On Sharp Money, Jonathan Von Tobel joined Femi Abebefe and Jared Smith to get his thoughts on the NBA Summer League and the recently released NBA win totals.
Welcome back. This is Sharp Money family and Benfet Jared Smith. Then hey, our buddy Johnathan von Tobel Vson, senior NBA analyst, co host of VS in Primetime, which you can check out Monday through Friday weekdays. Obviously I said that six to nine Eastern time, but this week, you guys, you and Tim are on Follow the Money, so make sure you check that out seven to ten Eastern time.
DVT. How we doing. What's up? Man? I'm good, you know.
I'm actually I get to go play in the All Star Invitational that my palm puts the other of Little Blackjack tournament, So I'm going over there when I'm done here.
I'm trying to give him a rain check on that. I said. I'm doing Sharp Money, buddy.
Yeah, I'm terrible at it, but hey, I'm gonna get some free slot play, so that's all that matters.
But I'm good.
And we got NCAA football coming out later today, so we got a lot going on.
Absolutely, we're gonna talk about ncablay football caause we have to. This is like for millennial men. This is like a national holiday. But I do want to get your thoughts real quick before we get to the NBA. The Olympic team. The US men's basketball team played Australia in Abu Dhabi earlier today, got a little hairy after they had a comfortable lead. They only win ninety eight ninety two. Australia covers, but really easily. It was twenty and a half. They only lose by six. Any cause for concern with Team USA after yesterday's out, I mean, I'm not.
Really ever concerned at friendlies because you just don't know what you're working on, right, you don't know what you're messing with. I didn't watch the gamming details, going to watch it a little bit later today, so I only want the box score to go off of. But I do think that overall this team's going to be fine. And the fact that you're a team that is going to be built from your defense first and then going forward, I think it's a really.
Good way to do it with fever basketball.
Right, Like we know the way the rules are changed, you have a ton of depth up front when it comes to your forwards and your centers. I think you're going to be able to dominate in this format with the way that you play. So I wouldn't take anything crazy away from it. Remember going into the twenty twenty Olympics, I believe it was Australia they lost to in the first friendly. Everybody was freaking out right, the country was in a terrible spot. This is crazy out was the world beating us? And then they went on to win gold that year. So I think they're going to be perfectly fine friendlies. And it's like preseason, right. You never know if the pitcher's coming out and just going I'm just throwing straight sliders today to work on something.
Same thing here. You don't know if they're working.
On keys things, just to see how we will work against different coverages and whatnot.
Well, speaking of preseason summer league, it's not that, but it kind of feels like the pre preseason. And we've talked about this before. With these kind of offshoot events, there's value, especially if you know the rosters and you've done a ton of legwork with the rosters, and I think you know you posted a bunch of it on vicent dot com, but I'm assuming you tweeted out a lot of it as well. Overall, before we get into today's card, like has this been a normal summer league, handicapping wise, based on the years pass that you've done. Is there any quarks, any nuances that we should be aware.
No, I mean there hasn't really been anything like the crazy different. I would say the nuance would be a team like it that's playing today. So the Houston Rockets for me have been an auto bet when these lines get hung because they are the highest rated, rated team out here. You have Cam Whitmore, you have Reed Shepherd, who has he hasn't even hit the ground running. He's hitting the ground sprinting. He has been awesome in his first two games. He's been absolutely unbelievable. They by far have the best roster, it would seem in the NBA Summer League. Now it is depending on whether or not they keep playing these guys. Yeah, because Cam Whitmore is the Ragning Summer League MVP. He was awesome last year and he is a guy that played for the eason to go and should have a role on this team. Same thing with Reed Shepherd. So always a worry there is going to be that maybe we get a report that those who aren't going to play. But today, for example, Jared, you know, I bet the Rockets minus five and a half.
Mind of six, I think eight, yeah right now draft.
Yeah, these things move quick, especially with these highest rated teams, and that's something i'd recommend, Like, we only got a couple of games left, but for a team like Houston, if that number is going to open anywhere in the range of like four and a half or five, which is a fair number here in a summer league setting, I would just almost immediately blindly go to it because that number is going to move up in that regard. But that's pretty much it. I think when it comes to it, there's not been anything crazy. You know, we're pretty even in terms of favorites and overs and unders and things like that.
Totals kind of I'm seeing one seventies eighties.
Is that kind of the fair? Fair? Fair value fair? I mean, you're getting some really extremes.
So the other day, actually, I think we had a game in regulation that had two hundred and thirty three points and then we had another game in regulation that had one hundred and.
Forty points the same tim.
Yeah, so well, no, we have ten minute quarters to ten okay um ending in overtime, so that's the other part about it. So but I think it's been really what you kind of expect so far. Evaluate the rosters, as you said, find the best players. And that's really what it is, is no sweet science. I just look got to go, Yeah, roster's better and I better man. That's pretty much it.
Hanging out with JVT Vsent senior NBA analyst, co host of VS in primetime tek them out on vson dot com as well with all of his written work. Right now, the Summer League favorite is the Orlando Magic plus four fifty the Rockets five to one. They've joined them. You mentioned read Shepherd, he's hit the ground sprinting and any NBA rookie of the year for you with reach Uper, will you have an avenue for that? Because I know the Rockets they do have a lot of depth there and some people might think that the team could be a surprising team this upcoming season. Reach upard right now eight to one over at Draft seas.
So you mentioned why I have some positive it, which is Summer League is one thing, But what's his role for Houston when the season gets started? Right like, this is a team that has accelerated itself into you know, it's so called.
Phase three, which is we want to win. We want to win now and you look.
At some of these By the way, we haven't even seen the fact that they have all of this stuff. They could try to get still somebody else. You know, you could go and try to pry a guy from a team with all the draft cap that you have. So I don't think that Reed Shepherd's role is going to be massive. So at eight to one, Femmy, that's where I kind of be like, you know, I want a little bit more on a guy who's gonna be coming off to the bench of rookie with a whole bunch of dudes in front of him, and with the team that clearly has a message of could be for a championship now. And so I think once the season begins, you'll probably see his odds drip back out to those double digits because his role is not gonna be as big, and then you can go in and get it because maybe his role grows. But at the current price for Shepard, I would say no. But I'll say this, I mean, I think they got a dude because he's doing everything like you see him. If a guy is gonna you know, gonna go underscreen, then he's gonna even pull up. He's if You're seeing him get a guy on his hip. He knows exactly what to do with him. He knows exactly where guys are his assist or wonderfully at five steals the other night, like he knows exactly what he's doing.
Man, I absolutely love his game so far. So rookie of the year of him is not so much.
There's some other guys I think are worth it, but I think overall he's going to be a really good player.
Win totals dropped today, Celtics Thunder at the top. How about that thunder top rated win total least in the Western Conference. Bottom of the barrel looks like nets Blazer's Wizards. And then of course you just get you know, all the teams there in the middle. We've seen some movement already here. Anything jump out to you.
Early on, but well, I haven't looked at them over yet.
It's Memphis, see yeah, forty six and a half.
So Grizzlies are going to kind of be my my pick here going like I got a few shound them already to win the whole entire thing. They're gonna be a team that I think is forgotten in this whole grand scheme of Western Conference.
It is absolutely awesome.
But this is a team that last year they failed because they got unhealthy. Right Like you had John Morant get injured, you had Marcus mar Get injured, you had a whole bunch of dudes working their way back from long term injuries like Brandon Clark. But when this thing is finally put together in healthy, remember this is a team that was a top three seed in the Western Conference the last two years they were together.
Yep.
So I think that the the team that is kind of flying under the radar and towards all things, whether it's win total, whether it's to win the summer or to win a summer eagu to the the rosters actually, but to win the finals, to win the West. The Memphis Grizzlies from me are that team to start looking toward, because I think they come into the season a little undervalued.
Yeah, to your point, two years ago, they won fifty six games. Last year they won fifty one games. This pass these and obviously the injury has derailed the season there and the suspension themself. That's u with Jah Moran. I told Jared there was a team that I already saw that there was. Yeah, I was This team, of course, is the San Antonio Spurs with Victor Webbin Yama opened thirty four and a half. Now it's thirty five and a half, and it's still juiced to be over Any interest on the San Antonio Spurs with Wemby now going into year two.
Yeah, I mean a little, but I think we're kind of in the range of were getting a little too high. I mean, look, San Antonio might have some solid upside, and Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes are really good players to add to this roster. I think they are going to be willing to play the role as veterans to allow guys to grow. They're going to be better than last year. But this is still a team that when Webben Yama was on the floor, was absolutely abysmal, that still has some questions in terms of its depth. I think I can understand it. But I think this is the summer of the overrated Spurs. I mean, you see the win total where it's at. You see wemban Yama opening a dollar seventy favorite minus one seventy to win Defensive Player of the Year, minus two fifty in other spots, like every other everything, Spurs really for a team that has its win total for a team that has its odds is very much smacking of overvalued. And I think I'd rather go in the other direction with san ay Tonio.
But here's the count argument, isn't it that, like, by the end of the season, would it surprise you Wemby's the best player in the league, and like if that's the ceiling for him, usually that players could have a wintal thirty five.
I think it would surprise me because I would say this, I think our love for when Benyama is just, but we're also forgetting like there were some awkwards, there were some awkwardness on offense, and to be the best player in the league, you gotta be the best offensive player as well. And I think that there are a lot of other guys who you would still put ahead of one.
Banyama.
He's got all the makings of doing that. But I don't know if you're going to be at the point where you're taking a team that is going to have a win total thirty four and a half. I mean, look at the teams ahead of them, that they would have to say, you know, somehow for pass to be better than in the Western Conference. The Clippers are still going to be an adequate team. We have the Rockets, you have the Lakers, you have the Pelicans, you have so many teams to standard the Sacramento Kings. There's so many of these teams that are just going to cannibalize on each other that I do think it's going to be hard to push forward, to push for a play in win thirty six, thirty seven games do those sort of things, And that's where I kind of have my hesitation.
Kids still pretty young.
We're talking about what nineteen right now, and I think that's where I would probably kind of draw the line with them.
Last thirty seconds here. I know your affinity for the City of New York. Talk about the Knicks and Jalen Brunson's a very unselfish decision last week.
I mean, I think they're the second like two B team in the Eastern Conference. I think that the fit of Paul George, Joelumbiid and Tyres Maxey altogether gives them a slight edge. And the fact that the Knicks are pretty small at center. You have Mitchell Robinson, you don't have much else behind him. You're missing Aiah Hardstein. To me, that gives like the Phillies, the seventy six ers.
What if they go out and get someone though be with that?
Sure, that's one question Bill it is who is?
Yeah, I don't know, but I do think that they have put themselves in position to win a top two seed in.
The East and be very competitive.
Obviously, the New York Knicks wins total fifty two and a half over at drafting