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Slash audio. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at the volume heavy sun, everybody off. All of you guys are having a great weekend.

Slash audio. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at the volume heavy sun, everybody off. All of you guys are having a great weekend.

Kind of a bummer that our game seven ended up being a dut I kind of had a suspicion that it would be just simply because as soon as Aaron Gordon was hurt, even if they got out of this series, it just there's very little chance for them to survive two more playoff rounds. And as I always say, like, you gotta have belief if you're a basketball team to overcome great adversity, and it was always going to be difficult to beat Oklahoma City on the road, and Denver gave it a good punch there to start, but when they started to lose control of the rope, they just let go and Oklahoma City ends up blowing them out. One of their interesting defensive adjustments in this game, going to a lot of Alex Cruso on nikolea jokicen just fronting the posts that really turned the game around. We're gonna break that game down briefly from the perspective of both teams, and then we'll talk about Oklahoma City looking forward, and then we'll talk about Denver looking forward. Then we'll take about ten to fifteen minutes of mailbag questions before we call it a day. No playback today, just because it's a Sunday afternoon, but we'll be back with our usual playback after shit, starting with Game one of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday nights, So you guys are gonna want to go over to playback dot tv slash Hoops Tonight to get set up there for our usual after shows that'll be starting back up on Tuesday. You guys are the jope. Before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at Underscore JCNLT so you guys don't miss show announcement, So forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if we leave a rating and review on that front. Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds and Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Make sure you guys follow us there, and last but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions in the chat so that we can get to the mail bag at the tail end of this show. All right, let's talk some basketball. So the start of this game looked very much like the classic experience gap, right, Like the ESPN graphic that's on the screen shows just the number of Game sevens both teams have played in, and Denver's just been in so many of them, and I think the total number of combined Game seven appearances for OKC was three, and that was lou Door Shay and Isaiah Hartenstein if I remember correctly, and like Isai HARTENSTEI didn't think that was last year. And then if I'm not mistaken, I think the Dort shay Wan I think that might be the James Harden blocked three in Game seven in the bubble, if I remember correctly. But that's the only Game seven experience that that group has had, right and that abundantly was clear. At the start of the game, the Nuggets looked like the far more comfortable and confident team. The Thunder offense looked super tight. Guys were missing layups, guys were missing jumpers. Denver's in control. Right from there, I thought three distinct stretches flipped the game. Stretch number one in the later third of the first quarter, Alex Crusoe and Russell Westbrook check into the game, Alex starts denying Nikolea. Jokic the catch at the high post, and just in general using a really good three quarter front slash full front to basically shut off passing angles into Jokic in the post in the high post from there. None of the Nuggets role players looked like they knew how to make a high post entry. Russell Westbrook had a couple of turnovers. He had a possession where he just said, screwed, I'm gonna go to the rim and he got blocked. Christian Brown ended up finally missing a three, and suddenly that twenty one to ten lead was twenty six to twenty one going into the start of the second quarter. Just kind of felt like a different game, okaysee, kind of had some momentum coming out of the end of that first quarter. Then the second pivotal stretch, David Addleman makes the critical mistake of leaving Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray both off the floor at the same time. In Game seven, at the start of the second quarter, the Thunder went on a six to zero run literally in sixty two seconds, a minute, in two seconds, all of a sudden, it's twenty seven to twenty six. All of a sudden, the Thunder have a lead in the game that the Nuggets controlled for you know, seven minutes, eight minutes. I think it was actually nine minutes. It was less than the total run from twenty one to ten to twenty seven to twenty six, took less than five minutes of game clock, just completely flipped the game. From there, the Nuggets stabilize, Jamal Murray hits a little jumper, puts the Nuggets back within one. Mark Dagenal calls the time out, puts chet Holmgren back in, and over the final three minutes of the first half, the Thunder closed it out on an eighteen to five run, kind of an extension of what we saw at the end of the first quarter Alex Crusoe, but also j Dubb during the stretch doing some great work battling for position against the Kola Jogic denials, poor post entries, forcing turnovers, runout dunks, and it basically ended the gate in a three minute stretch there. So if you look at the first half in general, for out of the twenty four minutes two thirds of it, Denver looked completely in control, methought at half court bass, methodical half court basketball, getting and making better shots. But in these short bursts spanning just eight minutes of game clock, the Thunder just completely dominate the game and Denver's never able to regain control from there. There's some reality to the difficulty of dealing with ball pressure guards. Any of you guys who've played basketball and are kind of a bigger player, you'll have some experience with this over the years, where like a ball pressure guard will just get up in your business and he's swiping at the ball and grabbing and klawn and doing all that stuff. And what you have to do is you've got to create space. And the only way to create space is to use to protect the ball, clear with your elbow, clear with your shoulder, use your hips, use pivot moves trying to clear out space against a smaller player. And it becomes a very delicate balance because most guards or most guards just naturally get a form of bias from officials because they're smaller, and so they just get to get away with more contact. And if you swing that elbow just right, even though his face is like right here in your personal space, the ref's gonna call that an offensive foul. And so I was talking about it on Twitter earlier today. It's like a form of gamesmanship and the same way that foul drawing guards like what Shay does or Jalen Brunson does or Austin Reeves does, In the same way that those guys grift their way to the foul line. On offense, there are defensive players who grift extra possessions by doing that sort of thing. Ball pressure, ball pressure, ball pressure. And what they do is they train themselves. As soon as they get any sort of contact above the shoulders, they just flop back and they're gonna get a call. And it's just complicated dealing with ball pressure. And it is what makes this Thunder defense so incredibly difficult to deal with, is you survive the dort jw phase. And here comes case On Wallace and Alex Cruso. They're probably even better at it than the first two guys are. And so it's just wave after wave. Aaron Wiggins gets in on the action too. It's just wave after wave after wave of big physical guard that's gonna get in your business and be aggressive and physical, and the rest aren't going to be able to call every foul and they do some gamesmanship with their own and it just is a overwhelming wave after wave of force on the defensive end that wears you down. And that's Howlkloma City won the series. Ultimately, they won this series with their defense. Looking forward for Oka See, I thought they showed a lot of growth throughout the series. Denver had them on the ropes three different times and games that they ended up winning just because they stuck to their identity and trusted that it would eventually carry them across the finish line, and it literally did. It took longer in game four, it took longer in Game five, but eventually they did wear down Denver's offense. Eventually they couldn't score the ball. Eventually their downhill force did break through the barrier that was Denver's defense. Alex Crusoe won you have playoff series. I don't think you win this series without Alex Cruz. I thought that was a really interesting thing in retrospect looking back at that trade, I hope Chicago's enjoying Josh Giddy. But Alex Crusoe is a veteran role player who came in the only rotation player on this team over the age of twenty six, and his ability to consistently knock down spot up threes in this series while also being a guy that not only was defending Jamal Murray extremely well at stretches, but was also doing a great job on NICOLEA. Jokicch for stretches. You could argue he was the best defender that Denver used on Nikole jokicch in the series. Just unbelievable output from a player that they brought in during the summer. Isaiah Hartenstein, by the way, to the job that he did on Jokic guarding his strong hand. Like the trades made this summer by Sam Presty to bring in Alex Crusoe, the decision to sign Isaiah Hartenstein, they literally gave this team a championship ceiling that would have been cut off at the knees right here in the second round. They would not have beat the Denver Nuggets had they brought last year's team back. So shout out to Sam Presti for those moves. I thought that was a nice bounce back game from j dub. I thought he just showed a more of a propensity to just attack the rim instead of settle for jump shots early in the clock. He did take a couple jumpers in the first half that he missed, but they were after he was aggressive downhill towards the basket. Just attack the rim and play defense and good things will happen. That's a great way to get yourself out of a slump is just play really hard and focus on the things that don't depend on variants. Looking at the Minnesota series again, I'm not going to have a prediction until tomorrow. I'm working on it. First thing in the morning, I'm to watch a ton of film. We'll have a full series preview at sometime, probably doing the early afternoon tomorrow. But it's a very interesting series. Two elite defenses with elite rim protection, and both teams have a legit too big look. Two elite on ball guards against two teams that have a ton of good on ball defense options, which should make for a very interesting series in the sense that both Shay and j Dub and Julius everyone should be on comfortable in this particular matchup. But there are three major differences between the two teams. The Wolves are bigger, while the Thunder are faster. I think that's like a kind of They're both very athletic, but in different ways. The Wolves, i think, are substantially more experienced and ants secondary shot creator is a veteran forward in Julius Randall, while Shae's backup shot creator is a younger guard in Jay Dub, and Julius has been a substantially more reliable offensive player. My initial gut feeling, and this might completely change tomorrow after I watch a bunch of tapes. So I'm not saying this is my pick, but my initial, like just gut reaction looking at the series is I trust Minnesota's offense to be able to score more over the top in these ugly ass games. These games are all going to be really low scoring, and I expect it to be the kind of series where it turns into can Ant make tough shots? Can Julius make tough shots? Can nas Read make tough shots? Can Chet Homer and Jay Dub shake GISs Alexander? And I just trust Julius Randall and Chet home, excuse me, Julius Randall and Nas Reed just a little bit more than I trust Chet Holmgren and Jay Dub right now.

Kind of a bummer that our game seven ended up being a dut I kind of had a suspicion that it would be just simply because as soon as Aaron Gordon was hurt, even if they got out of this series, it just there's very little chance for them to survive two more playoff rounds. And as I always say, like, you gotta have belief if you're a basketball team to overcome great adversity, and it was always going to be difficult to beat Oklahoma City on the road, and Denver gave it a good punch there to start, but when they started to lose control of the rope, they just let go and Oklahoma City ends up blowing them out. One of their interesting defensive adjustments in this game, going to a lot of Alex Cruso on nikolea jokicen just fronting the posts that really turned the game around. We're gonna break that game down briefly from the perspective of both teams, and then we'll talk about Oklahoma City looking forward, and then we'll talk about Denver looking forward. Then we'll take about ten to fifteen minutes of mailbag questions before we call it a day. No playback today, just because it's a Sunday afternoon, but we'll be back with our usual playback after shit, starting with Game one of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday nights, So you guys are gonna want to go over to playback dot tv slash Hoops Tonight to get set up there for our usual after shows that'll be starting back up on Tuesday. You guys are the jope. Before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at Underscore JCNLT so you guys don't miss show announcement, So forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if we leave a rating and review on that front. Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds and Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Make sure you guys follow us there, and last but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions in the chat so that we can get to the mail bag at the tail end of this show. All right, let's talk some basketball. So the start of this game looked very much like the classic experience gap, right, Like the ESPN graphic that's on the screen shows just the number of Game sevens both teams have played in, and Denver's just been in so many of them, and I think the total number of combined Game seven appearances for OKC was three, and that was lou Door Shay and Isaiah Hartenstein if I remember correctly, and like Isai HARTENSTEI didn't think that was last year. And then if I'm not mistaken, I think the Dort shay Wan I think that might be the James Harden blocked three in Game seven in the bubble, if I remember correctly. But that's the only Game seven experience that that group has had, right and that abundantly was clear. At the start of the game, the Nuggets looked like the far more comfortable and confident team. The Thunder offense looked super tight. Guys were missing layups, guys were missing jumpers. Denver's in control. Right from there, I thought three distinct stretches flipped the game. Stretch number one in the later third of the first quarter, Alex Crusoe and Russell Westbrook check into the game, Alex starts denying Nikolea. Jokic the catch at the high post, and just in general using a really good three quarter front slash full front to basically shut off passing angles into Jokic in the post in the high post from there. None of the Nuggets role players looked like they knew how to make a high post entry. Russell Westbrook had a couple of turnovers. He had a possession where he just said, screwed, I'm gonna go to the rim and he got blocked. Christian Brown ended up finally missing a three, and suddenly that twenty one to ten lead was twenty six to twenty one going into the start of the second quarter. Just kind of felt like a different game, okaysee, kind of had some momentum coming out of the end of that first quarter. Then the second pivotal stretch, David Addleman makes the critical mistake of leaving Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray both off the floor at the same time. In Game seven, at the start of the second quarter, the Thunder went on a six to zero run literally in sixty two seconds, a minute, in two seconds, all of a sudden, it's twenty seven to twenty six. All of a sudden, the Thunder have a lead in the game that the Nuggets controlled for you know, seven minutes, eight minutes. I think it was actually nine minutes. It was less than the total run from twenty one to ten to twenty seven to twenty six, took less than five minutes of game clock, just completely flipped the game. From there, the Nuggets stabilize, Jamal Murray hits a little jumper, puts the Nuggets back within one. Mark Dagenal calls the time out, puts chet Holmgren back in, and over the final three minutes of the first half, the Thunder closed it out on an eighteen to five run, kind of an extension of what we saw at the end of the first quarter Alex Crusoe, but also j Dubb during the stretch doing some great work battling for position against the Kola Jogic denials, poor post entries, forcing turnovers, runout dunks, and it basically ended the gate in a three minute stretch there. So if you look at the first half in general, for out of the twenty four minutes two thirds of it, Denver looked completely in control, methought at half court bass, methodical half court basketball, getting and making better shots. But in these short bursts spanning just eight minutes of game clock, the Thunder just completely dominate the game and Denver's never able to regain control from there. There's some reality to the difficulty of dealing with ball pressure guards. Any of you guys who've played basketball and are kind of a bigger player, you'll have some experience with this over the years, where like a ball pressure guard will just get up in your business and he's swiping at the ball and grabbing and klawn and doing all that stuff. And what you have to do is you've got to create space. And the only way to create space is to use to protect the ball, clear with your elbow, clear with your shoulder, use your hips, use pivot moves trying to clear out space against a smaller player. And it becomes a very delicate balance because most guards or most guards just naturally get a form of bias from officials because they're smaller, and so they just get to get away with more contact. And if you swing that elbow just right, even though his face is like right here in your personal space, the ref's gonna call that an offensive foul. And so I was talking about it on Twitter earlier today. It's like a form of gamesmanship and the same way that foul drawing guards like what Shay does or Jalen Brunson does or Austin Reeves does, In the same way that those guys grift their way to the foul line. On offense, there are defensive players who grift extra possessions by doing that sort of thing. Ball pressure, ball pressure, ball pressure. And what they do is they train themselves. As soon as they get any sort of contact above the shoulders, they just flop back and they're gonna get a call. And it's just complicated dealing with ball pressure. And it is what makes this Thunder defense so incredibly difficult to deal with, is you survive the dort jw phase. And here comes case On Wallace and Alex Cruso. They're probably even better at it than the first two guys are. And so it's just wave after wave. Aaron Wiggins gets in on the action too. It's just wave after wave after wave of big physical guard that's gonna get in your business and be aggressive and physical, and the rest aren't going to be able to call every foul and they do some gamesmanship with their own and it just is a overwhelming wave after wave of force on the defensive end that wears you down. And that's Howlkloma City won the series. Ultimately, they won this series with their defense. Looking forward for Oka See, I thought they showed a lot of growth throughout the series. Denver had them on the ropes three different times and games that they ended up winning just because they stuck to their identity and trusted that it would eventually carry them across the finish line, and it literally did. It took longer in game four, it took longer in Game five, but eventually they did wear down Denver's offense. Eventually they couldn't score the ball. Eventually their downhill force did break through the barrier that was Denver's defense. Alex Crusoe won you have playoff series. I don't think you win this series without Alex Cruz. I thought that was a really interesting thing in retrospect looking back at that trade, I hope Chicago's enjoying Josh Giddy. But Alex Crusoe is a veteran role player who came in the only rotation player on this team over the age of twenty six, and his ability to consistently knock down spot up threes in this series while also being a guy that not only was defending Jamal Murray extremely well at stretches, but was also doing a great job on NICOLEA. Jokicch for stretches. You could argue he was the best defender that Denver used on Nikole jokicch in the series. Just unbelievable output from a player that they brought in during the summer. Isaiah Hartenstein, by the way, to the job that he did on Jokic guarding his strong hand. Like the trades made this summer by Sam Presty to bring in Alex Crusoe, the decision to sign Isaiah Hartenstein, they literally gave this team a championship ceiling that would have been cut off at the knees right here in the second round. They would not have beat the Denver Nuggets had they brought last year's team back. So shout out to Sam Presti for those moves. I thought that was a nice bounce back game from j dub. I thought he just showed a more of a propensity to just attack the rim instead of settle for jump shots early in the clock. He did take a couple jumpers in the first half that he missed, but they were after he was aggressive downhill towards the basket. Just attack the rim and play defense and good things will happen. That's a great way to get yourself out of a slump is just play really hard and focus on the things that don't depend on variants. Looking at the Minnesota series again, I'm not going to have a prediction until tomorrow. I'm working on it. First thing in the morning, I'm to watch a ton of film. We'll have a full series preview at sometime, probably doing the early afternoon tomorrow. But it's a very interesting series. Two elite defenses with elite rim protection, and both teams have a legit too big look. Two elite on ball guards against two teams that have a ton of good on ball defense options, which should make for a very interesting series in the sense that both Shay and j Dub and Julius everyone should be on comfortable in this particular matchup. But there are three major differences between the two teams. The Wolves are bigger, while the Thunder are faster. I think that's like a kind of They're both very athletic, but in different ways. The Wolves, i think, are substantially more experienced and ants secondary shot creator is a veteran forward in Julius Randall, while Shae's backup shot creator is a younger guard in Jay Dub, and Julius has been a substantially more reliable offensive player. My initial gut feeling, and this might completely change tomorrow after I watch a bunch of tapes. So I'm not saying this is my pick, but my initial, like just gut reaction looking at the series is I trust Minnesota's offense to be able to score more over the top in these ugly ass games. These games are all going to be really low scoring, and I expect it to be the kind of series where it turns into can Ant make tough shots? Can Julius make tough shots? Can nas Read make tough shots? Can Chet Homer and Jay Dub shake GISs Alexander? And I just trust Julius Randall and Chet home, excuse me, Julius Randall and Nas Reed just a little bit more than I trust Chet Holmgren and Jay Dub right now.

And so my.

And so my.

Initial gut reaction is to lean slightly towards Minnesota. But again that might change after I watch the film more intently tomorrow and start putting together that series preview. But again we'll have I think both series are more or less coin flips. Again, I picked Indy and I'm leaning Minnesota, but I think we've got an excellent conference final awaiting us between four pretty evenly matched teams at least respectively in their matchups, and I'm hopeful that for the first time since twenty twenty two, we get a good conference final because we've had a couple of brutal ones in a row. Denver, they had their chances man up eight in Game four in the fourth quarter, up nine in Game five in the fourth quarter. They'll be kicking themselves for a little while for this one. I think Jokic shall be kicking himself for Game four because that was the last game out of a three game stretch where couldn't make a shot, and if he would have been able to make more shots, his team would have won that game. I think Jamal Murray will be kicking himself for Game five because he was so good for the first three quarters and he just went cold in that fourth quarter. But overall, I was impressed by Denver's championship pedigree and their overall ability to make this into a very competitive series. I want to shout out Aaron Gordon. I couldn't believe he was gonna play, and as he was running around, I couldn't believe he was playing and there was a certain amount of like like they tried to keep him on heart and sign a little bit more so.

Initial gut reaction is to lean slightly towards Minnesota. But again that might change after I watch the film more intently tomorrow and start putting together that series preview. But again we'll have I think both series are more or less coin flips. Again, I picked Indy and I'm leaning Minnesota, but I think we've got an excellent conference final awaiting us between four pretty evenly matched teams at least respectively in their matchups, and I'm hopeful that for the first time since twenty twenty two, we get a good conference final because we've had a couple of brutal ones in a row. Denver, they had their chances man up eight in Game four in the fourth quarter, up nine in Game five in the fourth quarter. They'll be kicking themselves for a little while for this one. I think Jokic shall be kicking himself for Game four because that was the last game out of a three game stretch where couldn't make a shot, and if he would have been able to make more shots, his team would have won that game. I think Jamal Murray will be kicking himself for Game five because he was so good for the first three quarters and he just went cold in that fourth quarter. But overall, I was impressed by Denver's championship pedigree and their overall ability to make this into a very competitive series. I want to shout out Aaron Gordon. I couldn't believe he was gonna play, and as he was running around, I couldn't believe he was playing and there was a certain amount of like like they tried to keep him on heart and sign a little bit more so.

He's less defending in action.

He's less defending in action.

He's doing a lot of switching off of every little screen, not really throwing a lot of effort in transition or in closeouts. But obviously he couldn't move, but I thought he was like positive impact on a Grade two hamstring strain, and it just is insane, and like, you know, when I think about Aaron Gordon, obviously I'm a little biased because I'm a University of Arizona fan, but this last three years for him in the postseason, I think he's been one of the better, more reliable, more versatile role players that I've seen. And to me, he's just a champion and a legend and someone that I've got a great deal of respect for. And he's got a long career ahead of him. And I think that's a perfect springboard to this next conversation, which is I want to start this point of view from a very basic kind of like position that I hold, which is I do think, like without a doubt that Jamal Murray, Christian Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic is a Championship Corps. I think those four guys can absolutely start at those respective four positions and win the championship. They just badly need to upgrade that Michael Porter Junior slot. That was a problem throughout this postseason. Whether it was them not being able to trust MPJ, not being able to trust Russ, not being able to trust Peyton Watson, they just didn't have a reliable fifth guy. Michael Porter Junior is going to be a difficult player to trade, but he is the kind of player that I'd be looking to move this offseason for a defensive minded wing because of Aaron Gordon's development as a shooter. Christian Brown again over the tail end of the series got his jump shot figured out, and also Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown are two examples of defensive minded players that have become better shooters. I think those dudes will probably get with whatever defensive minded wing you get and friendly bully him into becoming a better shooter. Like I would just be looking for someone in that mold of the Herb Jones, Jaden McDaniel's type of player. Obviously you're not gonna be able to get Jayden, but I would be looking for that type of big, rangey wing athlete that can basically fill in the baseline spacer role off of Jokic as a cutter. Now that Gordon and Brown can shoot the ball as well as they do, and that raises your defensive ceiling and your overall at the leticism substantially, which I think would be an upgrade. And then the last thing I'll say about it just Jamal's conditioning. I think I think he needs to come into camp ready to go and maximize himself to the point where he's a more reliably good player in these situations. Jamal was bad tonight, but he was fantastic in Game six, and he was really good in Game five until he wasn't. And so I think there's a clear shot making ceiling there with him that he will reach more consistently if he just becomes the kind of player that maximizes what he can get out of his body over the course of a season. And so I think there's just I think it's about maximizing what you have on board, making an upgrade to that fifth starter spot at the small forward position. I think there's a real opportunity there for Denver to pivot and not have to ditch their continuity. Like I was talking to Colin today and Collin's like, well, do you think they should trade Jamal Murray?

He's doing a lot of switching off of every little screen, not really throwing a lot of effort in transition or in closeouts. But obviously he couldn't move, but I thought he was like positive impact on a Grade two hamstring strain, and it just is insane, and like, you know, when I think about Aaron Gordon, obviously I'm a little biased because I'm a University of Arizona fan, but this last three years for him in the postseason, I think he's been one of the better, more reliable, more versatile role players that I've seen. And to me, he's just a champion and a legend and someone that I've got a great deal of respect for. And he's got a long career ahead of him. And I think that's a perfect springboard to this next conversation, which is I want to start this point of view from a very basic kind of like position that I hold, which is I do think, like without a doubt that Jamal Murray, Christian Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic is a Championship Corps. I think those four guys can absolutely start at those respective four positions and win the championship. They just badly need to upgrade that Michael Porter Junior slot. That was a problem throughout this postseason. Whether it was them not being able to trust MPJ, not being able to trust Russ, not being able to trust Peyton Watson, they just didn't have a reliable fifth guy. Michael Porter Junior is going to be a difficult player to trade, but he is the kind of player that I'd be looking to move this offseason for a defensive minded wing because of Aaron Gordon's development as a shooter. Christian Brown again over the tail end of the series got his jump shot figured out, and also Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown are two examples of defensive minded players that have become better shooters. I think those dudes will probably get with whatever defensive minded wing you get and friendly bully him into becoming a better shooter. Like I would just be looking for someone in that mold of the Herb Jones, Jaden McDaniel's type of player. Obviously you're not gonna be able to get Jayden, but I would be looking for that type of big, rangey wing athlete that can basically fill in the baseline spacer role off of Jokic as a cutter. Now that Gordon and Brown can shoot the ball as well as they do, and that raises your defensive ceiling and your overall at the leticism substantially, which I think would be an upgrade. And then the last thing I'll say about it just Jamal's conditioning. I think I think he needs to come into camp ready to go and maximize himself to the point where he's a more reliably good player in these situations. Jamal was bad tonight, but he was fantastic in Game six, and he was really good in Game five until he wasn't. And so I think there's a clear shot making ceiling there with him that he will reach more consistently if he just becomes the kind of player that maximizes what he can get out of his body over the course of a season. And so I think there's just I think it's about maximizing what you have on board, making an upgrade to that fifth starter spot at the small forward position. I think there's a real opportunity there for Denver to pivot and not have to ditch their continuity. Like I was talking to Colin today and Collin's like, well, do you think they should trade Jamal Murray?

No, I don't.

No, I don't.

To me, Jamal Murray's continuity with Jokic in the two man game is of substain value and you could get a player who on paper is better than Jamal, but it's not as good within this particular team in this fit. And so I think I think it's I think you bet on continuity and you just upgrade that fifth starter spot go from there. You've got enough young talent with you know, Jalen Pickett and and Peyton Watson off the bench, Julian straw the had his moments in this series. They've got They've got their opportunity to uh to get more talent out of you, out of your young players. In the big picture, I think they just got to upgrade that fifth starter spot.

To me, Jamal Murray's continuity with Jokic in the two man game is of substain value and you could get a player who on paper is better than Jamal, but it's not as good within this particular team in this fit. And so I think I think it's I think you bet on continuity and you just upgrade that fifth starter spot go from there. You've got enough young talent with you know, Jalen Pickett and and Peyton Watson off the bench, Julian straw the had his moments in this series. They've got They've got their opportunity to uh to get more talent out of you, out of your young players. In the big picture, I think they just got to upgrade that fifth starter spot.

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All right, let's bring Jackson on and take some questions.

All right, let's bring Jackson on and take some questions.

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

Let's do it. Just sort of sticking on this Denver point for a second, do you think Denver's issues have more to do with the small forward position or a lack of depth?

Let's do it. Just sort of sticking on this Denver point for a second, do you think Denver's issues have more to do with the small forward position or a lack of depth?

So I I think like there's a certain amount of depth that will come naturally through the development of their young players. Like, I don't think the issue is having Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther as you're you know, even Russell Westbrook in this case, as you're six seven eight. It's just not having a five. They just didn't have a five. Like I feel like this. I feel like if the Nuggets got reliable play out of Michael Porter Junior in this series, they win.

So I I think like there's a certain amount of depth that will come naturally through the development of their young players. Like, I don't think the issue is having Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther as you're you know, even Russell Westbrook in this case, as you're six seven eight. It's just not having a five. They just didn't have a five. Like I feel like this. I feel like if the Nuggets got reliable play out of Michael Porter Junior in this series, they win.

I just think they do.

I just think they do.

So, Like I think I think that is a more achievable goal looking at it through the lens of one piece and then understanding like there's going to be year over year improved with your young talent. That's those guys are going to have their opportunities next year to get plenty of playtime. It's just you gotta have five guys that you trust in a big spot.

So, Like I think I think that is a more achievable goal looking at it through the lens of one piece and then understanding like there's going to be year over year improved with your young talent. That's those guys are going to have their opportunities next year to get plenty of playtime. It's just you gotta have five guys that you trust in a big spot.

Yeah, they they didn't.

Yeah, they they didn't.

They definitely didn't have five guys they trusted in this series. That's for sure. That is for sure.

They definitely didn't have five guys they trusted in this series. That's for sure. That is for sure.

Do you agree with me that the top four, though, are good? I do? I do.

Do you agree with me that the top four, though, are good? I do? I do.

I feel like the relationship and the continuity you're describing with Jamal and Jokicic feels very of the Steph and Draymond conversation to me, where it's like, yeah, there might be a better player than Draymond Green to pair with Steph curR. Yeah, there might be a better player to pair with Yogas and Jamal Murray. But the chemistry they have on the court takes a long long time to develop, and you're not Most teams aren't winning a championship without some level of the sum is greater than the parts. Even when those parts are amazing, you need the sum to be greater. And that's where that chemistry I think is really, really, really valuable.

I feel like the relationship and the continuity you're describing with Jamal and Jokicic feels very of the Steph and Draymond conversation to me, where it's like, yeah, there might be a better player than Draymond Green to pair with Steph curR. Yeah, there might be a better player to pair with Yogas and Jamal Murray. But the chemistry they have on the court takes a long long time to develop, and you're not Most teams aren't winning a championship without some level of the sum is greater than the parts. Even when those parts are amazing, you need the sum to be greater. And that's where that chemistry I think is really, really, really valuable.

That's a great point. Like we talk about this literally all the time. Your value in a vacuum doesn't matter. Everything value. The only value that matters is your value on that basketball team. And the Draymond Steph partnership supersedes any potential partnership of Steph with another big that doesn't have that like seamless synergy that you get out of those two, Like even with Anthony Davis, like if you had to because I remember we had that Warriors fan, it was like, well, what if we can get Ad, Like if let's say you had to use Draymond as salary filler in the AD trade. There's obviously massive upside with AD. But one of the downsides would be Ad is not as good of a processor and short role player as Draymond is. And so even though AD's greatness would supersede and I'm sure the Warriors would be better with AD because he's the type of superstar player, but the point is is it's more complicated. It's not just as simple as attaching an in a vacuum talent like Steph because he brings two to the ball twenty five feet from the basket. Processing is like one of the most valuable skills for a player playing alongside of him, and that's one of the things that Draymond brings.

That's a great point. Like we talk about this literally all the time. Your value in a vacuum doesn't matter. Everything value. The only value that matters is your value on that basketball team. And the Draymond Steph partnership supersedes any potential partnership of Steph with another big that doesn't have that like seamless synergy that you get out of those two, Like even with Anthony Davis, like if you had to because I remember we had that Warriors fan, it was like, well, what if we can get Ad, Like if let's say you had to use Draymond as salary filler in the AD trade. There's obviously massive upside with AD. But one of the downsides would be Ad is not as good of a processor and short role player as Draymond is. And so even though AD's greatness would supersede and I'm sure the Warriors would be better with AD because he's the type of superstar player, but the point is is it's more complicated. It's not just as simple as attaching an in a vacuum talent like Steph because he brings two to the ball twenty five feet from the basket. Processing is like one of the most valuable skills for a player playing alongside of him, and that's one of the things that Draymond brings.

Yeah, one hundred percent. It's like, and there's obviously exceptions to that, Like if you put Yannis with Steph curR, yes, that's just enough of a talent gap where it's worth it. And you put Steph Curry with Nikola Jokic, it's enough of a talent gap to replace Tramal Murray.

Yeah, one hundred percent. It's like, and there's obviously exceptions to that, Like if you put Yannis with Steph curR, yes, that's just enough of a talent gap where it's worth it. And you put Steph Curry with Nikola Jokic, it's enough of a talent gap to replace Tramal Murray.

But you're not.

But you're not.

It's it's gonna be challenging to have enough of a talent gap to replace that chemistry that we're sort.

It's it's gonna be challenging to have enough of a talent gap to replace that chemistry that we're sort.

Of describing, I think exactly exactly.

Of describing, I think exactly exactly.

Next question, Jason, what kind of defense do you think Many will play against Oka see? Will they throw a lot of zone out there? Okay, okay, so he did have some trouble with his zone earlier in the series before they sort of figured it out a little bit.

Next question, Jason, what kind of defense do you think Many will play against Oka see? Will they throw a lot of zone out there? Okay, okay, so he did have some trouble with his zone earlier in the series before they sort of figured it out a little bit.

I think we'll see some zone. But I think this is going to be a man de man series for both teams. I think it's going to be a ball pressure, load up the strong side, force you to move the ball and shoot against the hard, close out.

I think we'll see some zone. But I think this is going to be a man de man series for both teams. I think it's going to be a ball pressure, load up the strong side, force you to move the ball and shoot against the hard, close out.

Type of game.

Type of game.

Like I think I think we could see extended, ugly stretches like extended ugly stretches from both Shay and and in this series, like both of these defenses are perfectly designed to deal with each other. Like it's like a it's a real problem for both teams and the like for as fast as Okay see is, they're going to be dealing with Minnesota's length, And there's a certain amount of like chasing over the top jump shooter who's going to be shooting against length. But like, at the same time, ant superpower is his quickness and his ability to beat people off the dribble with speed, and and there's just a lot of athletes that are going to be standing right in his way throughout this entire series. And so I think it's going to be very much a tough shot making for the stars kind of series and a catch and shoot three for mediocre role players type of series out of main and demand sequences. And I think I wouldn't be surprised if we had multiple games in this series where neither team gets two hundred.

Like I think I think we could see extended, ugly stretches like extended ugly stretches from both Shay and and in this series, like both of these defenses are perfectly designed to deal with each other. Like it's like a it's a real problem for both teams and the like for as fast as Okay see is, they're going to be dealing with Minnesota's length, And there's a certain amount of like chasing over the top jump shooter who's going to be shooting against length. But like, at the same time, ant superpower is his quickness and his ability to beat people off the dribble with speed, and and there's just a lot of athletes that are going to be standing right in his way throughout this entire series. And so I think it's going to be very much a tough shot making for the stars kind of series and a catch and shoot three for mediocre role players type of series out of main and demand sequences. And I think I wouldn't be surprised if we had multiple games in this series where neither team gets two hundred.

Yeah, it does feel like both teams have unique defensive options to throw against the other team's best player, being able to have Dork Caruso Cason Wallace to throw at Anthony Edwards and to have Anthony Edwards and Jane McDaniels to throw at and they got Both teams have a lot of athletic defenders. Dante is super quick. Yeah, they can throw, and they all have different sort of strengths and types of defenders. They could mix up the looks. What I think is you know, valuable as well. How would next question? How would you rank the last four teams in terms of championship odds?

Yeah, it does feel like both teams have unique defensive options to throw against the other team's best player, being able to have Dork Caruso Cason Wallace to throw at Anthony Edwards and to have Anthony Edwards and Jane McDaniels to throw at and they got Both teams have a lot of athletic defenders. Dante is super quick. Yeah, they can throw, and they all have different sort of strengths and types of defenders. They could mix up the looks. What I think is you know, valuable as well. How would next question? How would you rank the last four teams in terms of championship odds?

This is a really good question. I think Oklahoma City should be a substantial favorite over both Indiana and New York. Minnesota I would make a smaller favorite over Indiana and New York, but I think i'd make them favored. But I think that Minnesota okay Se could go either way, if that makes sense. So like strictly speaking the matchups, I view Minnesota okay See as a coin flip, but going forward into the finals, I viewed Minnesota as more susceptible to a loss to Indiana or New York than I view okay See. I think okay See would dispatch of the Knicks and the Pacers pretty quickly. It's just a nightmare matchup for both of them to have to deal with all that guard speed on the ball. So with that being the case, I'm gonna go I would rank the Thunder small gap Timberwolves, big gap Pacers, small gap Knicks.

This is a really good question. I think Oklahoma City should be a substantial favorite over both Indiana and New York. Minnesota I would make a smaller favorite over Indiana and New York, but I think i'd make them favored. But I think that Minnesota okay Se could go either way, if that makes sense. So like strictly speaking the matchups, I view Minnesota okay See as a coin flip, but going forward into the finals, I viewed Minnesota as more susceptible to a loss to Indiana or New York than I view okay See. I think okay See would dispatch of the Knicks and the Pacers pretty quickly. It's just a nightmare matchup for both of them to have to deal with all that guard speed on the ball. So with that being the case, I'm gonna go I would rank the Thunder small gap Timberwolves, big gap Pacers, small gap Knicks.

That's how I'll put it.

That's how I'll put it.

I think I agree, and DraftKings does not DraftKings has I mean they agree with part of it. They have OKAC as the heavy favorite minus one sixty five, and then I think, probably just because you can only get one of the two Western Conference teams in the finals, that from an odds perspective, they have an Eastern Conference team next the Knicks and.

I think I agree, and DraftKings does not DraftKings has I mean they agree with part of it. They have OKAC as the heavy favorite minus one sixty five, and then I think, probably just because you can only get one of the two Western Conference teams in the finals, that from an odds perspective, they have an Eastern Conference team next the Knicks and.

Plus fo that makes sense.

Plus fo that makes sense.

Yeah, yeah, and then the Timberwolves are plus five point fifty and the Pacers are plus seven hundred.

Yeah, yeah, and then the Timberwolves are plus five point fifty and the Pacers are plus seven hundred.

See. You know what's interesting about that, though, is I think it's I think it's substantially more likely that Minnesota sneaks through OKC and beats who comes out of the East than either of the East teams beating Okay.

See. You know what's interesting about that, though, is I think it's I think it's substantially more likely that Minnesota sneaks through OKC and beats who comes out of the East than either of the East teams beating Okay.

See yeah I did too. Yeah. Like it's just.

See yeah I did too. Yeah. Like it's just.

Can you imagine Haliburton and Brunson and nemhard like just dealing with the incessant wave of Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso and lou Dord and yeah, like it just I think it would just be too much for him. Like I I view the Western Conference Finals as basically the NBA Finals.

Can you imagine Haliburton and Brunson and nemhard like just dealing with the incessant wave of Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso and lou Dord and yeah, like it just I think it would just be too much for him. Like I I view the Western Conference Finals as basically the NBA Finals.

Yeah, I tend to agree. And this is not to take shots at Tyre's Halliburn or Jalen Brunson, because those guys deal with a lot of good athletic defenders all the time. But you saw it, for for stretches in Game five of the Knick Celtics series where when Jalen Brown is like, I'm going to turn into a defensive like demon right now. That caused some problems for Jalen Brunson and not I mean, they obviously won the series, it's not anything like that. But if you got three different guys you can are always going to be fresh ish to throw at Jalen Brunster Tyre's Halliburton. It's it would be a challenge, I think against.

Yeah, I tend to agree. And this is not to take shots at Tyre's Halliburn or Jalen Brunson, because those guys deal with a lot of good athletic defenders all the time. But you saw it, for for stretches in Game five of the Knick Celtics series where when Jalen Brown is like, I'm going to turn into a defensive like demon right now. That caused some problems for Jalen Brunson and not I mean, they obviously won the series, it's not anything like that. But if you got three different guys you can are always going to be fresh ish to throw at Jalen Brunster Tyre's Halliburton. It's it would be a challenge, I think against.

A simple stat to kind of break this down. Denver in the regular season with Nikolea Jokic on the floor had a one twenty six offensive rating, okay for Denver versus Okac in this round, they had a one oh four offensive rating with Jokic on the floor, So Okac was literally able to cut Denver's regular season offense production by twenty two points per one hundred possessions.

A simple stat to kind of break this down. Denver in the regular season with Nikolea Jokic on the floor had a one twenty six offensive rating, okay for Denver versus Okac in this round, they had a one oh four offensive rating with Jokic on the floor, So Okac was literally able to cut Denver's regular season offense production by twenty two points per one hundred possessions.

That's crazy like they are. It's crazy they are.

That's crazy like they are. It's crazy they are.

You know, Like I saw our friend uh in colleague Carson Breber talking about them as an all time great defense, and I'm always hesitant to throw that phrase out until we like get there, but like if if they're gonna get there, this is what it would look like. Like they're certainly in the process. It's kind of like it reminds me of like watching Jokics in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, where you're like, this.

You know, Like I saw our friend uh in colleague Carson Breber talking about them as an all time great defense, and I'm always hesitant to throw that phrase out until we like get there, but like if if they're gonna get there, this is what it would look like. Like they're certainly in the process. It's kind of like it reminds me of like watching Jokics in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, where you're like, this.

Guy might be the best you know this, yeah, yeah, might be the best player.

Guy might be the best you know this, yeah, yeah, might be the best player.

Like this this defense from Okay see looks looks like one of those special defenses in NBA history that can really cause problems for teams. And the reason why Denver had extended stretches of success against Okase is they had this big mammoth human that could just run like some of Jokic's drop step buckets through double teams today. Did you see some of those today where he's just like he just spins into traffic and just goes through like three dudes and lays it up the Knicks, and the Pacers just don't have that option against this Thunder team, and I just think I think they'd be in some real trouble.

Like this this defense from Okay see looks looks like one of those special defenses in NBA history that can really cause problems for teams. And the reason why Denver had extended stretches of success against Okase is they had this big mammoth human that could just run like some of Jokic's drop step buckets through double teams today. Did you see some of those today where he's just like he just spins into traffic and just goes through like three dudes and lays it up the Knicks, and the Pacers just don't have that option against this Thunder team, and I just think I think they'd be in some real trouble.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's sort of like we talked a lot about Anthony Edward sort of being this like King King Slayer. He's taken out all these you know, all time grades on his way to on this playoff run. If the Thunder end up winning the title, you know, the first round is whatever. But being able to say we put the clamps on Jokic, we put the clamps on a Timberwolves team that just kind of shredded a great Golden not shredded, but like had a lot of success against a good, very very good Warriors defense.

And it's sort of like we talked a lot about Anthony Edward sort of being this like King King Slayer. He's taken out all these you know, all time grades on his way to on this playoff run. If the Thunder end up winning the title, you know, the first round is whatever. But being able to say we put the clamps on Jokic, we put the clamps on a Timberwolves team that just kind of shredded a great Golden not shredded, but like had a lot of success against a good, very very good Warriors defense.

Ye.

Ye.

And then we put the clamps on Jalen Brunson or Tyre's Halliburton's World win Pacers, like that would be a pretty impressive defensive finals run.

And then we put the clamps on Jalen Brunson or Tyre's Halliburton's World win Pacers, like that would be a pretty impressive defensive finals run.

I think I agree, And I think you're hitting on another interesting thing, which is that I think Golden State was a really good tune up for Minnesota to prepare for Oka.

I think I agree, And I think you're hitting on another interesting thing, which is that I think Golden State was a really good tune up for Minnesota to prepare for Oka.

See.

See.

Can you imagine if Minnesota had gone straight from the Lakers to Okay see that like I would have probably picked Okac in a heartbeat, but getting that Golden State matchup is like, here's a real fast, smart defense that that'll throw you for a loop. The difference is is you'll be facing real rim protection in this round.

Can you imagine if Minnesota had gone straight from the Lakers to Okay see that like I would have probably picked Okac in a heartbeat, but getting that Golden State matchup is like, here's a real fast, smart defense that that'll throw you for a loop. The difference is is you'll be facing real rim protection in this round.

Yeah, all right, let's see one more sort of kind of abstract crazy question and then we can wrap up for the day. I love the show. What do you think of this trade? This is a this is a this is.

Yeah, all right, let's see one more sort of kind of abstract crazy question and then we can wrap up for the day. I love the show. What do you think of this trade? This is a this is a this is.

A blocky.

A blocky.

The l A Lakers get Jared Allen, DeAndre Hunter, Isaaca Korro, and Dean Wade, and Cleveland gets Lebron James.

The l A Lakers get Jared Allen, DeAndre Hunter, Isaaca Korro, and Dean Wade, and Cleveland gets Lebron James.

Okay, read me the names one more time.

Okay, read me the names one more time.

Jared Allen, Jared Allen, DeAndre Hunter, DeAndre Corro, Hunter, and Dean Wade. And apparently this does work for the money, according to the commenter.

Jared Allen, Jared Allen, DeAndre Hunter, DeAndre Corro, Hunter, and Dean Wade. And apparently this does work for the money, according to the commenter.

Okay, let me let me conceptualize this for just a second. So in this universe, the Calves would then run out with Struce at the three with Lebron and Mobley and they would lose the depth of DeAndre Hunter and Dean Wade and the Lakers would get so it would be Austin a Coro would be there.

Okay, let me let me conceptualize this for just a second. So in this universe, the Calves would then run out with Struce at the three with Lebron and Mobley and they would lose the depth of DeAndre Hunter and Dean Wade and the Lakers would get so it would be Austin a Coro would be there.

Two I suppose, well.

Two I suppose, well.

It's Luca Austin and DeAndre Hunter.

It's Luca Austin and DeAndre Hunter.

I think, yeah, you're right, Luca Austin and DeAnda Hunter would be so it'd be Hunter and Ruie would be the.

I think, yeah, you're right, Luca Austin and DeAnda Hunter would be so it'd be Hunter and Ruie would be the.

Three, Hunter and Ruie and then Jared Allen.

Three, Hunter and Ruie and then Jared Allen.

And then Allen at the center and then and then.

And then Allen at the center and then and then.

I mean, it's it's not the worst. It's an interesting, stay competitive, but not but not punt on anything long term. You're like Hunter or Allen are are still like in their rising into their prime, if not in their prime, they're not old by any means.

I mean, it's it's not the worst. It's an interesting, stay competitive, but not but not punt on anything long term. You're like Hunter or Allen are are still like in their rising into their prime, if not in their prime, they're not old by any means.

They're also Yeah, to your point, there are also players that like specifically struggled in the postseason and that Cleveland fans are probably like, I'll drive you to the airport anyway.

They're also Yeah, to your point, there are also players that like specifically struggled in the postseason and that Cleveland fans are probably like, I'll drive you to the airport anyway.

Right, and sort of like both teams being like, damn, I don't really want to trade these guys, don't I never said I wanted to trade these guys, but if you're asking for them, I'll listen to a phone call.

Right, and sort of like both teams being like, damn, I don't really want to trade these guys, don't I never said I wanted to trade these guys, but if you're asking for them, I'll listen to a phone call.

So so, so Cleveland basically gets to use Lebron as like a one year rental slash.

So so, so Cleveland basically gets to use Lebron as like a one year rental slash.

They can drop his money off the books eventually.

They can drop his money off the books eventually.

Right there there, there might have to be to do a total vibe shift if they if they run it back and lose again in the second round.

Right there there, there might have to be to do a total vibe shift if they if they run it back and lose again in the second round.

Yea exactly next year.

Yea exactly next year.

And I think we came out of that series looking pretty clearly like, yeah, Mitchell and MOBILEI are their two guys. Garland's a big question mark. Still man, That's a really interesting trade.

And I think we came out of that series looking pretty clearly like, yeah, Mitchell and MOBILEI are their two guys. Garland's a big question mark. Still man, That's a really interesting trade.

That's it. That's something that.

That's it. That's something that.

I would I like if if Lebron was dead serious about being willing to go back to Cleveland, It'd be an interesting trade to explore and look at some different machinations in the sense that like, yeah, I I the one, the one other thing those I wonder if Cleveland's going to look to potentially trade Garland at some point if like how many times are they going to is Garland going to be basically useless in the postseason before that they before they look to go a different direction there. But that could be an entirely separate deal. This is interesting. I'm not gonna say that I would do it because I think the Lakers.

I would I like if if Lebron was dead serious about being willing to go back to Cleveland, It'd be an interesting trade to explore and look at some different machinations in the sense that like, yeah, I I the one, the one other thing those I wonder if Cleveland's going to look to potentially trade Garland at some point if like how many times are they going to is Garland going to be basically useless in the postseason before that they before they look to go a different direction there. But that could be an entirely separate deal. This is interesting. I'm not gonna say that I would do it because I think the Lakers.

Here's my issue.

Here's my issue.

If I'm the Lakers, DeAndre Hunting, DeAndre Hunter and Rui are both redundant. There are big forwards that struggle to defend on the perimeter, that are good catch and shoot players that can put the ball on the floor and attack and close out that can attack a mismatch. They're but they're both better at four than they are at the three. In my opinion, Jared Allen is not quite the vertical spacer that Luca typically likes to play with, but he is a very good like short like a short range spacer, meaning like floaters and push shots and stuff like that. He's a switchable big that I think, which I think obviously JJ Reddick would like. And Isaacacorro's a real athletic upgrade. But after all of them just struggled in the postseason, I think you'd have a hard time giving up Lebron for him. It's an interesting idea, though I'm not gonna say I would do it or not, but that is a is an interesting idea, And like if Lebron, if Lebron decides that he wants to go back to Cleveland, there are certainly some avenues there to make that into uh into an interesting trade.

If I'm the Lakers, DeAndre Hunting, DeAndre Hunter and Rui are both redundant. There are big forwards that struggle to defend on the perimeter, that are good catch and shoot players that can put the ball on the floor and attack and close out that can attack a mismatch. They're but they're both better at four than they are at the three. In my opinion, Jared Allen is not quite the vertical spacer that Luca typically likes to play with, but he is a very good like short like a short range spacer, meaning like floaters and push shots and stuff like that. He's a switchable big that I think, which I think obviously JJ Reddick would like. And Isaacacorro's a real athletic upgrade. But after all of them just struggled in the postseason, I think you'd have a hard time giving up Lebron for him. It's an interesting idea, though I'm not gonna say I would do it or not, but that is a is an interesting idea, And like if Lebron, if Lebron decides that he wants to go back to Cleveland, there are certainly some avenues there to make that into uh into an interesting trade.

What do you have any big picture thought on it?

What do you have any big picture thought on it?

I mean, it's just it's kind of hard to to wrap your head around, but I do feel I do feel like it kind of.

I mean, it's just it's kind of hard to to wrap your head around, but I do feel I do feel like it kind of.

It.

It.

It's both teams are in a sort of we don't feel like we have the roster clearly to be contenders. There has to be some kind of shake up, it feels like for both teams. But it's hard to part ways with any of the guys that you would need to to make a trade, Like if you're if you're a Cavaliers fan, I think it's tough to be like run it back, just exact same roster running back. That's also like, who do we really feel confident about trading?

It's both teams are in a sort of we don't feel like we have the roster clearly to be contenders. There has to be some kind of shake up, it feels like for both teams. But it's hard to part ways with any of the guys that you would need to to make a trade, Like if you're if you're a Cavaliers fan, I think it's tough to be like run it back, just exact same roster running back. That's also like, who do we really feel confident about trading?

The Jared Allen piece is the complicated one to me, because you trade him, you instantly become a dramatically worse regular season team. But this is he's been He's gotten his ass kicked in the postseason multiple times in the last couple of years. So like like Mitchell Robinson ate him alive a couple of years ago, he got demolished by Myles Turner in this round, Like there's a it's just really hard to sell your fan base on the idea like, hey, you guys, did you like that when we won sixty four games? Well, without jarreed, we're gonna get fifty one to fifty two wins. How does that sound to you?

The Jared Allen piece is the complicated one to me, because you trade him, you instantly become a dramatically worse regular season team. But this is he's been He's gotten his ass kicked in the postseason multiple times in the last couple of years. So like like Mitchell Robinson ate him alive a couple of years ago, he got demolished by Myles Turner in this round, Like there's a it's just really hard to sell your fan base on the idea like, hey, you guys, did you like that when we won sixty four games? Well, without jarreed, we're gonna get fifty one to fifty two wins. How does that sound to you?

Guys?

Guys?

You know but then the way you cause, like, especially with Lebron, Like, Lebron's not going to be some super impactful regular season player. But I would argue that Garland, Mitchell, Struce, Lebron, and Mobiley have a much better chance to win in the postseason than that version does. And so that it's it's, it's, it's, it's definitely worth exploring. All right, guys, that's all we have for today. As always, we sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. As I said, we will be going tomorrow early afternoon ish with our series preview on the Timberwolves and the Thunder. Very much looking forward digging into that tomorrow. No playback today, but we'll get back to our normal playback after shows on Tuesday.

You know but then the way you cause, like, especially with Lebron, Like, Lebron's not going to be some super impactful regular season player. But I would argue that Garland, Mitchell, Struce, Lebron, and Mobiley have a much better chance to win in the postseason than that version does. And so that it's it's, it's, it's, it's definitely worth exploring. All right, guys, that's all we have for today. As always, we sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. As I said, we will be going tomorrow early afternoon ish with our series preview on the Timberwolves and the Thunder. Very much looking forward digging into that tomorrow. No playback today, but we'll get back to our normal playback after shows on Tuesday.

Again.

Again.

That's playback dot tv slash Hoops tonight for you guys to get set up there. Again, we appreciate you guys for rocking with us and we'll see it tomorrow. What's up guys. As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Oops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.

That's playback dot tv slash Hoops tonight for you guys to get set up there. Again, we appreciate you guys for rocking with us and we'll see it tomorrow. What's up guys. As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Oops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.

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