Knicks Complete the Sweep! Plus, the Wizards Get the First Pick, and Will Wemby Be Suspended?

We're going to go inside the lottery room. What was it like in there? What was the reaction? Jonathan Gavoni is here to break down all the scenarios. What are the wizards going to do at number one?

What are the jazz going to do at number two?

“Is okay, C actually going to try to make a push into the top four?”

If so, anyone bite? Memphis moves up to number three. What does that mean for John Moran? Chicago, off to a running start on its next phase of rebuild, all the lottery implications, Pacers Clippers, wow.

That was the big outcome of the night for me. We'll talk about Kevin Pricer's tweet and the ramifications for both the Pacers and the Clippers going forward. John Christmas, key joins to talk about what is now a wild wolf spurs series. Whether Wemby Will or should be suspended for game five after elbowing, not as read in

all the nitty gritty of that series. Then we wrap it up with Fred Kas from the athletic, talking the New York Knicks obliterate

the sixers, get to the conference finals for the second straight year, waiting on Detroit

Cleveland. We talk about how what of the Knicks found in the last two weeks since going down to one against Atlanta? What's changed? Can they sustain it?

“Are they writing the sort of magic that happens to teams that get on championship runs?”

Can they actually win the championship? Will they be favored? Next round. Just silly, go from here, tons of stuff, NBA's going crazy, lots of stuff going on. We're going to cover all of it, coming up on the Zack low show.

The Zack low show is brought to you by Fandwell. It's been a wild playoff run, but it's not over yet, and Fandwell wants to bring you closer to the court to make more of all the action to come. Fandwell is the best place to bet the teams, the players, and plays during the NBA post season.

Build the same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout or try live betting and jump into the action after tip off, download the Fandwell Sports Week app now, and play your game. Twenty-one over in select states, 18 or over in DC, Kentucky Royale, and gambling problem, called 1-800-Gampler, called 1-888-789-777-777, or visit ccpg.org/chat and Connecticut. Welcome to the Zack low show when we preempt the coverage of the lottery that's coming

up next. To talk about what is suddenly an absolutely wild wolves spurs series, Victor Wen-Manyama throws an elbow. We've had a Tony Brothers vs Chris Finch, Royal Rumble. We had the NBA's version of the helmet catch by Iod to sue New Last Night when it

looked like the wolves might probably collapse amid a hail of turnover as note. It's 2-2.

Victor Wen-Manyama was ejected early in the second quarter for smashing Nas Reed's throat

with an elbow, a nasty elbow at that. And it didn't look like we would be here, Mr. Krasinski. Game 1, the wolves steal it, game 2, blow out, game 3, felt like the moment where the spurs asserted their supremacy and the wolves, like they do, just whatever you think is going to happen, the other thing is going to happen, Anthony Edwards looked more like Anthony

Edwards sensational fourth quarter on his way to 36 points. We have a series in the conference, some of my finals. It must have been a wild bloodthirsty atmosphere last night at the Target Center. It was echo. I mean, when you look at this whole series, there hasn't been a normal game.

It feels like in any of them, and that was anything but normal at Target Center on Sunday and night. You have the elbow, you have Anthony Edwards with ground beef, for knees, just like willing his team back into the fight. You have the spurs, young guys, like really taking it to the wolves.

I mean, there was just great theater all around. It was super tense.

“I think we're getting to a point where both of these teams don't really like each other,”

similar to wolves, nuggets, and so that kind of animosity breeds entertainment as well. And can't wait to see what we still have in store for us in this thing. We are recording this at 10 30 in the morning. We do not know Victor Wenbanyama's status for game five. He was justifiably ejected.

It was an absolute no-brainer. The moment I saw it, I was like, "Well, that's a flagrant too. I don't care who he is, the other game."

It was early in the second quarter, which I think actually is going to matter for the league's

decision here. I am going to predict he does not get suspended for game five that he gets fined. But I will say this. I went down a rabbit hole last night of elbow related fines and suspensions. Have you done any elbow related research? A little bit of it.

Yeah, I mean, you know, the Hassan white side one kind of came to mind. I had the same things that was after the game last night, I would be surprised if they suspended Wenbanyama because he does not have a history of violence and I had a bunch of people who were replacing.

We can't do this.

Throw the metal world piece near a decapitation of Oklahoma City, era of James Hardin

out the window. It's irrelevant as a president. I will say this. You could find whatever president you want in these elbow stuff in terms of fine versus suspension. I'll just go through.

Can I go through a few? No, please. You mentioned white side. I can't remember who he shoved. That was like an after the play, like, it was a Celtic.

“I think nasty, like, forearm into the back.”

He was suspended a game for that non basketball play.

I believe after the whistle.

Vince Carter was suspended one game for kind of a retaliatory elbow to the head of Stephen Adams who is the victim in several of his incidents, which is broadly similar to what Wenbanyama did. I believe it was a regular season game. He was suspended one game.

They are Smith was suspended for one playoff game for a swing through elbow. He was playing for the next on Jason Terry. Jason Terry was all up in his jersey. He was annoyed. The next were up by 20 midway through the fourth quarter, which again is relevant.

And he swung through and he smashed Jason Terry's head. He got suspended one game. Those are all. And by the way, I don't think the wolves are going to lobby at all.

“I think the wolves are just going to be like, whatever happens happens, disguise an amazing”

player. He has no track record of anything. They're not going to do the thing where we're abaduring the league office. Look at this clip. Look at this clip.

Suspendum. If he's suspended, if he's not like, yeah, we're not going to want to win cheaply. Then you can go the other way. Here are some other ones I found. Andre Drummond was fined, I think, $15,000 for elbowing Roy Hibber in the back of the

head.

Kind of a softer elbow, but the back of the head you just never know.

It doesn't look as violent as Wenbys. David West was fined either $15 or $25 for elbowing Blake Griffin, kind of in the throat, but again, not with the same force that Wenbys had. The closest one I could find of a fine was, this is a deep cut, Samuel Dallembehr, when he was playing for the nicks, pretty viciously elbowed Jonas Valentus, who is on the Raptors,

hit him flush in the face, in the third quarter, regular season, and was just fined. So, again, like, you can go, you can do the thing if you're a fan of this team, you find this precedent, if you're a fan of this team, you find this other precedent. I will say this of the ones that were just fined and not suspended, and I'm sure there's a longer list, Victor's was definitely the most violent and the most targeted.

If they actually suspended him, I really don't think the spurs have that much of a gripe, because it was a very violent, very targeted hit, and they're lucky he hit him in the throat, and not in the face, because you can't head injuries are different than kicking a guy in the groin, whatever, it's just a different level of risk. Just based on the violence of it, it's a suspendable offense, but it's also, you can find

“precedent for just finding that are pretty similar, and I think the reason he won't get”

suspended, and I'm okay with this, if a little squeamish, is number one, he has no track record of anything that I can remember anyway, number two, it was early in the game, and he essentially was suspended for that game, for the most part, and number three, and I'm not sure how you feel about this, but it's not just that it's the playoffs, and it's a huge game, and nobody wants to see a huge game decided by this, by people leaving the bench, by whatever letter

of the law thing happens. The NBA has clearly decided that the playoffs are going to be a completely different game than the regular season, with way amped up physicality, and that people are going to be elbowing him and fouling him, and everybody, just across the board, it's going to be wildly more physical, and I think they need to take ownership a little bit of something like this,

where it's like, yeah, if you let that stuff happen, if you're standard in the playoffs as this, things like this are going to happen, and I'm not excusing it, it was an awful play, it was super dangerous, it was super violent, but I do think the argument that we have to treat it a little bit differently because of the context of the playoffs, not just the serious, not just the importance of the game, but the environment of the games is pretty

legit, so I'm going to say they find him, I'm going to be okay with that, and I also think those fans would be fair to say, if this were a different player with the same track record, even a lesser player with the same track record, he might get suspended because it was a very violent, very targeted, like he looked at him, he wound up, and he smashed, and I was read in the throat.

Yeah, I think that to start, I would say I'm with you, Zach, I don't think he should be suspended in terms of I don't want to see that as the swing factor in a series that

I don't think malicious in that way, because the one thing that did bother me about the

“plays, Zach, was that you can tell, in real time, he looks over his shoulder, he thinks”

for a second, you know, then he acts, and so there was pre-meditation in that. And he didn't fight about it when he was ejected, he was like, okay, it seems right, I don't know the, I'm ejected, I'm ejected, I'm ejected, okay, bye-bye. And I'll say to this, to your other point, I understand him being frustrated, like the wolves have gotten very physical with him.

They have bumped and banged and chipped and done things to try to frustrate him and get under a skin.

There are wolves fans who will pull a million clips of Anthony Edwards, getting followed

going to the basket and Rudy Gobergen hitting the head as well. This is just a really physical series, and so there does not justify the elbow at all, but given he is not dream on green, he is not met a little piece, he is not even like a Dylan Brooks or Lou Dort. I just don't think that there's enough to look at and say, this guy has a history of these

issues, and this goes above and beyond, and so we're going to suspend you for a game. But it was absolutely violent, it was reckless, it was premeditated, he lost his cool in that moment, and it was pretty frightening, you're right, if he's an inch higher, who knows where Nazareth is right now.

“I think both outcomes would be fair, like I think you could make a legit argument for finding”

him and letting him play and suspend or suspending him for one game. I'm going to be fine when they don't suspend him, all circumstances, I'm not going to feel great about it. I'm not going to feel like, oh, that's it's a no-brainer, it's the right outcome, like Steven A's tweet last night about, like, I hope they don't suspend it, it would be a

bismool, blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't think that, but I think it's acceptable to not suspend him. So let's assume that he indeed is playing game five. He did not play the last 2.75 quarters of game four, and the wolves tried hard to not win the game and ended up winning the game behind a brilliant Anthony Edwards game, and I don't

want to sleep on the two threes that Terence Shannon Jr. made late in the third quarter. When the spurs were up like eight, nine, all of a sudden it's like kind of trouble time, and he hit those corner threes, those were huge shots, and, you know, down the stretch, they made enough place to win it, got a little ugly at the end. Did you have an angle of the helmet catcher that Justin Jefferson catcher whatever it was?

So I, that in real time, because we're, we're sitting, we're on the opposite baseline, and so Jayne McDaniels, I had the great view of the past. He made a great quarterback Peyton Manning throw, but I couldn't see Io on the other side of it, because there was defenders in the middle, but then you watched the replay, and I thought initially he caught it cleanly, and then I saw, no, he did not.

He used his foot. He, you know, one of my editors at the athletic Zack Pierce tweeted like

“the foot of God, like, you know, Maradone's hand of God, and, and that's what it felt like, and”

not only did he hit it with his foot, but then he gathered himself and was able to grab

the ball before it went out of bounds, like that was, that was the most incredible part of

the whole thing. There are three, there are up three at that point, right? Yeah, hang in there. It's red. It definitely looked in mid-air, like, oh my God, this is just disaster unfolding.

Justin champagne, he's going to hook him in and hit a three, this is going to be the most wolves playoff loss possible, and then I owe made an incredible play, sealed the game, and it was over from there. And by the way, you take out game two, which I realize you cannot do, the scoring margin of games, one, three, and four combined is zero.

It's dead even in those other games, which is interesting. I don't know, like, let's assume he plays, when he plays game five, just what, what's left on the table from Minnesota in terms of adjustments on either end of the floor that you are interested to see? Yeah, I do think that one thing that they went away from that worked somewhat in game

one, I mean, when we had 12 blocks, he was amazing in game one.

It was incredible, but one thing that Terenchen Jr. said afterward is like, he's going to have to block everyone, we're going to keep coming at him, and they didn't really do that in games two, three, and the start of four, they looked a little bit more scared of Wemby, understandably, swadding everything, I like it, it's understand what they were settling for floaters, they're not making a lot of their bunnies, and they were not shooting

enough threes, I think. So if you look for a counter with Wemby on the floor, this is a very good shooting team, even without they'd even chenzo out, that I would expect that they would try to shoot over the top of him a little bit more, and then get that to spread the defense, and then maybe open up a few more driving lanes for them, but they haven't really shot at volume threes

you have the Anthony Edwards, my colleagues hitting a couple of threes, Shannon is hitting

some tiny threes, like you can do a few more things to breathe some more space into this

“offense, and I think that's going to have to be a big part of their diet going into”

game five. Yeah, there are three point volume is way down, and I think there are a lot of reasons for that. One is Wemby and his ability to guard the pain by himself, so no one else has to help. Another is, they have just not let the wolves get in much of a rhythm in their pick and

roll game, like the wolves get threes when aunt and go bare on screen roll, and they draw two, and the ball starts flying around. They haven't blitzed aunt or put either bent up to the level of the screen, they're doing one of two things.

If it's a regular pick and roll, they're dropping back, and I think the most encouraging

sign from game four and game three, but particularly game four, was aunt started to poke a hole in that a little bit. He made a couple pull up threes, he made some mid-rangeers, he attacked fox on switches now and then, which is, I think, something he could do more.

“He had a couple explosive drives to the rim, he started to poke holes in that, or we're just”

trapping you at half court before you can even run a pick and roll, and we're confident that we can rotate out of that, especially when Lenby's on the floor. So the rhythm threes just haven't been there, but I wonder given his success in game four, kind of poking at their pick and roll scheme if they can get a little bit more of that. The other guy that I'm watching is Randall, who's average, only 14 in game, and I expect

it a lot more. Spurs are giving him whatever matchup he wants on switches, like it takes one screening action, and if you don't want castle because he's tenacious, you can get the cell, you can get champagne, you might even be able to get fox, and I expect it a lot more just to liberate, get Randall, a matchup, and let him attack, and let him attack in space,

particularly when Gullbear is off the floor, and they're trying to play Wemby and like a one-man zone on the back line, put shooters in the corners, let Randall go against the favorite robot matchup, and I thought in game three, they just kind of lost their plot on offensive, but like ant would get doubled and give it up, and then just take himself out of the play completely.

He'd stand at half court being face guarded, which fine he's spacing the floor, but it's Anthony Edwards man, go get the ball back, and Randall was just like a statue, no matter who was guarding him, it could have been a favorite robot matchup. He wasn't coming to the ball, he wasn't demanding the ball. When his guy would sort of shade toward ant, he wouldn't do anything, he wouldn't cut

you in the screen and I'm like man, it just feels like there's so much low hanging fruit for Julius Randall and the woes to grab, I don't really understand why they're not trying harder to grab it. Yeah, and that was one of the big issues in game three, is there no game two, Zach, when the spurs really started to blitz and at half court, and double in there and trap him, Randall

and really the rest of the team was not moving to make themselves available for the pass, then trigger the four on three, and so it's been an activity on Raleigh's part, but then also the other part about Julius Randall, that is really struggle with series is like even when he does get the ball and tries to make a move, he's turning it over all the time.

That's true.

Yeah, four turnovers in the first half.

They're handsy man. They're handsy. And both Oklahoma City and San Antonio are very handsy defensively, very quick. And those types of approaches have given Randall fits in the past and he has to find a way to be stronger with the ball and make better decisions, but mostly just do not give

it up in traffic, the way that he has, because when they do, that's a turnover their San Antonio's going the other way, they're really good in transition and their scoring points that way. And so they need a more composed, more poised, Julius Randall in two of these last three

“games, if they're going to pull, what would be a huge upset?”

Huge upset. If Wendy's not suspended, the spurs have been two of the last three at home, no Diven Chanzo, and limited, he must be starting to feel a little bit better because it's not just a production. It's that some of the trademark ant baskets have started to re-emerge in the last couple

games, including he's got a couple like backdoor cuts where he's cut pretty explosively and then finished, that's just trademark ant stuff. The other guy is like, Deer and Fox is averaging 16 a game, 16.8 on 38% shooting in 22% on threes, and there's just been multiple moments in this series and in this playoffs where it's like, man, I would really like, with Wendy either out or ejected or whatever,

and I really would like to see Deer and Fox kind of step up, I mean, he's been fine, he got off to that quick start in game two, didn't put up big numbers because it didn't need them to, and everyone was like, oh yeah, great Deer and Fox showed up, he had 16 points great. I mean, I just think they're going to need more from him, and that contract is going

I'll tell you, Zack, like watching this series in real time, it feels like every time

a spurs possession ends with Fox taking some what of a contested jumper or a jumper at all, that's a win for the wolves, like he just does not look reliable right now in getting to his spots and knocking down shots that I've seen him making his sleep in his pet in the past. But I almost wonder if they're going to go under screens a little bit more against him

because the spurs, smartly, in game two, three, and less so, less and obviously, amped up

“the pick and roll usage with Wemby, which I think is really smart, particularly when”

the Randall's on him, just uses gravity, and a lot of that depends on Fox making enough shots, and he's just not making enough shots.

Yeah, and I'll tell you, like, right now, I would venture to guess an honest wolves insider

in that locker room, and on that coaches have, would say, they're much more scared of Dylan Harper than they are of of Fox. He's been unbelievable, like the way that he just is relentless in attacking Castle has been great as well. They're both weapons that are hard to deal with with their physicality with everything else, and Fox just is not on that level right now. And so unless that turns

around, if Mitch Johnson keeps putting the ball in Fox's hands, I think that the wolves will live with that. Yeah, there was the one baseline drive where I think Shannon was on him and he, like, really

“drove hard baseline and hit the brakes and Shannon was fell out of the plane. It was like,”

well, that looks like Deer and Fox, like, that's the fast twitchy guy. He's just not getting by guys and getting, getting open shots as easily as he was in his prime. And and we'll see, it's two to the spurs, assuming when we play, it should still win. I mean, that game three was a pretty majestic performance. The wolves having 1.6 minutes into the game was just like, I don't even know what you're supposed to do, but hey, man, the wolves,

you got to give it to Tim Connelly, we get into the go bare thing a little later in this episode. But like, that trade has worked out. And this team is just tough as shit. They show up and they're down a guy, they're injured, IO's been injured. And here they are two, two, and you could chalk it up to when be getting himself thrown out of a game, but they were, they were winning the game, and they hang on to win the game without him. And

like, you can only play the guys that are in front of you. And here they are, like, after a weird up and down season, and oh my god, fans are wondering if Chris Finch is there I coach and this makes a player. And by here, they are two, two in the conference, so I find those again. It's amazing, Zach. Like, it's a maddening thing because they're really individually

talented, but it just seems like unless their shoulder blades are scraping a grant against the brick wall behind them, they don't really bring everything possible. And even last game, like they, you know, they, I do think they've relaxed just a little bit or breathe slightly when when be left and then they were still in a fight. And I just can't say enough about Anthony Edwards. He, his knees are at maybe 60%, he can pick like four or

five times a game where he really goes. I, I agree with you in that, I do think he is getting stronger as this, as a serious goes along. He's getting his wind back. He's, he's getting a little bit more energy. But he is operating at a level where he has to be

crafty in a way that he never was before. Like, it was all power. It was all athleticism.

It was all overwhelming. Now he is thinking the game. He is getting to his spots. He is just willing this team forward. And it's, it's just great theater to watch. You have when beyond the one side, you know, killing the wolves in game three. And then you have the wolf season on the line down eight in the fourth quarter and aunt just erupts. And he cannot dunk on anyone right now. He cannot, like, just blow past everyone, but he

can still find a way. And that's pretty amazing stuff to watch. Yeah, he had it was in

“game three. He had a post move where he spun baseline on Julien Champagne. I think”

and he he rose to them. Like, he spun real fast. And he went up to finish. Maybe it wasn't Champagne. Maybe Champagne met him at the rim. It was another wing that met him at the rim. And it was a below the rim finish. And healthy Anthony Edwards is either dunking that or drawing a foul trying to dunk it. And he just doesn't have that kind of explosiveness right now. But he gutted it out last night 13 or 22. How

many do you have in the fourth quarter? Like, 16 fourth. Yeah. All of every kind of shot imaginable. Just the guy is a gamer. And by the way, do we know, I've stopped my head I can't remember, was there like an event where the, is this just wear and tear on his knees? Was there an event that like, there was the thing that looked like a hyper extension than that was at the last round? That was that was game four against Denver.

Yeah. So he was already playing with like inflammation in his in his right knee, similar

the left knee against Denver. And then the left knee against Denver where he landed

on it. And it looked like, there were people who told me like, I thought it was Sean Livingston all over again. Like, and so they just dodged a major major bullet. And he is Wolverine, like, he heals faster than anyone you've ever seen before. And, but like, even, like, last night, talking to a couple of players in the locker room after the game, even, you know, kind of off the record. And they're just like, I can't believe what he's

doing right now. Like, you just like, you see what he's putting his body through. You see, like, how he's feeling on the off days. And that dude is just going out there. And that's

“why Nazareth is getting up after taking the elbow from hell. That's why I always playing”

through a calf, even though he's a of a free agent at the end of this, this season, like, ant is setting that example and walk in the lock and talking the talk. It's pretty incredible. Any parting thoughts on this series and game five coming up before we let

you go? Here's what I'll say. Like, one thing that if you want to be a wolves optimist

in this, it's, I do think that I, what I see in Wembin Yam is definitely what I saw in Anthony Edwards at 21, 22 years old in that he gets a sense of he has a taste for the jugular, but sometimes he goes a little too far with it. He wants it too badly. And you'll see Wembin take a contested three, like, in the moment, or a heat check, kind of turnaround. And that opens the door, going the other way a little bit. And ant did the same thing. Like,

all the time, you could always tell up this one's going up for three, a step back three is coming because he senses that moment. And I think in game one, Wembin sort of punched himself out early, because he wanted to just absolutely dominate the game and they didn't have quite enough gas in the fourth quarter. I wonder if coming in the game five, he is going to be so motivated to do a tone for what happened in game four that maybe he's almost

too amped up. That's really the only hope that the wolves have because if he's locked in and just ready to play, I mean, he's an absolute monster that I don't know that anyone can do anything with. And so if he's under control, it's hard to see the wolves figure in the way out of this. If he is just sort of caught up in the emotion of it and wanting to deliver a statement and is a little too wild, then maybe that that kind of opens the door

for the wolves to make a move and steal this thing. Yeah, he was much more calculated in games two and three. And part of that is just like, I mentioned this on the last episode,

“I think he had a pick and roll where the wolves switched in game three and put JD McDaniels”

on him. And he just rolled JD McDaniels into the post, sealed him, got the ball. And I can't remember if he scored or drew a foul or both. But that was just sheer, like, I want to do this. I'm doing this. I'm not going to do the other things that you want me to do in shoot threes and he caught a bunch of logs and all that. So we shall see if he plays

how he plays, but the wolves in the playoffs, it's always a good time. And John Krasinski

is always there to document it for us. Thanks for your time, but I know you're busy. And now it's time to talk lottery with John Thinkobony. Thanks, Zach. This act will show is brought to you by Fandwell. The NBA playoffs are here and everything on the line. Every possession matters. Every bucket swings the game. It's a night is your shot to boost your bet. That's right. All customers get a profit boost to night. So in the

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almost here. My favorite thing about the NBA playoffs, the intensity and the strategy. Every game is treated like a must-win game. It even won a team is up three-o every quarter, every half has a new adjustment that you got to really be dialed in to track. Oh, that guy's guarding that guy now. Why are they doing that? How is the other team going to counter that? It's the chess match that we don't really see quite as much of it in the regular

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Mikolob Ultra.com/courtside. For free entry, entry deadlines, prizes and details. All right. Everybody knows yesterday was one of my favorite days on the NBA calendar. The NBA lottery, the last hurrah of this kind of lottery, probably assuming the NBA gets its way and passes a whole new lottery system. Not quite as dramatic as years like last year when there was a Dallas Mavericks, like whoa, what are you fucking kidding me kind of

reaction to Cooper Flag going to the Maves and all that, but there were some fun moments, some fun anecdotes and a large sigh of relief from inside the drawing room when I was going around asking people, who do you think is the biggest winner tonight? I pulled everyone. I pulled everyone outside in the big studio thing. Once we were released

“from the sequestered secret room, who do you think is the biggest winner? I have my”

own opinion. The universal answer was something to the effect of where all winners, because Oklahoma City did not move up in the draft. Otherwise, we'd all be losers and look who's here to help me analyze it. My fellow ESPN, expert, Mr. Jonathan Gavoni, all things draft my man. How are you? I'm doing great, man. How are you? I'm hanging in there. I'm hanging

in there. You were not in the secret room with us last night, right? I've never done

a super room once. It's actually the first time I skipped the lottery altogether. They moved it to Navy Pier, and I said, "Man, I need to get my fix of the Julie Combine Scrimmages." I'm worried I'm not going to get back in time, so I just watched it on TV, and I watched Julie Combine. So that's sad, first of all. Second of all, we had the, but it's on brand. You have to do it.

It is on brand. We had our sort of last hurrah for the tankers last night. For, in some cases, Sacramento and Brooklyn, I just want to send my condolences to all of your fans. It's a rough go for, for you guys in the lottery. But Washington, egregiously tanks, they get the number one pick. Utah, egregiously tanks, they get the number two pick, and then two sort of middle ground tankers, a different species of tanker, the Grizzlies and the bulls move

“up to three and four. And the irony of this is, I think we're like in your eight of”

revised semi-flat and lottery odds. And every time, there would be a wild jump in this new system. Like the Hawks had a three percent chance of getting resuscitated, they moved all the way up. Cooper Flag, obviously Dallas had like a one point, something, percent chance. They moved all the way up. We've seen teams with the very worst records pick fifth, you know, multiple times. There was this immediate outcry of like, what have we wrought? We have

benefited. It's so hard now for the worst teams are getting punished in these mediocre teams are getting moved up and just like what have we done? It was so dumb and it was so reactive because what happened was a exactly the system that you had legislated in working as expected. And be this lottery last night was a reminder that if you were just a little bit less reactive and let this system play out for 20, 30, 40 years, like an actual sample size, more often

“than not, we would get results like last night where the worst teams would do best in the”

lottery, like Washington, Utah. With some, you know, random movement here and there, it was like last night was a representative kind of lottery of this system that everybody wanted because of the process and the egregious tanking, right? And they vote for it. And then some wild stuff happens and everyone's like, oh my god, what have we done? And now all these years later, we're getting a system that's probably going to even be more random than this

with like wildly flatter odds, three, two, one, a relegation zone and all that. So I just find it ironic that in the last year of this system, it works to reward the worst teams. Just a, just a, it's just crazy how reactive everybody is. And by the way, if the MBA passes

this new system, this three, two, one system and wild outcomes happen in the first year,

there's going to be the same like, oh my god, what have we done? You did exactly this. This is what you did. But who, who was your biggest winner of the night other than 2019's because Oklahoma City did that move up? It has to be the clippers. I mean, the trade was insane when it happened. And it's even more insane now. Even though it was a coin flip, whether it was going to go in the end as way or the clippers way, 52, 48. And you know, it's such a ball is the move on both sides.

And you know, you can't help but feel for the Pacers, especially their fans, you know, going through the season that they did. And, but I mean, I, I understand like the strategy behind it because, you know, what's probably getting to this more, there is absolutely a drop off after four. And so the Pacers probably said to themselves, you know, if we drop to five, six, whatever,

you know, we'd rather have a starting center locked in for $20 million a year if it's a

zoobot. So that's our preference. But just to see it play out the way that it did the drama.

all these, you know, NBA executives, they're all millionaires. They're, you know, they've done

accomplish so much in their career. They're so powerful. They've, you know, they reach the top of

the mountain to get to this point. And they're sitting in that room and they're so vulnerable. And they literally, they're entire career in many ways hinges on which way this will go. I mean, the San Antonio spurs, well, that we the first ones, I'm sure to tell you. I mean, like, they don't get Victor, you know, what, what is, what does, what does it look like? Now, of a sudden, you know, they're all geniuses and they're, you know, they're so smart and just one

“player changes the trajectory of your franchise in the NBA. And so that's why, I mean, the lottery”

is insane every year. It just blows my mind, and I'm just right here to see how it plays out next year, because it's going to be even crazier or trying to understand all the revifications of what they're trying to pass. And, you know, the NBA is, it's, it's absolutely insane from top to bottom, but the lottery is the top. So it, you just nailed away. It's my favorite thing. The absurdist nature of it, watching these genius highly accomplished people, top of their fields, just sit there

and sweat and fret over a literally like an 80s newscast, like here, let's bring on the meteorologist to pull out the tonight's lottery balls. So, and next year, by the way, we don't exactly know how it's going to be, but the proposal is this 321 system, where instead of these like, you know, now you get these four ping pong, there's 14 ping pong balls, number one to 14. And teams are assigned four number combinations of those ping pong balls. There's 1,000 combinations. And so like 23, 4, 1,

8, whatever, that belongs to the wizards and the wizards come up. Next year, there's only going to be,

“like, there's going to be, I think 37 balls, and they're just going to be like team balls. Like,”

they're just going to have logos, like the teams at the top of the lottery get three balls. The relegation zone teams and some other teams get two, the best, the best teams quote, I'm quote, get one. And they don't exactly know how they're going to do it next year. A couple of rumblings I heard yesterday was, they have definitely taken note of the NHL, making like a really good television show out of the lottery drawing, like, with the odds in real time on a big screen.

I guess it was that just for, I don't know. And they've definitely made note of that. And there's a world in which, you know, the plan is the proposal is to draw all 16 spots. And there's a world in which they actually draw from 16 to 1 in reverse order. And the way that would work is process of elimination. One way it could work is process of elimination. So if you're one of the teams that has three balls, and your ball comes up for the 16th pick, that doesn't mean you get

the 16th pick. That means you have two balls left in the kitty. They draw again for the 16th pick.

And the first team that has like one, that's their last ball. They get the 16th pick and you go

from there. So it would be this kind of thrilling, like, oh my god, we have one ball left that ball stay in their ball. We don't want you to come out. But anyway, we'll see what happens next year.

“You are correct that the clippers are indisputably, I think, the biggest other than the”

wizards, I guess, the clippers to come out with the highest possible pick that they could have gotten. Five. And you can tell me about, you know, how big the cliff is after four. And the double win of not being embarrassed by having Oklahoma City move up with their pick. I was sitting behind Resobb Desai, who was the the clippers representative in the drawing room, right literally right behind him. His back was right in front of me.

And the Si of relief, like, it was, it was so visible like his shoulders when like, when the Chicago pick came up. And then the lottery's over. And so he stands up and he turns around. And he has this look on his face. Like, he looked like someone who had been like acquitted at trial facing life in prison, just like he had a new lease on life. And then he went over and he had a nice handshake, brohug with Ted Wu, the Pacers guy. And I was like, oh, that's such a nice

moment of NBA harmony. You guys aren't fighting you guys aren't mad at each other. But I don't believe we'll win for them. And a new lease on life, I guess, for the clippers assuming they get to keep that pick. Did you see the clippers tweet updating the terms of the trade with the Pacers?

I did. Yeah. No, it's just a reason five billion why the NBA is the craziest

league in the world. It's like, I'm just going to just say this. Every time I see the clippers tweet, I just think back to whenever one was digging up the old aspiration tweets nine months ago. Yeah. Yeah. There's a year to maybe just not take the victory lap at the Pacers expense. And like highlight in red that you're getting the number five pick. Maybe just maybe just take the win and don't rub it in. But we also have to discuss Kevin Pritchard's tweet apologizing to Pacers

fans. I thought that was like insane. I could not believe that he tweeted that saying that he thought

Yeah. You made the trade. And it's like a justifiable trade. If each of Zubas was a borderline

all NBA player two seasons ago. He's on a great contract. The buck splurged on Miles Turner at a number that you frankly couldn't justify. And so you had to pivot somehow. And yeah, you did so hoping to tank this season and have your cake you needed to and you didn't get the cake. But to sit there and tweet like, man, I'm just surprised. I thought it would go the other way. You knew exactly what it was. It was 52-48. You would get to pick. And 48 came up. You can't be like,

the lottery just makes people insane. Like it just makes people absolutely insane. Like last year, I remember people telling me they like Ryan Smith was, I mean, I don't want to say just

“draw it like he wasn't crying. I think he was more like angry that the Jazz had not gotten the”

number one pick and it had moved down. It's like dude, the most likely outcome just happened. And you're like raging at the basketball guy. It just makes people insane. I couldn't believe. It was more, it was more Dallas and everybody's saying it's rigged and all of that. I think it's what it was. Maybe, but I couldn't believe that that tweet. And look, the pacer's like, shit happens. Now they keep their 231 pick, which would have been unprotected to the

Clippers had had, they kept this pick, which makes it easier for them to make trades. Zeus, good. You just got to go build your team. You don't have a ton of flexibility, but you have some, like you can get probably one more player with the mini-mid level exception or something like that. I just thought that was a, that was a crazy moment. Did you see this stuff about the suit that was sobbed from the Clippers war to the drawing room?

I did not see that. I actually was walking by the peninsula yesterday and nature's happened to drive up the whole Clippers staff, and they were like, "Our guy got it done. How about

“our sob?" And he's like, "Yeah, I did it, guys." He executed it. That's why I said, "You executed it”

in there. You got the job done." So he was wearing a suit that the Clippers, like Revere, Jerry West. Everybody that worked there Revere Sim. So he was wearing a suit that Jerry West had, had when he saw ReSob when ReSob was younger. Went up to him and this is what ReSob told me. And said, "I can't have you looking like shit at MBA games. I'm going to have my tailor make some suits for you." And this was the first one, including the tie that the tailor had made.

Took the tailor, came, I think, the Clippers headquarters, took the measurements, made the suit. And then Jerry West had the tailor make ReSob's wedding suit. And when the wedding suit was delivered, there was a surprise second suit. And so this is what he wore as a good luck charm to the thing. So that's just fun lottery stuff. Okay. Let's start with the results. Wizards, number one pick. They have Anthony Davis and Tray Young are on the team.

They have a whole pile of young players who are now going to have the incredible competition.

This is your world. The consensus seems to be DeBanza is the safest choice in the most likely choice at number one. The Wizards, the Skuttlebutt, last night was, are legitimately like,

“we haven't decided yet. We're going to take a look at it. What do you think happens here?”

I have Darren Peterson going one. And I was a little bit surprised how the consensus has shifted. I mean, I know that Darren Peterson didn't have the season that he wanted. But I've seen those guys on the same floor in person probably eight to ten times playing against each other. You know, in a lot of different settings over the years dating back to the under 16, you know, USA basketball training camp. And not once did I come away thinking

Asia DeBanza is a better prospect than Darren Peterson. Including when they played each other this year, which is Darren Peterson had an absolutely insane first half. I mean, it was one of his best performances. And DeBanza had, you know, a kind of a DeBanza game worker. A lot of dribbles, a lot of

shots, made some tough shots, you know, incredible intensity and, you know, will and aggressiveness

and the scoring instincts. And Asia DeBanza is a great prospect. And I have a pretty good feeling that he's going to be in a star. Darren Peterson is on another level, talent wise. And I don't know if, you know, people watched, no, I think once they go back and go through the film and they played each other three times last year. And Darren Peterson was head and shoulders better than Asia DeBanza every single time. Now, you know, the creatine staff and the cramping and, you know,

Darren Peterson did not have the same gear that we saw in high school. It didn't have the same twitch. It wasn't quite as explosive blowing by people, getting to the rim finishing, they moved them off the ball, strangely and was playing next to them. Melbourne Council, who is, you know, we've kind of seen him now in the NBA, come, are they, G. Lee, Combine, Horseman, Melbourne Council is a very average player. I think that we're going to look back in five years and wonder how the hell did

Darren Peterson is an all NBA player. He's an incredible talent. And I don't care. You have

“a tray young, whatever. Like, I think you take the talent in this, in this draft and Darren Peterson”

is the talent. I think he, he should go number one. I don't know what they're going to do. I haven't spoken with them, whatever. But, you know, knowing Will Dawkins and, you know, they're going to, they're going to, like you said, they're going to look at this really hard. And maybe they do go the bondsage is because he's safer. You know, such a great year isn't all American all of that. I would absolutely go with Darren Peterson. Well, what makes that interesting is that, of course,

Utah, eating like the $500,000 fines and just what, they're like, oh, find us more. We get the number two pick in the draft. Obviously, they know a defense of very well. He went to BYU. Ryan Smith is a big

booster at BYU. He was in high school. I think for a Utah practice, yeah, for at least a year.

And so there was this immediate, like, oh, my God, with the jazz make like a Godfather offer to the wizards to move up one spot in the draft and guarantee that the bans is there. My very early sense from talking to people around the league last night all over the league was like, I don't think Utah is going to operate like that. I don't think they're going to be reckless just to get that guy in the door. If he falls to them great, if they really want them and they're getting

just held hostage, it's a tough decision. My, I mean, it's, it's very early, but they did not seem to me like, oh, we're desperate to go get this. Not that they're going to seem like that anyway.

“But I think they're just going to be happy to take, who's over there. The other thing with Utah is”

Carlos Booser works for the jazz in the front office and can Booser is going to be in conversation

for, you know, a top three, top four pick. That's another fun little variable. But I get the sense that like, look, obviously, both of these teams will listen to everything that comes to them, including, you know, there was like, I just randomly, like, Utah obviously made a big win now move last season, or win semi later move, I guess, by trading for Jiren Jackson Jr, can't they George is like, a rising, perhaps all-star guard, marketing and isn't all-star,

they got to figure out Walker Kessler, they want to resign him for sure. You could make the argument that Utah is a strong trade down, trade down a little bit in the lottery, get another veteran player in the door, because I do think they want to get one more decent rotation guy. They could just get that with the mid level instead of doing any trade down kind of stuff. But my guess is they just stick it to and pick who's over there in our thrilled with it. But what do you

“think? Yeah, I can't see anybody trading out of the top three. I get, I think the trades in the top”

ten are going to be unlikely to happen, unless it's like jockeying, moving down two spots from seven to five, something like, you know, but I, um, I think we would be doing the service by not mentioning the fact that Kim Boiser is every bit, a number one pick candidate. And there are a lot of people around the NBA, especially, you know, those that build the team draft models that have Kim Boiser number one, he, I mean, has been the most productive player by far, every step of the

way, he's been the winningest player, every step of the way, what he does is going to translate to the NBA, I think he's going to be an all-star. And so there are a lot of teams that there are a lot of, not teams, I would say, NBA executives that I really respect and have Kim Boiser number one on their draft board. And I would expect the wizards to give Kim Boiser a really hard look, as well as it not a jazz, I mean, they're so stacked with big, it's like you said,

but you don't draft for need when you're drafting two, you don't know when and not for two, like that's going to come around. And next year's draft, and then you're after, it's not looking good whatsoever. So you, you go for the talent and they're a piece of them and, and as you see, the bonds are talents, but Kim Boiser is a heck of an NBA prospect. And he's, I mean, he's, he'd be my favorite to be working in the year next year. Then we get to Memphis who moves up to number

three and sort of the immediate scuttle, but questions gossip was, what does this mean for John Morant, does this make them more likely, less likely, they get a great prospect in the door, new lottery odds coming that don't really make it profitable, to be terrible. In fact, make it unprofitable, it would be terrible to be one of the three worst teams and get relegated with they just sort of keep Moran and try to have some fun and be frisky. I think it actually

probably doesn't change their course at all. I think they're still likely to trade John Morant. If anything, I think it may make them more likely to trade John Morant because you look at a team like Sacramento who plummets all the way to seventh, doesn't want to be in that relegation zone next year. Brooklyn, I don't really see the fit, but Brooklyn's an interesting case we'll talk about. I think they're actually going to, are slightly more likely to trade

John Morant and I sense like some optimism that it won't be like an awful value trade for them. Chicago moves up to four huge win for the bulls who are, who are bracing for a big,

discussion and you have said to me already like, you don't think anyone should trade out of the top four. We'll trade out the top four. It's so good. But there is this, you know, last week on Bill's

“pot, he sort of positive this like, at some point Oklahoma City, who I think is 12th in this draft,”

is going to have to consolidate players and picks because they just have too many players who are going to get too expensive and too many picks. They can't even roster all their picks. With this be the year, with this kind of top four, where Oklahoma City just goes to the bulls or the Grizzlies and says AJ Mitchell plus rotation player X plus number 12 plus three

future first round picks to get into the top four. And 1 GM told me last night talking about this like

there is a point at which you just can't say no, where they just put so much in the kitty that you have to consider saying yes. I have no idea what Oklahoma City is going to do. I haven't talked to anybody there about their plans. They are notoriously tight-lipped about it. But I will say teams toward the top of the draft are expecting those kind of calls, whether they come or not, what do you think will and should happen there? Yeah, I mean, they need to consolidate. I mean,

they have so many picks coming down the pipeline. Like I said, the next two drafts are not considered to be very strong especially at the top. That's that's key, right? The future picks, like the

“people who are looking at the 2028 draft, 2029 draft, like this is what you have to be looking at when”

you make a decision like this. 100% and so I mean, this is a really bad high school class that's coming to be freshman now and a lot of players, you know, there's not a whole lot. And then the five for five rule is coming in in the NCAA. So a lot of these players are going to get an extra year of eligibility. So the guys that you thought were going to be seniors next year actually can stay now two more years. And so what is next year's draft, even going to look like, it's a major

question mark in terms and that there's not a great crop of international players too. So if you're Oklahoma City, you're probably looking at all that and saying, you know, yeah, let's consolidate. Let's just put a boatload of picks and move up and, you know, I mean, AJ Mitchell is such a great contract that, you know, maybe you trade one of the bigger deals, you know, like instead because you want to think about the cap and the tax and all that. And so everybody knows that at the same time.

And so I just think it's hard to do deals. I mean, it's just the fans. I mean, they get attached to the top five ownership in the front office. You fall in love with the pick and the idea of what this player could become. And nobody wants to hear about, you know, a 2028 first rounder right now. Like if you just went through a season of misery as a fan of, you know, the Utah Jazz or whatever. And I mean, you know, they're trying to win. I mean, they want to get out of this purgatory at

“some point. And so yeah, I think it's just going to be it's going to be hard.”

Yeah, it's interesting. You know, they have other levers to pull, right? Like they have the door contract, they have the hard and steam contract. But like heart and steam in particular feels

pretty essential to their team right now is offensive rebounding is passing the floater that

feels automatic. Again, door, you know, he's the biggest and stoutest of their just army of defensive players. Like the best guy on the brunt that they have, although Caruso is like a pretty good on him. And he's, as you mentioned, like a hometown beloved sort of homegrown favorite in Oklahoma city. Also, there's seven and oh in the playoffs and just pancing everybody left and right in all these games. Like every one of the Lakers games is exactly the same. It's close and then it's a 25

point gamer like what the fuck just happened. And by the way, I just as an aside, I just I hate this burgeoning thing that's happening where in a couple of playoff games, including game two, when SGA was in foul trouble. And they win the non SGA minutes. And again, play pretty well with SGA on the bench and in a game three blowout and Isaiah, Joe goes crazy. The AJ Mitchell has a star kind of game chat looks great. It becomes a referendum on like SGA's MVP case. Like, well, the team was so good

around him that why did we all get this wrong? First of all, it's like it's two games. I think that's a

pretty banal argument. And the 82 game sample size, which is what actually applies here of, you know, all these guys missed lots of games, including Jill and Williams missed lots of games. And the numbers just like they just didn't have a good offense with SGA on the floor. And they were a regular team with SGA off the floor and a crazy elite team with SGA on the floor. I just think it's a little crazy that this becomes an MVP referendum. But that's neither here, neither here nor there. A Chicago,

I'm really excited for the bulls. I'm a little worried that their fans are getting too excited and are setting themselves up for disappointment. Again, because we've seen the bulls roll over

moving up to four. They were ecstatic last night. If I were them, I'm just keeping the pick getting another great young player in the door. Do you have Caleb Wilson penciled in there? Is that the guy? I do. Yeah, 100% Caleb Wilson is a Bryson Graham type of guy, size, length, athleticism, defensive versatility. I mean, he's a phenomenal season at North Carolina up until getting injured. He's getting better and better. And so, super high character. I mean, Caleb

Wilson is an easy guy to pencil. I mean, he has fans in the top three also. For sure. There are people who like Caleb Wilson quite a bit. And so we talk about a three-player draft. But

“Caleb Wilson is a hell of a consolation prize at four. If that's where he ends up. I mean, who knows?”

I mean, Memphis. I mean, there's always a shock that a shocker that happens on draft night. And

like, if Caleb Wilson goes three or one, I'm like, I wouldn't like blow my mind. And so, there are people who really, really like Caleb Wilson out there. And I could be like a Washington type guy. So, maybe there is some joking that happens at the top. And somebody slides down a spot, too, you know, I could see maybe that kind of movement happening, just to position yourself and get an extra pick or whatever. And so, yeah, Caleb Wilson is big time. Do you think Payton

Watson is a Bryson Graham type of player? Because that's you know, Payton Watson who, I think the nuggets really want to retain. They'll have to do some financial gymnastics and get off a contract to to do it unless the crockies want to do the unthinkable and pay a big luxury tax bill again. He's been linked to the Lakers more than anyone. Lakers have like quietly kind of a lot of decisions to make with Reeves. Hachimura just hasn't missed a shot. It feels like in a month. He's a free agent.

LeBron obviously like it can get pretty expensive. They're pretty fast. It's not like they have guaranteed

30 million dollars of cap money to throw at Payton Watson. But Chicago is another with a ton of

“cap room. It's another name I've heard for Payton Watson. I think he'd be a great fit there”

personally. Like just like they already have kind of a lead ball handler and giddy who you don't want to hand the entire offense to. So, Payton Watson can do some of the stuff he showed when you get shouldn't have to nuggets were hurt and he went crazy. Defense, they need tenacity defense all that. I kind of like that idea for them. I like it too. I'm curious to see like how much of a Matas Bujzo's guy is Bryce McGrinn. Do you go in all in on building around him?

There's a wide scope of opinions about Matas. I think he's had a really promising first few years here in the NBA. But as you're ready to take that next step and that's going to be interesting to you. Like how did they how did they look at him? We should talk more about the wizards. What did night for the wizards? I haven't yet listened to Joe Owens going bananas on Bill's podcast last night. I saw a clip of it. It was delightful. John Wall just clutch performance

on the dance, totally nonchalant reaction to it at the end. But Dave got like obviously Davis and young, but it's a big year now for like his bud character and going to be anything for them is is Billow Koolabali, what kind of player is he going to be? I like Will Riley. I had him

off and on my second team all rookie. They have a lot of interesting pieces there. Sorry.

Zach, they're high on Keeshan. Keeshan George is really good. He has ascended past like Koolabali is sort of part of like the rotational core. And SAR is good. I hated the way SAR played the tanky part of the season. I thought they'd just let him do whatever he wanted and I didn't like watching it.

“But I think he's pretty good. But the whole thing was they have a bunch of young guys and they”

haven't found the guy yet. And now they have a chance to get the guy. And this is like the biggest thing that's happened to Washington wizards basketball. I think this is bigger than the wall lottery win in terms of just based on what they already have there. Like there's actually a road map for this team to be interesting. And all it took was a couple of years of unabashed tanking and one big year of lottery look. Yeah, you'd love to see a plan work out, you know, if you're their fans

and you know, they're on their way now. Like there's a clear direction here. They've got some great young pieces like you said they have two, you know, like multi-time old stars that I'm not sure what the future holds for them. But, you know, it makes sense what they did with, you know, buying low as low as possible as you could get on noise too. You know, do you rehab the guy now and, you know, and get back on the right path and then move them again for, you know,

for they got them for so little. I mean, it's unbelievable. Actually like how little they have to give up to get those two guys considering the resumes. And so, yeah, I mean, they're pretty stacked. And I mean, whether it's the bonds that are Peter Sim, I mean, both of those guys are super exciting. And so, yeah, it's a good time to be watching with us from a couple of other notes. I don't really

last night. Like no, no one moved up or moved down like Atlanta, stuck at eight Miami, stuck at 13. No golden chip trade piece from a Janice team really emerged. I do think it's it's much more likely than not that Janice gets traded in the offseason who knows. That's just my opinion,

“based on what I've heard. The Jalen Brown thing, I don't know. I think the Celtics will listen,”

no one that like people around the league don't really know what's going to happen there. But I don't did you see anything sort of like impacting the very top of the top of the conversation. I think Atlanta, actually think if Atlanta hadn't moved up into the top four with the Pelicans pick, I think it would have actually, if I'm, if I'm on C solei at their GM, it makes me less likely to trade for Janice because I just want, okay, now I'm just building up with this young core.

I get a gem in the draft. Picking it eight, I just don't think it's going to be enticing enough from Milwaukee. I don't think Atlanta wants to do it anyway. So I think we're just going to be looking at the usual suspects, I guess. I mean, I live in New York City, so right away my thoughts went to Brooklyn and you know, like them dropping for a second time now and you know,

“what is the direction there? Is there pressure on the front office to, to, to try and win now?”

But like, do they have the pieces for it? Now, what do they do with, you know, Michael Porter Jr., or what do they do with, you know, these point guards that they drafted last year and because that when you're sitting at six, I mean, you're looking at a bunch of little guards really. You're looking at a cough, you're looking at Kingston Flammings, you're looking at a Keaton Wagler, you're looking at Michele Brown. And, or do you go and take Native Met, you know,

who is six, ten wing, you know, incredible upside, he's fluid and, you know, he can make shots from

all over the floor, but it's going to take him some time, you know, strength wise and all that, but do they have time? And so I think a lot of those teams in that five to ten range, that's where it's going to be really interesting to see how it plays out, does one of them go reach for Yacht, so let them to board, you know, who is, you know, he's older than some guys that

“played in their freaking all-star game. I think he was also the second best player in college basketball”

after Kim Boosier. And so how do you view him, you know, and it's, I mean, this is where I kind of disagree with people who say, it's a historic draft and like the depth of the draft and all that. And I don't, I'm not seeing that to be honest with you. I mean, after five, I think is one of normal drafts and, and after like, you know, 18, I mean, it could drop off a cliff. I mean, they're like 10 guys and, you know, like in that 18 to 32 range, you could pull their name out of

the draft and go back to school and then you're looking at guys who are like in our 40s who might

have to be picked in the 20s and, and I always really done a number on the NBA draft here the

last two years and I think we're talking about like, how do we compete, you know, like with this, like he used to be like the value was in the first round and the late first, you hit on a guy and he's in your rotation and the cheat contract. It's a great asset. It's how you dodge the attacks and maneuver yourself. But now it's like, well, if there's not a player there in the 20s and how do you actually even view all these picks? All these teams have been hoarding these picks for years and years and

people rigged, you know, Tim Conley over the coal was for, you know, for trading all these picks in the 20s for for Reducle Baron. Now he looks like a genius, honestly. I'm glad you brought it up because I've been meaning to mention this, I, to go bear trade worked. Like, I thought it was an overpaying I was astonished at how many picks it took to get him. I think the jazz were frankly astonished and how many picks they got in return for him. It's indisputably worked. Like, I think everybody

hosts Tim Conley and Rudy Goberre and Apology. That trade worked and it will see what happens in the, this is where you want to be right now is, you know, competing for a spot in the western conference finals. They made it, you know, like two years in a row. I mean, I mean, this is what we should be rewarding, you know, like as an NBA media NBA fans like this guy went for it, you know, like how

about trying to win? Well, you know, how about two points? Two point. Here's what I don't want to

have happened next year. So this lottery unfolds in a way that's pretty friendly to the tank teams, right, overall. And you mentioned the net, so I want to get back to the net in a second is a team that a tank team that did not have a friendly outcome last night. And so tanking was largely rewarded for one final time under a system that, again, if you let it play out for 30, 40 years, would more or less reward the worst teams more than the video contains over over time.

worst teams. And you already are seeing this sort of, like, as we, as the NBA proposes this new, like, flatter, more random lottery system. The same kind of pushback that happened when they first tried to flatten the lottery odds that this system, which is, well, isn't the draft supposed to help the worst teams? Isn't the draft supposed to represent hope for fan bases of bad teams? It's, it's a rebuilding tool. Is it more, is it more helpful for small markets who don't get

free agents and free agency doesn't exist anymore? You're already seeing that. And so here's what I'm

going to say. Next year, if they pass this, the lottery will be more random and less friendly to the worst teams. When that happens, I don't want to hear any whining from any of the teams that vote for this about how, oh my God, what have we done? Someone with the 12th best record just got the number one pick of the draft and the worst teams are picking here. It's exactly what you're voting on. You can't, in the same breath, say, tanking is this egregious scourge on the league that ruins

a third of the season for a third of the teams. But also, oh my God, we're appalled that a mid, a

“40 wind team got the number one pick. You have to accept some cost to eliminate some problem.”

There's that going to be a perfect solution. And I think the NBA has reached a moment where tanking got so bad. Now, maybe you're right that the next drafts are not so great that tanking would ever get like this, but that tanking got so bad that it became a bigger and more dire problem than a more randomized draft order, which, by the way, will still in the aggregate favor bad teams over good teams. It's not like you're giving the NBA champion and equal chance

at the first pick or anything like that. But there is going to be more randomness, and I just don't

want to see this sort of reactiveness from the NBA team community, like, oh my God, what happened or Landokat's number one pick? Like, that's going to happen. There's also a lot of frozen balls jokes already going around the water room. How next year? Because the balls are team by team. They're going to have logos on. They're going to look nice. They're going to be a frozen ball. But that's

“that's what's going to happen. And I think I don't know how you feel. It is the draft is designed”

to help bad teams get better to help them get a roadmap out of purgatory. I think the NBA is right at this moment to say, let's see what, let's just see what a league looks like, where we chip away at that a little bit and see what the benefits are on the other end in terms of competition. Will some teams have a harder time digging out of holes? Maybe. We've already seen teams not able to dig out of holes even in this lottery system and the one that came before it because of

mismanagement, bad decisions, bad luck in the lottery, etc. So, we'll see what happens. But I think it's time to try something different. I think so too. I just think, they're thinking about the product and if you look at a third of the league actively trying to lose, shutting down players, it really hurts the product for half a season and they're thinking about the next TV deal and they're thinking about all this competition, all over from esports and the NFL and social

media and what are our kids even going to be watching when the next TV deal is up? And so from that standpoint, I understand because I've taken my kids to games in March, April and it's a bad product. They fall asleep watching it. The games are too long. There's too many games and I think that you look at college basketball. It's catching up in terms of the level of play. So many guys are staying. The games are so competitive and you watch like you're only games. That's a

great product and so they have to figure out a way how to make the product. Now the playoffs are unbelievable. I watch every game and I'm just like I'm mesmerized by the level of talent and skill

and physicality and intensity. It's incredible and so I think that is the concern and I understand

it because like who wants to watch these games? You know like Washington against Brooklyn in March and

“April like it's awful. Who wants to buy a ticket for that? And so that's what they they need to”

need to try something because it this year was really real. Well and also like first of all the Washington and Brooklyn kind of games are now going to be actually competitive because those teams are going to be fighting to get out of the relegation zone. The other bad teams are going to be fighting to keep those bad teams in the relegation zone. So everyone has that there's incentives to win, not just incentives, not to lose. I don't think it's going to be a perfect system.

People are worried about all our teams going to tank out of the play in to get into the lottery and have the better shot at the number one pick. I mean I'll believe that when I see it. To me

rewarded than it is now and also there are ways if this does actually chip away at a team's ability

“to dig out of a hole. There are ways to like alter other parts of the system. I've mentioned this”

over and over again like make Caproom more valuable by eliminating restricted free agency by allowing teams to use it in different ways. So if you're a bad team and you have Caproom and the lottery doesn't help you. You can go try to get younger free agents. You can roll over Cap space from previous season. There's like a lot of things you can do and this is not going to be a permanent solution. It's going to be tweaked and it's going to be tweaked and it's going to be tweaked. But I'm

ready for, I'm ready to see how it operates. John, think of only, you're the best. Where should we

be following you right now and we're going to have to have you back on is the draft approaches

in six weeks, I guess. Yeah, I mean I'll cover you in the draft pretty much exclusively on X and on Instagram and on TikTok at draft requests. I mean that's my outlet. I mean 95% of my time and energy is going to my private business, you know, with a client's MBA college, international and I've got six trips here planned in the next three months to Europe and Mexico and all over the place and so it's been an awesome year and there is life, you know, after ESPN as you're either

aware and it's a great time to be a basketball fan. You're the best, you know, this draft and all drafts better than anybody. Thanks for letting us to mix with T. So I'll have you on again and now let's welcome in Fred Katz to talk about the New York Nicarbuckers. Holy smokes. Alright, let's wrap this up. Fred Katz is here. The New York Nicarbuckers, the NYX of New York City of Eddie Curry and Isaiah Thomas and Zach Randolph and Chris Childs, the New York Nicarbuckers

are in the conference finals again after absolutely obliterating the Philadelphia 76ers in a sweep. The NYX for the entire playoffs are now plus 20 per 100 possessions plus 194 total points

“aka about 20 a game and I remember shortly before the playoffs. I think you might have been my”

guess. I was talking about the NYX and how they were my favorite NBA mystery because they would get into a state. We've all had experiences like this, whether it's in sports, in writing, in just any part of life where you get into a zone where things just feel right and you can't explain why they feel right. You can't explain how you got there, what changed and then you lose it and you can't explain really why you lost it or what happened and that was the experience of the NYX

for me. I compared it to when you when you have like a trivia answer on the tip of your tongue and you know it and you know it but you can't quite get the final answer out there or word or something like that you're almost all the way there but you can't quite get there. That's the NYX would sometimes get there and then they would slip back and not get there. They're there now. This is a team that is as whatever zone they need to get in, they have found it. They are in it. They are going to be favorites

in the next round. I know they Detroit was three in O against the NYX and beat the hell out of them, even with Detroit missing Jill and Dern for two games. I say, I do it for a game on it. They're

“going to be favorites next round. I think anyway, no matter who they play, they are going to be favorites”

to make the finals and accomplish James Dolan's mandate and Mike Brown's mandate. You know, you just hope that they're going to have a little bit of a layoff now, that whatever whatever they've done, whatever a femoral thing that they found Fred Katz, they don't lose it because

they found it now. I have some theories about what's changed but I want to first of all I want to

put it as you this. Was the atmosphere in Philadelphia for a game for as insanely weird as it seemed on television? It was like nothing I have ever experienced to be honest. You know it's one thing, game three was a lot of NYX fans and the NYX fans might have been louder but I think it was because the NYX were winning and it was probably about 50, 50 but I did a lap around the concourse at half time of game four. I think it was like 80, 20. Like it was just all NYX fans and I'm sure

there were a lot of sixers fans who saw them lose game three and fall down three oh and think I don't need to see this, I don't need to see this in person. I don't need to be there for whatever the heck is going to happen in game four and game four was like a terrible spot for the sixers to begin with even at the beginning of the series. I was like look we can't tell the future we don't know what's going to happen in a series but the one thing I am incredibly confident in

it's that the sixers are going to lose game four because starting a playoff game 42 hours after you just ended the previous one is not a great recipe for success with that team with that

three thirty start. Oh I see. Game three yes and game three was a seven o'clock start two days before and I'm like they're starting an afternoon game a day later I'm like this is not going to go well and now they're down three oh and it's just like I think people just punted on the tickets they must

of it was crazy I've never I've seen NYX fans fill up arenas and be loud no that kind of stuff

but I've never seen it just be like all NYX fans in a row to Reno for a playoff game I've never seen that it was wild. The Josh Hart tweet after the game or it was not a tweet it was I think it was it a comment he made or it was a comment it was a comment where he said I thought filly was a sports town maybe it's not something like that I mean that is that's kick and dirt that's twisting and I if whatever metaphor you want to use that's Josh Hart being very very mean but look I mean

“it was it was crazy it felt like a road game for the sixers at least that's how it seemed on TV”

all right so I'm gonna I'm gonna do my best my best theories on like why do the NYX feel like they've found the vibe okay theory number one Mikhail Bridges is back and it's not just that he's scoring it's that he's looking to score so he like drove at Kelly Ubrae at the beginning of yesterday's game and like had a little pivoty up and under kind of like he drove at Joel and beat and I can't remember if you drew a fowler he kicked out to a corner three he had

maxi on him in transition and he sealed deep in the paint and drew a foul which is something he used to do in Phoenix quite a bit he's hunting like relocation threes and cuts and he had one transition basket where he actually flexed like skinny Mikhail Bridges gave you like a flex and I don't know what happened to him I don't know if he had to hit rock bottom in the Atlanta series to come

“out the other end I don't know if the villain over guys lifted him up and just said play I don't”

know if Mike Brown saying hey I'm not gonna bring you off the bench I'm just gonna keep starting you keep guarding tyries maxi let your defense for your offense but step one is there this is a completely different player than the player who started the playoffs against Atlanta and thing number two is foul trouble aside this is the Carl Anthony towns that you want to see offensively we know what he can

do it's not a shock that he's passing like this like he's he's always been a good passer particularly

when he stopped trying to be too tricky with it the shooting is the shooting I thought Mike Brown's game plan in this series was pretty flawless right from the jump and the center piece of it was if you're gifting us Joel and bead on Carl Anthony towns and you're gonna be maybe too slow or too reluctant to put him anywhere else we're just gonna milk that for all its worth and we're gonna make you well and be it's life absolutely miserable and wear him down to the point that between that

and the you know ankle and the doctor and all the stuff that happened at the beginning of the series that crippled him he was just a shade of himself defensively and on the glass but but it's not just that it's and you wrote about this at the end of the last season all I want from cat defensively is a try check and be do the thing that you are supposed to do so when these two

“players run a pick and roll this is your job you have to understand that it's your job because”

the other four players on the team are going to behave based on you doing that job and if you do something else or you don't execute it we're all gonna fuck up because we're expecting you to do the

thing he's never gonna be a great defensive player I think he's actually been quite good in the

playoffs but he's doing that like whatever his job is he's doing it and and he's doing it well enough to me we can boil it down to other things but those are the two biggest changes is bridges in cat. I agree completely a cat defensively has I would say he's been like quite good defensively not like good for cat not good for his reputation I just think he's been good defensively agreed on the offensive end I don't know you say you cat has always been a good passer no question but since game three

when they a game four of the Atlanta series when Mike Brown kind of went back and was like you know what we're gonna change the way we run the offense and go back to a lot of the stuff that they were running in the early parts of the year with you wrote a great piece on this for the athletic by the way right after that game about all the flex cuts and the screening and the off ball stuff that was just murdering the hogs it it killed him it killed him and and they didn't run

like that play with the flex screen like they didn't run that play they ran it one time in early March against San Antonio and maybe like a couple of times in January but they other than that they threw that play in the garbage in November and to me I thought that that sort of action was this sort of thing that it was representative of what they were trying to do early in the season and then got away from with not just involving cat everybody talks about cats shot attempts but it's

in this sort of way starting with game four of Atlanta where cat is now in the pinch post but not

just that like he's facilitating from the low post he's being involved in pick the low post you say the low post sounds I mean facilitating from the Zack low show that's got that's got to ring to it and what do I have heard that before the low post could it could be a podcast table it just it actually can't be right now Fred but that's a different story well it could be if you get that feed probably somehow acquire that let's move on Fred so cat his involvement has been totally

different so since game four against Atlanta his shots are actually way down he's only taking double digit shots two times to ten shots in one game well the endless foul trouble is is part of that

but not not not maybe not even half of it though as as are the blowouts like he hasn't played in the

bunch of fourth quarters I mean he's only playing 26 minutes again during the stretch but even so you look it's like six seven eight shots every night but the touches are through the roof so he averaged 83 touches per 100 possessions during the regular season and against Philly he averaged 103 per 100 since game four of the Atlanta series is averaging 98 touches per 100 that's a significant jump

“I mean that's what you see from like lead ball handling point guard who's like who's like that's”

what you see from like you know kid cutting him who's just like give the ball decayed and let him go at it cat has been on another level I think just in terms of getting them into their sets and facilitating from there he hasn't had fewer than six assists in any game he's ever been eight assists in those 26 minutes he made some passes in game four where I was like when you had ten assists in 20 minutes the touch pass to Josh Hart under the rim was was was was just a masterpiece so unbelievable and he had

this other one which didn't turn into assists because I think it was McBride missed the shot who would have thought but cat drove left and had this unbelievable sort of spinning behind that's right over the head hot yeah to the corner and I was like it was right on target like people talk so much about the vision that it takes to be able to do that kind of stuff but his precision like every pass is into the shooting pocket it's he's looked like a quarter

back in a lot of ways he he had one in the Atlanta series where he just took in he took in in bounds and it was a side-side line out of bounds play and he ends up taking the ball from the riff and Josh Hart was in the corner 70 feet down the court and cat wound up like he was like

you know throwing off his back foot after making it back and play a third base and through this

hundred mile an hour bullet to heart who got a layup out of it and it just showed what is known he was in at that point because before that play he went up to heart and was like I'm going to make this pass and Josh Hart said to him oh no don't do that like do do not do not do that that's not a

“good idea and cats like I'm doing it anyway and he went out and he did it and it was it was I think”

the best pass he's made the whole playoff run it was extraordinary with the I mean he just looked like he was throwing to a guy in an in route on like a set you know on this unbelievable tight window where he's threading the needle he's he's just been in such a groove in terms of his passing and it's not just the schemes that Mike Brown shook up there's something with his mentality with his approach where I feel like he's almost caught something from himself where he's like I'm going to keep

this thing rolling and rolling and rolling well he's every team that makes it deep run and finds a better version of itself is going to have a collection of very good to great players who have all at one point bend number one and number two options on their team including cat and every player in that circumstance or lots of them has to have this disrealization and they almost have to go through the process themselves like Aaron Gordon to me is the is the absolute textbook

example of this and cats on a completely different player there in Gordon I realize more accomplished better off it's all that where you just have to like you you learn it by having it happen to you where like oh if we win I'm going to get all of the credit and all the accolades and all the money

“that I thought I had to score 30 points a game to get it because that's what my whole life has been”

we've seen tons of players go through this I mean Chris Bosch is a great example of it too that's an obvious one but it's not just a sweet shooting big men it's different kinds of players I mean I go all the way back to on a much lower level the one year the Hawks weren't really far in the playoffs John Collins access to completely different style of his game that he had ever had he was like grinding on defense getting rebounds and everyone was giving him love and cat has probably

realized on some level like if we win everything takes care of itself and he's become a completely

some games he'll miss a little bit more something to make a little bit more he's just Joe and Brunson

over and over Hart has been awesome the entire playoffs and just so handsy on defense pushing the

“pace on offense doing Josh Hart stuff I think Mitchell Robinson has been fantastic when he's played”

I think they could actually play him with cat more because cat defensively has been able to guard your Kelly Ubrae's jail in Johnson's whatever but I think Mitchell Robinson when he's been in has been tremendous everyone that they've thrown in off the bench has been productive Alvarado shamit gets in the last two games with an obi injured and just places as often including guarding Maxi Clarkson another guy who's score score score score all of a sudden he's throwing better passes

playing better defense like everyone has contributed but to me it's bridges and cat that have

kind of changed the vibe of of the team and look whoever comes out of the east is gonna be

an underdog in the finals whether it's Oklahoma City or San Antonio maybe not if it's Minnesota given their injury issues and we can't count out Minnesota and I think the next sort of the best team in the east we'll see how the conference finals goes but this next team playing like this and obviously the competition's gonna skyrocket from an Atlanta team who laid down and died in a game that I still can't even believe happened in real life and a sixers team who what what a what a what a

what a couple of weeks for the sixers their fans get to enjoy the version of this team that they dreamed of and imagined it happens they eliminate the hated Boston Celtics the band of their existence they get to the next round and and bead gets hurt again a bunch of different ways on

his body and wears down and his flat footed show themselves on defense was eight of eight in the

last game like can't hate on that 20 whatever points on eight of eight and they just get rolled

“out of the gym while Jared McCain shows out in Oklahoma City headquarters again but I think the”

next if they make the finals yeah they'll be underdogs against thunder spurs like they've already played the spurs pretty well the NBA's funny man you get into a series and on paper it looks like this you have one matchup advantage that you discover in game two one schematic thing and like it's it's like thunder almost lost the finals last year I think the next can win the championship yeah and I'm gonna add one more name which probably wasn't top of mine for you just because

he didn't play games three or four but Ojanna noby on this well my a lot of people are saying Fred I'm not saying it there's a lot there's a lot of buzz that ever since his cameo with me in your friends and neighbors a lot of things have changed for Ojanna noby and they're just people are saying people are saying I'm not I don't know who they are but people are saying it's a good point I did I did really appreciate that in that cameo Ojee showed the exact public persona that he once

out there completely just a just a very mild thank you and that's it so let me once to do so we shot that scene I'm gonna say 50 times from different angles sometimes we weren't even talking they just had to shoot us mimicking the motion while they shot other things his delivery was the same every single time it was super fun to hang out with him I'm not gonna get into what we talked about but let's just say like he follows the NBA extremely closely and had a lot of questions

and a lot of takes about stuff and it was so funny all the co-stars of the show all the friends and neighbors not John Hamm was not there that day Olivia Monday and Amanda Pete I was like afraid to talk to and it was like I don't think I'm allowed to interact with those people but all the supporting characters were so wonderful and they were like star struck at an anobie and to the point where he went he went to the bathroom at one point we're all in the green room and I can't

I can't remember which supporting character was supporting actress it was like I really want to get a photo with him because on my huge next fan it's was my top I'm like I'm kind of nervous to ask him I'm like you're an actress just go ask Ojee so I went and he came out I was like Ojee just I want to take a photo with you anyway he was he was rock solid he was a machine you know

“and did very well that's what he does he's incredibly rigorous and that's what he's doing in”

this playoff run I mean he also I mean you mentioned that I mean he it takes him takes a while again to open up but his his basketball knowledge is unbelievable he he really does follow the league and part of the reason why he's as good of a defender as he is is because he is so keen to everybody's habits on the floor and he doesn't like it when that stuff gets out and he doesn't like sharing this stuff about oh I know that when this guy goes to dribbles right he pulls up every time but

when I would how easy by the way I think the nicks were like I said it after the injury I like they should absolutely slow play this they're going to win this series anyway worst cases they're going to split and filly and be up three one um it should be expecting game one of the next round I mean here's the things that you know that if there's one team that is going to be fourth

everything that whatever the nicks are saying is the absolute 100% truth the nicks have never

“in a million years said the ojanna noby was day to day for two weeks straight and then had him”

undergo elbow surgery after those two weeks that's never happened it didn't happen they didn't say the doos McBride earlier this year was out with a knee injury only for him to undergo surgery first so I should amend my the nicks can win the championship thing to like in an OB has to be part of it if to particularly if they're facing the thunder in the finals or less so disperse but the thunder less so the wolves but definitely the thunder like they need all hands on deck

yes and to be clear I'm not saying that ojanna noby is more hurt than the nicks are letting out I'm just saying that I kind of have to see it before we know the thing that the nicks really benefit from is that the conference finals is not going to start until May 17th at the earliest and if this Detroit series goes long against Cleveland then it won't start till the 19th

and that'll give in and it'll be almost two weeks off since first sustainability injury which is a

really big deal for them can I just read his play off numbers really quick because they might melt your laptop but go ahead you're insane he's averaging 21.4 points he's shooting 62 from the field he's shooting 54 from 3 81 from the line 7.5 rebounds for a magai who is not normally like that's the one part of his game where it's like you'd like to see that a little bit higher you'd like to see him a little bit better for rebounder and defensively he's been I mean look I see

him play all the time I'm at so many of these games in New York when you watch a guy who's that good you end up you end up becoming incredibly familiar with their nuances and defensive habits and

“all that but I really think that defensively he's been as good as he's ever been during this playoff run”

just being able to guard everybody he's a huge credit for the way I mean look the next offense has been insane they're hitting shot after shot after shot but defensively they're playing out of their mind and the huge part of that is their ability to put an anobion anybody so they can put an anobion you look at how they defended in the Hawks series they could put an anobion on Yeka O'Kongu which allowed them to put Carl Anthony Towns on Dyson Daniels or Mitchell Robinson on Dyson Daniels for a lot of

that series and then the next play they could put ojian anobie on Nakeel Alexander Walker and he'll just wall off one side of the court and just take away all of Alexander Walker's relocating that he likes to do on the weak side for to create open threes against Philly same sort of thing you could put him on Paul George you could put him on him beat it's and he is locking it guys down he is taking away in tire sides of the floor he's disruptive as hell he's been I actually think there's a good

argument that in the eight games that he's played he's he's been the best player on the next during

“this playoff run and I think he's the most important player like I agree if he's there they can”

accomplish a whole lot if he's not there obviously they're still very good team look at what they did to Philly in those two games without him but it's a different sort of look especially by the way with the way bridges you mentioned bridges offense bridges defense has was awesome on tirey smacksy like so good the whole thing with bridges that's happened over the last two years is that he's very good defending off the ball he's really good at getting into passing

Lynn still he's still an excellent team defender and all of that but his screen navigation and picker rolls has taken a hit he kind of sees a screen and can triple up sometimes and against

maxi he was so good maxi is the second efforts on maxi so important because most guys if you're

going to trap somebody most guys they give up the ball and they wait a second to take a breath and maxi will immediately he just doesn't stop moving he'll get off the ball and within a millisecond he will relocate to the other side of the floor and if whoever is defending him takes that one second to catch their breath which they often do he's gone maybe he's he is gone I mean anyone is gone little on the fastest player in the NBA and bridges is ability to just not let up on any of those

plays his ability when when the nicks were when the sixers were trying to put Jalen Branson into these picker rolls and the nicks are hedging and recovering which they kind of stopped doing like Philly just kind of gave up on that to your credit of the nicks defense they just kind of the last two games they just let Branson exist for the most part yeah totally and and part of it also is that Branson's head you're recovering on these picker rolls and bridges is dropping back

and letting Branson kind of try to stop maxi for a split second and he's guarding the area not just the player but the area so incredibly well and there were various times throughout the series

arms are so long and his hand placement and his body placement are so good and so smart that

“he's just like he gets a steel off of it he was like unbelievable defensively and when you have”

him playing at that level defensively and in a no-be playing at just normal and a no-be levels and heart playing at the level that he's been he's been a tremendous point of attack defender for them throughout this entire playoff run when you've got those three guys like that's kind of the vision the nicks had for this roster when they put this together that the three wings were going to be so good defensively it would insulate them from the weak spots and if

cat is going to play at the level that you mentioned earlier where it's like he's going to be in the right places he's going to be physical he's going to play hard he's going to be he's he is

running back on defense harder than even just things like when he blitz which they didn't do

very often against failure but when he would blitz when you're the blitz guy you have a decision to make when you recover do I recover to my guy rolling to the basket or is our scheme that someone else takes him and I peel out and I take a shooter regular season cat was awful at that just like sort of meandering around an open space not getting to anywhere when I talk about like execution of just when this happens we do this he is nailing that if it's in her eyes it's going to do it a

lot and next series might look different in terms of what they ask me to do but he was nailing it Mitchell Robinson I just want to go back to him he's probably got more to give and they've had the luxury of managing his minutes and he missed a game in this series pretty like conservatively just one stat I want to mention I looked it up on the genius IQ tracking data regular season Brunson Mitchell Robinson 32 pick and rolls per 100 possessions against Philly 48 per 100 possessions

1.4 points per possession like they are running that so aggressively part of it was in bead right but that they've found a nice groove there and I think he's been awesome and an OB defense let's just briefly look ahead to the next one we don't know if they're going to play a game four of calves pistons is tonight the piston swept in x3o I think heart missed one game cat and an OB together miss one game during miss two steward was suspended for one like there's guys in

out of line up but the common theme was Detroit brought a level of physicality and effort that

“the nicks just were not ready for and that's how they play and the nicks better be ready for it”

and the pistons have proven like it might not be pretty but we're going to win a lot of these games and I would expect a long series between the pistons of the nicks a long tough series that the nicks better put the hard hats on and bring their lunch pales or whatever stupid metaphor you want to have for like doing hard work but I think a couple of things I haven't gone back and watched to film yet because I don't want to jinx the pistons I don't want to curse the

calves whatever I would assume and an OB is in an OB has guarded cutting him a fair bit because everyone will take a turn but to me he's a pretty perfect and a kid cutting him defender and that he's got bulk size and height and will not be bullied and I would expect a lot on him and I just wonder if you know you watched that Orlando series in the way the magic took during totally out of the series by going under screens and switching on cade I actually think cat can

do that a little bit and I wonder if the nicks take a little bit of a page now the cat the calves have not done that at all and that's surprised me a little bit in the series but I think the nicks have some answers that they were not really able to lock into in the regular season but yeah I mean Detroit's gonna come in there super confident rated kick the crap out of them and that would be a fun series calves I have some thoughts on but what are your what are your thoughts on what

I just said about the pistons I think that makes a lot of sense we saw an an OB be the primary guy on cade cutting him and those two teams played in the playoffs last year and he did a really good job bridges got reps on him also and bridges did a really good job on cutting him too this is a different team I mean you mentioned the the possibility of switching that kind of stuff that's

“that's what Ogen and OB of words you like you can switch him on to Jalen Durin and you”

can be okay especially if he's gonna be this physical on the boards with cat the biggest problem

for me with switching cat is never oh he's gonna get cooked by mismatch that's never the biggest

problem for me the biggest problem for me is you increase his possibility of getting into foul trouble thousand rebounds thousand defensive rebounding and he's so important for their defensive rebounding too because he has been great on the boards and really physical on the boards all season not just in the playoffs but the fouls are really what gets it because all of a sudden when you've got cat on any sort of aggressive pick and roll coverage with cat that sends him

out to the perimeter I mean part of the reason why the nicks have had him in a drop for the majority of his time but this team is because it just keeps him at a foul trouble it's it's it's it's it's the best way to keep him at a foul trouble even if you may give up a few more shots that you don't want to give up every once in a while it keeps cat on the floor but with the way that he's

guarding Joelle and bead who I think just they'll just get anybody into foul trouble it's what he

does he talk about Brownson being a metronome and bead is a metronome in that he could be playing well

“he could be playing terribly he's gonna get you into foul trouble every time and so I think”

I think that's part of it I think also like with the way Mitchell Robinson looks and the way that he is playing you can afford to maybe be a little more aggressive with cats coverage is because they don't lose a ton even with the way the cat is playing if he has to sit for a little bit because Robinson gives them so much and so many of these other aspects I mean he and Steven Adams are these two unbelievable rebounders so are so much better on the boards than anybody else in the NBA and I don't

think anyone is even close. And the wild card is the hack a Mitch and the combination of hack a Mitch plus cat being in foul trouble makes these either hook a porty or an anobie at the five I think is probably their better answer but they have they an anobie at the five to totally viable look and they have a porties been fine and they survived those minutes but that combination is is a little bit problematic and Mitchell Mitch made his foul shots just enough of them yesterday

and then game three and the first two games not so much true that's a good point I mean Detroit

it'll be very interesting how much Detroit wants the hack Mitch because Detroit fouls a lot they could be prone to fouling a lot and you can end up putting your important players into foul trouble if Mitch is in those games early enough and you want to try to foul like you could end up if you start doing it in the first of the second quarter you can end up racking up one or two fouls on a guy who you do not want to be giving it to if you don't you know

substitute somebody in just a foul Mitch so that's something to look out for but that's a good point that's a hundred percent a good point um I'm not and by the way Cavs fans I'm not counting you out despite the fact that you can't win on the road and every win feels like it's a disaster saved at the very end James Harden credited to him made three huge shots at the end of game three looked not great for the majority of the game looked not great in the beginning of

series but they're all live they played tonight the nicks have eaten the Cavs lunch from

“most of the last two or three seasons but I will say the last time they played I believe it was”

in New York Cleveland had everybody and they found a little something with the alignment of Dean Wade on Brunson, Mobley on Kat and Jared Allen on Josh Hart because it put your center on Josh Hart to rove it had a quick elite defender on Kat to take away his airspace and a switchable defender on Brunson now Wade has been so bad offensively that I'm not going to be surprised if they start streased tonight and game four in his spot and the Wade two big combo has been very

trouble I mean that the starting the Cavs starting five has actually been like by the numbers okay in the playoffs not this series um but they I felt like they found a defensive formula that at least in that one game gave the nicks some issues but I just don't have a lot of faith in the Cavs based on how they have played so far in the playoffs based on how disorganized they look offensively the total lack of cohesion between Mitchell and Harden neither of whom is playing

all that well and just hard in the wear down factor he's almost 37 years old or maybe already 37 years old and already looks worn down and the playoffs just hit longer and harder every every round so I would I would probably peg Detroit as the tougher opponent for the nicks but the Cavs did go

I want to go back to plastic games I felt like they found a little something finally against the

team that has bullied them and beaten the crap out of them on the boards over and over again

“yeah that's a that's a great point the I think it'll come down to the rebound and in that one again”

like can the Cavs could look to Cleveland then if it comes down to the rebounding may God be with you Jared Allen and Evan Mouldley well Cleveland is going to have to find ways to make up for losing that game because the nicks are very good offensive around very good overall rebounding team with not just Mitchell Robinson but Catsman really good and Josh Hardes one of the best the best rebounding player at least of his height in the NBA one of the best rebounding

perimeter players in the league and that team is just a really good team rebounding is really good at just gang rebounding in general and really good at chasing down loose balls and and Cleveland's going to have to make up for it in other ways they're going to have to get to the line they're going to have to hit their threes and Cleveland is very big I'm wanting to win the possession game they have all of these you know crashing strategies try to get offensive boards

that makes them I think a better offensive rebounding team than the personnel might suggest even though they play a double big like they don't have phenomenal rebounding personnel in general but like they will have to make up for that make up for the math in some point because the rebounding would be huge but Detroit different story now all of a sudden you're talking about like is the three point line going to change things because Detroit is going to have to play these lineups

where they're going to have to outtuff the nicks which they might be able to do but they're not going to hit a ton of threes and those lineups and we just saw the nicks go 11 for 12 from three in a quarter and an NBA playoff game which was outrageous they shooting with the nicks has been

that's pretty great it was it was insane I mean do some pride could miss sham it was hitting these shots and it was like my good sham it's good I'm happy for shamit that the sort of fortune gave him a chance to work his way back in their rotation because if you're going to make a long playoff run you're going to need all your rotation guys at some point guys

“fall in they fall out he played well enough that even when in an OB comes back I think they could”

try to find spots where he fits let's just quickly talk about the sixers obviously a super dispearting end to their season Tony Jones had a piece for the athletic this sort of post-mortem where he hinted that embed was not psyched about different office into coaching staff coming coming out of the playoffs coming out of the McCain trade and all of that I think you know

there was pressure on Darrell Morie and Nick nurse winning in the first round the way they did

it against Boston the number two seed I think alleviated some of that this outcome may bring a little bit of it back I just don't know like what are your alternatives if you're the sixers and it's sort of a boring discussion to me because I just feel like this is kind of who they are like no one is trading for embed maybe someone could talk themselves into Paul George but it's not going to be a trade that changes your short-term medium-term life as a franchise for the sixers and

you're probably going to have to attach something to get off of him and I'm not sure you want to do that because everything needs to be aimed at the maxi edge comb timeline and you have a couple of draft assets coming from the clippers you have the rocket's pick this year they're they're capped out they could have the mid level or a piece of the mid level to add

“another guy but that doesn't include Ubrae grimes is an important player for them I dare just I don't know”

we'll see what kind of rabbits they can pull out of a hat but it feels like this is just kind of what they are yeah I mean the problem with them is that even you include the mid level like the nicknors had six guys who he trusted when it mattered and grimes was not good for them during this

round Ubrae was really good sometimes but these are all player and the reality is that when you only have

six guys who you trust and you get to a point where it's like every other day it's just gonna be really really hard to actually win especially when a couple of them have off nights or joel and beat camp play which is something that always has to be baked into the formula because they're always going to be moments where he's unable to play and he's not going to play for an entire player around and just be good to go for every game yeah you know it was interesting to hear him after

the game history talk about how he feels like they figured out the knee and that all this other stuff including appendicitis and like he wasn't quite his core wasn't quite over that in the finals and so maybe there's a cause for optimism like have we figured out the main thing and if all of these other crazy subsequent things don't happen can we get 60 games in a full playoff on at him I also I just don't have at it's the least sexy take in the world I just

don't ever see him being healthy for a full playoff run and as long as that remains the case with this core I just think they're just not going to get I mean they've they've been dead in the second round every time I just it doesn't seem possible to me and so that's fine you get you know you gotta enjoy the moments like you had against Boston where the team was the team you dreamed of for a little bit and know that it's probably not going to last and it didn't that that's still

the hell of a fun series for six or six months yeah I mean look even if he's out there like it's one thing for him to be out there it's another thing for him to be out there and like be MVP joyol and bead and you

mentioned him going a for eight never 24 points and that's a great line but the next also made him

the premier target for this whole series they they treated him they treated him as if they would have treated and as canter you know like they were just and his freedom first of all as freedom but that's

“how I'm not saying he's become that I'm saying that's how they treated him it was the exact same”

game plan that you would have if you were facing somebody like that it was just pull him out they put in bead and 99 pick-and-rolls during this series and they scored 124 points I mean it's got the nine pick-and-rolls I mean it's that's like a half-court offense is supposed to yield you maybe a shade over a point of possession if you're really good at it like it's not supposed to be 124 points and 99 pick-and-rolls and they were just pulling him out like you mentioned the

efficiency of the Mitchell Robinson pick-and-rolls it's like they were just looking for him bead and be like go at that guy over and over and it's not like he doesn't have defensive value anymore he's still good around the rim he's really smart he knows how to use his size he knows how to position himself the guys will still drive into the land see him there see how big he is see these well positioned and they'll turn around and they'll go the other way and that's totally a thing still

but if you can pull him away from the rim and teams do that man the sixers defense just looked like it couldn't stop anything and that's a problem he was also he was also operations actually winning

Boston series like just the power on offense that he showed in that series and like he he looked

“for stretches pretty fast defensively including the ability to make two and three rotations”

and rapid fire on the same possession and he could not do that against the next look we got

we're gonna have time to talk about the next we're gonna have time to talk about the sixers

we await now the conference finals the next day back in it exactly where they were last year

“when they broke their quarter century you know drought or whatever and now we await to see if they”

can break the other drought the finals drought and then there's another drought after that Fred Katsov in the athletic will be there chronically and all of it I'll see you soon at the world's most famous arena yes let's see there all right that's it for today's special

“Monday edition of the Zach Low Show will be back on Thursday as scheduled reacting to”

whatever the hell happens in the NBA between now and then thanks to John Kuzinski Jonathan Gavoni and Fred Katsov for their invaluable analysis and their time thanks as

always to Mike Billy and Jonathan on production and thanks to you all for listening to and

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