Zion’s gamble, Ja’s maze, and Wemby’s leap: what the first 25 games will tell us

So it is Thursday. Welcome to Front Runner Podcast Collective. I am your humble host Vince, and on today's podcast, we're going to get into a little bit why the hiatus happened. We're also going to get into questions for each individual team. We're going to start in the Southwest Division. So that is your Houston, your San Antonio, your Dallas, your New Orleans Pelicans, your Memphis Grizzlies. Those are the teams that we will be talking about today. We will go over maybe some of the moves they made, questions that we have about these teams, and ultimately what to look for for the first 25 games. Now, before we get into this podcast, you will ask yourself, hey, I haven't heard from Vince in a while. What happened to this dude? Did he just take off? Left this high and dry? No. I did not do that. That was not my intention or what actually happened. Uh I had an absolutely horrific infection in my left calf. And it was so bad and so painful that it was hard for me to like really think. And I, because of my about alcoholism for 30 plus years, now being sober almost well, eight and a half now, I guess, or whatever, I don't take any pain medication. I'm not a pain medication guy. I don't like feeling altered in any way. I just it just doesn't do anything for me, and I just want to be as clear as possible, present as possible all the time. So as you would take into consideration, there was a lot of pain involved. My calf was swollen to the point where it was probably about four or five times the size of normal, maybe even more. It felt so tight, there was heat uh radiating from this thing. Pain was off the charts, and it was hard to think. But um, we gotta see if we're gonna release these photos. They're gross. I don't know if I want to release them into the wild or whatever the case may be, but maybe we'll we'll release a couple just to kind of go, hey, you know, because I know if it doesn't happen on social media, it didn't happen. I do understand the rules of my gen Xers out there, my millennials, whatever the case may be, if it didn't happen on the gram, if it didn't happen on Twitter, it did not happen. But um it was it was awful. And as somebody again, I your journey is your journey. You know, I don't sit here and besmirch anybody's pain threshold if you need to take pain medication that is on you. Definitely understand it. You know, there are probably points where I probably wanted to take pain medication, but I was just like, nah. Um, but we are now on the road to recovery, the swelling has gone down, I can think, and we are back in business. And so, what does that mean? Saraya is on the silent ones and two, she will be putting notes into this chat for me to disseminate that information to you. We are going to talk about every division, and again, today we'll be talking about the southwest division of the NBA, and uh, we'll just be asking a couple questions. Like, what to think now? What where should we go here? But um, I want to tell everybody that we missed you, we missed you terribly. We love doing it for you, and we are so glad to be back, and as soon as we could get back on the air, we have come back. So, obviously, this is a weird day for us to be podding. Usually it's a Tuesday-Friday deal. Um, there will be multiple podcasts uh coming up, so kind of check it out. We will probably get back on our regular schedule uh starting next week, Tuesday, Friday. Um, but there might be another pod that drops either tomorrow or Saturday, so keep on the lookout for that, and then we'll kind of get back into the flow Tuesday and then Friday of next week because basketball is back. The NBA is open for business. We got media days, we got people talking, we got people in the best shape of their lives. Supposedly, we hear it every single year. I lost 15 pounds, I gained 15 pounds, um, my cardio is better. I worked on my jump shot, I worked on this. So, at the end of the day, what does it all mean? Well, that's why I'm here. This is why I'm here, is to tell you what it means, in my words, and then you can make a decision on what it means to you, right? That's how it all goes. It's an interaction between myself and you, and speaking of that, I want to give you our X accounts so it for the producer of this show, so Rhea, for the fine producer of this show, it is at Rhea underscore function frc and my handle on X, yours truly, is front runner PC. Make sure you hit us up, make sure you start chiming in and follow us, that'll be great. You know, send me a message, put in like a hashtag, like if you want to talk about the pelicans, hashtag Pels or whatever, send a question or comment about what we just talked about because we're about to get into the pelicans momentarily, and that's how it will go, and we want to interact with you. And if you don't want to do that, I understand. We have another way for you to get a hold of us. It is our email account, so you want to go to frpcvince at gmail.com. That gets me. That gets the producer of this show. We rock out and we'll go ahead. Some of these comments and some of these questions will end up on the next podcast. So make sure you're interacting with us, make sure that you are bringing the heat on a daily basis because we're gonna try to do that as well for you. So we've gotten all the business out the way. So let's talk basketball, let's talk hoops, and we start down in New Orleans, and I am here to tell you that the meme culture should be on full alert because the Michael Scott meme of it's happening, Zion Williamson walked into Media Day noticeably thinner, sounding confident, and the timeline went nuts. Now you also add in Jordan Poole into the mix, he will be taking over for DeJounte Murray, who is still recovering from a absolutely brutal Achilles tear. He is on the shelf until further notice, but Jordan Poole of the Washington Wizards, and also the aforementioned Golden State Warriors, when he got punched in the face by Draymond Green, and his life literally changed from that day, is now a New Orleans Pelicans. Now, Zion Media's Day, still lower third, you know, just saying like this dude, this dude look super thin. He looked great. Now here's a fork. Do we get we're gonna get the explosion, no doubt. Healthy, healthy Zion, downhill kick outs, Jordan Poole heaters, or another what if season. Which one are we gonna get? Because you know what? All of it's on the table for the Pelicans. All of it. Because of the fact that we never know if Zion can stay healthy. It's like a broken record, we do it every single year. I really feel for my older fans out there, this really feels like Lucy with the football and Charlie Brown trying to kick it. And for my younger people, you can go ahead and YouTube that. It's out there. Soraya drops this into the chat. We got she's like, internet went crazy, Slimmer Zion, headlines and clips were all over the place. He told reporters he felt the the best since he's since college. That is very important because the guy that we saw in college, the guy who was so explosive, the guy who had just this like this this quick twitch energy that you cannot you can't get that. You can't like oh I can train my body to do this. You know, there are only certain near human beings, because I don't consider Zion a human, you know, I consider him a a higher state of being when he's right. He had otherworldly athleticism. This is when that dude actually played defense as well. So I want to see it. I'm here for all of it. And I will just say this if he is really in shape, he's done work on his hamstrings, he's done work on his you know, calves, and he's done work on his core, it is going to be absolutely box office down in the gulf. I'm telling you right now, this dude is going to cause seismic shifts of just entertainment value. With that going on, the one question that I do have one question when Jordan Poole waves off Zion late in the game when he has a mismatch, what what's gonna happen? Because here's the deal. Jordan Poole has never seen a shot that he hasn't liked. He is in the the Cam Thomas Elk of shooter. He is uh He's like our guy Bones Highland. Bones Highland is another dude who loves to shoot the basketball and doesn't care who is on the court with him. We got some we got some dudes who are pretty myopic in this league. And Jordan Bull famously waved off Steph Curry, and when you wave off Steph Curry, who is the greatest shooter of all time, that takes some moxie. That takes some extra spice that you got going on in your life, you know what I'm saying? So I am very interested to see how this works out, especially the first 25 games. You know, does does Zion get nicked up and he misses like four or five games, and then Jordan Poole says, like uh, what was that movie with uh Tom Hanks where the dude goes, I'm the captain now. Do we see that? Do we see that situation happen? I have no idea. I don't know. But I can't wait to see it. I can I'm this is this is one of the absolute teams that I want to see early on in the season. I want to see New Orleans and and I want to see how this works out with Jordan Poole. The thing that everybody knows about with Zion is that Zion has roughly played in half of the actually it's l little less than half the games. He has played in 214 games of the possible 492. Not great, Bob. Not great. He's missed entire seasons with injuries and what have you. He has missed uh big chunks of time during the season, and this is the thing that we always have to worry about with Zion. Now, with the shape being what it is, maybe that all changes. Now, there's been some roster churn. We talked about Jordan Poole. Sadiq Bey is also in the mix. CJ McCullum is gone. They added Kevin Looney from the Golden State Warriors. He's gonna add steadiness, he's gonna add veteran leadership, and then you got people like Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III, who are tracking back his health returns after shoulder surgeries, nuke their debt last year. Now the CJ for Poole deal that hit in July, I understand what they did. They they basically took they took they basically they net they navigated years off their roster. You know, when you put Jordan Cole in, who's in his mid-20s, you got CJ McCollum, who is 32-33, I understand what you're doing there. Maybe also you're saying, hey, we need more of a league guard until DeJounte gets gets back, and then Jordan Poole can kind of fall back to a bench roll, or we can use him as trade bait if his season goes well. I don't know how, you know, it's a big risk. It's a big risk that Jordan Poole's situation can go two ways. One of them is sideways. But the big thing is getting all their wings back, getting uh Herb Jones, who is absolutely instrumental to their defense. You had rotator craft surgery for our guy, and then you had the labor rotator situation for Trey Murphy III. Now, Trey Murphy III is my dude. If anybody has been following this program for any period of time, you know my love for Trey Murphy the third. I've been advocating for him to start. He finally did last year, and God can shoot it, the guy brings it every single night. I just love his demeanor on the court. I think that he is just a positive and additive type player. We just gotta keep this dude healthy. Here are a couple things that we need, clock lines that we need to keep track of. If Zion is lighter, will we see more half court pop? Will we see early 77 pistol spaying rescreens and short roll reads into the corner spraying out to the shooters? That version turns cool into a catch-and-shoot secondary dude, not I hold on to the ball merchant. You know that point Zion is a real thing. Soraya dropped this in the chat. Zion's 2024, 2025, per game line, limited action, still graded out elite efficiency mid-50 field goal percentage across 30 games before he was shut down due to injury. The pool initiative responsibly powered again. This is the dude that waved off Steph Curry. The job here is selective aggressive aggression. If Poole sees a big at the level, great attack. But if Zion has got a mismatch at the nail, that ball needs to go into Zion. Like there needs to be strict rules for our guy Jordan Poole. Jordan Poole can't get into his own flow state where he just forgets about the rest of the team. We can't have it. The third thing is the health of the wing depth. Herb Jones and Trey Murphy the third, specifically. Now, if one is lagging early because of, you know, needing more time to heal up, Sadiq Bey is also coming off injury. But Sadiq Bey is a good score. Um now the defense, you know, we're gonna have to see. It's been a couple years since we really seen it. Uh, he was in Atlanta for a little while. I think that's one of the reasons why he's not in Atlanta now. But what you want to do is just kind of hold the fort until Trey's shoulder is 100%. You want to kind of hold the fort until Herb is 100%. And if you have to ease them back into the regular season, which I can understand. You know, they had these injuries late last year. One had one at the end of February, and the other happened. Herb had his February 12th, and Trey had his uh like in at the middle of March. So if these shoulder surgeries and things of that nature, they kind of need a little more time, rehab, and maybe they're not playing back to back, so whatever the case may be. Sadiq Bay's production will be important. Question for you New Orleans has made a timeline bet. They trade CJ for pull, it buys them some age, variance, and shot at a surplus value. If he hits as efficient 20-point per game score, third piece, he becomes a real asset. Obviously, if you're sitting there and you're hoping for complete health with Zion, that means that you also mitigate some of Jordan Poole's importance to the team. No doubt. Now, also as you continue to bring trade back, that also moves Jordan Poole down the totem pole a little bit further. These are all positives for Jordan Poole. He needs to understand who he is and what he is to this specific team. But this is gonna go on how Zion is dynamic. Is he gonna be dynamic in October and November? Are we gonna see uh national windows flex? So our guy is out here being on TV a lot. We don't know, but I will say this. I am looking forward to watching this team. I'm looking forward to seeing just how they all gel together. When does Trey get implemented back in? Is it right off the bat? Is he gonna be playing full go? When is Herb Jones? Is Herb Jones gonna be ready before Trey? Is that would be very important because of his defensive chops and his acumen? And then, you know, you got the Looney effect. Looney is not the player that he used to be. Physically, uh speed-wise, whatever. But the one thing that he's gonna give you is he's gonna give you effort. He's a cerebral basketball player. Defensively, he knows where to be. He also knows where to kind of cut off. He knows where you want to get to on the court. So he's gonna do everything in his power to make sure you're not you're off your spot just slightly to make his job a little bit easier. Because he's not gonna jump the highest, he's not he's not tall enough to really bother a lot of shots. He's just a physical dude that plays with a physical presence, and the one thing is is that you always want to kind of tread lightly on the dudes that are uh soft-spoken, and Kevin Looney is one of those guys. We talked about Poole late game. Will he hunt his shot or will he defer to Zion? This will be the coaching staff's biggest thing is being able to rein in what Jordan Poole has been. Now, hopefully, with some going from Golden State to the Washington Wizards and now to the New Orleans Pelicans, maybe some of his his swagger has kind of diminished, and he can understand like, hey, I'm just trying to just trying to be additive to the team. You know what I'm saying? I'm just trying to be real additive. Now, keep in mind also, this team has Jordan Hawkins. I really want to see Jordan Hawkins get his this year. He's kind of replaced my Trey Murphy the third. Uh I used to have a like a petition to get Trey Murphy the third to start for the New Orleans Pelicans. And I hope that Jordan Hawkins gets real minutes, significant minutes. I thought he was awesome at UConn. I think he's a deade shooter. I think he's one of those guys that can really be additive to this team if he's put in the right role. And if he's coming off the bench and he's like, yo, this is I'm coming off the bench to score. We are ready for the Jordan Hawkins experience. Does his role change if for some reason DeJounte Murray? Because here's the thing. At some point, whether it's December, whether it's January, our guy DeJounte Murray is going to be back. Now, I don't know if he's also going to be eased in. I think he will be. And if he's eased in, Jordan Cole will still have a significant role on the team. But is he going to start? Is he going to start when DeJounte gets back? Because if he is, great. If he's not, then my man Jordan Hawkins might not get the time that I'm thinking that he needs to get. And you know I'm all about developmental runway. By the way, this year, you're going to hear developmental runway a lot, so you can go ahead and put that into your drinking game. This note has been dropped by Saraya, Zion. 24, 25 points per game, 57% field goal percentage in 30 games. Want to see longer. Midterm check in if Herbert and Trey are fully back. What's that look like? Wildcard is Sadiq Bay. What does he look at post ACL? Is his rhythm back? Is he giving you steady corners? And he insulates the pull streaks and also provides some kind of adaptability with Trey John Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones. Those are the things to be looking for for the first 25 games. Okay? That is what you're looking for. Now also the center position. Who's starting? Who is starting? Because uh remember, this team needs to get off to a really good start. Atlanta is hoping for a very bad start. They're hoping for Jordan Poole to wave off Zion early and often in the season. They're hoping that it takes longer for our guy Trey Murphy III to get back. They are also hoping for Herb Jones to take longer or get, you know, have some sort of kind of like setback on the injury front. They are hoping for everything, all the calamity to happen to the New Orleans Pelicans. Why is Atlanta hoping for this? Because in the 2025 draft, the Pelicans made a trade where they moved up 10 slots to get Derek Queen out of Maryland, the big man from Maryland, who is box office if you have not seen him. But the one thing that Derek Queen, first of all, he has a wrist injury, broken wrist, so we'll see how his development is stymied through the practices and whatever. I don't know if he'll be ready for preseason and then the start of the season, which is a big thing for a rookie. That's also not very optimal. Two other things that are not very optimal. Derek Queen, as filthy as he is as far as skill is concerned, he has some of the Zion questions. Some of the Zion whiskers. Can he stay in shape? Will he be in shape? He's kind of a lovable big man with a little, you know, he has a little square tire around the around the waist a little bit. Okay, my man likes to enjoy himself. He likes to eat, whatever the case may be. And New Orleans is not the spot for him to be in. Okay? We got gumbo down there, we got beignets, we got cowboys, we got a lot of stuff down there. We have a lot of good food down in New Orleans. Let's be honest. And then there's Bourbon Street. We do not need to see Derek Queen on Bourbon Street. Derek Queen needs to stay away from that street. Because Atlanta is banking on all of this to happen. Because they have an unprotected 2026 first round pick of the New Orleans Pelicans. So if it all goes astray, is it all goes awry? Guess what? Atlanta picks up a blue chipper without doing anything to get it. So these are the things that we're looking for for the first 25 games. How healthy are the Pelicans? How healthy are the wings? Did our guy Bay come back and he's somewhat healthy and whatever the case may be? We're looking for all of those things. Because if not, Atlanta starts to plot. On to another team that for some reason cannot stay away from the injury bug to save their life. You think we're unlucky? You think we're not, you know, out here? Look at the Memphis Grizzlies. How do the Memphis Grizzlies feel right now? To the outside world, they look snake bit. They look absolutely snake bit. Jaron Jackson Jr., sideline. Zach Edy still recovering from ankle surgery. Brandon Clark have another knee surgery. They traded Desmond Bain away, you know, for KCP and whatever the case may be. He's now down in the happiest place on earth, Orlando. What if this was a setup to like Oceans 11 style heist of a season? A long con, if you will. Not a win now, but still the future type of deal. Sometimes the greatest heist isn't breaking into the vault, it's convincing everyone else that the vault doesn't matter this year. You got Triple J, who might be out till November. You got Zach Edy, could be back before Christmas, could not be back. Brandy Clark, again, another procedure on the knee. They're talking about six weeks. What is left? Of the Memphis Grizzlies. Well, we got Jock Landell, favored Australian Jock Landale. I know everybody's so geeked about Memphis Grizzlies basketball with Jock Glandale. We still got Santi Aldama. Now, Santi Aldama really stepped up last year. He played phenomenal basketball. We saw that the three-point shot was working. He seemed to be able to stay on the court defensively wise. He's never going to be what Jaron Jackson Jr. is, which is an absolute eraser at the rim. But what Santi Aldama was able to do, play position basketball, team defense, and he was really good at it. And then also the productivity on the offensive end. The veteran leadership of Contevius Caldwell Pope hinges on two things. One, can he get back to his defensive prowess that was going on in Denver? And also, where the hell did his three-point shot go last year? Remember, Orlando brought this dude in for defense. He was also 6'6, so you know you pair him with the other guards you got. He's going to be able to guard some of the kind of switch on some of the bigger dudes, the wings, and also guard some of the smaller guards, be able to use his length and all of his defensive prowess and what have you. That is what Orlando envisioned. They did not get that last year. They did not get that guy. And then the three-point shot, when you shoot 28%, what are we supposed to do with that? The Memphis Grizzlies are hoping for a bounce back year for KCP. The one thing that you do know about KCP is that he is a professional. It's not like he's not trying. It's not like, you know, he's gonna be out here in these streets doing all this crazy stuff. It's none of that. But we also have to think about this. He's 32 years of age, and not everybody is LeBron James. Not everybody is Steph Curry or Kevin Durant. Sometimes you can't play into your late 30s so effectively like these other absolute aliens that we're talking about. When I start throwing out names like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and LeBron James, that's a little bit different. There's a couple steps down when we get to the Contavius Caldwell Popes of the world. Did Father Time catch up to our dude? Or is he gonna say, Man, I'm in Memphis. I'm playing with John Morant. It's about to be love. I'm gonna go lock up some people, and we also gonna hit these corner threes at a respectable rate. 35-36% would be lovely at this time of year, my guy. I'm just letting you know. Now, the wild card is the precocious Gigi Jackson. Now, this kid a couple years ago burst onto the scene last year. He had some injuries that kind of you know stymied his development, but here's the thing, he's still super young. Still super young. Does he earn a role on this team, especially with all the injuries? Because remember, Gigi Jackson is about six foot ten as well. Now, he's never been thought of as the defensive presence of, let's say, a Jaron Jackson Jr. or what have you. He's never been known as a physical starward like uh our guy Brandon Clark. But he can get buckets, and he's super athletic, so maybe there's some like off the ball rim protection that he can give you, you know what I'm saying? Some weak side rim protection, who knows, but they're gonna need this kid early because they're gonna need some height somewhere. The mastermind behind all this is Tumas Ayasolo. Now, if you did not catch the end of Memphis Grizzlies basketball last year, which I know a lot of people kind of was out on after a while, Tumas Ayasolo took over for Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the season. They limp to a playoff situation, and then got the blur, they got the doors blown off by Denver. They were injured, there was bad vibes going on in uh on Bill Street, you know what I'm saying? So I understand. I understand. But Tumas Ayasolo was kept on to be now the they took the interim turret tag off. He's now the full head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. Now I don't know a lot about what went on with the Taylor Jenkins thing. Um I've heard rumors and what have you that there were maybe some things that he did not hold people accountable. There was a little more kind of like laissez-y faire type attitude, and you know, he kind of allowed you know the men to be men. You're supposed to show up on time, you're supposed to be responsible, you're supposed to be taking your your video cut ups and and studying them and making sure you're on top of all your business or whatever the case may be. Well, maybe now with Tumas I Solo there, there's going to be a little more like detail operation situation going on. Maybe there's going to be a little more, hey, we need you to dig into the crates type of mentality. And there's no one more that needs to understand and adhere to these premises than one John. Because here's the thing. Memphis goes as Ja goes. He is the star, he is the front man of the Memphis Grizzlies. He's what every kid in Memphis, as far as the shoe game is concerned, whose shoe they got? They got John Morant's shoe. Which jersey sells the most? It's John Morant. Now, the white kids can't do their hair like John Morant. You know, it is what it is, but let me tell you something. He's a star. And in a city like Memphis, and no, there's no shade to Memphis. Memphis is a great city. Good times. Problem is, is that it's a little bit smaller city, right? It's not like it's not like Denver. It's not like Houston. It's not like Atlanta or whatever the case may be. But at the end of the day, they ride for their guy. They ride for John Morant. But John Morant needs to ride for the city of Memphis. And you can say, well, Vince, that's crazy. John Morant is Memphis. Without John Morant, there is no Memphis Grizzlies. I need more from John Morant. I need the shooting to get better. Because, brother, you only about a buck 70 wet. I understand you are uber athletic and you want to dunk over everybody, but you know what? Maybe there should be some self-preservation that goes on to this situation. Maybe there's some thinking that, hey, I shouldn't go into the land of the giants and get my ass handed to me every single time. Some of that physicality, maybe I can get my floater game to a respectable level. Maybe my mid-range becomes more lethal. Maybe also I start scaring people from the three-point land. Those are the type of things that John Morant needs to start working on. These are the type of things that we hope that we see this year out of John Morant. I'm not saying we never see the athleticism. We never see him highlight dunk over somebody or anything like that. But what I'm saying is be a little more judicious about when you use your athleticism. Don't challenge every big man you see and take it as some sort of personal like vendetta that I must dunk on this dude. Because it's not going to end well for you. He's also dealing with an injury too, and we don't know if he's going to start the year. So, Memphis, are you Ocean's 11? Are you slow playing this kind of like little descent so then you can get end up with a good draft pick? Because I wonder sometimes, I wonder how things kind of get how who talks in the front office to who? Say, hey, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if for some reason, you know, we didn't get off to the greatest start on the face of the planet, and we can end up somehow in the middle of that pack of that lottery, and then let's let the King Kong balls fall where they may, and then let's see if we can get into that like upper echelon of the draft. I just wonder if that is some of the thought. I wonder if Climate and the front office might be whispering to themselves in the darkest uh corners of the FedEx forum. Early in the season, it's gonna be bleak in Memphis. You got Bain is gone, you gotta replace that situation. You don't want to rush Jaron Jackson Jr. back because he is really your best two-way player. Brendan Clark has been kind of like a heart and soul type lunch pail guy forever, but he has not got this knee right since he first heard it. Lean on role players and rookies, again, we talked about John Morant. He might not be ready as well. So it's not tanking. It's not tanking at all. You don't have enough dudes. Can we camouflage this season of maybe we're not really waving the white flag, but we're kind of waving the white flag, if you know what I'm talking about? We're kind of surrendering this year for better years to come. Maybe there's another star that surplants John Morant. Because if you get if you get high enough in that draft, boy, there are some pieces in this draft coming up. If I'm if I'm climbing and I am thinking like a casino, count chips, every extra loss is a chip in your pocket. Every close game you can't finish moves you closer to a high-end 2026. Just saying. If you think about it, if Ja's not there, is Aldama gonna carry you offensively? Is Gigi Jackson gonna explode and surprise a lot of people? Remember when Ja Morant was out before, you had Desmond Bain there. Desmond Bain can put up 30. Who's a reliable 20-point guy outside of Ja and Jaron Jackson Jr. We will see. Saraya just dropped this in the chat. She says the Grizzlies current rotation, fewer proven 15 plus point per game, dudes, then the 2013 Bobcats. This doesn't look like an accident, it looks like it's a design. It might be a long year for our our friends in Memphis. But we'll see. We'll see how it goes. But I can't see uh a team without Jaron Jackson Jr. That defense has to collapse. There's just not enough there. And you know, having reliable defensive players and and and guys who just know how to deconnect the pieces like Brendan Clark, not having somebody like that there is real hard. Jack Landell is a is a professional, uh, but his skill level or what how he impacts the game is just not at the level as some of these other guys. Now, again, the one guy who can kind of like hold the ship together, if you want to put it that way, it would actually be Gigi Jackson. If he bursts onto the scene and do something crazy, then maybe that he can kind of hold it together until the cavalry shows up. And I think this is a real tough spot for a Tumas I Solo to be in. Now he's gonna have to use all of his Euro basketball mastermind type stuff, all his genius walks in with blueprints and whatever. He is Euro ball through and through, tempo, ball movement, spacing tricks. His job is to make sure that the heist look legit. Okay? He's gonna try to he's gonna try to use a lot of smoke and mirrors with the the talent drain that he has around his team. Now, this is gonna work because we know two things. Not every NBA team comes ready to play when they are playing like the a lesser talented team. Sometimes their focus gets pushed off somewhere else, and maybe Memphis catches a couple teams. But in a highly competitive West, where every win means so much more this year, because we do have a lot of teams that are out here vying for some of these positions, and another reason why Memphis might kind of, in a sense, quiet quit this year, another reason why that might actually be going on. So that's kind of where we are with Memphis. So we're gonna move on to a team in Dallas. Now, Dallas, uh, last year was tough for you. It was real tough, but now things are looking up. So let's talk about that real quick. I have questions about a couple things. Obviously, Cooker Flag, the number one overall pick. He is the great white hulk, the great American white basketball player that we've been waiting for. Dude is super talented. I do have a couple questions, and we'll get into them momentarily. Now, Kyrie Irving is still dealing with a knee injury. He is going to be out until the middle of the season. Enter D'Angelo Russell, and as a Lakers fan, I tell my Dallas Maveric fans this good luck to you. Because there's gonna be brilliant plays that he does, and there are gonna be plays that just make you scratch your head. I don't know if anybody's seen this. Our guy, Anthony Davis, former Lakers, has put on significant weight, and also he is donning the specs. My guy is going to be with goggles for the rest of his career, because I guess he had a scratch cornea or something, so therefore, guess what? So A.D. Kareem Abdul Davis. We'll see. We'll see how that works. But he did look a lot bigger at Media Day. It was very noticeable what the weight distribution, the chest look more barreled out, and things of that nature. So I'm I'm really interested to see how this goes. And also, is the brass of Dallas going to continue to allow Anthony Davis to play at the four spot when he hasn't shot the three ball well for a long period of time. Long period of time. Do we let this dream die? And you are a permanent five. Now, don't ever say that to Anthony Davis. Don't ever say that he is a permanent five. You will make him very melancholy, you will make him very sad. There'll be some like real sad RB songs going on. You know what I'm saying? Uh our guy, congratulations to Klay Thompson. He is now dating Megan the Stallion. That must be the greatest offseason um acquisition. Everybody will talk about the Cooper Flag acquisition to the Dallas Mavericks. Clay Thompson's acquisition of Megan the Stallion is pretty much the better acquisition. No shade to Cooper Flag. We love Cooper. But if you would have told me 10 months ago that Clay Thompson would be like nuzzled up against Megan the Stallion, that would not have been on my bingo card. Alright. So Anthony Davis bigger, Cooper Flag, number one overall pick. You lose Luka Doncic, but you gain Cooper Flag, and Klay Thompson got Megan the Stallion. Everything's great in Dallas. Now we can get into what the hell should we expect? What are some of the questions we have for the Dallas Mavericks? Alright. Couple things here. Cooper Flag, number one pick. Question for you. Is he going to moonlight as the hall monitor until Kyrie comes back from his knee situation? Because like I said, D'Angelo Russell, very heavy, but sometimes his brilliance gets his genius outshines like just the normal play. Sometimes he says, you know what? Me taking this 28-footer with 18 seconds on the shot clock is the best thing for us to do. Like, bro, you got AD on your team, you had LeBron on your team, you had other dudes on your team. You taking that 28-footer is not the best shot. But again, Maverick fans, good luck. He will drive you crazy with that. Jason Kid is the coach. He gave early career Giannis Anta DeCumpo on ball reps in Milwaukee. He's publicly teased, similar for Cooper Flag after some of the league touches. Reminder, we'll revisit coin flag. What does this mean for Anthony Davis usage? I don't know. Let's now let's get into how all this kind of played out. We don't need to rehash the Lucas situation. We know what happened. We know that Kyrie had the ACL injury. This is what kind of had them bottom out. AD also got injured as well. And then they ended up with Cooper Flag. Couple things to think about when we are thinking about Cooper Flag and handling the ball. We saw that a lot last year when he was at Duke. Now you say, well, Vince, Duke is different than the NBA. I know he played against a hot a lot of high-level dudes or whatever the case may be, but the NBA is a completely different animal. I get that truly. But here's the thing Cooper Flag is a different animal as well. So we can see some early actions with Cooper Flag above the break, like some horns twisted into some Spain, empty side pick and roll with like Derek Lively. Oh, by the way, Derek Lively is not 7 foot 1 anymore. He's 7'3. Just so we are all on the same page. Derek Lively has grown two inches. Man, if this dude stays healthy, if this dude stays healthy, he's gonna be a monster. Now D Lo is a re-heavy type of dude. Okay, he thrives in the uh first advantage is created for him. Uh you stagger him with like Daniel Gaffert, who's a pure rim runner, like aggressive rim runner, uber athletic. It just simplifies the reads for both individuals. Now AD can be a hub. AD can pass, high post type quarterback, if you get him into some dribble handoff, chain feed, clay, jitter, and then you got Washington, who is a straight line driver. Right? So you got a lot of lot of pieces. You got a lot of eclectic pieces in the in Dallas. Russell, his last full season in Los Angeles, 18 points per game. He shot 41.5 from the three land. He also did that on seven plus attempts, 6.3 assists, okay? Fewer than 6.5 drives a game. He's a read passer, not a constant ram protection type dude. He's like, he'll try to sneak in there, but he's also like floater, midi, that type of thing. He's not putting pressure on the rim, so you don't have to worry about that. So your big can definitely come up to the point, you know, and hold firm. Now, if you got flag out there, okay, now flag, he's looking throw logs. He did it to uh Mollywalk, who's now in Phoenix a lot at Duke last year. So he has that capability of doing that, and also he can put pressure on the realm himself. Because he can get up. This is not your ordinary ordinary dude. This dude got some real hops. You're gonna want to see Cooper Flag for a lot of reasons, right? You're gonna see because he's the number one overall draft pick. He's gonna be a content engine. Early season, you're gonna see a lot of national windows. Everybody loves the novelty, plus the pedigree. We all wait, we all heard about how he was in like the Olympic like workouts and things of that nature, how he was dominating some of the best NBA talent that we have available in this country. ESPN will absolutely love this. Cooper is not just a rookie, he's a franchise level attention magnet paired with AD and paired with a legish legacy shooter in clay. Okay, he has a lot of pieces around him that not normal number one overall picks get. He's not walking into a situation where they are desolate for talent. There's a lot of talent around him. This is a playoff team that's getting the number one overall pick. So let's not keep it twisted. Does this put pressure on Cooper Flag? I don't I do not think so whatsoever. Because see, let's keep the main thing the main thing. I understand that Dallas might have dreams of, hey, we might make a real playoff run or whatever. At the end of the day, it is all about the development of Cooper Flag. And if you have to lose some games for that development to pay off down the road, you do that. You do that in every every day ending in Y. That's what you do. Okay? Every day ending in Y. Yes, AD is there. Derrick Lively is two inches taller, and he's a great defensive center and a rim runner. Daniel Gaffer grabs rebounds. PJ Washington is a steady vet. Um, Najee Marshall, I love. I loved his play last year. But if we're talking about the Dallas Mavericks getting in like that upper echelon of the Western Conference, I want to I want to pump the brakes on that a little bit. Listen, he does have a lot of talent around him. I will continue to reiterate that situation. And they could be a very good team. But if you're thinking because of the fact that now you got Cooper Flagg, you just kind of slot him into the Luca Dantrius role and whatever the case may be, and you keep him moving, that is not how this is gonna go. He's not that type of player. Can he score? Yep. Can he can he rebound? Yep. Can he play defense? Absolutely. Is he gonna block people's shots that you go, damn, I did not see that coming? Yes. Is he going to explode to the hole and you're gonna see like athleticism that you did not see from Luka Doncic or any other white dude you see haven't seen in last like 15-20 years? Absolutely. But if you're thinking to yourself, hey, we're gonna win 55 games this year, and we're gonna be the number two overall seed to the Oklahoma City Thunder, let that go. Let all of that go. You're gonna break some eggs to make an omelet this year, and again, it is very, very important to Nico Harrison, to Jason Kidd, to the rest of the Dallas Mavericks front office and their ownership group, that the reps that are the most important is the Cooper Flag reps. And if there are some losses that come along with that, so be it. Now, could he take the the league by storm and whatever the case may be? Sure. But I want to put a little damper on the parade of like, hey, they're gonna be like a top 4C in the West. That is crazy. Crazy. And it has nothing to do with what I think of Dallas overall. I just think that the developmental runway of Cooper Flag is the most important thing to the Dallas Mavericks, and anything that gets in the way of that, anything that um impedes that progress is absolutely detrimental to the future of the Dallas Mavericks. That's my that's my statement, and I'm sticking to it. Now, you know what's gonna help Cooper Flag? The re-emergence of Kyrie Irvin. You know what I'm saying? That is what's gonna that is what's gonna help. Rookie rookies at point guard get hunted. Now, he's not gonna end up playing guards like normally. He's a he's a wing. He's more of a power forward than anything else. Dude is 6'8, 6'9, damn near. Like 220 pounds coming in. It's gonna be hard for like little guards to come and be like, listen, let's get let's get Cooper Flag out on an island and see what happens. I don't know if you want to do that. That might not be your best uh point of attack when you're trying to attack the Dallas Mavericks, as far as that's concerned. You might want to try to attack Clay Thompson. You know, you might want to try to attack somebody else. Oh, D'Angelo Russell, absolutely great for this. Attack them. Do not do not play with Cooper Flag and try to bring him out and think like I'm about to get have a sports center moment. Because then you're gonna end up on the opposite end of that sports center moment, just so you know. How is it all gonna work? The thing again, like I said, you might use Cooper Flag as kind of a security blanket for D'Angelo Russell, because you don't want to have D'Angelo Russell out in front of his skis. You know what I'm saying? Najee Marshall actually uh did a lot of ball handling as well, and that that looked really decent last year. I'd like to see more of it. Keep in mind this team also has Max Christie, who's a dog at the at the on the defensive end. He's a really good rebounder for somebody 6'4, 6'5. I hate I hated that the Lakers had to get rid of him for Luka Doncic, but hey, we got Luka Doncic. So again, Nico, I said this a lot last year, and I'll continue to say it. Thank you, Nico Harrison, for not putting Luca on the trade block. Thank you for only dealing with the Lakers. We really appreciate that. And if the sacrifice was Max Christie, who we could use as a defender right now? I'm still good with that, my guy. Now, here's a question that I have for my Mavericks fans. When Kyrie comes back, when he returns, what's the ideal five for when Kyrie comes back? Where does that slide Cooper Flag? Does Anthony Davis understand? Like, do you need another shooter on that on that floor for floor spacing aspects and things of that nature? Is does PJ Washington stay in the starting lineup? Is PJ Washington now expendable as much as he says he wants to stay in Dallas because he's from Dallas? If the flag, second question, if flag's usage is real, do you prefer him to initiate from the slot or from the angle? I don't think you can have him just at the top of the key, but you know, pounding the wall. That's not his deal. What you want to do is have somebody bring up the ball up the court, get him, you know, on the side angle, and then watch him work getting into the lane and then spraying it out the shooters, or getting into the lane, and you have your big who's in the dunker spot, come over and go ahead, because he's gonna draw a lot of attention, throw the ball up for the lob, and then you just have yourself a lob party. Those are the type of things that I would think of when I look at Cooper Flag. We're gonna move to Houston. Now, Houston, ha ha. Oh man. Well, everything was going good on Houston. Everything was going good. You got Kevin Durant, you know what I'm saying? You thinking to yourself, man, we about to do this real big in Houston. Kevin Durant reminds me of that dude on the bachelor who can't make up his mind. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm gonna get into that momentarily. I'll I'll tie it all together. Don't worry, I will tie it all together. Fred Van Vliet being out, the steady point guard. He's already eliminated before the first cocktail party. Like, he's already out. My man is just gone. He's just like, I gotta go. ACL. Terrible. And I'm not gonna do Houston, we have a problem, not gonna do all that. Just just it's Pam Vlee is that guy that yeah, he's not the greatest point guard on the face of the planet, but he's just a steady hand, and he was able to do things for that team, and he did stuff for Toronto that was just so important. He knew how just to kind of calm the waters down, and now with him out, there's a couple things here, a couple things that I want to get to, but the first and foremost thing, all hope is not lost in Houston. Kevin Durant is an offensive ecosystem onto himself. Your front court woes that you had last year, Houston, are now gone. Because Kevin Durant is there. Now, reality check. Durant is 36 going on 37. This dude just wants to hoop. That's all he wants to do. He don't need to be in no leadership role, he don't need to be the mouthpiece for the team. He doesn't need to do any of that. Which is funny because he left Golden State. Now, his next choice was Brooklyn. What did he have to do there? Oh, you gotta lead. You gotta be the mouthpiece of the team. You gotta answer the Kyrie questions when Kyrie was acting out over there. Listen, Kyrie has changed his whole situ his whole style. Whole stilo has been changed. So we are not bagging on Kyrie. But I'm just saying at that point in time, Kyrie was acting different, right? So Kevin Durant had to answer questions that he's not comfortable answering. So then he says, hey, I want to trade. Where do you want to go? I want to go to Phoenix. I'm gonna go team up with D-Buck, and we're gonna about to get it on and crack a lack in in Phoenix. But then you traded all other pieces away, dog. Like you could have at least said to Brooklyn, hey, you know what? We really want to keep, you know, Cam Johnson out there, or we really want to keep Mikhail Bridges out there. You can get everything else you want, but we keeping these dudes. We are keeping one of these dudes. You didn't do that. So now you go out there, all your depth is diminished, and guess what? You're the leader of the team. I don't care if D Book is out there or not, soon as Kevin Durant stepped into onto that team, he was the leader. And now Fred Van Vlee is gone. Who's the leader of this team? Well, this is where the buck stops here. This is where the buck stops here. Because here's the thing, Kevin. Your dream has come true. Because you don't need to be the leader of the team. You don't necessarily need to be the mouthpiece of the team. You know why? Because you got Ime Adoka as your head coach. Imei Adoka is one of the most fiery competitive head coaches that we got in this league. And he sets the tenor, he sets the tone of the Houston Rockets. That's why that team who didn't have a bunch of offensive options, I know. Listen, we're gonna get into my guy Alkron Shangun. We're gonna get into all of our dudes out here. But y'all know y'all ran some stank offense last year. Some real putrid offense. If y'all wasn't running up and down the court getting fast breaks, y'all know that front that front uh that half court offense was terrible. Y'all know that. So don't even trip. But now you got Kevin Durant, and everything is lovely. Y'all finished 52-30 last year, second in the West, scared a lot of people, and then y'all failed to Golden State, who was probably inferior to you as far as talent-wise. But with Fred out, Houston has to move on, the final roles contender to mid-season elimination risk. Hey, check this out. Amnon Thompson, still there. Reed Shepard didn't get a bunch of looks. And I have a question about Reed Shepherd momentarily, but we'll get into that. And then you also got Aaron Holliday who say what you want. He's a UCLA guard, and the reason why I say it like that, first of all, I have an affinity for UCLA. If you have not been with the program long enough, I I'm a UCLA dude. I love UCLA. So Aaron Holiday is a professional basketball player. He can get you into sets, he can get you into motions, he can get your offense set up. He's not the like top-tier scorer or anything like that, but he can run an offense. Why is all this important? Like I said, the Durant Udoka dynamic is great because Ime is the alpha. You can think of him as the producer whispering behind the scenes. You know what I'm saying? Udoka was described as the alpha in Houston per multiple off-season columns. His culture was credited to the 52-win leap that they had last year. But the guard situation is what we need to focus on. Amien Thompson, like he is the future league guard of this team. He's a completely explosive athlete. He is in that like top tier of athlete. Okay, he's like one of one type of dude. The problem is with him, is that his shooting is still not great. So still shaky in the half court as a creator because people lag off of him because they're like, shoot it. Shoot the ball. Go right ahead. Now, can he handle the roll ceremony in October when defenses dare him to shoot? We're gonna have to we're gonna have to find out. And that leads me to my guy Reed Shepard. Now, Reed Shepard couldn't get a look, he couldn't get a sniff on the court last year, and I'll tell you why. Emay Adoka loves defense, he loves dogs on defense, he loves toughness, he loves tenacity, and Reed Shepard kind of gives off this like privileged my mom, dad pay for this AAU team type of situation. No shade to Reed Shepherd, he's an incredible talent, he can shoot the rock, uh great um creativity with the ball in his hands, good passer for his size, good connective piece. He showed a lot at Kentucky with that situation. He doesn't give off the energy of tough, he don't get off the energy of like I'm an MFR and I might be the quickest laterally or whatever the case may be, but I'm gonna find a way to stay in front of my man. That is going to be the key because they are going to pick on Reed Shepard unmercifully. Okay, that is what's gonna happen. So is he a downtown shooter? Is he a deadeye sniper? 100%. Will he could you pair him with Amin Thompson so you can kind of counteract that situation? You could you could do that now that if you have Amin Thompson and you have Reed Shepard in your backcourt because obviously Jalen Green was part of the package that went over to the Phoenix Suns along with Dylan Brooks to get KD? Well that doesn't mean that the coverage is there. It does not mean that at all. Now my question is is that if Amin Thompson and Ree Shepherd are your starting backcourt, which that's what it could be. Does that mean that Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith, and my guy Alcran Shangoon is your front court? Is there any room for Atari Eason Jr.? Is there any room for my guy? Dorian Finney Smith is dealing with an issue. That was a big loss for the Lakers, by the way. That Dorian Finney Smith situation. I've even heard lineups this way. Could you imagine this? I've heard lineups this way. Steven Adams, Alcran Shengoon, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr. and Armin Thompson. I don't know if there's enough shooting on the court for this. I have no idea. I have no idea how you're gonna score on that. I I just don't know. Eme Adoka is gonna take all this preseason to figure it out. But you know right now, KD is going to be your get out of jail free card when it comes to half-court offense. His MIDI is still wet as all get out. Dorian Finney Smith, whether he starts or whether he comes off the bench, is going to provide 22 minutes of awesome defense. He's gonna provide a connectivity to that offense when he's on the other side. And guess what? I can stand in the corner and shoot threes. He did it for LA last year. It was great. Loved it. Wish that dude was still on my team. But he is not. Because Rob Polinka did him dirty. We're not gonna get into that. But you know who's happy about that? The Houston Rockets. Hell yeah. Raphael Stone is happy about that.

E.

Man Delka is happy about that because he got another dog on the team. And again, this gives this gives Durant another out when it comes to just I want to be a hooper. When you got all these dudes on your team, and all you want to do is hoop, a lot of the you gotta remember, in Phoenix, he had to be, he was one of the better defenders. And in Brooklyn, he was one of the better defenders. So this is gonna be the first time since like his Golden State days, and even then, he was actually one of the better defenders in Golden State. This is gonna be the first time in a long period of time where Durant is not gonna be asked to be like this This incredible defender. And you can't ask him at the age of 36 going into his 37th year on this planet to be this like lockdown dude. Alkron Shangun, he had an incredible Eurobasket experience. He was just dogging people out. Shangoon, when they were the the best uh half court offense they did run last year is when Alcran Shangoon was at the deal. Now I wonder how that changes with Kevin Durant, who loves that mid-range situation. Maybe there can be a two-man game with them where there's a lot of DHO handoffs and things of that nature. We'll see. We'll see. I can see that working very well for the Houston Rockets. And then you can use Reed Shepherd as like a catch-and-shoot guy. If they if they um blitz that action, you don't want to use Amian Thompson for that or whatever. This is where Dorian Finney Smith, Jabari, Jabari Smith Jr., and Reed Shepard could really, really shine. If you have that DH if you have that DHO action at the nail, and you have Kevin Durant coming off and being able to get downhill and then shoot it out to the shooters in the corner or or somebody at the top of the key three situation, like Ree Shepard, and he's wide ass open, that's gonna be devastating. Devastating as hell. So Houston, even though I would have loved to have them have Van Vliet, I am still very enthused and still very optimistic in their team. They will just have to figure themselves out as far as what they have at the guard position. Do they need a little more? They will have plenty of time to figure this out before the trade deadline. And remember, they still got a bunch of Phoenix Suns picks at their disposal. So will it take them some time to figure out? Maybe, or maybe not, they might hit the ground running. Who the hell knows? What do you think Houston will look like first 15 games? Will there be a mystery trade candidate that pops up in January? Where where would those whispers come from? And did KD finally find happiness in Houston? We've been asking for this. We've been asking for this. San Antonio? San Antonio, we got to get to. We need to talk about San Antonio real quick. Victor Wing Bayama, awesome. Right? He's cut he's cleared, he's ready to go. The deep vein throwing bosis. We don't have to worry about that right now. Everything's good. Uh Dearren Fox is there. Dylan, Dylan Harker is there. Um, and also our guy Stefan Castle. They got Luke Carnett. Now, Luke Carnett played in Boston last year. He's 7'2, 7'3, another big, another lanky dude, and loves to block shots. Loves to actually block shots on the perimeter, which is crazy. We will see how they decide to pair Victor Winwa Yama. My one question about San Antonio is this. It's not if, it's when. When does Victor Wenwa Yama take the next league? And where will it come on the court? Will it come because here's the thing. I almost I'm gonna go on a win right now. I do believe that Victor Wingbayama this year, if he plays 65 games, he's gonna be the defensive player of the year. He was trending that way last year, but I do believe that this is the start of the Victor Wingbayama invitational to the defensive player of the year. We can see Victor win multiple defensive players of the years in a row. Like the dominance could start now in 10 years from now. I do believe that. Like I say that with every fiber of my being. We've never seen anything like him. They continue to lie to us about his height. They lift him now at 7 foot 4. We really know that this dude is like 7'6. His wingspan is out of control. He gets still, we talked about this at nauseum before. He gets fooled sometimes, and because of his length and because of his tenacity on the basketball court, because he doesn't like to be embarrassed. He does not like to be embarrassed. He will find his way back into the into the play, and then guess what happens? Block shot, good contest, things just happen for him. But I'm wondering what part of the offense, where on the court does he show the most improvement this year? Will it be in that mid-range? Will it be the three-point shot? Or will it be like, hey man, I'm taller than everybody else, I'm very athletic, I'm very um flexible. Am I just gonna start hitting like 80% from like four feet and in as far as me becoming this real dominant basketball player? Because the thing that I want to say about Victor Wingwayama right now is that the day of him averaging like 30 points a game is coming, and whether it's this year or next year, he's going to do that. It's all depending on what part of his game that he worked on in the offseason, which he which part of his game that did he just focus on. And when he gets there, and when he feels more comfortable in his body, which all reports say that he does feel more comfortable. All reports are saying that like the weight that he put on is good weight, the he's a little bit stronger than he was last year. He meditated with Shaolin Monks in the offseason to get his mind right. So Victor is never going to be your normal like NBA dude, whatever the case may be. He's doing everything in his power to be great. And now he has other like really like dudes that you gotta check on. He got dudes that you got to check on. De'Aaron Fox was the clutch player of the year a couple years back. This dude gets to the free throw line, he he doesn't shoot it as well as you would want him to be as somebody as a parameter guy, but he finds a way to get buckets. That's what he does. He finds a way to get buckets. He is a 24 point per game type of dude. Now you pair him with Victor Wimbayama. Oh, by the way, Stefan Castle, rookie of the year. Oh, yeah, by the way, we drafted Dylan Harper, who is the son of Ron Harper, who is a pick and roll maestro, which leads to the point of does Stefan Castle have to be a second sign initiator? Something that we talked about in a previous podcast, but the question still lies is that if Dylan Harper is what I think he is, shit, you might have De'Aaron Fox have to come off the ball. Hey, bro, I understand that you're awesome, but this dude understands offense. He understands pick and roll. And if you're telling me we're gonna get pick and roll with Dylan Harper and Victor Wimbayama, good luck to everybody in that Southwest division. Good luck. Houston, I'm gonna tell you right now, the wars that you are about to be in with the San Antonio Spurs aren't going to be sweet. These are going to be fist fights in the alley. Victor is coming. You know what I'm saying? Like, this is some Game of Thrones type of stuff that I'm talking about right now. When they said winter is coming and the White Walkers were on the move, Victor is coming. And he's bringing with him some real cats now. Like the day of Jeremy Sohan playing point guard, those days are gone. Okay? Remember, Devin Vassell is still there. You know, they got Kellen Johnson still there. They got pieces, man. This is not like a team that is going to suffer on the offensive end. And you got at least two credible ball handlers. You also got another guy that Victor doesn't have to sit there and be like, oh, I gotta score all the points. And he was never that dude anyway. But for him to be unleashed in a sense where, oh, you gotta check on this other guy, and now I might not get double teamed all the damn time because I got you gotta watch out for Stefan Castle, you gotta watch out for De'Aaron Fox. What does this do for Devin Vassel? Now you push him down in a sense as far as productivity on the totem pole, right? Like you make him fall into his like natural slot. Like you're the third dude, or even the fourth dude. You imagine what that's gonna look like? Oh, you still got Harrison Barnes there, who's a complete professional veteran basketball player. So San Antonio is for real. Now, I don't know how long it's gonna take for them to get all their continuity because remember, De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wingbayama, I want to say play like five games together. But if I am whatever their what are what is their win total? I think it's like 48. Take the over. Take the over. And if you can get something like whatever their second half, like win total is, like if there's some sort of alternate like line out there to say, okay, uh 41 games, what's their over under as far as wins is concerned, take the over on that one. Because that's when they're gonna they're gonna coalesce, that's when they're gonna find their rhythm, that's when they're gonna kind of know where the spots on the floor they like to get the ball and where they're where they like to set up their offense and things of that nature. And again, when things are tight in the fourth quarter, De'Aaron Fox can get to the basket, he can get to wherever he wants to go, and because Victor Wingwayama is a threat from the outside because he did improve his three-point shot last year, we did see it. It wasn't uh it wasn't an anomaly. He was way better from the three-point land last year, and if that's going to continue, not saying that has to be he has to be a seven, three-point attempt type of dude. He doesn't need to be that. But if he's gonna shoot four of those bad boys every game, and he's gonna shoot it at anywhere between a 35 to 37% clip, that means that he can hang out at the three-point line. That means that De'Aaron Fox can get into the middle. That also means that then the defense collapsed, and then is then Victor as a trailer, does that happen? These are all questions that are going to be answered throughout this season. The first thing that we have to figure out is how susceptible is the Stefan Castle situation and what his new position is going to be, and is he gonna thrive in that position? Is he going to love where he's gonna actually end up? Because I don't believe that his future as an on-ball presence is what is going to manifest in San Antonio and can he deal with that? Now, at the end of the day, it's still all about Victor. And if for some reason Stephon Castle cannot um understand or accept that position, they will move right along for Stefan Castle and don't get it twisted. I love that Stefan Castle is a competitor. I love that his he wanted to be a coin guard, but unfortunately, dude, you got two guys, one in Dylan, Dylan Harper, and one in De'Aaron Fox, that are have done it. Now, Harper hasn't done it at the NBA level yet, but that's what he's basically been bred to be. He's been a coin guard all his life. And De'Aaron Fox has done it at the NBA level for seven, eight years now. So at the end of the day, you have to now prioritize winning, and you have to prioritize what's best for the team and move over to that second side and weak side and uh second side initiation and become that dude that attacks the rim, shoot the corner three, and then, you know, if for some reason you attack the rim and the defense shifts over to you, make quick decisions to get the ball into other people's hands. You can still be a very effective ball handler. You you have great strength, you have great size, you have uh good wingspan, you have good anticipatory skills when it comes to getting into passing lanes. You can be an absolute uh vital chess piece to the San Antonio Spurs if you buy into your new position. Because I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the days of Stephon Castle being a point guard are over. So that's all I gotta say about the San Antonio Spurs. Let me know if you agree or disagree. Hit me up on Twitter. Also hit me up at uh frpc vents at gmail.com. You know, send me an email. Real happy to go ahead and read those. And if those emails are awesome, they will make it on to the next podcast. We are really trying to be interactive with you. So make sure you're getting getting all into that. Now, with that being said, we're gonna get up out of here. We got two more of these bad boys. We got the Northwest Division that we need to get into. It's already set and locked and loaded. We also got the Pacific division that we need to get into, and those are gonna be locked and loaded. So keep a lookout for those because they might come before Tuesday. You know what I'm saying? We might have a podcast on Saturday. I don't know. I gotta see what the schedule is, but we got podcasts on deck for you. So keep it locked here with Front Runner Podcast Collective. I want to thank Sarah for her wow her patience throughout this situation. I want to thank you, the listeners, staying with us, you know, through this situation. Uh hopefully when we start getting the numbers back, it still looks like it was before. Maybe it doesn't. I don't know. If I pick up new ones, hey, congratulations. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for showing out. And again, get in contact with us. Be interactive with us because it makes the show better. It just makes it so much better. I want to interact with you and I want to answer questions, and there are no dumb questions. Make sure you get them in. You can hit us up again on X at Frontrunner PC or our producer at Raya underscore funch, which is spelled F-U N C H, and then it's F R P C. And if you don't know what F R P C stands for, Front Runner Podcast Collective, baby, and that's where you at right now, and we are so appreciative for you to be here. So with that being said, uh the best part of you is you surround yourself with individuals that support and inspire your vision to be great. And if you got people that exhibit those behaviors, don't take them for granted. Appreciate them. Send them a note, send them a voice note, send them a face, uh, you know, FaceTime. Hey, just checking in with you. Thank you for all your support. You know, saying, let's go grab a drink, let's go get a cup of coffee, whatever the case may be. Um, hey, a handwritten note, not a bad idea. But make sure you show appreciation to those who show you support and inspire you to do the things that you're doing so you can continue to be great. And with that being said, if you're doing all those things, then guess what? We always have a place for you here at Frontrunner Podcast Collective. And if you don't have those things going on, know this. Here at Frontrunner Podcast Collective, we are here for you. We don't leave anybody behind. If you have a question, something going wrong in your life, as far as that's concerned, we'll answer those too. 100%. And the reason why I say that is because, you know, I have a lot of people who are down for me. I have a lot of people who make this make this whole crazy thing work for me. And I wouldn't be the person I am today without just the love of my wife and the support of my friends and the support of my church and the support of just you know, just influential people that have come in at critical times of my development, especially after I stopped drinking, especially after I got myself sober and got myself into a position where this was possible. So sometimes it just takes a village. And if we can be part of your village, well, let's go ahead and do that. Alright, I'm Vince and for Sarah, we up out of here, and we will definitely have something out in the next couple days, as far as that's concerned. I believe definitely before Tuesday, for sure. I just can't commit to which day it will be, but keep it locked here with Front Runner Podcast Collective, and we will see you soon. Deuces ooces.