Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: WVUAFM Tuscaloosa.
Hello, Everybody. This is WVUA 90.7 FM the Capstone. And welcome to episode number 80 of the Full Court Press Podcast. My name is Jamie Martinez and I'm joined by Nick Atkinson and Kaden Johnson. To stay up to date, make sure to follow us on Instagram at fcppodcastua or with that being said, let's get into it. We are back. This is a beautiful day to be an FCP fan. Long hiatus after break, but new studio. We're back and ready for another awesome semester with my guys. How are y'all feeling?
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Feeling great.
New studio. It's an improvement.
We really made it out the mud.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: We have to trenches with this one. This is awesome.
So, yeah, let's just jump right into it. A lot of news to cover over these last few months, but let's start with the recent stuff. Let's start off with some sad news. Off to a bit of a sad note, but San Antonio spurs hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich is not expected to return this season and his future is uncertain as he recovers from a mild stroke suffered in November, league sources tell espn. Per Shams Charania. This is also to be paired with some even worse news for spurs fans. Victor Wembanyama out for the rest of the season with shoulder vein issues. There's a lot going on here for San Antonio, a team that was looking bright after the De'Aaron Fox trade, which we'll get into later. Everything was about to turn around and boom, they get hit with tragedy right here. Losing their coach, losing their superstar big. How are we feeling about the spurs aspirations for the rest of the season? Is this year a wash? Do you just look for next year or how are y'all feeling?
[00:01:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's a wash because you can just maybe get a lottery pick or something. Then the team's better next year.
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're projected to get the first and second picks in the draft right now because they have Atlanta's pick. And so at this point, right now they're looking at pairing Cooper Flag with Victor Wembanyama.
From what I saw, which would be insane. Like, that would probably break.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: That's like no joke. At some point along the line, they'll win like three straight championships.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: You run Deer and Fox.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: I mean, that's a dynasty.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Yeah, easy, Fox. You got Flag, Wemby, and you got all the young pieces. You got Vassell, Keldon, Johnson, Jeremy Sohan. Big, big dreams for the Spurs. But put to a halt. It's not going to happen this year. Too much going on. Moving on. Joel Embiid looking at options to treat his knee, such as surgery, which would put him out for the rest of the year. The Sixers this season have been very, very underwhelming, to say the least. The addition of Paul George hasn't done much. They've been dealing with injuries left and right. They lost Jared McCain early in the season. He was their star rookie looking to be the rookie of the year before he went down.
So with Joel Embiid looking at surgery again, is the Sixers championship window closed? Do we think it's over for them?
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Honestly? Yeah.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: I don't see them ever winning a championship with this core. I think, I mean, I think they're the most disappointing team in the NBA this year and maybe one of the more disappointing teams in a long time. They have way too much talent to be as bad as they are. Top to bottom. They have a top two, three roster like 13 man roster in the NBA without injuries.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: I remember preseason we were talking about how they might have had the best offseason of any team in basketball with all the addiction additions they made like Gershon Yabuzela and Paul George, but that has just not been the case. Injuries have been holding them down and B just can't seem to find the court. Like I'm not sure when he does.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: He's just not enough. Yeah, it's not super effective impacting the game. Like the other day they played Boston this past weekend and everybody was healthy. Like it was a fully healthy other than Jerry McCain, of course it was a fully healthy 76ers team in Boston won by 25 and that that team is just way too talented. Like the starting five of Maxi Embiid, PG Kelly Oubre and whoever else like that should not be losing by 25.
[00:04:28] Speaker A: Not at all to anybody.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: And they have been the most underwhelming team of basketball. It's pretty sad to see because I had them as a top three team in the east coming in and just have not lived up to it. So let's move on to some team trades and looking back on them, trades that happened before the All Star break, looking at how they have transitioned so far throughout the season and how we think these players and teams will kind of fare out as the season goes on. So I, I say we start with the big daddy. Let's start with Luka Doncic being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and Picks. Utah was also a part of the deal, but who cares? They just got some picks out of it, like a second rounder. So do y'all think, first of all, this is the biggest trade in NBA history?
Do you think Luke is the biggest player to ever be traded?
Because I think the only one that comes to mind would be KD a few years ago.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Yeah. But I think Luka now is better than KD was traded.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: I mean, trading him in his prime at 25, I feel like.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: I don't know, it makes no sense.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like even looking back on it today after, you know, a few weeks has passed, it just doesn't make sense. From the Mavericks who got Anthony Davis.
[00:05:42] Speaker C: And got injured the next game.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Yeah, he played a huge game. He had an awesome first game. He had like 28 and 12 or something and down he goes in like the fourth quarter.
But Max Christie's looked good for the Mavericks. He's been scoring, he's been getting some time. But how do we think this Luka trade affects the Lakers in the long run? Do we think they're championship contenders right now, like this year?
[00:06:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think having LeBron and Luka has to make you a championship contender instantly. Especially Luka. I think Luka is that good to where it's. It's really just him, Giannis and Jokic that are three players that are the only three players in the NBA that are so good that it's.
Every team they're on is a championship contender, no matter who else is on the roster.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: I can get with that. I mean, he's only 25 too, so he's going to have years and years and years to keep going with this Lakers team because they're going to pay him. And yeah, the Lakers are just going to be dangerous forever now, which I hate as a Kings fan.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: What's crazy too is the Mavericks aren't even the. Like, they, they. The Mavericks are going to still be really good off this trade. They. They may even be, you know, at best of Western Conference finals team still. And Kyrie has elevated his play significantly since the Luca trade. I think their team culture could be a little better or like, could be a little better as a product of this trade. I, I don't know how great of relationships players had with Luka, but that being said, from the fan base perspective, it's just heartbreak. I have a Mavericks fan friend that said they could win the next two championships and they still wouldn't be over this trade. As a fan base Wow.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: I really don't see that as being crazy to say because you're going to get those championships, but I mean, say you win them the next two years. The Lakers are still going to have a 27 year old. Luka Doncic, who's still at the top of his prime, still has another probably 10 years after that to still win a championship with the Lakers, who are also the biggest free agent destination in basketball. So, I mean, if Luka doesn't win a championship during his tenure with the Lakers, then I would be. Something's happened. I would be completely fine if he.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Plays out his career there. If Luca plays out his career as a Laker and he doesn't win a championship, that would be one of the most surprising things ever. Nico Harrison would just be a genius.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that would be crazy. Imagine like everybody praises him for. For this deal, like 15 years down the line. I don't know if I can imagine that case. How do we feel about the Mavericks future, though? Now with ad, you had Max Christie, who's a young guy, but where do you think they look? Because Kyrie's old, AD's injury prone. How do we feel about Dallas?
[00:08:22] Speaker C: If they're not good like this year or next year, I'd say they just blow it up.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: I agree. I think it's win now mode for Dallas, which is stupid.
[00:08:31] Speaker C: Anthony Davis isn't good enough, I think for that. Neither is Kyrie. Neither two of them are top 10.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: No, no. Definitely not. A healthy ad is. Is pushing top 10.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: He's close.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: He's probably like maybe 10, like number 10.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: But that's always such a big question mark with him. Is he healthy?
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Just all hypothetical.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Because he plays so great when he's healthy. But that's the thing, is I don't know if he could stay healthy enough for them to win a championship.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: And Luca had his injury problems too.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Seeing how well he played in the playoffs last year while he was injured, I mean.
[00:09:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Imagine if he's 100% with a healthy starting lineup around.
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I forgot he was playing that entire finals. Just beat up.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: I mean, the entire playoff. Wcf. I mean, I think he got hurt in the first or second round.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: And just played through it.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Took him to a championship, didn't win it. But still leading a team.
I don't know if I'm Dallas. I don't know.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: I mean, I think. Can we all agree, like, is it. As of right now, that's gotta be the worst trade in NBA history from a maverick standpoint Yeah, I mean it's like up there with the Nets, Boston, like Kevin Garnett, Paul Peterson.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: That was a bad one.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: I think it's that bad.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: That was a bad one.
[00:09:40] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Probably PG trade to OKC too, looking back on it, is also up there.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: Oh my gosh, that one was bad.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Because now OKC set up for the next 10, 15 years, they're going to win a couple of championships too.
Moving on to another absolutely massive deal that struck me to the core, put me to sleep in tears for a few days. De'Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings was traded to the San Antonio spurs, kind of how we mentioned earlier in a three team deal where the Kings received Zach Levine from Chicago, also letting go of Kevin Herder in that deal. Let's start from the spurs perspective because we did kind of talk about them a little bit.
They lose Victor Weminyama, obvious superstar, generational goat potential type player, you lose your head coach who some say is the greatest of all time. And now it's just kind of just Fox and the spurs role players. Do we think the spurs spurs this year are a wash? I think we could say that. But how do we think this Deer and Fox deal does them in the future?
[00:10:42] Speaker C: Very good.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: Very, very good. Yeah, I mean that's, that's your franchise point guard.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: Easy, right?
I mean I saw how I brought up the, that mock draft earlier where I had the spurs with the first two picks in the draft. It had them taking Cooper Flagg at 1 and then Dylan Harper at 2. So imagine a team of Fox, Dylan Harper, you play flag at the 4.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah, but. And surely they would, you'd have to make some more win now moves like De'Aaron Fox was. De'Aaron Fox was a win now move and it helps with the future. But they would have to go and get, you know, like another pure bucket, like someone that's already solidified themselves in the league and in the middle of their prime. Because I mean surely you're not going to start Wimby and two rookies and.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: A young Hawks, like a Brandon Ingram or something.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: Yeah, like that. Maybe you don't even have to get someone as good as Brandon Ingram. But. But yeah, like RJ Barrett, that level of player.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I think this is huge for the Spurs. They're major contenders down the line. Only if we can stay healthy.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: They were, I think, at least, I don't know you guys can attest to this. I think they were frisky this year after the Fox trade with a healthy Wimby like before the Wimby stuff came out, I was getting prepared to see them climb all the way up to probably like an 8 or a 9 seed.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Because they're just make a potential playoff.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Yeah. They were just outside the plan when I checked last and I guarantee they would have crawled back and maybe even snuck into the playoffs.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Yeah, they looked good on the court.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: They. Yeah, they look very dangerous, especially in the clutch when you don't have to rely on Wemby. Just give that ball to Fox on letting.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Letting Fox play off ball some too with Chris Paul.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: That's huge.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Is massive.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Because Fox, even though he's a great facilitator, when he's moving off the ball, he's so dangerous. So hopefully the spurs can stay healthy now. Looking at the Kingside, who received Zach Levine also they received Jake Laravia at the trade deadline and Jonas Valachunas. Kings were pretty active at the deadline, which they never usually are. But as a fan, I'm still really conflicted on this move because obviously Fox was the franchise guy, my favorite player of all time, and I think he could have been the greatest king of all time. But he's gone to San Antonio at a young age. And we received Zach Levine, who's getting older, still an efficient scorer, up to, I'm pretty sure, 25 points per game, shooting the ball well. But just for the future, pairing him with DeMar DeRozan. It's kind of a backwards move. We saw how he didn't work in Chicago and Now we have DeRozan and Levine back again in Sacramento.
I just don't like the deal all that much. I love Zach Levine as a player. No hate towards him. He's a great, great player. But for the Kings right now, I feel like we're in win now mode and it's not going to happen with this team. Not unless Keone Ellis is playing another 20 minutes per game. But how do you feel about Sacramento at the moment.
[00:13:28] Speaker C: Playing exit?
[00:13:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I completely agree.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: It's got to be right.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: And it's. It's such a. I don't know, it's just such a poverty franchise move. No offense. I know.
[00:13:39] Speaker A: I completely agree.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: I mean to diss you like that, Jamie, but. But it is. It's just like that's. That's really all you're going to get out of Darren Fox. Darren Fox is one of the best players in Kings history already.
[00:13:49] Speaker A: He's top three probably. He's.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Easily.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Easily.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: Right. And. And that's somebody. I mean, that's what you get out of him is you get Zach lavine out of his prime.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: Crazy. And his value would have been less next year too, apparently, because he could have just left the team in free agency.
[00:14:06] Speaker B: That's the thing. Like that hurt the Kings a lot. They didn't have the leverage because, you know, everybody knew Fox was probably going to leave unless they just paid him an absurd amount of money. Which that's, that's a better move. I, I think paying Fox 60 million a year on like a five year deal is, is better than this.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: Well, it's what, like it's what those small market teams have to do to retain their players because they're always going to leave for the big markets. Free agency. If you're a team like Sacramento, if you've got a guy who you think is a future piece of this team and can win you a championship, you retain him for years and years and years. And that's what Fox should have been.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: And when you're that small of a market too, sometimes it may like winning a championship may not even be the end goal. Like just keep your loyal fans happy. And, and the way to do that would be to pay De'Aaron Fox.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Yeah. And the Kings fans are some of the most loyal in the league. Like the Kings have great fans and just doing that with Fox, ah, just wasn't big on it. It's like a same, the same thing with the Tyrese Halliburton trade. Like fans weren't happy with it.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: And it would have been different too though, if, if say you trade Fox and get like one of those deals where it's four first round picks.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Yeah, that would have been huge.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Somewhat decent young guys.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah, we got a, we got one first round pick and it's like a Timberwolves 20, 31 pick. That's top 15 protected. So it's essentially going to be nothing.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Are literally just copying the Bulls blueprint from, you know, whenever they first traded for DeRozan and Levine and Vuch, it.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Worked for them for a little bit. They were like, I mean they were good.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: They were, they were like the 1 seed for the first two months of the year one time.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: And then Lonzo got hurt and everything went down.
Sucks to be a King fan right now. It is what it is. Cooper flag come home. Moving on. The Cleveland Cavaliers made a small deal. We don't got to touch on it too much, but they got DeAndre Hunter at the deadline and got rid of Caris LeVert and George Niang. Three seconds and two pick swaps. So they got rid of a little bit, but I think the Cavs legit have a shot at the championship this year.
That team looks really, really good, and I think DeAndre Hunter definitely helps.
How do you feel about not only this move, but the Cavs in general?
[00:16:19] Speaker C: I don't know if I agree with, like, championship, but I mean, they'll be in the. They'll probably be in the conference finals, but I don't know. The Knicks are really good, too. I don't know.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah, the Knicks are good. Do you think it's another Boston year? Yeah, you would think. They make it out of the game.
[00:16:32] Speaker C: They're the championship the next two years. Yeah.
[00:16:34] Speaker A: I mean, if they're healthy.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: Do you. Do you think it's Boston's year again?
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. But I mean, to move back over to the Cavs, I watched them play the Knicks the other night and absolutely stomp them. I know it'll be different come playoff time.
Yeah. I mean, this is a really good move for them, though. And I do think they fleece the Hawks as well. I think Andre Hunter is having a great breakout year and it helps Cleveland fill out that last spot of just needing one more, you know, solid two way player because neither Caris Lavert or Georges Niang could do that. I think you traded away two mediocre wings for a good.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: A good one wing. Yeah. DeAndre Hunter's proven he can go out there and get 15, 16, 17 points a night.
And Cleveland's got scores everywhere. I mean, they got tied Jerome going off.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think. I think Cleveland will be the one seed out of the east, so that, that'll make. That'll force Boston and New York to play in this, in the semifinals, which is really unfortunate for New York because, yeah, I think that's a, at most six game series. But Cleveland, who, who's the four seed right now? It's Indiana right now. But honestly. Yeah, it'll probably finish. It'll either finish as Indiana or Milwaukee. And those are both series. They. They should and can win fairly easily. Like Pacers, I would say they beat in five games. Bucks. If everybody's healthy and Dame is shooting well, that may go to six.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. I could definitely.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: But they have a perfect recipe to beat the Bucks with Jared Allen and Evan Mobley down low clogging the paint.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. That's what you need. Evan Mobley's had an incredible year, kind of a breakout season, especially scoring wise.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: That's the X factor. I mean, that's the biggest thing for them this year, I think is Evan Mobley can actually score.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: Yeah. This is what we imagine Evan Mobley would be coming into the draft. He's finally come to, you know, because.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: He was showing almost no development offensively in his first. What year is he in?
[00:18:39] Speaker A: His fourth or fifth year is it.
[00:18:41] Speaker C: I think he's in. Maybe he's in his fourth, I don't.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Know, three or four. One of the two. But.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: Yeah, but I mean this is the first season where he's shown significant offensive improvement or even like some offensive improvement.
[00:18:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Because we knew his defense was, you know, up there with some of the best in the league, especially on the paint. But offensively he wasn't there yet and. And now he's averaging like 23, 24 a game. And the Cavs are legit. It's kind of why they're the one seed.
So shout out Cleveland. Shout out Evan Mobley. They're. They're hoping I have the Mark Williams don't Connect trade that never was in here. Do you. Do you guys think that's. That should be covered? How do you all feel about. Yeah. Nectar Williams?
[00:19:18] Speaker B: I just think it's interesting, right? I mean you guys think they like just hate their franchises now?
[00:19:23] Speaker A: It's weird.
[00:19:24] Speaker C: Surely you at least Dalton Connect us.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Connect more so than Mark.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So just to give a little context, the Lakers and Charlotte Hornets made a trade at the deadline that was going to send Mark Williams center for the Hornets was going to be sent to the Lakers in exchange for don't connect cam reddish, a 2031 first round pick and a 2030 pick swap trade was shut down after the Lakers failed Mark Williams on his physical. And Connect is back on the Lakers. Williams is back on the Hornets and the Hornets beat the Lakers in their first game back with Mark Williams.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: So that was like in LA too, wasn't it?
[00:20:00] Speaker A: Yeah, it's pretty sick. So it's pretty crazy. I feel like they definitely have to hate their teams, especially Dalton Connect. I mean.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean he's the rook. That's who they went out and drafted with their first round pick.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: Yeah, you can't do that to him that early.
[00:20:12] Speaker C: I actually think it's probably a really bad take. I think if the Lakers would have got Mark Williams, they might have came out the West.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: I don't think that's crazy at all. I think that's the perfect player for Luca to be with.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: That's like maybe even I, I don't know. I might would even agree that. Yeah, I mean They, I. They would be wcf minimum. Yeah, yeah, right.
[00:20:36] Speaker A: Easy. As long as they stay healthy, that's really all it takes. But you had Mark Williams, who's kind of exactly what Derek Lively was, and Daniel Gafford, that's perfect, but never happened. They're stuck with Dalton connect and Mark Williams continues to be a Hornet. Moving on. We have our, probably, I think, either the second or third biggest trade of the deadline. Jimmy Butler gets sent to the Golden State warriors in a massive. This is a five team deal.
So the Heat get Kyle Anderson from the Warriors, Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and a first round pick. The Jazz are in there, they get some picks. And K.J. martin. The Pistons are in there. They get Dennis Schroeder, who has been a pretty big addition so far, and then The Raptors get P.J. tucker a pick and some money. So Jimmy Butler to the warriors, obviously the biggest move out of all of that. And Golden State's looked pretty good so far since the trade. They're winning games. Butler's averaging like, I think 19 or 20 points a game with the warriors through his time there, and they're winning games. So how do we feel? Does this put the warriors into a win now mode? Does Curry still have another one in them with Jimmy Butler?
[00:21:44] Speaker C: They're going to have to really construct some stuff next year. Not this year.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: They're young guys are going to have to.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: We're about to find out.
Yeah, because you're right. Curry's. Curry's got one like this year and next year. Right.
[00:21:56] Speaker A: Probably.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: He's probably going to retire after next year.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Yeah, honestly. Yeah, he probably will. And Jimmy Butler's not getting any younger either, so this team is.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Dude, if Jimmy Butler's on the warriors when Curry retires, he might retire too.
There's no way Jimmy Butler is going to lead a post. Curry Warriors.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: Draymond will retire with him too.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: Oh, Draymond retires the second Curry retires.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Yeah, he's gone.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: There's no way Draymond plays a single game in the NBA without Stephen Curry. Yeah. Without Steph Curry.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's probably what it's going to end up being. I. I don't know if this is their year, though. I don't think it can happen unless Jimmy Butler kicks it into overdrive like he did in 2020. Then I just don't see it happening. Not with how good the Lakers are now. And OKC looks as legit as anybody.
Memphis looks really good. A lot of good teams out west. And I just think the warriors, they're good. They're good. Yeah.
[00:22:51] Speaker B: I mean that, you know, like they, they may like, like best case scenario, avoid the play in, I think. I mean they beat the Mavericks yesterday on prime time. That was a big win for them.
And Steph has been playing really well lately.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: Yeah, he had 30 the other night. I saw that. And Jimmy Butler's been extremely consistent.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: I mean, they won what, like four out of the first five with something like that.
[00:23:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that sounds right.
So the warriors, they look pretty good. But as for the Miami who got rid of Jimmy Butler, their city hero these last few years, they get Andrew Wiggins in return along with slo mo Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell and a first round pick. How do we think this fares Miami? Does this give Andrew Wiggins a new lease at life? Do we think he kind of resurges or is Miami just. This is a blow up move.
[00:23:41] Speaker C: They're going to.
I'd say they blow it up, I mean, or trade Bam or something.
[00:23:46] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: Yeah, and they have to, they're going to stay at this week. Weird, like playing spot for eternity if they don't.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I can see Bam leaving to get a championship sooner rather than later because Tyler Hero is your best player now. He was an all star, having a great year. He's averaging I think 25 a game. But I don't think Tyler Hero is going to lead you to a championship in my opinion.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: In the bubble he was pretty good.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: He was good.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: He beat the Celtics in the bubble.
[00:24:17] Speaker A: He did that little face too.
I'm not doing that again.
[00:24:21] Speaker B: Yeah, don't.
[00:24:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not doing that. Sorry.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: Put that on the soundboard.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: That could be good. I don't know when we'd use it, but I throw it in a few times.
I guess we could skip the Jazz. Unless y'all want to talk about K.J. martin really bad. Or Josh Richardson.
Yeah, we can get to Brandon Ingar. But first I want to talk about. Because the Pistons received Dennis Schroeder in this deal and the Pistons have been a complete 180 from last season. Last year they were like the worst team in basketball history. And this year and right now they're sitting at the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They're a playoff team right now behind Cade Cunningham, who has been ridiculously good this season. He got his first all star nod. Jalen Duran's playing well. The Pistons are sneaky. How do we feel about Detroit and are they looking good in the future? This is no Jaden Ivey either. He's been out for a while.
[00:25:11] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. They'll be like top. I'd say they'd be top three next year.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's pretty good. I love Cade Cunningham a lot. Do we think that they stay in the playoffs, like going in? Do you think they can finish well?
[00:25:24] Speaker C: They're gonna be top six. They're not going to. The play in.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: That would be awesome.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: I think the only team that has a chance of jumping them by the end of the year is Orlando. And Paulo's gonna have to get back to pre injury Paolo if that wants to like, if they want to succeed in doing that.
[00:25:40] Speaker A: I mean, Orlando's just been really unlucky with injuries this year. Suggs has been on and off all year and Suggs is obviously a huge piece of that team. And then Paolo missed a ton of time.
[00:25:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that killed them. I mean that this is a Magic team that Nick and I were both really high on. Yeah, I don't remember if you were, Jim. I think I was. Jamal Mosley was going to be like coach of the year and they were. They looked the part early into the season and Paulo looked like a, I mean, first or second team, all NBA guy and got hurt.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: Yeah, he was averaging like 25, 8 and 8 or something crazy like that. And I had Orlando as the 4 seed coming into this year with 50 wins, so I liked Orlando too. It's just not going to come to fruition this year.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Yeah, not this year. You know, and I'll still be high on them going into next year, you know, if they can finish this season strong.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: Because Paulo's still like. How old is he? 22? Yeah, 22 years old. And he, I mean, came in this year averaging 25, like all NBA numbers.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: Yeah, Paulo's four years away from his peaks.
[00:26:41] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, he's. He's going to be very, very good. So as long as he can stay healthy and the rest of the Magic can stay healthy, Orlando's perfectly fine. Because they got Franz Wagner. They lost Mo Wagner, didn't they? Like pretty early into the year.
But regardless, they've just been really injured, so hopefully come future, they're really, really good.
For some reason I don't have the Brandon Ingram trade here.
[00:27:04] Speaker B: What's the best case scenario for the Magic this year?
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Best case scenario would be, yeah, probably sneaking into that six seed past Detroit and then probably a second round exit. But I think more realistically they're a play in team and they can sneak into the first round I don't know if they make it out of the first, but yeah, I mean, right now.
[00:27:26] Speaker B: I think I would feel pretty confident in saying they would beat Miami in the seven, eight play in game.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Get the seven seed and then Boston.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Then they're not making.
Yeah, Orlando's had their number before. They just got to get bowl back.
But yeah, Orlando. Unfortunate series of events early in the year that kind of derailed them. So for some reason I don't have the Raptors trading for Brandon Ingram in here, so I don't know if either y'all have the details up, but we can talk about it real quick. Brandon Ingram sent from the New Orleans Pelicans over to the Toronto Raptors. Bit of a weird move I saw. Somebody said the Toronto Raptors have an all playing team with starting five. So how do we feel about Toronto? Because I don't know. I don't know how I feel about it. What do y'all think?
[00:28:14] Speaker C: I don't even know who their point guard is.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: Emmanuel Quickley.
[00:28:18] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, it is Emmanuel Quickley. And then like Jamal Shed off the bench and then they got Grady Dick at the two.
[00:28:25] Speaker B: Yeah, he's had a good year.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: Yeah, he is. He's really up there on the bench now.
[00:28:29] Speaker C: Who is RJ Barrett on the bench?
[00:28:31] Speaker B: No, I think he starts at the.
[00:28:33] Speaker A: 3 and then Ingram at the 4.
[00:28:36] Speaker B: Or no, because. All right.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: I think there's no way Grady Dick. Does Grady Dick play the one?
[00:28:41] Speaker B: No, but I don't think Bi is even playing yet. Like, I know he's out until.
I mean, I just know this because I have him on my fantasy team. I know he's out until at least early March, but I don't know if he's played at all yet.
But he's out right now. I know that for sure.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: Well, maybe in the future. They look good, but he's getting a little older. Well, yeah.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: Who is there? Who's their center? Is it Zach Collins? I know hurdles hurt. Yeah. Yeah, that's kind of they tray, didn't they?
[00:29:08] Speaker A: Oh, Brandon Ingram's only 27, so he's got time. I thought he was older for some reason. He just looks old.
Let's see, what's the Toronto Raptors starting lineup? They're sitting at 18 wins right now.
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Yeah, they're done this year too.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Let's see. Ochako, which is weird.
[00:29:24] Speaker B: It's another team I was kind of high on. I think I had them at like the seventh seed going into this year.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: So Emmanuel Quickley is their only listed Point guard on the team and Jamal Shed, but I don't know how often Jamal Shedd plays. But yeah, Grady Dick just. They traded for PJ Tucker, but they're an 18 win team.
Just not doing too hot. Bit of a weird trade.
[00:29:48] Speaker B: Scotty Barnes has been all right this year.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: Scotty Barnes is good. I love me some Scotty Barnes, but yeah, that is a weird lineup now that I think about it. I completely forgot about Scotty Barnes.
Geez.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that's their guy too. That's probably the franchise player Scotty Barnes is. Scotty Barnes. Yeah.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: Not sure how far Toronto gets in.
[00:30:09] Speaker B: The future, but they'll probably move R.J. barrett like this off season.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't doubt.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: Make room for BI at the 3.
[00:30:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that's probably what they're going to have.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: Probably trade for another like backup point guard.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Because Jamal Shed at the backup. I like Jamal Shed, though. But moving on, the Milwaukee Bucks receive Kyle Kuzma from the Washington Wizards and they trade away. Khris Middleton, who has been a franchise staple of their for many, many years, stayed with them for their championship run in 2021, was a big contributor to that. He's been dealing with injuries these last few years and he finally gets sent away to Washington in exchange for Kyle Kuzma. Do we think this Kuzma trade helps the Bucks? Do we still think they have title asp? Well, obviously they have title aspirations, but is it realistic this season?
[00:31:00] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think Dame has elevated his play a lot. He's probably having his. His best stretch as a Milwaukee Buck. And Giannis obviously just a guy that gets better every single year. It feels like. I would say that the Bucks really do have a real shot at at least making the finals this year.
I mean, I don't think they will by any chance, but I'm not going to act like they're. They're bad this year. They're. They're a solid team and I do think they'll also clutch up and get the four seed by the end of the season.
[00:31:33] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Giannis is looking really good this year. He's missed time, but 31 points a game, 12 boards, six assists, shooting 61% from the field. I mean, it's hard to get better than that. I mean, he's shooting 19 and a half percent from three, which obviously is not that good, but when you're Giannis, it doesn't really matter. And then as for Kyle Kuzma, he. He's averaging 15, 6 and 2. So he's not bad. He's probably doing more than Chris Middleton.
[00:31:58] Speaker B: He's not taking a lot of shots, which is good. I mean, he just needs to get into the rhythm of playing and contributing to winning basketball.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:06] Speaker B: Which obviously he wasn't doing in the Wizards when He was shooting 15 shots a game. Kuzma never needs to shoot more than 10. He's a role player. 12 shots a game.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: Yeah. He does not need to be.
[00:32:16] Speaker B: And as long as he can do that and as long as he can sit in the corner some and not clog the paint for Giannis triple drives, then he'll be a pretty solid addition, I think. Especially if he can knock down and like master a corner three.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. That'd be pretty tough. So the Bucks, they're looking towards the future. And then Washington and this deal gets Chris Middleton, A.J. johnson, who's a rookie shout out Fresno, and then a first round pick. They also received Marcus Smart at the deadline. So seemingly getting a little bit older. Not sure what Washington's up to right now. What are you.
[00:32:51] Speaker B: They don't even know. I don't know what they're up to.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: Yeah, like they're.
[00:32:54] Speaker B: They. That's such a terribly ran organization.
[00:32:59] Speaker A: You want to talk about poverty franchise? Washington's right there.
[00:33:02] Speaker B: That is maybe even the poverty franchise.
[00:33:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Because they, they threw that Hornets.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: They're the. One of those is the poverty.
[00:33:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Because they threw that no trade clause on Bradley Beal. That kind of messed everything up, especially for Phoenix.
So, yeah, Washington, what are you cooking? So that's kind of it for a lot of the big deals that happened over the deadline. I just have a few teams here that would be cool to talk about since we've still got some time.
Just talk about their post all star break aspirations. One team I want to talk about was the Memphis Grizzlies. They're sitting at 37 wins right now. I believe they're fourth in the Western Conference and I've seen people second. Oh, they're second. Oh, even better. And I've seen people say that they're a legitimate team if healthy to make it out of the Western Conference and to the NBA Finals. Do we think they have that sort of potential? Because Jaren's been great. Ja has been very good and more important, he's actually been on the court.
How do we feel about Memphis?
[00:34:01] Speaker C: I don't think they're there yet.
[00:34:04] Speaker A: Not yet.
[00:34:05] Speaker C: Maybe next year.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I could see it.
[00:34:07] Speaker B: I think defensively they're solid enough to where they'll. They'll Give any team a tough time. I don't think any team is going to be able to just blow them out in the playoffs. Like, this isn't a team that's going to be swept. And they. They really just got lucky on some of these young role players. You know, last year they were plagued with injuries, basically didn't have their big three for all the year.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: Yeah, the entire time.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: And some during that time frame, some players stepped up. Guys like Gigi Jackson, Sante Eldama, Vince Williams. Vince Williams, yeah, that's another good one.
So they just kind of got fortunate with some of these backup younger guys stepping up. So now that their big three is back, I don't. I don't know if Desmond Bain's playing right now. I think he might be hurt still. But whenever they're back and ready for the playoffs, they'll be. They'll be solid. I, you know, like, I'm looking second round right now, thinking they're probably going to end up playing the Nuggets second round. And even with how good Jokic has been this year, I still think they pushed the Nuggets to six or seven.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you put Jaren on him, let Ja do his thing.
[00:35:06] Speaker B: And Edie.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: Yeah, Zach Edie. That's the thing.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: It's almost similar to the Timberwolves formula for beating the Denver Nuggets. He just gets height everywhere. And Santi ALDAMA Is what, 6, 10, 6, 11, too?
[00:35:20] Speaker A: And he plays, he's big, and he could shoot.
[00:35:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:23] Speaker A: And the thing with Memphis is, like, we talked about their young guys stepping up last year. They've got young guys stepping up this year. Jalen Wells and like you mentioned, Zach, Edie. And I mean, if they're going to keep getting younger guys to step up like this, they're going to be hard to stop in the future. And, like, they're not even relying on John Morant as much as they used to in years prior. It's more team basketball now that they've got all these dudes to feed. And Jaren's played well. He might be in contention for defensive player of the year now that Wemby's out. So, Memphis sneaky team. I was pretty high on them coming into the year. Let's see how they finish.
Let's talk about Boston. Let's talk about the Celtics.
I'm sure, sure we've got a little bit to say about Boston. So second seed in the east right now, sitting behind Cleveland. What are they saying at 41 wins.
[00:36:08] Speaker B: 41 and 1641 and 16.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: Very, very good record.
What's the key for Boston for the rest of the year?
[00:36:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Keep poor Zing is healthy especially.
[00:36:18] Speaker A: Is he healthy right now?
[00:36:19] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: Yeah, he's been healthy this year. But keep, keep him healthy and keep him in rhythm as well. I know he doesn't play like second nights of back to backs, which is good, you know, that's fine. But play him enough to where he's going to still be in rhythm come playoff time.
If they do that. I, like Nick said it earlier, we're going to win two championships in a row. I think at least this year is championship. I mean this year's championship or bus every year is going to be championship or bust. But this year I would be surprised if we didn't win the championship going into the playoffs. Fully healthy.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: Yeah. As long as you got the anomaly, good things will happen.
[00:36:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. The Duke of Boston.
[00:36:57] Speaker A: Yeah. The Duke of Boston. The Shamrock. Shamrock.
[00:37:00] Speaker B: Oh, I haven't heard that.
[00:37:01] Speaker A: Shamrock Samurai. That's his new one.
[00:37:02] Speaker B: I think also Boston's peaking right now. Like I watching Boston this last, these last few weeks, I think they're back to being the best team in the NBA.
[00:37:11] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, speaking of best team in the NBA, another one we have to talk about is the Oklahoma City Thunder, the number one team out west and they're just looking incredible. They got Chet Holmgren back and they're playing him with Hartenstein and they got Caruso and obviously they have Shea and Lou Dort and all these other guys. J Dub, who is a first time all star.
Is it OKC's year or do we think they still have some time to develop because they've got the first round picks to use. So what's the opinion on okc?
[00:37:45] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:37:47] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:37:47] Speaker C: I mean most ignored team, not gonna lie.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: Yeah, not yet.
Not yet. I think Chase mvp, it'll be him or, or Jokic, they'll probably play really late in the year and like the winner of that game will just be the mvp.
[00:38:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:05] Speaker B: Like on prime time. But I think it could be Shay and I would say he's probably the betting favorite right now. I'm not sure if he is or not, but I would guess that he is. OKC is really good. They win at home better than, you know, like any team in the NBA. And yeah, Shay Gills just Alexander is having an insane year like you said. I was watching them the other night with Chet back. Chet brings a lot to the table.
[00:38:33] Speaker A: The ability to stretch the floor, as somebody who can play at a defensive player of the year level is just.
[00:38:37] Speaker B: Incredible art and signs getting back to full form. Same with Caruso. They have a depth, too. I just don't think it's their year yet. They. They've got to get used to the playoffs. I mean, this is a core that hasn't even been to the WCF yet, you know?
[00:38:49] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's true. And I saw them.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: Or did they.
Were they in the WCF last year?
[00:38:55] Speaker A: No.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Minnesota.
[00:38:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:57] Speaker B: So. No, they didn't. Yeah, they were. They still went out in the semis last year as a 1 seed, so they still have to. I mean, they still have to prove that they can seriously win in the playoffs.
[00:39:07] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I saw them playing Holmgren next to Hartenstein in a game the other day. And when you combine Hartenstein's ability to pass as a big man with everything Chet Holmgren brings to the table, it's really a new layer of offense.
[00:39:19] Speaker B: Check can also create.
[00:39:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: Which is insane for 7:1.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: He has a bag in the post.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: I mean, he's. He's an actual ball handler, you know, like you're saying, like, in the post. He's really creative.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: Yeah. It's crazy how good OKC is, but again, they're still really young. Not a ton of vets on the team, and.
Yeah. I mean, you put them against an experienced team like Boston in the finals, it would definitely be an interesting matchup. But it's hard not to pick Boston.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: Yeah. If I had to guess how this year is going to. How these playoffs are going to go right now, I would say the OKC is going to be like this year's Mavericks. And I. I feel like you can't just make the jump from not really winning. Serious. Not having a deep playoff run, all the way to winning a championship in one year. I mean, you saw it in, like, 2022 with Bo.
You got to go through some struggles first. And I think OKC makes finals this year, loses Boston in five or six.
If I had to guess how the rest of the season is going to pan out.
[00:40:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I can for sure see that. And I mean, there's. There's just so many teams that can come out.
[00:40:21] Speaker B: Okc, Los Angeles, second round. Ooh, that would be. Or the Lakers, I should say. No, Los Angeles, but yeah, that could be pretty crazy Series.
[00:40:30] Speaker A: Luca Shea in the playoffs, LeBron. Okay, I like that. Just a couple more teams that I wanted to talk about before we go ahead and call it a wrap. On this awesome, awesome episode.
Let's start with the Knicks. So the New York Knicks are the third seed, I believe, in the Eastern Conference. And do we think they're. They got obviously got just destroyed by Cleveland the other night. I'm seeing some Knicks fans kind of starting to hate a little bit on Karl Anthony Towns and what he's doing to the offense. I'm not sure, but I've seen a lot of hate towards Thibodeau and how long he's playing his players like they were getting blown out the other night and with like two minutes to go down 30, they still had Brunson and Cat in the game. So do we think that comes back to haunt the New York Knips? New York Knicks? With Thibodeau's coaching style, how do we feel about the Knicks?
[00:41:27] Speaker B: I think people are being a little too harsh on Cat. He brings another scoring outlet for them because Mikal Bridges is not stepping up into the role that people thought he was going to step up into at all. And OG Anunoby is also a little timid at times and avoids and avoids taking the amount of shots that he should be taking.
But that being said, I think Tib of those style works well for them. The players themselves seem to like Tibbs, but one thing he needs to utilize this year that he didn't last year is their depth. They do have actual depth pieces just like they did last year and were that went underutilized like Bogdanovich this year. Like, they need to play Miles McBride. They need to play precious Achua come playoff time. There's. There's guys on that team that are deserving of playoff minutes and it's going to be a matter of if they reach down into the bench to play.
[00:42:15] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's weird how during the regular season there are. They play these, these bench guys and they play so well, they keep them in games. Like I remember seeing a game last year with Miles McBride drilled like seven threes in a game.
[00:42:27] Speaker B: Campagne and Landry Sham, those are other two other guys that played really well yesterday against Boston.
And if you know they played well against Boston, surely those guys have to see some sort of minutes come playoff time if there's injuries, especially as there were last year.
[00:42:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Because obviously they love Thibodeau as a coach. But I do feel like these minutes come playoff time are going to hurt them just because they're playing BRUNSON for like 42 minutes or Josh Hart are 43, five. Yeah, Josh Hart plays more than anybody. And then they're playing cat for like 38. So I just feel like when you play a fast paced team, it's just going to really hurt the New York Knicks. So it'll be interesting to see how they shape up come playoff time because obviously New York's going to be rowdy and should be some fun contests now, I think. Okay, one more team I want to talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Obviously they pulled that huge trade in the offseason, trading away Karl Anthony Towns, getting Julius Randle and Dante DiVincenzo in exchange. How do we feel?
They've also been a little bit underwhelming, losing a little more games than some people thought they would. They have been dealing with injuries, though. So how do we feel about Minnesota? Is this year a wash? Do you just wait till next year and where do they go from here?
[00:43:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's a wash. I think you kind of just blow up the whole roster. Besides Nas Reed and Anthony Edwards.
[00:43:54] Speaker A: Honestly, keep Rob Dillingham.
[00:43:56] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I don't like him and Shannon. Yeah. But everybody else. You can get a lot of value from everybody else. Except for Rudy Gobert probably.
[00:44:03] Speaker A: Yeah, Rudy Gobert probably not worth a bag of chips anymore. But I mean, they're still running guys like Mike Conley, who's getting older.
[00:44:09] Speaker C: Horrible.
[00:44:10] Speaker A: Yeah, he's been.
[00:44:10] Speaker C: He might be the worst point guard in the NBA. Starting point.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: Really. Really playing that bad this year.
[00:44:14] Speaker C: He's so annoying to watch.
[00:44:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:16] Speaker A: How is Dylan camping?
[00:44:17] Speaker C: He didn't play. They played here in training one and.
[00:44:22] Speaker B: Yeah, Jay, I was gonna say.
[00:44:23] Speaker A: Yeah, he played last night. He was. He might have started. Yeah, yeah, he started last night. And I mean, they're playing their younger guys. Kudos to them. But I mean, with these injuries. Was Julius playing well before. Before he went down for a game.
[00:44:36] Speaker C: But it was just Julius Randle.
[00:44:38] Speaker B: It was shot shock. Yeah.
[00:44:39] Speaker C: 36%.
[00:44:40] Speaker B: What's the. What's the issue?
Like what's. What's the main problem with the team? You think that needs to be addressed?
[00:44:46] Speaker C: Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert.
[00:44:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:48] Speaker C: Just taking up too much money. And then Mike Conley's just not starting caliber or probably shouldn't be in the NBA anymore. And then Rudy Gobert is just nothing offensively and you can't have that. He's not quite starts right now.
[00:44:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Rudy's not dependable anymore.
Do you think any of this falls on Anthony Edwards? Like, he's playing.
[00:45:05] Speaker C: He's averaging 28 points per game.
[00:45:07] Speaker A: Yeah. He's shooting at best shooter in the NBA, I was going to say, because I was watching the other night against okc and he was shooting them at a clip. I mean, he just. I'm pretty sure he shot like 11 shots in the first quarter.
[00:45:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:20] Speaker A: And so he's unloading them and I don't know, they're just not winning games because I feel like he's not getting the help. He definitely needs somebody else with him to take away some of those shots. And not in like a shot chucking way like Julius Randle, but somebody who's a legitimate scorer that can play next to him. Like.
[00:45:36] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I watched the game against the Rockets this weekend, and that's exactly what they were missing. Like, the game came and went with Anthony Edwards. Like, if Anthony Edwards was on fire, they were chipping into the lead, coming back, maybe even taking the lead. And if Anthony Edwards missed a few shots in a row, then it was like, oh, boom. Rockets are up 7.
[00:45:56] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I mean, just like that. I mean, the Rockets are another team that we could talk about because they have been. I mean, they didn't play too great last year, but another team, much like Detroit, who really flipped it around. And people really saw it with Houston. They had the young guys and they're doing what we thought they would. And then another team like Phoenix, like, what are they up to? They're losing a lot more games than they need to be. What does Kevin Durant's future look like?
Is he a free agent after this year?
[00:46:27] Speaker C: No.
[00:46:28] Speaker A: No, I don't think so. Geez. So not sure where Phoenix goes, but a lot of stuff going on in basketball, a lot of great NBA stuff, and a great first episode back for the Full Court Press Podcast. Okay, that's all we got for you guys this week on the Full Court Press Podcast. Tune into our Instagram cppodcastua. See y'all next week. Peace.
Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
