State of Mind: the NBA Playoffs Move On

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[00:00:31] Wir sind die Zeit.

[00:01:05] It's about to go down. Sports reports, no gimmicks, no clowns. 2-5, Mr. Logical, we run this town. We'll talk only. No chaser, no doubt. From the east to the west, it's the order we shout. It's about to go down. Yes.

[00:01:35] It's Taco Tuesday. It's Cinco de Mayo. It's time for some Lakers and Thunder. We got Cavs and Pistons already on. You are listening to the sounds of Sports Reports. It's all it brought to you. By the one and only world-renowned, world-famous, cool, calm, and collected. Nick Van Wagoner, Mr. Logical. And then, of course, over here in the Alamo. I don't know if I'm a Timberwolf, you know, but I go by the name of 2-5.

[00:02:05] We got second round previews to get to. We got to close some loops on the first round. You know, like, review, subscribe, share, rate, do all the free things, do all the good things. Liquid Death in your hand, please. And, you know what I mean? We are everywhere that you get your podcasts. So, you know, check us out. All right. So, that happened.

[00:02:30] You know, everywhere you look, the 76ers were the bell of the ball. They came back and took out the Celtics in seven games after being down 3-1. Joel Embiid back. Everything's on the up and up. Even Paul George, like, Playoff P made an appearance. And then they went into the garden last night. Mr. Logical. Yeah.

[00:02:58] The New York Knicks are the first team in NBA history to win three straight playoff games by 25 or more. And if you extrapolated across those three games, they've won those games by a combined 119 points. So, Knicks going to the finals, right? Right? It's shaping up for them to have a real opportunity.

[00:03:27] Like, legit. If you think about Cleveland, we talk about the James Harden playoff woes. Yeah. Right now, two field goals and four turnovers. So, they're heavily relying on him and Donovan Mitchell. And if one of them is having an off day, you know, I could really throw the game off. Detroit, you saw them struggle with Orlando in the first round.

[00:03:57] So, how much does that carry over? How much film do you watch to say, hey, this is what Orlando was doing to them? I don't think the Knicks have the scores. But I think the way they kind of handle them defensively, maybe that can translate. But the Knicks got a shot. They have two guys that could, you know, give you 28 points. Jalen Brunson was down there perfect the other night. And like I said, they're on this historic run. Sometimes all you need is to get hot. And then you need some fortunate.

[00:04:25] Sometimes it's injuries to another team that gets the team eliminated. Or in this case, with Boston, just kind of poor play down the stretch. I mean, two teams blew 3-1 leads in the first round. A lot of things have to happen for you in a championship. And I think this is an odd scenario for the Knicks to maybe get that monkey up their back. So, would I be fair if I chalked up game one to fatigue?

[00:04:52] Or do you think that the momentum outweighs any fatigue that Philly would have had? You would think momentum would have out. Like, the way Joel Embiid was playing in game seven, you would have thought he was never going to get tired. So, I don't think it was that. I think it's just a matter of it might be more rest for the Knicks. I think they just had more rest. And that's one thing. But I don't think like the Sixers just like exhausted themselves in this first round series.

[00:05:20] And now I just think the Knicks are just hot. I mean, Jalen Brunson was 9 of 12 from 2 and 3 of 6 from 3. Yeah, yeah. 27 in the first half. And I thought that, you know, I was a little nervous because Embiid looked like he got his knee buckled at the end of game seven against Boston. So, I was a little concerned coming into game one. But I couldn't have never predicted that they were going to get whooped in that way. You know what I mean?

[00:05:50] And the good thing that Philly has going for them is not only did they come back from 3-1, but they lost game one of that Boston series by 32 points. And then they came back in one game two. And then obviously like the 3-1 comeback. So, you can't put your head down. It didn't have to be game one. So, you can think about the whole Willis Reed moment.

[00:06:17] We got our star guy coming out of the locker room that's going to, you know, give us energy we need to get over the edge. And it's, to me, it didn't even feel like a 3-1 comeback. It felt like it was more back and forth with that Philly-Boston series. I never, like, I know the number said 3-1. But when game seven ended, I didn't think first, oh my God, they just blew a 3-1 lead.

[00:06:45] I just was watching that game and how Philly was making their run and Boston was calling back. I thought it was like a really hard-fought game. So, I kind of like took that and I thought the whole series played out that way. But at the end, they announced it. And I'm like, oh, they did have a 3-1 lead. And then I thought about the, you know, Detroit series and was like, I can't believe he threw them at least. But with Philly, like I said, they had him come back. He had the rough game and then he had the outstanding games.

[00:07:13] I'm not a big fan of him always falling on the floor. But whatever you got to do to get the call, you got to get the call. But yeah. Well, it's just scary because, you know, they're always, Philly is always an injury away, you know, from everything just blowing up in their face. You know what I mean? Whether it's Embiid, whether it's Paul George, you know, whoever it might be. You know, somebody is always on the mend.

[00:07:39] And I think that if they can stay healthy in this series, I think they can push this series to about six. You know, I don't know if they can necessarily win it. I don't think I see that just because the Knicks don't play as dumb as Boston does, you know, because Boston had chances in game seven. One point game. Yeah. 99-98 Philly in that Boston series.

[00:08:06] They took five bad consecutive shots. I'm like, you're down one. One, just like Jalen Brown took one. It felt like Embiid was getting to them and everybody wanted to shoot the dagger three.

[00:08:24] I'm like, at that point, going up 199 with a dagger layup or pump fake and a dunk would have been just as effective as knocking down a three. But they took five bad shots in a row and then Philly came back down, maxed you with the speed, getting to the rim. Yeah. So, yeah, I don't think the Knicks are going to do that. I think Mike Brown's going to say, hey, go to the bucket. Make it be just gotten hobbled.

[00:08:52] Guard, because he was hobbled for the last couple of minutes and they still kept shooting jumpers. Yeah. Cavs on a 7-0 run. You know, they were down 15 at one point. Now it's down to four. Late third quarter. Yeah. So, I think that I don't know if you can expect Jalen Brunson to go scorched earth like that. You know, you would think that Philly has things in place to tire him out.

[00:09:20] So, maybe you can't stop him offensively, but you attack him on the other end because, you know, and I don't know who you put Jalen Brunson on. You know, he's not quick enough to stick with Maxie. You know what I mean? Maybe. You know, but even then you're giving up, what, six, seven inches? Yeah, but they're not going to run any plays for Oubre. They're not going to put Oubre in the pick and roll action and try to get him the ball to get the mismatch. So, with that being said, why are coaches like this?

[00:09:51] Like, because I think that, like, you know, even if I'm just playing 2K, right? Like, I'm like, I got Jalen Brunson on me. Let me back him down. Like, why don't the Hawks did it? Every game that the Hawks won, the commentators were making notes. Like, they want to get Jalen Brunson involved in all this action. But if he's guarding Edgecombe or if he's guarding Maxie, then I think you can make that work.

[00:10:15] But if he's not, then you're going to be targeting him with probably your only non-shooter on the floor that he's probably guarding. Like, how Luka, you know, sometimes Luka guards a guy that doesn't really shoot much. Getting that guy into action, especially when you don't have the green light, it might just be a waste of possession. You might just take your mask up that you have with Hart on Maxie or Hart on Edgecombe or Mikkel Bridges or however that works out for you.

[00:10:41] Well, see, for me, and that's where the series lies because, you know, how often can you keep Cat on the floor to guard Embiid? You know, like foul trouble, just, you know, like you can't guard him. I don't think that Cat can guard Embiid consistently enough to make it a threat. But he has to make Embiid pay on the other end. So which one outweighs which?

[00:11:09] Is it Cat's scoring ability or is it he really needs to lock into Embiid? Well, you might have to give him the Jalen Bronson treatment and put Embiid in all the action to see if that right side action. Well, remember, we talked about that the last time these two. Yeah, they had him on the floor and they were stretching him out. And then, like you said, in the game seven, someone fell into it. I think Maxie ran into his knee. I think it was Maxie. So he's a little hobbled there.

[00:11:38] But I just figured just a guy who's going to get – he does get hit a lot. I do think he flops a little bit. I think he belishes and sells a little bit more. But he does get hit a lot. He plays to a lot of contact. He does a lot of backing guys down. They put a lot of – Jalen Brown don't like that. He – yeah. Some of those calls – some of those calls, like the dude Rodriguez is probably 220. And B's, like, falling down.

[00:12:07] It's like, dog, you're going to get the call. If they hit you on the arm, you're probably going to get the call, especially in the playoffs. Like, you're probably going to get that call. You don't need to be – he was on the floor way too much. But, yeah, so, like I said, he's dynamic. But if you – New York, you got to win game two. You can't go back to Philly 1-1. Because Philly still is having trouble, I believe, selling out their two playoff games.

[00:12:34] Yeah, I know that – I saw something about, like, we're not – They basically took over. Yeah, like I saw something about, like, you have to live in a certain zip code or something to get the tickets in. You got to live in a greater Philadelphia area, maybe extended out to South Jersey. But probably anybody north of New Brunswick, anybody going towards the city,

[00:12:58] they're going to be like – because, like, Philly – like, Jersey from Trenton south is, like, basically east Philadelphia. Like that – like, all – it's, like, all Phillies fans. They're Flyers fans. They're Eagles fans. But once you get to, like, north of Trenton and to, like, New Brunswick where Rutgers is

[00:13:24] and obviously further north Jersey, it becomes more of a New York fan base. So I think they want to keep people from this general area that I'm in here trying to fill – because I think it was a real problem for them last year having, like, you know, 60, 40 New York fans in their building and then you're going back, you know, back up 95 to play at the Garden and it's 95, you know, for their fans.

[00:13:51] So it was like, well, you got to sell it out. The owners probably doesn't care who's in there and loans the tickets are bought. Yeah, I'm looking for Maxie for about 31 tomorrow. I think he has to take over. Embiid can only do so much as far as moving and if his jumper's not falling because he's not going to have the size advantage in this series the way that he had it against Boston because when you look at that series, you know, Vucevic was too slow.

[00:14:21] Cato was too little. Garza was too slow-footed. So Embiid just had a time against these Boston defenders. So I think that, you know, the Knicks are going to offer more resistance and we're at the end of the third, Detroit up 80 to 76. I think that from that standpoint, actually scratched that three-pointer at the buzzer, 83 to 76.

[00:14:48] I think Missoula kind of shot himself in the foot without, because he didn't trust his bench. I think even with Vucevic being a little slow-footed, at least he's another body out there. He's two, three fouls, whatever you want to allow him to get. He can pull Embiid out of the paint. He can stretch the floor. Even if Embiid doesn't want to guard him,

[00:15:16] maybe he gets an extra half second to shoot that open three. Maybe these things fall, but he shortened his bench. He brought Pritchard in. I don't know. It just, I think you have to be, you have to have a certain sense of urgency when you are up 3-1 and now you're having this game seven at home. So you want to evaluate stuff, because Vucevic plays a lot in game six. Maybe at an off game, but with a role player, you got to like let them stay in their role.

[00:15:45] Like you can't give them 22 minutes one night and then six another night, a DMP and like, hey, game seven, I need you to be the guy that's got us 12 to 14 points unexpectedly off the bench. Like you got to stick with whatever you got to, you know, you got to dance with who brung you. You want to end there 60 games all year playing that way. You were up 3-1 in this series playing your way. I don't know what was up with Jason Tatum's knee, but I know he was sitting on the bench sick.

[00:16:15] Like, man, I did all this work to come back. And it's not even an injury that took me out. And, you know, but that's where, like, I think that you kind of at times have to treat MB like a guard, you know? So like back in the day when you used to watch Kobe, right? It would be like James Posey, you got him for a few possessions. And then, you know, Paul Pierce is going to pick him up now. Ray Allen, you know, I think you just have to throw bodies at him because he plays out on the

[00:16:43] perimeter enough that, you know, say he's not necessarily down there getting his patch of Ewing on. You could put Derek White on for a few possessions back to back to back. And just maybe he gets a steal because he's a crafty defender. And he's, if I had to guess, was probably six or seven inches. I think 26 Derek White was in game seven. But he was aggressive. I mean. He was. But I need you to make a shot. And, you know, and that's why Boston never put me.

[00:17:13] You put him on the feed for a few possessions. Maybe he gets a steal. Maybe he get a run out. Like, they put Drew Holiday in Portland. They had Drew Holiday guarding Wimby. Yes. He probably guarded Wimby better than anybody else on that team. Because he did the same thing just for him with the KD. He's like, listen, I'm in your hip. But everything you want to do is right here. Any movement you want to make, yeah. You are seven inches taller than I am. But, like, you can't do anything. You can't bring this ball down here because I'm waiting on it.

[00:17:42] So, you got to stay. And you got to play a little differently when you have a real crappy, undersized defender on you. Yeah, Boston was giving me. Derek White could have been that guy. Boston was giving me real Houston game seven vibes. You know? Oh, yeah. You know? Like, I was like, yo, all you need is a bucket. You're down by one. Nine, 98, four. And it was a few possessions. It was about four or five possessions. Yeah. It was five bad shots.

[00:18:09] I think they got an offensive rebound and still put up a bad shot. And there was one play where Jalen Brown had somebody roll into the basket. I forgot who it was, but he passed it out for the three instead of getting it down low. And, you know, I'm like, that's the type of stuff that makes the difference. Because in the four games that Boston lost to Philly, they shot 179 threes. You know what I'm saying? If y'all do a math out there, that's like 45, 46 threes a game. You know?

[00:18:38] And it's not necessary because, yeah, you can get to the basket. You know what I mean? It's not as if Boston. And Jalen Brown is the type of dude that gets to the basket. So it's not as if you're playing against the Warriors and you got little skinny Steph that's scared to come in there. Or, you know what I mean? Something along those lines. Because even Steph would go in there. But I don't know, man. Boston. We'll get to Boston a little bit later. But, yeah, we got Lakers and OKC.

[00:19:06] You know, that game has started. You know, 20-19 LA early in the first quarter. So, Mr. Logical, I'm just going to ask you this question, plain and simple. How many games you give in the Lakers? I know I did this last round when I picked Houston because I thought KD was going to play every game.

[00:19:33] I didn't think he was even – I didn't think KD was going to miss that many games. Because OKC is just – they just have the advantage at almost everywhere with the exception of the experience level of your best player. I think the experience level of the Lakers' best player outmatches any of the, you know, Shays' experience. But I think that's your only advantage.

[00:20:03] I know the Lakers play very physical defensively. Essentially, they're running out two guys who have the green light with Austin Reeves and LeBron. And then Kennard has to hit his shots when he's in the game because he's not like a dynamic defender. Rui spends a lot of time defending. Marcus Smart is just crafty.

[00:20:28] So, if you're not getting 25 to 28 points from LeBron and Austin Reeves, I'm not sure what the scores look like. And that's – I know OKC came in tonight by 15 and a half. Yeah. Which is crazy. It's crazy. But in the same sense, it's like, do you get 27 points in game one from Kennard like you did in the Houston series? Well, see –

[00:20:58] Because you're going to need it. That's what makes me think we might be looking at a sweep. You know what I mean? Like, I picked it in five. OKC in five. That's just respect for LeBron. But I was thinking sweep because even if Luka comes back, because you know they're saying maybe game three, maybe game four-ish. Even if he comes back, I wonder if there's that Embiid effect where he needs that game to kind of get in rhythm, to get back into the speed of the game and those type of things.

[00:21:26] So, I wonder if Luka's first game, you just chalk up as an L. Well, I think one of the perks is Luka and a guy like Jokic. They don't play very fast. So, like Maxey with the hamstring injury, I'm worried because his speed is his weapon. Like, his ability to get downhill quickly to the hoop, that's a weapon. Luka just creates space.

[00:21:54] So, as long as he can move well enough, still handle the ball to create that step back and create that space. But even with that, it's like, how well can he defend coming off the injury? Right. How well can the Lakers defend? How a sweep? I don't want to say sweep. I'll say five. I'll say the Lakers get one. So, I'm going to say one of the games in L.A., three or four.

[00:22:21] So, either they're down 3-1, either they're down 2-0 and they get game three, but they go back to OKC, down 3-1, and OKC closes it out in five. Yeah, so the problem that I'm having is for the Lakers to win this series, they're going to have to force turnovers. And OKC doesn't turn the ball over. You know, second lowest in the league, and Detroit's playing some great defense right now.

[00:22:49] I think, you know, I think that it's that old situation, that cliche where everything has to go right. Like, you know, we talk about football games sometimes, and it's like, what do they need to win? Well, they need at least two turnovers. You know, they need, you know, 33 minutes of time of possession. You know, they need to limit the big plays, the explosives. That's what the Lakers are facing right now. They can't let OKC get in transition.

[00:23:17] They can't just hold on to the ball and let the anaconda choke you out. You know, they can't get crushed on the boards. You know, they can't not turn OKC over. So it's just such an uphill climb that every time you tell me, like, we were watching the game and the Lakers were doing something well, and you said, hey, the Lakers are winning the turnover battle. And I go, yeah, but they're minus 19 on the boards.

[00:23:45] Like, well, LeBron has 36 points. Yeah, well, SGA has 41.

[00:23:52] But that's been the problem in the Laker-LeBron era this entire time is that they're extremely top heavy, and they don't have, they rarely had a guy that specialized in something that made that particular guy's presence like a weapon. Right. You talk about, like I said, Vijay Edskum for Philly.

[00:24:21] Young guy, explosive. You can get the ball to him around the rim. He's defensively active. He's running around. He's doing chase down blocks. Like, that's the special thing that he brings to the court. The Lakers don't have a guy that's not a superstar that brings anything special to the game.

[00:24:42] Whether it's hustle, whether it's ball handling, whether it's defensively, whether it's shooting threes off the bench, they just have a bunch of guys that understand their system, and I think they all play their role well. But when it boils down to it, it's like, hey, Lucas covered. They're rotating LeBron. Austin Rees is off for the night. The ball gets swung to Kennard. Is he 45? Is he a 42, 43% three-point shooter? No. So they're going to need –

[00:25:10] And that's where your problems come in. And I know this is the craziest thing that I've probably ever said on Sports Reports, but they're going to need DeAndre Ayton. He's going to have to save the day. Like, he's going to have to dip into his Wimby stash and become the shot blocker, become the force inside that deters OKC. But OKC gets a good enough whistle that even if he did, they would still come in there anyway.

[00:25:39] So it's not like – Yeah, the wing defenders are going to get – Marcus Smart is going to get two fouls on guard and SGA. Austin Reed is going to get a couple. Rui is going to get a couple. It won't even get to Ayton. Ayton is going to get his fouls trying to guard Chet. But – because Chet's not a, you know, physical guy. He's crappy. I mean, he has to, like, wiggle his way in. Hardenstein's a big body. So it's just too much. It's just too much.

[00:26:04] So who do you – so if you're J.J. Redick, who do you put LeBron on? Blue Dort and just – well, I think with LeBron, he plays a lot of center field, a lot like Draymond. Just kind of pointing guys. They switch a lot of stuff up top so he doesn't have to run far. So he pretty much is free throw line extended. He gets to the middle of the free throw line. They switch it. He'll slide back out to the guy on the wing.

[00:26:34] That way I think it's like they play like a matchup zone, I guess. Because I see him a lot of times. He doesn't chase anyone across the court. Like, once he gets to a certain point, he was like, all right, you got it. I'm going back over here. And he'll, you know, slide back. No, this is one of the worst technicals I've seen in some time. For what? Duncan Robinson hits a shot. And he turns – not looking. He turns. He bumps Harden.

[00:27:02] And then Harden just gave, like, a quick little one-two. Like, just like a – and then, you know, they gave Harden the tech. And I'm just like, come on, ref. Like, this is the playoffs. They should be able to call us. So, call us where they do, like, the reviews. They should be like, nah, take that off. Well, that was who – they reviewed it and he got the tech. You know what I mean? So, I don't know. But – They probably reviewed in slow motion and it looks like this. Well, that's why people called it – It's stuff like that why people called the NBA soft. You know what I mean?

[00:27:32] Like, especially coming from where we came from. But I think that for the Lakers, realistically, though, this is the worst possible team that they could have gotten. You know, OKC, I think more than not, it's just going to run them off the floor. So, NBW 31-26 OKC. Cleveland-Detroit series that I'm watching right now. Oh, yeah. Both of us got Lakers in five, it sounds like. You know, so Cleveland and Detroit.

[00:28:00] So, look, man, I don't know what James Harden, like, what goes through his mind. Like, has he never talked to a sports psychologist before? Like, every time I look at this man, he's either turning the ball over or he's trying to turn the ball over. Kenny Atkinson might be coaching for his job. I think if they lose this series and if they lose it badly,

[00:28:29] so I'll say anything less than six, I think he's gone. I think that, you know, obviously, JV Vickersmith has the chip on his shoulder. This is the team that fired him to bring in Atkinson. At the successful season, yeah. Yeah. And listening to Detroit's players, they definitely want to win this for their coach. So, you know, that's already dangerous gas right there. But just looking at this game, you know,

[00:28:56] Donovan Mitchell takes some of the worst shots. And, you know, it's not even like he's 6'7", 6'8", where he's going to elevate over somebody the way that a Jason Tatum does. Like, he just does things in some – I guess he just makes it enough to where he thinks he can get away with it. But when I look at this series, the first question that comes to mind, and, you know, this goes back to the Kenny Atkinson thing.

[00:29:24] If Franz Wagner didn't get hurt, would Detroit even be here right now? If the answer to that question is no, then you definitely can't lose to this team. You know, but Cleveland's doing everything wrong, the turnovers, you know, so you can't let Detroit get easy buckets. Make Detroit run that half-court offense. Make them pass the ball around and have to take shots late in the shot clock

[00:29:52] versus just letting them get out in the open floor, finding Duncan Robinson, you know, by himself. And why are you not punishing Duncan Robinson? You know what I mean? Like, you can't hide Duncan Robinson enough to where someone – like, I remember, like, 2016 NBA Finals, they talked to LeBron James, and they said, you guys are really going at Steph.

[00:30:18] And I think it was J.R. Smith or someone said, hey, whoever Steph got, green light. Like, just – so wherever Duncan Robinson is, that's where the ball needs to be. You know what I mean? Whether that's Mitchell – like, he's guarding Mitchell right now, actually. You know what I mean? Mitchell was right at him. And, yeah, he did, but he missed a dumb shot. You know what I mean? And these refs are letting him play. Like, I like it, you know. You know, but I don't know, man.

[00:30:45] So I came into this series, obviously I want Cleveland to win because, you know, they were one of my picks early in the season. But I don't know if Cleveland has the basketball IQ to actually pull this off. It's unfortunate that James Harden has, like, this playoff stigma. Because we see it's tough. I mean, Boston was a two seed.

[00:31:15] They went out in the first round. Jokic had probably one of the – arguably one of the best seasons of any MVP candidate this season. They went out in the first round with, you know, a couple of role players for Minnesota not available. With him averaging a triple-double. Yeah. So, like, you just go out of the playoffs.

[00:31:37] The problem with James is that I think he's tried to play – I think he switched his style up too early. Okay. I think he should have stuck with the Houston James Harden style until he could no longer do it. Like, LeBron stayed on LeBron's pass until it was like, all right, yeah.

[00:32:00] The energy to do everything I was doing from 2003 to 2000 about 21. Well, that's kind of hard when you got Embiid in the way. You know, you're playing with Kyrie. But he chose those locations. That's what I'm saying. And then, you know, the Clippers. Yeah, but he picked those places. That's what I mean. I think he should have stayed with his opportunity to be the guy, to be the number one guy, stay there.

[00:32:29] Not necessarily stay in Houston, but go somewhere where you can be the man. Whether you leave Houston and go to Phoenix and you're the man. Whatever the case may be. But I think he switched it up to the point where it's like, this is not what he does. That's why he has so many turnovers. Because his usage is, if he played the way he played in Houston, up until it was, like I said, it was physically just too much of a toll. Or it was getting to that point where my usage rate is too high. Then you switch it up.

[00:32:55] Like, 10-Duncan didn't go management until it was like, all right, we're getting close to you having about a quarter tank of gas left. Let's put it in smart mode. Drive a little slower. Let's get in the right lane. But we're still going to effectively get you there. I think James Harden did it too early, trying to be on everybody's team. And I think he wasted some really, really good years that could have extended his prime a little bit. And you see, when I turned this on, I told you that the Lakers were up four, right?

[00:33:25] Down 10 now. Just like that. You know what I mean? Just like that. Yeah. I mean, there's something to what you're saying. But I also think that James Harden, when he was in Houston. So let's go backwards. So when he was in Houston, he was doing such awesome things. 60-point triple doubles. He became a true point guard at that time.

[00:33:49] And I feel like before they got Chris Paul, they just did a crappy job of we think that you're a great player. And your style is going to take us to a championship no matter who we put around you. So I don't say that to not Trevor Ariza. I don't say that to not P.J. Tucker. But more so Ariza was like an actual piece that Houston was relying on. So then they got Chris Paul.

[00:34:18] You know, he gets hurt. And, you know, before game seven against Golden State. Because they might have won that game. Then he goes to Brooklyn. You know, he goes to Brooklyn. And, you know, when he goes to Brooklyn, they had him in the MVP race. You know, because Kyrie and KD, like he was. But he was in the MVP race because it's like, wow, look at James Harden. He's not shooting the ball as much. He's only averaging 23 points. And it was like 11 assists, which is really good.

[00:34:47] But he did that because we. That's when you and I have these conversations about the media hyping up championship expectations and making these guys make moves that weren't in their best interest in basketball. That wasn't in his best interest to go play with KD and Kyrie. It sounded good. Then he ended up in Philly. And then he ended up in Philly doing the same thing. Being third and fourth fiddle where you have won a skill set.

[00:35:16] If you play your whole career. And I understand, like, I understand the idea that, guys, everybody wants to win a championship. I don't know that feeling personally is like, hey, I played all on the line. I didn't get into a championship. But I would rather play my way, my style. And not get it versus conforming to this expectation that if I do this and I would get it and I don't get any closer. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like you switched it all up and didn't get any closer.

[00:35:46] So you should have kept doing what you was doing. So for those of you keeping track, you know what about seven minutes left in this game. James Harden is at three field goals, six turnovers. You know, so. It's going to be 46. He's three of 10 right now. But I think that Cleveland does a good job. They did a good job throughout the year guarding Kate Cunningham.

[00:36:14] So my question, of course, going forward is who's going to owe 630 left. So who's going to be the guy that consistently comes with Kate Cunningham? Like Danish Jenkins has been a godsend. You know, he had to play when Kate Cunningham got hurt at the end of the season. And ever since then, you know, he's probably been one of their more consistent players. Because going back to the first round, Duren was having a hard time. What up, Rez?

[00:36:43] He was having a hard time. And, you know, so I just don't know who that second person is. I don't trust Tobias Harris, even though it seems that since he got out of Philly, he's been playing a lot better in the playoffs. You know, but it can't just be bigger staff wants to win and beats this team. Like right now, Cleveland just cut the lead back down to three. But on the other side, Cleveland got through Toronto that didn't have Emmanuel quickly.

[00:37:13] You know, so they didn't have their point guard, their maestro, probably the best shooter on their team, you know, to give Cleveland those type of fits. We saw the Scottie Barnes coming out party. So I'm looking at two flawed teams is basically what I'm getting at, you know, is that Detroit was the number one seed. You know, Cleveland was on the fly. Yeah. Like Cleveland was mediocre and then they made the Harden trade. So it kind of reset their clock.

[00:37:40] It reset how people thought about them because you didn't see enough of it during the regular season. But yeah, James Harden, just the same old James Harden is what we're learning right now. So, you know, I just don't know, man. Like I want to pick Cleveland just because, you know, that was who I rolled with. I had Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals anyway. Two-point game. Harden at the free throw line for the second.

[00:38:11] I'm going to go with Cleveland and I'm going to be a coward, you know, saying and say that they win game. Well, I'm not a coward. I'm going to go say they win game seven in Detroit. And I think this is going to be an up and down series where each game is going to be tightly contested. We're going to be seeing four-point wins, six-point wins, two-point wins.

[00:38:33] I don't know if anybody's going to blow each other out because I don't think Detroit – I don't think they can stop Cleveland enough to blow Cleveland out. And I don't think Cleveland can score enough necessarily to blow Detroit out. So, tied game, 525 left. But if you had to put an X factor – Terry McCain just had the dumbest foul on a three-point shooter. If you had to put –

[00:39:02] If you had to put an X factor or the thing that will decide this Cleveland-Detroit series, what would it be? Does Cade Cunningham's 35-point performances go to waste? If he scores 35 and, like, everybody else sticks to their – because he averaged 32.5 in the Orlando series. Mm-hmm. So, you're a number one seed.

[00:39:30] Your best players average 32.5 points in a series. You would think you're out of there in five with a victory. See, and to my point about Cleveland – He had to maximize his 35-point games, which he's going to have. Like, I don't know what his stats are right now because I had to – Well, I'm about to tell you. So, to that point, I was talking about how Cleveland defends him well generally. So, during the regular season, he only averaged 18.5 against Cleveland.

[00:39:57] You know, right now he's at 21, but he's 9 of 11 from the free throw line. So, he's 5 of 17 from the floor. So, you know what I mean? And that's why, like, Cleveland has been able to claw back into the game because the refs are letting him play. So, a lot of these calls that you would think would kind of slow the game down and get Detroit, you know, off kilter, the calls aren't being made.

[00:40:23] So, they're still able to kind of free flow and force Cleveland to have to defend them in the open court. That's the difference in this game so far. But, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and do it. Matter of fact, you know, I'm going to go ahead and do it. Let's call it Cleveland in seven. Go Detroit in six. All right, Mr. Logical, can you answer me a question that I've been struggling with all day long?

[00:40:52] How does a guy like Victor Wimbanyama in the game that he played with 11 points, how does a guy like Victor Wimbanyama go 5 for 17 from the floor? How many threes did he shoot? Eight, and he missed all of them. So, that's why. Him and De'Aaron Fox combined 10 for 31.

[00:41:19] You, when you're a big, you got to get, no one's going to follow him. No one's going to contest his three-point shot. So, the likelihood of him getting three free throws on the three-point shot, if he doesn't make it, is unlikely. Because people are like, listen, if you're going to shoot that, what am I doing? I'm just staying here. I'm not even going to jump. You make it or not. So, when that doesn't happen, you get run-out rebounds, fast breaks for the other team.

[00:41:47] And then when he doesn't see the ball go through a hoop, you keep shooting him. And then he has to get his breaks. He has to come out. Then he works so hard defensively because he tries to block everything. So, it's not like he's going to break. Yeah, but he's going for 20. He probably had like four goal tens in there. But it's so, I think I saw one, because I think I started watching the second half.

[00:42:12] So, after he already had the eight in the first half, and I finally got to settle down, I was watching the second half. But I watched it on mute just so I can kind of just watch the game. But he tries to block everything. And I think that's something he's going to have to probably, if I'm not on offensively, and I take these breaks, then maybe he tries to turn defense into offense. But yeah, you got to give him the ball. But that was an argument that I made three years ago.

[00:42:41] I feel like they don't give him the ball to score. Like, if he cuts through the lane, just throw the ball up. Let him catch it inside the free throw line, between a restricted area and a free throw line, and just turn and shoot. I don't know why that's not a simple play you guys just run. Little cut, cut to the paint, arms up, catch the ball, turn, shoot a floater. Like, those are guaranteed points. He can shoot 65% from right there off of that play alone.

[00:43:12] You know who won that game last night? The referees. No, I'm joking. That's funny. It's weird. It's very odd that he's not the focal point of some of those. Yeah. Yeah. The guy that won the game last night was Julius Randle. So, you won't see it in the scoreboard, right? Because he went 8 for 20.

[00:43:40] So, you won't see it in the scoreboard. But his presence. The Spurs do not have anybody that can stay with him. You know, Castle, they tried to put on him. He's too small. He fouled out. You know, he'll just bully Wimby if you try to go that route. His face every time he got a foul call was he was a complete disbelief every time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that, you know, Julius Randle is just he's going to be the key to this series.

[00:44:07] And I don't know where the Spurs go, you know, because they can't defend him. They found out that Ant was playing last night about two and a half, three hours before the game. So, game two might look a little bit different because now they can game plan for Ant being there. But Ant must have that T.O. chamber because, you know, I was thinking he was going to be out a couple weeks. And here he is again. You know what I mean? He just doesn't get hurt. Like, he just comes back. You can't get rid of him.

[00:44:37] He's like Michael Myers. What is it, like 23? Give or take. Yeah, you remember 23. You know. But I think that, you know, Terrence Shannon, you know, he's having his coming out party. Mike Conley turned back the clock with four threes. Yeah, Vanderbilt. Hold on. Looking at the game. I think he might have done some damage to his hand because they're covering it with a towel walking him off the floor. Yeah, I see it now. Yeah. I don't watch. I didn't watch.

[00:45:08] I got that game on my phone and I got the Cavs game on the TV. Yeah. So the Spurs, you know, last night, you still have to feel pretty good if you're the Spurs. Because Wimby, like I said, he went five for 17. De'Aaron Fox went five for 14. Castle fouled out. And you still had a shot at the buzzer to win. You know what I mean? So, like, you've got to feel good about that.

[00:45:34] Like, at home, you should feel good because you're at home and you're the higher seeded team at tip-off. You shouldn't feel like you got, like, a moral victory because you played a bad game and had a chance to win at the end. Well, no. Yeah, Minnesota's a good team. You should be more perturbed that you didn't. Their star player, like, and it wasn't their star player. It's not like they was playing the Suns or something. Yeah, he had 18 points. He put 11 up in the fourth.

[00:46:00] So, it wasn't as if he was, like, back to old Ant the whole game and it was back and forth. He came alive in the fourth and your guys didn't. You let the guy who basically, you let him coast all game long, work yourself back into the game. Julius Randle was a focal point. And then in the fourth, superstars do superstar things. And that's what happened.

[00:46:27] You can't give up a game, especially now, like, you lost home court advantage. And we talked about the Wimby piece. Like, yeah, he's a 30, 10, and five assists and six block guy in the playoffs. If they treat him as such. Like, I think Rex commented that treat him like a bonus player is perfect. I think sometimes they're too locked into the San Antonio system that they're not looking at the fact that, yo, this guy is.

[00:46:54] I think Rudy Gobert is 7'2", or 7'1". So, it's an anomaly to have two people that tall on the floor. But it's like, Rudy Gobert could do nothing with Wimby. He couldn't do anything with Wimby when Wimby was 15. We saw those videos. He was cooking Rudy then back in that French gym. He's right cooking now. So, are you giving Minnesota a chance here? I'm giving them a chance. I mean, like I said, I went chalk, you know, with most of the top seeds anyway.

[00:47:22] But I'm giving them a chance just because I didn't give them a chance in the first round. And now they have home court. You have guys playing with confidence. Jayden McDaniels, right? Like, the ultimate level of confidence. Like, he's an example of what you always talk about. Like, you know, dudes like Patrick Beverly, we laugh at them. But they were the man in high school. You know what I mean? They were averaging 30 points. Yeah, 30 points in high school. So, this ain't new territory. The skills are there, yeah. Yeah.

[00:47:52] They just need to get those 18 and 22 shots up. Shannon's playing. I think their mix of how we talk about other teams that are either too top-heavy. I like their veteran leadership between Gobert, Conley, and Julius Randle. I like their young experience. What is James Harden doing? You know, like, you'll never hear something like, what is Mike Conley doing out there? He's doing exactly what he's supposed to do every possession.

[00:48:21] Yeah, see, there's your game right there. There's your game right there. Detroit 12 turnovers, Cleveland 20. There's your game. So, I think that Minnesota has the Randle advantage. The Spurs have the quickness advantage. But it comes back down to what I asked a couple of weeks ago and what I said a couple of weeks ago.

[00:48:48] If the Spurs don't make it to the finals, whether they lose this series, whether they lose the OKC, it's going to be because their guards just don't shoot good enough consistently enough. So, Champinney is the kind of guy that it looks great when he's wide open or it looks great when he can just catch and shoot.

[00:49:12] But if you make him just take one dribble, the chances of him making that shot goes down exponentially. You know, De'Aaron Fox can get to the bucket, but he's not necessarily what I would classify as a shooter. You know, Castle's gotten a lot better, but I still wouldn't depend on him. You know, Harper's a rookie, so he's been playing well. But you've got to imagine that he's going to have a rookie moment at some point.

[00:49:40] So, I do think Minnesota is live to win this series. I'm taking Spurs in seven. I think that Minnesota, I just love their defense, like the effort. You can't teach that. You can't count them out of any game because you know that they're like the, their defense is like the way we talk about Russell Westbrook. Like, they might pick up a lot of fouls, but the effort is there. They're never going to shortchange you. Yeah.

[00:50:11] You're going to get, you're going to get tip passes, deflections, defensive rebounds. But those, like, that's how those guys play. And that's, like you said, San Antonio, those guards are big. Castle's a big guard. Harper's a big guard, you know. So, I mean, obviously Wimby's height advantage is one thing. De'Aaron Fox speed advantage. I just don't know how they can't put it all together. I mean, granted, it was one game.

[00:50:41] I don't want to overreact, you know what I mean, and say, like, that they can't or they won't, you know, or any of those things. I just think that Minnesota is the type of team that can make you play their style, make you play down to their level, however you want to word it. They're just the type of team that dictates the action. So, that's where Wimby is important as far as San Antonio deliberately giving him the ball

[00:51:07] and having a plan of you're going to touch the ball every possession for this long. If somebody's wide open, kick it out. Yeah. 0 for 4 from 3. You need to get me three layups and three dunks before you shoot another three. Like, bro, just catch the ball at eight feet and then turn around. Like, that's the offense right there. Just turn around. And, you know what I mean? Because Rudy Gobert, you know. Marine Skyhook. Can't keep up with him, you know.

[00:51:34] Like, that's the advantage is that Rudy Gobert can't keep up with him if he's on the perimeter and trying to drive to the basket, you know. But the difference is is that you got to do that versus settling, you know what I mean? And it was just irking me so much last night because I was just like, you know, I used to get into this argument all the time with people like, well, if he can shoot it, why not let him shoot it? It's like, well, he's like a 33% shooter.

[00:52:03] I don't know if that classifies as shooting it well. But you know what I mean? Like, I don't know if you should take eight of them. He's just allowed to shoot it. So you see the highlights. So when you see the highlight package of a game where he scores 32 points, that's 15 rebounds, it's a lot of threes in a highlight package. But if you watch a game, it's like, you don't need to shoot that. Like, a couple of his threes, he just dribbled into them. Like, just dribbled the ball up court, a couple of dribbles, side steps, set it up,

[00:52:33] and just pulled the three. Granted, yeah, he might have that authority and autonomy to do that. But it's like, you're 7'5". I think they said he was still growing. That's crazy. He must have took his Flintstones. So Detroit's going to win game one here, 111-101. Cleveland's just going to run out the clock, it looks like. So, you know, a couple – oh, Harden's going to shoot anyway.

[00:52:59] A couple things to take away from this game is Cleveland might have to do something that they don't want to do. You know, so Toronto did a good job of making Donovan Mitchell have to make the plays as far as the passing and all of that. Like, they got the ball out of Harden's hands and made Donovan Mitchell – Well, no, but Donovan Mitchell's not that kind of player where he's going to set up

[00:53:28] everybody else. Like, he'll pass it to you if he's double-teamed. But he'll shoot the shit out of it, though. That's what I'm saying. Like, that's what I'm saying. He hits him the year in trouble. I think that you want – and Cleveland or Detroit snapped a 12-game playoff, losing streak to the Cavs. But, yeah, Donovan Mitchell's not the guy that you want necessarily driving to the basket with the intent to kick out the bill. And that's what Cleveland did a good job at. They did a good job at you're going to be the decision maker.

[00:53:58] You're going to decide who gets the shots. And the other part of that is Mobley has to realize how big he is, how tall he is. Because a lot of times he gets pushed around. You know, he doesn't look like he wants to contact – and this is a guy that won defensive player of the year last year. But he looks like he regressed. So, to your Wimby point, that's something that we've been talking about with him the last couple of years. A couple of years. It's like, should he have been on the line?

[00:54:26] I think Jared Allen – I think the defensive big and the stretch four in this current NBA is the cheat code. But when teams – certain teams have it and don't deploy it the same way. OKC has it. Hartenstein, Chet. You got your big, your defensive big, and your stretch four.

[00:54:53] And your stretch four also plays defense because he's a young, energetic guy. It works. It covers so much of what you need to happen around the rim offensively and defensively. And it seems as if Cleveland doesn't do that. Like, they – you could put Jared on the five, Mobley on the other teams four who a lot of teams are running a four that's like 6'7 or 6'8 and take advantage of it, but they just don't.

[00:55:24] And we – like I said, we talked about it for years. But also with him is like – I think even Charles Barkman said this one time. He's like, he's got to demand the ball. Like – and I think Don – no, Donovan Mitchell said it. Said that I like when he is in that mode where he's like saying, give me the fucking ball and stuff like that. But I'm like, all right, cool. Now you're in the playoffs. Give him the fucking ball. Donovan Mitchell's like, but if you don't ask for it,

[00:55:53] I ain't going to give it to you. He likes that attitude in like November and December and January. I like when he wants the ball, but like after April, ball is mine. Yeah. So Orlando fired Jamal Mosley. I brought that up a couple of weeks ago as a possibility. That was a pivotal situation. Yeah. The names that I'm hearing –

[00:56:18] The names that I'm hearing so far are Billy Donovan, Dusty May, and potentially Tom Thibodeau since you brought him up. So here's one for you. So you remember how the other night you were talking about, yo, Orlando scored 19 points in the second half. So third and fourth quarter of game six. First and second quarter of game seven.

[00:56:50] Detroit outscored Orlando 118 to 68. And, you know, so – and I've been talking about – The 19 points in the second half when you scored 60 in the first is an excuse. At home. Just go back to the timeout. At the timeout, have an assistant go back with an iPad and say, hey, how did we get 60 points in the first half? I think we seem to forget. And then come back out with those plays because it looked completely different.

[00:57:20] But also don't cry for Jamal Mosley because word on the street is he might be the next head coach of the Pelicans. I'll cry if he goes to the Pelicans. That's what I'm trying for. So, you know, so like I said, you know, if Wagner doesn't get hurt completely different series, why is Jonathan Isaac still on that roster? Like, you know, like the last three out of the last four years,

[00:57:49] he's missed at least 18 games. Jalen Suggs, 31%. And here's one for you. In this series against Detroit, Jalen Suggs missed 36 of his last 44 shots. How do you get that many opportunities? That's the problem. You know, because when you look at the makeup of that team, you know, who gets the shots? You know, Paulo's obviously going to get the most.

[00:58:17] You know, then you look around. Desmond Bain is more of a shooter that's going to, you know, he has to just get his shot. Yeah. Yeah. But he's going to get a shot. He doesn't try to create space. He is the ball. And it's like, this is my spot. I'm letting it go. Carter, you know what I mean? Isn't necessarily an offensive bet. And then Vistaste, I think that's how you say it. Same thing. You know, you look at Anthony Black.

[00:58:43] So I think the move here is get rid of Jalen Suggs, promote Anthony Black. They could have got Javon Carter in there, you know, play some defense and shoot a few threes. And I think that's the type of thing that gets a coach in trouble because Jalen Suggs is your guy, but you also have to know how to finesse that. You know what I mean? Like, you don't got it right now. You've got to come sit down. You know, you just can't be out here. You've got to come up with, like, packages.

[00:59:13] But he's a great defensive coach. Yeah, and it's like, you know what? I think we're going to go full court trap. So I want my rangy defenders in there, one or two scores. We're going to trap Cade Cunningham, get the ball out of his hand, make him give it up to, like, Duncan Robinson early. Duncan Robinson's not going to want to do anything with the ball. He's going to try to get it back. Like, you know, like there's six coaches over there.

[00:59:41] All these guys wearing Orlando Nike quarter zips, I mean athletic quarter zips. Someone has to suggest, hey, this guy's off. Like, it has to be someone's job to tell the coach, like, hey, man, this guy is – Where's the analytics dudes at? He's missed 36 of his last 40 points. Like, hey, yo, hey, coach, look at this PER. Yeah, like, hey, check this out. Like, we got a timeout. We got a TV timeout. We got an Android timeout. We got the reviews.

[01:00:11] All of these stoppages. Right, right. All of these stoppages. And it's like, yo, this dude is cold. Let's get some energy in there. But I don't know why – like, if I'm an owner, I'm like, yo, why am I paying 14 people or 15 people if you're only going to play seven guys in crunch time at home in a playoff series? Why all these guys – Well, it's one of those things, though. It's one of those things, though. You know, like I always say, right? Chicken or the egg.

[01:00:40] You know, Jamal Mosley didn't put that roster together. You know what I mean? You know, but he was there for five years, so he got enough time. You know, three times in the – He did watch them score 60 points in the first half. Yeah. And get up to a 24-point lead, and it started getting chipped away, and it felt like they didn't make any real adjustments. At home. And, you know, three playoffs, didn't get out the first round. Overall record, 189 and 221. He's out.

[01:01:11] Masai Ujiri, hired by the Dallas Mavericks. You like? I like it. I mean, he's in a particularly great position because he's replacing the guy that did such a terrible job. Like, the guy did such a terrible job. Like, the Luka trade still does not make any sense, even though everyone tried to – I don't say everyone.

[01:01:35] The way you're – it's like you shoot a half-court shot up one point, and you make it now you're up four with, like, two or three seconds left. Yeah, it looks great because you made a shot. They made a deal with the NBA. You know what I'm saying? They got Cooper flag out of it. But, you know, I still – I don't understand the deal. Like, you mean to tell me how to go to Luka? Like, yo, lose weight, dog?

[01:02:06] Like – That's the question. So, for the next eight to ten years, would you rather have Luka or would you rather have Cooper flag? I say Cooper flag just because he's younger. And he just – he plays – he plays more above the rim offensively, defensively. That's it. I don't – I think Luka's going to still give you 33, 10, and 10.

[01:02:32] But I would like a guy who's going to at least be a pain in the ass of the guy he's defending. Well, I think Luka's one of those force multipliers, you know, where in that LeBron vein of – you know, we used to have those conversations. You could put LeBron on 27 teams. You know what I'm saying? We had the Sacramento argument. Like, you could drop LeBron into Sacramento in 2018, they would have made probably the Western Conference Finals at least.

[01:03:01] You know what I'm saying? That's hilarious. But LeBron is one of those guys that, like, in his prime, when he was the force multiplier, he was an actual force on the floor. Luka's a great offensive player, and I think what he does – I don't think he can be matched by probably any player in the league because people talk about he's not particularly quick, doesn't jump very high, doesn't run very fast, but he's still able to do everything that he does on the floor at an MVP level. It's a shame that he wasn't even on the ballot. That's weird to me.

[01:03:31] Like, I don't know why, like, he wasn't even on the ballot. They did all the waivers to get him on the things. Like, he should have been on it, but that's neither here nor there. But if I'm thinking about it, yeah, I'll take Cooper. I still think the trade was bad. It just happened to work out. So, if you're Masai, your jury, is your first move trading Kyrie? No, because I think he could be your Mike Conley. I don't want him to be my Mike Conley. No, no, I think he'd just be your – No, no, I know what you're saying.

[01:04:01] I don't want that. No, like, your steady veteran. Oh, he's still going to put the ball in the basket. I just think he could be that – the steady – Kyrie in Orlando game seven, they don't score only 19 points in the second half. See what I'm saying? Like, I think he gets them settled. Well, you got to get Dallas to the playoffs first. I mean, he's 34 now. You know what I mean? Like, so I don't know. He's a – Like, I get it that 34 is a 24.

[01:04:31] But he's an injured 34. Like, he's been injured half his damn career. Well, then, you know, that means he's well-arrested. So, I don't know if you have another opportunity. I don't know if you have another opportunity to get value. Like, if he gets hurt again, like, I don't know. But – Well, what do you move him now? Like, what do you – who would you – not necessarily who, but like what type of player would you think –

[01:04:58] Because you got to figure the NBA, I don't know what his money is, but I imagine it's somewhere around 36 to 38 million a year. But there's also the picks that you could potentially get out of it too. Does that count towards the money? Yeah. So, he signed a three-year $119 million deal. So, 39 million a year. You know what I mean? So, like, I'm looking around the league, right?

[01:05:25] So, I would say, obviously, fucking, you know, Milwaukee better trade Giannis this time around. Or, you know, or else you could deal with them maybe, but they don't got picks. I'm trying to find – that's the problem is that I don't know what you get for Kyrie at this stage. I mean, does Portland give you some of their young players and some picks? No. Does Sacramento give you anything? No.

[01:05:56] Does he have a no-trade clause? We're not sure. Does Chicago make a deal? I will look at teams that fired their coaches. Maybe there's some – Maybe Orlando. Orlando, like, maybe the teams that are looking to change it up. Like, if we think – you said Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland? Yeah, I think he's gone. You think he's gone? If they don't win this series, I think he's gone. Is there any meat on that bone where you can pause – if you can make a deal there?

[01:06:26] Can I read back to Cleveland? I mean – You're a masochist. How about making a deal? Either you're going to stay. Okay. So, for me, I personally think him staying is probably more beneficial. I think he's – I think he does because if you try to trade him and you can't and now he has to stay, what's his move going to be like? And people always have to know it's a business, it's a business, it's a business.

[01:06:54] We saw what happened with Lamar Odom when that – When you saw what happened with Kyrie in Cleveland. When that Clippers New Orleans deal fell apart and he had to go back. We saw what happened with Don Kinnick in L.A. The dude hadn't touched the basketball in live action in an important moment since that trade got rejected. Well, you saw like that was what ended things in Cleveland as early as it did because they didn't want to get Paul George and, you know, replace him. So, I mean, it's a thing. It's definitely a thing.

[01:07:25] You know, so let's talk Boston. Where does Boston go from here? I don't know with Vucevic. Like, I think that might be a move you can make. You do have two major chips. I want to say he's a free agent, ain't he? That's Brown. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:07:55] Vucevic is a free agent. So, maybe you come off of Brown and get a haul from someone. Well, Brown did say that this is his favorite year. This is his favorite year of his career. I know you ain't like that, huh? Since they won that championship. It's – I thought – because I heard someone talk about it. I thought he was going to say something like his favorite year was like his second year at Cal

[01:08:24] because I was like somebody else was recounting what he had said. So, as I'm listening to him like explain what Jalen Brown had said, and then he said it was this year. I was like, but I get it. You want to be the man? You want to be the man? And I understand that. Yeah, you were – I mean, this year for him was validation, right? You know, he was being mentioned in MVP conversations. You know, they were the two seed all year, but just about. Like, I mean – I mean, this is –

[01:08:54] But you can't put that above winning a championship. You won fucking finals MVP, and you won the Eastern Conference finals MVP. Yeah, he won everything. That's what I'm saying. Like, it don't make sense. Like, I get it, but it don't make sense. Maybe the grind was tougher, and that's what he appreciates. Oh, no. I think you should be his PR person. That's what I think.

[01:09:24] Oh, you're talking about the Embiid flopping statement? Embiid was flopping. He definitely could have – he could have not shot that three and laid the ball up and, like I said, give him the points. But maybe – like I said, I don't like this idea, but maybe Milwaukee and Boston make that trade. I doubt it. This is like fantasy basketball, which is the part I like. But I think Jalen Brown could be gone.

[01:09:48] I think some ridiculous deal that sends him to Sacramento, like completely opposite of – what's up with you picking on Sacramento tonight? I think they probably would be the most desperate team to try to trade for a superstar. They're in a great – they're in a great area, and like they're in a great football market. It's a very popular market. It's a lot like – like we talk about McGuire and Travis Air Force Base.

[01:10:14] It's very similar as far as like how many sports teams are in that general area, the major cities, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento. And they're just not getting any kind of shine or esteem off of it. It's like, yo, let's make this splash. Get this guy from Boston. He played at Cal Berkeley. You know, yeah. But I don't think anyone's going to make that deal.

[01:10:39] But it's like I think Boston is probably sitting down thinking we do have a tradable chip. And now Tatum, you're done playing basketball for right now. Now you can really see how much that Achilles or whatever knee injury just had could heal. It's a full offseason. Because other than that, if they were able to play, what, 20 more games maybe? And then, you know, 85% of fans picked them to win the East again next year.

[01:11:10] So where does Tiago Splitter go from here? They said they're not going to hire him? They're looking around. So from what I've been hearing from different places is – It'd be silly. Basketball is different when it comes to interim coach. Yeah. From what I've been hearing, you know, Dudon, Tim Dudon, he owns the Carolina Hurricanes as well.

[01:11:34] And he paid their coach below market value at the time that he hired him. Yeah. You know, they've been in the mix. They've won a Stanley Cup. And he still hasn't really paid the coach commiserate with his accomplishments. You know, so I would think that Tiago Splitter would be the kind of guy that you would want to keep because I can't imagine that he would command that much.

[01:12:04] And I'm not sure if a guy coming in who's a candidate for a head coach position would – like if you're new – if you're an assistant, you know, we always mention Sam Cassell in coaching talks. If you get elevated to like, oh, I think this guy – Shout out to Baltimore. This guy's the number one coaching prospect. And then you go meet with him. And this guy's not going to pay you.

[01:12:35] You're like, I'm better off staying where I am versus coming up here and dealing with a guy who wouldn't buy T-shirts, makes the staff check out of hotels early, lowballed. Like you said, he already lowballed the hockey coach even though they're winning. Portland was an excited city. First time they're in the playoffs in a while ever since Dane Little had left. A great basketball city and is like, nah, I'm here to save a million dollars.

[01:13:04] Like, bro, you have $4,000 million. It's like you paid $4 billion for the team. You're trying to save a million dollars with hotel fees and T-shirts? Like, it just doesn't make any sense. So, like, any – even Billy Donovan, like, who's been coaching for a while, is like, I'm not going to come here and pander to this guy who's going to just try to lowball me.

[01:13:30] So he's better off dealing with Tiago Splitter for a long-term deal just because he's already in-house. Fans already like him. The players seem to rally around him. And he'll probably take the fair market deal versus an elevated one. Yeah, so for those keeping track at home, that's the Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Pelicans are the current openings right now.

[01:14:02] So Toronto had an interesting series against Cleveland. I don't want to write the post-mortem on them yet, but, you know, it sounds like Grady Dick is going to get traded in the offseason. I think just me coming into the season, I was already a little sketchy about how Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett would look next to each other. Brandon Ingram didn't end up finishing that Cleveland series.

[01:14:31] But the East is becoming – it's still not the West yet, but the East is starting to get a little bit better, starting to ascend a little bit. You know, you get Detroit, another shooter in there. You know, if Boston does keep Jalen Brown and Tatum together, obviously the Knicks, you know, the Sixers, you know, I don't know what they're going to do in the offseason. But, you know, like the East seems pretty formidable.

[01:14:59] I mean, you had Charlotte make their run. They probably had – Atlanta. They had the best stretch of, you know, like, what was it, the last, like, 40 or so games. They were like, you know – Yeah, they basically – after the All-Star break, they had, like, the third or fourth best record. Yeah. So you have the opportunities. The problem that we're going to encounter because it's the NBA is that teams that aren't used to having the success are going to blow things up too early.

[01:15:29] You got Halliburton coming back next year. The Wizards are going to be wholesalers. Well, yeah, they're already talking about trading Anthony Davis. Are they going to trade some team, like, we'll say maybe Orlando takes a bite at that apple, and they're like, you know what, we're just – you know, we can move this piece, this piece, and get A.D. in here. Hey, don't you wish jailed subs on me. So, yeah, it just – but that's what's going to happen.

[01:15:55] If these poor teams that, you know, tanked or played poorly all year don't end up with one of these top five picks coming out of the draft, like if Brooklyn doesn't end up with, like, DePonta or Peterson or someone to put on the marquee, they're going to be 17 and 65 again next year. So, you're going to have some fodder in the East, but I do like what they got going on at the top of us. Hopefully, I just don't want any more super teams.

[01:16:25] I don't want any more three, four superstars. I don't want the money to match to where now we're only looking at three teams from the West and three teams from the East have a chance at playoff. I think this playoff run has shown that we need diversity, diversity of talent in the league. Okay, okay. Well, you know what? Let's do something that we've never done before.

[01:16:55] Give me a second because I just thought of this. So, on Sunday, May 10th, that is, we have the NBA draft lottery. So, Mr. Logical. It's also Mother's Day. Don't forget that. It is Mother's Day. You know, I'm not going to forget that. You know what I'm saying? Like, we're taking care of over here in the Alamo.

[01:17:23] But we're going to do something that we've never done. So, call your shot. Who wins the draft lottery? And I'd be damned if that team at number 11 wins it.

[01:17:45] Like, did you imagine Golden State getting A.J. DeBacha? Well, I think that would – I don't believe in conspiracy theories. That would be odd. Oh, goodness. But I will put one up. I'm going to say Utah. I'm going to say Utah. Oh, yeah. You would say Utah.

[01:18:13] Gets the number one pick and they take A.J. DeBacha. I mean, he plays prep school there, his college ball there. It's very LeBron-esque kind of trajectory. Who I would like to get – I just want Brooklyn in the top three. One or two. Why? You joined the Knicks. I just want to – I want to go to a game because this – I was telling my dad this, right?

[01:18:41] I was like, listen, if I'm here and I want to go to an NBA game and I want to see one of the West Coast players, SGA, Ant, LeBron, you know, anyone like KD, they're going to come on the East – you know, they're going to come on the East Coast road trip. They're going to play Philly. They're going to play the Knicks. They're probably going to play the Wizards. They're going to play Brooklyn. With the low management, no one's sitting out the game at the Garden.

[01:19:10] They're playing the game against Philly because Philly's always a good team. They're going to sit at the Brooklyn game. So if I want to see LeBron or one of these stars from the West play out here, it's going to have to be Brooklyn because that ticket's going to be a little bit more reasonable. We talked about I tried to get tickets to a Lakers game like for – that's Christmas gifts. They were like $800 for standing room. I think the Brooklyn ticket might be $250, $275, which is still high.

[01:19:38] But I'm not buying that for the Timberwolves to sit in. But if Derrence Peterson's there, if A.J. DePonce is there, if Boozer's there, if one of these young rookies is there, I imagine that especially Ant, he's going to want to play that game. Just so he can show the rookie, I'm still top young dog in this game, and I'm coming for young guys and old heads. So I would like Brooklyn to get a top three pick,

[01:20:08] but I think Utah's going to get the number one overall pick. With the way that the NBA works, I wouldn't be surprised if Milwaukee got the number one draft pick. You know, since they're probably going to be coming off of Giannis. Because we've seen this, right? You know, Cleveland loses LeBron. New Orleans loses Anthony Davis. Like, it just seems to be – Dallas loses Luka. Like, no, no, no, no. So this is the thing.

[01:20:38] Anthony Bennett. No, this is the thing, though. So it wasn't like they had like a – Well, I mean, that's their dumbass fault, but they got the pick. But the thing about it is – so as I think about it, right, because, you know, we always argue with people because we don't believe that the NBA is rigged. Correct. What are really – what's really the probability of all three of those things happening? You know what I mean? Of Cleveland getting that number one pick, New Orleans getting that number

[01:21:08] one pick, Dallas getting the – what was the probability of all three of them getting the number one pick the year that they lose their star? Honestly, I didn't think about it until Luka and Cooper flag because Dallas was a good team.

[01:21:34] Luka was traded abruptly, and then they didn't make the play-in, and they got the number one overall pick. I never – I didn't even think about it when it came to Cleveland because they were such a bad team that I felt like they were – like, when LeBron left, they were a shell of themselves. And then the same thing with New Orleans. Like, they didn't play AD. Like, it was, like, very clear that he was going to be gone.

[01:22:04] So them not – them getting the number one overall pick. Like, I thought the Knicks were going to get it because I thought Zion was so big time. Talk about that game in one of my classes when Zion – the Nike shoe blew out. Obama was at that game. Right. Like, Obama was at that game. The shoe blew out. And then Obama left. He was like, all right, well, I came here to see Zion. So, like, I thought he was a perfect New York Knick. So, if the league was rigged, the Knicks would have got it that year.

[01:22:34] That's the singular piece for me that lets me know that the draft isn't rigged because if it's rigged, you wouldn't send your most marquee player to New Orleans who plays in the West, not in Eastern time zone. Like, I'm sending my most marquee draft pick for a while. I think he was probably one of the most highly touted number one picks, one of the most exciting college basketball players for a few years. I'm sending you New York if I'm rigging it.

[01:23:11] It would be funny. It would be funny if after the last month or so, the Grizzlies got the number one pick. That would be funny. Oh, after the way we've all treated Memphis, even though – Yeah, that would be funny. What if OKC gets the number one draft pick? What is their probability? You still have it up?

[01:23:36] They are – right now they are 12th. You know what I mean? Dallas got it as a play-in team last year, so – Not that they didn't make the play-in, right? No, they did make it. They lost to Memphis in the play-in game. I'm going to go with Chicago. I think Chicago is going to win their lottery.

[01:24:04] Just from the standpoint of that franchise has been so downtrodden with bad luck. You know what I mean? Now – Yeah, they got the GM out of there. You know, they got the guy that was running basketball operations out of there. You know, I think it's time for some good fortune in Chicago. Sacramento probably needs it the most. But I think if you get one, two, or three, you should be happy with this draft.

[01:24:34] I think one of those big three – you know what I mean? I would love to see – what I would love to see is I would love to see Cameron Boozer go to Indiana and play with Halliburton. You know, I think those two together would, like, drive people crazy with their – you know, the way they pass the ball, you know, pick and roll. Memphis could be a candidate, you know, if they're really coming off a job or rant, if they could find somebody to take them.

[01:25:05] How crazy would it be for the Miami Heat? To get the number one draft pick. Why is Memphis out on jobs? Is it just injuries or something else? Is it, like, another report that came out? I think it's injuries and, you know, just – I think it's just a bad taste. You know what I mean? There was just so much going on that you're just tired of the headache. You know what I mean?

[01:25:29] It's like you've been on your best behavior, but I can't sleep waiting for that other shoe to drop. Because it's been too good to be true. That's what I think Memphis is on. And they already got – think about it. They already traded Bain last offseason. They traded Jaron Jackson in this season. So it only makes sense for Jai to go. You know what I mean? Like, get the rebuild really going. Get penalized by the new tanking rules next year.

[01:26:03] Let's see here. Who else? Dallas – what if Dallas got it back-to-back years? That would be crazy. But Golden State would be the one that I think would drive people crazy if they got it. Well, I don't think it helps Golden State as much as – because I think when you say Golden State, hey, you're thinking Clay Steph Draymond just lost Harrison Barnes and now they're going to bring in a number one pick.

[01:26:32] Like, nah, it's like – it's not like them bringing in KD. I don't know if it works. If I'm Golden State – Steph getting another year older. Draymond's another year older. How would you mind landing on Darren Peterson? I mean, I'm thinking next year. Like, does it help you in the 2026, 2027 season when you have a bunch of –

[01:27:00] I don't know if all those guys are even coming back. Steve Kerr is probably not coming back, right? I don't think Steve Kerr is coming back. I said that at the beginning of this season. I thought this was his last dance, no pun intended. And I just have a feeling that, like, that has to matriculate through a lot of the players. Definitely the staff. Is Steph coming back with a whole new coaching staff? Is Draymond a piece?

[01:27:25] If I'm a new coaching staff, am I trying to figure out how I fit Draymond into my system? Because he doesn't fit into your general basketball scheme. He doesn't shoot well. He doesn't look to shoot. What could Draymond net you in a trade? He can go to the Lakers. He could go to a team that's like – Draymond for Rui?

[01:27:54] Yeah, like, you could go to a team where, like, they like cerebral players. And they like players that know the next play coming. Because he doesn't do – I don't think he – even though he's had, like, a remarkable career. I think every team likes that. But I need you to also be, like, able to shoot and, you know, available to, like, run downhill and grab rebounds. Draymond is not – he's not, like, an exceptional offensive rebounder. He's just a smart player.

[01:28:23] He just knows exactly how to get the Golden State system to go the way that it goes and has been successful for them for, like, the last decade. I don't know if I'm a new coach. I bring in my system and I figure, like, where do I fit him in? Like, he doesn't shoot well. No one guards him. He's not young. You know, so it was like, what am I doing with him?

[01:28:50] So it was like, you would have to go to a team like the Lakers or the Clippers or a team, like, maybe, like – not necessarily, like, this Knicks, but, like, Mike Brown's one of those guys that's, like, you know, I like heady role players. But he wants to be a starter. He wants to be the man. He wants everything to run through him. So it's like, I don't know where – what team that makes the most sense for. Are we ever going to get some closure to this Kawhi situation? With the fake money contract? Nah, no, it's money.

[01:29:21] Just done with it? Yeah, we're just done. Yeah, did you see that Bomber's trying to buy the Seahawks? Well, he's a Microsoft guy. That's crazy, man. And they found it together, so I imagine he wants to carry on his friend's legacy. Yeah, so. All right. Well, on that note, we will get out of here. You know, we will be back on Friday with some more playoff talk. Lakers still holding tough, down eight at the moment.

[01:29:49] You know, we'll see, you know, if OKC can cover the 15 and a half tonight. That's still crazy to me. But he is the world-famous, world-renowned, cool, calm, and collected. Born in Texas, raised in Virginia, representing everything new, jerroos, even though you couldn't tell with that nasty-ass hat on. He is. Yeah, bandwagon, son. Bandwagon. He's got an orange watch on. Let's go. He is Mr. Logical. Don't bring feelings to a fat fight. Don't do it.

[01:30:18] Down here in the Alamo, it's your unorthodox statistician going left so much you thought I was southpaw. I go left so much that James Harden is amazed that I don't turn the ball over. I am. 2-5. This is Sports Reports. It's ordered. We love y'all. Like, review, subscribe, share, rate, do all the free things. Do all the good things. Liquid death in your hand. We are everywhere that you get your podcasts. Say less. Say more.

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