Luka Doncic’s Numbers Force The MVP Talk

Cold Open And What’s Ahead

A twenty-four-year-old rookie calls Luca trash in his first NBA game. Friday, Luca answers with 21 in the first quarter. Sunday, that rookie drops 37. And then a draft class with five names and no number one. A 7'3 center from Italia. A temper that is reported not proven. And a 17-year-old, nobody that can tell me who he guards. And then two guys who won championships together. It'll all make sense once we get through it. Let's go. We've been in the film room. We've been, you know, watching games, getting it through. We're going to have grown conversations about these players, some of the coaches, the front offices that are actually making moves. Real G's were moving silence. You know that. And we're going to talk about some of the locker room chatter. And some of the PR spin. And it was heavy this week. The actual and the verify receipts. We are bringing jokes to the dome piece today. We also have the advanced math and the exact barbershop ammo that you need to take back straight to your group chat and completely nuke the argument. If you're an NBA sicko like me, who be watching them Sacramento Kings games to see Darius A cuff shoot the ball 26 times and then have Demonis Sabonis only shooting the ball five. You know where you need to be. So let's go. We're gonna get into it.

Yaxel’s Trash Talk And Bounce Back

Yaxo Lundenberg looks like a real rookie of the year threat. So he goes out here. He is um he's trash talking Luca, which was interesting in his first game, but it doesn't stop there. Yaxel Lundenberg has 156 coins through his first seven games. He trails only Will Chamberlain and Rick Berry for the most points by any Warriors rookie through seven games. It's two questions really. First, is Jaxel Lundenberg a real threat for rookie of the year? And the scarier question, is Yaxel a fundament a fund foundational piece for the Warriors? Now, as a Lakers fan or as a Lakers supporter, however you want to put it, I try to take a lot of my fan hat off and put the analyst hat on when I'm doing the podcast. But you know I believe purple and gold fool. You know I do. So I would love to tell you that Friday night was a real was real Yaxel. Luca had 21 in the first quarter, made him look silly. The rookie only had six points. He looked shook. He had five turnovers to go out, go go along with that, and he also fouled out. That was fun for me. That was sport. Luca was playing with his food. But then Sunday happened, and the Yaxo scored 37 points on 13 of 19 of shooting against the Clippers. Now listen, the Clippers aren't great. You know what I'm saying? But anytime when rookies show that type of efficiency, you know, this podcast is definitely gonna really uh is gonna really geek out for stuff like that for sure. Here's what supports guests on both shots that he holds up. The efficiency was high. He's leading all rookies in scoring after uh four games, and he bounced back from the worst game of his life, as he so says it. And here's because he is like 24 and also moved around. Now we're not gonna because now all the dudes are doing it. If you stay in school for like three, four years now, you've probably been to two or three schools. It's not even a question anymore, it's just how life is that name, image, and likeness situation has completely changed the foundation of college basketball. It's more like junior NBA, basically, but they have a cooler tournament at the end. It's pretty much what it is. So let's get into some of some of the claims that we can make for on his rookie of the year kind uh claim. Let's give you a little background on our guy on the board. He's 24, he's 24. Uh, five years ago, he was in junior college at Yuma, Arizona. He went from Arizona to UAB, and then he went to Michigan. In that time, he piled up 3,000 points, 1,700 rebounds across the three stops. He pulled his name out in the 2025 draft. He transferred to Michigan and won a national title. So he won an Addy. And he was one of the driving forces of that team. Let's not make any mistake about it. Now we talked about his absolutely abysmal performance against the Lakers the other night. But again, in true Yaxel Laundryborg fashion, two days later, he put the ass whooping, belt of ass to the Clippers, and everybody was hurt. Everybody was taking the day off. You know, we had Curry out there resting, Draymond out resting. And it's it's the most points by a Warriors rookie since Steph Curry's 42 in April of 2010. So that 37 is touching greatness wherever he goes. Kerr says the game is still fast for him, and that the defense he has a lot to work on, and we hope there are better moments ahead for him. Notice what Kerr did just did there in six games, and he's already telling you the kid, has seen everything. He also is telling him that his defense needs work. True Steve Kerr fashion. Before the season, Draymond Green called him the next face of the franchise. That's big praise. Kerr says he's a strong, he's strong as an ox and he's skilled as well. And Golden State has already extended Brandon Parzinski and may be considering a similar deal for London Borg if he keeps can keeps improving. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, you know. I know the Lakers are real big on the rookies and stuff like that. They love Wiseman, they love Kaminga and Moses Moody. But we saw how that worked out in the past. Now, I don't think that Lundigberg is is those guys. I think he's a completely different dude. Personally, I think he's a very skilled for somebody 6'9, 240 pounds. But I want to see more. Obviously, we have a small sample size here. Now on draft night, the Warriors took him with the number 11 overall pick, a few spots ahead of his consensus, anywhere between 12 to 14. No problem there. And here's the thing: if you get your player wherever you get him at, and he turns out to be this productive, it doesn't matter. We got number 17 picks over here that are absolutely trash. They don't even play for us anymore. So I would love to have a pick that works out. Uh, we're still looking at you, Cameron Carr. I'll say this as as somebody who supports the Lakers, calling Luca trash in your first NBA game takes a certain confidence. Don't make that a habit. Curry said backing him down, backing him up after the Lakers game was part of why the Warriors came back from 25. That was a terrible game for the Lakers. Here's what I will say about my guy. These are the things that actually matter. Through seven games, 22 points, 22.3 points to be exact, 7.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists in 32 minutes. He also is averaging just a tick under one steal a game and uh 0.4 blocks. Now he's shooting 52% from the field with 14 shots a game. He's also 60 or 60% on twos, and his effective field goal percentage is 0.608. That's awesome. His true shooting percentage is 64.5, and he also has a usage rate of 27.1. So he's handling the ball a lot, he's shooting the ball pretty efficiently. His true shooting percentage shows you that. Because this another thing that we're gonna talk about momentarily. His PR is 21 and a half, and for a rookie, what all that means is that yo, he's productive as hell. Now, the big question from three, not bad, right? 40.9% on 6.3 attempts. You know what I'm saying? That he shot 42% at Michigan, so this ain't nothing new. The only thing that's different is that the three-point shot is a little bit deeper in the NBA than it is in college basketball. But my man is knocking him down with regularity no matter where he's at. If he's at college with amazing gold, or he's in the Bay Area, the Yay area, reping the Warriors, reping Dub Nation. He doing his thing. His free throw 74.4%. Now it's not that mark that we're looking for, that 80% that we're looking for, but you know what I'm saying? He's a rookie. There's gotta be some things that are a little, you know, jinky. His defense lags, which is crazy, because he was a defensive dude when he was at Michigan. I think it'll slow down for him, and once he starts to be able to use his size and his quickness and his mass, I think that it will be better uh down the road. I think the Warriors got something here. Honestly. I mean, I love the swag. I love the situation where he is talking trash to Luca, even though you know Luca's our guy. But if you're sitting there and you're having this much confidence in your rookie season and you're not afraid, these are all positive signs for me. And um, if you want to look at it this way, here's the thing that you want to really kind of take to the bank. This dude is not gonna stop starting once Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody gets back. He's gonna be part of, I believe. There's no way you can take that type of production out of lineup when he's doing it. Now, obviously, if he starts to skid and slide or whatever, maybe there's a different story, but if this continues the way it is, and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't, the Warriors need him right now. His production is not a added bonus, it is absolutely needed. So Lonning Ward being who he is, and the best part about him is it was a negative when he was in the draft process, but it's a positive now. He's 24. So it's not like you're getting this kid who's 19, who, you know, he gets on his first road trip, has no idea what the hell is going on, trying to get into the nightlife and whatever the case may be. This is a grown-ass man. So he's trying to handle himself accordingly. He's been soaking up the knowledge under Steph Curry and also Draymond Green. So I love that. I love the way he gets down, I love that he's coachable. Curry expects him to learn patterns, doubles, and pick and roll. Lundergorts says he watches film on himself. Yeah, I love that. The read his usage and his efficiency once Butler returns, who knows? Is he gonna be more of a spot up shooter? Maybe. But maybe by the time he gets back, the flow is so crispy that maybe it is a little change to the situation. I'm not saying that Jimmy Butler is going to be surpassed by somebody who's a rookie, but what I'm saying is that the production is needed. And Jimmy is not a guy who takes volume shots, especially when we're talking about the three ball. Well, Yaxel would. And they're gonna need that, they're gonna need two guys who can spot up and hit the trade ball, and you got Steph Curry, so a Yaxel Lundberg out there doing his thing, and uh willing passers like Jimmy Butler and also Draymond Green help that situation out. So, my question is this is he a rookie of the year candidate? You got dog right he is. And it's not what he did to the Lakers, it's not all that. It's what he's doing for his team. And what he's doing for his team is being productive. Anytime you over 20 points a game as a rookie, you're doing work. Is he gonna be a foundational piece? All depends on what you're looking for. Now I think he can be. I think he can be. I don't think he can be the number one guy, but I do believe he can be like the number three guy if you're talking about what we're looking for in a in a player. Is he uh he is a perfect compliment to a Steph Curry or whatever the case may be. He's a perfect compliment to I'm trying to think. Oh, could you imagine him liking Charlotte or something? Now listen, Duff man, I'm not trying to take your boy away from you. What I'm saying is is that him or Yaxel in Charlotte as another like spot up shooter and somebody who can get to the rim and what have you, willing passer, also a good rebounder, useful. And when you have Brandon Miller and you have Khan Knippel, Yaxo Lundberg fits into that situation. So I think Golden State obviously doesn't have its one and two for the future, but Yaxo fitting into that mix 100%. I do believe that he can be a foundational piece for a team that is competitive.

Luka’s Scoring Tear And MVP Case

Now, the dude that he dissed, we need to talk about it. Because here's the thing Luca Donce is out here is he on a mission. Apparently, the mission is to take as many basketball souls with him uh as he can all season. My man has 87 points in 71 minutes over the last uh couple games. Okay? That's what he's doing. So Sunday and Monday, they play back to back 87 points in 71 minutes. That's straight. Lucas' performance are sheer artistry, and the numbers he's putting up are crazy. But I still don't believe in the Lakers defense, and I know they need another wing. They can use a Yakso Lunderberg. Somebody who can rebound and uh rebound the basketball, play some defense, and knock down a three-point shot. So, questions that we have right now is how long the art can carry the team that ranks 20th 20th in defensive rating, and you know I'm a Lakers supporter for show, so I tell you where that helps and where it doesn't. So let's get to the Luca artistry, shall we? Sunday against the Raptors and Monday against the Heat. My boy, I told you he put up 87 points, but check this out. 26 of 47 shooting with 14 threes in a 24 hour span. He has 226 points through his first six games. He is third, he's the third player since 1960 to do that. You wanna you wanna hear the names that he's next to? Michael Jordan and Will Chamberlain. Michael Jordan in 86 and Will Chamberlain did it twice. Lakers back up, big Sanjo, Mamu, Killis Vili said you need three guys to guard him. Three guys. I want to see three guys. I like to see them, I like to meet them and s have them for tribute. May the odds forever be in your favor. Sunday he became the second player, Luca, that is, became the second player since the steals were tracked in 1973 to score 45 points. Oh, by the way, he grabbed 15 rebounds, he handed out five dimes, and also also pilfered five pockets. You know what I'm saying? He had five steals in one game. The other is Anthony Davis. Can you imagine? Imagine Anthony Davis now. I bet you he wish he was here chilling with the Lakers, just chilling. Monday against the Miami. He he had his 29th career 40-point game uh with 10 assists, which is third most behind Oscar Robertson and James Harden. And it came on a back-to-back. Now, you want to talk about greatness, recognizing greatness. Giannis Anton Tecumpo called him the best scorer to play the game, if not the best, and then he was asked if he meant right now. He said, No, not right now, of all time. I feel like some people are scared to say that, but he's got he's got to be up there. So, game recognizes game. Giannis out here showing love to Luca Donchus. We love that, especially after you got belt to ass, okay, and you got handed a 21-point whoop ass. JJ Reddick says he feels like a supernova, but it also feels normal. We live on a spaceship and we're going at the speed of light all at all times when he's on the court. After loss to Portland last week, Walker Kessler said we've been relying on our offense a lot, and we have a very, very good offense and a lot of great scores, but that's not going to be the only thing that gets us to the win to win a championship around here. Now, we're talking about Walker Kessler in one second. Now you put those two side by side, the coach. To what he's saying about the spaceship and center talking about offense is not going to win it alone. He is 100% right in his subnation. And that's what this whole situation is about. I want to celebrate Luca because he's absolutely filthy. And we're going to talk about something at the end of this. And you know how I'm going to back the Lakers all the way. But let's get to what Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports had to say. He says that after a stretch between Luca's arrival at in 2025 at the trade deadline and LeBron's farewell this summer, the Lakers built a Luca Donce team. And they showed the show hell did. Now, here's the thing. Now Zaire Williams has been off and on with foot issues. Now he's back. He uh played a little bit last last night, which was great. And then also we got Matisse Stybel knocking down three balls on a historic level. This dude is knocking them down for him for him. I remember back in the day when that was not the case for Matisse Style. Now, you want to hear some numbers that that are scintillating to the to the touch? Luca Doncic is at 38.3 points a game. He also at eight rebounds on the dot and 8.1 assists with 1.9 steals and he's playing 35.7 minutes a game. More stats for you? Sure. Because it's all brilliant all the time when it comes to Luka Dodges. He is shooting 49.7% from the field. He's shooting 42.7% from the land of three. And that's on 13.7 attempts a game. Playboy, he's getting it done. And he's also hitting those free throws, which is great. Because last year he was a little inconsistent with that. Right now, he is shooting 80 88.7% at the free throw line with 10 attempts. Now, what else is he doing? The true shooting percentage is off the freaking charts. He's shooting 68.3%. His usage is an alarming 39.4%, and his assist percentage is 41.4%. We talked about Yaxo's Wonderbird's PR, and I told you I don't like that stat, but his was 21. Luca Donche's is 34 PR. But here's the best number that he has. I am a big proponent of box plus minus. And when I saw this, I was like it's gonna be hard, and we're gonna get into it in a second. His box plus minus right now, as it stands, is 11.3.

Lakers Defense Worries Under The Hype

Now, you know what that means. You know what that means. And I'm gonna say it right now. MVP season loading for Luca Donces is here. This is the season we've been waiting for. My man is doing enough on defense because he's a positive 0.8 on defense, which listen, you can s you can laugh at that all you want, but for Luca, that's very good. He's out here giving up his body, taking charges, and what have you. I think he has five over the last like four games or whatever. But the offense is off the charts. Okay, 10.8 or actually 10.5, which puts him at 11.3 total box plus or minus. And anytime that you're above 10, you're an MVP candidate. And I'm gonna tell you right now, he's writing, he's writing the stories. He's writing it, he's writing the book, and it looks good. Now the Lakers are scoring at a crazy rate, they're scoring uh 132.5 points per 100 possessions with Luca on the floor. The league leader in Rockets in uh lead league in uh offense averages is the Rockets at 122.4. The team that is 62, fourth in the West, is at 122.1, which is second in the league. But here's the problem: the defense. The defense is giving up 114.9 points, 20th. Now the net rate the net rating is still awesome, it's 7.2 because the offense is filthy. They rank 8th overall with that, but the defense is terrible. Now Walker Kessler is holding it down. Now I'm gonna give you his coins and stuff like that, but he's averaging 14.4 points a game, 10.5 remounds, he's shooting in 71.4%. But here's the big thing: 2.5 blocks a game, and when he's the closest defender at the rim, opponents are shooting 43.1%. That's the best mark among players who has faced at least 30 of those shots. So I'll say that again. When he's the closest defender at the rim, opponents are shooting 43.1%. Usually when you're at the rim, it's a layup or a dunk. My man is denying all of that. Luka Reeves and Kessler are plus 104 in 146 minutes together. That's the best three-man unit in the league so far. My guy Austin Reeves is earning that cheddar that he got. You know what I'm saying? Love it. He's at 23.6 points a game, 5.1 assists, and he's also shooting 54% from the field, 44% from beyond the three-point line, and 87% from the free throw line. I'm actually disappointed in the 87. Crazy, right? But I'm actually disappointed in that. It's the points that are given up, it's the turnovers that are also given up. Luca is averaging like five turnovers a game. That has to go down. That has to go down. Their one clear strength on defense on defense is Kessler at the rim. So he is actually earning the money that he was signed up for. So that's good. It's gonna have to come down to the wings getting it done. You know, can we put pressure on the ball? Do we have somebody who really does that? Bible's really not that guy. Grimes doesn't seem to be that guy. Colin Sexton's a little too small to be that guy. Okay, I am that guy. And I don't know who they can go out and get. But right now, the Lakers defense is the only thing that's holding me back from being completely excited about this season. I'm so excited that the Luca the Luca Austin Reeves situation is working out. I think they're one of the best tandems that we have in NBA basketball. But the defense has to get better, and we gotta be able to put more pressure on the ball. So is Luca an MVP? No doubt. He drives the ball 17.3 points a game. Um, you know, he's out here making threes, he's out here scoring 40 points almost every single night. It looks like some Kobe shit, honestly, to tell you the truth. R R P R guy, we love Kobe, but it does look like some Kobe stuff right there. I love it. I think Luca can be an MVP candidate for sure. And I know we get a lot of hate, but when your numbers are stacking up with Jordan and Will, there's nothing these people can say. So the national media can go suck it if for some reason they don't want to give Luca his flowers for being as pivotal as he is for the Lakers. I know y'all don't want us to have an MVP. It's a shame that that Kobe Bryant walking around, well, not, you know, he only had one. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's crazy. And I'm telling you right now, Luca is going to be at least top three in this MVP situation. When we might be able to beat him out, because if if the record is just crazy in San Antonio, if for some reason SGA can put up high 50, low 60 wins in Oklahoma City, and he has another SGA season, I can see the writers giving it to him for all this, what's going down in OKC with the injuries or whatever. But my man Luca Doncic deserves to be put in this category. He deserves to have to be talked about as an MVP candidate, and I think that is 100% crazy if he is not talked about that.

The No Clear Number One Draft

Speaking of Luca, we need to get to next year's draft class. We are going to talk about some of the dudes that are coming out this year, man. And it's not the 2026 draft class, let's be honest. But are there some intriguing players? Yes, there are. And are we going to cover those players? Yes, we are. Are we going to get you ready for the 2027 draft? No. We're not going to have you wait. We're going to get you in. We're going to get you uh together, and we're going to have you up to date on what you need for this situation. Quick question: Name the best draft prospect in the 2027 class. If you hesitate, you're not alone. Because ESPN's Jeremy Woo says that this class looks like the 2024 class, which had no true consensus number one. So today, five names that we're going to talk about are Tyron Stokes out of Kansas, Dus Stefan, uh Jokomovich out of Bascalonia, Jordan Smith Jr. out of Arkansas, Bruce Granch the third out of BYU, and Luigi C uh Su Yoji Suigo. Could be Sweigo. We're gonna call Swiggs out of Villanova. So these are the guys we're gonna talk about. And I am always a glass half-full type of guy when it comes to these draft picks. Now, is it the 2026 draft class where you had star-studded situations like AJ Devonta, uh, you had Darren Peterson, you had our guy Cam Boozer, you had Caleb Williams, no, and all the rest of them. That that draft class was deep, it was crazy. But here's the thing that we need to talk about when we when we go into this. Just because a draft class, just because a draft class is not that star-studded, oh, we got nothing but viral comments coming out of this draft class, like this dude is compared to this dude and whatever. That doesn't make it a bad draft class. What it makes it is that these are guys that are going to fill roles on your team. Okay, these are guys who are going to probably play productively for 10 years in the league. Are they gonna start? Some of them will. Could happen. Are they gonna be perennial MVPs? Probably not. But you know what? If you are the Utah Jazz of the world, you're the Portland Trailblazers of the world, you're the Memphis Grizzlies of the world, you're the Charlotte Hornets of the world, and I mean I'm gonna say this with all due respect. If you're the New Orleans Pelicans of the world, you need these guys. You need these guys to do what they do and give you the 14 to 16 points every single night to make your team go. So let's get into it real quick.

Tyron Stokes Tools And Red Flags

Tyron Stokes out of Kansas. We're gonna start at the top because he's pretty much the guy that you know comes in usually at number one when you look at the consensus boards and what have you. Let's talk about him a little bit. Tools, he already has an NBA frame because he's standing 6'7, he's 230 pounds, and this kid is 19 years old. Clearly, he drank his milk. Okay? Clearly, they was feeding him right. Now he is a strong, twitchy, and he's a load in transition. He's a ball handler for his size. I love that part. Now, Sports Illustrated says that he thrives defensively on frame, on stocks, against lesser competition. Well, I can see that because he's probably being bigger than everybody else that he's played against. Standing at 6'7, 230 pounds. Now, he is in the Big 12. He's gonna go up against some big boys. So we'll see how that all plays out. We'll see if he has a couple tricks up his sleeve that are not just based on his athletic prowess or his just I'm bigger than you, so I'm gonna just muscle you down and get to whatever spot I want. Now, if this was a tools contest, we'd be done in 30 seconds. But it isn't. So Jeremy Wu says this, and Bleacher record Jonathan Wasserman says this about him. Uh, NBA executives have concerns about his maturity level and his demeanor, and that scouts have noted his uncourt temper that sources are unnamed. So, we got a little maturity issue that has raised his head. We will monitor this situation closely as the college season has just started, so we will see if my man, if he gets into a little adversity, what happens. Now, I'm the type of person that we gotta see it. We gotta see it, and then we gotta see how destructive it is to the team before we make our own decisions on that. Just because you're a fiery competitor doesn't make you a bad dude. But I want to see how it affects him, how he then affects his teammates. Is he turning on his teammates? Is this a situation where he's now side-eyeing the coach or whatever the case may be? Then we can talk. But if he's just like mad, mad at himself because he's not, you know, executing the play right, I'm not gonna trip off something like that. I won't do that. Now, if you're doing it to the point where you're not getting back on defense, and then now you're hurting the team because they're on a they're on a uh five-on-four situation, then there's something to talk about as well. Now, the negative door language is from a credible source is one of those things that um usually outweighs the praise on his skills. But again, we want to see a bigger sample size before we say anything. Now, here's some of the things you need to know. The shot from three is streaky. Um we wish the release was a little bit quicker. He's inconsistent from the free throw line, and he should live at the line because of his size and his strength. Now, AJ DuBonson, when he was at BYU and when he was in on the uh under 19 uh world team for the United States of America, that dude lived at the free throw line, and guess what? He's doing that at the pro level as well. So we hope that we get to see that from Tyrone Stokes. We'll see. Now, he's a switchable athlete, he does not space the floor right now, so he's using basically just the athleticism to get dunks and get to the basket, and he thrives in transition at this point. Now, if it if the shot comes along, he can be a two-way star. You know, that's what he could be. That body, that that strength can really help him. He also has a seven-foot wingspan, so that's also one of those things that is very tempting when you're looking at somebody who maybe not be your first option, but what could he be? What's what's the tools he's got that could help us? Is he is he dialed in on defense, those type of things. We will see what Tyron Stokes puts together this year, but that's the first guy that we need to talk about. The second guy is a complete export. No import. So sorry, other way around. He's

Stefan Jokomovich Skill And Defense Questions

playing in the Euro League, and that's Stefan uh Joseph Mosmovich. Now he's a six foot seven lefty, he's 17, he's turning 18 on November 16th, so happy early birthday to my boy from Slovenia. Now, when his his under 18 year old basket got the gold medal, and he was the tournament MVP. ESPN Wu wrote this that no 2027 prospect gathered more momentum this summer than that many around the NBA see him as a real number one contender. Now, Bleacher Report has him fourth. Now, nobody was hotter than him, his name's like kind of flew off the boards, but here's the thing that we know about him. He's out here, he's got a lot of tools. Okay. He his maturity with the ball in his hand, the comfort against physical defenders, no problem whatsoever. Cause here's the thing. Just like with my guy who uh Costa Rica, who just uh debuted at UCLA, those guys have been playing with grown men since they were 15 years old. So he's not worried about contact, he's not worried about physicality. I'm 17 years old. This is now light work for me. He reads simple and has passes over the top of the defense that feels stuff is what you want to see from a seventeen year old. He's gonna he's gonna slice and dice double teams and blitzes because he's reading it. Before you even get there, where the ball needs to go. And here's the thing: he's making the right pass pretty much all the time. And you gotta love that. Here's the thing that I can't shake. Um, nobody tells me who he guards. Silence on the defensive defense is a signal that I'm not gonna pretend it isn't. He plays a supporting role on his team and uh in the Euroleague. Um former NCAA stars and draft picks. So the senior sample is small, but I'm gonna tell you right now, as far as his his offensive acumen is off the charts. If I had to kind of categorize him, I will say that he's a long development project. Realistically, he's a connectively wing. His ceiling is a number one level initiator. Bus risks are moderate to high because of the evidence of defense is so thin. Now, what I will say about something like this is because it sometimes, even even in our day now, where we have the internet and we have all these things, they don't have it over there. So we're not getting a good film on these guys if they don't come over and play like college basketball. Like my guy Kusta Rica last night, who was dominant against Arizona. Anytime somebody came in the paint, and that dude is super real thin, he was blocking shots. And the only reason I'm talking about Custerica is because his the uh Jazumovich, his field level for the game has been compared to my guy Kusarica. So that's the only reason I'm saying that. Now, there's also a weight conflict. One one uh scout has him at 187 pounds, Sports Illustrator has him at 205. I don't know which one is true, so we'll we'll slice it down the middle. We'll say he's about 196. And at 6'7, that's a little small, that's a little slight. So as far as his defense is concerned, that might be the reason. He might be getting physical through and people are playing through his chest because he's slight. But you know what happens when you're 17 years old, you get bigger. Right? You get bigger, and the one thing I always want to bank on is that if you have the offensive acumen to see the reads before they happen, that means that usually you also have good um interpretation on the defensive side, so you can read the passing lanes and jump them. And if he's gonna do that, I think the defense will come along. Now, as he grows into his body, we will see how that works out and see that if he has the taste and the acumen for the defensive side of the ball. But as just a connector piece and a guy who can probably who will probably knock down a shot at a decent rate, this might be somebody to kind of get now and just allow him to come along. This is probably the perfect Oklahoma City uh pickup. This is probably the perfect like Memphis Grizzlies pickup because those two organizations they see they see beyond the weeds, so to speak. Now, another guy who also has been really hot this summer, and people have been long awaited his debut is Jordan Smith Jr. Now

Jordan Smith Jr’s Motor And Ceiling

he's the easiest one to like, and I'm gonna tell you exactly why. He plays at Arkansas, so you know who he plays for. He plays for John Calipari. And what is John Caliperi known for? Getting sweet ass guards to the league. Right? John Wall, Derrick Rose, Tyrese Maxie. The list goes on and on and on, right? Caliperry gets guards that are awesome, and then he makes them more awesome, and then they go to league and become stupid. What do I like about Jordan Smith Jr.? He's a tank. He's 6'2, he's 200 pounds already, he's 19 years old, and Kegel have had him at as high as one. Sometimes you see him two. You know what you don't see him as? Five. He's in that top three, usually all the time. The traits that translate is that he has a relentless motor, his defense covers multiple spots, he puts real pressure on the rim, he's a demon in transition, and one uh outlet called him a transition machine. So, what that means is that if he is out in the open court, good luck. Good luck. And if you've seen the highlights, if you've seen the YouTube highlights, they are breathtaking because he got more bounce than else. Okay, he is out there dunking on fools that are six, seven inches taller than him, and he peep he putting people's faces in the rim. Now, the uh the defense, the motor, rim pressure, he has all that concerns. Right. Obviously, three-point shooting is inconsistent. He is six foot two. Great. I'm not worried about that. What we don't have is a wingspan on him as of yet. And when you're six foot two, sometimes when you are getting put in that pick and roll situation, you become the hunted. Okay, and that is hard. Look at our guy Ree Shepard. Now, Ree Shepherd is not the athlete that Jordan Smith Jr. is, but what I'm saying is that usually when you're six foot two, you are the guy that everybody is looking for to put you in pick and roll, and they want to pick on you. Now, as a league guard or a second guard, he has uh he is a lead guard if the ceiling goes way up. He is looking for his shot. Okay, he's looking for Jordan Smith Jr. shot more than he's looking for his teammate's shot. So hopefully what we see with the development, and see this is where Callick Perry is brilliant. This is where Callick Perry really makes his bones, is that he takes guards who are usually score first guards. He allows them to open up the their third eye, and that vision comes along pretty well. So we'll see how this goes throughout this year, and we'll see where Jordan Smith Jr. ends up at the end of this year with the passing and how he's feeding the teammates. Is he sharing the sugar? Like I like to say, all the time. Now, can he score? 100%. Can he defend at the point of attack? 100%. Could he be a combo guard that starts in the league? For sure he can. Now, his ceiling is a high usage two-way guard. That means that the passing has come along. Now, if you want to say Darius Aka and Thomas both went to the NBA after one season at Arkansas, and then we're talking about Malik Thomas, the kid that is now playing at Cleveland and busting people's asses, or whatever, pause on that. Um I mean, again, Caleb Perry's track record is that he takes guards like this all the time. He gives them to the league. And they're usually very successful once they get there. So I'm not putting it past him to kind of file down the rough edges on our guy, Jordan Smith Jr., and get him to be what he needs to be. Now I do have a report that his wingspan is six foot nine. But nobody has measured that. That's that's just a claim that is out there. And let me tell you something. He he has a six foot nine wingspan. There's no doubt that this dude is gonna be able to do some things on the defensive side of the ball. No doubt whatsoever. Now, is he still gonna get picked on and pick and roll? For sure. Because he's dominion in size, he can still be seen over even though he has a six foot nine wingspan. Alright? But in the passing lane, he's gonna be devastating if that's true. We'll see how it all goes. Now the

Bruce Branch III As The Pure Shooter

guy who I like a lot is Bruce Branch III. He's gonna be a BYU, and he is the purest shooter on the board. Yes, he is. Okay, my guy can absolutely stroke it. For sure. 6'7, 190 pounds, he's 18 years old. He resec he reclassified up from the 2027, so then he can be draft eligible this year. He is the best shooter on the board. He's fluid, he has a quick release, and he has elite catch and shoot profile. My man can get the ball and he is off the ground, and that stroke is pretty. Now, in the summer of 2025, on the Adidas circus uh circuit, he shot 39% from three, and he averaged 16 points. Okay, so he was getting it in against elite talent. Um, when you're putting those type of points up at the like Adidas camp, and you know who goes to those camps, the elite of the elite, it's something to think about. It is something to think about. Now, the questions show up about his weight and his assertiveness uh and 119 pounds. He's uh 21 pounds under the benchmark that we're kind of looking for usually. But here's the thing if you can shoot it, you definitely have a spot in the league. Now, when it comes to his assertiveness, I think some of that has to do with what you have asked him to do. Have you asked him to get in his bag and dribble and whatever and then you know uh drive and kick to the corners? If you haven't asked him to do that, then you asked him to be the shooter that he is, then that's probably where we're lacking. But I think with BYU, he'll get opportunities to show that he can pass the ball. They did this with AJ DeWonsta last year, and I think that they'll do the same thing for Bruce Branch the third this year. So BB3 will get his chances at holding the rock, and if he can just drive and make the simple passes to the corner and what have you, I think he'll be okay. Now, if you're asking about what his role is in the league, realistically, right now, he's a starting three in D wing. His ceiling is a connector with secondary creation, and his star outcome is low to moderate. That's because we haven't seen the creation yet. If the creation comes along, fantastic. Now, there's a record out there that his wingspan is 7'1. That's excellent. You know how much I love it. Uh, it's the hardest tool to fake, but nobody has measured him yet. So we'll obviously get those reports when he goes to Chicago to the draft combine or whatever the case may be. But, you know, maybe we'll get a better read on this as the gear goes along. But you know, here at Frontrunner Podcast Collective, we're gonna stay on top of this for sure for you. Now, I'm not here's my final say on it on it is that he shoots it at such an elite level, and the range is really good, and he has a a repeatable motion that is you're not gonna have to fix his jump shot. That's what I'm trying to say. This is a clean jump shot, this is something that can be repeated over time and time again, and he can get it off at whatever level he needs to get it off at. So, Bruce Grant the third, to me, is a guy that is definitely gonna come in and get you buckets. If the wingspan is what they say it is, he's also gonna be able to help you on defense because here's the one thing of the tape that I've seen is that he is a willing defender, he's willing to put his nose in there and defend dudes that are bigger than him, uh, dudes that are smaller than him. He is a guy who wants to put pressure on the ball. So that just the competitiveness, and then if we can just get him to like learn principles, and at BYU, he's gonna learn some principles. I think we're gonna get a really good uh robust panoramic view of what Bruce Branch the third really is. So I'm looking forward to seeing him as this season gets started. The last

Luigi Suigo And The Big Man Return

guy that we need to talk about is he's in the Big East, is Luigi Suigo. He's a seven foot three center from Italy, 19 years old, he measured out at 7'3 without shoes. He's already 289 pounds at the combine with a recorded 7'6 wingspan. He hits all the marks as far as what you want out of a center. Uh, he withdrew his name from the draft this last June to play at Villanova. Most mocks have him as a late first rounder. Now he is eyeing the top ten, and the reason why we had him on the list is this unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it, there's a guy in San Antonio by the name of Victor Wimbayama. Okay, that dude is a freaking unicorn, they say he's seven foot four, he's more likely seven foot six or seven foot seven. I don't want to, you know, I don't want to call it because my man keeps swearing to guy that he's seven foot four, but you look hella bigger than everybody else. But why are guys like uh Luigi Suego coming into the league? They're coming into the league because the big man is back, and you gotta have a big man to deal with Victor Winbanyama. Now, you can tell me, oh, it's the other bigs too, and blah blah blah, and all this other and that I got you. You're doing this because it's Victor Winbanyama. Let's be real about what we're talking about right now, okay? So, Victor is here now. Some some idiot called this dude the Italian Wimby, and I'm gonna tell you right now, his game is nothing like that. Okay, so whoever's calling him this, stop doing it. Because he don't have all of the skill set that Victor does. He ain't bringing the ball up the court. Can he shoot it? I seen clips that he can shoot it from the three. Is he as flexible and as agile as Wimby? No, he is not. He's a drop center. That is what he is. His movement skills aren't as great as that. If he turns out to be, um, I'm trying to think, like Kessler light. Actually, Kessler can move his feet. I'm trying to think of like uh Nurkic. Nurkic. If he turns out to be Nurkic, we're cooking with gas. But to say that he is the Italian Victor Wambayama is disrespectful. It's disrespectful. Don't say those things. Now, does he have an offensive game? Yes, he does. Can he re can he protect the rim? He can protect the rim if he's underneath the rim. If he is being pulled out into space and then you're asking him to get back, that is not gonna happen. There are gonna be some slashing wings that are gonna take it to the hole and dare him to block it. So I I expect some early foul trouble for our guy until he gets uh up to speed on the speed of the college game. And then when he gets to the pros, he's gonna need another little more time to get caught up to the speed of that of that game as well. Because there's a huge jump between college and pro basketball. We all know this. Um yeah, if he turns out to be uh Zach Edy from Memphis, you that's what you're looking at, right? With an outside shot. That's not bad. So what have we learned about the top five or the top not top five, but the five guys that we looked at today? They all have lost, they all are not coming in as complete or polished prospects, they all have something to offer the game for sure when it comes to that, but is this the draft class where you know you're looking at like you're salivating over the top five and you're looking at and then you take a second glance and you're going like dude, there's some guys at like the nine position or the 11 position that I want. No, no, it's not. But if you look at the draft cleanly, if you look at the draft with pure spirit and heart, you can say, hey, this is a guy that can work on my team, this is a guy that can help us, this is a guy who can be in our top eight rotation, and he will be able to give us productive minutes wherever we think wherever we can uh develop him to, and what have you. So I think there's a lot of guys in here, and we'll get to most of them this year. Uh, we'll have our big board up sometime by the first of the year, no doubt. And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised about some of the guys, and here's the thing there's always a couple of dudes that come out of the woodworks that we weren't expecting. Remember the rise of Yaxel Lundigberg this year, this last year. Did anybody see that coming? No. So we'll see how it all goes. Now, we need to get to a topic that I waited to talk about, and you don't have to give me some space on this one because this one is going to be messy. So

Tatum Brown Cold War Timeline

we need to break break down this Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum War of Words that have gone on that now has turned into some kind of telenovela that you usually see on uh Univision. Okay. What do you call it when two guys win a title together? They stop talking, trade shots through emojis, and then the team broadcaster starts doing PR live on TV. That's not a feud, that's a season of reality TV, and I've got the challenge, the love of hip hop below deck, and 90 day fiance and big brother all in one in this segment. It's about to get real crazy, so buckle up, go get you a nice drink, get you a little snack because we need to talk about this Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown energy that is going on. Through social media. The story went from frigid to farce in five stages. And the sixth is booked in November 10th in Philadelphia. Okay. The laughs only work if we understand the structure first. So we're gonna go and do both of those. We'll start with the temperature from December till now. Uh organizations actually handle this because the real answer is that it isn't one on Twitter. Now, disclosure, because I owe you that. I spent 15 years in Boston. Okay. Jalen Brown has always looked at himself as a number one. Now the Celtics have told you that Jason Tatum. And they did it again when they traded Jalen Brown. That Jason Tatum is their number one. That never sat right with Jalen Brown. Now, when he won the Eastern Conference MVP, and then the NBA Finals MVP, he thought that was going to put some respect on his name, and that that maybe that the organization, the Boston Celtics, would look at him as at least some sort of like 1A, 1B type situation, whatever the case may be. Now, we're gonna fast forward a little bit. Jason Tatum blows out his Achilles. They think he's done for the year. All of that. Now, Stevens, we're gonna talk about the trade in one second. When it happened, Stevens starts tearing down, Brad Stevens, there front off exec, starts tearing down the team. You know, we start trading pieces off, whatever the case may be. Corzingas is the first one to go. There's a couple others to go because this is going to be the season that maybe the Celtics don't really contend. You know who wasn't on that situation, he wasn't on that energy whatsoever. Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown averaged damn near 29 points a game, had his best statistical season of his career, and kept the Boston Celtics afloat, and they were an absolute contender in the East last year. Now, Jason Tato comes back with 16 games to go. He helps out. He's not obviously he's not fully back from the Achilles injury. He's more of a facilitator, a connector, whatever the case may be, and we get them, and we'll talk about their record, and then we'll talk about how what happened in the uh playoffs momentarily. Let's get to Stevens. On the record, Stevens says of the trade that traded Jalen Brown again. We are just coming off 28.9 points a game. Okay. Stevens says the trade was about cap and usage. Off the record, league sources say that Brown was frustrated of being shopped. Both are in evidence and will be deal with this conflict. Here's how we're having fun with this. Every stage gets a show. Big brother for the blind side below deck for the captain's call 90 day fiance for who told who what love and hip hop for the shade and the challenge for the fade and the finale. Alright. So let's start. Stage one starts in December. Jalen Brown with Tatum out after his Achilles says that this is his favorite season. He says again in February the same thing. That this is his favorite season. Not the championship season where he was the finals MVP. Not the season where they hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. He and Jason Tatum. He says the season where he's alone is his favorite season. A lot of people kind of did a side eye. You saw eyebrow raised. You saw a little, you saw the emoji where you put your hand on your chin and you go, hmm, why would he say something like that? Because it's the truth to him, fool. That's why. He was like, yo, I am tired of that light-skinned Negro, okay, getting all the praise, and I'm over here doing the heavy lifting. Jalen Brown has been a dog since he came into this league. Now, I'm not throwing any shade on Jason Tato. He's spectacular. He is a great player. Uh he has a lot of skills, shoots the ball very well. Couple things that he doesn't do that Jalen does a little bit more of is that he turns he doesn't turn the ball over as much. And he seems to be able to kind of think through the game where Jalen Brown will use his superior athleticism, his strength, and his just dogged determination to get to the hole or get to his spot and be able to do things. Now, the organization had a problem with that, and I'll tell you why. Because Jalen Brown likes to work in that mid-range situation. And you say, well, well, if he's successful, why does anybody care? Kevin Durant has made a career out of it. The difference between Kevin Durant and Jalen Brown, two things. First of all, branding. Okay? KD, even though he has his quirks, has his little situations, his little stumbles on social media, people unilaterally love KD. Because it's like, even when KD messes up, it's like, well, that's KD being KD. Alright? That's a first and foremost thing. The other thing is Jalen Brown has always been salty towards the media. Okay? He thinks they have an agenda against him. He thinks he they have an agenda against how he does and what he does his thing. Not just on the court, but off the court. Okay? So you have that. Now, we get back. He says it's his favorite season. Do you know when Jay when Jason Tatum came back? 16 games left in the season. 13 and 3. That was the record with Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum on the court last year. It all comes to an abrupt end in the first round when they lose to the 76ers who come back from a 3-1 deficit. Okay? To win that series. Critics like Stephen A. Smith, among them, pointed out at the timing, Missoula says there is no tension that comes from these comments that Jalen Brown said about that this is his favorite year when I'm solo dolo by myself getting these buckets. And why did this light-skinned person have to come back and ruin it for me? I could have had all the shine, done what I needed to do, and led Boston to the promised land. We still don't know. We we don't know about that. We don't know if that's true or not true, but they went down 3-1 to the 76. They they lost after being up 3-1 to the 76ers. So before the trade, league sources told Boston Globe Adam uh Himmelsbach, who does great work for the Globe, said that Brown had grown frustrated with the organization approach after his career year. Scores illustrated Chris Maddox said that the Twitch streams caused headaches in the front office. Boston reportedly shopped him, including in the Giannis Anti-Tacumpo package. Now, if this was Big Brother, this is the diary room and everybody's smiling in the house. While the others the other one is out of the house and the rest of the cast is going, okay, who is that for? Laugh handled from the sports hub calling caller named Rob from Rhode Island put leadership void to Missoula live on the air. Rob had notes. Then July came and the production got serious. Stage two the Cold War begins.

Emoji Receipts And PR On Air

On July 1st, the trade is reported. On July 6th, it is official. Jalen Brown goes to the 76ers for Paul George. Two first, two seconds, Stevens Stevens, Brad Stevens, who is the front office exec, and the owner, and I want you to remember this. Bill Chisholm, the owner, the new owner, by the way, because when Wick Grossbeck was in the building, there was never a thought of trading Jalen Brown. Now, you can say he traded, he um he sold the team just before the kitchen got hot. You can do whatever you want, but I'm gonna tell you right now, anytime there was a report, and this is before they won their championship, because remember, there was a lot of years there where Boston was very close and did not make it. Okay, so now we get back to Bill Chisholm, and they say, This is about optionality, and this is about cost of two max level players, high usage players. Tatum was not consulted, Steven says, Neither side was disgruntled, so Stephen says now here's the thing. First of all, you got bucked back Paul George. How much money does Paul George make? Oh, he makes basically the same amount of money as Jalen Brown. Oh, you didn't want to give Oh, you didn't want to give Jalen Brown the extension. Gotcha. Understand. Okay. Bill Chisholm, ton of money. Didn't want to give Jalen Brown the extension. Cause then too much money would have been caught up in two players. Okay. Gotcha. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. Then Sham Sharania says that their personal relationship was close to non-existent as you could ever have over in the last year. It was a tale of two different people. Paul Pierce asked whether Shaq and Kobe hung out. Hmm. Mm-mm. Yeah, they did for a little while. And then Kobe got sick of Shaq because he was like he's never in shape. That wasn't the case here. That wasn't the case that Jalen Brown had all these like things that kept him from doing his job. Jalen Brown was always in shape. Jalen Brown didn't have a ton of injuries or whatever. And I'm not saying that Tatum did. I'm just telling you that that's not where the wedge between these two came. The wedge between these two dudes started a long ago. When they were talking about this being Jason Tatum's team. And that dude, Jalen Brown, took that shit to heart. He never felt that. He never felt that it was Jason Tatum's team. He always said maybe it's collectively both of ours. Um but he's always thought like when the chips were down and when they needed a bucket, he was the one getting it. So keep that in mind. The athletic Shakyah Shaquila Taylor wrote this. As many of us have experienced at work, they were just co-workers that clock in, did their job together, and then went home. And this is where it turns into below deck. The owner and the captain make the call. The crew member gets let go in the middle of the charter. It's not personal, it's the budget, it's the schedule. No yelling, no confrontation, just polite galley and a relationship shams cause as close as non existent as you could have. Nothing funny yet, and that is why it works as a setup. Now here is where it turns from cold to confused. Stage three, the misunderstanding. From August of this year 2026 to October 21st of this year. In August, Jalen Brown asked whether he talked to Tatum since the trade. He said not really. In October, Tatum says in a video that he just got off, caught off guard as the rest of the world. Brown says he was kept in the dark. And Steven says that he had several discussions with Jalen Brown. Somebody's not telling the truth. Um in person. That is one snippet, so verify that. Okay. This is where it goes 90 day fiance. I told you about the move. Nobody told me about the move. We had several discussions. Everybody remembers the family meeting differently, and nobody's lying, apparently. And the big brother of it all is this the blind side. Both house guests say, I have no idea. The head of household says, We told everybody. And then somebody posts a hat emoji. And if you don't know what that means, somebody's calling cap. And if somebody's calling cap, somebody's saying somebody's lying. So Brown answers the video that Jason Tatum says, I was completely off guard by this trade. Brown responds in the most brown way possible. He puts up a blue cap emoji on the 23rd of October. Tatum scores 36 against the Knicks and says he has no beef. He says he called he called and texted Brown the day of the trade and says he would welcome a conversation. Who says the fans are telling each other to go get their park on ready? Let's go. Tatum says, own words that night, we're in in entertainment business. Me personally, I'm not an off-the-court entertainment guy. Taylor read that as a subtle dig into Brown's Twitch streams, and we are too old to be having our relationship discussed on X, Y, and Z on the internet. We are now in the love and hip hop phase of this situation. Somebody answer a whole video with one emoji. That's not a cloud back, that's a receipt. The shade is in the hat. Okay. Then the other guy goes on in front of a camera and says, you know, I'm not into the show. I'm not into the reunion couch. I'm not into, you know, getting on Twitch and saying all this stuff and whatever the case may be. You can sit there and call it what you want, but we have gotten into a war of words or a war of word by one guy and a war of emojis by another guy. Okay. So where do we end up? How does this go? This is where it gets real beefy now. Stage 5. Farce. October 26th to November 1st. Brown says there is no beef. Though a little lamb chop, and he says Tatum has a great PR team. That Monday, Brian Scalagrini on his radio show, says Brown asked for a trade. Then walks it back on TV. A list of demands, not a trade, demand. Tuesday on XM serious XM. He says Brown has been playing the victim. Wednesday. Brown says he never demanded a trade. And that's he loves Cal. Meanwhile, on the Celtics own broadcast, Scalagrini jokes that if he were doing PR for Tatum, he would point out who led the league in turnovers. A team employee on the teams broadcast said PR work out loud. So who's following who and what receipts are being read? I'm gonna tell you right now. This is getting spicy. Let's get more into it. Check this out. Thursday caller or in July, a social media personality in LeBron circle claimed that he ignored each other's at Cannes Nightclub. That is a rumor. A private life claim unverified. This is between Jalen Brown and LeBron James. Okay, if this was where a show goes off the rails, a man cannot say no beef and then say then a season table. I like to enter this as into record. And the friend who only said that everyone's thinking the classic cast member friend says it on radio, then walks it back on TV, says it again the next day, then Brown answers, says, I love Scal. That's the challenge. It's just the game. I love you. To the guy who put his name out there for elimination. The team employee doing PR on the team's own broadcast. That's not a rumor. That's a bit. So does an organization that actually deals with all this.

What Past NBA Feuds Teach

Let's go into the history. This ain't the first time we've seen this. Shaq and Kobe has done this. It was ugly. Does anybody remember what if you weren't around for 2004? It was the greatest soap opera that had ever lived. This was awesome general hospital type shit going on every single day. We had people going to Kobe and Kobe saying, you know, just passive, not really passive aggressive things, just matter-of-fact things about Shaq. And then Shaq saying he loves his little brother and that he's still the leader of the team. That was what was going on in the Lakers locker room as they were going for a three-peat that never happened because the Detroit Pistons knocked off a very dysfunctional Lakers team. Now we fast forward to 2018. Jimmy Butler goes full uh whatever you want to call it. This dude went crazy. He asked for a trade September 18th, October 10th, he goes to Thibodeau in the GM and says that Towns and Wiggins are trash, and then proceeds to take a bunch of the third string team and goes out during that practice and absolutely destroys Carl Anthony Towns and Wiggins and says, You want to pay them before me? You want to pay those two guys before me? Walks off the court, goes into a complete interview with Rachel Nichols and says, Hey, you know, it is what it is. Want more? We got more. 2018 again. It was a good year for beef. Draymond Green and Kevin Durant get into it, and Draymond Green undresses KD on the bench on national TV. Calling him a B word, calling him like, oh, oh, you already gone. We already know you leaving, and stuff like that. So, we've seen a lot of beefs out here. But here's the bottom line. In 2026, the Celtics traded Jalen Brown. Okay. Did they trade him to the did they trade him to a different conference? No. They traded him not just to not even a different conference, they traded him within the division. They took back somebody who is seven years older. Paul George is 36 years old. They make basically around the same amount of money. Oh, by the way, Paul George has had extensive knee surgeries, leg issues, what have you. So it's not like you're getting apples for apples. Okay? That's that's to go there. Now, what's next? November 10th. Everybody be ready. Okay? We are going to have a Boston Celtics Philadelphia matchup. And if you think for one second, nobody's gonna be talking about this, you are absolutely crazy. Browns last season in Boston, 29 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists. In 71 games, they had 56 wins. Yes, they lost in the first round, early exit, what have you. Tatum is 28, and Brown just turned 30. They were 13 and 3 together when they were on the floor last year. So as far as getting as far as productivity on the floor, there was never issue. This is literally being about whose team it is and why isn't I'm not getting enough credit from Jalen Brown's point of view. Now, Jason Tatum has been the good soldier for the Boston Celtics the whole time. Is this a upper management situation? No, I do not blame Brad Stevens. I do think that the Enoch came from Bill Chisholm himself, the owner of the team, and said, Hey, we don't need to be in the second Apron. We need to make a decision on these two dudes. And since we got one dude who's kind of a little militant about the situation, and we got this other guy who is team boston all the way, great in the community, great on the commercials, and what have you, we want to put it around him. Let's jettison Jalen Brown off. Remember that book BS about oh uh analytically, Jalen Brown was the seventh best player on our team. Jalen Brown, who scored 27 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, is the seventh best player on your team. For sure? Are we are we there yet? Is that what we doing? Listen, I'm not here to make up your mind. As listeners, what I want you to do, reach out to me either on X or what have you. On X, my Twitter handle is at frontrunner PC. We have another Twitter hand Twitter handle or X handle. It is socially underscore FRPC. Both work. Let us know what you think about what we're talking about right here. Cause here's the thing. We need you in the comments, we need you crazy, because you know what? I don't think this is over. I do not think this is over. And what I think is gonna happen is that we're gonna have more war awards as we continue this season. At the end of the day, my best estimation is that the organization made a call and they said we need to be more physically responsible, and we do not want to be up against this luxury, this um, this uh this tax apron, this second tax apron, because it's too punitive for us to do anything with, and we need to retool on the fly. Now, when you start to sell us that you're saving money and flexibility with Paul George when they make basically the same amount of money, and Paul George is 36 years old, and Jalen Brown just turned 30 and doesn't have nearly the injury history that Paul George has. I call cap like Jalen Brown calls cap. So, that is our podcast for today.

Closing Message And Where To Find Us

So, I want to thank everybody for listening. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Please, if FRPC is your spot, do us one favor. Share this episode with one person in your group chat that needs to hear it. Pull up on us on X and Instagram and subscribe wherever you get your pod. So our X account again is at frontrunnerpc and at socially underscore FRPC. Our Instagram account is at frontrunnerpc. Alright. Also, we are on the Tiki Talks. Yep, I called it Tiki Talks because I'm old and that's what I like to call it. And we are FRPC events on that. You know what I'm saying? Find us there. We got a lot of uh stuff up, uh, a lot of entertaining stuff up there for you as well. And we are also on YouTube. We got shorts there, we got the podcast there. Go get it. Um, it is there for consumption. We appreciate your listenership. We appreciate who you are and growing our product. We love you for that. Thank you so much. Now, before I get out of here, the best part of you is still you, not your win-loss record, not your timeline, or your algorithm, or your manicured IG account. Just you. Surround yourself with people who actually give you light, the ones who bring you insight, the joy, and the real accountability that you need to hear. That's your max deal. Appreciate those people out loud and do not hesitate. Do not wait till later. That is not promised to you. We're your hoop family here at FRPC. We're going to get loud. We're going to be wrong sometimes. And we're going to come back and own it. Because we always will respect your brain. Because no because anybody can yell a take. Very few can actually defend a thought. Until the next episode, keep your mind sharp, your heart open, and your circle tight. And protect your peace like cap space, like the Celtics have. And never waste it on bad basketball or bad energy. I'm Vince, your host. We are out. See ya.