0:01

Welcome back to another episode

0:03

of Open Floor. I am joined

0:05

today by Sports

0:08

Sports Illustrated senior writer. He

0:10

is no longer the NBA media's

0:13

most eligible bachelor. Please

0:15

welcome Chris Mannix to

0:17

the show. Mannix, how's it going. It is

0:20

nice to be back on

0:23

the platform that I built

0:25

as the as the founder

0:28

of Open Floor

0:31

many many years ago. It

0:33

is nice to be back. Um,

0:37

you know, it's like coming home to roost.

0:40

Right. No, I was gonna I was

0:42

gonna say it was your Open Floor debut, but then I fact

0:44

checked myself and realized that was

0:46

incorrect. Chris, you have

0:49

many jobs, and the one that I'm

0:51

most jealous of is that you get to do

0:53

for to zone, like in ring interviews

0:56

after a big fight. That's

0:58

like that was for years

1:00

I wanted that job, just to interview boxers

1:02

right after a fight. I think it's thrilling. What's

1:05

the craziest thing that's ever happened to you in the

1:07

ring after a fight? Probably

1:10

it was several years ago and Tyson

1:12

Fury, who is the

1:15

heavyweight champion, he was in

1:17

New York to face Steve Cunningham. And

1:21

you know, Fury won that fight by knockout

1:23

and you know, in the post fight interview,

1:26

he wrestled the microphone

1:29

away from me and started singing

1:31

like some Aerosmith song to

1:33

the to the Madison Square Garden

1:35

crowd, which you know is goofy

1:38

enough in and of itself. But the

1:41

bigger problem was that was a fight that

1:43

was airing on main network NBC and

1:46

they've got heart outs. So like

1:49

I am kind of I

1:51

wouldn't say trying to get the mic back,

1:53

but I'm sort of looking at his handlers being

1:56

like, hey, can we

1:58

can we get this from him? And they're looking at me

2:00

like what do you want us to do? Is six nine pounds?

2:02

Like there's there's no getting the microphone

2:05

away from So I remember

2:07

getting a phone call from Sam Flood,

2:10

who runs NBC Sports still to

2:12

this day, Um, you know a great

2:14

guy, and he says he

2:16

said to me, Chris, treat the

2:18

microphone like you would treat your child,

2:21

and uh, I've always remembered that, and to this day,

2:23

no one has been able to pull

2:26

the microphone away from me since, yeah,

2:29

I also would not be trying

2:31

to get into a fight with Tyson Fury back to that

2:33

microphone. I just have to ask for all

2:35

my love Island fans out there,

2:37

Are we going to get the Tommy Fury? Is

2:40

it Jake Paul or Logan Paul? Which is which one

2:42

of them is the boxer? Are you gonna get that fight

2:45

Jake Paul Tommy Fury seems very likely

2:47

for the end of February. Tommy

2:50

is is a little unpredictable.

2:52

He's backed out twice of Jake Paul

2:54

fights. But this is a fight

2:57

that's either gonna take place in the Middle East

2:59

or in the UK. Um

3:02

So, I think it's it's probably

3:04

eighty five percent that we get Tommy

3:06

Bury versus Jake Paul the next couple of months. All

3:09

Right, there we go. I appreciate it, and uh

3:11

open floor flans fans, please

3:13

be prepared for the return of the

3:15

Love Island minute. The season's already

3:17

going on in the UK, should be hitting the US

3:20

pretty soon. But Chris, we got a lot of basketball

3:22

things to get to today.

3:25

I want to touch on some of the big things that

3:27

happened in the NBA on a pretty

3:29

action packed Wednesday night of basketball.

3:31

I gotta say it was a lot of fun watching

3:34

all these games. I want to start

3:36

with kind of the two rivalry matchups we got

3:38

rivalry week going on, and

3:41

we'll start with net Sixers. This

3:43

was a really good game, even without Kevin Durant.

3:45

A lot of fun it was. There

3:47

was one stretch where Ben Simmons

3:50

it was genuine the most aggressive offense

3:52

I've seen him play in literally years,

3:55

four or five drives to the hoop on four

3:57

or five possessions in a row, attacking mantras.

4:00

Harold, I couldn't believe what I was watching. Um,

4:02

the Sixers end up winning this game. Simmons

4:05

does not play the last kind of six minutes of

4:07

the fourth quarter. You can still see some of the

4:09

issues of them playing him and Nick Claxton together,

4:12

and Claxton has been fantastic this season. It

4:14

was a good win for Philly, And

4:17

you know, I don't want to read too much into one regular season

4:20

game, but I did think it was interesting because we've got

4:22

the microcosm of the whole Simmons experience

4:24

a little passive in in the first half.

4:26

You see this back and forth with them bead which

4:28

seems to wake him up a little bit, but then he doesn't play

4:30

the fourth. You

4:33

know, the trade deadlines coming up. I don't think there's

4:35

really any buzz around Simmons. But

4:37

what do you kind of think the nets long

4:39

term plan with him should be, because I

4:41

think we've seen glimpses of him be that

4:44

distributor defender, aggressive guy this

4:46

season and other stretches

4:48

where he's just not doing anything. What do you kind of think

4:50

their long term plan is right? Well, you'd

4:52

like to them to be able to bottle

4:54

what happened in the third quarter UM

4:56

on Wednesday night. I mean, he

4:59

came out of the locker and halftime and looked like the

5:01

Ben Simmons we saw two or three years ago and not

5:03

the kind of broken version we've seen

5:05

over the last couple of years. I don't think that's possible.

5:07

I don't think you can. And that's in Jack von knew it. That's

5:09

why I didn't play Simmons down the stretch

5:11

in the fourth quarter, because, as you alluded to

5:14

you, you simply can't play Claxton

5:16

and Simmons together in crunch time minutes. Uh.

5:18

They're both non free throw shooters, they're both non

5:21

scores. Though Claxton has has kind

5:23

of become what the Nets hoped Simmons

5:25

would be in terms of going to the basket and scoring

5:28

at the rim. Um, but it's it's

5:30

pretty untenable to play them together, uh

5:33

down the stretch. I don't I don't think their long term

5:35

plan is to move him. I

5:37

just think they're gonna try to keep, you

5:39

know, incrementally trying to revive him. Um.

5:41

You know, maybe it doesn't happen this year. It is his

5:43

first full year back, um,

5:46

you know, coming off that injury and all the issues he had in

5:48

Philadelphia. But I

5:50

think they'll give it, you know, a couple of years to see

5:52

if you know, a full off season, maybe with

5:54

a new shooting coach, you know, more confidence

5:56

that gets him back to being the Ben Simmons

5:59

of old. I mean, it really told me a few years ago

6:01

that he was an all NBA talent, you know, you

6:03

considered, you know, one of the top defensive players

6:06

in the NBA. He's still his mid twenties.

6:08

Like that player is still there. Um,

6:10

and I think the Nets are gonna be My understanding

6:12

is the Net's gonna be as patient as they

6:14

possibly can to to try to bring

6:16

that out of him, be it this year or in the years

6:19

to come. Yeah, it's very interesting,

6:21

and I do wonder how much of that has to

6:23

do with the fact that he was involved

6:25

in such a high profile trade. He's

6:28

not someone that you can just very easily

6:30

move on from and move him for a couple

6:33

of role players. Because of the significance

6:35

of that hard and trade for the franchise and

6:38

kind of how charged that time was for the team

6:40

emotionally, I think that if

6:42

there's a big positive to take away from that game

6:44

for Brooklyn is you know, it's the first time Simmons

6:46

and Embide were going at each other. And they were going

6:49

at each other, I mean Simmons, they were switching

6:52

hard and Embid picking rolls. Classon was picking

6:54

up Hart and Simmons was switching on to Embiide. I

6:56

thought he held his own multiple times against

6:58

him Bid and em beat.

7:00

He's not afraid to talk, he's not afraid to get

7:02

physical. And I thought the fact that Simmons responded

7:05

to that, even though again there were times

7:07

he'd catch the ball on the paint not even look at the hoop,

7:11

that seemed to wake him up a little bit as

7:13

opposed to, you know, push him into

7:15

a corner, which again I'm not gonna

7:17

sit here in play psychologists, but we've seen him

7:20

multiple occasions this here, I don't know if

7:22

checkout is the right phrase, but just kind of be

7:24

so passive. And I think the fact that the

7:27

rivalry or whatever it was with Embid

7:29

kind of woke him up a little bit was really

7:31

promising to me. Um,

7:35

And you, like you said, can they bottle it? I'm not

7:37

sure it's interesting to me that you said, they're gonna take

7:39

their time with this, if only because you

7:43

know, the Katie thing

7:45

worked itself out over the summer, there

7:47

was never going to be a realistic trade for them.

7:50

But if I'm Sean Marks, especially

7:52

considering the relationship with

7:54

Durant, how many things seemed to pop

7:56

up in Brooklyn, I

7:59

don't know it I'd be willing to be as patient

8:01

as he is, Um,

8:04

especially because with Durant

8:06

this year, they look every bit

8:08

as a championship contender. I think, you

8:11

know, Boston is separated itself itself, but

8:13

I think outside of Boston there's no clear

8:15

cut number two, and I think Brooklyn can certainly

8:17

be that team when Durant is healthy.

8:20

That doesn't it surprise

8:22

what doesn't it surprise you a bit that they're willing to

8:24

be patient. I mean, if you think they could mean only

8:27

because what are they gonna do, Like there's no market

8:29

for him right now, Like he's a non shooting

8:31

guy on a max contract, Like it's

8:34

I don't know who's lining up to go and

8:36

get him. I mean the kind of team that

8:38

you know Ben Simmons would need to go to. I mean like

8:40

Golden State. You know, I guess kind of jumps

8:43

to mind because of all the shooters they have out there.

8:45

But you know, you'd you'd not

8:47

be just taking on Ben Simmons and his contract,

8:49

You'd be taking on whatever kind of baggage he

8:51

has going on right now.

8:53

It's preventing him from getting back to that

8:56

level if he was playing at an all NBA

8:58

level and the Nets decided,

9:01

look we can't we like Claxton a lot, we can't

9:03

play them together. Let's try to get a dollar for dollar

9:05

value back in return that I could

9:07

understand. But there isn't a market for it right now. I

9:10

don't know where you would trade him that

9:12

you would get anything of value back right now.

9:14

It's just not it's just not on the table

9:17

at the moment. Where do you

9:19

land on Joel embiid suck it celebration?

9:21

Are you pro against nonplussed?

9:25

I mean, it's I feel the same way about that

9:27

as I do like the

9:29

critics of Steph Steph

9:31

Carry getting ejected the other night for throwing his mouthpiece,

9:34

Like the NBA lays it out

9:36

pretty clear that you know, Joel Embiid,

9:38

you're gonna get fined for doing that, just like the

9:40

Sam the Sam Cassell, you know Pat

9:43

Dance, like, you know they you're

9:45

gonna you can't do that. You're gonna get dinged pretty significantly

9:48

for that same thing with Steph Cary, Like you know what

9:50

did I read Steph Carry's three ejections

9:52

have been related to piece, Like

9:55

by now at this point we can call it goofy

9:57

and he certainly wasn't throwing it at the referee. But it's

10:00

you know, the NBA officials

10:03

like they give like seminars on this stuff,

10:05

Like they tell players, you know, pretty

10:07

clear you can't throw things into the crowd, like

10:09

because you know what happens

10:12

if it's not a mouthpiece and somebody gets hit.

10:14

Like I'm not trying to be a wet blanket here, but

10:16

it's like you should know better

10:18

stop doing that and Ambid you

10:20

know, I look, I was a d X fan growing up

10:22

to I know

10:24

what he was doing, but like he's gonna get ding for that

10:27

as well, because the NBA is not uh

10:30

not looking, we'll not look favorably on

10:32

guys that are directing people

10:34

to their crotch area during celebrations.

10:37

I just want to say, I love it. I love that he's willing

10:39

to eat the fine. Um.

10:41

I think it's very funny. I also a big d X

10:44

fan growing up. I'm glad someone

10:46

scaring on the legacy. Um.

10:49

We again, I keep mentioning this every week, and I

10:51

know that you're a loyal listener to the podcast, Chris,

10:53

But we don't talk about the Sixers enough and we're

10:55

not gonna get too deep into them I think today.

10:57

But they've had a crazy ten

11:00

day stretch of West Coast trip.

11:03

They got a bunch of big wins. They get this one against the

11:05

Nets. They're starting to look like the

11:08

team we all thought they could be after the hard

11:10

and trade. Um

11:12

do you think the You

11:16

know, the Celtics have Al Horford, who's

11:18

probably I think the best defender

11:21

of Joel embiad in the NBA. UM,

11:23

at least considering he's

11:26

the best guy who can defend embad and also not

11:28

kill you offensively, Like, it's very hard to

11:30

find the players who you can put on and be that

11:33

also were not just ruining your offense

11:35

because you need bulk down. Alford Alpert is

11:37

so good at defending m BID that the Sixers

11:39

gave him a four year deal not to defend Embead

11:42

anymore. Right, but do

11:44

you think do

11:47

you think Boston? I don't

11:49

think Boston is afraid of anyone, But who do you

11:51

think Boston sees? Is? Maybe their biggest competition

11:53

in the East, Probably Milwaukee still,

11:56

you know, because the memory of last

11:58

year's Conference semifinals is still fresh.

12:00

No Chris Middleton that series, they still needed

12:03

a miraculous Tatum performance in

12:05

Game six and a winning Game seven to

12:07

advance, So they know how tough the Bucks

12:09

are. The box of the same team. You know, if Middleton,

12:12

who's now finally back on the floor,

12:14

if you can stay there, they're probably

12:16

the most formidable opponent. I mean, the Sixers are

12:18

tough. But to your point, um,

12:21

you know, the Celtics have Horford, they have

12:24

Robert Williams. Uh, they

12:26

still have Luke Cornett,

12:28

who I constantly want to call Tyler Zeller Like

12:31

they've got you know, they've got some depth there.

12:33

They're still on the lookout too, before the deadline for one

12:35

more body, presumably because of

12:37

the big teams are gonna have to face in the postseason,

12:39

so they could add somebody else to that

12:41

mix. So and you look

12:43

at the backcourt too, I mean, MAXI hardened,

12:46

they're great. But the Celtics they've got Marcus

12:48

Smart, They've got Charlon Brown, They've got Derek

12:50

White. They have got defenders that they

12:52

can throw at these guys. So I

12:55

don't think Philadelphia makes them as nervous as

12:57

maybe Milwaukee does, because it was Milwaukee

13:00

without Chris Middleton that had them on the

13:02

break of elimination um

13:04

on the road in Game six, and and that

13:06

that is still something in their brains. Yeah.

13:09

I'n also be really interested to see

13:11

how Philly tries to guard

13:13

a team like Boston in the

13:15

playoffs with all the depth they have on the

13:17

wing, especially if they play brogged

13:20

In Tatum Brown together. I think

13:22

it's gonna be very difficult for a team

13:24

like Philly. Let's get into the

13:26

second big National game from last night. You alluded

13:28

to this. The Warriors and Grizzlies, Man, they

13:31

just play really entertaining games, and somehow

13:33

there's this discourse. Is it a rivalry? Is it

13:35

not a rivalry? It's a rivalry. Okay, this team's

13:38

clearly don't like each other. They get up

13:40

for playing each other. That that should be all

13:42

it takes. Like we don't need to get into this. But

13:45

the playoffs and ship blah blah blah. No, no

13:47

no, no, the teams don't like each other, the fans don't

13:49

like each other. The games are very fun.

13:51

Another really good one last night,

13:54

steph Curry, is you alluded to getting objected late?

13:56

So mad at Jordan's Pool for taking an

13:58

ill advice three ner that he throws his mouth

14:01

guard um, really encompassing

14:03

the Jordan Pool experience. Pool later hits

14:05

the game winner on a nice batcut on

14:08

Zia Williams with a two

14:10

seconds to go. Really nice

14:12

play by him. The Warriors get to win this

14:14

coming after they also beat Memphis on Christmas

14:17

Day in Golden State. That game obviously without

14:20

Steph Um.

14:22

You know, the Grizzlies were really hot. They

14:24

think they've now lost a couple in a row. Uh,

14:27

they were really hot after that Christmas Day game.

14:30

They finally had an extended stretch of

14:32

good health. Here you know, they rest guys

14:34

here and there, whatever. But Jaren Jackson

14:36

filed out last night. He's been healthy, bay in his

14:38

back, although I think still working his way into form a

14:40

bit. There was a play last night

14:43

late in the fourth. I don't know how you feel about

14:45

Dylan Brooks. I generally really like him,

14:47

even though he's just so chaotic. But Jaw

14:49

gets a double, kicks it out to Brooks. He takes

14:51

a three that you really don't want him to take. Golden

14:54

State ends up winning this game by two. I'm

14:57

curious if the playoffs started right now,

14:59

the grizz these would be the two seed. Um.

15:04

Would you pick the Grizzlies in a playoff series over the Warriors?

15:08

Um? And I think the Warriors are still a mess,

15:10

you know, and I think they need

15:13

and we've talked about this on the crossover. I

15:15

think they know they need, um,

15:17

another body. They've got to get somebody for that

15:20

bench. Um. You know, I'm

15:22

all for the Jonathan cominga

15:24

can solve all probably you know idea,

15:27

but that feels at two pie in the sky for

15:29

me. So they need one more body there. But the Grizzlies look

15:33

last night kind of encapsulated and

15:36

even they look, they lost on a miracle

15:38

shot at the end. Um.

15:40

I'm not a miracle shot per se, but like a last minute

15:43

shot. Lost by two points, so it was close,

15:45

um. But last night sort of highlighted

15:47

some of their problems. The Grips of the number one defensive

15:49

team in the NBA, but they are

15:52

middle of the pack at defending

15:54

the three. And if you look at

15:56

the numbers, the Warriors shot

15:58

what of three point ranks.

16:00

They also don't shoot the three particularly well in this

16:02

game, they shott rather

16:05

from three point range. There are also a team

16:08

that and I think the numbers still reflect this. I was

16:10

looking it up last week. They

16:12

they don't play in the half court very much. They're

16:14

a transition team and get up and down and look, that's

16:17

great in the regular season, but you've

16:19

got to be an efficient half court team in the

16:21

playoffs to win the highest level, and

16:23

the Warriors know how to do that. The Grizzlies

16:26

have not proven they can do that yet.

16:28

So I'm not trying to to

16:30

clown the Grizzlies here, but they they've got a couple

16:32

of a couple of holes that

16:35

I think need to be addressed.

16:37

And I don't think you need to make a deal necessarily

16:39

to address that. But you've got to clean some of that up. You've got

16:41

to become a more efficient three point shooting

16:44

team. You've got to defend the three point shot better,

16:46

and you've got to prove you can be

16:48

efficient in the half court. These are just kind

16:50

of unknowns about Memphis against

16:53

Golden sat and everybody else, really, because

16:55

everybody kind of looks at that one number

16:57

defense efficiency number one in the NBA, and I's

17:00

great Jaren Jackson one of the best defensive

17:02

players in this league. But you know,

17:04

more often than not, you either have to be a

17:06

great three point shooting team or you gotta defend

17:08

the three pointer really well. And the Growths

17:11

have been kind of middle of the pack at that at both

17:13

those areas all season long. Yeah,

17:16

Memphis is obviously fantastic

17:18

on defense, but they're not the kind of runaway

17:21

defensive jugg or not that I think

17:23

you need to be to have their

17:25

kind of offense. And six Boston last

17:27

year, Boston was exactly juggernaut

17:30

defensive. Boston in the second half of last season

17:32

was like one of the best teams we've seen stor

17:34

century. Yeah, it was, yeah,

17:38

kind of shocking in some ways, like

17:40

that teams were able to push them in the playoffs and they didn't win

17:43

the finals. I mean, obviously they had some injury stuff, but

17:45

they were dominant Memphis.

17:48

I do think they need to make a move, like you look

17:50

at I'm just looking at their their top six guys

17:53

in minutes right now, Moran, Baine, Brooks,

17:55

Adams, Triple j Ties Jones. Love

17:58

that top six in a playoff series. Trust those

18:00

guys, Tye Jones, He's

18:02

not gonna get six men buzz. Maybe he should,

18:05

He's fantastic. But then you start

18:07

to look at conchar Al

18:09

Dama, Zia Williams, Roddy

18:13

Larivia, Larivia, like who

18:16

is going to be there? Seven

18:18

eight guy in a playoff series where

18:21

it is going to matter to some extent. You

18:23

know who those guys are, and

18:26

I just don't know that I trust any of them. You

18:28

mentioned their their three point shooting can be mediocre.

18:30

There's some nights where they have like three

18:34

point stat lines it's like five of seventeen

18:36

and it's like what happened here? Like what

18:39

basketball are they playing? And you know, to their

18:41

credit, they have jab who's so good at getting to the

18:43

rim. They get out

18:45

in transition. They're really good at that. But

18:49

it worries me a little bit, like you lose a guy

18:51

even just like Kyle Anderson, who's a steady

18:53

vet who has playoff experience, Like is

18:56

Contra are gonna play in a playoff series?

18:59

Are we are we? Like? Are we rolling with Contar?

19:01

He's not a bad player, but are we trusting him? Are

19:03

we trusting all Dama? There in that Christmas

19:06

Day game, Aldama was just getting

19:09

bullied by Draymond Green and

19:11

this guy like Draymond

19:14

could have like beaten him with a club. And

19:16

I don't think Aldama was getting a foul call.

19:19

That was on Christmas. What do you think is gonna happen in the

19:21

playoffs when revs are swallowing the whistles?

19:24

I'm a little worried about. I

19:26

mean, they have such an enviable top five,

19:28

top four, Steven Adams has been so good

19:30

for them, But I'm

19:33

just a little worried about some of these role players in a playoff

19:35

series. No, I think that's fair. Um.

19:38

In as I'm making my kind

19:40

of list of tiers of teams

19:42

that need to be aggressive by a deal,

19:44

Memphis in that top tier. UM,

19:47

because you look at the Western

19:49

Conference and it's open. I mean,

19:51

the the number one seed like two months ago

19:53

was Utah, Like a month before that was

19:55

the Pelicans. Now you're looking at you know,

19:57

Memphis and and all the teams that are

20:00

around them. Denver currently sitting at

20:02

the top. You know, the field's open

20:04

right now. And if you're the Grizzlies,

20:07

you don't want to be one role player short

20:09

of getting to the finals like that would be a disaster.

20:11

That's why they you know, they're a team that internally

20:15

they don't like to do anything. They just want to grow internally,

20:19

keep their draft picks. I understand why

20:21

they hit on these draft picks. You know,

20:23

Desmond Bane was an excellent pick. I think Ziah

20:25

Williamson is going to pan out like

20:27

all these guys. You know a lot of these guys

20:30

can play. So But if

20:32

you're Memphis and you've got your

20:34

own stock pile of draft picks, I think they

20:36

still have an extra pick the Warriors picked from

20:38

was the Iguadala trade from a couple of years ago. I

20:40

think you've still got one of those. If

20:42

you've got a cash of picks and you've

20:44

got some semi interesting

20:47

young players. Why aren't you calling Danny Ainge in

20:49

Utah and seeing if you can extract Jordan Clarkson

20:51

or Malik Beasley or one of these shooters

20:54

that I was talking about, someone that can be the eighth

20:56

man in that rotation and be

20:58

a presence from the outside. That just makes sense,

21:01

Like you know, but I mean, I get it. Dealing with Danny Ainge is

21:03

like going to the dentist without novacaine. But

21:05

like you've you've still got a You've

21:07

still got to try and pull one of those guys

21:10

out of there. Maybe you do call Detroit and say,

21:12

what's it gonna take to get boy On Bogdanovitch out

21:14

of there? Maybe you do call Dallas and see

21:16

and say you give up a first round pick to get Christian Wood

21:19

out of there. I mean, like, I think

21:21

sitting on their hands would be a mistake. I really

21:23

do, because this is a team that with one

21:25

more player can at the least

21:28

at least get to the finals. And once you get

21:30

there, who knows, you know, who knows what can happen,

21:32

who knows what the matchup ultimately looks

21:34

like. So they're they're they're a team. I think

21:36

that that is at least one to

21:38

watch and one I think should get aggressive in the next

21:41

couple of weeks. Now, this is maybe

21:43

me getting too hopeful or

21:45

too caught up in kind of the trade buzz,

21:47

but you mentioned it. This feels

21:49

like the most wide open title race we've had,

21:52

maybe and I don't even know how long,

21:55

the longest I can remember, the most kind of wide

21:57

open title chase we have. There

21:59

are a few teams that have all their picks. Phoenix

22:01

is one of them, Memphis is another

22:03

one. Should someone

22:06

just give up three first round picks

22:08

for O G and Obe? Like I

22:11

kind of think someone should. And

22:13

I know if it sounds crazy because he's not a Donovan

22:16

Mitchell type player. He's not a

22:18

rooty I mean whatever, we don't need to get into the collpart

22:20

trade again. But you know, he's not

22:22

a superstar, but he's

22:24

just such a high floor

22:26

player that is going to

22:28

help you so much in the playoffs. Like

22:31

if you traded again, I like

22:33

Dylan Brooks. This seems better with Dylan Brooks on the four.

22:35

If you traded some of these Dylan Brooks possessions for O G

22:37

and Aobe possessions, that could make a big

22:39

difference. From Memphis, like Phoenix could desperately

22:41

use someone like him. Is

22:44

it which is it stupid for a team to

22:46

pay that price or is it opportunistic

22:48

in a wide open season to say, let's just go get

22:50

this guy. I think about trades honestly,

22:53

like I think about movies, and in

22:55

the sense that you know they

22:57

say about making movies, it's not how much movie costs, how

22:59

much movie makes. So it's not how much

23:01

a trade cost. It's what a trade does for you.

23:03

And you know, if Memphis goes out,

23:06

for example, to bring them back into the discussion,

23:08

if they go out and they deal three first round picks to get o Giana

23:10

Nobi, adding that kind of three

23:12

and D type of player uh

23:14

to their mix, who is both young, under

23:17

contract for I think at least one more year,

23:19

and someone they could resign long

23:21

term. That might be worth the

23:24

price, especially when you're probably talking about

23:26

three picks that are gonna be in the twenties

23:28

for the foreseeable future. Um,

23:31

but you've got to be sure that he's the missing

23:33

link. And you've also got a call Toronto's

23:35

bluff a little bit. I mean, three first is

23:38

a big haul. It's like you said, it was that's what Donovan

23:40

Mitchell cost plus a player. Rudy

23:42

Gobert was four really five because Walker Kessler

23:45

is really freaking good and he missed the vote

23:47

on him. Um, I just you

23:49

know, I I don't think you should be worried if

23:51

you think Anobi is the guy, and

23:54

if you think for the next five to six years he

23:56

is going to be a staple of your rotation and

23:58

you're gonna be a really good team. I

24:00

wouldn't blink at the asking price. But if he's

24:02

not, Uh, that's

24:04

a steep price to pay for a guy

24:07

that's probably not ever going to be one

24:10

of your top two guys, definitely

24:12

maybe not one of your top three guys in

24:14

your rotation. I'm

24:17

very interested see what happens with him. Everyone's talking

24:19

about Toronto. It's not original thought, but man

24:21

oh man, there's so many seems that you just want to

24:23

parachute him in on and see how they look. Um.

24:25

I really kind of hope he gets

24:28

to go to a contender. Let's

24:30

talk about the Los Angeles Lakers.

24:33

Anthony Davis returns last night. I thought it was

24:35

a very smart move took ease him in in a

24:37

game against the San Antonio Spurs and he was

24:40

fantastic. I think he only played what twenty

24:42

four minutes, like twenty one points a bunch of

24:44

blocks. Um.

24:46

You know, I was working on that band at a bio story

24:49

earliest year, and periodically I like

24:51

to check, you know, which are the players doing

24:53

the best in the restricted area, non

24:55

paint, restricted area the paint. I

24:57

think Anthony Davis was shooting like seventy

24:59

eight point seven percent in the restricted area,

25:02

which is like even for the restricted

25:04

area, absurd, And so it was really nice to watch

25:06

him last night. You know, he took

25:08

one three I think at three was his first shot, but really

25:11

get back into the paint a ton. That's where he was

25:13

having a ton of success to

25:15

start the season and looking like m v

25:17

P A D again, just dominating

25:20

the rim on both ends of the floor. Were

25:22

you at the game? What did you What did you make of his return? I

25:24

was at the game. I thought he was excellent. He

25:26

moved well. Um, it

25:29

only took him merely a couple of minutes to

25:31

to kind of get his rhythm back after got to the

25:33

free throw line and that first shot went

25:35

in. I think he really got into it. He had two blocks into

25:37

the first quarter and and really got

25:39

got into the flow. So look,

25:42

I he's obviously a major difference

25:44

maker for that team. You can see the

25:46

way he energizes them definitely

25:49

defensively and even offensively. His ability

25:51

to kind of step out top of the key,

25:54

make shots, uh, get to the

25:56

basket, creates second chance opportunities,

25:58

the whole thing. And look, when you have him in the rotation,

26:01

you can bump Thomas Bryant down, you can

26:03

bump Ruby Hashimura the new guy uh

26:05

down like, so it's it's valuable

26:08

in that sense. My my, my concern,

26:10

as it will be every game, is

26:14

is that foot gonna hold up? And you saw, yeah

26:17

he went down the third quarter. I mean, Zach Collins

26:19

came up underneath them. Why Zach Collins was contesting

26:22

a you know, forty eight footer,

26:24

I don't really understand, but um,

26:27

Zach Collins came underneath him, and immediately

26:29

Anthony Davis grabbed his ankle. And

26:31

you know, it's kind of like a writer early phrase to say,

26:34

the entire arena gas, But I'm telling you,

26:36

the entire arena gasp. As Anthony Davis

26:39

lay on the floor and he didn't get up

26:41

right away. But he did get up. He

26:44

was fine. But this injury, like

26:47

it was an injury they couldn't really define for weeks.

26:49

It seemed like where like, what is it? There's

26:51

in another scan? How many doctors are gonna

26:53

look at it? There's a bone spur there, there's

26:56

a stress reaction there, Like there's a lot of

26:58

things that are scary when it comes two

27:00

big men and feet, which are generally

27:02

problematic when they get co mingled.

27:04

So I look, if

27:07

he's healthy, and I think Hashi Mora

27:09

is really good too, He's a nice fit for that team.

27:12

Uh they're a team that's that

27:14

that you have to keep your eye on. And the next you

27:16

know, a few months because healthy a d

27:18

healthy Lebron hatch him more a

27:20

part of the rotation. You know, if Westbrook

27:23

can limit his off the deep

27:25

end plays to you know tu per game

27:28

like they're they're gonna be dangerous in the playoffs, but

27:31

you know it's game by game with Anthony Davis,

27:33

he steps on somebody's foot wrong, you

27:36

know you're talking about some that may

27:38

require surgery. I mean surgery was discussed originally

27:40

for for this, uh, this foot

27:42

injury. So it sounds like it's happening

27:44

in the off season. No matter what he's even alluded to, We're gonna

27:46

have to get the scare the crap out of

27:48

it. If if you're like the Lakers and you're looking at

27:50

free agents, like you know, if he has I

27:53

mean, foot surgeries are like they're real,

27:55

Like, you know, there are major ones. Obviously

27:57

you don't want to hear list. Frank you know, that's the new

28:00

that's a new word in the basketball lexicon. That is

28:02

like the new micro fracture.

28:04

Yeah. Yeah, nobody wants to hear that anymore.

28:06

So. But yeah, I'm just there's

28:09

a long way to go in the regular season and

28:11

a lot of games be played, and I

28:14

you know, I would at the very least be deeply

28:16

concerned about Davis's ability to stay

28:18

out there on the floor. Yeah,

28:21

it's tough because that's it's

28:24

a little bit reductive, not even reductive, like

28:26

it's not fun to reduce the analysis

28:28

token he stay on the floor. But that really is

28:30

what it comes down to with a d and how good he is.

28:32

Yeah, we know how good he is when he plays.

28:35

Uh he I think looks the best

28:37

since he's left New Orleans

28:39

this season. Uh, that's how good

28:41

he was playing earlier this year. I

28:44

like what you said, like for them to have

28:46

a bench backcourt now that's Thomas

28:48

Bryant and Ruey Hotchi Burrows like legitimate

28:50

considering where they were to start the season. I think

28:52

Dennis Shrewder has been fantastic for the Lakers

28:54

the last couple of weeks. Like you know, they had that game

28:57

against Miami a couple of weeks ago where

28:59

they want without lab on An a d shooter was

29:01

fantastic in that game. Um,

29:03

he was making plays late in that Memphis game,

29:07

uh again last night. Like he's

29:09

just a very solid player for them,

29:11

and things are kind of settling into

29:13

focus. And that's even without Austin Reeves

29:15

and Lonnie Walker. I think Walker has been better for

29:17

them than even I expected this year.

29:19

So they're in position,

29:22

Like as much grief as we

29:24

give Lakers management, which they deserve

29:26

for not putting a team around

29:30

Lebron that can compete, to

29:32

see how close they are with a team like the Warriors,

29:34

for example, and their ownership

29:36

group, Like we had a story this week in the Athletic they're

29:39

not sure if Bob Myers is going to be back. And

29:41

now I'm looking at it, like, are

29:45

the Lakers relatively even that embarrassing

29:47

when you see what's going on with some of these other teams

29:49

like Golden State. So I'm

29:51

I'm pleasantly surprised with where the Lakers

29:53

have ended up at this point in the season. I

29:56

think, if Lebron and a d stay healthy

29:58

and they're one more move away, I don't think

30:00

things and I think I think

30:03

that move is coming to Like I think,

30:05

you know, this Hashi More deal foreshadowed at least

30:07

one more move because the Lakers, their

30:09

cap space next summer is now gone because

30:11

you don't, you know, whatever you think of second round picks, you

30:14

don't trade three of them to get a guy you're

30:16

not going to resign. And without Hashi

30:18

More, they're at thirty four million. That's close to

30:20

max cap space um with

30:22

him. You know, even if he's at ten

30:24

twelve million, he probably a little bit more. Uh,

30:27

you're gonna eat up half of that, and you're

30:29

talking about having only enough money to

30:31

get you know what Kelly Lennok

30:33

is worth these days, you know. So

30:36

you know, I think because of that reality,

30:39

I think you're gonna see the Lakers far more aggressive

30:41

in the next couple of weeks looking at some of the Utah

30:43

guys, looking at Boyon Bogdanovitch, maybe

30:45

there's somebody else out there that's available,

30:48

kind of waiving the white flag on the

30:50

idea that next summer they're going

30:52

to be able to go and get

30:54

a marquee free agent like Kyrie Irving

30:57

to come play in l A And look, that's

30:59

you know, who knows how that's gonna work out long term,

31:02

but short term, it's gonna make me more dangerous.

31:04

You put Boyam Bandanovitch on that team,

31:06

there are an even more dangerous offensive team. And you saw

31:08

Lebron last night. I mean, he's been on the scoring

31:10

binges of late, but when he's surrounded

31:13

by guys that can play like Hashima

31:15

and by Anthony Davis, he's passing

31:17

the ball he's given on leven assists in that game.

31:19

He's not looking to, you know, put up forty

31:22

when on on any given night. So you give

31:24

him another weapon, that seam is gonna be that much better

31:27

and it's gonna be interesting to see. I think

31:30

it also opens up, like you said, they

31:32

do decide to move for us and attach those restaurant

31:34

picks. The idea that they can take back longer

31:37

term. Salary really opens up the idea

31:39

for some of the moves they can make. And I wonder

31:41

if they'll try to get involved with someone like Van

31:44

Vleet or whoever it is. It could be really interesting.

31:47

I want to get to All Star, but I just want to ask real

31:49

quick. I really really enjoyed

31:51

those Nets Sixers games and the Warriors

31:53

Gizes games last night. Um,

31:56

it was a ton of fun. And we have like Nuggets

31:59

Sixers come up on Saturday, we have Laker

32:01

Celtics coming up. I'm

32:03

already willing to call Rivalry Week a success.

32:06

If anything, maybe we need to make a bigger deal

32:08

out of it next year. I don't know, No,

32:11

you're out on it. Come on, Chris, Rivalry

32:14

Week is stupid. Just just schedule the game games

32:16

like stop trying to

32:18

make stop trying to give greater

32:21

meaning to meaningless regular season games.

32:23

In January February. Everybody knows

32:25

what the NBA needs to do. They need to cut down the

32:27

number of games. Everybody knows it, but

32:29

nobody is willing to do it, and nobody ever will

32:32

because the revenue takes a cut with

32:34

it, so they can keep putting

32:36

lipstick on a pig on these January February

32:38

games where you're doing rivalry

32:41

week when really that's what Christmas is for, right,

32:43

Like Christmas Day games are five games

32:46

you're talking about that stupid mid season tournament

32:48

that's gonna have no consequence whatsoever, and

32:51

and you're you're still dealing with, you know,

32:54

players being load managed

32:56

into the ground like it's it's crazy,

32:58

and and it's having a tangible

33:00

effects on the quality of these games.

33:02

I mean, look at just Wednesday night. You should

33:05

have had a matchup between two fer

33:07

two time m v p s in nicolea Yokich

33:10

and Ystad the Kumpo and Denver

33:12

was on the second of a back to back in that game.

33:15

Also, I just want to point out it was a New

33:17

Orleans to Milwaukee back to

33:19

back, which you almost never see,

33:22

and a shout out to all the Nuggets writers

33:24

who had to get from New Orleans to

33:27

Milwaukee, which does not have a lot

33:29

of direct flights. One of the strangest

33:31

back to backs I've ever seen.

33:33

I listen, I did love the games.

33:36

I'm the kind of person who still gets excited about regular

33:38

season matchups, and they were a lot of fun to watch. You

33:40

are right, you don't have to call it

33:42

rather like what what what? What

33:45

is that? Like this is a new rivalry

33:47

between the Grizzlies and the Warriors,

33:50

that's for sure. But to me,

33:52

you just do it on Christmas Day like there's nothing.

33:54

There's nothing the NBA can do, Like

33:57

they've done all they can do to

33:59

make the end of the season consequential

34:01

by putting the two play in games, flattening the

34:03

lottery odds. That was brilliant, That was

34:06

well done by Adam Silver, well done

34:08

by the players Union. That gave

34:11

meaning to what had been

34:14

just brutally bad games at

34:16

the end of March and into April. But

34:18

there is no solution to fixing

34:21

the problem of January February games, none

34:23

whatsoever. You are stuck with

34:25

games that people aren't going to watch at the level

34:27

you want them to be watching, and no

34:31

amount of college

34:33

slogans and you

34:36

know, mid season tournaments

34:38

for the Oscar Robertson

34:41

Award or whatever the hell you're gonna call it, like it's

34:43

just not gonna work. It's it's there's no solutioness

34:45

problem other than cutting games, and we all know they're

34:48

not going to do it. Basically, I'm

34:50

a mark for a good marketing scheme. That's

34:52

what happened. Uh, watching

34:54

the games anyway, they're not trying to get you there, trying to

34:56

get the casual fans.

34:59

I'll see my mom and dad cared about

35:01

it at all. See if they cared about rivalry. Week asked, how would

35:03

you think of NBA Rivo rude. I'll walk out the

35:05

front door and ask people the same thing. I

35:10

will say. I'm with you. It should

35:12

be a fifty eight game regular season.

35:15

That's too small. That too small. Seventy

35:17

two is fine, take ten away. You eliminate all

35:20

back to backs. So there really is no

35:22

excuse for load managing. Um.

35:24

And by the way you like look,

35:27

games are separated by time zones, of course, but how

35:29

many times we had two games on that

35:31

we wanted to watch, like lost, Like all

35:34

the time? It happens, um, So you space

35:36

is some of these games that you don't have ten at night

35:38

or twelve and night. Maybe you have seven or night eight or night.

35:41

You know, but they're not going to do it because nobody's giving any

35:43

money back. And I understand that it's it's it's money,

35:45

although I think it's get

35:48

go line. How many ynots. Do you want a jet ski behind

35:50

or whatever that was. I think the

35:53

money conversation too, is I think it's a short

35:55

term hit for a long term game, but no

35:57

one. No one wants to be the guy

35:59

take the short term hit, nobody for the league

36:01

ten years from now. We're recording this on a Thursday.

36:04

The All Star starters are going to be announced

36:06

tonight, and we each wrote you have an

36:08

actual ballot. I just have the fake one

36:10

that I get to pedal on Sports Illustrated

36:13

dot com. But we each made our All

36:15

Star picks. You did the Eastern Conference, I did

36:17

the Western Conference. I want

36:19

to run through um are All

36:21

Star picks and talk a little bit about some of the guys.

36:23

I think it was a robust All

36:25

Star field this year. There were some really

36:27

tough cuts. UM,

36:30

So why don't you go first?

36:32

Or I I have your story pulled up if

36:34

you want me to run down all your All

36:36

Star picks if you don't remember them, but you

36:40

know, there's definitely a couple I think interesting

36:44

decisions to be made about starters, who's

36:46

gonna be left out, etcetera. So

36:49

do you want me to run through your picks? Or you got them pulled

36:51

up, you can run through them. There. I'm all

36:53

right, there we go. I got all right. So in the

36:56

east front court, uh,

36:58

there's really are guys for three

37:00

spots. You have embed Durant and Tatum.

37:04

That means you're gonna you're bringing your honest off the bench.

37:06

And in the backcourt you have Donovan Mitchell and Jalen

37:08

Brown. So I guess I'll just throw

37:10

it to you. You know, I think Terris Halliburton

37:12

is a guy people looking at as a starter potentially.

37:15

Obviously, you Honest, we're

37:17

kind of the deciding factors for you putting your honest

37:19

and tires to the bench, elevating

37:21

guys like Jalen and I mean the front court

37:24

in the east was just an impossible decision to make. Yeah,

37:26

it was impossible. Um, look,

37:30

I I with the Honest.

37:34

He's having a monster

37:36

year statistically. Um,

37:39

the bucks are really good. One

37:42

of the things that stuck out to me when I

37:44

was looking over some of the numbers is

37:47

the Raptor ranking for Janice, which

37:49

is not the end all be all, but it's five eight kind

37:51

of value rankings

37:54

to to kind of boil it down. And you

37:56

had embiid Durant

37:59

and Tatum in the top

38:01

five and those Raptor rankings, Janice

38:04

was twenty six. He was behind Franz Wagner

38:06

in in that rankings. So if

38:09

you're looking for a differentiator, that

38:11

was probably it. As I said, I don't have

38:13

any issue with somebody that puts Janice on that

38:15

team. The guy's averaging more

38:17

than thirty points. He's averaging what

38:20

twelve rebounds second the NBA and rebounding

38:22

he's still one of the best defensive players in the

38:24

league. It's you know, you're you're

38:26

choosing from a bunch of gold bricks out

38:28

there. Um, So I don't have a problem

38:30

with it. But those Raptor rankings. You

38:33

know when I was going through kind of my numbers

38:35

that that stuck out to me. Um,

38:38

Haliburton Brown kind of the same thing. Like

38:42

Halle Burton is great. You know, he's the NBA

38:44

leading assist maker. Um,

38:47

He's he's changed

38:49

that entire chase, the tire dynamic

38:51

of Indiana. They're they're not tempo team now like

38:53

they were a crawl and up team

38:55

in the past. Now they're an up tempo team.

38:57

Um Brown, I guess

38:59

I've just seen a lot of Brown, and I've seen him

39:01

grow even more this year. You

39:03

know, his numbers are fantastic, his mid

39:06

range game is fantastic.

39:08

Um, he's three point shot the last couple

39:10

of years has not been what it

39:13

was I think two years ago, but it's still reasonably

39:15

consistent. He's still a very good defensive

39:17

player. I just gave him

39:19

a slight edge on my ballot for

39:22

for that reason. But again, no no qualms with some

39:24

of the votes, Haliper And the only obvious one

39:26

was Donovan Mitchell, Like you know, NOBO for Mitchell, You've

39:28

you've, you're should have vote.

39:32

Uh, it's funny about Jillen Brown. It's

39:34

because Boston is such a three

39:36

point shooting heavy team that you just kind of assume

39:39

he's a huge part of that attack. But you mentioned

39:41

the mid range, like he's dominant from that area. I

39:43

think he's one of the best in the NBA to five. Yeah,

39:46

maybe the best this year. I guess you. Duran's

39:48

always gonna be there, but and absurd

39:50

athlete, Like yeah, when it comes to get into the

39:53

rim finishing, he's as good as it gets. And

39:55

you know, like just when you look at some of the numbers when Tatum

39:57

goes out like Brown plays

39:59

like him like he puts up thirty plus. So

40:02

he's in a way,

40:04

um, subjugating himself way

40:07

too for the betterment of the team. And I think he deserves

40:09

some credit for that. To plus, the Celtics, the number

40:11

one team in the NBA and the number one team in

40:13

the NBA in my mind, deserves

40:15

to have a couple of guys on that team. I agree.

40:17

Um, I just love the edge Jalon

40:20

Brown plays with every night. Man, it feels like he really

40:22

is mean today because because

40:25

he credit like you know, Jalen has

40:27

been you know, irritated

40:29

with me for one reason the other

40:31

for the better part of like the last three years. Um,

40:33

you know, because he's a look, he's always in trade rumors

40:36

like and you know, if you're someone

40:38

like me that's on TV all the time and you're asked the

40:40

question, would you trade Jalen Brown

40:42

for Anthony Davis? You will sound like an idiot if

40:44

you don't say yes. I would same

40:47

thing as past summer, would you trade Jalen Brown

40:49

for uh Kevin Durant? Well,

40:51

quite frankly, I would you

40:54

know? Would I still I don't know, But

40:56

it's like Durant's diminished himself this year.

40:58

So like he he just winds

41:00

up in these trade rumors, and

41:03

you know, I can understand him

41:06

being bothered by it and bothered

41:08

by the people that um

41:10

that have are forced to discuss them

41:12

at at length. But it's

41:15

given him an edge, It's given him a chip, and

41:17

it's I think it's certainly been something

41:20

along with the loss in the finals, has driven him during

41:22

the course of this year. UM,

41:24

let's talk a little bit about some of the other picks. Obviously,

41:27

be honest on the bench. Bam Siakum,

41:30

you have your backcourt reserves. How about Jimmy

41:32

if I if I love bam Off, I almost love bam Off.

41:34

You would have like cried if I lived like you.

41:37

You're your Your Eastern carmage ballot is probably

41:39

Bam Tyler, hero In, Jimmy Butler, all

41:41

the starting lineup. Don't

41:43

forget Heywood high Smith

41:48

my wild card pick, Haywood hide Smith, your

41:51

backcourt reserves, Haliburton and Jimmy Butler,

41:53

your wild cards, Jalen Brunson

41:55

and Trey Young. Um,

41:58

did you give serious considering to Julius

42:00

Randall? I mean the numbers are there, Um,

42:03

I think some Knicks fans would say he's having a better

42:05

season than Bam. I I don't think I agree,

42:08

but um,

42:11

I mean Bam is still I think a top five defender

42:14

in the NBA, even if he's not getting the t p O I

42:16

buzz. This problem was like game is the problems

42:18

games at one point, right, like he had missed some games?

42:21

Yeah? Yeah, Like, but I think he's I think

42:23

I wrote this like he's up to the enough games where

42:25

it doesn't matter where it's not as consequential. But

42:28

who was kind of the toughest guy for you to leave out? And

42:30

I mean even Trey Young? You mentioned

42:32

this. The team has been disappointing, his

42:34

shooting has been disappointing. He's come along lately.

42:36

The numbers are there, Um who was

42:39

kind of the toughest cut for you in the East? I

42:41

think there were two. It was Julius Randall

42:43

and I really just went with, you know, one

42:46

of the Knicks and and Randall has had

42:48

a tremendous bounce back year. His numbers aren't

42:51

quite what they were two years ago, but they're

42:53

significantly better than last season.

42:55

He is a driving force for that team

42:57

offensively. But Jalen Brunson has come in there and

43:00

and a breath of fresh air. Like his numbers are

43:02

up as well, he's in the mid twenties. It's scoring,

43:04

he's playmaking, he's defending better than

43:06

he has I think in years past. And

43:09

I do think, you know, Randall's success

43:11

this year in part can be attribute

43:14

to the presence of Jalen Brunson. I think Jalen Brunson

43:16

being there and taking some of the load off

43:18

has you know, allowed Randall to do

43:20

some of the things that he's doing. So that was

43:22

a tough call. I knew I was gonna go with a nick in that

43:24

spot. I just went with the other nick

43:27

Um and not there. Uh for me,

43:29

he was Trey Younger Kyrie Um and

43:32

like, Trey young is so black

43:35

this year, like it's just uninspiring.

43:39

That team stinks, like, you

43:41

know, I don't know what the direction

43:43

is. But Trey

43:45

is still putting up numbers. He's still like hovering

43:47

in the neighbored of thirty points per game, and he's

43:50

still one of the most dangerous offensive players

43:52

in the league. So yeah, I I

43:54

I weighed that against Kyrie, who has been great

43:57

for for stretches, but he

43:59

did have that, you know, beginning of the season

44:01

that was dysfunctional. The Nets have

44:03

tailed off with Durant the

44:05

lineup, um, and that gave Trey

44:08

Young a slight edge. But neither one of those

44:10

guys is really inspiring choices

44:12

for that that proverbial final

44:15

final playoff spot, I was just choosing the guy

44:17

that was it was a little

44:19

bit more inspiring perhaps than in this at

44:21

the stage of the season. Yeah, I

44:23

don't have an issue with keeping Kyrie Irving

44:26

out of the All Star Game this year. I

44:28

mean, listen, he's

44:31

quote unquote stay out of trouble however

44:33

you want to describe it recently,

44:35

and he's been playing all right. But I'm

44:37

okay with Trey Young there, and I'd be okay with Randall

44:40

there. Um.

44:42

Yeah, Like, but there were, genuinely, I think some really

44:44

tough cuts to make this year. I'll run through my West

44:46

starters real quick, which I think are fairly

44:48

straightforward. I'd Yokich, Lebron and some

44:51

bonus in my front court. For

44:53

the backcourt, I went with Steph Curry and Luca don

44:55

Chech. I think Steph is maybe the quote unquote

44:57

controversial pick there. Yeah,

45:00

I mean between I'm curious who did

45:02

you have on your ballot between or in the

45:04

west Backcors, I think you got to be a lock. Yeah,

45:06

Lucas a lock. Um. John Morant

45:09

was my choice there. And again winning

45:11

factors into that as well. I mean, jah

45:14

Um has been as healthy I

45:17

think as Steph this year, and the Grizzlies have

45:19

been really good, and he's the driving force

45:21

behind He's the number one guy on

45:23

that team. So yeah, that was it

45:25

was close. Um, you

45:27

know, the tougher one was probably and I had Sibonis

45:29

as well in that third forward

45:32

spot. Um. If Zion had

45:34

played more games, he you know, probably would

45:36

have locked that in because his team was winning and he

45:38

was putting up incredible numbers. But he's missed

45:41

too much time and the and the Pelicans have kind of fallen

45:43

off. Sibonis, I think he's probably gonna

45:45

have the worst numbers of anybody, like in

45:47

the All Star Game. Um, he's under twenty

45:49

points per game. But he's a playmaker, he's a

45:51

rebounder, and he's a big reason

45:53

Sacramento is the most surprising team in the NBA.

45:56

Uh right now, He'll probably be the last guy

45:58

picked when it comes to selecting

46:01

these guys, Um, because I don't

46:03

know if defense or not defensive rebounding

46:05

and you know, elbow playmaking

46:07

is value to the All Star Game. But uh,

46:10

he he deserves to me, I think he deserved that

46:12

starting spot. I agree. Cleaning

46:15

the Glass has Sacramento with the one two

46:17

point three offensive rating with Sibonus

46:19

on the floor, one of the best offenses ever fifty

46:22

eight wind paced with him on the floor. He's been fantastic

46:26

thumb, and

46:28

he's doing that because if he goes out

46:31

and has surgeries or has to sit out, it's

46:33

like three to six weeks and that could cost him positioning. The

46:35

freaking guys playing with a broken thumb. Yeah,

46:38

he's been truly fantastic, and that that

46:41

third All NBA spot for center

46:43

after Embiid and Yo Kich, Sabonus

46:46

a g and damn, it's gonna be fascinating

46:48

to see what happens there. Um.

46:50

I went with Steph and my in my piece

46:53

only because his numbers are just so

46:55

close to his m v P two sixteen

46:57

MVP season. Then I'm like, what are we doing?

46:59

Like I gotta put him in, But I think

47:02

you know, Jas Shakil just Alexander they

47:04

were all good picks there. The

47:06

front court reserves. I think this is also

47:08

where it gets interesting because I have lowry

47:10

marking in who I think has been fantastic games

47:13

in Utah. I'm okay with putting him in there. He

47:15

has the number. I

47:18

went with Zion and a D. Also, people

47:21

are gonna think gonna make injury arguments

47:24

for them, but I feel like they've just been so

47:26

good when they're on the floor that you can't leave them out.

47:29

You can't. I don't know how you can put a D in there,

47:31

Like I didn't fill out a full ballot

47:33

obviously for the coaches picked the

47:35

reserves, but has been out since December.

47:38

Man like, yeah, he's

47:42

gonna play, you know he now he's back,

47:45

he's gonna play the next couple of weeks. Headed in I'm

47:47

with you, like, it's just you

47:49

know, But then it's like, who do you want

47:52

there in the front court? Um,

47:55

because I wouldn't say it gets bleak, but it

47:57

weirdly gets like I picked I'll

47:59

get to Aaron Gordon in a second. You know, my backcourt

48:02

reserves pretty obvious. John Shay, let

48:04

me put it this one. For my wild cards, I went with Dame

48:07

and Aaron Gordon. I mean, I think Devin

48:09

Booker has a great case, Paul George has a good

48:11

case. Um Lillard

48:14

just had the most efficient sixty point game ever.

48:16

I know the Blazers have been sliding the last

48:18

few weeks, but I think Damien

48:20

has been fantastic. Okay, So

48:23

I'm in the locker room, the

48:25

Nuggets locker room at Staples

48:27

Center a couple of weeks ago, chatting with Aaron

48:29

Gordon talking about his All Star case, and

48:32

there were conversations wrapping up, and I'm just kind

48:34

of just as a throwaway, I'm like, do

48:36

people still come up to you about your dunk contest? He's

48:39

like yeah, it's really annoying. And I was like, I

48:41

was like, so, you wish they'd stopped. And he's like, yes, I wish people

48:43

would stop bringing it up. Unprompted,

48:45

he just goes, if I'm in the All Star

48:47

Game, I'll do the dunk contest. I was like a serious

48:50

He's like yeah, And I was like, you know people are gonna

48:52

run crazy with this quote, right, and You're just like yeah,

48:55

doubles down on it. And I was like

48:57

that for me, frankly enough, I'm

48:59

like, that's what it takes together. Aaron Gordon in the dunk

49:01

contest. Let's do the right thing and put

49:03

him in the All Star Game. You mentioned that Boston has two

49:05

guys. Denver's now separated themselves

49:08

a little bit in the West there in the number one seed. I'm okay

49:10

with them getting two guys, but they

49:13

just the problem with the West is so many of the

49:15

top guys I mentioned PG Book

49:18

A D A lot of

49:20

injuries make it kind of a weird situation

49:22

on who to put it. Yeah,

49:27

I wouldn't put a D in. I mean, he's

49:30

great, but it's

49:32

been over a month, like a month and a half

49:34

since he's been out like that just too much.

49:36

It's like Jaren Jackson Jr. Probably,

49:39

um my front court

49:41

would probably be marketing.

49:44

I think belongs in there. I

49:46

would put Zion in there, and

49:50

I would put Aaron Gordon in there. I mean

49:53

yeah, Look, I saw Denver the

49:55

other night too. We were both at at Staples and talking

49:58

to some of their front office guys, Like, you

50:00

know, they can't rave enough about

50:02

his impact defensively, like that, this is the

50:04

player that everything they hope they acquired from Orlando.

50:06

A couple of years ago. This is the guy. Um,

50:10

so I would I

50:12

would give him, give

50:14

him that slot. And if he's gonna dunk, great, although

50:16

I think the Duncan has become stupid. I don't even watch um.

50:20

You know Sha Guilds. Alexander has to be an

50:22

all star, like that's a

50:24

mortal luck. The guy's like effortlessly

50:26

putting up thirty and a half these days,

50:28

like it's it's unbelievable.

50:30

So I put him on that

50:33

list. Um.

50:36

You know, I guess Lillard for sure. You

50:38

know he saw him put up sixty on

50:40

Wednesday night. You know that's that's

50:42

ridiculous. Does

50:45

d Aaron Fox make it like he's

50:47

that was that was the toughest cut for me, and

50:51

I wonder if it went out too long. McCollum

50:54

is I think a legitimate candidate there because

50:56

of his impact. I'm not given

50:58

to Anthony Edwards because men soda stinks.

51:00

Jaren Jackson Jr. Paul

51:03

George never plays, Kauai never plays.

51:06

You know, I don't Jim

51:08

Grant, No, no, no, that's to

51:11

me. It's like, you know, Fox and McCollum

51:13

are kind of that last that last

51:16

spot, and you know, I

51:19

gotta go either way. I go with it way. Darren Fox

51:21

has such a good bounce back year from last year.

51:23

Mccollins is just a big impact, especially with brandon Ingram

51:26

being out for as long as he was. You

51:29

know, it's a coin flip to me. Fox

51:32

was definitely the toughest cut for me. I

51:34

do think the Kings have been an incredibly

51:37

charming story and I'm not trying to denigrate it in any

51:39

way. Do they need

51:41

to all Stars? I don't know that I need them

51:43

to have to all Stars as exciting

51:45

as they've been. It's also brandon

51:48

Ingram. Pepe my brother keeps texting

51:50

me about like Zion and being like, are

51:52

the Pelicans gonna regret this? Is he always gonna

51:54

be hurt? Like he's played more than brandon Ingram

51:57

this season. Um,

52:00

before we get out of here, when I ask what do you think about

52:02

the NBA finally moving the draft

52:04

two right before the game, I'm I'm again

52:07

another thing I'm very excited about. It's

52:10

good. Um, it

52:12

makes things a little more interesting.

52:15

Um, although like you're you're

52:17

talking to the wrong crowd here, Like I'm not even

52:19

staying, I'm not even staying for the game. On Sunday

52:21

like I'm getting in Thursday.

52:23

I'm gonna talk to we need to talk to. I'm gonna see

52:26

what I need to see. I'll go to the Availabilities to work

52:28

on some things I'm working on, and then Sunday

52:30

morning, goodbye. I'll see you

52:32

later. I don't need to sit in the

52:34

upper you know levels of

52:37

the newly renamed Delta Center.

52:40

Two watch at All Star

52:42

Game. I'm good. I mean for fans. Look, it's great

52:44

watching guys pick their teams, you know right

52:46

there, it's fun. I think the NBA has done a nice job

52:49

and you know, using gimmicks

52:51

to make things a little more fun. But I

52:53

just I don't care. Um,

52:56

like all started me is a nice break, Like

52:59

give me a little bit of a break before the

53:02

real games pick up again. Um

53:06

yeah, all fair points. My only

53:09

addition would be it

53:11

needs to be a snake draft. That's

53:13

why Lebron's teams win every year because

53:16

he gets the first pick. Like,

53:19

who, come on, we all everyone's

53:21

playing fantasy sports all the time, etcetera.

53:23

It's got to be a snake draft. Chris,

53:25

I don't know if you want to text that to Adam Silver right now,

53:28

but just let him know immediately

53:31

that it should be a snake draft. And this

53:34

legitimately bothers me because people something

53:36

people who love to run with on there. It's a lebron Is

53:38

six snow is an All Star captain, and I'm like,

53:41

make it a damn snake draft. It's too

53:43

easy for him. I don't think

53:45

the selection of the players has

53:47

anything to do with the outcome of the game. I don't.

53:49

I think it's I think it's like who

53:52

cares the most and who went out

53:54

in Parks City the night before, Like that's

53:57

that? That is Yeah, you you are way

53:59

over think of the All Star Game. I met know,

54:01

I really am, But I do think this one for

54:04

the only adjustment I would make it. I've said this for years

54:07

now, is eliminate the skills

54:09

competition and make a King of the

54:11

Court tournament because if

54:13

you, like I think NBA players, top NBA

54:15

players would love the distinction

54:18

of being known as the best one on one player in the NBA. It

54:20

is a one on one league now, So if you make a one on

54:22

one tournament, I think you will get more

54:24

stars then you will get

54:26

for skills, certainly more stars

54:29

than the dunk contest. Um and

54:31

I think you will create better television

54:34

on Saturday Night. That's very

54:37

interesting and I wonder if the players would go

54:39

for it because there's like an embarrassment factor,

54:41

but it's high risk hig reward. I mean the idea

54:43

of literally, let's get ten all

54:46

stars lined up on the court and it's like

54:48

they're allan Iverson Trophy,

54:50

the Allen Iverson Trophy. All

54:53

right, I'm I'm liking what you're putting down here,

54:55

Chris Um. Well, that

54:57

will do it for this episod

55:00

soode of open floor, Chris.

55:02

I'm sure we'll be We're looking forward

55:05

to hearing about your party stories from Park City.

55:07

We'll have to check in on that crossover episode

55:10

Good to be Back, Good to Be Back. It's like it's

55:12

like Paul Pierce signing a one day contract with

55:14

Boston Good to be Back at the franchise

55:16

that I found it right here, go that's

55:18

how it's the Chris Mannix Bilt Um.

55:21

That'll do it for today's episode. Please

55:23

keep your emails coming open for mail at

55:25

gmail dot com until next week. Continue

55:28

to enjoy the NBAC Whoa

55:36

Whoa