NBA 2023-2024 Recap: Key Takeaways, Rising Stars, and Playoff Highlights

[00:00:12] It's Monday, you know what time it is Front Runner Podcast Collective is back on the air I am your humble host Vince and thank you for joining us today What we have today for you in the rundown We're gonna talk about game five what we can expect

[00:00:30] We're not leaving with that. We're gonna talk about Some of the things that we learned in the NBA over this last 20-2023 and 2024 season We're going to focus on

[00:00:45] some of the other things that are going on around the league and we're gonna get to a couple of nudes and notes which Then we'll talk about the finals Clay Thompson what's going on there and We want to button up a couple things from

[00:01:00] last week in regards to the Laker situation and their coaching opening so That is the pot and then What we need to do is talk about the socials first and foremost We will have a power ranking on this show come Wednesday and

[00:01:23] I can't thank you enough for the Mantra that is being used out there for be a friend and tell a friend It's working out tremendously We are Record numbers are coming in every single day. So I appreciate people who are telling people about the podcast and Really?

[00:01:44] Enjoying what we're putting out there because we do it for you Independently three times a week. We put our heart and soul into this and we thank you for joining us

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[00:04:44] Now let's get to the pot Okay, would I start doing a couple years ago and this was privately no This is not something that I had out there on the internet whatsoever. I Wanted to look at a season totally go back look at my notes

[00:05:00] see if there was something in The season I could see that Might be a trend right whether it's a style play coaching philosophies Players on the ascend whatever the case may be so it gave me kind of a scrapbook for the year, so to speak and

[00:05:24] What I wanted to do is kind of go through the couple things that learned over the 2023 2024 season and the first thing that we want to talk about is that Youth has been served especially in his playoff So we're in a situation now that you have

[00:05:48] Dallas who has a young superstar and Luca Donchich Who is 25 years of age and I'm gonna take this time To the Dallas fans out there. I heard you on social media a little bit in regards to what we put out there On Luca Donchich on the YouTube channel

[00:06:12] Made fun of him a little bit. It was all in good fun Calling him a Karen Because of how he acts his antics on the court The funny part about it is that it's not like something He's been doing for short term

[00:06:32] Their coaches back in Slovenia that talk about his antics in the same way at the age of 15 again for him to get to the next level for him to really Get himself at that level where it's it's unapproachable

[00:06:50] Where we can't doubt his stardom as far as that's concerned Oh, there's a couple more levels that he can get to and I think the maturity level is something That he can get to and whether it's fun or

[00:07:07] You think it's in bad taste or whatever the case may be that's fine, we're just using things that are in in the lexicon of what the Some the young kids are talking about now and I know that Karen was something that was like 15 like 10 years ago

[00:07:25] But it's something that they know about and we're trying to bridge the gap between We want everybody to get this podcast. So I hope the Dallas fans weren't too offended by Me talking about your boy complaining a lot But he is one of the young superstars

[00:07:46] we made him our NBA MVP this year here at FRPC and Then the other thing is that you saw Oklahoma City you saw the emergence of ant in Minnesota You saw Indiana get a taste Boston is still incredibly young with their two stars

[00:08:07] and then you see the emergence of these other stars that are coming up and will Get into some of them when we get into some of the other things that we learned throughout the year, but

[00:08:19] You're seeing the changing of the guard happen and it's happening in real time the the Jordan retirement was It was abrupt because It was contractual and then he had retired like three years previous or whatever like four years previous or whatever

[00:08:44] And that was because of a lot of things go look it up Some people will tell you was gambling some people will tell you he was burnt out and he really wanted to try something else

[00:08:55] I know what it said in the last dance, but there are people out there who say differently He but this is not an indictment on Jordan what this is Talking about what we learned this year, but we're seeing this change of the guard

[00:09:13] And we didn't get it with Jordan and they didn't get with Kobe because Kobe was a He had the Achilles injury. It really sapped his last couple years So we only got really a fragment of what Kobe was in the last three years the Duncan thing

[00:09:31] He was so quiet So I went out and he was gone Then you had Kevin Garnett but this Class the Steph Curry's that Kevin Durant's of the world the James Harden's of the world LeBron is in that category

[00:09:51] They've been holding on for so long it has such a standard of excellence and dominance for so long Now that this new crop has come up Some people Some people are willing to see the new crop come up and go with it

[00:10:08] But I thought that the the ratings were widely Disrespectful to the talent that's going on on the court right now and I definitely understand that you might not think that Jason Tatum isn't at the level of LeBron James or when you talk about when you talk about a

[00:10:29] Star like Steph Curry Maybe you don't have the sizzle with late Jaylen Brown or no because Kyrie Irvin's been a very I guess tone down Since he's I got to Dallas or whatever the case might be so that's a good thing But the actual basketball is

[00:10:47] Been great the back-and-forth chess my chess massive matches between Joe Missoula and Jason Kidd have been interesting to see what? Jason Kidd has had to use What depths of his bench of his rotation that he's had to go into to find something that worked?

[00:11:08] And I find it really interesting because some people what's the word I'm looking for they're so dogmatic attuned to a certain a certainty of their roster and When something goes wrong or something goes awry to see

[00:11:25] People not be able to be flexible enough to go. Okay, this wasn't working. So we got to try something different You know, let's credit Jason Kidd and a credit to his maturity and his development as a coach These are things that we probably did not see in Milwaukee

[00:11:41] Maybe we did not get to see them full-fledged in Brooklyn. There was a learning situation that went on He was a part of Frank Vogel staff and things of that nature so I think we're seeing some development coaches and then go to the other side with

[00:11:58] Missoula and you see his development you see what he has grown into He definitely plays a certain style and they stick to that style no matter what we think of How maddening Boston is by giving up these leads and and things of that nature

[00:12:19] Boston has a set style they believe in the philosophy and they play to that philosophy Tweaks here and there for sure, but Usually they play to that philosophy now getting back to Youth is being served those two teams

[00:12:39] we talked about them talked about the coaches too, and I think coaching does make a difference and in giving Kudos to the coaches and maturing and developing it's something that this podcast will shout out more often than not because

[00:12:54] It might be boring to some but I actually think it's something that we Don't do enough of when We could I think it's part of the game I think it's part of the tapestry of the game and I think that we should lean into it more

[00:13:13] So you can get a more robust look at what you're watching on TV The coaches are just as much the characters of this play as the players Sometimes in really beneficial ways and sometimes in such adversity or adversity a ways

[00:13:30] That it's it's comical shouts out to those two coaches and making adjustments now. We also talked about Minnesota Denver still very young yolkage is turning 29, but Michael Porter jr Jamal Murray still young guys out in the league

[00:13:47] Then we had a pretty much a full zanyan year and then unfortunately he got hurt against the Lakers I think right before the plan and That was the end of that we have quite a bit of new blood at the top and I'm looking forward to

[00:14:06] How this talent continues to develop SGA was great this year What a great year for Kobe white in Chicago. Let's shout him out a little bit Kobe did his thing. He got the opportunity and he showed his back and

[00:14:22] We'll see how it goes into the into this next year for Kobe white and the Chicago Bulls Now the next thing that personally what we've learned here in this NBA season is that length is back Biggs are back, baby whoo and

[00:14:44] I'm gonna tell you right now. It's back in a big way Because if you look around the league You look at what's going on you look at the top four that was left in the playoffs the Celtics had Christoph Porzingis, I know he was hurt

[00:15:00] most of the playoffs but During the regular season. He played a vital role and we saw it in the first two games of this NBA finals Then you have Al Horford

[00:15:11] You have Jason Tatum I put Jason Tatum in there because of the fact that he's so long and he definitely can help weak side Then you get the math right you got Derek Lively second. You got Daniel Gafford You got PJ Washington. You got Maxie Cleve

[00:15:31] The Minnesota Timberwolves had Rudy go bare call Anthony Towns Nasreed Then you have the Pacers who had Miles Turner Pascal Siakam Ovi Toppin and they didn't even use their fifth overall selection out of the

[00:15:50] 2023 draft which was a Jairus Walker who seemed to have a really good season in his G League performances And then if you want more proof How about some of the young guys the young Gunners that we saw? this past season We're gonna go with Eric Evan Mowgli

[00:16:09] whatever we are Critical on with his lack of development or offense his defense is Ridiculous is ahead it you don't He's too talented not to score more than what he's doing But you almost can go. Okay, if this is all I'm getting from him the defense alone is

[00:16:35] Excellent Then you have a guy like Walker Kessler now Walker Kessler plays in Utah He had a second year that went up and down. There was injury there was rotation adjustments and things of that nature

[00:16:50] But his first year was great. He still defended the he still defended at the realm very well this year Then you got Chet Hongren Now check Hongren played his rookie season this year I know for those out there

[00:17:07] This was his second season, but it was his inaugural season in the NBA And he was out there doing his thing now the Thing that went on with Chet that we got to see firsthand Was his his ability to switch but also his ability to protect a rim

[00:17:29] This guy is going to be a If win by Yama is gonna be winning defensive players of the year If they're saying that he's gonna win five six defensive players a year girl Chet is probably gonna be on all NBA first team defensive teams with him

[00:17:47] For a long period of time as well. I think that cat is just gonna get bigger stronger He's gonna understand offenses and what they're trying to do to him Physically he'll learn how to use his length more and he will fill out a little bit

[00:18:02] I don't think he'll ever be very Wide what I do think that he can get that like Kevin Durant strength That wiry strength and I think it will serve him. Well as he gets older and as his body matures now we get to Victor win by Yama and

[00:18:22] You know what we think of him This is Whatever size they want to put out there dude is like seven five. He talked about him being defensive player of the year this year and This is with him not really knowing

[00:18:39] What he's doing and also the lack of talent that was around him so can you imagine when he has Just a Level or a couple levels better of talent around him, which looks like hopefully this year

[00:18:56] Hopefully they'll get him at least a point guard and maybe a wing that can throw an entry pass But Victor's length Pronounced itself very well in his first season There were games of five six seven blocks. There were no quadruple go

[00:19:14] There were quadruple double games with points rebounds assists and blocks He had a five by five game. He was just crazy so Victor went by Yama Serves as the last proof of the youth movement that is getting taller and having the wingspan that we're talking about and

[00:19:34] Then you still have the old guard which you have the Joel in beads of the world You have the Yontas and the Tecumbe O's of the world Jokic and ad and Joel and be when healthy is a great offensive player and Really dominant rim protector now Yonis is

[00:19:55] Just both of those things personified. He's max effort all the time. He's trying to grab the rebound He's trying to take it up the court. He's trying to basically Just shove it down your throat basically and then

[00:20:13] You have Jokic and you have the mastery of what he can do as a table setter as somebody who can basically run your offense as Somebody who can orchestrate and put people in the right positions to get the desired result

[00:20:29] Then you talk about on the defensive side. Yeah, he can't you can't really affect shots at the level You will want but to do rebounds at such a high level that

[00:20:42] supersedes it a little bit and allows his defense to because if you only get one shot at the rim guess what good on the defense good for the Denver Nuggets and Then you have ad who had a bounce back year this year. He played 70 games. He was

[00:21:02] instrumental in that Laker defense, which was horrific I Tell you that defense he claimed he cleaned up a lot of mess and If the Lakers are gonna get serious about making any sort of noise in the West

[00:21:19] They are going to have to do something entirely different than what they did this year. I'll tell you that but ad again affect shots Rebounded at a high level and also you have all of these this link around the league and You notice

[00:21:40] What's in the final four? I think what we can now term This situation is that yes, the Bigs are different. They're not gonna be posting up all the time because of the fact that they have

[00:21:54] what we're gonna talk about next and I coined this as if some is good more is better and What that refers to is that You can't just be big the trend is Versatility and you would say to me events. That's been basketball since it started and

[00:22:18] I can understand what you're telling me but not like this Not like this. We didn't have seven foot one dudes Rolling around the court Handling the ball Making three pointers all the time now providing Length may not link that space on the court

[00:22:42] We didn't have all that and I think what the NBA has done is taking a page out of the NFL's playbook And what I mean by that is that if you have multiple ball handlers people who have really good dribble packages

[00:23:00] We see a lot of these dudes in the league. We have Steph, right? The OG we got Jaylen Bronson who got to who has a bag We have Trey Young who has a bag John has a bag Tyrese maxi has a bag

[00:23:16] So we have a lot of dudes in the league SGA. I'm not trying to leave anybody out. So Darius Garland Tyree Salaguer and all these dudes got bags what I'm seeing is is That you see a lot of these in the league now

[00:23:34] This is something that we've had for a tremendous amount of time, but I don't think we've had this amount of dribble skill work in the league at this level so I'm just letting you know that to me it seems like we have a

[00:23:55] concentration level or higher concentration level of these people in the NBA now now With also that being said the other thing that we have seen to come to prominence in the NBA is the

[00:24:10] The hub power wing or if you want to call them the hub big that's the yolkage That's the Damahtis a bonus. That's the Dreymon greens of the world Alcorin Singoon can do this. I think to a lesser extent Chet Hongren

[00:24:28] I think we'll see more of that from him. We thought we were gonna see it from Evan Mowgli We have it we saw a lot of it from Joel Embiid this year Also Hardenstein was very good at it with the Knicks before all the injuries happened and

[00:24:45] Kristoff Porzingis does this as well you see Harald Nail guy Who is adept at passing His either has the ability the vision or The ability to initiate The next action that is gonna take place by the defense

[00:25:08] So he's a step ahead see that in the NBA as well and then you have these Wings out here who? You know how offensive creation this is the LeBron's of the world Zion Williamson Brandon Ingram people like that that have these

[00:25:31] Tremendous command of the black. I didn't I'm sorry Not even that's so rude Luca Donchich of Dallas Jason Tatum and Jamie Brown of the Boston Celtics my apologies guys, but those are the type with the

[00:25:50] Situations where you talk about no wings who can do it have a height to seal with the defense No, they're not not bothered by traffic things of that nature now with Jalen Brown

[00:26:03] The handle still a little shaky of the left hand seems to gotten a little bit better But turnovers still play him a little bit No, the other thing That we see in the league is that it's clear To attack defenses

[00:26:23] The new wave is to have three four even five guys on the court who can attack a closeout Oklahoma City Wants to run this in Boston wants to run five out when they have Kristoff Porzingis. They want to run five out They want the lane open

[00:26:44] Preferably they want a guard in the dunker spot which then can rotate to them backing up to the corner three which rotates the corner three guy out to The wing three which then put somebody above the break you get the picture it's all a dance and

[00:27:04] the way they are setting up these offenses is we're going to utilize the 45 feet that we have Or what is it 47 feet of court that we have on our side of the basketball?

[00:27:19] We're going to go ahead and use it and we're going to stretch you out and we're gonna see how athletic you are and how Good at recognition you are Reading recognition in the NBA has become far more important than we would ever realize then it was 10 15 years ago

[00:27:47] because They're getting the ball out then getting the ball ahead to you see a lot of times LeBron throw an outlet pass up to the front or Because ad is leaked out and he a deal get it. All I have to do is get it up there

[00:28:04] So you see a lot of that too. They want the defenses to attack To be able to have to think about though the entire court and one of the reasons why I felt that The

[00:28:18] Dallas Mavericks were gonna have a problem in this series is because of the fact that if you look at Boston How many dudes can initiate offense all in their starting lineup? Even with the injury to

[00:28:32] Christophe Corazegas and we don't know what his actual playing status is going into game five Within an hour from here. Let me check and see if there's anything out there but as I'm continuing and talk about this Even without him they have

[00:28:51] Enough offensive creation to go ahead and Cause havoc to a defense all the time so for me personally Those are the things that I am seeing in the NBA now the holy grail of offense is Multiple offense

[00:29:17] Initiators with high wall high who IQ see that would your Boston? You see it with Derek White drew holiday a wealth of experience a wealth of control They value the basketball. They're not a really big turnover Typo guard set up. I know it was

[00:29:39] uncharacteristic of drew holiday in game four To turn over the ball and he missed some bunnies in the end of game four, but two guys who definitely value the basketball

[00:29:52] Then they give it enough. They give it enough to Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown allow them to initiate as far as that's concerned Denver another team who has Yo, kids who is a sinner or big however you want to call it I still call them sinners I

[00:30:13] Know I have a couple discord groups out there. But one of my discord groups out there They were so mad that I called Julis Randall wing they were like he's a big

[00:30:26] Whatever dude, he dribbles his ball. She's trees every once in a while. I don't know how much of a biggie is at 6-7 anyway getting back to that Denver Yo, kids handles the ball a lot. He even brings it up to court. Then you have Jamal Murray

[00:30:44] Okay, Michael Porter jr. Is not the greatest ball handler on the face of the planet but a straight line drive to the basket if he pumps face because he does have that skill where he scares you to death because His range is so pure as a three-point shooter

[00:31:04] That you sit there and you just go hmm, I wonder what he's gonna do and His release is so quick. So if he pops And he gets you in this in the air. He's going right by you to the rim and

[00:31:19] Then you have Aaron Gordon who was misclassified Remember in Orlando. He was misclassified as like a number one option Who has some ball handling ability? You don't want him to be like your off like your number one primary offensive initiator put as a secondary on a closeout or

[00:31:42] Being able to have the defense in such a movements. Okay, out of state He can get through the creases and go ahead and yammer anybody in the league Denver has it and then the one team that used to have it is the Golden State Nuggets

[00:31:59] You know what I'm saying jeez Louise Dreyfus, I'm gonna keep that in too. Oh My goodness the Golden State Warriors. I do apologize. Oh, yeah dream on a clay didn't eat any dribbles He was just shooting it. He was shooting that thing

[00:32:16] But in the heyday they had equal dollar Charleston Steph obviously They just had dudes Just lose on top of dudes that can handle the ball and then you had KD and That was just the scary times in the NBA. We don't even like to talk about those times

[00:32:36] I know the Bay Area does and we'll get to them a little while but it's just It's just one of those things that when when you see it and it looks so special and it's you see the ball

[00:32:51] Popping here there everywhere and you can see that people have gotten out of out of the way Allow ego out of the way and just allow the ball to move and find energy and find the right shot It's a pretty thing to watch

[00:33:08] now the other couple things that I don't know if It will happen. This might be on my annual three wishes Podcasts that do and on around Christmas time. So by the way

[00:33:28] In last year, we did a Christmas pot three wishes. We talked about things we wanted to see in the NBA We did get one of them. We did get one of them scoring the foul in a little more I

[00:33:46] Didn't say 90s grass basketball. But damn I'm glad we saw some defense come back to basketball But go check out that pot. It's back in the archives. It was around I think it was December 24th and what if I'm not mistaken but I

[00:34:06] Understand that the three-point shot. Excuse me. I Understand the three-point shot is here. I understand that is part of the game. You should use it as a weapon Here's my only gripes if you want to put it that way and I'll sound like old man on

[00:34:23] Oh get off my lawn type of dude but between the math equation that basketball basically is now like if you shoot 43 is a game and You're you have a decent enough amount of shooters

[00:34:40] You're probably not gonna shoot less than 33 to 34 percent on your bad nights and on your good nights You're gonna shoot light league average, which is 36 37 But if you can shoot 38 39, you're definitely gonna blow a team out

[00:34:55] the one thing that I would like to see a little bit more is Balance and what I mean by that is to set Boston had a stretch in Game three, I'm sorry had something in my throat. I apologize

[00:35:13] They had a stretch in game three and then a little harbour aging to come right, you know in where they went scoreless eight minutes and then they had another stretch where They went four minutes without scoring now the lead was so massive and

[00:35:33] Dallas just ran out of gas that they couldn't catch up with him in game three, but game four Either type Luca came out either tiger Kyrie Irving came out that dynamic duo Exploded they got exactly what they needed the other showed up as well and

[00:35:54] they blew off the Celtics, but We still think that Boston is gonna shoot a bunch of threes and we still haven't had the game where They are they shoot like 45 threes and hit like 21 or 22 of them

[00:36:12] That happened a lot in the regular season we have not seen that in this series really at all so far But I would like to see a little more blending and what I mean by that is when you have these stretches and you go

[00:36:27] Oh, they throw up a graphic on I guess. This is the last year of TNT folks We've been telling you that It was gonna change it looks like NBC is going to get that package It will be NBC ESPN and Amazon

[00:36:47] So get your prime membership together, you know saying because some of the basketball is gonna be on there but basically I don't want to see teams go and see the graphic where the Charlotte Hornets have missed their last 13 three-point shots and

[00:37:06] Then the next shot they take is a three-pointer Can we now try to go to the basket? Is there a way that you know we can fake that three and go to the basket and I think That's the blend. That's the secret sauce

[00:37:24] That if we can find it in the NBA, I think we would have I think we have a beautiful game I think we have an athletic game. I think we have a very exciting game But I think we could get it even just a tad better

[00:37:39] if we can just I Understand that these guys are programmed to shoot threes Yo, we got to get x-mod shots up a night. But if you are a guy in scratch league basketball a

[00:37:55] Really good friend of mine. He was beautiful to watch what he would be in this flow state of playing basketball And if the outside shot wasn't working You can guarantee the next three times. He was going to the hole to try to get foul

[00:38:11] To see that ball go in the basket and then he had back outside He dug a little cocoa on glass alright now I seen it go in the hole now I can step back and Now the rhythm and the flow state are connected again

[00:38:28] And now he can just get back in and start shooting the threes or whatever That's the kind of glass ball that I think I want to see Now will I ever see it? Is it up to me? No

[00:38:41] But I thought I would bring it to you guys's attention. That's about it. What we'll learn throughout the week Again if you guys want to on Twitter or on X hit me up at front runner PC

[00:38:57] Let me know if there was something that you saw in the league that Maybe you didn't hear in What we talked about just a second ago All right now moving on a clay clay Thompson, huh? So clay Thompson is he's basically ghost in the bay

[00:39:17] My man took everything off his IG page Basically what this is gonna come down to is how much? Respect clay is gonna get from the Warriors Or will Orlando give him the godfather offer that people expect?

[00:39:36] Because the rumor out there is that the magic or going to make a hard push for clay Thompson to really At least have somebody of presence That can shoot the three and has some sort of resume

[00:39:55] That you really have to guard against this goo shooting the three which hopefully will open it up for Paulo Grancaro and from Bogdan but I thought it was interesting that clay went to the old-school NFL wide receiver deal situation and pull everything off IG

[00:40:18] You know saying like honestly to tell you truth if I was gonna have clay do it if I was in his in his inner circle. This is how I would do it I Will have clay who is like famous or IG doing IG lives on his boat

[00:40:38] So I will have clay out on the boat doing an IG live you don't have to answer no questions Just get out there and just start talking. I love the bay Love coming out here to the bay and just

[00:40:51] Sailing my well driving my boat to the game and you know how many how many years and how much fun I've had as a gold state warrior and Then you start talking about Orlando. I might be able to get a bigger boat

[00:41:07] I don't know how much more fun I can have in Orlando with a bigger boat That's probably something I would have done on IG instead of just Taking all my memories away That I that I created For almost a decade and a half with the Golden State Warriors

[00:41:26] Just me, you know saying Just me Then we get to our Final piece of thing the final piece of news out here The side eye that was saw around the world a game for NBA Countdown ESPN Steve Smith Malika Andrews Adrian Wojnarowski

[00:41:51] And I think Kendrick Parkins and couple of the Michael O'Bottoms on there and Bob Myers, too They have all these guys up there. It's pretty gang post game show, but they had Paul George as a guest so

[00:42:05] Tim Bontemps who has a rip of ESPN he writes for ESPN He writes good shit We'll say that right now Tim Bontemps if you don't read ESPN Tim Bontemps is a really good writer Usually gives you some good nuggets that come out of his stuff

[00:42:27] but he's gotten real close to Joel and beat and Joel and Tim Bontemps Concocted this situation Joel would be kind of Snuck in to snuck into Dallas Snuck into the arena and as the segment was going on with Paul George here comes Joel and B

[00:42:52] Who if everybody doesn't know I'm sure all my who heads out there know what? Paul George is a impending free agent One of the places that he could go to is the Philadelphia 76ers who currently have about 53 million dollars in cap space Just enough to sign Paul George

[00:43:18] But so Joel and B gets up there and Stephen A Smith asked him a question about what what do you think of this? Finals and what do you think of these teams and no Joel as confident and also as you know

[00:43:32] Controversial as he can be he said I think if we're healthy we could beat this team and we're gonna make some improvements in the offseason and gives Paul George the side eye and

[00:43:47] First of all tremendous work by Tim Bontemps getting that to work tremendous work by just ESPN loosening up the collars a little bit allowing a piece of absolute Internet gold to happen to allow people to absolutely go crazy on the internet about a possible union of Paul George

[00:44:11] To the Philadelphia 76ers now all my information is telling me that Paul George is looking to stay here. He wants to stay here what he is keeping his options open What does that all mean we'll find out I? Guess as soon as the NBA finals in because

[00:44:35] they have decided that if you are a Got a player option or you're an independent free agent You can start negotiating with the team as soon as the finals is over which they've been negotiating For weeks now. I wouldn't be surprised if as soon as Boston is

[00:44:56] Holding the Larry O'Brien The Indiana Pacers come out there and say that Piaz Pascal Siakam assigned a new four-year deal for somewhere in the range of 40 plus to 47 48 plus million dollars a year You know, but yeah

[00:45:17] Those are some of the things that happen in the NBA quick note. Okay Laker fans Tell you this right now. I know you upset about about the executive who said that What's been going on with your franchise over the last seven years is been embarrassing? dude

[00:45:43] We have had When this next coach gets hired JJ ready When this dude gets hired This would be coach like number seven In 12 years man. That's a lot of coaches. What kind of continuity can you build? What kind of program do you have? if

[00:46:10] You're going through coaches like that It does show some lack of direction inside the Laker front office it shows some sort of On what you actually are looking for From a coach does it change when the players mind change?

[00:46:32] Because that seems like a bad look if you're doing it that way So I definitely understand that the Laker fans are upset about some of the statements Well at the end of the day We're giving you as Much information as we can without killing sources one and also

[00:46:57] Allowing you to have a better window into what's going on. I understand people's frustration, but I rather give you real information Then no offense to some of the guys out there who cover the Lakers

[00:47:16] But these like crazy trades that oh we can get Trey young and we don't have to give up all Our draft picks to get them first of all. We don't want Trey. That's the first thing secondly You think Atlanta's just gonna give enough for free a

[00:47:36] Dude that average is like 2526 points a game you think they just gone. Oh here you go free This 24 25 year old talent we just gonna give them up for free Okay

[00:47:50] With that being said the other thing that I want to talk about because I did say that we were gonna have draft stuff We are compiling a list and what-have-you

[00:48:00] We will have some of that towards the end of the week. It will probably come out most likely Friday but I will say this I Have watched a ton of Read Shepherd tape a ton of read shepherd tape also watched a ton of Zachary Rissachet tape now

[00:48:28] Almost say it like this my mind is telling me Rissachet because of he's 6-9 in The dribble package is okay. We didn't get to see it a lot in France I told you about his deal that he was on a really competitive team

[00:48:50] That made the playoffs and they made him a 3andd dude So they didn't allow his offense initiation to really flourish or develop on that team But from what I have gathered from Scouts who have seen him. He does have it

[00:49:09] Now, I don't know at what level it is We will see But it's hard to pass up on 6-9 that can shoot it and can defend it but read shepherd if you go look at his off just catching shoot numbers It's

[00:49:36] 1.36 per possession and I think his pull-up dribble is Somewhere in the 1.32 points per points per possession Which puts him in like the 96 percent percentile the other stat put him in the 99th percentile The dude can flat-out shoot it and he looks for people now

[00:50:06] My only reservation with him is that he's 6 1 and a half he doesn't get over screen, but he has a a Not just a craftiness. He has a fluidity to his game That is it's hard to match and if you can put the right pieces around him

[00:50:28] That will be beautiful of that guy right there to me I got a look at other people but read Shepherd is high on my list and I have to probably thank Nico for that too

[00:50:42] No, you guys haven't heard that name in a while, but did talk to them. I can't tell his story He would have to tell his story and he is not ready to do so once all that happens and whatever

[00:50:56] my deal get that straight, but we do talk and When we talked about re shepherd we talked about just is it crazy to think Could this kid be like no top top three? Hell. I don't know if he's I don't think

[00:51:12] He can be taught to if you squint long enough now Our paw would be scoot, but here's the thing with scoot Scoot didn't have nearly the shooting acumen that re shepherd has oh By the way re shepherd has a 42 and a half inch vertical Just as a FYI

[00:51:40] 42 and a half vertical 42 and a half vertical For re shepherd so my guy can get up All right, that is enough information today. I think I've given you guys enough Information you guys have downloaded stuff. Enjoy game five of the NBA finals

[00:51:59] We will be back on this feed on Wednesday If something really crazy happens in the garden tonight We might do an emergency pod, but we'll see how it all goes But we'll be back on this feed Wednesday. I'm doing aftermath of

[00:52:17] the Celtic series unless something super crazy happens tonight and Then the other thing is this We're gonna get you some more draft stuff. I wanted to wet your whistle today I'll wet your whistle on Wednesday, and they will have a full-blown Friday draft Freaknik craziness

[00:52:40] extravaganza on Friday, all right With that being said the best part of you is you keep people around you surround yourself with people That are going to brighten your life. Don't surround yourself with people who are gonna bring negativity to you

[00:52:56] Do some good in the world and then we'll see you back on this feed on Wednesday dosis