The Ringer NBA Show - West All-Star Picks: Starters and Reserves | Group Chat

Episode Date: January 16, 2025

Justin, Rob, and Wos are in the All-Star spirit, so it is time for them to make their picks. They start out in the loaded Western Conference to break down (and, of course, debate) which players they would each pick as their starters (10:30), reserves (35:23), and wild cards. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney and Wosny Lambre Producer: Ben Cruz Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping, everybody? Logan Murdoch here from Real On the Ringer NBA show, and I want to invite you to pull up and kick it with Roger Bell, Howard Beck, and myself during All-Star weekend for our live podcast. We're going to be at the Stork Punchline Comedy Club in San Francisco on Saturday, February 15th at 2 p.m. pre-gaming all the all-star festivities, and you never know who might stop by. Get your tickets now by heading over to ringer.com backslash events. That's ringer.com backslash events. to see you there. Hello and welcome to group chat.

I am Justin Barrier. And joining me, Rob Mahoney, Big Waz. Some of us have come to this podcast bringing takes, offering them up to the gods, the gods being, I guess, me in this instance. Some of us have not. And so this podcast is going to take on a different shape than we thought going into it, but we'll still have the Western Conference All-Star Pick, so yay for that. You're dramatically overstating.

What it is to happen here. Me? Dramatic? No. Do you want to tell the listeners? I do. Justin wanted to introduce a new competitive format that we, you know, a segment that we could add to this podcast. I'm all for it. There was some miscommunication yesterday as Waz and I kind of lobbied to delay it by one week.

I thought that's what we were doing. Because that's what we agreed upon. We wanted to do a takeoff in no small part in order. to get you guys a little bit out of perhaps your comfort zone, I would say, with some of the conventional wisdom that could be offered on the pod from time to time. And so the one rule, just bring a take, no conventional wisdom, think outside the box, like join me on this psychedelic journey that I'm on. And Woz came prepared. Rob did not. Again, we literally said we weren't doing it today. I don't know what to tell you. We did not say that. We never really

said that. Me and Rob I'm checking the transcript. I'm checking the transcript. That we should keep it going the other way. And then Justin voice siferously disagreed

that we should delay it. But, you know, in defense of Rob, to be honest, I've been like this my entire life. And people who know me know this about me. Like, if you ask me to do something, I will always say yes. You might want it done in one day.

I might have it in my head that it should be done three days. If you start bitching, I'll get it done in a day and a half, okay? That's just generally who I've been my entire life. And this takes thing was kind of the same thing. It's like, hey, could we

do it next week? And Justin's like, no, we need it tomorrow. And I was like, all right, I'll have it ready about tomorrow. You rest to the occasion. I'm going to release the chat log to the public. I'm going to ask our listeners to vote on what they think happened here.

we were supposed to do this or not because as I'm reading it, Waz is asking, as you said, to kick the can a little bit, delay this until next week. Justin says, quote, sure, comma, whatever. I mean, you can read between the line there. I can't. But you said, sure.

I read it in Justin's voice and I was like, Justin's annoyed. Oh, I knew he was annoyed. I just thought he was saying, sure, whatever. Although, in Rob's defense, when Waz replied back, forgive us a dad. He left me crying emoji. And so perhaps you thought that was like the end of it, that I waved my hands at it. I did.

And I was very thankful for Waz in that moment because Justin, I would say you're the king of the like, is this guy pissed at me in response to every message I sent to him? It's just really your lane. It's where you excel. And I have no choice but to doff the cap. That's his entire vibe, bro. Is this guy really just pissed right now? That's his entire thing. I have many years as an editor.

I know how to wage the psychological warfare. I love that. Slack message. You really do. I'm reminded of Justin's legendary core week presentation up there. He gave a great presentation, but acted like he was too good for it the entire time. Well, I actually don't know this. When I was giving it, I think I was more just nervous because I don't like talking in front of people.

Yeah, I don't think that's what the audience is like, this is good information, but this guy is above this stupid exercise. That's just my general vibe. That's my whole, my whole Uber, I guess, unfortunately. But I can't do anything about my face, you know? It's like the male equivalent of resting bitch face. It's just, I guess, being a bitch at a certain point. But you could do something about your whole personality. You know, that's really something that's more malleable.

I am what I am. And that's why we have such a brilliant, well-outlined podcast on a day-to-day basis. It's true. I think it's working out for us. I think so, too. I don't know why you tried to mess with the formula by getting Waz and I to create content when clearly this is your calling. He said to do work, yeah.

Do work for you guys. There you go. Well, we'll all participate in today's segment, just the one segment, unfortunately, but it is a pretty robust segment because we're going to get into the Western Conference All-Star picks. We'll do West this week. We're off on Monday from Martin Luther King Day. We'll be back next Thursday with the Eastern Conference picks. And I think a take off.

Yeah. Rob? Absolutely. That's what we agreed upon. What's going to happen now is there's going to be like a trade and we won't be able to do either of the segments that we've been a little bit. takeoff in no matter what. Because my takeoff is evergreen and everlasting. So I'm ready.

I like that. Tees more duels, you know? Me and Waz's pistols at dawn. Let's go. Let's do it. Yeah, so West picks. We're going to go through starters, reserves. Just to remind everyone, because I have to be reminded regularly, we're back to

east-west as the format in terms of picking the All-Stars, which was always the case. Yeah, yeah. In terms of the selections, that was the case. That was always the case. And then they drafted them. And now this year, we're going into a new format where four teams are dueling. One of those teams, I believe, gets catapulted in from the Rising Stars game or the G-League team. I think it's a composite of the two.

Great, great. We're just doing a lot of stuff yet again. I can't imagine people will be interested, but I guess we'll find out. I find this exercise, though, to be important. I think all NBA Super important This is just like I don't know It just like really gives you a snapshot of the league

In a way that I think is important and easy to overlook But like this is the stuff Like this is what we are all doing all the time In order to just like say these are the guys that are deciding the fate of the league And this is and this is you know an official stamp And most importantly This is something that the players absolutely give a damn about If they don't give a damn about the game itself, the validation of being selected that shows that you were one of the top people in the league that your whole life you've been dreaming about this, you remember watching Kobe, you remember watching LeBron, you remember watching, you know, all of our great stars from yesteryear playing in the All-Star game.

It's a right of passage. And so, yeah, it's still really, really important, even if the past few years the actual game itself hasn't felt. that way. Being selected, you know, being part of the crew that, you know, goes about selling the league to the sponsors, basically, all damn weekend. And being chosen is like, you guys are the ambassadors, you guys are the, you know, the torchbearers of this league that's been around for 75 plus years now and all the legacy and the history that comes with that. So, yeah, I agree with Justin. This is major, major stuff. I think a huge part of it, too, is the selection for the team is just more competitive than the actual game.

And so the inner competitor in these guys, if they do get left off the team, we're like, what the fuck? You picked that guy instead of me. You valued his accomplishments over mine. Like, that's where you get some of the actual juice. And you're right. Like, we've seen guys be really, really miffed

when they've been left off a team for any number of reasons. When they actually show up, it's kind of who cares at this point. And we're all waiting for the All-Star game to be saved. But the process of distinguishing the class of the league. Totally agree. Is an important one and is important to these guys too. I'm curious how you guys approach this, though, in contrast to all NBA, because I found myself as I was going through the exercise caring more about team representation than I typically would with all NBA, which I feel like is top 15 players in the league doesn't matter who has like one player versus two, like the calves deserve to because it's all about who is the best player. This time I'm a little bit more squishy when it comes to like, Rockets are the second best team in the West.

like we're not going to put somebody in there and so do you guys don't think about that at all well don't get to get to it i i do think that's a worthy debate and and for me one of the other distinguishing factors in addition to like does a team deserve a representative which is always a conversation we ever had all-star time as we've gotten sort of a codified rule about games played for all the major awards and all-n-b-a i find myself caring a little less about that for all-star you need to meet a certain threshold. And obviously if you have a great body of work and have been largely healthy this season,

maybe you get a tiebreaker, maybe you get a sort of an edge. But I'm going to be honest, it's not the most important thing to me so long as you've been really, really good. And I think that'll reflect in my ballot, certainly in one spot. Okay, so obviously five starters,

two back court, three front court, and then in the bench, two more back court, three more front court spots, and then two wild cards. at the end. Let's start with the back court starters. I have Shea Gilders-Alexander, and I have Anthony Edwards. Who do you guys have? I got Shea and Steph.

I got Shea and Steph. Yeah. What's the Ant case? He plays every single game, practically. I have Ding Steph this year, both in our top 100 and now in this All-Star exercise, because he isn't really playing back-to-back. at this point. And it's a small thing, but it's a noticeable thing when you're trying to, like, dictate who are, like, the absolute best players. It's a small margin of, of, of, of, of error, pretty

much in order to decide these sorts of things. And I also feel like Ant gets saddled with the fact that he isn't the number one MVP best player in the league. But in terms of, like, an Ant season, I think he's been pretty rock solid. He's been pretty great. He's definitely a top 10 player in the league. Also, his three-point shooting development this year has been miraculous. He's literally the best three-point pull-up shooter in the league. That's even better than Steph Curry at this point. He had a hundred and ninety three-point makes all of last year. In 79 games, he already has 167 in basically half amount of time. So it's like he's progressing even from the model he was last year. And so if anything, I actually think he just gets dinged from the fact that, like,

the expectations are so high. I think he's been great. I agree. It's definitely my, he was the sixth man, if you will, of my starters. However, you guys know my policy by now. We've been doing this for years. If you're pretty close to a guy who's a legend, I'm picking the legend every time. Sorry, get to the back of the bus. Steph Curry is, these are the NBA NBA All-Star game personified as far as I'm concerned. And it just hasn't been that much better than him in order to take his spot. And, you know, I will note, like, there's a couple of people in my life, you know, daily fantasy players that do a lot of complaining about Steph.

It's like, man, Steph has a couple of stinkers every now and again. Nobody talks about this. It's like, well, because Steph Curry's Teflon. Sorry. And when it comes to his All-Star case, he's Teflon for me, too. He's still having a whale of a year, man, to be 35, 36 years old and carrying Golden State's offense with absolutely zero help the way that he is right now. It's got to be Steph Curry for me.

I would say two things about that. One, as far as two players, two stars of teams with pretty comparable records, it's not even close, which one has the superior supporting cast and more help and more structure around them. And Ant is the driver of Minnesota's offense. Like, I don't want to take anything away from him. But there's a reason was why Steph can have a game that for a daily fantasy sports player might ring is bad, like 13 points in a game, and the Warriors win because of all of the action he generates. Like, Ant very much is a guy where the box score will more or less tell you what he's contributing on offense.

The defense can be a different story. Steph is just a dramatically different kind of player, and he has dragged a team to 500 that has no business being 500. Like, there's probably a larger conversation to be had about what Steph is now. saying about that and kind of puffing his chest out and telling people to stop making fake trades about the warriors, which I respect the competitive spirit. I respect the leverage, you know, sort of talking in the press, like, negotiating in the press that him and Draymond did the other day. They're doing their part.

But like he said that after a game where Guy Santos started. So my guy, you need more help. So, Waz, you thought that was an attempt to. manipulate the situation a little bit publicly? 100%. Like, if you know anything about Draymond and stuff, these guys are insanely competitive people. The idea that they don't want better teammates

in order to win bigger is insane. Like, we know these guys are maniacs when it comes to how competitive they are and how badly they want to put a competitive product on the floor. So for both of them to be singing the same tune, which, you know, convenient. helps the Warriors in terms of their negotiation position with the teams that they're trying to, you know, get better players from. Like, I'm not stupid.

Yeah, they made a big show earlier in the season about putting Kaminga in the starting lineup and then Dremont was going to bow out. That lasted like a couple days. Yeah. Maybe even a couple hours. I feel like they've done more or less that exact thing, like three times. Yeah. And the fact that they all had the same story, like the same verbiage that they were all using. was quite curious here.

I just assumed, like, maybe there was, like, some sort of backdoor deal where it's like, you're going to get the Dirk treatment, like, down the road. Like, obviously, Steph was always probably going to get that. Kerr seems like he's practically year to year at this point or when he's going to ride off into the sunset. But I was like, oh, Dremont is more than anyone else probably is the most susceptible because you look at what just happened to Clay.

Like, there's a possibility. If he just doesn't show up next year, like they get his ass out of there and he's the contract balance in order to make something work. I just thought that maybe they just satisfied them in the back rooms, where it was like, you know, we got a cushy little job for you as a scout after this is all done. You just make this a nice little transition here. I don't think any of it's quite that explicit when you're talking about

some of the best players in the history of the franchise. Steph was, I would think, probably always going to be taken care of, although with the way Joe Lakov conceptualizes the organization and envisions himself as the visionary of it, maybe not. You know, crazier things have happened than someone like Steph getting kind of pushed out the door, thrown to the wind at some point late in their career. Dremont's case is different. And maybe this is a touch of self-awareness from a guy who has not exhibited a lot of it

throughout his career to say, yeah, if there is a trade, he could very well be a part of it. If there is a change in the tide or the wind of this team, he could be out the door in just the way you're describing, Justin. But also, yeah, it's good negotiation tactic. it also suits the kind of blustered that Draymond likes to participate in. And that Steph from time to time likes to participate in. It is like, we can beat anybody, let us figure it out. Like it fits into their usual talking points in such a convenient way.

Why not try it? Also, with Draymond especially, he likes when people knows how smart he is about everything basketball-related. So- Well, don't we all was, says three guys talking on a podcast? For sure. For sure. I'm as guilty as anybody else, but like, Traymond wants you to know, like, I'm aware of what the second apron is

and, you know, Kaplan implications and why you shouldn't leverage your future and blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, I was reading Zach Cram's Memphis Grizzlies piece where Traymond's like, look, I know every single offense in and out, like the back of my hand,

what the Grizzlies are doing is different. I've never seen that before. He wants y'all to know, like, I'm a sense. scout, I'm a coach, I'm a GM, I'm all of it. And that's part of it too. The crazy thing is I agree with their assessment. Yes.

Like all the nerds on podcasts are like, actually that makes sense. Like, why would you just like throw away all the draft picks and whatever for Zach Levine for Jimmy Butler? I am for them needing an upgrade. That's apparent to everyone. But I think one of these mid-level moves isn't going to change a ton. Maybe Zach Levine gets them into the playoffs. but long-term what they need is another superstar next to the staff. And so if that's not on the table, then don't go make that move.

The clock's ticking. The clock is ticking. I think they do need to make a move. I think what they would want to do in an ideal world, if you guys remember LeBron's first year returning to the Cavs where it was just misery, and then they did the Timo Mosgov, and they brought in Iman Shumpert, and they brought in J.R. Smith,

and then, like, changed the team completely. I don't think those kinds of deals do that anymore. You know, like, I don't think, like, getting a bunch of ancillary guys, even if they're plugging holes, are going to make... Like Buddy Heald and Kyle Anderson and Anthony Melton. I don't think they're going to make some crazy difference for this team. So maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see it. I think the counterpoint to that would be the Mavericks last season.

Like, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford. That transformed that team. Hell, yeah. And... I'm with you that it's a hard process to sort out because you're right that what they ultimately need is something that they don't have the resources to get right now. And so do you wait long enough to you get another draft pick year over year? You get a little bit more on the door to trade out and to work with.

But every year that you try to do that is a year that you're taking off of Steph's now post-prime, right? He's not getting any better. As you said, he's not playing back-to-back. You're having to ration what Steph Curry is today. And so if you're not going to be able to make the kind of big swing you want to make within the next calendar year, you got to do something. And that's where I think I disagree a little bit. I do see a sense of urgency for the Lakers and the Warriors both.

Just as far as like you need, you deserve to give Steph Curry a chance to compete with more than this. Like LeBron deserves to have a chance to compete with more than this. And I think on an organizational level, at some point, it's just a responsibility that you have to accept, that you're going to have to trade some future picks. They have to swallow something that you don't want to trade for the sake of something that may not even solve all your problems now, but makes things at least slightly better. I think they'll end up doing both. They'll probably trade for like a vuch at the deadline just to give them a better shot this season and then they'll save their big power for the off season. Like I'm not expecting them to wait like two to three years. If anything, I think they're just going to kick it to the off season because it's just easier to make deals in the off season than in season because everybody's over at the second apron at this point.

Yeah. So I had Steph clearly on my bench. Do you want to just go through the guards at this point? Let's do it. Because we're in that range. I have Steph on the bench. And then I also have Luca, who brings up the question of how many games is too few.

Because Luca has played 22. There's talk of him maybe coming back before the All-Star break, but probably we're getting around low 20s for him. What if he doesn't come back before the All-Star break? Do games played matter to you guys? And how many games is too few, I think is the question. that's really cut Nick close you dude

I think if he wasn't Luca I would say it's just not enough and this is the case for someone like spoiler alert like I don't have John Morant on my list who I think

in addition to missing a lot of games just hasn't quite been at the level of some of these other stars so I don't have John on my list but I do have Luca later down as a wild card I'm Steph and SGA at top I have Ant and Kyrie as my next two guards

so I think we have a consensus like top three between Aunt Steph and Shea, it sounds like. Yeah. Yeah, that was my consensus top three. My fourth guard, non-Wild card edition, was DeAnrin Fox. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had De Aaron Fox as my fourth guard.

And, again, like, I think he's having probably his best season again. And I think he's deserving. I really do. Obviously, they've had, like, a mini turnaround since the coach got killed. We won't say, you know, who put the... The shiven is back, but... I think you might need to if this is your pick. Deerrin Fox might have fingerprints,

but there might be other fingerprints on the freaking knife. Who knows? Also, was he wrong? Turns out like he might have been right. Yeah, I mean, maybe... No judgment. If the message was just not resonating with the guys anymore and people felt like there were better ways to do things,

then, you know, he might have had the right idea. And yet, DeAnon Fox was my fourth guard. But Kyrie, again, I don't know, are we getting into our wildcar picks? But, like, Kyrie was right in the mix, too, just because of the burden he's shouldered. And, like, with some of these other guys, man, like, nobody really has the usage and efficiency combo that he's bringing to the table. As well as, like, if you look at some of Kyrie's impact metrics, it's, like, it's kind of shocking how good as, like, impact metrics are.

And Kyrie, I feel like throughout his career, those numbers never really liked Kyrie that much. But this year, it's like, no, like, he's having a major impact on the floor. And, you know, Kyrie was right there, but I did pick DeAnra Fox. But Kyrie's on my team, too. I think there's a reason the numbers didn't always, like in terms of some of the on-off splits and some of the more advanced measures, didn't always favor Kyrie in that way. And it's frankly because he was a different kind of player. He was so much more a little bit come and go, a little bit more curial,

not just in terms of what he's doing off the court, but his style on the court, I think he's become just absolutely rock steady for the maps in a way that makes his like bulging diss situation right now that much more of a bummer because we'll have to see kind of what he's capable of and how he manages that over the course of the year. But the all around scoring, the kind of like functional calm that he brings to that group,

the sense of the moment, the defensive effort, which is not something he's always brought to the table in his career, I think it's been really, really sensational to the point that he needs to be an all-star to me. He has to be included in here in some form or fashion. The Mavs have won 61%

of their games with him in the lineup. And that's including some of this skid without Luca too. I just think he has brought so much to that team specifically in the way that they've needed. And the Luca conversation gets a little more complicated because of the games played, and that's where your mileage may vary.

But I think Kyrie has a really strong case. I didn't have them on my team. I hear all those points. I also love how he's been able to vacillate between being the guy when Luca is out versus just like playing a complimentary role. He's just gotten even better at that and the efficiency has risen as a result of that the past two seasons. Just like games played and ultimately this comes down to a representation thing for me again. You're such an electoral college guy. I guess so.

So I don't have Luca on my team because I don't think he's going to play more than 22 games about a break. Yeah. That's fair. like 22 is like damn this has been a poor Luca season I mean he's well yeah even by his by his standards not his own insane standards

but guess what he's still Luca Donchich exactly this is where like whether you want to put him as a guard or a wild card potentially for me I had him as more of a wild card because of the games played but then I ran into I'm comparing Luca against guys who are second and third options on their teams and he's just the

The gap is so wide at that point when you get to that level of the All-Star team that it felt silly to me to leave him off. But everyone has their different thresholds for the games played stuff. And as I was saying, for me, because All-NBA is baked in now, I kind of want to give a little more leeway to All-Star. Am I reading this right that you guys both have guards as your wild card spots? Yes. I have a big as well. Oh, interesting. Okay.

I didn't even consider a big for my wild card spots. Back court bias is off the charts. Unacceptable. If anything, my first two out are guards, but maybe we could circle back to it. Okay. Sometimes in basketball, 30 points could be worth more than 30 points. And now you can get a 30% profit boost from the ringer with Fandals 30 on 30 during Friday's NBA action. That's right.

The ringer is teaming up with America's number one sports book to give you a 30% profit boost when you either pick a player to score more than 30 points or bet on our new exclusive 30 on 30 special markets like any game to have both teams to score 30 plus points in the first quarter. Just looking at the Friday slate, there's a lot to like, including how about Anthony Edwards? Kind of on a mission, this weird Minnesota Timberwolf starting lineup hasn't been doing too well, but Ant tends to put up points regardless playing the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Not the best place, but superstars tend to rise to the occasion on that. and also the next defense is awful.

So let's go with Ant 30 plus in MSG on Friday. Lock it in. And whether you want to ride with my picks or make your own, just look for 30 on 30 in the Fandual Sportsbook app. Or head to fendule.com slash ringer MBA for your chance to score a bigger payout this Friday. Don't miss your chance to find out how much 30 can be worth with Fanduals 30 on 30. Must be 21 plus in present in select states or 18 plus in present in D.C. Opt-in required.

bonus issued as non-witrable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max-wager amount. See terms at sportsbook.fandle.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-dash-help.com. All right, starting front court. Nicola Yokic. Playing pretty well these days. Yeah.

Victor Webbenyama. Kevin Durant. Yep. Same. Chalk. So this was the first, I would say, like big decision point for me. the front court was AD or KD for the last front court spot. I went AD leaning a little bit towards the defense obviously, but also just the stability that he's been able to give the Lakers

this season has been really important. So again, it's another case where whether you want to go enter Steph in the back court or AD or KD in the front court, all perfectly worthy choices. I lean AD a little bit here. Yeah, I leaned KD just because the utter lack of, you know, umph that's been provided. from his co-stars. Devin Booker, one of my favorite players in the league. He's just had a bad year by Devin Booker standards specifically. And so to me, KD has just been so, like, number one with the bullet on that team.

And so, yeah, I put him over AD in this, like, you know, the rest of my front court guys, it just seemed pretty obvious. And I didn't have too much trepidation between the starter and bench guys. So, yeah, I went KD. Yeah, I talk about essential personnel, like with, Steph and some of these other guys. The sons are worse than the Blazers, perhaps, if they don't have Kevin Durant in that lineup.

I think they're one and nine without Kevin Durant playing this year. And that's with Booker, that's with Beale coming off the bench, is whatever version they want to put out there. He's an efficiency monster. And then he's, like, also busting his ass over the past, like five years now defensively. Like, he is their best big man. And now the drop off between him and everybody else is significant.

But still, like, he is legitimately a big man, despite all the likeness, despite the fact that he is his age. It's incredible. The fact that he's been able to be this efficient, be as much of an offensive weapon that he is, even as he gets later into his career. But they do have a center coming via trade. Finally, they swapped a couple seconds for Nick Richards in a second.

Rob, would you think about that tradeover? Shout to Josha Kogi, future Charlotte Hornet. We'll see how long, non-guaranteed, the second year. But he's getting paid nonetheless. What do you think about Richards in that deal? I like it. I think there's kind of two big questions you have to ask with a deal like this.

One, does this actually move the needle in a meaningful way? Probably not. It would be my answer. The second question is, is it worth the opportunity cost of the three second round picks? Because Phoenix does not have a lot of draft assets at its disposal. So they have to choose their spots very, very carefully. I think this is probably. enough of a positive role of the dice to try it and the options at center are so limited given

what they can do with the second apron that Nick Richards is actually one of the better choices available. So I both think they should have done it and I'm glad for the sun's sake that they did but also don't I don't think it's going to change their fate in a hugely meaningful way. Yeah, I don't know. Sometimes going from below average to average like can be a meaningful you know, improvement, especially when you consider the position. You know, obviously centers get de-emphasized on offense a lot, but, like, defensively, this stuff matters, man. And if this guy can give them, you know, average to even slightly above average defensive

play at that five position, then it's a huge deal. Like, just think about the stretch the thunder had when, you know, they didn't have Hartenstein or Chet. It was like, Jesus Christ, man. And obviously, Hardinstein is above average defender, but it made such a difference for a team that we already considered to be top of the top at defense, right? And so I think this will be, you know, maybe not that pronounced,

but I think it will have a profound impact. And maybe it doesn't show up in terms of, you know, they rip off like, you know, 10 out of 12 wins in a row, but they're just going to be meaningfully better by not playing zeros and negatives, 48 minutes a game at center. Like, that's crazy, dude. Yeah, I do wonder what the impact of having a rotation caliber center on the roster playing

minutes will do because they just need a stabilizer at this point. They just need someone who won't fuck everything up because they're currently starting Mason Plumley, who after this might not even get minutes. Like, I think they might just go Richard Aguador at this point and just play a little bit smaller and they should, yes. And so, like, I think Richards is fine. I think he's like a totally solid, young, athletic, big, strong guy who will do a little bit at everything.

I don't think he's great at anything in particular. He's like, if you were to look at league average in the textbook, like, it would be Nick Richards because he's just a solid center. I would say he does one thing at a pretty high level, which is rebound the ever-living hell out of the ball. And the sons are a terrible rebounding team. The bigs that they've had, like Iigodara is a great example. Like pretty good switchable, active big, who I think has a real future in the league and

I'm excited to see what the Sons can do with him long term. But not the biggest body and not the biggest rebounder. And certainly Yusuf Nerkich when he was playing, not a plus rebounder. Mason Plumley at this stage, too limited to be a meaningful rebounding presence. Like he'll get some of his own just because of how big he is, but not an active presence on the boards. And I think Nick Richards, especially with how small the Sons play, the rebounding is a big deal. Like that is something that can actually prop them up in a meaningful way. And so, yeah, if you're getting kind of league average contribution,

from him in other areas, and you're getting an actual boon to the rebounding game, that is a solidifying element that the Suns really need. The question is, like, does it take them up a tier? Does it take them into a different class of competition? I think it'll make their lives all much better. I think Kevin Durant is going to have some easier nights ahead of him as a result of stuff like this, but I don't know that it's making the Suns threatened for anything they weren't really threatening for.

I think at this point, they're just trying to get out of the danger zone. Is there right now the 11th best team in the Western Conference? So I think they're just trying to make it into the play and to save face. And that's honestly what I think they're doing with Jimmy as well. Like, just come give us something to care about so Kevin Durant doesn't motion toward the door. Just so Devin Booker doesn't throw up his hands. And it's like, why the fuck am I doing everything that nobody wants to do on this team? So, yeah.

Tough cookies. One more thing on the Kevin Durant front as we kind of laud him in his case for All-Star. He's averaging 27 a game this season. great, wonderful. For Kevin Durant, that is barely in the top 10 of scoring seasons that he's had. And for context, Kawhi Leonard has done that one time, right? Like there's elite Hall of Fame level players who never average 27 a game. And this is just like he rolls out and does this.

He is still the absolute best in class at what he does, which is hit midrangers over people, create shots that no one else can create and convert at basically the highest levels of efficiency that a score reasonably can given his volume. Do you have Kevin, uh, Kauai Leonard on your ballot? I do not. He just, you know, just didn't quite make it this year. Okay. Uh, so Waz and I obviously have AD in the front court on the bench. So here's where he gets dicey. I have Jalen Williams. I assume you guys do too. I do not. I do not. No. I thought I would. I also thought I would. I thought I would. But then I looked in, he just does way less than the guys he's competing. It's true.

like way less. Okay. So you don't even have him at wild card spots. No. Whoa. He's a forward? Jaylon is a forward? Yeah.

And so at this, they're so far and away the best team in the Western Conference. It's true. That's true. I got to give him to. And like this guy, I know the numbers are down a little bit,

the efficiency down a little bit as he's getting more and more to do. I've knocked him a few times on this podcast, basically saying like the fact that he isn't more of an offensive threat, it's kind of the next level that the Thunder to get to. He fucking played center for like a month. It's just like he he's so essential to like their entire identity. It's like it's hard to extracrate like what he does with like what the success of the team pretty much. And so I have him there. And if anything, like I had him as my next spot. And then I gave the next spot to Elpern Shingun.

Oh yeah. Another nod to to the standings because I don't love it. I'll be honest. I just, how do we not have a rocket as an all-star? This team has been incredible. No, because that's just not how the team operates. How does the team operate? I mean, like, you know, to be honest, like, Fred Vland-Vlitt probably has as much ownership of that offense as Alperin-Shang-Gun, man. I'm not saying Fred Vland-Vleet's an all-star. That's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying, like, Alperin-Sangoon? Fred Vian-Fleet is hugely important to the Rockets in terms of the way that they, The way that they execute, the way they get into their stuff, like there isn't really a replacement for him on that roster. So, yeah, he's important. Alperin Shangoon produces like a star is of structural importance to everything they do successfully on offense. And I think has acquitted himself actually quite well to being more of a rover on defense

this season. It's not a great stopper, but he's a participant in an elite level defense. That's where, for me, Shangun is a little bit more in wildcard territory. I didn't have him in one of my front court spots. And it came down for me. between Jdub and Shangoon. And I'm looking at the secondary, a killer secondary creator on maybe the best team in basketball

or a guy that is the structure of the Rockets, a team that has been amazing this season, has won as many games as they have, has been elite in the Western Conference basically all year. I just didn't have it in me to shirk a dude who is that critical to a 27 and 12 team. And I don't see that as a representation issue. I see it as an issue of structural importance.

Yeah, nah. Not moves. He's not on my All-Star team. But J-dub is also not on your All-Star team, Was. J-dub? No, J-Dubb is the person that, like, I most strongly consider, especially in my Wild Cup. But I don't know why I was thinking of him as a guard, because he handles the rock so much. But I guess he is a forward in size and who he guards positionally.

I had Triple J and LeBron James. Those are my two front court guys along with. AD. Like, again, Schengun, like, I get it, especially on offense, what he's doing is so important. Structurally, between him and Van Vleet, like, these guys, like, literally

would not have an offensive structure without these guys. I just don't think he's that level of impact player all around as Triple J and LeBron James. I just, I just don't see it.

And in terms of my wildcards, I definitely went with guards who just have the ball all the freaking time. Oh, really? I was going to think you were going to try to squeeze Norm Powell in here. I was going to. We're going to get into it. Norm was literally my last person out. He's been really good.

He's like my last one out. But I definitely considered Norm for Wild Card over Shangon. For sure. Just like what he's doing? Yeah, I did for sure. Just on an efficiency level, it's insane. He's been great. You know this dude has a higher usage than Kyrie?

Like he's basically like Devin Booker like huge offensive burden right now at insane efficiency stats. Like this is nuts what he's doing. He's been an awesome score dot dot dot. I'm not going to comment on many of the other elements of his game. Yeah, he don't really be doing the rest of it. Has norm been like holding like private media mixers or something? There's just like this like norm contingent amongst our. media cohort. I was like, did I miss the party invite?

It's just miraculous, though. He's like 31 years old or whatever the hell he is, and he's having the best year of his life. We've never seen somebody do this before. And so I definitely ranked him in. Like, look, you guys have definitely convinced me, like, you know, like, Schengun definitely deserves a look, especially, again, the Rockets, I don't think they would have competent offense without him and Fred. I remember the days before Fred got there. And Chengon was literally the only person who understood what a functional, offensive basketball was supposed to look like. Like, I understand that.

I truly do. It's just, I don't know. Like, it's just, just spiritually. He just doesn't feel like an all-star this year. So who are the guards you have, wise, that have the ball on their hands all the time? Okay, so like I said, Kyrie Irving, is my first wild card. And my second wild card, so you guys probably don't listen to this podcast. is one of ours.

The boys at Stadio. It's our soccer podcast. They have this saying that they say, when a guy gets calls for off sides in a big moment, they say, well, the guy was spiritually on side, even if VAR had him, like, by a quarter of an inch offside. Like, he was spiritually

offside. He wasn't cherry picking. He shouldn't have been called for that. And that's what I feel about John Moran. He is spiritually an all-star, straight up. And, you know, I went and dug into the numbers, like his numbers just are not there in terms of empirically. They just aren't. Like, whatever you want to look at, like, just his efficiency hasn't been there.

He's the least efficient of any guard that I actually considered. Yes. The impact stuff just isn't there. But I'm sorry, when you watch the Grizzlies, you can't tell me this guy isn't the engine that makes this thing go. And more importantly, he's the most electric fine player in the NBA. bar none by far i don't even think it's close in terms of on a given night who's doing shit that's just like makes my head explode the way he dunked on wemby's head for no freaking reason last

night you're telling me this guy is not an all-star like i get it it's just for jah like there's just a special exemption and it is called the wild card and as my last pick for the team he's at 24 games right now. He should get to 30, you know, before the All-Star break is here, more than 30, you know, God-Willan. And so that's why I gave it over Luca. I don't think Luca's going to be back before the All-Star game. And Ja is playing right now. And I just think you just have to watch Memphis, man. And I'm sort of falling in love with Memphis as they're getting Gigi Jackson back. And like, they're actually getting wing defenders back. Like, this team is something something to be keeping your eye on going forward and john moran to me man like

i could not leave this guy off my team and maybe it's recency bias and all of that stuff but like man how can john moran not be an all-star the vibes case just off the charts the vibes case it's a great vibes case though i think it comes down to whether or not you want to reward jackson who's been integral but like isn't the superstar of that team versus jah who's just like the most electric NBA player and probably basketball. And so I agree with everything. He was saying he only has two more games played at this point after playing last night than Luca. And so he practically has the same case as Luca, hasn't been nearly as efficient, hasn't been nearly as productive.

But he really is the engine. And he's the player who is going to vault them from being pretty good to great. And so I reward that because Jackson honestly hasn't had a standout season. He's been good by his terms. You have a job, but not Jaron? 100%. What? What is happening?

We're not rewarding, like, quality defense in, like, 20 points a game here. And, by the way, you guys have talked me into it. Sometimes you got to abandon your priors. I'm going to move Shang-goon. Okay. And take Triple J off. He's going to be the sacrificial lamb for Josh's All-Star case on my ballot. I don't like that at all.

Him and, excuse me, him and Norm on my last people off. I looked at Devin Booker. I just couldn't get there. I just could not get there. Just like, when you look at the efficiency, what he's been doing, like, defensively. Like, it's just not there. It's not what we thought Booker was going to do

coming off the Olympics. You know, obviously being one of the best guys in the league, he just hasn't been there for me. So, book, I definitely considered. So, yeah, my last two wild cards will be Kyrie Irving and John Moran. So I've got Katie, LeBron, and Jaron for front court, and then Luca and Shangoon are my wild cards.

So, yeah, for me, like, the jaw case is very persuasive. And you literally watch him play, and the case is very persuasive. I also think because of the quality of his team, he is allowed to have down games in ways that other players aren't. And that's some of what contributes to the efficiency. Also, I hear everything you're saying, Waz, about how he is the Grizzlies. And what you were saying, Justin on, he is the piece that elevates them from quite good to potentially excellent or great or, you know, finals caliber or conference finals caliber. the Grizzlies are a winning team without him this season. They would be fifth place in the West based on their winning percentage in games in which

he did not play. And the reason for that, if you had to pick one, I would say it's elite defense. If you had to pick one player, I would say it's Jaron Jackson. And it's frankly not just that Jackson is an incredible transformational defender. He's scoring well. He's creating more than he ever has before. Honestly, having the kind of season we have not talked about enough. because I think becoming the kind of big who can punish teams off the dribble

has been one of the most meaningful developments in Memphis's entire offense this year. So that's a big deal to me. I think Jaron Jackson is not just worthy of being on this team, but if you're going to pick a Grizzlies representative, I think he's the guy. Top five on defense, but they're not like... They're top five on both sides of the ball, which is crazy. That's crazy.

Yeah, but it's not like we have to give the defensive representation, representative the case because they're the thunder level of defense, you know? No, but he's been their best offensive player. I don't agree with that. No, he's been their steadiest offensive player. You think Jaron Jackson has been the Grizzly's best offensive player? Over the course of the full season, yeah. Most consistent, I would say.

Some of us value consistency and steadiness. It doesn't get the people going, and John, unfortunately, it does not. I can't argue with that. I cannot. I can't get there with you. And I think Jared Jackson definitely on offense, he's made a better case. It's just, you know, and when I was picking these teams, I was reminded of this Stefan Marbury quote.

And I can't remember if it was Steve Nash or Jason Gap. I'm pretty sure it was Steve Nash after having gone to the Sons. And, like, they basically turned their whole season around. This is very early on in the Nash and Suns thing. And New York media, being New York media, they're given Stefan Marbury. They're giving Stefan Marbury a lot of guff for how the teams had turned around. And Steph was like, look, here's the thing. You put us both on a basketball court.

You rip the name off the back of my jersey. You ripped the name off the back of his jersey. You ripped the name off the front of both of our jersey. People watch us play. They're going to say I'm a better player. And that's how I feel about John and Triple Jane. That's good. Guess what?

Like, Steph Marbury was wrong. He was extremely wrong. You guys know he's like still at every Nick's game? He's been reintegrated into the fold. Because it's true. Once a Nick, always a Nick. It's actually fucking true. As corny and stupid as it sounds, it's actually true.

It's like the entire cast of the Sopranos and then Stefan Marbury are just at every fucking game. It's great. My last wild card spots went down to Jha and then I gave it to LeBron. I know that LeBron isn't going to be there. He's going to be there. There's no case that he will not be at this All-Star game. But I think it actually is probably, if we were to just look at the resumes here for this season,

it actually is probably closer than we think. Like, I actually think if we're just, like, stripping the names, Stefan Marbury style, the great profit of our time for the All-Star Ball. I do think, like, he and Deere and Fox, for instance, or even Kyrie Irving, have similar cases where it's like, It's all offense, and their teams are pretty similar in the standings. Lakers are a little bit better right now.

Obviously, LeBron, better playmaker and all the other stuff. So I gave it to LeBron, but I think Fox is actually pretty close if we were just to look at this more empirically. Fox has been good. I thought he got bumped out a little bit for me based on a couple of things. I mean, one, the Kings have had such a weird season. And in particular, like, they've been a losing team with him in the lineup. And I know that they're kind of on the verge of that anyway, but it's the kind of thing that makes my ears perk up a little bit.

The individual performance is kind of unimpeachable. He's one of the, like, the, I think he's top, basically on the edge of top five in scoring for the year, which for Deeran Fox is phenomenal, a great creator, a great mid-range threat. Like, I love the way Deeran Fox plays. I just, I don't know how to warrant his inclusion as a, like, for me, he was more of a wild card consideration.

For you, it's over LeBron. For me, it's over someone like, Changoon or Luca. Like, those guys are just playing at a different level this season relative to what they were contributing to winning. Anybody else that you guys considered? I had James Harden as a name that no one threw out. He's a consideration.

Unfortunately, shooting percentage-wise. Absolutely. It was just absolutely no way he was making my team. But he's organizing that team in a way that I think is significant for a pretty good. He is. He's the point guard of, you know, that competence that I certainly didn't see coming. they just smoked the freaking nets by 80 last night, which is crazy. Unbelievable.

I've never seen a score like that. I was going to text to you guys. It was like 38 to 90 when I looked at the score last night. Ultimately won by like I think 67. Unbelievable. Justin, if you were to pick a clipper, would you go harden or would you go Norm? I would go Hardin. I think I would too.

I think Norm's more efficient. He's the score, but things are starting. They're generating from hard. Hardens playmaking. I think the reason... Norm does not have assist. No, no he does not. He does not rebound you to rock.

Defense. His own... The defense, his own ball, off ball is... But boy, does he fill it up, man. He will fill it up. He gets fucking points. I love watching Norm's score. I love watching his evolution as a score.

But again, if you're distilling things down to singular reasons, the clippers are not a potent offense by any stretch of the imagination. but Hardin's passing is the central reason why they can tread water at all. And so if you were going to pick a clipper, I think it would be him. I think, yeah, Hardin's had a super weird season, but relative to what the clippers have been and what they've asked him to do, is worthy of some note, if not actual honorable mention. I think also honorable mention, we have to say it,

De Monis a bonus, sure. Who is actually not only leading the league in rebounding, leading the league in three point percentage. So you're three point percentage leaders right now, De Manas Sabonis, Nicola Yokic. The Balkans are putting it up. As we, you know, confront our priors, Waz, uh,

I'm coming to, I'm coming to the, uh, you know, the revelation on this podcast as I'm leaning through all these either ores. Like do I pick J. Dub or Shangoon? Do I pick in this case, like, I, like, if I was going to pick a king, I think I would pick De Manus Sabonis over Deer and Fox.

Never. Never, ever, ever. I think I would. In my life is Demona Sabona's going on my All-Star ballot over Deer in Foggs. You must be out your monkey-ass mind, Rob Mahoney. You are crazy. He's quite good. He's quite important.

No shot. Bro, for one of these bigs, man, to be getting my considerate. Like, bro, we're giving y'all five spots already for the damn All-Star game. Okay? Five slots. Like, no, excuse me. Six slots. for the All-Star team.

Like, relax. You're good. Sabonis fall back. You don't dictate the movement of what's going on in Sacramento, man. He dictates a lot of the movement of what's going on in Sacramento. He sets good screens. One of the league's best screen sets. Yeah.

Yeah, he gets overlooked. I don't think it's a particularly great Sabona's season, though. It's been okay. It's always confusing because he's always going to be very efficient. he's always going to reflect very well in a lot of like the big bucket one number metrics in ways that are hard to just look straight past. Again, I think it would be a bit of a coin toss between Fox or Sabonis for me if I was going to pick a king.

Wow. Even with their recent success, I don't see a lot of like, I don't feel particularly moved to pick a king. No. And he is, I mean, if you want to get down to the nuts and bolts of it,

probably holding them back as defensive issues from, ever getting to the upper echelon again. Are you saying the quiet part out loud, very? We should say it quite loud. Of why can't, why is it Sacramento taken off? Why isn't, why isn't it happening for Sacramento? Is it because they start a center with the reach of a six-foot-eight guy? He does have some tear, Rex arms, that's for sure.

Is it, maybe, maybe, I don't know, maybe, could be. But Netflix told me he's like a dutiful husband with kids. a sweet guy. I would love to be, I'm sure he's a great guy to grab a beer with. He seems like a sweet guy. I'm sure I would absolutely love finding him delightful and love him as a dude for sure. IPA guy? But goddamn. You think IPA guy? I think we're typecasting him because of the beard. But I wouldn't be surprised. One guy we mentioned earlier who maybe we should talk about a little bit more is Devin Booker. Just because, I mean, one of the most accomplished players, one of the highest scoring players

to not make it. And I'm going to be honest for me, I didn't feel super torn about leaving him off or even kind of not having him in the next up group. What I want to confront is I'm not trying to punish Devin Booker for not living up to his own standards. I want to take this season on its own for what it is, his performance on its own for what it is. I'm trying not to be weighed down by how good Devin Booker.

Booker has been, but I just don't think he's been that exceptional this season. Still good. Still Devin Booker, just not exceptional. It's probably on the Fox tier where he's like on that level as a score, does a little bit of everything. The efficiency isn't particularly compelling this year. And then the sons have just been awful. It's like at a certain point, like you cannot reward like one of the five worst teams

in the West. And one of the worst teams in basketball, if we're going by thirds, with two guys. Like, you get one. and you're capped. That's it. Yeah, the 11 seed, sorry, guys. Anybody else that we're not considering? Maybe Bryce Sensible?

Sure. From Utah Jazz. I took a quick look at Desmond Bain just to like knock on the case check if it was watertight. He's just not on the level of these other guys. Is he still making the leap? I was told he was going to make the leap like seven seasons ago. He made the leap last year with the added burden and all of that.

He's quite good. not an all-star. Well, I think... You know what, man, what I respect... I think he's solid. Yeah. What I respect about Bain is that, like, his role has been greatly diminished this year, and he's not bitching about it.

Yeah. He's just doing what he has to do. And I think it's making this team so much more dangerous because of it. So shout to him for that. He's a good player. Yeah. He has one of those really scalable games where, yeah, in a season, like, last year, you can ratchet up his usage.

He can do more. He can create more. You pull him back into this role and not only, will he not bitch about it, the efficiency is going to go back up through the roof. And he's just such a good shooter and such a good presence for them in movement. It's like the case for Bain, if there was one, is team success plus that kind of efficiency. I just, it gets drowned out when you're talking about Deere and Fox and Devin Booker and this caliber of player. He's just, I just don't think he's quite in that group.

That's what I'm saying. I think it was a cool, like, column topic like three years ago. It's like Desmond Bain, future All-Star. It's like, I don't think that's going to happen, actually. We need cool column topics. Don't cuckoo them. We definitely do need that. I would agree.

To Wembe, just quickly, because we kind of breeze past that. Well, two things. Actually, with Yokic, it was funny. We were doing one of those top 100 meetings yesterday, and two of our participants were like, oh, SGA is the MVP. And I was like, what world am I living in this, this, like, civilized society

where there's like this free exchange of different ideas? I was like, no, no. Where are we? I got to respect the narrative case. because SGA is, like, he is the clear cut number two, and it's closer than it's been all season right now. But if we're just doing it on nerdy empirical data... Is reality nerdy?

Sure. Is the day-to-day existence of our lives nerdy? I do think feelings and telling the story and, you know, this like narrative thrust. behind what O'KC's doing in their number one seed and the, you know, the group post-game interviews and I think that stuff comes into play. But if we're just looking objectively, Yolkich is still the MVP, but goddamn, like, SGA is damn close.

Come on. I didn't think we'd ever get to a day where Nicole Yokic would be averaging 30 a game, but we're here. Yeah. 30-1. And by the way, a lot of that is Russell Westbrook, believe it or not. Russ has been so good. I have to tell you,

Russ is my favorite player in the NBA right now. I've never been much of a Russ guy. Like I was always kind of somewhere in the middle, like obviously fun, electric, really dynamic player, but like, you know,

openly would like, like, bark at media members. And I was just like, that's kind of mean. Not nice. You think he's mean. Oh,

he's definitely. He's way near to me. I'm just like, there's levels to this shit. I mean, silently. I simmer. He barks.

That's true. Very different kinds. But like watching Yokic breathe life back into this guy is one of the best stories we've had in years. And so like even if you look at the empirical stuff, which first of all, Yokic is better statistically than he's ever been. And so I agree with you guys, shockingly that like Yokic's case is far and away better than Shays. But like just the fact that he called his shot on Russ when nobody seemed like would want to do that and then was right about it. And not only that, like Russ might be their second best. player this year. Maybe not in like the broader sense, but like based on the results of this year, Russ is probably their second most important. When Yokic is on the floor, their second best

player has been Russ. That's true. Yes. There's still some Russ minutes where it's like, what are you doing out there? But it doesn't matter. I also say to Russ's defense, his whole thing was always like, oh, they don't know how to use me. And like, that's bullshit for a lot of reasons. But he's kind of right because to bring out the best in Russ, you kind of need to play through the mistakes. And that was the case when he was MVP, Russ, in Oklahoma City. Like, you need him to throw a bunch of dumb passes to get the brilliant one that you never saw or to just play so goddamn hard that he's willing to almost do the mistakes with all

the brilliant stuff. And so it's been great. I love watching him. I want to say this in defense of Russ, too, who it's very hard for players who are that entrenched in a signature style of play to dramatically shift it and to become more of an off-ball threat, more of a cut. you know, get the ball out of their hands and become someone completely different from not only who they were, but what made them so wildly successful in the first place.

If there is going to be a place to do it, it's with Nicola Yokic. And that's not just because he's a great passer, but specifically because he's a big. Like the difference in James Harden and Russ trying to make it work together and Harden trying to dime up Russ running pick and roll or cutting is so different than Yokic looking over the top of the defense from the elbow and just whip in no looks over his head. Like the dynamics work in Russ's favor in a way that makes total sense. And that clearly suits Nicola too. Like their pairing has been electric.

And I can't wait to see what they do with it the rest of the year. I can't wait to see what it could mean for the Nuggets as we approach the trade deadline. Now that they know they have one more kind of solid piece of the rotation. And Murray's showing some damn spunk finally. My God. Jesus. He's showing it though. One thing I will say, though, in James Hardin's defense there, is it did feel like they reconno. contextualize Russ in a way that the nuggets are now taking advantage of where he's like more of an

offball cutter who's basically your center on the floor like maybe that's more of a morey thing than a hardened thing but that kind of is the blueprint that Yokic is is now just making better frankly. You can see the like four or five year trajectory for Russ of starting to become that kind of player and I think quite crucially being humbled a couple times by really destructive disappointing circumstances like situations that just did not work and it became really clear very very quickly that he can't fill this kind of role. He can't fill that kind of role. So you look around the landscape of the league

and what is the situation that makes sense for us, it's clearly this. This is the kind of thing that could play very well for him. We didn't know that he was basically just good Ben Simmons all along. For you, isn't Ben Simmons good Ben Simmons, Justin? Depends on the night. It really depends. Last thing I just want to mention here

because we didn't really talk much about Webiniano. We didn't pass pods though. But he's up to four blocks again. game at this point. So there's been 15 instances in which a player has logged a season of four blocks or more. Can you guys, do you remember the most recent one? I don't think Gobert ever got there. Was it the White Howard? Nope. It was in the 90s. Wow. Mutumbo. Matumbo. 95-96. 30 years practically since we've seen this. 95-96. 95-96. Is it that Atlanta for him? I think so.

What I love last night, Homer-ass Spurs, broadcasters were complaining when Wembe wasn't getting credited with a block. That should have been the eighth block! Hit eight in the first half. If you whip the air strongly enough that it alters the trajectory

of the ball, maybe it should be a block. Corporial blocks. But Tumbo was in Denver that year. Next year. He was in Atlanta. On the Wembe front, too. I think he's making he's starting to like make a case for himself. You know, we were just talking about this with the top 100, Justin,

clearly elevating his class within the league, jumping a tier into now he's, he's kind of firmly a top 10 player, not really threatening. Yeah, not necessarily threatening the Yokic, Shea, Luca, Yonis kind of class just yet, Tatum class kind of yet included. But I think he's making a case as having the single biggest impact of any player in the league.

And I don't mean he's the best player. What I mean is what he does is so singular and so irreplaceable. The spurs just should not be this competitive. They shouldn't. They got Chris Paul at 50 running point. And quite successfully. Yes. And a bunch of dudes who, like, they're shooting it with confidence because teams feel like they can't leave Wembe with the lob threat.

Like the second they leave this guy on the pick and roll, it's, it's, you know, whenever I, like, pick up something and throw it in my trash can, that's what it looks. Looks like when Moenby's catching a lob. It's just the most easiest effortless. Nothing really happened. What he's doing with his, like, sort of setup game where he just knows where guys are going to be and is spraying it out quickly. That thing is just picking up on a game-by-game basis.

And last night what I thought was cool was Zach Eady clearly circled the date on this calendar, came out three quick buckets. of him, he dunked it on Wemby's head. I was like, oh shit, Zach Edy. Two things happened. One, Zach Ety was tired as fuck afterwards, exerting himself that way on three straight possessions. And the second thing that happened was like, when he just made adjustments. Like he made adjustments on how he was positioning, when he would decide to try to block, when

he would decide to try to strip, when he would like actually see the position. Like he just was making the adjustments on the fly. And his teammates are noticing it and giving him the prize. That's the thing that, again, that I think is the dopest thing about Wemby. Like, yes, the freaking 28-foot-3s, everybody gets excited about that. Like, these little things about getting off of the ball quickly and making defensive adjustments, all the winning things that doesn't get you girls, Wembe is excellent at. Excellent.

And he's picking this shit up all the time. That's what I think is the most impressive to me, man. how much of the John Moran All-Star case was minted when he absolutely yammed on Victor Webb and Yombe? Oh, at least 40%. I was about to say. I feel like he wasn't on your page and then that dunk happened. He's one of the backups.

Yeah, John Moran is a revelation, y'all. Just telling y'all, man. Speaking of things that get you girls, I have to shout out Ryan West, who was the guy at Bellwether Bar the other night who helped your brother out. You heard from him? Ryan West.

Oh, and also my guy at the end. MGM bar did reach out to me. I got to go find him on Insta. We're doing shout-outs. We're doing a guy in a bar. Yeah, it's the shout-out portion. What the hell? My boy, Matthew.

Matthew from Denver. We appreciate the shout. Appreciate the love, man. Shouts to my Denver faithful out there. T-T-T-H-E-W or a T-T-H-E-U, yeah. Okay. Or maybe an O, like a Louisiana. I noticed you guys didn't have Scoot Henderson on your short list.

Well, nor Denny Avdi. I know that must have been a tough cut for you. Denny's good. Best player on the Blazers, I'm just saying. All right, why don't we wrap it right there? Thank you to Ben Cruz on production. Off on Monday, back next Thursday with your East All-Stars. And hopefully, hopefully some takes.

We'll talk to you, Ben. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino. or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Helpsheel.com. Call 1-88-889-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit MDGamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here.

Visit gambling helpline, ma.a.org or call 800, 327-50 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 18778 Hope NY or text Hope NY in New York.