Did Cooper Flagg Show ENOUGH in his Dallas Mavericks’ Debut? + Houston Rockets Offensive Issue?

Did Cooper Flagg Show ENOUGH in his Dallas Mavericks’ Debut? + Houston Rockets Offensive Issue?

On today’s show, Cooper Flag made his debut. Did we need to see more from Cooper Flag to prove that he’s going to be a star in this league? I’ll tell you on today’s Locked On NBA game night. When that final buzzer rings, you know it’s time for Locked On NBA Game Night. All the postgame reactions to every game across the league, every single night with insights only the hosts at Locked On can provide. It’s the true NBA fans one stop for all the action every game every night. It’s locked on NBA game night. Tipping off now and welcome to Lockdown NBA game night. My name is Nick Angstead, host of Lockown Mavericks podcast, part of Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day and the number one sports podcast network out there. Thank you for helping us get there. Thanks for being every day or making lockdown be your first listen. Joining me as always on a Monday night, host of Locked on Bucks. What did you see in the NBA tonight, Camille Davis? Actual games. Actual games. We’ve made it, Nick. We’ve made it. The Monday night show has made it to the games again. I’m no more gameless night. No more gameless night for us until like All-Star break or or whatever. Today’s episode, we’re going to break down all the games. Like we like we say, we are we are true to our name. We every game every night. We’ll talk about that. We’ll also play Count it Up where we count out the most interesting fun things in the NBA, including the decision is happening. So, we’ll break all that down. We’ll talk about that. Let’s start here. Dallas Mavericks get a win in preseason. I’m not going to tell you the final score because it doesn’t matter because you don’t know some of the players that played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in this game. But, Cooper Flag made his NBA debut in preseason. And what we saw from Cooper Flag was the type of star he’s going to be. He’s a connector. He’s a player that can do a whole bunch of different things. We heard from so many different players and coaches in preseason and all that. That Cooper Flag can do everything on a basketball court. Like so many different players said that that exact thing. He can do everything on a basketball court. And that’s what he can do. We saw three assists from him in this game. He only played in the first half. We saw three assists. We saw his vision. We saw him hit cutters. We saw him uh get a great dish to Derek Lively when he was double teamed under the rim. We saw uh two threes from him where there were pull-up threes. One of them was a a great screen from Anthony Davis. One of them the defender just sagged off of him and he hit a pull-up three and so we saw him get his own shot in that way. We saw him take a take the ball coast to coast and have a great finish there. We saw him get to the free throw line because he’s big and he can get fouled. And we saw him get some rebounds. We saw him get a huge, you know, chase down block off the backboard. Like we saw everything from Cooper Flag what he’s going to be. But did we need to see more from him? He didn’t really like go create his own shot. He was playing against the Thunder like third string play like third string guys. Camille, if you’re gonna see the number one pick like that and play against that amount of talent, do you need to see more from him? Not necessarily. If what you’re also giving me fills the stat sheet, right? Like if this was a game where Cooper Flag came out and he had, you know, 30 points in the first half, it would make a lot of headlines because it’s like, man, the shot making skill that was put on in this first half is worthy of the headlines. But when you look at a stat line where a guy can give you 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a block and a half of their first NBA career, like is it something that’s like out of whly? Like, no. But it’s super solid. It’s super solid. And I love the fact that the the scoring from Cooper Flag in this game all came in like the final five and a half minutes of that second quarter. That’s when he really got himself going after looking for teammates, after playing defense, after assisting, doing all the other little things from Cooper Flag. Like that’s what stood out to me. And the one assist in particular with Kase Wallace on him like full court defending him. Flag gets to like the high post and he finds Paul in the dunker for an easy dunk. And the vision from that, I was just kind of like, man, Cooper Cooper can be kind of fun, especially for a Mavs team that had some playmaking concerns. They do have those concerns, but he’s helping fill them. And D’Angel Russell’s helping fill them, too. He had five assists and he had some good no look passes in transition. So, he helped a lot. We talked about that on lockdown maps tonight. But with Cooper Flag, I didn’t I don’t think I needed to see more that he gave he gives the team exactly what they need in that moment. And I think that’s the the key with what makes Cooper Flag a star and what’s going to make him a star in the in the NBA as well is that he knows what to give a team and he can give it to them already and he’s 18. Like, yeah, they needed some passing. They need some playmaking. Okay, boom. Got it. At the end of that second quarter, they’re like, “All right, Cooper, go like you go do this.” There was a there was a play that stuck out to me where he had Kase Wallace on him. He was backing him down on the left wing and uh Cooper Flag like, you know, Kase Wallace has like position on him, so he’s kind of like pushing up on him. So, it’s really hard for him to back him down and so he’s like, “All right, I’m going to pass out of this and reset and try to do something else or try to get the ball to somebody else with a better advantage.” Anthony Davis gets the ball from Cooper Flag and he looks back at Cooper Flag and he goes, “No, you take this. you have the mismatch on Case Wall. So, it pass it back to him and then they do it again and then Anthony Davis tries to force the ball back to back to Cooper Flag and then Case Wall smacks it away, goes out of bounds. But just that moment of like, all right, now you get your now you get your own. You’ve given us everything that that that we’ve needed in these moments. We’re up by like 20 or whatever against this team and so now you go get yours. And that’s when he went on that little run in that in that that sequence right there. And so I just think that we saw like Cooper flag on full display basically. And to that point, you’re seeing his teammates also be like, “Hey, go do you.” And with him being a young rookie on a team with some vets in a a Mavericks team at that where I know some of the outside conversations around the team isn’t like championship championship, but it’s a group in Dallas that feels like they can compete this year. So to see vets on that team conceding somewhat to the rookie, I think that says a lot too of how his teammates view him, which that goes a long way because earning your teammates’s respect on the court, um that can be difficult to do, especially as a rookie coming in, first round draft pick, there’s a lot of hype around you, but he seems to have the respect of his peers and that should go a long way, especially having that established already. Klay Thompson after the first day of training camp said of Cooper Flag, he said he’s he earned my respect. He didn’t sit out of one drill the whole the whole the whole day which I’m like first of all I didn’t think that that was an option like that you could you can sit out of drills but if going to bring that up then maybe maybe it is an option but also with Klay Thompson he uh like he you know he’s he got Cooper he’s got Cooper Flags respect and I I just think that it’s going to be interesting to see how this team operates. Their starting lineup Clay Clay was in the starting lineup. Dangelo Russell was in the starting lineup. Cooper flag, Anthony Davis, Derek Lively ended up starting. And uh Klay Thompson said at training camp, he said that there’s no reason why this team can’t win a championship. See, which is kind of wild to me. Got to have that belief. Like if you heard an NBA player in training camp, especially the most optimistic time of the year, being like, you know what, we ain’t even rolled the ball out yet, but it ain’t even no point cuz I know where we going to be come April at home. Like, you don’t want to hear that. Like, he said what he’s supposed to say. True. Also, he’s living in he’s living in a different universe right now. I mean, just I’m not gonna bring it up because he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I won’t I won’t bring it up, but he had a good summer. I’ll just say he had a good summer. I’ll just say and maybe a new song made about him. Uh the Bucks did not have the best not the You had to shade me to get to the next topic, but we cool. That was my transition sentence. That’s that’s how I got from one point to another. The Bucks win though, 103 to 93 against the Miami Heat. Let’s hear from our guy Wes Goldberg on the Heat side of things for this one. Miami Heat dropped to 0 and2 in the preseason, but who cares about preseason records this season? Normal Powell, the Heat Newcomer, who’s going to help unlock some of the things that the Heat want to do this season. The Heat during training camp and preseason have been talking about playing faster, playing with pace, uptempo. They want to lean into the youth and athleticism of this roster in the post Jimmy Butler era. And a big part of that is Norm Pal, who came over in a trade this summer. And after a quiet first preseason game for Pal, he erupted in the second quarter of his second preseason game as a member of the Heat. He finishes with 18 points on six of 12 shooting, three of six from three-point range. And what really stood out about Pal was just how quick he is to get into his shot motion. He gets his feet set. He’s got that quick high release. Uh he’s taking threes early in the shot clock. And for a heat team that wants to play more uptempo, he’s going to be a big part of them doing that. that he figures to be part of the starting lineup even when Talahiro comes back from his offseason surgery. And if he’s playing like that, he could be a big help for a Heat offense that needs a lot of help. Are you buying this Norman Powell on the Heat? Let me just start by saying this, okay? To Wes, to all of the Miami Heat fans out there, do not make sweeping conclusions on what Norm Powell is going to be when he’s playing the the Milwaukee Bucks. Why? Because Norm Powell is a Milwaukee Buck killer. It does not matter what uniform Norm Powell is in when he’s playing the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s going to go off. Preseason or not, he’s going to go off. Tonight was another example of that. Um but no, seriously, he is a buck killer. I want that to be on the record. When North Pow plays the Bucks, look out for those stats. But um I think he is going to be good for Miami overall. Jokes aside, he is going to be important to them. Um, and Miami is one of those teams where the player that actually stood out to me in this game was Yovic where it’s like, okay, you got your contract here. You know, you getting the start here. No turnovers for him in tonight’s game. Eight rebounds, seven assists, nine points. Just a really steady game from him um on the Miami Heat side. And for the Bucks, no Giannis. Miles Turner debut though. The big thing for the Bucks was seeing what the starting lineup was going to look like because we’ve had questions on who the starting five for Milwaukee is going to be. Uh with Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green, Gary Trent Jr., Kyle Kosma, Miles Turner tonight, you would assume Giannis is taking that Kyle Kosma spot and you’re going with the smaller guards to start, but we’ll have to see how that continues to shake out over the preseason. That AJ Green starts over Kyle Kosma. That’s that has been what I’ve been saying all summer. Do it. Do not start Kyle Kosma. Go small. Go AJ Green. Kyle C or Kevin Porter Jr. Gary Trent Jr. with the front court of Giannis and Turner. I think that’s the way to go. Does Kyle Kosma know that you’ve been saying that? Does Kyle Kosma know that that is a possibility? I mean, he’s been he he’s been kind of koi about what his roles. I don’t know if I’m starting or coming off the bench. So, at least it’s in the atmosphere. At least he’s thinking about it. Yeah, it’s an atmosphere. Is Jiannis out with CO or is Jiannis out with question mark? He was He was out with CO and now he’s out for conditioning getting his win back from being sick. Oh, don’t give me the face, Nick. He’s back. That’s out for That’s out question mark. That’s He’s out. Question mark is is what I would call that. He should be back soon. He said needed three days when he got to training camp to to kind of get himself back together here. See if he’s back soon. See, go listen to locked on Bucks to find out if he is going to be back back soon. Goes locked on Heat. Locked on Thunder as well. I don’t know what Locked on Thunder is going to talk about tonight. Ryland has got he’s got to pull that one out of his out of his case and like whatever he’s gotta pull out. Uh, all right. Coming up, the Houston Rockets. Their offense may be a big problem. Can KD solve that? I don’t know if that’s going to be enough. We’ll talk about that and more coming up. Today’s episode of Locked on NBA Game Night is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel sports book has all kinds of props and odds, things that you can use to get in on the action. And uh, Camille, I’m bringing you back because the uh, the Bucks to make the playoffs minus 220. They think it’s going to happen. They think it’s it’s a guarantee. Not make the playoffs plus 162. They not make the playoffs. Would you take that bet right now? Yeah, Bucks are a playoff team in my book. That they’ll be a playoff team. Mhm. Okay. If you’re as confident as Camille is, you can put down $5 and if you win, you get $300 in bonus bets. Uh if you’re a new customer, the Mavericks minus 102 to make the playoffs. They’re not as confident about the Mavericks making the playoffs. And then no is minus1 130. So they think the Mavericks are not going to make the playoffs. What are you going to do? You put you putting your $5 on that? I’ll take the Mavericks to make the playoffs this year. I I’m feel I’m I’m feeling good. It’s the first day of preseason for for you know for game night for the Mavericks. Like I’m feeling confident like we’re we’re back and so I’ll do that. So if you feel confident like we do about our teams about your team and your new customer, put down $5. You get $300 in bonus bets if you win. And uh then you you get the money that you win too as well part of the deal. So what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com to download the app today and get started. Please gamble responsibly. [Music] Thanks for hanging out with us on locked on NBA game night. Being in every day, listening every day. We have a daily locked on show that covers your team. Locked on Bucks, locked on Mavs, locked on Heat, locked on Thunder. We’ve talked about those teams already. Now, let’s talk about the next group of games. We’ve got the Hawks against the Rockets. Uh I texted our our Hawks host Brad Roland, and he is somewhere not in the country. Can you guess which continent he’s on? Never would have guessed it. Is it Africa? Yes. He He said, “I’m out of He said, “I’m out of pocket. I’m in Africa right now. Let’s go.” Okay. The motherland. Very random. I did not did not expect that from Brad Rolling of Lock on Hawks. Uh but we did hear from lockdown Rocket host Jackson Gatlin. Let’s hear what he has to say about this game that the Rockets did end up winning. Rockets get the 122 113 win against the Atlanta Hawks in their first Just one second for those watching. Do you know which one is me and which one is Jackson when we’re Not twin, where have you been? The beard is the only thing and the and the hair part is the opposite way. That’s the only thing that the evil part on one side other. Wait, who has the evil part? That’s the question. Let the viewers decide. Let us know in the comment section. Taste of preeason action. What’s up? This is Jackson Gatlin, host of Locked On Rockets. And look, the win is great, but what do we learn about this Rockets team? First and foremost, we learn that Al One more stop. He’s the only one that liked the outcome of of the game that his team played tonight and thought that it was worth a while. I just also want to say Shingun is very much carrying over that same effectiveness that he had during a Euro basket. He was sensational in this game. Easily the best player on the floor. Didn’t even play the second half, but he had 19 points, five rebounds, six assists on five of seven shooting. He was two of two from downtown and a perfect seven of seven at the free throw line and looked great. The offense ran through him quite a bit while he was on the floor. The downside for the Rockets is the offense when Alpurn Shingun wasn’t on the floor looked highly suspect. They’re going to need a lot more out of Aman Thompson and Reed Shepard, especially when Alpin Chingun is on the bench. Now, the benefit is they do have Kevin Durant waiting in the wings. He wasn’t available or active in this first preseason game. And the expectation is probably that you’re gonna stagger both Kevin Durant and Alpin Jingun’s minutes throughout this season as much as possible so that you don’t have that distinct drop offensively. I’m going to cut him off there. But that’s that’s one of the things that’s a big question is can they get enough offensively? Can KD solve this problem of when Shenon sits they just fall off a cliff? because he was plus 18 in this game and you look at like some of their I mean that he was plus 18 like just look just look at that like big positive and then when he sits like Jackson said Ahmed Thompson Reed Shepard didn’t give him enough and that was going to be the thing even when Fred Van Fleet was healthy it’s like hey can we start to advance Amen’s game and Reed Shepard’s game as primary point guards like can we just get them some more touches with the ball in their hand like there’s no Jaylen Green there’s going to be more opportunity here and the freshman and Vleet injury now made it a necessity. So the question of like where is the playmaking going to come from there’s going to be learning pains I think with Thompson and Shepard with the ball in their hands a little bit more often. But the thing for the Rockets is like they don’t have a lot of time to really be playing around and and wasting games here. So it is going to be a heavy load I think on KD on Senon and is it going to be enough at the beginning of the year? It might not be. And if that’s the case come, you know, December when some guys are able to be traded and whatnot, like I think that’s when the Rockets really evaluate that roster given that, you know, Van Vleet’s going to be out for most of not all of this season. Yeah, this is a weird team that is like young and also win now right now because they like they made this choice to go get Kevin Durant got Shenun like in his prime right now and so yeah, like I don’t think that’s going to be enough offense for them to win at the highest level. They’ll win games though. Like it depends on what level of of question you’re asking for this Rockets team. Can you win the finals with these two guys as like really big playmakers for your team? No. Absolutely not. Right. Like I just I can’t see a world where where that happens. Can you? No. It’s it’s not traditional. You never really have seen something like that before. So I mean until I see it, I’m going to have to go into no camp. And one more thing about the Rockets that’s interesting with them playing the double bigs and just being a big team. if their offense isn’t clicking, I think that that’s going to be a team that can be gotten in transition in those really jumble lineups. It’s just going to take a while for guys to kind of get back on defense in those lineups. So, something to think about like the the Rockets have been a team that have used defense to create offense and I wonder if a lot of teams this year are going to try to create their offense off of miss shots from the Rockets and just kind of use that to fuel their game. The Mavericks are going to try to get their offensive miss shots and rebounds. That is going to be the thing that they’re going to do and pushing the ball in transition. Yeah, Jackson also talked about the double bigs and that’s something that we’re definitely going to going to watch because they didn’t do that in the regular season much at all last year, but they are going to commit to it this year with, you know, investing in Clin Capella, still having Steven Adams, obviously still having Shingun, and then even like KD is another sevenfooter. Like they’re going to have three sevenfooters sometimes out out there at certain points. That’s going to be a lot of length, but that’s something to definitely watch with this team. It is. It is. And even today, they had a real big lineup where they had Amen out there with Tar East and and then three bigs, and it’s like, God, Houston could be huge. Yeah, the uh the Detroit Pistons, pretty big team, too. They get a win against the uh against the Memphis Grizzlies. Let’s see if Cookah Hill cares about the win. For the Detroit Pistons to open up their first preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies, they get the win, but that’s not really what matters here. It’s preseason. Who cares about wins and losses? What really matters is how the team and how specific moments throughout the game look. And in the beginning of the game, in the first quarter, the Pistons were getting destroyed. They were getting obliterated. They look sloppy. They look rusty. It’s preseason, so it is what it is. But then in the second quarter, you saw exactly what their identity is supposed to be and will be this season. JB Bigger Staff talked about all training camp how this team is going to be an explosive offense through their defense. And in that second quarter, the Pistons forced nine turnovers, had multiple steals, had multiple blocks. Their defense turned up and they turned those nine turnovers and their defense into 50 points scored in the second quarter. 50 points scored. Assari Thompson, Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart all turned up. The Pistons show what their identity is. That’s the biggest takeaway from this game. Can the Pistons carry that identity into the regular season, Camille? Yeah, if they stay healthy, I think they absolutely can. Um, Coup and I and Justin did a Bucks Pistons crossover um during the offseason and talked about the defensive ceilings for both teams. And when you look at what the Pistons can throw out there, if they’re healthy, they could be really dangerous too with some of those young guys, especially if someone like Ron Holland takes another step in addition to what you’re seeing from Kate Cunningham who controlling the game offensively, Jaden Ivy coming back, what they got with with Beef Stew, like they just have some pieces there um that could be a really really uh treacherous defense. People say we don’t have good nicknames in the NBA and you can just throw out the beef stew and it’s so casual. very my guy my guy Omax committed for the turnovers in that second quarter and so I I don’t know which Grizzlies we saw in in this game that I’m really like all right they’re going to be big part of the the rotation I guess we saw Jaylen Wells Aldama Tavius Cowwell Pope Ty Jerome some Scotty Pippen Jr. like man like I don’t know they’re just missing so many guys and we’re gonna talk about the we’re gonna talk about the Grizzlies a little bit later. Let’s hear from Joe Mullenax on on the Grizzlies side of things. Lost their preeason debut at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. The outcome of the game is irrelevant though. What matters is who actually showed what they can and maybe can’t do on the court for Memphis in this one. I’m Jamalax of Lockdown Grizzlies and no John Morant, no Jiren Jackson Jr., No, Zack Edy. Arguably the three best players on the Grizzlies did not suit up. So, the outcome of the game really is irrelevant. What is a positive if you are a fan of the Memphis Grizzlies is that Tai Jerome looked very much the part of offensive fire starter Contavius Cwell Pope looked very much like he had a lot left in the tank. And the game started really well. Memphis was hitting all of their threes, defending well. Then the rest of the game happened, especially a second quarter where the Pistons scored 50 points. Surely new Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iselo is not going to be thrilled with how the game ended, but there are things to take away on the positive end from a preeason debut for the Grizzlies. Scotty Pip Jr. was a minus 30 in But the results don’t matter, Camille. I just want to make sure we hit another host with that. The plus minus doesn’t matter either. Coming up, will the result of the Nuggets Raptors game matter matter to either host and who are the Nuggets identity? We’ll also talk about LeBron’s decision coming up today if you’re listening to this on uh Tuesday. So stick with us. Lockdown NBA game night continues coming up next. Today’s episode of Lock Game Night is brought to you by Monarch Money. If you are somebody that loves watching as many NBA games as you can, like we do, there’s too much going on. There’s so many games every night. You can’t keep track of so many things. You’re probably door dashing a bunch of food. You’re probably like spending money on a bunch of subscriptions now because that’s what you have to do to be able to watch the NBA now in 2025. You have to pay for a bunch of different subscriptions. So to keep track of all those different subscriptions, get Monarch Money. It’s built for people with busy lives. You put off organizing your finances. Monarch Money is for you. It does the heavy lifting. It can link all your accounts in minutes. I’ve done it. It’s great. You can do all those things. And if you’re not a spreadsheet person, this is key for you. They have all kinds of flowcharts that are color coordinated. It’ll show you exactly what you’re spending, what it shows your income and then where all the money is going out to, which is great because that helps you organize and it helps financial uh organization. Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks for you. Visit monarchmoney.com. Use that code locked on NBA in your browser to get half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with the code locked on NBA. Big chicken, baby. Ah, I I think a lot. I’m very smart. Take that back. Count it up. Count it up. Count it up. Count it up. Count it up. It’s count it up. We count the most interesting fun things in the NBA. Let’s finish off with a couple of games here. We’ve got the Nuggets against the Toronto Raptors. Let’s hear from our guy Shawn Woodley about the Raptor side of this game. Ingram does in fact now officially play for the Toronto Raptors. Sean here, locked on Raptors. Quick thoughts on the Toronto Raptors preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets. A game that was very close up until things got garbage timey late and you had the deep bench dudes close out the action out in Vancouver, British Columbia. Two real takeaways here for the Raptors. Brandon Ingram number one. He was quite good. 19 points, six of 12 shooting, six of seven from the line. Very efficient and, you know, just kind of did the thing you’d expect Brandon Ingram to do and that he’s going to have to do for this team, which is get easy buckets when things kind of break down in the half court. This has not been a good offensive team over the last couple seasons. They’ve not had great shotmaking or finishing. And Brandon Ingram does all those things very very well. And for a night that was a little awkward for the starters, no Yaka Purle as he was out with a sore back. Scotty Barnes had a bit of a rough go of things. Emanuel Quickley still trying to find his place. Brandon Ingram was clearly the best guy in the starting five. Although he did have some nice chemistry with RJ Barrett as well, which was kind of a sticking point and a bit of an area of concern coming into the year. If those guys can gel together with one another, that’s a big deal for the prospective starting five for this team. And the second thing is turnovers. This team is going to pride itself on being a total pain at the point of attack. They forced 16 turnovers in the first half of this game. And they were up in Denver’s business all night long, running off of those turnovers. What do you do if you can’t score in the half court? Well, get steals and throw down dunks. That’s what the Raptors did quite a bit tonight. And I think we’ll see a lot of that. It is very much the identity they’re shooting for on the defensive end. I’ll have more on this game on Locked Down Raptors tomorrow. Tune in. Sean Woody did not say if he cared about the results of the game. Uh Camille Are you buying Brandon Ingram number one option on the Raptors by default? Yes. Um, and just because I’m buying it doesn’t mean I think it’s a great one. Um, but yeah, I think BI is definitely the number one option offensively for that team. The uh Nuggets are trying to figure out what their identity is and Swiper thinks that they have maybe found something here in their uh their win tonight against the Raptors. Denver Nuggets get a win versus the Toronto Raptors in preseason game number two. And boy oh boy was it sloppy. 31 turnovers, but it ended up not mattering. The Denver Nuggets starters dominate. Cam Johnson maybe the acquisition of the summer plus 23. Looks good. Plays good defense. The Nuggets are kind of trying to find out their identity. Who are we going to be now with all these new players, all these veterans trying to find the right stagger lineups, all of it. But the Nuggets look like they are moving towards the goal of becoming a better team each and every day. But shout out to the Toronto Raptors as well. They played extremely hard, very physical, 94 ft defense that gave the Denver Nuggets a lot of problem. But look, we got more to come. But hey, great game tonight. The NBA is right around the corner. This is Swiper and this is locked on Nuggets. No, it’s not. It’s locked on NBA game night for that. But that’s okay. He said this is locked on nuggets. He said wrong. No, it’s not. Um the uh the San Antonio. So go listen to lockdown nuggets though. If you want it to be locked on nuggets, it can be very easily reviewed. Go listen to that. Oh, that was um the Spurs did not play an NBA team tonight. Uh they played the the uh Gaojo Long Lions with two O’s in the middle of long, which really threw me off all day today. Uh the Spurs get the win in this one, obviously playing a team, not an NBA team, but uh Victor Romanyama, nine points, 10 boards, seven assists, and he plays just 16 minutes. Uh hits all of his shots in this one. But my question is more about the long lions because What if I told you in 2015, okay, when Frank Kamitzky was the college player of the year, all that in college basketball for for the Wisconsin Badgers, who I I’ve heard that you love. And Victor Olivipo was averaging 18 points a game for Orlando. He was in his second season in the NBA after being the number two pick two seasons ago in 2013. What if I told you 10 years ago that these two guys would be playing for for a team not in the NBA, playing in the preseason against this purse? I wouldn’t believe it. I like, “Wait, what do you mean? Wait, what do you mean?” Like, there are other guys still in this draft class playing, right? Like, oh yeah, 2015. Oh, yeah. That’s Bobby Poris’s draft. Like, that’s the Miles Turner draft. Like, yeah, I’m familiar. And you mean to tell me that Frank Kaminsky ain’t still playing? Mr. Wisconsin, Mr. Player of the Year, Mr. All the Accolades isn’t in the NBA no more. I would have been shocked. Completely shocked. And especially Ola Depot. Like, I thought that was on a on a way to being somebody. Injuries of course played a part in that, but no, would not have believed you about that at all. From that draft class still playing at this point, uh, we got KCP who we saw earlier on the Grizzlies tonight. Uh, uh, CJ McCollum, Kelly Oolen, your boy Giannis, Dennis Shruder, Mason Plumbley. What if I told you Mason Plumbley still in the NBA? Frank Kaminsky was not in that in 2013. That would have really surprised you. Um, but so the Spurs get the win in that one. LeBron James posted a video where he said, “The decision of all decisions, October 7th, 12 PM Eastern.” By the time you listen to this, you may already know what it is. So, just enjoy this as we guess all the different things. It could be. I think it’s just Let’s go back and forth. Let’s You You go, I go. Okay. An ad. An ad for for what? Like a just like It’s Prime. I think Prime Day is starting and we know he’s an Amazon Prime dude. I think it could be an Amazon Prime thing. An Amazon Prime ad. A lot of people think it’s some kind of Amazon Prime uh broadcast thing. Like he’s jumping on the broadcast for one of these because they, you know, NBC got Michael Jordan and so maybe it’s like a thing that he needs to do. So that that’s one of my guesses. It’s going to be an Amazon like broadcast thing. What if it’s a pre-announcement to the farewell tour where it’s like, I’m going on my farewell tour, but not this year. Next year. This is the classic one because he’s only got one year left on his deal. It makes sense that it would be the uh that it would be like the the farewell because it’s the decision like the decision of all decisions. He’s going to hype it up like that. It might as well be something big like that, right? Or maybe it’s just the farewell to the Lakers because this is his last year with the Lakers. Can Can you I I said this to somebody tonight. I was like, “What if it is he’s saying it’s his last year with the Lakers?” Can you imagine somebody doing that and saying, “This is my last year with the team before that he even steps foot on the court for that season.” I can see what we talk about that also. I can see what LeBron this feels that feels like a very LeBron thing to do. I’m kind of like, let me let you guys know next year. Get all your cap stuff together this year. Understand I will be available and I am trying to win another championship announcement. Now make your decision on my decision. I could that’s like at some at a friend’s birthday party like you’re there with your current like like uh girlfriend boyfriend and you go guys in two months I’m going to be available. I just want I just want everybody I just want it’s getting hot outside soon. Like I’m about to be out this relationship. Like um I saw this one on Reddit, but maybe it’s a collab with Leubu. It’s the Lubu. You know, this is one of those things too, Nick, when I was like, I’m getting old because the laboo stuff. I don’t get it. I I do not understand. I I have a friend that had one on a backpack and I was just like I I didn’t think that you were a person that would be into the piss at them. Is it like the new Cabbage Patch dolls? Like new trolls? Like is it is it I get I think it is the new trolls. I think you’re right. Where people were like collecting them. Um, I watch this financial channel sometimes where a guy goes through and he like goes through these terrible like these people that are so bad with money and there’s this girl that spent like so much money on them and she goes, “It’s going to pay back. It’s going to pay back or I’m going to make money off these.” And I was like, “You fell for the Beanie Babies thing again. Like, are we old? Are we are we not all old enough to remember?” I guess I guess she wasn’t. Oh, my mom went through my room tearing it up for some Beanie Babies. She took all the tags off these played with them. Then the newer ones came with the tag with the plastic over it and you’re like, “Oh, okay.” Now, now Beanie Babies is on to us. They’re on to this. Oh my god. Um Oh, that was mine. My guess was the Lab Boooo. Uh last guess. Um Oh, what if the decision is that actually because he talked about not playing with Bryce? What if the decision is actually we’re going to align the timelines over after all like I am going to play with both of my sons in the NBA. Oh, to put Bryce part of that and add add his pressure to that, too. My last guess is um it’s a Taco Bell menu and he’s overtaking all the Taco Bell menus because do you know what October 7th is? What is it? Do you know on the calendar October 7th is National Taco Day and one of the best days of the year then. And Camille, do you know what day October 7th is? Taco Tuesday. That is Oh my goodness. National Taco Day. A Taco Tuesday. LeBron saying he’s making a decision. Come on, tell me this is not going to be taco related. It could be. And probably like Chipotle or something like that. Like I can see LeBron being like, I’m not doing Taco Bell. I’m gonna Doesn’t he already have a Taco Bell thing? I know Devonte Adams does. And does he also I don’t they have a few. So does Jaylen Green. Yeah. Uh yeah, he’s got a Taco Bell thing. He’s he’s got a deal with Taco Bell. Okay. Okay. Well, the menu I think he’s going to take over like every menu of every Taco Bell like in America where like you’ll you’ll show up to a Taco Bell and it’ll just be like the LeBron menu. Like get the like get the L taco, get the get the lacrunch wrap. Like get the L cheesy granita crunch. LeBron’s name is so funny. You add the L in front of it and it just everything is it. Well, that’s what we that’s the meme has become like the the decision decision. I can’t wait to hear what this actually is. I know our our so listen to a locked NBA daily with with Wes, Matt, and Hayes. They’re delaying the show so that they know what this announcement is by the time that they record that show. LeBron has a unique control over basketball. It’s called a chokeold, Camille. That’s what literally just hand to throat like just has us by for as long as he wants to hold his hand there like listen until I’m gone this is mine. All right last count it up. All right. Oklahoma City Thundergard Nicole Topic had a testicular procedure today. He will be reevaluated in approximately four to six weeks. My question is isn’t that nuts? That’s the show, ladies and gentlemen. Right there. That’s it. That’s all. I did that one for Pat the designer. Pat Pat and I would have done 14 minutes on that on that one. Guys, thanks so much for hanging out with us on Locked on NBA Daily. If you or Lock NB game night, go listen to Lockdown NBA daily if you want to know about the decision and more on that. Thanks so much for listening to live on NBA game

Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, and LeBron James feature in this NBA preseason roundup.

This episode of Locked On NBA Game Night covers the preseason debut of Cooper Flagg for the Dallas Mavericks, highlighting his versatile performance. Nick Angstadt @LockedOnMavericks & Camille Davis @LockedOnBucks discuss the Milwaukee Bucks’ win over the Miami Heat, the Houston Rockets’ offensive challenges, and the Detroit Pistons’ defensive identity. They analyze the Denver Nuggets’ search for a new identity and the Toronto Raptors’ potential with Brandon Ingram. The show also speculates on LeBron James’ mysterious upcoming announcement, offering theories ranging from farewell tours to Taco Bell partnerships. Throughout, the hosts provide insightful commentary on team dynamics, player performances, and the broader implications for the upcoming NBA season.

0:00 Dallas Mavs vs OKC Thunder: Cooper Flagg’s Debut
7:33 Miami Heat vs Milwaukee Bucks
11:07 Houston Rockets vs Atlanta Hawks
18:15 Detroit Pistons vs Memphis Grizzlies
21:37 Denver Nuggets vs Toronto Raptors
27:00 San Antonio Spurs vs Guangzhou Loong-Lions
28:20 Lebron James’ Decision Part 2?!

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