The Ringer NBA Show - The Playoff Musical Chairs in the Western Conference | The Corner 3 (Ep. 391)

Episode Date: February 22, 2019

We talk about the sustainability of the Lakers' flipping the switch and what it means for Western Conference playoff contenders the Kings, Clippers, and Spurs (1:00). Then, we do a mini Draft Class in light of the news that Zion Williamson dodged a bullet with just a mild knee strain (33:00). Hosts: Kevin O’Connor, Danny Chau, Jonathan Tjarks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Use promo code Yahoo 25 when you make your first deposit for $25 in free play. Now it's time for the Corner 3. Welcome to the Ringer NBA show. This is The Corner 3. I'm Kevin O'Connor here in Los Angeles. It's for your associate editor, Tannie Chow. I'm here. And from Dallas, Texas, it's for your staff writer, Jonathan Charks.

What's up, guys? Basketball's back. Let's do it. Today's podcast is produced by Bobby Wagner and recording at 912 p.m. Pacific on Friday morning. A.m. I am. Oh, now I say PM? Yep.

Oh my, I'm out of it. The NBA finally returned last night with a really, really strong slate of games. We're going to focus on a Western Conference end of things today because the standings are so tight over on that side. There's only four games separating the five-seed Rockets, then Utah, San Antonio, L.A. Clippers, Sacramento, and then the 10-seed Lakers. It's a playoff already in the West since only four of those six teams can make it in the postseason.

Last night was really good for the Lakers. They trailed the rockets by 19, then made a gigantic comeback to win 11, to 106. Danny, what's your number one takeaway from last night's game for the Lakers? I mean,

their starting lineup was what, five dudes who were no shorter than six, seven? Super-sized. It was incredible. And yeah,

I mean, that's kind of my takeaway. It's like, all right, this is what the Lakers are going to look like going forward. Yeah, and then

the second half, I really like the lineup. So they played Reggie Bullock, Josh Hart, and LeBron together. I think, like, let's not overcomplicate this,

right? Reggie Bullock, they picked them up in a trade from the pistons, looks really smart right now. Josh Hart, that's two 3 and D wings with a lot of size and shooting ability. And I didn't even realize I looked back at the numbers. LeBron and Josh Hart this year are plus 8.1, 570 minutes. Like, that works. I think if you put guys who can shoot around LeBron James,

like it's going to work at least somewhat effectively. Josh Hart played 19 straight minutes in the second half last night after not playing it all in the first half. He recently had a PRP injection in his knee because of an issues he's having. But they need Josh Hart to be what they potentially could be in the postseason. I think with Ingram having 14 free throws last night, got to the rim really whenever he wanted in that game. I think for Houston, their lack of size at the wing position was apparent last night. And with limited options in the buyout market, I'm not sure that there's much out there for them to improve in that area.

Yeah, it's kind of frustrating because, like, I think we'd both kind of heard rumblings that they were trying to trade for. the two guys that the clippers ended up getting, you know, Michael Green and Garrett Temple. And like, you think on that on paper, it's just like, oh,

this is a no-brainer. You get... That's the Brandon Knight. Yeah. Basically, just trading for Brandon Knight's expiring contract. And, man, Gary Temple...

They got Shumper instead. They got Shumper instead. Who is, what, who's 6-4? 6-5. Yeah. taller, depending on the hair.

Right, right. So, yeah, like, is there anyone left on the buyout market that they could conceive of... Like, I feel like the biggest guy here is the guy that they basically, you know, just bungled the entire situation. Daniel House is not on this team.

They need Daniel House. They really do. That was a good take you had, Danny. Yeah, so... Probably the hottest take that I have this season, and it's kind of low-grade for that kind of disclaimer. But the fact that they bungled Daniel House's situation with Gary Clark Jr.,

and, you know, put him on the two-way. basically losing him right when he was getting extremely hot from the field. It was like inconscionable. No, I mean, I think with Lakers last sign especially, it seems like a switch was flipped in the second half of that game. LeBron James started trying harder on defense. But, you know, I still question how sustainable it might be

for him to do this. The playoffs are starting right now. Players are starting earlier for LeBron than they have in quite a while. So the thing with these lineups to Lakers, last night. That was interesting. So if they're going to play LeBron, Hardin Bullock, and that only leaves two spots left. And so they played Kuzma and Ingram, that means there's no

five again. And you remember how those lines like killed in the first half of the season when it was LeBron and Kuzma, quote unquote, playing the five. And I wonder like if LeBron is going to try harder, can those lineups? That's what I guess you were talking about, KOC? Can those lineups stick up over the next two months with just no size at all

at front, just all sides in the perimeter? It's kind of like lineup of deathy, right? Theoretically. Yeah, and I think you know, always a conversation with going small. It's how sustainable is it? How long can you do it over the course of a full game? Right now, we're in playoff mode for them. So as long as they can get 30, 35 total good minutes out of their bigs,

McGee and Chandler and maybe Mo Wagner as well. Wait, is he out of Mike Muscala, your boy, Wagner? Muscala as well. I mean, if you're able to get 30 to 35 good minutes out of those bigs, I think you can go small for the rest of the game. I mean, it's in the matchup. It's really funny because we're, we're talking about playoff mode and these are the lineups that we saw in the past,

you know, three or four iterations of the calves where you're basically just surrounding LeBron with as much shooting across all positions as possible. Yeah, like I don't know if it's sustainable, especially if you're forced into playing Kuzma like big minutes at the five and LeBron's just going to be like, all right, yeah, take this for the next 14 minutes while I kind of, you know, get my legs under me. and they're still on a full strength either Lonzo ball is still out. I'm curious about it.

If Lonzo comes back, are there minutes for Lonzo and Rondo? And how will Luke Walden manage that benching one of those guys? That'll be interesting. Based on how Rondo's played, do you see him continuing to play over Lonzo ball? I don't think he should. I don't think so either.

But does Luke Walden on the juice to bench Rajan Rondo? I don't know that he has a juice to do that. But that's what I'm kind of curious to see is how much controls Luke Walden have of these rotations? Or is it really LeBron pulling the strings right now. I mean, I think you can play both. Maybe you're playing it based on the matchup. You're playing it based on the situation. And plus, heart is still not totally healthy either. Maybe with him, there'll be an element of rest where he's not playing 25 minutes. Maybe his minutes will be more

like 15 to 20. 19 straight minutes last night with the knee issue. That was, that was unusual. Kind of says a lot about a KCP, huh? Him and Land. I think those two guys might be. Yeah. And that's what I mean. Maybe it's not as much Rondo or ball and it's more like ball or KCP. I think that's where the minutes could be taken from. Like last night, LeBron had that moment where KCP took a three, missed it, and LeBron just sighed, rolled his eyes, went back slowly on defense in the first half. Not one of his best moments on the defensive end of the floor. For Houston, they blew that lead, lost by five points.

But overall, it was one of Chris Paul's better games. Last night, nine of 15 for 23 points, had 10 rebounds, nine assists to only one turnover, did fallout at the end of the game, as did James Harden, and we'll talk about that in a minute. But Chris Paul looks like Chris Paul for the first time and quite a long time. I thought he looked tremendous, Danny. Yeah, I mean, you know, there are always those moments with these elite players who, you know, they're always going to look like themselves for stretches.

It's just more now, like, okay, how much longer can we get this out of you in the regular season? And if we do get more of this, does it impact the, you know, the playoffs at all? Like, where he is historically collapsed year after year. Well, you know, they did it. They did bring in Chris Chioza for extra depth. Oh, yeah. Game changer. Clutch shot making.

We got to talk about this, man. So the Rockets signed two guys at 10-day contracts because they weren't even on a 14-man roster. And it seems like they're just turning it under the larger tax no matter what. Like, if I was hard, I'd be pissed about that more than the refs. Like, this looks really bad for them right now. Terrence Jones, man, how can you not be happy about Terrence Jones? He had a huge year in the G-League. Again, I mean, he's had a couple other good years in the G-League and he just has not translated at all.

When was the last time he played meaningful NBA minutes? Was it two seasons ago? It was in Houston, I think. Way back in the day. I was always a T. Jones guy, but... Yeah, me too. I loved him in the draft. And I'm just saying, like,

it just seems like all they're worried about is luxury tax. They've got James Harden in the prime of his career, Chris Paul, who knows how many years he has left. And they're literally, like, pinching like $10,000. It's under the tax. For what it's worth, the last time, Terrence Jones played in the NBA was, March 26th, 2017. He played a minute 45 second for the bucks against the Bulls.

against the Bulls, game 70 of that season, had two rebounds. And the one minute, 45 seconds, extrapolate that out to 36 minutes. It's a lot of rebounds. A lot of rebounds. Is there anybody left in the buyout market that they could pick up right now?

I mean, Markief Morris is gone. He's gone. That's a tough, tough loss. But there's really nobody else that I think makes impactful minutes for Houston. Yeah, like, I mean, there are probably... Mellow, I guess.

had to do it Ben McNamore I mean there's nobody Zach Randolph this was a bus this year the buyout market I really didn't get

I mean the the Raptors were rumored to have been like basically at like the one yard line with Mclemore and then they just kind of pulled out but it wasn't got Jody Meeks maybe not a bad decision to it's full out but um

no no with Houston with this team last night, obviously, a lot of the conversation was about the officials. Tim Donahey's BFF, Scott Foster. The Rockets are 0 and 7 with Foster as an official this season. Him and Chris Paul have long had their issues. Rockets fans are understandably not happy. There were two files called on James Hardin that were just outrageous.

Right. It doesn't matter. I don't care if it's a national TV game. I don't care if it's not on TV. Those should have been calls that should not be made. But however, Danny, you made the point when we were prepping for this pause. and you alluded to a little bit of go. It speaks to a greater issue. Let him drop his take.

When you're alive, yeah, just drop it, Danny. I don't know. Look, the Rockets fans' complaints, the Rockets team complaints about the officiating yesterday, completely fair, completely fair, well within their rights to talk about this. But when your entire system is kind of built around Hardin

and his ability to kind of game the system, I don't know, your complaints kind of, they ring halt. a little, right? Like, there's a little bit less to go off of there. I mean, they're not getting much sympathy, that's for sure. Right. From the rest of the league. Yeah, which is interesting.

I was at, like, last week at All-Star weekend, I was in a, like, an NBA referee roundtable thing. It was like me, Ben Goliver, and a handful of other writers. You have a name drop? No, no, no. It was like a handful of writers. I was like eight or nine people and, you know, Monty McCutcheon in there. And one of the things that, you know,

Monty mentioned is how like he strives for the officials to call the game the same in the first quarter to the end of games. And like with James Harden, I often wonder, does that work the other way? When he gets so many calls that sometimes he's going to call for some of these tic-tack files that other guys may not. Like does it work that way with him? Right. You know, I do wonder that with James Harden where it just worked against him last night with the amount of calls, the perception of the amount of calls that he gets. How much do you guys actually think about, like, refs?

Like, over the course of a season. I think NBA officials are, like, I'm sitting there in that meeting hearing all this talk about, like, oh, we strive to be so much better. We currently get, like, 90, 94% of calls that are made correct and all that. I'm like, NBA officiating is pretty good overall. Right. It's a hard sport to officiate. It's like, yeah, I understand, like, the need to be better.

You should always be striving to be better no matter what you do. But it's like, NBA officiating NBA game. as fast as it moves with the amount of little calls that can be made on any single play is really hard. And I think overall it's pretty good. I just don't think about it that much. I really don't. I mean, especially with charts,

you've been burned in, you know, in the finals. You know, like you have all the reason to, you know. I mean, you need to care. Yeah, you saw James Hardin before James Hardin with Dwayne Wade in the 06 finals. I know, I was an IM ref in college, and I was refing like sea level basketball. I was so hard.

I get it, man. It's hard to ref basketball games. I never really sweat it too much. You know, and that was, like, just one of the thing about the refs, one of the things Monty mentioned, I mean, and this was, like, on the record for what it's worth, so it's okay then I'm saying this. Monty said something in there about how, like,

it can be hard for, like, a young official, you know, to make calls, right? In a road atmosphere or, like, dealing with a star player, it can be tough for inexperienced official. And that had me thinking about, there's been a lot of people saying, oh, add a fourth official. Like, that could help the game.

more accuracy, having another set of eyes out there, but maybe not. It could muddy the waters. It could hurt. Too many cooks in the kitchen kind of thing. And having another inexperienced official on there. It's not like you're going to pluck out another guy who's been doing it for 30 years. Maybe in the postseason, you can do that. But for over the full regular season, I think it could muddy the game.

It could hurt the game even more. Overall, I don't have an issue with NBA officials. It's pretty good for the most part. I just think fans are, you know, obviously always going to be leaning towards the more like conspiratorial nature of the game. But I'm just like, look, man, sports, basketball, it's all just a world within the world. And like, it's the, you know, the corruption that we see everywhere else. So just get getting dark. Just get used to it, you know?

Speaking of the Sacramento Kings played last night. And Kings fans would also like to talk about how the officials have screwed them in the past. Right. They lost to the Warriors 125 to 123. And like, you know, the Warriors, yada, yada, yada, yada. Steph Curry, amazing. DeMarcus cousins, battling his way back. They're great.

But Sacramento Kings, on the road, losing my only two points. Buddy Hield said earlier this week that he's, quote, very confident. I bet my house on it that the Kings make the postseason. Hey, that's a house in California. You know it's pretty expensive. That's very expensive. What do you think about Sacramento's odds of actually making the postseason, Danny?

Right now, they're a one and a half games back from the Clippers for the eight seed. Do you take them seriously as a playoff? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I take them seriously. And I actually want them to make the eighth seed. They're a fun team to watch for sure. I think that cross-Norkel matchup,

Warriors, Kings, you know, like Kevin Durant made the comment yesterday. And it's kind of like a backhanded compliment to the Kings. It's like, this is now our fourth game in which we should have lost the Kings, but they didn't. They've won those games by a combined 12 points.

Yeah. Like, these are competitive, competitive games, and you don't know if it's necessarily the Warriors just not taking them seriously or whatever, but like... I think that's what it is. You know, and I really want them to make it. It's just what's concerning to me is

when the Kings do lose, they tend to lose pretty big, which is why their point differential is much, much lower than most of the kind of playoff contenders in the West. that's one big thing that concerns me. I think worth doing, we should reset. They've really changed their team up since the trade deadline. They made a lot of moves last week.

So let's just say, so at the start, they traded for Harrison Barnes, and he's now starting at Power Forward. They've benched Bialica entirely. He's out of the rotation. Last night they started, so I saw on the article, I was reading before the pod came out. He's out. So we're sure about that.

Because it's really just been one game. This is the game after the break. they're going to start. So then they lost Shumper too, right? So now they have Fox, Buddy Healed, Bogdan, Harrison Barnes with the four, Colleystine at the five. And then they have Bagley-Gley-Gailles off the bench as the Biggs. And they brought in Corey Brewer. I didn't realize that. And they have Corey Brewer, Alec Brooks on the wing. It's a very different team. And you mentioned Marvin Bagley Charks. He's been getting progressively better this entire season. Last night he had 28 points on 8 of 19 with 14 total free throws. Even had a right-hand finish. He's been doing a A little bit more of that over the course of the year. Bagley's progress to me has been one of the stories of the year across the league, not just for the Kings. I think with them, look, B. Elites is a good player. But I think really trimming their rotation is a good overall move. You need to figure out what you have in Harrison Barnes.

If you can return into that, that warrior's. I mean, he's about a three. I can tell you that right now. You're going to have him. He's a four. Yeah, like, Chuck, you actually wrote a piece very early on in the season that kind of talked about the King. as more of a structured team than necessarily, you know,

the components that they have on their roster. So that was back when Bialitsa was really making a huge difference in terms of spacing the floor at the four or five and having Willie Colley Stein being the one sole rim runner. And now we're kind of seeing like they're trying to have their cake

and eat it too in developing their young guys while also being competitive enough to really make this final, you know, ape seed push. Yeah, they have interesting. lineups because off the bench, they'll play the two bigs. And I think Harry Giles, like he's a guy, if he can

kind of keep growing next to Bagley, because he kind of complements Bagley really well with his ability to step out and kind of be an interior defender. I think that's him to watch, I guess that's really more next season than this season, because he'll probably play like 10 minutes again. What's your assessment of Giles' development this year of Charks? I mean, good. He didn't play

like in four years, right? He really sucked for a while, but now he's starting to pick it up a little bit. I mean, this is a great year for him, just getting back on the floor. I mean, really across the board, this team's getting development from everybody. Darren Fox, if he's not the most improved player of the year, you know, behind like Pascal Seaccom, he's right there. See, I don't like giving second year guys as MIP, but that's really...

Why, though? I mean, I saw someone... It's a natural progression. I know. Dan Feldman had a good tweet about this yesterday, though. It's like, it's like saying a number one pick shouldn't be rookie of the year just because they're the number one pick. I think just because a guy is a second year player, they don't always get better.

Like, to me, MIP is more like this guy really improved himself out It's unusual. Like, wow, he made a really great, we're honoring a guy who made a big leap I think he did. But I'm saying first and second year, happens all the time. First and second year,

plus there was just, the big reason why he's kind of stepped up is because they got rid of Zibo. And they got rid of all of these, they got rid of all of, like, the dead weight of, you know, all the old aging guys on their roster.

And it's just like, they let him be him. I mean, so is Siakum, the winner then in your eyes. I think so. He's like the third year, though.

Like, what second year, third year? But the, I might, I'm working on a Josh Richardson story. I might say he's the most improved player. He made a huge leap this season from 3&D guy

to leading score on a team. I mean, like my thing is Josh Richardson was already good. Like he was already a productive player. It's like the definition. It is like Josh Richardson is also a guy who should be in the conversation. I agree.

But he's already a good player. It's like Buddy Healed last year. You could say he's putting up more volume numbers, taking a lot more threes. But he was already one of the league's best shooters last season and the year before for that matter. You're seeing a complete, like, role change too, though. You know, like, last year, he was literally just like an energy big man that you had that could

maybe make a play, you know, off the short role every once in a while. Now you're like, okay, this dude might be a point guard at certain stretches. Like, I think, I think his case is very... Yeah, I like the role change thing. That's big to me. Like, from a guy supporting cast guy to a primary option. That's always the biggest leap to make in the NBA, I think. That brings us to the NBA watch of the night.

night at 7 p.m. Eastern 4 p.m. Pacific, the Raptors are hosting the San Antonio Spurs. It's DeMarre de Rosen's return home to Toronto, your favorite city on planet Earth, Danny. Oh, man. So, yeah, De Rosen, I think the one thing that Raptors fans really miss from DeRosen is just he's a phenomenal quote. He'll give, like, ridiculous analogies, like, shouts out to the one Michael Phelps analogy he made a couple years ago. But, yeah, he's just been really appreciative of his time in the city, and it's really showed. And I hope this game is a lot better than the first time these two teams smashed up.

Oh, my God. That was terrible. I mean, the Spurs had to win this game, actually. They've been really struggling before the break. They were getting killed in that road trip they were on by losing every game by 20 points. Yeah, they have been struggling with me as of late. Their defenses slid the past month and a half or so.

Their December on the defensive end of the floor was tremendous. Is there any reason for optimism about their defense moving forward? Well, I wonder if it was just a schedule. I feel like San Antonio is just more of an decent team this year. And a decent team, so they're road games. They went at Sacramento, at Golden State, at Portland, at Utah. That's just a tough year, a decent to average team. And they got killed off more of those games.

I think they're really more than the schedule. Like, they're a well-coached team. They have some talent. But they're going along with the Weston Conference teams. They might be in trouble no matter what. Yeah, tonight, San Antonio needs to get off to a really good start for their second half. Which is your schedule isn't tremendously difficult. But in the Western Conference, there's always going to be those tough games.

Is there, do they have a lot of road games coming up? They are on the road for three games, Toronto, New York, Brooklyn, and they have a long homestand in Detroit, OKC, Denver. Yeah, they don't have too many tough road games left looking at their schedule. So there's like three or four tough ones. They're not too bad right now, actually. Tonight it starts off against the Toronto Raptors. Remember, if you want to watch every NBA game,

subscribe to NBA League Pass on NBA.com or your local cable or satellite provider. We have two more Western Conference teams that we haven't discussed. Utah Jazz. they have the softest remaining schedule. Danny, they play the Suns three more times. They get to fatten up on a lot of bad, bad teams. And, you know, this could be the difference between

them, I mean, bumping all the way up to the fourth seed, right? Possible. It's not out of the question right now. Utah is two and a half games back from Portland. So, I mean, just to make this clear, Portland right now has a five-game lead over the Kings for the ninth spot.

It is highly unlikely that they could fall out of that spot. That's why they're not included in this discussion. But there's still a chance for Utah to leap up to that spot. Of course, especially with the way they've played them past month and a half. So, Charks with Utah, Donovan Mitchell has elevated his play as of late. Dante Exum is still out. I mean, I wish that was a big deal. You might have Dante Exam, but I wish that was like, oh, when they get Exum back.

I just, Dan, Danny's face is just sadness, but also happiness just hang on the words. Dante Xum, come out.

Come back, man. Like, he, I don't even know if is he going to play that much when he comes back? Look, it's going to be the exact same thing

that happened last year. He's going to have one brilliant moment against a star player in the playoffs and everyone's just going to be salivating and then we're going to have to wait another four months for us to like even see him on the court in like a official capacity.

I don't know. You know Quinn's going to play Royce O'Neill and Jake Crowder. Those are Quinn Snyder guys. Royce O'Neill is really good. Yeah, he's a good player. He's panned out really, really nicely. I think with him at Baylor,

I don't think I could have seen him be this good. Well, he went to that European finishing school. He went to the years overseas. School of Hard Knocks, you know? Yeah, definitely. Rudy O'Bare, what's the argument for him to win defensive player of the year, Danny? He's just extremely good.

Like, it's literally the same argument every year with him, Except this year, I feel like he's done a little bit better, you know, being out on the perimeter. He's a little bit more comfortable. And that's all you can really ask for a guy who's 7-2, you know, 270, having to, like, kind of like, maneuver his way out out there. He's a little bit more comfortable there. I mean, that's really it. He's so consistent.

And he is what allows- They build their system around him, right? Yeah, that's the thing. It's like his unique skill set is a lot of them create, like, it's elite defense. And there's not that many great defenders around him either anymore. it's like, you know, team defenses are all system-based right now. Like, it's not, you're not necessarily getting a team over the hump with one player. Rudy Gobert is the closest thing to that.

Then right now, the LA Clippers are occupying that eight seed. There are game and a half up on the Kings, two and a half games up on the, on the Lakers. Landry Shamit, Doc Rivers said will be the starter moving forward. That's two rookie backcourt starters, an SGA and Shamith and another young player in Zubots at center. very unusual for Doc to be playing so many young guys, but I guess he doesn't really have a choice this show. Yeah, it's like he had like some sort of revelation. Like this was just not his thing.

Like you had to be 25 and older. Was it a revelation that their pick is lottery protected? Speaking out, Charg, are the LA Clippers better off making the playoffs or not? Because they lose their pick to Boston if they do make it. And if they don't make it, it's top 14 protected again in 2020. And if they don't make it again next year,

then it becomes a second in 2022. What is the more advantageous scenario? What's a tough question? I mean, I think it all comes about to Kauai Leonard, right? Because he's the guy they want to get. And then who knows what Kauai is thinking half the time, right? And I wonder like...

All the time. Not half the time. Yeah. I feel like them getting Kaui Leonard is probably more about the Raptors and them, right? Yeah. Right? It's probably more of how the Raptors do in the playoffs, the Clippers do or don't do.

this point. If you're trying to build, it kind of goes both ways. If you're trying to build a championship contender, you need quality, you know, cheap young labor on your team. So that's the case for them, you know, losing out. But man, I would love to see SG in the playoffs. I would love to see how he handles that, you know? They have a load of depth too. Oh yeah. That's a biased Harris trade. Obviously, all the talk is how it opens, you know, cap flexibility for them, got them picks. But they have a lot of depth in their roster.

Really, we should talk about this trade with COC's nemesis when they've traded Avery Bradley. Yeah. Avery's been pretty good for Memphis. However, Temple and Graham, those are great bench guys

for a playoff contender. Garret Temple could start for a lot of teams. Garrett, Garrett Temple, I mean, he's not like a big name or anything by any means,

but solid player. Solid overall player. There's, yeah, and he's extremely well-liked around the league and he's done a lot in the community and, you know, he's just a perfect 3-and-D guy. Michael Green has been a starter for the past, you know, two years. Yeah, and like he's struggled this season, but overall the past couple years, it's been good.

Yeah. And they're a bench now, so they got them, Montrez, Harold, and of course, Lou Williams. Like, that's four really, really good benchers. Starter-level guys. Yeah. Yeah. And Ty Wallace is capable of getting minutes as well. Isaac's boy.

Yeah, they have a really deep roster, really deep. And, you know, and the weird thing is, is moving forward. this team could look completely different if they have the summer that they want to get. And they may not have the depth that they do now. Okay, I got a question for you guys, actually. This is a real quarter three question. Are you surprised Shamitz ahead of Jerome Robinson? Like, Robinson was picked 15 spots higher in the draft.

They play the same position. I mean, no. I forget if I had, I think I had Shamet ranked ahead of Robinson. I'm pretty sure I did. I wasn't very high on Robinson. Yeah, me neither. He was definitely seen as kind of a reach at the time. But he was the 13th pick.

I'm just surprised. I figured they get more minutes after all these trades, but I guess not. I mean, there was just so much talk about how, like, after the draft,

everyone was just, look, Shamit's ready. Shamit's ready to play right now. Like, that was all that we heard out of, but the Sixers,

the Sixers camp for a lot of, you know, the preseason. So, I mean, maybe all that seasoning really helped him

in Wichita State. I think he's younger than Robinson, though, too. No, I, well, I think, actually,

I just looked at our, draft rankings last year. All three of us had Robinson ahead of Shammett. All three of us had him about 15 on average spots ahead of Shammett, which is surprising look back at in hindsight. I think with Shammett, there's the looming injury concerned with the surgeries that he had in college. That's what knocks him down. But there's no doubt, like, of his shooting ability and his secondary playmaking ability. With Robinson... Wasn't that the selling point of Robinson, too, was his shooting and secondary playmaking ability? Yeah, I mean, I... I... But I think Shammett's probably head of him on defense right now.

I think Shaman is also ahead of him as a shooter for that matter, too. There's a more versatile shooter. He's also had more reps this year. A lot more opportunity. No doubt about that. That plays a factor. Of these six, let's turn to 538. They give the Clippers a 61.

I was surprised at how high they're odds. Yeah, they give the Clippers a 61% chance of making the postseason. Lakers at 26%. Kings at 9% to make the postseason. Of these six, Houston, Utah, San Antonio, Clippers, Kings, Lakers. What are the four that you think in the postseason?

I mean, do we think Houston and Utah are getting in? I'd be stumped those who didn't get in. I feel like those two really aren't in. So they're locks. Those two are lost. I think so, too. I agree.

So then of San Antonio, L.A. Kleppers, L.A. Lakers, and Sacramento Kings, which of those two get in, Janie? I think the Spurs and Pull the trigger, Danny.

The Lakers. Okay. Ah. I know. Are you on the same page, charts? I mean, I can't not bet against LeBron.

Like, I'm one of those guys. Like, if LeBron has like 10 bad games, I'm like, okay, game 11, LeBron is superhuman. Like,

I've seen LeBron be great for so long. I'm going to bet against him after it happened, not before. So I got to put them in. And then, God, I don't want to be lame,

but the Spurs do have a lot more veterans. And I feel like that does help on these races. I guess I'll say Laker Spurs. I'm disappointed that we all agree. Yeah. I know. It's just LeBron.

Who's going to bet against LeBron? Come on. Nobody wants to say the Kings or the Clippers? I mean, I really want the Kings. I really want the Kings to make it, but I don't think they're quite there yet. Yeah, I'm with you. It's like Chuck said,

I can't bet against LeBron and James. I'll have a couple more... I mean, really, with our track record, that should be great news for the Kings and the Clippers. I know, right? Yeah. And there will be a couple more Scott Foster specials the rest of the season, too,

if it means getting the Lakers. I mean, there's a lot of money for the NBA. They've got to get LeBron in the playoffs. Yeah. Give him that seven seed, get him to play Denver first round, then get them a little run, you know.

I just have a feeling that we're going to get a first round series of the jazz and spurs and, like, no one's going to watch. The NBA TV series, yeah,

no one's going to watch that series. Would that said, just one of the question with Lakers, is there any advantage to them missing the post season? Is there any? Oh,

well, here's, I don't think there is. You're going to make him the post season with LeBron James, but having a higher draft pick, maybe more pressure on the front office.

That would be, that would be the thing. There would be pressure in the front office regardless. Putting as much pressure as possible on the front office is probably the only thing that... And that could be an advantage

for LeBron, not necessarily for like the whole organization, right? Well, yeah, I mean, this entire franchise is just like bending to the whim of LeBron now. So like, might as well.

I just feel like if LeBron is way, he's 34, he's got like a trillion miles. Like, how many playoff runs does he have left? He really can't afford. I mean, get him out. Exactly. And like, who knows what happened

in the playoffs when LeBron turns into playoff, LeBron. That's what we're all waiting for, right? I mean, he averaged, what, 34 points last year in the playoffs and just, what, it was almost like a triple double? It was ridiculous.

Like, we don't forget. It's just like, when you look back at the numbers, they just, they don't seem real. I mean, that game, what, against the Warriors, right? Before he broke his hand. That's not like the best thing I've ever had in his career? That was, like, truly incredible.

incredible performance. Like 50 points or something? It was insane. I mean, most importantly, it provided a historic meme. That's just the incredible meme. That is what matters, the memes. In other news, according to Jeff Zilgit of the USA Today, the NBA submitted a proposal to lower the draft eligible age to 18 from 19.

Finally. And it had nothing to do with Zion's injuries. Nothing. Nothing at all. I mean, it just didn't so happen that Zion Williamson got hurt the night before and had the thing with his shoe. That has nothing to do with it, Danny. Of course not. Nothing to do with it.

But it's still what, 2022? Yes. So it's still. If this happens. There's still years of draft class ahead of us. If this happens, it wouldn't happen until 2022. Most of the conversation this week has seemed to really focus on Zion. Should he shut it down?

Why go back to Duke? Charles Barclay last night made the point and the counterpoint that we play basketball that's what we do he should be able to do whatever he wants to do

Well let's reset this like the injury so it's a grade one knee sprain what does that mean like what's like the timetable according to Jeff Goodman he said it's day to day which these days

But knee injuries Yeah These days day to day Have lasted for like two weeks Yeah Lebron For like six weeks I mean I think with Zion It's clear

If he's not healthy he shouldn't play. Absolutely. But the one thing that seems to have gotten lost in this whole conversation with him is like he had something to gain

from going to college for a year. If he had been able to... He definitely improved his stock. No doubt. Like if he had entered the draft last year, like if he had been able to, him and RJ Barrett, let's just say those two entered the drafts.

Zion probably goes like sixth, seventh, maybe even eighth. Like who knows what happens in workouts? He was very much a highlight real player who everyone was just like, okay, but let's see him in after. actual game action. So yeah.

And now he's virtually guaranteed to be the number one pick, talked about as the best number one prospect since Anthony Davis. Are we sure he isn't better? I mean, he could be, could be. That's arguable. But I think with Zion, like that one year at Duke was advantage's firm. Financially it was in the short term. Like if he had been drafted six or seven last year's contract would have been around

four years, 22 million. This year is the number one pick. It'll be four years. on 44 million. And like, yeah, you enter the league a year late, so you're missing out on getting that second contract a year earlier. However, like, there's no guarantee that that would be there, whether it's because of an injury or you're just not the player of people

expected it to be. But in the short term, he's gaining more financially. And he increased his, you know, value off the court as well, I think, I want to say something about the college experience. I think that gets, like, as corny as that sounds like, so I'm from Texas. I went to you to when KD was there. I think Katie looks back.

back at that year of his career, is probably the most fond year of his career, right? He gave, like, five million bucks to the school for one year of college. He built, like, a practice center or something. I think, like, he has that one year, like, OKC, Golden State, New York. Maybe he's never loved,

but he always supposed to come home to an Austin. Like, we always had love for him in his school, right? The end of business. I mean, I think Carmel is another example. Like, Carmelo has that one year at Syracuse. They can always look back on with fondness. Championship. Right?

I mean, I'm there's something to that. I don't know. Yeah, I think, too, even DeMarcus cousins in his rant this week about how he called college BS and how Zion should shut it down. He also said at the end, he's like, my time in college is some of the best years of my life. Right, right, right. And Zion himself said, believe him or not, he said in that GQ interview that he would have went to college for a year anyway. And you know what?

For him, it probably would have made sense to do it because he would have looked at his situation in the draft and been like, really? I'm projected as the sixth pick or the 10th pick. I'm going to go to school for a year and show that I'm the number one pick, that I'm the guy. So there's a lot for him to gain. There's a lot for other players to gain to go into school as well. I mean, you look at LeBron's decision, and he's talked about this multiple times. He's just like, look, this was the closest I've ever gotten to actually doing the whole

hat thing for the recruitment. He's just like, I thought this was, obviously it blew up in his face, you know, the whole decision and the nightmare that that created. But in his mind, he was just like, yeah, this is basically, I'm about. to relive, you know, a moment that I never was able to, you know. Danny, you mentioned in passing earlier that you're not sure that AD was actually a better projected number one pick than Zion. What is the argument for Zion as the best sense than that would mean since Odin or Durant

in the O'Don, Durant, yeah. I mean, it's just. The 07 draft, rather, my bad. The way in which he can do everything on the court. the way that this Duke team was the, arguably the best recruiting class of all time. Yeah, that's a fair argument. And he is better at everything that,

he's better at everything compared to all of his other highly regarded teammates, at everything. Well, I mean, I think compared to AD, just like the passing ability. Like, Zion's got that ability, which you haven't always seen it do, we've seen flashes of like, just running point himself and cringing shots for other people.

80's more of a finisher. He's only added passing much later in his career than Zion had. I think that's really the kind of separating differentiating factor. I think with AD, the argument can be made that he's just a far superior defender than Zion, though. I mean, Zion can really defend them, man. I know. I think what the lack of room protection would be the advantage of 80. But Zion is a block quite a few shots.

He's not a bad block guy for a 6-7 guy. I think the game against UNC and how they were able to just live in the paint was probably a testament to how much they miss Zion on defense, you know? I agree. I mean, to me, Zion has flashes of Draymond Green. I've seen it where he just defends up at a 6-7 center. I don't know. No doubt about it.

It's like with Zion, you can nitpick easily. Like, you can nitpick it sometimes like he falls out of his stance and the weak side. He doesn't recognize help situations. Rotating and pick and roll, it's not always there, but it's like he's also a teenager. Right. With his defense, though, it's like there's absolutely Draymond upside. Because with the intensity he plays with on that end of the floor, the love and passion for the game that he clearly has.

That's what helps make Dremont, Dramon. He obviously can read the floor like he's a computer. He has good athleticism moving laterally and everything else. So does Zion, but it's the passion for the game that just that X factor that Zion has that gives him a lane to become a five-position defender like Dremont Green in the long term. He's not quite as long physically, but he's also significantly more athletic to overcome that three, 24 inches in length, wingspan standing reach difference. He's also got like 50 pounds on Draymond.

And with that weight charts, that ultimately is one of the concerns, isn't it? Yeah. I don't know, but like you said it that way, it doesn't make you wander. Like, that's just a lot of weight on those knees to be jumping. I don't know. Maybe we should lose some weight. I'm not sure. 280 pounds, give or take.

It's a lot of force on his legs. He'll be the second heaviest player in the league behind Boban. And LeBron, apparently. LeBron's a too early now, according to. Which, by the way, like LeBron was joking about that. I have also heard that he's 280. Maybe he's not right now,

but maybe at one point he was. At one point, I think definitely. I mean, they wouldn't stun me. It's like Ben Simmons is listed at 220. That's BS. I've heard he's 250. Right. There's no way he's 220.

Yeah, no way. It's so, like, when it comes to these weights, it's hard to say. But point is, like, he's heavy. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I feel like, like LeBron, even in year three, of his career. He was already at like 260.

So like weird. Yeah. It's hard to play doctor though with Zion. It's like, yeah, you can say, oh, he's 280. he had this weird knee injury. I think until teams look at his actual medical and see if there's some reason for concern, lack of cartilage in his knees or something like that, it's just really just

baseless speculation until then, I think. Refresh my memory. So Blake broke his kneecap before his rookie year. How did that happen? I think he was landing after a dunk and he just heard it. Is that right? That's kind of the concern, right? Like with freak athletes.

And I talked to my brother about Zion who he usually saves all of his draft knowledge for like the day before the draft. And I was just telling him, Zion might be, you know, the greatest prospect we've had since blah, blah, blah. And he's like, I haven't seen any of his dunks. I don't know what he looks like. But you're telling me he's 285. I'm not drafting that guy.

He's just like, I've been burned way too much by big men who, you know, have gone through the AAU system and have put on a lot of miles early on. And he's like, I've been burned too many times with those bigs who get those injuries early. And you're like the first five years, All-Star. And then he next three years, he missed a ton of games. It's possible. It's not like you're not taking Zion Williams because of injury.

Right. That's right. That's why I was like, even if he tore his knee, right? He'd still go unborn in the draft. I don't think that would change anything. It's like, it's one of the quotes I have. had my my nugget story

on Yokic in their situation from Tim Conley he cited like some other executives said to him regarding Michael Porter

there's injury concern but there's no concern about the basketball side of things so the same thing with Zion it's like

you might have concern which by the way it's not like Michael Porter situation with a like he needed back surgery

right with Zion it's a grade one knee sprain like it's not a big deal unless there's something in the

medical that says there's reason for concern long term. Right now it's just really speculation based off that weird thing that happened on Wednesday night. Overall, Zion. And the shoe, man. Isn't that crazy? He blew out his shoe?

That tells you right there. That was nuts. That was absolutely nuts. We did a mock draft, big board type of thing this week. I'm not sure how to describe it, Danny, but we essentially did a snake drafts. Not considering teams.

Zion went number one as expected. But there were some surprises after that. number two, Danny, you select the Jarrett Culver, a gold wing from Texas Tech. John Moran, Murray State point guard, went third. And then fourth, another surprise, John, you took DeAndre Hunter, Ford from Virginia, which means R.J. Barrett didn't go until fifth, and then Cam Radish didn't go until sixth. There was some surprise on social media about these picks.

I guess, let's just start off with Culver. Let's say I'm somebody who has never watched Jarrett Culver play. I'm not interested in just betraying NBA basketball to watch Texas Tech. Sure. I've never seen Jared Culver. What is the argument for him over these highly regarded prospects that I've heard and read so much about in R.J. Barrett and Camerdish. He is a do-it-all wing who might not be done growing. It's the first sentence I have in my write-up of him.

He's the tallest 6-5 player I've ever seen in my life. he's listed at 6-5 on ESPN, but you watch him play, and I've watched him week after week, and he just seems to keep getting taller. Like, there have been, there are some truthers out there who believe he's somewhere in the 6-8 range,

6-7-6-8 range. And he just has these huge, like, broad sloping shoulders that like-basketball infoors or something. Yeah, no, seriously. And it's all on, you know, the Steppian who do really good draft work. You're saying that's basketball. They do great stuff there.

Great stuff. Yeah, fantastic. You know, the way I described it was, you know, NBA draft, you know, dark web. You know, it's literally like he has the body type of someone who might still be growing. He has like these shoulders that remind me of AD, except he's obviously much shorter. But like when you have a guy who has the potential to be, you know, an all-around player and he has the potential to be. 6-9, 6-8, 6-10, like that is a

game-changing NBA player. And I think he's- I mean, if Derek Culver's 6-10, oh my God, that'd be incredible. Obviously, this is all speculation. We have no idea how tallies. We're doing like Shaq now. This is some serious speculation there.

It's like he's 20 already. I mean, he could maybe grows like half an inch in the range, but yeah, 6'10, Jerich Culver. I don't know. Maybe in our dreams. I just think when you look at him, there is like an innate feel he has for the game for like getting players off balance

that I don't see from Reddish or from Barrett yet. And maybe it's because he's a little bit older, but I just think he knows how to like, you know. He definitely has a high basketball like you. Yeah. He can he can get those guys disarmed just like by moving his hips and like suddenly, oh my God, he has a wide open lane to the rim. His shooting numbers have been pretty disappointing this year, but I'm pretty sure it's because he doesn't have any help around him. And so he's kind of having to create for others. He has to create his own shot. But I think his shot will translate once he kind of settles into a smaller role.

Do you have like an NBA comparison for him? Like a realistic one and like an upside pick? Yeah, I think the way that his career has gone in college, it really reminds me of how Otto Porter jumped from his first year to a second year. The usage, the way in which, you know. the improved shot too for Porter I mean Porter became an amazing shooter

in his second year at Georgetown Culver kind of regressed in terms of percentages but overall I think their bodies developed Culver from freshman year sophomore year he's a completely different player physically and I think that is you know reason to be optimistic

Charx are you on the same page with Culver I don't see him I could see him being a lottery pick for sure I feel like top five is probably a little high but I can see, I like his game. I think he was better than Zaire last year, and Zaire was his top 15 pick. And on the other side,

we have DeAndre Hunter. Charks, what is the argument for him again over R. D.J. Barron and Cam Ranish. Okay, so DeAndre Hunter, to me, I think he's very underrated.

I think playing at Virginia has people not realizing how good he is. So Virginia plays the slowest pace in the league in the country. So, like, you don't get very many stats to Virginia. But UVA guys can all play.

Like, you look at like Mike Scott, Joe Harris, Malcolm Brogden. Like, they really coached them up. And Hunter is a way better athlete than those guys. He's 6-8, 225, 2-30, 7-foot-2 wingspan.

Pretty athletic. He can shoot threes. He can get his own shot. To me, I think he's like a floor 3-and-D guy with the ability to get 18, 20 points possibly the right system. I really love his game. I profiled him before the season.

I got talked to him for a while. I just got this like OG tingle. And if you give me like the OG feel, I'm going to put you really high. Brief aside, I love that when you started listing, UVA greats, you started with Mike Scott and not Brogden, who is having an incredible season. But Joe Harris, too, actually.

They're all really good for their. Hall of Famer, Joe Harris. Yeah. My thing is, with both these guys, particularly with DeAndre Hunter, I really, really, really like him a lot. Like, there's a baseline for him to be a Damari Carroll type of player, just a solid, versatile defender who can hit spot-up threes for you. But one of my existing concerns with Hunter,

I just, it's just been nagging at me since last season with him is like, I don't know where the feel and the instincts are necessarily. He's like slow to react with a lot of things on both ends of the floor, whether it's help defense or whether it's on the offensive end. Even his jumper mechanics are slow. He's slow to make reads as a passer. He's gotten a little bit better. But I wonder like with these other guys that you imagine him as like a three and D, a stellar three and D guy. Like what is what is Robert Covington without just his excellent off ball help defense? But I feel like Carter's got handles, though.

To me, he's got a way high ceiling of those guys. Just because he's got the way to put the ball on the floor and get his own shot. And that's the flip side. Like, he's polarizing in my own mind. It's like, yes, he makes some slow reads, but he also has some flashes off the dribble. Right? And you imagine him against switching schemes in the NBA, you have a guard on him. He can post on him.

I saw on him from the perimeter. You imagine him against slower guys. Granted, he's not particularly quick. He's quicker than like a traditional big. He just seems like a guy that there's more to his game than he's been able to shown. And Virginia is typically conservative system. Oh, yeah. And Virginia kind of has become the new Syracuse stigma.

You know, like, oh, he plays in a zone. So, like, we can't know what he, you know, does on man-to-man defense. But yeah, I think everything that Charks is saying, it's like they're really hiding what he could potentially be. But, like, when I watch him, I'm just like, hmm. Yeah, I see what you're saying. Like, I definitely agree with you about the feel. He's not on the level of Jerich Holver to feel for sure. Right.

And I just, I don't know. Like, I really, I really want to love Hunter, but I just, I don't know, I have a hard time with him. I just think with him, I really like his progression. I mean, he was not even barely a top hundred recruit. Yeah. And I think he's added things to his game every year. And I just, I get this, I feel like he'll be even better than he is now. I think he's got, and too, like, I think he's got the work ethic.

I think he's got, what he really mind to me of OG, man, he really gets. gets it in the gym. He's not worried about publicity, not worried about hype. Like most of these guys, they'll say they're not, they're more with the team, and they're not worried about

their own stats. Hunter actually is that guy. And to me, I think that's going to carry him really far too. You know, to get back to the original question, by the way,

I think it's outrageous to take either of those guys over Cam Ranish R.J. Barrett. Like, it is just, it is outrageous, I think. Yeah, I just wanted to start a debate. You know, we just wanted to start the conversation. I don't know.

like R.J. Barrett? You're like how how much does his clear weaknesses at Duke? Like, do they matter in the NBA? Yeah, they matter. Like, he's not a perfect prospect, but he's still also like just a teenager who can, who's putting up 23 points, a really good rebounder, eight rebounds per game.

And like his passing, his tunnel vision is rightfully not. Like he has moments where he just barrels into the lane when he has an opening guy, he should kick it out. But he's a good passer for a wing. Like, we're looking at him like, he's supposed to be Steve Nash. No, no, no. He's a wing. It's kind of what he does when he barrels into the lane, too, though.

Like, he's, he's athletic, but he doesn't have that kind of, I don't know, the right. I don't know, yeah, he doesn't have great touch. He's not a great finisher. I don't think he has like that, that wiggle. I don't know, like, he's not, like, necessarily the guy who's going to be, like, you know, going around you and, like. See, Tim. me the concern with RJ is like the way he's kind of made like taking the ball from Zion

on Reddish like you look at him in an NBA roster if you draft him are just thinking he's the man like I'm not sure he's going to accept a small role in an offense I'm not sure he can because he doesn't shoot very well so no one's going to guard him off the ball and if he gets the ball that ball's going to go up I mean look like there's legitimate concerns about RJ Barrett like the spot-up jumper is average at best right now he's a subpar free throw shooter the tunnel vision everything like there's reason for concern I just think the upside is with him long term. But like KFC, like if you're Atlanta,

are you worried that if we draft RJ, he's going to like fight with Collins and Young but for control of the ball? Like, will he accept a small role next to those guys? I mean, of course, that's something on your mind. But I just think you can, if you're, if you're taking a projected a likely three-indy guy

with the third pick or whatever or second pick, I just, I just don't I just don't think that that would be the wise thing to do when you could later on draft like a PJ Washington, different type of player, but like a PJ Washington type. in the middle or late first round. A lot of these, like we mentioned Damari Carroll earlier,

a lot of these three and D guys are drafted, not in the lottery. They're drafted in the late first in the second round, regardless of the draft class. But I feel like with the ways that, you know, the styles have changed in the NBA, maybe it's time to prioritize that more. Maybe it's not necessarily getting a, you know, especially,

I mean, it really depends on the system. I think something that me and Charks have, talked about is like, look, they're only like, what, five mega stars in the league, and the rest of them, the rest of the stars in the league are kind of built around, you know, the situations in which they're fostered it. I guess we should also talk about reddish stuff. Yeah. On the flip side, there is reddish.

I want to like him, but man, he does so many dumb things. It's hard. I don't know. I think with me, one of the pet peeves with reddish is like this dude, like not finish around the room. No. For someone who's six foot nine with length and athleticism in the overall floor. I mean, in terms of talent, Cam Radish's talent level is just unreal.

Yeah. You just don't see it in the games. I think with Cam entering the season, there was a conversation about him becoming like a Paul George-esque player. And that is just not the case. He doesn't have the same intensity on the defensive end of the floor. The at-room finishing is not there. But I think with him, you kind of need to reevaluate and just recalibrate your assessment of him in the lane.

Maybe it's not a Paul George. lane, but maybe it's a Gordon Hayward type of lane. Like present day Gordon Hayward. He gets a ton of steals, which is encouraging with his length. Like Reddish doesn't even try out hard to get a ton of steals. I mean, or like a Richard Lewis type. Someone who's

long, can shoot three. He's big enough to be Richard Lewis. Yeah, I didn't think about that. Yeah, I mean, I just, I really, really like Cam Redish. And I think with his youth and his is just the sheer ability to just create space on the perimeter is super value in this league. It's like the inverse of what we talked about

with RJ. RJ can get to the rim and there he can draw a lot of files, not the best finisher. With Cam, he doesn't necessarily get to the rim, doesn't necessarily finish well, but boy, he can create on the perimeter still. He can still spot up shoot for you. He still is length and I he can shoot off the dribble. Right. Yeah, he can still, exactly. And so these are very, very valuable tools in the NBA where maybe he's like that three indie guy with upside to be something more. I'm going to be honest with myself right now. And if Culver is actually just six, six, I would probably put Reddish number two on my big board.

I like it. I would take Reddish over Barrett for sure. Oh, why are we all on the same band page? We don't even talk to each other about this. Let's move on to the draft. We have time disagree over the course next year. I know, we do. And I'm not married to Redish over RJ at this moment either, but I feel good about it. Let's move on briefly and close us out.

Just looking ahead to the weekend. Oh, hey, okay. I want to put it one thing, though. We got a Pistons Heat Saturday night, the world's saddest playoff race. I think both teams are at 26 and 31 right now in a riveting fight for the 8th seed in the east. Just beautiful.

I mean, you can't count out the magic, right? No. Yeah, they're in the mix, too. I was looking at 538. It looks like the winner will have like 37 games for a playoff spot. Oh, man. For the 7th and 8 seeds.

That's their projecting it right now. With Charlotte, too, in there too. Orlando, only a half game back right now. I'm telling you, it's a fight to the finish in the east. Oh, man. Orlando, winners of five straight games facing Chicago tonight. They have a good opportunity to win that one. Then on Sunday, we have the Oscars.

Since this is derringer.com, we have to talk about it briefly. Who is your favorite movie of 2018, Danny? I really like this documentary called Minding the Gap, which you can watch on Hulu. It's about kind of like these skaters in a small town in Illinois. And I think through like childhood traumas that they've endured that aren't really

brought up among the group but they just kind of like they've connected even though they don't really know each other's lives all that well. It's just like this beautiful like portrait of small town life and how I don't know it's really it's really a touching touching movie. And that's called Mining the Gap. Yeah. I'll have to check that out. Charks, what was yours?

I'll stick in that same lane. Three Identical Strangers, True Story, About Three Triplets, Who Are Separated at Birth, Re-Nighted at 18. So for me, it's a little, my in-laws actually adopted one son. So I kind of got to see the adoption experience firsthand. And this movie, like, if you ever know anyone's been adopted, like, it's an incredible movie. It has a couple twists you don't see coming. And it really kind of changes your view on the whole nature versus nurture debate. It is a fantastic movie.

I'll take a different lane here. Upgrade. That's my favorite movie. of 2018. Upgrade is set in a dystopian future. It's like ex machina, but with action. Okay. Basically, it's like someone who got in a major accident,

got inserted with a computer chip that is able to give him super strength, except it's not quite as wonderful as it seems. It's a very, very good movie. Who's in it? I've never heard of this movie. Logan Marshall Green. Looks a lot like Tom Hardy.

Good actor, too. Deserves more future parts. Oh, so it's a bootleg Tom Hardy movie? Yeah, but it's a bootleg movie, but it's also really, really good, really entertaining. Do you like weird voices?

He does like Tom Hardy. Oh my gosh. I just Google them. Yeah, after you, listen to this podcast, everybody, just definitely Google, Logan Marshall Green. Well, we'll have to check those all.

Mine in the app, Three Identical Strangers, and Upgrade. It's all we have time for today, though, guys. That was fun. Thank you. All right, y'all. Looking forward next Friday. And thank you for listening

to the Corner 3. please give us a five-star rating on iTunes, tell your friends, tell your family, tell everybody you know about the show, tell Shays Serrano. That would be really appreciated. Special shout-out to Bobby Wagner for producing the podcast. Thank you again for listening on Monday Heat Check will be back, and then Tuesday it'll be me and Bruno. Until then, hope you have a great weekend.