Part Two: The 10 Players Facing the Most Pressure Next Season

where we go through our 10 players facing the most pressure going into the 26, 27 NBA

season. We're recorded this originally on July 30 with the idea of just sort of dropping it into the feed. Well, I'm on vacation. Hopefully nothing huge has happened in the NBA to sort of make this list a little bit

less relevant or orderly than it was when we recorded it, time will tell. I have no idea, but this is part two where we get into our top five players facing the most pressure in the NBA this season. We talk wizards, we talk spurs, we talk a lot of thunder, we talk cads and we talk sixers among other things, Celtics come up, just the players.

This is the real deal. These are the players facing the absolute most pressure in our opinion.

It's a fun little gimmick for a fun offseason and we hit a lot of guys and a lot of

“deep analysis on like, what exactly are the sixers?”

Do we think they can make the finals? Is Yanis even on the list is an honorable mentioned person? If not, what does that say about him? What does it say about the heat? Do we have multiple thunder players in our respective top five?

We might is when Banyama here, Jason Tatum left over the guy now in Boston again, undisputably with Jalen Brown gone, who's higher on our rankings, Jalen Brown or Jason Tatum? All that is coming up on part two of the Zach Low Show with Kirk Goldsbury, hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to part two of the Zach Low Show with Zach Low on vacation somewhere in Europe. Kirk Goldsbury is here. It's July 30th. We are doing the NBA player, pressure rankings, the 10 players each of us pick 10 facing the most pressure in the NBA this upcoming season.

We are going in reverse order from 10 to one.

We did roughly the first half in part one of this podcast and then ended with an Indiana

Pacers preview and actually want to start there, Mr. Goldsbury, because our Tyreys Hallbert and discussion got me thinking, are you ready to talk a little bit more Pacers? Oh, definitely, let's go. You said, in part one, Tyreys Hallbert and could be a first team all NBA player.

Why wouldn't it? And I bet that blew some people's hair back a little bit, and I completely agree with you. Now I would maybe not expect it in a season where he's going to be working this way back from injury.

But it brought to mind to me. I don't know if you got to listen to Bill do the 2020 redraft with Joe House and Kyle man a couple of weeks ago. That's Tyreys Hallbert's draft and that's his draft. He went everything.

What do you go? 12th in that draft to the kings. Not sure what ever happened with him and Sacramento, it seems like that should work. Anthony Edwards went number one. In the redraft, the number one pick is either Anthony Edwards or Tyreys Hallbert and Bill

and House just sort of like no brain or it's Anthony Edwards. Yeah. And Kyle man was the only one of the three who was like, I don't know. Like, what that dude Hallbert and does on offense is so next level special and it does show

“off show up in some of the advanced stats about him that I think it's closer.”

He said I think it's closer than you guys do and look, and it's got the size, the physicality, the ability to bully his way to the rim. All that makes him a better defense player than Hallbert needs a little bit of, he's people are going to pick on him and he was largely up to it, frankly, in the playoff run. I think what he is on offense is so special that that's even right now having seen Anthony

Edwards put up 30 in the playoffs regularly. I think it's a close debate and I wonder where you would fall like are you closer to Kyle man or closer to Bill and House? I'm closer to Kyle man and I love all those guys, but I would say like you mentioned the 2020 draft going back that way, like going back that far the nerds in practice facility

around league, we're flagging this guy is number one, number two, and number three in the draft model. His stats projected so well, now that was the hardest draft of our lifetime because people weren't getting to interview, there was a short college basketball, so it was a disaster.

“So nobody's getting roasted for their picks in 2020 in my opinion, but I think there were”

signs that Hallbert and was a special player going back the forest time NBA if you look at the game analytically, and then what I'd say is like, this dude still has the ceiling of Steve Nash, one of the best offensive players of the modern era. And I think that ceiling is still, he's what he's 26 right now, Zach, and his rise has been interrupted by this devastating injury, but I still think at his peak he could be this

generation's Nash, just a guy who if you have him, your offense is going to cook and

on the highlights, but it's really smart. He creates shots as well as anybody in this league, he's averaged over 10 assists to the last three years when he's been healthy, and I expect that to just continue to get better. And by the way, he's one three games, the NBA finals is the best player on his team.

“How many players from his draft class can say that?”

He's just, he's a better shooter than Antti Edwards, and his combination of just infinite range, off the dribble and off the catch, unpredictability and speed, like his willingness to get off the ball, move and get it back, you don't know where he is or what he's going to do, but his teammates know where he is and ever since of what he's going to do.

I think it's so powerful in a way that traditional stats will just never, ever other than

wins, I guess. We'll just never ever pick up, and it's a little bit like Nash, and I don't, I don't say this, psychologically, the get off the ball and move, it's, it doesn't relocate like Steph Curry, nobody has ever relocated like Steph Curry, but there's just a smidge of that, like, wait, where is he, he's moving over here, he's cutting over here, and

sometimes he cuts to pass instead of to shoot three, he cuts into the paint in a way that you don't expect. I think all that whole package offensively with his next next, next level vision, making the pass that the defense doesn't see or doesn't expect him to make outthinking the defense by, you know, being ahead of their rotations, by one or two passes basically, I think

that stuff is so special that I don't know, man, I'd have to think a little harder about that choice. Okay, let's go back to the pressure player draft.

I got through, we did our first half, I picked from 10 to 6, Reed Shepherd, Emmanuel

quickly, Palo Bancaro, Jalen Durin, Walker Kessler, and then you, among your first, what five guys had Jason Tatum, Chet Homebron, and D.R. and Fox, all of them were in my top five. You also picked Donovan Mitchell, and somebody who I am forgetting, the Melo Ball. The Melo Ball, because I'm on vacation. Yeah.

Can you believe this?

“Wait, how are you talking for the last year in on vacation?”

Yes, quick question. A lot of listeners are interested in what your bathing suit choice is when you're in Europe, because there's a lot of pressure to wear sort of a more revealing look when you're on. No, no, no, on a bridge of Croatia, a lot of your listeners have been texting me and saying, is he a board shorts guy, is he a speedo guy, what's the deal?

What are board shorts that sort of like the, yeah, like the West, they almost look like basketball shorts, but they're trunks, a lot of may, may pop people by a lot of surfers on the West coast the United States. Look, I'm not going to reveal any of this, but just like, I wear, the trunks are closer to what I wear, unless I swim, like I swim for exercise, that's, but there's no speedo

in my life. Okay, let's just make that clear right off the bat. But that's, that's more than anyone really wants to know, but I do swim every day in Croatia. I swim back and forth and back and forth across this bay that we, we stay on, anyway. It's great.

It's the best. So I don't know where you are on your list, but you picked the next guy. Well, I remember I had Walker Cessler at number five, so you're in the was your number six. Yeah.

So I can go to number four or we can go start with year number five. Why don't, my number five was Jason Tatum, so it's already taken. So you go, you go, you go, you start with year number four.

“I still have a few honorable mentions I haven't mentioned because I think you might have”

them. So you go, jail and brown, number four. Okay, so on my honorable mentions, I just wrote sixers because I could make a case for both of you. BJ Edgecom, hey, welcome to being a fifth option sometimes, not every time because everyone's

going to sit, LeBron James, you're the new guy, Tyreys Maxi, you're the alpha kind of sometimes, joel and bead. Can you stay healthy? But you weren't using jail and brown. So go ahead.

Well, as we talked about on the previous version of this, I think, jail and brown. I think your term was he was the breakout star or the star of the offseason, something like that. He's gotten a lot of attention. You know, he talked a lot before the trade and the run up to the trade, things he said

after the season was over, does not exactly rub everybody the right way.

But ultimately, he has an incredible, I told you so opportunity.

He can make advanced stats, guys like me look foolish. He could make Brad Stevens look foolish. He could look over at his old friend and camera Jason Tatum and say, I told you, so you need me. I'm the final MVP from that team.

Sure. Doesn't work, I think there is that in reverse where all of these same communities will point it back at him. So that's where I land on him being one of the more high pressure individuals coming into this season.

I think there's a lot of I told you so potential with jail and brown one way or the other.

Part of the theater is going to be opening your little play bill and seeing whose understudies are playing, uh, what understudies are in the cast today because Joel and bead can't make it and will brown things can't make it and whatever. But there is a puzzle to solve with all five of those mouths to feed on offense. I am on record is saying, I'm a little less worried about that than most people seem to

“be, I think all these guys are pretty malleable and pretty smart.”

Yeah. Maxi is a sensational, sort of hybrid sometimes on balls, sometimes off ball player LeBron's a genius and bead's going to be an out of the lineup, it all comes, the whole team comes down to and bead to me more than more than jail and brown. But he is the sort of, um, most interesting guy.

He's one of the new guys with LeBron, but he's coming from a decade basically on an arch rival team,

where he was either the number two or last season, number one with a bullet option, who plays sort of a head down physical driving game, a less intuitive ball mover passer than LeBron, Maxi and even Edgecomb, and he's going to have to figure out how to keep that physicality in his game without playing exactly the way he did last year because he's got all this other town around him. I think it's going to work. I think there's enough pick and roll combinations and spacing and smarts on the team to make it work.

But he and M.B. are the lynch pins to me for this team hitting it's ceiling. But by the way, and no one's talking about their defense, I've mentioned this a lot.

“I think that's actually a bigger question to me than their offense.”

But they're not done for another team at KCP has an officially signed as or recording this again on July 30th. There'll be other ring chasers that come aboard at some point. But this, this is the, this is the early favorite to when I do my league pass rankings and I do my whole formula for it. I wonder if they're going to have enough to unseed the spurs who were the league pass rankings winners before last season and obviously have one. But you know, I, like, Philly's got Philly's got some, um, Philly's got some internal obstacles to be number one at the league pass rankings.

Let's, let's put it that way. Some internal broadcast related obstacles. Oh, they'll be a national, they will be a national TV a lot at least. Oh, wow. As David Brinkley would say, I'll let that one hang in the air folks. I'll say this.

I've talked about their defense.

“I think that's the reason I'm not going to pick them, even when the Eastern Conference.”

Sack low. I think their defense is a giant red flag. And I don't think that as much to do with Jalen Brown, who might be the best defender on the team. Who'd guard a Luka Donchitch.

But here's what I would say in Jalen's defense, he's a really smart basketball player.

And when he won finals MVP, that team had Drew Holiday, Jason Tatum, Christophe for sing this occasionally. Alhorford, there was talent all over the place. They're literally, they're literally, they're literally in their play, they're quite, I don't want to misrepresent the finals run. But he has figured out how to be Jalen Brown at a very high level in score 20 points of game surrounded by great other offensive options.

I think when you look at last year when the Celtics over performed, he completely changed what Jalen Brown meant in a really impressive way. In some ways, I think he regress his back to that when the Celtics were stacked with all that offensive firepower and one at all. I have very little concern about that. It's the off-court circus stuff with this team that I think he could get caught up in.

There could be some weird vibes in Philadelphia with something, but in B, LeBron, Jalen Brown, that's a lot of personalities in one locker room and one plane. But he has a lot of pressure because of what we just saw this summer during Bill's colonoscopy, which I was in here to be on the colonoscopy podcast, by the way, that was a great pod. Jalen Brown, I was 29 a game last year. The two seasons before that were 22 and 23.

That seems like, that's reasonable. That's a player who was in a second option, sometimes first option when Tatum is on the bench roll. That's kind of what you end up with. Now, and B is a 30-point game score. Max is almost a 30-point game score. LeBron is still a 20-point game score. Maybe he dips down to 15, 16, 18. You don't have a lot of teams where four guys, average 20 points a game, and that's before you even get to Edgecom. So is there a world where

Jalen Brown averages between 19 and 21? Yeah. And to me, winning cures everything and you get all the credit and all the publicity. If you average 21 a game, but your defense is better, your passing is better. All the love comes to you either way, but it's going to be, it's just going to be an awesome, awesome experience to watch this team both figure it out, and then the times

that they do, they're going to look amazing. And it's going to make League Pass a little bit better.

Number four on my pressure player list. Anthony Davis. Yeah. On your list at all, he is definitely on

It's easy to dismiss this pick as Anthony Davis plays for the Washington Wizards, and I don't think there's a ton of pressure on the wizards to do much of anything this year. Maybe be competitive, fill the arena a little bit more. So it's not two thirds empty and quiet. I will say, you know, this is a top 75 all-time NBA player that feels in dire need of another sort of signature moment, season, whatever in his career. Anthony Davis

since the bubble has played and the bubble was a championship, has played 36, 40, 56, 76, 51, and 20 games. He's been out of the first round in the playoffs three times in his entire career, 2018 when the Pelicans dismantled the blazers and then lost in the next round. The 2020 bubble won the Lakers won the title, and 2023 when they advanced to the Western Conference Finals and

got slugged by the never nuggets who ended up winning the title. And that was on the wizards,

after being traded weirdly to the Mavericks, we don't need to rehash that and playing like a few

“games, seems like you have been do you remember anything that Anthony Davis did on the Mavericks,”

other than the first half of the game on the greatest half in the NBA history. This is why we did the trade. Is everyone seeing this? Wait till we get that back. Oh, he's on the wizards. It just feels like we talk about Anthony Davis like he's at the end of the his career. Like this is the end of the road for him. He is 30 till 33 years old. 33. There's a lot of basketball left here. He's still one of the best defensive players in the league. I don't know how this is going to

work with him and saw whatever offensively he's still very good, not not quite the sort of give me the ball and let me score kind of player that people want him to be his jumper.

His jumper, he left it in the Orlando bubble. It's never been the same. I just like, again,

pressure, this may be high for him. Just feels like there's got to be a late career something here for him because this is Anthony freaking Davis, man. Like it's time, it's something whether it's in Washington or you get traded, there's the contracting extension thing. It feels like an important year for Anthony Davis. I love this pick for you. He was honorable mentioned for me. I have

“wounds teammates. I won't spoil it. But I think I'm not sure there is a late career relevant”

moment for this did. I think the combination of his availability or lack there of in his money makes him a pretty risky acquisition in the time of the second apron and how we know what aging curves look like for old bigs with injury history. We're talking about 33 year old big. I disagree these top 75 of all time. So saying he was, he was, I know. He looked, let's do visual not on the list. You're front in mind from Argentina. I have a ballot actually. I need to go back

and make sure I don't know if I don't want to save money was on my ballot and not because I'm not 100% sure. He better have been. He's going to send you a mean text message. I think Anthony Davis is a fascinating player to watch. I can't talk about lead pass. I'm going to be watching this team all the time. I still think that could be good. If this guy, let me just stop. Let me just stop

for a second. That's the first time in 15 years. Anyone has said anything like that about the

I know. The Washington even Joe a house wouldn't say. I'm going to be watching this team all the

“time. I think it's going to be great. And I think there's five guys that I can't wait to watch.”

There are guards and some are like who aren't AJ debons that look great. And then you had trade young. You had Anthony Davis. And what I was going to say about AD is if he's able to channel the skepticism that I'm sort of throwing at him right now. If he's able to channel the fact that he's pissed off and in Washington and wearing this wizard jersey, he's still a very, very good player. And in a world where all of this lands were tray young players will,

the wizards could be really good with these young guys. And then these vets, you know how to play. So I can't wait to watch it. Yeah, I'm not. I've now watched a lot of wizards games on link pass with a great deal of enthusiasm. They're usually the game that I sit down in the central time zone. It starts at 6 p.m. And I'm excited that there's a game on already. And it's the wizards playing and then with the hornets or whatever. And I watch it. But this time I'll be like,

oh my god, like I get to watch the number one pick in the freaking draft. And these two vets that are trying to salvage where they are in their career. So I have the other guy on my list. But I like this, this pick for you because I do think he has a lot of pressure. I just like, it can't, it can't end like this for Anthony Davis. So can't end like the last two seasons event. There needs to be something of the significance. There needs to be a moment in a real playoff

series where he's involved. First team all in BA four times, second team one time. So five times

his third. I just, it just can't end like this. Okay, make your next pick. That's

“I'm done with Anthony Davis. By the way, I share your excitement about the wizards, beyond the”

bands of Trey, Trey Young and AD got to go on. Trey Young and AD got to go on. Trey Young, Trey Young, Trey Young, Georgia, etc. A ringer field trip with Joe House takes us to a wizards game and we, you know, celebrate this moment wizard history. And have a good dinner afterwards. Surely. Here that Joe House. So what do we have? What a number. We have two for you. I am on number three and it is right. It's perfect. It's perfect. We consume through this because it's Trey Young. I was going to pick one of the wizards. I didn't feel like we

wanted to, but you just got dumped by the Atlanta Hawks years after you built this reputation as postseason killer. Now you wake up and a wizard's uniform with a huge, huge for your deal hanging on your brand.

For those who don't follow it as closely for your 252 is that right, Zaclo?

I'm going to do the math right now because I'm on vacation, but kind of I'm working in on vacation on this podcast. It's magic. But something like that. But I would say Trey Young is a fork in the road. And look, the optimistic path here is that he works well with AD. They both lean into this. They become mentors to these young guys. It's a perfect blend. They went 49 or 50 games. Like again, that's a ceiling. But this could be a really good story in the NBA. Or I could see a world where they went 27 games. Everybody's injured all the time. The vibes are awkward.

And now he's the worst contract in the in the Bill Simmons Joe House was big was, big was contract. So

“this contract puts a lot of pressure on Trey Young. And that's why he's so high. So I said in the last episode,”

there's multiple kinds of pressure. I think Trey Young has a unique blend of legacy pressure right here. And this huge four year max contract for a player that doesn't play a lot of defense. So he has contract pressure on their two Zaclo. I mean, he was in my honorable mention because I didn't want to pick two wizards. We did it anyway. Sorry. No, that's great. I mean, it's, it's, but the contract is currently not tradable. Like, and I'm not talking about by the rules on which it is. I'm just saying by like no one would trade for it right now without being

massive incentive. Totally fair. In extending in in resigning him to that deal, it made me wonder about Anthony Davis who has 63

million dollar player option for next season, which obviously gives him some amount of leverage over the wizards.

You know, in terms of just like, hey, I'll either opt into that or you've got to take care of me with some sort of extension. Yeah, you're not going to pay me starting at 63 million, but you know, 350 something like that. And I just don't think the wizards should be in a state where they're paying tray young and Anthony Davis over a hundred million dollars combined. It just doesn't seem to make sense long-term medium-term beyond this year, really, for them. So it may be wonder when they sign tray. What does that

mean for Anthony Davis? You see, it's just not long for this team one way or another. Tray is because there's no one taking that contract right now. And it's just going to be very interesting to see. You know, I, I talked about this with Bill, like, trays kind of like talked a lot this all season about how people don't think I can play off the ball. Like, I find that funny. Like, we just wait and watch me and I'm like, okay, I would love to. I'd love to watch you because

they really don't play off the ball. That much. You're off the ball play. He's usually just standing around at half court. And spacing the floor that way as value, like his defenders close to him, whatever, are you going to set some screens for AJ a defensive? Because he needs some. Like, he needs some reps on the ball right now. He's that good. He's that physical on the pick and roll. Are you going to move or you're going to run around, relocate? Like, because if we get some hybrid

between on ball triung, who is very, very good, these single most underrated passers in the NBA, but also not nearly as good of a three point shooter as he seems to think he is or his reputation is he's fine. You take super difficult shots. Floater is a good shot, but not a great one. The last couple years. Like, it was when they got to the conference finals. Rim finishing his end defense is in. Is there a hybrid version where we see that on ball force that's still there,

mixed with, all right, other people can do stuff here. Because if so, this becomes a very watchable team. So he was he belongs in this draft. So I'm glad that you drafted him. Yeah, I'm glad I did

“to the last thing I'd add is like, I think the Atlanta surge immediately after trading him did not”

do a lot for his brand. So he also, and I continue to hear from people I trust, like you,

If it's true that the Hawks are going to be up there in the top half of the East for years to come,

“I think that's something that Trieste answered for in this wizard's era too.”

So I only have one guy left on my list. I only have my number one most pressure facing player in the NBA. So why don't you go, you're at your number two guy, right? So I'll just let you know. Well, I think I know that you don't have this guy, so we can zoom through it. And I think it's Juel and B is my number two. And it's time. We've trusted the process for so many years now, and now the king has arrived in town. This is Sam Hinkie's vision. It's been realized.

We have Juel and B, Jalen Brown, Finals MVP, LeBron, James, Finals MVP, VJ Edge, Com, Tyreys Max, the All Star Rising Superstar. If Juel and B can have a very good season, this team can win the championship. If he falls apart, I think they're sealing immediately does too. I think if there's a weakness in this team, it's in the front court beyond LeBron and Juel and B, particularly beyond Juel and B. So he needs to be available. I don't think he needs to play

35 minutes a game, which is nice. I don't think he needs to play back to backs against Charlotte or against New Orleans. I think they can find games to rest him at. I think he can play

54 games in the regular season. I think he can misplay off games if he needs to in the first round.

But this is the moment. This is the moment for Juel and B to prove that he is in all time great. This is the season. It's all laid out. Are you going to be an NBA champion or not? This is your last best chance, Juel and B. Wow. That was great. The misplay off games thing is very interesting because I don't think this team is a championship team without Juel and B. Right. Playing most of your meaningful basketball games. And maybe that's 24 minutes and said

to 36 minutes and you go out and get it back up five. Who's better than what you have on the roster now somewhere. Somehow. Maybe. I do think as good as the East is. I mean, basketball is a weird game. You can steal a game here and there. You know, VGH come as 35. You get you force 22 turn over. There are ways to win high level playoff games without Juel and B. Now that you have these

“other four guys on the team. And I just think that's what's going to have to happen if this is a”

team that's actually going to make the finals. Let alone win the finals is they're going to have to win play forget the regular season. We know what's going to happen. He's going to play whatever amount of games he plays that's short of 65 for sure. And they're going to do everything to preserve his knees for the playoffs. And his knees are now sort of a chronically problematic thing. And he mixed those with all the freak injuries. The appendicitis this time around. It's like what can

this guy catch a break. Forget the regular season. The playoffs, I've said it a million times.

I have no faith that he will ever be able to play every single playoff game of a three to four series playoff run. It's just not going to happen. I have no faith that it's going to happen. You have to actually build your team as if you know, let's say it takes 24 playoff games for you to win the championship. You have to build your team optimistically that Juel and B plays 18 of them. And just you find a way to go three and three in the six that he misses and then dominate the 18 that he

plays something like that. And I think this is the closest facsimile to that that there is. And so

“yeah, if you're Juel and B, you have to do everything possible. And there's been reporting. I think”

I don't know if it was a remote a show burn or didn't recommend it for give me whichever it was about how and be reassured the bond during the recruitment process. Like I will do everything I can to get in the best shape I've ever been in to give myself the best chance at going 18 out of 24 whatever it is in the playoffs. So that's part of it. Luck is part of it. And just in those 18 games, he's got to be a fucking dominant force both ends of the floor in a way that I'm not sure he still

has it in him defensively, but offensively he for sure does. But I will say this whole like, well, now is the time language like I'm looking at Ramonus piece about M. B in Lebron from last week. It here's a quote from an anonymous NBA coach. I don't know why we need anonymous people to say these things, but let's just say we do. The process is over. This needs to be the product. That's a clever use of process product. The process is over. This needs to be the product.

They need to finish this thing. The six of us have done this for a long time with M. B and it's go time. You could apply that quote to like the last seven Philadelphia seven. Yes, you see,

coolest version of a team that said Jimmy Butler and JJ Reddick and Ben Simmons and whatever else on the team, but I agree and be belongs on this list. And look, when he has been at his best and I'm not, I mean, we even sought for glimpses against the Celtics when he just decided in a couple of games, I'm going to beat the shit out of Nikola Vuchovich and Luca Garza and Nimi Kade, I'm found you all out of the game and I'm putting you in the basket. There's nothing like it in the

NBA. There's nothing like the combination of force and touch and skill and dominance from the found line, the block. There's just nothing like it, footwork, all of it. And I just hope we get to see it again.

“So he's number two on your list. So we are down. Do you have any closing and beat thoughts?”

You've got a win 16 games as you just drew out there perfectly to win an NBA title.

Joel and Beat has never played more than 11 postseason games in a single postseason. You got a win 16.

He's played 490 games in 12 years as an NBA player. That's about 40 games per year. It's just the biggest reason for it is, I think I hate to say if it's boring, but he has bodyset breaks. And yeah, the defense isn't going to be great in Philadelphia, especially if he's not there. I think the rebounding becomes a giant red flag in a world where LeBron's playing the five, trying to get rebounds against Jalen Duren and these types of people night in and night out.

I hate to say it, but yeah, that's there's reason for skepticism just because Joel wants to stay on the floor and they won't get rebounds against stops because of that.

“Okay. We are down to our number one player on our pressure players list each of us. We don't know who”

it is. I'm going to guess it's not the same person. However, I have two honorable mentions left that I haven't mentioned yet. I'm either part one or this one. Out of fear, that perhaps they were going to be on your list. I am going to start with Carl Anthony Towns, who I don't think he's number one on your list, and I just want to title. He's on the list for me honorable mention only because, and again, we are recording this on July 30th. I have no

idea when it's going to post probably in the 10 days, two weeks. This could all be moved. As of right now,

he has a $61 million player option for $2,027,28. The same year, by the way, the next

have a $22 million team option on Josh Hart. The year before the, I'm sorry, the next year, 2829 is when Jalen Brunson's presumed superbacks will kick in after the discount that he took

“the first time around. Carl Anthony Towns has been eligible for an extension. I think for a year”

and there hasn't been one done. I'm sure the next, the next have major second apron concerns with Brunson's deal down the line. Hart, they're going to have to bring back one way or another. I'm just very interested to see how those negotiations go and he had an unbelievable playoff run before getting into some foul trouble against the spurs and the last few games of the finals, but they don't win the title without him. He's a legend in New York forever. I'm sure he'll

want to finish his career in New York. I'm just interested to see how I would be optimistic that a deal gets done. I'm just curious to see what the number is and when it gets done because if he goes into the season without it, for better or worse, that's going to be a talking point all the time. Because he was in my honorable mention. I'm studying the apron all summer. And look, we're talking about a Celtic team that won it all and got dismantled. We're talking

about Sam Presty going to the microphones and being like, I had to do this because of the apron, sorry, Lou Dort, sorry Aaron Wiggins. The New York Knicks are up on the chopping block. This is what the second apron does. And James Dolan minutes or days after the parade in New York City said, you'd have to be suicidal, quote, to go into the second apron and this league. So I'm unfortunately the New York Knicks are next up on the austerity measures in the NBA. This is congratulations.

You want to title not dismantle it. I mean, I just did for the sake of my own thought exercise projecting their books for 28, 29. They should be, they should be fairly safe from the second apron in 27, 28, depending on what to do with Josh Hardham. What Katz number is, I just penciled in his player option number 28, 29. If Brunson gets the full max 35% max, starting his salary at

$66 million. I penciled in Kat at 55. I gave Josh Hardham modest bump up to 25.

I had OGN and it would be turning down his player option and resigning for three years, 120 million. That might be optimistic from the next perspective. And I guaranteed the full amounts for shame at Elvarado and Dio War, who are all partially guaranteed for that year.

And I didn't bring back Tyler Coolick. So it's going to be the math. It's going to be tough.

Like it's just going to be really tough starting in that season by design. My other honorable mention, and I wonder if he is number one on your list is Janice Attentacumpo. Oh, no, he was in my honorable mentions. I thought he might be, uh, okay. So yeah. No, he's on my number one.

“I think we're the same player. Does this mean we have the same player? We'll see. Don't”

just don't say yet. It's interesting that after all of the drama, all the trade rumors, all the back and forth, all the Miami Boston, jail and Brown, Hugo Gonzalez, all of it that he's not that he's just honorable mentioned for both of us. It's not the number one, most pressure player with an extension coming to him presumably October. Maybe maybe that's part of the reason why we

we presume he's going to get it without a flight. But why do you think he's not higher for us?

I feel like this dude already did what he needed to do. I feel he did there are some finals MPPs, some championships that we've witnessed over the last 10, 20 years doing the Zack low that are just so important to a franchise or to a community in his case, to a country that he's sort of bad. Like, I don't think he'll have the pressure that some of the other names on the list will ever have because of what he did. He's in the back nine of his career.

I don't say he is no pressure. I just think he's basking in a little bit of a finals MPP. I've won it all in the walkie kind of glove. For me, it was, and I can't emphasize this enough. It's July 30th by the time you listen to this, maybe the heat have tomorrow to rose in and Bradley Beal and Clay Thompson and we're all talking ourselves into those guys being meaningful. I don't know. As of right now, it was for me being honorable mentioned

only was because of everything you just said and what he's already achieved. And honestly, just looking at the heat where they are now, I just don't think they're good enough and I don't have right, I don't have expectations for them to make the finals or you and maybe the conference, I think they're going to be a good team. They're going to be a beast defensively. I just don't think they have enough offensive pop right now around Janice and Bam to be a true, true threat

to make the finals in the east. That could change it by between me saying these words and when

“this podcast airs, got only knows what will happen. Yeah, that's just as of now. So that's why”

he wasn't hired. Yeah, that's interesting. If you've gone to Boston, I think he would have made my list. That had an occurred to me. But I don't have high expectations for this heat squad. Sorry, Miami, in a way that if he had gone to Boston, I would be like, oh, okay, Tatum and Janice, Janice better show up. But yeah, I think that's the combination of his, his achievement and then the relatively meager expectations for the Miami heat. Okay, now it's time for the reveal.

We both have the same. We both have renowned revealed our number one player yet. You are suspecting it's going to be the same player. I guess by process of elimination, maybe I think so too, but I'm not into, I'm going to say it's not the same player. I assume yours is also Hugo Gonzalez. You have to learn facing the most pressure in the NBA. Yeah, it's not right. It was Jaros Walker or Hugo Gonzalez. No, I went with a different player. All right, tell me who is number

one on the Kurt Goldsbury player, pressure rankings for the 26, 27 NBA season. It's a man who hails from the same country as the Tour de France winner. Luca Donchich is my my selection for the number. First of all, we don't have the same player. Second of all, I could not need. I can't name one cyclist. You, you, this, there's a cyclist from Slovenia who just won the Tour of France and you're all aware of this. Yeah, well, I was watching. It's one of the fun things to watch in the summer.

In the mornings, you turn it on. They're racing their bikes. The Peloton is going through these

“beautiful mountain villages and Pogacor, I think is his name. The Slovenian cyclist who is now”

the most dominant cyclist of the modern era. But shares a home country with Luca Donchich,

the Slovenian mountains are an incredible place to learn how to ride a bike apparently. But I love

this pick. I did not have it. I didn't even have him in my honorable mention. I had, in part one, we talked about Walker Kessler. He was on both of our lives. Yeah, yeah. I don't know why that is. It's striking. And I was like, I don't really have a good reason for why I didn't consider him for this. I just, I mean, I know what he's going to bring to the table. He's going to be amazing. I also know that I don't think the lakers are good enough to make the finals. Maybe it's a combination

of that. But this is a great pick. And I want you to make the case. The case is that the giant celestial body of the NBA name will bronze James as his as left Los Angeles, obviously gone to Philadelphia. And that puts this out that the lakers are now Luca Donchich's team. And I think he's the

the equivalent in the NBA. You're the face of the lakers. First of all, that just comes with immense pressure. We're talking about George Mike and Jerry West Magic Johnson, Creme, Shaq Kobe. Like, this is a big, big expectation when those types of people come and watch your games.

“I think he pushed a lot for Walker Custler. I think he has his fingerprints on this next”

iteration of the lakers. Last year he famously played 64 games. And my biggest concern for him is actually just as well being physically being able to stay healthy. He's one of the guys that we're looking at with repeated hamstring and calf injuries in the NBA. But if he stays healthy, there's an expectation that it's top three, four team in the western conference, right? Zack. And if it doesn't happen, like lakers fans will get pissed off. And that just carries a lot more

weight when you're in Los Angeles as the star player than any other team in the league. I do think they're a good team to be clear. Despite the fact that, you know, I thought the Walker Custler move was an overreach. I think he'll work well there. We covered that in part one in another episode. Grimes, Mamu, Sexton. They all fit certain roles. No, I do who the fifth starter is at this point. But they're going to be an awesome offensive team. Reeves is back, obviously,

right, not saying defensively. I'm not really sure what they're sealing is. But their offensive

is going to be amazing as long as Luca plays a representative amount of games. And I do agree with you.

“Like, I think right now on paper. There a top 16 in the west. You could argue that the top six”

from last year, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver, Lakers, Rockets Wolves should again be the top six. I think Utah is going to have something to say about that. But I think the Lakers will be a non-play in top 16, which makes three, four, five, whatever, like, eminently attainable for them. It's a great, it's a great pick because they ever made the team in his image. He is going to be a Laker for the foreseeable future, although he's going to have some extension leverage

fairly soon. He has a player option in 2829. It's going to be, it's going to be interesting to see how many games he can play. And again, like, Bill has talked about this a lot.

He's never finished first or second in MVP voting. And it feels like he would be and he's only

27 years old. So, like, let's all chill on it. But like, he'd be on course to be in the conversation for a best player to never win regular season MVP. He's already been to the finals. He's been a dominant playoff player. People are scared to death to face him in the postseason. He has an answer for every defense you can throw at him. He's a genius. He just hasn't had, like, the regular season of regular season yet despite being multiple times the odds on favorite going into the season

to win the MVP. Now he faces an uphill battle every year against, you know, Shay and Wemby going

“Friday and Yoke. So, you know, we'll see, but I think it's a great pick. I didn't, I didn't think of it.”

The last year he was healthy. He won the scoring title was third in MVP voting and his team won the worst. Like, and he was 24. So, I think it's fair to have high expectations for this guy to come

come back and, and get some special done, but like, there's a lot of pressure. There was always

going to be pressure on Luke at Donch at today's 27. The fact that it's happening now in Los Angeles in a world without LeBron James makes him my highest pressure guy in the whole league this year. But you, obviously, have a different answer, Zach. Well, first of all, we are, we are a year removed from the men's health cover of Luke. Like, that was a monumental moment in Luke history. And he was in better shape last year. And he's still missed time with, like, he's including in

the playoffs. And so, you know, just have to, this was obviously the Mavericks fear when they made an objectively insane trade. Can you do, I'll give you three guesses to guess who's number one on my list. It's, but it's both an obvious pick and a boring, not obvious pick. But when you're here, you're going to be like, oh, duh, that's kind of boring. But I'll give you three guesses. Can you pick out who it is? It's not a six or right? We can use context. Not a six or I'm not going to count

that as when you get one of my lists that I haven't encountered yet. I have to start with Zion Williamson. No. Evan, Mobley. No, I disqual if I mentioned in part one that I have Mobley hard in Mitchell, all an honorable mention. So I'll give you a Mulligan for them. Oh, my god. This is embarrassing for us, I think. It's not embarrassing. You're going to, it's going to be anti-climactic, unfortunately. It's not front day. Oh, is it SGA? No, but you have the right team. I had Jade up on my honorable

matches. It's Jade up. It's Jill and Williams. And it's a dog pick because like, yeah, obviously, his health is a major factor for them. I just like, his health is the, his hamstring. He couldn't get over it. Last year, he came back and he heard his wrist and the hamstring kept flaring

monstrous games in the NBA finals, including a 40 point game, I think, in game five of the finals. He's had some huge playoff games along the way for the thunder. And now there's no door.

There's no wiggins. There's no Joe. And his availability is now essential for them. This is no

longer like, we can sort of try this round by to game seven against the spurs with Jade up, not playing. He door sort of leaves the small ball power forward hole behind him that now they need Jill and Williams to to fill that hole among others. And he's just an awesome, awesome player who's lost last season. I thought was just, almost under discussed because he's that good. He was the legitimate all NBA player. And their depth is a little not quite as 8 plus as it was last

year. They've lost some size. Chat, we both had chat on our list. He's sort of an offensive question mark to say the least, the competition around them, particularly in San Antonio is only going to get better. They need not even two years ago, Jill and Williams, they need an even better version of that like, hey, it's this guy at top 12 player, two way player, Jill and Williams, to win the championship again. And by the way, those are the stakes, like the thunder one,

one title, and everybody went crazy and said the league is over. They're going to dominate the league forever. Oh my god, what is everybody going to do? And it just doesn't work that way. It's really hard to win a title. No one has repeated in eight years. The nicks will now be facing that challenge. And the thunder, like, there's a universe in which this era as well set up as it's bent. It's there is well constructed as any team in the history of the NBA as well built as any

team in the history of sports from sort of the GM perspective. There's a world where they only win one

“title. And I don't think that's the world we're going to live in. I think there's more to be had here.”

But for them to get there, they need this guy to come back and play at full ability. You mentioned

Shay. I know what Shay is. Shay's, Shay's, Shay's, he's going to be amazing in basically all

you. There's a little up and down in the conference finals and then showed out in game seven. I know what the rest of these players are. Plus their mind is like, I think Kase and Wallace probably has as a leap to make the rookies will see. I think he was number, I contemplated not putting him in number one because it's like duh, he's got to stay healthy. But I just think he's in he and shut together are like number one kind of. Yeah, I think that's right. And I would say as much

a perspurs guy as I am. Like if he were healthy, the conference finals would have been a different situation. He, he, his inability to play in those games was, was huge. Even when he tried to play, clear it wasn't himself. I think that's a, he's one of the most impactful sort of

“forks in the road to the whole Western conference. I think him and chat, I think that is right.”

I think you calling shade metronome, by the way, right that down, that beautiful perfectly said. But these other two guys, do you have a big three? Because it didn't feel like you had a big three in the Western conference finals. Like we all thought this was going to be a big three. And I think ultimately we're hovering around the same point. If the thunder are going to do what they think they're going to do, those two guys need to be either available or better in the case of

chat when it matters most. And they weren't this year. And we saw the changing of the guard in the Western conference. They will open the season as betting favorites, right, to come out of the West. I don't know. I think disperse might, I mean, the first thing I mentioned, the chip odds the last time I checked. Really? I mean, it's a dumb, this is a dumb pick in the sense that he does not have the kind of legacy pressure that we would normally, that we would put

on a guy like, you know, MPed, for instance, who you just talked about. Like he's already one a championship. He was the second best player on the title team. He's made an all NBA team. He scored 40 points on 14 of 25 shooting in game five at the NBA finals to put his team up, to put his team up three two. He scored 34 points on 13 of 24 shooting in game four against the wolves in the conference finals to put the thunder up three one. Like this guy has done it.

Mike is sending us finals odds right now. What do we have here? The thunder, you're right, R plus two, 30 to win the NBA title according to Fandel. I assume the spurs are plus two, 70s. So I was wrong. They would be, I've said this already. As of now, they would be my pick to win the NBA championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder would be, but it ain't going to be easy. And it depends on this guy being like after in games three to five of the finals, 26 points on nine of

18, 27 points out of 18, 40 points on 14 to 25. There was like a real, always he going to steal

“finals MVP from she kind of conversation. Like that's how good this dude is. And it's defense too.”

It's size defense, rebounding, transition play. It's all of it. And so in a way, the pressure,

accomplished. But just the sort of pressure of this era delivering whatever one thinks it should

or thought it should deliver to the thunder, kind of rides on him. It falls on these two guys below Shay, as I do think Shay is as reliable as it gets as a superstar. And to this point, not found

“what he has been a very healthy performer in his rise to the MVP. But yeah, I think the fact”

that the thunder of betting favorites is interesting. I think baked into that is we're getting jade up. And as soon as he's out, the spurs are a better pick. We saw that in the Western conference finals. Kurt Goldberg, this was super fun. Thank you for indulging me on a super long two-part podcast recorded. Again, on July 30th, by the time you listened to this, I could be swimming in the Adriatic Sea. What? One last thing. Give us, give us what,

what are the two things you're most looking forward to in your, in your vacation?

All right, let's leave Croatia out of it because I go there every year. And I always,

there's, I look forward to the same things. We're going to, we're going to stop in Estonia for a day in Tallinn, which I'm very excited to see. And I guess, I guess, I don't, I don't, I don't,

“I don't, I don't want to say too much. I think some, I good restaurants. How about that? Good”

we're going to be a couple of good, good restaurants cities. I don't ask for much in life. The Adriatic, I mean, not counting the freaking Adriatic Sea, which is a magical potion in the summertime. I mean, that's incredible. It's the best. I can't wait to be swimming. You know, I, I get to play, you know, my daughter and I will throw the water pool all around it's water. Well, we'll do all that kind of stuff. I'll go to see, uh, there's a place they cut,

there's an island called Shipan, um, which they have now nicknamed water pool island because, uh, Croatia is one of the best water pool countries in the world. And Tony Acevedo, who's the greatest American water pool player ever in one of the best ever period, played professionally in Croatia. He comes every year and does, and hosts, like, an all-star camp for high school kids. And, uh, they take, like, this pirate ship from Dubrovnik to this island in Shipan, like an hour away.

And he has invited us to go in the past and it's just, they play water pool of the high school kids play from America, play water pool against Croatian, sometimes adults, sometimes high school kids in the open water. And you can, like, go, you can watch from a boat. You can swim out and watch. It's, like, absolutely glorious. Look up water polo island. It's, like, unbelievable. That sounds great. Enjoy. There's multiple, there's, like, four Olympians on

“the boat with you and they're like, what, what life is this? Like, these ends are freaking the”

Olympians. And as we said before, the podcast, Maria Lazania could be over there. Who knows? Well, he's available. I, the Mario, who's on your saga, could still be ongoing, uh, is, uh, is when I come back from vacation. Mr. Goldspary, thank you, but I will see you on the other side. See you, bud. All right. That's it for part two of this two-parter with Kirk Goldspary. I hope wherever you are in the world, you enjoyed it. I am in Europe somewhere,

having a nice vacation. Hopefully, nothing crazy has happened in the NBA. It's July 30th. As I'm talking to you, Francisco Lindor is still a met. Hopefully, that's the case whenever you are listening to this in the midst of actually one. Some baseball games. Thanks to Kirk Goldspary for, for slogging through a two-parter with us. Thanks to Billy Oscar and Mike on production.

And thanks as always to you all for listening to Andor watching this at Glowsham.

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