Southwest Win Totals Reality Check

Southwest Division Preview And Shots Fired

All right, all right, all right. We are going to be talking about the Southwest division of the NBA today, and we're going to talk about all the teams. We're going to talk about their win totals. We're going to talk about how they're going to get to their win totals. And we're going to talk about 19-year-rookies who have a real shot at rookie of the year. We are going to talk about Dallas and getting back Kyrie and teaming him up with Cooper Flag. We're also going to talk about that 7'4 alien or 7'5 dude, depending on who you ask. We're going to talk about the dysfunction in Houston. You know, we didn't forget about the we didn't forget about the DMs. KD. We didn't forget about it. Because I'm petty. I'm petty that way. I'm not going to hold it. I'm not going to hold you. I'm petty that way. But we are going to talk about that 38-year-old brilliance. We're going to talk about how he's still getting it done at an advanced age. And then we're going to talk about Memphis. And we're going to talk about New Orleans. And it's the Southwest Division, baby. So buckle up for one of the greatest podcasts that you've ever listened to. Welcome to Frontrunner Podcast Collective. Let's get it.

The FRPC Format And Ground Rules

What's good, everybody? Welcome to Frontrunner Podcast Collective. This is where we talk like friends, we argue like cousins, and we still walk out just a task smarter than we came in. I am your host, Vince, and I'm your occasional hoop therapist, your absolute favorite bad influence when it comes to completely reckless NBA overreactions that low-key make perfect sense, and we will have one of those today. We're setting the table, we're getting into the film room. You know, I got a lot of notes about yesterday and what have you. So buckle up for that. We talk about the grown conversations about players, coaches, in front office, actually how they move in this league. And we're going to talk about some of the rumors in the PR spin, but we're going to celebrate basketball today because it's back. And we're going to give you some of that barbershop ammo that you need to take straight back to your group chat and completely nuke the argument. If you're NBA Sicko who wants more than a highlight talk, you want context, you want numbers, and you want a point of view. Well, you found your spot. It's FRPC. I'm Vince and let's go. So this is how it's going to start. Uh, if you are with us, like last week, we got into the Eastern Conference and their win totals. Today we're doing the Southwest Division. We're going to talk about their win totals over under where we see it, how we see it, and get into it that way. So we will go from least to first. So

Pelicans Win Total And Team Context

you know we're starting in the bayou. We're starting in New Orleans, and it's not as bad as you might think, but it's not as good as it could be. Ain't all sweet in New Orleans. But let's see if we got some hopeful notes to pass on to our brethren in New Orleans. So DraftKings has the New Orleans Pelicans at a 25, 20, 28.5 win total. All right. So obviously, they don't think too much of our Pelicans. Here's the thing. Last year, they were 26 and 56. They had a net rating of negative 4.5, which was 21st in the NBA. They had an offensive rating that was 114.4, also 21st in the NBA. And their defense was an astounding 118.9, which puts them 25th in the NBA. Now you can look at this new this next piece of news is good news or bad news. 14 of the 15 players are back. 85% of the last year of minutes are here to stay. What has changed is new head coach Jamal Mosley. Yes, that Jamal Mosley, who got unceremoniously dropped from Orlando for Sean Sweeney, who was an uh assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, who made it to the NBA Finals. He's in Orlando. He's the new man there. Jamal Mosley brings his tough-minded, no-nonsense defensive approach to the bayou and hopes to change the direction of the New Orleans Pelicans. Obviously, their executives are Joe Dumarz and Troy Weaver. Now, we have had a lot of stuff to say about them, and we're going to get into it because uh it didn't help them this, it didn't help them this year, but we're going to talk about it. Where to start? And this is where we're going to start. If you look at the players, if you just look at the just the collection of players that are on the Pelicans. Deontay Murray, Herb Jones, Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, our guy Jeremiah Fears, who we're absolutely in love with, and we think you're gonna have a big season this year. You can't get the cover is not bare, right? The cover isn't bare. Now 58, their shot diet might have to change a little bit because 58% of their shots came with inside the paint. They shot only 55.4% from there, which was second worst in all of the NBA. They shot 32.13s a night at a at a 34.7% rate. Not bad, not great, obviously. And they had a clethera of injuries. Tell me if you have not heard this before, New Orleans Pelicans fans. DeJounte Murray missed 14 games, Herb Jones missed 26, Zion missed 20. Murphy and Misi also missed 16. And we talked about the defense and how it worked out. Now, these teams will have a reason to play harder this year, obviously, because Adam Silver put in the anti-tanking rules. So hopefully, what that means is that these teams will have some pride towards the end of the season and not just be relegated to how many games can they get under 500 and how closer to the ping pong balls can they get. Because obviously, you know, if you end up in that bottom three, you lose a ping pong ball or two, you know what I'm saying? And then obviously, if you're four through ten, you have like the best, those are the teams with the best odds. So the Pelicans have every reason to go ahead and try to win.

Zion Health And Spacing Questions

We always start the New Orleans Pelicans off with Zion Williamson, and the problem with this is that now at age 26, at 6'6, and he's listed at 284 pounds, I think he's in the best shape than we've seen him in since he's come into the league. I say that not in jest, but in real seriousness. I can't believe it took this long, honestly. Um the talent is so immense, and to see it just kind of be flittering out there like we don't know what's going on, and we are just you know having a good time. Every once in a while we'll make a dunk. Every once in a while we'll do something, you know, tremendous, and we just keep it moving that way. But his numbers over 62 games last year are like this. He played 29.7 minutes, he averaged 21 points a game, 5.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists. He had a 60% field goal percentage. He only shot 25% from three. That's terrible. He also shot only 71.6% from the free throw line. Now his true shooting percentage was 64.4%. His usage rate, remember point Zion was a thing? It was down last year. His usage rate was 25.7. His uh box plus minus was actually a positive 2.9. So here's the thing. He took 791 paint attempts, third most in the league. He hit 60.3% of them. Okay, his best mark in three years. His free throw rate was 57.6%. Okay. This is the problem. The three-point attempt rate.005. I'll say that again.005. Now, if you're saying, hey, I have just given up on that shot, okay, then depending on the pieces around you, this might work. But if you have a big who doesn't shoot threes, and then you're also trying to hang out in that dunker squat as well, it's probably not gonna be fantastic for you. His defense is being an issue, which is crazy because given his athletic gifts and his just tremendous bounce, even at this age and also at this size that he's been at. And keep in mind, this year, I seen him in a couple preseason games. He looks phenomenal. He looks like he's in phenomenal shape. And honestly, to tell you the truth, I think that this is going to be a very big year for Zion when it comes to that. I think once you see the health and the uh you know the conditioning get better, I think you're gonna see a better Zion. I don't know what that means though anymore. Again, he played 62 games, which was the third time he reached 60 in his uh career out of six years. And one person said that he his fit problem is the spacing and the rim protection he can't supply. It isn't his production. So Zanyon's availability is like Ngri A severance. Nobody knows what's happening, what's happen, what happens in January. Is this dude going to hit the 65 game mark this year? That's what I want to know. Is Zion gonna actually play 65 games? I want to hear it from all my Pelicans fans out there. I don't know how many are there out there. I know LSU is giving y'all the blues down there. So it's been a tough, it's been a tough situation with Lane Kiffin at the helm, down Baton Rouge, you know I'm talking about, but at the end of the day, the Pelicans are your, you know, I listen, the Saints are the Saints. They uh you know, I love the uniforms they played with last Sunday. They were tough. I like those the white ones with the gold, the gold trim. That was that was nice. But what about the Pelicans? What about Zion? Is he gonna get you the 65 games? Here's the other low-key thing. Is this the year? Is this finally the year that that front office pulls the trigger on Zion? And here's the most important part of this. Who is the actual team that takes the chance on Zion Williamson? Y'all let me know. Now, to better things, the two listen, Jeremiah Fierce and Derrick Queen are the two guys that they are trying to build around. These are the developmental uh bets that they're taking on. Now, Fierce played in all 82 games last year. He averaged damn near 26 minutes a game. My man was scoring 14.3 points a game. And for somebody as small and slight as he is, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists, he didn't shoot the ball incredibly well. But I just think it will get better as he ages because remember, he was in his he was 19 last year. He shot 43% from the field total, 30 33% from uh beyond the three-point line, and 78.9% from the free throw line. True shooting percentage, not right, not a lot to write home about, 52.5 percent, and he had a usage rate of only 25.5 turnovers, kind of bad. 13.8. Not here's the thing, though. He's a rookie, also 19, also he was like a buck 65 soaking wet. So all of these things as he matures, as he grows into his body, will get better. The one thing I will say about the kid is that he was absolutely uh just a swashbuckler going into the lane. He never passed up a big tough shot. He could get to all three uh phases of the offensive uh tiers, which is he can get to the rim whenever he wanted. He's got a nice little teardrop at the paint from like eight feet, and he also can shoot the three. Now, I know the numbers don't tell us that, but I think he will just get better with time. I I'm really high on Jeremiah Fierce. I just think they need to figure out what they're gonna do with the other pieces of talent that they have around him. Now, the other guy that is that they now remember, New Orleans did not have a pick this year, and this is the reason why. Derrick Queen, who they drafted last year, a six foot nine center or power forward, however you want to put it. Now, he's out of the DMV, which is that you know, that district metro area of Washington, D.C. Troy Weaver is absolutely um in love with uh kids that come out of the DMV. Loves them. And Queen was no exception, so they drafted him, they moved up in the 2025 draft, they gave up their unprotected 2026 pick, which ended up being Atlanta's pick. And guess what? No pick in 2026. So Derek Queen must be very, very good. Now, last year, he you know, he was a rookie, he averaged damn near 12 points a game at 11.7. He had 7.1 rebounds a game and 3.7 assists. He's a real, really good uh facilitator of the basketball. Now, he shot 47 from the field, he did not shoot the three very well, which is something that was promised to us. He only shot 26% from the feet from the three-point line and 80% from free throw line. Now, here's the thing: if you hit that 80 mark, that three-point shot and that three-point percentage should go up. So I have a lot of faith in Derek Queen getting it done. Now, the true shooting percentage for somebody who took a lot of shots in the lane was only 54.6 percent. He had an assist rate of 21.1, his turnover rate was atrocious at 18. But here's the thing that we want to talk about with both of these guys. This is basically the start

Fears And Queen As The Future

over. We're now moving, we're starting to shed the Zion era. I understand that Zion is still there, but we're starting to shed that era, and we're moving into the Jeremiah Fears Derek Queen era. Now, I don't know if that includes our guy, Trey Murphy III, who we will get to momentarily, but at the end of the day, these are the two young building blocks that the Memphis that the uh New Orleans Pelicans are building around at this point. So keep that in mind when we go through this. Now, Ben Golliver of ESPN calls Queen and Zion awfully redundant. Um, people uh who have been in uh rival front offices have said these two are developmental bets, not production. The defense has to move, move for fears, and the shot has to show up for Queen. The jury's still out on the kids, but my whole deal is that you gotta give them a little more time, and also you gotta give them the development uh runway to be able to get better. And you know, we got a really crowded backcourt with DeJounte Murray and Jeremiah Fears. Who's gonna get the minutes? Are you moving uh DeJounte Murray to the two? I mean, you could. You could your defense is already shit, it's already terrible. So you can just lean into the offense at this point. And another way you can lean into the offense is give my man Trey Murphy the third the basketball. Now, Trey Murphy III to me can't do any wrong. You know how much I love this kid. He averaged 21 and a half points a game last year, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists. He shot 38% from three-point land, 47% overall, and a scintillating 88.6% from the free throw line. He played basically about 35 and a half minutes, and he shot 8.6 threes a night. My man was getting it done. Okay, he is one of the pieces. If you are the Pelicans, that if you decided to move off of him, Zion is a crapshoot. He's theoretical as far as what his value is. This is one guy who is does not have a theoretical value. If you put Trey Murphy on the market, you are going to get a lot in return for Trey Murphy. Either picks or play of yours, whatever it is that you're looking for, I think it would be picks to replenish what you don't have. So I would think that would be the route that they would want to go. Now, another piece that they might think on moving on from is DeJounte Murray. Now, he only played in um 14 games. You know what I'm saying? He averaged 17 points. He is we still waiting for this defensive dynamo. It was funny because when he was in San Antonio, he had this reputation of playing defense. He went to Atlanta. Now, granted, you can't play defense in Atlanta when Trey uh Trey Young is also there. You had two itty bitty guards. Now, you had all the trees that Atlanta have now, and you drop DeJounte Murray in that situation, he would be better off. He could probably gamble a little bit more, put more on ball pressure. He he can definitely uh anticipate in the passing lanes. These are things that we have seen of him in the past. But my whole problem is that right now we have not seen that defensive um dog mentality out of DeJounte Murray for several years now. So I'm wondering if is it all gone? Did how much is the Achilles tear that happened to him where he only he missed basically the whole entire season uh last year? How much is that gonna play into effect of that situation? We don't know. But if he comes back this year. And he puts together a good first half, I'm like, let's see what we can get for him. You know what I'm saying? Get his value pretty good. You're not going to get the hall-haul for him. You're not going to get the mother loader picks and you know, players or whatever the case may be. But if you can get like a good clean first rounder for DeJounte Murray, it might be well worth it. Because DeJounte Murray is a pretty good player. And depending on your guard situation, wherever you might be at in your contendership level or trying to make the playoffs or whatever it is that you are in the NBA, DeJounte Murray is a really good player. And the one thing also that DeJounte Murray is, he's a really good human being. He definitely does take a lot of pride into the work that he puts into his skill set and what have you. And you know, you can't, that's something that uh a scouting report doesn't tell you. But from everybody that I've ever talked to around that young man talks about what an outstanding, not just like an outstanding citizen, but just his work ethic is really great. So if anybody who can bounce back from this situation, it will be DeJounte Murray, and I hope nothing but the best for that young man.

Trey Murphy Trade Value Debate

They also picked up Benedict Matherin, who was on the Clippers via the Pacers. And I am really interested in how this works. Now, Benedict Matherin can score the basketball, but that is not what the Pelicans need. They need somebody who's going to play defense. And that is the one area that we have not seen from Benedict Matherin since he's been in the league. He gets lost sometimes out on the perimeter. He gets backdoored a lot. Sometimes it's when they are in that scramble drill, when you're, you know, um you come out of a pick and roll, it's not working, and they start swinging it around. He doesn't know where to go. He doesn't know like organically where his assignment is supposed to be. Now, he's going to the wrong team to help him with that. Because the the Pelicans suck on defense. So you got another dude who looks completely lost out there on defense. Now, will he score the basketball for you? Yeah. Let's talk about another guy they got. It's Sadiq Bey. Sadiq Bey scores the basketball. He shoots 37, 36.7% from three. He actually plays a little bit of defense. It's unfortunate that everybody else doesn't. Really, actually, it's him and also Herb Jones. I don't want to disrespect our guy Herb Jones. Because he was all he was first team all defense in 2024. Now, injuries have kind of derailed him a little bit the last couple years, but he is a defensive stalwart. The problem with him is with Herb Jones is that he only shoots 31% from three. And that is not great. That is not great at all. And sometimes I forget, but Jordan Cool is still on this team making $34 million. Now he's expiring this year, which is great. I don't know who's going to want to take that on. I mean, if you're looking for an expiring contract, I guess to help you out, but you have to give stuff back. You know? And what are you willing to give back? Or is this one of those bad contract for guy, bad contract type situations? Are the Pelicans taking off somebody with extra gears? I have no idea. But Jordan Poole is in the last year of his contract. He's still somewhat of a sharp shooter. I still hate his shot selection because he thinks he's Steph Curry. He shoots uh the three-point ball at 37.2%. Here's the thing: he doesn't help on defense either. Do you understand why they hired Jamal Mosley? And we're going to talk about our guy right now.

Can Mosley Fix The Defense

So Mosley was fired from Orlando after three straight playoff trips. The problem is that the Magic did not really get any better on offense. But their defense under Mosley, check this out. Top three in the 2023-2024 season, and also top three in the 24-25 season. He will put you through your paces. You will understand the principles of his defense. And if you do not play defense or you don't give effort on defense, guess what you end up doing? You end up sitting on the goddog bench. That is what happens. So good luck with that. And I thank God he doesn't have a lot of hair. Because uh he'd be pulling out because he's gonna look at Zion and some of these dudes on this court and just be like, What the hell are we doing? Now, Dumarris and Troy Weaver, we talked about that's the front office as far as CERN. They're hoping for internal growth with this particular team. We'll see. Um, I would have loved to see like a you know a draft pick piece come this last year, but it obviously wasn't in the cars, you know, due to the fact of the Derrick Queen uh situation where they moved up from 23 to 13 in the 2025 NBA draft. So you're hoping for jumps in fears and also Queen, and hopefully they get better defensively. Both not a strong suit for either one of those young men. What are you gonna get out of Zion? Can Zion play some defense? Is Troy Murphy gonna put himself out there to play the type of defense he could play? You know, which he's not known as a great defender anyway. And you also have a bunch of guys who probably want out of New Orleans, at least probably Trey Murphy III, Zion, and DeJounte Murray. Um, Williamson for the fact that you know he just it just hasn't worked out. What was promised never was delivered from him, and maybe just a fresh start will help him out. Trey Murphy the third has a lot to offer a team. So again, if you can if you can find a team that has a plethora of picks and they feel like they're one piece away, and it's a Trey Murphy uh type of player, then I would go ahead and do that. Now I will tell you how they go over. If Murray plays over 55 games, Zion plays over 65 games, and the defense that Mosley will try to extract out of that particular team, and everybody that is there, if he can get it from where it was last year, which was 25th in the league, to somewhere towards the middle, they have a shot of going over their win total. Fears got to cut down on his turnovers. Uh, Queen has to score without needing a ball, and Matherin has to just be more productive and also find his defensive assignment. Their big bugaboo is rim protection, they don't really have a center. Now, Ease Misi is their center uh right now, but he's still very light. You know, he's he's kind of a Jackson Hayes type dude in the sense that he just doesn't have a lot of bulk on him, and that's the problem is that dudes like Nikola Jokic are gonna eat him up, um like Nurkic, Donovan Klingon, uh Zach Edy, these guys are gonna eat him up. That's not great. And the guy who does have bulk, you want him to slim down a little bit, which is Derek Quinn. And does he does he provide more rim protection that way? Who knows? Not not I. I feel bad for Milwaukee, I mean for uh New Orleans fans, I really do. I feel bad for you. I just think that um you your first are not your own. The 2027 pick is is a swap. You know, so who have whoever has the better record between you and Milwaukee and Atlanta if it's top four protected is crazy. And then the 2028 pick and 2029 picks uh go to San Antonio. So I'm gonna tell you right now, there's not a lot of hope coming unless you somehow start making trades of the players that have value.

Pelicans Over Under Verdict

So I'm gonna get to this right now, tell you what I think about this team. Are they gonna go over their win total of 28 and a half? I don't think so. I think they're gonna be right around that number. Keep in mind their division got better. Like everybody in their division. The West isn't as good as it was last year, but the east is better. So we'll see how it all works for the Pelicans. I'm starting to wonder if the Pelicans are gonna have one of the worst records in all of basketball this upcoming season.

Grizzlies Reboot After Franchise Shakeup

Now we're gonna move on to the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis Grizzlies have a win total of what? 29 and a half. Well, we'll see. Well, let's talk about them a little bit real quick. So last year, obviously, it was the year from hell, 25 and 57 last year, down from 48 and 34 the year before. Uh, their net rating was terrible. It was negative 5.9, which was 24th in the league. Their offense was also uh terrible at 112.9 points a game, and they also had a pretty awful defense as well. They ranked 24th in the NBA and let people score 118.8 points a game. There has been a culture shift in Memphis gone. Jaron Jackson Jr., he was traded during the um trade deadline last year. He went to Utah, John Morant, gone this summer. He went to Portland. Good luck with that. We'll see. And now the grit and grind 2.0 is over. Now it's time for something else. I don't even know what you want to call it, Grind City, the rebirth of Grind City, however, you want to do it. Now it's gonna be real simple for the Memphis Grizzlies. They got

Cameron Boozer Looks NBA Ready

Cameron Boozer out of Duke. Now, Cameron Boozer to me was the safest pick in a draft, even though he was drafted third. Okay, you had AJ DeBanza and also Darren Peterson go ahead of him. Boozer was the AP national player of the year at Duke. This dude put up monster numbers at Duke. 22 and a half points a game, 10.2 rebounds. And by the way, if you're putting up double-digit rebounds in college, you are going to rebound in the pros as well. He also averaged 4.1 uh assists a game. He shot the ball extremely well at 55.6%. He damn near shot 40 from 3. And he uh shot uh 78.9% from the free throw line. Also, he didn't turn the ball over that much. He had a 4.1 assist to 2.5 turnover ratio, which is you know pretty good for somebody damn near 610. In the summer league, he averaged 18.5 points a game, eight rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 steals. This dude is excellent. Do I have concerns about him? I mean, if you want to go ahead and talk about some of the physical limitations, you can't. Because here's the concerns. Is he the most explosive athlete? No. Does he have you know the elite lateral foot speed? No. Is he the greatest rim protector? No. He only averaged 0.6 blocks last year, 2.2 block rate when he was in college. But here's the thing: this dude knows how to play basketball. That's what I do know. He knows how to put the ball in the hole, he knows how to distribute the basketball to open people and cutters. He can set up your offense if need be. And then the best thing about him is that obviously his dad was Carlos Boozer. He's not gonna be afraid of the bright lights of the NBA, and he damn sure wasn't scared of the national stage when he was at Duke. So I don't think we're gonna have a problem with him at all. I think he's NBA ready. I think he will be able to score in this league. I think he'll be able to rebound in this league, which is actually a defensive skill. Because if you're grabbing rebounds at the rate that he did in college, I think that always translates when you get to the league. Now, he's gonna have some help. Now, hopefully, this help will stay healthy. Zach Edy has been injury marred since he's come into the league. His rookie year, he played 66 games, and then obviously last year he just had a terrible situation, just couldn't stay on the court. But when he is out there, he's an absolute terror on the on the on the boards. He can get you some buckets, you know what I'm saying? He can do all these things. Is he quick? No. But you know, you play drop coverage with this dude because he will block the shots.

Memphis Pieces To Win Right Away

And I love their wings. I love I love Wells. I love Coward. And you know, Ty Jerome is a good little facilitator at the point guard position, and he can get you buckets. Cedric Coward had himself a pretty banner rookie season. He made the all-rookie first team, you know what I'm saying? He averaged damn near 14 points a game, six rebounds, damn near. And also, 2.8 assists. Does he play the defense? For sure he does. Does he fit in to that team? Yes, he does. I think this is the start of something really cool in Memphis. I like how they pivoted. They weren't scared to get off their guy, John Morant, even though he was like beloved in that town. Beloved. But they have flipped over to a brand new page and they got some talent on that team. And it's gonna take a second for it to all jail, you know, but they got a lot of pieces that I really like. And their coach, Ayasolo, he is going to get the most out of that team, I believe. And they got some veteran leadership when you took when you think about it. They got Jeremy Grant, and they also got Isaiah Stewart. First of all, Isaiah Stewart passes, gives them some toughness. Jeremy Grant gives them a veteran uh score off the bench, if that's what they decide to do with them, which I think that's what they're gonna end up doing. And basically, you're looking at a situation where guess what? You know, if all things go well, everybody does what they're supposed to do, they're gonna be out here doing it real big. Now, what do they have as far as picks are concerned? Well, they have their own first. Uh, they have the Lakers first if the Lakers don't completely tank and end up in the top four. And then they, you know, they got they got a lot of their picks when it comes up. So they have they have ammunition if they need to go out and get something through uh, you know, when the trade deadline comes around. And I'm gonna tell you right now, this team is supposed to be looking at um 29 wins. They should go over that. They should definitely go over that. They should be, if everything goes right, boozer is who I think he is. This this team can win 36 to 38 games. If he's not as good as I think he is, and we have the same issues with Edie that we did last year, they still should go over the win total, but it'll create more like 32. I'm more leaning towards this team taking a you know a decent little leap, getting to that 36 to 38 wins type situation. But we'll see how it all goes.

Mavericks Enter The Flagg Era

Now, to a team that also has some promise after basically, in a sense, uh having their franchise burned to the ground, the Dallas Mavericks are now completely the flag era, and now they get Kyrie back. So let's talk about the Dallas Mavericks real quick. Last year, rough season, 26 and 56, a lot of injuries, a lot of people out. Messiah Jeary comes over and now is the new president of basketball operations. They get Mike Schmitz out of Portland, who is a great talent evaluator. They also get the national champion, uh, championship coach from Michigan, Dusty May, to bring his program to Dallas. So, do I think what do I think of this team? Well, the first thing, let's talk about some of the players, shall we? Kyrie Irving, not, you know, hey, when you hurt, you're a little bit older, it's gonna take you a little more time to recover. But what they get back with Kyrie, obviously, is they give back a absolute uh floor general and somebody who can get into that paint, and he can throw that ball up on the glass, and it will have so much spin on it, it's going in. Kyrie is an absolute sorcerer when it comes to just dribbling, his packages are saucy. And here's the thing: he is starting to advance in age. That is no doubt. But as far as the bag work is concerned, I have no doubt that the bag work is still saucy. No doubt whatsoever in my mind. Now, Cooper Flag came into the league last year, became the rookie of the year. My man was out here doing it real big, 21 points a game, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists. He shot 47% from the field. Now, the three-point shot, suspect, 29.29.5 percent. But what gives us hope and promise is that 82.7 percent from the free throw line. He's gonna figure it out. He is going to figure it out. This is one of them dudes that I sit there and go like that. That dude's gonna be great. I know people sit here and be like, oh, Vince, why are you so big on him? Why do you why do you push this dude? Why are you always pushing up against these white dudes or whatever? Here's the thing it ain't about his color, my guy. It's about the game, it's about the attention to detail that he brings to the game, and it's about how he competes at the highest level. He doesn't like to lose, he doesn't like to get embarrassed, and I'm what I mean by that it's not like oh I'm gonna shy away from competition. No, no, no, no. When you embarrass him, he's trying to come back at you, he out here in. These streets trying to get it done. Okay. So, do I I just have a lot of I just think a lot of the kid now? Obviously, he's gonna have to fix the three-point shot, you know. He's gonna have to fix it, but all the other stuff, all the connective tissue, all the things that you want, and mind you, they had this dude playing point guard. At 6'9, they had this dude playing point guard. Oh, by the way, there's a little rumor going around that Cooper Flag has grown. Now, I have not seen him up close, obviously, but if that's true, if this dude is like 6'11 now, good luck. Because he's gonna bring that defensive intensity and he's gonna find a way to score, and that three-point shot will improve. Guess what? It might improve because of this dude. Kyrie Irvin obviously missed the entire year because of the left ACL tear that he suffered back on March 3rd of 2025. Right now, now my man is making basically $39.5 million this year with a 40.2.4 player option for next year. So he's owed basically about 80 million. What you get back when he steps onto the floor, that's the guy who's gonna be handling the ball. That's the guy who's gonna be putting the others in position to find their best shots and what have you. He is now the floor leader of the Mavericks. When he last played with the Mavericks, as far as that's concerned, you know, he was out there with AD and everything, doing their thing. And, you know, it was only a couple years ago that he was playing with Luca. But he will be the guy handling the ball, getting everybody in place now. And I feel good about him, and I feel good about just what he's gonna be able to bring back to the offense. And everybody loves Kyrie, so they're gonna want Kyrie to do well, you know what I'm saying? And I can't wait. Now, here's the thing that we have to worry about if Kyrie does play well, are the Mavericks gonna trade him? Because here's the thing: Kyrie does not fit the timeline that the Dallas Mavericks are currently on. Dusty May was not the coach when this dude got hurt. So he can say all the platitudes about Kyrie, about how the work ethic is great, how intelligent Kyrie is, how he's such a joy to work with and build game plans with, and all of these type of things. But at the end of the day, if a contender comes a calling and gives you the right draft capital assets back, are you keeping Kyrie Irving knowing that this dude is 34 years of age? I don't know. I can't see it. I cannot see it. And a lot of this has to do with just what he looks like. That's all it takes. I think Kyrie can average 20 points a game still in this league. I think Kyrie can get you seven assists in this league still to this day. But if I'm Dallas, I'm trying to acquire picks, I'm trying to get more bites at the apple to build up my uh my draft war chest, if you will, to continue to get young players to surround Cooper Flag. That is my goal, that is like my primary agenda. And I think when you brought Messiah Jerry in and you brought Mike Schmitz in, I think you understood what that was all about.

Kyrie Trade Logic And Dallas Timeline

And I think that uh Vasai will be on the phones in January if Kyrie looks awesome. Just saying. Now, a couple other guys that are building blocks that can surround our guy, Cooper Flag, is Derek Lively. Here's another guy coming off injury. Here's another guy who has had his share of just things just going awry. When he's on the court, he's electric. You know what I'm saying? He only played seven games last year, and that's you know, you just hate to see the injury bug just just kill what you got going on. But at the end of the day, our guy is back, hopefully healthy, and we will see what he gives you. Because when he's on the court, a true shooting percentage of damn near 70%. He has a block rate of 5.9%, and I'm gonna tell you right now, that's that's pretty elite type shit that you get right there, type shit. Another guy that they can depend on is or could can they depend on because they try to trade him, they try to trade him all last um during the trade deadline and also during the summertime is Daniel Gafford. Daniel Gafford is a pogo stick walking around. He gives you good defense, uh, he provides outstanding offense if you know how to throw lobs. You know what I'm saying? Now, you don't know how to throw lobs, and you're asking him to create his own offense, he cannot help you. PJ Washington, on the other hand, is a solid contributor. He's gonna play good wing defense, he's gonna get you 14 points a game, seven rerounds. He's on a really good contract through 2029-30. And, you know, again, is this a contract that at some point gets traded, gets moved? Because they also brought in Santi Aldama, and Sante Aldama is basically a carving copy of PJ Washington, uh, 14 points, damn near seven rebounds, 6.9. And then you also bring in the rookie who came from Michigan, who was on that national championship team, Morris Johnson Jr., who is a 6'9 defender, can play out on the perimeter, can shoot threes, and he gives you that basically that defensive versatility that you're looking for. He can play either the three, four, five, and I'm gonna tell you right now, that's the move. That dude is the move. Also, another guy who uh I was intrigued by during the uh preseason was Sergio De La Reya. He looked like he can play. This dude looked not only like he can play, but like he can get real minutes early on in the season. I like this kid a lot. I'm I'm big on Sergio De La Rea. And we'll see how it all goes. Now, I don't know how he will hold up to the physicality of the NBA. That might be the one thing, but he's a big kid, he's like 6'6, 6'7, you know what I'm saying? Can handle the ball, shoot threes, don't look scared whatsoever. And also, I look at this situation with Zachary Risache, who they brought in on a flyer, they got a lot of dudes on this team, so they're like prime to make a trade or two come as we get closer and closer to you know the February, the February trade deadline. So I'm looking at this team, and do I think they will go over? I think they will go over if the bigs play. Whatever you get from Kyrie in the first half of the year is just gravy because, like I said, he's probably gonna get traded. Um, I think they will go over their win total for sure. Now that win total, 33 and a half. Some people have them going to the playoffs. I want to hold on. I want to hold on to the night on that one. I think they will be fighting like Portland and uh Utah and a couple other teams for that, like that 10th slot, as far as they're.

Houston Talent Meets KD Drama

Maybe he can grow into it, but last year he could not get it, get them into really cohesive offense. So having Fred Van Vliet back is absolutely a godsend. And you know who's gonna be a godsend to Kevin Durant, and we'll talk, we're gonna talk about him. First of all, let's talk about all the great things. Kevin Durant is a 16-time all-star, okay? He was all NBA second team last year. My man would still get buckets. He 26 points a game, five and a half rebounds, damn near five assists. He shot 41% from the three-point line. He shot 87% free throws. He had a true shooting percentage of 64.1%. He's still a bucket. He played 78 games, he played 2,840 minutes, all right, second most in the league. All the things that you will want, okay? All the things you would want. Now, what's the problem? Why is Kevin Durant, who is one of the most lethal scorers in the game, a problem in Houston? You ask this question. It's the alleged or whatever we want to call that DM situation that he had on Twitter, or X as we want to call it now, like bad mouthing players on his own team around the All-Star break last year. And remember, they were on a heater until that situation. And then all of a sudden, you get back after all-star break. You can't buy buckets. Tari Eason Jr. goes into the tank. Alcor and Shangoon don't look the same anymore. Jabari Smith Jr. looks hesitant to shoot threes, and the offense falls apart. All I know is this. Durant is a hell of a player. He can fit on any team. You click him on any squad right now, he will find his way to 26, 27 points a game. He's still that dude. My problem is that is that dude ever going to be happy ever again? That's my whole situation with him. Never you mind about the coins, the accolades, the championships, whatever. You goad it. You're semantic, bro. You're gonna be a Hall of Famer. Not even a question. Your game still looks tight to this day. My whole thing is that can you provide the leadership to help Houston get to the point where they don't get beat by the Lakers who did not have Luka Doncic, did not have Austin Reeves, you know what I'm saying, in a playoff series. Y'all got beat by a fucking 42-year-old LeBron James. Well, at that time, 41. But some dude who had played 23 years in the league, and then some other dudes. DeAndre Aiton out here giving you buckets. And you know how much I don't like DeAndre Ayton. Rory Hachamura out here looking like prime uh shit. Who he looking? He was looking like prime uh Glenn Big Dog Robinson out here. And y'all can't buy a basket in the second half, can't buy one. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

VanVleet And Smart Steady The Ship

We we happy that Fred Van Blee is back. Now, here's the thing: he is 32 years of age, he's coming back off that ACL surgery, but when he was there in 2024, 2025, he was 14.1 points a game. But that's not what I'm like more in involved with. What I'm involved with is just the offense that he can get you in. He provides a leadership and a calmness to that team that they absolutely need to have. And then they also brought in Marcus Smart, who I hated to lose as somebody who is a follower of the Lakers. Marcus Smart was a an absolute great addition to the Lakers. It was terrible to watch him walk out the door, but he's gonna provide leadership. Um if he's gotten to this point in his life where he's starting to take his shot selection, which got way better last year. It got way better, and he can still provide the defense that he did last year because his LeBron um defense was point it was positive three point three point one uh three one point three seven. His war was 3.34 with the Lakers last year. Trying to tell you, trying to tell you, and then you got Alcran Shangun. You know Alkron Shangoon is still 24 years of age. When I saw that, I was like, damn, he's been around for a while. But when I saw that he was literally still under 25, I was like, God dog. Alcorant Shangoon averaged 20.4 points a game last year, almost nine rebounds and 6.2 assists. All right. We call him Baby Jokic for a reason. He can get you into offense, he can score. Is he gonna defend? We have no idea. We're hoping that the wings and the added addition of Marcus Samar and Fred Van Vliet will help uh Alcra Shangoon in that paint. And also bringing back uh the Aussie, who missed a lot of time last year, uh, will also help. So you if you got the whole squad back together again, and Eamon Thompson got his five-year $208 million extension, and Chip England is now in Houston to help this dude shoot some threes. Cause I'm gonna tell you right now, that three-point percentage needs to come up. You gotta shoot. 28% on two attempts a game is still terrible. My man, shoot the ball. You know, he's a Spider-Man of the Houston Rockets. Great power, no jump shot yet. It's kind of like, you know, young Spider-Man out here. You know, it's like a lot of talent. Just, you know, a little inconsistent with it. Now, the Houston Rockets are still one of the deepest teams in the league. You know, they like I said, Adams comes back, he's gonna help them as far as the defensive rebounding and the offensive rebounding. You got Atari Eason Jr., we got Jokari Smith, and we also got Ree Shepard. Can I Adoka let Ree Shepard play basketball? That's my whole thing. I know he's not a great defender. I know you're sitting there going like, oh, well, whatever. Maybe now with Van Bleep back in the, you know, in the top seat, you can still give my man consistent 20 minutes and let him get buckets. He's the spacer you need, even though he's not the defensive terror that you want him to be. That's why you got all these damn big ass wings. Jabari Smith Jr. is 6'11. Atari Eason Jr. is 6'8, 6'9, damn near. Steven Adams is 7'3. Bro, play, let them play some defense. Reed Shepard, you can hide him. It's not until the playoffs where they're gonna terrorize that kid. You know what I'm saying? Or late in the, you know, late in the um in the season when you playing for playoff seed. So here's the thing.

Let Reed Sheppard Play

Eman Doka has turned this team around with Raphael Stone. I don't have any complaints when it comes to that. He enters his year four with two straight 52 win seasons. Fantastic. Here's the problem. Two first round exits. I understand you want a tough team. I understand you want a defensive-minded team. I understand you want a team that basically straightens up and flies right when you tell it to. But you gotta you gotta loosen the reins just a little bit, my man, and allow these guys their you know, a little bit of creativity, a little bit of, you know, whatever it is that makes them feel good. Because right now, right now, you got the reins too tight. And you gotta let them play basketball a little bit. And that's more for more that's more for Reed Shepherd than it is for anybody else. And again, here's the other thing. Did that burner thing go away? Now, do we have underlying resentment still lingering in that Houston Rockets um locker room? Now, here's the thing, you're not trading Kevin Durant just to get rid of him. That's not gonna happen. Right? I mean, I don't care, I don't care what he said in that DM. I don't care how he said it. But at the end of the day, I wonder, I don't know, if Trey Murphy came available. I'm not saying that Durant would go to New Orleans. Maybe there's a three-team trade in this situation, but I wonder. I wonder because the Houston Rockets have their own pick. They got an unprotected pick from Phoenix, and they got a swap arrangement with Brooklyn coming in 2027. Um, they get the two most favorable picks out of either themselves, Dallas or Phoenix, in 2029. And then also they added a 31 Philadelphia pick as well. So they got picks to trade. Now I wonder if, for some reason, if they decided to make a little bit of adjustment. And bring in, you know, somebody who can shoot the ball. Maybe not as big of a malcontent as Durant Cook Cook can be. You know? I just wonder. He's 38. You know, he's 38. And I'm not saying like the game is it's over. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that sometimes you gotta figure out where you're going with this. Cause he's the only dude on the squad that you're sitting there going like, that guy is gonna play 35 minutes a game. And he's gonna we need his production of 25 plus points. That's the he is the only guy. He's the only guy on that team for that. So what do I think of the Houston Rockets in their situation?

Rockets Over Under And Playoff Ceiling

Are they gonna go over 51 wins? Are they gonna go over 48 the way that the uh DraftKings say they will? I think they will. They have way too much talent. They have way too much talent not to. Now, I don't think they'll go far over 48. I think they might be a 51 team. But I I'm looking at this team and going like they should be battling for home field or home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. So that's where I am with that.

Spurs Are Elite And Still Flawed

And last but not least, let's get to the San Antonio Spurs. They have a win total uh prognostication of 60.5. They went 62 and 20 last year. They were way ahead of schedule last year. Okay, they were out here, they made it to the NBA finals, and I'm gonna tell you right now, they had some heart-wrenching losses to the New York Knicks. Boy, did the Knicks track them down in every single game. Game four was terrible. Game five wasn't too much better, but game four ripped the soul out of the San Antonio Spurs. So all the cast of characters are basically back. There's a couple of additions or whatever, we'll get to it. They had a great net rating. They were positive 8.3, which was second in the league. They scored the basketball with awesome efficiency, no 119.6, which was fourth in the league. They had a top five defense, which was 111.3. They were out here doing it real big. And this is the gauntlet they went through in the playoffs, by the way. Portland, 4-1. Minnesota, and that's Minnesota with Julius Randle and all the guys. 4-2. And then they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game series. Now, Shea Gilges Alexander put it on their ass last night. Okay. Shea was not having it. When we had his worst shooting game that he has ever had last night, they got beat by their um Western Conference Finals, Nemesis, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They came into their court and they snatched all the candy away from them and they won that game. Now, do I think this is a precursor of things to come? No. But what I did not like, what I did not like, and we're

The Four Guard Lineup Problem

gonna get into it, is their rotation. Okay. Now, one of the big additions they made is Tobias Harris. Tobias Harris didn't play last night. That's fine. I don't care about all that. Care about what you're gonna do in the playoffs, buddy. Can you provide some leadership and can you provide a couple buckets? Can you get to 12 to 14 coins again? That's all I care about. Now, their payroll is about to go up a little bit, but here's the thing. Look at all this goddog talent they have on their squad. We start, well, you gotta start with Victor Wimbanyama, 22. 22. Ridiculous. He averaged 25 points a game last year, 11 and a half rebounds, and he had 3.1 blocks. He shot 35% from three, 82.7% from the free throw line. Uh one of the crazy things is that he shot uh he only played 29 minutes. Now that's gonna have to go up this year. I know they've been kind of preserving him as his body starts to acclimate to the NBA rigors and things of that nature. But yeah, we saw him get real tired in the playoffs, so we're hoping that he's up into that 34-minute array amount per game this year, you know. And, you know, I mean, here's the thing Wimby is gonna be good. We don't have to worry about Wimby too much. You know, the numbers speak for themselves. I mean, he's just an absolute freak of nature when it comes to defense and now also offense. The offensive game is stupid crazy. Here's the thing that we need to talk about. He signed an extension, he left money on the table, five-year $252 million, which starts in the 2027-2028 season, and he's not taking any raises over 25% throughout that deal. So keep that in mind. If he's on the floor for 70 games, this team is gonna be exactly where they need to be. Just saying. He will not be the thing that we need to worry about. You want to talk about like crazy numbers and stuff like that? You want to talk about like, oh, we got a war of 11.25? You want to talk about defense, you know, and all this type of stuff? This dude is an absolute he's gonna get three, he's gonna get three blocks and sometimes not be in defensive position. He's just long. Love him. Now let's get to the let's get to the nitty-gritty here. Okay, so there was a record last week that the San Antonio Spurs were going to play a different type of roster, and that roster was going to look like this. Dylan Harper is now a real dude. You saw what he did in the finals, and we'll talk about his numbers in a second. But one of my questions during the offseason, and as the play and as the finals were going on, what are you gonna do about De'Aaron Fox? That was my question. De'Aaron Fox played like absolute ass in the finals. Now, did he have an ankle injury? Yeah, he did. I will not sit here and go, well, he just played like ass. No, it was an injury. But your decision making shouldn't have anything to do with your ankle hurting. And there was a couple plays in that NBA finals that he made that that were not just head scratchers. I am sure there are some people, I don't know if TVs have a casualty rate in San Antonio or in the surrounding area of San Antonio, but I wonder how many TVs got blasted because this dude went up for a damn layup when he didn't have to. He could have pulled that ball out, got fouled, went to the free throw line, blew some time off the clock. Yeah. You know, it's just things like that. Just things like that I was worried about. Now, he's never been a great three-point shooter. You know, he's never been like a true, true point guard, which they already have, and we'll get to Dylan Harper in a second, or Steven Castle, however you want to deal with that. But at the end of the day, De'Aaron Fox is starting for this team, as well as Stefan Castle, as well as Dylan Harper, as well as Devin Vassell. So they are literally starting basically four guards and Wimby now. Is Stefan Castle 6'5, 6'6? Yes. Is Dylan Harper going to rebound better than his 6'5 frame? Yes. Is Devin Vassell a guy who could guard a multitude of guys? Yes. Does Wimby solve a lot of problems for you on the back end, no matter what? Yes, he does. But the problem is that you need a con you need a little bit more of a conventional lineup for what you saw last night. Because what you saw last night is the OKC Thunder had the ability to put two seven-footers out there at all times. And guess who was guarding that? Oh, we out here with Devin Bissell. We out here with Keldon Johnson. My guy Harrison Barnes is like the elder statesman of the San Antonio Squares. He is six foot eight. He got no business guarding a dime Mara on some sort of pick and roll situation. You get caught up in the in the mix. That's seven foot three of Spaniard. Okay? And you're not gonna win. You're not gonna win on that. So I don't know if this had to do with Tobas Harris being hurt. I don't know if this had to do with we're just trying to um quell some of the the angst that's going on with you know Dylan Harper and De'Aaron Fox and you know who's gonna play and the minutes and how's it all gonna work. But I'm gonna tell you right now, it's not gonna, this cannot sustain. I'm not saying they're gonna lose a ton of games off of this because they're way too talented and Wingby way too good for them to lose a lot of games, but this is not a championship type of lineup. They need to get a little more conventional as we get later on into the season, whether it's via trade or whatever the case may be. I'm not saying you gotta trade Dearon Fox. I'm not saying anything like that, but what I will say is that that number four position needs to be manned by somebody who is 6'9, 6'10, preferably. Hopefully they can shoot a J. Well, hopefully they are really good ring protectors, they rebound the ball pretty decently, and whatever the case may be. Because I'm gonna tell you right now, at this second, I do I did not like that lineup. And when I heard about it, I was like, oh, maybe they're just trying some stuff out. And I didn't think that we would deploy it on game one. Did not think we were gonna deploy this, but they did.

Castle Turnovers And Harper Growth

All right, so let's talk about Stefan Castle because he had a major jump last year. Um, now he was a rookie of the year, his first year, standout, whatever the case may be. But here's the thing that I absolutely loved about him is that uh he went to 16.7 points a game. He went to 5.3 rebounds, another good rebounding guard, 7.4 assists, uh, which is a 34.5% assist rate, which is ridiculous. Ridiculous. His defense, crazy. His flaw is the turnover rate. Turns the ball over too much, and that showed itself in the finals. Right? So turnover rate 33.2%. Uh, did not like that whatsoever. I think this is one of those things where you sit there and you just go, okay, well, that's gotta get better because he's also 21. And he's not a natural point guard, which then brings me to the guy who should be playing the point guard position, which is Dylan Harper. Dylan Harper, as far as his rookie season, might have got off to a slow start. I got you. But man oh man, when he was in the playoffs and also in the NBA finals, did that dude not squirm, not look overwhelmed about who he was playing, where he was playing, and what scenario he was playing in. A 20-year-old rookie coming in, now his you know, during the season, 11.8 points a game, not you know, it wasn't anything to write home about. But how many key plays did he make in the playoffs? He was rebounding the basketball exquisitely, he was diming up people, getting wimby lobs, you know, he was doing his thing, hitting clutch threes to keep his team in it. Dylan Harper grew up in the playoffs. He showed us a lot of um this was the reason why I was screaming for him to be the starter, and then they they deployed this lineup where we got four guards out here. Telling you right now, it's listen, just because Wendy is an alien doesn't mean that the rest of your lineup can be all the people from munchkin land. All right, and I mean, no disrespect to everybody, but when everybody is 6'5, and y'all know that the league has put themselves in a position where we're trying to have almost damn near two seven-footers. Hopefully, one can shoot the three, and then the other one is just a rebound eating fool, or whatever the case may be. You know what Utah's putting out there, and we will get them to them. You know, there's gonna be a part two to this, and we're gonna do the Northwest division next. Utah will have three seven-footers out there. They're gonna have Nurkic, I think he's hurt still, but at some point they're gonna have Nurkic, Jaron Jackson Jr., and Laura uh Market uh Laurie Marketing. Oh, and then they come off the bench with Ace Bailey, who's six foot nine, six foot ten. So, yeah, it's not look at all the sizes in Dallas that we talked about. We talked about Houston and they're just tree trunk dudes that they got going on. You can't play this game like like this. Like I said, there are gonna be some teams that you're just way more talented than, and you're going to be able to beat them with skill and the amount of talent you have on your squad. But the situation of watching this team do his thing and go, oh well, this sounds like a good idea. Hurry back to Wyis Harris. We need some stuff, okay. Miss Johnson did a great job, you know, man in the ship. Um Billy Donovan is now a offensive like coordinator for the Spurs, which I find to be very interesting. And Brian Wright is their executive, and basically he's the guy that I want to kind of lean on when it took when I talk about you know having some upgrades to this roster. I don't they have a lot of picks. I'm not saying you have to go out and spend a ton of money, but there's gotta be a way that they can fix this lineup before they get to the point of uh uh going to the playoffs.

Spurs Win Total Pick And Needed Fix

They they just they have to fix it. Now they're over under 60.5. And I'm gonna tell you right now, uh, it is going to be a tougher year this year. I'm not saying they are going to lose a ton of games because they're not. They're probably gonna go like 58 and 24. Are they gonna hit the over? Probably not. And some of it's gonna be because of this dumbass lineup that they're running out. You know what I'm saying? Um, you know, yeah, like I said, I am fading this lineup on a real level. I love Wingby, I love all the talent. I understand that you might need to build up De'Aaron Fox's trade value before you're able to trade him because his contract is very, very heavy, and it's at the beginning of it, but at the end of the day, there is no way you can take that many steps back because this that lineup is not a championship lineup. Let's just be honest about what we're looking at. It is not a championship lineup. So good luck to the San Antonio Spurs. I think they will have an incredible year, but 58 wins sounds good to me. So,

Next Division Drops And Awards Preview

with that being said, I hope you guys are enjoying now. The season is here. Again, we're gonna hit you with the Northwest Division win totals. Um, that will come out with this particular actually come out tomorrow. Uh, also beware. On Friday, we will have the Pacific Division win totals and also our award predictions. So MVP, rookie of the year, sixth man of the year, most improved player, coach of the year, all of that is also gonna come out on Friday. So we we are loading you up for this first week of basketball. And if something awesome happens, or whatever the case may be, you know, we'll talk about it. That game last night and that lineup last night that I saw pissed me the hell off. I ain't gonna lie to you. I ain't gonna hold you. It was what it was. Um, but with that being said, we've talked our talk. We empty our clip, and you know that's what we do here.

Final Word On People And Peace

If Frontrunner Podcast Collective is your squad, do us one favor. Share this episode with people, share this episode with somebody in your group chat who needs to hear it the most. Pull up on us on X. That is at FrontrunnerPC, and also at socially underscore FRPC. That's one of my people behind the scenes. Our Instagram account is uh at frontrunner pc. And our TikTok is FRPC Vince for sure. Also, that's the YouTube situation. Get with us on that. You're gonna have a ton of clips, you're gonna have funny stuff, you're gonna have music behind it, you're gonna have great production value, and hopefully, you're gonna have um good thoughts. You know what we say about takes here. And you know how we like to end the show is this the best part of you is still you, not your win-loss record, not your timeline, or your algorithm, just you. And what we hope for you is that you surround yourself with people who actually give you light, the ones who bring you the insight that you absolutely need, the joy and the real accountability that you have to hear. That's your max deal. Appreciate those people out loud and don't wait till later that nobody has ever promised. Hit those people up immediately. If something is done to you that you feel compelled, don't wait. Go ahead and appreciate them right then and there. We're your hoop family here. We get loud sometimes. We're going to get some things wrong, but we're always going to come back and own it. Because we respect your brain because anybody can yell a take. Very few can actually defend a thought. Until the next episode, keep your mind sharp, your heart open, and your circle tight. Protect your peace like Cap Space and never waste it on bad basketball or bad energy. I'll Vince and we out. Peace.