Why Victor Wembanyama Is Rewriting MVP Logic

Cold Open On Draft Panic

Everyone wants to panic. Everyone wants to label the 19-year-old Derrick Peterson as college kawaii because he's holding the Kansas ecosystem hostage. But let me give you the ruthless front office reality. If the doctors clear his hamstrings, you draft the 6'6 Alpha Predator and you let the rest of the league cry about it later. I do have a caveat to that as we get into this program. But welcome. What's good everybody? Welcome to Front Runner Podcast Collective, the only room where we talk like friends, argue like cousins, and make sure you leave smarter than when you came in. I am your host, Vince, your occasional hoop therapist, your favorite bad influence when it comes to reckless over NBA overreactions that actually carry weight. We don't just read the box scores, no, no, no, no. We pull the receipts. We're unpacking the wins, the locker room mess, the contracts, and the front office agendas so we can walk straight into your group chats and end the arguments before they start. And if you are an NBO sicko like I am, who values thoughts overtakes, pull up a chair because you're in the right spot. Today's program we're gonna be talking about the San Antonio Squares and just their explosion onto the scene and what it means for the rest of the NBA. We're gonna talk about the aforementioned Darren Peterson and some of the draft picks that are coming up and uh get you a little taste of what is going to be a very exciting 2026 NBA draft. We're gonna do that for you. And then we're also gonna talk about, well, if you're new here, and you might be, because it's been a long time, and we're gonna get into that in a second. We're gonna talk about the Lakers and we're gonna talk about their streak and how they've been playing lately, and who is getting the credit for this renaissance of the purple and gold? We'll get into all of that. But before we get into the hoop talk, um I have uh if you're new here, welcome. Welcome to Front Runner Podcast Collective. If you are a person who has been with me from the beginning, and I know we've had a lot of stops and starts and and all of those type of things, and and whatever, um, my wife was sick, she was injured, she had a arm that was broken. Uh, she also had nasal nasal surgery, and she wasn't able to drive for a period of time, and her job is to help elderly people with their day-to-day task, and I felt uh as a husband that it was time for me to step away from the MBA, which I absolutely love, uh, to help her and make sure she can still provide the services that she wants to provide for these people who you know are needing the help. Uh, so shouts out to our our in-home caretakers of the elderly. Um, shouts out to the people who who need that help and and and you know the services that are provided. Thank you for uh the people who are able to provide those services. It's it's a great help to people because they get to be acknowledged, they get to be seen, um, and they get to be cared for in a manner where they should be. We don't take care of our elders in this country the way other countries do, and this is not shitting on America because I don't want to do that. That's not what we're here to do today. But I did want to shed light on this actual topic and give you, hey, some real life hit us dead in the damn face, and uh we are coming back to you stronger uh and and more positive than ever. So buckle up. We got a good good podcast that is about to start, but I want to let you know why the absence, why we took the break. Uh family first, always, and then now basketball. Let's get into it. And where we're gonna start is in San Antonio. Uh, the NBA future isn't some distant 2028 prophecy, it's already here, and it's here in the form of a 7'4, allegedly, and is currently dismantling every preseason narrative that the suits tried to sell you. Stop me if you've heard this before. It usually happens around 11 a.m. weekdays, right in the middle of a cute ESPN fluff piece. The suits around they sit around the desk, they shuffle their papers, they smile, they pat San Antonio Squares on their collective heads and say, Wow, just wow, this team is going to be terrifying in three years. Watch out for the 2028 version of the San Antonio Squares. Once these kids figure it out, watch out. Those are the narratives that they try to spin to you. I need everyone with a microphone to stop. Stop right down. Stop, help yourself stop, do yourself a favor, and just listen to the sound of my voice. Because the future does not live in 2028. The future lives in San Antonio at this present moment. Today, the basketball player breathing oxygen on this planet, the baddest man on the face of the planet, is Victor Winbayama. And it's abundantly clear to me and to anyone with a with a functioning set of eyes that the NBA will never ever be the same again. Let's just be brutally honest. If the health scare doesn't happen last season, Wimby wins his first Defensive Player of the Year award. Period. End of discussion. Evan Mowgli is welcome to the charity that he received for winning that trophy last year. But enjoy it. Relish it, my guy. Cherish it with all of your muster. Because here's the thing, Evan. I don't see anyone not named Victor Win Ba Nama winning that hardware for the next decade. Just saying. People tell me that this team is too young to win. They say that for you to take the the you have to take your lumps. You have to you have to you have to build up the playoff scar tissue, as you will. Really? Only three guys in Mitch Johnson's rotation were born before the year tw uh 2000. Think about that. Only three guys that play actual rotation minutes were born before the year 2000. Let me remind you of Exhibit A in the Youth is an excuse trial. Last year's Oklahoma City Thunder, their average age was twenty five point three years of age, and they snatched the Larry O'Brien trophy right out of the hands of the old guard. The Squares right now are currently sitting at 53 and 18. They have a plus, they have a plus 7.3 net rating. That is fourth in the entire NBA. Defensively, they are absolute nightmare. Um 111.5 rating, which is top three in the league, and they aren't waiting for a window to open. They are kicking down the door and taking the damn thing off its hinges at this present moment. The storm is already here. It's already here. Now, speaking of the storm, that brings me to the NVP debate. And this is where math starts getting incredibly uncomfortable for the people holding on to the preseason narratives that we hear about Shea Gilders Alexander's arguments. I watch the games. Listen, I know this dude is 31 points every single night. I know he's 66 uh percent true shooting percentage. I also know that this man is an absolute killer when it comes to a basketball court. But when we have to look at the reality of the situation in Oklahoma City, we have to think about two things. One, if we give praise to Sam Chrestie about the team that he's built up, if we give him praise for all the draft picks he has and uh finding the diamonds in the rough, and then we look at the record of what Oklahoma Oklahoma City is without Shea Gilders' Alexander, which they are 7-3 without him this year. That's a 700 winning percentage. Presty death isn't just good, it's a fortress. SGA has missed time, Jalen Williams has missed most of the year, a couple years back, uh Chet Homegren missed half a year. It doesn't matter because it's like Wackamo, right? When one goes down, another one comes up. They have depth on top of depth on top of depth. Now, with that being said, SGA is driving Afari with a with a full K crew. Victor is winning the race in a truck that he built himself, and this is no shade to the talent that's around him, but let's be honest. Did you have Dylan Harper on your bingo card having actual rotational minutes in the playoffs? Did you have Stefan Castle making the leap that he was going to make this year? And when you want to talk about the old guard, the old guard is still 25 and 26 years old. In the in the vessel that is Devin Vassell and also Keldon Johnson. That's their old guard. Now, yeah, there's a Harrison Barnes, there's a Luke Cornett, there is a uh De'Aaron Fox who is vital to this team and provides the veteran leadership that you need. I'm not cuckooing those guys whatsoever, but the guys who are really pushing the tempo, the guys who are really pushing the Oklahoma City to their breaking point are these young guys, like in the names of Stefan Castle and also our guy, Dylan Harper. That's my guy. You know, I loved him when he came out of college. I I I stamped that guy, and he's doing big, big things on the team. Think about it this way. If he was on where Charlotte was was where Con Kanipple is, what do you think Dylan Harper would average there? If Stefan Castle was on the Portland Trailblazers, how much how many points would he uh have and what would his usage rate be? And they're doing this in the confines of team. And so we're gonna praise Mitch Johnson later, but let's get back into this. The Spurs are a staggering 16 points better when Victor won by Yama plays. I'm gonna say that again. 16 points better when Victor is on the court. Victor looks recorders in the eyes and says that defense is 50% of the game, and he expects the voters to start treating uh it as an equal part of the rubric. And I I can't sit here and look at Victor and say, Hey, you know what? Bro, you way off base with this, and I'll tell you why as we go forward. The athletic calls his plays Wim uh Wim TFs. Okay, whims TF. It is literally let's guy he lets guys drive past him, okay, so he can reach around their heads and block their layup on the other side. That isn't basketball, that's psychological warfare, and to the point of this. I don't know how to really explain this, but I'm gonna go ahead and try. We love the NBA, we love hoops, we love talking about it, and one of the things that we love is just the the athletic talent that we see on a nightly basis. It doesn't matter whether you're a Charlotte Hornets fan, you're a Atlanta Hawks fan, you're a Los Angeles Lakers fan like I am, or like Bill Simmons, a Boston Celtic fan. We love seeing just the athletic ability of these guys. These guys work tremendously hard on their craft, they're always adding to their games, and what can what other move can I put in my skill set to make myself even more lethal on the offensive end or what have you? These guys are extremely proud and they're also extremely confident. So when I tell you that we are seeing superstars, we're seeing guys who have been in this league for six, seven, eight years making formal business decisions when they get around that paint area when they're playing the San Antonio Squares because they have no idea where Victor is, and he's always lurking, he's always around, and I've seen people leave the paint area, do a U-turn, and go out back out to the perimeter because they didn't want to get their shot blocked, they didn't want to be embarrassed on national TV, and they didn't want to end up on a poster in the wrong way. The tape is clear. Three possessions from last week, where all-stars literally did a U-turn. The second Victor drops his hips. I'm just telling you right now, the breakdown of these business decisions are clear. You see it every night. Forty million dollar men hit the paint and see a 7'4 alien, allegedly 7'4, um, and then completely abort the mission. And if you want to talk about head-to-head, you want to talk about, oh, well, OKC has nothing to worry about. The Spurs own OKC this year. They're 4-1 this season against the defending and reigning NBA champions. Victor pointed this out in an interview. He said, We beat their real team three times, including uh a Christmas Day blowout, while the whole world was watching. Our guy is extremely confident. I want to hear from our tape grinders out there. I want to hear from you. Defense is actually 50% of the MVP rubric, or are we so addicted to the points per game that we're ignoring most uh Wimby's most impactful items, and he is the most impactful player on planet Earth today. So drop your comments on X or at socially underscore F RPC or you can hit me up exclusively at frontrunner PC back to Victor. Victor isn't complacent. Nope. He told the media he's scared to be satisfied. Think about that. He's 22 years of age and he's terrified about not being the best right now. Not two years from now. He's not saying very meekly, oh, you know, in a couple years when this person retires, or you know, when I've you know hit my physical peak or whatever the case may be. Think about this. The we talk about the NBA and we talk about that sweet spot. We talk about when your physical meets your mental at its zenith, at its apex, right? And we say that your prime is from 27 to 30 or 27 to 31. Victor's not waiting, he's not waiting at all. When they ask how fast they become contenders, he just dead pan, he said, We didn't skip steps, we definitely walked up the steps really quickly, but we didn't skip steps. The NBA just didn't get a new superstar, it got a new ceiling. You don't build a dynasty by waiting for the old guard to retire, you build it by forcing them out, evicting them. The alien has a ride, folks, and he is in the form of a seven foot four, eight foot wingspan, allegedly. I keep on saying that, because I don't think he's seven foot four. I think he's like seven foot six more likely. With that being said, let's move on. Let's talk about a couple more things why I think that Victor and also the San Antonio Spurs are here. I know my guy Evan Townsend is is smiling right now. If he if he's listening, if he's gonna listen to this podcast, I know he is saying, Yeah, Vince, talk your shit right now. Tell him how San Antonio is about that life. And I'm about to do it right now. You know what the exact second the NBA era shifted? It wasn't an alien highlight, it wasn't a mid-range jumper in Phoenix that looked like it was ripped straight from 1998. No. We could talk about the spreadsheets until we're blue in the face, but if you really want to know when the flag was actually planted, you have to look back at the Phoenix game last week. Our guy Jarrett Weiss caught the vibe perfectly. He works for the athletic. I am a big proponent of reading the athletic. I know a lot of people out here want to watch YouTube videos and things of that nature. Do yourself a favor. If you are not uh a person who subscribes to athletic, go ahead and do so. They have a lot of nuggets in there that uh you just don't get in other places, and it's really smart observational things on your favorite team. So I highly recommend uh getting yourself a subscription to the athletic. Um but Jared talks about this five seconds left in the game, it's tied, a playoff berth is sitting right there on the table, and what does Victor Wingbayama do? He doesn't do something alien, he doesn't hit a one-legged running three from the logo, he hits a pedestrian isolation, pull-up jumper, the exact same mid-range shot that Kobe Bryant had, rest in peace, Kobe, the exact same shot that Jordan used to bury franchises. It was a June win in March. That's what it was, and then the emotion just pours out. The machine finally shows a human side and he. He's screaming to the raptors. He walks off the center of the court and starts banging the drum like a war chief. The fans spill red wine all over the shorts. Literal physical birthmark for the next era in basketball. So yeah, he said game-winning shots. He said remarkable like things that you just can't teach. But that pull-up mid-range shot that he hit was very eerily familiar to those who watch Houston on a regular basis. Because before there was Victor Wingbayama, there was Kevin Durant. And Kevin Durant, I don't care how much he wants to tell us that he's 6'10, that dude is 7'1. Okay. Just like Victor tries to tell us that he's 7'4, that dude is 7'6. Let's be honest with ourselves. But it's the skill, it's the time that you put in, it's the work, it's the diligence in your craft, it's the perfection level that you want to meet every single time. This guy has it. This guy has it all. But the most telling part of that night wasn't Victor. It wasn't Keldon Johnson, who's 26 years old. He's the official OG of this locker room. He's been there the longest. The guy who's eaten every miserable, painful loss of this rebuild for six long years. He grabs the microphone and he looks at a screaming crowd and yells, Are you not entertained? That is the culture that they built. Weiss tells a story from three years ago. Victor walks into his first practice in San Antonio. He sees Mitch Johnson and six assistants standing around to rebound for him. And Victor says, Totally deadpan, and he looks at him and says, I want every one of you to pass the ball. He demanded that the coach touch the ball, the basketball before he got it back to him. He wanted to he wanted a collective buy-in from day one. He got it. And when Keldon Johnson was asked about clinching the playoffs, he didn't make it about himself. He went on a three-minute monologue crazing 14 different people in the organization, including Sarah Salea, who's the equipment in the equipment room. That is what a championship floor looks like from top to bottom. And here's the thing that I want to say about this. Does this surprise you? Oklahoma City is very boring. San Antonio has been very boring. Because they are systematically putting pieces together. Victor is looking for his accolades, no doubt. But what I'm also trying to say is that he's not going to take a shortcut in his work. He's just not going to. He has a insatiable desire to be the best. And he knows with trying being the best, the work. That's how you get to be the best. It's those boring moments when you're doing your exercises, doing your stretching, do reading, taking naps, yep, taking naps, shooting jump shots, working on your post moves, working on your move sets, constantly getting better. When there's no cameras around. He is 22 again. 22. And he's terrified. Terrified about being complacent. When they asked him when he knew when he was when he knew that they were contenders this fast, you know, he just kept on saying, like, we didn't skip steps. We didn't skip them. Because that's what he's all about. Look, we can obsess over the net rating all we want, and the math is terrifying. We are talking about the Spurs being 16 points better the second that Victor Wing Bayama steps onto the hardwood. But you have to throw all the analytics out, out of the window, and to understand the primal fear this kid is instilling on the league. I am watching some of the most uber confident athletes in the world. These are the guys who spent their entire lives perfecting the craft, their angles, their hesitation dribbles to get downhill, and they hit the paint. They sense Victor who might be in the zip code. And they just, hey man, I'm gonna go ahead and uh I'm gonna bow out of this one and I'm gonna let you take this shot. There is no analytical data point for business decision forced. That's what they should call it. They should call it BDF, business decisions forced. They haven't invented that stat yet, but I'm telling you, it is happening on film every single night when you watch the San Antonio Spurs. Exhibit B for Victor and his cause. Let me get this real quick. Is the whim TF from last week against Norman Powell? Victor intentionally lets him drive. He gives him a baseline just so he can reach his inspector gadget arm around Powell's head and then swap the layup from the opposite side of the rim. So think about this. He's on one side of the rim, he takes his hand, puts it right by um Norman Powell's head. And as Norman Powell is going underneath the basket to put the ball in the hoop, he's like, No, I'm flexible. My wingspan is too devastating, and I'm still gonna block this shot. Like these are things that we've never seen before. These are things that we can't quantify. These are things that we can't sometimes our mind, we have to like, okay, let me let me rewind that. I didn't did I see that? Did I really see that? And that's what we are seeing on a nightly basis from Victor Winwayama. So yes, you can tell me that Shea Gilges Alexander is averaging 30 points a game. You can also tell me that Shea Gilges Alexander um has one of the best uh true shooting percentages that we've ever seen. And yes, OKC has the best record in the NBA as of right now. But at the at the end of the day, did you have San Antonio in the number two seed in the in this in the West? And you know how we talk about the West. How competitive it is, how strong some of these teams are. We're gonna talk about a team later later who's doing very impressive stuff. And they can't he they can't even touch these two teams. When Victor's on the floor, the Spurs have a defensive rating of 104. That's elite.4 when he is out of the game. It's a layup line for grown men who are suddenly brave again because the giant has gone to get some Gatorade. But the second he checks back in to the the paint is closed for business. You know what I'm saying? He putting like he's yo, you know when your uh the health department puts up like the sign that says we gotta close this restaurant for whatever allegations are going on in it. That's what Victor's doing to the paint right now. And it's happening, and it's happening, and it's happening. So let's get to this last one piece. Do I think that Victor Wangbayama is gonna win the MVP? I think he's definitely in the conversation. I think he she should he should have a chance of winning the MVP, no doubt. Now offense does all always it kind of skewers the numbers and and people want to look at that, but what he's doing to impact the game on both sides of the ball is truly it's the new evolution of the the next great player that we have in this league. The one thing that I will give him right now is this. I give San Antonio a really good shot at making the NBA finals. I I I can't sit here and tell you without like there's no apprehension in me that tells you to is gonna tell you that I think that San Antonio has an actual shot at getting to the NBA finals, whether it's through Oklahoma City or not. Is this team ready? Yeah, there's a part of me that says, and I've watched basketball for a long period of time. There's a part of me that says, yes, you gotta take your playoff lumps, you gotta take your your uh playoff scarring and what have you, because none of these guys, none of the main guys, have really been in the playoffs. You can say, yeah, De'Aaron Fox. Yes, you can say Harrison Barnes, but I'm talking about Victor Wimbayama, Stephon Castle, and Pico of this elk. Devin Vassell, Kelden Johnson, they have not touched the playoffs. So this will be their first experience in it, and I'm gonna tell you right now that it is going to be horrific as far as the physicality that Victor is going to see. And there are gonna be times where he's gonna be mad, there's gonna be times where he's gonna be frustrated, but I think that Victor has the perfect mindset to persevere and conquer whatever obstacles he has in front of him, and I think I give them a legitimate shot at getting to the NBA finals. Now, speaking of players that can turn around franchises, we're gonna talk a little NBA draft here. You know, we're gonna we're getting right back into it, man. We're gonna tell you about who's doing what, why they're doing it, and we're gonna get into it. And we are gonna start, and it's not surprising, we're gonna start with the big three. So lock your doors, turn off your notifications for the next, I don't know, 20, 25 to 33 minutes because we're about to do some uh surface level television analysis. We're about to open up our just draft minds, our third eye, if you like to you know use that terminology. We're looking at just the the top three and where is all this smoke is coming from, but we're also gonna talk about some of these other dudes that are a little bit further down the draft board, and we're gonna start off with our guy, Cameron Boozer. And the reason why I want to start there is because of this. He is a blue chip anchor out of Duke, 6'9, 250 pounds. He's giving you 22.4 points a game, he's averaging 10 rebounds, he's also the uh floor general, 4.2 assists, his efficiency is psychotic, he's shooting 56.3% from the floor, he's also shooting 41% from the land of three. And if you start listening to Scouts, he has elite positioning, he doesn't have an uncle, he doesn't have a nuclear vertical pop, but his processing speed is like of a tenure veteran. You draft boozer because his floor is an all-star. That's coming from Scout. So if you want to sleep at night, if you're one of these lucky teams that end up in the top three, if you want to sleep at night and you want to guarantee yourself that you'll still have a job in four years, you draft Cameron Boozer. This kid is just good. He's historically productive. He leads the nation in wind shares. P E R, box plus minus, 15 games of 15 plus points, and 10 plus rebounds. He's dropped 18, 10, and 7 on the number one team in the country while playing through foul trouble. He's extremely polished and he has a physical dominance at 6'9, 250 pounds, he operates with poise of a veteran. He's going he's he isn't going to jump out of the gym, he's not gonna do that. But in the league that values processing speed, uh you ever heard of LeBron James? And positional strength, his passing, again, mind you, 4.2 assists from somebody 6'9, 250 pounds, who plays a 40-minute brand of basketball, right? Uh the 10.3 rebounds are nothing to sneeze at. Um, and I'll just go like this, man. Stop overthinking his lack of elite vertical pop. The way he processes his game is at a genius level. Remember that his dad is Carlos Goozer, so he's been around locker rooms, he's been around big-time basketball players his whole entire life. He's been training down in Miami with legitimate NBA players for like the last six years, man. This is not some Johnny Cum lately, this is not some dude that, yup, I blew up on the AAU circuit, and then, you know, I'm here. No. This is a dude that's been perfecting his craft against NBA players as he's gone through the crucible of high school, AAU, holiday tournaments, and alike. And now he's putting it all together at Cameron Indoor Arena, and now he's doing it in March Madness. He had foul trouble in his first game, and guess what? Came out it like smelling like a rose. This dude is legitimate. Legitimate. Okay? I don't want nothing said about Cameron Boozer. Y'all gonna tell me he's boring, y'all gonna tell me he ain't gonna leave Sports Center on his highlight dunks and all that, and I'm gonna tell you right now, if you want to win, you wanna win basketball games, you want somebody to do like the the the little nuances of the game correctly most of the time, then you draft Cameron Boozer. Now, if you want a little spice in your life, you know what I'm saying, you want a little paprika in your life, you know what I'm saying? A little hot, a little heat, then you have AJ Devanster. Okay, he's a modern blueprint, he's 6'9 out of Brockton, Massachusetts. Shout out to Brockton, Massachusetts. You know what I'm saying? Your boy lived in Boston for a long period of time, 15 years. I'ma always shout out our Massachusetts brethren. Now he goes to BYU. Okay. He averaged 24.7 points a game, seven boards and nearly four assists. But down the stretch, he surged to 27 points a game. He dropped 40 pieces in the Big 12 tournament. Our guy of Sam Vicini, he said he requires notes like unteachable physical tools and an alpha scoring mentality that borders on violent at the rim. Now, he needs rep beyond the art, that's for sure. But if you are looking, like if you're looking like the Brooklyn Nets, right? They got five draft picks from this from this previous um draft. None of those guys, all due respect to um Aegon Demon, Jamin, however, you need to pronounce that, it looks like Denim, Denham, but I'm not gonna say it like that. We're gonna disrespect that man's name. Uh Danny Wolf, our guy Nolan Treori. You know what I'm saying? All these guys can play a role, but if you are looking for production, you looking for box office, you're looking to go ahead and you're never going to steal the spotlight for the Knicks. If you're Brooklyn, but if you want to gain some national attention, AJ Dubanster is your guy. If Boozer is the safe bet, Dubanster is the absolute moonshot at 6'9, the wing who can create his own shot in isolation, draw fouls like an absolute G. I mean, this dude got a package, bro, when it comes to drawing fouls, like a season pro. If you put him, if you put a team on his back in the mud, guess what? He's gonna get you points. The production dropped, like I said, the production he dropped 40 piece in the big in the Big 12 tournament. He raised Kevin Durant's freshman record. You know what I'm saying? So this dude is absolutely an ungodly scorer. He says unteachable physical tools, and his scoring mentality is of an apex creditor, you know. This there's some Kevin Durant in here somewhere. He didn't have the luxury of the loaded Duke roster, he dragged a battered BYU team to the tournament and learned how to carry a franchise burden at 19 years of age. If you need a primary creator who can go toe-to-toe with elite wings in the league in five years, Dubanster is your guy. You just have to be willing to stomach some of the growing pains that go with him because sometimes the shot selection, sometimes the trust in the teammates leaves his body, sometimes uh he is going to take a shot that seems ill-advised, but these are the growing pains of an apex predator. Okay, this is a freak athlete, and he is going to be mining for his shot most of the time. So I will tell you right now, it's one of those things. Get ready for this dude. AJ Dubanster is the truth. I like him a lot. Um, but he is a guy that. Yeah, like a Brooklyn, like a Washington Wizards would be looking at. Um, I'm not you I mean, I know Utah wants him. I don't know if Utah necessarily needs him. And here's the thing: he goes to Utah, where's he gonna play? Is he gonna play the two guard? Because they got they got uh Laurie Marking in and they also got Jaron Jackson Jr. You know what I'm saying? Or is it a situation where you move out Walker Kessler and you have Jaron Jackson Jr., Lori Marketing, and AJ Dubanster. Now you want to talk about crazy, scary frontline? That is it. But here's the thing if he goes to Utah, if AJ DuBanster actually does go to Utah, you are going to have to really look at your roster and ask yourself about his pathway to actual development because he's gonna want the ball and need the ball in his hands, and they already got dudes in Utah. They already got dudes. You know, I think Washington, yes, Trey Young is there, Anthony Davis is there, Anthony gets hurt a lot. AD is not reliable when it comes to the health situation. Trey could use somebody 6'9 to play off of and also in a sense allow him to be the decoy, allow him to take some of the off the put the eyes on him, and then Trey with his quickness and with his shiftiness, he can get into the lane and start the um the churn and the putting everybody in the spin cycle when we're just passing the ball around the perimeter to get the best shot available. AJ DeBanster would be good there. Another team that he would be good for. I don't know if they'll be able to get him. Milwaukee, who needs a star. Chicago probably needs a star. You know, so it's gonna be teams like that that I would think that AJ DeBanster would be good for. Now, let's get to the guy that everybody wants to talk about. Darren Peterson, six foot six guard, 205 pounds. Um, you want to talk about archetype, franchise lead guard? Could be three-level scorer, could be. When we here's the thing. We need to strip away the emotion of Twitter narratives and talking heads of uh and panic of this evaluation right now. This uh 19-year-old kid, he's built like a tank. He's currently holding the entire uh Kansas basketball system, ecosystem hostage for sure, because he is college kawaii. You want to know if he's the number one pick overall worthy? Here's the thing. I'll tell you like this. If you're trying I'm gonna get this one thing straight right now. If you want to talk about the the uh the ease and ability to be able to score, and how can you attack defenses? Well, this man right here can attack him however you want to attack him. Three-coin shooting, I could do that. Now, he struggled a little bit in Kansas. I there was a lot of stock and start to him, and I'm gonna get into that later how that worked out and why that did work out the way it did. Um when he's on the floor, he's an apex creditor. He profiles as a true alpha creator, uh, not empty calories, kind, or whatever the case can be. He's he gave them 20.2 points a game, 4.2 rebounds, and he averaged 1.4 steals a game, heavily scrutinized, 29.1 minutes per night. His efficiency of shooting was not great. I wonder why that was. He only shot 43.8% from the field. He did shoot 38.2 from three, and he shot 82.6% from the free throw line, so he understands free throws. These are free. I'm gonna hit these, I'm gonna hit these at a respectable level. Now, what the tape shows. He's a dynamic, three-level scorer. He doesn't just rely on raw athleticism, he has an advanced handle, he's extremely polished in the mid-range pull-up, and he's already NBA ready. Now, defensively, he has the length and the instincts to switch across multiple positions. Alright. Um, if we're seeing, if we're asking if talent is king, Peterson's archetype as a six foot six jumbo league guard uh who can dictate off and uh in offense and hit tough shots under pressure, he's the most valuable commodity in the modern NBA. You don't you do not have to pass on the profile just because the kid had a weird November. Now let's talk about the well the the elephant in the room, the college kawaii statement that I made earlier. Um it's been a nightmare in Lawrence, Kansas. I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm not here to sugarcoat it. Uh I you want to talk about hamstrings, you want to talk about cramps, you want to talk about the flu checking himself out of games after dropping 20 points and a half. Missing the Arizona game was a big, big no-no. The media has had a field day questioning his toughness and accusing him of making business decisions to protect his draft stock. We don't know if this was coming from him or coming from his team. Remember, these college kids have a team around them now because of the fact of the NIL deals, they have handlers, they have agents, they have what they need to booster the boost their stock when it comes to this draft situation. Now, um Bill Self, a guy who does not suffer suffer fools, he vehemently defends Peterson's love for the game and his work ethic. And here's what I'm gonna say about that. Bill Self is going to he's going to preserve Bill Self. He's gonna preserve the opportunities to get these type of players um to go to Lawrence, Kansas. Okay? Now I understand that Lawrence, Kansas has a great tradition. They've gotten a lot of talent there um previously, but it is Lawrence, Kansas, bro. You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, NIL money is is dope, all of that. But if you can get the same NIL money in Miami, or you get the same NIL money in Chicago or New York or Cameron, you know, indoor stadium where you know, whatever case may be, you might take your talent somewhere else. But Bill Self is always going to preserve his ability to recruit. So if you thought for one second he was gonna throw Darren Peterson under the bus, that dude is looking at the bigger picture. Now, are the optics a mess? No doubt. No doubt. But you have to ask yourself why he is sitting? If he's if his if it's his camp being hyper hyper con conservative, is he managing his body to to protect his nine figure NBA future? Honestly, that's annoying uh for Kansas, it's annoying for Jhawk Nation, um, but is it smart for him? Maybe. If he's sitting too out of preservation, is he sitting because his 19-year-old body is genuinely breaking down, uh, cramping constantly, and failing him under a college workload, this is a fire the a five-alarm fire, okay? Um I'll say this. This is a historic draft class. We're gonna get to a couple other dudes in a second. If you're staring down AJ DeVancer, Cameron Boozer, Caleb Wilson, and uh Darius Acuff, the margin for error at the top of the board is zero. If you draft Peterson, you are doing it because you believe he his ceiling he's a ceiling raiser who can carry a playoff offense. He still has some bad habits, settling on contested jumpers, occasionally lacking foul discipline, and the raw equity is undeniably top three. So, is he worth if he is he worth all the headache? You do not draft scared. You just don't. You do not let Stephen A. Smith run your warroom. The talent passes the test for sure. The tape passes the test. However, you're not signing a rookie skill contract without bringing him into your facility and putting him through the most rigorous medical evaluation in the history of a pre-draft combine. If the doctors clear him in his hamstrings, uh his bio uh his bio uh uh mechanics, then you draft him. And you don't look back. If there's any chronic structural issues, you let somebody else take that risk and you pivot to Dubansta or Boozer or wherever you wherever you lay your head. Indecision is how you lose value. You like me to pull off the uh the comparative analysis of AJ Dubansta and Cameron Boozer so we can see how Peterson's metrics stack up against the rest of the elite class? Well, we can do that for you. Here's what I'll say about Darren Peterson in a nutshell. Have I liked the antics in Lawrence, Kansas? No. Do I know for a fact that he pulled himself out of games? No, I don't. Will it all come out in the wash as we get closer to Chicago's um scouting convoy? 100%. This dude is gonna have to do a lot of um grand uh reconfiguration. It the optics look terrible right now. It just looks it looks bad. If I was a team and I was drafting one, two, three, and let's say I was Brooklyn, or let's say I was um Washington, I might pass on Darren Peterson. I'll tell you a team that I I would love for him to go to the Indiana Pacers. And the reason why I say that is because I know two things there. They have a culture, and they have dudes that are already there. You know what I'm saying? They have guys that Darren Peterson will get there, he'll get into the program, Rick Carwell does not play games, uh, that front office doesn't play games. You will know, in fact, where you are as soon as you get there. If you was going to Brooklyn, I'd be scared a little bit. I'm not gonna even I'm not even gonna hold you right now. I would be very, very nervous about him going to Brooklyn because of the fact that I do not believe that Brooklyn has put together like a a standard culture that you can sit there, okay, this is what they're about, this is their values, this is how they want to do things and what have you. I would be very um tentative on putting Darren Peterson in a book really nets uniform, even though he would immediately up upgrade their talent level. But I would be scared about just his work ethic and what have you. Now, we went through this a little bit a couple years ago, and it was with Jalen Johnson. Now that turned out fantastic. That turned out great, but it also turned out great because we got Quinn Snyder in the building. So there is something to be said about coaching, there is something to be said about structure, there is something to be said about you know what kind of what kind of mentality we need to have to be the best we can be. So I will say this Darren Peterson is a risk. Is he a risk worth taking? Yes, he is, but I think you have to be you have to surround him with the type of fundament uh foundational structure where he can succeed. And that's what I'll say about that. Now, we're gonna move on to a couple guys who're gonna kind of throw some some love to some of these dudes. Like, y'all see y'all seen uh Darius A. Cup, right? Now he had a bad performance last night. He didn't shoot the ball uh, you know, terribly well. He is a six foot three point guard. Uh Acuff is averaging 22 points a game, 6.2 assists. He is shooting at 49, 42, 79 splits. Let's see, there's some grown man numbers right there. Um this kid is an absolute bucket. He is not scared at all. He manipulates screens like a pro already. Um, here's the one thing he is small, he has a scoring first mentality. Um his defense is he's gonna put you in a bind. But you're talking about running the offense, you're talking about getting good looks at the basket. Darius Acuff could do that for you. And he's gonna do it in an efficient level. And here's the other part that I love about him. His assist to turnover ratio is three to one. Okay? He's not gonna turn the ball over very much. Now, the guy that he played against last night, Braden Burris, let me tell you something right now. 6'4, 205. Now, he averaged 17.3 points a game, but that team was loaded. Remember Koak Peach there, that 7'2 center that they got. They got some other people on that squad. They can get buckets. Our guy Bradley getting buckets last night. Uh Barry's, he shot 52% from the field, 39% from three, and 78% at the free throw line. He his his splits for a top five Arizona team, grabbing also 5.5 boards and dishing out almost three assists a game as a two-guard. I love his toughness. I love his mid-range game. I love his physical drives to the basket. Uh, he embraces con he embraces contact. I love that part about him. His aggressive rebounding and quick hands are are awesome. There are questions of whether he can separate from his man consistently in the NBA. But Braden Berry is the anti-A Cov. He's not going to break down an elite defender with a string of crossover dribbles. He's going to out of work, out muscle, out compete the guy in front of him. He's built like a running back. He's got broad shoulders. So if he can use that that chicken wing and get it just a tad extended, like our guy Shea Joseph Xander does, um, he'll be able to work it. He could be able to work it out in the NBA. I think anytime you got physical tools like like Barry's do, you'll find a way. Another guy who's been doing it big is Keaton Waggler from uh Illinois. He's a 6'6 guard. He shoots the hell out the ball. He scored 20 points a game while at Illinois. He also averaged 5.1 assists. He shot 46% from the field, but he shot an astonishing 44% beyond the three-point land. Okay? This is one of the best stories in the draft. This is one of those where you sit there and go, man, how did this happen? He was ranked outside the 150 of the top high school players in the land. And now he's leading the number one offense in the country. He doesn't have a nuke, he doesn't have nuclear athleticism. But here's another guy with the processing speed is elite. The ball is not sticky to him. He'll get the ball in and out of his hands. He has no problem getting off ball and then repositioning himself and then getting a shot up. Now, you don't ignore the late blooming genius of Keaton Wagler. But again, we told you about the numbers. This is a the feel of the game that this has, that he has, is going to get him in the league. He is the coach is whoever gets him, the coach is going to love him. Because you know why? He makes the right basketball play. And that might sound boring to a lot of you, but I'm going to tell you right now. When I'm looking at AJ Dubanster take up shots with 18 seconds on the on the shot clock, and there's nobody in rebounding position, and I'm like pulling my hair out, then I'm going to be able to turn a Keaton Wagger game on and see him move without the ball, get the ball, make the right pass, hit the open man, take good shots. He'll also turn a good shot into a great shot. He moves himself, he understands space and opportunity for himself and others. I love this kid, and I think that he is a coach's dream. Now, speaking of a coach's dream, if you just like nuclear athletes, Kingston Flemings of Houston. Okay, 16.4 points a game. He hasn't scored less than 17 points in in uh in a while. Thinking like 20 games for Houston. He is a lightning quick first step that shatters defensive shells. Most importantly, he plays for Kelvin Sampson. So you know what happens when you play for Kelvin Sampson. You gotta be a tough SOB to play for Kelvin Sampson. Houston guards are forced in fire. Now, he's not the greatest defender. What he does is he does understand defense accountability. He does bring some physical toughness. He dropped 42 points against Texas Tech and 25 against Tennessee. So you know he's not afraid of the bright lights. Now, what makes him super special? He's a blurring transition. He he can get up and down the court with his dribble lightning fast as far as that's concerned. And he has the highest ceiling of any guard in this class, not named Darren Peterson. That's all you need to know about that one. I want to give some love to his teammate, Chris uh Steenack Jr. Now, he was one of these guys that was probably top 10, top 12 when we started this uh NBA draft process. And you know, my draft knicks out there, you know you had them high on your list and everything like that. Now he struggled. He did struggle, and we're gonna talk about that. But he's 6'11. He has a burgeoning three point stroke, and he has athleticism to finish at the round. I saw a dunk last night that was ungodly by this dude. He's 18 years of age. Um He he definitely. Provided some some defensive chops to the Houston Cougars. You know, our guy, Kevin Sampson, loves his defense. Now, was he your atypical Kevin Sampson guy? No, he wasn't. No. Because he scored he scored the basketball. Now he shot 34 he shot 34.5% from three. Um he is volatile. You might be looking at, okay, the first year, not great. Second year, where we at, you know, and then by like the second part of the second year, while he's in the league, he'll get it figured out. He'll get it figured out. So that is a little taste of what the draft is coming up like. We'll continue to do draft profiles as we go along here. So do not worry yourself about it. Keep it locked here with Front Runner Podcast Collective's, and we will let you know as we get closer and closer to the draft what we're doing with it, and we'll give you the scoops that you're gonna need to know. But we do we're gonna end this podcast talking about a team that is near and dear to my heart. We're gonna talk about the Los Angeles Lakers and the run they've been on and how they got here. So let's start with this. Obviously, the Lakers still have a lot of work to do building a perfect roster that surrounds Luka Doncic. I'm not gonna hold nobody on that. I know that what we've seen lately, we loved, and we will get into all of that, but we also know that the team that is currently around Luca is not gonna be the team that's gonna be around Luca when we probably get to the Promised Land, right? Alright. Now, but they but what they are collectively doing present day is what Lakers Faithful thought was possible at the beginning of the season. Listen, it was a long road to get here, Laker Nation. It was a long road to get here, Lakers Faithful, but we're finally here. There were roster tweaks that JJ Reddick had to reconcile before the version of the Lakers could flourish. Austin Reeves had to step into a role that was unfamiliar with with him, being uh a secondary ball handler and a decision maker behind Luka Doncic, sharing the court with all-time leading scorer, but to go on this run and to put themselves into position to host a first round series, a hard choice was made. It placed LeBron James in an uncomfortable and challenging position. LeBron had to stare down his own basketball mortality for a decade now, but even the king had to succumb and evolve into a role player. I said it. A role player. Yes, indeed. I did call LeBron a role player. His head must have spun off his axis when they brought this to him. He has been labeled a super computer, a basketball savant, but now at the age of 41, he must navigate around two other ball handlers. He's being set up to attack, closeout, make well-timed cuts, and stand in the dunker spot. He had to come to grips with being the third scoring option. It was always going to take time to adjust to the new Laker landscape. Let me just put it to you this way. Luca Doncius came here. He was going to be Luca Doncius wherever he went. And then everybody was going to have to like understand, like, okay, I'm going to have to take less. I'm going to have to do whatever I was doing. I'm going to have to dim my light a little bit for this dude to shine. So let's let's see how we got into this. Even Luca is using words like we need LeBron's energy and his defensive intensity, not his heroics. Seeing the Lakers fall into their new slots was a pain painful early on experience. But with what we're viewing now, it was all worth it, right? White, right, Lakers Faithful? Was it all worth it seeing what the Lakers are doing now? I I have to tell you, yeah. Losing games to teams that are above 500, seeing them check out and just be like, you know, I don't know if this process is for me or whatever the case may be. And then to see what we have now is just, hey man, this is a metamorphos that has to take place under the crucible of an NBA season. And this gives Rob Palenka a better POV on what to surround Luca Doncic with next season and beyond. Marcus Smart being inserted into the starting lineup and moving Rui Hachamura to the bench was good for balance. Rui was miscast as a three or miscast as a wing, however you want to put it. He needs to be on the back of the defense. That's where he's more comfortable with. He doesn't get blown by as much, and he also is able to kind of stay with his man when he's on the back end of the defense. When he's out in space, Groy gets lost. He gets blown by. He misses assignments because they're switching and things of that nature, and he just doesn't have that kind of capacity to be able to handle that type of defense. Now Smart coming in to the lineup. He's a resident grappler. Okay. He can absolutely get frozen from the field, which is. We have flashbacks to Contavius Caldwell Pope. We have flashbacks to Avery Bradley. If you're a Lakers fan, y'all know what I'm talking about. But his instincts on defense make up for the errant shots. Um and he bring in it's like I said, it's you're gonna You're gonna love Marcus Smart for all the little things he does, and there's gonna be times where you're like, please don't shoot the basketball. Just don't shoot it. Now, the pacing the entire season has just shifted gears. Uh we need to kind of bottom line this and let's do it for the let's go ahead and do this. Um through February 27th, so from start of the year to February 27th, the Lakers were 34 and 24, they were 6 in the West. They had a negative 0.7 net rating. They were 24th in defense. Uh People were writing their obituary. Uh the now since the 28th of February, they're 12-1, which is now 13-1. Okay, they're 13-1. They jumped up to third in the West. Their net rating is now from the 28th till now, is the fourth best in the NBA at a plus 10.4. So think about that. 58 games, alright. Now, you look at a team that is went from a point a negative point seven net rating to a plus ten point four net rating. That's that's that's good. That's that's how you're supposed to do it. And it all starts with asset allocation. Specifically, the liquidation of LeBron James' traditional usage. Uh I called him a role player earlier in the master courts, that thesis. Through February 27th, LeBron's usage was 27.3. Since the flip, it is down to 22.1 for contacts. He was at 32.2 just a few years ago. He's taking fewer shots, he's down from 16.3 shot attempts a game to 12.9 per game, but because he's taking better system-generated shots, his efficiency has skyrocketed from 49.8% to 59.7% from the field. That's he holds a true shooting percentage of 59.2 on the year, he's yielding the primary market share to Donchich and Reeves, and is paying massive dividends. So let's check the vibe right now. Can we pause and appreciate the vibes that we are seeing right now? LeBron at 41. He's just passing Robert Parrish on the all-time games play list. This dude, every time he steps on the court, he's breaking another NBA record. He's just history walking around. And he's not out here doing Aaron Gordon role. It's like seeing Robert De Niro agree to play a comedic relief in a summer blockbuster and then absolutely crushing it. We are literally, we saw him dive headlong for a loose ball in an overtime uh win against Denver. When's the last time you see LeBron hit the floor? Like, seriously, I'm not talking about when he's driving to the to the rack. I'm talking about there's loose ball on the floor. LeBron James is on the floor diving for it. And again, I would be remiss not to say again, because we reiterate it all the time. 41 years of age. He can do some Danny Glover stuff in um lethal weapon. I'm too old for this shit. He could definitely say that. He could also say that I'm too cool for school for this. He could say I'm the all-time leading scorer in the NBA. But here he was sacrificing his body, getting floor burns, and this is what he was doing. He has accepted a scoreless first half against Detroit. His first 15 years, he didn't he never experienced that. He didn't pout. He just grabbed rebounds. LeBron even called out the media saying, It sells papers if you if you say this the team is better off without me. But absolutely wrong. The ego check is immaculate right now. We are watching basketball billionaire happily punch the clock and just lay the foundation for the Luca Deancha mansion that is being built. The dynasty for Luca is being built right now. This isn't an ego check. This is a championship sickness. And here's the thing LeBron sacrifice had to go somewhere, the usage just didn't disappear. Exactly, I got this from um a well-respected ex-front office person. It said this, it was injected directly into Austin Reeves. The Lakers' top priority in free agency this summer. He's going to decline his$14.8 million option. We all know that. They needed to know if he could be a secondary engine before February 28th. Luca, Reeves, and LeBron, the lineup was a total failure. It was a minus 4.9 net rating in 238 minutes. Now, I got this from another scout. They told me what was up, they told me where to look. They said, hey, look at this. Check this out. But since the turnaround, the same trio is a plus 18.3 net rating in 216 minutes. So basically the same amount of minutes, and they have the fifth best rating in the entire league. Their offensive rating is absurd. It's 124.3. Reeves is currently dropping 23.5 points a game, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists on a staggering 64% 64.3% true shooting clip. Okay? He is the ultimate high yield, high efficiency second secondary asset. And you saw the peak in the Denver game in overtime on national TV. The Lakers erased an eight-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation, finding 20 points. And who was making the legendary second chance put back off a missed free throw? It was our guy. It was our boy, Austin Reeves, doing work. He dropped 32 against the Nuggets. And we all know the Nuggets have had the Lakers number for many a year. Everybody was scared of the Nuggets. A lot of Los Angeles Lakers fans. Ooh, man, Yokis is a dog. Yokis is a beast. Yokis is this. Jamal Murray owns the Lakers. And he he does, right? Aaron Gordon, we don't know what to do with. But the Lakers found a way. You know how they found a way? Austin's craftiness. Austin's guile. Austin's heroics. They outscored the Nuggets by five in 26 minutes. And that big three shared the floor. They slayed the giant that has bounced them in the 23 and 24 playoffs. And let me say this right now. If there's still a faction of this fan base that thinks Austin Reeves is a nice developmental story and not a max contract assassin, you are watching the game with your eyes closed. This dude about to make some super paper. Okay? He about to make some super paper. I'm going to tell you right now, do not be surprised if Austin is five years,$200 million. Don't be surprised. I'm telling you right now. This dude is gonna be in upwards of somewhere. I mean, I'm gonna put it this way. The floor for his contract is$38 million annually. The ceiling. The ceiling is probably around forty-six million? It's a lot of paper. That's where he gonna that's where he gonna live. Tell you right now, if you don't believe him, our guy, drop a name um on X, hit us up on socially underscore FRPC. Also hit me up directly at frontrunner PC. Okay. So the offense is historically potent right now. Uh we mentioned Marcus Smart uh in the before prior. Uh you called out the resident grappler, right? We've done all that because the offensive fire prior doesn't win playoff series without a anchor on the defensive end. Marcus Smart is that guy. 6'4, out here doing big things. He has a 12.7 net rating when he's on the court, one of the highest on the roster, entire roster, higher than LeBron's, higher than Reeves, higher than Luca. He leaves the perimeter rotation uh with 2.4 uh percent steal percentage. He's a total menace on the court. He's a guy you hate until he's wearing your jersey. Uh he had five steals against Denver, and he was an absolute pest when it came to Jamal Murray. And when Jokic tried to disrespect by backing off and daring him to shoot, Smart just bury five threes. Now, that's not going to be a constant, but he does lock in every once in a while. And going beyond the steals, it's the point of attack disruption that makes Marcus Smart so valuable. He does this to opposing stars this week. Yeah, he did it to Anthony Edwards, two of 15 shooting. He did it to Jamal Murray. He put him in a straight jacket. He finished with five points on one of 14 shooting. That's a 7.1% hit rate. Tie for the worst shooting night in 579 games of his career for Jamal Murray. That's not light work. That's that's heavy dominance right there. He didn't just uh guard Jamal Murray, he evicted him from his own offense. He changed the locks on the doors, which brings us to Detroit and the loss. The nine-game winning streak was snapped against Detroit, and you know who wasn't in the lineup? Marcus Samart. That's who wasn't in the lineup. Not having Marcus tonight killed us. They didn't have their grappler, and they didn't have he gave they gave up 113 points. But you know what? The loss proved the culture. They went out down double digits, and instead of folding, which we saw early in the year, Lakers faithful, they fought back. Reese said other old Lakers, they would have lost by 100. Their uh last four games, they are combined 14 points. They bend, but they don't break. And the reason they don't break, the reason all of the LeBron sacrifice and the Reeves emergence is actually translating into wins is because of the guy at the top of the marquee. Okay, that is Luka Dontich's Wednesday night against the Pacers when it's the last game of the road trip, right? It's an arduous road trip. Other than the Grammy road trip, this is the longest road trip of the season. And it was very important. They're in a race. They have the third slot. There are teams nipping at their heels. Now, usually what you see against very veteran-laden teams when they have a long road trip is the last game tends to be that game where you kind of let go of the rope. This is a game where it's kind of like I can't wait to get home, sleep in my own bed, I can't wait to eat this certain food that my wife prepares or my cook prepares. I can't wait to play around the golf at my favorite golf course. I just can't wait to get my ass back home. Now, with all that being said, there was a mandate laid down by JJ Reddick. Hey, let's go out here and take care of business early and let's go ahead and get this dug. The bags are packed, human nature says you can go ahead and excel and take your take your hand off the rope. But this was the definition of a trap game, and Luca Doncha refused to let it happen. Okay? He dropped 21 coins in the first quarter. Okay? 21 coins in the first quarter alone to build a 17-point cushion. He finishes with an absolute masterclass of 43 coins. He was 15-30 shooting. They survived Indiana 137 to 130 to close the road trip and end 5 and 1 and tighten their grip on the number 3 seed in the Western Conference. We are witnessing an Apex Predator operating at a level Lakers fans have not experienced since Kobe Bean Bryant. RT R bought. RT Black Bamba. Luca had real personal issues earlier in the season. Court uh weighed on him early in the year. Any man needs a minute to recalibrate when that storm is hitting you, and then when it passes, he's recognizing his peace, and the rest of the league is paying for the for this. Y'all all know what's going on with Luca. Y'all know that you know sometimes relationships, especially long-distance relationships, don't work out. He's got two children with this young lady, uh, and they are currently trying to co-parent. And I can understand why he kind of, you know, just went through it for a little while. He's a man, and he probably felt like he was invincible, and then this hits him, and you face some real adversity in your life that is not basketball related, and sometimes you just need a second, and and it showed it his play. But the numbers are back up, and the eye test is out here, okay? Look at the side by side of his uh 23-2024 MV caliber year that he had when he was with the Dallas Mavericks and led them to the NBA Finals. He posted a 28.1 PER. Right now, on this Lakers squad, he is at a 27.9 PER. While shoot playing fewer minutes per game, his true shooting is identical. He is matching his historical Dallas production while operating inside completely new ecosystem. The explosion in mathematical comes from our guy uh Fred Katz of the Athletic mapped out perfectly over the recent 11 game tear. Luca is averaging 39.5. Now, if you add in the Pacer game, he's averaging 40.1. Okay. But he's also doing it launching 8.5 step back threes per game, and he's hitting them at a 37% clip. James Harden in his crime wasn't even attempting 8.5 threes a game, let alone pure step back threes. Luca is in his bag right now. Okay? And he's doing it by manipulating the defensive geometry. He's operating on a supercomputer uh in a league full of checker players. The tape shows a singular terrifying focus and getting to his left hand above the brake, once he crosses over, the defender's processing speed is rendered useless. If they cheat, the step back, like Pascal Siakum did against him in Indiana by pressing up on his right shoulder to prevent the separation. Luca just exploits the momentum shift, and then he just casually floats into the paint and hits a floater, hits a little jump shot, and you know it's cash money. That's what he's doing right now. He's he just operating on a level that is pure magic. Pure magic. And if you think there's a single defender in the NBA who can legally guard Luka Doncic going to his left hand right now, drop that in the Twitter or X. Hit me up at frontrunner PC. Hit our socials up at socially underscore FRPC. We want to know who the dude is that gonna stop this. Cause I don't see nobody in league stopping this. So, what is the definitive takeaway here? Uh what is next for the franchise? The mandate for Rob Polinko is crystal clear. You have an Apex Predator in Luca, you have a secondary offensive engine in Austin Reeves, and you have a guy who is defying time, and he's just suspending it at 41 years of age in LeBron James, who's willingly doing the dirty work. And if you acquire a high IQ, low maintenance 3 and D wings from out there, no more projects. Surround this Slovenian supercomputer with shooters who will defend multiple positions and will not complain about uh getting to touch the rock six times. Kind of like our guy um Marcus Mart or our guy Luke Connart. The championship window is not opening for two years. It could be wide open right now if you strategically put the right pieces around Luca. And I'm not trying to throw shade or I'm not trying to throw pressure on Rob Kalinka. Listen, his staff is growing day by day. Uh Mark Walter is putting a lot of money into the front office. I know that uh if the if they can strike the right chord, the right balance, and get the type of player that will fit this this new system. Um and here's the other thing that people probably want to know. Is LeBron gonna be here? Cause you could make a a real argument that replacing LeBron, even who who's doing what he's doing right now, replacing LeBron could be the genesis of you know Lakers Championship era 3.0. Just saying. So with all that being said, um, I wanna I wanna thank you guys. Um before we get up out of here, I just want to say there are a million places you could spend your time and your attention. But you chose to pull up a chair with us today, and we do not take that lightly. So surround yourself with people who give you light, keep you accountable, and actually no ball. That's the real max contract in this world. Appreciate them out loud. You know what I'm saying? So like let them know, send them a text, take them out to lunch, whatever the case may be. You know, just uh acknowledge the people who give you who give you your light to go out and do great things in the world. And don't wait for it. Don't wait. Don't oh, I'm gonna do this in two weeks, I'm gonna do this, you know, I'll I'll call them next week or whatever. No, do it, do it immediately. Because your time is not promised to you. And if you don't have that circle yet, you know, if you don't have your best buds yet, you got one right here in FRPC. We'll we'll keep the light on for you. We joke, uh, we might get loud, but we always respect your basketball IQ. As you as you always know, thoughts overtakes every single time. Because anybody with a microphone can yell a take, and very few can actually defend a thought. Until next time, keep your mind sharp, keep your circle tight, and protect your peace like Cap Space and never waste it on bad basketball or bad energy. I'm your boy Vince, and we are out of the way.