The Ringer NBA Show - Way-Too-Early Questions for the 2023-24 NBA Season | Real Ones

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

Logan is joined by The Ringer’s Rob Mahoney to parse through a handful of burning questions ahead of the next NBA season, including whether the Denver Nuggets are the favorites to repeat, potential landing spots for Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard, what the new CBA means for the league, and much more (2:35). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming, please checkout ringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Logan Murdock Guest: Rob Mahoney Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, I'm Erica Ramirez, founder of Ili, and host of What About Your Friends? A podcast dedicated to the many lives of friendship and how it's portrayed in pop culture. Every Wednesday on the Ringer dish feed, I talk to my best friend, Stephen Othello, and your favorites from within the ringer and beyond about friendships on TV and movies, pop culture, and our real lives. So join me every Wednesday on the Ring or Dish feed where we try to answer the question TLCS back in the day. What about your friends? What's popping? Logan Murdoch here, no rah-rah.

He is out of town with his... son who is out here balling out here on the recruiting trail. So we have one of my faves in the building, Mr. Rob Mahoney. How you doing, bud? You know what I'm recovering? We're shifting out of finals mode into offseason mode, although, of course, we have the draft, we have free agency. We have all this stuff before I can get any kind of proper rest out here.

But you know what? I'm just glad to be off of the travel grind right now, Logan. Isn't it great? Because it was crazy, man. I think throughout, I didn't travel much for the finals as, you know, because I missed you. I missed you too. I think from like January till May,

I was just on the road every two weeks. And I don't want to act like it's not like the greatest thing that we have. Like our job are fucking tight. We're not in the coal mines ultimately. It's fucking tight. I'm not going to hold you. Comma, however, but it is very tiring.

And I just, once I've been home for like the last few weeks. And it's not that the work has been. any like different or anything like that or any it's been slower it's just great to be home you know it's just great to just chill wake up in the morning do a pod right take the boogers out of your eyes at about one at one p.m. and then go to work rob logan we got to work on your on your morning hygiene if one p.m. is one of the boogers are coming out when the eye boogers come out yeah man you know i got the teeth brush and stuff but like i'm at home i'm at home i guess i don't know you know i want to wake up

I want to be up first thing. And to your point, like, I don't want to be sleeping in a hotel bed, you know? I don't want to be working off of, you know, someone else's Wi-Fi.

I'm grown accustomed to a certain standard of living out here, and I just want to enjoy it. Yeah, man. It's nothing worse than going to a hotel that doesn't fit your luxury level of living, Rob. I know. Gosh.

Anyways, the reason why we're here today is to answer the way to early questions for the 23, 24 NBA season. Now our guy, third Ikeye has compiled a list. I have contributed one question to this. And we are going to go down the question list and see where we go, man. Let's let's let's take.

Let's have some bad takes. Let's just fucking do it. Let's get out. That's what we do out of here. Let's let's fucking do it. First question. And this is a question for, you know, that is appropriate for you. Because you have seen this team throughout the postseason.

You have covered this team. you have written about this team. The Denver Nuggets. I've just wanted. If you guys haven't noticed throughout the NBA sphere, the question is, are the Nuggets the favorite

to repeat next season? Why or why not, Rob Mahoney? Absolutely. And I think it's as simple as the fact that the story of these playoffs is that the Nuggets presented a problem that to this point is unsolvable, which is how do you stop

the Murray Yokic pick and roll? And I don't think anyone has had a convincing answer to that. I don't think anyone has come up with some kind of scheme that can slow those guys down without just giving up everything to the Nugget shooters or to Aaron Gordon ducking inside or even like Christian Brown slicing you up on the backside. Like if you can't keep everything straight defensively while trying to guard those guys, you're going to be in for a heap of trouble. And I don't know that anyone has the answer to that yet. So until we see someone really slow that down, I'm going to say the Nuggets are the favorites to repeat. I'm going to agree with you on this one.

And I think the reason being is, I think the one thing that the Nuggets needed, they needed that championship glitter that champions get, right? Where it's not just that they won a title, but it's the confidence that comes with winning a championship, right? Totally. And the confidence to know that you could come through in big moments at the biggest stage. That was the one thing, honestly, that I had, the biggest skepticism that I had about the Denver Nuggets over the last few years.

and I feel like I was getting subbed. And I know I probably wasn't getting sub throughout the postseason, but I feel like I was getting sub because I was one of the ones that was hating on Denver Nuggets. I was one of those people that were like, I will see in the playoffs. We'll see.

They haven't proven shit. We will see. But we saw they have answered, they saw they have answered every single question. And also it's like Yokin's now graduated into, obviously he went from, it's interesting. It's really interesting.

the character arc that Yokin's just gone through, right? First, he was like, he was for the niche ringer audience, right? And like, when he first got into the league, right, where he's coming off the bench, but people are saying, yo, man, he's going to be a great. And, you know, the general senses, I think when he first got in the league, the Warriors were like the shit and the nuggets were not even in your purview at all. And it was just this really, really good player that you didn't. didn't know was going to be what he is at this point.

And, you know, he got a lot of shit for it. First he goes from the niche. Then he goes and he's actually starting now. And he's like, oh, okay, this guy is great. But he's still a second round pick, guys. Relax. Right. And then he wins a couple of MVPs.

And then he's at this stagnant. I think Janus was probably at this, you know, maybe pre-title where he's like this really, it's very known that he is this talent, this very great, great talent. But can't even win? and now that Yokic has won the title he's now kind of in the Yannis group where he is

he's won his title now he's in the club now he is you know now you can put him because of the stats and everything like that now you can put him at the table with Wilts and Janus

and people are talking about it was a BLIBL a bleacher report what are you called the artwork where they have all the great centers Kareem Abdul Jabbar and your Russians

exactly now Yokicj is is at that table. And when you're at that table, it's interesting, it's going to be interested to see what he does with it because now the nuggets, they have earned the benefit of the doubt in every single game now next season. Right. Oh, they'll get it together. They're one of those teams. Like, oh, they'll get it together. And it's going to be interesting how they play with those. But in terms of being the favorite, absolutely, Rob, they are the favorite to win the title. And honestly, with the way the Western Conference is going to shake out next year, they are, there's a chance they could be headed shoulders above the Western. conference when it's all set and done. What do you think? Yeah, that's the thing is I think if you're going to pick anyone else as a potential favorite for next season, it wouldn't be another Western team. Maybe you think the Celtics will pull it together or get better.

Maybe you think, you know, the Bucks might make some improvements or Adrian Griffin will make a big difference there and maybe they could win a title again. But out West, it just looked like the nuggets were so much better than their competition at every phase of the playoffs. And some of those teams will improve. the Phoenix Suns, for example, will get some better supporting pieces, but they might also lose Chris Paul.

There could be some give and take to some of these other teams, even out West, where I just don't see them catching up to this formula. And some of that is, as you're saying, the validation that comes with the championship, there's like a tangible impact to that in terms of how you play, the confidence you operate with,

how you move through the season, where all of a sudden you're not going, oh, is Jamal Murray? How do we feel about Jamal Murray in February? is he going to be healthy enough to contribute in the playoffs? No, that dude is a badass. And really, that was just a badass run from the Nuggets. Yokic pounded people, destroyed teams.

Murray hit every big shot. Aaron Gordon was crushing mismatches. Michael Porter Jr. had a great run until the finals, and it makes you wonder, like, I mean, the Nuckets were never really in danger in the finals. How good would they have been if Michael Porter had hit any of his threes in that series? So there's so much room for even Denver to get better that I think it's hard to,

really pencil in any other team at this point. Especially since everyone's going to be back next year. You know, pretty much, you can't say that about most teams in the Western Conference and beyond, especially with this new CBA that we're going to talk about later. Well, the only question on that is Bruce Brown, because that dude is due for a payday, and Denver's capacity to pay him is somewhat limited relative to the competition. So Bruce Brown said he wants to come back. That is what you say after you win a title with a team.

Of course. And you want them to pay you as much as they possibly can. can, but we'll see ultimately where he ends up. I mean, he could fit a lot of different teams. It's interesting to say that because like, and this has been, this is a question that I have about Bruce Brown. And it's a question that I have to ask you because you have seen, you have been around the Nuggets a lot more than I've been around in Nuggets. And this isn't a disrespectful question by any means because I respect Bruce Brown's ability. He's one of the best, you know, he proved to be that. But how much can the Nuggets afford to lose him?

You know, can they plug and play someone else to get him in that spot for cheaper? Because I think that's possible, honestly. I do think that that is possible. Now, that, do they have the tenacity and the big shot making of Bruce Brown? I don't know. But with the market that it is right now, can you get another guy to hit shots in the way to do it? Because as good as Bruce Brown is, he's not Aaron Gordon. He's not, he's not Michael Porter Jr., you know, in terms of winning.

And I know that's been a chip on his shoulder since he's gotten into the league of people like me saying that. but the question still remains, is there a guy that can replace him in that mode where it could be seamless? My answer is yes, but what do you think? I think if you ask people with the Nuggets, they would tell you that, you know, maybe they would hope Christian Brown

would be ready for an even bigger role next season, and then you're slotting in someone kind of behind him where Christian Brown is now your sixth man and you're slotting in a seventh and eighth guy. You know, we'll see what Jeff Green's situation is, for example, and if he's part of that formula again, like he was in these playoffs, The trouble with Bruce Brown

is he was such a great fit because he really was their backup point guard throughout these playoffs in a lot of stretches but he's a backup point guard who doesn't need to dominate the ball to be effective and he's such a good cutter and he's such an effective defender and he can actually shoot

which is something that not a lot of backup point guards can do at least backup point guards who can do those other things I just described and so you get into this troublesome area of it's like how do you find the guy who's affordable who can also do all of those things who can play along Yokic so effectively. And just to put in very on the ground terms,

a guy who's going to show up for you and hit double-digit points in multiple NBA finals game's fourth quarters. Those are huge moments. And the guys who are just going to produce in that capacity in exactly the way you want them to, it might be more limited than you think. I think the ranks of guards

that the Nuggets would be mining to try to replace Bruce Brown would be pretty considerable downgrades just on skill set. it'll be interesting. And also be interesting with the market and how much they can pay at these people, right? Like, it's just where we're entering a whole new world of cap space. Totally.

Speaking of what, let's go to our next question. Now, this is a funny one because these guys are pretty much the same when you think about it. When I ask you this, they're pretty much in the same situations of just franchise cornerstones or early 30s who haven't won on their teams in recent years. and I think the masses are saying, hey, demand to trade. I'm talking about Damien Lillard and Bradley Bill. Will they be traded? And if so, where will they land? Now, I'll start this off.

I think that the first name, I mean, I think the second name, Bradley Bill, I think, and this is just the reporting that I'm reading, I'm not, you know, I'm not Wodes or Shams or Ava Wallace or, you know, anybody within the athletic orbit. I don't know. I have not been around the team. But just based on their reporting that I've read, I, the report that Bradley Beal is going to go to

to, uh, to, to what going to Washington front office and say, you know, if you guys are committed to winning out, there, there's no way they can rebuild in time to build a big championship contender for you this summer,

right? I mean, I think that, and also I think it's, it's very clear that the powers that be in Washington want to start a new, just based on the actions that they're displaying at this moment.

And also, the two teammates that could help Bradley Bill seem to be on the way out. I'm talking about Christos for Zingis, and I'm talking about Kuzma, who weren't necessarily, they weren't a fit when it comes to winning anyway

with Bradley Bill. So if he's really going to take this hard line stance, I think this is the summer you trade him, right? Well, I don't even know that it necessarily involves him taking a hardline stance. Like, that's an option. That's a possibility.

But I think even if, you're just kind of Michael Winger in that job taking over as the general manager of the team and as you alluded to, he's been pretty upfront about the fact that there's a little bit more latitude to actually rebuild this roster than there has been. This is not a team that's I don't think feeling a lot of pressure to compete

for the play in right now. They are going to tear things down. They are going to move in more of a future oriented direction. And what makes it tricky and what necessitates Brad's involvement is this no trade clause that he has. Which is wild that he has a guy like that as a no tray clause at this juncture of their career. It's kind of wow. On top of just one of the most expensive

contracts in the NBA right now. So Bradley Beale is minted. He's doing great. No matter what happens, he's doing fine. I think he will ultimately get moved. I think this is the time for Brad Beale to get moved. I think it makes sense for a lot of different reasons. One of which is that new CBA

where I think teams will be wary of it, but they won't fully have an appreciation for how punitive it can be just yet. And so they might be a little bit more willing to take on a Bradley Biel contract and try to figure it out on the fly. And so for him, I think, like, I'm eyeing Miami for him. I think that's a situation that could make a lot of sense.

They're a team that needs some of the creation and the scoring he brings to the table that has, like, just like the sheer salary fodder and the future picks where they can make it make sense. But also, I just don't think Brad Biel's going to pull a Rudy Gobert, DeJonte Murray level return. Like, that contract is so large. that I think it's going to offset some of the cost of getting him in the door.

And so I think he is going to move. Damian Lillard, I think no. And I think some of that is just like, at this point I'm going to believe it when I see it. He's just way too on the record about the fact that he's never, ever going to force his way out. And he's still so good that you can understand why the Blazers don't just cut bait and trade him.

I think that's going to still peter its way out over the course of a couple more seasons before we see any substantial movement there. Beal, I think it really feels like it's time. I know we've been saying that for years now, but the Wizards are at a significant turning point now. Yeah, and I think it's I'm going back and forth

in the day and one, like, part of me says, like, eventually, if he keeps saying true to his word, he eventually is going to get traded, because every excuse that he makes for why he's not going to get traded, like, hey, man, I believe in this front office. I believe in what they're doing. And I don't think Joe Cronin has necessarily done a bad job,

but like there's no levers that he can pull to just get an all-star anyone good enough to get them to Portland, right? Like, even if they kept the pick that they have, they get, well, if they get Scoot Henderson, right? Yeah. He is 19 years old. There's no way that he is going to automatically come and say, hey, we're going to build a

championship contender. And I just don't see the, even if you trade that pick, I don't see the player out there that you can go get that's going to come to Portland at this time, right? So with that being the case, I feel. like that is grounds to for Dame to just say, hey, I want to get traded. It's just time now. There's no the writing is clearly on the wall

that Dame isn't going to get what he wants in Portland. Now, if he wants to just be in Portland, I get why, right? Like he has, when he came, when he got drafted to Portland, a lot of his family went up there and moved up there with him from the Bay, right? Like, so this is more of a homey vibe for him than I get, it's more

of a home relationship that Dame has in Portland than say Bradley Bill has with with DC, right? There's just It's like it's a lot more, it's a lot more family oriented. My question though about Bradley Beal, if he does go to Miami, how is he going to adjust to that winning culture, right? Because Bradley Bill has not been a winner as the guy for the, for the wizards over the last few years, especially since John Wall has been injured and ultimately left.

When the keys have gone to Bradley Beal, he is not. been the guy. Doesn't matter, right? He has not been the guy that has contributed to winning. If you put him to Miami, he's going to be the most talented person on that roster, but is he going to be the leader that galvanizes people? Like, where does that put, where does that put him alongside Jimmy Butler? It's still going to be Jimmy's team. And maybe this is just something that's good for the Miami Heat, the fact that, you know, Bradley Beal put the contract away. We, the numbers are what they are. He is going to be, he has to be a number two or number three guy on this team, right? Like, that just feels like that's what it's going to be.

How is he going to adjust to that new environment in Miami that ultimately prioritizes winning over everything else? Now, we know for a fact that the Wizards have not prioritized winning over the last few years and Bradley Bill has been the face of that. Can he adjust his mindset to a program that has Pat Riley, has real propaganda, championship propaganda. can he adjust to that lifestyle? Can he do that?

That from everything I've heard, it's a big, I don't know, Rob. What do you think? There's certainly some questions about it. I think my hope would be, and my expectation would be, that playing for what has frankly been just like an irrelevant team

for the last couple of seasons, being the number one option on a team that's winning 35 games a season, it soberes you up a little bit sometimes. It humbles you as a star sometimes. And I'm sure Bradley Beale can look up and down his roster and say, man, if only I had X, Y, and Z, we would be better.

The problem is not me. It's everything else around me. It's my teammates aren't good enough. It's, you know, whatever he would like to point to explain the wizard's situation. I'm sure he could, and he wouldn't be entirely wrong about that. But he is best suited as the second or third guy. He is best suited as the counterpunch

who's coming off the weak side opposite Jimmy Butler versus the guy who's creating every possession he comes down the floor, even if he's shown he is capable of putting up 30 a game. Because that 30 a game doesn't take you anywhere. But in Miami, if he's scoring 22 a game on more efficient

shooting, playing the kind of defense he showed he could play earlier in his career when he gave a shit about such things, fitting in with a team that could actually accommodate him and amplify him and make sense. All the movement that Miami has in its offense, man, that stuff would be awesome for Bradley Beale.

The version of Bradley Beal we saw play with John Wall, for example, the guy who was playing off the ball more, who was curling into shots, who was really deadly in that capacity. He could make a lot of sense there if he wants to make a lot of sense there. And that's where the no trade clause comes into play.

I'm sure the idea of playing in the city of Miami would be appealing. The idea of playing for a winner would be compelling. But is he willing to do all of the Miami heat shit to make that situation work? I think there are a lot of people in the league who have questions about that,

just given what Brad has shown is important to him, like the reflection he has put out into the world in terms of what he value. we'll have to see if that kind of aligns with the heat-like situation. But if he wants to make that change, it would be, I think, massively beneficial for both parties.

Bradley Bill is interesting, right? Because he's just such a talented guy and he, if you just look at his raw stats, he's a great player. But like, I don't want to hear that that shit about, oh, I don't have the teammates. And I'm not saying that he said this or no,

I don't have enough, like, talent around me. Like, if you're as good as you think you are, at least get us a play in birth, right? You know, at least will us to a play. And I've never seen any desire out of a Bradley Bill led team to do great things, right? You know, like, I just, that's, that's, it's pretty much to hit a ceiling. And I just, we'll see what happens. I'm curious to see how this will work. Question for you. And I need you to put your GM hat on. Okay. Who are you giving, you're the Miami Heat? Who are you giving up to get Brad Bill? What is the deal that is going to, that's going to get Brad Bill to Miami?

I think it would have to be something like Kyle Lowry for salary reasons, Tyler Hero, and Picks. It would have to be something like that kind of construction. That's pretty underwhelming. But again, the way you hear GMs and assistant GMs and team staffers around the league talk about the, like, massive contracts in the NBA right now relative to this new CBA, they're pretty spooked about the Bradley B.A-level contracts.

I don't think there's going to be some super-lubes. market for him at this point. And that's where Washington might have shot itself in the foot waiting this long. Like we've been doing the Beal trade machine, like spinning the wheels on the Beal trade machine for literal years. Like the entire time that you and I have been working at the ringer longer than that, honestly, if we want to trace it back even further, they've had windows, they've had opportunities. There is a 2020 episode of, of real ones that says Bradley Bill, we're begging you to ask for a trade.

That's how long this fodder has been existing. It's Blake. It's Blake. But you know what? Bradley Beal Trade Chowder, you know, it outlasted the pandemic. It outlasted presidential administrations. It'll outlasts global conflicts around the world. It continues on.

It rages on. It's more persistent than his desire to win. Ouch. Ouch. Let's see. That would lead to my third question. of the day. Who is the favorite

to come out of the Eastern Conference? This one's really hard. And it feels like off the top it feels disrespectful to the heat to not say the heat,

especially if I'm saying that they might get Bradley Beale which that would It's the way too early predictions. It's way too early. I can't, I can't look

I think if Brad Beal does get moved to you would go to the heat and if that does happen Miami would be a great pick to come out of the east. But since that hasn't happened yet and maybe Bradley Beal

doesn't even get moved at all. Maybe we're just idiots going for one more spin around that particular rumor mill. I'm going to say the Celtics come out of the east. They've been close enough. They've made it out before. They have a young enough roster. Jalen Brown or not, I just

think that they have like the most cohesive case. Come on, man. Jalen Brown's going to sign, dude. What are we talking about? Why are we talking about he's not going you don't think he's going to sign? I think he's probably going to sign, but like I just don't know what his future with the team is going to be ultimately. We're talking about next year, though.

We're talking about he's going to sign and he's going to be a Celtic until, you know, his words, not mine until, you know, it might not be forever, but at least this season. And we're talking about this season. Well, then there's the question of like, which level of commitment are you getting from Jalen Brown? Not just in terms of how long he's going to be there,

but if it is just kind of like, I'm going to sign my deal and figure out the rest later, is he showing up with maximum effort? Is he showing up looking to find his place in this particular team versus like assert himself as his own kind of player. I think there's just a lot of questions with the Celtics, but ultimately there's fewer questions with them than there are with, you know,

a heat team that was reliant not just on Jimmy Butler, but like a bunch of role players, they now have to resign and guys that they have to hope don't regress. The Milwaukee Bucks, a team that is getting, like the core of that team is getting older and older every season in a way that's a little bit concerning. And they don't have the depth that some of these other really good Eastern Conference teams do.

Who knows if James Hardin is a sixer? Who knows if Nick Nurse and Joel Embed will be like a productive pair that is, I'm going to say a superstar who can be a little bit touchy and a coach who gets on some people's nerves sometimes in terms of like his abrasive style and how demanding he can be. So I'm really curious to see how that works out. I think the Celtics are the somehow for a team that almost got swept by the heat. that almost their coach almost got fired. Their super their superstar took criticism.

Their other star took even more criticism. Everyone up and down the roster took shots over the course of that playoff run. And yet they still are probably the safest team on the board to make it out of the east. Whether they're the most talented team in the league. Certainly helps. Right? Like that's the biggest thing. That's why I should answer this first because I picked the Celtics is because they're just the surest bet.

Right. Even if Bradley Beal goes into Miami, there's one thing. And I may I don't want this to be that I'm down. on Bradley Beal episode, but like he will have to buy in at a level that I have not seen him buy in in previous stops, right? And we do know this. If history is a guide, Jimmy Butler can smell when you're not committed. And if he smells that you're not committed, he is going to ride you into the ground. Like, we've just seen it, right? If you're not, if you're not committed to his standard,

he is going to be on your head. Now, that is just one thing for Miami. Philly is interesting. because we have seen, like, teams, when they do get a new coach who have, who has the success of a Nick Nurse or who has a new coach, right, in general, they tend to, like, especially at that level, they tend to figure it out, right? Like, Nick Nurse, at least in the first year, I think Dirk Ders is a really good coach. And Joelle and Bede wants to win, right? And we also get, I think, I think a lot of the times we do get caught up in the rapture of, of beef because we want it so much, right? We want the secret base beef. You know, we want to see it on a t-shirt. We want to see all these things. But like, I've seen so much time in this league, these people

that you think hate each other are actually cool behind the scenes, you know? I've seen it a lot. And I'm not saying that's necessarily Nick Nurse and Joe L&B, but both of those guys want to win. And honestly, bigger picture, both of those guys have a lot to prove. And so it's going to be interesting. On the heart in front, it's just like, bro, what do you want, man? Like, it's pretty cut and dry. Do you, do you want the life of you? Houston or do you want to win basketball games? And all the whispers are. And I know there have been recent whispers of that he's torn between these two teams and these two,

and these two organizations and figure it out. He loves Houston. That's been the, that's been the, and I'm not going, I'm not declaring that he's going to Houston. I'm kind of softened my stance on that just from the reporting that we've had. But like, come on, man. How many times are you going to put the things out, put the things out throughout the season. And now all of a sudden you're torn.

Nah, man, I don't believe that. I believe that. So if he's not in a picture, Philly has to figure out who's going to be the answer to, you know, that absence. Is Tyrese going to take that step? I don't know that.

So for those reasons, Philly's out of the picture. You got to always put Milwaukee in there because, Janice is a walking 61 player, right? Just for his sheer existence. But, like, his supporting cast, and it was interesting because he talked about

the Bradley Bill talk. There's some whispers out there that at least there's some reporting whispers out there. And I don't know, it's kind of murky to just go through with these during the lead up into the draft because everyone is trying to get leverage on someone. But there are some whispers like, hey, man, what about Bradley Bill to the Milwaukee Bucks? Which would be interesting, which would be very interesting. Absolutely.

I don't. So if that happens, then they're right in the mix atop the Eastern Conference. But the surest bet at this point is the Celtics. Now, I do think that what I want to. to see out of them as more mental toughness. Now I think that they're the most talented team, but I think of the most talented teams in the league, they're the,

they're not the most mentally strong team. So they need to, they need to get lock the fuck in throughout this whole off season. And I, to your point about Jalen Brown, I don't think it's his desire to be, to,

to play as hard as he can, no matter where he is, is ever going to be questioned. I think that he is going, I think that he showed that, and spurts throughout this postseason and the backstretch of the season when all of these things were coming up right like he played his ass off i remember even when the stories like the time story and my story dropped like i was at the game in sacramento he played really really well under

those circumstances and he played really really well to in the backstretch of that season with all of this talk all around him he's a really good player and i think that he earned that all mb a I think that he's going to, he is going to be the one. It's interesting, when you think about the two Jays, you never really, it's, with Jalen, you never really question his desire at all. You never really question that. Now, Jason, it's like, hey, are you going to, are we going to see the same Jason Tatum when the season is on the line?

It's always a question. I think we're going to have to figure that out next year. What I want to see out of the Celtics is just the hunger to kick some ass. there's no excuses this year coming up. I do think that Jalen Brown is going to be back. And there's no excuses when everyone is back. You know the coach that you're going to have. You know the team that you're going to have.

It's time to kick some ass. And that's what I, they're the surest bet to do it. But I don't, it's interesting because I don't know if they're going to do it. But I think there's a surest bet to do it out of the Eastern Conference. I want to clarify a little bit on Jalen Brown too. Like I think by saying his desire to fit in there and his desire to play well,

I mean less on a like possession to possession Are you playing hard level? And more are you doing all of the little thankless things that are required of you to fit alongside What should be your best role with this team? And that's where you would hope that his, that last game, the elimination game in Game 7 against Miami where he just was awful.

Like had an awful game. They needed him in a huge moment with Jason Tatum having that tweaked ankle couldn't really be as operational as they needed him to be. You would hope that Jalen Brown would take his own performance in that game as proof that, okay, I am kind of a secondary creator. I am someone who needs the benefit

of playing alongside other great players and I'm going to slot into doing these other things that can amplify that. They can accentuate what guys like Tatum do. They can build off of what other role players on my team do. They can kind of fit me into a comfortable role where I'm producing at a super high level. I am an all NBA level player.

I voted Jalen Brown for all NBA. I think I agree with him. He's absolutely deserving of it last season. But there's always that tension with him of like what is the best role. And sometimes getting a $295 million contract will give you a certain impression of what your role is and should be and what you deserve. And that's kind of what I'm waiting to see is without a doubt, contract year Jalen Brown was an awesome experience up until basically the very very very.

end. I thought he had really an exceptional regular season in particular. But on the other side of that deal, we could see a new guy. It happens in the NBA all the time where a player's priority shift. What matters to them changes. And we have to see kind of who Jalen Brown is on the other side of that kind of life-changing money. You know, it's interesting. And I'm only speaking on this based on the conversation I had with Jalen like in January. So take this with a grain of salt. But I do think that the biggest thing that I've learned about Jalen just watching him and also talking to him is. he needed that as it pertains to the Celtics. I think he, I think that he needed that reassurance from the Celtics that he mattered, especially after the last few off seasons where he has been in trade fodder and all those things. And he's still balling.

Mind you, this is the guy. I don't know if it was, I put this in the story necessarily, but there was a quote that he said was, I've always been this person. I've only just gotten a chance to be this person. but I've always been this great, right? And I think he's always felt that way.

And I feel like his biggest thing is, was he didn't think that other people saw the greatness in him that he saw in himself. And I think now, you know, he made this kerfuffle. And he, by and large, is getting everything that he's ever wanted. Like, you know, when he said this up to be and he said this up to the times, like what happened after that? He got a standing ovation in Boston. everyone has been like, oh shit, we can't lose Jalen Brown.

And now he's kind of getting all the admiration that he wants. So now the biggest question is, what do you do with that when you get everything that you want? And I think that's push, that's, that's, that's right in line with what you have said. So we'll see. Let's go to the next question. This is going to be quick, for me at least. Should the Los Angeles Lakers sign Austin Reeves to a $100 million contract to keep him from leaving? Honestly, they have to.

Yes. It's a yes for me. Yep. That's all we have to do. They don't even have full control of that situation in the $100 million sense. Like they have control over the right to match $100 million offer that comes from someone else.

So some other team is going to have to actually make that offer first, but they absolutely should. Austin Reeves is 25 years old and was pretty clearly the third best player on a team that went to the Western Conference finals. I don't know what more you want than that. How are you going to look the brown and say, sorry, bud, we couldn't do it.

You know? That's the thing. You just don't have time. time to like with where LeBron is in his career, if Austin Reeves walks out the door, a player that good walks out the door, you do not have the time and you do not have the resources to

replace him. So whatever you have to do to keep him, you do, and you pay that Piper later if it turns out to be a little bit of an overpay, which I don't even think it's that dramatic of an overpay to be honest with you. Can the OKC Thunder make the leap from fun young playin team to a serious postseason

competitor next season? So what's a serious postseason competitor. Like what level are we talking about? So this is third Ikeye question. I'm going to, I'm going to just say what I think it is. I'm just going to put my little spin on it. I think that they escape the plan. They get into the six seed.

They don't even have to worry about the plan. They're just like, we're here, six or better. Like they're like Memphis, you know, a couple years ago, or last year, whatever you want to call. I think they have a chance. I'm in love with this team. I love their vibe. I love Shea.

I love their other guys. Every time I watch them, I'm like, oh, this team fucking fights. I love it. And here's another thing. They have a chance to be like box office real Hollywood good, you know? Oh, yeah. They just have that in them.

Like, you know, like the middle America team that just winds up just capturing the imagination. I don't know, like the 2011, 2012, Oklahoma City Thunder. Like, you just have personalities on the team, right? Like, I'm not saying they're going to be as good, but they do get that good. I think they got a lot of personalities on that team. that will just blossom into the zeitgeist if you say. But I do think that they have the guys to do it.

I think that they do. I think they can make that leap. And honestly, they should make that leap because this is how the league works. This is what it is. This is your time to do it. Let's fucking do it. They definitely will make the playoffs.

I would not be surprised if they win a playoff round. I think they're going to be that far along. And the teams at the top of the West are going to be pretty good. But man, the Thunder are going to be that fun. They are going to be that. entertaining as you laid out. But just with what they already have and the capacity where any time that that front

office feels like they are good enough, they can push in for a major trade. That combination makes them really, really dangerous. But even if they don't make that, even if all they do is get Chet Holmgren into the lineup for the first time this season, continue to evolve, continue to grow with all the young pieces that they have, that team is good enough to win the playoffs. That team is good enough to threaten really good teams in the playoffs, if not beat them depending on the matchup.

So I fully expect the Thunder to be a really serious part of the Western Conference landscape this season. And Shea is the head of the snake in that regard. He is option one, bullet point A. But really, it's the supporting cast of young guys as well. It's the Josh Gitties, it's the Jalen Williams is both of them. It's the capacity, it's the Lou Dors.

It's the cohesive picture of what they are building makes sense in a way that I think, is going to make them a very challenging team to beat. It's interesting because the long-term viability of the Oklahoma City Thunder leads to my next question. Will the new CBA be good or bad for the league? I have thoughts, Rob. I'm going to go first.

I'm going to go first. I'm going to go first. I'm going to go first while you think about it. I think it's going to be bad. I don't think it's going to be good for the people that think it's going to be good for them. This happens every few years where small market teams and small market markets say that, hey, man, the salaries are getting out of control.

There's not enough competitive balance. What are we doing? And I don't believe that to be the case. And what they end up doing is they end up shooting themselves in the foot, right? Where Oklahoma City Thunder, who have done a great job of building their team, are going to be fucked when it comes to paying all these guys because they're not able to. Because of the luxury tax. You know who's going to benefit from that?

the big market teams that you have, that you, that you, that you're trying to beat. And I just, I don't, I don't get it. There's this perception versus reality. Like, you have to just, small market teams do make it with great, with great front office savvy, right? I'm thinking about I'm looking at the past champions and also the past teams that have been in the, in the finals, who have made it to the big show.

You know who won this year? Denver Nuggets, a small market team, right? Who is won two years before that? The Milwaukee Bucks. Who else was in that? Who was in that 2021 finals? It was the Phoenix Suns with the Milwaukee Bucks. Then you go down the line.

You have the Miami Heat who was in the 2020 thing. Not a small Miami. It's weird to think that they're a small market, but they are in terms of you look at the TV standings, right? Cleveland Cavaliers won it. You don't need luxury tax and all those things, What you need to do to win is this draft a generational superstar Which every other fucking team is trying to do

All right? Like it's I just don't it's just so annoying when like the league shoots itself With the foot like this all you're going to have is just teams getting fucked and like it's it's just going to be it's gonna be what has always been Teams are people if a player wants to find himself to a big market or find himself to a team He's going to end up doing it if it's if he's that good. It's none of these things are going to To end with the NBA is, and I think that the NBA is just in an effort to

make small market teams or make, honestly, not even small market, make the level playing field leveler, they're just going to just mess up the people that have been complaining about it the most. That was my rant. What do you think? Well, that's the history of

the NBA as far as these negotiations go between the players association in the league is they try to plug their, you know, they plug their finger in one hole in the dam and in doing so, create a much larger hole that creates all these unintended consequences. But just when you take the combination of things and decisions that are being made in total, for example, the league over the course of several CBAs now has made it possible for teams to pay their own players

that they draft that they retain these Supermax contracts, the Bradley B.O. contract, for example, this massive deal we've been talking about and around this whole podcast. But at the same time, they create all these punitive measures where if your total team salary, is too high. Now you can't add talent. Now you have to, you're incredibly restricted in terms of how to keep maneuvering and building to make your team better. So you're allowing teams to pay their guys more to keep them, but then punishing them when they do. And that leads to situations like we're going to see with Beal ultimately where he's at some point going to get traded. And because of the sheer size of the contract that Washington signed him to because it was their only real means of retaining

him, they're going to get less in return for Bradley Beale than they otherwise would have, and they're getting punished again for that prospect. So I'm, it's, look, there's not a lot of, like, perfect solutions to the fact that NBA players would love to play in a certain, a few certain glamour markets, by and large, that small market teams are going to have disadvantages when it comes to free agency, for example. But there's so many other ways to go about this. And frankly, to your larger point about, like, the teams that are drafting quality players getting punished down the line for trying to retain those quality players,

why there is not a luxury tax exception for drafted players, I don't understand. Like, if you draft superstars, you should be able to get some kind of luxury tax savings down the line when those superstars need to get paid. It seems like a very simple avenue towards giving some of these teams the relief that they need to keep competing once they hit those kinds of financial aprons and tiers

that are pretty punitive. And yet, here we are, just doing the same thing. same old shit, throwing things at the wall, hoping it doesn't punish small and mid-market teams when in fact, I suspect it's probably going to end up doing just that. But competitive balance. Somebody had to say it, okay? Jeez.

This league was built on individuals and dynasties, bro. Like, this is what we're at. We love... Oh my goodness, man. This is my biggest, biggest frustration with the league, man. Anti-parody Logan Murdoch. You're out here. give me a couple pillars.

You're not going to be the NFL. Stop trying to be the fucking NFL. Stop. Look at me, NBA. Stop. Because it happens all the time, man. Like, I get fucking, we get, we get fucking the dynasty, the Celtics dynasty, the Lakers dynasty.

Remember when LeBron went to 10 straight NBA finals? Remember the warriors? Bro, dynasties bring ratings, okay? Stop trying to just break up great teams, bro. Like, stop doing it. league was built on that. That's, the league got saved in the 80s.

You want to know why? Because one, the influx of talent. And two, because we had fucking dynasties. We had, in the 80s, we had,

that's what saved the league. Individualism players and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and two fucking dynasties. We got to see the Celtics and the Lakers all the time throughout the 80s. And we sprinkled a little sixes in there.

We sprinkled a little Detroit Pistons. That fucking saved the league. league. All right? So I keep with the same thing applies here. All right. Like Oklahoma City wants to build a dynasty. Sam Presti could do that.

He's really good at his fucking job. How about you help him keep his players that he did a great job of drafting, right? And on the other side of that and you penalize fucking bad general managers at Bradford office if they can't get it right. That's the way the game is. This is competitive basketball. This is what it is. This is the big leagues.

So I'm trying to fucking. So I'm trying to like curtail that. We like dynasties. We love it. All right. We love seeing this. I'm just, I'm just,

uh, that's my rant. That's my TED talk. I'm just sick of this, man. Like we always do this every few years. We shoot ourselves with a foot. Jeez.

Fuck. All right. I really enjoy it clear now for that. I like, anytime you want Logan, I'm going to stand in the corner. I'm going to let you cook. That's the way this needs to work.

All right. We got a few more in here. A little tired. I'm a little tired. I'm sweating. Will Kyrie Irving resign with the Dallas Mavericks? If so, can he and Luca

be the best duo in the NBA? Yes, for me, for the first question. And no with the second question. Yeah, that feels... Look, I think it's yes, he will resign with the Mavericks, but no one involved will feel great about it. And how could they, frankly? Like, Kyrie is the least safe bet

in the entire league at this point. Honestly, if you're Kyrie, I could understand if you were to look around the Mavs roster beyond, Luca and say, I'm signing here because I want to play with Luca. I'm signing here for the money for whatever other reason, but a roster leaves you pretty wanting in terms of actual support,

even for like a superstar heavy core. So I don't think anyone's going to be thrilled about it. I'm sure we're going to hear constant burbling and chatter about his future as soon as he is trade eligible again, but I do kind of think he's going to end up resigning there. It's interesting. You said like he looks up and down the roster and says, I don't know aside from Luca like he had Kevin Durant and it was the same

thing like at a certain point it has to be you Kyrie there's no question it's him there's no question about that but you know it would also help if they had a guy who could like dribble beyond Luca and Kyrie you know who could attack a close out who could drive who could

honestly play both ways like they're it's a pretty limited bunch of team to watch basketball they're just a depressing team you know it's tough it's just it's really tough you're going to see a lot a great scoring. You're going to see a lot of that. Like, I'm looking forward to going to the Dallas games when they come out our way, Rob.

I'm looking forward to seeing these two guys. But like, for what? They had this nucleus. What is it going to be another? They do have the benefit of trading camp, right? They do have that. But I just think they're going to be a playing team, again, at best. They barely

made the play in this time. I don't think that I don't see them more than that. They didn't make it this time. They punted on that shit. And which was interesting because it just seemed like just seeds of dysfunction already to start. Like it was it was bubbling a little bit because the season ended, we kind of just like forgot about the the Mavericks. But listen, man, there's going to be there.

You want to talk about my bet for the most dysfunctional team. I'm going to put, I'm going to put some chips on the on the Dallas Maverick. Sorry, but I know, you know, Dallas is your home. I apologize. But, you know,

it is what it is. It is what it is. This is a two-parter. Another two-parter. Okay. Which team do you think will be the most improved, most surprising this season, i.e. the Sacramento Kings last year. And which team will be the biggest disappointment next year, i.e. the Dallas Mavericks of this

year. I'm going to take the second part first because it feels mean and I just want to get it out of the way. I think the most disappointing team is going to be the example for the first question, which is the Sacramento Kings. And it's tough. But look, the history, the recent history of the NBA is this. You have your massive breakout season. a young team, you overachieve, you prove everybody wrong, everybody is playing together and in a way that I think catches a lot of teams by surprise. And Sacramento won't be catching anybody by surprise next season. They're still talented, they're still really good.

They will not be the third best team in the Western Conference by record. They will not be the kind of team by point differential that's leaping off the page and really shocking you. I think the Kings are probably due for a little bit of a regression. And that sucks because they're a really fun team and they, were really great to cover this season. A lot of just like players you enjoy watching and a style of play that was really

appealing, but. We had a lot of fun in Sacramento, Rob. We had a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun out there. Like, I'm all about King's Fever. I'm sorry to pour some cold water on this, but I just, I don't think it's happening again. Like the motherfucking beam, Rob. You know they, I don't know if you've been looking, but they actually lit the beam

in Sacramento like a couple days ago as a test. Just doing some laser tests out there. Just doing a test beam. And it was like more purpler and brighter. They're ready for next season. Think about the Kings. And I'll get to your, the most, the most improve.

We'll circle back. Think about the Kings is, Bill, and I talk to the, about their coaching staff a lot. Think about what them is, all they got to do is just play on the adrenaline. And that'll get them 43 wins. They play off the crowd in adrenaline

and just play harder than most teams. They'll get to 43 wins. And I don't think they're going to be necessarily third in this big story. But I think they'll be in the thick of the postseason. So I just wanted to make that. I don't know. I kind of like lightweight.

Disagree with the most disappointing team. I think they're going to be a lot more disappointing teams. Think about it this way. We were talking about the Thunder maybe being one of those top six teams in the West. You have Denver in there. That's two. Phoenix, I'm going to assume that's three. Memphis, there's some questions, but I think they will be in the top six.

That would be four. The Warriors probably. The Clippers maybe. And so that's six teams right there that are not the Sacramento Kings. that could be the top six. And that's not including, you know, if the Mavericks barnstorm into that group and are better than we expect,

if the Lakers, again, just went to the Western Conference finals and post-trade were legitimately better. Lakers might be a top three team next year, man. I'm just putting that out there. They could have a really good regular season if, especially if LeBron and AD play pretty consistent minutes and pretty consistent games.

And so I'm just saying I can see them getting boxed out in the standings. The Kings won 48 games this season. I'm going to take the under pretty hard on that. It was also like the worst Western Conference regular season ever. You can make the case. It was probably the worst regular season field that we've ever seen, which is why I didn't really give the Nuggets the benefit of the doubt. It was like, okay, of course, you won the most games in the worst field we've seen in decades.

That might seem like hyperbole, but the West has been so freaking good for so long. It's honestly not, you know, this was not a great Western conference. field except for the Nuggets. And so by record, I think it will be a little, I think in terms of East-West balance, it will go a little bit more West heavy next season as some of these teams get better. And I think the Kings could be a team that suffers for that. And who is your most, who will be the team that is the most improved, most surprising? I think it's on the other side of this, where it's a team in the West that could challenge more

seriously to make some noise in the playoffs. I'm going to take the Timberwolves as a team that with more time, to both improve the roster with having your full season of let's say not DeAngelo Russell at point guard with having a training camp with having Kat in the lineup from the start

I think the wolves are going to be better and a coach who's I think is sharp enough to help figure some of that stuff out I would expect the wolves to be a more meaningful part of next season versus just like the team that made the playoff appearance and kind of push the nuggets for a game and a half before things got completely away from them.

I can't believe you think in this room. I can't believe you put it. I can't even catch you. You're out. You're just punching the wolves into the sun? I have walked out on the wolves. Oh, wow.

Part of the wolves, except for Anthony Edwards, because I love Anthony Edwards. This is why they're going to be surprising, Logan. They're going to catch you by surprise. I don't believe that. I think the most,

biggest disappointment next season. Yeah. This is tough. This is tough. And hear me when I say this. I'm going to go with the LA Clippers. I'm going to go with the LA Clippers. What's going to happen there?

Injuries. It always happens. It's going to be out. I'm just going to get ahead of it. Every time we always put the clippers before every season on a pedestal that they're going to be contending. You never seen Kauai. You guys don't know about this. Kauai and PG are healthy and all these things.

No. I was in Phoenix in April. And I even sip the Kool-Aid a little bit because I was at that game, game one against the suns, where Kauai just looked like the best player on the planet, like how he tends to do. But I think I'm just using this as an eye. opportunity to say, let's stop lying to ourselves, man. The Clippers are who they are consistently, right? Like, they have a great front office. They're very smart front office. The fact that they've gotten guys that are ancillary pieces around PG and Kauai. It's been great. It's been good.

Shout out to them. Comma, however, but it's going to be the same, same, same story. Injuries, hopefully a playing, and then a first or second round knockout. And that's pretty disappointing, man. When you consider the level of talent that is on that team, the level coaching talent that is on that team, but year in and year out, this shit happens. So I'm going to say the most

biggest disappointment will be the LA Clippers. I'm getting ahead of it, Rob. I'm just getting ahead of it. Because we're going to do this. I can't wait to see. There's going to be someone that picks the Clippers that come out of the Western Conference. There's going to be a lot of people that pick them because this is what we do every single season. And

I'm just going to lay it out here. It's not happening. I'm going to say that shit gets nipped in the bud, though. I think I don't expect a lot of preseason clippers picks anymore. I think a lot of that was like the void of not quite knowing who to pick. But if you watch those playoffs and pick the clippers over the nuggets, man, I don't know what to tell you. I'm all for, you know, this is the summer where we stop lying to ourselves about the clippers. This is the summer where we stop, you know, stop lying to yourself summer in general.

Just like a great means to self-improvement. That's what this is all about. Let's do it. Let's do it. I think that is my biggest disappointment. My biggest, my surprise team. I'm going to go with the Utah Jazz, who I don't know how good they're going to be necessarily in the Western Congress. But I just, I like the juju I see out of the Utah Jazz.

Now, Kerm is probably going to put this in like a real bad takes. But I really like a Will Hardy is building. I really like where they're at. Every time you talk to somebody on the Utah Jazz, they seem to have bought into the culture. I like what they're doing. and they overachieve right now and they want to win. There's a difference between like having the players to win

and wanting to win. They want to win and I think they're building something and I think they're going to surprise a lot of people next year because here's another thing, man. You win a lot of regular season games by just playing hard. Utah Jazz play hard. I'm going to go with the most improved team as my, as Utah Jazz.

Another team that could be disappointing and I've kind of teetered, the Memphis Grizzlies, we don't talk about, we're not, we're only talk about John. that way. I'm teetering. They, they have the potential to be the most disappointing team, but I still holding out hope that they're so good without job in the lineup that they can sustain the extended period, however long that is. I'm sure we're going to get that in the next couple of weeks that it's going to be interesting because this is funny. There is a world where the NBA just keeps kicking the can down the road and we don't get the suspension just like August

because they're like, oh, we don't want to, we don't want to take, we don't want this suspension to take away from the ratings of our draft, right? The best draft. That's unfair to the kids. We don't want to eat into free agency. You know, we don't want to eat into summer league. Right. I just see them kicking it can continue to kick the can down the road.

Honestly. And it's just going to be interesting because like the realm, it's going to be just, whenever this, whenever this job news comes out, it's kind of just so tiring that we're just going to be a one day like news cycle. Like, oh, shit. Like, now the front offices are going to feel the brunt and the ramifications of it. and it's going to be that. But I feel like it's just going to be like one of those days.

Like, oh, shit, finally we get the suspension. Thank you. But that being said, I'm just teeter. And I think the Grizzlies can, they're a team that are, that is really resilient without John, but I just like, just the bad juju there.

I just, I don't know. I'm just in a, I'm in a weird space. I want to pick them as most disappointment, but I'm just not fully there to say it. I think they're probably going to be good enough by record to still be in the mix. And, you know, we'll see what they can figure out in terms of like being effective in the playoffs.

but I worry about them too, especially as that is a team that was powered by vibes. They were powered by the energy that they had, the confidence that they had. A lot of that came from Jha and just his personality. And so the idea that he is a question mark, both in terms of just like his, whether he will be available for how many games this season we will see. But also just like the future of that team and like not to be discounted coming off of the playoff appearance where they just got embarrassed by the Lakers. They just got played off the court

and I really want to see how they respond to that. The Lakers won and the basketball gods won that year this year for that, right? Like there was so many times you can just play with fire and just stick your chest out. They got a little ahead of themselves. I think the Memphis Grizzlies did and we'll see if that finally catches up to them

in a significant way this regular season. Last two. I'm going to predict Victor Wimbignana's rookie averages. I'm going to say, I'm going to say like 18 and six. 18.6 rebounds,

maybe like three assists. It was pretty good for a rookie. I have almost exactly the same thing written down. I think under 20 points is right. Like 18, 19 is right. He's not going to rebound a ton. He's way too slight. I think like, you know, six, seven rebounds.

I think he will get, you know, two, two and a half blocks a game. I think he's going to get in people's way in that regard, both on the perimeter and inside. But look, he's got a, he's got a very promising career ahead of him. news flash, Victor of Webbenyama is a great prospect,

but he's got a lot of bodywork to do just to compete with pros on like a possession to possession rebounding kind of capacity. The line is going to be really good, but it's going to be like Palo Bancaro Bancaro good and not generational, you know, jump out of the history books,

good. We're on the same page here. Now, rapid fire, MVP. Yokic, we're back. We're back up. The people know now what's going on. I think they're back on the train. I think Yokic is going to be the ringers pick for MVP.

I just, I think our whole staff is just going to give it to Yolkis, bro. We're just, we've been waiting for it, right? Because honestly, the ringer has been down with Yokic since the start. All right? Go back to the archives.

Been locked in. All right. So, you know, I'm just going to, you know what? I'm going to give it to, you know what?

I'm going to give it to MBE. Again, back to back. I'm not going to give it to Mbid. I'm going to go to Janus. I'm going to give it to Janus. This is easy. I'm going to give it to Yonis.

was so easy. This is the easiest way of going about things. Defensive player of the year. Give me BAM for a defensive player of the year. Yep. We're on the same page here. I'm going with BAMP. Coach of the year. Per our thunder love, Mark Dagnall, coach of the year.

Breakthrough season, on top of another breakthrough season where he was already getting some love this year, I think Mark Dagnall gets it. Ditto. Rookie of the year, it's pretty easy, man. Like if Victor just wins, Victor's going to win it just off of the fact that he's Victor Winbignon and he's averaging 18 and 6.

100% and Logan. The most improved player. I'm going to take Tyrese Maxie, actually. I think the question mark for the Philly point guard situation, whether they end up getting like a real hard in replacement or not, I think Maxie's going to have to do a lot more. And he's going to pop in a way where he was going to get like some fringe all-star level consideration.

I could see that kind of season for him. So I'm going to take Maxie. Maxie's a big one. I just don't. I hate agreeing with you, but I just don't see. I don't really see anyone because most improved is so hard to pick, right? Like,

it's a really hard thing to pick because it probably, it has, most improved has the biggest field that you can even imagine because it's the entire league other than 10 guys. Oh, yeah. Because you never know who's going to be better than they were. Tyrese max is a good pick. It's just hard to with the field.

So I'm going to pick Tyrese maxi. Especially when we don't know, the rosters yet, right? Like, we don't even know how free agency is going to go. No, roles or anything. Who's going to have like 10 more minutes a game than they used to have, you know, we'll have to see how that stuff shakes out. But way too early purposes, I feel okay about Maxie.

Best record in the West Nuggets. Best record in the east for me is the, let's go with the Celtics, because we already said that we kind of answer that question. Is that cool? Is that, are we on that same page? I'm in the same boat, although I think Denver will probably have to try a little harder this time because they got the best record in the league this season and kind of we're just able to coast for a few months.

I think it's going to be a little tougher, but I think they're still going to have it. Who wins the championship? Well, let's just run it back. Let's go back to the Nuggets, I think. I'll be all right with that. Let's go with the Nuggets. Let's do it.

Let's fucking do it. God, I already feel bad about almost all these picks. I already feel incredibly wrong, especially picking the champion for next season. But I guess that's the exercise. I guess that's what we're trying to do here is be wrong. Let's do it, man. Well, it was a blast to have you on, man.

Rob Mahoney, ladies and gentlemen, you can catch his work on the ringer, and you can also catch his voice on group chat. I'm seeing you're like press steves, the watch, all that shit, right? Like, you're around. You're locked in. I'm trying. You can catch him everywhere on the ringer, but specifically on group chat on Wednesdays. And I think you guys go twice a week, right?

Twice a week now, Sundays and Wednesday. Again, we're shifting into off season mode. We'll have to see, but guaranteed on Wednesdays for the time being. For shis. See you around, man. I'll see you sometime in the summer. man good to see you thanks logan always