Campaigning for Change: Nuggets Drama, Cavs’ Rise, and Banchero’s Breakout

[00:00:07] It's Wednesday, you know what time it is. Front Runner Podcast Collective is back on the air. I am your humble host Vince. I want to thank you for joining us today. It is a special day here on the podcast. We're going into a national political cycle. And we here at Front Runner Podcast Collective have come up with three campaign promises.

[00:00:35] That we are going to give to you and something that we will promise to always champion these causes. The first cause that we are standing up for is that we want to free Trey Murphy the third either from the bench or to another team so he can start. It is absolutely appalling that this is a

[00:01:05] incredible sniper is languishing on the bench. Now I know he's hurt right now so he can't play. I understand that. But we all know that our guy Trey Murphy the third deserves a starting spot in the NBA. So that's one of our campaign promises that we will give you.

[00:01:31] The second promise that Front Runner Podcast Collective will give to you is this. We here will always fight the good fight. And we want to bring justice for Zach Lowe. ESPN sidelighting this influential voice is a loss for us, the NBA community. And we cannot stand for that.

[00:01:55] And we will continue to appeal to any of the other NBA mediums to get our guy Zach Lowe a podcast. Free Zach Lowe. Viva la revolution.

[00:02:14] And our third promise is something that all Americans can stand behind. It is something that all Americans hope for.

[00:02:32] And what is that? And what is that? That is that we are going to keep good vibes every single week. And how will we do that is that we will highlight a good quote from an NBA player or somebody is particularly talking the type of trash that we like to hear.

[00:03:05] And we will continue to keep good vibes every single week.

[00:03:22] All the hoop heads out there.

[00:03:26] So that's FRPC's political campaign stance. I hope you guys enjoyed it. As far as that's concerned, let's get into what we're going to talk about today.

[00:03:37] We're going to talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers, their strong start. We're also going to get into a little kind of messiness.

[00:03:45] There's a Jonathan Kaminga, Golden State situation growing that we need to get to.

[00:03:52] And then we're also going to talk about another messy situation, the Denver Nuggets.

[00:03:59] But we will always finish it off with positive vibes.

[00:04:03] And there is nothing more positive than an NBA player dropping 50 points.

[00:04:10] And we will talk about that NBA player towards the end of the podcast.

[00:04:16] But before we get to all that, we get to the socials.

[00:04:19] So join us on X at FrontrunnerPC.

[00:04:23] And also our producers are at Rhea underscore Funch FRPC.

[00:04:30] We have an announcement coming Friday.

[00:04:35] I'm going to tease that announcement now.

[00:04:38] But the producers and I have come up with a way that we are going to touch every NBA franchise within a two-week cycle.

[00:04:51] And we will announce it on Friday.

[00:04:55] So keep it locked here on Frontrunner Podcast Collective for that news.

[00:05:01] Also, join us on Twitter.

[00:05:04] Maybe you might get a hint to that news early.

[00:05:08] Who knows?

[00:05:10] The possibilities are endless, I tell you.

[00:05:13] And then the next thing that we're going to talk about is be a friend, tell a friend about the podcast.

[00:05:19] You notice that the YouTube thing was not talked about.

[00:05:22] There's a point to that because we will probably have news on that towards the end of the week or on the weekend.

[00:05:29] But we told you we weren't going to talk about it until it was going to drop.

[00:05:33] We have been in the lab.

[00:05:36] Mind you, in the lab for you.

[00:05:40] The NBA viewing just crowd out there.

[00:05:46] We have been tirelessly working on a complete redo of the YouTube page at Frontrunner Podcast Collective.

[00:05:58] So we empower you to, we implore you to be a friend and tell a friend about the podcast, right?

[00:06:07] Because that's how we grow.

[00:06:08] So we are here for you Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to drop all the hot news and also some interesting stats and things to go.

[00:06:20] Tell no, and then everybody you don't know, let them find out you're hustling and what have you.

[00:06:27] All right.

[00:06:27] With that being said, let's get to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[00:06:33] They've been impressive.

[00:06:34] They're off to a 4-0 start.

[00:06:37] They've been on fire.

[00:06:39] Now this start is under new head coach Kenny Atkinson.

[00:06:42] Now we talked about Kenny Atkinson in the preview to the season pod, and we were wondering how it was all going to work.

[00:06:52] Donovan Mitchell is the leading structure of the offensive hierarchy with Garland and Mobley stepping up their efficiency in support.

[00:07:03] However, how he has done it, you can directly see there is a divider between the three players.

[00:07:16] Donovan Mitchell was taking the lion's share of the shots.

[00:07:21] Then Darius Garland will be taking the second most opportunities.

[00:07:26] And then the third person that they trust in that starting lineup is Evan Mobley.

[00:07:30] Now, if you look at what they're shooting as far as the actual shot, you see Donovan Mitchell shooting like 20 field goal attempts.

[00:07:41] You will see Darius Garland fluctuate anywhere between 14 to 16.

[00:07:48] But they have Evan Mobley at 13.

[00:07:52] It's 13.

[00:07:54] Oh, and the mandate is also, and we're going to talk about this in one second.

[00:08:00] The key to the hot start is that we talked about the rotation.

[00:08:04] We talked about the roster and how it was going to be constructed to use at the most optimal point.

[00:08:11] Right?

[00:08:11] Can the two bigs?

[00:08:12] Well, the key was, was Evan Mobley going to be reluctant to shoot the three?

[00:08:19] I can tell you that there has been an uptick in his three-point shooting.

[00:08:23] Last year, he shot 1.43's attempt at a game.

[00:08:29] He's up to two plus now.

[00:08:33] And also, the efficiency of what he is shooting.

[00:08:38] He might not be shooting the four or five shots that I thought he should shoot.

[00:08:43] Tell you, when you shoot 50% from three-point land, now, albeit small sample size, it's four games.

[00:08:51] Do we expect Evan Mobley to shoot 50% from three the whole season?

[00:08:57] No.

[00:08:57] But it is a strong indication that he is willing to shoot the three.

[00:09:03] And also, it brings a diversity to the offense, having him be able to use his on-ball ability.

[00:09:15] A defender comes crashing out to the three-point corner.

[00:09:20] Now, he can get the offense moving.

[00:09:22] He has two electric guards.

[00:09:26] He has wing depth that can shoot the three.

[00:09:29] And he's an excellent passer.

[00:09:32] And he also makes good decisions.

[00:09:34] So now, you brought another element into the offense that was not there last year.

[00:09:39] The other thing that has happened is that there is a movement between Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.

[00:09:47] Now, notice last year and prior that it was a situation of, okay, your turn, my turn.

[00:09:55] It's more, it was more balanced.

[00:09:58] The shot distribution was, there wasn't a real deep variance between the two.

[00:10:06] There is a clear variance now because this is what we want.

[00:10:12] We want Donovan to take the lion's share of the shots.

[00:10:17] There's a hierarchy in Cleveland.

[00:10:21] And kudos to Kenny Atkinson and his staff for seeing the deficiencies in the team

[00:10:29] and then making adjustments without really any of the chemistry, any of the continuity.

[00:10:37] It's the same exact team with a couple little adjustments and also a couple of draft picks that they picked up in this last year.

[00:10:47] So the only difference is the efficiency in the offense.

[00:10:51] Now, it's very exciting to us because tonight LeBron comes to town and he has Bronny in tow.

[00:11:02] So the LeBron and Bronny show hits Cleveland.

[00:11:06] Good test.

[00:11:07] Can't wait to see it tonight.

[00:11:09] Both teams are off to a really good start.

[00:11:12] So I'm very excited to see how both teams react to probably a really decently hostile situation.

[00:11:22] But analysts like Kevin O'Connor are back in Cleveland's new approach suggesting that it could keep them competitive all season.

[00:11:31] Mobley standout shooting hitting 50% from three puts him in an all-star trajectory.

[00:11:38] I think we can pump the brakes on that a little bit.

[00:11:41] I think that it is a good sign.

[00:11:45] It's a good step in the right direction.

[00:11:48] I think we are moving forward with this offense.

[00:11:51] I think it was stagnant the last two years.

[00:11:54] I also think that putting more onus on Evan Mobley will also make him a more tougher player as we get closer and closer to the postseason.

[00:12:07] I think any time that you can grant ownership to a young player, and we're going to talk about a young player being granted ownership of an offense later,

[00:12:19] that's a tease in the business, folks.

[00:12:21] I am a professional.

[00:12:24] But when you have a young player that can take some ownership of the offense,

[00:12:29] it makes him exponentially better on the defensive side of the ball because it's just energy.

[00:12:36] It's just effort on that side.

[00:12:38] And they're more willing to do so when they feel more involved and incorporated into the offense.

[00:12:45] So Kenny Atkinson, slam dunk, we thought that this guy was going to improve this team.

[00:12:51] We thought they were going to be one of the bright spots coming into the year.

[00:12:58] And all of it, all of it has come to fruition.

[00:13:04] So shout out to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[00:13:06] I can't wait to see this game tonight.

[00:13:08] I'm looking forward to it.

[00:13:10] You guys should be looking forward to it too.

[00:13:13] Now, we have a new segment on the show before we close out and talk about another team.

[00:13:22] It's called the Collective Proof of Concept.

[00:13:24] This is where we give you a stat that kind of indicates what we've been talking about.

[00:13:29] With a plus 16.7 net rating, Cleveland's efficiency under Atkinson speeds volumes.

[00:13:36] It is up from 5.6 last season.

[00:13:40] We will see what this looks like when they play the Lakers.

[00:13:47] Because they got bigger guards.

[00:13:50] And they have bigger, stronger front court players than I think Cleveland has seen.

[00:13:59] So it's going to be a good test of can the Lakers' physicality wear down the Cleveland Cavaliers,

[00:14:07] a la the New York Knicks a couple seasons ago, right?

[00:14:11] And then is the speed and the diversity in the offense of Cleveland just going to morally

[00:14:18] just demoralize the Lakers in their newfound energy on defense?

[00:14:24] So this is a great test for both teams.

[00:14:27] I'm looking very much forward to it.

[00:14:30] When we get off this podcast, that's what I'll be locking into.

[00:14:34] All right.

[00:14:34] Now, let's talk some New Orleans Pelicans.

[00:14:38] And one of the things that I talked about trying to give to our audience is a more panoramic of a team.

[00:14:49] And we're going to try to achieve that today.

[00:14:52] And in this segment, talking about the Pelicans.

[00:14:55] Because I want to talk about two bright spots on their team right now.

[00:15:01] And we're talking about Jordan Hawkins.

[00:15:03] He's the second year guard from UConn.

[00:15:06] And also, he stepped in for Trey Murphy III so far in relief.

[00:15:14] He's dealing with an injury right now.

[00:15:16] And right now, he's hitting also small sample size, 50% from three as well.

[00:15:23] He's also averaging 14.5 points a game in the absence of Trey Murphy III.

[00:15:29] And Hawkins' range is allowing Zion to do things and allowing the Brandon Ingram conundrum to work right now.

[00:15:42] You have enough shooting with McCollum.

[00:15:45] And also, unfortunately, with DeJounte Murray out, this has given him an even more expanded role.

[00:15:53] And his shooting just kind of really opened up the lane for Zion and what have you.

[00:15:59] Now, Zion had 30-plus.

[00:16:00] He had 31 last night.

[00:16:02] I think Brandon also had 30 in a loss to Golden State.

[00:16:07] Because Golden State just shot the hell out the ball last night.

[00:16:10] They shot a bunch of threes.

[00:16:11] And they said, this is a three-point shooting contest.

[00:16:15] Can you keep up?

[00:16:18] And they have way more three-point shooters than the New Orleans Pelicans.

[00:16:23] And that was it.

[00:16:25] They dog-walked them.

[00:16:27] But there are some bright spots.

[00:16:30] Notably, Jordan Hawkins.

[00:16:31] Now, on defense, the rookie center out of Baylor, Yves Mesey, who's been compared to a young Clint Capella.

[00:16:43] He's contributing 2.3 blocks a game so far in the young season.

[00:16:49] I want to shout out to the Pelican scouting team, including Swincastle, who's managed to unearth these gems.

[00:16:56] Mesey and Hawkins have showed the depth and the potential that the strong scouting team can deliver.

[00:17:06] And you also think about Jose Alvarado.

[00:17:09] These are guys outside that high lottery.

[00:17:13] Now, Jordan Hawkins, I believe he was in the 14th, the 16th.

[00:17:17] You know, so it's like lottery adjacent or lottery.

[00:17:20] And then you have Yves Mesey, who was selected 21st overall this last pass draft.

[00:17:29] These are guys that they are getting that are contributing in meaningful ways to this team.

[00:17:39] And they're not getting them with, like, these are not the first guys you think about off the board.

[00:17:47] So it's a credit to that staff.

[00:17:49] Griffin, again, Swincastle and all of the other college scouts out there, the player development people.

[00:17:59] I just wanted to shout them out because this is what you can do.

[00:18:04] When you are really putting real investment into your player development and scouting, you can create depth for your team because depth is going to be a big factor.

[00:18:22] I don't care what you think of the Boston Celtics or the OKC Thunder.

[00:18:31] The key to being successful in the NBA in 2024 and 2025 is depth.

[00:18:39] And if you don't have it, you're done.

[00:18:42] And how do you do it?

[00:18:43] Well, you got to draft well and you got to make trades, right?

[00:18:48] And New Orleans did both of those things this year.

[00:18:51] I'll get DeJounte Murray is out.

[00:18:54] DeJounte Murray brings a dynamicism to that team that they were sorely lacking.

[00:18:59] He also can, we're hoping that he reverts to what he was in San Antonio as far as a defensive point of attack guy.

[00:19:09] But with Hawkins showing what he showed and you needed Mesey to do something.

[00:19:16] And from all accounts, from everybody I talked to, is that he has picked up the principles and the philosophies of the defense.

[00:19:25] And with his athleticism and length, he's been able to switch out onto smaller wings and guards and handles himself accordingly in a situation where, you know, normally somebody who is 19 years of age or 20 years of age is going to be completely lost on the defensive side of the ball.

[00:19:47] So again, a credit to that player development staff in New Orleans.

[00:19:52] Now, collective proof of concept.

[00:19:56] New Orleans defensive rating has improved from 114.6 from 115.2 last season, albeit small sample size.

[00:20:06] But if you look at the team and the one thing that we were really worried about was the rebounding and things of that nature.

[00:20:14] If you look at Eves Mesey's offensive rebound percentage, it's at 11.6%.

[00:20:21] That's very high for somebody who is young, who isn't physically mature, who isn't as strong as he's going to be, which is telling now, right?

[00:20:34] If I'm telling you he's at 11.9 offensive rebate rebound percentage.

[00:20:41] That's effort, strength, that's just going to get it.

[00:20:47] Like, that ball is mine.

[00:20:48] I'm going to go get that, right?

[00:20:50] So if he's doing this at 20 without the maturity, without the weight program and things of that nature, what is he going to be at 25?

[00:21:02] He's a very good rim protector.

[00:21:03] We talked about his 2.3 blocks a game.

[00:21:08] We talked about the outside shooting with Jordan Hawkins.

[00:21:12] These are pieces that are holding down the ship until Trey Murphy III gives back and DeJounte Murray gives back.

[00:21:21] And also until New Orleans decides to make a trade and get another big to help Mesey out and Daniel Tice and the rest of them.

[00:21:31] And also, we want to shout out Herb Jones.

[00:21:34] Now, I don't have anything on this injury, but it looked like he jammed the shoulder last night.

[00:21:41] If we get updates, we'll put it up on Twitter.

[00:21:43] So keep it locked with us.

[00:21:46] But as of right now, Herb Jones left the game early with like a jammed shoulder.

[00:21:53] So we don't know what his availability will be.

[00:21:58] Now, we're going to move on to a situation that we talked about all summer.

[00:22:04] And it seems like it's starting to come to a head.

[00:22:08] And what this is about is the Denver Nuggets.

[00:22:12] Now, if you have been a day one, you have been with this soap opera since the beginning.

[00:22:18] So buckle up for another as the basketball bounces in the Mile High City.

[00:22:29] The last we left you, Michael Malone sounded like a 90s R&B crooner.

[00:22:39] Or he sounded like George Michael singing Careless Whiskers about losing Contavious Caldwell Pope to the Orlando.

[00:22:48] I watched a couple of their games because I wanted to see what was going on.

[00:22:53] I wanted to see how this was all working.

[00:22:55] I wanted to see how the young guys were being utilized.

[00:22:57] I wanted to see if there were inroads in what Booth wanted, who is the president of player personnel of the Denver Nuggets.

[00:23:07] And mind you, his statement was a couple years ago or a year ago.

[00:23:13] We want to have sustained success.

[00:23:15] And the only way to do that is to implement the young players and incorporate them into the system and allow them to grow and flourish.

[00:23:25] And then kind of discard the older, more expensive veterans.

[00:23:32] So the last couple years, Bruce Brown, gone.

[00:23:36] Contavious Caldwell Pope, gone.

[00:23:39] They are hoping for Chris Brown, Julian Strother.

[00:23:45] Jalen Pickett.

[00:23:47] Peyton Watson.

[00:23:50] We're not even going to talk about Zeke Nazi anymore.

[00:23:53] That pipe dream is gone.

[00:23:55] I left that.

[00:23:56] I'm done with that initiative.

[00:23:59] I don't understand why a 6'11 very athletic dude can't get on the court.

[00:24:05] This is part of this whole situation.

[00:24:08] Now, we already told you that Caldwell Pope is now in Orlando.

[00:24:13] This shift was brought in by draftees of Julian Strother.

[00:24:19] Now, De'Ron Holmes, who was drafted this year, was expected to do big things.

[00:24:25] And unfortunately, he had an injury before the season started that is going to leave him out the entire season.

[00:24:34] It was Achilles, I believe.

[00:24:37] And now, we say that he was going to have a big role.

[00:24:44] We, that's what Calvin Booth envisioned.

[00:24:49] But, as I've been watching the Denver Nuggets and Michael Malone's roster, or if you want to talk about rotations or what, they are heavily relying on Jokic's production.

[00:25:02] ESPN analyst Tim Layler voiced this concern, too.

[00:25:06] He said, noting that Jokic's high-volume role may wear him down with more veteran support.

[00:25:13] That's a clear note to Mr. Calvin Booth, the president of the Denver Nuggets.

[00:25:22] With the absence of Caldwell Pope, the Denver defense has dropped in efficiency.

[00:25:28] Their ranking is 19th in defensive rating at this point.

[00:25:33] Now, here's the thing.

[00:25:35] Peyton Watson is an athletic freak.

[00:25:38] He can play defense.

[00:25:40] That's what he did at UCLA.

[00:25:41] That's what he was good at.

[00:25:43] Couldn't even score at UCLA.

[00:25:44] It looks like he can't score in Denver either.

[00:25:47] But, as far as on the defense side of the ball, he can put pressure on any ball handler.

[00:25:54] He can mirror.

[00:25:55] He can get on the hip.

[00:25:57] Stay on the hip where you're not just getting this over to the basket.

[00:26:02] He also can rim protect for someone who is 6'7", 6'8".

[00:26:06] He's very long, and he's super bouncy.

[00:26:10] All right?

[00:26:11] Shout out to Javon Evans of NXT.

[00:26:15] That boy's bouncy.

[00:26:17] I got you, Mike.

[00:26:19] The next thing about this, we bring evidence to you, right?

[00:26:24] We're not just going to tell you things and then just leave it, right?

[00:26:30] Denver's net rating this year is a negative 3.2.

[00:26:34] This contrast to last year is positive 4.3.

[00:26:39] That's a 7.5 swing, folks.

[00:26:43] There's not enough scoring.

[00:26:45] Michael Porter Jr. is not as productive as he needs to be for this team.

[00:26:50] If Michael Malone is going to run the core group into the ground because of his reluctance to play the young guys,

[00:27:00] because that's what he's doing.

[00:27:01] If you looked at the minutes totals the last couple games, it's been Thibodeau-esque in the Mile High City.

[00:27:10] So we still have the power struggle of Calvin Boo wants the young guys to play.

[00:27:16] Michael Malone says the young guys have no idea what they're doing.

[00:27:21] And until they do, they're not going to play.

[00:27:25] And I trust these guys because these guys won me a championship.

[00:27:30] And maybe you should give me more guys like this.

[00:27:35] That's his stance.

[00:27:37] That's Michael Malone's stance.

[00:27:39] Get me more guys like this.

[00:27:41] Get me more guys who've been through some shit.

[00:27:43] Give me some guys who've gone through the playoff crucible.

[00:27:47] Give me some guys who have six, seven years of NBA experience.

[00:27:53] And let me craft this team.

[00:27:56] Again, Calvin Boo's statement to the press was,

[00:28:02] we need to have sustained success.

[00:28:05] We need to incorporate the young guys.

[00:28:09] Get them playing time.

[00:28:11] Get them indoctrinated into our system.

[00:28:13] So then they will be ready to go when we move on from some of the veterans.

[00:28:21] Well, Michael Malone did not want to hear any of this.

[00:28:27] And he still doesn't.

[00:28:29] So the war continues in Denver.

[00:28:38] Next up is another messy situation.

[00:28:41] The Golden State Warriors might have a real problem on their hands.

[00:28:45] Now, before the season started, we talked about there were extensions like right before the season.

[00:28:52] And it kind of messed up our schedule a little bit.

[00:28:55] But at the time, Moses Moody of the Golden State Warriors got a three-year extension for $39 million.

[00:29:04] At that time, we also reported that Jonathan Kaminga and his people, Mike Dunleavy, Kurt Lakop, and Joseph Lakop,

[00:29:16] were so far apart that they agreed to go into the season as is and then would get to free agency.

[00:29:31] Now, we have this nugget.

[00:29:35] Jonathan Kaminga has been benched.

[00:29:37] He is not in the starting rotation.

[00:29:41] Coach Steve Kerr exclaimed that the decision was a tactical one.

[00:29:46] But sources say Kaminga felt frustrated and concerned about his development.

[00:29:53] Now, this goes back to last year where he was frustrated with his development.

[00:30:01] Remember, Steve Kerr wanted him to rebound at a higher level.

[00:30:07] He needed to produce more rebounds.

[00:30:10] He only averages 4.3.

[00:30:13] He's 6'7", 6'8", 225 pounds, and jumps out the gym.

[00:30:19] So, Steve Kerr says, hey, rebound more.

[00:30:22] Then you'll play.

[00:30:25] Kaminga's like, bump that.

[00:30:27] Uh-uh.

[00:30:27] No, no, dog.

[00:30:28] It's about points.

[00:30:29] That's how I get paid.

[00:30:31] I am here to score the basketball and I want my opportunities.

[00:30:37] So, Steve Kerr's answer to that was, hey, dog, you coming off the bench.

[00:30:44] There it is.

[00:30:48] So, I don't know what this actually means.

[00:30:51] There's no rumors out there that's saying that Kaminga is going to be traded.

[00:30:55] There's no, you know, it's nothing definitely close or anything like that.

[00:31:01] Nothing like that.

[00:31:02] But I think this is something to watch.

[00:31:06] I think this is something that, especially as we get closer and closer to free agency,

[00:31:14] and Kaminga is going to want to increase his value as a player when he hits free agency.

[00:31:22] There's a lot of stuff to untangle.

[00:31:24] Now, Kerr did acknowledge Kaminga's growth, calling for more consistency on the defensive end.

[00:31:31] But he said that Kaminga has been working through and his trajectory is always going up.

[00:31:38] We're astonished at some of the things that he does during practice sessions.

[00:31:43] And we just want to see how this season progresses with what we have on the court.

[00:31:52] Now, here's the thing.

[00:31:54] Will Kaminga get a lot of opportunity?

[00:31:57] Well, as long as Steph Curry's out, yes, he will.

[00:32:01] I don't care if he's coming off the bench.

[00:32:03] I don't care if he's one of the coaches.

[00:32:06] I don't care if he somehow assassinated Mike Dunleavy Jr. and became the GM.

[00:32:13] I don't care.

[00:32:14] He's going to get minutes because Steph is out with the ankle.

[00:32:18] And I think they're going to be very careful with that because they're going to want to have Steph come back at full health

[00:32:25] because they're going to need a fully healthy, engaged Curry to get themselves into some sort of playoff position in this stacked West.

[00:32:39] So I think they're going to kick gloves with Curry.

[00:32:42] They have a ton of depth.

[00:32:44] But Steve Kerr says it's an embarrassment of riches to have DeAnthony Melton, Brandon Pozinski,

[00:32:52] Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kaminga, Draymond, Buddy Hill, Trace Jackson.

[00:32:58] He's enamored with his entire squad.

[00:33:02] Our question is that does the Kaminga bench and raise questions about his future role?

[00:33:10] Does this mean that this is earmarking him for a trade down the road?

[00:33:17] I mean, something has to give at some point, right?

[00:33:22] This has been an ongoing situation.

[00:33:24] It seems to be somewhat untenable at this point.

[00:33:29] There have been shots across the bow from both sides.

[00:33:34] Steve Kerr being very boisterous about what he wants from Jonathan Kaminga and Kaminga saying that I want more ownership of the offense.

[00:33:47] Like Steph Curry, the greatest shooter that we have ever seen in our game is not on this roster.

[00:33:56] A little more self-awareness would be good for Jonathan Kaminga, but I understand he's young.

[00:34:02] He do what he want to do.

[00:34:05] You know?

[00:34:05] I get it.

[00:34:06] But I do think it's very important to understand that right now, this is how the veterans handle this, how Steph Curry handles this, how Mike Dunleavy Jr. handles this.

[00:34:21] It's very, very important to the success and what this team is inevitably going to look like come February at the trade deadline.

[00:34:32] Because if it's not smooth sailing and there's a couple losses here and there, you got a combustible element in Draymond Green in that locker room.

[00:34:44] And could you imagine if Jonathan Kaminga spoke out whatever his role is in comparison to what Draymond Green's role is?

[00:34:55] Why would you say something like that?

[00:34:58] But let me ask you this question.

[00:35:01] Knowing those two players.

[00:35:04] Knowing what we've already seen of both of these two players, albeit Draymond we got way more history with than we have with Jonathan Kaminga.

[00:35:16] But remember, Kaminga was the guy who was his own source to an athletic story of talking about he was worried about his development in the way Steve Curry was using him last year.

[00:35:33] Could you see that scenario bubbling up in San Francisco?

[00:35:40] I could.

[00:35:42] Unfortunately, I could.

[00:35:44] But we'll keep a close eye on it and we'll see how it goes there.

[00:35:51] But I'm very worried.

[00:35:53] Very worried about Golden State.

[00:35:58] I am glad I am not Mike Dunleavy Jr. at this point.

[00:36:02] I don't know what they're paying that man, but whatever it is, it's not enough.

[00:36:08] I'm here to get you paid, Mike Dunleavy.

[00:36:11] I'm here to get you paid.

[00:36:13] All right.

[00:36:14] We're going to move on to a more positive story.

[00:36:17] And this story is also of a young player taking ownership of his team and what his production and what his role is.

[00:36:25] And we're going to focus in on Orlando Magic, Paulo Guancaro, and what he's been doing this year.

[00:36:33] Now, the reason why I'm bringing this up, obviously, is because Paulo had a 50-point game the other night against the Pacers in that 119-115 victory.

[00:36:42] Well, the one thing that I want to bring up, not about just the scoring outburst, it's the way he played.

[00:36:50] And I hope I can do it justice.

[00:36:54] I talked to a couple of scouts because I ran it past them because I wanted to see if what I was seeing was true.

[00:37:01] And I'll give you their thoughts in a second.

[00:37:05] So far, again, small sample size.

[00:37:08] I will always continue to say that.

[00:37:11] But these are trends that are promising, and I think that they deserve further discussion.

[00:37:18] Let's just put it that way.

[00:37:21] So, Paulo right now, his three-point shooting, his climb is at 39.1%.

[00:37:26] Now, that's completely different from the 33 and the 29% he was putting up.

[00:37:33] So that was something that we thought about as we move on.

[00:37:37] This was one of the two we're going to have to shoot the three.

[00:37:42] Franz Wagner or Paulo Guancaro?

[00:37:45] Paulo Guancaro, it will be I.

[00:37:50] I will be him.

[00:37:53] What goes along with that, too, is that I want to talk about three things.

[00:37:58] One, Paulo being 6'10", and very close to about 250 pounds, his ability to ball handle and see the court and have a scorer's mentality, but also know that he needs to get his guys involved.

[00:38:16] Now, to know that in year three, remember we were asking that of Jason Tatum in year six.

[00:38:29] He's doing it in year three.

[00:38:31] So the leap of Paulo Guancaro and something that I talked about on this podcast, probably ad nauseum last year, I said, I don't care about what the analytics say.

[00:38:45] I don't care what they say about his efficiency numbers.

[00:38:48] I didn't care about any of that.

[00:38:50] I was like, watch the game.

[00:38:52] Watch him.

[00:38:54] Watch what kind of positions his teammates put him in to be less efficient.

[00:39:00] And see how he handles it accordingly and continues to lead that team to victories.

[00:39:08] That's what I said last year.

[00:39:10] This year we got a different story, folks.

[00:39:13] Guess who is analytics darling right now?

[00:39:18] Our boy, Paulo Guancaro.

[00:39:20] Because here's the other thing that he's doing.

[00:39:23] Being that big, being able to see the offense, being able to understand where he thinks the defense is going to go and be able to kind of move the chess pieces around.

[00:39:36] His dribble in his handle is so tight right now.

[00:39:40] He's dropped down the turnovers a little bit.

[00:39:43] The other thing is that he is getting to what he likes to get to.

[00:39:51] Whatever spot on the floor he wants to get to right now, he is not finding a lot of obstacle getting there.

[00:40:01] Whether it's through the efficiency of the move set or just his strength.

[00:40:09] One of the two, he's able to get to a spot and then be able to navigate the defense and hit an open man and get a really great shot pretty much anytime he wants now.

[00:40:23] And that's a scary proposition for the East.

[00:40:27] Because this is something that I expected in year four.

[00:40:32] Not this year.

[00:40:35] And remember, we talked last year about the vibe around the Orlando Magic and Jamal Mosley as the head coach.

[00:40:43] And the type of ownership he allowed his team to have.

[00:40:47] I remember vividly a conversation that Cole Anthony discussed on a podcast.

[00:40:55] And he went in and he talked to coach.

[00:40:57] He said, hey, I did not really take to the six-man vibe situation.

[00:41:03] This was two years ago.

[00:41:04] So this is prior to the 2023-24 season.

[00:41:08] And then he said, I'm going to come in determined, focused, to go ahead and do that.

[00:41:14] We had a banner year out of Cole Anthony last year as a six-man.

[00:41:20] He provided energy, production, and he wasn't a complete sieve on defense.

[00:41:26] I don't know what conversation he had with Paulo Vincaro in the exit interview of 2023-2024.

[00:41:34] But whatever he told him, it's paid off in spades.

[00:41:39] Because here's the other thing that he's doing right now.

[00:41:43] Now, again, small sample size.

[00:41:45] He's not going to average this the whole year.

[00:41:47] I understand this.

[00:41:48] But it's a clear indication that Paulo Vincaro has found his NBA superpower.

[00:41:56] And what I mean by that is right now he's averaging 13 free throws a game.

[00:42:04] 13.

[00:42:08] Jonathan Wasserman praised Vincaro's confidence in decision-making, which has added depth to Orlando's offense.

[00:42:15] Remember, last year offensively, Orlando was a slog.

[00:42:20] They're a defensive team.

[00:42:21] They had a lot of length.

[00:42:22] They had a lot of guys who could switch.

[00:42:25] All those guys are back.

[00:42:27] You have Wendell Carter Jr.

[00:42:30] You have Jonathan Isaac.

[00:42:33] You have Mo Wagner.

[00:42:35] Paulo Vincaro.

[00:42:37] You also have Franz Wagner.

[00:42:39] The other guy that I said during the prediction show for the Eastern Conference, I said the guy that I'm looking at early on in the regular season is what kind of progress has Anthony Black made?

[00:42:56] Because they need a lead guard.

[00:43:00] He's the closest thing to it.

[00:43:02] But he has to be able to shoot and be able to stay out on the floor.

[00:43:07] And so far early this season, he's shooting the ball better.

[00:43:12] We see a more controlled Anthony Black.

[00:43:16] We see a more decisive Anthony Black.

[00:43:20] These are things that are just great development, little leaps that we're seeing with the Orlando Magic.

[00:43:29] And I'm going to tell you right now, I think that Orlando might be easy atop 6C, no doubt.

[00:43:38] Like, I don't think there's going to be any issue.

[00:43:43] And I don't know if I thought that early before the season started.

[00:43:52] But kudos to their front office picking these guys.

[00:43:59] They do an outstanding job developing.

[00:44:02] And they've had a plan.

[00:44:04] And they have worked this plan.

[00:44:06] And so far, it has worked to perfection.

[00:44:09] And again, Jamal Mosley, I hope, gets a lot of consideration for Coach of the Year this year.

[00:44:18] Now, I know there's going to be some worthy candidates out there.

[00:44:21] There's a guy in L.A. doing his damn thing.

[00:44:24] I don't know if you caught his situation.

[00:44:28] But a former UCLA Bruin, you can't find a bigger Baron Davis fan than me.

[00:44:38] Okay?

[00:44:38] I love Baron Davis.

[00:44:40] B. Diddy is my guy.

[00:44:42] But he said he was at a car wash the other day.

[00:44:46] And lo and behold, who does he see at the car wash?

[00:44:49] J.J. Reddick.

[00:44:51] Do you know what J.J. Reddick was doing at that car wash?

[00:44:55] This dude was looking at video.

[00:45:00] Drawing up plays.

[00:45:03] That's what he was doing at the car wash.

[00:45:06] So, when he talks about his ego maniacal preparedness and the levels it gets to, and he talks about going, being a sicko.

[00:45:19] Is that probably the clearest indication?

[00:45:23] We could probably put that as a collective proof of concept.

[00:45:27] Baron Davis, shout out to you.

[00:45:30] Shout out to the good look.

[00:45:32] Being an NBA scout for coaches.

[00:45:35] Letting us know that J.J.

[00:45:37] Going to be all right.

[00:45:38] Even though we said on this podcast yesterday, we love the structure.

[00:45:42] We love what he's doing.

[00:45:44] But we love the affirmation that we got from you.

[00:45:46] So, thank you.

[00:45:48] And also, again, Baron Davis.

[00:45:51] UCLA Bruin.

[00:45:53] Legend.

[00:45:54] You know what I'm saying?

[00:45:55] Man, we can't front on that.

[00:45:57] We can't front on what Baron Davis is talking about.

[00:46:00] That's our guy.

[00:46:02] Now, last thing on Von Carroll.

[00:46:04] Von Carroll's increased efficiency gives Orlando's offense a stronger structure.

[00:46:12] Does this mean this makes the Magic a playoff contender?

[00:46:17] I still think they need another guy.

[00:46:20] I love Jalen Suggs.

[00:46:23] Even though he put my UCLA Bruins out of March Miss about three years ago.

[00:46:29] I love that dude.

[00:46:30] Still love him.

[00:46:32] Franz Wagner has to find his shot.

[00:46:35] It's kind of alarming that it's not finding its way back.

[00:46:40] But it's still early, so I'm not going to trip.

[00:46:43] But I wonder if there's something else out there.

[00:46:49] Or is it internal?

[00:46:52] You know, is it Jet?

[00:46:54] My thoughts on Jet are not great.

[00:46:56] I think he's allergic to defense, which is one of the reasons why he can't get burned for the Orlando Magic.

[00:47:03] But he can shoot the ball.

[00:47:04] We do know that.

[00:47:05] That Jet Howard, son of Jawan Howard, former Michigan Wolverine legend, can shoot the basketball.

[00:47:12] The only problem is, is that dude is 6'9", 6'10", and he can't go paperclip.

[00:47:18] I don't know what we're going to do about that at all.

[00:47:22] But we are impressed with Dan Carroll's, basically just his malleability to understand that, okay, for me to really impact the game and really give my team a more potent look.

[00:47:37] I'm going to have to utilize my strength and my athleticism to get to the paint, get fouled, become, you know, in a sense, a foul mark.

[00:47:46] Not that he's doing the Harden stuff or the Trae Young stuff.

[00:47:49] But what he's doing is he is going into physicality, looking for physicality, intentional with his physicality.

[00:48:00] And it's paying off for the Orlando Magic because two things happen when you get free throws.

[00:48:07] One, the clock stops.

[00:48:09] Two, you get a breather.

[00:48:11] Three, you get to set up your defense.

[00:48:15] You know, the ball is let out.

[00:48:17] So these are all great things.

[00:48:18] I love Orlando.

[00:48:20] I love the vibe down there.

[00:48:22] And I will be looking forward to seeing what Jamal Mosley and this team ends up with as far as victories towards the end of the year.

[00:48:32] I'll be really looking forward to that.

[00:48:35] All right.

[00:48:36] Now, we hit on a lot of things today.

[00:48:40] We talked about Cleveland's hot start.

[00:48:41] We talked about our concerns about Jonathan Kaminga and the Warriors.

[00:48:46] We talked about Jokic and his issues.

[00:48:49] But what we want to do is we want to hear from you.

[00:48:53] We want you to join the conversation.

[00:48:55] We want you to go on X.

[00:48:57] We want you to follow at FrontrunnerPC and also at Rhea underscore Funch FRPC.

[00:49:07] And let us know your thoughts on the podcast.

[00:49:10] Some of our, maybe if you liked our campaign ideas, our platform of how we can continue to make basketball awesome.

[00:49:22] Continue to push the agenda of freeing Trey Murphy III and also liberating Zach Lowe from whatever purgatory he's in.

[00:49:34] If you are pro these causes, follow us on X at FrontrunnerPC.

[00:49:42] Also at Rhea underscore Funch FRPC.

[00:49:47] The other thing that we are going to tell you is this.

[00:49:49] The best part of you is you.

[00:49:51] Make sure that the people that surround you are doing everything to brighten your light.

[00:49:57] And with that light, I hope you do some good in this world.

[00:50:00] And we'll see you back on this feed on Friday.

[00:50:03] Deuce.

[00:50:04] And we'll see you back on the podcast.

[00:50:04] And we'll see you back on the podcast.