Pressure Points: Elbowing the Way To a Championship?

[00:00:04] Sports Reports, no gimmicks, no clowns 2-5, Mr. Loddickle, we run this town Real talk only, no chasing, no doubt From the east to the west, it's the order we shout Mic check, lights flash, game time, stay ready Two vets in the zone, keep the pressure real heavy Big hits, big plays, yeah, we breaking it down Truth rings in your speakers, every word is the crown From the north side hustle to that southern flame Midwest grind West coast of the game Sports Talk Kings Yeah, we wear that crown Turn it up, let them know It's about to win

[00:00:34] Sports Reports, no gimmicks, no clowns 2-5, Mr. Lottical, we run this town We'll talk only, no chasing, no doubt From the east to the west, it's the order we shout It's about to go down

[00:01:05] Yes! You are now listening to the sounds of Sports Reports As Ordered. It's Tuesday night. We are here. Wimby is here. We got a lot to get to. Where do the Lakers go from here?

[00:01:19] Is this it for LeBron James? Joel Embiid What's next for him After Daryl Morey got fired A few minutes ago? That and much, much more And of course, you know those wizards Number one draft pick, baby Like, review, subscribe, share, rate Do all the free things Do all the good things Liquid death in hand Say less, say more Wherever you get your podcasts And of course, he is Mr. Logical I am 2-5 Let's get right to it, sir

[00:01:50] So They couldn't even get one? Not averaging like 18 turnovers a game The turnovers I mean I think people beat that The horse to death about the fouls It's subjective It's subjective And sometimes it feels like it's leaning one way I know OKC had a couple of guys with five fouls last night

[00:02:20] Um Yeah, you can't win with the turnovers You can't win without a second I think Austin Reeves is a A really, really good player But he was come off an injury You need You need You need a guy that Can carry you the way SGA did last night You need a guy that can get you 33 Effortlessly Graham I mean, obviously like, you know, it's just

[00:02:49] That's what he can get you in any given moment But you need another guy that can come along and give you 25 Out of nowhere We'll talk about like Houston game one When Canard gave him 27 You need that in these big moments And I just feel like The Lakers got it with Rui But it just was nothing they could do with OKC anyway Why wasn't he on the floor late? I think they just wanted a bigger screener maybe

[00:03:20] But I mean Or maybe he was thinking like LeBron would get left Maybe He figured I put a guy out there who's cold Remember the Mario Chalmers Three when he played for the Heat Like he was only got to standing over there And the ball just got to him Maybe he was thinking like OKC would overplay LeBron and Austin Reeves And Cleveland can just step out Catch and shoot I know he's cold But He'd probably be wide open Maybe

[00:03:49] But I think sometimes you could overthink it Personally, I would have had Rui out there Just like, listen I'm going to Dance where I'm wrong with You know, you're in the big dance You're in the big play And I mean They got a good shot out of it It's not like we talk about The The Ray Allen three Where Tim Duncan wasn't on the floor For the rebound And it backfired They still got the ball To Their highest score That game He got a good look One dribble Pull up Defender was

[00:04:19] Completely out of the picture He just missed the shot So, you know, it's funny Like At the beginning of this series And, you know To whoever told me that on TikTok You know My mom does not fear OKC You know what I'm saying But your mom probably fears the Utah Jazz So when I was looking at this A lot of the talk was the free throw discrepancies And then, you know So I looked at Game three, of course

[00:04:49] Lakers 25 free throw attempts OKC 10 Lakers lost that game by 23 You know what I'm saying And, you know So you can't make up for this Because, you know Last year You know Of course we talk about how I was probably one of the first If not the first To pick OKC to win the title But even during that process I was like Hey If it comes down to three-point shooting You know Maybe if they have to grab some big rebounds

[00:05:17] That'll be the flaws They don't got that problem no more And, you know AJ Mitchell Jarrett McCain Now you got the shooters That they didn't have last year So when I look at this series Against the Lakers And last night was a perfect example of this In the first quarter LeBron came out aggressive You know Everything was flowing They ended the first quarter With a five-point lead OKC started the second quarter With a 25-0 run Oh, no It was a seven That was Cleveland

[00:05:47] A 17-0 run And it was just It was just Before you could even blink Like, you know The Lakers didn't even score For the first four or five minutes Of the second quarter And it was those moments Where you say to yourself How can anybody beat this team? So I know San Antonio Has had You know A certain success Against OKC this year But San Antonio In a struggle right now Like, it's not A foregone conclusion That San Antonio They're making it out of that Yeah Right

[00:06:16] And, you know So I'm almost at the point Where I'm like Just chalk it up OKC's gonna win this thing again But when it comes to the Lakers You know Austin Reeves You brought him up He has a player option After this season What up, Mike? You know what I mean? Like, yeah Player option is like It's like 14 million You know At the very least You know At the very least I'm testing the market You know what I'm saying? Because I think I can get 30

[00:06:46] From somebody You know what I mean? There's somebody out there That needs a guard like me That can provide the scoring That I provide Now You know Word on the street From Sam Amich Or Amick Is that There is no Austin Reeves In a trade for Giannis If that's the way That the Lakers decide to go So That's off the table So Free agents Missed the logical

[00:07:15] For the Lakers This offseason We got LeBron We got Rui We got Canard Cleba Jackson Hayes You got Aiton On a player option Marcus Smart On a player option The Lakers are going to look Completely different Next year So They're going to look Like a Bad team Because Ron Palenka Can't fix all those problems Well Here's the question You know

[00:07:45] I know Last year Last year You know I know you felt A certain way And you had some Particular criticisms So After year two Now How are you feeling About J.J. Reddick? I don't know If he's a good coach I think he's Probably a good Basketball mind I think he knows Basketball But if I had to

[00:08:16] If I'm a GM And my We're heading To the NBA finals And my coach Just has to take An emergency Leave of absence And I need I need a guy With head coaching Experience I'm probably Going to get a guy Like Ty Lue I think It's Understanding Basketball Is one thing It's like Managers and leaders I think at a certain Point your coach Also has to be Able to lead I just felt like He was like A manager He Like the The Like I don't know

[00:08:46] The energy Just didn't seem Like a guy Who was teaching Winning basketball Other than I believe he was Philosophizing How to win Basketball games It's just like Oh this is how This place Supposed to work Just run it Instead of it like Hey This is how we Can do this better If you get here If you put your Feet here If you Press up here Maybe you can Run him off the Screen So yeah Yeah it just Felt It felt like His Lack of

[00:09:16] Coaching And his I won't say His antics His demeanor On the sideline Was indicative Of a guy Who lacked Coaching Knows what he's Talking about Just not a good Coach Well you know Some of his Mannerisms that you Talk about Remind me of Someone You know Say they Remind me of John Vincent Calipari You know Like it's like Literally he's Waiting for a Reason to take You out the Game Like yeah You know And you know It's like you Know when we

[00:09:46] Talk about people And having Conversations Nowadays It's like People are Waiting to be Offended Like they're Just waiting To react To what You're saying Like JJ Reddick Kind of has This attitude Of It's almost Like he thinks He's coaching College You know Like he's Yelling at These guys You know He's being Demonstrative And at a Certain point Like look I'm a grown Ass man I make more Money than You You know I ain't

[00:10:16] Trying to listen To none of This that You're talking About right Now And I look At somebody You see Like when Like a new Lieutenant comes In they try To run You're like Yo you Got four Years of Books Like go sit In the corner And take Notes and You'll see How real Leadership looks Like it's A reason That you get Attached to A senior Leader in Your unit Now if You have a Senior Leader that Kind of Just bowed Out like Rob Palenka And just Says okay well You're here You can do Whatever you Want it's Like no

[00:10:45] Like it has To be a Balance Like they Didn't I don't Know it Just I Think it's Just a Bad Yes I Don't Think he Has a I don't Think he Has an Issue With To your Point I Don't Think he Has an Issue With Play Calling Or Drawing Things Up It's Just More So Who's Playing For You Because A lot Of Successful Coaches You know Old Adage I Would Run Through A brick Wall For Him And You know But When You Look At The Lakers DeAndre Aitman

[00:11:16] Yeah Like DeAndre Aitman Was Like Hey Man Like Can Cole Look Nice This Time Of Year Like You know Like Floor They Weren't Yeah And It's Crazy Because LeBron To Two All World Players On Your And Oh Ric Flair Had All The Nature Boy Ric Flair Had All The Smoke Faluka Donchich You know What I Mean Go Out There And Get Them Tranquilizers

[00:11:46] And Get Up In That Game You I Don't Think There's A Team He Goes To That Has

[00:12:16] Championship Aspirations Mainly Because All Of Those Teams Are Young So If You Look At 26 27 You'll Have A Young Pacers Team Granted They're Going To Get Their Pick We'll Talk About That Young Pacers Team They Should Be Whole Again You Have Charlotte That Should Hopefully They Can Ride I Think Orlando Is Going To Get A Young Team I Think Their

[00:12:46] Core Is Pretty Locked In There's Nowhere To Put An Aging Player Is The Energy In The Room I Don't Think There's A Spot For Houston I Don't Think There's A You Have To Move Mobley I Don't Know If You Bring Back

[00:13:16] James Harden Jared Allen I Think You Keep Jared Allen Because Jared Allen Does Something Completely Different Than What LeBron Does And He Can Do That With Any Any Four People On The Floor Jared Allen Can I Think A Fun Experiment And A You Know The Media

[00:13:57] Will Love If He To Play Basket Yeah So I Was So I Was Looking At A Team I Was Looking At A Team Like Phoenix You Know Where They're Not Necessarily A Championship Contender You Know But They Do Have A Few Pieces You Know Like Devin Booker Wouldn't Necessarily Have To

[00:14:30] The Rodman Thing Yeah Then You Got You Know I Look Around Practice Video Will Be Ridiculous If They Went To Phoenix To Practice Footage Yeah Yeah Like When I Look Around The East You Know I Like I'm Like No Cause Atlanta Is On A Different Timeline Now You Know Players Of My Kids Like Maybe Maybe Maybe Philly Can Philly Has We Philly Already Has Paul George I Know You Move Paul George Well We'll Get To That

[00:15:00] In A Minute But You Know What I You Don't Have To Give Up Anything For Him That's The Best Part About Give Up Anything For Him

[00:15:30] But I Don't Know If He Goes There I Don't Know Well I Mean Granted Boston Out Depending On How This Year Ends Depending On How

[00:16:00] I Wouldn't I Wouldn't And Like Once Again If You're LeBron If He Goes To Another Team I Imagine That There Is A Expectation Of Playing Two Years Because There's Not A Team He Can Go To Right Now And Be Conference Finals East Or West Next Year That In My Personal opinion Because I Think All Those Teams Are Very Young You Said Phoenix But

[00:16:32] What's Phoenix Bench Look Like Is It Just Going To Be The Same Thing He Was Dealing With In LA Where You Have And Then You Go To The Bench And It's Like None Of These Guys Well That's Where He Has To Put His Wallet Where His Is Right You Know I Mean Because Like I'm Sure If He Go

[00:17:02] I Want To Win A Championship I Got To Get Some Other Pieces In Here I Can't Take That And I Never Tell A Player To Not Take It But You Know What Mean But That's One Of Those Things That You Would Have To Look In The Mirror and Say Maybe I Only Make 20 This Year Which Is A Crazy Thing To Be A To Say To Your So I Mean He's Part Owner Of Liverpool You Know Yeah Definitely He's Definitely Positioned Himself Financially

[00:17:31] Quite Well But From A Basketball Standpoint I Just Don't Know Where He Would Go That Remember When AI Went To Detroit And Memphis And It's Like Neither One Of These Teams I Was Trying To Think Of Something Like

[00:18:00] It's Not His Presence Isn't As Valuable And All These Other Places Especially If They Have Young Players There's There's Lineage There's No Connection It's Not Like He Has A Former Coach I Mean Mike Brown In New York The Knicks That Wouldn't Work Right I Think Ty Lou Still Down In LA With The Clippers That Won't Work And It Looks Like They're Trying To Get Younger Yeah So They're Obviously Like They Ran

[00:18:30] The Experience With The Paul George James Harden Kawhi Leonard They're Scrapping That Plan Just So If He's Gone Does That Mean I Think Retire I Think Retirement You If You Have Plan A Through E One Of Them

[00:19:00] Should Be Retired Not Because He Can't Do It But It's Like Do You Want To Do What You've Done For The Past Few Years In LA For One More Year For Different You Know Do You Convince Yourself Of That You Know

[00:19:30] If He Does Leave You Know It Ends Up On Another Team Or Just Retires Is That The End Of Paper Towel In LA I Imagine I Imagine It's A

[00:20:02] Of His Dad Kind Of Dictating I Don't Think LeBron Like Dictates But It's Like You Have LeBron On Your Team He's Telling You That Hey Number Nine Can Ball And He Is Like LeBron Is Your Franchise Guy I Can See But Like I Can't Imagine That If They Keep The Same Coaching Staff I Think He's Good But More Like I I Have A Feeling He'll Find Some Kind Of Way To Sign A Team Friendly Deal For Two More Years To Stay On LA

[00:20:32] Two Years We'll Call It 81 Million Yeah I Like If You If You Gotta Give Him Like You're Talking About Giving This Man 39

[00:21:02] Million Million Dollars You Know To Me A Year 25 Million Less More Stuff Gary Got His Golden State Right But At Some Point And I Two Years 75 Million Or Austin Reeves Four

[00:21:32] Year 220 Million I Would Do Neither I Would In That Scenario I Would Probably Do The LeBron Thing But I Think That's Probably On The Table More For The Lakers Because You Could Do A Signing Tree But I Think In Real Life I Give LeBron I Don't Even Want To Give Them That You Know Like I Said For Me Like If I'm The

[00:22:02] Lakers We Got To Start Over At Some Point We Got To Get The Future Laker Going You Know What I Mean And We I Think I Think Once Again As A You're Talking About Two Years I Think As A Fan Base I Think We Worked On The Assumption That

[00:22:34] A SGA Is Probably Going To Have The Two Years In A Row NBA Championship Finals MVP League MVP And Maybe He Starts To Trend Back Up Once Again That's An

[00:23:03] Anomaly If We Look At These Gaps Luka I A Lot Of Moves So There Is Competed In The Playoffs He Averaging 30 I Think Like A 30 Point Triple Double In

[00:23:33] The Playoffs So He Does Perform It I I I I

[00:23:55] that letting LeBron go goes gets you close to a championship per se. I'm saying that you ain't winning a championship with LeBron. So, you know, so like you've done that already. It's time. Like, I'm sorry. It's just time because now like you're talking about two years, right? And we're talking about a guy, you know, who's injured sometimes, who isn't in shape, doesn't play defense, do those

[00:24:24] things. You know what I mean? But you got to start filling that team. Like Luka didn't come there to be a part of LeBron's retirement tour. Luka came there because they are the Lakers and championships are what they do. So get me close to the champion. I know, I know, but get me close to the championship and then I will do what I do and we live with the results. In order for that to

[00:24:49] happen, you got to fire the GM. Well, let's do that then. That's what that's and that's what I mean about the emotional connection to the player. Cleveland has emotional connection to LeBron because he's a hometown kid. He brought a championship there. I think they will respect him if he would go there. I don't know what a Miami reunion looks like. I don't know if he has a scene. I don't think that's happening. His love is Pat is still there. Exactly. But like we felt the same way about Dan

[00:25:17] Gilbert. Never thought he'd go back to Cleveland, but he did. Yeah, but that goes back. He's from there. You know what I mean? That's different. Yeah, so like that's what he won his championship to Miami. So could that be, you know, like the driving force? No, because if I'm Pat Riley, you ain't winning me a championship now. Yeah, but Pat Riley is the same team you've been in the play-in for like the last four years. That's fine. And guess what? You bring LeBron here and I'm still

[00:25:45] going to be in the play-in probably. Yeah, but like I said, that city is a, you know, however, Temple Mental the fan base of Miami is, at least that city has some formal relationship with them that will make sense. It's like when Patrick Ewing went to the Sonics. No. Hey, so you know I got to ask you this question. Or when he went to the Magic. You really thought Wimby was going to get suspended?

[00:26:12] I thought it because I thought about Draymond. Okay. I thought about Draymond getting a game and I don't know if the NBA suspended Draymond thinking like, well, there's no way they're going to come back anyway. Uh-huh. So we'll suspend them for game five. Okay. But they'll still probably

[00:26:41] close it out. Okay. And when it didn't happen, all of us as fans go back to that moment. Then we look at like, ah, that wasn't even that, you know, that, that, it barely looked like a hit in his groin. It looked like he hit him on his ass. Backhanded from like a substantial distance. It wasn't like his arm was, you know, paused from all the way through and he went straight up. He like tapped him

[00:27:05] on the butt with the back of his hands. Like it didn't look like that serious, but, uh, I, I thought he would get it just because of that. And then I saw something else where, uh, Metal World Peace got seven games when he elbowed James Harden. And that one looked less deliberate

[00:27:27] than the Wendy one. Cause when he was frustrated, held it, looked hit, and then pushed them off with the other hand. And then like beat his chest or something too. Like, you know, like, you know, when he kicked him out of the game, he looked at Harrison Barnes, like, what does that mean? He goes, so I thought the, the lack of better word, lack of remorse. And the fact that it was

[00:27:53] deliberate that that would be something that they thought about, but I believe the NBA is like, you know what? We can't continue to shift the balance of these series, even though the players behavior is warranted. Now, I think we got a simple answer and I said some of this before, you know what I mean? Like the Draymond thing is he got suspended,

[00:28:22] but I always talk about, look what he had to do to get suspended. You know what I'm saying? He kicked Steven Adams twice, no punishment. You know what I mean? Then he did this to the cash cow of the league. So you gotta go like Wimby hit Nas Reed. In the NBA finals. In the NBA finals. Yeah. Now, now Wimby hit Nas Reed. You know what I mean? If, but he looked at him. I know,

[00:28:50] I know. Let me land the plane. Let me land the plane. If, if, if, if, if he would have hit Ant, then we might have a conversation because now we're talking about another superstar, somebody on Wimby's level per se, but we're talking about a bench player that he hit. First of all, no disrespect to Nas Reed. We're talking about a bench player. First of all, second, second of all. No, I mean, I love Nas Reed. Like I love him, but I don't think the caliber of player factors.

[00:29:18] I think it matters because okay, hold on. Wait. So what's the first thing I always talk about when it comes to the NBA? The superstar calls, superstar calls. Exactly. So you're not for you to suspend Wimby. He'd have had to run into the crowd or something. He'd have had to walk over to Chris Finch and throw him across the floor. If Ant slaps Dylan Harper, I think like open hand punches and

[00:29:43] slaps him. I think he would. Well, I think punches are automatic. I think punches are automatic. So the elbow being deliberately targeted look. And then it like, after you hit him with it, then he like, if he hit him with it. Not in this series, bro. I think if it was Steph Castle, I think it was, if it was Steph Castle, he's suspended. When he hit him with the elbow, if he hit him with the elbow with the ball like this, because I've seen plenty of players come down with the rebound and either get like this, like the triple back position and they swing their

[00:30:12] elbows out. If he would have done it that way or had his hands up and his elbow swung this way. But the fact that he had the ball tucked like Emmitt Smith and then was like, bang, and then hit him with the Bo Jackson Tecmo Bo stiff arm. I was like, okay, you, he was clearly frustrated because he got hit in the head. He got knocked down like two or three possessions in a row. And on that scramble,

[00:30:37] Jay McDaniels hit him across the face. Boom. So he's already, it was like, man, get off me. Well, I thought Jayden Daniels, like, cause he was going for the ball, but he was over top of Wimby. I thought Jayden McDaniels was about to put him in the sleeper hole. Like I was like, what's going on here? You know what I mean? So, so I get Wimby's frustration, you know what I mean? And it is the playoffs, but. Cause he knew he was about to lift the ball high. So I think he went to get to the ball. But I think, I think if it was Steph Castle. The elbow was aggressive.

[00:31:04] I think that if it was Steph Castle, if it was Keldon Johnson, if it was Champagney or Champagney, I think, I think they're suspended. You know what I'm saying? I think they're suspended. The reverse bench player. Okay. And if Nas Reed would have done that to Wimby, he would have gotten more than one game. He would have gotten more than one game. Yep. Possibly. That's the NBA. But he's a six man. That's one of the things, but that's one of the things people hate about the NBA.

[00:31:34] If Shannon would have done it, I think he probably would have got suspended because the NBA is like, well, we're not, we're not changing the betting line. Cause soon as Wimby went out, I hopped on DraftKings. Yeah. So soon as Wimby went out, I was talking to my dad on the phone. It happened. I'm like, boom, I'm about to hop on DraftKings, throw some quick money on Minnesota. That's a guaranteed win. So Wimby being out shifted the, the, the betting lines.

[00:32:03] So I don't know if the NBA is like, well, you know what the line was tonight? I think it was a game where we're game five back in San Antonio. Yeah. San Antonio, five and a half. San Antonio, 10 and a half. Ridiculous. I mean, they played well without Wimby, but. Well, I think, I think they were expecting Wimby to come out in which he did. He scored 16 of San Antonio's first 24 points.

[00:32:30] So I think they were looking at this like a Wimby is about to put up 45 or something. And. But if, like I said, if the NBA does, if the NBA suspends him, I think they, they are shifting the line and the game. And there's in a two game, you know, series is tied to two. So. I understand not suspending them. So I would understand not suspending anybody, but with the philosophy of. Ben's player hits a star. He probably does get suspended.

[00:32:59] So what's your read on the series? It seems like the team that could take the, the, take the punch and deliver two punches is going to win. That seems to be the case is like, they're all fighting. Guys are getting knocked down everywhere. Uh, Stephon Castle can't catch a break. Cause it seems like every time he plays defense, it's like. And he's like, so I can see his frustration.

[00:33:25] What I learned in this series is that Julius Randall hates me as much as I hate him because I came on here after game one. And I was talking about, yo, the Spurs ain't got no matchup for him. Like, you know, like whether it's body wise, you know what I mean? Like castle ain't tall enough. You know, he could push Wimby around so on and so forth. And then, you know what I mean? Ever since I said that he just been playing like shit. You know what I mean?

[00:33:53] Like, I'm like, this is the Julius Randall that I know. Uh, so he, sometimes those physical teams, like they want to get down the hill so fast. They play, they play a little too fast. Um, guys want to get, guys want to get to or near the hoop quickly to avoid Wimby being able to close on their shots. I noticed that that happens a lot. Like if they can't pull them away from the hoop, it's just, I feel like, you know, there's always a good extra pass.

[00:34:23] But sometimes they still like too many passes to try to get rid of angles. It just says, line it up. I would just shoot over you. But I think everybody else. I thought he was about to Julius Randall at the buzzer. Nope. So 59, 47 Spurs at the half. Uh, so like, like, yeah, they, they're not winning this series unless Julius Randall shows up.

[00:34:50] And I'm not saying that he got to come out here and score 30 or anything like that. Just be efficient and consistent. Make the right pass. Make the right play. Six and four. Something along those lines. Just have an impact. And, you know, continue to frustrate Wimby because he ain't going to elbow somebody else. And because the second time he might get suspended. You know what I mean? So like, just keep frustrating him. Or you put somebody in the game and slap him in his head again. Well, that's what Draymond was talking about.

[00:35:19] What Draymond was talking about, like, go. Ultra frustrated. Because I've never seen him that frustrated before. Well, and see, this is my problem with y'all. And by y'all, I mean fans. Because like, first one minute, the NBA is soft. These dudes don't care. Oh, why are they calling these little fouls? And then Wimby don't get suspended. And people are like, what are they doing? They got to suspend him. And it's like, I thought you said the league was soft. Make up your mind. They didn't have to suspend them.

[00:35:48] I just said, based off of Draymond, I figured that they, I bet the conversation. But Draymond had the history, though. You know what I mean? And same thing when you brought up Ron Arseth, same thing. Yeah. The conversation had to occur. And the NBA will never admit this out loud. But the gambling implications and the advantage.

[00:36:11] We talked about it when Jalen Carter got suspended, spit on that game one, first play, whatever. Got ejected. Yeah. Got ejected. I was like, well, that's the suspension right there. He had zero impact on that game. He got kicked out of that game. That's essentially, you find him whatever you find a player on your organization for getting ejected from a game. And then you move on to week two. I didn't think he needed to get another game because it happened right at the beginning of the game.

[00:36:41] That was basically his suspension. It was, I think he played 20 seconds and it was like 59 minutes and 40 seconds he was suspended. So it was like, that's, I mean, that was suspension. So like people are, oh, you should get two more games. That's disgusting. I get it. You're pissed off. It's ridiculous. But he got that time. I think the Spurs, if they would have won, I think he got suspended. I think if the Spurs would have won that game, then he would have been suspended for this one.

[00:37:13] Because NBA likes ratings. So, you know. Yeah. They were like, you know what? He's already, they already missed the game. The series is tied home court advantages. No more two, two series. Anyone's game zero, zero best of three or best of two out of three. Let's go. So, you know, it's funny because as I was preparing for the show, I was like, you know what? I'll ask Mr. Logical. Is it time for Philly to fire?

[00:37:46] Daryl Morey. Is it time for them to fire Daryl Morey? And then about 10 minutes before I logged on, Philly fired Daryl Morey. Makes sense. So, all right. Let's unpack this for a minute. So, I know that there might be some people out there that think that he should not have been fired or maybe he gets another year or something along those lines, right?

[00:38:12] And, of course, we, me and you, have talked about this Jared McCain trade a few times. You know, that's been around the block a few times in our conversations. Guys, I hear hidden reverse layups against the Lakers. Yeah. But what stood out to me after he got fired, the first thing I thought of was James Harden saying Daryl Morey's a liar. And the reason that that stood out to me is because James Harden was Daryl Morey's guy. You know what I mean?

[00:38:41] They went back to Houston until he wasn't. And, you know, allegedly Daryl Morey made some kind of promise that he didn't, you know, fulfill with James Harden contract and everything like that. But I thought the writing was on the wall at that point in time. You know what I mean? Because I don't think I've ever really heard a player come out and say something like that about a front office person specifically. Maybe I'm frustrated with the front office, but not by name. People were lying to him too.

[00:39:10] Well, not, but not, but not just that though. They weren't telling the truth either. But it wasn't just that too. But, but like, I think one of the Morris twins, I can never remember, the one that played for Philly before he, he went, he went on. Yeah. He, he was on, he was doing his media run. You know, he was on first take, you know, he was on Yahoo podcast and all this kind of stuff like that. And he was telling Daryl Morey stories about how you could see Daryl Morey that morning,

[00:39:38] you know, saying, and he's like, bigging you up. Like, oh man, like, can't wait. And you can't wait for the afternoon. Yeah. And then you go to the bathroom and come out and you see yourself on TV in the middle of a trade. So, so, so from that standpoint, I don't know how the lingering effect of that around the league, like making people not want to come there. Is that you think that's a thing? Nah, if it works, it's not a big deal.

[00:40:03] I saw a video the other day where this guy, he was talking about up spiraling and energy and how the world works and money is energy and all these other things. And it was like, people kind of confuse being a good person with having good things happen to you. And normally when it comes to like money, it was like Daryl Morey was in the position that he was in because he was willing to do the two face thing.

[00:40:30] I'm not saying it's a redeemable quality, but in order to facilitate and navigate all of these deals, especially in the way the information flows, he's going to have to put on two faces. Is he a liar? Probably. But was he good at his job? He was when they were winning. And then when they stopped winning, once again, like I said, James Harden was his guy until

[00:40:55] James Harden stopped delivering what Daryl Morey was bragging everyone about why he's my guy. Which is business, right? It's just business. You know, it's not personal. It's like, listen, he and I get that the players feel like it's personal because like you're this is your life and these are your conversations. But that guy cuts people who have families to feed. That guy fires coaches who have children in private schools in the greater Philadelphia area.

[00:41:22] Like he is ruthless by design because someone's directing him. But hey, this is how you're going to you're a general manager of my money. You need to manage it properly or make it rid of you. So it's me or you. I'm not saying it's a redeemable quality. I'm not saying it's a good quality. But it's all good when it works. Talent versus tolerance. So when Embiid was out here winning MVPs, it was all good.

[00:41:51] When Ben Simmons was out here failing and it was clearly, okay, this is somebody else's fault. This is the coach's fault. This is this person's fault. This player can't get on to get up with the program. Now it's like, all right, dog, it's your fault. Now it's your turn to pay the piper emotionally. And then, you know, they can't get off Embiid's contract. Three years left. He signed that extension. 192, I believe, is the number. 192.9 or something like that.

[00:42:20] But looking at them, you know, free agents. Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond, who now becomes very valuable if you're Philadelphia. Kyle Lowry, which maybe he retires finally. You got Barlow and Watford on team options along with Dale and Terry. $3 a year for Embiid, by the way. You know, so there you go. Like, you're stuck now. You know what I mean?

[00:42:46] So, like, theoretically, you could move Maxie, but you don't want to. You know what I mean? Like, you know, he's your future. Well, he was supposed to be the future. But now you have this. Here comes that word that they use. You got this albatross of a contract around your neck. You know what I mean? If we talk about NBA contracts, how they're just so – they're just not logically paid out. Yeah. I mean, they get all the money. Yeah, you – no. Not even – like, I think your contract should be guaranteed.

[00:43:17] The problem is Russell Westbrook had this problem and Damian Lewis because those two conversations I remember we had. You sign a four-year extension for a guy when he's – after he turned 27 going into the next season where he's about to be 28. And you're giving him $200 million. Where you're paying him $35 and $35 for the first two years. So, it's 28 and 29 years old. You paid him $70 million.

[00:43:46] Now, over the next two years, you got to pay the rest of the $200 million. But now he's hit 30. You want to trade him. This other team was like, yo, he's owed $130 million over the next two years. Oh, yeah. Ask me how I know about that. John Wall. John Wall, yeah. So, NBA contract.

[00:44:07] So, if we go to SportsTrack and look up his contract, he probably is going to get $55, $57, and then he'll have – we'll call it $100 million over the next two years. Or like $100, maybe $120 million over the next couple of years. And then it's going to be $70 million the last year because of the way they write these contracts. This man falls 32 times a game.

[00:44:35] There's no way he's going to make it too fast. Yeah, Paul Pierce noticed apparently. Paul Pierce didn't notice. Kevin Garnett did. Or one of them noticed after. Yeah. So, he was like, Lord, Lord, he's on the floor every time I look at the game, Lord. Kevin Garnett's probably like one of the funniest basketball commentators out there. But like that's the same. Real quick, here you go. We started our show last week. It was like, hey, this man's fallen four times in the nine minutes that you and I have been on air, and that included commercial breaks.

[00:45:05] So, he goes 57 next year. What did I tell you? 62. And then 67 in his player option year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Philly's stuck. So, if you're Philly, do you consider moving Maxie, or does it just not even matter? You play. Because you just got Edgecombe in the draft.

[00:45:31] You keep the best team that can win you, that can fill the arena for 41 home games. So, you keep Maxie. You keep Edgecombe. I think you bring back Oubre. If you can move anyone, I'd move Paul George. And I'll take whatever Brooklyn's willing to give me for it. Because I think Brooklyn or Washington, I think, will be in that sweepstakes. Hold on. Who? Who?

[00:46:01] I think Washington. Don't you wish that evil will be Ricky Bobby? Listen, the new GM, he's going to do whatever. So, maybe Orlando wants to make a move. Don't you wish that evil will be? Just be willing. I would be willing to take... Okay, the Elijah Mitchell guy that just played for OKC. I'd be willing to take a guy like that from another team. AJ, me sorry. From another team.

[00:46:26] A guy whose size can score, young, that and a few draft picks, and you can have Paul George. Actually, I don't think Paul George would be a bad fit for, say, Denver. You know what I mean? Because Jamal Murray is not your point guard. Yeah, but he's not a point guard, which is part of their issue, is that Jokic has to spend so much energy trying to run the offense. Because I was thinking about this the other day, side note.

[00:46:56] You know, I was like, is he really bad at defense? Or does he just conserve energy because he has to do so much on offense? Probably. You know what I'm saying? Well, I don't know. We'll never know. So, Pistons and Cavs, Mr. Logical. So, I was thinking about this the other day. You know, we were talking about how I thought refs in certain series were leaning certain ways. So, I went back and looked.

[00:47:26] So, game one, Detroit shot 35 free throws to Cleveland 16. Game two, Cleveland 27-20. Game three, Cleveland 28-22. You ready? Game four. 34-12 Cleveland. Now, what stood out to me about that?

[00:47:54] So, one, it's kind of crazy because game one, like I said, I thought they were in Detroit's pocket. The thing that stood out to me is that people say, well, the more aggressive team gets the calls. I was going to ask you what were the scores. Hold on. And this is the thing. In the series as a whole, Cleveland has shot 41 more three-pointers to Detroit. You know what I mean? So, this is not a matter of, you know what I mean? But that's the thing.

[00:48:23] Two of Cleveland's guys. So, Cleveland's three primary scoring options, if you had to call them that, would be Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley. All those guys are playing near the rim more often than Struis. Wade, Murrell, all these other guys are shooting. Schroeder. Schroeder's a bit of a slasher.

[00:48:53] He likes to attack the rim. He's not that great of a shooter, but I think he likes to attack downhill. So, but Donovan Mitchell will get like 32 shots. Only one team in this series has scored at least 115. So, he'll put up 12. He'll, like, I think he'll put up six or seven, maybe eight threes to add to that 41 three-point disparity. But with Detroit, Detroit, they don't have a guy.

[00:49:19] Like, their guys that are shooting two-pointers aren't guys like James Harden that are creating contact and getting foul calls. Guys like Donovan Mitchell. So, it looks like, oh, the more aggressive team only gets it. Their guys kind of are get to the spot, shoot the pull-up, miss or make. It's not a lot of guys who are dribbling the ball and handling the ball in one-on-one, picking roles like Kate Cunningham, which probably shot the most free throws.

[00:49:48] And you know what I learned? Jalen Duren hates money as much as I hate Julius Randle. Like, he is flushing his max down the toilet with each passing game. You know, like, to the point where am I going to see more Paul Reed tomorrow? You know, am I going to see Jalen Duren get, say, 21 minutes and then Paul Reed gets the rest? Before this series started, the reason that I told you I was picking Cleveland,

[00:50:18] was because I just don't know where else Detroit gets the points from. Now, that question has been answered. Tobias Harris has been showing up, especially in the fourth quarter. Now, the question is, who going to be the third scorer? Because when I look at Asar Thompson, and I don't know what's going on with these Thompson twins messing with me like this. Amen can't shoot and Asar can't dribble. You know what I mean? But they went number four and number five in the draft.

[00:50:45] And Asar is like in that early stage Jalen Brown status right now. You know what I mean? So you can't play him so much. But he's your best defender. You know what I mean? So he has to be on the floor. Play him and let him defend. And then you got... And throw him lobs. So I might need more Ron Holland. How do I deploy the talent that I have? I can't hope the guy becomes a better shooter in May.

[00:51:13] I might need more Ron Holland. He has a 42-inch vertical. I can give him the ball near the rim. I can let him play tough defensively, get some steals and some run outs and easy layups and some dunks. So now this is the conundrum that I have, Mr. Logical. Because you know, like I said, I picked Cleveland to win this series. They have one flaw in the playoffs. They do. But this is where my conundrum comes in. So we got two out of three now.

[00:51:44] Detroit has the two home games. Correct. The difference is I've seen Detroit lose playoff games on their home floor. Cleveland hasn't lost yet on their home floor during the playoffs. So if... They just battled back from a 3-1. So they just fought off 3-0. No, definitely, definitely. But my point being is that if Cleveland... No, definitely.

[00:52:09] But my point being is if Cleveland can somehow muster up a good start, Kenny Atkinson, in game five, put some pressure on Detroit, and get out of there with a win, if I'm Cleveland, I got to feel great about game six coming back to Cleveland. Of course, yeah, because you're undefeated at home. But the problem is you are... You're just... Okay. Okay.

[00:52:38] I'm just making up words here. You're just unfettered. No, I'm just making up all kinds of words. Amalgamation. I don't know why I keep thinking of that word. I've heard it. I don't know why I keep saying it. But you're Cleveland, you're 0-5 on the road, and one of the stars in your backcourt has zero clutch moment games in the playoffs in his entire career.

[00:53:07] Well, I'll give you the 50 that he scored against Boston. I wouldn't consider it clutch because it didn't put them up in the series. I think it might have tied the series at one, that Boston series. But then he gives up 50 to Jason Tatum a couple games later, and they close out the series. So, unfortunately, watching Shea last night, you can tell, okay,

[00:53:37] this is a moment he can do this. He can take over, score, however he gets to the free throw line, however he gets to his spots. He can dance with the ball, and he can shoot that dagger three and knock it down. I don't have that same confidence in James Harden, and especially on the road for a team that's 0-5 on the road in the playoffs. So, I'm just betting on Detroit just because I think the best money would be

[00:54:07] on them to win at home. So, I do have that level of confidence in Donovan Mitchell. It's just that I need everybody else to help Donovan Mitchell get to that point. You know what I mean? Like, Donovan Mitchell, I think, is a big shot taker, big shot maker, as they say. You know what I mean? But I think that it's more like, can Mobley show up on the road?

[00:54:36] Is Jared Allen going to be effective to where when we are looking at the fourth quarter? Even if you're losing, you're down 97-93 instead of 99-89. You know what I mean? And now, I'm in a position where Donovan Mitchell could get an and one, cut it down to a one-point game, something along those lines, versus, oh, yay, we're down five now. Here comes the run.

[00:55:01] But the thing for your effective Mobley, Allen, Struis, that's still not enough points. It's not enough plays for them. It's not enough opportunities for them. So, because even if they were effective, I just feel like James Harden would be going on game 48 with more turnovers than field goals.

[00:55:26] I think that's more likely to happen than him having a good game, Donovan Mitchell having a good game, and the supporting Cavs having a good game, when it hasn't happened this entire playoffs, and then subsequently it hasn't really happened that often in James Harden's playoff career. Donovan Mitchell has a few 50-point playoff games, and he has those moments where he just went off at 39 points in the second half this game. He has that in him.

[00:55:53] I don't know if James has – I don't know if he has 28 points in him in game five. Minnesota cuts the lead down to four, and San Antonio just turned the ball over. So, how do you get to this level, and your home road split is so bad? Like, Cade Cunningham – and I know this is his first time in the playoffs, so there must be something to the playoff pressure.

[00:56:23] But that was not the same dude that showed up in Cleveland this weekend and yesterday. You know, like in those two games in Cleveland, 15-41 from the floor. You know, Harden, you know, not turning the ball over at home. And it's like, you've been in the league, you know, at least, I'm going to call it 16 years, you know, for James Harden.

[00:56:44] And how are you still at the point where you fall apart on the road so badly? Like, it's okay to have a bad game. But how do you just completely unravel? Because his – I think his advantage – like, when I said last week, I thought he should have stayed with teams that allowed him to play the way he played in Houston until he was no longer capable of doing that.

[00:57:13] And I saw a video today where someone was saying, like, basically, James Harden's style in Houston is, like, the blueprint for a lot of these guys who are, you know, guys who handle the ball out. LaMelo Ball, Ann Edwards, Luka. Like, they play the way that James Harden set that standard. So we talked about Steph with the three.

[00:57:34] The James Harden with the high usage rate, effective ball handling middle floor, big guard, attack downhill, or to step back three. I don't think he has the same impact with those moves anymore. So it's easier to defend. You're just not – you're just not as quick. It's not as – it's not – Right. I mean, he was never – yeah, he was never – his game was never predicated on speed.

[00:58:03] But now he was old. He was so effective with creating space. And, you know, they stopped calling travel because he was bad. He was doing a lot of four or five step backs. Oh, speaking of which, you'll appreciate this real quick. Right before we came on here, I was looking up some draft stuff. And I ran into the Kawhi play against Philly. I was like, yo, I never really put it – I never noticed it before. But, like, yeah.

[00:58:33] That was the first thing I noticed. As soon as he caught the ball, like, he just took off. He just started running. Like, but anyway, yeah, yeah, yeah. He caught the ball, curled it towards the sideline, caught it, turned around, started dribbling. Like Paul did before he even put it down. Like, you know what I mean? It just turned around. Middle of the court. Ball in his hand. Yeah. That's crazy. So I think that's James Harden's piece.

[00:58:54] We talk about an aging KD, an aging LeBron, older Steph, even an older Paul George, an older Carmelo, even the older Dirk. The thing that they had was their best offensive attribute also coincides with their size. LeBron is just big enough and still fast enough to get past you, and you can't get through him because he's so big.

[00:59:21] Steph is still quick enough to create space, and his quick release just is not – he's not going to – his release isn't going to get slower. Paul George, 6'8", 6'9", can handle the ball. Never really was a quick guy, but he uses the pick and roll well to get the matchup because he is two, three inches taller than anyone he calls over to switch. So James Harden doesn't have that advantage anymore.

[00:59:45] And because of that, you have – you do the step back, and Sar's still there. Like you're still being defended by the guy you thought you shook off, and now it's a bad pass to Mobley. Yeah. So, you know, but yeah, game five tomorrow, pivotal game five, you know, they say, you know, whoever wins game five is more likely to win the series. So, you know, we'll see what happens. Like 73% of some crazy – Something like that. But Mr. Logical.

[01:00:14] Hear ye, hear ye. Wizard Nation. Something finally went our way. So, you know, as I was thinking about this, you know, I was thinking, you know, there was a John Wall. There's a second year in a row AD's team at the number one pick in the offseason, by the way. Yeah, yeah. Trae AD at number one pick.

[01:00:42] John Wall and, you know, Kwame Brown, you know, are, you know, our previous versions of a number one draft pick. So, of course, it was fitting, right, because we've been talking about the tanking and how Adam Silver's trying to come up with all these rules to combat tanking. And then the two teams that were probably the biggest tankers end up wanting to. And especially the Utah Jazz, like you have to consider them – oh, Minnesota tied this up.

[01:01:12] But you have to consider Utah a winner in this situation because they were the ones that got fined the $500,000 for tanking. And here they are with the number two pick. Now, I'm going to tell you something about – well, actually, I'll get to that in a minute. So then I look at the Bulls at number four. You know what I mean? Like, it takes me back to Eddie Curry. I think he was number four. You know, in recent times, Patrick Williams was number four. You know what I mean?

[01:01:40] So that's not such a lucky number for the Bulls. But the biggest winner, I think, outside of the top two teams, the Clippers. Because, you know, they lost a pick to OKC, you know, due to the Paul George trade. But then a part of the Zubac trade, they get Indiana's pick because it didn't finish in the top four. I don't know why Indiana would take that gamble.

[01:02:10] Maybe they had to to get the deal. That's what I mean. Like, I don't know why you – I don't know why you took that deal. I just don't know why you would risk the potential top five pick with the – I saw Brian Weir. In this draft, you know what I mean? They had a 52% chance of getting a top four. Right. And then a 48% chance of it being five or six.

[01:02:41] And if it was outside of five or six, then it was, like, pushed to, like, 2031. Yeah. Like, it didn't happen at all. So, it had to be your 52% to get the top four, 48% for five and six, and then seven through 14. That's irrelevant because, like, the way the trade worked out, it was going to go to 2031. Right. Right. So, that just was – those are just bad numbers. I think there's just bad management there.

[01:03:10] So, what stands out to you? Does Utah still work a way to try to get A.J. to bombs? I just saw a video of him shooting threes at the combine. He didn't look like he was doing well, but, you know. Hey, but he checked out with that 42-and-a-half-inch vertical. So, yeah, so does Washington just go, keep it simple, and just take him, best player in the draft? If I were making the decision, I would take A.J. DeBacha.

[01:03:37] If Utah called me and said, hey, Ace Bailey and, you know, maybe a first – I don't know if that would be logical, but, you know, first next year or something along those lines, I would at least do my due diligence and sit down and think it over because, you know, I mean, I just love Ace Bailey anyway. So, I would think about it, but I don't think you can.

[01:04:02] I think A.J. DeBacha is just – like, I know this is going to sound real crazy, real hyperbolic, but this is sports, and that's what we do, right? Yes, you can't miss prospects. Like, A.J. DeBacha is like Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown, but hybrid. You know what I mean? Like, so, like, if he reaches, you know, the potential, like, he's that level of a player to me.

[01:04:26] So, am I going to give that up for anything Utah gives me? I don't know. Like, if you try to give me Laurie Markkinen, I don't like the injury history. And, you know what I'm saying? If you try to give me Ace Bailey, I might not want him alone. But if I'm Utah, but if I'm Utah, this works out perfectly. Because if Washington takes A.J. DeBacha, you can sell to your fan base.

[01:04:56] I tried to do everything I could. Washington wouldn't budge. But when I look at the Utah Jazz and how they're constructed right now, Peterson is the missing piece. You know what I mean? So, you got Keontae George coming off his career year. Ace Bailey, you know, a year under his belt. Markkinen. You know, you traded for Jaron Jackson Jr., you know, at the trade deadline. Walker Kessler didn't even really play this season.

[01:05:25] So, this is like the one spot that you could solidify. And, yeah, and you're looking at maybe a top six seed if everything comes together. No marking and injury. Like, you know, everything plays out a certain way. Like, you could be looking at we skipping the play-in and we going to jump right into the playoffs like San Antonio did. Not as high as San Antonio did, but we going to skip the line. So, it might just work out. You know where he's from?

[01:05:56] I don't, but I will tell you. You know what I mean? So, from that standpoint, I think it's the best of both worlds. Now, let's look at it this way. You're Washington. He was born in the home of the NFL Hall of Fame. Oh, Ohio kid. All right.

[01:06:22] So, A.J. DeBonsa went to high school in Utah. Uh-huh. Went to BYU. Uh-huh. And they have, the Jazz have a Utah, I'm sorry, BYU guy in one of those decision-making positions. Well, probably. That fronted the money. That fronted the money. Right, but he fronted the money.

[01:06:49] Well, not fronted, but, you know, he contributed to the money that got A.J. to BYU. Yes. So, a lot of local Wasatch front connections. A lot of Mormon money connections. I don't know if anybody else would want to play in Utah more than A.J. DeBonsa.

[01:07:12] And I don't know, if I'm Washington, I'm looking at like, I might take whatever Utah's giving me in a deal just to get more trade bait. Because, you know, they're going to try to move A.D. probably. Uh, just to sweeten the deal for another, sweeten the pot for another deal. Because.

[01:07:38] Well, I think, I think Washington, this upcoming year for Washington and Utah is shit or get off the pot year. You know what I mean? You've been tanking, you know what I'm saying? You've been building for the last couple of years. You know, Washington went out and got Kula Bali a few years ago. Keyshawn George. You know, you got Sarr at number two. You got Trey Johnson last year at number five or six. Or number six. So, so, so like now you brought in Trey Young. You know what I mean?

[01:08:07] So, you're trading A.D. more than likely. I don't think you're trading both. So, I think at this point, you just got to try to go for something. No, I just think, I think conversations, I think money and conversations would be quite persuasive. And I think there's probably, I think there's a scenario. In works to where somebody else goes number one or A.J.

[01:08:35] Or Utah moves up to one in some kind of deal with Washington and they get A.J. Or here's another piece of that, right? There's somebody who has a daddy that played for number two and number four. Who is in the front office of number two now. If A.J. DeBanca isn't there.

[01:09:05] One of the Boozer twins? Yeah, Cameron, yeah. Because Caden went back to school. And if that's the case, I'm trading with the Bulls to go back to four. Well, he's a part of the big four. He's a part of the big four of this draft. And he won national player of the year. Yeah, but does that, so did Frank Kaminsky. Frank the Tank, shout out. Yeah.

[01:09:32] But sometimes it just, it doesn't always translate. And I think you see, we saw with Jaleel Okafor. We saw it with, like I said, Frank Kaminsky. You know, sometimes like these guys, these bigs that play below the rim, that aren't Jokic. Jokic's probably the only big that can play below the rim at the rate that he does and be that effective. The rest of these guys got it. You got to be able to do something else.

[01:10:00] I want to see the real measurements come out. Like when they actually do the real tape. Yeah, so I know DeBancho was 6'8 and a half. Okay, so that's official. Because that was like basically what they were saying all year. Yeah, but that was something I was actually going to bring up. Because these guards are smaller than I thought. You know, Acuff was only about 6'2 and a half. Kingston Flemings was only 6'2. You know, so like a lot of these guys.

[01:10:28] But he looked 6'2, 162. So a lot of these guys that people were saying is like, hey, if you can't get one of these four, these guards are right. But all of them are smaller than people probably thought. So Caden Boozer barefoot was 6'8 and a quarter. I think they had him listed as 6'11 at Duke or 6'10. And he was 253 basically.

[01:10:58] That's what I'm saying. So like these below the rim bigs. Like is he guarding Bam? Is he guarding Paolo? I don't know if he's quick enough to guard Paolo. You know, and that's going to be his problem is does he have the foot speed to keep up with some of these guys? But the expectation is if I take you in the top two, three, four, five,

[01:11:23] you're going to have to be able to score on them and defend them. Well, I know this. You are undersized. And did he do a vertical yet? Let me see. So like the problem with a guy like him, and I know this is redundant because we're talking about a draft. But he's – I think he is – it depends on who he goes to. You know what I'm saying?

[01:11:52] Like even though like he's considered to be the third best – or fourth best prospect in this draft depending on who you talk to, you know, I think that he's the one that is dependent where he goes. Because I think DeBancho can pretty much go anywhere. I think Peterson could go anywhere. His vertical was 35. You know, you got –

[01:12:21] That's not great for a 6'8 guy. You got Caleb Wilson, you know, who is the fourth of this, you know, quartet if you will. You know, now that's where Memphis has the decision to make because assuming that DeBancho and Peterson go 1-2, if you're Memphis, do you go with the playmaking big, you know, all Julius Randle doing Julius Randle things.

[01:12:46] Do you go with the playmaking big at 6'8", put him next to Zach Eadie, and you have Zach Eadie to clean up the defense behind him? Or do you go with Caleb Wilson, who I've seen people compare to Kevin Garnett? I don't quite see that. But that's what a lot of people are comparing him to. He's athletic as hell.

[01:13:12] You know, his defensive ceiling is probably out of this world based off of his athleticism. So, do you use Caleb Wilson as basically a Jared Jackson replacement of sorts? Yeah. What up, Rez? I just feel – I always feel like a lot of these players are going to end up – because, you know, because of tanking and because of the way it's set up,

[01:13:42] you're going to be expected to be the man on these teams. And I just feel like sometimes these front offices aren't honest with themselves. It's like, okay, are we going to be able to get this guy to the level that we are drafting at four? Like, we're the Chicago Bulls. We've done a plethora of poor deals over the last few years. Should we go get a ready-made star from another team for this fourth overall pick?

[01:14:10] Well, see, I think the Bulls are finally on the timeline. I think they've fired a bunch of people now. They can start over. So, they should be on the timeline that they're on now because, yeah, the lottery was on Sunday, Rez. So, you know, so you got Bozellis still, you know. So, that's first and foremost as far as a potential standpoint. You know, I want to say they drafted Nsingay last year.

[01:14:39] So, Chicago has a couple of, you know, pieces, you know what I mean, to start off with at the very least. You know, I just wonder if they try to trade up, you know, to three. You know, I don't know if it's worth it, but try to trade up to three and see if they can get. Because I think that Boozer would be a good fit with them.

[01:15:10] With Chicago? Yeah, with Chicago. And, you know, Josh Giddey, of course, you know, and then they got Rob Dillingham. So, they have some young pieces that you could feel good about, you know, but you got to hit this. This has to hit, especially for the draft, like this draft that we're talking about.

[01:15:31] But is there a team that you see here, and I know you're going to probably say Brooklyn, but is there a team here that you feel kind of bad for? Like, that they ended up where they ended up? I mean, now that you took Brooklyn out. I mean, I don't really feel bad. I think the Kings probably were expecting a little bit more, but they got like the old heads, so they got to figure that part out.

[01:15:59] So, I think everyone's pretty much kind of set. I'm excited for the Hornets. I think they, like I said, I hope they build on what they were doing last year. Because I like when teams actually get better with these young players. Because I do feel like sometimes these drafts happen. Normally a coach or a team is drafted in the top ten or in the lottery because they had, you know, a coach had a poor season.

[01:16:29] You draft this guy, doesn't work out, and now you're cleaning the house, and this guy doesn't get to develop. So, I'm excited for Charlotte. I think Miami will probably get a good player that they'll develop. Some of these, like some of these names you talk about, like, you know, people always talk about the big markets and small markets. It's a varying degree of every market that's out here in this draft. And I think a lot of it's from poor trades because OKC shouldn't be anywhere near the lottery.

[01:16:59] But you NBA trades where it's like, oh, I'm not worried about this pick in 2027. And the next thing you know, five years later, no championships. You purge the future, and the future is now. Now these opportunities are gone. Yeah. I think the Clippers have a good shot to land, like, a franchise-changing player between one of these.

[01:17:26] You know, these guards, they've got them 6'2", someplace they've got them at 6'4". They've got the guy out of Illinois at 6'6". Yeah, that's who I think they take if they keep that pick because, you know, for those other guys that you're talking about, they brought in Darius Garland at the deadline. So, you don't even need these guys now. Yeah, you don't need two 6'2'' guards. Yeah. And, you know, so OKC obviously is interesting. Like, what do they do at 12?

[01:17:54] You know, I imagine they're a candidate to trade back, you know, and get some things. Probably get somebody to sit on the shelf for two years. You know, but you've got Hartenstein, I believe, as a free agent. Wimby running to the locker room. You know, but I think he's a free agent. But Brooklyn, yeah, Brooklyn, I've got to feel bad for. You know, you've got Michael Porter Jr. on camera talking about how he stopped trying after he didn't make the All-Star team.

[01:18:22] And, you know, they had five picks last year. You know, didn't really hit. Yeah. Well, I do like Traor, but I don't know. And I like Danny Wolfe too, but not – they still don't have a franchise kind of guy because, you know, they got Danny Wolfe at, say, I think it was in the late 20s. So he's more like that boozer type, you know, where he's big, but he's a passer, you know, like he does all the right things fundamentally.

[01:18:51] You need somebody else that – you need a guy that handles – you need a guy like Donovan Mitchell. Right. A guy that can handle that workload so then when he gets the ball, he's like the unicorn that's distributed and then you get it back to your smaller or your primary ball handling scoring combo guard. And then I look at Milwaukee at 10 going, damn, you know,

[01:19:20] say we could have packaged this with Giannis. And maybe they still can. But, you know, but I think if they had a top five pick, you know, top six pick maybe, then that would be more likely as well. You know what I mean? So they got to figure that out. Golden State at 11 sounds about right because you can count on them and OKC to maybe take one of these older players. So I was looking at Golden State and I was thinking either one of the Michigan guys,

[01:19:47] Mara or Lindenburg, Dominican LeBron, you know, one of those two. You know what I mean? Somebody that can contribute and, you know, is a little bit seasoned, if you will. So I look at Atlanta. So New Orleans, I'm sure, breathed a sigh of relief when Atlanta landed at number eight. Because remember, last year in the draft, I criticized them because they gave up their first round pick this year

[01:20:16] so that they could get Derrick Queen, you know, at 13. And then they had that Milwaukee pick. So Atlanta was going to get the better of the pick between them and New Orleans. So it ended up eight. So, like, it could have went number one. You know what I mean? So that's the thing. So they got bailed out that it ended up at number eight. So I think Joe Duvars could sleep a little better now.

[01:20:40] Miami Heat, you know, I was hoping that because, you know, they've been the play-in Warriors, you know, the last couple of years. So I was hoping that Miami would get a little bit higher and be able to get, you know, somebody worth. I mean, this is a deep draft. So, you know. Miami, fortunately, we talked about markets. They always seem to be on the list of guys. Like, I think, like, KD might want to try to wiggle his way there.

[01:21:09] So I think as a team, they'll be fine. Are they going to get a young player to build around in this draft? Probably not. But I think they're always going to be a hot spot, for lack of a better word, for free agents. So I think as a team, they'll be fine. Whereas, like, we talk about Brooklyn. No one wants to go to Brooklyn. And then on top of that, I'm not sure if people really want to play with Michael Porter Jr. Because he won't shut the hell up. Like, he just seems like a headache.

[01:21:36] Like, he got traded and went straight to streaming. The problem for Brooklyn is that he's probably the only dude outside of one of your young dudes that would have any value. Like, I don't know if people around the league are clamoring for Nick Claxton. You know, Igor Damon, you know. Yeah, he could probably get some bites at the apple, if you will, for trades. But you just drafted him last year, and I think you want to see that through.

[01:22:04] So that's where, like, with Brooklyn, it's like, do you end up? Because, you know, you drafted Traor, like I said, and you have Damon. You take the best player available at six. I guess so. Sacramento, you know, they were looking at this like, yo, we tried to do it the right way. We were a bad team. But in April, we went three and three. So, you know, so we were still trying at the end of the season just to end up at number seven.

[01:22:34] Should have gone over six. You know what I mean? So now, you know what I mean, that's where you start looking at those guards that we were talking about. Acuff, Flemings. Do one of them fall there because of their measurables? You know, another guy, Mikel Brown from Louisville. Love him. I absolutely love him. Think he could be a star in the NBA. The problem is he has one of the worst injuries that you could be coming into the league with.

[01:23:03] A back injury. So you got to try to remember, he didn't play in the NCAA tournament. He missed those two games, you know, with that injury. So hopefully he gets some clearance from a doctor where a team can feel comfortable because he could be an option for the Clippers. You know, maybe he could be that Brooklyn piece that you're looking at. Yeah. You know, because he's a bigger, he's 6'5"-ish. You know what I mean? So he could be. Yeah, and the big point guard is the new NBA transition.

[01:23:32] 6'4 and a half to 6'5 will be your new point guard. Yeah. 2 is going to slowly phase out Kyrie. Kyrie, Steph. They say Steph is 6'4. Which I highly doubt. Yeah, I'm not really locking that in. They say Jamal Murray is 6'4. I feel like a lot of 6'2 and a half. I mean, still, that's still as much as tall as I am. I'm 5'8 and a half.

[01:24:02] I'm not out here like knock us on for the height. But the numbers are, they seem to be a little bit exaggerated. Yeah. But yeah, we're seeing a shift where like they want just bigger guards because of so many combo guards that handle the ball that your traditional Mike Conley point guards. But I feel like I just see so many. I feel so many. I see so many fits here. Like, you know what I mean? Like, Acuff screams Sacramento to me. You know.

[01:24:32] Yeah, these drafts definitely are deeper than previous years. We talked about the Risha Shea and the Alex Saar year where it's like. Yeah. I think even when they took Dillingham, it's like, bro, he is 5'10. Yeah. And small. Like, what are you going to do? Lee Shepard went third. It just was like, that was a very tough year. This year is a year. And I understand, like I said, everybody wanted to tank because they wanted to get to that spot. Yeah. Nate Amit, you know, just screams Milwaukee to me.

[01:24:58] You know, you have Jaden Quaintance who's been hurt but is looking good in these workouts. So we'll see what happens with him. You know, you know, Marange Johnson, the other Michigan player that we didn't mention. You know, him and Lindenburg both measured 6'9". You know, Lindenburg with the longer wingspan between the two. LeBaron Phylon, you know, another one of these 6'2 guards that maybe he's there for Miami.

[01:25:28] And Miami doesn't have to worry about trying to swing a deal for Ja Morant, who, you know, I don't know who wants Ja Morant at this point. Could he end up as a buyout kind of dude, you know, near the trade deadline next year? Yeah, they did not coordinate his potential Memphis exit properly. I think they should have kind of propped it up as going a different direction, great player, great teammate.

[01:25:58] Well, it's kind of hard to do when the dude don't play. Like, he's out here missing 35 games, you know what I'm saying? I can't showcase him or I can't say, hey, yo, look, Ja still got it. Like, yeah, he do still got it. He got a messed up ankle. Like, you know. I like Alan Greaves out of Santa Clara, you know what I mean? Like, he's going to be a good player. You're probably going to get more.

[01:26:25] Once you get out of the top 10, you're going to probably get a lot of those Serbian, Slovenian, like, former Soviet Union Eastern Bloc players that we haven't heard of. Because they want that Luka, Jokic, 6'9", 6'10". Guy's been playing professionally for years. So a lot of the college guys might lock – they might run the top 10.

[01:26:55] But around Golden State, OKC, I'm going to feel like they're going to go some European player that we're going to hear about in the next couple of days. And it's going to end up on their – that's going to be the card they pull. If I'm Charlotte and I'm just going off of, you know, what's happened at the Combine so far, I really hope that I can get my hands on Chris Sinek. Pause.

[01:27:23] You know, 6'11", about 240, 41-1⁄2-inch vertical. I want that. Out of where? You know what I'm saying? Houston. You know, I want that. I want that. You know what I mean? I mean, like – because they draft – they have Cal Brenner. And, you know, you figure LaMelo is, you know, he's there. Brandon Miller is there.

[01:27:53] You just drafted Con Canipple. You know, you're still holding on to Miles Bridges. Maybe you move him this offseason, but they still have him. You know what I mean? So, I think you've got room to bring another big in there. Another team that I was thinking about as I was looking at this is the – what do you do if you're the Spurs? You know what I mean?

[01:28:23] I mean, like, because obviously the Spurs aren't in the lottery per se. You know, the Spurs are in the 20s. Let me pull it up real quick. I had it. I had it, but I forgot. So, the Spurs are number 20. So, not far enough down that you can't get somebody. But I was thinking maybe Graves would be a good fit for them, Alan Graves, that I brought up. Maybe Malachi Moreno if he stays in the draft out of Kentucky.

[01:28:52] It sounds like he's not even participating in the five-on-fives. So, it sounds like – After 15, they're just guys that are just getting drafted to sit or develop or go to the G League. I think if you're the Spurs, you just get a guy that you can just mold into your system as best possible. You know, your future is kind of set with the guys you have now.

[01:29:21] You're going to run De'Aaron Fox for another year, maybe at the end of next season. However this season plays out, I'm going to say De'Aaron Fox gets you another year, and then he's moving on. Now you have your young core, maybe whoever you draft this year, Wimby, your pain. Wayne, Wimby, who are you going to pay in the next couple of years? Find Castle. Castle, yeah. Maybe. You'll probably have to move –

[01:29:49] Yeah, I was going to say you'll probably have to move Fox at some point. Yeah, you have to move Fox after next season. And I was just about to bring him up, like, going back to last year's draft. Like, you know, Dylan Harper, like, he like – what playoff jitters? What nerves? Yo, it's – I think when you get to a certain point, it's like, it was just basketball. Yeah, I mean, you know, he does have an NBA dad. Basketball DNA. Yeah, it's like it's just basketball.

[01:30:19] It's like get to my spot, run the play, hit this pass. If I have a matchup that I like, take to the cup. If I have space, shoot the shot. If I'm getting crowded, pass the ball. I think the basic fundamentals of, like, how to operate – and I get that, you know, on the road when you're young, you're a rookie or road team versus home team, the crowd, all of that factors in. But as long as you're making, like, the right plays because you're, you know,

[01:30:47] you're a good basketball player, I think you'll be fine. Like, yeah. And he's proven to be – he's already a meme too, like his face he made when the elbow happened. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Malik Thomas out of Arkansas. You know, I know Acuff gets all the press, but Malik's pretty damn good. Braden Berry's out of Arizona. Co-op Pete out of Arizona. So I think Co-op Pete might be one of those guys that, depending on how he does

[01:31:13] at the combine, athletically, I think that he's the kind of guy that can sneak into the top ten. Yeah. I don't know if he's a top – Football. I don't know if he's a top ten player. Saints. I don't know if he's a top ten player, but he might be able to athlete himself into the top ten. Yeah, and the argument is going to be like, well, it comes obviously clearly from an athletic family as a brother. Yeah, but he needs to get on that jump shot.

[01:31:43] That's what he need. You know what I mean? You know, he – It's a tough – I remember the first time I heard multiple pundits talk about needs to work on a jump shot, and I believe it was Josh Jackson out of Kansas. Oh, God. I believe it was Jay Billis. I love me some Josh Jackson. It was like three or four players in a row that got drafted,

[01:32:10] and he was praising them because they were top ten picks. But somewhere in that, you know, soliloquy, he would slide in. Needs to get better at shooting a jump shot. Needs to get better at maybe shooting a three. Well, you know – Needs to get better at creating space for the jump shot. But it's like every – like if these dudes can't shoot, how are they going four, five, six, and seven in the NBA draft? And it's been kind of the model for like the last ten years.

[01:32:35] Well, you know, it's funny that you say that because earlier I was having a conversation with somebody, and I was like, yo, Josh Jackson and Marvin Williams would kill it in this NBA. Like the NBA that we're playing today, like they would be really good in this NBA. And just wing defenders.

[01:32:59] Yeah, well, Marvin Williams was still – he was one of those six-nine shooters that would be a thing today. Like, you know what I mean? He would be like somebody's perfect fit today because he could stretch the floor. Yeah, Josh Jackson couldn't shoot. No, he couldn't, but that speed and he could jump out. He might be a – Boy, he should have been effective when he played. You know what? He might be like –

[01:33:28] He might look like these Thompson twins. Yeah. And then what happens when the ball gets swung to him. Yeah. You know what I mean? But that's funny. And another name to keep your eye on, Dale and Swain out of Texas. But, you know, before we get out of here, I was promised that Mr. Logical was not going to be cool, calm, and collected.

[01:33:58] Scam. It is a pure scam. Yeah. Yeah. FIFA is – should be – fuck around and find out. Whatever acronym, like, it's ridiculous. The scamming, the money grabbing, and the problem is that they are overestimating the value of soccer. And people say, no, it's called football.

[01:34:24] England started calling it soccer first before they called it football because, like, a little town in England where the game started, and it was, like, called soccer, and they were calling it soccer. So, like, they were calling it soccer. Oh, there's three last names.

[01:34:47] So, soccer and its popularity in the United States and the sales and the – I don't think they understand how unwalkable most American cities are. They're just not like most arenas. So, if you think about – okay, I use East Rutherford MetLife Stadium. Of course. You cannot walk there.

[01:35:18] Philly is a great – Philly probably has the best location for sports because they have the baseball stadium, the football stadium, and the basketball slash hockey arena. It's basically like a little shopping mall of stadiums. Yeah, it's all right there. This is on one corner across the street. It's the bar, this football stadium, and then – so, it's all right there.

[01:35:42] If they're going to allow people to drive there, that's pretty convenient, and the bus system for Philly works. And you can kind of park a few blocks away and walk. It's not – like I said, it's not a great area for walking. It's not as if the – it's in the middle of the walkable area like how the baseball arena is going to be on the Strip in Vegas. It's a long walk, but you can walk there. You know, you just walk right down the street.

[01:36:12] It's going to take you a while. But like I said, it's a walkable city because all this – New York and – well, New Jersey, East Rutherford is not like that. So, the hotels – people aren't booking hotels. So, FIFA is talking about they sold like all these million tickets. But if you look at the hotels, it's like no one's booking hotels. And I know you didn't sell a bunch of millions of tickets to people in Jersey.

[01:36:37] Oh, because the ticket from New York to East Rutherford, it was – it's $12.90 for a regular person. It's probably like $4 for a veteran round trip. Okay. Okay. It went up to $150. I saw today that they got it down to $105. You got it down to $105. It's a $13 round trip. So, you didn't get it down to $105. You got it up to $105.

[01:37:09] It's just the cheapest ticket for the final, which is held here. So, the average is $13,000. The most expensive is like $34,000. And you have no idea who's going to play in it. So, it's just a corrupt money grab. I hope it fails beyond repair.

[01:37:34] I hope FIFA actually loses money so they have to get bribes from other countries for the next couple of World Cups to make up for the money they lost in this because it is absolutely ridiculous. The prices, the transportation restrictions. You can't drive to East Rutherford. So, you got to pay that $105. And for me, it's even further to get to if I want to take it back. Trump said he wasn't paying for a regular person.

[01:38:05] Yeah. He wouldn't pay it. But he got his cut. No. I'm not saying that. Allegedly, he got his cut. But, yeah. I hope it fails. I hope it fails beyond repair because we talk about, oh, it's so much money for the community. No, it isn't. It's not so much money because people don't – you're not going to sell – you're not going to have access to most places. Regular people don't own hotels. Regular people don't own Airbnbs.

[01:38:33] Regular people don't own these seats in these parking spots or whatever it is that actual visitors benefit. Yeah, if you owned a restaurant, maybe you'll sell out all the time. But you could do that locally because you've been doing it. So, it's not like they're just generating money upon money for everyone who lives in North Jersey. Right. It's just a scam. Even concessions. Okay, cool. That doesn't go to the people. People aren't getting tips.

[01:39:03] Or, like, getting paid because you increased the price of a hot dog from $17 to $37. They don't get an hourly rage boost because FIFA's in town. They just work the whole time. You know what I'm saying? I went to a baseball game the other day, like a little, you know, 2A game or whatever. You know, it was like, why are the sunflower seeds $8? No, the ice cream swirl at Yankee Stadium was $9.

[01:39:34] That's crazy. French fries at Philly was like $9. And that's just a regular game. So, yeah. I hope it fails just because it's just we're in an economic time in our country where the price of everything's going up. We're going through an energy cost crisis in Jersey.

[01:40:02] It's like $300, $400, $600 a month for your electric bill on average in this state. So, you want me to spend my light bill money on train tickets to get my family to a game and spend rent money on a ticket for a team? It could be Paraguay versus Costa Rica. I don't know a soul on that team. It's not happening. It is not happening.

[01:40:32] They will fluff it. They'll drop the ticket prices. Like, they had ticket prices listed at $66. Yeah. 1.9% of tickets were listed at $66 or less. And you're probably in a nose, nosebleed. So, nosebleeds that met life art. Like, you might as well be at the top of a mountain to watch a soccer game, a little tiny ball. Like, it's like, once again, I don't wish failure on people. But this corrupt-ass organization, I hope this flops.

[01:41:02] I hope when they turn these cameras on and they pan the crowd, it's 1,200 people in these 70,000 C-stadiums. I hope it's a complete failure of an operation just because it's a total fucking money grab. They didn't do anything. They didn't do anything to make it convenient. Nothing. It's just give me your money even though you don't have money. Eggs is $7. $7 for eggs.

[01:41:29] And now you want me to spend $105 on a train ticket? If only that was reality. You know, Spurs up 18 with about $6.55 left. So, you know, that 10.5 spread maybe wasn't so bad after all. You know, so, you know, tomorrow we got Cleveland and Detroit. Go Cavs. These are the only two series going right now. Other teams are just chilling. Yeah. You know, OKC getting all the rest.

[01:41:57] J-dubs like, hey, I'll be ready for game one. You know what I mean? We're getting four. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah. But we will be back on Friday, ladies and gentlemen. You know, thank you for your support. Thank you for watching. This is Sports Reports Disorder. He is the world famous, world renowned. Cool, calm, and collected unless he's talking about FIFA. Hashtag boycott FIFA.

[01:42:27] He goes by the name of Mr. Logical. Don't bring feelings to a fact fight. Don't do it. And then down here in the Alamo, finally this weekend, Gina versus Ronda. Finally. Let's see which one of them can go left. Because I go left so much that you thought I was Southpaw. I go by the name of 2-5. We're Joe and Mike Tyson.

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