The Ringer NBA Show - Steph Curry Extends. Plus, Leap Candidates, ‘Starting 5’ Lineups, and More. | Group Chat

Episode Date: August 29, 2024

Justin and Wos start with the recent news that Steph Curry signed an extension with the Warriors and discuss what that means for him and the organization moving forward (5:23). Then they open up the mailbag to answer some listener questions about the 'Starting 5' cast, leap candidates, and more (17:03). Hosts: Justin Verrier and Wosny Lambre Producer: Isaiah Blakely Additional Production Supervision: Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're a fan of the inner workings of Hollywood, then check out my podcast, The Town, on the Ringer Podcast Network. My name's Matt Bellany. I'm founding partner at Puck and the writer of the What I'm Hearing newsletter. And with my show, The Town, I bring you the inside conversation about money and power in Hollywood. Every week, we've got three short episodes featuring real Hollywood insiders to tell you what people in town are actually talking about. We'll cover everything from why your favorite show was canceled overnight, which streamer

is on the brink of collapse, and which executive is on the hot seat. Disney, Netflix, who's up, down, and who will never eat lunch in this town again? Follow the town on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to this late summer edition of group chat. I am Justin Barrier and joining me as always straight from the beaches of Italy. Where were you, Bigwas? I did not hit the beach in Italy, but I did spend four days in Rome, one night in Florence. and from there went to Barcelona,

did the beaches over there at Bartholnetta, and also went to Seegis, which is like 15 miles outside of the city, nice little private beach, South of the people at the Little Beach House, Soho Little Beach House in Seagis, Spain, you know, a little town pretty adjacent to Barcelona. I had a great time.

Lots of tapas, lots of pasta al-Matrachana, lots of Cada Bonata Lots of all of that Man my new name They're saying my new name is Cochino Wasneo So you know What does that mean? Cousin Was, yeah

Okay So you're a Paizano is what you're saying Oh my God, yeah, big time Big time so yeah just had a great time Man spent you know Close to two weeks out Out in Spain and Italy Just dope people

Branted to a couple of Americans Always good to see our fellow Yanks Abroad Just great, man. Just a great little, you know, reprieve little time off. But I'm glad to be back. Grinding out this offseason content. That's right. That's what they say about late August, right? That's when all of the big stuff happens in the NBA, which is why we're assembled. Unfortunately, Rob did not join us because I think he's on actual vacation in late August with the rest of the NBA. But I appreciated you Instagramming your way through your travels because I am not going on a European vacation this year.

in lovely Portland, just getting used to yard work. And so I feel like I lived vicariously through yours. I love that. Love to hear it. Yeah. I didn't realize there's a Soho house in a small town in Spain. Is that what you're saying? Yeah.

So they have a soul house in actual Barcelona, which that was cool to actually did that my last night out there. But the beach house, you know, like they have one in Miami. They have one in Malibu. Malibu is like, nobody can get in. And it's like, you know, Barack Obama and freaking, you know, whoever else gets to go there. But Miami, Barcelona, like, you could just pull up.

You know, you just make a reservation and just show up. So, yeah, man, it was pretty cool. Like, they have their own little section on the beach, it set you up with a bed. And then when you're done with that, you go inside the house, have a nice lunch or dinner, you know, a little glass of vino. Just nice vibes, man. Good vacation vibes.

For sure. Yeah. For me, it was more like purchasing a chainsaw, trying to cut up a dead tree in my yard. And then coming in, making like a three-ingredient sheet pan sort of meal that I found on Instagram. I mean, to each their own, but I'm moving it up to in my own way. Are you repurposing that wood? Like, do you have a fireplace at this place? Or like, are you just like straight getting rid of that?

I don't have a fireplace, which makes it tough. So I then have to parse it out over multiple weeks in the bins because they don't all fit in the bins. I'm not going to pay extra just to put some bags on the corner. You know, you know how it is. Oh, God. No, but I have to say home ownership is dope. I'm enjoying it. I just planted some leafy greens in the garden.

Oh, okay. You get in the garden going. That's right. Yeah, I had to weed whack it down. We actually had an emailer who asked about whether or not I was going food garden or or I guess flower garden, but we're going foods here. Unfortunately, it's late August, so you can only plant a certain type of plant. So it's a lot of lettuces, some sprouts, some cauliflower.

So in a couple months, if you need some cauliflower, you just happen to be in the Pacific Northwest, just let me know. Organic, I love it. That's right. How many of them will survive? We'll see. But if I get like one of the many crops, then I think we're in the money here. But yeah, today's episode, we're going to get into some of your other mailbag,

questions. Thanks to everyone for sending those in. I have to say it was a little bit more sparse than it is typically during the regular season, but we managed to mine some content here for her to get you through your Labor Day drives or whatever you're doing this weekend. But first, we need to talk about Staff Curry right before we came on here, signed an extension one year, 62.6 million or basically a little bit less than Woz is going to make for this upcoming season. that's taking him through the 2026, 2027 season. So he taxed on an extra year. He's now in Golden State, presumably, or at least on this contract, for three more seasons.

Was what did you think about this? Was this surprising to you at all that this came? So late in the summer or just in general? I'm not surprised in the sense that the Warriors spent the entire offseason signaling that they're trying, they're still in a win now position, which means that they still want to build around. on Steph Curry, which means that they're committed to him. So the idea that they would further that commitment by tacking on an extra year to the deal

doesn't surprise me. And then, you know, after watching Steph Curry take over a freaking Olympics, semis, and finals, like while playing next to literally the best players in the world. And Steph Curry showing that he's still at that level. it's a no-brainer that they should be committed to him. Like, this guy is the greatest player in franchise history. I mean, outside of, like, Montana and Jerry Rice or whatever, he's the greatest Bay Area athlete ever, period.

And so to treat him that way would make the most sense. Like, let's make the most of these last great step years. Let's commit to him both financially and, by, you know, trying to put together a win now product on the floor. Yeah, this is probably a bigger win for the organization and maybe just the fan base to know that Steph isn't going to be the type of guy who's going to be looking for the exit if things don't go well within the first couple weeks of this upcoming season. Because let's be honest, they had a fairly decent offseason, but it was a lot of getting

intriguing guys in the door. They made a very big splash about, oh, they're going after Paul George, and we're going after Lori Marketing. And you have to wonder if that was so, public specifically because they were trying to signal the stuff that they were trying their hardest to do something, anything to get him a superstar to bring him through the next couple years of his like waning prime, I guess you would say. But to me, this is very much a thanks for your patience sort of payday where it's like this might not be a quick fix. We'll get to the trade deadline and maybe someone becomes available. But I wouldn't be surprised if they go through the entire next season and they're functionally the same sort of team here. So,

On the one hand, great deal for Steph just banging a ton of money. Maybe he can, you know, just fund another pilot on Peacock. He's just got the cash for it now. On the other hand, it's probably indication that this is probably more of a one to two to maybe even longer sort of process here, which I think then it gets sort of dicey because I don't see the next guy coming. I don't know how you feel about that. Yeah.

Again, I think it's a mutual understanding that, especially if you're Steph, if, you know, he said that he still wants to win, and he's gone on record, like, yo, they talked to me about the things that were on the offer. None of it would have swung our fortunes, like, in some incredible direction, and he's demonstrated that he's willing to be patient about it. I don't think this is, you know,

like the extreme of this was LeBron in the second Cleveland stint, where he just kept taking one plus ones, where he's just like, if you guys don't show me that you're committed to taking this thing seriously, I'll just bounce. He's doing the opposite of that. It's just taking it in good faith that the Lacobs are going to do what's right. And by that, I mean, you know, the owner and his actual sons who run the team now.

I think he's just showing faith in those guys that he's willing to be patient and, like, willing to be here until 2027. Like, that's a long time from now, you know, like three more seasons, guaranteed. So I'm not. surprised by, and this is what he signaled. And the organization has rhetorically at least said, they're on the same page of step. They're not ready for some tear down, rebuild, tear this thing down to the studs. We have Steph. We're going to give it a good faith effort to be good. I think if you're playing devil's advocate, I agree with you. I think the worry would be if you're

giving the organization a longer runway, does that give them more incentive to try to build equity or build up some of the younger guys, namely a Jonathan Kaminga, Brandon Pajemski. Does this afford them the option to be like, actually, we're going to take a step back, let these guys become something so we could hit the ground running maybe next season, as opposed to hitting the gas pedal, trading those guys and the picks for someone more in the Paul George, older superstar so that we could take advantage of Steph's prime. And you brought up LeBron. LeBron's kind of the, the, in some ways the worst case scenario because these days, like the Wakers are good and competitive and they should be in the mix next season. But I think we would all agree they don't have necessarily

the same ceiling as a lot of the other teams in the Western Conference. And so you can look at this and again, Devils Advocate and be like, are they just paying Steph because they know Steph is going to make them a ton of money just to be around? I think. So the reason why I don't have any problem with this approach by the Warriors. This isn't a Tim Duncan, Dirk Novitsky, oh, we're taking team-friendly deals so that you could build up a team and then, you know,

in Dirk's case, like they never actually make good on the promise to build up a contender around him. Like, if they're paying Steph as if he's a 25-year-old in his prime, and his, you know, his part of that payment is that he's patient with the roster building, I think

that's a pretty fair trade-off, right? Like if you're paying me my top dollar and saying that you're going to put this team together, like whether you do or don't, I think it's kind of immaterial, dude. Like the guy has won four championships in that jersey. I don't see the urgency here on either one of these sides. I actually respect the sort of this is bigger than basketball wins or losses component to this. Like there's a deep bond between franchise. and player that, you know, like, even somebody who can be as cynical as I can be about these things,

I kind of recognize how special it is. And that, like, this, to me, just signals that this is bigger than basketball when it comes to Steph, the Warriors, and the fan base. So you think it matters that Steph plays his entire career in a Golden State Warriors. Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, like, you just can't put a price tag on what this guy means to the people who love this team and that's that sit well those two cities san francisco and oakland uh like this guy is it's

beyond beloved like and it's been earned and so you know if step goes out there and he's making you know remember the last coby contract where everybody just rolled their eyes was like jeanie bus what the hell are you doing yo nine out of ten laker fans if you asked him about it they would do it 10 times again 10 out of 10 times they would do it because they love coby that much it didn't matter that he played on crap teams at the end. And so, like, I respect that. Yeah, I have to wonder how much of this is also influenced by the fact that Clay left this offseason, too, to, like, lose more from that core would probably be a pretty big hit

just for the fan base. But I don't know. I'm kind of on the opposite end of that. I don't think it would be a big deal if he played the remaining three years or two years or one year for another team because I do think these guys typically come home. Like the Patrick Ewing in the Orlando Magic. jersey, the, you know, Elijah Juan, playing for the Raptors, like, those things just happened. And if that were to happen, Tony Parker in the Charlotte Hornish jersey, is like, I don't think anyone

in polar against the organization or Steph, but maybe Steph's just on another level. Maybe he's in that Kobe tier where it's like he is the exception for that. So I get that argument. I do think this is, this makes a lot of sense to also be patient ultimately, because I think you want to be ready for the next opportunity. And you saw a lot of teams jumping. into the lorry market and fray, in large part because he seemed like the only getable guy left on the market this summer. I think you want to be available, have your assets just kind of baking there and building equity so that when a guy comes up that you weren't expecting, Donovan Mitchell, whomever, just like all of a sudden, we need to get rid of this guy he

wants out. Then you can jump on them because I do think the warriors are in that position where they have the motivation plus the future capital, plus some intriguing young guys. in order to be in the mix for anyone that becomes available. So that makes a little bit of sense to me. I would say the reason why I feel the way that I do about it is because it literally is fan service. Like the fans are not going to be upset if the Warriors aren't competing with championships,

but they still get to watch Steph be great every now and again. And I'm sorry. Like I kind of like the idea that an organization is giving the fan base essentially what they want. and they want step to, they clearly want step to be a part of the warriors for as long as possible. Like, it's just been demonstrated that this is what the fans want. Steph more than anything, like let's ride the step thing out as long as we can. And if it means that you're not being the co-hearted efficiency chasing, you know, this is not,

this is just heartstring stuff. We need to be more, you know, analytically minded. this guy's getting long in the tooth, we need to be more ruthless. Like, I don't have a problem with a franchise not taking that tag in order to satisfy the demands of the people who support the team. Like, that's why I'm just like, I'm not mad at this. So you think the warrior should operate like Marvel? Is this like their secret wars where they're just bringing Downey back no matter what?

Here's what I'll say about that. Marvel is crap. I'm so happy that I don't have to participate in that world. However, the people who love it, they still keep going back. You can't argue with that result. You know what I'm saying? Yep. The one thing, and this is just more on the kind of liner notes sort of thing, it does remind me that Steph is getting long in the tooth here. He's 35 years old. I was looking up LeBron because that's the obvious comment for virtually anything Steph is doing these days. And 35 was when LeBron got A.D. in there and went forward, which is ridiculous because LeBron feels like he's played 10 more seasons after that. And it feels like he and A.D. have been doing

everything together for eternity. But Steph is at that point where whatever moves he's making now are probably going to dictate the course of his last couple years and in the NBA here. So I think, I think whatever move the Warriors are making is going to be crucially important, not only for them, but for Steph and for the NBA. And so taking a more prudent, let's wait and see approach. I think it makes some sense to me. I want to get into the Warriors and like their fate this season, but I think we can get into our mailbag because that is one of the questions that is going to come up here. Let's bring in Isaiah, who is our go-to question ask or just voice of the people. I would say, Isaiah, thanks for joining us. Of course, of course. First.

question is which five players would you rather see in an ongoing Netflix series about the 23, 24 season? Okay. So I think yesterday on Tuesday, we got the release that Netflix is doing a quarterback receiver type documentary series where they're following five individual players. And now they said it was for the 20, 23, 2024 season, which was last season. But that doesn't make sense because this comes out in October and the 2024, 2025 season is what's ahead. It would be weird to show us what happened last season as the new season has started. So I'm a little bit confused, but I think the basic question here was is the five guys that they're following or have followed are Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, LeBron James, Jason Tatum, and DeMontas Sabonis, your guy.

Dee, I ain't dead yet. What, how do you feel about that five? And are you, like, interested in this whole exercise to begin with? I'm fine with it. LeBron is LeBron. He's got to be on there if you're trying to signal that this is a big deal. Jimmy and Aunt Edwards are actually going to say shit. So I'm really happy about their inclusion. Monarchabon, and Jason Tatum, let's be real.

These guys are not interesting people. They're just not. Like, we just have to be. And I think Jason Tatum is a great guy. but he's not a compelling figure, you know, obviously loves his teammates. And, like, he's a model NBA player. He's not a model reality TV figure. And so to that, and those two guys leave me a little bit cold.

LeBron, because he's going to do his LeBron act, like, this guy is just such a freaking, he's a producer of content. So he's so content-brained that, and he can't help but, like, produce at least some interesting stuff on the margins, even if he's trying to see. spin us the entire time. He's one big spin zone. But, you know, I'm entertained by watching LeBron bullshit us at this point. It's become like a parlor game for me. Watching LeBron give his ridiculous answers and pretend that it's off the cuff and it's spontaneous. It's funny watching him do that dog and pony show. But I do think again, Jimmy and Ann Edwards are going to say and

do things that are interesting and legitimately candid and off the cuff because they can't, they don't know how to be any other way. Like, it's just been proven. Like, Jimmy's been in the league for 10 plus years or whatever it's been at this point. And the guy at every single turn is spoke in his mind. And I love that about him. And Ann Edwards is the same way. Like, you put a mic in front of this guy, you don't know what's going to happen. And so that's legitimately exciting. And is perfect for this exercise because he's also at that sweet spot where he's right on the cusp of being something and to catch him at the moment where he's on the rise, he's becoming a superstar face of the league sort of player. It's going to be great to look at this now, but also

in like 10 years look back at the footage and be like, oh, damn, remember when like couldn't close out games? Like he wasn't playmaking enough in the playoffs and now all of a sudden here he's winning title. So I think just like the archival aspect of this is really important for him. For Jimmy, I I guess it depends on what season they're actually following because it might just be a lot of him like hanging out with ice on his knees or just like barking things from the sideline as he sits out of a two-week stretch of games because he did not play a ton last season, including in the playoffs. He has some of that LeBron stuff in him for better or worse too where he's like, oh, the big face coffee stuff. And like I can do some of that. But if it's too much, I kind of get a little turned off by it. The other guys, I think you're right.

I think anything with LeBron is great, the other two guys. I'll just say in general, this whole exercise is awesome because I'm in the process of watching the Chicago Bears hard knocks. And every single off season before the football season starts, whether I go on to watch football or not, I watch hard knocks and talk myself into some practice squad player who's going to be the next big thing. And I love that team for about three to four weeks. So if you just give me that sort of experience before the season, I'm all in on it.

I love it. But I do want to talk about the five guys who we would think would do best in this format. And I looked at it more of going into next season as opposed to what was last season. So if you had like your master list, you can have anybody in the NBA. Like who are your five? So let me just preference this by saying I'm messy. And so my list is going to be messy. Okay.

John Morant, number one with a bullet. No pun in 10. I would absolutely, I think that would be must-see TV, watching John Morant how he goes about handling this upcoming season. I think the Grizzlies are going to be really good. I think they're going to be interesting this year. I think John Morant's story is legitimately interesting. So John Moran absolutely up there.

Zion, for the same reasons. Mess. He's messy. Yeah. I like the, you know, skinny Zion picture. That seemed to be. That's right. Pretty legitimate. So it would definitely be into a Zion. Jalen Brown.

He's got a new hot girlfriend. He's parading around everywhere, SPs, all it is. He's also been prone to say some out there things, you know, disin Nike and things about like that on Team USA. In the pool, looking like Wolverine, just like getting to add amantium into his bones. Yeah.

Exactly. Jalen Brown, I would absolutely swap. him in for Jason Tatum in a heartbeat. Another messy pick, Kyrie would love to see Kyrie how that, his interplay with Luca, Jason Kidd, Nico Harrison, like the entire

Dallas Maverick sort of, I would love to see Kyrie interact with Miriam Adelson. That would be pretty cool, you know? Like, how that would transpire on a hard-knocks basketball show. So, yeah, those are four guys that immediately came

the market. I just think they would add a layer of human interests that I just don't see it from De Manis Sabonis. Like, come on. Subonis is a tough one. I like those picks. But speaking of Sabonis, I'm going to go with first and foremost, one of his, well, not countrymen, but maybe back in the day, former Yugoslavia, I think Yokic has to be in this. One, because I just want to know what Yokic is doing in his free time. And even if it's as simple as like reading a novel, just like in his study as he puts his kids to bed or afterward, I want to watch that because whatever this guy is doing behind closed doors, which he doesn't really give anyone any access to, I just want to know what's up there because you see him in the off season and he's just letting loose. So are we getting

at home, Yokic, or is he actually out there with his Serbian buddies? in his private Serbian basement club just hanging out and just actually ripping it during the season. Who knows? I have Wembe. Perfect time. Of course you do.

For this guy, of course I do. But also, perfect moment for him. He seems like he's going to take off this next season. Would love to see, like,

what his process is. I want to watch him, like, stretch. Like, how does this guy just get limber? And like, how does he make this,

this gangly-ass body work? It's something that I am really interested in that. I had Zion too. I had the Nova Nix. Just pick any of them. Just watch them do podcasts. Watch them interact with Fred Katz and Tom Tibido. Like, that would be fun.

And then from the kind of wild card pile, I have Ben Simmons. What's that guy doing? Oh, man. You're right. I should have had Ben Simmons on my all mess team. Yeah. What is he doing? Is he actually in the building?

most of the time. How much rehab is he doing? I just want to know what's going on in that guy's world. And for the same reason, Grant Williams, I think probably fit that too. He's a loopy guy. Yeah, I just want to see people pretend to be friends with Grant Williams because there's only so much of that they could probably do over the course of the season that they probably catch, like, lamello ball just rolling his eyes as he told Grant Williams

that he can't come out with him that night, you know, that sort of thing. would be really interesting. The last one I have my list, big wild card here. I have Wojj. I have Adrian Wojianowski. Watching him just like stammer through like a stand-up with Scott Ben Pell. Oh, my God, dude.

Calling one of his colleagues to berate them for reporting something that wasn't in line with the way that he wanted it presented, you know, that sort of stuff. just real fun times with Woj. Him just having Pena pasta with his wife for dinner. Sure. What are the dinner table conversations? Tall glass of milk, yeah.

You have Woj is a milk guy? Oh, 100%. Yeah, he's doing a whole milk too. He's probably one of those guys that doesn't drink coffee, but he drinks whole milk multiple times over the course of the day. Oh, my goodness. And then you could do that. shams for the next year and just watch him like hanging out at the Soho house with with you

on a given weekend sounds to my guy shams that's my boy right there okay um all right we go to the next question Isaiah okay next question is from lay bong James which is just incredible but two teams in each conference sent me to playoffs last year won't make it this season uh okay Okay. So I think this is kind of real playoffs. I went to 10 deep on this. So I'm talking playing tournament as well because the East is actually pretty impossible. I don't know any team that's going to actually vault into the top eight that wasn't there to begin with. And just to remind everybody, the 10 that made it into the play in portion was Boston, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Orlando, Indiana, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta.

If we're going 10, I think the last two, Chicago and Atlanta are probably the most susceptible to fall out. But the thing is like, who's jumping in? Brooklyn? No, they're done. They're going to the bottom. Toronto, I guess Toronto would be the obvious pig because of the quote-unquote internal improvement of guys like Scotty Barnes and quickly.

And RJ Barrett looked pretty damn good this summer, honestly. So Toronto, probably the prime candidate. I don't know how anybody could have faith in Charlotte. The Wizards are going to be horrible. The Pistons should be way better. But, like, will they? I think, I don't know. Toronto seems like the only team that could come up there.

And Trey Young, like, is giving the worst, weirdest interviews all off-season. Like, I was crying when he dissed their number one overall pick. He's like, that guy's not going to be a superstar. You know what I mean? I'm a player. He's not going to be a superstar. He's not going to be a monster. to anything in the league. Are you kidding me? That's crazy. They just drafted this kid number one

overall and Trey Young's already calling them, you know, Tabocephalotia, basically. Like, so that Atlanta thing doesn't seem to be cleaning itself up anytime soon. So, yeah, they seem like prime candidates for that. Yeah, because I think, I don't think Miami is going to fall that far out that they would fall out of the plan. I would say the team that's most likely to vault in here. if anyone does would probably be Charlotte if La Mello Ball is healthy, because they probably have just enough to make it past the Bulls who are kind of in that weird in-between zone where they're not tanking, but they are trying to make something of their younger players. Like, Giddy and White are going to be better than, for instance, whatever the Brooklyn Nets are going to give them.

But I don't think they're going to make much of a difference in their bottom line, if anything. So I would say Chicago probably most likely to fall out. But yeah, I think hawks and bowls are pretty clearly the ones in the east. The West is much harder. I don't know if you've taken a look there. But last year, well, let me give you the 10 that we're in. OKC, Denver, Minnesota, Clippers, Mabs, Sons, Lakers, Pelicans, Kings, Warriors. So the team that strikes me is definitely probably headed for not the top 10 is the Clippers.

they're gone. They're done. Coi Islander's not going to play. They don't have Paul George anymore. Look, I love Norm Powell, but give me a break, okay? They're done. They're not making the playoffs.

They won't be into play in. And I think Memphis is going to win 50 games. I do. And so immediately I see Memphis as a clipper replacement. Now, I don't think Houston's going to be better than Golden State this year. I just don't. I know a lot of y'all loving the spurs. That's a 38 win team to me.

Like the surrounding talent is still pretty putrid. Let's be real. Wembe is incredible. Gold medal game was a revelation damn there. He looked great. Okay? I'm glad we still kicked their French asses. But he looked great.

Yeah, y'all see me with. I wore this on purpose, Justin. God bless America. USA, baby. You know it. Yeah, Portland's going to continue to stink up the joint of jazz, obviously. Like, I don't care what they did with the marketing deal. They're not serious about winning basketball games there.

And so, yeah, honestly, I think it's going to be the same teams, minus the Clippers and the Grizzlies. I think the Clippers are the obvious candidate. I do think a lot of it comes down to whether or not Kauai actually plays. If Kauai is playing, if he's in like 60 games, let's just say, I think they're going to be in the mix there. Because I don't think, for instance, the Warriors as currently constructed are light years better than what the Clippers have there just between, even Hardin and Kauai, because they just have such a bench of, like, quality role players that they can only fall so far if they're superstars. Okay. But quite, hear me out, though. Hear me out, though.

The Warriors won 46 games while Drainmond Green completely being the worst version of himself in terms of maniac level. If he gets to like closer to like, you know, normal level maniac and he plays more games, I think they're close to 50 wins again, man. You know, like I do think they're much better than the clippers. Like their guys are way more reliable. And Kowai Leonard, this idea that like, yeah, we could just pencil him in for 60 games, Justin. We'll say. I don't see it, man.

I just don't see it. The Warriors definitely raised their floor. Like even getting Clay out of a position. where they're reliant on him to be the claim of old. I think he's going to him. Totally. Anthony Melton quality player. If he's healthy,

that's a guy that needs to stay healthy. Buddy healed fits what they want to do there. So, like, yeah, I could definitely see the Warriors still in the mix there. I have the Warriors down, if only because so many of the other teams behind them are steadily getting better. Like the Rockets are probably going to be pretty good

if they figure their shit out this year. I think the one team that's liable to fall all the way out is the Pelicans. On the one hand, I think Zion is primed for potentially a pretty big year here if he does have his shit together. But there's still a lot of messiness to clean up with just that roster. Brandon Ingram is still on there. If he's there the entire year, like, is he buying into the system that's leaning more and more towards Zion? They don't even have a center at this point.

I think it's like Daniel Tice and the guy that they drafted from Baylor in the first round. And so, like, there's just like still something to sort out there. and maybe they figure it out before game one of the regular season. But like if they don't and then like the typical Zion stuff kicks in even, like I could definitely see them falling out and that can get pretty difficult pretty quickly. So I think we're saying clippers. I'm saying maybe Pelicans. If there's anybody else that falls out, who do you think is like the next most likely?

It's got to be the Kings, right? Just because I think like any extended time missed by Sabonis or. DM or Fox, and that thing gets not excellent quickly. And so I think the Kings are super successful. And of course, the Lakers, their best guy is 40. Like, give me a break here. Like, this dude is old. Like, look, looked great in the summer.

Captaining Team USA was awesome to watch. He's clearly still one of the best players in the world, but like he's just not as durable as he used to be. He's just not that machine. And, you know, how could he be? Again, the age thing is real. So you got to look at the Lakers and their fragility with how top heavy they are. And AD not being the paragon of health, his whole career.

So, of course, they got to be a candidate. Yep, a little worried about kind of Team USA knockdown effect where it's like, on the one hand, I was reminded how good of a pairing both the sons and the Lakers have when two of the four of the main guys on Team USA playing these incredible summer performances are on two teams that have been underperforming for the past couple of years is like is something that really like jolted me back a little bit. On the other hand, like playing some hard-ass minutes in early August. And I wonder how much that's going to affect a guy like the Brown is going to be 40 and 80 who obviously has his own injury history. The Kings also were too thin to make it out of the play in last year. They lost some guys down the stretch.

And so like you're right. I think maybe they don't have enough depth. The support. poor even what they've built there with getting to Mark Rosen. So you're right. I think those are the next ones up on the list there. All right. Isaiah, here's what the next one. Next question is from Schroats Magoats.

Who do you all expect to be in the top 10 players at the end of the season? Okay. So this one's a little tricky because the top 10 I don't think really fluctuates all this much. And I say this is someone who's regularly rating the top 10 NBA players on a month and month basis.

as we do at the ringer's top 100. So this was the top 10 for the last list that we put out, which was, I want to say, after the playoffs, after the finals. So Yokic was won, then Luca, Janice, Shea, Tatum, and Bede, Curry, Edwards, Durant, and AD. LeRah not in there. I think he was at 11. So already you're starting with a really tough crop. Like if there's any guy that's going to fall out of there, I have a hard time even picking one.

Not even chasing Tatum? Well, I would like to go on record that even for said list, I was like, Tatum at five is way too high. Like, I know he's coming off the finals. We have to give him his flowers. But like, Embed being hurt, like, there's no world in which datum's a better player than Embeddead. It's just like, it's recent results.

Sure. So Tatum would have to tumble significantly. I guess AD just because 80 too. Yeah. AD could. But in terms of guys that are, you know, because like somebody like Paul George or Dane Lillard,

like they are who they're not making a leap. They're on the fringes of this kind of thing, but they're not going to be significantly better than AD and KD and Ed Edwards. This is just not going to happen when you consider their age and what they've already accomplished. So it has to be young guys who are stepping into who they're going to be in the future.

And obviously, Wembe has to be at the top of that list. But, like, the rest of these cats, like, you got to show me. Love, Palo? Like, you got to show me. Chet, like, these guys got to show me. Zion, I think, is the only person who has been this level of player for months at a time in previous seasons in his career, but he's never put it together for a whole season where we leave that season

thinking like Zion is clearly one of the 10 best basketball players on planet Earth. But I think he's definitely capable. And again, like those, you know, those ozempic picks that I've seen highly encouraging. Yeah. And the saddest like Jordan, brand, whatever thing that they have going on there together, where the most morose bitch men in history are just looking glumly out at, like, like the Korean landscape or wherever that was. I think you're right.

I think Wemby's the only guy who has an actual chance of vaulting into the top 10 the season. And not only based on what happened at the Olympics where he was incredible, let's just be honest. And then also I love over the course of the off season, the stories coming out about him, about guys being like, holy shit. Like I went against him and I had no idea what was going on here. That dude is legit.

I think that stamped him in a way that if you had any reservations about this guy having like sort of best player in the world sort of trajectory. Like I think you need to put that aside there. Zion's the other guy, but a total dark horse where we're not sure what are we going to get. That's how I feel about the Pelicans at this point. I think Zion could easily be an MVP candidate. If he shows up in shape and locked in,

because that's the type of caliber player he has the ceiling of. Unfortunately, I think things could absolutely fall apart if he's not around or if the Pelicans just can't get their shit together. So he's kind of a long shot. The other guys I have down here, more just leap candidates in general, not necessarily top 10 because top 10 is such a high bar to clear. I think you mentioned a few of them. Ben Carrow certainly going to have the opportunities. I was a little disappointed that the magic didn't go out and get another ball handler.

But if anything, that gives him more on ball reps to put up bigger numbers, which would help him get into that sort of all NBA sort of territory that he's sort of flirting with right now. Chet and J-dub had their crucible of the playoffs moments where they didn't fare all that great. moments, but by and large, pretty quiet post-s seasons. The first big, big, big playoff games. I'm not deterred in terms of what I think about their ability to develop at all. Yep. And so I could see both of them taking that, going and working out with Katie, as Chet did, with like the gangly summit that they had with bowl-bow and just like spinning it forward. And then a couple of young guys, more like second, third-year guys. Derek lively, I think he's prime for another big year. He's probably going to be

starting to see her. Brandon Miller. I think we all really liked what he had in the shadow of Wembe and Chet. Big Brandon Miller guy. Yep. Get him next to Lamello if he's healthy. You get that new rookie that they have that looks like Prime, Stromiles Swift, just the biggest, most athletic dude I think I've ever seen on a basketball court. We'll get to see him, I think, take a leap here. Jalen Green, on the list, but I'm not sure. I really don't know what to make of the Rockets because they have some stuff to figure out here. But clearly their talent has popped at various times last season. So there's something here, but they need to make a meal out of it.

Yeah, because Jalen Green is the kind of player where if what he showed at the end of last season is real, he needs to be given the ball. Like, that's the archetype of player that he is. And you wonder if this Rockets roster is suitable. to that, right? Like, is he as, is he good enough yet to justify that kind of decision from a coaching staff and their approach? So, I mean, they're a fascinating collection of guys.

I just think with the, with the God-given ability that Jalen Green has in terms of his first step, you know, and just his ability to blow by anybody and he's made some improvements on the fringes of his ball handling and pick and roll navigation. and shot selection, like just tightening all those things up and combining it with his elite off the charts athleticism is still so tantalizing, man. And so, yeah, I'll be looking forward to him. To me, he's definitely elite candidate, just off of talent alone. Incredible sizzle reel from those Houston Rockets, Summer Runs, where he looks like the goddamn

flash going through some of those guys. He is just an absolute blur with the ball. Last guy I just have in my list here. I have Shaden Sharp down just because someone on Portland has got a pop. This one's for my Pacific Northwest brethren and sister. And I think he is probably the most talented guy on their team. He got kind of lost in the shuffle because of injuries last season. But I'm just like reminded sometimes where I'm watching clips of him blocking like shots from three in the corner.

And he just looks like he's flying in midair. Like something is there with that guy. and he's young enough to put it together and put the injuries behind him. So I can see him getting into that like 50, 60 range if he puts together a good season, not necessarily top 10. So the other thing I wanted to talk about, though,

with this question is you're seeing a lot of like those summer surveys. ESPN does this a lot around this time. And one of them was, I think it was a Tim Bondem's poll. It was like, oh, who's going to be the best guy in five years? And some people said, Yokic, some people said, Wembe. I think the most interesting question is the question that the NBA GM survey typically does right before the season

where they're like, who are you building your team with today? How would you answer that question if you were GM was? I think coming out of the playoffs, I might have been a Luca person, but coming out of Serbia and the semifinals against team fucking USA and Yokic and a bunch of freaking mechanics basically scaring the living daylights out of the best play

and the all-star NBA team. And not like in the past where the parts didn't make sense. Players, positions, parts, people playing roles, superstars, all of it actually making sense. And Yokic and a bunch of freaking Serbs basically damn near winning that game. Like to me, it feels like he's the obvious answer in terms of who will make the team building exercise the easiest. It feels like it has to be Yokic, dude. like these these serbite like boge i love him he's he's every NBA team's idea of a six man

spark plug guy he's not a guy and yokech and yokech is like it doesn't matter i'm gonna make this work and i'm going to dominate the flow and the character of this game you know mitch look NBA nerds love him i got a soft spot for the guy too he's nobody's idea of some great player, bro. And so just watching that is... Just the photo on our group chat. Exactly. Group chat.

Group chat. So to me, man, I probably, like, coming out of the playoffs, I had become so luca-pilled. But yeah, this is just recency bias, man. I would... I would... I'd go with Yokic, bro. I just would. I would split hairs in that. I think

Yokic solidified himself, if there was any doubt, which there really wasn't, of being the best player in the world, right this second. I think the thing that just gives you pause, if you're building a team is just the age there where it's like how many prime years does Yokic have? Honestly, how many years does Yokich really want to do this before he goes and sits in his chariot with his little horsey pulling him around his yard there? So like just the runway you'd have with Yokic is a little bit more limited than someone like Wembe who is, I don't think, 21 yet. I think he becomes 21 in like a

next season. So you feel like you have a decade plus with him. Sure. Sure. But I think we're kind of aligned there. Um, all right. Two more. Isaiah, hit us with the next one. Next one is from Joe Tabaris. You guys have a team that no matter the highs and lows for them, you think are going to be fun to watch. Expectations are set to zero, but fun values at a 10. Who is your, who's your pick? Was, do you have one for this? Realistically, it's probably still the wolves for me. Outside of their championship, are they, like, fulfilling their championship promise

with the salaries and blah, blah, blah. It's just, I just love watching Ant figure new things out about himself and his game and what he can do and achieve in terms of manipulating defenses, in terms of just the kind of defensive plays. he wants to be on a night. To me, like, he feels like the most outside of Wembe, right,

who is just established more. He's made an All-Star and all of that stuff. It just feels so revelatory more often with Ant than pretty much anybody else that I'm watching these days because he has that superstar, top of the league potential that he's always scraping against every now and again. And so to me, it's going to be the world. wolves again this year. I'm going to be watching every game because I'm so into Ant's story.

I don't like, you know, like, are the wolves in the team? Like, is Rudy the kind of guy that can close a playoff game? It's like, I don't really care. Like, those questions are not going to be that meaningful for me. It's just going to be about watching Ant be Ant for another season. So you don't care about the expectations just as like a basketball. Just as a basketball fan. You like watching them do their thing. Totally. I get that.

That's a good one. I picked this more as like what is the bad team that you don't think anything. The horrible team that I will watch the Spurs. Yeah. They're getting you to watch the Spurs. You know when it's having effect. Exactly. For that reason, though, I picked the Hornets.

And you can kind of guess based on I've been talking around them for a little bit for some of questions. I just think if you look at the lineup on paper, like, something good could happen to this team. And now with a new coach, a new organization behind them, like, I almost wonder if Lamello is healthy and God, we need to say that a million times because that's the one thing that could swing them one way or another. It's just like, this team actually does have a lot of talent. Lamello, you have Brandon Miller, who we just talked about. Miles Bridges, don't love them personally. But, God, this is like a lot of high level guys all put together that something good could have. and they have this new rookie who, as I mentioned, just looks like The Terminator.

So I'm just trying to find out what's going on with him. Then they have the Grant Williams factor. Like, is this guy any good? Does anyone actually like him? Do I want to watch that play out regardless? 100%. And they got to grind Michig. So like, what's not to like there?

And I also think the early window for League Pass junkies like ourselves is pretty dire. And so I'm often looking for someone, anyone, to just jump. out in that like 4 p.m. Pacific range just so I could watch them. And so I'm going to be watching bad basketball. And so if the hornets could be fun and bad, I'll take that at this point. And that's the

show is so funny, Justin. It's like that daily feeling for me at like 345 was just like, oh, got to turn on one of these freaking Eastern Conference games coming up. Let me see what's on the schedule. Yeah, there will be a lot of hornets consumed this season for sure.

Yep. All right. Last one. Last question is from Jack Goodwin. Hi, guys. I'm from the UK and a big fan of the pod. What do you think are the best city slash NBA team combos to visit? I've been to New York and MSG, but in your opinions, where else is worse seeing and taking an NBA game?

I'm pretty northeast bias. I'm a bit of a Philadelphia and Boston apologists as cities. I think they're great cities. Food cities. Just like... I think Boston is a great. great city? I do. I do. I actually do. I think there's a lot. Yeah, I know. I think there's a lot to do. I think there's a lot to do and see in Boston, like, between the harbor and like the diversity of the

cuisine and all of that stuff. And, you know, the history of the city, blah, blah, blah, blah, if you're into that kind of thing. If you want to be a dad type of thing. And I think, you know, going to TD Garden is a great way to take in an NBA game. Like, these people give a fuck about that team. And so they cultivate a great atmosphere to watch the team. And basically the same goals for the Sixers. I thought, I'm not going to lie, like pre-processed, I thought like Sixers fandom Philadelphia interest in the Sixers was a little bit overblown. I think they're like, I thought they had an overrated fan base, particularly for the Sixers, not the Eagles and the Phillies because they're complete maniacs about those teams, but particularly it felt like there was a bit of

apathy about that team. But I don't think that's the case anymore. And I think Philly is just a dope city to be at. Like, it's bigger than you think. There's a lot more to do and see than you would think. And, you know, taking a game in over there would be dope. Yeah, this one's a tough one because the teams that have really exciting game environments, like the deep cut ones, typically don't have the most robust city on top of that. And so, for instance, I would say the best in game experience I've ever had was in OKC just because of the way that crowd gets on top of the court. And they give you good media seats. That helped too. Yeah, I was on the floor for that one. So I don't know if anyone else can get those tickets. But the city, you know, not a lot to see outside of that unless you're doing

like a one to two day check in where like I will say as a traveling media member, I have convinced myself that I could live virtually anywhere by being there for one to two days. If you're looking for like a four to five to six day trip, I'm not sure OKC can really support that unless you like make it a Dallas. No, I'm sure that it can't. I'm sure you don't want to spend five days in Oklahoma City. No shot. But it's the same thing in reverse about New Orleans, great city that I would encourage anyone else to visit. But not yet, but not the game experience. That arena sucks. And by the way, Portland, when they're good, is a great place. for games when they're good but they're not good anymore so yeah cheap tickets yeah which which i think

is important it matters you're right like miami obviously a great city you don't need to watch the you're not your life won't be changed by going to uh you know crypto uh com or whatever that shit was called before the crash i think you're right about boston boston's probably one of the best combinations of quality basketball plus a city that you would want to put on your list if you're coming from across the pond i have amongst the deep cuts i have memphis is one that i think can support like a three-day trip if only because of the eating like i think there's enough historic stuff you go see that but the food is so legit and fedex forum is like right there and so you can go get your food fill and then walk to the arena for a game and do like a two to three

sort of day trip the other one is just l a if only because they're opening into a dome and just to go and see what could possibly be the best or at least the most modern NBA arena and then going to see LA would probably make a lot of sense. You get to hang out with Woz. For sure. Show you the ropes. And listen, the only thing I will say as far as our friend from the UK going to Boston, there are a lot of Irishmen there. Watch your back. Hashtag fuck the Brits. The Irish don't get along with the Brits? No, they do not. Wow.

See, I was actually just watching Love is Blind UK and there was someone there from Ireland, I believe. And I was like, oh, everyone's just like one big happy melting pot, but apparently not. Yeah, they're still pretty bitter about that whole Northern Ireland thing. Hmm. Okay. we'll check back on that in our next spot in our long-form series on the interrelationships between Ireland and in the UK. But that's it for us. Thank you to Isaiah Blakely for sending us up with these questions and for being on production as per usual.

Thank you to Ben Cruz. We'll be back. I'm not sure at some point over the next couple weeks. And then we'll get the ball rolling into the regular season as always. But until then, we'll see you then.