0:01

Welcome to open floor. I'm John Gonzalez, joined

0:03

once again as I am every Monday by

0:06

s I s Own Rohan not Crenate Row

0:09

Welcome. Congrats on your Dolphins.

0:11

You're ascendant Dolphins and you're wearing a Panther's had

0:13

all things Florida looking up. Listen

0:17

to two m v P. Case just

0:19

keeps making itself. And a lot

0:21

of people, you know, I've

0:23

been I

0:25

don't know that I'm full to and on. I know some

0:27

people think I'm full to and on. I think I'm

0:30

like Tu and on adjacent. You know, I'm tu and

0:32

on sympathetic, but a

0:35

lot of people, a lot of people are gonna owe

0:37

to an apology. Um,

0:39

if things keep headed

0:41

down this path that we're on. John, you were

0:44

very much in support of him and the Dolphins

0:46

going in the season. I was much more skeptical. But

0:48

I'm happy for you. But we have lots

0:51

of basketball happening. We're gonna get

0:53

through all kinds of topics later in the show. We've got

0:55

the new look Wolves, We're gonna discuss the

0:57

Ascendant and fun Blazers. I'm

1:00

interested to see what you think about the thunder who

1:02

are maybe not terrible uh,

1:04

and Joel Embiid had a huge night. We'll touch

1:06

on that, but first we're gonna start with the Nuts and Lakers.

1:08

We're gonna do this briefly because there's been a lot of Nuts

1:10

talk. But they did play last night. Row

1:13

and the Lakers one without Lebron beat Kevin

1:15

Durant and the Nuts by thirteen.

1:18

A d looked really good. Russ came off

1:20

the bench. This roster, though,

1:22

is so so, so bad. Chris

1:25

Haynes reported that the Lakers are quote known

1:27

to covet brad Beale. Even with

1:29

the wind Row the Lakers are three and seven over

1:31

their last ten. Are they a Bradley

1:34

Beal away from fixing this thing? No,

1:37

I don't think so. I Also, I'm

1:39

sure a lot of teams covert Bradley po who,

1:41

by the way, resigned with the Wizards, has a

1:43

full no trade clause. I

1:45

don't see the path to the Lakers acquiring

1:47

Bradley Beal in a way that's realistic unless

1:50

they want to trade Anthony Davis, which is a whole

1:52

another conversation. I actually it'll probably

1:54

up by the time this podcast is up.

1:57

I wrote about some Anthony Davis fake trades

1:59

and I think the Lake or should at least consider.

2:02

I don't think Bradley Beale is someone

2:04

that would make sense in

2:07

terms of if you're trading a D I don't think that the Wizards

2:10

that want them. I don't know. It's complicated. But this

2:12

is a long winded way of me saying I didn't

2:14

take much stock into this Lakers win Sunday

2:16

night. Um, then winning without Lebron,

2:19

you know, the next team that's on a road trip, um,

2:22

an l A back to back is never easy.

2:25

So I didn't. I didn't put much stock

2:27

into it. And I don't think that you

2:30

know that Bradley Beale report that's

2:32

floating out. It's just one of those things where it's like,

2:34

yeah, I'm sure every team covets

2:36

Bradley Beale, you know what I mean? It's can we can

2:38

you realistically get him? Most teams

2:41

cannot. I love cross

2:43

promotion. I love that you did

2:45

this story for SI dot Com hit

2:47

us with some of the trades. Brother, So

2:50

the one I would have my eye on personally,

2:53

and I don't.

2:56

I think both sides would kind of hate it, like

2:58

both and that's what makes it to me in intriguing trade.

3:00

But what about a D to the Raptors. John,

3:03

here this one out. Okay,

3:05

the Raptors get Anthony Davis, the

3:08

Lakers get O G,

3:10

n Anobi precious, a Chua

3:13

Otto Porter, and

3:16

I think fat young to make the salaries work. I

3:20

like how you started with O G and then it fell

3:22

off a cliff pretty fast. Are they getting

3:24

any draft picks in there? Like what I mean, because they

3:26

could definitely use to reply.

3:28

I think you could throw in at least

3:30

one future first. This is the problem

3:33

with the Raptors is I'm so scared of their legions

3:35

of fans on the Internet who are just ready

3:37

to pounce at anyone who does not match

3:40

the exact value they put on their

3:42

young players. That you know. I'm sure

3:44

Lakers fans are like, how can we not get Scotty

3:46

Barnes back for a D? And I'm sure there are

3:48

Raptors fans are like, you mean, we're going to give up

3:51

a Chua and an Anobi. Um.

3:53

It's just very difficult to

3:55

put together packages for a D because I'm not

3:57

totally sure how he's viewed around the lead

4:00

anymore. He's certainly not getting the same kind of package

4:03

now that the Pelicans got for him with the combination

4:06

of picks and young players that they got just

4:09

the Raptor I know that was Yeah,

4:11

the Raptors have like long needed a big man.

4:13

I know Nick Nurse has leaned into their current style

4:17

of play, but you surround a D

4:19

with length and shooting in a way that he hasn't been

4:21

with the Lakers. I think that could help unlock some

4:23

of what we saw his last couple of years in

4:25

New Orleans. And as far as the Lakers go, I

4:27

mean and and Nobi would be the best three and D player

4:29

Lebron has played with since signing in l A. But

4:32

she was only twenty three. I don't think he's

4:34

realized his potential yet. He has a chance

4:36

to be a really intriguing big man to put next

4:38

to Lebron. You get Auto Porter,

4:40

who I think is the exact type of VET the Lakers should

4:42

have signed with their mid level in the summer.

4:45

Beyond that, Porter and Younger tradeable

4:47

contracts that the Lakers could use in other

4:49

deals. That's why I liked it. I agree it

4:51

seems like a light return for a D, but it's

4:53

very hard to gauge his trade value right now. Yeah,

4:56

I'm generally of the inclination that

4:58

like for me to do the trade, I'd like have the best

5:00

player in the deal, and I don't think that the Lakers

5:02

would be getting that would be it would be good or

5:05

at least different for the Raptors. Do you have a

5:07

couple more you want to run past us? Yes,

5:09

absolutely, I'll bring it up that way. I

5:11

can see exactly what I wrote. This is the one

5:13

I had that I think is definitely

5:17

not enough of a return. This

5:19

is like a real desperation move, and I think the

5:21

Lakers only do it if they're willing

5:24

to continue William dealing. What if

5:26

they sent a d to the Sons for DeAndre

5:28

Aten, Jay Crowder, two

5:30

first round picks, maybe a couple

5:33

of pick swap, maybe one pick swap, maybe two.

5:36

It's a short term downgrade, certainly

5:38

from Davis to Ayton, But

5:40

you get Crowder, you know, even he's

5:43

a frosty relationship with Lebron, he's he's

5:45

the kind of guy that is useful

5:47

on championship teas. And then now

5:49

you have several future

5:51

first round picks that you can use in

5:53

trades. Right, So let's say they make the Aton

5:56

Crowder deal, then maybe you trade

5:59

Russ to first, you

6:01

make that Pacers deal. You know, it's

6:03

a little bit done with a Milesart and DeAndre Atan. Maybe

6:05

you flip one of them again. This is that's

6:07

like a Domino trade because

6:10

now you're using all these other first round picks

6:12

to make more moves and hopefully build out

6:14

a coherent roster. I like this one better, and

6:16

I like it better for both sides. I especially like

6:18

it because the Lakers get some draft picks back,

6:20

which they sorely need, and

6:23

from the Sun's perspective, massive upgrade.

6:25

Right, I mean, like now, all of a sudden, you

6:28

know, without really uh

6:30

screwing up the way you play,

6:32

you take a step for I like that a lot. Let's

6:35

do it. Let's Phoenix would do it, Phoenix, Phoenix

6:37

Wild do it in a heartbeat, because they obviously have not

6:40

been sold on Eton this entire

6:42

time. The Lakers that that

6:44

that one's a tough sell. But if it gets

6:46

there, listen, they're bad. They're currently bad

6:49

something. Yeah, all right, here's

6:52

here's the one that I think everyone you

6:54

know, you brought up the Lakers and Nets they played Sunday

6:57

night. Ironically, you

6:59

know, you mentioned to talking about the Nets and I was like, John,

7:01

we've been talking about the Nets a lot of Then you brought up a good point.

7:03

It's like, hey, man, they've actually been kind of good recently, and

7:06

I'm like, you're right. We haven't talked about them on

7:08

the court in a long time, and since Kyrie got

7:10

hurt, Uh, they've been pretty good. I think,

7:13

Uh, I've improved. It's

7:15

been total one defensively since

7:17

Kyrie got hurt, one of the best defensive

7:20

ratings in the NBA since that injury. Granted

7:22

it's been an incredibly small sample size, but since

7:25

Kyrie got there, the team's actually had I believe,

7:27

a better winning percentage when he's not on the

7:29

floor. So do I think

7:31

this trade would happen right now? No, But the

7:33

Nets are one swoon away from

7:36

the Lakers trading Anthony Davis

7:39

and Lonnie Walker the fourth for Kevin Dory

7:42

and yes, hashtag

7:44

a D for Katie. Um, I

7:47

mean market yeah,

7:49

yeah, thank you. The billboard. We put the

7:51

billboard up one over your house, one

7:53

over my apartment. Guerilla

7:55

marketing for open

7:57

floor. And listen,

8:00

the Nets do this if they go through

8:02

another swoon and it just looks

8:04

terrible and Katie wants out, and maybe there's

8:06

another Kyrie controversy and it

8:08

really does become time to blow this up. I know this

8:10

is not really the time I people want to hear this because they haven't

8:13

playing better recently. But you

8:15

know, if you compare Lebron and Katie,

8:18

if you're the Lakers, you do it. If if I

8:20

make this trade, if I'm the Lakers, a trade for Katie,

8:23

then I make the Russ for Healed and Miles

8:25

Turner trade, and I say, we got Pat

8:27

Bev, Healed, Lebron, Katie, Miles Turner.

8:30

We can make that work. That's something um.

8:33

I think the Nets do it again.

8:35

If the team continues to struggle, if there's more

8:37

controversy, if it seems like everyone's miserable,

8:39

you get a star back who's still on

8:42

the right side of thirty who you can build around. You

8:44

have shooting, you can try to trade or maybe

8:46

even just cut Kyrie at this point, but

8:49

I think there'd be enough intriguing pieces

8:52

around such a team that you'd be able to make that work.

8:54

If the Nets are building around a d that is

8:56

very interesting. The pause that

8:58

I would have there is the note

9:01

that you mentioned that the Nets have been better without

9:03

Kyrie and Ben sevens there four and three since

9:05

Jacque Vaughan took over. I want to point this out

9:07

to k D has been on fire. He

9:10

has fourteen straight games

9:12

to start the season with twenty five

9:15

or more points. That is the sixth most

9:17

all time that the people ahead

9:19

of him will twice of

9:22

course, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor

9:24

and Jordan's I mean, Katie has just been absolutely

9:26

crushing in and last week on this show, you and I were talking

9:29

about Howard back and his column and

9:31

him saying they should blow it up. Maybe they just

9:33

needed to exercise the other two guys and maybe

9:35

it's you know, you would even said, hey,

9:38

just build the team around k D, and

9:40

they kind of did that addition by substraction.

9:44

Can I ask you a question? Yeah, how

9:46

do you feel about Will chamberlains

9:48

stats? I

9:50

like, are you impressed? Or are you like, I

9:53

don't care? This is amazing. Uh.

9:55

You and I have not been doing the show together that long,

9:58

but I feel like I get I already have

10:00

a sense of things that will be on your radar because

10:02

when I wrote down the the stat

10:05

when I saw it, I was like, man, those will

10:08

games? Will did it? He did eighties straight

10:10

to start a season in the sixties, and I was like, as soon

10:12

as I mentioned this, this is gonna be a thing for all

10:15

because I feel like this is something you're gonna immediately

10:18

dismiss him. I correct, Yes,

10:20

I mean I've said it on this podcast before and I'll say

10:22

it again. A pre nine basketball

10:25

stats I need a lot

10:27

of a lot of additional context

10:29

before I'm impressed. When I hear

10:31

Will Chamberlain stats. To me,

10:34

they're not impressive. They're an indictment. Okay,

10:38

So I'm not

10:40

saying he was bad. I'm just saying maybe

10:43

there's a reason why he got eight straight

10:46

games. Plus I think two things can

10:48

be true at once. I think it's I think it's indisputable

10:50

that what was really really good, and

10:52

also that the rest of the league was really really

10:55

not right. Like I mean, like

10:57

Bill Russell rest in peace. We

10:59

talked about him a bunch on

11:01

this showing on s IW. Just

11:03

an incredible man on the court and even

11:05

greater off the court. But we talked about

11:08

all those championships and I'm like, they were beating

11:10

like the Syracuse Saskatoons or whoever,

11:12

right, Like, I

11:14

don't know, I don't know that those championships

11:16

really measure up. But sure, I'm

11:19

with you. That's any Celtics ring

11:21

before. Not impressed, Yeah,

11:23

not impressed. However, like I said,

11:25

this, k D run very impressive to start a couple

11:27

of other Lakers things. I want to run by you and then we'll move on.

11:29

And I he with one more fake trade. Actually yeah, yeah,

11:31

let's do one. Worried this is this is this

11:33

is my nuclear option. And

11:36

listen, both these teams currently out of the play

11:38

it. Okay, the Lakers,

11:41

let me start. I'm trying to think which team

11:43

is more dramatic to say first, I'll go with the

11:45

Lakers. The Lakers get

11:48

James Wiseman, Dante Di

11:50

Vincenzo, and Draymond Greed,

11:54

and the Warriors get Anthony Davis. I

11:56

like that, Uh quite a

11:59

bit for the war Warriors. I

12:01

like that quite a bit less for the Lakers.

12:04

The Lakers make this trade only because

12:06

they've made bad trades before, and

12:08

they somehow talked themselves into thinking that Draymond

12:12

is the answer. That's how this trade happens because

12:14

Wiseman has been a problem.

12:16

He has not been good to start the season. Uh,

12:19

Devincenzo is just like a vet throw in.

12:21

Who's someone the Lakers. The problem is, you

12:23

look at most of these trades, they already have a

12:25

Devincenzo and his name is Austin Reeves.

12:28

No. See, that's the thing is like all these trades,

12:31

in my opinion, like a

12:33

lot of these guys, Let's say the Lakers

12:35

had Lebron and a d still like

12:37

Devincenzos, maybe the third best player on the Lakers

12:40

if he's on the Lakers, like Auto Porters,

12:42

maybe the third best Laker if he's on the dam

12:44

and like such an indictment, which

12:47

is why, like all these trades are like that's who they're getting back,

12:49

and it's like this team needs playoff

12:52

rotation bodies that they sorely lack.

12:55

Um Again, I think they only make this trade because

12:57

Lebron and Draymond greener buddies. Draymond is obviously

12:59

a clutch guy. Um.

13:02

You know. The Warriors weirdly enough,

13:04

like this trade probably moves Looting

13:06

to the bench and creates a hold for them at power

13:08

forward. So it's how to solve for everything that's

13:10

going on for them. But yeah,

13:13

man, I don't know. I the

13:16

Warriors. I feel like we talked

13:18

about them a couple of times last week as well. I

13:21

think we're all just waiting for them to turn it around. I mean,

13:23

they've changed the rotation, but if

13:25

both those teams like a month row or kind of

13:27

still where they are today, I think

13:29

I could see them maybe having a conversation or

13:31

two about it. I'm I'm really glad that

13:33

you brought up these fake trades,

13:36

because like,

13:39

when you look at this roster, we keep talking about

13:41

like it's so bad right that when you when

13:43

you're mentioning Dante DiVincenzo coming

13:45

in and being like the third best player, Otto Porter

13:47

being like a solid vet, it's kind of my

13:49

mind boggling, And everybody looks at the Lakers and

13:52

goes, I keep seeing the same

13:54

conversation that they can't waste another year

13:56

of Lebron. Uh, They've got to get

13:58

out there and try to add pieces. I

14:01

wonder, I wonder if maybe that's

14:04

like the wrong way to look at it, roll because Lebron

14:07

not getting any younger right, has

14:09

the worst plus minus of his career

14:12

and he's shooting twenty from

14:14

deep. The Lakers, as you

14:16

noted, love to make bad trades

14:19

and dig themselves a hole for the future, right,

14:22

Like is this I mean, I

14:24

like the idea of fake trades and like, hey, should they

14:27

move a D? But like on the in the real

14:29

world, they're they're probably

14:31

thinking like, hey, how do we improve this team so we

14:33

can make a run this season? And

14:35

isn't that just more Lakers throwing good money

14:38

after bad again? Yeah,

14:42

listen, we really do need

14:44

to put a moratorium on Laker stock because at the end

14:46

of the day, they're stuck. Man, They're

14:49

stuck because I don't think they're going to trade a

14:51

D. The rust trades, not going to move

14:53

the needle, Like they're just a lost

14:55

cause this season. Their lost cause this season.

14:57

I want to stop you on the rust thing, just because

15:00

Chris Hayes also reported that

15:02

they are fielding calls on

15:04

Russ. I don't know who has been better as a

15:06

six man. He's been better going into

15:08

the weekend against the Nuts. Russa shooting from

15:11

three uh in the five games heading

15:13

into that and a career high from three

15:15

and and this is probably a big indictment of

15:17

the Lakers as well, has the most threes on

15:19

the Lakers. Then he of course he want one for six

15:21

against Brooklyn he has been better

15:24

though, right, can they get a little

15:26

something from him? I don't know

15:28

that. Like I would love to talk

15:30

to the executives who after one week of seeing Russ

15:32

on the bench, we're like, okay, now we want to trade for

15:34

him. So it's a lot different if for Russ is

15:36

backing up Lebron than if he

15:38

goes to I don't even know who. You

15:41

know, if he goes to the Indiana Pacers and they asked

15:43

him to be a backup, that's a different conversation.

15:45

So I'm not you know, I'm

15:47

not. I'm not so

15:49

sold on the idea that Russ has got a hot

15:52

trade market. Yeah, me too.

15:54

Um, alright, so we we We've

15:57

done all the nuts and Lakers talk we can possibly

15:59

do. I want to I want to move on here. Uh.

16:01

And discussed the Wolves, who

16:05

I don't know what to make of them. Uh. They beat

16:07

the Calves on the road. Darius Garland

16:09

had fifty one points all for not and

16:12

yet this was just their second

16:14

win in their last eight games row. They

16:17

won the game on so

16:19

they scored a hundred twenty nine points, which

16:21

has been a problem for them because they they they're

16:24

starting five entered that game with an

16:26

offensive rating of nine point

16:28

seven, which is just absolutely abysmal. So

16:30

they score a hundred twenty nine points. That was a

16:32

problem. Uh, people were wondering about

16:34

the offense and the fit and this whole bit. So you

16:36

go, wow, that's great. They gave up a hundred

16:39

and twenty four. I mean, I

16:42

don't know what this team is. Yeah,

16:45

you know, Harring and I did a particularly deep

16:47

drive on Friday, and on

16:49

one end you want to be like impressed about this one

16:51

with the calves, and you realize Jared Allen

16:53

and Donovan Mitchell were both out. So they gave

16:56

up a hundred and twenty four points to the Donovan mitchellis

16:59

leaving kind of years. They were up twenty

17:01

headed into the fourth quarter and almost

17:03

blew that game. They were an offensive rebound away

17:06

um from Cleveland having a chance to tie

17:08

the game in the final minute.

17:10

There at

17:13

one point, Well, let me ask

17:15

you, John, because we weren't we weren't doing this podcast.

17:17

I think super regularly, what did you make of the Gobert

17:19

trade when it first happened? What do you make of where

17:21

do you fall on the Rudy Gobert fault line?

17:23

In general? I thought, uh, and

17:26

I won't. So we decided not

17:28

to call him by just one name, but I

17:30

will call him Dealer Danny. I thought Dealer

17:32

Danny picked their pocket and

17:34

it was a great trade for Utah. I thought

17:37

I didn't. I don't like to look. Aside

17:41

from me hating that trade for Minnesota,

17:44

the one caveat for me is sach

17:47

And Gupta, who's a vice president of basketball

17:49

over there and runs their analytics department, is

17:51

one of the smartest people I've met, not just

17:54

in basketball but ever anywhere

17:56

on the planet, full stop. And

17:59

they don't make this trade aid unless they have a

18:01

sit down and Sachin is involved

18:03

and he goes, yeah, I think it's gonna work because of

18:05

all these reasons. Okay, So

18:08

like that caveaut aside just on

18:10

like on its surface, I didn't

18:12

get it. I still don't get it. Like I think

18:14

it's an awkward fit. I think you turned Cat

18:17

into basically a perimeter threat

18:19

on offense and then defensively where

18:22

you're putting him, and um, I

18:24

don't know. I didn't like it at all. What did you think? I

18:27

mean? I didn't like it. I've I've

18:30

been a Golbert skeptic, and it's

18:32

hard because it feels like you have to be like extreme.

18:34

Whenever you talk about Gilbert, it's

18:37

just at the end of the day, like

18:39

paying someone that much money who you can't

18:41

put the ball in their hands always worries

18:44

me unless they're like even

18:46

Draymond for all his offensive issues, like

18:48

does a lot for the Warriors,

18:51

um in a way that Gilbert

18:54

it's not in his career. Yeah, man, the

18:56

Timberwolves bad vibes.

18:58

The bench has been okay, Anthony Edwards obviously

19:01

bad vibes. Um.

19:03

I'm just curious, Like I want to know what

19:05

you think, Like, how long would you

19:07

give the Gobert Towns experiment before you blew

19:09

it up? Like you do? You do you even give

19:11

it a full season? Like I think you have to. You

19:14

just traded you look at all, look at everything

19:16

you just traded. You have to give it a chance

19:18

to work. And I mean, like this

19:20

is the first season. It's a really new and weird

19:23

experiment. They're playing in a completely different way.

19:25

You mentioned Anthony Edwards. I think that's a

19:27

really important point, especially

19:29

not just on the vibes, but the way he's playing

19:32

relative to last season when he was just like yamming

19:35

the ball every other play right,

19:37

and this season his dunks are super

19:39

down. And he had said he was asked about it, He's like,

19:41

I need a lane, but he didn't

19:44

finish the sentence. Finishing

19:46

the sentence there is the lane is clogged, and guess who's

19:48

clogging right. So it's

19:50

not ideal on any front, But

19:53

you have to give it a chance to work, don't you. I mean,

19:55

after after trading everything this what you

19:57

can't just all of a sudden say yeah, that didn't work

19:59

after I don't know sixty games and hit the detonation

20:01

button. My argument

20:04

for why they should be ready to detonate is

20:07

you were a first round exit last year. You

20:10

made it in through the play in, Like,

20:12

does anyone think they're better than that right now? Like

20:15

the MAVs have been

20:17

even with after losing Jalen

20:20

Brunson is still pretty frisky. I mean Lucas probably

20:24

if Luca kept this up, which God knows. I mean on

20:26

one end, the scorings in saying on the other hand is three point shooting

20:28

hasn't even been where it typically

20:31

is yet, Like Luca is gonna win

20:33

m v P if you can tease at the current base in the MAVs.

20:36

Are you gonna make the playoffs? The Pelicans

20:38

I think still have another level they can reach. Um,

20:43

Yeah, I don't know. I just I'm like, I

20:46

understand that gave up so much, like

20:49

a really useful rotation

20:51

players that we've seen have worked well in Utah

20:53

so far. But I don't

20:56

know. I'm kind of like, why

20:58

why restrict

21:01

yourselves to this if we're watching it not work. I

21:05

mean, I think because of the

21:07

some that you paid. I

21:09

just I I'm with every logically everything

21:11

you said is correct. I don't think that they're a better

21:14

team than they were last year. I don't think that they

21:16

project to be uh

21:18

you know at president I don't

21:20

think they're making the playoffs, let alone getting out

21:22

of you know, getting out of around. But

21:26

you decided you were going to go down this road. I

21:29

don't think you can you turn without

21:31

seeing where it ends. Does

21:33

this potentially like have the does

21:37

it have the potential to be like just one of the worst trades,

21:39

especially if it ends up alienating Anthony Edwards,

21:41

like not only did you give up so much, but

21:44

your young stars like this sucks?

21:47

Yeah, I mean, this is this right now,

21:49

at present, it's it's an

21:51

all time awful trade, right, I mean, because

21:53

they're they're not even they're not even in

21:55

the playoff or in the play in

21:58

bubble right now, right there,

22:00

half a game out of it behind a team

22:02

that we're going to discuss in a minute, the Oklahoma

22:04

City Thunder, which if if

22:07

we had said that to anybody that before

22:09

the season started, we would have been laughed out of

22:11

the room. Right, No, no, no, even with

22:13

this weird fit. Of course, the Wolves are

22:15

going to be better than the Thunder, who are going to be

22:17

tanking and don't have chat Holmegren

22:20

and you never know how many games are going to allow

22:22

us g A to play. Uh.

22:24

And then you look at the Thunder and they're like competent

22:27

and and feisty on every like

22:29

on almost every night, and you look at

22:31

the Wolves and they're mostly on every night. Not by

22:34

the way, how much do you hate that if

22:36

this does go down as one of the worst trades that

22:39

the guy on the winning end is I

22:42

see you, I see you trying to provoke me

22:44

into another Danny Ainge rant, And

22:46

I respect it, I really do.

22:49

Um Oh man, don't

22:52

listen, it's six.

22:55

This guy just falls asked backwards into

22:57

pics from bad gm s. I don't, I

22:59

don't it would be I don't

23:02

know. Maybe we could do it, Hey, NFL

23:05

coach family, not that hard either. You could just you know,

23:07

sign a guy doing TV could be us. Hey,

23:10

you know what, I want to throw this out there. We're

23:12

two guys not doing TV, but we're doing podcasts.

23:14

We just threw out a whole bunch of trades. So Lakers

23:17

or some other NBA team if you want to get

23:19

a little frisky like the Colts did with Saturday,

23:22

we're available. We'll we'll take a meeting, take

23:25

a meeting. Yeah exactly, And well you know you can

23:27

get two minds with us, you know right, two for

23:29

the price of one. We don't come cheap, though we

23:31

mentioned Oklahoma City. I want to get into

23:34

this with you, Row. I

23:36

like watching them play. When we did the

23:39

um when we did the lead pass draft

23:41

with our friend Ian Carmel shouts to in. Make sure

23:43

to watch him on the Late Late Show Listen to All

23:45

Fantasy Everything. He drafted them because

23:47

he said he wanted to watch some weird ish.

23:50

Well, not only are they weird, but they're

23:52

fun, they're scrappy, They fight every

23:54

game. I mentioned s g A, who's just he

23:56

somebody strapped him to a rocket. He

23:58

has been absolutely telling it. He that

24:01

leap that he's taken this year reminds me of the leap

24:03

that Jaw took last year. I don't know how

24:05

long they'll let it go on for, but

24:07

my question for you is, is

24:09

this like scrappy? Okay? See team

24:12

real and are they gonna let it ride? I'm

24:15

with you, John, The Thunder have been a ton of fund They've also

24:17

you mentioned, like Ian, one of them

24:20

wanted to watch a team that was weird. Here's

24:22

the Thunder. By the way, lost

24:24

three, lost their first three games of the season, win

24:27

their next four, lose their next

24:29

four and out have won their

24:31

last two to be six and seven streakiest

24:33

team in the league. You mentioned

24:36

s g A. He is

24:38

awesome, Like he was incredible

24:41

his first year in Oklahoma City playing off Chris

24:44

Paul, Like that was a really, really good tandem

24:46

in retrospect, Listen to these numbers you mentioned

24:49

rocket ship a leap. He's averaging

24:51

thirty one points a game, nearly

24:53

six assists, four and a half rebounds,

24:56

only three point three turnovers. He's

24:58

shooting fifty f percent from the field,

25:01

thirty six from three, nine three

25:03

from the line. He's been

25:05

fantastic. And it's not

25:07

like he's jacking up a bunch of threes. He only he

25:09

takes less than three threes a game. He

25:11

gets to the free throw line about seven and a half

25:13

times a night. This guy is

25:15

just getting into the lane seemingly

25:17

at will. He's been incredible driving

25:20

to the hoop. I think you're right. I'm glad we're

25:23

talking about him because I think he's been one

25:25

of the best players in the league so far this season.

25:27

They're winning because of how good he is. If you look

25:29

at the rest of the roster, like they could have been really fun with Chat

25:32

and I like some of the guys on their team, lou

25:34

Dort, Williams,

25:37

Pokus even had, you know, moments this

25:39

season Josh Giddy. I believe back to back

25:41

triple troubles for Josh Giddy, who's

25:43

been really really good, and like him and Sta

25:46

played really well off each other. You know, there were

25:48

moments last year where Sta, I remember, you

25:50

know, Layton games, would let Giddy, would let Giddy

25:53

handle the ball, and he said,

25:55

like I want him to get experience like,

25:57

you know, it's really selfless of him, and it's

25:59

paying off so far this season. I think they've been

26:02

a fantastic tandem. Again, it's

26:04

so weird, John, because I feel like we

26:07

keep asking ourselves is this sustainable?

26:09

And I feel like we're asking that way

26:12

further into this season than we have before.

26:14

Yeah, but the dynamic

26:16

with them is different, right, Like I do believe my

26:18

eyes when I watch them, and I go this scrappy

26:21

team. They're young, they're fun, Like

26:23

I would have loved to see what they could do with

26:26

with homegrown, but you know they'll see that next

26:28

season. I was initially skeptical

26:30

about that fit with Giddy and s g A, and

26:33

it just works. Uh and and especially

26:35

because you mentioned that it's

26:37

not just s g A jacking up a

26:39

bunch of threes. He's getting into the lane, he's drawing fouls,

26:41

and his efficiency has been

26:44

through the roof, not not just from the field,

26:46

but especially at the line because that's

26:48

a weapon. That's a weapon that

26:50

James Harden used to great success for a very

26:52

long time, and now you're seeing s g A

26:54

do the same thing where he can get to the line at will

26:57

and then he's lights out free

26:59

throw shooter, which is a

27:01

huge asset. But this

27:03

is all a qualification because we

27:06

know what the thunder are doing. We know that

27:08

they're trying to set up for the future. They've

27:11

got all these draft picks. Sam Presty didn't

27:13

acquire them for nothing. We've seen them

27:15

shut down s g A in the past. I

27:17

hope it doesn't happen this season because I've

27:20

talked about this a lot. I

27:22

don't want to bring it back to the Sixers, but there's a model

27:25

there right where they were tanking for a long

27:27

time. And at some point you have

27:29

to let the players play because if you

27:31

don't, you're gonna lose them. They're like they're they're

27:34

hyper successful, hyper talented athletes,

27:37

and if you keep shutting them down, that messes

27:39

with their minds and and it sends

27:41

a signal that that's an organization that doesn't

27:43

really want to win, and like it changes the vibes,

27:46

the culture, the whole bit. At some point you have to

27:48

let the good players play. Do

27:50

you think this is that year? Do you think Presty

27:52

goes, We're just gonna let the chips fall where they are,

27:55

because like we're building something here.

27:58

I hope so, and I think it should be the year you

28:00

you can't you can't

28:03

at this point, I think risks curbing

28:05

the development of someone like sd A.

28:08

At the end of the day, he's every bit

28:10

the star that they're looking for. Where

28:12

else are you gonna find You're looking for a guy who's

28:15

averaging thirties six and five on

28:17

shooting, like many guys like that

28:19

are You're gonna draft Like it's not gonna happen.

28:23

So I'm with you. I really hope that they

28:26

let this team kind of do its

28:28

thing, you know, shout out to their coaching staff Mark

28:30

Dagon oh, um,

28:32

like they've been really

28:34

good to start this season at least competitive.

28:37

Um. I'm I'm with you. I

28:39

don't think that this is the year that they put any kind of breaks

28:41

on s g A, Andy qualifiers on him, etcetera.

28:47

It's too early to get into like the team

28:49

building talk. At the same time,

28:51

it's like you're gonna have wemben Yama

28:53

theoretically and chet home Grant

28:55

and you know they'd figure it out whatever, But I

28:58

don't know. You're seeing it with the Jazz and it's just so

29:00

tough when all the conversations come back to Wemby.

29:03

It's just, you know, he's such a

29:05

tantalizing project that I think or prospect

29:07

that I think in other years it wouldn't

29:10

be this bad. But because you have this generational,

29:13

truly someone we've never ever seen before prospect,

29:16

it makes conversations about teams like the Thunder

29:20

difficult. But I think you let

29:22

this ride. They've been really fun, they've been really

29:24

good. Um, you

29:26

know, obviously we talked too much about SCA, but Giddy

29:28

has been great. I'm glad lou Dort

29:31

got paid this summer. He's such a

29:33

fun player when he's hounding guys defensively.

29:36

So I'm with you. Like to me, it's been

29:38

You could have argued two years ago that you

29:41

know, s g A shouldn't have gotten

29:43

shut down, and you

29:46

know they did him a disservice.

29:48

Like, this guy's good, he's ready to

29:50

win. Now. At some point they

29:52

either need to like decide that

29:54

he's a serious part of what they want to do and

29:56

let him flourish. And I

29:59

would hope that this is giving them enough evidence to

30:01

do that. Yeah, I mean, I get how

30:04

tantalizing woman Yama

30:06

and having him on your team could be like

30:09

it is. It's attractive, right, But I

30:12

did a lot of math on this, and

30:14

there's only one of him

30:16

and only one team can get them.

30:18

And as you mentioned, s

30:20

g A is one of those guys where you want you'd

30:22

go, oh, man, if we could get somebody like him,

30:25

how amazing would that be? Well, guess what, you already do?

30:27

You have them. So at some point I

30:29

thought like, I don't know. I just think that

30:32

they've got a lot of really young, nice pieces.

30:34

You're gonna get checked back next year. If

30:36

you get Woman Yama, you get

30:38

them, that's a fantastic get awesome.

30:41

If not, you've got a nice young Cordon.

30:43

I would like to see Oklahoma said, let him play, all right. I want

30:45

to move on to another team in the West.

30:47

That has been a pleasant surprise, uh

30:51

stuck in the top with Utah Jazz that we already

30:53

mentioned, and your favorite team, the Denver

30:55

Nuggets. The Portland Trailblazers

30:58

I think are pretty surprising,

31:00

at least for me last week

31:03

where they ended up beating the Pelicans without Dirk

31:05

and without Dame. Uh.

31:07

Jeremy Grant has been playing great Top

31:10

ten defense. Gary Payton the second

31:12

on the way Blazers for real?

31:17

Man, you're not buying it and

31:20

not it's not that I'm not buying it. I don't know.

31:22

Great vibes, great vibes in Portland's

31:24

absolutely great vibes. I don't know what's

31:27

real for any see in the NBA right now? Can

31:31

we do with basketball podcast? But seriously,

31:33

like, if you're seeing the Blazers are for real? Does

31:36

that like what makes one

31:38

team more for real than another team? Right now?

31:40

Like do you think

31:43

what we've seen from

31:46

you know, let me let's

31:48

start with like the the year example, Like

31:51

do you think the Jazz are for real? I

31:56

don't know that they're top of the Western Conference

31:58

for real. I do believe that they're

32:01

you know, we talk about them every week,

32:03

which is kind of wild. Not in and of itself

32:06

makes them for real. I mean like they just they are

32:08

competent professional basketball

32:11

players. There's not a star on the team,

32:13

not a superstar anyway, but they

32:15

have like better than average players

32:18

and they're deep. So yeah, I mean, like, do

32:20

you think Warriors? Do

32:22

you think the Warriors are for real? That

32:26

one's tougher for me. Um So as

32:28

we record this, the

32:30

Warriors are playing

32:32

even worse than the Minnesota Timberwolves. There five

32:35

and eight, their three and seven over their last

32:37

ten. That doesn't make sense to me,

32:40

um, but we discussed it right where

32:42

they're on this like do two

32:44

things at once track. But I think they got

32:46

to pick their lane and just get back to doing what they what

32:48

they're doing, and forget about the young guys because they got

32:51

Steph and Clay, Andre and

32:53

Wiggins and like just go out and be really

32:55

good at basketball. I

32:58

think my point ultimately is at

33:01

if you say one team is for real, then I kind

33:03

of feel like you have to say most teams are for

33:05

real unless there's like really extenuating circumstances

33:07

like some kind of major injury, etcetera. This

33:10

is the bill parcels. You are what your record says

33:12

you are, which is it

33:14

kind of is. And I just feel like this is

33:16

a weird NBA season. I don't mean weird bad,

33:18

Like the basketball has been good, the games are competitive

33:21

every night, but like

33:23

the schedule has been weird with these early like

33:25

home and home two games, and was like like

33:27

some teams have played like the

33:30

same team like three or four

33:32

times already, Like the Heat weirdly

33:34

played like you know they've played.

33:38

I think there's six and seven. Now they're six and thirteen.

33:40

Half their games have come against the Blazers,

33:43

Kings, and Warriors, like they've

33:45

already played all those teams twice, or

33:47

and they played the Raptors twice too, Like

33:50

it's a weird. It's hard

33:52

to get a handle on any team because the schedule

33:54

has been weird. We're in this

33:56

like extended parody phase. And

33:58

I know I feel bad because you said we're here

34:01

on a basketball podcast, and I'm just like, I don't know what to believe,

34:03

but I don't know what to believe, John,

34:07

Um. This is why, just to pull

34:09

back the curtain on what we do for a living. I

34:12

love that truth from you because we spend

34:14

our life where we get paid

34:16

and it's it's a great, great job, but we get paid

34:19

to watch sports. You specifically get

34:21

paid to watch the NBA. I watch a ton

34:23

of NBA because I do this podcast and it's my favorite sport.

34:25

But people always say like, oh, how

34:27

can you not know? And I'm like, dude,

34:31

we spend our lives doing this, Like that

34:33

should tell you something that none of us don't like. When

34:35

they're like why not, why aren't you better gambling or

34:37

something. If I if I had any idea

34:39

what was happening, I would have my feet

34:41

in the sand. I'd be super rich. That's the whole

34:43

point about sports. Nobody ever knows anything. It's

34:47

true. And at this ENBAS season has been

34:49

in a truly like it's

34:55

I'm enjoying this part like I'm enjoying

34:57

it. I'm enjoying. I feel like any team can win any

35:00

given night for the most part. You know, there are still

35:02

some bad teams, but like Harry and I talked about

35:04

the Magic last week, for example, kind

35:06

of shocked at how few wins they have because the team

35:08

has been really fun and they're in every game and they have

35:10

some nice wins. I'm

35:13

I'll say this, if you're asking me if

35:15

I'm buying Portland's stock, I'm

35:17

buying Portland's stock. I like what they don't like.

35:19

Dan Lillard has a long track record of

35:22

making the playoffs, Like the only time he's

35:24

missed the playoffs is rookie or his rookie season

35:26

and last year when he didn't play. Like if

35:28

you give Jame Lillard a team, historically

35:30

he makes the playoffs. And I know they lost my column,

35:32

but Simmons has been really good.

35:35

Um you mentioned they're still waiting for GP two.

35:37

Shaden Sharper has been one of the most fun rookies

35:39

in the league. I'm I'm buying

35:42

Portland's stock certainly. Like I again,

35:45

like, do I think they're near the top of the West good?

35:47

I don't know, but they've They've gotten some nice

35:49

wins, even amid injuries. But I

35:53

I like them as a playoff team. I thought it was

35:55

weird to how people wanted to kind of not bury

35:57

them before the season. But

35:59

yeah, Like I've never lost faith

36:01

in Dane Lillard certainly. No, I

36:03

didn't either. I didn't.

36:05

I just didn't expect them to be this good. I

36:07

didn't expect to look as good as he's

36:09

looked. Uh damn to just you

36:12

know, come out both guns blazing and

36:14

just uh you know, just

36:16

killing it and then Jeremy Grant

36:19

him folding into the team like pretty

36:22

seamlessly. It's a it's a

36:24

fun team. I will set.

36:27

Yeah, And I'm happy again second

36:29

shot to Ian Carmel and this one

36:31

show. But I'm happy for our friends in Portland

36:35

because I don't know about you. I mean, like, of

36:37

all the places I've covered a game

36:40

in the NBA. Portland's might

36:42

be my favorite environment. It's a

36:44

great place to see a game, like the

36:46

whole, the aesthetic, like the way that they

36:48

they like they dimmed the lights and the

36:50

colors, and like the whole everything

36:53

about the Portland Trailblazers

36:55

in game experience is excellent.

36:58

I'm a big fan of going

37:00

to games in Portland. I will say that we're in

37:03

full agreement there. Fantastic.

37:05

We should really do a full on and

37:08

maybe that's an offseason project Environment

37:10

Rankings podcast. You

37:12

know what, I'm with you. I'm appy for

37:14

their fans. They have great fans. I think we should

37:16

pitch this to the bosses. We're

37:19

open floor hits, the road, the

37:21

tour, the open We're going to do the open floor tour.

37:24

It's all for journalism. It's not just because we

37:26

want to test these things out. It's

37:28

for the company. Yeah, exactly,

37:30

I think they'll say. And to save

37:33

them money, we can even skip a couple of cities

37:35

like Oklahoma City, which I've been to before. You

37:37

know, right,

37:39

no need to go, right, I mean honestly,

37:43

like Coclahoma and I would go.

37:46

I just didn't know it got cold there, like

37:48

I was like, Oklahoma doesn't get cold. Your fondness

37:50

of Oklahoma City is a sickness, and we're going to keep

37:52

you it. Um all right,

37:54

that's a gun is a kayah. That's all I had to

37:56

say. You love that place, all right? Last

37:59

last two topics for you? Uh

38:02

and again open floor family.

38:05

I realized, Uh, you

38:07

know, sometimes you think I talk about the

38:09

Sixers a lot. I've been trying not to. I'm only

38:11

bringing this up because it was a and historic

38:14

effort by Joel Embiid in a win

38:16

over the Jazz has to be discussed and

38:18

beat. Had a career high fifty nine points.

38:21

Now, normally you'd go fifty nine points. That's really

38:23

amazing. He also had

38:25

eleven rebounds, eight assists, and seven

38:27

blocks, which tied his career high. So he wasn't just

38:30

scoring. That was like a full on dominant

38:32

performance. He scored twenty six of the Sixers

38:34

twenty seven points in the fourth quarter.

38:37

Uh knocked me over here. Row that was

38:39

looked a couple of weeks ago. They looked

38:42

dead and buried. Then Joel came

38:44

back and he goes, yeah, all

38:46

those games that happened earlier, the season's

38:48

actually starting right, now and everybody laughed

38:50

about it, but I think he was kind of

38:52

serious. That

38:55

was an insane performance. It's so funny,

38:57

like the more things changed for the Sixers, the

38:59

more I say the same. It's like incredible

39:01

team when Ebid plays. As soon as he steps

39:03

off the floor, they started heavy drink points.

39:05

Obviously he's doing this with

39:08

James Harden out and that makes a huge difference

39:10

here. He's probably gonna miss a little

39:12

bit of time. I

39:15

picked him be to win m VP before the season.

39:17

I really thought he would come out a

39:19

little bit more focused. I mean, he seemed so upset

39:21

after not winning the award last year. I

39:23

just assumed, um, it was

39:26

the only thing he could think about. It

39:28

was a hell of a performance, man, I mean, fifty nine

39:30

points, approaching

39:33

Alice Allen iverson love of stuff, like I

39:35

guess ultimately it was like a fifty ten,

39:37

five and five performance. Just

39:40

really insane, by the way. I know, we talked

39:43

about the shout out to the Jazz, who were like going

39:45

bucket for bucket with the Sixers

39:47

down the stretch of that game. One guy, yeah,

39:51

I mean it was six points and five

39:53

blocks in the fourth quarter and

39:55

the Jazz still almost pulled it off, wrote

39:58

and beat had a hundred and one points

40:01

in twenty four hours in wins

40:03

over the Hawks, and Jazz scored

40:05

over a hundred by himself in twenty four hours.

40:08

He looked to start the season. Yeah,

40:11

I've said this before, like, I just think

40:14

he is you. You

40:16

don't build around him like you build around

40:18

typical superstar in my opinion, because

40:20

there's no other kind

40:22

of player like him in the league. Like

40:25

Yokich also can't really be guarded

40:27

one on one in the post,

40:30

but his athleticism

40:32

does not overwhelming me the way and Beads athleticism

40:35

overwhelmed Sea Boyl, The way he gets teams into foul trouble,

40:37

etcetera. The way you need a very specific

40:40

type of player to defend him,

40:42

or you're being taken out of your scheme.

40:44

Like I just you

40:48

know, I understand him and hardened their

40:50

positive aspects of their partnership. And I'm not turning in

40:52

this like a maybe they're better without hardening

40:54

conversation. It's not that, only

40:56

that I still don't know that the Sixers of ever

40:59

really maximize this guy, found a way

41:01

to really maximize him, And

41:03

I'm I think that the hardened thing can

41:06

be successful. I'm still not

41:08

sure that that means it's the best way to build

41:10

around someone who is so uniquely

41:12

talented as Embiid. Yeah, I think that's

41:14

fair. But in the same way that I

41:17

said that, Um, the Wolves had plotted their

41:19

course and they just have to see where the where the journey

41:21

ends. Same with the Sexers, Like they've they've locked

41:24

in this team. There's not a lot of lovers left for

41:26

Darryl to pull aside from the coach, and I don't

41:28

think that's going to happen now that there's seven and seven and they're

41:30

a game and a half out of hosting out

41:32

of a top four spot where they can host a first round

41:34

playoff series. I

41:36

think it's the team is the team, and they

41:39

see how how good they play. Um,

41:42

I don't know. I'm more think I'm

41:44

more hopeful than I was, certainly a couple of weeks

41:46

ago when they looked absolutely dreadful.

41:49

I would be more hopeful. But I will say I

41:51

feel like the East is a two team race.

41:53

Like I'm willing to call the East a two team race. It

41:55

certainly looks that way. I mean, it certainly looks

41:58

that way, Like we talked about last week how

42:00

dominant the Bucks have been and the Celtics

42:02

are only a hack game off that pace the

42:04

Celtics. So the Celtics defense

42:07

has been that good. Yeah,

42:11

man, I hate

42:13

to feed into the

42:17

Tatum take economy

42:19

that exists in the Democratic People's

42:22

Republic of Boston right

42:24

now. Yeah, Unfortunately,

42:27

UM, like the

42:29

outside world's worst Tatum fears have come

42:31

true because he is unbelievable.

42:35

I'm I'm I had my eye on

42:37

Boston's defense like it's it's

42:39

I think been bottom ten now

42:41

for however many games they played

42:43

thirteen. That's that's a not insignificant

42:46

stretch to have um

42:49

as bad of a defense as they had. I'll look up the

42:51

exact ranking here in a second, But I

42:55

just thought Philly would was gonna come out

42:57

really strong and focus to start the season. And again

42:59

now they're dealing with the herd and injury stuff, so

43:01

it's different, but it

43:04

just feels like such a two team race in

43:06

the East. Boston is the twenty second

43:08

defense in the NBA, and yet they

43:10

still have the third best net rating because

43:12

their offense is just so unstoppable.

43:15

Their offense is three

43:19

point five points better than the second

43:21

place team by points for possession,

43:23

which is the Nuggets. The Nuggets are

43:25

closer to Gosh,

43:28

the Nuggets are closer to the

43:31

twelveth offense than they are the first

43:33

offense. That's how good Boston

43:36

has been. So can I confess something

43:38

to you? Please? Just between

43:40

us nobody else. I

43:42

really like watching Jayson Tatum.

43:45

Yeah, the team's fun to watch. I

43:47

hate it because

43:49

I'll turn on the game, I'll be like, it's

43:52

it's you know, I'm forty five years old. It's forty

43:54

five years of conditioning to not want

43:56

to watch the Boston Celtics. The game

43:58

comes on and I'm like, oh man,

44:01

watching Tatum. He's so good. He's

44:05

so good. And I really don't know how you stop

44:07

their offense because you

44:10

really need You need multiple guys

44:12

to stay in front of Brown and Sat them

44:14

who have now become so much better at sharing the ball.

44:17

They can beat almost anyone

44:19

one on one once they drive to the

44:21

rim. Like Al

44:23

Horford in the corner is such a cheat code

44:25

because teams cheat off of him and he just feasts on

44:28

these open threes. Same thing

44:30

for Grant Williams. They

44:32

don't even have Rob Williams yet. And that's the thing is

44:34

like as bad as their defense is, like if they get Rob Williams,

44:36

he can go a long way in helping that. You know, he might affect

44:38

the offensive tiny bit. But you

44:41

know, they've been really good. We've the

44:43

Sam Howser propaganda like lives

44:45

on, um, he's shooting I think over from

44:47

three? Still um again,

44:49

Like it doesn't even matter how bad they've been on defense,

44:52

because they are playing offensive

44:54

basketball at really

44:57

really incredible rate. Like you know I

44:59

could Okay, They're

45:01

current offensive rating as a

45:03

team is a hundred and nineteen

45:06

point four. Do

45:08

we think that's that that might be

45:10

better than like the

45:13

seen Warriors with Kevin Durant. I

45:16

think that's going stuff too far. If

45:18

you just let's let's look, let's look it

45:21

up. Hold on, hold on. I mean I'm saying the number

45:23

might be better, but in terms of like

45:25

personnel, I don't. Like. I still

45:27

think you go with the Warriors because like

45:29

if the Warriors, the

45:32

Warriors weren't trying to win every game that season,

45:34

right, is that the season they were trying to but

45:37

but just just for just

45:40

for establishing a baseline.

45:43

The lineup of Andre Goodala, Kevin

45:45

Durant, Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,

45:47

Draymond Green had a one point

45:50

nine offensive rating the Celtics

45:52

as a team. That means all the garbage

45:54

time and it's all the bench lineups

45:56

that are one nineteen point five.

45:58

It's uh just to put into context

46:00

of how good they've been. Got

46:03

it the amount of Celtics talk

46:05

we're doing right now, So

46:07

what's how that changes? And

46:09

uh, you know, go Box. I guess

46:12

all right, last one for you, just because

46:14

I feel like this will be on your radar too.

46:17

We'll see if I'm right. But uh

46:20

f t X the cryptocurrency company

46:23

filed for bankruptcy, which

46:26

means you're Miami Heat need

46:28

a new arena name. Um,

46:31

how do you feel? And uh,

46:34

you got any replacement suggestions? Any

46:36

local flavor down there, like a

46:38

good Cuban sandwich place might want to slap

46:40

their name on the right. It's really funny. This is

46:42

really funny. Okay, So first

46:45

of all, I know you're

46:47

a big crypto guy, just

46:51

minding crypto coins all day long. Yeah.

46:53

I literally got a spam d M that today was

46:55

like do you mind bitcoin? Um?

46:59

As some one who knows nothing about bitcoin,

47:03

I'm glad. It's you know, what's happening is

47:05

happening. I hope no one like actually

47:07

innocent has gotten hurt because it just seems like a

47:09

lot of things weird which people were up to. It's

47:11

it's weird. I wanna, I wanna

47:13

explain crypto to you the best

47:16

way I ever heard it explained to me, which was by

47:18

Kenny Main, former Sports

47:20

Center anchor Kenny Main. He explained

47:22

it this why you take your real money

47:25

and you buy some fake money,

47:27

and you hope that fake money appreciates value

47:30

so that you can turn it back into more real money.

47:37

Okay, let's yeah, Yeah,

47:39

yeah, it's dumb. It's dumb. Anyway,

47:42

I'm glad that ft X arena

47:44

is going away. It's lame.

47:47

It sucks. I don't like Crypto. I'm just

47:49

cranky. But I love the

47:51

idea of the Heat getting a new arena name.

47:54

And I know that there's like this thing where it's

47:56

like, why do we care about arena names?

47:58

It's corporatis blah blah blah.

48:01

It's undeniable that if you're a fan, sometimes

48:04

you just have an attachment to serg arena

48:06

names because that's what it was when you went there as a kid, or you

48:08

had great memories there or whatever. I understand

48:10

that these corporations are paying for it, but you know what

48:13

it's I'm just gonna say it's okay to

48:15

enjoy an arena name. I'll say it,

48:17

it's okay to like the arena that you

48:19

went to. Um,

48:21

So I missed the triple A. Having

48:23

said that, if we're

48:25

looking for a new sponsor, I think Publix

48:28

has got to be at the top of the list.

48:30

I love publics Um.

48:33

You know, maybe even specify it to like the

48:35

Public's Deli Um,

48:37

like the Public's Delhi Arena. You just

48:39

the Public's yeah Um.

48:42

People call it the pub sub And now you're all right,

48:44

that's stupid. You could just call it Public's arena, but

48:46

people call the arena the pub

48:48

sub Um. If you want to get even

48:51

more local, you could go Elpaso Hugos

48:54

Um. The Elplasois

48:56

Hugos Center would be sick Shelby

48:59

texting me. Now call it the

49:01

Miami Sound Machine, but they

49:03

have to be loud. Uh. I don't think you

49:05

could just need to call the arena

49:07

the Miami Sound Machine. I don't really get that.

49:09

You you need some money behind Miami Sound

49:12

Machine arena, like Scloria stuff on throwing

49:14

money up for this or what? Yeah?

49:16

Um, speaking of Gloria Estefan and local

49:18

sponsors, Glory Eston used to be a co owner

49:21

of this Cuban restaurant called Larios,

49:23

which was awesome. Shout out to the shrimp creole at

49:25

Larios. But I don't think it exists anymore. But

49:28

Laios Arena would have been cool. Solby

49:30

says, no arena, just the Miami Sound

49:35

I like, I I give it points for creativity,

49:37

like it's it's different. Jimmy

49:39

Butler's thrown out Big Face Coffee arena

49:42

that sounds that feels like a salary

49:45

cap circumvention, though you

49:47

know they might get it, like the Patriots hiring

49:49

Tom Brady's trainer. We did. Uh.

49:52

Probably my favorite segment that we

49:54

ever did for Sports Illustrated Weekly was

49:57

the piece that we did with you about Jimmy

49:59

but There's Coffee Company, because there was

50:01

just so fun and funny, and now you're

50:04

kind of selling me on Big Face Coffee Arena.

50:06

Big Face Arena would be cool. Shelby

50:10

is continuing to text me about

50:13

why the Miami Sound Machine makes

50:16

sense. Amazing,

50:19

that'll have to be its own separate episode. But I'm

50:21

glad that you get to strip off f t X

50:23

and we'll come up with new names. Maybe people

50:25

can email us some other names aside from Miami

50:28

Sound Machine Arena

50:30

Listen open floor mail at gmail dot

50:32

com. I'm going on the public arenas my pick, and

50:35

I just I know Public is

50:37

UH ownership group might be

50:39

making some shady donations and

50:42

stuff. All I just gotta say is the same woman

50:44

has the same lovely woman is making my public

50:46

substance like so,

50:48

I you know I have I have

50:51

a deep bond with my local publics.

50:53

It's the love in the sandwich. Uh.

50:55

Make sure to read Rohan's Trade

50:58

Fake a d Trade story ideas

51:01

on s I dot com. Also, if you are

51:03

so inclined, I went to UH

51:06

city called Philadelphia and wrote

51:08

about Jalen Hurts, who you know you're talking about

51:10

two as an m VP candidate. Another

51:12

guy, Jalen Hurts m VP candidate.

51:15

The Eagles play the Commanders this evening, still

51:17

undefeated, top of the NFC

51:19

East, looking pretty good. So I wrote

51:21

about Jalen Hurts. If you want to check that out. In the

51:24

interim, Second best Alabama QB

51:26

in the NFL right now, stinging

51:29

me. But you guys, you guys can read the piece and decide for yourself.

51:32

Make sure to come back for open floor

51:34

on Friday with Rohan and Chris.

51:36

I will be back with Row next Monday.

51:39

Thanks for listening, everybody, whoa,

51:48

whoa,