever is being paid. So I, I, I, I, I like them a lot. And I feel like no one should be pumped about seeing them in the first round. And that includes, I'm not picking them against the Thunder. That includes Oklahoma City Thunder, in my opinion.

Was it's chomping at the bits here. Just crickets. Just crickets. I look. Look, what they've done on defense, I think their coaches staff deserves a ton of credit. Because I don't think anybody came into this season thinking that the clippers were going to be one of the nastiest, feistyest. you know, defensive units in the NBA. I certainly didn't see this coming.

And so I think they deserve a ton of credit for carving out a sort of identity for the team where it's like what we do is we go out and we stop people. And, you know, and I think, you know, Zubbox deserves a ton of credit because he's just like a straight up paint clog. Like, you cannot do anything when that guy is near the rim. And look, it's been a nice story. I just think, you know, it's James Harden guys. Like, they're going to count on James Hardin for big offense,

whereas it's like he's just not that kind of guy. You can't rely on James Hardin to score for you. And Kauai Leonard, yes, he looked nice last night. The physicality is still there where he overwhelms people with just how big and strong and, you know, just needs a minimal amount of space to get off probably the best mid-range jumper in the NBA. Like, I don't doubt that.

I just don't see the... They're just not dynamic enough. And it's just so straightforward and like, all right, keep James Hardin in front of you. Don't fall for his stupid tricks. It'll be fine. He's going to brick all of his shots. Can't finish above length anymore.

Like, he's done pretty slow. And then Kawhi Leonard is Kawhi Leonard. False, but okay. Continue. James Hardin is slow. Please. And Kawhi Leonard is Kawhi Leonard. Like, he's, you know, like every time he gets up for a layup,

I'm just like, oh, is he okay? when he landed, like, I don't know why, especially just, and I know Michael does this too. Justin does, has been doing this literally for four consecutive years. Since this show has started in this formulation of me and Justin potting on a weekly basis multiple times, this man has been falling for the Clippers, Okie Doke, the Clippers bamboozle every single year with this freaking team. It's easy to fall.

for though. Like you see Kauai out there in March averaging 25, 7, 3, two steals on 52, 40, 78. And while, yes, there is a clear lack of athleticism there, like clearly the string of injuries now, which is a laundry list at this point, are starting to take effect. Just the fact that he has such efficiency of moving that his handle is so tight that everything he does is so decisive. I think plays to his strength to be able to kind of combat that to the point where like I was expecting if he could just be healthy in some proximity of what he was they would have the defense plus he can give him the offensive pop that they're missing and he kind of has been that one 17.5 offensive rating this season obviously in a smaller sample than the rest of the team but that would be fifth offensively in the entire

NBA with kai in there uh I just think it's not just kawai too and I think Mike kind of spoke to this it's just like the whole thing has really kind of clicked into pace like we we bang on the for going out and getting Paul George. The flip side of that is the clippers let this guy walk and they kind of replaced him in the aggregate with guys like Chris Dunn, who's sign and trade for a second round swap on the first day of a free agency.

I remember us being like, what the fuck is this? And that guy's one of the best defensive point of attack guys in the league. You mentioned Zoo. Zos incredible. Charles Jr. Yeah. Derek Jones Jr. has been really great. But they revamped the entire bench,

which was like a pretty bad sign that they had to go. go out and basically swap half of their bench in order to make a run here, though. But I think bogey has been great. He was awful in Atlanta earlier in the season. I know he's constantly dealing with injuries. But he was eight for eight the other nine against the calves, couldn't miss a shot. Like that is the pop that they needed in order to round out this team.

So hold on. I want to get back to Michael Beena. Because he scoffed when I said James Hardin's not going to generate quality, efficient offense. Again, you think he's going to like, he has like his plus one. Look, Lou Dort? He's plus 133 in the last 10th. He's going to score against Lou Dort? You can't say that with a straight fit.

You can't believe that. James Hardin's going to do anything of consequence against playoff set defenses. You can't believe that. I think Hardin looked pretty good against Oklahoma City Thunder defense last night. He's not the reason that they lost the game. Over his last 10 games, he's like first or second in points, like first or second in assist, first or second in three pointers made. first and plus minus.

This has never happened in James Hardin's career when he was younger, stronger, faster, better. Like, what are we doing with this guy? Like, why are we falling for this smoking mirrors James Hardin thing again? It's okay, okay, okay. It's not a smoke and mirrors thing. He's clearly a plus player, right? No, he's a plus player.

He's a plus player. He's on a team where he does not, in my opinion, have to do everything on offense. He's not the guy in Houston, of course, anymore. He's got multiple ball handlers on his team. He's not the guy in O KC. I just think like if you're going to denigrate the clippers, like I don't believe in James Hardin isn't a good argument to me.

That's just. Here's the thing with Hardin at this point. Like I just think he's so much more dependent on setting up everybody else. He's almost in the Trey Young zone where, is shooting like numbers are just atrocious. And I think if you're counting on that in a playoff series, let alone all the hardness that is stacked up over the course of what, the past decade and a half,

like no, they're not going to be that successful. But that's why it's so important that Kauai plays at this level, that Powell kind of comes back from this injury and is a little bit better, that they have other guys in order to kind of activate because that's when he's been at his best. So we'll see. I think we're all kind of sort of saying the same thing where we're giving them

credit for being successful. But like we don't like them in a playoff matchup, especially against the Thunder. And even the Rockets are a bad matchup for them just because you see the guys like Wiggins and all the swipe downs they have. Like having Amend Thompson and some of these other guys swarming Kauai probably isn't your best outcome. The only reason I like the Rockets match up for them is the Rockets are young, right? Like outside of Van and Dylan Brooks. It's like they're going to be a pretty easy team to solve in terms of, you know, stopping them in a half court offense.

It's just a matter of, you know, the Clippers feeling like, look, we got veterans, we got Kawhi who's just. a better offensive generator than anything the Rockets can muster up and we like our chances. But would anybody be surprised if the clip is lost in five games? The Rockets, I certainly would not.

I would be surprised, but that's just... I would pick them pretty confidently in that series. And I like the Rockets. I do, but I just think they're above average at every position in like going nine deep. 10 deep, maybe.

Yeah. Well, we flip to the 10th seed now, which is really where the races are heating up. We got three teams technically still in the mix as we go down the stretch. The suns are currently in the 10th, although they share the same record with the Dallas Mavericks who are in 11th. The Portland Trailblazers, one of the best teams in the NBA over the past, what, two to three months at this point. You're goddamn right. Unfortunately, might be running out of time. They're two and a half games back.

They lost to the Celtics on Sunday, which is sneakily a pretty big game in this race, because you're just running out of runway here. Mike, which are these teams in this furious, very important race for the final playing spot in the West do you like? Oh, man. Too many good options to choose from. I... I truly have very little respect for all of these teams down here.

I think that if I have to put my life on it, I would say, like, I'm confident that the Kings will make the plan, I guess. And then Anthony Davis supposedly coming back as soon as tonight against the Brooklyn Nets. That's a respect. It's finally doubtful. Yes. Yes. I think he was upgraded to questionable for this one. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, so they have enough players to compete in an NBA game.

I believe enough healthy players. So I think Dallas maybe, I just can't bring myself to like utter words of faith or confidence in the Phoenix Suns, despite how well they've played over the past couple weeks. I think that team just like totally discussed me. And then the Portland Trailblazers are, they're really fun. And I would love to see them make the plan and get the 10 seed. but they're just so far behind now after the loss against the Celtics. It's just a huge bummer. Do we think anybody like playing for Phoenix actually wants to be in the playing?

Like actually wants to go. Colin Gillespie. I think KD does because he's such a real hooper that he just wants to be out there. Facts. Yeah. I like this team is so dysfunctional and so obviously not happy with the way. things are going like KD's pissed about

a trade proposal Brad Beal is like how can anybody think I should be traded on a $50 million a year contract that has two years left on it after this year and I start and it barely leaves a mark

and he's pissed about that everybody seems to hate Boonehose this is just bad Can I read their schedule real quick? Yeah. It's the hardest schedule left in the league. Bucks, Celtics, Timberwolves, rockets, bucks, Celtics, Nicks, Warriors, Thunder, Spurs, Kings.

I'm sorry, it's not going to happen. Yeah, and that's one where it's like, even if you write off the fact that, like, the Celtics aren't going to play all their guys. Like, Sam Houser's going to put up 30 out of nowhere and it's just like they're going to win that game. So that's one where the strength of schedule, I think, is probably going to dictate things. The sons have by far the hardest in the league. So we're headed to a Dallas tent seat? Dallas just wins these games, man. Practically since PJ Washington came back, they've been every game that they played.

And if you add Anthony Davis into the mix there and then eventually maybe lively and even Gafford, where they're at that point probably having to play four to three centers in the starting lineup, because those are their best players. But I think they'll have enough because they do have. have some juice. Like, there's still enough left there, even without Kyrie or Luca, where they just kind of are in the mix in these games. And if anything, there's a real, like, nobody believes in us because they have just heard for a month at this point that, like, they all suck and everything is terrible in Dallas. And it seems like they want to prove something. And so that's

probably going to be enough of an edge. Well, they've won two games in March, to be clear. So they are not good. But, but the past three, they've been all of us. They gave away one against Indy. They beat the pistons with Cade in there. So it's like there's enough juice left over in order to maybe get past the suns. Why are they doing this? Why aren't they losing games on purpose? Can someone explain this to me? Well, I think part of it is actually that they had so few players and that they couldn't sign more that they actually have to play their good players in order to field a credible roster. Like you needed PJ Washington to come back just to get to like eight or nine players on a depth chart.

And so if he's going to play, if Andy Davis is going to play, you could only be so bad because you can't tell them just be bad and shut them down after like 10 minutes. The hard cap situation is come back to ruin everything because they just straight up cannot bring in new scrubs, which I'm sure they would love to do to just get some guys off for the street, tell AD, all right, bro, you're on vacation, start early, start thinking about next year, you're going to be the centerpiece, blah, blah, blah. Same with PJ. Like, they can't, they just can't.

They can't sign some scrubs off the street. They have to play their actual good players. It's tough. Yeah, they're starting Kai Jones right now. Yep. Just should probably take, but that's just my two cents. What do I know? I wouldn't have traded Luca either.

They need to win back the fans after, after that. So a play-in push in one extra game, we'll definitely do that. Was, are you part of the Deni Avdiya revolution in Portland? Or have you bought a jersey yet? Maybe a tattoo? I mean, I always thought Deni Abdi was a good player.

Even from his rookie year, he always showed signs. Like, I guess, you know, I feel like whenever, even when somebody gets picked like eighth or seventh in the lottery, people,

like fans tend to expect like, oh, this guy could be an all star. And so because he, like, showed that he clearly wasn't going to be that. People were down on it because he was a lottery. pig, but he's always been a good player, man, and that he's steadily improved

upon what he's been doing and in a more prominent role than he's ever had now in Portland. I'm not surprised that he's doing this thing. Like, am I, like, running to my couch to go watch Portland play? No, I'm not. Not yet.

Sure. But I'm happy for him and what he's doing, for sure. And this is better than being in Washington, isn't it? Oh, yeah. I would say so. just spiritually is just better i mean he's found a different gear to his game at this point like he didn't have the no breaks battering ram drives to the basket in washington or at the very least it was a very small part of his game like he just keeps adding more and more to the point where like he's their

best player i saw mike right on the on the ringer today like he might make an all-star game down the road i think that's very much in play especially because the portland unfortunately uh don't have much of a route to get a player better than him at this point, but he's been a revelation. He's practically been 17, 18, 7, and 4 since his first 11 games in the season. And I think not only did he get traded, but also he's Israeli. And so he had a lot of things kind of keeping him from jumping out just to start with. But he's been great. And I think he's someone who's kind of turned things around in a way that you don't typically see

of a player, even in their mid-20s at this point. Yeah, I thought he was really good when they made that trade. And some people were critical of it at the time. I thought, you know, he's on one of the better, more team-friendly contracts in the league. He defends multiple positions capably. And, yeah, to your point, Justin, like, the way he's getting downhill, the way he's getting to the free throw line, the way he's just attacking the rim, getting to his right hand whenever he wants, still throws some pretty wide. wild passes that are intercepted and taken the other way semi-regularly. But overall, like now that his threes are falling two on a consistent basis, like, he's just

a really, really good player. And you can go through the box score and see like multiple 30 plus point games with, you know, get a 31, 16, and 8 against Memphis a couple weeks ago. He had 36, 7, 7 assists, 8 rebounds against the Denver Nuggets a few days ago. So just like those are great numbers. I don't know what to say. And this is like these are meaningful games as well, which he never played any of in Washington.

Yeah, he's been a revelation there. Before we go, let's flip to the Eastern Conference and kind of just like waving my hands frantically because it's pretty much just all over the place after the top two and even Cleveland has been struggling until last night's game against Utah. I had asked you guys before this,

like what about the three seed race? Because at the time, I think I was drawing these questions up while watching the Knicks struggle against the Washington Wizards who mounted a pretty furious comeback against them. And then toward the end of the game, watching Rick Brunson have to talk Tibbs into taking his starters off the floor where the game was in hand with like one minute left ago and Towns was like clearly barreled over like dying.

There's still three games up on the Pacers and then everybody else. And so it seems unlike. Mike, but considering that they don't have Brunton, is there any possibility that a team like the Pacers could jump them at this point? I don't, I don't, I don't think there's enough runway here for that to happen. You know, New York doesn't have a particularly difficult schedule down the stretch here. And I just haven't seen enough from a Bucs team or a Pacers team to get me super excited that they have enough momentum to jump the Knicks with. the was it three three and a half game lead i think three games yeah three game lead that they have so far so as terrible as the nicks looked um on wednesday they last wednesday they lost to the spurs

in or whenever that game was um they lost to the spurs in just ridiculous fashion and then they lost to the hornets um in a back-to-back um and then the wizard's game that you mentioned justin but i just it's almost as much to say about the Pacers and the Bucks is just like these inconsistent teams and like the bucks of this dame thing happening now with his groin or his hamstring. I don't know. I can't remember. And you had,

I don't know how much we want to talk about this, but the Tyrese Halliburton, Trinon Wofford beef, which was just very funny. I don't know if you guys are up on that. You're having a down year. You're having a dam. I'm so glad you saw that. That was one of the best.

clapbacks, I think I've seen, especially from a guy who's like, kind of just clinging to a roster spot at this point. Like, what? He was literally like, I'm undrafted and you're double teaming me, your garbage. Like, and I just thought that that was one of the great insults of the season

that I've seen. It was like a, it was almost like a, like a blogger critique on a podcast or something. It's like, your estimated box plus minus isn't as good as it was last season. Well, Halliborne threw, Halliburton did the move where he tries to throw the ball off a guy's back, inbounding it,

and Watford stole it and then hit a three. It was just like, they should have ended the game right there. They should have just ended the game. I don't, I've never seen that before. Yeah. I have not either.

And there should be some type of fine, some type of suspension. I don't know what the league should do about that, but you can't be having that in the NBA. It's just embarrassing for everyone involved. Yeah. Unfortunately for Watford, Halberton has kind of rebounded over the past couple of years. So, yes, in totality, he is having a down year, but lately he is having quite a good second half.

Wads, are any of these teams? Do you like any of them if we're talking like four to six for instance? I don't think so, man. They're so inconsistent. And like the idea that they would go on a run, you know, like basically win 10 of their last 12 or something while the Knicks languished as Brunson is coming back from his injury. It's just, I just can't see it from either one of these two teams, the Bucs. They just haven't shown this, like, ability to string together a really solid or dominant 12 games. And so, I don't know. I don't see it for them. Now, the Bucks, like, I'm not sure

who's going to finish four or five between the Bucks and the Pacers. But in terms of catching a Nix, I don't think either one of them are. Does it matter? Does any of this matter? Yeah, facts. Probably not. I mean, unless you want to get one step farther, like, who do you guys like in a four or five? What if the box are like, we want to play the Knicks in the first round, you know?

And let Detroit handle the Pacers in round one. I don't know. That's probably the better question. Which team do the Knicks not want to see in that six spot? Would it be the Pacers? because of last year, would it be the Bucks? Because they have Yannis, would it be the Pistons? Because they've kind of just had this physicality, for instance,

that can maybe match with what the Knicks bring. I've been thinking about this question, because I just wrote about the Pistons. It seemed that I like a lot. And I wouldn't really feel great about playing the Pistons if I was the Knicks, to be honest. I wouldn't feel great about playing Janus, although you look at that roster,

and it's just like, Kyle Kuzma is shooting like 29% from three in a bucks uniform and he's in the starting five. And Kevin Porter Jr. is somehow shooting 50% from three. And that's like a bad thing for the bucks because then you got to play him. I mean, there's just so much bad with these teams. And I actually, I have a lot of respect for the Pacers, I will say. They're probably the best of the bunch here. but like I don't know.

Maybe it's just my pessimism about the Knicks as a team that can do anything in the playoffs. I don't know what it is, but I wouldn't really feel super excited about my first round matchup, period, if I was if I was the Knicks, to be honest with you at this point. Yeah, I think it goes in the order to the standings in terms of like what gives the Knicks the most fright. Like it would be the Pacers just because they've kind of found themselves. of the best team on the board here. Then obviously the bucks have Dame and Janus. You have to fear them at any point. But like they're playing Ryan Rallens right now.

And is Dame going to be peak dame by a playoff series? And the Pistons, like all credit to the Pistons, love what they've done. Like the fact that they've gone from worse to succeed is the type of turnaround that typically takes like a Tim Duncan or like a major acquisition in order to make to buy us Harris, if you will. Not to buy a Malik Beasley even. But I think probably this is where their magic runs out.

And I wonder if, you know, Brunton doesn't go down and the Knicks, you know, aren't like four and eight in their last 12 or whatever the hell it is that we're even like worried about a Pistons matchup. I don't know. I don't think so. And again, like the Pistons, super young team. Young teams tend to stink it up in the postseason, make a lot of mental errors. Pistons play with a lot of toughness. I get it. They got a lot of back alley guys on their team.

but I don't know. I don't think the Knicks should be like overly worried about playing the Pistons. I think if they're not starting campaign, they'll probably be pretty okay. It's a good call. I still believe like anything is possible for the Knicks when fully healthy. The problem is they're never fully healthy at this point. And I do wonder going into the postseason, especially after what we saw last year when Tibbs put a lot of wear on the tires in the regular season.

Like is it going to get worse? Like is OG going to be fully healthy? like how many more games are you going to get from towns like you can't play 40 minutes for 90 games in an entire season this is fucking insane we'll see it's going to get put to the limits to the test do you think the bulls can can make a run here you guys so bulls get get to the seven seed they play the celtics knock them off and then it's and then it's giddy versus the thunder in the finals dude the east playing mix is so gross like they need to go to true TV they can't even be on NBA TV for those games

dude the fact and it's so crazy that Miami is hard one in one and nine their last 10 okay I think they lost nine straight is something insane like that the longest losing streak in the entire posture era um they are let me see let me go there are six games ahead of Toronto for the 10th seat. Yeah, every team below them has been trying to lose basketball games for several months. That's crazy. That's right. Yeah.

This is insane, dude. And they needed Wiggins to go off for 42 to win the other night. Oh, my God. Yeah. Against the Hornets. Yeah. Everything else has been going great in Miami. Yeah. All right. Why don't we wrap it there? Mike, thank you for joining us. Always a pleasure. The Tracy Letts of

of group chat. That's right. Thank you to Isaiah Blakely. That's good. Thank you to Isaiah Blakely. Thank you to Ben Cruz. We'll be back on Thursday. We'll talk to you then.

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