NBA Finals Game 7: Thunder vs Pacers - The Ultimate Showdown

it's saturday, you know what time it is. Front runner podcast collective is back on the air. I am your humble host, vince, and on today podcast we will be talking about the Game 6, all the revelations we saw in that. We're also going to be talking about the preview for Game 7 and what to expect out of these two fantastic teams that have given us nothing but great memories in this NBA Finals that we've been watching, and we're going to get to that in one second. We're also going to be talking about the latest rumors of Kevin Durant, the long-going saga of KD. Which team is he gonna go to as the KD turns? Or all my Durants? Or? Uh, what's the? What's another one as the world, as the world turns for KD. You know what I'm talking about. It is a soap opera and is at the highest level and, of course, the most dramatic person in the NBA, kd, is right in the middle of it. So we're going to get to all of that. We're also going to get to all of that. We're also going to get to some of the other things that are going on around the association that do not have anything to do with the finals. You know we got to keep up on the news. Also, we will be letting you know what next week looks like, because it will be different. We will be all hands on deck Tuesday. We're going to bring you a podcast like because it will be different we will be all hands on deck Tuesday. We gonna bring your podcast Wednesday night after the draft, the first night. We will come back and we will talk about some of the trades that probably have happened. We'll talk about some of the draft picks and then Friday the usual we are going to go and talk about the entire draft. So all the happenings in the two day period of the draft which we'll be having on Wednesday and Thursday, and then we'll come back on Friday and be like what's up, what we doing now before we get to the rest of the pod.

You know what we do here. We give out shoutouts. We give out shoutouts to new I don't even know if you want to call it like clusters of people that have decided to download the podcast, which we are extremely excited about. So let's name some people out. You know what I'm saying. There's some things that have gone on. We go to the Handy Dandy app. You know it gives me locations and things of that nature, and it's just wild to me. Every time I go on here, I see something new, I see something real crazy, and lo and behold, we got new affiliates in different areas of the country and also in different areas of the uh world. So we're gonna get to that right now.

Now we know we are talking about saudi arabia, but for real, pakistan is in this, in this piece too. Venezuela has joined the party, and I remember remember talking about Baton Rouge, louisiana, but Paradise Nevada is in this piece. I like that. The Houston area has decided to join Frontrunner Podcast Collective. It is absolutely amazing. And, yeah, I like that Belarus is also in the in the building. So shout out to my european people, shout out to my uh, you know middle eastern people. I hope y'all safe. Lots of stuff going on in that region. So I hope that the podcast can bring you some joy. So, with that being said, be a friend and tell a friend about the podcast, because by doing that, you are growing our ranks, and by growing our ranks, that means you make us even more powerful than we were before, and we become more powerful. We grow together. Now on to the podcast, on to all the dudes that we got to get to and we're going to start with the nba finals now.

Everybody has probably talked through this situation. That's fine. I always try to come at it from a different angle, and we have done that. So I hear that these are the lowest ratings in the NBA Finals in decades. Not enough sex appeal with the roster makeup, not enough narrative or legacy talking points. Or are we just getting to Game 7? Since 2016? It's almost been a full decade of less than dramatic NBA finals and now the OKC Thunder and the Indiana Pacers are going to a final game. This is for all the marbles, this is for all the cliches you want to talk about. Do or die all this, but it comes down to a game seven. And the reason why it comes down to a game seven is for one reason and one reason only the pacers wanted it more.

In game six. They played with not just aggression, they played with intentionality. They just didn't play with the intentionality and aggression you needed. They played it with just a level of desperation that I must have this ball, I must be able to make this shot, I must be able to grab this rebound. I am going to steal the ball from shea gildas, alexander, the nv, the nba's mvp, and they did it with their superstar, with a calf injury. That did not sideline him, but it did compromise him somewhat. But we're gonna get to all of that as we go along. Now the other thing that happened in game six that we need to talk about is afterwards.

The one thing that we noticed with the thunder is that they have shown either what you would consider incredible poise throughout this series and throughout this postseason, or they've been more robotic. It depends on who you talk to and how they kind of perceive what it is that the OKC Thunder are putting in front of us. They are very monotone. They do not show a bunch of emotion. After these games, whether it's a win or a loss, it's kind of like on to the next one, we're going to keep our levels at the same, just even keel. We're not on to the next one. We're going to keep our Our levels at the same, just even keel. We're not going to get too high, we're not going to get too low. Nothing is going to penetrate Our facade. Now I will say that Maybe some emotion is good, who knows. But the one thing that David Aldridgeridge of the uh athletics said.

It says winning 16 games. It's a crucible. It's akin to physical and mental fatigue. Not everyone, not everybody makes it and most never will. Those 16 games that you games that you have to obtain on your way to the ring is some of the hardest games you'll ever play. Ask LeBron. I mean, you know he talks about, I've been in, you know he's going to be in year 21. Oh, what is it? Year 22? No, year 20. This is year 23 coming out. I'm so sorry, tired. So he talks about how he's been in probably about 27 years of basketball.

Just because of the playoffs, they take a little piece of you away every time you go in, because the physicality is different. Everything's not just not, it's not just ramped up a little bit more. What it is is that you know that the person on the other end is going to have that intentionality that they're going to need. The closeouts are a little bit quicker, the passing lanes are a little bit slimmer, the shots, well, some are open and some you think are open, until that defender comes flying at you because you don't have the time that you would normally have in the regular season, because everybody's not just putting their foot on the floor of the gas pedal.

But now we get to game seven and it all matters. So let's get to it. What happened where? Where are we right now and where are we going? The first thing that we're going to do is give a little love to the Indiana Pacers, because here's the thing that nobody wants to talk about. We counted them out when the series started. We counted them out when it was, for all intents and purposes, when it was 2-1 Indiana. We were still side-eyeing Indiana like what y'all doing? Y'all know y'all about to lose. And then OKC won two games in a row and it was 3-2 and we were like it's over, we can pack these people up and we don't have to worry about this anymore. We'll just go ahead and start concentrating on the NBA draft.

Game six comes to bear In Indiana, who started this year 1-4, halliburton was literally dragging his leg like it owed him money. Pascal Siakam was supposed to be just a quiet vet. You know, come in here, do his thing, whatever. And tj mcconnell? Tj mcconnell, bro is built like a barista, but he runs like john wick with court vision. He's everywhere all at once and every time he shows up there's going to be an impact and it's usually going to be detrimental to you. So why are we here? Tie three, three.

Why did game six happen? Why did the okc thunder get obliterated in that game? Multiple reasons, but the main reason is this they got outplayed. Reasons, but the main reason is this they got outplayed. For the first time, I can say it, in this series, okc got outplayed. They didn't play hard enough, they didn't show enough, it wasn't impactful, they did not allow, they didn't let indiana feel at all. That crowd engulfed them and you can say well, they knew they had game 7 in their back pocket, which is true. But game 6 wasn't just basketball, it was a referendum on hey, if you come out here and you execute your game plan, you can go ahead and be as successful as you want to be. The one thing that we have been saying the whole time is that the Pacers aren't as talented as the Thunder. That seems we need to walk that statement back now, because not just because it's tied 3-3, it Not just because it's tied 3-3. It's a way that it was tied 3-3.

This is a note from Soraya. See Occom's final stat line so far 19.8 points a game, 8.3 rebounds, 4 assists. This is his production. But this is also leadership by example. This comes from Sam amick of the athletic. Now it's game seven and you can throw every algorithm out the window, because this ain't about analytics, this is about nerve.

This is about who wanted more and the thunder had the crown in their hand and they fumbled it like the final season of Game of Thrones. Y'all remember that. Everybody was pissed off about how that ended, your boy included. I was very mad about the White Walkers and how all that went down. Not cool, not cool at all. Okc's 21 turnovers in Game 6. Their assist to turnover ratio was 0.67. It was the lowest of the post season. And here's the. Here's the thing that was so crazy about it Shea Gildress, alexander, who has been marveled. I think scientists are now studying him. Scholars are studying him for future references On how balletic he looks, how in control he looks and how no one seems to be able to speed him up.

In game 6 we finally saw SGA. There was a chink in the armor. Our guy was rattled. When they doubled him, when they blitzed him, he seemed hesitant. He also seemed like he didn't trust his teammates. Now we can talk about you know, narratives and things of that nature. But this is what we are going to do. The Pacers were never supposed to be here. This wasn't in the script. This was an accident becoming the main feature. You remember what Kendrick Perkins said back in October? They're not going to make the playoffs, the Pacers this is a note from Soraya the Pacers started the year 10 and 15. They had a bottom five net rating through mid-December. We flash forward now. Nba Finals tie 3-3. Winner wins the Larry O'Brien, the gold ball with the hoop on it. That is what we are playing for on Sunday.

Halliburton, whose calf injury everybody was worried. Everybody was sitting here thinking, oh man, is this going to get worse? Worried. Everybody was sitting here thinking, oh man, is this going to get worse? There was even statements that said that he should miss two to three weeks. He should rest the calf. He said I'm not. I'm not hearing all that, I'm gonna play, I'm gonna be with my guys.

He came out in game six. And not only did he come out in game six, my man had more uh compression gear on than like a marvel cinematic uh character. Whether you want to say uh with scarlet, scarlet johansson, if you want to talk about chris evans, you really can't talk about. Uh, our guy ro Robert Downey Jr, because he wore the suit. You know what I'm saying. So no compression there, but the Winter Soldier for sure, compression, a lot of stuff, a lot of tight.

Here's the best part about this this dude was compromised and he put up a positive net rating for himself. Man, just crazy ability. And it wasn't about the shots that he made, because he didn't score a bunch of points, he scored 14. It was the assist, it was a playmaking, it was all the things that he does. And this was his statement. If I can walk, I want to be out there. I deleted social media before game six so I can stay locked in. I didn't want any negative thoughts running through my mind whatsoever, I just wanted to be there for my teammates. He's a leader. Sacramento had him. How you feel about that, sacramento? That was your boy. You traded him for Demondis Sabonis. We told you at the time. It was a mistake, told you at the time.

And what about TJ McConnell? Every time he checks into Gainbridge Fieldhouse, it turns into a rocky montage. Every time he checks into Gainbridge Fieldhouse, it turns into a Rocky montage 12 points, 9 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals off the bench for TJ McConnell. Another note this is a great note from Soraya McConnell now is 60 plus points, 25 plus assists, 15 plus rebounds and 10 steals for the finals off the bench. He's the only player to ever do so in the 79 year history of the NBA.

Here is a undrafted player who is all of six foot nothing, all of 180 pounds, soaking wet. This dude fights over screens like a pit bull. He is always being an irritant on the defensive end. How many times did he deflect balls in that game? How many times did he stay kind of lean back, stay in the uh fight and get a critical steal? He's been an absolute irritant and he's been a pest for the okie.

Ok, oklahoma city thunder since the word go. And and Pascal Siakam, pascal is giving Some final boss energy. Not flashy, not viral, I'm just dropping a quiet. 16 points and 13 rebounds, no big deal. Game 6. With our, with our playoff lives on the line, no worries whatsoever. I got you and his dunk Was Absolutely primal. That look away, pass From Tyrese Halliburton. And the dunk by Pascal Siakam Was primal. You see, you saw him. Just let out all the energy that he had in his body Because he knew. He knew what the Pacers had done.

Now here's the stat that everybody wants to talk about, because this is the thing that has kind of run this, run the NBA Finals 23 assists for the Pacers, 11 turnovers. The Thunder had 14 assists and 21 turnovers in Game 6. That's not a stat lie, that's a personality test. Again, I will tell you for all the people who are going if, for some reason, oklahoma City loses this series and you say, oh well, they were fraudulent or whatever, I will just say this the average age on that team Is 23.3 years of age. So I don't know what you were like when you were 23. I know what I was like when I was 23. Now, I was probably more of a train wreck than most of you folks out there, because I was out here just doing wild, wild, wild stuff.

Okay, they're going to have to grow into this, learning how to win and, just like David Aldridge said, it is hard to win 16 of these games. Now. You can win 16 games in a regular season, you can go on winning streaks and all that type of thing, but when you're playing a team for two weeks straight and all they got to do is focus on you, your tendencies, which way you like the ball, which way you like to go with the ball when times are tough, what's your go-to move? Do you have a counter to the counter? These are all things that are learned, these are all things that you, you go through and then, okay, well, we got to go back to the drawing board and find something else that works, because they have seen this way too many times. And they are, they are being proactive, they are not reactionary at all.

And the reason why I say that is because if you watch how andrew nimhart guarded sga in this particular game, he knew when the bump was coming. He knew when the forearm of SGA was going to hit him in the chest so SGA could get that little space. He was able to close that gap very efficiently in game six. Indiana's uh 2.09 assist to turnover ratio led all game six. You know I'm saying like they just did it big and it just grew. The league grew it and we'll talk about how big that league got in a second. So are the pacers underdogs not anymore? That title expired. The second. Indiana went up by 30 in game six. So if you want to talk about legacy, carlisle knows this, he's been to the mountaintop. Before you know I'm saying like he has been there. He saw game six against Shaq and Kobe. You know what I'm saying. He saw it and he saw they lost. And then he went through his own crucible in 2011 and got that ring with Dirk Nowinski.

It's not about strategy anymore. It's about who can will themselves to victory. Does oklahoma city have enough in their tanks? Are they going to be able to look with inside and figure out what the hell happened and why they're even in this spot? Another note from the thunder arrived with a level of carelessness that they played directly into Indiana's hands, and this is coming from Anthony Slater of the Athletic.

Go read our man, anthony Slater. He usually covers the Golden State Warriors, so he has great coverage on that. So if you are a Golden State fan, he is the. He's the person that you want to definitely follow for that, but he's also now on these finals because he's one of the senior writers of the Athletic and I enjoy his writing immensely. He gives you a lot of nuggets that either kind of it kind of just sums up or sews up some of the things you were probably thinking about when you were watching the game as well, and when he has boots on the ground he's able to see the things that you're seeing in real time. It's really great. So I recommend Anthony Slater of the Athletic. Put him as one of your favorites and lock it in. You know what I'm saying? Patronize our guys at the Athletic.

This is what I was talking about with shea. He did not attack the blitzes, he was late. Uh, he was late getting rid of the ball on double teams with enough decisiveness whether it was a lack of certainty of his guys in that moment or it was way more of a stretch here. The not understanding where the reads were coming from would be because indiana varied their approach when it came to attacking sga, and what I mean by that is that sometimes they would blitz like immediately. Sometimes they would come with like a soft double. So you would see either um, andrew nimharthard or Aaron Neesmith on him, and then what would happen is that either Pascal Siakam or TJ McConnell or Tyrese Halliburton one of them would kind of creep over, creep over, and then they would go ahead and double team. Then what they've done is, if there was one time in the game, I want to say it was in the third quarter.

Shea has a ball. Andrew nimhart is on him. You see, pascal siakam, kind of like one foot in the lane, one foot outside the lane, and he just kind of just ignores his man who was jalen williams. Why is that? We'll get to it in one second.

I want to tell you about all the other people that showed up for SGA when he handled the ball. So TJ McConnell is out there and he's guarding. If I'm not mistaken, he's on case and Wallace, so okay. So he's. He left case and he's like okay, if you get the ball and shoot it, go ahead, my guy, we're not going to worry about that. And then Tyrese leaves his guy and I'm sitting there like wait. He leaves Alex Caruso and I'm sitting there like wait, they got four sets of eyes on this guy. There's somebody open and it turned into a turnover Because SGA just froze. Now obviously he has four indiana pacers, so four pacer jerseys around him. That means somebody's open. Somebody needs to cut to the hole and, you know, present themselves so he can go ahead and throw the ball. None of that happened. Turnover happens and it ensues into a bucket for the pacers. It was very unlike sga. It was very unlike the oklahoma city thunder team as a whole, how they play all year. And I'm going to just say he has not been this guy all year, because this is what he's been. This is who he is. He is a first team All NBA player. He now has an MVP trophy Sitting at his crib, but in game 6. That was Not the SGA that has all of those accolades in his trophy case.

He was in a psychological blender and he couldn't get himself out. He was sloppy, he was unfocused, a shell of his presumed MVP final self. He gets doubled, loses the dribble. He isolates, loses the pass. He posts up Nembhard rips him. They didn't even need to double team to pick his pocket. That's not on him totally, but it is. He has to take some of the blame because you got to get the ball out. The same thing that we talked about with the pacers and saying do not hold the ball because if you allow okc's defense to load up on you, it is going to be problematic. Well, by the way, shea Gilchrist, alexander, you're the NBA finals now. So the other team on the other side, they're good too.

We've been clowning this team the whole time, talking about oh, I mean, I listen. I'll be the first one to say I was wrong. I had this as a 4-1 series and we were like, hey, keep it moving, let's go. We're gonna go ahead. Get to the drought, because this is a foregone conclusion. How wrong could I have been? And when your system was built around one guy's rhythm and he's off and everybody else starts moonwalking through the set. Chet Holmgren had four points in this game. He looked like Wi-Fi was lagging. Jalen Williams, who had 40 points in game five, started out hot. Then he got erased like a burner tweet from KD. It wasn't good. It was so out of character for the Thunder that it was like I didn't even know what the hell I was watching.

We can go ahead and talk about a bunch of stuff from game six. There's going to be a lot of things that we're going to be able to talk about that are going to lead into game seven, but at the end of the day, the three games in indie okc has averaged just 23 three point attempts per game. They averaged nearly 39 per game in the regular season, so they're shooting 16 less threes a game. And again, I will tell you, the average age of this team is 23.3 years. Turnover fragility, 3 point. Avoidance and over reliance on SGAGA isolation will get your ass beat. Lack of audible making under the defensive duties and things of that nature gets you beat. These are all warning signs that showed up in Game 6. Game 7 doesn't define a season. It stains it or stamps it. That's your narrative art. If OKC wins, we'll all pretend like game six never happened, but if they lose, that's going to go on SGA's Wikipedia page, whether he likes it or not.

Carlisle, this is a Carlisle quote. This isn't about tactics, it's about trust. Game seven becomes about belief and not X's and O's. Carlisle has been around for so long in this league, not just as a coach or assistant coach, but he also played in a league. So he's seen all the ebbs and flows that you can possibly have seen in NBA basketball. To him there is nothing new underneath the sun. He has seen it all. Well, maybe you know when. When we showed up, he probably went damn, I hadn't seen that, because Nothing new underneath the sun, he had seen it all. Well, maybe when Wimby showed up, he probably went Damn, I hadn't seen that, because that was crazy. When Bayama showed up. But other than that, carlisle has seen a ton of stuff as a player, as an assistant coach and now as a head coach. So he's not going to be rattled going into game seven.

And let's not forget, they hit. The okc has been here before game seven versus denver. They fell behind it, got tight and then they blew out denver. It's like oh, hold on, we was tripping, wait, we gotta wake up. Wait, sorry, sorry. Now, that's a team that didn't have any depth. Now they had the best player in the world in nicola yokich, but the collective of the pacers and the depth.

Because here's the thing tj mcconnell is coming. He is just going to attack you relentlessly. He's not going to just oh, it's game seven, let me go into my shell and and just hide out until it's over. He has shown you throughout the playoffs that he is not backing down, that he is going to continue to put the ball in the paint. And because of the fact that there is no double team coming on TJ McConnell, he is getting to his spot, which is that eight-foot fall-away jump shot, that he's getting over the outstretched hands of whether it's Isaiah Hardenstein or Chet Holmgren or whoever it is. That ball is going in the hole. Sga's words. I see it as the same thing.

But if we lose the season's over in the wrong way, well bro, let me tell you this right now. You can sit here and give all the cliche quotes you want, but this is a different opponent. Indiana isn't just resilient, they are reckless believers in the possibility of winning a nba championship and bringing it to the heartland of america, which is the indianapolis area. They shouldn't even be here, which makes them the most dangerous team on earth. They playing with house money. Okc has the home court. They got the better record, they got an mvp, but belief belief belongs to the indiana. Pacers pressure index doesn't care about seating, doesn't care about accolades. It cares about who shows up and when the lights are. Burn the brightest, burn the hottest. And if game six is any indication, indiana fire is real.

And here's the thing. Sga is still who he is, he. He's still an MVP candidate. He's still an MVP. He's a finals MVP candidate. Nothing's changed. He's still a superstar at the highest level.

The problem is that you got to learn how to win. It is not just him Again. Chet Holmgren, let's see. He has played in a total of 141, 121 regular season games. I want you to get that visual in your head. He's been in league three years. He's playing 121 games.

Remember first year he missed the whole entire year. Really bad ankle situation terrible. Second year played all 82. This year he had the hip situation, everything crazy. So he's gotta learn how to win. He wasn't in the playoffs last year. He didn't get any of these reps last year. Now he's getting them and he's finding out that, hey, I can't come with the same game plan every single night because these guys are doing their homework. These guys understand where I want the ball, where I like the ball and where I'm going with the ball. So where's my counters to that situation? All this happens in the offseason. This is why the offseason is so important. This is why, when these guys talk about the work they put in, the work they put in, this is this is the grind they're talking about. He'll come up with counters, he'll come up with moves, he'll come up with things.

I hope and pray that he sticks like a pitcher or miles turner and pascal Siakam on his wall at home, put like an X on him, and every time he goes to train he looks at those photos and says not again. That will never happen again. He's been bullied. He's been bullied in this in these finals. And it's not because he's shit, you know he's been bullied. He's been bullied in the in these finals. And it's not because he's you know, he's scared of the moment or shunning from the spotlight or anything like that. He's just physically unable to deal with the some of the physicality that is going on in these nba's finals.

Now we need to talk about TJ McConnell and Andrew Nembhardt and the buddy cop movie they've done on SGA. These two dudes have turned every SGA possession into a like a trigger trap. No reach, no gamble, just precise chaos. Tj wasn't even defending him. What he was doing was just kind of waiting, waiting, waiting for the last moment, just sitting there, just picking apart, picking roles, the four steals, the six assists, the nine boards in 24 minutes. His on off impact it was a plus 21 swing when he was on the court and Andrew Nailhart he played like the younger brother at the family cookout who finally snaps and says I got him and then does yes, sir, y'all know about that.

You know the young buck. You've been beating him all these years. You know what I'm saying. You take it for granted that this is just. This is just a rite of passage that the sun comes up in the morning and I take my little cuzzo out to the court and give him that work. And then one day cuzzo got a little bit stronger. Cuzzo is like, nah, it's not gonna be so easy this time. Cuzzo says you're, hey, I'm going to drop this J in your face. And then you lose. And then the dynamic changes.

Ogie Toppin oh yeah, ogie Toppin, that's a guy who was on the New York Knicks a couple years ago, right, and then Thibodeau didn't play him, and because he wasn't as defensive minded as he needed him to be, supposedly. What is Ogie Toppin doing right now? This dude is blocking jump shots, he's being a deterrent at the rim and then he's also spacing the floor with his three point uh barrages that he is doing. Do you know that ogee topton has hit the most threes in the postseason this year? I will say that again ogee topton, as far as three pointers made in the postseason, tie for number one, tie for number one.

Now here's where we get nerdy in the best way always having uh movement blew up. Okay. Sees spatial flow, every cut, every pop, every baseline, ghost screen it bent. Okay. Sees health coverage into knots. Ogie Topkin touched the paint 11 times without the ball. He forced six defensive rotations Synergy it's a great situation. It all led to six scoring chances, high quality scoring chances. He didn't fill just the staff sheet, he worked the map and he forced Case and Wallace and even Chet Into rotations. They had never emotionally calibrated before yet.

Okay's youth has talent, but in these finals the talent has gotten stress tested In the worst way. All the flaws have been seen and those reps their liabilities until they're not. Chet was guessing out there, wallace was reaching and jayla williams who I love, the guy he looked like he was just trying to to be close. Just let me just be in the vicinity because he looked completely lost. And this is why indiana doesn't need to dominate the possession by possession. They just need to inject their just movement. If they just move, they continue to move. If they continue to do that, they're going to be hard to stop, they're going to be hard to guard.

For some reason you get to okc. That crowd is on top of you. Maybe it's a different story. Maybe your role players don't move as well as they did when they were playing free and easy at game bridge field house. But game seven, you can't worry about where you're playing. You can play on mars, you can play on jupiter. You play at the bottom of the damn sea with the little mermaid. I don't care where the hell you play, but you got to bring it. You got to bring the energy. You got to bring the ruckus. You got to bring the energy. You got to bring the ruckus. You got to bring the funk Again.

Rick Carlisle has been to the top of the mountains in 2011. Where he led the Mavs to the NBA Finals and won that championship. Mark Dagnall is the youngest coach in the Finals since Bill Russell coached himself. Think about that. So we talking about what? 1969. That's right. And now Mark Dagnall is in this crucible. What does he have left? I don't know. What does he have up his sleeve? We'll find out in game seven. They play fast. We play with purpose Finals philosophy. That was from Rickick carlisle.

So now, what is? What are some of the, the things that we can look forward to in game seven? Staggered siakam and uh ogi topping to maintain movement integrity. What are you going to get from Ben Matherin? And does he get a quick hook? Do they need to tighten the rotation emotionally? Let Halliburton run zero pick and rolls.

In the third quarter they went to dribble handoffs and uh screens. You want to help OKC? Let's do it. You need to get SGA off the ball sooner. I don't understand why we left game five and we had Jalen Williams as a de facto point guard just doing all kinds of crazy stuff, and then in game six we got SGA out here looking like Gary Payton circa 1993. You gotta use Chet Moore as a trailer and then you gotta give Jalen Williams the basketball, get SGA off ball, have him, have him come down, be in the corner, come up from a pin down screen or a spain pick and roll, let him go ahead, weave him way through to the nail and then get the ball. You can't just sit there and just allow indiana to load up on him.

Game seven won't be won by x's and O's. It'll be won by who adapts in real time, and Carlisle is made for this. So who do? I got in game seven, let's get there. Game seven is where your name either becomes a myth or it becomes just a footnote. No more context, no more, no more. Okay, we gotta this person, this person, this person. No, now it's down to pains and gains. We have talked about the 23.3 for a long period of time. That doesn't matter in game seven. It's either you get it done or you don't. Doesn't matter in game 7. It's either you get it done or you don't. You got home field advantage. You played all year 82 games. You're 68-14. Comes down to one game. This is why you damn near won 70 games this year To play game 7.

In the NBA Finals At Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, oklahoma, where the crowd will be loud, it will be deafening in there. And I'm telling you right now, if TJ McConnell does TJ McConnell things and Tyrese Halliburton is not stress tested enough on that calf, because I'm gonna tell you right now, they didn't do enough. They didn't put him in enough actions. They didn't, they didn't stress him at all. I'm telling you right now, this dude got a couple more days of rest and now he's coming into game 7.

Every NBA great has a game 7 script. Willis Reed limping on to the garden, bronze Block in Oakland, steph's 30 piece in Houston it's this game seven's turn to write. Somebody in ink sga has an mvp. What we? What will he have after this game? Same with siakam. Will it be a second ring with a second team? That's historical tier right there.

And if Carlisle wins, making the finals Hall of Fame lock, if he loses it, is he still that dude with the ring from 2011? Who? We think the game has passed him by. That was some of the whiskers when he got fired out of Dallas. Oh, he doesn't communicate well with the young players. We think that the style of how you talk to the young players has passed Rick Carlisle by, really, really Dudes in the finals again being super successful again.

So what does game seven come down to? It comes down to a deflection, a sideline out of bounds read sideline out of bounds read a third quarter substitution. It's not a movie script stuff. It's not about a blockbuster. It's not about final season of the wire or anything like that. This is real decisions, real weight in real time.

In the last three closeout attempts, indiana has allowed 91.4 points per game, best of any playoff team. So you think Carlisle doesn't know that stat? You don't think Siakam is not having flashbacks to that clay chase down in 2019? And what do you think SGA is doing right now? He had eight turnovers in game, 6. 8 of them Just to assist. He didn't trust the floor anymore and you saw it. You saw the way he reacted. Okc Was up to Ritu and now they are hanging on for dear life. Hanging on for dear life. Does Jalen Williams score 40 again? I don't know. Will SGA go off for his typical 30-some-odd points? Maybe I will say this about it.

I think the Pacers was going to shock the world. I think the Pacers are going to go into Oklahoma City. They are going to stare that team in the eye and trust and believe that first quarter is going to be a barrage that we have never seen before. We are going to see the best of OKC have enough in their tank to combat. What I believe now is real confidence and real courage that TJ McConnell has shown. Andrew Nembhard looks like he's well, this is what I do. I come into the playoffs and I just wreck shop. Aaron Neesmith is an absolute crash test dummy. He's an absolute just um stunt double for, like I know, tom Cruise does all his stunts in mission impossible movies, but if he didn't do all of them, ernie smith would be his will be his stunt double. This dude is absolutely nuts crazy and they have enough crazy in them to go into paycom center and win this game and there's no shade to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

I think we talked about your historical net rating all year. We knew that you had a big three coming in Jalen Williams and Chad Holmgren and SGA. But they are on their home court and those guys need to come to play and I believe they will come to play court and those guys need to come to play and I believe they will come to play. My whole thing is is that are you not just? You got to be able to match their physicality, you got to be able to match their intensity and you got to be able to match their intentionality, and if you don't do any of those things, you're going home, and you're going home without the price.

So let's get into this other situation that happened this week. The los angeles lakers got traded, got sold, ladies and gentlemen, genie bus in the five other siblings, who never could get on the same page. They sold the majority share to mark walter, who is of the group who owns the dodgers, and now he is the new owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. What can we expect? The Buss family? Hey, let's do this Most famous ownership tree in basketball Mark Walter, dodgers, kingpin, lafc backer, the man with the quiet billions, and the public leverage, the mark walter group would become the first ownership group in history to control both major league baseball and nba franchises in the same market. So my man has created history and he's getting on the job two days now.

The genie equation is weird. It's kind of like the mark cuban thing, but we're gonna get into it right quick. Genie bus has done of. What we could say is she kept the house that dr bus built mostly intact. Lebron came, a title followed, but between the rings were years of just weird hires family squabbles in front office, feng shui gone bad. 2013. They've had six head coaches. They had three full front office restructures tied for most in the West since 2013. And now the buzz is that Genie is still going to be the governor because they've held on to 17% of the team.

But that does not exclude Mark Walter at all, because if you think he's going to be completely silent and kind of not have any teeth into this organization, you would be absolutely wrong. Look at the Dodgers, look at how they're built. And then you tell me, because Mark Waters buys the team and Gene Russ influences fades what happens to the clutch sports gravitational pull, lebron's future, rich Paul's influence it was all tethered to Jeannie Russ and their relationship with Jeannie. Now we got a new king in town, okay, named Mark Walter. The Lakers hired Darvin Ham with the clutch backing. The Russell Westbrook trade was approved by a clutch Aligned voices. Mark Walter has no loyalty to these people whatsoever. He's colder, it is is corporate, it is calculated and, from what we know, it's not easily influenced by players favor, favor networks at all.

This opens the door to real change. Will there be a general manager reorganization coaching execs from like denver, miami or toronto or orlando or oklahoma city? By the way, bob myers is still sitting out there. You imagine what that would look like? What? What happens if Bob Myers becomes the president of player personnel and Rob Pelinka is the GM? This is bigger than trades or jerseys. This is a cultural identity realignment. The Lakers have always been Hollywood meets Hartwood. While Walter's track record says data over drama meets Hartwood. While Walters track record says data over drama, the Dodgers increased their win percentages by 18% in three seasons. Post-walters buy-in reduced the marquee signage, increased the farm development and spent a ton of money on analytics.

Do you think this model will fit with the lakers? Can la stomach a lakers teams? That is boring but elite, a lakers team that drafts and develops instead of chasing stars. We're never going to stop chasing stars, because the one thing I'm going to say about that is is this you got Mookie Betts, you got Shohei Otani. Okay, we going to have stars because we in Lala, we in LA, we are always going to get them. By the way, we got Luka, we got LeBron. You don't think people are going to want to play with Luka. If you're a shooter worth your worth, your weight and salt, guess what probably want to go play with luka. This isn't going to be a rebuild. What is going to be is a slow burn transformation. The lakers are staring down an existential portal. Step through and you're just basically the spurs, with better lighting and also more games on espn. I will be so excited about this as it continues.

Now, how does this uh affect free agency? Let's get into that. Lakers used to in free agency used to be um, like the summer olympics courtships, casting calls, splash spectacle and sign on the dotted line. Now it's different. We don't know what it's going to look like the first year, but we have a pretty good guess of what it's going to look like year two, year three, year four. It might be the first ripple of mark walter math, but let's get into it.

Let's talk reality right now. The Lakers, their cap space not dreamy. The roster is filled with a lot of holes. There's two timelines. Smashing the one, lebron is going into year 23. He, he is expected to go into and get his uh pick up, his uh player option, which is about 52 mil. The lakers have a mle flexibility unless they trade key contracts like rui or reeves. They're not trading reeves, so this summer isn't about fireworks, it's about floor raising names. You should hear names. You want to hear Gary Trent jr, tyus Jones, d Anthony Melton, bruce Brown again, none of these are on billboards on sunset. They're structural integrity, integrity pieces, which is exactly what you expect from a front office in transition. So what does the Dodgers model say about the Lakers future? Let's look at the track record farm sister farm system over flash analytics before narratives spending on the right people, mookie bets, rare supermax. Since 2013, the Dodgers have added seven-plus All-Stars after acquiring them, after undervalued assets, not on betting wars. Translations to Lakers Draft capital finally matters.

Development staff becomes sacred. You trade early, not desperate. You sign to fit, fit, not to flex. The Lakers could become the NBA's version of the Houston Astros if they wore Prada, which is insane, think about that but also genius. I think what you're looking at right now is you're looking at can Lakers take the 55th overall pick, then, with cash considerations, move up into the early part of the second round? What I'm looking forward is no less than the 38th to 39th overall selection.

That's kind of the area that I'm looking in and I wonder can the lakers figure out a way, because there's a lot of teams that got multiple picks in this draft can the lakers get and buy basically a second round pick from one of these teams that have like four or five picks in this draft? Because there are a lot of teams that have multiple picks in this draft. I want to say there's like seven teams that have like three picks or more in this draft. You can't sign all of them. Okc has multiple kicks in this draft. They already have 15 players underneath contracts. So what does that mean? Oh, if we, if we draft players, guess what? We either A have to let players go or B we have to trade these picks. Who is going to capitalize on this?

On genie, she had other mouths to feed, you know saying she had five brothers and sisters and not all of them were real jazzed about spending money on players and development and things of that nature. This is why we have one of the the smallest analytics departments in the entire basket nba. This is why it took a while for the upgrade of the practice facility and things of that nature, because you are talking about people been living off this Laker money for years Now. Dr Jerry Buss, that man cared about winning, and winning only Best money could buy. Let's go get it. If we need it, let's get it.

The kids were a little bit different now. Genie had the heart of a lion, but the two sisters yeah, now jesse and jim, who are tied to the team. Now one works in the front office as far as like scouting and what have you. The other one is behind the scenes making deals, being part of that corporate sponsorship partnership. It's a big thing for those two. They were aligned with Jeannie. The sisters were not. They wanted just to pet their dog on their lap, put them in their product bag and go to hot yoga. That's what they wanted to do. Genie wanted to win championships. You can see how the dichotomy changed. You can see how it was split.

This isn't a rebuild, it's a restructure. It's a long game of sovereignty and, yes, it's less fun. It's a long game of sovereignty and, yes, it's less fun. Yes, it's less chaos. But the Lakers have been landing in chaos. It's been their drug of choice For a long period of time.

We've always thought about All the offseason what's the Lakers going to do? What's going to happen? You're going to have rhetoric over here. You're going to have tough words over here. You're going to have rhetoric over here. You're going to have tough words over here. You're going to have things that are said and then they're going to have to be walked back because we're not going to be able to do it.

And the person who's been put front and center for these type of situations has been rob palenka. Now does his arms get untied behind his back? Is he? Now? Do we find out that rob kalinka is pretty damn smart? And now that he has the financial ramifications and flexibility, do we find out that this dude was a genius the whole time and he just basically was stymied by the, the bus family and the drama that goes on between them? Or are we gonna find out that, hey, we need to find another dude to oversee what palinka is doing and be right there when there are, when the iron is hot and we got a strike. Do we have a decisive Decision maker in the building? Maybe we find out. Palenka is this guy. Maybe we find out. We need to get that guy.

But I will tell you this it's coming, and what I mean by that Is this Go look At the organizational chart of the Dodgers and then you go look at the Lakers organizational chart. It is very sparse on the Lakers side, is very robust on the Dodgers side. That's what's coming. Folks, there are going to be more voices in that room. The Dodgers are like prestige TV and the Lakers are like reality dating shows. Mark Walter is going to want to flip those genres. So in 2026, it's not going to be another big three, it's going to be a connected nine, cohesive, deep Long. All the things that we see in OKC, all the things that we've been struggling for and wanting. The days of losing Alex Caruso, because we couldn't afford him. Those days are gone. If Alex Caruso can help this team win, guess what? He will stay. So, whoever the next Alex Caruso is, we in good hands. We in good hands Now.

Last thing I want to get to Before we get out of here E-May Adelka signed a long term contract With the Houston Rockets. I'm excited about that. Two reasons why Eme Adelka is one of the toughest dudes in the league. He demands discipline, he demands a type of impactful play, he demands a rigidity of understanding that we care about the basketball and we care about defense. And everywhere he's gone, whether it's been in boston or with the rockets, this dude has brought success with him. And guess what? They say hey, we see you, player, and we want to make sure you're here for a long period of time and we're going to give you a bunch of money because he's not in the seven-figure amount anymore. No, no, even me, adoka, my guy, is in that eight-figure amount. Yes, sir, he's in the double digits of millions, millions, and couldn't happen to a better dude. Shout out to our guy email dunka, get your money. Player, we're proud of you. I'm saying we are proud of you.

I want to talk before we get up out of here. I want to talk about two things, and two things only. We need to talk about the draft that is coming up, and the reason why we need to talk about this bad boy is because of this reason, on the 25th and 26th, the nba will be holding their draft. It will be a two night event. You say, well, vince, you will podcast tuesday and you will give us the latest on what the draft is going to hold. You are absolutely correct with that. But you also know what's going to happen Wednesday night.

Saray and I are going to light up the mics and we are going to go through the draft. We're going to have due diligence, we're going to be marking every pick. We're going to go through the draft. We're gonna have due diligence, we're gonna be marking every pick. We're gonna look at all the trades that happen. And then we, what we're gonna do is get on these mics and we are going to give you our observations on the first round. Groundbreaking stuff for front runner podcast collective.

I. I know, but the day and the tone has changed. You will get that podcast, no doubt. And we're also still on Kevin Durant. Watch as I look at my phone To see if Sean Sent any notifications that we have not seen yet. But so far, so good.

Kevin Durant is still a Phoenix Sun, which is crazy, shocking. Phoenix does not like the offers they are currently receiving for Kevin Durant? Huh, interesting. So you tell me that there is apprehension from these other NBA franchises about a 37 year old who's had an Achilles injury prior, has had multiple lower limb injuries over the last decade and we saw a little out, if you want to call it a little, a little regression last year, so to speak, maybe not in the scoring Situation, but definitely on the defensive end. He wasn't moving the way he was moving A couple years ago and you wonder why the offense aren't as robust as they have been prior. Remember Kevin Durant?

Well, first of all, matt ispia was the fool that brooklyn needed, because they gave up cam johnson, mikhail bridges and every pick that wasn't nailed down they gave it to Brooklyn. And now your picks are all over the league. Houston got some, I think Minnesota got some, somebody else got. I think OKC has some. Oh, by the way, this is Wes Quark. They asked San Antonio. This is what Phoenix asked San Antonio. Hey, we want Stephon Castle and the second overall pick. You know what San Antonio did. They went click. Hey, dog, you call us back when you serious. That's what Brian Wright said to the powers be in Phoenix.

You call us back when you real serious about making a kevin durant trade and you don't come with these comical like eddie murphy style uh monologues. As far as your draft conversation that you want back for kevin durant, it's like do you understand where we are in our, in our growth period? We got victor, win by yama. It's not like we need kevin durant, we're just like seeing if we can kind of upgrade ourselves so we start winning right now. But if you're telling us that we got to give up give up our whole entire squad except for victor to you that you can kick rocks and go down the road and try to sell that to somebody else by the way, houston's not buying it either, because houston has said yo, you can have jaylen green and this, and phoenix is gone. Nah, this is not good enough. And houston's like well, you will call us back when you're ready to have some sort of real negotiation, which now, here's the best part.

What we're hearing now is that it's Minnesota, houston and Miami. There was a point where Minnesota was out, remember. Kevin Durant said my preferred destination is San Antonio, texas. They've gone to Kevin and said hey, we don't think this is going to be possible to send you to San Antonio, because they are giving us absolute garbage in return for you and we can't just take just any old thing. So you are going to be melancholy for a little bit longer, my guy. So for the trade that we thought was going to happen last week, for the trade that we thought was going to happen sometime this weekend doesn't look like it is going to go down this weekend, even though, as much as I said, we will do emergency pie when it does. I might not have to do one because these offers for phoenix aren't acceptable, but maybe it would be more acceptable if you wouldn't have a seven foot pouting ass forward on your squat. And the reason why he was pouting is because you tried to trade him. You tried to undermine and trade him during the trade deadline this last uh season in the 2024 2025 season, you sat there and tried to stealth trade him to the Golden State Warriors, and then Kevin Durant had to put the kibosh on that.

Then we hear that Rich Kleinman is working with the front office of the Phoenix Suns to help them get a deal done and get people to the table. Say what you want about Jeaning Buss. Say what you want about Clutch having. Say what you want about clutch having their claws into the lakers organization. The one thing about having that situation go down the way it has is getting an incredible working relationship. Now, not everything has gone smoothly, not everything is sweet, but the one thing that you don't hear out of Rich Paul's mouth is his relationship with Jeannie Buss being fractured in any way whatsoever. You know why? Because Jeannie Buss said hey, lebron James is a star, right here with the Los Angeles Lakers, we take care of our stars.

Point blank, simple, simple, cut and dry, matt isquid. You have a lot to learn, my guy. I understand that you've made a lot of money in your various um ventures out there. I know that you are a mortgage loan king. I understand what you've done to the business. I understand that you are a absolute loyal michigan state spartan. Now your whole organization is michigan state. The only thing you don't have is tom iso. But if you wanted kevin durant to be kind of congenial and you wanted him to be more docile and be kind of like in your corner to make this whole thing work, don't undercut him and try to trade him without his knowledge. That's one of your pillars you trying to trade out from under him.

So now you will accept the offers that are out there. I will tell you. Here is the one team that I want you guys To keep an eye out on. If the offers get low enough, watch out for the Detroit Pistons. I believe that the Detroit Pistons If for some reason Pistons, I believe that the Detroit Pistons if for some reason the offer doesn't go right with Houston, I think Detroit can find their way into this. Now they might only be keeping Kevin Durant for one year. This might be a Toronto Raptors situation, but if the offense gets small enough, detroit Pistons might enter this situation and then scoop up Kevin Durant on on the cheap, on the low low, which would be absolutely amazing. A team that won 14 games two years ago makes the playoffs this year.

Kay Cunningham looks like an absolute stud and a certified G. Jaden Ivey's coming back and we saw what he was doing before he got hurt. All the vibes are good in Detroit. You got Jalen Rose out there saying Detroit basketball. You got Chris Webber in the building, you're bringing heat, you get kd there and it's gonna be a wrap. So it is going to be interesting as we get closer and closer to the uh draft situation and again, we are going to be bringing you a bunch of draft coverage this week, so stay locked with us at front runner podcast collective.

I would like to thank serea. I would also like to thank maya. Uh, we have a role for her, but, uh, she's helped. She's helping us out on the blog site and also with titles and everything like that. She is absolutely incredible at what she does. I like to thank my boy, vance, for helping us out as well, getting us some information as far as some of these stats that we are been talking about.

We are a collective and tell you this the best part of you is you make sure that you surround yourself with people who are supporting you, who have your best interest at heart at the level that they need to be. You want to have people who will be able to tell you the truth. You want to have people that will also be able to not support your dreams, but also be able to, like, speak into existence, like help you out. You know, not money wise I'm talking about, like the when you down, and you need that just encouragement. Do you have that person or people in your life that are able to help you out? Who's exhibiting these behaviors. If you have these people in your life that are able to help you out, who's exhibiting these behaviors? If you have these people in your life, acknowledge them, appreciate them For what they are doing for you, send them a text, facetime them If you're around them, hug them, tell them how much their support Means to you, because we're stronger together than we are apart. And if you have people like that in your life and you're doing those type of things, well, we always have a seat here ready for you at front runner podcast collective, because you're being a friend and you're telling a friend about the podcast and you have support that you absolutely need because in this life, with everything that goes on, with all the negativity that goes on, having supportive people that can back you is an incredible uh driving force and be very impactful in your life. So I hope that you do have that. And if you don't, come talk to your boy vince. We here for you 24 hours, seven days a week.

We do only pod tuesdays and wednesdays and fridays. We do got the occasional emergency pod, which, kevin durant, get your ass. Get your ass to a team dog. Can we get this done before the draft? You know what I'm saying. Get this shit squared so we can go. Don't be having me out here at like 1230 at night doing a podcast. Dog, I'm telling you right now I'll come to Phoenix myself. You don't want them problems, kevin. You don't want them problems, dog. All right, so we up out of here. I've been stupid. It's time for me to go. Y'all be easy. We'll see you on tuesday, unless kevin durant is traded deuce.