No More Woj Bombs! Top 25 NBA Players, 25 and Under + Northwest Division Win Totals Over - Unders

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: It's Wednesday, you know what time it is. Front Runner Podcast Collective is back on the air. I am your humble hose of Vince and I am here today with Seria and Bunch of Funch. They are on the Silent 1s and 2s.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: They will be providing stats and analytics for me today when it arises. Today we're going to be talking about the Northwest Division Win Totals Over-unders.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll give you a little insight into what we're looking at with some of these teams and maybe some of the questions that Pop Love and Rise.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing that we're going to do is we're going to slowly get into the point where I think almost at the end of our series with the top 25 age 25 and Under.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Today is 3 and 2. Look forward to those.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we have something special at the end that we're going to talk about something that's near and dear to all of our hearts, but I'll say that towards the end.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: But before we get there you know what we do. We talk about the socials.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to go ahead and do that. X at Front Runner PC and also at Raya underscore Funch FRPC. Those are our handles on X get with us follow us engage with us comment on some of the things that we're talking about.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: If you think they're silly or do you think they're pulling it, please go ahead and respond. We would love to engage with you.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing is this is that YouTube is going to be making a massive return soon. We've had some technical difficulties with this laptop that I don't want to talk about but we are making a huge return soon.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Waiting for one last final situation to clear itself up. So go to Front Runner podcast collective subscribe like some of the videos that are already there keeping my those videos are going to be connected to what we are thinking about with our.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But we're going to have our prediction show towards the start of the season.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: This summer was a precursor to what is going to be like every summer. We're going to read we're going to talk about the future graphics.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about some of the young players in their development. We're going to talk about these teams and what they added what they subtracted what maybe some of the differences are in the front offices and what have you.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe there was a philosophy change. But if you notice there's been a pattern to the whole thing.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And we're leading you in to the season and I think that the producers have done a masterful job with that thank you.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope that you've enjoyed the ride but go and check those videos out because it does give you some insight to what we might be thinking unless there's some sort of like quick change right before the season starts.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So I do recommend that and then the last thing as always downloads follows for the podcast be a friend tell a friend.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Tell two friends.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Tell your whole posse. If you don't have a posse.

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[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't want to podcast collective handles all your MBA needs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And you know that we're going to bring heat every single time.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: So with that being said let's go ahead and get into this great podcast that we have for you today.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Now the first and foremost thing that we're going to do is we're going to get into our series of the top 25.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: 25 and under. And we're going to start off with number three and number three is Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Anthony Edwards obviously last year did some remarkable things he gave us like a precursor to what was going to happen for his career.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: We saw explosive games.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: We saw mind blowing defensive plays.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We saw astounding dunks.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And we saw a young man start to take over that team.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: We saw young man really blossom into hey I am the leader of this team there's no doubt who the man is.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And I know sometimes we say that with a bunch of barvado.

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm actually seeing this no not as barvado.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to say this as a team building situation Carl Anthony tells was the leader of that team for a while.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: No shade to Carl Anthony tells, but they had a ceiling with him.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: You add in a over-talented ball handling wing guard or whatever you want to call Anthony Edwards.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And now you have a one two combination that's very potent and also with Carl Anthony tells being able to shoot the wall the way he can.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: It allows the paint to be open if Rudy go there is not clogging it up.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Now with that being said when we did see it and we saw how talented he was.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: There was a wall that he ran into and the thing about it is he's 22 years of age.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And physically he doesn't understand the rigors of what it takes to play in the playoffs.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think he necessarily understands the complete mentality of what it takes to play in the playoffs and that's not a shade to him.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: You learn that over time.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: We just saw what Jason told him in jail and Brown go through this, the maturation process, learning to lose what the lessons were, how can we fix those.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So those never happen again and we give ourselves the best shot at winning an NBA title.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: This was Anthony Edwards first for way into a long playoff series, a long playoff run if you want to call it that.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And I thought he he accounting himself very well.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: He showed that he was not very afraid of the moment. I just think the man young man ran out of gas.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what we last saw of our guy Anthony Edwards.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about the man himself and let's go back to his pre-draft scouting report.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Anthony Edwards was the consensus top fake in the 2020 draft held as hell for his athleticism, scornability, but facing criticism for his shot selection and his defense of consistency in college.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Since joining the NBA, Edwards has steadily improved.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: His BPM, his box plus minus was a positive 4.5.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: His offensive box plus minus was 3.2.

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: This highlights his growth as a two way player and he also had a positive but defensive box plus minus of 1.3.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: These are what we're seeing with him is that he's trying to get into a complete basketball player.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00]: He took the challenge of taking on the best wing guard selection in a lot of those series.

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: He took the challenge of your momery. He took the challenge of Luca mostly as far as that's concerned.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And he was also trying to give it on the offensive end.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_00]: These players that do it on both ends of the court, they are rare.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The question when you're talking about, can they reach the same level?

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: They're offensive and they're defense kind of meet at the same level.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's only few of those of you.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00]: One is at the end of his career right now.

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So he doesn't do it as often.

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: As LeBron James.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: We remember what LeBron was.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: His first stand in Cleveland towards the end of it.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Going into Miami, what a bus saw he was and then going back to Cleveland.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: We saw Jordan do it.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_00]: We've seen a lot of players do it.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_00]: How their offense and their defense be at the same level.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And Anthony Edwards has a chance of doing that.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I think the offense is such a level that's going to be a high watermark for his defense to get to.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: But if that man can just locking in a little bit more on the defensive end of the ball.

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we're going to see something real special.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think the Olympic experience will help him.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I think being around some of those super stars and seeing some of their habits and maybe the way they train or the way they go.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_00]: They're regiment.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_00]: These are all positive for Anthony Edwards.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't see any negatives in that whatsoever.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_00]: He followed Kevin Durant around like a little brother the whole way through and stuff.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: So he was hanging out with the OGs, just soaking up game.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_00]: You can't get mad at that at all.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And that just shows you what kind of guy he is.

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_00]: That shows you what kind of smart he has.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: That shows you what he's looking to do because I think what he knows is that he'll, I know I'm really athletic.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_00]: But how can I save myself?

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Notice that he coasted up to Kevin Durant and he coasted up to Steph Curry.

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00]: What do those guys have in their game?

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_00]: That maybe Anthony Edwards currently doesn't have it on that consistent of a level.

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_00]: That is outside shooting.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Outside shooting will give our guy Anthony Edwards a blow.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He will be, you take up less energy shooting the juncture.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And if he can find some sort of regiment.

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_00]: If he can find some sort of rhythm and consistency in that juncture.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: He is going to be absolutely a complete nightmare to keep out of the paint from that point on.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know as a liquor fan, I don't know if I'm real happy about these kind of developments but as a pure basketball fan.

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_00]: This is great.

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_00]: This is what we want it John Morant to be.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_00]: This is what John Morant could still be.

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll be interested in those matchups this year.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I think those are must-see of viewing.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So when there is a myth is Minnesota game,

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: we're going to tell you to gather around the TV, you know, saying and check those out.

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Now let's talk about a little bit of his leadership.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_00]: His leadership was praised during the playoff series.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Media expert, ESPN, Kendrick Persink, Perkins already touting Edwards as a future MVP candidate.

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Perk is a big on high-parvally but I think he's right with that one.

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that one is too far off with our guy here.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, Edwards Vort.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, that's value over replacement player was a positive 4.2.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: This underscores his overall contribution to the Minnesota success and as he continues to develop

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_00]: his shot selection consistency, the 10-world will rely heavily on him to lead the team deep into the playoffs.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Coach Chris Phance will likely lean on Edwards even more this upcoming season with the host of a stronger playoff run.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, here's the thing. He's got a lot of energy. He's going to meet 22, probably we 23 this year.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to see really incredible things from him.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_00]: What I do want to see from him is also the way to understand that, hey, my guy,

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_00]: McDonald's hasn't touched up ball in a second. Let me go ahead and get him a touch.

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me have him feel the ball.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I'm not saying that Edwards did not do that last year because he did.

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_00]: But he has to maintain that and he has to grow that.

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Not because he's going to score less. No, no, no, no.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_00]: We might be moving into a phase of Anthony Edwards career, which is a real special part of a career,

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_00]: where he decides that I am going to give you the first six minutes of a quarter.

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And then it will be the Anthony Edwards show.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_00]: He showed it in the playoffs.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_00]: There were a couple games where it was like, you can see him trying to reserve energy because he was like, okay,

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I think my battery is about to run out. So I got to see if I can bottle this up for just short burst.

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And he was doing that. Now mind you as you mature and you long skip mature,

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_00]: he's going to have more energy to be able to do this for longer periods of time.

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I would like to see this year is I like to see him get everybody involved and then in moments.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is something that Chris Finch can help him with.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, it's time for you to take over and I see our confidence kind of weighing in. Can you take over right now?

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_00]: This is your time to take over.

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that is the, that's going to be the biggest improvement of his game.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: That's going to be the kind of like the telltale sign that we're moving into an era of some real special type of time.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I could play from Anthony Edwards. Well, we're seeing right now is stupid endists.

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_00]: There's more levels to this.

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this guy with the game that he received overseas in Paris at the Olympics with Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and also Lebron James. He even gave praise to Lebron.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we're going to see a different Anthony Edwards this year and I can't wait to see it.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, this leads us to our number two guy and our number two guy will probably surprise some people and I'm not afraid you know where I'm at.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_00]: X at front runner PC. You can send it all my way.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: The number two player in our top 25 players that are 25 and under is not other than the front runner podcast collective MVP last year.

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Luca Dodges is our number two player that is top 25, 25 and under.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, a lot of people probably mad that Luca's not number one but that's fine. And I'll tell you about this at the end.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: But right now we're going to celebrate this man for all his accomplishments and all the things that he's been doing.

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_00]: The funny part about it is that we were just talking about Anthony Edwards and he ran up against Luca in the NBA Western Conference finals and he ran into all the things that we all wanted to see out

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Luca. We saw a guy who was sharing the basketball we saw a guy taking over we saw a guy being a my stroke of offense.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_00]: He's just absolutely unbelievable as an offensive weapon.

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_00]: It is it is absolutely nutty what he can do by moving slow.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And I say that with with no disrespect whatsoever. I say it in complete awe in complete just joy of watching this most talented man.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Go ahead and do all these things that he does offensively.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And everybody is scared of him. Everybody is scared of him. He sat there and talked to Rudy Goverer as he was going to hit a three point shot on him.

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_00]: At the buzzer to win a game and look at him and talk trash to him and say, hey dog you can't guard me man why are you even out here?

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_00]: This is so disrespectful to me and that is a defensive player of the year multiple times over that he's saying that to know that Luca is one of our greatest imports.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I'm saying? We love this guy.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk a little bit about him. Let's talk about the genesis of Luca right?

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So remember when Luca came in I'm not going to even talk about the trade this is not what I'm talking about.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_00]: There was still this.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was raining but we still had it which seems so stupid now.

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_00]: We had this theory that the Europeans were soft and that yes they had a place in the lead but they were never going to be like die guy.

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_00]: We had a couple guys that were close to the guy but the guy and then Luca comes along.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And Luca enters the NBA drought as a European, you're a league MVP now that should have told us something right then and there.

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_00]: This dude is 18 year old at this point. He's playing a league, a year league which is really one it's probably the second best league in all a basketball.

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And he won the MVP that should have set our alarms off. It did mine but at this point I'm not a draft analyst. This is the point where I decide that enough enough and I need to throw my hat into the ring.

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: This was the draft. Before I can just call myself like a hobbyist, a draft hobbyist but this was the draft that just threw me through an absolute freaking loop.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Was this one?

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Scouts praise his incredible basketball IQ, his playmaking abilities but concerns with linger about his athleticism in his defensive potential.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's fast forward. Here's the thing we'll look at. He pretty much like since he came on to the scene, Luca has consistently exceeded expectations.

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_00]: His box plus minus of 10.7 in his 2023 and 2024 season shows the dominance as an offensive powerhouse with an offensive box plus minus of 9.4.

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Under scoring his influence on the Mavericks offense. However, his defense of basketball is from my as of 1.3.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_00]: That's not bad. Really to tell you true, that's about as good as this ever going to get with Luca. He needs to show better in the playoff style. The effort needs to be there in a playoff.

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes he just gives a distance. Sometimes he gives so much energy on the offensive and he doesn't have anything to give on the defensive end.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if there is a development with Jayden Hardy as another real offensive weapon with the confluence of claytamps and all the other pieces that they brought in.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if Luca and I will relinquish a little bit of the offense to be able to help more on the defense. We'll see you Jason Kidd, can get in his ear.

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Many analysts include the Ranger and ESPN have highlighted Luca's need to improve his conditioning and defense if the Mavericks are to make a legitimate title run.

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Luca's 4, 7.9, reflects his enormous value on both ends of the court. Although much of it is impacted on the offensive ends with his brilliance, his high usage rate indicates that Luca is the focal point of the Dallas offensive success.

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But his defense remains the main barrier to true all around his true all around game.

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I think Chris Vernon said it, he said one of these days Luca is going to come back from overseas and he's going to be probably about 235 pounds and being.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if he'll ever be real cut up, but he'll be slender and I think that will probably serve him well.

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_00]: But we'll see it hasn't happened yet. Luca has potential to lead the Dallas Mavericks into deep playoffs runs as shown last year.

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_00]: To be there, legitimate title continues going into this year. High pressure moments need to improve as that low points out Luca's brilliance is undeniable.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But his improving conditioning and his defense of effort will unlock another level for the Mavericks.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, if he can get in better condition, yes, it will definitely 100% help the Mavericks. But I honestly think if he can trust a teammate, it's more.

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_00]: If for some reason, he can give some of the burden a little bit more the burden to Kyrie or his Kyrie at the point in his career where it nodog.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I live off of Luca. I live off again. I don't want to have nothing to do running it. I just live off of this dude and I get my 22.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I get my 7th. I throw up a couple cool looking layups and everybody thinks on the point guy. Hey, it's a good living if you can get it.

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, we're going to move along. And we're getting into the segment where we're going to talk about the Northwest division.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to talk about the overunders. We're going to talk about some of the teams. What's going on with them and what have you.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I love these segments. This gives us a real quick snapshot of what's going on with these teams up to date and gives us information and insight leading into our predictions podcast,

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_00]: which will be right before the season starts. Keep a lock on that one.

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, we're going to start off with the Denver Nuggets. Obviously, their best player is Nicole Nichola Yokech.

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, there's really no doubt about that. He is the hub of the offense. He's the heartbeat of the offense.

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_00]: He is what makes Denver go without him. There is no chance of championships whatsoever. Point blank.

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Key acquisition Russell Westbrook and Dario Sarge. Oh, so you lose. Contabies call it Pope and read you Jackson, but you replace it with Dario Sarge.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Because our guy looks like our guy's technology is not going to ever get off the bench there doesn't look like it doesn't look like it's going to happen for him.

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Because Dario Sarge is going to soak up those non-Yokech minutes and then under what you can only call as a really interesting move.

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_00]: They sign Russell Westbrook on the favor of Nicole Yokech because he was in favor of Russell Westbrook.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what Yokech has planned, but I'm really interested to see what it is.

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_00]: There over underwind total is 51 and a half. The Nuggets are our employees to contend for another deep playoff run, but key losses of Contabies call well quote.

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_00]: They'll rely heavily on Yokech to continue his dominance. Maybe some early season to regular season boost from Westbrook and maybe he can give you a spark off the bench.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That might be it, but it really comes down to the young guys because down to that draft class from a couple years ago.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So I know Christian Brown came from a previous draft class with Straudler, the picket kid. Are they getting something from these guys?

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Because now it's, I'm the important. There's nobody else left to play.

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you want to talk whatever the disconnect is between Calvin Boe who is the president of Playoff personnel for the different Nuggets and Michael Malone who's the head coach.

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Michael Malone is a long-standing believer in veterans and veterans don't cough your games and veterans don't make a lot of silly mistakes and veterans know how to account themselves and hold themselves responsible.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_00]: His absolute just denial of playing the kids last year because Peyton Watson was playing for a minute and then it was like, oh no.

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Now we got to start winning some games. You can't play. Julian's rather like in November I was like, oh I thought he was going to be at least part of the bench rotation.

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no. Christian Brown stuck around with the longest and even then they were like, yeah, we try not to play you either.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So there's a lot of, there's a lot of chips in the middle of the table for the young guys and now that Michael Malone literally has been rendered.

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_00]: He's taken his ammunition away from him. He's taken the vets away.

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_00]: They had no chance to play in anybody now. You got to play these guys.

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I want these guys to play and I can't wait to see how this all plays out. Now also Jamal Murray's health is going to be a huge question mark throughout this season.

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I will tell people remember and I say this because I know what's going to happen.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The last time we saw the dude, he didn't look great in the Olympics. I get it.

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_00]: If he does get off to a slow start this season you can't panic because he does his every single season.

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Every single season he gets off to a slow start.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So don't panic. Now if we get to the, if we get to Christmas day and he's still struggling like we haven't seen any glimpses of the old Jamal Murray.

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_00]: That's going to be a real problem.

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And this was makes this win total so difficult.

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I think they should be able to win 50 plus games.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I think they should be 52 and 30 or 55 and 27.

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_00]: But with the loss of veteran leadership, the young guys having to play extensive time.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_00]: The wild card of Russell Westbrook seems like the incohesion of the front office and the coach staff.

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a little disc and a yolkage is still the man.

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think a healthy, a healthy, Michael Porter Jr.

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And the key is a healthy Jamal Murray.

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Jamal Murray can't get off to just the absolute terrible slow start that he usually gets off to.

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_00]: He's going to have to get off to like a maybe, hey, maybe one game on, maybe one game off whatever.

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_00]: But this is a really over competitive West.

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So tread lightly dimmer.

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_00]: You got a lot going on.

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I will move on to the actually we're going to move on to the Portland Trail Blazers.

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to get with them real quick.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, the Portland Trail Blazers a lot of upheaval last season of this was the season of school coming in.

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Dan going out.

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Drew Holiday was there for a split second.

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Jeremy Grant resigned for ridiculous amount of money.

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Then Drew Holiday got traded and then Malcolm Brogden came in.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And Robert Williams III, everybody was heard on this team.

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_00]: She didn't sharp at her.

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Our guy Anthony Simon's.

[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Scoot had a terrible year shooting.

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It was a bad year for the Portland Trail Blazers.

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It was absolutely a terrible year for them.

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, what have they done?

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Almost nothing but they did get down of it and clinging down to clinging in is the Yukon Center who he was part of those two time national championship teams.

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Now I thought it was the eye selection when they did it.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_00]: But then I was like, they're going blow out some centers because they're going to want down of it and clinging to play, right?

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Not so fast as our guy, the legend, Lee Corso says on ESPN.

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Shout out to college, gang day.

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Love the crew.

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_00]: But we see here 13 days away from media day training camp opening up.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_00]: The Andre Aighton is still on this team.

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Robert Williams is still on this team.

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Jeremy Grant is still on this team.

[00:33:33] [SPEAKER_00]: How do the young guys develop?

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_00]: How do they gain any kind of cohesion amongst each other to see if they do have any kind of special sauce between them?

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_00]: How does that happen with all these vets?

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_00]: They're win-total over under 34 and a half.

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Almost out to say, yeah?

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Jeremy Grant is not going to sit there and be like, oh, I will just go away.

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_00]: He's on a play.

[00:34:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to shoot the ball.

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you got DeAndre Aighton sitting there.

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if he wants to play basketball or not.

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_00]: We have no clue.

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_00]: He gave himself the nickname last year of Domain Naten.

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to ask DeAndre Aighton this.

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_00]: What did you dominate last year, my guy?

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_00]: What did you dominate?

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I just, uh, okay.

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER_00]: We move along.

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing is the Chris Murray as well.

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So this is the brother of Kagan.

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_00]: What kind of development path is there for him?

[00:34:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I just don't see where this team gets better.

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And I just don't see there.

[00:35:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't understand what's going on there.

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I can pick a path.

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Vets?

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Young guys, listen, I'm not saying bealterable and no vets in whatever the case would be.

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just asking you to declare some of the way so that young guys can go ahead and make the mistakes they need to make.

[00:35:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So then we can see if they have what it takes to be a guy to stand.

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, we're going to move along to the Utah Jazz who is also interesting French eyes to say the least because we talked about them.

[00:35:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Existently this summer because before August 7th,

[00:35:44] [SPEAKER_00]: we didn't know if Lori market in was going to stay or go.

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Danny, age, play, quay, all summer.

[00:35:52] [SPEAKER_00]: There were teases that there were availabilities for Walker Kessler and Lori market in,

[00:35:58] [SPEAKER_00]: but it was going to take a high price tag.

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_00]: There were rumors about Golden State and Utah getting together on a trade.

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That never really materialized.

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that it was out there, but as soon as certain names came up,

[00:36:16] [SPEAKER_00]: that trade, those talks, the negotiations were no end-boy.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So now here we are with the Utah Jazz and another season of what are we doing?

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_00]: What are we doing? We're taking our belief.

[00:36:35] [SPEAKER_00]: But Lori market in is back.

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_00]: He loved Utah. He got his contract.

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_00]: In a sense, he got a no trade clause because he signed on August 7th.

[00:36:48] [SPEAKER_00]: If he would have signed on August 6th,

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot Jared Allen of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[00:36:55] [SPEAKER_00]: He would be trade eligible, but because he signed later,

[00:37:00] [SPEAKER_00]: he is now untradable this season.

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So good for our guy Lori marketin,

[00:37:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I know his wife loves it up there. He loves it up there. Good deal for him.

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Key acquisitions for the Utah Jazz.

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_00]: They piled up on the draft.

[00:37:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It was Isaiah Collier, the Congo Guard at a USC,

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and Kyle Philopowski, who a lot of people were weirded out that he fell out of the first round.

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But we'll see.

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Key losses.

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Taylor Houghton Tucker. I don't know how key loss that is.

[00:37:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And Chris Dunnell. Chris Dunnell will get more of a loss.

[00:37:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Their win total over under is 29 and a half.

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Here's the thing. They're not trying to win.

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_00]: John Collins, I wonder what role we're playing with him.

[00:37:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Is Walker Kessler going to give his job back as a starting center?

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Key out to a George played very well as a rookie, the kid out of bailer.

[00:38:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That was there. First round selection last year.

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_00]: No, Taylor Henders was their first round selection.

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't see any of the court really.

[00:38:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So there's a lot of people who didn't get burned last year.

[00:38:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Now we got two more.

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So Key out to a George played a lot. And that was good.

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope that continues this year. I think it will.

[00:38:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope our guy Taylor Henders can see the court. That would be great.

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope that Walker Kessler gets his job back.

[00:38:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Make no mistake about it.

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_00]: They're looking at that 2025 draft class.

[00:38:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And they're looking at some of those blue shippers towards the top of that draft class.

[00:39:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And they like to add one of those guys to it.

[00:39:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's for sure.

[00:39:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So this year is a year where we might see

[00:39:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Boy marketed little manage.

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We might see a lot of the youth in Utah.

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm looking forward to it because I love Key out to a George and he was one of our guys last year that we focused in on real quick.

[00:39:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like and what it's all about.

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So now we're going to get to our last two.

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And we talked about this guy earlier and that was Anthony Edwards.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And the Minnesota Timberwolves are next on our list.

[00:39:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And they're win total over under is 52 and a half.

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_00]: We talked about them getting to the Western Conference Finals.

[00:39:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The amazing round two victory over the different nuggets, which basically sounded the alarm.

[00:39:57] [SPEAKER_00]: That Anthony Edwards was here.

[00:40:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And he was here to dominate the NBA.

[00:40:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So we got that.

[00:40:06] [SPEAKER_00]: We also saw Carl Anthony Towns bow down to the King and I don't mean it in a disrespectful way.

[00:40:14] [SPEAKER_00]: We saw him rescind into the background and be the number two.

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And he understood the assignment.

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of the time.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of the time.

[00:40:28] [SPEAKER_00]: We might want to talk about him being the number two though.

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll get to that.

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Key acquisitions now they did do something really cool in the draft.

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_00]: They basically threw in their last draft asset to move up and to get Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham.

[00:40:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Now this is what I'll say about Rob Dillingham.

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_00]: He's electrically quick.

[00:40:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Like quick to the point of he's going to be very hard to stay in front of.

[00:41:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Now he's also very small.

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can chicken wing him or don't extend your forearm but kind of jazzed him.

[00:41:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So without there you're going to be able to knock him off his path.

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So you're going to be really creative, authentically to get him first year getting him going.

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_00]: He's going to have to get into somewhere.

[00:41:33] [SPEAKER_00]: He just can't be touched.

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_00]: But they are counting on this kid to be an offensive weapon for them.

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's really I think they're going to be counting on his this year.

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Keep in mind that also my colleague Jr is like what 36, 37 years of age.

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_00]: That is your starting point guard along with Anthony Edwards.

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER_00]: You did lose Kyle Anderson and Martin Morris.

[00:42:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Those are vets.

[00:42:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll stabilize things of that nature but you're looking for upside play.

[00:42:16] [SPEAKER_00]: You're looking to see if we can raise the floor with Terran Shannon Jr.

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Who came out of Illinois as far as this concern and Rob Dillingham.

[00:42:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Now also keep in mind too.

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Last year they drafted Jaylen Clark out of UCLA.

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And also I know the kid come on come on come on there's a kid of Miller.

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Out of the G league this was as concerned and he's one of those guys where if Leonard Miller pops off at 10, 16, T 10.

[00:42:56] [SPEAKER_00]: If he pops off all like a GG Jackson type of style situation you might have something.

[00:43:02] [SPEAKER_00]: In Jaylen Clark really improved as a young shooter at UCLA.

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing that he lives on is defense.

[00:43:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So he improved his ball handling at UCLA.

[00:43:16] [SPEAKER_00]: He improved his rebounding.

[00:43:18] [SPEAKER_00]: He was an absolute demon on the defense side of the ball which would allow you to think that the allowing of Kyle Anderson to leave.

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And Martin Morris to leave was to open up slots.

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So I wondered to see if Jaylen Clark is going to get a shot at a rear rotation slot along with these other young guards that they also picked up.

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And they also designed old man Joe Engels as well.

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't know if he's a vibe guy or is he actually integral to what they're trying to do.

[00:43:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Fifty-two and a half wins in a very crowded west.

[00:44:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Still seems doable.

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Anthony Edwards is coming back off the Olympics.

[00:44:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I would think I would take the over on this.

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_00]: They're still relatively young, except for the point guard.

[00:44:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And Rudy what they have nauseous reed.

[00:44:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So they have tremendous death to get them through.

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_00]: They're definitely going to try to cut down on Mike Conley's minutes.

[00:44:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether it's Engels, whether Dillingham proves himself to be a guy or Terran Chan and Junior who has some often

[00:44:40] [SPEAKER_00]: secretion in his bag.

[00:44:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I wonder who will rise and like the fact of backup point guard.

[00:44:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But they're solid.

[00:44:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Only catastrophic injury would cause them to not hit this total.

[00:44:57] [SPEAKER_00]: They are really loaded and I can't wait to see what they also put out.

[00:45:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, the last team that we need to get to and then we have one other thing that we need to get to

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and then we can get up out of here.

[00:45:13] [SPEAKER_00]: But the Oklahoma City Thunder is our last team in the Northwest Division.

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And they had an incredible year last year.

[00:45:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Shay Gilgis Alexander.

[00:45:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Jayda, Shay Hongran, the gang.

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_00]: They did their thing.

[00:45:30] [SPEAKER_00]: This was ridiculous.

[00:45:33] [SPEAKER_00]: We met.

[00:45:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The Oklahoma City Thunder need to send like real cool Christmas gifts to the Clippers.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Like they need to just continue to send them.

[00:45:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Get like hey man, thank you for all the stuff that you're all gave us.

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_00]: We really appreciate that.

[00:45:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And we really appreciate y'all giving it up.

[00:45:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Shay Gilgis Alexander to us.

[00:45:57] [SPEAKER_00]: That was quite thoughtful of you.

[00:46:01] [SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Enough with the shenanigans.

[00:46:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Best player on okay see.

[00:46:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously a Shay Gilgis Alexander.

[00:46:08] [SPEAKER_00]: This guy was incredible last year.

[00:46:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Thirty points, every almost every single game.

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_00]: In this dude was just like I wake up.

[00:46:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I brush my teeth.

[00:46:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I put on my I put on my kicks and I give him 30.

[00:46:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And it was so smooth how he was doing it.

[00:46:28] [SPEAKER_00]: It looked belatic.

[00:46:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It looked like he was playing.

[00:46:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Fusion jazz out there.

[00:46:33] [SPEAKER_00]: It looked great.

[00:46:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And I expect to see a lot more of it this year.

[00:46:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the key acquisitions for the okay see Thunder.

[00:46:45] [SPEAKER_00]: They had incredible all season.

[00:46:47] [SPEAKER_00]: They signed Isaiah Hardenstein away from New York.

[00:46:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So that was the big that they needed.

[00:46:53] [SPEAKER_00]: They also got Josh and they also gave up Josh Giddy for Alex Caruso.

[00:47:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And again, I asked this question.

[00:47:05] [SPEAKER_00]: How to help the Chicago not get a draft pick back.

[00:47:11] [SPEAKER_00]: You gave up the best player in the deal.

[00:47:15] [SPEAKER_00]: How did you not get a draft pick back?

[00:47:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I don't okay see has 16 first round graphics.

[00:47:28] [SPEAKER_00]: You can get one.

[00:47:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Sam Presti is an absolute front office.

[00:47:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I think he needs a better title than genius.

[00:47:41] [SPEAKER_00]: We need to come up with something better than genius.

[00:47:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Mince a baby like he's just beyond just not picking up the phone.

[00:47:56] [SPEAKER_00]: If there's a okay see area code, just not doing it.

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_00]: If I'm an NBA executive and Sam Presti is calling me.

[00:48:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And let's he's calling me to see what we might be wanting to do for dinner at some

[00:48:12] [SPEAKER_00]: league or something like that.

[00:48:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not picking up the phone, dog.

[00:48:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Not doing it.

[00:48:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright so yeah they got Alex Caruso imagine that.

[00:48:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's break this down a little bit.

[00:48:26] [SPEAKER_00]: So last year, chat home, growing basically is center.

[00:48:31] [SPEAKER_00]: They're playing like Lou Dort, some random big Jailing Williams and Shake Hill

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_00]: to Zalgisander.

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what they're playing.

[00:48:45] [SPEAKER_00]: This year, oh Josh Giddy was there.

[00:48:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry Josh Giddy was there.

[00:48:52] [SPEAKER_00]: This year, this is what they're rolling out.

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay this is what they're rolling out.

[00:48:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And here's the thing, here's the scary part.

[00:49:02] [SPEAKER_00]: What are these guys might not start?

[00:49:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Just think about that.

[00:49:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Think about what I just said when I tell you to start and line up.

[00:49:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Shake Hill Giselle Gisander obviously.

[00:49:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Lou Dort.

[00:49:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Alex Caruso.

[00:49:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Zada.

[00:49:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh hold on no they can't start you never mind.

[00:49:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Never mind.

[00:49:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Check this start line up.

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Shake Hill's is Alexander Lou Dort.

[00:49:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Zada at the wing position.

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Chat home grain and Isaiah Hardestine.

[00:49:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh wait there's more.

[00:49:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Look it was coming off the bench for these dudes.

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So you got the other Jalen Williams who now is a absolute backup.

[00:49:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you have Cason Wallace who was a Kentucky guard they did draft it last year

[00:50:03] [SPEAKER_00]: who came in and gave them excellent minutes off the bench.

[00:50:09] [SPEAKER_00]: They also got Alex Caruso as well.

[00:50:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So you tell me are we worried about their over under or not?

[00:50:21] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I'm saying like you tell me.

[00:50:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll say no over here looking at 56 and a half and going like for real.

[00:50:30] [SPEAKER_00]: They're young, they're talented, they're deep.

[00:50:38] [SPEAKER_00]: They answered all of their questions that they had in the all season.

[00:50:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And they still got 19 million picks the next six years.

[00:50:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So if for some reason something doesn't work out,

[00:50:59] [SPEAKER_00]: they can give up four picks real easy and go out and get whatever they need it.

[00:51:05] [SPEAKER_00]: They are the wookie man now.

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_00]: They are the wookie man.

[00:51:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And guess what?

[00:51:13] [SPEAKER_00]: It's time to pay the toll.

[00:51:15] [SPEAKER_00]: We sat here for years and man if they hit a couple of these dudes in the draft

[00:51:22] [SPEAKER_00]: it's going to be nuts because Shay Gildes Alexander is a monster.

[00:51:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, they did it.

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Jalen Williams out of Santa Clara is basically their number two guy.

[00:51:37] [SPEAKER_00]: She, homegrown could be another number two guy.

[00:51:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And now you got Isaiah Hardestie with them.

[00:51:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And everybody just falls into a role.

[00:51:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So 56 and a half even in the west that is absolutely stacked.

[00:52:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I love Mark Dagnaw.

[00:52:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Sam Presty is a genius and he's got a war chest of just ammunition if something goes

[00:52:10] [SPEAKER_00]: wrong.

[00:52:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, give me the over on the 56 and a half on okay see.

[00:52:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Thunder the hell up and we don't have to do predictions right now.

[00:52:26] [SPEAKER_00]: We're not there yet because I need to see it.

[00:52:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to see it.

[00:52:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But this team is clearly the number one seed in the west.

[00:52:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to say that you've got to be a great guy.

[00:53:16] [SPEAKER_00]: They also lost Paul George.

[00:53:20] [SPEAKER_00]: What does it look like?

[00:53:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers have a 40 year old man who leads their team.

[00:53:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Did make any offseason moves except for getting done, connecting, brony janks?

[00:53:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, they also signed Christian Coloco as well.

[00:53:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Recently I liked that pick up, but it's still like a row 10 to 12 minutes as all

[00:53:45] [SPEAKER_00]: of the team.

[00:53:47] [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing is this, this team is stacked and loaded and we're excited.

[00:53:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And SGA could be an MVP candidate so I'm super excited.

[00:54:00] [SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[00:54:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Now our final thing that we're going to talk about is this, Adrian Wogenowski of ESPN,

[00:54:08] [SPEAKER_00]: a legendary NBA insider has announced his retirement from ESPN.

[00:54:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Holtz has been a key figure in the NBA reporting for decades known for breaking major

[00:54:18] [SPEAKER_00]: stories.

[00:54:20] [SPEAKER_00]: His next chapter becoming the general manager of the St. Bonavinter Men's Basketball Team.

[00:54:29] [SPEAKER_00]: ESPN, Jimmy Potero, called Fearless Intelligence, praising his work ethic and his contribution

[00:54:36] [SPEAKER_00]: to the industry.

[00:54:37] [SPEAKER_00]: This marks a huge shift, not just for a woe, but for the NBA media.

[00:54:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously as somebody who does this now, it's funny.

[00:54:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I got to turn off my, my notifications for Adrian Wogenowski no more woe jwangs, right?

[00:55:01] [SPEAKER_00]: He's the clear favorite is probably Sean Sorania, who has been with the athletic and

[00:55:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Yahoo and what is it stadium or whatever, trackings or what is it up fendell.

[00:55:16] [SPEAKER_00]: He's the leader in the clubhouse.

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Now there's a void.

[00:55:22] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a void in our industry, whether you, I never got into the stupid Twitter debates

[00:55:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and I know okay, whatever you guys love it.

[00:55:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, whoa, just getting cooked.

[00:55:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Shameless killing them.

[00:55:39] [SPEAKER_00]: That dude was locked in and you can say he was in bed with Brooklyn, and he was in

[00:55:44] [SPEAKER_00]: bed with somebody's other teams like New York and some infill a delfianne whatever

[00:55:48] [SPEAKER_00]: the case may be.

[00:55:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Well he got us good information.

[00:55:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Mostly he was on time in all talk it.

[00:55:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of the time.

[00:56:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And he became a huge part of our NBA lives.

[00:56:08] [SPEAKER_00]: How many times during the trade deadline were you looking down at your phone looking

[00:56:12] [SPEAKER_00]: at notifications to see what's what the next woe jwang was going to be?

[00:56:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I got this stupid thing right here and I'll tell you right now, one of the first people

[00:56:27] [SPEAKER_00]: that pops up home modification is Adrian Woe to ask you to a very talented man.

[00:56:36] [SPEAKER_00]: We just wish you continue success with your alma mater at St. Bonaventures becoming the

[00:56:44] [SPEAKER_00]: GM of the men's basketball team.

[00:56:47] [SPEAKER_00]: We hope that you are able to secure some very talented guys to surprise and shock

[00:56:54] [SPEAKER_00]: the world.

[00:56:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And men's basketball just don't do it to UCLA.

[00:56:59] [SPEAKER_00]: That's all I'm asking woe jdon't do it to UCLA.

[00:57:05] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, with that being said, hump day front runner podcast collective is now coming

[00:57:11] [SPEAKER_00]: to an end.

[00:57:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I would like to once again thank my producers for being absolutely freaking awesome,

[00:57:20] [SPEAKER_00]: bunch and so rare.

[00:57:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing that I would like to say is this, thank you guys for participating with us.

[00:57:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for being our audience.

[00:57:30] [SPEAKER_00]: We do this for you guys three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

[00:57:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to leave you with this.

[00:57:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The best part of you is you make sure that the people that surround you are just illuminating

[00:57:43] [SPEAKER_00]: your light.

[00:57:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure they're illuminating your light.

[00:57:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And if there's anybody that is taken light away from you, we might need to go ahead

[00:57:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and have a very serious conversation about that.

[00:57:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Do some good in this world and we'll be back on this feed on Friday.