Do SGA & the Thunder Have Any Weaknesses? | ALL NBA PODCAST

Do SGA & the Thunder Have Any Weaknesses? | ALL NBA PODCAST

[Applause] [Music] Huh? What is up everybody and welcome to the AllNBA Show powered by FanDuel, America’s number one sports book. Get started with 150 and bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet at fandol.com/allmbba. I’m your host Adam. I’m joined by my esteemed colleague, Tim Leggler. Legs, we went to bed last night. We had some games to talk about. Thought we had some stuff, but we woke up this morning to some crazy news, including Chris Paul being thrown off of the team plane and sent home. So much to talk about today. How you doing? Good, man. I want to start by doing this because I don’t The camera didn’t catch it at first. Let’s go. I saw that. Yeah, I saw that. That’s it. By the way, you know, by the way, no, I I got, you know, I had some gear there. It was a pretty steady flow of gear coming in. It’s been a drought here lately, so let’s see what we got. You might want to go through and see, you know, you got a new inventory for me. Be nice. Okay. Is that that was a nice little hint right before Christmas. Yeah. I don’t get in, you know, I don’t I don’t I only get to Denver, as we know, a couple times a year typically and I come in there, but you know, I don’t know when. Look, this is what’s crazy. I don’t have I don’t know yet what games I’m calling beyond Christmas. Man, it’s kind of crazy. Like, we’re waiting for the schedule. Uh and I I’m sure I’m obviously going to get some Denver games, but I don’t know if I’m going to be coming out there. hopefully at least, you know, one or two times, man, before uh the All-Star break is what I’m hoping. Well, I don’t know if Denver’s going to be that exciting to watch in the month of December with all the injuries they have and how they’re playing. So, January, I’ll wait for it. Hopefully, you make it out there in January. We got to do a live show, too, or something. Let me know in the comments. Would you come out in Denver if we did a live show? I think that’d be a fun one to do at the DMV. Why don’t we Why don’t we do, you know, get get the company to pay for like we do like um some remote shows from I’m thinking like maybe like the Caribbean or something. You know what? I’m gonna propose it. I’m gonna propose that. I think it’s a great idea. Um, yeah, man. Uh, let’s see. We got a lot to get to today. We’re going to talk about the Celt big Celtics win. We’ll talk briefly about that. Giannis, according to Brian Winhorse, already asked for a trade. The Chris Paul news of course, but Thunder Warriors is going to be our game breakdown. And then in the back half of the show, would you rather Wednesday, maybe a new segment we’re going to be doing here on Wednesdays where we talk about what would you rather? And today it’s going to be between who would you rather build around with some big names. And we made the list legs. Some of the names on this one uh are some of the would you rathers. I don’t want to commit to one. I want you to persuade me because I didn’t want to have to choose. That’s how some of these man you gave that’s a tough list when we go over that. I I had a very difficult time and I’m still not as we sit here preparing to do this segment here shortly. I’m still not sure what’s going to come out of my mouth when the time comes to make a choice. I really don’t know. I know. It’s so crazy, man. But we we’re going to start with the the news that dropped overnight and that is that Chris Paul no longer with the LA Clippers. His retirement tour, his farewell tour with the uh team he’s most associated with is over. The Clippers are parting ways with him. They sent him home and according to Sham Shirania, he had this report. Chris Paul and his leadership style clashed with the Clippers. Sources tell ESPN Paul has been vocal in holding management, coaches, and players accountable, which the team felt became disruptive. Specifically, Tailoo was not on speaking terms with Paul for several weeks. This is the season from hell for the Clippers. They’re absolutely falling apart in every single way. And now Chris Paul, who is the face of Lob City and one of the biggest faces in Clippers, you know, history, is no longer with the team. They sit at five and 16. What do you make of this report? We know uh Chris Paul can be kind of like a tough personality. He’s hard. He’s he can wear on you, but it’s only been five weeks legs. Well, I think um first of all, I’m not super shocked. I I’m shocked by I guess how it played out for a guy of his stature and the career that he’s had. And you know, he’s obviously a Hall of Fame player and, you know, one one of the top point guards of all time. Everybody’s got a different list of where you would put him on that. Um, but I’m so not I’m I’m surprised, I guess, that it happened the way it did. Like apparently, you know, and you read um Sham’s report. Chris Haynes also has some stuff out there saying they were stuck at the Miami airport for six hours due to mechanical issues, right? And that that delayed them taking off. And Rob said, you know, guys just sitting around getting irritated, I guess. And uh and that’s when in the middle of the night everybody found out about Chris Paul being off the team and it said weeks ago Chris Paul requested to have a meeting with Ty Lou to discuss allegations of his being a negative presence on the team but Lou refused to meet with him and Lawrence Frank then traveled to Atlanta to deliver the news that they were parting ways. So it’s an ugly divorce here at the end. Bottom line is this they didn’t really have a role for Chris Paul. They didn’t really have, I think, a usage for Chris Paul and I don’t think they had necessarily an appreciation for what Chris Paul was going to be able to bring this team. It’s been a disastrous year from the beginning and that creates a lot of tension. And here’s what I’ll say about this report about Chris Paul and his leadership style and being vocal and getting on guys and that’s kind of Chris Hall’s been known for that. Here’s the difference though, Adam. When you’re doing that as a player in the league, when you’re out there playing 35 minutes a night and you’re you’re like heavily contributing to wins or losses, but mostly winning throughout his career. He’s been on good teams that it you that’s going to carry more weight or at least it’s going to be tolerated a lot easier. when you’re playing 14 minutes a night and shooting 32% from the field and there’s been DNPs thrown in there as well and now you’re also still trying to be like this vocal guy if that stuff is true what’s being reported that’s not going to go over well with everybody else. It does matter. I don’t care who you are. Even I’m telling you, even guys that are like that are absolute Hall of Famer or even current all league type guys, if they’re out for an extended period of time and they’re wearing street clothes, like the the voice in the huddle gets old to guys. And that’s even for guys on that level that are coming back maybe in a couple weeks and they’re going to drop 30 their first game. Like even those guys, it’s hard when you’re not contributing to have a big voice in the huddle, in the locker room, on the plane, like what to the coaching staff with suggestions, like whatever it may be. And that’s kind of what I’m taking from this tweet by Shams. That’s what it sounds like was going on and it was like irritating people. I’m just telling you it it’s a little bit more understandable when a guy’s not really playing or contributing or playing at a high level. It’s that stuff does not really go over well with the rest of the team. I don’t care who you are. Well, they’ve lost five in a row and everything is negative. I mean, at five and 16 their season, I mean, they have no reason to tank, so they’re going to keep pushing. But now the mountain is so big to climb that you start to lose all faith. And then I just think about about it this way. There are some players like the Lakers held on to Kobe. I mean, Kobe’s obviously a different stat stature, but they held on to him even when they were done contending and it was like, “Yeah, but this is the farewell tour and even we’re not going to do anything until he’s he’s out of here out of respect.” Chris Paul kind of to me, Lob City is the pinnacle for this for the Clippers. He is he was the face of that. And to do this so unceremoniously in his farewell tour, I mean, he just announced his retirement a couple weeks ago. To do it to me just feels like bad juju for an organization that is steeped in bad juju. Yeah, I totally agree with that. And look, that’s that’s a whole another argument like if you want to debate is this the right thing to do from an organizational standpoint. Like we that’s we can get into that. Not even team organizational, right? From the team standpoint and like making this decision now to a guy that meant that much to the organization at one time. Um I don’t know. Let me ask you this. Do you think is this a situation where Chris Paul maybe hung around one year too many? Maybe because I was thinking about that too. I mean, obviously now you wonder, well, does he just retire? Does he try to go to another team now? But this was supposed to be a farewell tour and you’re going to end up splitting it. It feels weird. But at the same time, I have to imagine there’s a team or two that would say, “Hey, if you’re interested, we’ll take you. We could use you.” Yeah. Because you’re going to pay him nothing. And he is a veteran guy with a ton of playoff experience. He is smart. You know, he’s not the defender he used to be. But, you know, no, you can’t be 40 and be a guard in this league and be the defender you used to be. But, he can still run a team. He can still run ball screen. He can still get to that little snake dribble, lean back, pull up 18-footer that he likes, but you know, he’s shooting low percentage, but his minutes been so inconsistent. I’m not even going to judge him on that. Do I think he could go to a team that like lacks depth at that spot and play 15 to 18 minutes a night and play at a higher level than he was for the Clippers if he’s getting those minutes every night? Yes, I do. I do think he could probably do that from an adrenaline standpoint alone and playing meaningful games and minutes. I think you’d see something else out of Chris Paul that he still has in in him. But you do wonder like you know he turned 40 in May man. You know not everybody’s LeBron like like you know you’re 40 he wanted to do this last year this last thing with the Clippers and man has this been I wonder if he regrets you know going back there. probably does, but does he have another 40 games in him somewhere that could help a team and help a team in the playoffs? I still think there’s probably enough there if you if we went down every team in the league and looked at them and said, “Well, he’s he could he could get minutes here, this team, this team, you know, whether it’s a middle of the road playoff team up to a contender team, we could probably go down every team and find some spots where he go, yeah, why not? Why not 15 minutes there based on who they’re playing now?” the but he’d have to play a lot better than he did. That’s I’m saying yeah, I think he can play better. Not significantly better. He’s not going to be a needle mover for a team at this point. He’s just not. But can he be a lot better than he was this year? Yeah, probably. I think he can. He still has something left in him. Well, you look at it. Houston can use some ball handling. We talked about that. Reed Shepard’s having a great year. And now you move Chris Paul down to maybe he doesn’t have to play every night, but he has a guy there that can run your org. Uh you look at Denver right now who their backup point guard is Bruce Brown who’s not a point guard. Jamal Murray just rolled an ankle. So Bruce might be the starting point guard for a while. They desperately needs point guard play. And then Minnesota, you know, is right now looking for it. Mike Connley is also long in the tooth, but they have question marks there. So those are three good teams like contending teams. I didn’t even go through a full list. I just went through three contending teams in the Western Conference who all could see themselves as needing to take the risk of like, hey, we know all the problems. We know the age, but we it’s better than the options we have. So, I do think there’s a use for him, but Well, you know, it’s funny though, and I hear you what you’re saying. So, I’m looking at like this. So, you said Houston, uh, Minnesota, and who was the other team you said? Denver. Denver. Okay. Denver probably of the three would make the most sense to me because I think Houston, you don’t want to do anything right now at all to slow Reed Shepard’s role. Great. And you you brought in Kevin Durant. You’re running your offense that way. You got Shen Goon there. Ammon Thompson has a lot of ball handling on his plate. Reed Shepard has broken through. I don’t know that that makes a lot of sense. And and and I don’t know that that voice in that particular huddle of Chris Paul’s not going to change his sort of u you know voice um approach. I don’t know that that’s going to work there. Funny thing I I kind of chuckled at Minnesota just because you’re thinking like when you I love Mike Connley. He’s one of my favorite players of this generation at point guard spot. I just love everything he represents. But Mike Connley is has really lost a lot and he’s again he’s pushing 40, right? He’s a, you know, close. So you go out and let’s say you go, okay, you know what, Mike, you’re you’re losing a little bit. You’re getting a little older. So we’re going to go out and get a 40-year-old and we’re going to try to give those minutes to So I don’t know that that’s I don’t know that that’s the right, you know, approach there. I think you probably want to get something younger, more athletic. They thought maybe Dillingham could be that. I don’t I don’t think they believe Dillingham’s is is is there. Where will he ever be? I don’t know. He’s not right now. So, Denver maybe would be the spot. Maybe that’s the one that makes the most sense. They just need ball handling. I mean, one of the things you have to ask is who are they who would he be replacing? And right now, nobody. I mean, Denver doesn’t have a backup point guard. So, um, but as somebody points out in the comments, Denver’s defense has fallen off a cliff here recently without them. You put, uh, Chris Paul in the mix and it’s probably going to fall off another cliff. They’ll have another cliff for that defense. Uh, but bizarre story, man. Another one that’s a little bit bizarre and this just broke before the show, but according to Brian Winhorse to ESPN, a man in the know, Giannis has apparently already asked the Milwaukee Bucks for a trade. I don’t know what to make of this. It’s obviously a new story, but last week we did I made proclamations, and one of my proclamations was that there will be a trade this year that completely shakes up the NBA and and tilts the landscape. And he was one of the guys I just had in mind. I thought it’s it’s not impossible to think of him demanding one. If this report is true and this this story picks up steam to me it would be the biggest single biggest story in the NBA in terms of you know things that would alter the course of a season. What do you make of just hearing this report that he has apparently asked for a trade from Milwaukee? Well um Wendy’s got great sources and so he’s getting this information and it’s you know he he’s he’s reliable. He’s not going on there with something that’s iffy. I’m curious to see now what the reaction is going to be from their organization from Giannis. Like wait there has it’s been quiet so far. We’ll see what happens here over the next you know half a day and what they come out with. I’m not shocked by this. Jiannis Antmpo is a guy that I think we’ve been talking about going in and voicing this for a long time. Even before he won his championship, we were talking about the day that Giannis would eventually leave Milwaukee because it’s tough for certain markets to keep guys and and that was one of them. And you didn’t know if he’d break through, but he did. He stayed. He resigned. Everybody gave him so much credit for that. Oh, look at this man. The guy’s going to stay in the small market. He wants he he thinks it’s his responsibility as a guy that they drafted to take that organization to a place um that they can’t get to otherwise and he’s going to stay and get it done. And he got it done. Oh, and everybody lauded him, which they should have. That doesn’t mean he’s going to stay there forever. And I think now you’re looking at this. They’re he’s they’re nine and 13. They’re outside the the playinth. And he’s looking at it maybe like I don’t know at this stage of my career. I’m still putting up 30, you know, 11 and six on 60% shooting. So, he still has MVP type numbers even though his team isn’t in that mix to put him in that conversation in my opinion. He’s still the same player he was a few years ago. So, he can still go and get this done somewhere else. And I don’t know what’s going to happen in Milwaukee. I think he finally has come to the realization. And look, he got a title done there. He got it done. Now, obviously the fan base never wants to hear this, but there is also a certain amount of understanding that comes with a fan base when the guy actually got it done. And it’s several years later and the prospects don’t look great for this team. No one should be shocked if this is true. And now we sit and we wait and see how this plays out over the next, you know, month or two and leading up to the trading deadline if he actually is demanding out. Well, they’ve lost eight of their last nine games. their only win is against Brooklyn. Um, so they’re in a freef fall and you know they got Detroit, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston coming up. Those are four teams that they are competing with, you would think, but when I just read it off right now, it doesn’t feel like Milwaukee is going to be beating that caliber of team just how they’ve been lately. So, they’re in a freef fall. I don’t want to go too far into this one just because it is a new story and I don’t, you know, I don’t want to have to like really pull on this thread. But, it is one of those things that could totally alter the way this season goes. I do want to talk though about one of your guys. Well, because you prodded me on it, and that is a guy who’s having a breakout season so far this year. Colin Gillespie just recently helped lead the Phoenix Suns to a win. Oh, there it is. Like, did he claim this guy already? Are you just preemptively? Did you Did you claim I did? Are you claiming him right now? I did. James knows what’s what. Giving him the preemptive claim. Okay. I was going to say I don’t remember it but I’ll I was throwing you an alleyoop to claim him here. Yeah. Well, basically listen how it works also like if one of us triggers the conversation through a text message about a guy and it hasn’t come up before that to me is basically the same as claiming your guy. You know what I mean? It’s basically the same thing. Okay. All right. This what is one of the more this is one of the more fascinating stories that you’re gonna have and I I just so relate to it. Appreciate it. Respect it. So, I’ll get I’ll give you the real quick the Reader Digest version. For people that don’t know, Colin Gillespie is a Philadelphia Catholic League high school player. He played at Archbishop, Archbishop Wood in the Northeast. And going back first to his high school career. You’re talking about a guy who was a steady player in high school, a good player in a great league. It’s one of the best high school leagues in the country, the Philadelphia Catholic League. A lot of division one players come out of the Philadelphia Catholic League. and he was a good player. Going into his senior year, he had no scholarship offers. In fact, he said his his dream would be if he got an offer from Delaware. Like that was his that was the offer he wanted to get. Well, that year, I think it was February or March of that year, he played a game, a very high-profile regular season. Philadelphia Catholic League game at the Pstra, which they play games there, and he played the the playoffs and finals of that league are played there in front of a complete packed house. 10,000 people go to these high school games in Philly. And he was playing against a kid named Cuad Green who had already committed to Kentucky from I think Newman Gerretti. And he scored 42 points in that game. Colin Gillespie outplayed this kid. Jay Wright was there. Jay Wright then proceeds to offer Colin Gillespie a scholarship. He goes to Villanova is part of a rotational player on a champion national championship team as a freshman where he actually played minutes in the national championship game. Proceeds to go on and win Big East player of the year by the time he’s done at NOVA. Enters the professional world undrafted. a bunch of two-way contracts. Denver even had them for a time. Probably didn’t get to see enough of them at Denver to know what you had. Finally ends up in Phoenix this year. Signs a one-year guaranteed contract going into the season for $2 million. So, he finally felt security. And all this guy has done this year is in in he’s now starting for them playing 27 minutes a game. Um, but this is the what the guy has done in the last uh what six games. 20 15 16 21 24 and 28. He’s now starting for this team. He’s shooting over 50% basically every night. He’s shooting 50% from the three. He’s getting assists. He’s always on the court at the end of the game. He’s become now a critical player for the Phoenix Suns and basically their starting point guard. That’s where this guy came from going into his senior year of high school without a scholarship offer. He’s now starting for the Suns and playing out of his mind. And last note, I played he played for an AA program called the Northeast Sting in Northeast Philly. They weren’t one of the shoe sponsored leagues. Like I coached in the Under Armour circuit, but you go into some of these tournaments, they’re not all shoe tournaments. Sometimes you go into a regular like a good tournament. We’ve played his team I by my estimation eight to 10 times. They never beat us one time. We never lost to I think one time. Not one time. We had some games come down to the wire. They were very well coached. He had another guard on that team that was really good. And he stood out to me because I mean this kid’s tough. He’s smart. had no idea if he was even going to be a division one player at the time and look what he’s done. So I these are the kind of guys that you just love the story, love the perseverance, the toughness and you know coming through from a program that knows how to develop NBA players and Colin Gillespie is the latest on that list man and he has arrived. He’s arrived and I think he’s going to be doing great things in this league now for the rest of his career. Yeah, he uh so he shoots the ball really well. Well, I mean, to your point, he’s a winner and he plays like a winning style basketball, but he shoots the ball very well. He runs point guard extremely well. I mean, that’s his natural thing is he just has a feel a sense of how to run a team, who to get, how to get guys involved, the pace to play, when to speed it up, when to slow it down, passes incredibly well. And then here’s a a thing that I think is very important. He’s really beloved. He was beloved here in Denver. Like one of those guys, you know, the locker room, there’s some guys like this guy, like that guy. He was one of the guys that everybody loved. just has this charisma about him and now you go to Phoenix and you see the exact same thing and when you’re a point guard I think that’s a very important trait is that hey you have to lead the team on the floor does everybody sort of trust you and like you and just kind of get along with you so to me he has all those things then he for his only limitation is his body because he defends really well for his size he has limitations obviously in what he can do but he’s a true point guard and he does all the things that you need of a true point guard and that’s Phoenix Suns team you know madespia told us in the offseason that he had to reset the culture, but he believed in the guys and they’re going to defend and they’re going to do all these things. Colin Gillespie is an example of a guy that’s helping reset that culture because he fits exactly the nononsense type of stuff that you’re trying to do. So, I credit him a lot and I I don’t think it’s a fluke either. I think he’s going to hang around that team, but also just hang around the league as yep, when he’s on the floor, you have a true point guard that makes sure you’re always doing the thing you’re trying you were supposed to be trying to do. And I want to just one last point on this because I lived in this world when I came out of South undrafted like he was. I you know and I took a road similar played he played in some G leagues some two-way I was in the CBA went to Europe right similar and then what happens is during that time you when you do get opportunities to play at the NBA level they’re so focused a lot of times on on your weaknesses your co the coaching staff that when when that surfaces in a game then they then you’re out of the game and you never get a chance to prove number one that maybe that weakness isn’t quite as big a weakness as you think it is because like in his case 6-1 and you’re thinking he’s going to get picked on a little bit like defensively then then you come to find out you know what actually once his offense he has a little breakthrough one night and now he gets a little bit more run and you decide to leave him on the court now you start to get a longer look at him as a coach and you go actually this guy’s really competitive defensively he slides his feet he’s got quick hands to rake he’s always in the right place as a help defender with his rotations and he’s really smart. So like that he’s perfectly fine defensively, but you have to have a breakthrough on the other end first. And that happened, but him having a couple good games, fourth quarters, he played well for a couple games. Next thing you know, they’re putting him in there earlier in the first half and now it’s like, wow, this guy can really play. So now I’m not as focused on his weaknesses anymore. It’s just it’s really it happens to so many guys. And look, man, I there’s a there’s there’s hundreds of guys that never had the breakthrough offensively to allow them to stay on the floor and you never heard of them. They’re out of the league within two to three years or if they even got a chance to play, right? So, that breakthrough has to come from a coaching staff that finally goes, you know what, this dude is getting it done on one end and now all of a sudden, you know what, the other end it doesn’t bother me as much and or maybe he’s actually better than I thought he was in certain areas. And I think that’s what Colin Gillespie has done. It’s happened right before our eyes over the last two weeks really. And like I said, I think this dude is now good to go as a view NBA starter his whole career, but he’s going to be an NBA rotational player for a very long time in this league because he just had that breakthrough right in front of our eyes. Well, one last thing here in this opening layup lines that I wanted to get to, and that is the Boston Celtics got a big win last night against the New York Knicks. If you remember, we talked about on Monday them getting a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Prior to that, it was the Detroit Pistons. And prior prior to that, it was the Orlando Magic. Those are the teams that we are talking about as being at the top of the uh or or in contention for playoff spots with in the Eastern Conference. And here they are going 4-0 against them. They did lose to Minnesota in between then, a Western Conference team. But when you talk about having to beat the teams in your conference, this short-handed team just did that. And I’m giving a shout out to another guy that I really love. I don’t know if I’m claiming him as my guy and he’s not in the Colin Gillespie category, but Jordan Walsh, who we praised on Monday, once again comes up big. And I’m trying to think of who this guy reminds me of. He almost has a little bit of Josh Hart in him and that he’s a guard who’s going to do all the guard things, play hard, wear, guard your other best player and rotate and do all this stuff. But what’s his offensive value? The guy just goes so freaking hard on the offensive boards and he may seems to find an offensive rebound at the exact moment that is most critical. And that’s a Josh Hart trait. Like Josh Hardy, offensive rebounder, yes, he’s great, but he always gets the offensive rebound in the exact moment it’s needed. Jordan Walsh did that last night. Played the short roll, kicked it out, missed three, grabs the offensive board, puts it back in, and it was like, man, that was the biggest play of the night. Well, he this was they were down 14 in this game and they looked like they were getting run off the floor. So, they erased that deficit and now you now here you go. You got a you got basically a one quarter to decide the game because they’re pretty much even. And Jordan Walsh was huge in the fourth quarter. Six points, five rebounds in the fourth quarter. Derek White played great down the stretch, which he’s prone to do. And then Jaylen Brown was a monster the entire game and had a big play late um with a breakaway. Gets a dunk kind of seals the game. This is a great win for Boston. There’s no other way to describe it. You look at what they have done and the way they’ve turned things around from the way they looked early. So impressive. And Jordan Walsh is taking advantage of an opportunity on the wing with this team. And sometimes you get this added opportunity because of injuries. You better jump on it because it’s going to change the narrative about you going forward. And it’s going to it’s going to create a more of an opportunity, a valuable opportunity even after their hole. You’re going to find ways to get him minutes. And this was the first opportunity he’s had to play consistent consistently in this league. And he’s he seems to be on the floor, Adam, to your point, in the mix in a lot of important runs during games for the Boston Celtics. And some nights that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s scoring, but he plays hard. He’s rebounding the ball very well and he just seems to be in the middle of of like plus minus on the plus side when you have to have it in a game. He seems to be part of that. So I think he’s also a guy that’s had a breakthrough like Gillespie and not to Gillespiey’s level like you said because Gillespie’s got the ball a lot now. He’s really playing free. Jordan Walsh is still going to be very much a role player and how it comes but he’s earned the right to be on the floor in big spots for this team. Boston Celtics are two and a half games out of the two seed legs. Like this happened quick. You go on a run and now here they are. They play a lot of the teams ahead of them here in the next week and a half. So, just don’t be surprised if you look up and see the Boston Celtics up there in the top of the Eastern Conference standings, which would just be crazy. All right, we got to take a break. We got to take a break on the other side. Our game of the night, and we’re going to do our FanDuel game breakdown was the Thunder dominating the uh the Warriors, then choking it, and then dominating again in the clutch. We’ll break it down on the other side. But first, you guys, let me tell you about a new partner here, Aura Frames. If you’re a last minute shopper like me right now, what do you have 22 days before Christmas? 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In New York, call the 247 hope line at 18778 hopey or text hopey. All right, back here. Segment two, me and Tim Legler, and let’s do our FanDuel game breakdown. We pick a game that we’re going to go do a deep dive on. The Thunder got the win last night, legs, 124 to 112, but it wasn’t without a little struggle. They were up 20 points at one point in this game. It was a blowout. I thought the game was over. I think I texted you something that there wasn’t any good game to break down. But Draymond Green picked up his fifth foul in the third quarter, which means we have to bring in the reserves. Led by Pat Spencer, who had an incredible run in this game. They climbed all the way back and took a lead. They forced OKC to play clutch time for one of the the rare times this year, but the Thunder operated in the clutch. This was a 12-point win despite blowing a 20-point lead, which to me in some ways is even more impressive than just winning by 20. We know they can win by 20. They do it every night. But to blow a lead trail and then be able to execute in the clutch to make it a second blow out of the night, I was very impressed. Yeah, this was different than the normal formula for OKC. But what you saw was again typical example of how good they are when they just lock in and they and look the third quarter to me was probably you might it might be the one of the worst quarters played defensively for the Thunder all year that you’re going to find. They scored the Golden State Warriors scored as many points in the third quarter as they did in the first half. 44 point. I mean, 44 points against the Thunder in a quarter is just definitely them not really playing with the level of intensity that you want. Now, look, give Golden State credit because they they didn’t completely wave the white flag when they fell down 20. They kept playing and now you start to, you know, you get a few buckets, now it’s instead of 21, it’s now it’s 15, now it’s 12. and you start to have some belief and give them credit because they kept playing. You mentioned Pat Spencer who was great. Seth Curry gave him great minutes. He just he just is now join the mix with this team in the rotation. He played really really well for them as also. So they they kind of helped lead this comeback. Next thing you know, you look up, they got the lead and they took the lead of four points. Now you’re thinking, okay, OKC is now going to have to work over the last eight minutes of the game to get this done. And you saw what it looked like when they go to work. It looks a lot different than it did in the third quarter. Their defense all of a sudden there are no driving lanes. Every driving lane you’re in traffic. Every every drive is forced to be a kickout rather than get to the rim which they were in the third quarter. Um and they’re they were getting back in transition again. And then on the other end they were just carving them up. Shay did what he wanted during that stretch, but they also moved the ball so well to find the right guy with one more pass to lead to an open shot. They made it look really easy over the last like six minutes of the game, which is kind of how they make it look a lot of nights. So, I think that was more like who they are, who they’ve been than what happened to them in the third quarter. But look, here’s what’s happening right now, Adam, in front of our eyes, right? This team now because they’re 21-1, this team is at the point if they’re even trailing in a game in the second half, it’s almost like you’re going to cut you’re going to cut away to it. Like you’re going to have like the national news cast cut away and they’re going to have the the Thunder game in the upper right hand corner of the screen, right? Because it’s like, oh my gosh, everybody’s on the edge of their seat. Are they going to lose a game tonight? Like that’s where they’re at. And guess what? They’re going to be like that all year because everybody’s looking now, hey, 73 is absolutely doable. And so now, if you fall behind in the fourth quarter, you’re the Thunder. This becomes national story. Social media is going to blow up. Thunder are in trouble. Everybody’s going to be kind of flipping over to League Pass or following the game on their phone. That’s what they’ve created now. And that’s what happened last night a little bit. And then they just went, “Oh, sorry for tuning in, but here’s what’s about to happen. next six minutes, we’re gonna shut this thing down. And that’s exactly what they did. And they end up cruising to a game in which they were really in trouble there at one point. The I I just want to stick to this game for one second, but I do want to move on to the to the Thunder here. My only last point about this game was how impressive their defense looked in quarters one, two, and four. I mean, that third quarter, the wheels kind of came off. Warriors had a a momentum. That crowd was great, by the way. uh that Golden State crowd, they they really I thought were helping will them in because you kind of felt it coming and the crowd was going nuts. Uh but the defense, the amount of guys that can play defense, they were asked after the game, I think it was Shay after the game was asked, “Who’s the best defender on the team?” And he’s like, “I literally can’t tell you. I have no idea because we have so many guys that you could say that you could argue is the best defender.” And that’s what it feels like. Other than that third quarter, there were just so many guys who could make big-time defensive plays. And you know, Golden State’s a ball movement team. When they get the ball popping, you can really see like of some breakdowns, but not against OKC. Outside of that third quarter, there were some great drive, kick, swing the ball around the rock, but there was always a Thunder player rotating to the next spot. And there’s just no team in the NBA that is able to make that many rotations on point. And they do it so effortlessly. And here’s what’s again crazy because I called a couple games like that this year for the for the Thunder. We’re talking, you’re talking about how great their defense was in quarters one, two, and four. And again, we have to mention they didn’t have two of the best defensive players in the league even suited up for them. And that’s where that’s where you start to go this team has a legitimate shot. If they want to, if it matters to them, they are going to be in position to break the single season record for 73 wins if they want to do it because they can do it on nights when they’re not even playing some of their best defenders and they can still be dominant for three of the four quarters in a game. Um, or for certain stretches in a game. Doesn’t matter. They’re so deep defensively that it doesn’t matter if they even have everybody every night. And all that means is that you guys are getting rest on certain nights of the year and they’ve already got all this depth. So it’s it’s a real thing, man. We’re going to be watching it all year. And like I said, they’ve created now a regular season potential loss has become a major headline. If you even get them on the ropes, you’ve accomplished something. And that’s kind of crazy. I think this last week I’ve kind of turned the corner with OKC. And and the question I wanted to ask you today was just do they have a weakness? Do they have a vulnerability? because my opinion of them last year was that they were a really good regular season team. They were great. They could win the title, but that they weren’t going to be as great in the playoffs. That teams were going to be able to match some of their physicality. Their defense was so great, but everybody’s going to elevate their intensity and defense. And that’s what happened last year. They have two seven game series. They end up winning it, but it they weren’t as dominant in the postseason as they were in the regular season. This year, I just don’t think that’s the case. I think that we’re looking at a team that is better than last year that won the title last year that has the confidence of last year and oh by the way their best player is better and we’ll talk about him here in a second. But I just look at this this year and I think I think we might all be fooling ourselves. The Thunder might just be a tier or two above everyone else and even on their bad nights like last night where they give up 44 points in a quarter, they still find a way to get back into rhythm and get a comfortable win. I just I’m going to ask you the question. Do they have a vulnerability? Do they have a weakness in their system? I don’t think they do anymore because they become a more reliable three-point shooting team. that to me last year when it would come up I would say that’s the one thing even though they were they were lapping the field in the West and even in the league really with their margin that they had over everybody and their defense was historically good and you’re going okay Shay was playing like an MVP and you’re going how can you beat them and I would say well if you there are nights when they can have a drought from the three-point line that was last year they don’t seem to have that as much this year they they seem to be they’re middle of the pack now percentage-wise makes all that and on good nights they’re they’re right there with anybody. So that to me is not an issue anymore. If you know I saw somebody say the one issue they have the one weakness is sometimes they get bored let their foot off the gas. I wouldn’t necessarily label that as a weakness because they’re they’re still winning those games. I don’t even think it’s true though legs. This is the thing about them is I actually don’t think they let their foot up. I last night, you know, Golden State made some great plays. They got some momentum, but I think OKC is pretty good at just we’re up 10. Now we’re up 15. Now we’re up 20. I I I actually don’t know if I agree with that that they let their foot off. I agree. Listen, I here’s what I was say watching the two teams last year and what I’ve seen so far out of 22 games this year. Last year, I agree with what you just said. I actually used the word I think on our podcast podcast, I described them as cruel. They were cruel the way they treated opponents, the way that they the way that they would sense it, man, and smell it and suffocate you and and and like I would describe like what it looked like the way, you know, when you feed a fish in a fish tank and all the fish swarm to the lane. Like that’s what they look like defensively, even up 20, you know, coming out coming into the fourth quarter with five reserves in the game last year. They’re picking up three quarter court and they’re cruel. They’re cruel in their approach. Like there was nothing. There was not enough. Hunger, hunger, hunger all the time. I do think this year I’ve seen some stretches in games where they do look a little bit like almost like this is kind of easy for us. But again, it doesn’t matter because they’re winning those games. Last night would have been a perfect example like you know you have this big lead, you lose the lead and it’s kind of like okay Golden State home crowd. I know Jimmy Butler was out of the game. You didn’t have Steph. Didn’t matter. They’re playing great. The home crowd was there. they had all the momentum and it’s just like they come out of a timeout and it’s just like okay next eight minutes are going to be like just absolutely like suffocating and that’s what they’re able to do to you. But I do think there are moments in games this year when I’ve watched them and it looks a little bit almost like there’s some mercy there for their opponent in a way that I didn’t see last year. And by the way, we’re just starting December. They’re not going to they’re not going to show that same mercy after the All-Star game. All right. So, you know, when you when you get down to that part and and Dagnel’s going to let Dagnol’s not going to let that happen. I’m Look, we’re nitpicking trying to find something. Yeah, there’s nothing. This team doesn’t have a weakness. They’ve got a superstar offensive player to build around. They’ve got they’ve got shooters around him. They’ve got supplemental guys to run their offense through, including now another one in AJ Mitchell to go with Jaylen Williams. Chad, you’ve got the the the the biggest stable of legitimate top tier individual defenders in the league without question, particularly on the perimeter. Exceptionally well coached, great chemistry. No, there isn’t a weakness. There isn’t. We’re trying to we’re trying to give the rest of the league hope. And it’s there there’s nothing there, man. I I’m going to give you one weakness, but I’m with you. It’s not really a weakness. It’s more of the only way you have a chance against them. I think that with as good as they rotate, ball movement can still take away some of their teeth. I mean, they’re just so good. If you’re going to hold the ball and try to attack them one-on-one, they got like nine guys that can guard everyone one-on-one, you’re not going to beat them that way, that they’re too good. But if you can really move the ball against them, and I thought, but part of what happened in that run was you bring in some other guys, the ball was popping, you had some guys making shots and getting into the paint and and making tough shots. I want to see them against some of the better ball movement teams at full strength because I think that’s the one thing. It’s not even a weakness. It’s just that that’s the one seam you can get into. But again, it’s so hard to move the ball against them because the more you move the ball, the more you’re likely to get a turnover the other direction and they kill you that way, too. Well, I I listen, I I hear what you’re saying, and you’re right. You definitely can’t beat this team um by utilizing the dribble too much. You just can’t. You It has to move through the air. You’ve got to force them to shift and then change sides of the floor with the ball. But here’s the only thing I’ll say about that. They also happen to be the best I think I’ve ever seen, not just in the league now, at weak side closeouts and getting to the getting to the ball and closing that. No question. They they they flood from the edge of the lane when they help for rotation that weak side. Those guys will get to the edge or even the middle of the lane sometimes and that ball goes to the other side to the opposite wing, opposite corner, the the the way number one, the way that they can communicate who’s going you here’s one thing you never see Oklahoma City do, which other teams in this league do, even good defensive teams, when that ball is penetrated on one side of the floor and then it’s swung to the other side to try to take advantage of all the over rotation. You’ll see teams in this league have two guys fly on the first pass to the same place and now one more pass to the corner guy gets a wide open three. Oklahoma City doesn’t make those mistakes. One guy flies to the wing if that’s where the ball went. That second guy is going to the next pass to the corner. So what looks like on film when you freeze it and you go, “Okay, look how far these two guys are going to have to go right now. No way can they get there and chase two passes and contest. It’s amazing. Then you hit play and they manage to eat up all that space. So they they do that better than anybody I’ve ever seen. So you’re you’re right. That is the way. But even that way is tough against this team. It’s almost impossible. You have to play perfect basketball to have give yourself a chance. But there’s one reason I think that they’re actually better than last year as well that we haven’t mentioned yet legs. And that is that I think Shay Gilis Alexander is better than last year and I think he was very good last year. Obviously won the MVP, but his weakness in my opinion, one of his weaknesses was his three-point shot, if you could force him into it, was like, “All right, he’s going to get around you. If he’s in the mid-range, he’s going to make it, but from three, he’s a little vulnerable to some cold spells.” Not true this year. 43 and a half% from three on the season. He went five of six last night. and legs. Last night, he took some threes in big moments that it almost felt like he knows that’s his weakness and he’s working on it. Like, you know what? The one area I’m not a 100 out of 100 is on the three-point shot. So, let me try to close this game with some back sideep and step back threes. And his three-point shot just has more confidence to it. If that’s the case, his footwork is too good. He gets around everybody. He gets to his spots and he hits that mid-range, it feels like 100%. But if he has that three-pointer, it just takes them to another level. And I honestly think that’s part of the equation this year is he is looking for his three in big moments just to almost like strengthen that muscle. Here’s how I’m viewing him now. He was he was obviously a deserving and worthy MVP a year ago. It was a great debate with him and Joic. He he obviously deserved it. They won a championship. But now everybody’s viewing their team, the totality of their team as so great, so dominant, so overwhelming, so deep that this year, I think for him to to become immediately the front runner and and then hold on and win another MVP, I think two things are going to have to happen. I believe like they couldn’t have had just a really good year. win 626 63 games, go through four rounds in the playoffs, you know, although the MVP has nothing to do with the postseason, but let’s say win 63 games, maybe his numbers came down a little bit, but he’s still great. That might have been hard for him to win an MVP. Here’s what was going to have to happen. his team was going to have to do something that may be unprecedented, which they could be on the brink of doing, but and more importantly, when we view the totality as so overwhelming, he was gonna have to somehow someway be better than he was last year statistically. And he’s pulling it off, which is really hard to believe because you would think the year he had last year, 32.7 points, whatever, five and a half rebounds, six and a half assist, 50% from the field, 37 from the three, whatever he was. It’s a hell of a year. How are you going to top that? Well, how about I go up my scoring notch just barely. I’m shooting at higher rate from the field. I’m much higher from the three-point line. I’m still getting to the line 10 times a game. And my assist numbers are basically the same. And by the way, we’re 21 and one. You wouldn’t think his numbers would be as good on a 21-1 team because that would mean more fourth quarters. Like he’s not playing probably 10 of them he skipped already. Somehow someway he’s still getting to those numbers and actually has improved upon an incredible year a year ago with possibly unprecedented team success. Shay Gil just Alexander barring injury. He’s going to win the MVP again, man. He’s gonna have 70 plus wins. I just it’s almost a lock that they’re going to get 70 plus wins and you know it’s just it’s such an absurd number that it is certainly Think about this. Think about this. Think about this, Adam. for them to end up on 69. They’re gonna have to play so much worse than they have to this point. Okay, they’re 21 and one, right? They could go 47 and 12 the rest of the year and be so much worse than they’ve been going 47 and 12. So, you’re right, that’s not going to happen. 70 is a lock. Like, that’s a given. question is you get down to the last whatever man you’re going to be probably three weeks of the season left you know or maybe two weeks you’re at 70 and then do they did they then they’re going to have a 10game lead at least in the Western Conference at least are you going to then go ahead and maybe and here’s the thing maybe they can do it without even playing everybody every night that would be the most incredible thing where they’re actually giving guys nights off and still winning to break this record That would be incredible. I mean, if they break the record, it’ll be that way. I just they’re not going to wear themselves out just to chase it. But I just they’re already missing guys and they’re already winning by 20. So, I don’t I don’t know what to say, but I will say they are better than last year. I think they’re better to the margins. Guys like Chad are better. Jaylen Williams getting back, he’s going to become better, but I think Shay Gildus Alexander is better than last year. And for all those reasons, uh, and then you have the experience and the confidence of the playoffs last year, they’re just a better team. I mean, they added they’ve added a future star player in AJ Mitchell. Hey, my guy. I think I will say this. Over the last week, I officially moved into I think we might be fooling ourselves. This just there just might be a team that’s a lot better. And thinking someone’s going to beat him this year is starting to feel like part of part of all of our jobs in this industry is to try to make this season as interesting as we possibly can by by creating threats. Now, here here’s what I will say. I texted somebody this this morning because they were lamenting this fact that we’re talking about right now, and I said, “Actually, I think this is good. I think this is good because this is the first time in a long time where you’re just like this, you know, the Golden State team gave us that with Durant. Yeah. Where you’re like this is so obviously the best team. It gives the whole league a target and now that they’re winning at this rate, you’re like, okay, this is news. every night they play, you’re you’re way like this is going to be a huge story when they lose a game. And I think it creates this like massive like almost the totality of the league trying to take down this monstrous team. The only thing they lack is that guy that you hate. That’s all they lack. Like because if they had one of those on the team or a couple of them, trash talkers like cocky guys that were they’re machines. Yeah. Right. If they had that now, you really have literally it’s like the Darth Vader. Like you’re like everybody’s coming for this team and everybody celebrates when they get knocked off. I don’t know that they could create that because they got a bunch of good dudes. So, you know, you don’t feel that way about it, but they have created this sense of everybody having to align to try to figure out a way to take down this team because they look that invincible. Well, let’s wrap up today’s show by talking about some would you rathers and comparing some big players because I just think it’s fun. Uh, and we we put together a list of some players that I think are almost impossible. The first one I’m going to do, legs, we’re talking about, you just became the GM of, you know, a new team, an expansion team, and you get to pick between these two players to build your roster around. Who would you rather build around, Anthony Edwards or Cade Cunningham? We can pull up their numbers right here so you can look at them if you want to see on screen here. Anthony Edwards or Kade Cunningham. These are their numbers this year. This one to me it’s like two of my favorite players in the league. I don’t know how you’d pick this, man. I don’t know. I went over this was by far the hardest one. You gave me like five or you gave me five pairs. This is by far the hardest one. I don’t know how you make the decision. I think here’s what Can I give you Can I do it this way? Can I give you my selling point for each guy if I were to go that way? Absolutely. All right. If you’re going to go with Cade, it’s the playmaking component on top of like he could score. The his ability to beat you with his playmaking. Anthony Edwards is not quite on that level yet. Um and maybe never will be. Kate Cunningham’s a point guard. Anthony Edwards is a wing. It’s a big difference. So, if you’re going to go with Cade, you know, and maybe you just like overall like his demeanor, man, he plays so under control and you feel like that’s always going to be an answer, like you’re never going to get him to a place where he’s out of control or sped up or taking a shot he doesn’t want to take. That that’s maybe it or it’s the playmaking, just a flatout vision and size. He can find people, run a team that way. If you’re selling Anthony Edwards, I think it’s just this dude is just like a stone cold killer. like he wants it so badly and he’s got, you know, not unparalleled athleticism because there are other guys in the league that are close, but the the raw athletic ability combined with his want to. He wants to break through and win so badly and it’s so obvious the way he wears it. That would be your argument for Anthony Edwards if you went that way. I think I would go Kade on this one just because I I tend to lean a little bit more towards floor generals, guys that can control the tempo of a game perfectly. And Anthony Edwards is going to give you great scoring, but we have seen in playoff situations, we have seen that you can kind of force him into things that he doesn’t like. You trap him. How does he affect the game from that? Uh get him in the mid-range. I know he’s worked on it, but how does he affect it there? Kate Cunningham’s one of those guys that doesn’t seem to be disrupted. like he can you’re always going to be able to play the pace that he plays. So, I lean slightly there, but somebody had a great comment in the in the chat there. They said, “I would take the second pick.” You know, I would let you have that. If we were drafting this, I would say, “I’ll take whichever one’s left because they’re both so great to Pretty good. It’s pretty good.” But K, this just shows you where Kad’s at. If we did this a year ago, it’d be a no-brainer. I think a year, maybe a year and a half ago, people would laugh or scoff at the idea of this. But this just shows you how how great Kad’s been. The one thing I will say is Kades won playoffs, you know, and and so a lot of this is we’re we’re almost judging Anthony Edwards for what we’ve seen in the playoffs for multiple years where Kade hasn’t done that yet. And so it almost like saves him in a way. Are you going to force me to pick? I want to hear I’ll take I really did I really didn’t pick. Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m gonna I’m gonna let this be decided by the fact that Anthony Edwards has been to two conference finals. He has won massive game sevens right on the road. Great point. Anthony Anthony Edwards um I’m going to go with him because I think I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt that hey, he has had deep playoff runs. And I’m not saying, hey, maybe Detroit does it this year. Detroit might get to the finals this year. I I think it’s it’s possible. But to this point, as we sit here right now, I’m going to go with Anthony Edwards because he has done that on that stage in big moments and led his team to really difficult circumstances to win series where they beca came within one series of playing in the NBA finals. They’ve done it twice. Let’s do one more before we get out of here just because we were going to do five of these, but maybe we’ll just save them and roll these out over the next couple weeks for uh you rather Wednesday. Let’s do one more and I’m going to do Jaylen Brunson or Donovan Mitchell. Another one of two guys that are very compared to each other quite a bit. Where would you go here if you had to build around one of these two guys? That’s easy for me. This one’s not too This one’s not too difficult for me. It’s Jaylen Brunson. Is this just because of the success, you know, the success the Knicks have had in the play in the postseason over Donovan Mitchell? No, it’s because I’m I trust Jaylen Brunson more in in in big spots. I trust Jaylen Brunson more now. I don’t necessarily always love his style. I don’t, you know, especially those nights when, you know, it’s it’s they’ve tried to make it a little less this year, but I don’t think it’s necessarily played out that way, like the less pounding of the ball and and for like multiple possessions in a row where it’s like it’s just all about Jayla Brunson pounding the ball and getting to a spot. But I do feel like he is not affected by the lights. He’s not affected by the stage, by the moment, the importance of this next six minutes, the importance of the last four minutes, the importance of this game. He was built for those moments. He’s been like that his entire life. So, I trust him more in those spots, I think, than I do Donovan Mitchell. What’s tough about this one for me is I think Mitchell might be the more like just aggregate skill player, more, you know, whatever. They’re both obviously it’s neck and neck. They’re both phenomenal. What you’re hinting at or what I think you’re hinting at here is that Jaylen Brunson has a very even kill demeanor. And Donovan Mitchell when he gets going, there’s like an intensity to him or what have you. But when you talk about a playoff series, Jaylen Brunson can lose a game in the clutch at the buzzer or whatever. And he has this demeanor about him, this like just very stone cold stoic resiliency to him that I think is really important. And that might give him for me I because part of this is stylistic. I don’t love the Brunson style, but I think I’m with you that I would take Brunson because there is something to me about playoff series are always going to test you emotionally, all those things. And Brunson seems like a guy to me that just never cracks. He’s always confident. He’s always calm. And uh his team takes on that persona or often takes on that persona of like, hey, he’s calm, we’re calm. Yeah. And I think I just think also I do think that he’s more likely to play the game he wants to his strengths. he’s more likely to do that against even great defenses. Whereas, I do think there’s games that I I will watch Mitchell where he’ll be quiet for a quarter. He can turn it on at any point, but I also sense sometimes he he he will try to hit you with that big home run step back three like that’s not necessarily needed in that moment. And I saw a lot of that Adam and Utah. I look I I really really admire both of these guys. Um, tremendous players, tremendous talents, but I just there’s something about Brunson that you kind of feel like, man, if you’re about to play a game seven to get to the next round or a game seven to get to the finals, something like that, you kind of feel like, you know, Brunson’s going to play well. Yeah, I would still take Ant or Kate over both of them, but that was not the question. It was just putting these two guys side by side. Let’s real quickly as we get out of here, look at our FanDuel DS of the night. This is presented by FanDuel. Uh, do we have those? Do you have those, James, for tonight? Let’s see. Our FanDuel duels of the night. Who do we have? Nuggets Pacers. That probably isn’t that great of a game. Nuggets desperately need a win. Bla Blazers at Cavs could be compelling. Spurs at Magic could be very good. The Spurs continue to play well. Magic playing well. This will be a really good matchup. I I’m interested in that one. Legs, what do you think? Yeah, I I I like that. Spurs Magic. Orlando’s really turned things around. Um, playing great right now. their defense is is is getting back on that level it was a year ago. Looking at that one and then also, you know, I just think this Pistons Bucks one, yeah, with everything hanging in the air about Giannis could be interesting, man, if Detroit goes in in Milwaukee and puts one on them, you know, beats them by 1520, you know, you just wonder how much more like the conversation is going to pick up tomorrow and then in the following days about this Giannis situation. So, I’m kind of watching that one. And then, you know, Miami Dallas, I think, will be intriguing for me as well. Uh the last one and you look at all the great players when they played in the garden for the first time. It was something special going to the garden tonight. Khan Canipple goes to the garden. One of my favorite guys. Khan Canipple’s first trip to the garden. Let’s see what happens. Legs. Well, you’ve put Wait, you’ve put Canipple on that level we’re talking about for Oh, man. Kobe, is he going to have words with Spike Lee tonight? That’s what I want. You never know what’s going to happen, man. You never know. Uh, all right. We got a couple quick super chats to hit here. What do we get here from the fans tonight? Psycho Blue, our guy, he says, “Do you guys remember the book Scarlet Letter?” And eventually the people in the story forgot what it stood for. In the Clippers case, it stood for accountability and we can’t have that now, can we? See you in Phoenix next year, CP3. Just a little burn, man. Hey, the Clippers look bad. I don’t know what to tell you. as an organization, as a team, as a season. I was thinking back legs. Were you in Vegas for summer league the year that Paul George Kawhi Leonard trade went down? Were you Do you remember where you were? I think I was out there work like not working though. I was there, but I wasn’t like in a professional capacity. I think I was just there because I bring it up because all of NBA media is I’m hanging out with like 30 people from NBA media and that trade goes down and everybody the consensus was the Clippers are going to ruin the NBA. They just got this super team. They’re going to ruin it. Little did we know that trade was going to ruin the NBA, but not for the Clippers, for the Thunder. The Thunder who now have this dominant team and by the way have their pick. It’s unbelievable. All right, one more. J Money says, “OKC can possibly get three lottery picks this draft. Lol.” Nothing funny about it. If they got three, shut it down. It might be bad. Shut it down. Shut the league down if that happens, man. Like, it’s it’s if that happens, what is going to happen? Some other teams in this league are going to get some nice pieces to their rotation because at some point, you got to start jettison you got to start jettisoning off some of these parts. If if that happen, that’s what’s funny. They don’t play any bad players. So, you’re talking about does Isaiah Joe have to go? AJ Mitchell has to go. It’s like, yeah, those are great players. It’s insane, man. The rich get richer. Jason Wallace, Casey Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Luke Dort, like I don’t know, man. And like so some other teams are going to get and it’s what’s funny is some of those guys could end up in places where they’re getting greater opportunity even but aren’t nearly as relevant because they are perfect for the situation they’re in. Yeah. Yeah. Cue that outro music there. James, we appreciate everybody hanging out with us. We hit a lot of topics today. Talked about a lot of teams. Let us know in the comments if you enjoy uh if you’re enjoying the show and what you think about some of these would you rathers. Let us know what you’re thinking about the Oklahoma City Thunder. Uh just join the conversation. We always like hearing from you guys and make sure you’re subscribed. I’m back with Jason Tim on Friday, Mark Stein on Saturday. So make sure you’re subscribed to the show and hit that like button for us on the way out. We’ll see you next time. [Music] [Applause] We all silly like the mayor.

Adam Mares and Tim Legler break down another loaded night in the NBA, starting with the Clippers cutting Chris Paul and exploring which contenders could use the future Hall of Famer. They dive into Giannis’ shocking trade request from the Milwaukee Bucks and what it means for the Eastern Conference landscape. The guys highlight Collin Gillespie’s breakout stretch and inspiring backstory before turning to the Celtics’ big win over the Knicks led by rookie spark Jordan Walsh. They also react to the OKC Thunder’s victory over the Warriors despite a monster performance from Pat Spencer, debating whether Oklahoma City has any real weaknesses and how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has somehow leveled up again. To close the show, they draft which young stars they’d build a franchise around, including Cade Cunningham vs Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson vs Donovan Mitchell.

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00:00 – Intro
03:28 – Chris Paul cut from the Clippers
11:42 – What team could use Chris Paul?
13:26 – Giannis requests a trade from the Milwaukie Bucks
17:33 – Collin Gillespie has been on FIRE and has a great back story
25:06 – Celtics get a big win over the Knicks with help from Jordan Walsh
32:45 – The OKC Thunder defeat the Golden State Warriors in spite of a huge game from Pat Spencer
39:06 – Do the OKC Thunder have ANY vulnerabilities?
46:19 – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has gotten even better this year
53:33 – Who would start your team with: Cade Cunningham or Anthony Edwards
57:22 – Who would start your team with: Jalen Brunson or Donovan Mitchell

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