Thunder's Defensive Reign, Jokic's MVP Struggles, and Anthony Edwards' Leap

[00:00:18] It's Wednesday, you know what time it is. Front Runner Podcast Collective is back on the air. I am your humble host, Vince, and today we are going to continue our series around the arc, and we are going to be talking about the Northwest Division today.

[00:00:35] So a lot of our favorite players, Jokic, and just the conglomeration that is going on in OKC. So we got a lot to get to. But before we get to that, let's get to the socials.

[00:00:53] X at Front Runner PC. Also, get the producer at Raya underscore Fudge FRPC. And then also on Blue Sky, we are at FrontRunnerPC.BSky.social.

[00:01:14] And then, so Raya is also on there. She is at FRPC-Raya.BSky.social. So hit us up on those socials. Also, go to the YouTube channel.

[00:01:32] There will be some new stuff coming up on there within the next couple of days for sure. Probably from this podcast as well.

[00:01:40] And can't wait to start uploading some more videos and getting everything together. It's been a long time coming, and now we're here.

[00:01:50] So I'm excited about the change. You should be excited about the change because we're about to take off.

[00:01:57] And it's about to be a whole new journey for all of us.

[00:02:02] So let's get to this podcast.

[00:02:04] And let's get into some of the most intriguing storylines that are going on in the NBA right now.

[00:02:12] And the first one that we really need to get to is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

[00:02:17] Now, what they're doing right now, and let's start this off by saying at the start of the year,

[00:02:24] we had Isaiah Hardenstein hurt.

[00:02:30] Then you had Chet Holmgren get hurt early.

[00:02:37] Now, Isaiah Hardenstein has returned to the team.

[00:02:41] And here's the thing.

[00:02:42] The Thunder are sitting at 19-5.

[00:02:45] They're dominating defensively.

[00:02:47] Shea Gilgis Alexander is continuing to lead with poise and skill.

[00:02:54] What makes him so dangerous is the ability to lock down opponents defensively.

[00:03:01] They've been absolutely relentless as a team.

[00:03:04] They've been like a pack of wild hyenas on the hunt.

[00:03:08] I mean, if sunlight goes into the paint or if you have a big that's in the paint,

[00:03:13] the collapse that goes on is so aggressive.

[00:03:17] And they don't foul a lot, which is really crazy.

[00:03:22] So, Raya had this stat for us.

[00:03:24] Defensively, they rank first in defensive rating with 104 even.

[00:03:29] And their net rating is a positive 12.

[00:03:33] It's the best in the league.

[00:03:35] Now, they played against Luka last night.

[00:03:38] And they forced Luka into his worst performance of the year.

[00:03:44] He had 16 points on 5 of 15 shooting with 6 turnovers.

[00:03:53] So, let's get to this a little bit.

[00:03:57] Again, going off the premise of they started the year off without Isaiah Hardenstein,

[00:04:04] who is now back, which provides some size.

[00:04:09] Now, there was a time where they were, I think there was a three to four week stretch where

[00:04:15] they didn't have anybody over 6'7".

[00:04:20] And they survived that.

[00:04:22] Now, they're starting to get their pieces back.

[00:04:26] Now, Chet is still a long ways off, no doubt.

[00:04:30] But, they're getting elite defense.

[00:04:34] You've got to also credit Mark Dagnall, who's taken the young team, the young core,

[00:04:41] and turned them into a cohesive unit.

[00:04:44] And we cannot forget their future.

[00:04:48] Because they still have 13.

[00:04:52] Count them.

[00:04:53] 13 first round picks going through 2030.

[00:04:57] So, if you are looking for them to fall off in depth, they have 13 first rounders to kind of

[00:05:07] insulate themselves.

[00:05:10] Or trade.

[00:05:13] Oklahoma City is loaded for bear.

[00:05:16] And whatever they do not have.

[00:05:20] And mind you, Sam Presti said this last year when they were going through their playoff run.

[00:05:27] He said he wanted to see what they look like in their playoff run and then make adjustments after.

[00:05:35] Now, he made some adjustments.

[00:05:38] Alex Caruso, who is right now currently hurt.

[00:05:42] Obviously, we know about Chet Holmgren, what have you.

[00:05:46] So, all of that surrounding this team, them being 19-5, gives a lot of credit to a...

[00:05:58] I mean, I don't know if you can't...

[00:06:00] Is he, what, second right now to a guy that we're going to talk about a little bit later?

[00:06:06] Shea Gilgis-Alexander has to be second in the MVP race at this point in time.

[00:06:12] And if the record continues to grow in gap between the Denver Nuggets and the OKC Thunder,

[00:06:22] it's going to be hard-pressed for the people who are going to vote for this award to not give it to Shea Gilgis-Alexander.

[00:06:32] Even though Yolkic is putting up historic numbers, and we'll get to that a little bit later.

[00:06:38] Here's one other thing that I want to say about Shea's leadership.

[00:06:40] His ability to adapt to defensive schemes emphasizes how OKC's defense disrupts top-tier offenses,

[00:06:49] relate their defense approach to the historical teams of the Pistons in the 2004 season and the San Antonio Spurs.

[00:07:01] Now, here's what I'll say about this.

[00:07:05] The San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons had two bigs.

[00:07:13] OK?

[00:07:14] They dominated on the defensive end.

[00:07:16] It was a different game.

[00:07:18] You're using a lot more athleticism.

[00:07:21] There's a lot more movement.

[00:07:24] The responsibility of the power forward is completely different today than it was back then.

[00:07:31] It's more of a physical grind today than it was back in the days where, you know,

[00:07:41] if you want to call it my glory days or whatever.

[00:07:46] There's no doubt that the game is more fluid.

[00:07:50] There's no doubt that there has been more spacing utilized.

[00:07:57] So I think defenses are more nuanced.

[00:08:02] They are more...

[00:08:04] You have to be more creative.

[00:08:07] And your guys need to be able to do more.

[00:08:09] So it's really hard to put errors together and say, OK, this defense won it.

[00:08:15] You know, maybe for that era, great defense.

[00:08:19] But right now, defense is going on now.

[00:08:21] It's completely different.

[00:08:23] But OKC is killing people.

[00:08:26] They are absolutely murdering people on a nightly basis.

[00:08:29] And it showed against Luka because Luka had nothing for them.

[00:08:34] So 19-5.

[00:08:36] And they're starting to pull away from people.

[00:08:40] Because the next team on this list is the Denver Nuggets.

[00:08:48] Now, Jokic...

[00:08:51] Wow, we got to talk about what's going on here.

[00:08:53] So they're 12-10 right now.

[00:08:56] And it's clear that Jokic is putting an MVP-level performance.

[00:09:00] But the lack of help of his teammates is absolutely glaring.

[00:09:04] At this rate, he may as well dock their paychecks.

[00:09:08] And he actually said that.

[00:09:10] He said, in my country, if you don't play so well, maybe you have a little less in your paycheck.

[00:09:18] That's coming from your star.

[00:09:22] Who is going to...

[00:09:25] Who's going to step up on that team and be like, hey, man, you can't say that, bro.

[00:09:29] No.

[00:09:31] I think it would be probably Michael Porter Jr.

[00:09:34] Maybe.

[00:09:36] If I had to...

[00:09:38] If I had to vote for one guy on that team to step up, like, hey, bro, you can say a lot of stuff.

[00:09:43] Talk about our effort.

[00:09:45] You can talk about the lack of cohesiveness.

[00:09:49] The lack of help you have.

[00:09:51] You do all those things.

[00:09:52] But you cannot talk about docking my paycheck, my man.

[00:09:55] Don't do that.

[00:09:58] We should vote.

[00:09:59] So we should put it on Twitter and on Blue Sky that who would you have on the team from all the NBA players?

[00:10:10] They were on Yoka's team.

[00:10:12] Who would stand up to them and play?

[00:10:13] Hey, man.

[00:10:14] Who would be the first one to stand up and be like, you talking about my paper right now?

[00:10:21] You talking about cutting my paper?

[00:10:25] Well, it's all going sour in the Mile High City right now.

[00:10:30] Here's the deal.

[00:10:31] This is what Yoka just put up.

[00:10:34] 31.1 points.

[00:10:37] He's averaging 12.3 rebounds.

[00:10:39] He's averaging 9.8 assists.

[00:10:43] His true shooting percentage right now is 65.5.

[00:10:47] But the Nuggets defensive rating is 114.6, which ranks them 17th in the league.

[00:10:57] And their bench production is among the worst in the NBA.

[00:11:03] Here's the deal.

[00:11:05] We talked about this in the summertime.

[00:11:10] Go back and listen to the archive pods.

[00:11:13] If you're new to the program, welcome.

[00:11:17] Thank you.

[00:11:18] Thank you for coming.

[00:11:20] Frontrunner Podcast Collective has all your NBA needs covered for you Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

[00:11:27] You also have the YouTube page, Frontrunner Podcast Collective.

[00:11:30] And join us on X and also on Blue Sky as well.

[00:11:34] And we'll give those out towards the end of the show.

[00:11:42] There was a divide between front office and coaching staff as early as last season.

[00:11:53] We harken you back to two off-seasons ago when Bruce Brown left after they won the championship in Denver.

[00:12:03] That was a hard loss, but they knew they were going to take that loss for two reasons.

[00:12:07] They couldn't effectively pay him because of the salary he was currently on.

[00:12:14] And they knew that he had outplayed that salary.

[00:12:19] And what they could afford to give him at that time was just like a marginal bump in pay.

[00:12:27] So nobody faulted the Denver Nuggets at the time and the new executive, which was Calvin Booth, who took over for Tim Conley, who built that team.

[00:12:41] Now Tim Conley is with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and they have their own set of issues, and we'll get to that in a little bit.

[00:12:48] But Calvin Booth went on this crusade last season talking about we need to develop the young players so we can have long-term sustainability, being able to content.

[00:13:08] And Michael alone is a coach who thrives on two things.

[00:13:15] You're going to play defense, one.

[00:13:18] Two, you're going to know your assignments, and you're going to value the basketball.

[00:13:25] If the young kids weren't going to do that, they weren't going to play.

[00:13:29] It was indicative of how many minutes that Jokic racked up last year.

[00:13:36] Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Contavious Caldwell Pope, etc.

[00:13:42] Now we fast forward to this offseason.

[00:13:46] KCP leaves.

[00:13:48] Raises the eyebrow here.

[00:13:51] Shout out to The Rock, who's coming back to the WWE on Netflix January 6th.

[00:13:59] So, you know, your boy.

[00:14:01] All over that.

[00:14:05] Now, KCP goes to Orlando.

[00:14:09] And we first start talking about the depth issues with the Denver Nuggets.

[00:14:16] At that time, we were really upfront saying, I don't know if they have enough depth.

[00:14:23] We'll see about the young players.

[00:14:25] Calvin Booth has been preaching to young players this is the time for them to shine.

[00:14:30] Unfortunately, the only one that has stepped up somewhat is Christian Brown.

[00:14:35] Peyton Watson still can't shoot.

[00:14:37] Super athletic.

[00:14:39] Very defensive minded.

[00:14:40] Can help you out in spurts.

[00:14:42] But probably somebody that you want to use for like 12 minutes.

[00:14:47] He is like a three minute guy on the court at the most.

[00:14:52] You want him to create chaos.

[00:14:55] Defend at a high level.

[00:14:57] Create steals and deflections.

[00:14:59] And then get him off the court.

[00:15:01] Because he's a liability on the offensive end right now.

[00:15:06] Can't shoot it very well.

[00:15:10] So, it's a tale of two teams.

[00:15:13] Jokic is an unstoppable force.

[00:15:15] But Denver's defense looks lost without him on the floor.

[00:15:19] And let's talk about Jamal Murray too.

[00:15:23] Jamal Murray is still not looking very Jamal Murray like.

[00:15:31] This is a real issue.

[00:15:33] Because, again, something that we said in the summertime.

[00:15:36] It's coming back to haunt them.

[00:15:39] We said Jamal Murray could not afford to get off to the slow starts that he usually does in his career.

[00:15:46] We said that.

[00:15:47] We were like, hey, man, let's call a spade a spade.

[00:15:52] Jamal Murray hasn't looked like himself for a while.

[00:15:54] And then the Olympic performance wasn't great.

[00:15:58] And there were consternations going on then.

[00:16:02] And then we were like, well, maybe that will shake him.

[00:16:07] And get him back.

[00:16:10] To rededicating himself to the level that he needs to be at to help Jokic.

[00:16:15] Kind of quell this storm that's building up.

[00:16:17] But Jamal Murray is averaging 17.8 points a game this season.

[00:16:23] That is his second.

[00:16:26] That is his lowest since his second year in the league.

[00:16:30] That's a serious problem when you're not getting production from your second unit.

[00:16:36] And that is not.

[00:16:38] That is not the level of production you need from your secondary option.

[00:16:45] It's something that we continue to talk about.

[00:16:49] It's something that we say, hey, draw your eye here.

[00:16:54] Because this might be an issue.

[00:16:57] They're 12 and 10.

[00:16:59] They're seven games behind the OKC Thunder.

[00:17:05] And Russell Westbrook is playing like productive minutes for them.

[00:17:12] And they need all of them.

[00:17:16] Denver struggles this season to their championship season back in 2023.

[00:17:23] Emphasizes the lack of depth.

[00:17:26] And their bench and their lackluster on-off points with Jokic.

[00:17:32] Here's the thing.

[00:17:36] If Jokic is only taking like seven minutes off a game.

[00:17:39] And when he's on the court, you're a plus 25.

[00:17:43] And when he's off the court, you're a minus 14.

[00:17:51] There was one game where Jokic played like 43 minutes in the game.

[00:17:56] You were plus 27 with him on the court.

[00:18:00] And with him off the court, I believe they were a minus 18.

[00:18:06] They won that game by nine points.

[00:18:09] You know, it wasn't super close.

[00:18:11] But it was a lot closer than it needed to be.

[00:18:13] Close enough for Jokic to have to play 43 minutes.

[00:18:20] How much will he have left in the tank by the time we get to the end of the season?

[00:18:25] With the lack of production that surrounds him at this point.

[00:18:30] And I will say this again.

[00:18:34] The Cronkies do not want to be over the apron.

[00:18:41] They don't want to pay the tax bill.

[00:18:46] So if that is the case, are we wasting a generational talent?

[00:18:53] Because Jokic could easily win another MVP with the performance he's putting up this year.

[00:18:59] Easily.

[00:19:00] Any kind of production.

[00:19:03] If any one of the other younger dudes stepped up.

[00:19:08] I.e. Julian Strother.

[00:19:12] Jalen Pickett.

[00:19:14] I'm still waiting for Zeke Najee.

[00:19:17] Never has happened.

[00:19:18] It's four years in now, I think.

[00:19:21] So, again.

[00:19:24] We talk about development.

[00:19:27] How do guys get development if the coach doesn't believe in you and you have this fundamental philosophical gap between your front office and your coaching staff?

[00:19:40] You got to be in more harmony.

[00:19:43] It doesn't have to be exactly right, but there has to be closer harmony.

[00:19:49] And right now, Denver gap between Michael Malone and Calvin Booth is astronomical.

[00:19:58] They need to get that right.

[00:19:59] For Jokic's sake.

[00:20:00] Not, you know, I don't care about.

[00:20:02] Look, we want Jokic's playing games that are meaningful.

[00:20:07] We want one of the greatest players in our league to be showcased in a situation where he's putting all his talents on display at the highest levels.

[00:20:20] How's that going to happen for the Denver Nuggets if they're not even in the playoffs?

[00:20:25] We're going to move on to our man, Anthony Edwards.

[00:20:31] Okay.

[00:20:32] Now, Anthony Edwards has taken a huge leap forward, especially as a shooter.

[00:20:38] We're not just talking dunks anymore.

[00:20:40] He's becoming a complete scorer.

[00:20:44] Edwards has made 103 three-pointers.

[00:20:47] It's the most in the NBA.

[00:20:49] He's shooting at a 38.7% rate from deep.

[00:20:55] That's up from 33.1% last season.

[00:20:58] His true shooting percentage this season is 60.3%.

[00:21:04] That's a career high.

[00:21:06] It is not lost on me that Anthony Edwards went to the Olympics.

[00:21:13] He was around Kevin Durant.

[00:21:16] He was around Steph Curry.

[00:21:17] He was around Drew Holiday, Derek White, LeBron James.

[00:21:22] All he did was just soak up knowledge.

[00:21:26] What he did is that he came back.

[00:21:30] And this 38.7% three-point shooting that he has is a result of hard work and great coaching.

[00:21:38] Shout out Chris Hines.

[00:21:41] He was the help that fine-tune some of the mechanics that Ant had.

[00:21:46] It shows in Edwards' step back three.

[00:21:49] There's a lot more fluidity.

[00:21:52] There's a lot more fluidity in that step back.

[00:21:54] And now he's even more dangerous to be able to attack the rim.

[00:21:59] Because if you have your three-point shot in your arsenal and you are as explosive athlete as Anthony Edwards is, now you are adding layers to your game.

[00:22:14] And this is, for Anthony, this is really the final step.

[00:22:21] Now, maturity issues and all that, or I don't want to say maturity issues.

[00:22:28] What I want to say is learning what it takes to win, those type of things.

[00:22:34] He's a complete dog.

[00:22:36] He's going to get his.

[00:22:39] He's got to be able to encourage his teammates in a way where his message is conveyed positively and they take it as such.

[00:22:51] Right now, he's calling his team soft.

[00:22:56] They, you know, hey.

[00:23:00] When you're as great as he is and you're as young as you are and you're just like, well, just work harder.

[00:23:09] Well, nobody has Anthony Edwards' work ethic.

[00:23:15] His want to be great.

[00:23:18] Because I've heard a couple podcasts in the last couple days and, you know, they're talking about John Moran again.

[00:23:24] And they're talking about a couple other people.

[00:23:28] Here's the thing.

[00:23:31] Ant cares about his game.

[00:23:35] He cares about getting better.

[00:23:37] He learned something in that playoff series where he wasn't able to attack the rim as much as he wanted to.

[00:23:46] And he figured out if I shoot the three, I create my own space.

[00:23:53] Now I can start utilizing high pick and roll 25 feet out from the hoop.

[00:24:03] And that's going to just add more layers to his game.

[00:24:09] And that is going to ultimately change the success meter of what the Timberwolves could be.

[00:24:18] Providing they get rid of one Julius Randle.

[00:24:24] Just my humble opinion.

[00:24:27] I will say this is that Anthony Edwards has a bigger lift on his shoulders now without Carl Anthony Towns being there.

[00:24:39] Now we're seeing the numbers that Carl is putting up in New York.

[00:24:45] He's shooting over 45% from three.

[00:24:48] You don't think Anthony Edwards could use that now?

[00:24:54] Because Dante DiVincenzo has gone into the tank shooting wise.

[00:24:59] He's like lost all his confidence.

[00:25:03] And remember, this is a situation of just money.

[00:25:11] Carl could have been there.

[00:25:18] Carl Anthony Towns definitely could have been in Minnesota right now.

[00:25:22] The only reason he is not is because of the future financial ramifications of his contract.

[00:25:35] They wanted to get in front of it instead of behind it.

[00:25:41] So this is where you are.

[00:25:44] You have a team that Julius Randle is not the perfect fit around what you have.

[00:25:54] It would be so much better if Dante DiVincenzo wasn't shooting less than 32% from three on volume.

[00:26:08] And also you're not getting what you need from Mike Conley.

[00:26:11] And the problem was is that Dante DiVincenzo was kind of like this utility piece that was going to bridge the gap between Mike Conley Jr.

[00:26:22] And Rob Dillingham, who was your first round pick out of Kentucky that you traded up for.

[00:26:28] And basically all your first round draft picks and all your future picks and things of that nature are gone.

[00:26:38] It doesn't mean that the future is bleak in Minnesota.

[00:26:41] It just means that this might be a year of restructure.

[00:26:44] And then you go off into the offseason and you start tinkering around with the team to get it optimal for our guy, Anthony Edwards.

[00:26:53] Right?

[00:26:54] Because at the end of the day, that's what we want.

[00:26:56] We want Anthony to be dunking on people, talking a bunch of trash, telling people how much they can't guard him.

[00:27:05] And that's what we want.

[00:27:08] He's our guy.

[00:27:10] Anthony Edwards.

[00:27:13] All right, we're going to move on to a team that I have some real questions as well.

[00:27:19] And that's the Portland Trail Blazers.

[00:27:21] Now, one of my first questions about the Portland Trail Blazers is this.

[00:27:27] It's been something that has been almost rectified itself because Donovan Klingin has been hurt for a little while.

[00:27:36] Had a little MCL sprain.

[00:27:39] Get well soon, my guy.

[00:27:43] But what is going on up in Portland is concerning to me.

[00:27:51] The team feels rudderless.

[00:27:55] They've got a ton of young talent.

[00:27:58] Scoot Henderson, Shaden Sharp, Donovan Klingin we talked about.

[00:28:05] They have a lot of young talent.

[00:28:08] But they have some vets on that team.

[00:28:13] And one of the vets, what was it?

[00:28:16] The other night, I think Jeremy Grant played against the Lakers.

[00:28:21] And I want to say Jeremy Grant went like three of like 16.

[00:28:27] It was awful.

[00:28:30] And it was one of the things that we had talked about prior to the season and also throughout the season so far.

[00:28:36] Because what we do here is we talk about all the teams.

[00:28:41] So right now, we're talking about the Northwest Division.

[00:28:45] On Friday, it will be the Pacific Division.

[00:28:49] And then next week, we will hit the Eastern Conference and start all over again.

[00:28:53] And also hit your news and notes, which we will do that towards the end of the show.

[00:28:58] Do not worry.

[00:29:00] But we talked about how Jeremy Grant, DeAndre Ayton, to a lesser extent, Robert Williams III, how they were going to affect the developmental path of these guys.

[00:29:19] Particularly Shaden Sharp, we were really worried about because to me, he's the most promising of the young guys.

[00:29:25] If you still want to consider Anthony Simons in that group with the young guys, I understand that.

[00:29:33] He gets his shots.

[00:29:35] I still think if the team was going to be built around him, they would have done it already.

[00:29:42] And I think that he's a trade possibility down the road.

[00:29:46] I don't have any information on that.

[00:29:51] So, Trailblazer fans, don't get mad.

[00:29:56] But I don't know what direction we're going in.

[00:30:00] Are the kids important?

[00:30:03] Because if the kids are important, they should be getting the bulk of the shots, the bulk of the responsibility, so they can learn on the job.

[00:30:15] And then you filter in the vets, layer in the vets.

[00:30:21] So then when the offense gets wonky and we're starting to take real bad shots and things of that nature, the vet comes in, cools everything out, and we kind of get back to the rhythm and flow of the basketball game.

[00:30:37] But that's not what happened.

[00:30:39] You got Jeremy Grant taking a bunch of shots.

[00:30:43] You got DeAndre Aiden out here playing a bunch of minutes.

[00:30:47] Robert Williams is third, now is healthy.

[00:30:50] He's getting burned.

[00:30:53] And I just don't understand what we're trying to do here.

[00:30:56] What are we trying to accomplish?

[00:31:01] And again, they brought in Mike Schmidt from ESPN, and that guy was killing it as an analyst.

[00:31:09] I mean, he was going over to Europe.

[00:31:12] He was talking to like 17-year-olds.

[00:31:15] He was breaking down film, tape, all this stuff.

[00:31:18] And I thought he was just like the perfect add to what Portland had going on over there.

[00:31:25] But so far, we really haven't seen it.

[00:31:28] We haven't seen really Anthony Simons take that next step into like, I'm a lead guard.

[00:31:36] Or I'm just this crazy knockdown shooter, and you need to put other pieces around me.

[00:31:43] We just don't know.

[00:31:44] And then let's not even talk about Scoop.

[00:31:48] In his development.

[00:31:50] But this is what I will say about him.

[00:31:52] Since returning from injury, Scoop Henderson has averaged 17 points a game, 6 assists.

[00:31:59] But his true shooting percentage is still very low.

[00:32:02] It's 51.4, which is very inefficient because he's still a young guard.

[00:32:08] He's a little smaller, but I like the aggressiveness.

[00:32:12] Now, Portland's offensive rating is 106.8, which is 28 in the league.

[00:32:20] Which reflects a team that's struggling, right?

[00:32:22] But it also reflects a team that's in two different eras.

[00:32:26] We still have the remnants of Dane with Jeremy Grant.

[00:32:31] And then we have this youth era, you know, with a bunch of problems in it.

[00:32:37] But they've not been able to really grab hold of the team and say, okay, it's time for the old people to move on.

[00:32:46] And we're here.

[00:32:48] But I don't know if they've been given the license to do that.

[00:32:55] And I think that's the most important part of this developmental path that we really try to discuss here on the podcast is where are we with that?

[00:33:08] And here's the thing.

[00:33:10] Is Simon a shooting guard?

[00:33:12] Because if he is, then Scoot needs to start.

[00:33:16] Because how will Scoot gain leadership qualities if he's not in the most influential times of the game?

[00:33:28] You're not going anywhere this year anyway.

[00:33:32] It's playing for everybody to see.

[00:33:36] But these are the questions that I have.

[00:33:39] You guys hit me up at FrontRunnerPC on X or at FrontRunnerPC.BSky.Social on Blue Sky as well.

[00:33:52] Now, we're going to talk about the Utah Jazz.

[00:33:55] And I am excited to talk about the Utah Jazz.

[00:34:00] And I'll tell you why.

[00:34:02] They're doing a glorious job of tanking.

[00:34:06] Danny Ainge understands the tank game.

[00:34:10] He understands what's at stake.

[00:34:15] He knows that Cougar flag can be had.

[00:34:19] And he is doing everything in his power to get there.

[00:34:24] Utah is a proud 5-18 right now.

[00:34:30] The Jazz have fully embraced the tank culture.

[00:34:37] But that doesn't stop.

[00:34:40] That doesn't stop.

[00:34:41] Because here's the other thing.

[00:34:45] FrontRunner Podcast Collective darling Keontae George is starting to show potential.

[00:34:52] And if you remember last year, if you remember the draft, Keontae George was so intriguing to me.

[00:34:58] And I was like, I want this kid to succeed.

[00:35:01] I see a lot of good things in him.

[00:35:04] I think he can be a lead guard.

[00:35:06] I think he could be a killer.

[00:35:09] Those were some of the things that I saw before the draft.

[00:35:15] Then he had a summer league.

[00:35:16] And I was like, oh, this looks good.

[00:35:19] And then he kind of played early on last year.

[00:35:23] But then as time moved on, you know, he's inefficient.

[00:35:29] He's young.

[00:35:30] He was going to make mistakes.

[00:35:32] And his time dwindled.

[00:35:36] But now, here's the thing.

[00:35:38] He's averaging 15.9 points a game.

[00:35:41] He's also averaging 5.6 assists a game.

[00:35:45] Both, obviously, career highs.

[00:35:47] We're still in the second season, folks.

[00:35:50] So, these are modest numbers.

[00:35:52] But this is the growth.

[00:35:55] This is what happens when you get opportunities.

[00:35:58] This is what happens when you're like, okay, it's time for you to sink or swim.

[00:36:06] Will Hardy, we love him as a coach.

[00:36:09] And we like that he's getting his young kids involved.

[00:36:13] Now, his defense is also being solid.

[00:36:15] But he has a steal rate of 2.5%, which ranks him among the best among the young league guards in the league.

[00:36:28] So, that's crazy.

[00:36:29] So, he's getting it down on the defensive end and on the offensive end as well.

[00:36:34] The one thing that we always talked about him, especially in the draft part of it, is that his processing was really good.

[00:36:42] He was able to think the game through.

[00:36:45] It's like, okay, this is not working.

[00:36:46] So, what can I do to make adjustments to become more additive and provide production for my team?

[00:36:54] He found that.

[00:36:56] He found that in spades when he was at Baylor.

[00:36:59] And now, you're starting to see that development once he got on the court and got acclimated with his teammates.

[00:37:06] He's becoming a person that is starting to take ownership of the offense.

[00:37:13] The one thing that we will have to start to monitor with Keontae George is this.

[00:37:21] And this is the perfect year for him to do this.

[00:37:26] You're going to have to learn how to pick your spots.

[00:37:31] Now, the problem with that with young kids, it's hard for them.

[00:37:35] You know, it's like, oh, I can take this dude off the dribble anytime I want.

[00:37:42] But, I'm a lead guard and I got to get Laurie Marketing, who just signed a big contract.

[00:37:48] Got to get him his touches.

[00:37:50] I get to get other people into the flow.

[00:37:53] Those things, etc., etc.

[00:37:55] But, it's easier to dial down the aggression than it is to dial it up.

[00:38:03] So, I'm good with what I'm seeing with Keontae George.

[00:38:07] So, Utah, at least you have something to watch until either Cooper Flagg or Ace Bailey or Dylan Harper show up.

[00:38:23] Now, I'm going to also talk about Anthony Edwards again.

[00:38:32] And, this is right before the segment that everybody comes for, which is Baseline Buzz.

[00:38:38] Right?

[00:38:38] Everybody comes for Baseline Buzz.

[00:38:40] Right on.

[00:38:42] Now, we talked about his jump shot.

[00:38:44] We talked about the team aspect and the leadership situation.

[00:38:48] The other thing that I want to talk about that kind of kicks in with the development, right,

[00:38:53] is that when we talk about great players and no shade to players who are on the come up, what have you.

[00:39:03] I see your grind.

[00:39:04] Whatever.

[00:39:05] But, we're talking about that top 10.

[00:39:10] You know, the cream of the top.

[00:39:13] Okay.

[00:39:16] You know, you got Jokic there.

[00:39:18] You got Giannis, Luca, Shea.

[00:39:29] Who else is up there?

[00:39:31] We got some few guys up there.

[00:39:34] Right?

[00:39:34] Well, when you get to Anthony Edwards, who's probably in that 7, 8, 9 range, somewhere in there.

[00:39:44] And, you see some of these steady adjustments that he's making from one season to another.

[00:39:56] Because, sometimes we don't look past the funny quotes.

[00:40:00] Sometimes we don't look past some of the great dunks or the trash talking he's doing while he's on the court.

[00:40:08] The one thing that I want to alert everybody to is that he's not just a dog on the court.

[00:40:15] I think he's a dog off the court.

[00:40:18] He is getting that work in as much as he possibly can.

[00:40:26] He is finding new ways to activate different parts of his game.

[00:40:38] Now, you got somebody like McDaniels.

[00:40:42] Who, super athlete.

[00:40:47] Gifted in a lot of ways.

[00:40:50] But, can't put it together offensively.

[00:40:54] And, then you look at Anthony Edwards and you see him.

[00:40:57] Just, okay.

[00:40:59] I got this down.

[00:41:00] So, let me go ahead and add this.

[00:41:02] And, he talked about his jump shot.

[00:41:06] As, it's not as pretty as he wants it to be.

[00:41:13] This is a guy who really cares about the fine tuning aspects of his game.

[00:41:20] And, it's not unlike certain other ones that I want to talk about.

[00:41:27] You talk about the Jason Tatums of the world.

[00:41:30] You talk about the Devin Bookers of the world.

[00:41:33] So, Devin Booker and Jason Tatum are craftsmen.

[00:41:38] They are addicted to their craft.

[00:41:42] And, I think we can put Anthony Edwards also in that.

[00:41:48] So, a little feather in the cap with Anthony Edwards.

[00:41:53] So, now we get to the best segment on all of podcast radio.

[00:42:02] Whatever you want to call it.

[00:42:04] However you want to talk about it.

[00:42:06] Baseline Buzz is here.

[00:42:08] And, you know what we're going to talk about?

[00:42:10] Trades.

[00:42:11] You know why?

[00:42:12] Because December 15th is coming.

[00:42:15] So, let's get into it.

[00:42:18] Jimmy Butler.

[00:42:19] Our guy.

[00:42:20] He could be on the move.

[00:42:21] Teams like the Rockets, the Mavericks, and the Warriors reportedly are interested.

[00:42:28] But, could one of these teams, could Jimmy Butler's presence put them over the top to really push OKC?

[00:42:42] Hmm.

[00:42:42] Let's dive in a little bit.

[00:42:44] Jimmy is averaging 19 points a game on 55.7% shooting, which is a career high.

[00:42:53] Obviously, his defensive chops will help a team.

[00:42:58] Now, it's not prime Jimmy.

[00:43:01] This is not Jimmy from four or five years ago when he was almost dead on the side of the court when he had played the Lakers in the finals.

[00:43:13] This is not that Jimmy.

[00:43:17] But, if Jimmy has something to play for, he can dial it up.

[00:43:22] And, all you really want him to do is, especially if he's going to a collection of talent where he just has to fit in.

[00:43:31] Oh, now we can get special Jimmy back.

[00:43:34] Because Jimmy would be like, oh, I don't need to average 25?

[00:43:37] Cool.

[00:43:38] Let me go ahead and just do these other things.

[00:43:42] Because he's a great ball mover.

[00:43:45] He does when he's activated and he's engaged in the game.

[00:43:49] He's still a really good defender.

[00:43:52] He brings a lot of physicality to the game.

[00:43:54] He's going to rebound.

[00:43:56] And, when he is motivated,

[00:44:00] oh,

[00:44:01] the care factor on the defensive side of the ball goes up.

[00:44:05] So, if Golden State and or Dallas grab onto him or even the Warriors,

[00:44:16] what are you guys' thoughts on that?

[00:44:18] Houston,

[00:44:19] Dallas,

[00:44:21] the Bay,

[00:44:22] I need to know.

[00:44:23] Hit me up on X,

[00:44:25] at Frontrunner PC,

[00:44:27] or also hit me up on Blue Sky.

[00:44:29] Just look it up,

[00:44:30] at Frontrunner PC,

[00:44:31] and then put all the other Blue Sky stuff with it,

[00:44:35] and then you'll find him.

[00:44:36] You know what I'm saying?

[00:44:37] All right.

[00:44:42] I'm really intrigued by this Jimmy Butler thing.

[00:44:46] Just,

[00:44:48] because you kind of saw it on the way,

[00:44:51] in the summertime,

[00:44:52] that he was on his way out,

[00:44:53] when,

[00:44:54] when Pat was talking about,

[00:44:56] yo,

[00:44:56] you got to play.

[00:44:58] You got to play.

[00:45:00] And now,

[00:45:01] he is looking for a contract.

[00:45:04] I don't know if Jimmy's going to get those dollars

[00:45:06] that he was looking for,

[00:45:08] but we'll see.

[00:45:10] And,

[00:45:10] it's going to be really interesting,

[00:45:13] once we get to,

[00:45:16] I'd say the first of the year.

[00:45:18] I don't know if anybody's going to really jump out early.

[00:45:21] The Lakers should.

[00:45:22] We'll get to them on Friday.

[00:45:25] Lots to say about them.

[00:45:28] But,

[00:45:29] let's get on to the New Orleans Pelicans,

[00:45:31] because here's the thing.

[00:45:33] We talked about the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday,

[00:45:36] and our thoughts on it.

[00:45:38] And,

[00:45:39] here's some of the reports.

[00:45:41] The Pelicans are reportedly listening to offers on CJ McCollum,

[00:45:46] and also,

[00:45:47] Herb Jones.

[00:45:50] Whoa.

[00:45:51] Now,

[00:45:52] CJ McCollum,

[00:45:53] I can see.

[00:45:55] Herb Jones,

[00:45:56] I don't understand,

[00:45:58] at all.

[00:45:59] Okay.

[00:46:03] CJ McCollum is like 32 years of age.

[00:46:07] Could he help a team that is looking to make a playoff push?

[00:46:11] Absolutely.

[00:46:12] CJ McCollum,

[00:46:13] in the right situation,

[00:46:16] could really help a team.

[00:46:19] But,

[00:46:20] if you're asking him to be like this,

[00:46:23] on ball,

[00:46:25] like defensive stopper,

[00:46:27] that's not CJ's game.

[00:46:29] But,

[00:46:30] if you want CJ to come in,

[00:46:31] and give you 20,

[00:46:34] oh,

[00:46:35] CJ McCollum can do that.

[00:46:38] He can definitely do that.

[00:46:39] And,

[00:46:40] he'll take care of the basketball.

[00:46:41] He will not turn the ball over,

[00:46:43] a ton.

[00:46:45] Make the right plays.

[00:46:48] He's defensively savvy.

[00:46:50] He's not going to get absolutely murdered,

[00:46:52] but,

[00:46:52] he's not a stopper whatsoever.

[00:46:55] But,

[00:46:56] he can play some good team defense.

[00:46:58] I was really surprised about the Herb Jones thing.

[00:47:04] I wonder if,

[00:47:06] because CJ is not getting the,

[00:47:10] you know,

[00:47:11] he's not,

[00:47:12] you know,

[00:47:12] not a lot of NBA teams are looking for CJ McCollum.

[00:47:16] Maybe you attach a Herb Jones,

[00:47:19] which then would get a lot of teams excited,

[00:47:22] about the prospect of acquiring Herb Jones,

[00:47:26] and,

[00:47:26] they see CJ is taking on,

[00:47:29] and it's like,

[00:47:30] okay,

[00:47:31] we got him,

[00:47:31] but,

[00:47:33] we got Herb Jones.

[00:47:35] I don't know what the deal is on that,

[00:47:37] but,

[00:47:38] if I'm New Orleans,

[00:47:40] Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III,

[00:47:42] are guys I'm trying to hold on to.

[00:47:45] Now,

[00:47:45] you want to talk to me about Zion?

[00:47:48] You want to talk to me about Brandon Ingram?

[00:47:51] You want to talk to me about,

[00:47:53] um,

[00:47:53] who else is over there?

[00:47:56] That's pretty good that we can,

[00:47:57] you know,

[00:47:58] get up out.

[00:48:00] Nah,

[00:48:01] nah,

[00:48:01] yeah,

[00:48:01] we're not trading none of the young cats.

[00:48:04] You know,

[00:48:05] maybe DeJounte Murray moves along too.

[00:48:09] Not saying,

[00:48:10] well,

[00:48:10] just saying.

[00:48:14] And the last piece of little news that we want to get to today,

[00:48:17] before we,

[00:48:18] uh,

[00:48:19] get you up out of here,

[00:48:20] is the Pacers,

[00:48:21] are looking for a backup center.

[00:48:25] And they're,

[00:48:26] they're scouring the NBA universe for a backup center.

[00:48:31] Now,

[00:48:31] with the injuries to James Wiseman,

[00:48:34] and also Isaiah Jackson,

[00:48:36] the Pacers are exploring trades.

[00:48:38] They receive two disabled player exceptions to help navigate this challenge.

[00:48:44] So,

[00:48:45] basically,

[00:48:47] they're going to be able to take those salaries that Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson had.

[00:48:52] There's probably some proration,

[00:48:55] and they came up with a number.

[00:48:56] So then they can be able to add that into the trade,

[00:49:00] say,

[00:49:01] okay,

[00:49:02] um,

[00:49:03] it's almost like a trade exception.

[00:49:05] So you can all give that to somebody and say,

[00:49:08] you know,

[00:49:09] attach it to another player,

[00:49:10] or maybe,

[00:49:11] especially now with how trades are so microscopically looked at,

[00:49:17] and everything has to be within a certain dollar amount,

[00:49:21] and it,

[00:49:21] it's razor thin at this point.

[00:49:26] Those could come in handy.

[00:49:28] Now,

[00:49:29] what are the,

[00:49:30] what are the Pacers looking for in a backup center?

[00:49:34] Now,

[00:49:35] if you look at Wiseman,

[00:49:36] you look at Isaiah Jackson,

[00:49:38] you're looking for like bouncy dudes,

[00:49:41] right?

[00:49:42] So,

[00:49:43] the question is,

[00:49:44] who's out there that kind of fits that mold?

[00:49:47] Who's available?

[00:49:49] Well,

[00:49:50] we just talked about Robert Williams is available,

[00:49:55] right?

[00:49:55] Robert Williams III out in Portland is available.

[00:49:59] I wouldn't consider DeAndre Ayton,

[00:50:02] that type of dude.

[00:50:04] Not necessarily.

[00:50:07] Could the Pacers get in on the Walker Kessler sweepstakes?

[00:50:12] It seems like the Lakers are definitely in on the Walker Kessler sweepstakes.

[00:50:20] I'm trying to think.

[00:50:21] No,

[00:50:21] Oh,

[00:50:21] you know,

[00:50:22] I'll tell you,

[00:50:22] I'll tell you a team that they should look at.

[00:50:27] They should look at Orlando.

[00:50:30] Now,

[00:50:30] I know Orlando has his own issues with injuries and things of that nature,

[00:50:35] but it's kind of,

[00:50:35] kind of one of those things where maybe a one brother,

[00:50:39] man can help out another brother,

[00:50:40] man.

[00:50:42] You can get a big from Orlando and you can kind of shed yourself of some of

[00:50:48] these guards that you have because Orlando needs players.

[00:50:54] Now I know they lost Boncaro and they also lost Franz for a while.

[00:50:59] We hope they come back.

[00:51:01] These old bleak tears and what have you strains are big deals.

[00:51:07] It takes a long time.

[00:51:12] I don't want anybody to get impatient.

[00:51:14] And if it turns out to be a gap year and you go into the lottery better this

[00:51:23] year than last year,

[00:51:25] right?

[00:51:26] All right.

[00:51:28] Um,

[00:51:30] but if you are looking to maybe kind of pilfer a young guard or whatever case

[00:51:37] maybe,

[00:51:38] you kind of make a big swing and you say,

[00:51:40] Hey,

[00:51:43] by the time our guys get back,

[00:51:45] yeah,

[00:51:46] we might be kind of,

[00:51:47] you know,

[00:51:48] marginal or fringe playoff team,

[00:51:52] but we can make some noise if we got like,

[00:51:54] maybe let's say a DeJounte Murray to add to a,

[00:51:57] to a Jalen Suggs,

[00:51:59] to a already stacked,

[00:52:01] that Paulo Gancaro,

[00:52:02] Franz Wagner front court.

[00:52:04] Now I'm not saying you necessarily have to do that.

[00:52:07] I'm just saying that there could be something that you can do with Jonathan Isaac

[00:52:12] or,

[00:52:14] uh,

[00:52:15] Goga Patase,

[00:52:16] or even Wendell Carter Jr.

[00:52:18] If you decided to maybe go away from that route,

[00:52:22] but the Pelicans need bigs and you kind of need a guard and a guard that can kind of help get your offense,

[00:52:33] especially now with both of those guys out,

[00:52:35] you need somebody to just come in and say,

[00:52:38] we're going to run our offense.

[00:52:40] We're going to run our offensive place.

[00:52:44] And we're just going to get movement and we're going to see what happens because your defense is so incredible in Orlando.

[00:52:52] If you get a decent shooting night,

[00:52:55] you're in most games.

[00:52:59] And then you're just kind of waiting for the Calvary to show up in Franz Wagner and Paulo Gancaro.

[00:53:06] So it's not too bad of an idea to look in that route,

[00:53:10] look in that way.

[00:53:12] Um,

[00:53:13] I'm trying to think of other,

[00:53:14] other backup centers that you might be able to get in on.

[00:53:19] I would check Atlanta too.

[00:53:24] I would see what's going on with a NECA Congo.

[00:53:29] Because I thought Clint Capella was long gone in the summer.

[00:53:34] He is still there.

[00:53:36] And our guy,

[00:53:37] a Congo is just languishing on the bench.

[00:53:42] We need to relieve him of this.

[00:53:46] We need to help our guy.

[00:53:50] All right.

[00:53:51] We need to help our guy Congo.

[00:53:53] So with all that being said,

[00:53:56] I think baseline buzz is done for the day.

[00:54:00] And I will tell you this.

[00:54:01] I want to thank my producers,

[00:54:03] Soraya,

[00:54:03] for getting in all this,

[00:54:06] uh,

[00:54:06] stats that we,

[00:54:08] we get.

[00:54:09] She is killing it on that end.

[00:54:12] Um,

[00:54:13] and here's the thing.

[00:54:15] Hit us up on the socials.

[00:54:18] Remember blue sky.

[00:54:19] Remember Twitter.

[00:54:22] Hit us up on both of those at front runner PC.

[00:54:25] On both.

[00:54:27] And go.

[00:54:30] Do.

[00:54:34] I usually have.

[00:54:36] Soraya.

[00:54:37] Okay.

[00:54:37] Here's Soraya.

[00:54:38] I want to make sure.

[00:54:39] I shout my girl out.

[00:54:41] So.

[00:54:42] Her blue sky is.

[00:54:44] At FRPC.

[00:54:45] Hyphen.

[00:54:46] Rhea.

[00:54:47] Dot.

[00:54:47] BSky.

[00:54:48] Dot.

[00:54:49] And also.

[00:54:49] It is.

[00:54:51] The X is.

[00:54:53] At.

[00:54:53] Rhea.

[00:54:55] Underscore.

[00:54:55] Funch.

[00:54:56] FRPC.

[00:54:57] If you've been around for a while,

[00:54:59] you know,

[00:54:59] you know.

[00:55:01] And then with that being said,

[00:55:03] the best part of you is you.

[00:55:05] Those who surround you.

[00:55:08] May they be people that want you to only succeed.

[00:55:12] Go out and do some good in this world.

[00:55:14] And we'll see you on this feed on Friday.

[00:55:18] Peace.