Top 25, 25 and Under OKC Thunder Williams is #11 + Lakers Trade Rumors Heating Up!

[00:00:12] It's Friday, you know what time it is front runner podcast collective is back on the air and I am your humbleholds of Vince and we have a

[00:00:23] Absolutely exciting show for you today

[00:00:25] What you know where you come get your in-depth in via analysis your player development

[00:00:30] And all the biggest storylines that go on in the association you come here to front runner podcast collective

[00:00:37] And it's a feel-good Friday

[00:00:40] So we're gonna get to a lot of things today, we're gonna get to one of the

[00:00:45] Number 11 in the top 25

[00:00:48] 25 and under and then we're also gonna get to a bunch of news and notes that have come on

[00:00:55] Line in the last couple days or so and we're gonna talk about them and break them down and see if there's any

[00:01:02] Validity to these rumors

[00:01:04] So we're gonna go ahead and do that as well and I am so glad that you guys are here and enjoying joining me for the ride

[00:01:11] With the producers to rare and bunch of punch on the silent ones and tools

[00:01:16] They are providing me a lot of your stats that I'm gonna need for today's podcast

[00:01:24] So before we get started, let's get into the socials X at front runner PC

[00:01:30] Also, please go ahead and follow the producers as well

[00:01:35] Raya at Raya

[00:01:38] underscore punch

[00:01:40] FRPC

[00:01:42] Okay, get that

[00:01:44] We will appreciate you for that

[00:01:47] We need to go ahead and build up those numbers

[00:01:50] The other thing is to the YouTube channel will get a

[00:01:55] Plethora of videos over the weekend. We are now back. Everything is ready to go

[00:02:00] I have some issues with the laptop. So we're real. We're ready to start

[00:02:06] Uploading some video. So keep on the lookout. So a lot of these top 25

[00:02:12] Situations are gonna pop up on there the pre camp previews will pop up on there as well and then

[00:02:18] The other thing is to make sure that we are still being a friend and telling a friend about the podcast

[00:02:26] We are still growing our numbers. We have such a great month in August

[00:02:30] Let's continue that momentum in September is the first week of

[00:02:35] September and I understand that football season is here. I enjoyed the game last night. I

[00:02:41] Was really upset

[00:02:42] That Isaiah like least toe was on the line

[00:02:47] But it was a great football game and I'm looking forward to tonight's football game

[00:02:51] But we got hoops to talk about and it's Friday

[00:02:56] And it's a feel-good Friday. So you gonna have some fun

[00:03:01] Buckle up grab your your favorite beverage of choice

[00:03:06] Grab your favorite snack of choice

[00:03:09] And just sit down and enjoy the ride that is front runner podcast collected

[00:03:18] So what we're gonna do is we're gonna start

[00:03:24] with our top 25 25 and under

[00:03:27] player profile and

[00:03:30] The person that we're going to focus on today is Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder

[00:03:36] And we're gonna kick things off with one of the most exciting players in the league

[00:03:41] He just burst it onto the scene his rookie year showed out his second year showed out me

[00:03:48] Just massive improvements. He was the 12th overall selection in the 2022 draft

[00:03:56] Okay, he's already showing that he's one that he's what has what it takes to be a major contributor and

[00:04:02] I already cloned it earlier this year that okay. See has his big three already

[00:04:08] with shade Gilgis Alexander

[00:04:11] Jalen Williams of Santa Clara

[00:04:14] We always have to specify because there's two Jalen Williams and

[00:04:18] Chet homegrown so keep that in mind

[00:04:21] We love Jalen Williams on this program. So you gonna get a lot of love for this guy

[00:04:26] Let's talk about some of the pre-draft scouting and

[00:04:30] Where we are right now before entering the draft

[00:04:33] William was seen as a versatile two-way player with potential to grow into an elite wing

[00:04:39] Standing at six foot six, but having a seven foot two wingspan

[00:04:44] Scouts praised his ability to score at all three levels make plays for others and defend multiple positions

[00:04:51] However, there were concerns about his three-point consistency and his athleticism

[00:04:58] Now the one thing that we like about Jalen Williams is that there were so many things

[00:05:03] Other than just the athleticism

[00:05:06] Notice in that

[00:05:09] Player profile the pre-draft scouting they had several things that he could do on the court

[00:05:14] They talked about he was a three level score

[00:05:17] They talked about his wingspan, but they didn't just talk about his wingspan

[00:05:21] That is just there that he's able to guard multiple positions. So they're telling you before he comes into the league

[00:05:28] Hey, he has two or three tangible assets that are gonna translate to the league

[00:05:33] What they were focused on was is the three-point shooting gun come around

[00:05:38] Is it gonna be consistent enough for him to be able to be a major contributor in the league?

[00:05:45] So there weren't a lot of doubts of whether he was going to make it in the league

[00:05:49] It was what what would the zenith was for Jalen Williams

[00:05:53] We always want to start with that because remember as we earlier in the summer we did our

[00:06:01] 2025

[00:06:02] Let's take our first look at some of the prospects that are coming in for next year and

[00:06:09] We really

[00:06:10] Hone in on how many

[00:06:14] Translatable skills the players in this upcoming drought coming up it has

[00:06:20] to last year

[00:06:22] Right. How scarce it was I?

[00:06:27] Want to go ahead and point that out because of the fact that

[00:06:29] When you have something like this and if there are so many things and keep in mind

[00:06:34] He was drafted 12th overall in 2022

[00:06:39] It's in development for our guy Jalen Williams fast forward to today Jalen Williams has exceeded

[00:06:45] Expectations his rookie year he ever 14.1 points game

[00:06:49] 3.3 assists and posted a strong shooting percentage

[00:06:55] True shooting percentage of 60 point two

[00:06:57] He quickly has shown that he has some defensive chops with 1.4 steals. This is all in his rookie year

[00:07:05] Now his second year he expanded upon that and

[00:07:11] In the second year you saw more about more volume on the three-point shot. You saw more playmaking

[00:07:18] ability

[00:07:20] When it came to Jalen Williams

[00:07:22] Up until the playoffs now once the playoffs came we saw some regression

[00:07:28] Now that could be because of the fact that a

[00:07:32] He's playing into deep waters now. This is a guy who was playing 32 games a year and now he's played what?

[00:07:41] 82 and then this year he plays 82 plus the

[00:07:44] You know the playoffs so you know it takes some time to get your legs underneath you and keep in mind

[00:07:51] Jalen Williams and starting to fall into that same kind of

[00:07:56] Vortex that Jason Jason Tatum and

[00:08:00] Jalen and Jalen Brown are falling into

[00:08:04] He hit the scene so early

[00:08:06] And they were good from the day he got there

[00:08:09] He is going to be a staple

[00:08:12] In the NBA playoff boring horrific injury

[00:08:16] luck

[00:08:17] by the okc thunder and we're gonna

[00:08:20] Knock on wood to make sure that we are not

[00:08:24] Saying that that is gonna happen

[00:08:26] But what we're trying to say is that he has started off his career so well

[00:08:31] And he has shown himself

[00:08:33] To be all of what we thought he could be

[00:08:37] And also a little bit more

[00:08:40] Now barring the playoff experience

[00:08:43] I think that's just a learning tool. You got to learn about

[00:08:48] What they want to take away

[00:08:50] From you

[00:08:51] What is your counter and you got to have that in your bag right away?

[00:08:54] You can't have that something where oh, I got to work on this and this is something maybe I can pull out whatever

[00:08:59] You have to be able to go to it with such confidence

[00:09:02] That is such an organic part of you that

[00:09:05] It's just an innate ability at that point

[00:09:08] And I think this is just gonna come with time

[00:09:11] Okc is very young. They got to the playoffs

[00:09:15] They made some noise

[00:09:17] He saw what it was all about and now we get to year three

[00:09:23] Scary thoughts coming about our guy

[00:09:28] These are some quotes from scouts and some of the media NBA scouts have taken notice with one scout telling the ringer

[00:09:36] Williams is the perfect player for today's NBA. He can guard multiple acquisitions

[00:09:42] He handles the ball. He can stretch the floor. He's ahead of schedule

[00:09:47] Meanwhile, zaglo of espn

[00:09:50] Called him

[00:09:52] A steal for the thunder highlighting his two-way potential

[00:09:57] This is the thing

[00:09:59] Jaylen williams

[00:10:00] In just that whole team and I think we talked about it last year, but it is worth repeating

[00:10:09] They have such a kind of

[00:10:12] insulated

[00:10:13] pseudo

[00:10:15] AAU vibe to them

[00:10:17] But not in a cocky way. There was a team up in new hampshire when I was in Boston

[00:10:22] It was bruster academy

[00:10:24] And bruster academy reminded me of these type of teams where they would just go in they were very business

[00:10:30] Like it was a high school team. I'll be it, right?

[00:10:33] It was in the city of Boston. It was governor dominer

[00:10:37] and those two schools always

[00:10:40] Really just impacted me about how per almost professional and precision like they were

[00:10:47] And if you look at but they have fun doing it

[00:10:51] It was all together and it was all fun

[00:10:54] But you could tell that they had really worked on their crap

[00:10:59] And it looks like okc gives off that same type of vibe

[00:11:04] They've been there before now. They've seen it a little bit. They know what it's all about

[00:11:09] And now we got shea. We got jaylin

[00:11:13] Um, we got chet

[00:11:15] Now we got center

[00:11:17] We got alex caruso

[00:11:19] Plus we got the emergence of case and wallace and maybe some other guys who who are coming up as far as that's concerned

[00:11:29] And now we're just gonna grow

[00:11:33] Because they didn't get anybody that was going to stymie development

[00:11:37] Heart and stein

[00:11:39] Was the missing piece as far as the big that they needed

[00:11:42] And alex caruso is plug-and-play anywhere. He can start he can come off the bench. He could

[00:11:48] Be a wing. He could be the starting two guard. He could be the sixth man. It just doesn't matter

[00:11:56] So case and wallace is still going to get his development

[00:11:59] We're not gonna have to worry about jail and williams at all. We're not gonna have to worry about chet at all

[00:12:05] About their development

[00:12:07] But getting back to jaylin williams is that

[00:12:11] Here's a guy who has been just given the opportunities and he is just absolutely relished in those opportunities

[00:12:19] Let me give you this while williams have impressed

[00:12:21] They're still room for growth particularly in his three point shooting where he's currently hovering around 35.6

[00:12:29] with continued development

[00:12:32] Many believe he can become the future all-star and a critical player for the okc

[00:12:39] His ceiling the possibility he can be one of the top wings in the league period

[00:12:45] So keep that in mind

[00:12:46] That this is how people are looking at

[00:12:50] jail and williams

[00:12:51] People are looking at him as a guy who can be a really

[00:12:55] Intracle part of a championship contending franchise

[00:12:59] And we've only seen two years

[00:13:04] Two

[00:13:04] Two full years of development in and I want to give a special shout out

[00:13:12] To sam presty and everyone in that building not just sam presty

[00:13:18] I'm talking about the guys who are the player development coaches

[00:13:22] Who are spending those times

[00:13:25] Um allowing these guys to get these reps in

[00:13:28] To say okay. This is what you're going to be doing in the game

[00:13:33] We have

[00:13:34] watched a ton of video

[00:13:36] We have broke some things down. We've seen there's some some inefficiencies in your move sets

[00:13:42] And these are the type of things we want you to take out and these are the kind of things we want you to continue to incorporate

[00:13:50] The hours that these guys are putting in you can see the work you can see it

[00:13:55] Look at chake came out of the box

[00:13:58] He was a just a straight g coming out the box

[00:14:02] I don't think we worried about his foot at all last year

[00:14:08] so

[00:14:09] They clearly are doing something right with the development

[00:14:13] and

[00:14:14] It's the first time where we always talk about that we always hedge our bets on development

[00:14:20] That development is linear

[00:14:22] And i'm not saying that they're still

[00:14:25] Not going to have their struggles in the playoffs the the playoffs are very hard

[00:14:30] And in jaylen wilkins is all of 22

[00:14:35] So it's going to take some time right i'm not sitting here going saying hey, they don't have a chance because here's the thing

[00:14:42] If it they didn't look scared last year

[00:14:46] And now they really reinforce the areas of need on their team

[00:14:51] This is just going to embolden people like jaylen wilkins

[00:14:56] And shea gilders alexander. This is just gonna embolden them to be even more creative

[00:15:03] More aggressive

[00:15:05] When it comes to their offensive game. Okay, see he's on the right path. I love jaylen wilkins

[00:15:10] Having him at 11

[00:15:13] Was hard and the only reason I had him at 11

[00:15:18] Is because of the fact that he does have a number one

[00:15:23] In front of him

[00:15:25] And with all due respect, he does have some kind of cushion

[00:15:30] where sga

[00:15:32] For the okc thunder

[00:15:34] Are is going to take the the bulk of the shots

[00:15:37] He's going to get 22 to 25 shots and then jaylen wilkins is going to slide right underneath him

[00:15:44] With somewhere between 17 to 20

[00:15:48] And yeah, there's not that much of a break. He has to be on every single night

[00:15:52] But there is a cushion there where it's like hey bro

[00:15:56] You know if for some reason you don't get off to a fast start. I got you

[00:16:01] Check got you, you know, we got other pieces around you that got you

[00:16:05] It's okay. You just come on when you can come on is uh

[00:16:09] It's a good little situation they have going on in in oklahoma city

[00:16:13] I believe that jaylen wilkins was a

[00:16:16] Absolutely still in that draft. I look for him to continue to allow his star

[00:16:22] To ascend this year

[00:16:25] It would not

[00:16:27] Be out of the range

[00:16:29] For me to think that jaylen wilkins who has

[00:16:32] Allowed his three-point shooting to be better

[00:16:35] The first couple years to think that he might take another step with that three-point shooting

[00:16:40] He might not take the

[00:16:42] The

[00:16:43] The incremental step that he took from year one to year two

[00:16:46] But he might take more volume and take a tick up

[00:16:50] Because if he can get to somewhere between if he can get to 37 to 38 percent

[00:16:56] Then he's taken seven eight threes a game

[00:17:00] That's still a win

[00:17:02] That's a win for okc

[00:17:04] And that's a win for jaylen williams as well

[00:17:08] And again, I I bring you back to the hartinstein signing

[00:17:13] Hartinstein and having that extra big in there will involve in shea gill just alexander

[00:17:19] And also jaylen williams and maybe some of the other wings to go ahead and let it fly from three-point lane

[00:17:25] We look for big things from jaylen williams this upcoming year

[00:17:30] We loved them in the draft

[00:17:32] We sung his praises and it's great to see all of the things that we saw

[00:17:37] In the pre draft scouting come to fruition and then the shot has come along with it

[00:17:44] Still work to be done on that shot, but it has come along. We're gonna pivot because

[00:17:51] Usually at this point in time we would talk about another player or we would go into our

[00:17:57] Pre-camp observations of previews and what have you

[00:18:00] but

[00:18:01] The league kind of exploded yesterday in a little way where

[00:18:06] Seemed like a little more news notes were coming out and people were willing to talk about them and also

[00:18:11] People have thoughts. So we thought that instead of giving you another player profile

[00:18:19] And another pre-camp preview

[00:18:21] We're going to talk some of the things that we saw over the last couple days

[00:18:25] And give you our thoughts on them. So the first thing that we're going to talk about

[00:18:30] Down walkie who is a longtime beat writer for the Lakers

[00:18:35] had an interesting article

[00:18:38] and in this article

[00:18:40] One of the hottest topics in the NBA trade rumors is that should the Lakers trade for chicago bull star zack levine

[00:18:49] The trade market for levine has been fairly quiet

[00:18:52] But one western conference executive recently suggested that the Lakers should make a move

[00:18:59] for him. Levine is a two-time all-star and would certainly bring more scoring punch to the Lakers with lebron james

[00:19:06] And anthony david isn't needing a reliable third score. I do

[00:19:11] I do champion that a thought process

[00:19:14] Levine ability to create his own shot could be invaluable. However, his contract is massive

[00:19:22] 215 over five years. He's coming off a

[00:19:26] Seizing ending foot injury that limited him to only 25 games last year. Now remember

[00:19:36] Around the time that he had that surgery or elected to have that surgery there were rumors flying around

[00:19:42] That the Detroit pistons were looking to trade for zack levine and then all of a sudden

[00:19:48] There was a foot surgery and that was the end of that

[00:19:53] So it was like he cut them off out the pass. He was like nope

[00:19:57] You're not trading me there, buddy

[00:19:59] No, no, no. Now here's the proposal

[00:20:04] The potential trade would be the Lakers would give up de angelo russell rui hachimora

[00:20:11] And possibly draft picks. I do not think they should do that for zack levine

[00:20:17] We'll talk about it in a second

[00:20:20] While this move could help the Lakers in the short term it would limit the Lakers financial flexibility for the future moves

[00:20:27] NBA insiders

[00:20:29] Like dan walkie from the la times have expressed skepticism about this trade with walkie pointing out that the Lakers front office

[00:20:37] Have never shown significant interest in levine

[00:20:42] Advanced stats on levine that would fit the Lakers

[00:20:49] Levine would fit them as a secondary scorer with his 38.3

[00:20:54] shooting from three and his ability to generate

[00:20:59] offense in isolation. He's in the 85 85 percentile

[00:21:04] Uh, that would compliment lebron james and ad however defensively levine has been a liability

[00:21:11] His defensive rating has been below league average, which could be an issue for the Lakers

[00:21:17] team focus on defense now

[00:21:24] Is he worse than de angelo russell?

[00:21:28] Because I think he's a hell of a block better score than de angelo russell

[00:21:33] Now the salary

[00:21:35] You can you could

[00:21:36] You can scream to me about the salary and say I don't want that

[00:21:41] to

[00:21:42] Basically lock us in

[00:21:45] I get you we're gonna

[00:21:47] We're gonna hash all this out. We're not done yet

[00:21:53] One scout told the athletic levine is a great talent, but

[00:21:57] With his injury history and his contract the the risk might outweigh the reward for the Lakers

[00:22:05] An anonymous NBA executive said if the Lakers go all in on levine

[00:22:10] They're essentially locking themselves into a core

[00:22:14] For the next few years with no flexibility

[00:22:19] come

[00:22:23] So basically it comes down to this Lakers fans and all NBA fans. I want everybody's

[00:22:29] I want everybody's thought process on this situation

[00:22:33] So what's your thoughts should the Lakers pull the trigger on this levine deal?

[00:22:38] Now while goose their offense, but his

[00:22:41] Injury history and his defensive struggles and his contract make it a risky move

[00:22:47] The Lakers may need to decide whether

[00:22:50] They're better sticking off whether current roster or taking a huge gamble

[00:22:56] on Zach Levin

[00:22:58] I

[00:22:58] Would love your thoughts on this hit me up on x at frontrunner PC

[00:23:04] Here's my thoughts

[00:23:11] You could get levine for almost nothing

[00:23:16] Now. Yes, your

[00:23:19] Your financial flexibility

[00:23:21] is gone

[00:23:22] No doubt

[00:23:28] but

[00:23:29] Your upside

[00:23:30] Has has gone up drastically

[00:23:34] Because here's the thing that I'll I'll just hang my hat on

[00:23:39] I am not I loved Zach Levin because he went to UCLA the pro Zach Levin

[00:23:48] There's a lot of questions

[00:23:51] But here's the thing he played for minnesota. No disrespect to minnesota, but back then

[00:23:59] That team was a joke

[00:24:02] He's played for chicago

[00:24:05] And we know what has gone on in that front office no shade to chicago

[00:24:11] I'm talking strictly about

[00:24:14] The ownership group not necessarily front office

[00:24:20] I think the ownership group

[00:24:23] Maybe could show a little more

[00:24:26] um

[00:24:26] willingness

[00:24:28] To do what it takes to win

[00:24:31] Now if they would like to rebuttal me, I would be more than happy to have that conversation

[00:24:37] but

[00:24:38] From what I've been able to tell

[00:24:42] It's been

[00:24:43] poorly run

[00:24:46] There have been some bad trades

[00:24:48] There have been some awful trades

[00:24:51] That have really helped

[00:24:54] Orlando so

[00:24:56] The magic fans are thankful

[00:25:01] But yet again, Zach Levine has been on a bad situation now

[00:25:05] You could say if he's as good a player as he's supposed to be he's supposed to elevate that team and make it better and just

[00:25:12] Ties raise all ships type of situation

[00:25:15] You could tell me that

[00:25:17] I might be be able to agree with that, but

[00:25:21] Now let's talk about Zach Levine in a different context

[00:25:25] We're not talking about Zach Levine the number one option

[00:25:29] We're talking about Zach Levine

[00:25:32] The number three option

[00:25:36] Okay, that's a different scenario altogether

[00:25:43] less responsibilities

[00:25:45] Less opportunities

[00:25:48] Hopefully with less opportunities more focused on the defensive end

[00:25:56] Less media scrutiny in the sense of that

[00:26:00] You're the third dude on the team. Yes, you're gonna get your share of shine

[00:26:05] Because you play for the Lakers

[00:26:06] But

[00:26:08] You're still number three and also Austin reuses on this team and everybody loves him

[00:26:14] Austin Reeves and I will just say this after the west work situation

[00:26:19] Rockwell Lincoln has become gun shy

[00:26:22] I think there have been moves that were out there that might have been able to be made

[00:26:27] He is looking for the perfect move

[00:26:29] There's no such thing as that a perfect is the enemy of really good

[00:26:35] sometimes

[00:26:36] And what we're looking at in this situation is that there are executives in the league that are saying hey

[00:26:42] And they all do say it's a huge gamble

[00:26:48] The injury history and whatever but I also then take it

[00:26:52] You're looking at Levine in the lens of him being a number one option

[00:26:56] I'm looking at him as the lens of being the number three option. That's a huge difference

[00:27:04] Is not the you're not gonna be the first person that they go they're gonna stick microphones and cameras in your face

[00:27:12] You might get that shower in you might be able to listen to some jazz or whatever it is that comes you down after a game or whatever

[00:27:21] And then the media gets to you

[00:27:25] Also

[00:27:27] Levine

[00:27:28] With this particular group

[00:27:30] With the Lakers he would probably be playing with the best group that he has played with since

[00:27:37] That early Jimmy Butler group

[00:27:42] in

[00:27:45] Minnesota and this is the especially as far as basketball IQ is concerned. This is far

[00:27:52] Superior that he's ever had

[00:27:55] So I'm giving you the pros to why the Levine thing

[00:28:00] could work

[00:28:01] Okay, I have been a very

[00:28:03] Debbie Downer on the Lakers this offseason

[00:28:07] No doubt I will not sit here and tell you I have not

[00:28:11] But if the Lakers were going to take a swing

[00:28:15] And I'm not saying it has to be him, but

[00:28:19] These are the type of things you have to think about what you're getting them for

[00:28:24] Dijonté Murray you you would have to give up your two first round draft picks

[00:28:29] You couldn't even get into the conversation with lowering marketing with your two first round draft picks

[00:28:36] What do you think it's going to take for you to get Julius Randall if the Knicks decide to move on from him?

[00:28:43] Oh, and by the way, you don't have another big to give them

[00:28:48] So there's got to be a third team involved

[00:28:53] So I'm looking at this Zach Levine thing and going

[00:28:57] You might not be able to get a first rounder

[00:28:59] But could you get a couple second rounders from Chicago since they are so willing to get off Levine?

[00:29:08] Because news around Chicago is is they're they're going to do everything in their power to keep their draft pick this year

[00:29:15] Meaning that they are trying to tank which means they're trying to get rid of Zach Levine before the season starts

[00:29:23] or

[00:29:24] Really showcase him as much as possible

[00:29:27] The first month of the season or half month of the season and

[00:29:31] Get him into a trade is

[00:29:33] S

[00:29:35] immediately

[00:29:38] now

[00:29:42] Some of the now some of the other things that

[00:29:44] Tell you why this doesn't go down the salary obviously this dude's making like almost 50 million dollars a year

[00:29:51] It's a lot of money a lot of coin. It does absolutely kill your financial flexibility

[00:29:58] But if you're saying that a deal

[00:30:03] where

[00:30:04] D'Angelo Russell

[00:30:08] Rui Hachomora

[00:30:12] Engaged Ben St. Go back

[00:30:15] To

[00:30:17] Chicago

[00:30:18] for Zach Levine

[00:30:22] How that helps you just tremendously

[00:30:28] I mean you're you're you're clearing up situations don't connect now can play max christie's time gets

[00:30:36] Freed up as far as that's concerned

[00:30:41] Yeah, you're taking some of your depth away for sure, but

[00:30:45] You are adding

[00:30:46] More points and easier points

[00:30:50] To your top end

[00:30:52] Your optionality at your top end just got really difficult to guard

[00:30:58] Because if you're telling me you got ad

[00:31:02] You got well, Brian James and you got Zach Levine

[00:31:06] That dude can cut the dude can jump that he can shoot the three so he can space it

[00:31:15] This is all the things you want

[00:31:17] And your third dude

[00:31:19] Just saying

[00:31:22] All right, the other piece of news that we want to get to because this is something that we chronicled all through last year

[00:31:30] And we kept on making comments about it and now it's all coming

[00:31:34] To the head. Thank you to the NBA

[00:31:38] Uh, I don't know elders or whatever who are allowed allowing these stories to come out

[00:31:44] And thank you guys for allowing me to do do these stories. So Denver

[00:31:50] Last couple years we're going to give you a little background

[00:31:53] But you notice that they've done some subtractions over the last couple years. So let's get into it

[00:32:00] The nuggets coming off a couple championships a couple years ago

[00:32:03] They are facing some internal tension between head coach Michael Malone and

[00:32:08] Basically president or player personnel calving boot according to zag low

[00:32:14] Malone and boot are not seeing eye to eye particularly when it comes to the team's long-term vision

[00:32:20] The head of the tension is one of the sources

[00:32:23] Of the tension is the departure of key role players like bruce brown

[00:32:28] Who signed with the indiana paces?

[00:32:31] That was last offseason not this this the past off season the last one

[00:32:36] And then contiguous a call well pope who went to the orlando magic

[00:32:42] Malone reportedly wanted to keep these veterans and maintain a winning

[00:32:47] Win now roster while move has focused on developing developing the younger talent

[00:32:53] Like christian brown

[00:32:55] To step up into a bigger into bigger roles

[00:32:59] Calvin boo's long-term strategy

[00:33:01] Has been vocal about his plan to build a sustainable contender through the draft this past draft he added uh

[00:33:09] This is the 2023 draft that I love julien strother. That was the kid from gonzaga

[00:33:16] Jaylin picket that was a kid from um pissberg, I believe

[00:33:22] To further diver boaster diver's young core

[00:33:26] Boo commented developing young talent will allow us to stay competitive without overspending on free agents

[00:33:34] However, this has created friction with malone who wants more experienced players

[00:33:41] We talked about this all last season

[00:33:45] julien strother

[00:33:47] Jaylin picket

[00:33:48] Uh, even christian brown had got a very small role

[00:33:53] Last year as the season wore on

[00:33:56] And what was going on was michael malone saying hey, I'm gonna go with the players

[00:34:02] I believe can give us the best chance of winning now people will say that

[00:34:08] that

[00:34:10] type of strategy

[00:34:12] Hurt the nuggets when they played the minnesota timbre wolves because

[00:34:17] Nicola yokas was absolutely gassed

[00:34:20] Jamal murray was absolutely compromised with some sort of knee injury by the way

[00:34:26] Steel doesn't look awesome

[00:34:30] You know you had erin gordon playing crazy minutes and obviously katebria called. Well poke who is no longer there

[00:34:37] Booth has been pounded to table to play strother picket

[00:34:42] nagi um

[00:34:44] Zeke nagi as well

[00:34:46] And also christian brown

[00:34:49] so

[00:34:50] You got all of these moving parts and what have you and everything last year was like you

[00:34:56] You know kevin bull talks about these players were critical and you saw how

[00:35:01] Michael malone was was using the roster that he was given

[00:35:06] There's obviously a divide there we talk about this all the time we talk about how

[00:35:12] Hard is it to get a bunch of people on the same side of the damn page

[00:35:20] Right because you got this dude with an ego. You got this dude looking at the future

[00:35:25] You got this dude saying like why am I gonna play young players because they don't know anything

[00:35:32] Right

[00:35:35] Michael malone doesn't have the patience for that

[00:35:37] Tom tibodeau is like that

[00:35:40] Uh, what's the kid tyler colic from marquette people love that kid that dude ain't gonna get no run next year

[00:35:48] I mean unless somebody is and we do not want this

[00:35:52] right

[00:35:53] Jaylin brunson would have to get hurt for tyler colic to play

[00:35:57] Okay, there would have to be some sort of state of emergency

[00:36:01] for a tyler colic to play

[00:36:04] Michael malone is cut from the same cloth. He's he is not enamored with the young player

[00:36:14] I remember a story that howard back said about

[00:36:20] Tom tibodeau

[00:36:21] In regards to a rookie. I can't remember who the rookie was so i'm almost I wish I could remember who it was

[00:36:31] God

[00:36:32] It was in his days with new york, but basically he could not remember the

[00:36:37] The rookie's name

[00:36:39] This dude was like a lottery pick. I believe if i'm not mistaken

[00:36:43] Remember his name. He was just like dude

[00:36:47] He didn't want to play him. He didn't play him. He played on sparingly and michael malone is the same type of dude

[00:36:54] so

[00:36:55] Obviously we've gotten to the point of dev con one in the mile high city

[00:37:01] we

[00:37:02] Calvin booth has drawn his line in the sand. He was like i'm not gonna pay contiguous call. Well pope

[00:37:08] You're gonna have to play the kids

[00:37:10] You're gonna have to play them now

[00:37:12] Because the the veterans are gone

[00:37:17] So I am

[00:37:19] Bewildered by how this is all gonna play

[00:37:23] Actually, okay advanced stats

[00:37:27] The impact of losing bruise ground in kcp

[00:37:31] Losing bruise ground in kcp could have significant impact on denver's defense. No duh

[00:37:36] These are two of the best perimeter wing defenders. We have an league

[00:37:41] Brown posted a 109.7 while kcp's 111 were both critical to denver's title run

[00:37:48] With them gone the young players brawn patin watson

[00:37:53] uh julian strother and

[00:37:56] Jalen picket will all have to step up and fill those gaps

[00:37:59] So there's a lot of players to fill those two gaps. We don't like them alone play them

[00:38:05] Is the other question

[00:38:11] On top on top of the players losses denver is navigating a potential contract extension with jamal murray and erin gordon

[00:38:18] How they manage these deals while meaning can maintaining competitiveness will be the key to their title hopes

[00:38:26] The tension between malone and boo could become larger issue if the team struggles out of the gate this season

[00:38:33] This is the thing to look for

[00:38:36] This is the thing to look for

[00:38:38] Because those kids will have to play this year

[00:38:41] Because you can't you can't even feel the starting lineup now, you know yelkes is going to be there

[00:38:46] You know erin gordon is going to be there. You know jamal murray is going to be there

[00:38:51] A michael porter junior. So christian brown is the obvious

[00:38:56] choice was a third year out of canzas

[00:39:00] that kid

[00:39:01] Kenny shooted enough

[00:39:03] Is going to be the key

[00:39:05] The defensive chops from what people have told me is there. It's just finding confidence in the shop

[00:39:12] The ringer recently highlighted a the delicate balance between booth trying to strike

[00:39:19] Quoting an mba executive said

[00:39:22] boost long-term strategy is great, but if malone can't buy in from

[00:39:27] The younger players playing right away the nuggets could face some bumps

[00:39:32] This upcoming season. He's taken all the obstacles away

[00:39:37] So I don't think it's going to be a problem whatsoever honestly to tell you the truth

[00:39:42] I don't think it's going to be an issue whatsoever. I think he might I think michael malone might

[00:39:47] voice his displeasure

[00:39:50] Of playing young players

[00:39:52] And he might be very hard of them

[00:39:55] But I do believe they will play

[00:39:58] Because at this point

[00:40:00] There's not enough veterans on that team that have been in the wars with nicole yelkes that you would play over these kids at this point

[00:40:09] So there you have that

[00:40:12] I just think it's real funny

[00:40:16] I

[00:40:16] Excuse me

[00:40:20] We'll cut that out the pot

[00:40:29] personally, I just see this situation

[00:40:32] it took

[00:40:34] I know it came out this year. Well, we saw it all last year

[00:40:38] When payton watson was not getting time

[00:40:41] He got time real early in the season and then you started to see the time dwindle and dwindle and dwindle

[00:40:46] And then you didn't even really see him in the playoffs

[00:40:49] julius strother julian strother played like really early in the season

[00:40:54] And then as you saw the season progress his time started to dwindle

[00:41:01] Zignagi hasn't been able to get off the bench for like four years. I don't know what's going on with my guide over there

[00:41:07] And then jenny picket was another one

[00:41:10] Who just could not get off

[00:41:12] The bench as well

[00:41:18] Well, they're all gone. So those kids will play this year

[00:41:21] And there will be some bumps in the road

[00:41:24] There will be some there will be some critical errors

[00:41:28] There will be all this because they have to get grain gain experience now

[00:41:33] Do they have

[00:41:34] one of the best

[00:41:36] One two punches in the league where

[00:41:39] Some of their critical errors can be covered up

[00:41:43] absolutely

[00:41:46] Now tell me this

[00:41:47] How healthy is jamal murray going to be this year?

[00:41:52] Because I'll tell you a lot about

[00:41:55] Who and what necessity

[00:41:57] And how much opportunity these young kids get

[00:42:02] You might be force feeding these kids a lot of minutes if jamal murray is still not healthy

[00:42:10] So keep that in mind as well because that that olympic experience

[00:42:16] You can say whatever it was

[00:42:24] That olympic experience for whatever it was

[00:42:28] I mean it was it didn't look good

[00:42:32] And now we see that the extension hold up

[00:42:36] Is real

[00:42:40] Because remember the verb is coming out of

[00:42:43] Denver before the olympics. Oh, we'll take care of after the olympics. Oh, well now the olympics are over

[00:42:51] Now where are we at?

[00:42:53] Take a sip of something before I almost start coughing again. Anyways

[00:43:01] You sit there and you wonder

[00:43:03] Is camalot crumbling from inside

[00:43:08] With Denver

[00:43:10] Jamal murray has some sort of knee injury groin injury some sort of injury with his lower limbs

[00:43:18] For like the last three years and then before that he had the knee injury and everything like that too

[00:43:25] Is he ever going to be healthy?

[00:43:29] And did the

[00:43:30] Was the right play last year to ride him so much

[00:43:35] And not play the kids and now we're in this situation where we don't know what the extension is going to look like

[00:43:42] People are worried him

[00:43:44] Worried about whether this is going to turn into like a doron

[00:43:49] A doron williams tackle situation remember during williams in utah

[00:43:55] Darin williams was one of the coldest coin guards in utah

[00:43:59] He went to new jersey or whether brooklyn at that point. Were they brooklyn? They might have been brooklyn

[00:44:07] They were new jersey and then brooklyn

[00:44:10] He goes to new jersey and he just falls off an absolute cliff

[00:44:16] And nobody understood why that was

[00:44:23] This looks eerily similar to that and i'm not trying to scare Denver fans at all

[00:44:29] I'm just hoping that jamal murray is healthy that all this is just

[00:44:34] podcast talk

[00:44:36] podcast fodder to fill up time and then we get to the regular season and all as well

[00:44:43] Because at the end of the day, I want jamal murray to be healthy

[00:44:46] I want to see the two-man game that is so beautiful

[00:44:50] And then all the other keys that play off of that really heroic

[00:44:55] situation

[00:44:56] In the first round and then out

[00:44:59] because

[00:45:01] That's what it was when jamal murray was hurt

[00:45:07] yokas was great

[00:45:10] Jamal murray was hurt

[00:45:12] And they clearly didn't have enough talent

[00:45:15] to overtake everybody in the west

[00:45:18] And now you imagine what the west looks like now and could you imagine a compromise jamal murray?

[00:45:25] No, no contiguous call woke pope

[00:45:32] There's a lot to ask

[00:45:33] It's a lot to ask so

[00:45:35] With that being said that is the end of today's podcast. I want to thank the producers for doing

[00:45:42] Excellent work. Thank you so much guys

[00:45:45] The other thing that I want to tell you guys is this is that we're going to go ahead and we're going to pump out videos all weekend long

[00:45:51] So go to the youtube page front runner podcast collective put it in your search bar

[00:45:58] Then subscribe to the channel

[00:46:00] Then like some videos

[00:46:02] Then make some comments then await my comments on your comments

[00:46:09] Okay, all right

[00:46:12] And with that being said you guys have a great weekend

[00:46:15] The best part of you

[00:46:17] Is you make sure that the people who are surrounding you are doing nothing but illuminating your light

[00:46:24] And go out there and do some positive things in this world and we'll see you back on this podcast feed on monday

[00:46:31] dose