The Ringer NBA Show - The Warriors Without KD Are Still Pretty Damn Good | The Mismatch

Episode Date: May 21, 2019

The Golden State Warriors are headed to their fifth straight NBA Finals after sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers despite Kevin Durant out with an injury (0:48). Plus: belated reactions to the NBA draft lottery (43:09) and critical reactions to Magic Johnson’s recent comments on the Los Angeles Lakers (51:18). Hosts: Chris Vernon, Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Liz Kelly and welcome to The Ringer Podcast Network. Before you get to the show, make sure you check out the ringer.com for our extensive NBA playoff coverage leading up to the NBA finals. Also look out for a 2019 NBA draft guide, which now features 50 of Kevin O'Connor's scouting reports. The draft guide has a first round mock draft, big board rankings from our draft experts like Jonathan Charks and Danny Chow, and much more to come leading up to the draft itself on June 20th. Once again, check out the Ringer's 2019 NBA draft guide. and all of our NBA coverage over on the ringer.com. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show.

I'm Chris Vernon and joining me as he does every Tuesday from the Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber, aka Kevin O'Climber, aka Kevin O'Clymer, aka Kevin O'Candyland, aka Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Conert, aka Mr. Bright Future Son. Kevin O'clock. Chris, how you doing? We're talking at an unusual time. It's late Monday night. It is late Monday night.

We just got done watching the Warriors and the Portland Trailblazers. Of course, the Warriors now set to go to another NBA Finals, and in fact we'll have nine days of rest before said NBA Finals. They knock off the Portland Trailblazers in overtime. And I guess first things first, and we'll get to the game. Big picture, slow clap for the Portland Trailblazers. because, you know, obviously it stinks to get swept. Nobody likes to lose a series in that kind of fashion,

especially blowing some double-digit leads along the way and to lose an overtime when you think you're at least going to be able to stay in the series for another game. But big picture, we thought they were dead when they lost Nerkich during the season. Not only were they not dead, they held on to home court advantage. They were an underdog against Oklahoma City Thunder. and they won that series. They were an underdog against the Denver Nuggets, and they won that series.

And this was obviously just a bridge too far to be able to beat this Warriors team. But overall, I think when all the dust settles, you know, Portland and Portland fans are going to feel really, really good about this season. For Warriors fans, we don't really care what you think. You get to experience this every year. I mean, you're in another NBA finals.

for goodness sakes. But the Warriors have reminded everybody that Clay Thompson, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green are pretty good, Kev. Yeah, no kidding. You know, for Portland, it was a competitive series. You know, obviously they got swept, but they were in each game through halftime. In game three, they were in until the third quarter,

and tonight they went to overtime. You know, you have to tip your hat to Portland for the terrific season that they had, especially despite the injury to Nurkich, despite the fact that Minu got taken out of the series, with Golden State helping off of him and guys stepping up. Like Myers-Leonard tonight scoring 25 points in the first half.

You can never take that away. You can never take that away. 25 and a half. Rodney Hood's moments that he had along the way, I mean, can't take any of that away. But obviously the story tonight is Golden State, the second team in NBA history, going to five straight NBA finals

since the 60 Celtics did when they went to 10 in a row. This Golden State team, obviously, it goes without saying has a chance to do something extremely special, free-peating. And to do it without Kevin Durant

in this entire series for the final two games of the Houston series, it's extraordinary, really. Seeing this team continue performing at the same level that they did with KD, despite losing their second

most important player. It's a remarkable testament to the other players in that team, Clay Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green, of course. Yeah,

because there's nobody else on that team. Outside of maybe Andrew Boga because he's got a very long career that would walk down the street and people would know who they were by name. Seriously. I'll tell you what, though.

Kavana Looney and Al McKinney, this series have started to make a name for themselves. Absolutely. Absolutely, they've made a name for themselves. But, I mean, they were all manner of guys that were coming in the game tonight. Jacob Evans got in the game, for goodness sakes. Is Steve Kerr playing around

putting Jacob Evans in the game, starting Damien Jones in game three? Steve Kerr must be playing some games here, right? You know how much I love that. Jacob Evans, one of the guys that was on my, these guys will not fail last year when I wrote that draft article, he only played in three games for the Warriors this year. And when he put him in the game, I was like, what the hell?

Jacob Evans, get you some Western Conference Finals minutes, Jacob Evans. Here's the deal. Everybody has had the same, I think, take on the, which is, as NBA fans, this has been infinitely more fun to watch warrior-wise because it feels like a fair fight, right? Even though they were able to sweep the Portland Trailblazers despite being down guys, it feels like without Durant, this is fun. It doesn't feel unfair, right? Whereas with Durant, it feels unfair. But truth be told, and I know this has been a big topic, Kev.

where people are saying, it's so stupid to say that they're better without Kevin Durant. Well, like, bro, they are frigging 31 and 1. Like, they're 31 and 1. I don't know how you can argue against that record. Yeah, but they'll still need him and they'll still, I mean, all I know is in their last 32 games they played without him, they're 31 and 1, which is just insane. insane. Absolutely insane. As long as Katie leaves this summer, Chris, I think this is going to be the way it continues to feel. It's going to keep failing this way where, you know, one of my friends recently tweeted about this and it's been on my mind too where that Draymond, Curry, Steph, Big Three is going to start feeling like, you know, Duncan, Genobley, Parker.

like that type of big three where they just sustain success. Obviously, these guys are at a higher level, but it's going to start feeling that way where you just can't help but respect this team as it's happening. Even if you root for them to lose, you just can't help respect them, assuming Katie leaves. Katie is the player who makes them hated. But this team is very lovable without him.

As you just said, watching them this round, despite the sweep is very enjoyable to watch the Golden State Warriors. Once again, it brought us right back to that 15-16 run. Well, and you see these guys, Steve it, you have Curry with a triple double, you have Dremont with a triple double, and you see the minutes that these guys played tonight? I mean, you're talking...

47 for Steph, 46 for Clay, 42 for Dremond. That's just outrageous. That's just not sitting down. And the cool thing with the Warriors is how they've tweaked the way they play without Kevin Durant. I mean, someone in the league recently said to me,

with their pick and roll, they went to the side pick and the, roll in game six against Houston to close them out. They just ran it over and over again with Draymond Green screening for Stefan Curry on a side pick and roll. And they went to that throughout the Portland series as well with Draymond screening for Steph. And one of the reasons that why that's more effective without KD is not a knock on Katie at all. It's nothing to do with his own abilities at all. Actually, it has to do with the way defenses react to the pick and roll. And when Durant is on the floor, they're not going to trap Stefan Curry to try to get the ball out of his hands,

because if you trap him, it means Durant or Clay Thompson is going to be open after Curry passes the ball to Draymond Green on the role. However, when Durant is off the floor, you can trap Stefan Curry, but that opens up a whole new set of issues because Steph is giving the ball to his release valve and Draymond, who is, if not the greatest short roller ever. He is one of the best players making plays off the dribble in the pitch. pick and roll, whether it's with the pass or scoring, getting to the lane, kicking it out to three, or hitting the lob man, and Kavon Looney, it just opens up a whole new set of issues.

But also with that, it's like, Golden State is crashing the offensive boards more often, too. Alan McKinney had two critical offensive rebounds over Deamy and Lillard tonight. Kavanaughan Loonie has constantly attacked the boards, whether it's out of those pick and rolls or whether it's in transition or any type of set, they are crashing the boards more often to help overcompensate for the lack of KD, running more pick and roll. It's just been cool to see this team make necessary tweaks to perform it, essentially the same exact level, despite not having the greatest score of all time and Kevin Durant on the court.

I think Steve Kerr deserves some credit as well as his entire coaching staff does for some of those adjustments as well. Well, and obviously Portland did not have the big guys in order to punish them for playing small, and they also didn't have the ability to slow them down. I've said over the course the past couple of years, the way to play this team, you've got to make them uncomfortable and you've got to keep these games. Hopefully in the 90s are very low over 100. But if you're playing in this kind of range that they were playing these games in, they are just so hard to beat because now the possessions are getting up. And unless you can just get so many more shots by you winning that offensive rebounding war, which is exactly what Houston did last.

year. It's what Cleveland was able to do when they were able to beat them in the finals and come back from 3-1. The teams that have been able to give them problems, Oklahoma City a few years ago, you've got to be able to make them uncomfortable, and they were never made uncomfortable. And Curry, you know, you were just talking about him. Kemp, look, he had 33 in that last game against Houston, 16 in the last five minutes to end their season. And then this series, he just went 36 37 37 I mean Unreal

What? Unreal That was a quick reminder of what Steph Curry looks like when he gets more shots because this is just I mean it's outrageous outrageous

36 37 37 36 37 36 37 And you know this will be the Like not to jump too far ahead here But if KD does leave this summer That'll be the intriguing thing about Steph moving forward you know, with more shots.

If he's getting, instead of 11.7 threes per game, if he's up to 12.5 or 13 threes per game out of 22, 23 total shots, he's going to be right back in that MVP conversation for the four single future every single season. He could be a guy averaging 30 points per game every single year. No, it ruined all of their, like, quote, accomplishments. Individual, yes.

Individual, yes. Which in the grand scheme is unimportant compared to what they have a chance to do and winning three straight titles with five straight NBA finals appearances. What we're seeing is like, obviously the Warriors are hated, but you can't help but respect and appreciate what we're seeing. This is rare.

And look at the seasons that these guys have put up over the course of the last two, three years. Kevin, they're not even in the MVP conversation. Like, that's what it did to them. And you do wonder, if KD ever signs there, is Curry winning back to back to back MVP? I mean, the year before he came, he had one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of the NBA.

And now you look at what he looks like when he is out of the lineup. And it's just you wonder like, okay, yeah, they did win the titles. But in terms of those individual awards, there is a part of me that says, man, I mean, Steph Curry, nobody's even voting him as the MVP. I don't think that Kevin Durant's been in the top five in MVP voting. since he has been at the Warriors. It's like the resent is so strong, and it's not like these guys haven't had awesome seasons,

but it's like, all right, this is stupid. Like, you know, how can you be the MVP of a team that won 73 games, and obviously Curry's numbers aren't there with some of the other guys that have been able to win the award? It's crazy. For what it's worth, in 15-16, Steph, obviously, won the award that year, but then the following season, in 16-17,

Steph was sixth. Durant was ninth, tied for ninth. And then last season, Steph was tied for 10th, and Durant was seventh. That's crazy. Like I said,

neither of them were in the top five. Either of those seasons, despite the tremendous years that they had. Granted, last season, Steph only played in 51 games. So he wouldn't have won at that season anyway.

But fact is, yeah, as you're saying, these guys have had remarkable individual seasons that have not been in the MVP conversation. Ultimately, that's because of the the word valuable in MVP.

It's sort of hard to consider a guy the most valuable player when they're playing alongside each other. But ultimately, they join forces knowing that this would have. It's really an aside. They join forces to win titles, not to win MVP's. Well, let's be clear. It is insanely evident when you look at the records which of those two players is more valuable.

Well, Steph. Yeah, it's totally justified that Kevin Durant doesn't get most valuable player votes. Because his team is 31 and friggin' won when he's not in the game. That is just impossible. Impossible. How could you not have Kevin Durant and have lost one out of 32 games? I don't understand it.

But here we are. And so now they get to sit around. And now by the time, I mean, it's nine days. Do they have Durant and cousins back by the time to get to the finals? And are you in the camp that they would absolutely need Durant to win against either Toronto or Milwaukee? No. No, I'm not. The numbers don't necessarily lie in the sense that over their three seasons together, including the playoffs.

Obviously, the Warriors are out there best with both of them. That goes without saying, with Curry and Durant on the floor, the Warriors outscore teams by 16 points per 100 possessions, which is just outrageous. But with Curry on the court and Durant off the court, they still outscore teams. by 13 points for 100 possessions. It's outrageous. The inverse of that is with Durant on the court and without Curry, they outscore teams by just 3.2 points for 100 possessions. Those are samples well over 2,000 minutes for each.

So it's not like it's a small sample. Hold on. I need you to repeat those, Kev. What was the 3.2 number? So with Curry and Durant, the Warriors in the past three seasons have outscored opponents by 16 points for 100 possessions. with Curry and without Durant,

it is 13 points per 100 possessions. With Durant and without Curry, it is three points for 100 possessions. Oh, wow. And those are large sample sizes well over 2,000 minutes for each, nearly 6,000 minutes for Curry and Durant. Just for a point of reference,

3.2 would be roughly equivalent of what the Pacers did this season, a Pacers-level team. There's a lot of factors that go into that. but the sample size is large enough. With Curry, what makes him special is not just the shooting off the dribble, it's the relocation. After he gives the ball up, getting open, not even having to use a screen, but just invading open space and creating a shot for himself. That aspect, never mind the playmaking as well.

I think he's an underrated defender for that matter, too. Obviously, this goes without saying about Steph. Whereas with KD, he's gotten better in his years with Golden State as a passer. I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. The way Steve Kerr has used him on the post like they have with Draymond Green, you know, with his back to the basket, his ability to score, but also his playmaking out of that as well has created shots for Clay and Steph and Draymond and others on cuts as well.

But Kevin Ernst is just not the playmaker that Steph is. He's not the player who can relocate off the ball like Steph does. I think that's the big part of it. I'm sure there's other factors like lineups and opponents and situation that plays into that too. but Steph is just a more important player to Steve Kerr's system, the more important player to their offense, the more important player to the franchise. And I think ultimately that's what it comes down to with Kevin Durand.

There'll be a lot more time for us to talk about this as free agency approaches. But with KD, it's the type of thing where he's always going to be stuck in Steph's shadow and Golden State. That's not going to change anytime soon. It's just not happening, even though he's won two finals MVP's back to back. He's just always going to be stuck behind Steph. And I think for KD, you have to be stuck. to look at this summer. Like, you can still join another team and still remain a championship contender

if someone comes along with you. And Steph continued competing for championships without Katie, too. It's ultimately, I think, the best for both. The fact they joined forces together was a win for both. Obviously, they have a chance to win three straight titles. That's not something to scoff at, despite the fact that people hate the fact Katie went there. I wish he had went somewhere else, too, for that manner. But what they've done is remarkable even getting to this point for a chance at three straight finals. but moving forward, I do think it's for the best for both of them to part ways. I would not bank on them being able to beat Milwaukee without him. Interesting.

How come my curiosity? Because of the Yonis thing. Because what are you doing with him? Is it Dremont? Is that what you're doing with him? They have a lot of bodies that can throw at Yonis, I think. Who? I mean, Dramon, you mentioned him already.

Okay, now what's the next body? Well, that's number one. You have one of the greatest defensive players in the history of basketball in Dremon Green. you have Kavana Luni who's having a tremendous playoff. Yonis will kill Luni, kill him. But Luni is a big body who gives consistent effort. No, he can't stay with him on the perimeter. Luni does a good job of staying in front of guards.

He can at least stay in front of Yannis and try to contest his shots using his long ass seven foot three wingspan. I get where high on the Luni herb after his series against Portland. Yonis will defecate on this guy. That is Looney. O.G. Looney. Stop it. If you want to sell me on Iguodala, I'll listen.

Got any of that OG Looney, Chris? But don't tell me that we can throw Kevin Looney at Yonis. I'm not saying that he's going to stop Janice. I'm going to say he's a body that you can throw at him. That's why I'm saying they need Duran. That's why I'm saying. I mean, Duran obviously makes the team better. Because of that matchup, the best guy on Milwaukee is a guy that you don't want to have to use,

Draymond on. You don't want to have to because why not? That's what you have to. Forty feet away from the basket. Huh? Why not use him on Yonah? Well, I would rather him be able to quarterback

my defense completely. The advantage of Draymond is that I get to put him on a center. That's the advantage. Because now he's snatching everything off that rim and he's going. And he has been easily one of the greatest players in the NBA

throughout these last two rounds. That Houston series and now this series, he has been absolutely out of his mind. He lost that 20 pounds leading up to the playoffs and he looks like he lost 20 pounds and he's just done everything. But what you don't want is having Dremont having to guard someone every single possession that can actually make a play down in the post. That's where you can really combat him. The issue is there's almost nobody that does that regular.

anymore. And so you create this amazing advantage if you're the warriors because you're not having to, nobody's throwing it down in the post and getting buckets, right? You want him to be occupied like that. And if he's guarding Janus, he's going to be occupied and he'll also foul out. And that's why I would not want that. Yeah, I mean, I think it goes without saying that ideally you want Dremont roaming off ball. All I'm saying is that you have one of the greatest defenders all time who is an option against Janus. And there's other guys that you can use against him too, like Looney.

Katie was the primary defender against Janus the past two seasons, according to NBA.com's matchup data. So Durant's going to be somebody, Andre Goodala, assuming he's able to get back on the floor healthy. And by the way, that has gone glossed over because of the sweep. But his injury as well, they have a number of guys that they can throw at Janus. And also, like, that series isn't over yet. No, I don't want to bury Toronto yet.

But we're just speaking in hypotheticals, just to be clear. I mean, if we're going to go ahead and do this, I think they could beat the Raptors without him. The Bucks are the team, I don't think they could beat without him. But I think they could beat the Raptors without him. Same deal as I was just talking about. He doesn't have to guard Kauai. He doesn't have to guard him. And so now, if I can have him playing like that free safety position, it's over.

because the way he just ignites that offense by being next to the basket, just grabbing the rebound and going, he's devastating. We talk about every year, and please don't do this this year, Kev. I've talked about it every year. I don't want to hear anybody getting compared to a Draymond green guy because he is more rare than damn near. You're better off trying to find a seven-footer that can cross people over and shoot threes now than find another Draymond.

finding somebody like that that can dribble, pass, shoot, can guard the best player on the other team, can quarterback a defense. I mean, he's just a horrible mismatch for so many teams, so many teams. And it's almost like, remember how Gronk was in football where he's too big for your corners and your safeties and he's too fast for your linebackers? He's like that. He's too shifty to put a big guy on. or to have a big guy dedicated to him because he's just outrunning that guy down the court and if you put somebody small,

he grabs every damn rebound. He's an impossible matchup. He is a very, very rare player. There's nobody really like him. Seriously. Yeah, I think with Dremont, I sort of touched on this a little bit in my article today on the ringer.

Oh, God. No, I know, I know. I know you took issue with something in there, but I'm just... Your article on the ringer. Yeah, I know. You took it. issue with the Tony Allen line. I understand.

Here's my problem. It wasn't a knock on Tony Allen. No, no, no, no, no. It has nothing to do with Tony Allen. And you know I love him. It is the mythology that surrounds that. I get that winners get to write history. But the ringer even posted

something last week about it. And it's like, and then they switched to Andrew Bogot on Tony Allen and the series was over. In game four, Tony Allen tore his damn hamster. I know he got hurt. Yep. In game five, he went out there and played eight possessions. Game six, he didn't play.

Game seven on the bad hamstring, tried to go for four minutes and never played. So somehow the winners get to rewrite history, it turns into, and the Grizzlies couldn't score anymore. If you go back and look, they got absolutely slaughtered playing Jeff Green instead of him. Way worse. And Jeff Green can do every. thing. He's not a one-trick pony, and one-trick pony get you slaughtered. Well, they had damn Jeff Green in there. He's a one-trick pony, which is sucking. So they just rewrite history and say,

oh, and then they moved Andrew Bogot under Tony Allen. It just, listen, I know nobody cares about Memphis history and what the Grizzlies did. But every time we read that, it's like, oh, for God's sake, can anybody at least mention that the guy tore his amstring and couldn't play, please. This Andrew Bogget was switched on to him, and the brilliance of Steve Kerr changed history. Like, bullshit. The guy had a thorn hamstring. They played Jeff Green.

He can do everything. All right. Okay. The point was in the article that they did something funky by putting a 7 foot, 270-pound center on a 6-foot-4, 213-pound guard. And the point was is that that has been replicated in this post. season with Joelle Ambide defending Pascal Seacom in the corner in the last round with teams sagging off of shooters like Seacom and Al-Farouca Meno, despite the fact they aren't bad

shooters like Tony Allen, but merely average shooters. The point was that the threshold has moved where teams are giving the quote unquote Tony Allen treatment, the Andre Robertson treatment to players who aren't bad shooters. They're giving it to average shooters. They gave it to Myers-Lennard in the first half. Yeah, they did. They did, and out Myers-Lennard made them pay. Where's the genius? The genius, they didn't guard Myers-Letter.

The guy had his career high in one half. I mean, that's going to be something that's fascinating to watch in the finals, if it is Milwaukee versus Golden State, as you said, or even if it's trying for that matter, too, because one thing Milwaukee has done all season long is they have allowed the opposing center to get open shots, regardless of who it is. They've done it with Marcus Soule this series.

They've done it with Al Horford last year, round, they're going to do it in the finals as well. If it's Draymond Green, they're going to give Draymond open shots. That's something Bootintholder's offense has done all season, like Ben Falk wrote about on cleaning the glass. The thing with Draymond, though, is, as you said, Chris, he is a supremely unique player in the sense that, yes, he is a subpar shooter, but he is a elite playmaker for a player of his size and a player of his position, an elite playmaker in the open court going coast to coast after rebounds. His instincts on the defensive end are unlike anyone else. And what really, I think, is the secret to his success. It's just his mind. He calculates

decisions so quickly on the court, whether it's passing the ball or making reads on the defensive end of the floor. And it's so easy to say, teams should play small, move a guy up to the five, move a guy up to the four. And like, that can work for spurts for some teams, but it is not sustainable for most because very few players can do what Dreamong Green does with his strong body, long seven foot two wingspan and just a genius basketball mind, especially on the defensive end of the floor. It's like, just to tie this to a rookie player,

like with Luca Donchish, the conversation was always like, is he athletic enough in order to see in the NBA? It's like, well, maybe that is a knock on him, but he has an elite basketball IQ, elite feel. And that's where Draymond Green excels in ways very few players do. And very few players in league history are at the level of Jermon Green for that matter.

That's why, and it is much easier said than done. That's why you need to play them in a we run a play, you run a play game. It's a lot of like when we talked about Ben Simmons. You know, these guys, when they are going downhill, forget about it. And it's hard because they just grab the rebound and then they go downhill. So that's why you have to be able to win that offensive rebounding battle against them. because if he's snatching balls off that defensive backboard and he gets to running, much like Simmons does,

now all of a sudden they are devastating players. But if you can get them to play more half-court basketball, now all of a sudden you take that away because he is elite downhill. Because he can go all the way to the basket, or he's got two guys that flank out and run to their spot. And he finds him. And he's such a good passer. And so the more half court sets, you can get him in.

It's just, again, it's easier said than done. You have to have somebody that can punish them for being smaller. And obviously, Portland, it hurt them in the last series against the Nuggets. It's how the Nuggets almost took that series. They didn't have any size, you know, that was punishing. And so Dremont could kind of do whatever he wanted to do and get going downhill all the time. So I guess we'll see, right? I guess we'll see.

Milwaukee might be able to match them running up and down the court. Toronto would have to get them in a half court game. Hell, Toronto's got to get Milwaukee in half court games. Because Milwaukee always feels like they're going downhill, don't they? Let's move to that series. When that game was over yesterday, did you feel like, ooh, this is going to end up being the great series that many of us thought? Or did you walk away thinking, geez.

I mean, Toronto got away with that, but I don't know how long this series is going to go. The latter. It's shocking that Toronto did not win that game in regulation or sooner for that matter. I'm surprised I didn't win it more handily, considering the fact that Yana sent to the Kumpo, Chris Middleton, and Eric Bledso were combined 11 for 48 from the floor. It's utterly shocking to me that it wasn't a more significant victory for the Toronto. Raptors. And I think that sort of speaks to one of the issues for that team, the series, that besides Kauai Leonard, they just don't have a lot of shot creators for this level of play. Seacom had a really nice game. I thought Nick Nurse made a nice adjustment with Milwaukee

helping off Seacum in order to minimize driving lanes for Kauai and Kyle Lowry. They had Seacum cutting behind that guy off ball, which got him some easy buckets at the rim. I thought there was smart move. I thought Norman Powell had big time performance off the bench in 30 minutes. He's another guy who can at least handle the ball and more than just hit spot-up threes, but he can attack closeouts. He can attack off the dribble and make a pass off the bounce for you. I think that is a nice addition for Toronto as well, and they should move forward with him too. I don't come away from that game any differently than I did really before the series. I picked Milwaukee in six. It would not surprise me if that's what it ends up being.

I think Milwaukee can be better than they were in game three. With that said, though, Chris, it's going to come down to the guy we talked about already, Yonis Sintacuco, who had to handle Kauai Leonard, who, again, that was like the big pivotal change for Nick Nurse putting Kauai on Yonis onto the Kumpo. Yonis is going to have to solve that riddle, and very few are able to solve Kauai. Yeah, and number one, Kauai looked hurt. He was grabbing at that right, Kaua a lot scary. And it's been a thing before.

So that's one thing. number two you know you were just talking about the you don't have to guard the guy you wonder if that will come back to bite Milwaukee with blood so you know he is such a dog defensively but man oh man I mean you do feel like they're better off sometimes when they've got george hill and brogden in there in terms of getting things done and so we'll see let's so frustrating Listen, another guy going downhill, different player, different player as a downhill player. But in terms of like, hey, we're going to whip it around and get a shot, like, you just hope it doesn't land in his hands. How about Van Vleet getting every big shot yesterday?

What the hell? Like the ex against the shots that those teams were taking down the stretch, Van Blyte threes, Chris Middleton just pulling up. in transition for a three with the game on the line. I'm like, what are these teams doing? It was a frigging mess, a mess. And they're both really good teams. This is ultimately why I think Goldense could win against Toronto or Milwaukee, even without Kevin Durant, because there's just not a lot of other guys on either

team that you can trust. If you're neutralizing Januson to the Kumpo, I don't trust Eric Bloodsoe. I don't trust Chris Middleton. I trust Frogden. Yeah, but Brogden. I like Brogden a lot, but I'm not sure he's going to be the guy who's going to win you the NBA finals. You know, hey, but George Hill, Mike, George Hill's been unstoppable for like two weeks. And the same goes for Toronto.

I don't, Kyle Ari is a good player. I just don't trust him at that level, especially if he's matched up against somebody like Clay Thompson. The funny, hey, the funniest George Hill thing is every time I, like, mention George Hill or you see it on like Twitter, it's just all these Cavs fans. Like, yeah, F that guy. where was this? He really did rise from the dead. I thought he was done.

He looked done. He was in the finals last year. I know, but he looked done. Oh, it's so funny. Every time he comes up, they're like, oh, yeah, talk more about George Hill. I don't know. Maybe not playing with LeBron is a little easier

than what we thought. I don't know. Because that guy looks like you still got a lot of basketball in him. I swear. that is a bizarre thing. I thought Boodenholzer should have went to Hill sooner, especially in that overtime.

Bletsoe, you could see the fear in his eyes when he was at the line late in that game with the chance to shoot two free throws and miss both. I would have went to Hill a little bit sooner in that situation. Yeah, I like the Hill and Brogden stuff. I like the Hill and Brogden stuff. The other thing is, you know, you're talking about other guys.

Obviously, Kyle Lowry fouled out. That is one thing that we've got to give Toronto credit for. Lowry fouls out with six minutes left to go. Van Bleed hadn't hit a shot in a month, and they got to play the rest of that game without their starting point guard for six minutes, and they're still able to get a win. So we've got to give him credit on that. A little bit of lust, a little bit of luster off Siakum these last week and a half, don't you say? Yeah, I mean, it's, again, not to bring up the Tony Allen article, but like with Pascal Seaccombe, as good as he already is as a player,

The playoffs, especially the series against Milwaukee, has shown, and certain games against the Sixers have shown how far he still has to go in order to reach his true potential. Effort can only go so far in the postseason when everybody's giving effort. Like I said, I thought game three was a great example of how to best utilize him, but having him cut off ball towards the room was a great move instead of just having him spot up in the corner. Granted, he'd hit two of his five-three's best he shot in a couple of weeks now

since game won against the Sixers in a single game. Don't. What? With 2.5 seconds left, game on the line. I know, he missed both free throws. I know. No, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm talking about this last game. They had two seconds left. And it's like, all right, where's Kauai getting it? And Gassau throws it into Siakum at the top of the key. He takes a three that would have killed a fan if it didn't hit the backboard. What the hell? I don't understand Nick Nurse calling that play for Seaccom

because Seacom prior to that shot was two for 15. career on pull-up threes, two for 15 in his entire career, so small sample of shots for good reason. I don't think that was the play. In fairness, to Nick Nurse. There's no way that was the play.

It was just Kauai didn't get open. They guarded it well. But he was a secondary option. I know. Well, hey, look, he's looking around and going, don't throw it to Van Bleed again. I'll tell you what. I was ready to watch Game of Thrones at that point.

I'm just being real with you. Yeah. What was Van Bleet? Like, one for 11, I think? Yeah, one for 11. I used to love him. What the hell happened? It's going to be interesting to see how long Van Vleet's leash is

and the series if at some point nurse gives an opportunity to somebody else. Like Jeremy Lynn, who they have deep off the bench, Lynn suffered a serious injury that may have limited his abilities and in his return. He was not productive in the 23 games and he played during the regular season with Toronto. But I will be curious to see if he gets a chance at some point. And you do worry about it catching up.

I like that Toronto team, I do. But this Milwaukee team is awesome. And they just keep on attacking, attacking, attacking. You're talking about those three guys that didn't even play well. And that game still goes to overtime. You had a really hard series if you're Toronto against Philly. And now you're just playing. Kauai just played over 50 minutes in that game.

And he looked like he was limping around for half of it. And now you've got to turn around and you're just not deep. They don't go deep into their bench. because obviously, look, when you're down too, oh, your life's on the line. Well, same thing goes for the next game. And that's the tough part. You just went into two overtimes and you're going into game four and you know game four is the difference between this being a long series and this possibly being the dreaded gentleman sweep. Look, they play Powell.

They play Van Bleet. Those are only two guys that played over 15 minutes off the bench. 51 minutes for Siakam, 52 minutes for Kauai, 45 minutes for Gassol? That's a lot of miles, man. Gassol played his age. How dare you?

I knew that would make you mad. 45? Come on. Come on. Get a double double. Yeah, I mean, Gassol's been fine. Seven assists as well. In fairness, I'm looking at what their roster is.

Fredman Bleets, I think, pretty safe, unless you want to go with the Jeremy Lynn thing. Chris Bouchard, Eric Morland, Malcolm Miller, Jeremy Lynn. That's the rest of their roster. I mean, this is going to sound outrageous, but I would be curious to see Malcolm Miller get some minutes in there. You and Malcolm Miller's mom are curious about that. I mean, Malcolm Miller. And the list ends there. Malcolm Miller's a 3-and-D style player.

Only 26 years old. I mean, if you're not going to go with another ball handler and Jeremy Lynn, I think with Malcolm Miller, at least maybe get another long defender on the floor. Hey, man, you're giggling over there, but... Who in the hell is Malcolm Miller? Malcolm Miller had a great year in the G-League. I've never heard of this person in my life. I'm not kidding.

Never mind. Let's forget about it. Holy Cross. Shout out to Bill Simmons. alma mater. Never mind Malcolm Miller. Back to Kauai Leonard. I do.

Oh, are we putting him on the Rishon Holmes All-Stars? Yeah, he should be on there. I think Malcolm Miller is going to be a player. Not like a, I'm not saying a player as in like a great player. I mean, he's going to be a solid end of bench player for a couple of seasons. But with Kauai, I just, him grabbing at his right quad area, like, dude, he's going to play through this, but it's pretty scary because that's the quad that bothered him. for consecutive seasons.

It's what kept him out of all but nine games last year with San Antonio. It was an issue in 2016, an issue in 2017, an issue in 2018, and now suddenly in 2019, it seems to be flaring up for him

when he's playing heavy minutes after the entire season. He was Mr. Load Management, getting constant rest in order to keep him healthy. And not to mention, he's the same guy back in 2012, had the same issue with his left quality.

that he got corrected with San Antonio. But this right quad still remains an issue for now. In 16, 17, 18, and now into 19, four years in a row now, whether this is going to be a major issue like it was last season, well, who knows?

Like, I'm not a doctor, you're not a doctor, we can't predict the future. Oh, maybe you can, Verno Damas, right? But with Kauai, like, it's just scary to see him grabbing at that quad

that's been an issue for four years now. It's just troubling. And I hope it was just a little, bang out, the little bruise or something like that. But he was grabbing in that quad area, and that was a little bit nerve-wracking. Well, if he cannot give you huge minutes, you just, at least you got Malcolm Miller.

The freaking Eastern Conference finals. Get out of here. Get out of here. All right. Last thing regarding this series. Jacob Evans played for the Warriors today. Why not Malcolm Miller tomorrow? Come on.

They got no players on the Warriors except for those three guys. I mean, Iguodala was out, Katie's out, Marcus Cousins out. Jacob Evans didn't think he was getting in the game tonight. I'm surprised even at his shorts on correctly. I hope I am wrong because I want it to be a very good and competitive series. I'll always root for Marcus Hall, but I think Milwaukee's going to win the next two games. I do. Yeah, I picked them in six before the series.

It would not surprise me one bit if it's five. Yeah, I mean, that's a double O T game. And I mean, they had them down four with 40 seconds like twice. And it just felt like, okay, you are really testing fate here. And they had like these game winning shots, Van Bleed, free throws, Siakum, Kauai had a game winner. It's like, dude, are you really not going to stick a dagger in this team? And I just don't think you get that again.

I don't think you get to do that again. I don't know. They didn't play very well, and they got a win. And I really thought that they would crank it up. Usually game three is the game that you get at home. But man, that one was a hard win. That's for sure. All right, we're going to take a quick break.

We're going to come back. And then I'm going to tell you why I'm wearing a John Morant jersey, Kevin. Ooh. We'll do it after these words. Today's episode of The Mismatch is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One knows life doesn't alert you about your credit card. That's why they created Eno. Capital One assistant that catches things that might look wrong with your credit card.

Like overtipping, duplicate charges, or potential fraud. Then it sends you an alert on your phone and helps you fix it. It's another way Capital One is watching out for your money when you're not. Capital One, what's in your wallet? See Capital One.com for details. Hey, Kevin. Did you see the draft lottery? on Tuesday.

Yeah. Oh, you did. I did. Sorry before you did. Oh, that's right. You were in the room. Yes. Did you pump your fist for me when it came up?

I did. I know you didn't. I know you didn't. Yes, I did. I did. I was happy for you. You were not. I was happy for you.

You were sitting there going, oh, no, all these 60 lost teams that shit on their fans for a whole season, now get to dress. Cam Reddish or DeAndre Hunter whoopty-doo. Like that was worth it. And so that really worked out well for Cavs. Oh, the Bright Future Suns and the Bulls. Tough, tough night for the tankers. Tough, tough night for the tankers.

Oh, hate to see it. Pelicans 1, Grizzlies 2, Knicks 3, then Lakers and Cavs are the rest of the top five. I will say, you know, I know they count it down from one down when you're in the room. As that is playing out, you know what it was like when you see it on TV, because I know you guys got to see it on TV also. And there's obviously utter and complete shock when the Lakers name doesn't come up where the Lakers name is supposed to come up.

The grizzlies name doesn't come up where the grizzlies are supposed to come up. So you know those teams have elevated and the Pelicans also that those teams have all moved up spots in the room. Was there total shock and all? Obviously the Pelicans and we all saw Alvin Gentry's explosion when they got it. When the Grizzlies come off at two, is there like a murmuring that's going on in that lottery room? No, actually. No, I would say this. For me in the moment, when New Orleans won, I, like, wanted to react, but I couldn't react.

Then Alvin Gentry allowed everybody to react. And, like, everybody was laughing and all that. But other than that, it was pretty silent through the rest of it. Like, other than Mike Zarin, the assistant general manager of the Celtics trying to nag Zach Climman, the new lead decision maker for the Grizzlies to celebrate, like, Gentry. for winning the pick. Or, you know, when the Lakers won the fourth pick,

Rob Polanka mumbled a yes, underneath his breath. Other than that, it was pretty much silence. Like when the Knicks got the third pick, Alan Houston didn't react at all. It's like he didn't hear the word New York. Somebody that was in the room told me

that Alvin Gentry goofed with Polinka something that effect of, you ain't getting AD now or something like that. Well, I would say, Gentry's words, and I put this in my article, everything Gentry said supported the things that were reported after. It supported the things that David Griffin,

the new president of basketball operations for the Pelicans said that they're going to try to keep AD. And one of the things Gentry did say, and there is AD is under contract until July 2020. And it's pretty clear to me based off the things that were said in the room, based off the things that were said publicly. It's all in alignment that. that the Pelicans are going to try to keep Anthony Davis with Zion Williamson.

Will they be able to? Well, I mean, who knows? But they're going to try. And I think they at least have a little bit more leverage to take this into training camp if they want to or into the season. And there's risk in doing that because AD has not been the most healthy player in his past. He has not suffered a major, major injury, but he has been banged up often. And, you know, there's always could come a time where bad luck happens and you suffer a major injury.

and then you lose all leverage for a trade. There's always a risk on that. There's also the risk that just as time goes by offers just end up diminishing if it becomes more and more clear that they do have to make a deal. But for New Orleans, for David Griffin, for Elvin Gentry, for that entire front office, entire organization, I do think that there's now at least,

there's now at least an argument to be made to AD and to Rich Paul and clutch sports that New Orleans is the place for him and his future to have the best opportunity to win, paired with Zion Williamson, Drew Holiday and whatever else that they may add using money, using assets, using other draft picks to come in the future.

I'm not so sure it's going to work, but they're going to try. I don't buy it at all. So you think they're going to try to trade them still? I think they're driving up the price. And this is the best public posture to take. It's very possible. But Gentry's words seem very genuine.

They just seem very genuine. And him saying, I forget to who it was, but he said 80s under contract until 2020. It reminds me of the Kauai thing, where it's like, okay, this guy does not want to be here anymore. And so we're not going to do anything now. We didn't do anything at the trade deadline. We're going to let this thing play out.

And we are going to get a monster return if we can and something that we really want. And it does us no good to say, hey, he's out there on the market. Anybody want to trade for him? Instead, you say, we have no reason to trade him, and we just got Zion, and he's staying, and I think you just keep driving the price up until you can get some kind of return that you really want. I don't buy it for a second that Anthony Davis will be a pelican on opening night. I just don't. I don't believe it.

It can be both. It can be true that their intentions are to keep him, but the byproduct of that is it does indeed drive up the price. It does indeed increase their leverage, because they don't have to. They can take this into the season now with Zion and AD and Drew Holiday and try to play this damn thing out and see how it works. Because maybe the Pelicans are, maybe Zion's one of those rare rookies who can drop 22 points per game with eight, nine rebounds. And maybe he perfectly compliments AD and maybe AD sees the potential of them playing together. Because AD, by the way, is still only 26 years old. He's a young guy himself.

Maybe he sees the potential of a partnership with those two after seeing them actually. get training camp together in preseason and regular season play. Maybe AD decides that it's the place he wants to be. So I think everything they're saying is genuine about wanting to give it a chance. But as you're saying, is the byproduct of that is it does indeed increase your leverage. And I do wonder how high will offers get from teams like the Lakers, from the Celtics, from dark horse teams like the Nets, how many draft picks are these teams willing to put on the table, unprotected draft picks. How many player assets are they willing to put on the table?

Because this could be their only window to get Anthony Davis if the Pelicans are going to take it into the season and give it a chance. I mean, like the saga is not over. The sweepstakes is still happening for Anthony Davis. It just doesn't mean that New Orleans is going to accept one of the bids. Maybe Miss I'll do it again. Kauai will go to the clippers and he'll trade for another star and that'll just be the thing you do every year if you're Toronto.

So he just trade for the guy that's in his last year. Unless the Clippers are the team that tries to make a bid for Anthony Davis as well. You never know, right? Look, there's going to be surprise teams that make a bid for him. Like a team like Denver, would you put Jamal Murray on the table? Maybe you don't. But maybe you give it a try. Maybe you go with a supersized AD Yokic front court.

Because with AD it's like his preference clearly is L.A., but it seems more than anything else if his words are, to be taken for what they are, his true will is to win. Right now, New Orleans is in a position to offer him a lot with Zion and Drew Holiday, but other teams that aren't the Lakers and that aren't the Clippers aren't L.A. teams or New York teams for that manner,

can offer that too. All right, well, let's move to one of those L.A. teams. It just so happens. Magic Johnson was on ESPN this morning and talked about the AD thing and then kind of sold Dill Demps down the river and said, I tried to keep this between me and Del Demp's, and he went and leaked it out to everybody.

I mean, he was just on a bridge-burning crusade this morning, which made for unbelievable television. But you do have to wonder, now that it is David Griffin and now that it is Rob Polinka, assuming it is Rob Polinka, that will be the guys on the phone and not Del Demps and not Magic Johnson, who do not have the highest of. reputations when it comes to running teams, let's just say, that maybe, you know, maybe that gets revisited and maybe not only does it get revisited, maybe it's something that could be there because, you know, I told you way back when, I thought that that return that the pelicans were going to be getting, assuming I clear ingramedically, I thought that was outstanding return the first time around when they were talking about moving all those guys in order to get him because they think they can resign him, then I wouldn't put the Lakers thing out yet.

I certainly wouldn't. I don't think that it's done that we won't see him in a Laker uniform. It probably was with Del Demp's there. I think he was pissed off about everything and then tried to sabotage the Lakers season diabolically. But now that it's Griffin and Trayjin Langdon and now that it's Polinka and. whoever the hell is going to be in charge or have a voice with the Lakers. I could see it happening again.

I mean, I thought that was a hell of a trade. I did. I thought they were getting a lot back. And you take Ingram and you take Kuzma and you take ball and you take those guys and you throw them with Zion. Now all of a sudden, now we're talking three, four years from now. Well, you can get more for him now.

We'll talk about the magic thing in a second. But regarding that trade, that's why you didn't do it because you can get more now. You know it's the number four pick now. Instead of like if you traded 80 to them at the deadline, they probably make the playoffs and that pick is number 16, you know? Yep. So it made sense to wait. There's endless reasons to wait. In regards to Magic Johnson, it's just funny to me how he says how he loves Jeannie Bus and he loves the Lakers and he wants them to have great success. And yet he publicly quits on the final day of the regular season without telling anybody. And yet, you know, in the

day Frank Vogel is being announced as head coach. And, Rob Polenko will be there as well, and all that. He goes on first take of all shows and talks about how Polanco backstabbed him and talks about how he wanted to fire Luke Walton. It's a continuation of everything that he's done the past couple of years of the Lakers and getting caught tampering, undermining Luke Walton, the coaching staff, destabilizing the entire franchise. No, but this dude is.

It's just silly. He's magic. He's a legend and he's the king of tweeters. End of story. Now, I have nothing else. He's one of my favorite Twitter accounts. Yeah.

Oh, he's the goat as far as I'm concerned. Magic tweet anything. Do we have one? Do we have one for tonight's game? I'm looking right now. Steph Curry had 37 points. No. And Clay Thompson had, you know, whatever.

And Draymond Green had a triple double as the Warriors beat the Blazers or whatever. He says. All right. Here's the deal. I do think that a lot of the stuff was goofy. I do think he legitimately believes that Rob Polinka stabbed him in the back. I do think that he exposed what is a mess that goes on, and this is not just in the Lakers organization. This goes on in many organizations.

It also goes on in many businesses. And he may not have been present enough and trustworthy enough to have the power that he was, quote, supposed to have. Okay? Let me go ahead and say that. But at that point, you need to make a decision on who you've got running stuff because what cannot happen is you having somebody that is in charge that is going to have the say on things. And then when that person walks out, you go talk to everybody that is supposed to be under them. And then you say, no, we're not going to do what you want to do. either have him in power and let him make the choices or don't. And she wasn't getting rid of him.

He walked away. And that's the thing that bothers me about the way their setup is. And it's concerning regarding Jeannie, who I like. But in terms of ownership, you cannot have it to where everybody gets a say. And so while everybody can laugh about some of the goofy stuff that he said or that he really walked into first take, with a pile of napalm with him. There's a lot of truth in what he said, which is,

yo, if I'm going to have the power, I want the power, right? And if I want to fire the coach, I can't walk out of the room and then five people walk in and say, no,

don't listen to him. Like, you either trust that guy that is supposed to be in charge or you don't. And if you don't, and you listen to the other voices that are there over his,

then he shouldn't be in the gig, man. And he walked away. I don't know, Jeannie would have gotten rid of him. She obviously wouldn't have. So that is something concerning for Laker fans in a world without Magic Johnson in the front office. I wrote recently about the Clippers that they are an organization with organizational alignment.

This Lakers franchise clearly has organizational scoliosis from top to bottom, from Jeannie Bus, down to the coaching staff and going with their third choice behind Monty Williams and Ty Lou with Frank Vogel. There's something awry with this front office clearly, which as you said, Magic Johnson did expose, but it was sort of already a known anyway. I mean, people across the league have been talking about how dysfunctional this team is with Magic and Rob Polinka sharing the power, and now it's just Polinka and we'll see how things

settle down, but ever since Magic's public resignation, it should have been nothing but drama for this team and has not gotten better with Magic out of the picture because he's still in the picture. Paulinka said today he just talked to him the other day about the number four pick. He still talks with Jeannie Buzz. He's still part of the Lakers franchise.

It just doesn't have the title anymore. And if they can't get free agent and it's going through another mediocre season next year and they can't get AD and they can't get free agents to sign there, we won't make it to February before LeBron says, get

me out of here. The twilight of my career ain't being played out. I don't know, man. Amongst this mess. He came to L.A. for more than basketball, though. He came for family. He came for his boys to be in playing high school here. It's true. It's just a truth. He came in for more

to basketball. They can still live there. You know that, Jeff. You're right. You're right. And that's that's where the intrigue is because they can still live here. You're right. You know, his old son will be in high school soon. He doesn't need his dad to be there. every single day.

And he won't be every single there, every single day, because he's traveling anyway. But LeBron did come here for more than basketball reasons. And I do think with the Lakers that even if this is another disappointing season for them, if they don't hit a home run in free agency this summer, they can still be a team that gets into the playoffs if they're adding, like, B-level stars alongside LeBron James, if they're still getting internal development from Brandon Ingram, who, by the way, if healthy, he still showed significant flashes when provided our

last year when LeBron was off the floor. And I'll tell you what, man, like, I do question how strong that offer is for Anthony Davis, with Brandon Ingram as a centerpiece, considering the blood clot issue that he had. That's scary, man. I said medically cleared. Yeah, he is, he's medically cleared, but that doesn't mean that type of thing won't scare you away from trading for him. At 21 years old, they have an unusual issue like that in the surgery he had to correct that.

I still think he's going to be a star, though. If the blood clot thing does not stop him from it, I still think Ingram can be a star. I do. I like him, man. I mean, listen, I idiotically had Ingram ranked ahead of Ben Simmons in the 16th. The hay is not totally in the barn on that.

Yeah, I know it's not. I hate to admit that. One of them has been into a little better situation. Of course. But with Brandon Ingram, like, undeniably, he did show some significant flashes last year, especially over the latter couple of weeks before his season was ended,

averaging around 20 points per game, hitting shots more efficiently, passing the ball. And that's the thing about Ingram, what I loved about him so much in the 16 draft. You know, Ben Simmons is a transcendent playmaker, and he has the perfect body to play multiple positions, defend multiple positions. And Brandon Ingram is skinny and lanky

and kind of awkward sometimes with his movements. But what Brandon Ingram is is a really smart ball handler, a smart playmaker for his position. It just doesn't show up in the numbers because he hasn't been provided the opportunity. He hasn't had the right surrounding pieces. But Ingram is somebody who's versatile on the offensive end of the floor and versatile on the defensive end of the floor.

The hang up for him in college, and still today in the NBA is going to be the development of a three-point shot. He shot 33% from three last year. He's only 32.9% in his entire career from three. But if that is able to develop for him, and he has made tweaks to his shooting mechanics in order to try to improve it, if that can improve to 36, 37% for the rest of his career,

then we're talking about a guy who is going to be a guy who averages 24 points, six rebounds, five assists for the rest of his prime. He is still 21. Yeah, he's still 21. He's still just a kid. And that's where the appeal is where for him, he's one year away from getting paid. He'll be a restricted free agent in 2020.

That's another issue in trading for him that he's going to get paid soon. But Brandon Ingram can't be underrated as an asset in trades and he can't be underrated as a key player for the Lakers moving forward because, by the way, man, they don't have to trade Beren and Ingram in order to bring somebody in. They could trade the number four pick and other players.

They could try to package four in Kuzma, and not saying for this player specifically, but for a Bradley Beale type of player. You could try to make that type of move if the Wizards were willing to rebuild and trade Beale for that type of package. Those almost never work out. They almost never work out.

The whole trade the high draft pick for the actually established really good player, very rarely does the team that trades the high draft pick come back to regret it. And in fact, the opposite is usually true. You trade Ray Allen and the pick becomes Jeff Green. You trade Darren Williams and the pick becomes Derek Favors. You trade Kevin Love and the pick becomes Andrew Wiggins.

Very rarely does anybody rue the day that they traded one of those top picks. but I suppose it's possible. Of course. That whoever Darius Garland could make you regret it forever. And Beale's only 25 too. He'll be 26 next season. Still a young player. Oh, I love Brad Beal.

Love him. Yeah. Love him. This is going to be a fun summer, especially when the Bucks beat the Warriors and KD signs with the bucks. Why are you wearing a Jaman jersey? Are you kidding me? Do you know something that we don't know, Chris?

Or that we've only heard through reports from Shams. Trania and others on the interwebs. Do you know something we don't know, Chris? You will never hear from me again. It's the name that comes off the board is not John Moran. I'm moving in with you. I'm going to go for the Lakers. It's going to be John Morant.

Okay. And you know I love, love John Moran. Do you have any hesitations about him? None. Okay, well, let's come up with that. Is there any hesitations at all? None. Not the jumper.

No. Not his frail frame. No. I told you this. I mean, look, I jumped on you weeks ago. The Grizzies had literally no shot of getting him. And I talked about a corner three show that I listened to where you guys were picking apart him. And I said, this guy is going to be a superstar.

I believe that. And so now, now that my team gets to draft him, I'm all in. All in. I was all in before it. It's not a now thing. I think he is special. I think when you take that kind of vision and you team it up with that top, top 1.1% athleticism, that's a rare combination.

And it's usually those kind of guys that I, it was Fox a couple of years ago, crazy athlete, you know, obviously you've seen it from Rose, you've seen it from Westbrook, these guys that speed kills and he can run faster, jump higher and get off the ground quicker than most guys. And he's got a passing ability that is special, really special. How many guys in the history of the NCAA do you think have ever averaged 20 points and 10 assists a game? Not many.

How many? You got the number? One. Oh, Jiamer Rants. And now you can't go back. They didn't start recording until like 1985. But if you want to talk about, you know, who could have done it in the 70s or early 80s, I suppose you could say, well,

this guy would have done it. But in terms of modern era, nobody has averaged 20 points in 10 assists except for him. It's a hard-ass thing to do, Kiff. That's what separates him is the passing ability. He's not going to fail. John Morant will be in the league for many years, assuming good health, because of his playmaking ability, because of his speed, that's always going to keep him in the NBA. For me, the hang-ups, and this is not nitpicks, it's just reality. The question is going to be, how does his shot off the dribble development? How does he adapt defensively? Does he put in effort, which he did not do nearly enough,

playing for Murray State over his two seasons? Does he improve his right hand finishing around the rim? Does he improve as a one-foot leaper instead of jumping off of two feet? That's what can make him a John Wall, Russell Westbrook type of explosive finisher at the rim. Those are the little things that are important things for him to make a leap from being a very good point guard, which he should be for a long time to becoming a great point guard and all NBA point guard.

For Morant being the number two pick, I think it's smart for Memphis to take him. I think it's a great fit next to Jaron Jackson. Listen, this is not speaking out of school. Everybody knows this. And I would tell you this today. If the top three picks do not go in that order that everybody has had for months,

Zion, Jha, RJ, I will be absolutely stunned. Absolutely stunned. I mean, I was asking people in December about the draft doing research, and they were telling me everybody's got the same top three. And that never changed, never changed. It was Zion, Jha, RJ. And I think that's what will happen when it comes draft night.

Your guess is good as mine on four. I know a lot of people have Garland now, but it is totally up for grabs. from 4 through 10, I would say. Don't you think that that thing could get shifted around a lot? I wouldn't have a good guess from 4th or 10. Oh, it's impossible to know at this point. I can see tons of guys going 4 through 10.

Yeah, it's hard to tell right now. Kevin, it is always a pleasure. Maybe I will finally get you to Memphis for John Moraine. Before we end, I just also wanted to wish a big congratulations to the entire NBA desktop crew for winning an Emmy for outstanding digital innovation. I'm just blown away by the work they put in every week for that show, leading up to their recordings every Thursday with Jason and Tepseone, obviously hosting the show and Jason Gallagher directing the show.

Just a big congratulations to those guys. It was a really memorable weekend overall for the Ringer with Jason and Tepsione being part of also of the Talk to Thrones crew with Malley Rubin and Chris Ryan. It's just a great weekend for the Ringer, the amount of work that goes in behind the scenes in order to produce these shows and stuff that you don't see over the course of the week. It's just, it's remarkably a part of this team. Jason Concepcion playing superstar, both of the Game of Thrones coverage and as well as NBAN's top. It's just really, really damn cool to see

that reward and I'm so happy for those guys. It's great. I love Concepcion and Gallagher and getting to see that picture of them accepting that award was the best. And I have already changed. And I would encourage you to do this also. I've already changed on my resume. It says as well as has appeared on the Emmy winning program NBA Descartes. We already changed my own resume. What are you changing your resume for, Chris? You're trying to join the Lakers or Clippers or something like that? What's going on?

I'm not kidding. Are you a free agent this summer? Do you want to hear something hilarious? Yeah. I have not had a resume in 15 years. I don't even have one. I'm not kidding. it's on a floppy disk.

I don't even have a damn computer with a floppy disk drive. I miss floppy disks. It's on a disc. I swear to God, whatever my original resume was 100 years ago, it's on a disc somewhere. But I don't have an updated one. God forbid I do need a job that requires one. You know, I just keep getting jobs that don't need them.

Floppy disks. Hey, Kevin, you know what I tell them when they ask for my resume? my work speaks for itself. Look me up. Google me. Google me. Your comment about floppy disks. This is quite a pivot right here.

But floppy disks, what was the last year of floppy disks were even relevant? Like 2000 maybe? Was it like the last year? 2001, because I first got a computer in like 01, I think. That was my first year of the computer. I used floppy disks until like 2002 or 03. But the reason why I bring that up is because a 10-year-old boy named Jude sent me a really nice letter in response to the article that I wrote about my dad and his situation with cancer and everything. It was just, I don't know, just remind me of like being a 10-year-old boy, like being on using floppy disks for games and stuff.

And here's this 10-year-old kid listening to our show and writing a really nice letter. And by the way, Chris, in it, he said he loves the mismatch and wants us to keep recording forever. So hopefully we can do that. hopefully we can't 10 years old that's my demo jude yeah that's our demographics so shout out to you jude and thank you for sending that it meant a lot thanks to everybody for listening to the show as always and no matter what we are going to have an incredibly entertaining NBA finals and the warriors are going to get to kick their feet up for nine days until we get to that but we'll certainly have the eastern conference finals and a bunch of stuff happening up until that point we will talk to you

next Tuesday. Kevin, you the man. Thanks, brother. Thanks, Chris. You're the man, too. Thanks to everybody for listening. Go give us a rating and review on iTunes, five stars, five stars. It really helps. And we will talk to you next week.