The Ryen Russillo Podcast - NBA Over/Unders: The East! With Bill Simmons and Joe House | The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Episode Date: October 18, 2019

Russillo is joined by Bill Simmons and Joe House for the annual NBA over/unders podcast. They make their picks for win totals in the Eastern Conference for the 2019-20 season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

this is part two of what originated on the bill simmons podcast our over-unders for the eastern conference as the nba season gets underway in just a couple days house bill and i will probably spend the next hour and a half we'll see how it goes before we do that though state farm is our presenting sponsor. We're very happy to be involved with them because today's episode of The Ryan Russolo Show is brought to you by State Farm. If you're fumbling with insurance, State Farm agents are here to help because with over 19,000 agents, they're local to you and available to help. Whether you connect in person, by phone, or through the State Farm mobile app, agents are here to help. So go with the one that has coverage and agents you can count on.

State Farm. Talk to an agent today. Because, Bill, and this is your thing, so I appreciate you guys inviting me and then putting part two here. So you just take over. All right? I appreciate it, Ryan. So we taped the West for my podcast. Now we're taping the East.

We've been doing this over the course of the day on Thursday. Two things have happened, NBA related. There's some breaking news. First one is that Adam Silver admitted that the Chinese government told him to fire Daryl Morey. Wanted him to. And he said no. Wow. And then the second thing, there's a piece on ESPN.com.

Has LeBron told him to fire Adam? LeBron said the Chinese government was not misinformed. And then the second one was ESPN.com has a piece right now with the headline, Wiggins, there's not 100 better players than me. He was upset about one of the rankings where he was in the top 100. He was so upset, he stood in the corner for seven straight possessions. He said that and then disappeared for 20 minutes. Where's Adrian Wiggins?

I swear he's right there. Are you sure he wasn't the top 200? I mean, he could be mad if he wasn't in the top 200. Imagine that. Wouldn't that be amazing? He's like, there's no fucking way I'm not a top 200 player. Every team has 30 teams. I'm one of the best seven. Every team has 30 teams.

I'm one of the best seven. All right, so we did the West. We're doing the East. Might as well start with the Celtics. Go ahead, make your snarky joke. If the number were 66, over or under? I'll never live it down. It was actually kind of fun, though.

It's fun when you're wrong to be like just way wrong. Yeah, we've all, you do this long enough. I mean, it's unbelievable. Every few years you'll have just an epic one where you're like, okay. Spectacularly wrong. Yeah, it's great. And there's that Twitter feed now

where they love to call the ones out and it's like, all right, well, we're all saying stuff. We're all going to be wrong sometimes. I don't, it's going to happen. This I was really wrong. This, okay, so it's like, all right, well, we're all saying stuff. We're all going to be wrong sometimes. It's going to happen. This, I was really wrong. Okay. So it's 45. How over, what number would it have had to have been for you to? No, it's 49 and a half. It's 49 and a half? Yeah. Where did you send me? What is it, house? You're looking at Brooklyn. It's 49 and a half. Yeah. You're looking at Brooklyn. It's 49 and a half.

Yeah. 49 and a half. Oh, wow. They won 49 last year. They lost Kyrie Irving. They added Kemba Walker. It was a much easier over for me when it was 45. Yeah.

They are plus 350 to win the division. That seems low, actually. They're 7-1 to win the conference. And plus 800 not to make the playoffs. There's a lot of happy vibes coming from the Celtics team. Everybody loves Kemba Walker. I think he's in the running just from people I know at the team when they tell you how great somebody is. I've never heard more gushing than this.

They love KG. KG was still KG. He can be a little intimidating sometimes. Kemba Walker, it's like adding the all-time anti-Kyrie kind of person to have around where he's just happy. He's signing stuff for the ball boys. He's learning everybody's name in the front office and the assistants and the interns. And he's just one of those guys. And from where they were last year to this year, I don't know if that translates to wins, but the atmosphere is completely different. What do you think of them from a basketball standpoint?

Because defensively, they're going to be worse without Horford. All those things may be right about Kemba, but it does feel like you're comparing the second boyfriend to the previous one where you're like, he's awesome. He doesn't punch my father drunk at picnics and he doesn't steal from me.

Really, this could be the one. Kyle's right here. Why are you talking about him? Basketball-wise, there's an argument made that, well, wait a minute. Kyrie was a high usage but a lower usage player than even Kemba was. Now, Kemba was high usage with Charlotte because they had no choice. I mean, that team was really bad. I mean, did you see their players?

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So will Kemba change, especially as a fourth quarter closing? There's a part of me that goes, all right, I know everybody likes Kemba. Kemba seems to get it more than Kyrie does. We're in that honeymoon phase. He's a plus just by not being Kyrie, as I've already pointed out. It can't be a situation where it looks like the same thing we saw at the close of games where it's Jalen, it's Tatum, it's guys watching Kemba ISO and break things down. Now, I think Kemba had to do it because he had to, but that can't be the way the Celtics team plays. Can I blow your mind right now?

Yeah. I think they might be running through Gordon Hayward at crutch time. He's a terrific playmaker. I actually think Kemba is going to be used more off the ball than he's ever been in his career, which leads me to ask Joe House. We haven't talked about this. I have no idea what you're thinking. My guess is that you like the over here.

You're going to be surprised. I like the under because I'd like them to win the exact same number of games as last year i think they're a 49 win team and the reason is not on the offensive side of the ball it's uh the the double impact of not just horford being gone but also baines baines i think was a pretty important stabilizing second line defender. I agree. So I think they're going to be worse defensively. They're going to be slightly better offensively.

We just saw again, we I'm very sympathetic to Hayward making his way back last season, but there were big stretches where he disappeared. I expect him to be much better this year, but is the improvement on offense enough to offset the decline in defense? It seems to me 49 is the right number. I actually think this team has a chance to be excellent offensively because I like everything I've read about Tatum this summer, and it does seem like he's grasped the fact

that he had kind of lost his way offensively and that his game with how good he is bouncing off dudes, driving he can finish with either hand stuff like that, little floaters, that's what he is he's not a pull up Kobe 20 footer guy

and I think that part's important I think Hayward's going to be much better. Kemba should be able to replace 90% of Kyrie's offense. I don't know if he replaces the last five minutes. The reason I really like this team for the over is I think they're way deeper than they were last year, especially from an offensive unpredictability angle. I think they have guys who can come in

who can swing the momentum of games, especially Carson Edwards, who, you know, is that Eddie House kind of guy that they just didn't have last year. The Celtics were in a spot last year where they would be down 10, they would be down nine, they'd be down 12.

And they just, if Kyrie didn't get hot, the game was kind of over. This year they have like streaky guys, which I like. And I think Grant Williams is going to play. It's a more professional team. And Brad Stevens. So I'm going over. I don't think it's a lock, but I like the over.

I think they're in that 50-51 range. It feels like a really good number here at 49.5. It's a good over. And part of me wanted to go back to the Brad Stevens who outperformed every projection all the time as opposed to last year where he's admitted the most disappointing season in his coaching career. So there's part of me that's like, hey, Hayward is likely, they can't be worse than he was last year. And Tatum, who had some awful numbers.

How about this number? He scored 0.63 points per possession on ISOs, the worst mark among 51 players with 100-plus isolation possessions. 0.63? 0.63 points. We're almost a half a point every ISO possession of guys that actually were isolation players. He was the worst in the NBA.

No free throws and long twos, basically. Basically, all the stuff people are telling you, don't do that anymore. He was doing all of it. It was really frustrating to watch. Now, Jalen, I ended up respecting maybe as much as anyone on this team last year because through all the bullshit, I thought the way he finished the season, it became like, you know what, enough of this.

I'm just going to use my strength, my size, and just go for it. I'm not going to play inside of anything. I'm not going to wait around for anybody else. Smart, greatly improved. But everybody's in love with Kanter. To me, there's a reason why Kanter's on a bunch of teams, and it's tough to close games with him. So I'm going to go under because I don't like their bigs,

and I'm assuming that Jalen is good. I'm assuming Tatum gets back. I'm assuming that Hayward is healthy. I'm assuming that Kemba's terrific. If they go over 49.5, I'm not going to be shocked here, but I don't want to have to make five different assumptions, so I'm going to go under. So one last thing.

I just didn't like their five best guys together last year. It was a fundamental problem with the team where it was like, eh, these five guys don't make sense. I think they make more sense this year where if Hayward is more involved and they're using him more point forward-y, and they also have the flexibility. People think I'm crazy.

I really think Tatum's going to small ball five it sometimes. I think this team is going to be fast. They're going to shoot threes. They're going to be a little undersized. They don't care. I think Grant Williams is going to play, and I think they're going to use him as kind of the center. I also think, I think it's okay that Al Horford left.

At that money. As I keep looking at it and I, and I just, I didn't think he was great last season. I thought he was up and down. I thought he was bad in the Milwaukee series. and down. I thought he was bad in the Milwaukee series. He's hitting a point in his career where I think it's either last vestiges of the prime or post-prime.

I think he's in a much better situation in Philly. I'm not sure what they were losing with him is that insurmountable. You're basically 13-7, awesome teammate, good defender, all that stuff. The team's not gutted. They can patch together some things and get 70% to 75% of what he gave them.

And then if you had the Hayward smarts and a comeback year for him, I don't think it's as bad as you think. Anyway, I'm going over. You guys are going under. Brooklyn, the over-under is shockingly 45. No KD the whole year. Kyrie Irving, obviously. Karis LeVert, healthy again for

full season. Torian Prince is in here. Dinwiddie coming off the bench. Joe Harris, who has kind of become the most overrated player in the league, weirdly. I thought he was just playing crunch time in the World Championships

to me was just nuts. DeAndre Jordan is involved. By the way, that's a really good point on the Joe Harris thing. It's just like, all right, he's fine. Yeah. But see, we're playing crunch time in fucking China against these teams of other countries. What are we doing? Do you want to rephrase that, what you said about China?

Yeah, you're right. I was misinformed. I was misinformed about the decisions we made over there. I think this over-under is actually pretty good. Here's the thing with Kyrie. We saw it two years ago in Boston. He's going to come in. He's going to be awesome for the first 20 games. The Brooklyn fans are going to love him. There's going to be, we'll hear about the legacy of New York point guards and going back to Kenny Anderson and Earl the Pearl and Nate Archibald and everybody. And then it'll start to go south around, I would say, Christmas time.

And I am going slight under. I think they're in the—this is another tough one. I think they're around 43, 44. Feels right. What do you got, Rosillo? Under. I don't like their forwards. Now, Karis LeVert is more, I think,

an indicator of what's going to happen here than even Kyrie. I really do. Like, if Karis LeVert continues on this ascension that I think he's capable of, then they can get over 45 wins because I like Karis that much. Now, the shooting has not been there,

has been consistent enough for me to go, oh, you know, mark it down. Like, Karis LeVert's going to be able to score on anybody. And there's been just a lot of stuff about the Brooklyn thing and they should feel great. I mean, they pulled this off. They get these two guys, they got arguably the best player in the league. And it doesn't matter if you have to wait a year. And if Durant's 90% of peak KD, that's still an amazing thing. But some of the stuff has been comical, like Kyrie now more comfortable. And those articles are going to keep coming out. The KD saying like, I love the way you way you guys played well whatever the system was and whatever it was before it was a bunch of

interchangeable wings that were all sort of two and threes and it was kind of fun around a jared allen who i think should be playing more minutes than deandre jordan i realized what deandre jordan's defensive rebounding numbers are but that's not why he got 10 million though no he got it because he's a recruiter he's the buddy right but jared allen to me is somebody i i've grown to like more and more but it's not like kd is sitting there going you know i i just respect the way you guys play like kuruts and these pin downs awesome stuff i don't you know i don't really know what this team is going to be other than 45 felt a little high because of all the excitement about the new pieces, and one of those is going to be watching.

I wouldn't say this on my podcast, but I feel like I can say it on yours. I thought that was really lame by KD. I'm kidding, by the way. I would say it on my podcast. He played on the 2017 Warriors, which is on the short list of greatest teams of all time, and it's certainly the best offensive team of all time.

Whether if you're going to do the all-time series, whether they could beat the 2001 Lakers and the 86 Celtics, I don't know. But they were the best offensive team of all time by any metric you want to do. And for him to say, the insinuation is, man, it's going to be nice to go

to Brooklyn, finally be in the right offense. It's like, fuck you. You don't even know what, and by the way, what offense are you talking about? Yeah, what are you talking about? Whatever they ran. You're on the best offense of all time. What's going to be better than that?

What are you doing? And whatever they ran is not what they're going to run once you get there. The Kenny Atkinson, let's develop these guys. And they've done an awesome job. Culture. It worked. There's not any knock on Brooklyn. What I'm saying is the version of Brooklyn that you're claiming to be in love with is not going to be

the version that you're going to be a part of once you guys actually start playing play it played with the but the best teammate and one of the best offensive players of all time and then clay three of the best teammates yeah of all time i granted clay averages 22 in the regular season in 2017. It dips to 15 in the playoffs. Doesn't say a fucking peep. And I just, for KD to say that, I really has made that tough to defend. House, what's your take on all this? I'm doing a tiny over for the Nets that essentially derives from an institutional competence. The Nets now have proven beyond a reasonable doubt to me

that they have a clue as to what's going on. I think Kenny the coach is a damn good coach. And I like the East is so bad that you're asking for them to be four games above 500 and so many teams. There's a lot of wins out there in the East. So that's the entirety of the thesis for why a tiny over for the Nets. They have eight guys. This is a nice stat, again, for my homie, Matt Moore.

They had eight guys who played over 500 minutes last season with a positive on-court net rating. Not one of those guys is on the team this year. But they still have competence at a lot of, you know, across the board position-wise. So I like them at 46. So I'm taking a tiny over. Rusillo, how will Wilson Chandler's PED suspension impact this team, do you think?

I think they'll rally around it. You think so? Because, you know, he's just... I could see them getting off to a really good start, like in defiance of the NBA's drug policy. Are we sure the East is that bad? Yeah. Okay.

Yeah, oh, God. It's worse now after prepping than I thought it was. Just wanted to make sure all right wait a minute are you zagging east sneaky deep there's a couple east teams i think i liked a little more than i expected i just had a hard time i think it was worse last year you know how we just did in the west you go hey there's six locks and then there's this group of four after that group of five maybe i got to like two locks in the East. Wow.

The Pacers are a lock, and the Celtics are going to make the playoffs, but it just, lock locks, in the comparison of what those Western teams are at the top, the depth here is just, I don't know. Well, let's go to the Knicks. Let's go to the Knicks. Let's go to the Knicks.

Over-under is 28. There's been some action on the under. The over is now plus 110. You could bet over 28, you'd actually get positive money on it. They're 500 to win the division. 1,000 to win the title. Plus 700

to make the playoffs. I forgot to mention, Brooklyn is 12-1 to win the division and 12-1 to win the conference, which I've never seen before. I think that's a KD might come back. Be careful. Can't make the conference odds too high in case he comes back in April

and all of a sudden they're in the East Finals. But anyway, the Knicks, this is one of the most perplexing rosters I've ever seen in my life. Can we just go back? Can we go back to before? I'm so confused by it.

Just think of the headlines and the discussions that we had about this team. Like, okay, can you play Zion and KD together? Is it okay to ask KD to play the small and Zion play the big? And then if Kyrie's there. Oh, about the old, the old, like the early May discussions. Like the problems on the horizon. What if Kyrie goes there and he's the third star? No, wait a minute. Zion's a Duke guy. So they'll get like, they were both at Duke for a couple months.

So they they'll bond over that, so everything will work out too. What's the record for power forward sign in one summer? Well, can you imagine? Yeah, what a letdown. It really is. It would have been just... The Knicks fans, because we make fun of them a lot, think I hate the Knicks, and I really don't.

I would much rather have a good basketball team in New York. Part of when we make fun of the Knicks is to try to put pressure on James Dolan so he knows how bad he is. He's been bad for 20 straight years now. This, what they did this summer, and I was saying like they had an exhibition game last night and we have some Knicks fans in the ringer and people are like, wow, Bobby Portis and Marcus Morris. Turns out this is even more awkward than maybe it seemed like it was going to be in the preseason house. What do you think of a team that has Dennis Smith, RJ Barrett, Marcus Morris, Julius Randall, Mitchell Robinson, and then Alfred Payton, Reggie Bullock, Kevin

Knox, Bobby Portis, and Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson all coming off the bench. What does that sound like to you? It feels like we're sitting down at a blackjack table in Las Vegas and Bing the dealer walks over, and our hopes of winning a single hand are immediately dashed. She looks at us. She's angry at us. She doesn't want us to be at the table because we are losers. That's the Knicks. They are

losers. They've gone under at 11 in the past 15 years. Seven of the last 10. Four of the last five. The only way they could win here is borrowing $200 from Ryan Russillo and never paying it back. How still remembers the name of the dealer that destroyed him to the point

that he borrowed $200 from you? That's how bad it was. She beat all of us. And then a couple guys stopped by. It's like, oh, we're going to sit at the table and see how it goes. It's not going to be that exciting. They're playing $50 hands. Bing was like Klay Thompson in the 2016 OKC game.

She was just, oh, fall away, corner three. For another 21. She was like Tyson when you thought you could block him. Like, no, you just, you can't actually even block the Tyson punches. You just have to time the dodging of it perfectly. I can't believe House remembered her name. House, you continue to be incredible. I just, I didn't remember that.

I was drunk, though. We're all going under. 28. We are. This team. Oh, God. Hey, by the way, can I just throw this at you guys? Are people already off of Kevin Knox that quickly?

I like Kevin Knox. I feel like no one talks about him anymore now. Listen, we talked about this 10 times during the summer, but it's just amazing to me that they just didn't keep all the cap space, and then they could have just traded for Chris Paul for nothing over paying all these dudes. And it's like now... But they just wanted short-term...

But for what? Nobody wants to go there. They had the best chance they've ever had this year and DeAndre Jordan was on that team for the last two months of the season. As it turns out, obviously very close to KD and Kyrie because he signed there. And by the end of that season,

they're not going near the Knicks. They're a disaster. They're going to be a disaster until he sells the team. It is a culture of fear. It's a culture of incompetence. The players who play there are miserable, and then they tell other players how miserable they are. This is the Knicks.

What do you think is going to happen? Would you pay for an... It would be a series of Survivor called Owner's Season, where it's Snyder, it's Dolan, you know, Sarver. Sarver. And you just put them all on

an island. Tillman for Tata? For Tita? Tillman would just start. I would like his chances versus the other guys. I think Tillman gets voted off in the first episode because they don't like how he kept telling everybody to shut up and listen. They would see him as a threat. Yeah.

This guy's so aggro. What would be like a Snyder-Dolan face-off event where you'd go, I don't know who's going to win? It would be a very limp handshake. Both guys would be wearing black. And they would seem like they got along and then they would be sabotaging each other on the side. Would be my guess.

And probably somebody would eat the beans late at night, but not tell everybody else. And people next morning would be like, where are the beans? One of those guys? Yeah. Like if House was on Survivor, anytime food disappeared, people would blame House, which would actually be a great move for the other people on Survivor. He's like, I'm going to eat the rice. Everyone will think House did it. He's talked about how hungry he was for three weeks.

House definitely stole the food. He'll be the fall guy. House, don't go on Survivor. You like to eat too much. It's funny. There was some buzz that this Knicks team was going to go kind of late 90s-ish, physical, old school, that this Knicks team was going to go kind of late 90s-ish, physical, old school kind of Knicks team. Their fans remember so fondly.

Whatever, exactly what you want to do in today's NBA. I think it's going to be the opposite. I think within a couple of weeks, people are going to be like, why don't we just play Mitchell Robertson and Kevin Knox and Frankie Smokes and RJ Barrett? And why aren't we just building around those guys? Those are the guys that are going to be here. Why are we like feeding Marcus Morris on an ISO in a 70 to 58? We're down against the Wizards. Like, what are we doing?

What's the plan here? The Mitchell Robinson thing probably is more about like his block numbers are off the charts. But then you can dig into it a little bit more and be like, does that mean he's a great defensive player though so he does seem like a good stats bad team guy but the knicks fans do like him no they love him they do have likable young players if rj's good what if rj actually is the guy that we all thought was going to be ahead of zion before the season started what if rj actually it was he was held down or held back because so much of it ran through zion and

that duke didn't really get creative and that RJ in an open court. Like, I wish RJ had a better point guard than a score first guy like Dennis Smith. You know, RJ may flourish a little bit more because they're going to let RJ kind of be more of a playmaker. I would argue that that's the worst possible person to put next to him. I think that's what I just said. No, no, but I'm saying like in the league. This is like if we went through 450 guys,

and we're like, who's the worst guy to put next to me? I would actually pick Dennis Smith. Because Dennis Smith, you got to remember, like he's somebody who's going, yeah. But Dennis is different because he hasn't gotten paid yet. So I'm always really scared of a younger dude. And Dennis Smith, when he looks in the mirror, he sees superstar, which is great.

I mean, it's great to have that confidence, but he looks in the mirror, he sees superstar, which is great. I mean, it's great to have that confidence, but he's thinking, okay, now look, I mean, all these forwards can think they're getting some fucking looks, but you know,

when it comes down to it, like, I'm, I gotta put up some numbers here. I gotta get that kind of money in the second contract. Ryan, we both played basketball. House was great at basketball.

I played yesterday. None of us would want to play with Dennis Smith like ah fuck maybe if I Dennis you're on Dennis Smith's team halfway through the game you're kind of making eye contact with the guys on the side

hey man do you have five do you have five do you have to fake the sprained ankle oh man I feel bad for R.J. Barrett I really like him and I really believe in him. And I like Frankie Smokes. I thought he was impressive in the world championships.

And I like Kevin Knox. Frankie Smokes is stock. It feels too high after the international stuff. I just think there's a place in the league for a defense. I don't need the ball point guard. We've seen those guys succeed.

They eventually find the right team and we all go, oh, yeah. You know? So, anyway, Knicks all under. We are way behind pace. The Toronto Raptors, the most interesting of the 30 over-unders, I feel like. It's 46. I think there's a 20-win swing with this 46. You could talk me into 56 wins for them. You could talk me into 36 because there's a chance they're sellers by December, January. I don't know. I like the over.

I thought the stats when Kawhi didn't play last year were really compelling. I think there's going to be a little fuck you from this team where it's like we're the champs. People are counting us out. How dare you? See, Akamam there's a chance you know he's not going to be Kawhi but could he fill a lot of

the same stuff that Kawhi did and there's an infrastructure they have guys in contract years which I've always liked you know you're getting guys in awesome shape with something to prove House am I crazy? Over borderline lock for the Raptors 46?

No, no, I'm right there with you, first of all all they do is hit the over, they hit the over every year, they hit the over the last 8 years in a row they have the guts of a team that

before Kawhi was like around a 50 win team they still have that that guts and then after kawaii they still that this mid 40s number is is very uh accessible i feel like the only thing that you would worry about is some kind of a hangover effect because uh uh marcus all did just win the gold medal you know he played a lot of basketball after the finals even um so you were you know him needing a breather needing load management early in the season but i i like that that i'm i'm with you on over 46 i'm going under because there is there's three different paths here right right? One is the Kawhi left. We had a great record without him, although I think

that record is inflated a little bit by the competition that they went up against in the times that Kawhi wasn't playing. And maybe they think, hey, everybody's doubting us. Let's go for a contract year. Okay, I'm willing to buy that. There's also a, hey, we just won. Fuck this.

Where Gasol's like, whatever, dude. And Lowry's also a hey we just won fuck this you know right where gasol's like whatever dude and lowry's also that just he gets he just got another year tacked on to the whole deal abaca is in a contract year two but you know abaca for the most part most of what we've seen from abaca over the last few years hasn't been great even though he was huge for them and maybe a deciding factor other than kawwhi in the finals. Now Siakam's really the deal here. Like is Siakam going to get into that? What a nice player.

He's going to be an all-star guy. It's just somebody who can actually carry a team. If you go back and look at the playoff numbers, like I feel like there were moments with Siakam where he just was gone. And you're like, well, that's what you'd expect out of like a third year guy. That's not a steady start. That's not even a feeling.

Like we were watching games going, this guy's afraid to get the ball. Yeah. And then you look at the numbers and you're like, man, he was more productive than I thought. But I'm with you because I know we sat and we watched those games and you're going, he is not comfortable right now. But he had, what, 30 in game one of the NBA finals. I will say with him, I do think he's a guy who wants to be great and when you read the pieces about him this was not a guy who won the title and then was you know like the like the ovechkin after the stanley cup just getting drunk every night this guy's like all right we won the title now i'm going back in the gym i want to even get better and because this is for him it's right there

in front of him like the other guy now is gone so you're being asked like if this team is going to be good and win 50 games like it's up to you to be that guy every single night and you get to kind of draft behind somebody like Kawhi if you're Siakam the shooting numbers jumping up the way they have the analytics and all that stuff like these are all amazing signs for him but it's going to take another you know few months of his fourth year before I'm ready to go okay this guy's going to make multiple all-star teams and carry a franchise. And if he's able to do that, then they're good. I think the other option, the third option of this is Masai just saying,

all right, let's just start trading off these pieces. My question is to where? Because I keep hearing that about, oh yeah, they'll trade Lowry, they'll trade this. It's like, all right, let's say Miami is really pushing for Kyle Lowry. And they have the draw, get you inspiring. Great. Okay.

So what else you putting in? Oh, well, we also have this Plumlee expiring. Great. Oh, cool. The salaries match. You throw in two first round picks? No. No, of course not. We'll give you one. Okay. So now I'm losing the heart of course not. We'll give you one. Okay, so now I'm losing the heart of my team.

Is he the best? I guess Kawhi is the best Toronto Raptor ever, but he's from a career standpoint, Lowry's probably the best Toronto Raptor ever. So now I'm going to trade this guy. I'm under contract next year. The market might be even better for him this summer. Over Kenny Anderson? Yeah,

over Kenny Anderson. For droggage and expiring and the 16th pick in the draft, why am I doing that? True, but because I can't answer that right now in the middle of October, it doesn't mean that something isn't going to happen at some point. And Masai is- I think it's really hard to trade guys who are making $30 million a year. I think we underrate that. If you look at the salaries now, I'm in a salary cap league with my friend Chen and we were deciding whether to keep Devin Booker or not. He made, I don't know, 25, 26. We looked it up and he wasn't even one of the top 30 salaries. He's making 27 million a year or whatever. There are so many guys now making 30 plus million. And it's not like the old days where you can just patch contracts. The old days it was harder though because the percentage gap on the trade, like And it's like, it's, it's not like the old days where you can just patch.

The old days, it was harder though, because the percentage gap on the trade, like now it's what? 25%. So you can, you still can, you're right.

Like the, the overall number. I just think it's harder to match the salaries unless you're getting back. Like, so Miami has those salaries, but then the pick's not good. So then it's like, well,

would Miami do Dragic and Winslow for Kyle Lowry? I wouldn't do that if I was Miami. My point is, I think it's going to be hard to trade these guys. How many teams really would actually want and need Marc Gasol? Like, oh, the Celtics would take him. All right, who are the Celtics trading? They don't have contracts to match up for Marc Gasol. So you go on down the line, it's like, I think they're going to be stuck with these guys.

And I don't think they care. I think they're going to be good. What do you think, House? I agree with you. I mean, I'm already on this over for Toronto. I've moved on. Can I give you guys

Ananobi, Stanley Johnson, Rondé Hollis, Jefferson, and Patrick McCaw. Fuck, marry, kill. Marry OG. Okay. I love that guy. Consummate with OG. Stanley Johnson can't play. I really...

Is it wrong that I still believe in Stanley Johnson? Maybe we need another NBA support group. I like his defense. I think he's good defensively. Okay. I'm a fan. I mean, he was somebody who had the ball in his hands a lot. Patrick McCaw, I mean, he showed the Warriors. Who won the title? Patrick McCaw.

Yeah. Alright, well, we'll take a break. We'll do Philly next. More with Bill in the house here in a second, but we want to let you know the Google Assistant is ready to help you get more done with just your voice in the car, at home, and everywhere you take your phone. Like when I'm at the gym and I can just say,

Hey, Google, play workout music. Sure. Check out this workout music station on YouTube Music. A little help, hands-free can just say, hey, Google, play workout music. Sure. Check out this workout music station on YouTube music. A little help, hands free. Just say, hey, Google, to get started. This is going to be so much fun. Phillies over-under is 54 and a half. They're minus 225 for the division, plus 200 for the conference, eight to one to win the title.

You guys sitting down? Oh, you're definitely sitting down? Oh, you're definitely sitting down because I can see you. This is my lock of locks, the over. I am all in on this Philly team as a regular season team. I, I really like this team.

I like them defensively. I think they're going to be potentially awesome. This, this thigh ball, I'm out of my mind. The highlights him. I'm so mad the Celtics didn't take him, but that's it. I'll get over it. Him, Richardson, Ben Simmons, who I think can be a really good defensive player when he wants to be. You had Horford, you have Embiid. You have the flexibility now of when Embiid rests,

you can still play Horford at center. It's a really weird team. It's so unconventional. The roster is unlike any other roster. You can go through all of them and be like, wow, there's no team like this team. I think they're going to be a bitch to play. And I think Simmons is going to be better. I'm impressed by all the stuff he's done this summer. I don't believe he's going to be shooting threes.

Embiid seems like he's actually in shape. And if you're just talking about what team in the league could be shooting threes. Embiid seems like he's actually in shape. And if you're just talking about what team in the league has the ceiling to go 10 wins higher than they're over, I think it's this team. Bad conference, depth, loaded with talent, and I'm going

way, way over. I can't believe that Matisse Thibel is the first name that you mentioned when you talked about the Sixers. You guys, you, KOC, are freaking out about his defense way too much. I think theeltics didn't take was they watch him play on offense and we don't i don't need his offense that's fine uh this starting five is ridiculous that josh richardson's the one everybody forgets when he may have been the most consistent best player in the miami heat miami wouldn't trade him for jimmy butler a year ago right so even though butler comes comes in and provides Miami with closing scoring that they didn't have last year.

And there's part of me that thought in that game seven, just going back and watching it recently, how important Butler was to the psyche of this team. That's like, oh, you guys want to screw around and not know where the hell you're supposed to stand. Give me the fucking ball. I'm Jimmy Butler. And that's how I see it. By the way, not good. In my opinion, not necessarily good for what I would have wanted this season because this is ultimately an Embiid-Simmons team.

It is, but it was needed at the time. It was needed last year. You could see it in the game where you're going, you can knock Jimmy Butler all you want, and he's given you plenty of stuff to knock him for, but that dude wanted the ball, and that's a real thing come playoff time. Now, I'm going to throw a stat at you guys because this is insane, and it needs to stop, and the fact that Brett Brown has allowed this to happen for as long as it's happened

for an entire season is straight up embarrassing. Ben Simmons attempted 73 shots from outside the paint last season. 73. Okay, we know that. We know that Ben is a dribble driver. He gets an angle, gets downhill on you. He's impossible to deal with. And we know it doesn't shoot from the outside.

gets downhill on you, he's impossible to deal with. And we know it doesn't shoot from the outside. But compare that with Embiid, who attempted 493 shots outside of the paint, and his effective field goal percentage, this is from NBA.com, was 41%. So Embiid, on his 493 shots outside of the paint, effective field goal percentage of 41%, ranked 210 among 218 players that qualified for that number. Okay. That's a fucking joke. Like you can't continue to be this on offense. If you're the Sixers that, that, when I read that, I'm like, is that what? And I was, I kept going back to it.

You can't have your point guard and center interchanging positionally on the floor for most of your possessions from positions where one of them who may be the most talented player in the league and Embiid. Okay. I don't think that's a great, like, yes,

Giannis is better. Yes. Kawhi is better. Anthony Davis, you know, but Embiid is in that group with those guys. Like that's the kind of guy he should be, or those are the other kinds of players that Embiid should be talked about

with. And that you're letting him consistently do that big looping up fake that everybody's kind of figured out now from the three-point line, or that he's taken this many threes when he just doesn't hit it. There's a difference between, oh, he can hit that, and yes, we want you to take that shot. So trying to figure this out, if it looks like that, I'm going over with you.

I'm with you guys because the bottom is going to be so bad, and they're going to stagger their guys in Horford and Harris and Richardson and then run Ben and Embiid, or maybe they should stagger or Embiid and Simmons aren't playing together and interchange that, but Horford's going to be the center when Embiid isn't in there. That can't happen anymore because if it does, it won't matter how many regular season wins they have. I'm not going to take them seriously to win an NBA championship.

Also, don't do the thing the other team is really hoping you're going to do. Exactly. Teams that play Philly are like, hey, you know, it'd be awesome if Embiid was 25 feet from the basket for most of this game. I hope they do that part. I didn't even mention Tobias Harris when

talking about the defensive lineups. He's solid. He knows where to go and what to do. They're going to be so big out there. But those five guys aren't going to be. Horford and Embiid, I imagine, are going to be split up. Oh, yeah. But, I mean, what I like about this team as a regular season team, they have different looks depending on the game.

They could play a lineup where it's like Horford, Harris, Richardson, Simmons, and pick a swing guy. He could be thighball. Or they could go big with Horford and Embiid together, which would be an absolute bitch for a team like the Celtics. I really worry about their point guard defense would be the only thing.

The Kyrie Dame, they just have nobody on the roster to guard those guys. Zyra Smith, though, I wouldn't write him off. He was, I thought, the best athlete in his class. They have trades to make, too, right? Because Tobias Harris is even possibly trade piece. Hass, when you look at this team, what are you thinking? The single thing that can hold them back,

the only thing that can hold them back, is exactly what Ryan Russillo just went through. It's Brett Brown. And the Sixer Truthers and all the Brett Brown truthers out there, up there in Philly, who've talked themselves into, you know, they watched Kawhi's shot hit the rim four times and you say, well, that wasn't Brett Brown's fault. But you know what? It was Brett Brown's fault is exactly what Ryan Russillo just went through,

which is letting Joel Embiid, one of the top five. Well, I mean, the single best big man in the league stand outside of the three point line and attempt to initiate offense or settle for a garbage three pointer. It's indefensible for all the reasons that Rosilla just went through. And yet they permitted it and countenanced it all the reasons that rossillo just went through and yet they they they uh permitted it and countenanced it all the way into the playoffs and they lost i love the over i love philly this year i think they're going to win the east the only thing keeping them from making it to the nba finals is brett effing brown i have them i love them as a regular season team and i think

brett brown is what ends up costing them the title, because they didn't do anything about it last year, and he's popular in the media, and I think they were afraid of the reaction more than anything. I don't know. And they couldn't come up with a better choice. We all know all the reasons. And we were still surprised

it didn't happen. I'm a big narrative guy when we try to do these over and under. It's just like, alright. You're a storyteller. I'm a big narrative guy when we try to do these over-unders. Like, just like, all right. You're a storyteller. I'm a storyteller. I used to be a writer back in the day. Try to think about as the season's going along, what becomes like the story?

What are people talking about in December? You know, like DeStrom Watson and Russell Wilson right now. Like trying to guess what it is. I think Philly being awesome, at least for the first couple months is a narrative I could see happening because I think this team is really talented. It's still, it's weird. I don't, I don't know how that's going to backfire them when they get to the playoffs. Horford, incredible teammate, just going from, uh, you know, it was a little tumultuous last year and now Horford's in

there. I also think as much as I like Redick, I'm not sure it was the right team for him. And I thought he hurt them defensively in a lot of ways. And you got to include him. It's not debatable. You got to work him in your offense and run him off picks. Now it's just this fluid, really crazy-sized team

that is just unlike any other team. And I think teams are going to see them on the schedule and be like, oh, fuck. Well, the other thing, to your point, Bill, they have the second easiest strength of schedule up to December. So they might come out 16-2 or 17-1 or something crazy like that. I think it's going to happen. All right, so we're all going over.

We'll go back later on whether it's luck. Next division, the Midwest, whatever you call it, division. The Milwaukee Bucks. Our other our other our other Locke to at least win 50 games unless Giannis gets hurt.

They're over under right now. It's 57 and a half. Even odds for the over. There's been some action on the under. Plus 140 to win the conference. Plus 550 to win the conference. Plus 550 to win the title. I just look at their roster. I don't think it's as good. I'm looking at this

depth chart where Wesley Matthews is starting for them. I think Wesley Matthews has been shot for two years as a good player. I don't understand why they're not riding Connaughton. I love that they added Robin Lopez. everyone thinks I'm crazy. I think the Lopez brothers are going to play together. I actually think they will throw them out at the same time with Giannis have a freaky thing. The Bledsoe thing coming off the playoffs is the big, Oh shit.

Part of this team and whether George Hill is going to be closing games. Corver's here, but he's I, another guy who I think two years ago was done. And then Chris Middleton coming off a really strange world championships. But the only way that this team is better

than it was last year is if Giannis goes up a notch. We've seen it. We saw it with LeBron in 2010. We saw it with Curry in 2016. If you're talking about a really, really great player who's coming off an MVP who's actually like, oh, I'm even better this year. That's the path, but

I don't know. I'm going to wait to hear you guys before I even make a pick. What do you think, Vassil? I'm going over because it's the two teams that I know they're going to be battling I would think for the one seed. Although I'm probably picking Philly out of the East. And with how bad the bottom is,

I still think they can get to those 60 wins even though you look at the pieces coming in and the pieces moving out. I mean, really, I mean, what do they do? They didn't want to pay for Brogdon, which I think is always a little scary too when it's the team that has all the injury reports and knows it intimately, and they go,

yeah, we'll do a sign and trade in our division for Brogdon. Get a pick back for him. Yeah, you know, we'll figure it out here. Yeah, they trade him within their division. That's the old Belichick. Yeah, Middleton is not, he's never, I don't care about the world games, but he's never going to be as impressive as you want him to be for the all-star selections and for the contract and all that stuff.

And he'll have moments in playoff games where you can forget about him a little bit. But this is all system. This is Budenholzer getting them from the low end of three-point conversion rates to one of the best in the league to jumping up, what, 16 wins from previously, like unlocking Giannis. So I think Giannis is so good that whatever else is going around, whatever decline in talent you could think is going to be happening out there, it actually makes everybody better. It's

almost, you know what it feels like? Is an Eastern Conference version of the Houston Rockets. Like, I think the Bucs can plug and play as well as anybody else out there that maybe isn't the Rockets because of what Giannis does to teams. And when he's coming downhill and everybody's spread out, it's fucking

over, man. So, yeah. I look at them in philly going i know exactly who they are and i'm not worried about it and that's why i'd lean over on it house i'm doing a tiny under because 57 wins is still a great great season i think that brogdon is a significant loss i look at that eric bledsoeorge Hill combination, and it does not make my insides feel great. And I also bumped into a stat on the Action Network. They gave up the third most three-point attempts last year, but teams, they ended up with the 22nd rate of successful threes. So they gave up a ton of threes, but teams didn't make them.

There's going to be a regression effect there. And to me, that's like a three-game kind of – all I'm asking for the under to hit is to go from 60 to 57. That's not a significant drop. It's a tiny under for me. Would they win last year? They were over 60, right? No, 60 and 22.

I'm going slightly under. I feel like 56 or 57 is where they land. And the reason I don't want to go over is I feel like even if Giannis sprains an ankle for two weeks, then it's over. I don't love the talent on this team. I'm not a huge Middleton guy.

Who is, though? Who's a huge Middleton guy? I think he had a run where it was like, this guy, you know who's good? Chris Middleton. It's like, I don't... If the East had better forwards, he doesn't make the All-Star team last year. But I think that's Middleton. That's him. It's like, okay, yeah, we don't want to pay him this much. And he isn't

really a guy... If you're paying somebody that much as a two that means you think he could carry you as a one for a month and that never feels like who he is so that's whenever everybody keeps saying like they're underwhelmed underwhelmed by Middleton like what like haven't we figured out what the answer to this test is yet with him but unfortunately he's the second best guy in this team this this is more of a one-man show than I think we want to admit. And I think last year there was real energy with them because it was new, new system. They're winning.

Giannis is blossoming into MVP. But if you have somebody great like Giannis, that's 52 wins if the rest of the team is mediocre, right? This team's a little better than mediocre. I don't know if they're a lot better than mediocre 2 through 12. I just don't love it. It's revealing as we did these back-to-back, but as we go through the top eight for Philly

and the top eight for Milwaukee. That's no contest. Yeah, how could anybody after we just did what we did go, yeah, I think it's pretty close. But that's the respect for Giannis. The case of Giannis just going up is he can he be 15 better okay can we bring that up real quick though i think i actually think he could be everyone listening right now and yannis is not anybody that i would ever want to doubt okay but i think this is a lesson for life and you should just do

this around the office if you get into something where your boss is saying to you, it's been a bad quarter, Doug, and we need you to step up. I think Doug just goes Giannis' defense and he says to his boss, he goes, you know what? I haven't even really scratched the surface on Doug yet. I'm about 60% of what I can be. So just hang in there. Because

Giannis says I'm about 60% and everyone just goes with it. That's kind of one of the dumb media things. Giannis, what will he be like at 100? Could I just start telling people I'm at fucking 12%? This is 12% of it. I didn't know about the 60% part. Giannis said I'm at 60%.

I'm at 60% of what I could be and people just took it. I'm going to start introducing myself as Ryan 12% Rosillo and just go, I mean, the sky's the limit over here. I remember when we talked about you working for the ringer, you were like, look, man, I'm at 12% right now. You don't even know. I got 88% left to work with. And that's how I ended up here.

Giannis last year shot 58%. He averaged 28 and 12 and a half. He had six assists a game, one and a half blocks. He got to the free throw line nine and a half times. You see, I was closing out on three point attempts in the preseason. So better.

So better is what? 30 and 13, 29 and 13. I don't, there's not three point shooting. You can get three point shooting. That's right. That's the answer.

100%. Well, he shot 25.6% last year. But it looked better. It looked more comfortable. It looked like a part of what he wanted to do instead of, hey, I'm open.

I never take threes. I'll just take this one. There was a comfort level to his three-point attempts towards the end of the year last year, which I think is a huge sign. I don't love his supporting cast,

so I'm going under. Let's do. Let's do the Indiana Pacers. We're way behind schedule now. Yeah, we are. We can fly through some of these. Welcome to the over-unders. This is how we do it. Yeah, this is how we do it.

Montel. Forevers. I'm going, I'm telling you what I'm doing right away with this. This is one of my locks Over Wow Under Oh no way

Yeah The way you looked You looked so over Yeah 47 and a half Under I would also like to mention They're plus 625

Not to make the playoffs And I would like to put that Into the future basket I don't get it With this Indiana team Oladipo is out For at least two months put that into the future basket. I don't get it with this Indiana team. Oladipo is out for at least two months. So he got hurt January 23rd and it was a pretty significant injury.

It's like a rare injury and they've been awfully quiet about it. It's like the Mosquito Coast. He's going to miss at least two months. When he comes back, we don't know if he's going to be Oladipo. He's going to have a totally different team that he hasn't played with

they have TJ Warren who I really liked I thought that was a very smart trade he's never played in a meaningful game in his life Malcolm Brogdon

who was in a situation where he was the third guy third guard every time he came in it was awesome it was like oh cool Malcolm Brogdon

oh he's playing well now he's making 85 million dollars over the next five years and has to run their offense. They have Sabonis and Miles Turner, who I don't think make sense together. I'm surprised they haven't picked one. Well, Sabonis said,

I've had it with this coming off the bench thing. I think he only started five games last year. Let Sabonis cook. And then Aaron Holiday and Jeremy Lin. That's their top seven right now. TJ McConnell's on this team as well. I'm not seeing it. If you're telling me

Volo Depot is going to miss two months, this to me is a 500 team. House? I'm right there with you. I think they're going to be better than 500, by the way. I think there's enough talent, and because they're in the East, for them to... Their floor is like 42 or 43. I disagree.

I think their floor is like 38, and I think every year in this season we have an uh-oh team where it's like, what happened to those guys? They're three and nine? Whoa. I think this is the number one candidate for that. I am joining you i think this is the number one candidate for that i i am joining you on on the under i think that that the oladipo um thing is is significant and prominent and an issue and there i don't love this point guard rotation of brogdon and uh aaron holiday and uh who's the other one i m. Yeah, McConnell.

Listen, I really like Malcolm Brogdon. I think it hurts Milwaukee not to have him. But I also think he was in an awesome situation in Milwaukee. He's playing with the best player in the league, at least best regular season player in the league. He's one of those, if he has it, great. If he doesn't have it, we can still win without you. Now you're in a situation where it's like,

hey, we're down three with five minutes left. Can you cook something up for us, Malcolm? I don't know if he's that kind of a guy. So Brogdon last year, 28 minutes a game. He was a 50-40-90 guy, 15.6 points a game. But you're in this awesome situation with Giannis, and you're the third option. Teams are worried about you less than the two best guys on the floor

for your team. And now you're in a different situation where he's not a guy who gets to the free throw line. He's going to have to create his own shot a lot. And then you look at his last three years. He was banged up last year. He played 48 games the year before. He had a lot of injury questions in college

that were the reasons he dropped in the draft. Seems to me like if anything happens to him, which is a reasonable expectation combined with the Oladipo thing, there's so much uncertainty. Plus they lose Bogdanovich, who was somebody that had created a lot of offense for them too.

I think it's a weird team. I just don't like it. If it does work out, though, I thought the Jeremy Lamb pickup was good because it's clear he established himself as somebody. I'm not saying he's some star. He doesn't change who your franchise is, but he was the only other option they had down there in Charlotte.

I thought he was consistent enough. So I think that was kind of a sneaky pickup. I think more people like TJ Warren than necessarily that I do. But they always play defense. They've won 48 games the last two seasons. It felt like everybody wanted to write him off. Well, of course, we all wanted to write him off after Oladipo went down because Oladipo was playing like all NBA level.

I mean, he was unbelievable. Yeah. And they still maintained this really nice run during the regular season. And then once we saw in the playoffs, they had their pants pulled down where it was like, you guys can't get a bucket to save your lives. Do you like Miles Turner? I went back and was kind of like,

why am I off of him? Because in the beginning, it was like, wait, this guy's really talented. And he dropped more than he should have in the draft. And then two years ago, he had a dip where it looked like it was going the wrong way. But he did bounce back a little bit from it. But if you read any of the local stuff

with the Pacers, it's just this lack of belief that he and Sabonis can play with each other. And that's what they're going to try to do apparently. And that's another thing with this team is I think they're a major trade candidate. There's Sabonis and Jalen Brown has always been a rumored trade, but

there's some flux with that. And then just from a defensive standpoint, if your perimeter guys are for at least the first two months of the season are Brogdon, TJ Warren,

Jeremy Lamb, Aaron Holiday, I don't know. I don't like this team. So I'm going under 47 and a half and I think plus 625 not to make the playoffs should be mentioned.

House, you're under, right? I'm under. I'm not going to touch that. And Marcelo's under as well. I'm not as playoffs. Should be mentioned. House, you're under, right? I'm under. I'm not going to touch that. And Marcelo's under as well. I'm not as well. I'm sorry. You're over or under? I'm a soft under.

Okay. Flaccid. Not flaccid, but soft. I am a hard, erect under on Detroit, 37 and a half. Man, this team is weird. Did you look at that depth chart? I did. And I love them.

House. Over. Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown, Tony Snell, Blake Griffin, and Andre Drummond. That's your starting five.

Derrick Rose, Luke Kennard, the lesser Morris, Markeith, and then a bunch of Randolphs. There is no lesser Morris. You think they're equal? They are minus 150 not

to make the playoffs, which I think is bizarre. I think people just don't like the East, but man, I like this team less than Chicago and even Atlanta and definitely Orlando. And you go on down the line, it's like... I noticed you didn't mention Thon Maker or Seiko Dumboya.

Did not mention either of them, no. House Under? No, I'm going over. They've gone over three of the past four years. They only need to win 38 games to hit the over. So 38 and what is that, 44? Yeah, 38 and 44. That's a shitty record in the East,

and they're a shitty team in the East, and that's a winner. So yeah, I and 44, that's a shitty record in the East. And they're a shitty team in the East. And that's a winner. So yeah, I like the over here. I like the over too. Okay. 500 team last year. When you look at what Blake did last season, he's gone from, oh my gosh, look at this guy in some of those Pete Clippers years, top 10 player, flirting with top five.

He was top five in 2015. MVP votes. Playoff numbers good. Didn't love him in the playoffs though. Didn't love what I saw versus the numbers. He's hurt, the contract, all of this different stuff. And now Blake Griffin is incredibly underrated.

He is. His numbers, I can't believe that he took seven threes a game and hit 36%. This Blake Griffin. I agree he's underrated but there's a caveat. He's had a lot of wear and tear

including last year when he got hurt again. Which sucks because he finally was healthy and then right when he wasn't. But I don't think he was healthy last year. I got hurt again. Which sucks because he finally was healthy and then right when it happened, he wasn't. But I don't think he was healthy last year. I think he had learned how to play with a different kind of ceiling for his body. And then he ended up getting hurt anyway.

To me, it's like... Yeah, he only played in two of the playoff games and then got swept by the Bucs. But he was hurt down the stretch. He was hurt down the stretch, but I think it's 70-something games. But for him, you know... I think that was the-something games for him. I think that was the best we're going to see of him going forward was last year.

And I don't like Reggie Jackson because I don't like his decision-making, so the numbers will tell you that he's better than I think he is. What are your thoughts on Bruce Brown? I don't have many. Somehow he's starting. He's starting. He's on the depth chart.

But Derrick Rose, at the very least, whatever you think of Derrick Rose, he proved that he can get you some buckets. He's never going to be that guy. I hate when people say that stuff. They'll be like, you know, the guy's 38. They'll be like, well, he's not prime. And they'll be like, no shit.

I'm not saying that about Derrick Rose, but he's an asset now, at least at this point. Is that fair to say? I mean, so is Joe Johnson, if we're going to play that game. That's unfair. That's a fun game to play. It's a big three MVP. I like Joe Johnson.

Big three MVP. I intensely dislike this roster. And what's funny is Stan Van Gundy has now on his second media job since he's kind of ruined this team's ceiling and they're still paying for his sins. Like, Luke Kennard,

you just look at him and you're like, yeah, they took him over Donovan Mitchell. That's going to be his legacy as an NBA player. They could have had Donovan Mitchell,

they took Luke Kennard. I always think that's unfair, though, when you do the drafting thing and you go back. I used to hate when people were like, oh, he could have had Tony Parker.

But it was done when it happened. Luke, every year there's one workout guy and everybody starts jerking off because the guy hit, you know, 23s in a row in their workout. when people were like, oh, he could have had Tony Parker. But it was done when it happened. Luke, every year there's one workout guy and everybody starts jerking off because the guy hit, you know, 23s in a row in their workout. And it's like Donovan Mitchell was better in college than Luke Kennard. What are you doing? The Reggie Jackson signing. It just feels like that contract was 12 years.

I don't know how it's not over yet. It's over this year, isn't it? I hope so. It feels like he's been on there forever. House, what were you going to say? What stat did you have? Just that when Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin play together, that only happened 40 times last year. They are 22 and 18. So like that's the team. If Blake can maintain that, what you just described as his semi-permanent injured status,

but play in, say, I don't know, 68 games, and that threesome is able to play together, say, like 65 games or even 60 games, and they're slightly above 500 in those games, then you get to 38 without too much stress. NBA history says this is right around the time it's going to start flipping for Blake Griffin. He's 30. We've seen this happen with athletic forwards again and again.

Their game changes. They learn to adapt. They've had a lot of injuries. And then it really starts to go on them. And I feel like that's going to happen this year. 37 and a half. Pistons over Locke. Under. Wow!

You're going Locke for that? Locke got a Rosillo. Yeah, put me down as a Locke. Oh, wow. Locke. See, I think for Rosillo, this is all about Blake's comedy and your respect for his ability to thrive

in a second genre. And be invited to one of his parties. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like that angle. Oh, this is a part of my take thing? A Blake party angle. No, it's not a part of my take.

You're kind of in that group a little bit. I got invited to one of the parties, though. Did you? Yeah, Blake's your guy. He's just protecting his relationships. I was speechless. I couldn't. House is the least I've ever talked my entire life.

It's like when, after the China thing, you know, when people- Do you want me to do a LeBron Blake answer to this? No, it's like, you know, Blake's your guy. LeBron's your guy. You went on TV after the LeBron China thing and you were like, look, I know what he said, but that wasn't what he meant. Right. If I were assigned to cover Blake, I'd be like, what you don't understand is that he has a family. to cover Blake, I'd be like, what you don't understand is that he has a family and

he's got to make sure that he's able to play wiffle ball. And why aren't we looking at Daryl Morey's role in this? Why didn't Daryl Morey tweet domestic concerns? Why did he just go after China? The pivot of Daryl Morey

like LeBron, what he said wasn't bad because Daryl Morey, like, LeBron, what he said wasn't bad because Daryl Morey hasn't tweeted about enough American social issues, was one of the dumbest fucking pivots of like, wait a minute, no, no, no. What happened here was bad and what happened here was also bad. So now we don't get to go back and say

because Daryl Morey wasn't tweeting about every police shooting that somehow LeBron made a good point when he talked. I don't know. I think we're being too vague about don't know. I think we're being too vague about this right now. No, we're being the right amount of vague. The number of people that fell all over themselves to defend LeBron when he fucked up when he gave that press conference was embarrassing. Right. It was embarrassing. It's like, how about this? He had no idea what he was going to say. He rambled for a minute. It was incoherent and he had to do two tweets to clear it up. That's what actually happened. Right. You said that Daryl Morey, MIT grad,

one of the five smartest people I've ever talked to in my entire life. Who has 15 years of experience dealing with the Far East. Right. With China specifically because of the Yao Ming deal and how long, what, he's had that job since 06, that you're suggesting that Daryl Morey needs to be more educated on the topic because of your business interests. And that's fine. Like, honestly, I would respect LeBron more. He said financial as part of his thing. Right, right.

So I've not heard us financially. It's like, who cares about financially? It's OK in that moment to go, LeBron. I know what he's trying to do, but he did a bad job in the execution. And you're right. You could tell you always know when you're about to say something. You did a bad job in the execution. And you're right. Like you could tell, you always know when you're about to say something, you're like,

am I ready for this? Yeah. And it sucks when you're not. And no one's asked me a question that's been anticipated. The answer has been anticipated as much as something like that with LeBron, but you could tell us, he just started talking. He's like,

shit, I don't know. But that's all we have to go on five people are filming right now fuck and really the more i think the more i think house and i'll let you go here but it became this thing where it was like how can we make this about players versus management too and you go wait a minute so he cost you money he he put you you weren't gonna be fucking kidnapped okay this wasn't gonna be be taken three where Liam Neeson's over there being like I've heard LeBron is in this hotel you know like it's not it's that wasn't going to happen so when it when there was a chance to like pivot

and blame management on the whole thing you're like no no no your statement sucked and it's okay yeah we all screw this up sometimes your but it was also okay for people that cover the NBA that have good relationships with LeBron to say, you know what? His statements suck. It was a whiff. And you shouldn't have said, you shouldn't have suggested that Daryl Morey of all people,

he may have been wrong, you may not like the repercussions, but that he needed to be more educated as a whiff. Yeah. And I think the other part of that is, just say what you actually meant. You can't say something and then say afterwards, we all know what I meant. It's like, no, actually, we don't know what you meant because you hadn't said anything about it. And obviously what you meant was this last week sucked. We were going to China. This guy knew we were going there.

He's been dealing with China since 2006 when he became the GM. And he fucking poured gasoline on a fire. And then we had to go there and deal with it for five days. Fuck that guy. That's what he wanted to say. He just didn't say it.

But when he went at Silver and said... That's what he should have said. Yeah, but if he had said that, I would have been like, yeah, he's kind of right. But think, like, all of us would have said that. The part where he went at Silver and said, That's what he should have said. Yeah, but if he had said that, I would have been like, yeah, he's kind of right. But think, like, the part where he went at Silver and said, you know, if a player had sent out that tweet, you guys would have been all over him. And now, and it becomes this back of the car thing where it's like, he did this, though, and I did this. And then I credit Silver saying, you tweeted the president's a bum.

Right. And no one said shit to you. So, and that's fine. I don't care to you so and that's fine i don't care that lebron did that i don't care um and i like that nothing happened to lebron for it but there's just everybody's just i think that the richer and more famous and successful and all that stuff i actually think the better you become and everybody got real weird on this one where it was like no i think everybody's kind of missing the point here i love love when people do the I'm all for free speech. Except for this

situation. It's like, I just don't understand why LeBron... I still don't have an explanation for why he spoke. Why did he think that he had anything to add on this topic? Because he's the face of the NBA. He's over there.

It would have been one of those things where this is what sucks for any of these guys. though on this topic because he had he's the face of the nba he's over there no he it just it would have been one of those things where this is what sucks for any of these guys is it's if he never says anything that he's getting crushed but then he goes to say it and then i felt like they did this thing where it's like you guys don't understand how tough it was to be over there and all this stuff and our families and it was dangerous and that's absolutely what he should have said though and he has a media strategist he could have figured this out and be like hey just want to say about that china thing. Like that was a really rough, intense week for us. And I support Daryl's ability to do free speech and say how he feels about a subject,

but I kind of wish he didn't do it right before the entire NBA was in China. And I wish he'd waited a week because it was a really tense, awful week for us. Yeah, it would have been a great, but he wasn't able to come up with that. And then of course the people that already don't like LeBron or don't like that he's tweeting about the president calling him a bum are going to jump on it because of the whole shut up and dribble Laura Ingram thing. Like it's a, it's a very clear correlation here where it's like, well, so wait a minute, you don't like it when you're told to stick to sports, but you basically just said to Daryl Morey, you don't know what you're talking about. And so I don't know that anybody could help if you could be the biggest LeBron guy,

you could be completely left wing. It's fairly easy to identify the hypocrisy in that point. If you're in the media, don't make excuses when somebody that has been good to you fucks up. Let's go to Atlanta. Oh no. Are we done with this conference? Oh, Cleveland, we didn't do. Can we do this quickly? 24 and a half. I don't know. They might be a 19-win team.

They might be a 26-win team. If Love is good, if Garland is good, but they're, I mean, they were historically terrible last year. One of the worst defensive teams maybe ever. I am going slight under. I don't feel good about it.

House? Under. That's all. Okay. I don't have a rush now. So you went under, Russell? I did.

But, you know. Yeah. Sorry, Cleveland. We're in a rush. We don't want to talk about you. The team I do want to talk about also in this division, Chicago, 32 and a half. There's been some action on this one.

It was 31 and a half. They actually moved it up a win, and there's still action on it. It's minus 145 right now. They're plus 290 to make the playoffs. And this is my favorite bad team this year. I actually plan on watching them on League Pass a little bit. this year. I actually plan on watching them on League Pass a little bit. Zach Levine,

dark horse scoring title candidate in case something happens to Harden. There is a path where he can average 28, 29 a game. Markkanen, Wendell Carter I really enjoy. Otto Porter, veteran. Knows where to go, what to do.

Tomas Sadoransky, one of the house's favorites. Thad Young young veteran. Is veteran your new word for not that good, but just on the team? Knows where to go, what to do. And then Kobe White, who I think is going to be good and I've been excited about him.

I also like Luke Cornett. I just listed eight guys I like. I think they're going to have a lot of scoring. House, if Sadoransky, does he have the ability to be like a decent Malcolm Bro brogdon on the bucks kind of guard for them where there is actually a higher ceiling for this team than we think no he is a perfectly competent backup guard okay who like learned what it what it's like to play at the speed and with the athleticism in the NBA and he in his own

self possesses pretty damn good athleticism but he is still like 5% clueless and that 5% clueless as a starter becomes 15% clueless or 20% clueless. You get what I'm saying?

As a backup he can fuck up get lost a handful of times, uh, miss a dunk here and there. And, and, you know, it doesn't change the outcome of games. He, as a, as a starting point guard, it's, it's, it's not going to be good. I still like them as a tiny over though. Marketing and Carter, let's see it. Right. I think it was only 21 games. They played together. Carter's already had the thumb injury and abdominal surgery, rolled an ankle and he, you know, he's see it. I think it was only 21 games that they played together. Carter's already had the thumb injury, abdominal surgery, rolled an ankle, and he's not going to stretch the floor.

So people that complain about his three-point shooting at this point, well, what did you think you were getting? But he's a really smart, sound guy that I feel like some of those players that are at least his size should be able to figure some things out. And the Markkinen-Levine scoring combo

is great and should be complimentary. But Levine isn't about the raw numbers. The raw numbers are terrific. I mean, he was awesome from a traditional number standpoint last year. His defense we know is bad, but we saw him working out on the beach, so that has to mean something on Instagram. And his defensive differentials ticked up a little bit,

but they're still not great. And if you want to go real plus minus, which isn't always fair, especially when the team sucks, he's 188th. Okay, so Levine is give me half an effort on defense, keep your offense going, and just the right shots. And he has improved. He's gone from one of the worst shot decision guys I've seen in the league in the last few years to up from that.

But there are a bunch of, you didn't even mention Chandler Hutchinson, who I really liked coming out of the draft. So my first thing was under because they were 22 and 60 last year at 32 and a half. But I think they're going to feast on some of these less talented teams in the East. So I think, I think it's an over here, even though I don't love all the moving parts, but there's some version of this

where if they're just average health versus what they've been, I think there'll be some consistency there. We know two of these guys are really good scorers. House, you're over as well? Yeah, I think they could be around 35 and threatened for that eighth slot in the East. Playoff slot.

I don't see any reason why Detroit would be better than them. And Detroit's over or under is like six wins higher. They're going to score. They're going to be exciting. There's going to be real energy at their games, which has not happened for five years. And I like the team. Okay, let's go to the last division, which is the, it's getting warmer and there's a lot of Chick-fil-A's and Waffle Houses

and the general area of all of these teams, division. Wow. I guess Miami's the favorite. Their over-under is 43. There's been a lot of action on the over. Minus 155. And this is another one I absolutely love. I love the over. I think this team's

going to be good. They have a lot of players I just like. Like, if you're just listening, if you're like, hey, just make a top 50 list of just players you like. This team has like seven of them. I've always liked Dragic. Heat have seven top 50 players. Can't wait for that. No, just that I like. This team has like seven of them. I've always liked Dragic. Heat have seven top 50 players. Can't wait for that.

No, just that I like. Just that I just inexplicably or semi-explicably like Dragic. South Beach Base would be the name of the Heat blog. Tyler Harrow I think is going to play right away and be good. I even think he's a rookie of the year dark horse of Zion Springer's ankle. Can I just say one thing about Tyler? Because when I did the draft stuff

with him, I kept coming back to, one of the great things about Klay, what makes Klay, there's a million things that make Klay great, but one specific thing is when the offensive possession stops, so many players stop, okay? And Klay repositions himself.

And all you had, and the Spurs did this for years when they had that thing rolling when they revamped themselves offensively. You just reposition yourself a little bit because the defensive players look in the other way. You get all sorts of open looks. It's kind of a, it's a subtle thing.

I think it's an older thing. Hero did that at Kentucky. Yeah. So that's my, when I saw that, I'm like, whoa, this is great stuff. Olenek, competent rotation guy. Bam out of Bay, everybody loves. And now you get more Bam because Whiteside's gone. Whiteside leaving is an asset.

Dan Waiters is finally in shape. And then Butler. Do we have that confirmed? Yeah, we do. And Jimmy Butler, who is like, finally, I'm the guy in a team that I wanted to be on. Who's he going to hate the most, though? Probably Kelly Ol Lennox.

I have over 43. I think it's a lock. I also like them to win the division as minus 120. And I think there's three teams that have a chance to be the three seed. The Celtics, the Raptors, and Miami. And what's interesting about Miami is if they have a trade, like if they end up getting Kyle Lowry, they pull that off. If they can somehow upgrade the

Dragic spot. Again, I like Dragic, but if they upgrade that spot somehow with Chris Paul, then the ceiling goes up if it's Chris Paul or Lowry. You're also over with this, Ryan? Yeah. They were 39-43 last year, so we need four more wins with Jimmy Butler and Dragic back.

And we know Spolster's terrific. They're seventh in defense. You're always going to defend when they're down there. And I'd also love to see a little bit more Winslow at point guard because the numbers were significantly different versus him as a forward. So you can't just write him off. This is taking too long. It's frustrating because there's a time there where you look at Winslow,

you're like, how the hell does this guy go this late in the draft? Look at his size, look at all this stuff, and then he just wasn't really working out. But he did show some stuff when he started running the offense with all of their different injuries. And, yeah, I mean, Butler, Dragic, Bam, Olenek, Winslow. I like that they – Yeah, that to me is a 500 team, so that's why I'm over.

There's also a weird crunch time lineup potential with this team I like that they... Yeah, that to me is a 500 team, so that's why I'm over it. There's also a weird crunch time lineup potential with this team where depending on who they're playing, they can do different things. Haas, what do you think? I'm joining you on the lock, Bill Simmons, because I also, this 43 is just a very juicy number. We just went through a lot of examination of how competent they are and how deep they are at a lot of positions. And there's also, to me, an institutional stability with the Heat. In fact, as the last season ended, the biggest surprise to me was the Heat fading down the stretch and

Charlotte picking up steam. I think this Heat team still has a move left to make them competitive, and that's what makes that three-seed idea not completely off the reservation effing crazy. So I'm joining you on a lock because they only have to get to 44 wins in the East for this to be a winner. I'm on that lock with you, Bill Simmons. A lot of tradable contracts. Dragic and Leonard, Myers Leonard alone gets you to $30 million.

Justice makes $13 million super tradable if they wanted to explore that. Waiters and James Johnson have, I think, two years left. But they have ways to get to salaries where they get to like $70 million if they wanted to. I mean, they have ways to get to salaries where they get to like 70 million if they wanted to. This is the team that could make the super deal if Washington said, okay, we will trade Bradley Beal,

but John Wall has to be in the trade. That was my original Beal thing. That's how you get Beal. You'd be like, all right, we'll take Wall too. Orlando is getting some buzz. Their over-under is 41 and a half. Feels a little year-after-y. I'm not sure why people are so enamored with this team.

It's a tough number, though. How are you determined that it has to be over 41.5? I hate it. I feel like they're 500-10. I wouldn't even bet it. Yeah. No way. I'm going to pass.

This is going to be my one pass. No, you have to pick. You have to pick a side. You have to pick a side. They're good on defense. They're bad on offense. I have no problem with the Vucevic thing. You just sign the guy. Keep the asset. He was their best, steadiest player.

They're bringing back the entire playoff starting five. They brought in Aminu. Sounds like you're going over. Yeah, I think it is a slight over here. It's 41 and a half. I don't think it's more than 45 wins. I think the biggest thing with this team right now is Aaron Gordon's okay. Wow, wow, I need Aaron Gordon. Now this guy sucks. Oh,

wait a minute. You know what? He's okay. Does that sound like a clear three-act play representation of Aaron Gordon's career? With our friend Zach Lowe sprinkling in a little bit, he could be a Draymond-type defender in the right system. Okay. So, the Gordon thing is what it is. It's okay. It's not great,

but it's not a disaster. I'm afraid Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba have disaster written all over them. Isaac's- Mo Bamba. Yeah. I was out

in pregame warmups of the first time I saw him where I was like, this dude's 7'9 and he's shooting threes in the pregame. We're kind of jump hook. And Isaac was the one that I was the most enamored with just for his sheer talent. I still like Isaac. I can't

quit Isaac. That's fine. Don't quit him. I'm not even telling you to. But what if Isaac takes a step up? What if Gordon takes a step up? What if Bamba becomes somebody who's really cool in different spots? The Bamba one seems like the reach out of those three the most. But that's what sucks.

That's what sucks if you're a Magic fan. It's like, hey, can one of those guys be awesome? Of all the 40 winning up teams, House, DJ Augustine and Markel Williams and Markel Fultz, is that your least favorite trio of point guards or am I alone? I'm so glad you finally said his name. The number one pick in the draft, Markel Fultz. This is the reason for the over here. I'm rooting for this guy.

His stroke looks good. His stroke looks better than Ben Simmons' stroke, and Ben Simmons never had muscular, pecular, whatever, impingement, impairment, restriction syndrome. That was Markel. Markel's got it fixed. He can stroke

it now. I love the over for Orlando. I'm not going to lock it, but they're competent. It's a competent team. Vucevic can play and Markel Fultz, comeback player of the year 2020. I do like that they have... I've never been a Carter Williams

guy, but he was not bad when he came on the team, but they have... He seems he came on the team. But to have Ross... He seems pissed off all the time. Like, you know how you were like, hey, I want a pissed off player? With him, I wouldn't even say it's good or bad. He's just like, fuck this league. Ross, Aminu, Isaac, Bamba,

coming off the bench if Bamba's any good. I know you're a big Ken Birch guy. I like Ken Birch. Yeah. That's not a joke. I know. That's why I said it. Next one, Atlanta Hawks.

They're over under his 34 and a half. By the way, real quick. House, you don't see the hitch and fold shot still from the preseason stuff? I thought it was still at a hitch. Come on. You're kidding. There's a hitch in there. All right.

You can assume he's just a tracking on his shot. Atlanta Hawks. He's from the DMV. I'm rooting for my homie. He's a local guy. 34 and a half for the Hawks he's from the he's from the DMV I'm rooting for my homie he's a local guy 34 and a half for the Hawks there's some weird buzz

with them which I I think is mostly because people just like Trey Young and they like some of the stuff they did

but I don't totally see it this this team still seems like a disaster defensively to me in the depth chart I'm looking at, which can't be right,

Alex Lenn is the starter. That can't be right. Is that right? Yeah, that's what they're saying right now. He's really going to start NBA games this year? That's actually what's going to happen, though? I know we're saying it now, but is that first night, Atlanta, the lights are going around, and it's like,

and from Russia, Alex Lennon. That's happening? That's what they're saying. That's what the kids are saying? You know what I'm looking forward to is a 30 for 30 on Alex Lennon, Dragan Bender. No, it should be that 2013 draft. It would be a 30 for 30.

I mean, that's like Anthony Bennett, Alex Lennon. It's fucking, I did that draft. When you look back at McCollum and Giannis are the two best players in the draft. They were 10 and 13. Oladipo was in that.

Oh, Oladipo. Yeah, those are the top three. Okay. I'm going over. I don't feel good about it, but I just feel like you're not going to have a slew of teams

that are like, you know, 32 wins and under. At some point, there's a tipping point and it feels like this team's going to try. Would be,

I don't know yet. Actually, I'm going to wait for you guys. What do you have? Over or under? I'm going to be a beta male and just go with whatever you guys do i had a really hard time with this because i think everybody likes it because you go oh well they have trey young and they have her who's probably one of the most creative offensive

players the game's ever seen collins who's actually the most important player on this group because if you look at them last year when he played when he plays they're 24 and 37 so yeah and i know what's so great about that well they're 5 and 16 without him trey young whose first month he was 14 3 and 8 traditional stats 36 overall 20 from three four turnovers a game his last month plus he was really good again. But defensively, it's a disaster. There's no, I don't know how you can frame it any other way that like Trey, as happy we should feel about like where that was in summer league. Where he was in summer league was like, oh my God, this guy can't even play in a league

and look how bad he is at the beginning of the season. And you go, you know what? He's arguably, like he's making an argument for rookie of the year, even though I would have voted for him ahead of Doncic. But like that seemed impossible at the beginning of it so all those are positives but there are still two very clear things with trey and that is defensively it's awful and do the other teammates who are all going to be young now too because they brought in two draft picks and hunter and reddish to go along so it looks like on paper, like all these young guys,

all complimentary positionally, everything's going to work out. Well, it doesn't always work out that way. I felt like there were times closing games where people got a little sick of Trey and his I'm taking this thing over. And is that the best for the development of everybody around it? Or is Trey just a young kid who had, you know,

a nice year that was still him learning the game where he advances from that? Or is he one of those point guards that it's like this actually sucks to play with this guy a little bit? I don't have the answer to any of those things. Or is he a good fantasy guy? Yeah, he is a good fantasy guy. But I mean, is that what he is? Because when I looked at some of those top 50 things, again, Trey Young being the 30th best player in the league already. That to me is insane.

Do you like the Jabari Parker, Trey Young being the 30th best player in the league already, that to me is insane. Do you like the Jabari Parker-Trey Young defensive combo? I forgot Jabari was on the Hawks. Yeah. Did you? No, I'm looking at it right now. No, I mean, up until... No, I remember when they signed him, I remember thinking... A couple weeks ago, I was like, oh, that's right.

House, what do you got? I think this team could be the worst defensive team in the NBA this year. It is the case that Trey Young, I don't know, whoever had him 30th should have their credentials revoked. You said it already, Rosillo. He had the fourth worst defensive rating in the entire NBA among players with at least 30 minutes per game, and John Collins was 13th on that list.

So that's not a great combination. I love how young and energetic. I love the offensive identity of this team. But this 34 and a half is just smoke and mirrors. I mean, they're going to be lucky to crack 30 again. They can't play defense. The guys that they bring in, you don't bring in Cam Reddish, DeAndre Hunter, and think that they're

going to learn defense from who? From Evan Turner? From Alan Crabb? Who are these guys going to learn defense from? How's anybody going to develop a defensive identity for this team? We're all going under then. Too much uncertainty, bad defensively.

You just went to... I'm flipping. We're all going under then. Too much uncertainty, bad defensively. You just went to... I'm flipping. I beta mailed it. Defensively, they're going to be so bad. How does that team go 35 and 47 when everybody is going to be light? Unless one of the younger guys,

you're like, whoa, wait a minute. It just seems like the over is just too high. i thought it was gonna be like 30 or 31 uh let's go let's get the rest the last two quickly charlotte is 24 if you want to bet the over only even odds can i bet can i bet that someone will die from boredom during a home game this is for the hornets it would be impossible to put together a less interesting starting five than you have.

This is as bad as any group I can ever remember seeing to start a season. It's Rozier, Dwayne Bacon, who I did sneaky kind of love the way he played at the end of the year, but you never know. Batum, who's been mailing it in for years. Miles Bridges, who I love his personality. I love the thunderous dunks at Michigan State.

I'm afraid he's not athletic enough to be a really successful NBA player. And Zeller, who's never healthy. That's your starting five. And it wasn't from a team that was trying to tank. What they have pulled off is actually impressive in how bad it is. Yeah, they're almost a tax team. Malik Monk,

Bismack Biambo, Marvin Williams is still on this team? They're still playing Marvin Williams? Still playing Marvin Williams, veteran leadership. I did read one preview on the Hornets where it was like, the Ambo was brought in to bring toughness and interior defense. Oh, that did not happen.

House. Any chance for 25 wins? No, this is an under lock. I'm putting a lock on this one. Uh, it's, it's,

it's a contest between they and Washington and Cleveland for the worst record in the NBA. Those are your three teams dueling it out for first position in this upcoming 2020 June lottery. Charlotte is abysmal. Then under 24 is a lock. It's a really bad team. I'm just going to read you some salaries.

Batum is $25.56 million this year. The good news is he has a player option for $27.1 next year. So that's happening. We'll have to see what the market, he may opt out because there's not as many free agents. I have good news and bad news about Michael Cade Gilchrist.

The good news is his contract's up next year or this year. Yeah, he picked up his player option. The bad news is he's on the books for 13 million this year. Same for Marvin Williams. Off the books next year, this year he's 15.

Same for Bismack Biambo. This year, he's 17. They're paying $35 million for Kid Gilchrist, Biambo, and Marvin Williams. That's an actual thing that's happening in the National Basketball Association. Has anyone ever made more money in a week or two than Bismack Biambo? Oh, my God. From that two playoff series. Right, and the other teams I don't think had

centers, and he just went crazy. And then all of a sudden it's like, here's 70 million bucks. Zeller's got 30 million left for two years. And then Rozier is looking at about 58 million for three years.

Which, I'll tell you right now, surprise some people. I have them as the worst team in the league. 20 wins I would go under. Last one is House's Washington Wizards. The over is 27. House, you have the floor. I mean, this is...

I'm speechless to start. I don't understand how you get to 27 because I don't understand how you get to 20. I fully understand why they have not yet stretched John Wall. They're going to get the benefit of the insurance money for him not playing 41 games this coming season. I don't mind the good faith, good will gesture of offering the extension to Bradley Beal. I also am not surprised that he took it. That does not impair his ability to demand a trade 30 games into this season. I'll put it simply. Who is the Washington Wizards second best player. Thomas Bryant.

I think there's your answer. This is an under. It's a large under. And it's a transition season here in Washington. I'll enjoy going to an empty whatever bank is sponsoring the stadium now. I think it's Eagle Bank. I'll enjoy going to games half empty and watching the other teams come. I'm also going under. i imagine you are too rossillo is there any part of you that's scared of isaiah thomas comes back there's

a point guard controversy where where and by the way the beal thing they shouldn't want to trade him he is young he's an all-star you usually want to get those players i'm keeping him accepting the two-year extension on this instead of the three. That's fine. But you're absolutely right. Doesn't mean he wants to be there. He could just do the mellow thing where you go. And a lot of people do this in life.

Hey, I'll get the money. I'll worry about the rest later. And maybe that's what Beal's doing here. But this team is, you know, where I look at it differently, like Charlotte, like Charlotte thought they were actually doing something. Washington made mistakes and also got incredibly unlucky too. But it's Smith, Beal, Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, Troy Brown. Good luck.

This is not a great team. All right, so let's go through our picks and we'll do the locks. Boston Celtics, 49.5. I'm going over mostly because I'm a homer. You guys are going slightly under. Brooklyn Nets, Russel and I went under 45. House went over 45.

Knicks, all three of us went under at 28. Sixers, over 45 and a half. All three of us went over. I am also putting my lock on that. 54 and a half. 54 and a half. All three of us went over. I am also putting my lock on that. We're at 55, right? 54 and a half.

54 and a half, right. Yeah. Anyone else locking that one down? I am. Okay. House? Let me see if I have any locks left. No, I don't think you do.

I was using them up on these unders. I have two left, right? I used them all up on the unders. Yeah. Toronto, 46. I'm going over. So is House. We're still in one under. I was going to put that as a lock, but there are other locks I like Toronto, 46. I'm going over. So is House. Rosillo went under.

I was going to put that as a lock, but there are other locks I like more, so I'm unlocking that one. Chicago Bulls, 32 and a half. All of us went over. The odds are minus 145, so not that favorable. Cleveland Cavaliers, 24 and a half.

All of us went under. Detroit Pistons, 37 and a half. I went under. House and Rosillo, 37.5. I went under. House and Russell went over. Rusillo said lock. He's locking it in. Blake will be out week two. Indiana Pacers.

Detroit strong. 47.5. You went slightly under. I did, yeah. House went under. I went lock under, 47.5. I think they are 47 wins or worse. Milwaukee Bucks, 47.5. I think they are 47 wins or worse. Milwaukee Bucks, 57.5.

Ursula went slightly over. House and I went slightly under. None of us felt good about it. Atlanta Hawks, 34.5. All of us are under. Charlotte Hornets, 24. House and I are locking this down, right? Yeah, that's a lock for me.

Lock under. I'm just under. I think I have one lock left that I want to save. Miami Heat, 43. House and I both locked this one down, too, for the over. Rosillo went over, but not locked. Three-way lock. Three-way lock.

Three-way lock. Boom. Miami Heat. Fade that. That Miami one might be my favorite one out of all 30. I love them. Orlando Magic, 41 and a half. Miami.

Orlando, 41 and a half. I went under. House and Rosillo went over. And then the Washington Wizards, 27. All of us went under. We're done. It took over three hours. Did it?

Only one piss break. I never pissed. That's great about you're not pissing. Yeah. I held it in. I drank this giant water the whole time. You're advanced age. Yeah.

Nephew Kyle, I thought was a rock. Thought he was great. Thanks. I didn't feel like there was a lot of coughing or sneezing from you today. Yeah, I held it in. I only called him a c**t once. I turned off my phone for three and a half hours. Oh, man.

Just think of all the crazy stuff that's going to be in there. It's going to be awesome. Why don't you finish your podcast? That'll do it for part two of our NBA Over-Unders with Bill Simmons. And big shout out to House out in D.C. He'll be L.A.-bound here pretty soon, so we'll see him. Subscribe, rate, and review the Rosillo Podcast every Monday with Chris Long and the Book Club, which we were starting to

expand it kind of an oprah type thing which probably just be a couple weeks away from doing that thanks you