The Ringer NBA Show - The Blazers' Bosnian Beast With John Gonzalez (Ep. 92)

Episode Date: March 31, 2017

The Ringer's Chris Vernon and John Gonzalez discuss the curious case of the Cleveland Cavs (02:00), the ascent of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets (06:30), Jusuf Nurkic flourishing with the Trail Blazers (10:30), and the NBA experience in Portland (31:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Just go to Tunein.com slash Ringer and subscribe. Download the Tune in app and start listening today. Tune in, your everything audio app. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me today is John Gonzalez from the ringer.com. Hey, John. Yeah, thanks for having me.

I feel like this was reached an error. Like Chris Ryan made some sort of clerical error, but I'll take it. This is untrue because you ended up writing about two things that have gone on in the NBA this week that are super, super interesting. Before I get to that, yesterday, for those of you that tuned into the Ringer NBA show, you know, I did the show with Zach Harper. And one of the predictions that we made on the show was that the calves would lose to the TNT Bulls and then we would wake up this morning to a Brian Winhorst article where LeBron's crapping on everybody.

And I will say, we went 100% on that prediction. Sure enough, John, I don't know if you noticed. But when any NBA fan wakes up this morning, we woke up to the Brian Winhorst story about what was it today was. LeBron James says calves are in a bad spot. Kyrie Irving indicates team meeting was held. And so I guess the smaller story is the TNT Bulls. This is like 19 and 0 or something that they are on. TNT and they beat the Cavs on national television and predictably the unbeatable bulls on TNT

were going to lead to LeBron being upset. Before we get into Denver and Portland and all the stuff we're going to get into today, what do you make of what's going on with the cabs and this seemingly never-ending cycle of Kyrie blaming himself saying what he's going to say, LeBron saying what he's going to say. do you think it's all stuff that we're going to look back and laugh at or do you take all this seriously? You guys are like Notre Dameus, you predicted it. I want to know what the lottery numbers are next.

I was really impressive by you. I don't know what to make of the Bulls. I don't think the Bulls know what to make of the Bulls. But you're right. They do play better on national TV. The Cavs are a really curious case right now. Like I keep feeling like, I mean, we've seen forever, right, whether it was with the heat or with the Cavs now,

that playoff LeBron is a different LeBron, and by extension, he makes his teams better. But this is getting to a point of critical mass, no? Like, how worried are you about them? I'm starting to sweat it a little bit. They should be sweating it. They clearly are. Well, here's what I would say. Because at some point, everybody keeps waiting for the, okay, see, we're all stupid

to make such a big deal out of this. Like, if they would have gone last night and they would have won by 45 points on TNT, then that would have been the narrative, right? Like, okay, they're going to remind us. But everybody, like, keeps on waiting for them to remind them, whether it was the big game against the Wizards, where they got 71 hung on them in the first half, or it was that huge game earlier this week on national TV against the Spurs,

and they got slaughtered. And then last night. And so at some point, when you keep on waiting for, all right, when are they going to look like themselves again? When are they going to remind everybody that they're the defense? defending champions, they like keep on having cracks at it in big spots with a ton of viewers and all they do is like reconfirmed that something's wrong. Yeah, that's Spurs game too where they had everybody play and then they just didn't show

up. That was really unlike them. Like I get like towards the end of the season that, you know, they want to arrest some players, but they had everybody in that game and it was terrible and then they go out there against the Bulls and fall apart. And I'm of like the belief again. Like, LeBron in the playoff is just a monster, and he's a completely different animal, and he's going to turn it on, and he's going to get them moving.

But on Series matter as we record this, they're lined up with the heat, and they've had issues with the heat this year. The heat are streaking. Like, that could all of a sudden be, like, a potentially nasty first-round series for that. I think so, too. And the heat just, they keep on coming at waves at you, and, you know, listen, they were 11 and 30, or whatever it was at a time. And so at some point, it's real when you win that many games in the time span that they've won those.

Like, they're good. The heat are actually good. And it was just very, very hard for us to get out of our mind that they were at once almost 20 games under 500. But that's obviously radically different now. So, yeah, I think the heat, I don't think anybody wants to see them in the first round, whether it's Boston, Miami, whoever would end up facing. the heat. Nobody wants to see them. They're not a fun matchup at all.

Now, suppose a wizard, man. I don't know what he's done. I don't know where he falls on your coach's the year awards, but he's definitely toward the top of my left. I mean, it's probably still Dan Tony for me, but like really, really close for what he's done. But if you're Cleveland, like, with the way you're playing right now, you don't want to see

the heat. You probably don't want to see anybody. I mean, like, this infighting where they're just like, they're saying, you know, this is wrong and that's wrong, and, you know, we've got to get it together. And, like, you're predicting a wind horse story. You never want to see, if you're the cabs, you never want to see a wind horse story, because you know

it's not good. Like, that's basically the Harbinger if something's wrong. Oh, for sure. I mean, hell, he's been covering LeBron James since he was a fetus. Yeah, it's a bad spot for Cleveland right now. If anybody's plugged in, it's windhors, that's for sure. He knows what's up there. All right, let's talk about what you went

through this week. The first article that you put out was about how a second round unicorn and a 13-year vet saved the Denver season. And so talking to the guys in Denver witnessing that Denver Nuggets team, the big story is clearly Nicola Yokic, who has just been out of his mind. Some of the stats you had in the article were the December 15th, since December 15th, and this is at the time your article was printed earlier in the week. He's averaged 19 points, roughly 11 rebounds, 5.5 assist.

and close to a three-point or a block of steel per game all while shooting 59% from the field. And it's all like, if you can, just kind of give me a sense of everybody knew the story that he and Nerkich. It obviously didn't work together. Not only did it not work together, it was miserable as a pairing. And the choice was made where Yokic was coming off the bench. And so it's kind of, they all fell into it. where Yokic was able to have this season that he's had. If you can't just kind of take me through how the season started,

like how this all happened. And I know there's been a lot of Mike Malone just fell into this. But if you can't just explain this ascent of Yokic this year after being around them. Yeah, it's been a really strange season for them. Preseason basketball you watched. I watched probably more. I've liked me to watch because I lead it completely full life. but Nurkich looked really good for them in the preseason.

So they came out of the preseason where they were like, all right, well, we're going to play him, and we're going to play Jokic side by side, and then it just didn't work. And they figured that, okay, well, we'll stagger them. And at first they brought No Jokic off the bench, and it was Nerk, who was the starter. And then they pretty quickly realized, like, by December that that wasn't probably going to work out. And part of that, I think, was because, you know, Nurkich, for whatever reason, like, he has a very, specific skill set. Jokic just does more things on the court, right? I mean, we've seen it since December 15th where they made him the starter where, you know, he can shoot from outside. He's got a

great inside game. He's a really good passer. NERC's a good passer, but Jokic is like a ridiculous passer. And then beyond that, you see times, a lot of times now where go let him bring the ball up. I mean, Jemir Nelson was telling me that there are times where Jemir will inbound the ball to Jokic, and then Jemir just make a B-line for the wing where he acts. is like sort of a safety valve, like a fish shoot. So I think to Mike Malone's credit, whether he stumbled into it or not, they found things weren't right for NERC. And it just, like, did not go well for him.

Why would, why do you think that pairing didn't work? I mean, like, look at the way they're playing now. Like, they're basically, everything goes through Jokic, right? And, like, they do have a lot of five outsets where they've got Gowan-Aurie and Gary Harris on the wing. Gary Harris, by the way, like, his year-over-year improvement. I think he's sitting something like 46%. on his catch and shoot threes, which is just banana.

It's healthy, and Gallo is healthy. And they just want to play a different style. NERC's deal. Like, he needs to be active. He needs to be involved, and they were kind of marginalizing him a little bit. And the two big things just didn't work for him. And, like, true in Portland. He looks so good for the –

talk about a trade that, like, helped both teams. Denver made the right move by making Jokic their guy. You can't, like, say enough about Portland and need a little shade by going out and getting Nerk. Like, that was a steal for them. And you wonder if, oh, for sure it was a steal, because they got a first round pick, too, for God's sakes. And a first round pick. That was bananas.

I didn't understand it then. I definitely don't. Like, things had to be really bad in Denver. Like, for them to be like, yeah, we'll toss them the first just to make it happen. Well, and that's kind of the deal. You wonder if NERC had just been a good soldier and just, you know, it said all the right things and I'll do whatever it takes to help the team win. that bull crap, right? Do they, do they not make that, like, did it, did it just become so toxic and his attitude become so poor? Because you even chronicled in the article, like, he wasn't

bashful about saying, hey, this sucks. I want to be playing. And he, he didn't sugarcoat being unhappy with his situation there, right? And so at some point, I don't want to say force your way out, but you make it so that the management, it sure is. easy. Nobody's going to miss you pouting in the locker room or saying that kind of stuff in the locker room. You're obviously pissed off. It's just better to break up, right?

And then you make end up making, in retrospect, probably a bad deal to get him out. But you do wonder if he didn't get pouty and he didn't if he didn't express his discontent, if that just never even happens, right? I keep going back and forth because

the other night Lillard was just like praising him, right, and saying, you know, he definitely is blunt, talking about NERCage. And clearly he was in Denver, right? Like, he was popping off to the Denver Post all the time. And then, you know, when he got sad, he was saying, you know, it's hard to feel part of the team. He's catching DMPCDs. He was barely playing, like, 16 minutes a game when he did play.

So clearly he wasn't happy. And you heard everybody, anybody who covers the NBA, heard rumors about NERC being a problem in the locker. But then look at what happened the other night. that game that I covered in Portland where they beat the nuggets in Portland. After the game, even though he threw shade at them,

a bunch of the nuggets went over and hugged it out with them. It didn't look to me like they didn't like Narkage. It looked like they really liked Narkage. So for whatever he was saying over there, maybe they understood it. I mean, Jermir told me, and I put it in the piece, he was like, look, I don't know if it was NERC

or if it was the system, but like he, it just didn't fit for us and for the offense, and it obviously didn't fit for him. But he didn't sound like he, At no point did it sound like he didn't like Nurkich, and it didn't look like any of them didn't like Nurkich. So I wonder if it was more Nerkich-rubing management the wrong way, because for you to offload, I like Mason-Pumlee just fine,

but Mason-Pumley is not Nerkich, and he doesn't have the upside of Nerkich, and Nurgh is on a better deal, and he's younger, exchange for it. I still feel like there's something else that we didn't know about it. Well, here's the other thing. I and maybe maybe this is unfair on my part but I that that that quote that you just brought up the Nelson quote right my opinion is you don't bring up he he did it in a soft way but you don't bring up the system unless you think it's the system that's what I've what I've typically found is if somebody slips in there or maybe it was this right and it has to do with

coaching. It's a way to kind of say, hey, yeah, we knew he was really good and we should have figured out a way for it to work here. So maybe it was this or maybe it was that, but, you know, we wish him well. Usually when that said and you throw in the possibility that it was the system, that means that's what you really think. I think if you sat down and gave Jamir Nelson Truth Serum, he'd say, I knew Nurkich was good and we should have figured out a way to use him better. but we F that up. There might be something there because I like Mike Malone a lot. I think he's a good coach.

I think he's been good for Denver. But if you look at their lineups this year, and part of it was like they had health issues, right? I mean, if you go up and down the lineup, they had a bunch of guys. I ticked off like how many games each of them and missed in the story, but a bunch of guys who were hurt, right?

So that he necessarily had to tinker with the lineups, how they were playing, trying to figure out what was going on. They sort of stumbled into, oh, yeah, it's joke. It's okay, of course. Even when they were healthy? have been super, super squarely. Like, there was only two Pelicans, Denver game,

that had north of 150 minutes together, and that was with Mutier, and they stuck him a Likin's game that the Jemir Nelson led lineup. All they'd done all season long was tinker. So I wonder, like, how much of that tinkering affected Nerkich, and then also, like you said, like, you're one of the guys on the team, you're looking around,

you're like, when are we going to figure out who's our guy? Now, we'll say this, though, at the very beginning of the season, if people could actually go back and listen to this, At the very beginning of the season, Mike Miller came on this show, and I asked him, there's a bunch of young players on the team. You've seen Moudia, you've seen Jamal, you've seen all these different guys on your team. Who's the guy that could be a huge star? And he immediately said Jokovic. And he said, or Jokic, I'm sorry.

He immediately said Jokic, and he said, he told me he thought the kid could be a 10-time All-Star, and I was like, what? and then he said he reminded him a lot of Powell and Mark, two Gasol brothers, who Miller had played with both of them, and he's like, and he's better and further along at his aid than they are. So I know if Miller felt that way, you know Jemir felt that way. So there were at least guys on the team, because I'm telling you, Miller came on and said that in like October

that thought they had a possible 10-time All-Star on the team. and I could imagine that some of them probably like raise their eyebrows that it took until December 15th or whatever it was for Yokic to really take off. Because it was recognized by guys, at least on that roster, some of the elder statesmen, how good Yokic was. So the idea that they would think, you know, maybe some goofy lineups or maybe they weren't accentuating their best traits or best players, that's not far-fetched at all, right? No, no, I don't think so. But, like, you know, they had to find out for sure, because don't forget, like, it's not like Yokic was a guy who everybody identified early on as, okay, he's going to be a superstar in the league. Round pick. He was coming off the bench.

He was, you know, they tried to have a power forward. There's a bunch of things that, like, didn't indicate that he was going to be a massive superstar. Now, obviously, we look at this guy who can do so many things on the floor. and as much as I love Nurkich in Portland again, they definitely made the right move in Denver. Stokich is that much better. But Mike Miller loves him. I mean, like, those guys much every game.

And I know Mike Miller's your voice. Who has a better gig right now than Mike Miller? Just like hanging out and being the fun super sub on the bench and like, you know, waving a rally towel. That guy looks like he's having the most fun in the NBA all the time. Oh, it is the best fun you could possibly have, right? Being in that position because this is like, if you need me, you need me, but, you know, he doesn't have to, he gets to collect checks.

He gets to collect checks and be like a mentor, right? Like, just be good for the team. Yesterday, when they were playing one-on-one before, he was, like, trying to rally him off. It was great. It was great. He looked like he's having a blast. Let me ask you about the Jemir stuff, because, you know, obviously the article was about how Yokic and Jemir have helped save their season.

and Jemir, who has been in the league for over a decade, and has been on a lot of losing teams, especially recently. In fact, one of the quotes he had was, it's the first time in a long time that he's played in meaningful basketball games this late in the season. Part of it is got in better shape, steadying presents. They don't need him to be a big score, whatever. But this is another one of those things that's happened with Denver,

which clearly was not the plan. If you would have sat everybody down prior to the season, the hope would be that Emmanuel Moudier starts to show real signs that he was worthy of the very high draft pick in which he was selected with. Mudiye's season, and I know some of it is because of injury, but his season has been a disaster, which that's kind of the sidebar to the whole Jemir has really helped them. And who would have thought Jemir Nelson is a starting point guard on a team that's got a chance at the player? The sidebar is it's really because of necessity because the other guy is so bad. What do we make of, before we get into the Jemir stuff, what do we make of Moodye? Yeah, I mean, that's a big mess. And he's still young, and I think that if you're them, you just hope that, you know, sitting here, you're right, though.

Like, you just hope that sitting here will snap him out of it next year and he's going to do something. but you're right in that this is a real this is a problem. It's a problem for him. It's a problem for the Nuggets because they didn't direct him with the intention of giving him DMPCDs all the time and going with Jamir Nelson who's 35 years old and who could not get on the floor at the end of last

season. They sat Jamir Nelson for the last 25 games of the season last season and it really pissed him off. And he said, you know, like I'm going to come back and I'm going to play. But, you know, he's 35. He's not stupid. He's a really bright guy. He's a better. I've been watching this guy since, you know, from Philly. I grew up right near

where he went to high school. He went to St. Joe's. I went to a big five school. I've been watching him forever. And people have always underestimated him, but I think if you had given that to him before this season, there's no way he's going to go, yeah, man, I'm going to be starting by the end of the year and we're going to be fighting for the playoffs.

Like, nobody would have thought that. And that would also have indicated something really bad at happen at the UDA and to the extent that he's healthy it had. Yeah, I mean, that's part of the story for sure, right? It's cool to have Jamir Nelson starting for your team and playing well and the team playing extremely well and him being a steadying presence. But it also shines a massive light on why is Jamir Nelson your starter?

And the answer is, the answer is incredibly unfortunate if you're the Nuggets because I don't, I don't know if I'd buy any Moodye a stock now, John. I really don't. Like I, there was no progression, none. He does not look like it's going to, I don't know. Last year, if you would have stopped and he would have said, could you see this guy in four years being a star or being one of the better point guards in the league? I certainly wouldn't have written that off. I would have said, it's possible.

Guys got the requisite athleticism. He's got size. You know, it takes a long time for many guys to figure it out when they get to the NBA. it would have done him, you know what? And typically I'm on the side of the roll my eyes about college basketball, whatever. I will say this. He would have been extremely well served to go play a year under Larry Brown at SMU. If all that grade shit didn't, if all that grade shit and all that didn't go down,

I think Moody, I think he's a different player if he would have gone and played for Larry Brown for a year at SMU. instead of having to, you know, go overseas like you did. But that being said, I just don't know. I don't know, man. I don't know on the Moodye thing if I would buy any stock right now. Do you think there's any chance we look up in three years and we'll look back at that draft and think, wow, that was a great pick by Denver? I was just looking at the draft right now.

Like, you look at it now, and that present is a massive mess for them. And, like, 2020 in hindsight, right? Like, the year that Yonis on his compo came out, everybody goes, well, I can't believe the Sixers took MCW and not him. Well, a bunch of teams passed on him. But you went into teams. Like, everybody passed on him. So you could really say that about, you know, who behind Mutiator that you'd rather have.

And right now, you'd rather have a lot of people. You'd rather have Justice Winslow. You'd certainly rather have Miles Turner. You'd definitely rather have Devin Booker. I think, I mean, who knows? At this point, you'd probably rather have, like, it's a real shame for Mutiator because I'm with you. Athleticism-wise, you look at him and you go, he should be able to do more than he's been doing. And forget about the shooting.

Like, the shooting is expected to have a bigger defensive impact, which is a lot of want-to. But then I think, so this season, right, like you go to me, you go to Jimere Nelson because obviously Jamir Nelson, he's going to fit into your system. He's going to do what they passed with him. Mike Malone said, you know, he's even playing differently. He's much more of a pick-and-roll scoring point card, but they don't even do that right now. So they're using him as sort of like a safety valve outlet shooter, and he can do that, and he's happy to do that. But you go to Jemir Nelson, who's obviously not part of your future at the expense of Mudié,

and you're probably still going to miss the playoffs because you only have two of your last eight games at home. It's a really tough schedule down the road. So what did you do that in service of? Like, if you don't make the playoffs and you've also marginalized Mudi A, man, you're in a tough spot now. And you do wonder, do they get to the draft? That will be interesting to see if they try to make a move, whether it's a draft or whatever, if they try to make a move to get themselves a point guard in this off season, right? Because you're not going to come back with Jamir Nelson being your starter, right?

Right. And so do you make a move? Right. I think going into next season, what point guards are on that roster with Denver? and does Denver have another point guard that they bring in, which makes it clear maybe they're just not, maybe they don't have as much stock in Moudier anymore either. Clearly the coach doesn't, right?

But I'd love to talk to the front office and see what they think. Do they think this is just a process and the kid went through some injuries this year and he's going to be fine or are they starting to worry and thinking, we can't come back next season with Emanuel Moudier is our starting point guard, right? I don't know. Yeah, no, I mean, they've got a lot of decisions to make. Like, somebody asked me, after I wrote that Nuggets story, like, are you bullish on them for next year?

Would you want, like, season tickets? And it was kind of an interesting thought experiment because I do like their talent. I like the way they play. But where are they really in the Western Conference pecking order? I mean, where they are right now is probably where they're just exciting team in the NBA to watch right now. I like watching Denver. I think Gary Harris is a really nice piece. Well, Barton can do some things for you.

Obviously, Wilson Chandler and Gallen you're a nice veteran, and Jokic is a monster. But what are all those pieces add up to? Do they add up to a contender? I mean, you're right. I think that they need a point guard, but then what do you do with mutiating? You're not going to get, man, 50 cents on the dollar would be amazing, but you develop him.

And if you do try to develop him more, that's probably at the expense of your overall wins and losses. It's a really tough spot. I think their offseason is going to be one of the most interesting to watch, because they can go in a lot of different direction. You think Murray's going to be a star? I like him. I like Jamal Murray. I think he can do a lot of different things for them,

certainly shooting-wise, and he's so young still, but you also have some redundancy there, right? In the same way that they have some redundancy in the front court where they were trying to get rid of, you know, Nerkich and or Farid, and they ended up offloading Nurchase, but not free. You've got Gary Harris and you've got Wobarden and you've got Murray,

and they all kind of do some similar things. So how many of those shooters do you need? I mean, everybody needs shooters. You really need all of them? I don't know. No, honestly, I would say this. They get in, even if they could package some of that stuff, if they could get themselves an awesome point guard,

unless Moudier is going to become it. If you had an awesome point guard and you had Yokic, you could fill in the other three, and you could be in the playoffs for seven, eight straight years. Trust me. And you could just fill in the blank. You can fill in the other guy. I mean, you're clearly going to have to have a third option, but it ain't that hard.

You know, you've already got the one guy. And so, and the other thing is Yolich is a little different than some of the bigs in that he's your, he can be your primary or secondary playmaker for the teams. You've got two guys that can, you know, start all the actions that you're trying to do. Listen, at least they, at worst, they got one piece for sure. and now you just got to figure out how to build around him, but at least this season has been productive in figuring out, okay, we've got a big-time star on this team.

Yeah, and everybody wants a superstar like Yogurt. Not to mention that contract is insanely good. He's like over the next two years, it's like $1.5 million on average. So relative to his production, I don't know at his age. I wrote this in the piece. I don't know that there's a better contract. the NBA right now. They have one of the best players slash contracts in the NBA and good for them, but they still have some definitely some questions to answer.

All right, John, I'm going to ask you about being in Portland for a game and how much you like the experience there. But before that, let me remind everybody that today's podcast brought to you by T-Mobile. So here's a question. Do you like Major League Baseball? Do you like watching Major League Baseball? Of course you do. I know I do. I catch every Cardinals game I can. Well, then you need T-Mobile. because they're giving away a free year of MLB.tv premium. That's $11299 value absolutely free only for T-Mobile customers. And oh yeah, here's the best part.

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Download the Tune-in app and start listening today. Tune-in. your everything audio app. All right. The other thing, we talked about Portland, you talked about how fun it was to watch. I saw one of your tweets where you said, how much you loved watching a game there.

What was great in particular about the Portland experience in your mind? In Portland, and I don't think it translates on TV, Chris. Like, if you're in Portland, those people, like, the Portland fans and Trailblazers fans are really rabid. Like, they don't have anything. It's a beautiful city. There's a lot of stuff going on, like, non-sports-wise. But that's it, right?

It's, like, literally the only game in town, unless, like, your soccer pair. So they go crazy for the Blazers. Like, everywhere I went, my Uber driver, you know, people in the hotel that I ran into, people on the street. And, like, just the environment in mode. Part of that was because of the stakes of the game against the nuggets. But I just thought it was an awesome atmosphere.

And, man, they love Nurkich so much there. I mean, he's perfect for them and vice versa. Really? It's funny because he did even say that at one point, right? Like, it's crazy because you never know how these trades are going to work out, but it has been a perfect fit. And you chronicled, I think you said, and this was at timing of article, they were 13 and 6 since they got him,

and their net rating was one of the best in the league. Like, do you think that they are, let's say they get the 8 seed, right? Now, you're probably just, you know, walk into an early grave when you're having to play against a warrior. years. But do you think that, do you think that's real? You know, maybe not sustainable that you would be 13 and 6 or 14 and 6 every 20 games that you play. But how much do you buy into the net rating is that of a really, really good team? The record is that of a really, really good team. Do you think that they are really, really good now?

Yes, I do. I have so much fun watching them. Everything for me really, like, especially NBA-wise, ultimately the entertainment value and men are they entertaining. But, like, I know it's a small sample size. After the Houston game last night, they're 14 and 6. They climbed a fifth in that rating. They've won eight of their last 10. They're just putting up 100 or more points in almost every game. They look amazing.

But it really is about those three guys. It's CJ and NERC and Damien Lillard. And the other pieces are what to do there. I mean, like, I like Kraft. He can be a useful player. Parklitz is okay. Von Leyes become, like, a useful rebounder. Do you have an attorney?

And I like E.T. It was nice to see the villain the other day. He had a quick-a-fide. He had a bedazzled jacket on him that had a curse word on the back because he's Evan Turner. I was like, oh, right, Evan Turner. I forgot about you. You're completely weird about you. I love you for it.

But he's been terrible for them on the court. But those ancillary pieces, Chris, have not been great. It really is, like, their main three guys. And if those three guys are clicking, they can play with anybody. And if one of them is off, like, down the stretch against Houston, you saw CJ McCollum, like, went cold, and that's when Houston got in the game. And they had to, like, sort of fight back from it. But I love those three together.

And I think, like, there are so many different ways that they can play now. Good enough to at least win a game or two against Golden State? Still the Warriors. Yeah, I know. That interior thing, like, I look at it and I go, okay, well, NERC's a beast, right? Like, what's been Golden State's, like, big issue this season? It's really, like, Chaville McGee's come on a little bit, but really your best interior player is still Dremont. And Dremont's great, and I love him, and he's an amazing defensive player, and he can guard anybody and switch on anybody.

But if you're going to say, like, how would you maybe want to play? You'd want to have some. But Golden State's going to figure that out. Like, if it's going to be Portland scoring 100 or more points in every game, right, and trying to race you, we'll Golden State's better at that. So, yeah, like, maybe a game. Yeah, and, well, Lillard has had some monster games. He loves playing against them, right?

He has had some big numbers against them in the past. So at the very least, we'd probably be in for however long the series went, we probably get a couple of just huge efforts out of Lillard, because that's hometown, right? That's his thing. He wants to drop 50 in those games, so I don't know. He wants to playoff, too. Hey, it'd be entertaining.

He wants to make the playoff. Yeah, which do you think Portland provides the most entertaining matchup? Oh, my God, yeah. The way they're playing right now, don't you want to see more Nerkich out there running around, like, clowning on people and trash talking them and, like, riling up the crowd? I, here, here, all right. Now, this is going to take a couple of weeks to come to. of fruition, right?

This is my grand prediction. I don't know if it will, it will not come to blows, but by game two of that series, Draymond and Nurkich will get into it so bad that there is, like, every, every debate show the next day is talking about what took place. Either Draymond's going to kick him in the dick or Nurkich is going to elbow him. Like something, something is going to happen. between Draymond and Nirkich. Mark my words. It's going to happen, man.

Those guys are going to be all over each other. No, that's why it's going to be so great because that's like, Nirk. Lowell said it, man, he cannot keep his mouth shut. He just wants to mouth and tell you exactly. But he got off the court, hugged all the nuggets, and then gave an interview where he was like,

yeah, man, peace, have a good summer. Him and Dremont are definitely going to get into it. Definitely. Go check out the articles on the ringer.com. They are authored by our guest, John Gonzalez, and check out that Nikolaiyokic, Jamir Nelson article, and then the follow-up on Yusuf Nerkich and what's going on in Portland. John, you're the man. Thanks for coming on today. Yeah, man, this is fun. Thanks for having me.

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