[00:00:00] It's Monday, you know what time it is. It's FRPC Hoops, It's your boy Vince and we're on the air again and it's almost a time of year and I know we've seen a couple of preseason games.
[00:00:27] The end up the analysis that you're looking for today, it's not going to be about that. I'm going to tell you right now what we're doing today is going to get a little bit of fun.
[00:00:37] You know, we'll entry, store them on to what have you, narratives and things of that nature but what we're going to do is we're going to hit the Eastern Conference and then the Western Conference.
[00:00:49] This is going to be like a two-parter, so Western Conference might come out tomorrow and then there are going to be some football or whatever. What we're going to do is we're going to concentrate on the Eastern Conference today and
[00:01:04] we're just going to ask questions, we're going to kind of go through what we see, what we like to draft, if there was anything, no kind of come up. Bear with us, it's going to be awesome. I'm your host, Vince.
[00:01:18] Sorry, I hadn't gotten to that yet and looking forward to doing this with you so we're on this journey together. Let's get to it. The first team that we want to talk about, let's talk about the Orlando Magic.
[00:01:35] So the Orlando Magic, another stellar draft, another piece from the Lucid Hitch Treat, Anthony Black coming to them, Jet Howard coming to them. I mean, with Palo Juan Carole and Franz Wagner on that team, the thing that you are looking to get squared away is the guard position.
[00:02:05] Now a lot of people tell me that Anthony Black is basically the choreographer of that. He might be a couple years away from that, not because he's not physically strong, not because of the fact that we don't think he'd run the coin guard position.
[00:02:21] Let's see what the shot is like, right? That's kind of where we are with all of it. Let's see where the shot is and kind of go from there. With that being said, what some of the story wants with Orlando?
[00:02:37] I have a lot of basketball fans in my life and I have a lot of people who are in an around league. The one thing that I heard a lot is, let's trade for a coin guard.
[00:02:51] When Damian Lillard was out there and now obviously we know Damian Lillard was not ever going to go to Orlando but it was, well, that's the, that's the Blender and weakness. I think the storyline for Orlando is, let's see what we got and I know that seems like
[00:03:15] a lot of what you heard last year but I think with the influx of talent that just came in what jet Howard being like six night in a shooting guard with guard skills can handle
[00:03:28] the ball a little bit but just the stretching of the defense and if that pops. So it's amazing what that could be. And if Anthony Black can just hit league level three corners now he doesn't even have to hit that his first year.
[00:03:47] Let's say he's having around 32, 33 but he's not tended to shoot it and he's doing all the things that you saw they use to do an orchestra. You're looking at the guy in Anthony Black that is the 66, 67.
[00:04:07] He's going to be able to see over guards tremendous, tremendous planning skills at that size and he's going to be able to rebound and do all the little things on defense as well. So I think honestly with the Orlando magic it's a chill out year.
[00:04:27] Let's let's assess what we have and then let's we should have a more full view of what we have going into next year, especially with another draft pick or whatever occasion being.
[00:04:44] Or maybe you say hey, what we have now is enough we can go ahead and now trade this draft pick for a that fits our timeline and it's going to provide us with some leadership that will allow us to go ahead and make that leap into the playoffs.
[00:05:03] But that would be my whole thing with Orlando is listen joy, the young guys, let's see what how that can carve out this niche in the NBA to be. I still believe that he's a right handed Chris Weber, a little bit offensively.
[00:05:24] Defensively early on Chris was kind of used a dog early on. Franz is awesome so you're mean you're good there. It's just like I said we're just looking at a situation where it's a stamp out year and it might be
[00:05:42] a year where Orlando fans get a little antsy but don't this is a growth year allow your kids to develop. I mean, how low is in year two? You know let's get we're let's get some perspective of where we are.
[00:05:59] So you got Franz follow and then you got Anthony black in and you got to Howard. So you still got a real real young team allowed these guys to develop allowing to understand what's going on in the NBA and learn how to play with one another
[00:06:18] in getting into some of these, you know, what I would consider necessary little scrapes and see how they pull out of it and see how they kind of bond together. So that would be my take on Orlando. There's Charlie Hornets are next and they're all over the map.
[00:06:38] You got La Mello Ball who just saw the contract and when healthy is one of the most dynamic point guards in the league can shoot the three ball from a crazy distance. They got Brandon Miller, 6869, sharp shooter from Alabama. He's long he's gifted offensively.
[00:07:07] The knock will be is right now physically as he's struggling to hold down like the three position. I don't think so. I think you have to kind of play them at the two right now.
[00:07:22] But I think they're going to play him at the three and we'll see how that plays out. We got the return of Miles Gridges, I think. I don't know. Let's see what's the latest or this situation. I thought I saw something. Wait, so you got Miles Gridges returning?
[00:07:52] How do you feel about that now at the player on the court? Good floor spacer, good rebounder, credible defender. Not incredible, but credible. And bring some physicality to a team who needs it. You got Mark Williams to show a lot Lee.
[00:08:13] I thought some of the defensive prowess that he was able to show was excellent. And I think you can lean on that. I think that's something that is translatable and into his coming of age into the NBA this year where he's going to play basically a whole year.
[00:08:31] I mean, to me, Charlotte is what is the ownership going to do? Because this is where you are. Because right now, coach, front office, all the M&Lid people whoever was in that building, that was part of the old regime and it's now the new regime.
[00:08:56] Now, they stood at through this offseason, which is somewhat not as rare if you think. But I think they're going to go through the year, get the lead of the land and then I think you will start to see wholesale changes into next year.
[00:09:17] So do I expect a lot of improvement on the court? It really will be up to the development of LMLW. It's going to be excellent. And the, you know, this ascension to this all NBA type of player. Now you're talking.
[00:09:43] If it's a situation of, I'm getting taken out at like the 11 minute mark of the fourth quarter and then getting put back in with like two minutes and 30 seconds ago when the game is
[00:09:59] decided. That's, that's a problem. LMLW is going to have to commit something to the defensive end of the court. And also he will have to get rid of some of the silly passes.
[00:10:14] And I'm not saying take away the flair because that's not what I want to talk about. Keep the funk and your game. But the risk year ones, the risk year ones have to go away.
[00:10:28] Because you're not good enough a team to, you know, oh, we had 17 turnovers and we're still going to win. That's not going to happen a lot for Charlotte. They're going to have to grind out winds
[00:10:39] and they're going to have to make it ugly and LMLW is going to have to take care of the ball. Kind of like he did his first year. He really took care of the ball if you look back because he was,
[00:10:51] there was a lot of the time that year he was almost at a 3-to-1 ratio assist to turnover. So I think this year is more of a transition year for the front office and new ownership
[00:11:03] of the Charlotte Hornets and on the court it's how can LMLW pull you along? So those are some of the little things that are going on and Charlotte. I guess the other team to talk about would be the Washington Wizards, the Washington Wizards,
[00:11:23] you're looking at a situation where I mean this year is basically we're finally going to bottom out they got a new for an office. Michael Winger is in charge of that. He comes over from the
[00:11:38] Clippers. So you're going to see people trying to develop also, you're going to see people try to prove that the contract they got or it was worth it and I wonder if the young guys are going
[00:12:00] to suffer from it. Now the one guy who we don't want to suffer from this is Beloucul Abali. This year to me is can you get Jordan cool to invest in the young guys?
[00:12:17] Hey I understand you're making a ton of money. I understand that you know you're finally free of Golden State but I also need you to help cultivate these young guys and maybe
[00:12:31] and put upon him maybe say hey listen maybe you felt a certain way when you were at Golden State. And here's your chance to pay it forward and pay it in the way that you would have wanted it
[00:12:47] to repay your way when you were at Golden State. And I'm not saying the leadership group at Golden State was not good. I'm just saying I believe when you have the timelines and they're conflicting
[00:13:02] and you're talking about the young guys who are trying to get their paper. And no matter what we talk about in the NBA, I talk about a deep in it's all the time on these podcasts and I'm sure
[00:13:13] you guys wanted to shoot yourself when I talk about it but at the end of the day, coins equals dollars. So I do understand these guys going after it getting their coins and not playing within
[00:13:27] side the construct of a system and you know going a little outlaw to get their coins or whatever. But it is so hard to do that on a team like Golden State when you're talking about the legacy
[00:13:40] of Steph Curry and Clay Thompson in the Drainmont Green. That was just something that was that marriage had to end because unfortunately you had two ideas that were definitely going to bump heads with one another from time to time and it just showed itself last year
[00:14:01] and now they moved on. So this year, literally if you can get Jordan cool to think like that now that's a whole different world for the Washington Wizards. Now that's probably going to be real hard
[00:14:19] to do how long has Ty's Jones there? That's the other question. Ty's Jones best back of Point Guard and the lead coming from Memphis as part of the Marcus Smart Porzinga's uh you know merry go around that happen. Really with something like that, you're just I mean
[00:14:43] this is a valuable piece. Somebody's going to want this towards the trade deadline. Somebody is going to be looking at some of your pieces and these are the type of guys that you can maximize
[00:14:56] and get the first round draft picks for and you're going like dang okay Washington is stop while a little little war chest of first round picks here. So I think that Ty's Jones is tremendous.
[00:15:10] I think he could really help to develop a bilateral abalay if you stick them together on the second unit and we'll see how it all goes but really this year for Washington,
[00:15:21] I'm actually just excited that you guys can enjoy the year of kind of taking and I know that sounds crazy but enjoy the year your development because you do have some guys that should get development. I'm still high on Danny Abdiah, I'm still high on that cat.
[00:15:42] I think that he can provide something to the audience but as far as success and wins and things that nature I know you guys know that you probably have cooked years away from that and who can
[00:15:55] you get in the draft, which we hope to talk about shortly on this pie probably in the next couple of weeks. The other thing that we want to get to is the Atlanta Hawks, the Atlanta Hawks
[00:16:09] it's the same old story. It's trade willing to come off the ball. You know is he willing to get a little more physical on the defensive end and not be a complete he's always going to be a complete zero on defense. That's what makes maybe the whole
[00:16:36] getting off the ball situation even more prevalent for him because I think it will kick start the offense. It will get the ball movement better. It'll allow the Andre Hunter to touch the ball and others. Now, Quins' Knitters there so you're going to expect change.
[00:16:57] Quins is going to have his guys. I don't know who those guys are yet. It looks like AJ Griffin is back in the mix. Jaylen Johnson was a Quins' Knither darling towards the end of last year
[00:17:13] but because of the fact that there were already rotations set up and things at that nature, he couldn't sneak him in as much as he wanted to. But now I think what you'll do is you'll see a lot more
[00:17:24] that going into this year. There was this talk of Capella being traded at one point and really kind of going athlete at every position. I don't know if that's still on the docking. It's that still part of what have you those trade talks seem to dwindle down,
[00:17:46] obviously as we get closer and closer to the season. Nobody's going to want to do anything until you know you get 15, 20 games in and you start to see what your team is lacking.
[00:18:00] Unless you have a Philadelphia 76. I know I shouldn't take a shot like that but really what this year is about is who's team is it? Because over the last couple years, it's been a lot of trade
[00:18:20] young drama, who's run to the team. There seems to be like a dark cloud of the team. There seem to be disagreements between the coach and trade. Trade has a great
[00:18:37] relationship with the son of one of the owners. There just seems to be a lot going on with that and when Quinn Snyder came in, you knew that there was going to be a time where
[00:18:54] rubber was going to meet the road and who was going to be where? You know who is going to be on who side. Really, this is a trade this year. If trade is going to buy into the system,
[00:19:07] he's going to buy into what Quinn Snyder is going to do because no more stable about it. Quinn Snyder runs that step. He runs that team now. He just runs it. I am fervent on that. So really,
[00:19:25] it's who wins out because he can't make this do get fired. I'm saying, he just can't. It's either you conform or you're out and I know that's hard to hear for a lot of my
[00:19:42] ATL fans out there but this is what we're looking at. I hope you guys above all up for a really interesting season and as far as being a successful, they do have the
[00:19:57] talent to really make some noise. I don't know if they're like a 5 seed in that type of round. I think they can mess around or you know get like a 7-8 seed and you know be feisty get into the playoff
[00:20:12] or whatever. But I think that's about the high level of where they could be this year compared to you know what a trade might look like for whoever is going. There's some buzz about
[00:20:34] calm Anthony towns but this is not for this podcast we might have to do do something different with that but we'll see how it all goes. All right, moving on to the next team that we're going
[00:20:47] to talk about let's talk about my M.E. He. Well here's the thing with the M.E.E. He you know they didn't get their goal of winning the championship and they didn't get their goal of Dane.
[00:21:04] So now what do he do right the one thing that you know that he will not do is they will not relit. This team will they will scrap and they will they will scratch and they will be clucky
[00:21:21] and cut and the brain trust over there will figure out what to do and when the time is right to make the move on the next guy right. When you think of Miami you know you can think of
[00:21:42] lost offseason I don't want to go down that route you can think of you know what else could they put in that trade you know it's over let's we can go ahead and talk about myriad of things
[00:21:56] with that but at the end of the day you still got Jimmy you still got bound. Tile he wrote can be a flamethrower the reports of Jaime Hakez Jr. are awesome people seem to love him. He provides
[00:22:14] an energy and a just a a comment awareness of where he is on the court and where everybody else is on the court and people seem to like really playing on the house so I hope he can get over
[00:22:30] I think he has like a little like cap or coin thing going on but hopefully he can get over that break into the rotation. Basically this year is a larger time until the next the next superstar.
[00:22:46] So if you're offer and here's a think what I want to say to you, he culture in Miami he fans because listen I'm not trying to be condescending whatsoever keep in mind it has to be the right
[00:23:03] superstar because here is the problem. The offer that you have for game got out big and basically it was one of those situations that weighed around for three months and then the Milwaukee bit whether
[00:23:18] you like how it all went down or not their bid was better because at the end of the day they got like three first round draft picks they possibly will have more depending on what they do with
[00:23:31] Deondry, Aten in Robert Williams you don't know what's going to happen there so keep this in mind the next superstar will also have to ask for you and that team will have to kind of back with yes because let's say I think if it's done of an initial
[00:23:56] you'll have some you'll have some some other teams looking at that. I think Brooklyn might look at that and you got to wonder could they could have better package together than you would.
[00:24:18] If it's Joe on bead I can tell you right now my amy fans I'm not trying to be mean or anything like this this is just sheer speculation on my part but also just kind of seeing the how the league is shaking
[00:24:31] out Joe on bead that team in New York plays in Madison Square Garden is definitely going to be looking at him and quite a other few teams will be looking at Joe and bead and I think they will
[00:24:50] make they will just out bid you at the end of the day keep in mind you know there are just just teams that you know a piece like that if a piece like that moved could change the
[00:25:07] fortunes of a team drastically immediately usually it doesn't matter if it's the same until the next year but definitely the field the vibe of the city will definitely be better
[00:25:26] one of those one of those guys goes so Miami is just in a holding pattern and they got to wait for the right superstar and here's the other thing that we might want to think about is it actually
[00:25:40] a superstar do they need ask yourself that question could it be a Jeremy Grant and maybe some maybe a couple of other pieces that for it might want to throw in you know if they're getting
[00:26:04] off that salaries like hey we're helping you get off that salary can we have you know this do you're not getting shaken sharp or somebody like that you're not getting scoop but maybe one of the
[00:26:15] other underlings you can get as far as helping off with that salary so those might be the type of moves that that cat decides to make and kind of just stop pile the talent and stop pile the
[00:26:31] depth and just put a lot of viable pieces together and then create the team that way and almost kind of create a strength and numbers east type deal you could do it that way
[00:26:45] or you could just look for the superstar the own like again and I'll re-enter it if you look for the superstar you're looking for a situation where how can you outbid the others because I don't
[00:27:00] think you can get into a bidding war for in bead I don't think you can get into a bidding war for doubt of an Mitchell now I don't know if this fits what you're trying to do
[00:27:15] what it's far as often as a potency I don't know how it works I don't know what you could give back I don't know what how it would even all work call Anthony Towns now for years it seems like
[00:27:35] and in the NBA we have very short-minded microwave-sacciety type things but the other thing is that you're looking at a situation where is this the year that Toronto does something now I've always we you know how we do it here we say don't fall for
[00:27:57] the config that massage jury throws out there do not we still say that here so I would not hope my breath on OG and anelvie and Pascal Siocca now not as I attend there
[00:28:14] probably get traded this year right that's how it always works but we're waiting for it but massage is going to show it to me before I believe it so it's a holding pattern for me on Miami
[00:28:28] now moving on to the central let's get to you know let's get to Chicago real quick I'm so incredibly sad for Lanzo being hurt and missing this year and when I say one of them about to say people gonna say oh hate no Chicago over the
[00:29:03] end of year you know whatever I'm not hating but at this point are are we now here where let's let's get young let's let's let's get let's treat living like for a two for one or three
[00:29:23] for one package let's break up tomorrow and the rows and into two two big or big in a wing or whatever the case and be with some upside or whatever let's get young let's see what we have in patched Williams maybe we can get something for Kobe
[00:29:43] White and let's really group and here's the thing if Lanzo comes back next year and you got a bunch of youth on the team Lanzo would be great with that and I'll tell you why
[00:29:57] he doesn't need the ball so if all these young cats are going for contracts and things to that nature who is the best guy to pair with them well guy who doesn't need the ball and his
[00:30:13] usage is really really tame and he can shoot from the outside and defend and mostly if you can defend at the level that he left at I don't know after all the injuries and the
[00:30:28] injuries and things that I nature but we'll see but I would think at this point we got to be done with just sitting around waiting for all to click and I would think with Lanzo taking a sabbatical to get his knee healthy this is all
[00:30:51] seems to be the right time to go ahead and pull the plug and you know plan for the future a little bit and I think they should go to the hands would embrace that
[00:31:05] as far as that's concerned I know that you know it's hard to take a step back sometimes to take a couple steps forward but this looks like the exact time to do that and
[00:31:19] you know the rosin maybe the vooseph is now that you got them under contract and they know what the number is going to be maybe there's something there that can be done you could have
[00:31:31] revamped this team and it can get young and you know when the draft picks start flowing in again maybe we can reset this thing correctly and go from there but I think which kind of
[00:31:46] that's all you're looking for Detroit a lot of people are confused about this team I am not here's the thing if Kate is a guy this this this team will be better how much better I don't know
[00:32:04] here's the thing I don't know if we know if they have a second god and not and let me say that again I don't think Detroit has a second guy yet you say events
[00:32:22] we got Jay not we got Ivy we got a sort of Thompson we got all these bigs we got Jay during I know what you all got I just don't know if you got another guy
[00:32:43] Kate has the injury last year we want to see Ivy step up provided it was his work a year there were a lot of growing pains with that we we fast forward to the summer leave we think oh
[00:33:00] okay he's as some time to work on the game let's see what it all you know and you saw he saw it's still rushing you saw it's on sloppy turnovers the shot still wasn't there
[00:33:18] he didn't play with a lot of control a lot of pace on the other hand I saw it Thompson played what a lot of boys you know he didn't seem to be too sped up he didn't seem to be you know
[00:33:34] he played it his own pace so I think this year it's going to be incredibly hard I think this year Kate can take a step I think our sword Thompson can take a step
[00:33:50] I'm big on Isaiah Stewart but I wonder and I'm still trying to figure out and I'll get on this all summer and I'll tell you guys get to hear the game but Jay is wise man
[00:34:06] experiment what we're doing with him and clearly Jayland during is the guy that she the resources and the development should be poured into him whether he's going to get the powerful
[00:34:22] or the center and you you know if he's the power forward and you get a stretch big or whatever down the road I don't know but I think he showed enough in summer leave to me to say okay clearly
[00:34:40] this is the guy that we need to really put all our efforts into and it didn't it still seems like we were dividing that time and Marvin badly minutes and it's a mess man I'm sorry um I know
[00:35:04] excuse me I know a couple guys who are really um Detroit pistons fans in my life and um I just don't see it this year now I'm not saying that you're not going to improve you're definitely going to
[00:35:20] improve I just don't see like oh we're gonna win 30 games this year it's going to be crazy so I think this year is more of who is the next guy is a sword of the next guy
[00:35:37] is Jayland during the next guy can we finally kill off killing his because we have market sasser on the team you know things like that oh is uh boy y'all about going to get and trade it
[00:35:55] you know at the trade deadline to even stop the war test a little even even more so these are all these questions they have to be answered in Detroit let's move on to the Indiana cases and the
[00:36:11] Indiana cases are to me are just a lead cast darling there's so many dudes on this team that I absolutely love in the door we talked on this podcast last season and regards to our love for Andrew Nirmhart
[00:36:30] obviously our love for top of the salad burden you know it knows no bounds and Ben and Ben and Matthew we love him that the kid is great so we're we're high on those guys we're
[00:36:47] high on this team Nico really really likes Jerry's Walker we'll see how he is after the injury and whatnot um and in my house Turner so I mean this is good team we know what to solve about what
[00:37:06] is the thing what's going on with this team who I think honestly what it is is you got a Tyler E. Saliburton you got Matt or Anne and you got Miles Turner right buddy hill at some point
[00:37:24] it's not going to be in the mix we do understand that part of it right so now who's the second guy let's see the difference between Detroit and Indiana we got candidates on Indiana
[00:37:44] was last year a flu from Miles Turner that he got the big contract does he slide back down or is it trajectory just going up you know these are things we've got to figure out right
[00:38:00] then you got um Madder and in Madder and great score the thing that he's gonna have to work on is it can't be tunnel vision one man you know there are other people on the court with you
[00:38:14] so I don't know if he's just always gonna be pigeonholed as a six-man type of guy where it's just like we just get him the ball he scores I don't know if that's ultimately his role but he's
[00:38:28] gonna give a chance to expand that role you know this year so that's gonna be really interesting to see um very interested to see in what they have with uh with Jerry's Walker you know he's a
[00:38:50] he's a different type of big and he can be kind of a playmaking big I don't know if you want to set him up as an offensive club but if you wanted to diversify your offense
[00:39:04] and this is something that uh your coach is very into okay so understand who your coach is he likes movement and cutting and things of that nature Rick Carlisle is big on the
[00:39:21] type of thing so a guy who showed a a propensity for passing and having an IQ for it is going to fit his system well so we'll see what Jerry's Walker is able to get and then there's the
[00:39:36] OV toppings of the world and things that I nature man so I mean this is this is a year where you're just looking at it going let's see let's see let's let on play and let's see you know this is another
[00:39:53] development gear but you're expecting a little bit more this year you're expecting being that that plan mix type situation so I'm not into who you get in trade it who's not I think the only thing that you're thinking about is what you can get for buddy he'll and
[00:40:13] I actually still think it's draft picks don't be too worried about the player coming back keep on getting more shots at the apple type of speed Indiana I don't think you're fully formed yet and you understand that your team
[00:40:35] is not going to get for ages and oh we forgot a group speaking of for agents Bruce Brown right Bruce Brown is there he's going he's going to provide tremendous energy and
[00:40:48] defense to that team so this is a team that really intrigues me I think it could take a leap up the board and that I think this team actually might be one of those things
[00:41:01] towards the end towards the end of the plan and maybe gotten for a six-wipe so keep your eyes on the paceers shots out to my fans in Indianapolis all right we're going move on to the Cleveland
[00:41:19] Cavaliers the Cleveland Cavaliers last year jumped up they got Donald and Mitchell everything was exciting everything was great we were all in love what else happened we saw some de-accelerated growth from Evan Mogli in a lot of people are taken back by it and some
[00:41:48] people were kind of going I'm off I'm done where the shot go and yeah the shot does concern me I still just believe in the young man and I think when you believe in the guy in the work ethic
[00:42:03] I think it does I think it does all click now what is success you know does he turn out to be Chris Bosch I don't know I don't I don't know he isn't seeing we haven't seen it right so even
[00:42:20] I would be sitting here you know I can't throw out names like that anymore but I think that he has a clear path in a clear understanding of what it takes to get better because
[00:42:38] remember that was the first playoff environment yeah they gained plan to her him last year now what did he learn from the game plan that they put out on him last year and did he do
[00:42:57] hit the necessary steps in the off season to counter out that game plan that they put on him last year it is up to him it is if you it's your move Evan Mogli you know this is a game of chess
[00:43:12] they made the move last year oh we're gonna get more physical with him the the the duh whatever the other thing that I'm hearing is that Evan Mogli will be out more
[00:43:24] roaming around and they will be more out to switch him on to guards and things of that nature so he might be more active in the switch game which was something that they didn't do a lot of
[00:43:38] last year because they didn't want to leave the back end vacant and I think they were only do this is when they have the two big line up not when they have the one big line up when they
[00:43:52] can be sensed but the other thing with Cleveland is we were always talking about that that five that fist slot was always who was going to take over that fist slot. Max Druce from the Miami
[00:44:08] he streety shooter but plays within himself a good teammate willing defender not a great one but provide it what you had last year this is light years better and then George Vianne I think was
[00:44:29] the sneaky good pick up too he provides a little link he provides a little versatility in that front line that you didn't have last year's flashlight once Kevin loved left and now we're in a situation where
[00:44:44] we're looking at you know you got a couple wings now like Levir can play up in there and you know you have screws and you have a quarrel so you don't you're not pigeonholed to okay
[00:45:03] you can have a half in medium which streaks you know it's like he's not going to get the best defender but he's going to provide offense or you know or vice versa he's not the best offense
[00:45:17] of player he can't get to the cup anytime he wants but he's not going to be an absolute said on defense so those are the things that you're getting with streaks that you didn't have last year and I think
[00:45:29] this will open up that offense a little bit for Cleveland I think really the thing that we need to talk about in Cleveland is unfortunately this is the part of the program that I absolutely hate
[00:45:45] is are we on ticking time bomb watch with Donovan Mitchell you know there's a couple years left on the contract I don't know what we hear but you know there's a report that he's starting to think
[00:45:58] you know mom I'm gonna sign a contract here and I understand Cleveland listen if you need to pull the plug now and get what you can get for him and it's good pieces your team is still set where
[00:46:15] it will be a lower level playoff team now yeah you can take it instead of back but provided depending on the pieces you get and where they come from you might not have the
[00:46:29] a long death it might be this year and then about bounce right back up depending on the deal that you can swing on who were Donovan would go and want to go and all that those type of things
[00:46:44] um that's the question right I mean that is really the question is where do you want to push through this year and just not worry about that or do you want to
[00:47:02] get out ahead of this and get and maximize the value even though you know you're pulling a little bit away from your team right now present tense here's the thing that I will say the Cleveland
[00:47:17] fans out there I know it might suck to go to dip down this year but think about it this way you got smacked around pretty good when it came to the New York series and if you're getting
[00:47:37] smacked down pretty good pretty good in the New York series maybe diversifying this thing now before you get to attach to it is the best thing and what I mean by that is that
[00:48:03] you know right now that you got a deficiency at the guard position not because those guys aren't great offensively but on the defensive end it's like both of them are sips you can't you can't guard
[00:48:19] the point of attack is just not available to you with either one of those guys so where do you go from there those of your two main offensive hubs it's not like okay we're gonna split them up you can't do that right
[00:48:41] unless you trade them and I know that it sounds like oh man this is like seems very abrupt I'm not trying to be you know mister let's trade everybody guy and all that but
[00:48:59] at the end of the day what you want what you want to ask yourself is can I can can I see my team get into a eastern conference final can we be part of the final four do we have the necessary
[00:49:16] pieces and if the answer is no and you know don't even it's gonna be looking for that next contract and probably looking for greener pasture somewhere else let's get a let's get out in front of that
[00:49:36] get the pieces that we want you know you know whatever it is that you will see that you're missing on your team could you imagine this team with a wing could you imagine them with
[00:49:48] you know I hate to say it because they never will trade anybody but OGM and they'll be on the wing you know I don't know you know I don't know what the possibilities are but at the end of the day
[00:50:02] I'm sure if dotting and Mitchell comes on to the market there's gonna be a heavy asking price and there's gonna be some better so I know this is not what Cleveland fans wants to hear
[00:50:17] and they're probably going like down do you know you suck and I understand that guys I'm not sitting here going like whatever but I personally if I'm looking at if I'm augment that's kind of how
[00:50:29] I'm looking at the team it's like we got waxed in the playoffs last year and if this dude is really not in on us and he's pretty much even let's say let's say you did give him the extension does that
[00:50:45] necessarily mean that he's gonna stay no it doesn't so if that's the case if you are always like at the um I'm gonna even say after mercy but if you're always you know walking on egg
[00:51:01] chills thinking that this guy's gonna ask for a trade at any point because all it takes is one by a year couple injuries you know and you guys go 500 and let's do like I want out you know
[00:51:20] and then you lose some of your leverage right maybe the offer is not as robust as it could be or you could take the Portland route and chill on it for three months and then and then go ahead
[00:51:33] and do what you can do with that way as well but I'm just I know again this is now what you all want to hear Cleveland is started a year you guys want to be excited and you do got a really exciting team
[00:51:47] and you're gonna win a ton of regular season games but I still think you don't have enough physicality between Evan Mogulia and Jared Allen and I think a physical three real physical three
[00:52:03] would fit great and with the one thing with not having a Mitchell he's still young enough he could fit you all the wings that you could possibly ask for because he's that special with talent
[00:52:18] and you know again don't shoot the messenger it is what it is but okay it's my opinion you know where you can get me at you can get me at X so at front runner PC on X or you can talk to
[00:52:36] Nico and say Nico talk some sense into your guy at Nico FR PC all right so let's go on to Milwaukee and then we'll get on to the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Milwaukee what can you say they got
[00:52:51] dang they still got Chris Middleton, Janice broke Lopez, uh a bunch of sketchy we knew that going in they sure did with the trade but they got dang and they got yannis so what they do with the
[00:53:10] bench from here is what they do but as long as you got those two dudes and health they're scary basketball team because yes you're gonna lose some defense 100% with Drew Holiday
[00:53:29] being gone that's there's no doubt in my mind that that is going to happen but what you gain offensively and what you gain at the end of games and how dang can get you in and out of sets
[00:53:47] and just improvise for his own situation at the end of games I mean your offensive aptitude went up exponentially when you got dang there's no question about that defense went down but when you have yannis and you have Brooke and you have other competent people
[00:54:16] I'm not saying you can make up for Drew because you can't make up for Drew but maybe you kids soften the defense you're not going to be a bottom third defense of team
[00:54:29] you know it doesn't take you that type of thing but you could be a top five offense now you can get top three offense now you know you can be somewhere in here you can be
[00:54:45] you can be that you can be battling with the great boys Milwaukee so fear the deer depth is an issue no question but you got dang and you got yannis I like those ox
[00:55:09] now we get to the Atlantic division let's start off with the Toronto bullut uh Toronto bullut the Toronto Raptors let's get off with the Toronto Raptors I'm sure people in Toronto don't
[00:55:22] want me to talk while the Toronto bullut is either basically this is this is the whole narrative Toronto what are you going to do it's another year it's gone by and not really shit has changed
[00:55:44] and you know I normally do not curse over here but again it's another year okay yeah Van Blie left okay what is basically the same team insert didn't shooter yes downgrade from Van Blie understandable but this is uh year three a Scotty Barnes
[00:56:10] and you want him to be the point guard and you know we've heard three four first round picks for the OGN and no we somebody tell me where Toronto is going right now what the team
[00:56:30] that they currently have and if you say that this team is top five in the eastern conference right now explain to me how you get there and if that's the case you're not bad enough to be like
[00:56:48] in a Washington type situation um so where do you go I know tanking or whatever you want to call it stripping down and we building it whatever it is you want to call it I know sometimes people put taboo things on that but I think Toronto has shown
[00:57:14] tremendous patience I mean I don't know what else you want them to do they struggled in mediocrity since quiet you know it's it's gonna slot they've let go and we got Yaka Pertal
[00:57:35] good and back you know I mean there's so much going on and then here's the other thing these contracts are about to expire so we are at a point where we need to figure out what we're doing
[00:57:51] and then we're going to allow them to expire we got to done this through we could have been in year two or three of the rebuild if we were going to do this I don't understand I don't
[00:58:07] understand the concept somebody's going to have to explain it to me I just do not get what's going on there all right then let's go on to the the Brooklyn Nets the Brooklyn Nets are
[00:58:20] in a situation where they still have a bunch of wings they drafted a couple guys couple guys to read why head that do right there has some upside what the injury will see
[00:58:41] I think this is a year again who's the point guard how that go work I heard been sent us at this point guard okay okay I'll bite you know but if he still saying Ben Simmons who's
[00:59:00] not going shoot the ball and you can't use him at Christ time because they're gonna fall home and he doesn't want to be in a fall line and all this other stuff still don't understand how
[00:59:13] viable that is Spencer did what he is a good like bench piece or rotation piece but I don't think he should be your starting foreign guard Cam Thomas is still not seeing the shot that he does not
[00:59:31] like and then you got Cam Johnson and you got you got him with held bridges and you got the center get practicing all good pieces all very high value asset friendly pieces all of those things
[00:59:58] the team itself though it's just it's still just a random myth misfit toys so really at this stage of this you're just looking at it going you know are are we taking oh what what are we doing
[01:00:20] I don't see how the team can just be better this year I think that uh you know they can play hard I think they can win 30 plus games and stuff like that I just don't think they're like playoff
[01:00:34] material you know at all I think they will definitely sneak up on some teams and beat them I think there will be some teams that oh they're you know they're playing let's say they plan
[01:00:50] the Philadelphia 76ers in the 76ers come out with the target they can build blowout a team like that just because if they come ready to play they're going to be that type of team but if the team is
[01:01:07] the other team is engaged they're they're going to be in trouble because they got some deficiencies especially in like the playmaking initiation if you take Vincent and's away you know of course I'm definitely going to do that because until I see him aggressively taking shots
[01:01:26] and you know and trying to take go to the free throw line it's it's just hard for me to look at um the next one up is the Philadelphia 76ers let's take them Philadelphia had hard off season everybody knows the hard and drama we talked about it extensively
[01:01:46] on this podcast we tried to even throw different trades scenarios out there which I still think might be in the mix somehow um pardon hasn't played a pre-season game we're we're getting to the last one
[01:02:04] and be you don't worry about because at least with in be his effort level his is not been question over the last couple years um he is an absolute beloved figure in that city so it's it's really not understandable that we're still
[01:02:26] about to start the season a week away and we still haven't seen James on the court and we don't know what that looks like so i guess the theme is uncomfortable i guess the theme is we don't know what is happening
[01:02:47] i guess the theme is that mori and hardon are in this internal struggle and sterile sterile until you know somebody blinks the problem is and when you talk about extensively
[01:03:06] it's like if you want to help your value going into next year this is probably not the way to go about it but we need no longer to talk about that because we're here now um i feel bad for
[01:03:21] the 76th of France not because you know i have some loyalty you know towards who guys but you just got you just got the raw into this deal you'd never saw your team fully formed you never saw your team like okay i've seen this team they're they're finally
[01:03:42] they've gone through a no-part eight they can now come together and now you can see what the whole coplamant of your team would be it just i'm so it's so bad for you guys and unfortunately
[01:04:02] if this all does fall apart or whatever joe on beat is probably gonna ask out i guess um i just feel bad for 76th of France because i think the passion that you guys show
[01:04:18] the knowledge that you showed about your team the just just how great that building is when it's it's getting close to playoff time playoff time and what have you and you guys just want
[01:04:34] stuff to rule for and you know i just think this is just for that for this particular city i just think this is just one of those situations that this is the cardinal scent this is the one
[01:04:50] that you just can't come back from because it wasn't like oh you didn't have the players it wasn't oh you didn't have the draft pick say it wasn't oh you didn't go out and get the guy when you
[01:05:02] you know when you had a chance to go get the guy you did all the things you were supposed to do and it still amounted that you really are left like what if what happens is everybody got on the
[01:05:15] same page what happens is everybody like you know not everybody like the coaching but if your star players bought into the coaching and they really bought into the idea what they were doing and
[01:05:27] all of that you never got any of it any of it and that's what's that let's move on to the next listen the next getting to the playoff beaten the Cavaliers and then getting waxed while my amy i mean
[01:05:51] oh wait i mean uh Julie's Randall was hampered by ankle let's listen let's slow down on oh Julie is Randall is trash in the playoffs and not no let's yeah to really severe ankle injury and we'll see what this year looks like
[01:06:15] now here's the here's the thing with the nicks they are on star watch they're the team they got all the assets they got first round draft picks they got salaries that can get them there
[01:06:37] all it takes is somebody saying hey i want to go i just want to go and if we get to that point if we get to the point where that's where we are then you know this scene is going to look
[01:06:56] drastically different my whole my whole theory with the next is that i just hope it's the right guy i hope it's not the wrong guy um they're gonna be a scrappy bunch this year this is gonna be another
[01:07:17] fun year and bronzing is going to do his thing my whole thing with nicks fans is just stay patient stay the course there's a guy coming you guys are perfectly set up you didn't fall for the
[01:07:31] trap with the donovan Mitchell thing when he comes back on the market you don't have to go for our mal again and let you want to be part of some sort of facilitation for somebody else
[01:07:44] who gets you like the piece that gets you the next piece because i think at the end of the day if you really want to build your right new york bronzing is like the third piece but and that's
[01:07:59] no there's a scraped of bronzing i just think you give me a cool third piece and just like a steady year of offense and then if you were somehow able to get like the second piece in this deal
[01:08:14] you know like that do who can get you bucket or you know provide that steady on defense or whatever it is you know some combination of two and then you still have picks left or you know
[01:08:31] fridge and money left to go get it to get the third do thing you be right there um um because i think it's still going to be hard to find like the dude do because i think old you
[01:08:43] old you come on the market he's still kind of like yeah you could piece he'll help us but he's not the guy donovan Mitchell will definitely help you offensively but then your back court short
[01:08:55] you know you got to deal with defensive liabilities all that sort of stuff so that might not be the guy so who is it that you're looking for you know yonis is now at least right now in a
[01:09:09] holding pattern in Milwaukee um so really you're just kind of waiting around for the next disgruntled one just be patient get your high 40 win total go to the playoff create havoc
[01:09:29] you know and let's see what let's see what free agency in the draft brains and who wants to get trade in whatever because you know it's going to happen we're gonna hear wronglings this year
[01:09:44] we might have fireworks at the trade deadline who knows but New York keep your powder dry and wait for the right guy I believe in y'all all right let's get to oh who is it we got the
[01:10:00] uh Celtics Celtics all right be a child represent let's go let's get it all right almost hurt my hand all right so they made the crystal upwards industry they got bigger okay uh then they traded
[01:10:20] some of their center depth away to courtland for drueloday I don't have a problem with that drueloday is an excellent piece uh after the loss of Marcus um what do my Marcus smart got
[01:10:38] Marcus smart leaving was a hole you filled it with Drew and basically to me you got a better Marcus smart in drueloday depth is going to be an issue of Peyton Pryrdtree guy paid so they're
[01:10:53] expecting him to step up do you miss Grant Williams I don't know and then he comes down to the two guys right you know can Drew help them get to that next level can Drew um the press it upon them
[01:11:14] that you know shot selection at at certain times can can can can can win his games and can I think it's little things with Jason and Jayland at this point I don't think they're that far away
[01:11:30] we talked a lot about Jayland's jayland's tripling but here's the thing now with Derek White and Drew holiday uh in the fold dude they're gonna try to set him up exactly where he wants to
[01:11:46] go and he'll be able to you know explode into into those attacks to the roundwards a wonder will two drueloday and then he's up in the air and he's ducking on people so I'm not necessarily
[01:12:01] worried about Jayland's uh in the aftertube at playmaking and dribbling anymore I'm more like okay can you play better defense and not worry about this right can you get back to you know close to
[01:12:20] all defensive level type of player I like I said the playmaking around him I think will do him well now it just comes down to injury can hard for stay healthy are they gonna you really use Luke
[01:12:41] Cornette for real poor Zingas is still a health risk he had some um planchar grass yidis in the off season so we'll see how that plays out right but there is a change to this team
[01:12:59] and it's a really cool experiment but the one thing that you definitely know is that Joe Masulus on the clock now because with Drew holiday getting there that's like having a coach on the floor and that's an extension in Joe Masulus so whatever Joe's trying to implement
[01:13:23] and do with Drew holiday there you know that that is going to be taken care of so um I think the question for them is do did did these moves I know they're one of the favorites in
[01:13:40] the east but did it get them to the point where they are the beast in the east and I will tell you that I don't think they are I think there's a two-headed monster I think Milwaukee is there
[01:13:56] um tell me what Miami does um before the season's over or or or next season but we're just dealing with this year but let's say Miami does something in the middle of the
[01:14:12] year what did they look like again we talked about New York what did they look like the great thing about Washington is that Jason Tate I'm still very very young so if for some reason
[01:14:26] this doesn't work you still do have one you still have one ace of your sleeve and that ace is that you did sign jailing to the contract now people will say it will be hard
[01:14:43] to trade him because of the dollars no it will not be hard to trade him it's not hard to trade 24 points again seven regal when he's inspired to play great defense he can you know he's a dog
[01:14:59] and a playoff he can he can he can rise to the moment in a playoff and things that nature he's shown him past so really I think that anybody who is looking for like a you know second
[01:15:15] piece or yeah you're going to have to get a second piece for that amount of money um well everybody looking at God like that and going yeah I can I can take a risk on that because the
[01:15:26] one thing that you know about jannick brown is that it's never going to be issue with effort it's he's always gonna give you everything he has is all the tools good enough
[01:15:40] so again if he goes through the right fit who knows I'm still if this doesn't work that's piece that's going to have to go it's jailing because that's how you recoup all your depth and all that
[01:15:56] sort of stuff all right and hopefully it takes back that turn into another jailin and blah blah blah you move on and everything like that but this is the year that you figure it out this is it
[01:16:09] so without being said the Eastern Conference narrative storyline situations over my name is Vince I hope you guys really enjoyed that and we are good to go and we're gonna shut it down and get ready for the Western Conference one and we'll see you later on this feet