On the NBA Beat

5:05-6:08: “The second pleasant surprise and the second I said was that Dereck Lively needs to become the second coming of Tyson Chandler. Again, he's not Tyson Chandler. However, he looks incredible. He looks so good that you actually see some of the deficiencies of not having more support in the big area. … But when Lively is healthy and when he's in and when he's not in foul trouble, they look pretty awesome. And then the third and sort of final one is some of these role players, they look incredible too. Grant Williams has been Steady Eddie for us, and he's not only a good vibes guy on the bench, which every team needs; he is amazing from the 3-point line. He's just a little bit more versatile than role players we've had in the past and same with Derrick Jones Jr. Derrick Jones Jr., who is an NBA journeyman, I can't recall him looking this good, really ever.” 8:28-8:47: “If they're playing a team, say the Wolves or someone like that, [they have] the ability to be able to speed up but then also grind the game to a halt and make it a half-court contest. I think Dallas has the versatility, offensively, to play both ways.” 12:55-13:25: “In terms of bringing in these huge stars, I'm sorry, the NBA is too good, and you have to have a training camp and you have to learn how to play together. And those are the positive signs we're seeing from Luka and Kyrie and why I feel really good about this team, even with the defensive woes. It's simply because they look like a team that has an identity, a philosophy, schemes. If you're a team with that in place, you have a leg up on a bunch of other teams.”   18:12-18:29: “When you watched [Doncic] last season, you literally had the thought, ‘This is not sustainable.' As great as he is, it is not sustainable to watch this guy control the entirety of every single possession, and it [ultimately] played out exactly how we thought.” 24:33-24:48: “Now, in my head, Luka has to show that he is clearly better than Jokic to win the MVP, and I don't know if he'll do that. But it's funny that our brains do that, all because Jokic has a ring.” 26:39-28:17: “Being a big next to Luka, you just have a very specific job…and he's excelling like crazy at that. … If I am, say, playing the Mavericks in the playoffs and I am scouting, the very first thing, the literal No. 1 agenda item is ‘get Dereck Lively in foul trouble.'”   39:19-39:30: “In terms of growth from year over year, it's been nice seeing them just handle these bad opponents because they didn't. I can tell you, ‘They did not do that in the past.'”

Alex Kennedy, Chief Content Officer at BasketballNews.com and host of Running Up the Score, a biweekly live sports show airing every Tuesday and Friday night, stops by to wind through the Western Conference just as the league readies for tipoff. The Nuggets are Alex's leading squad but far from the conference's only contenders. Oh, and he has firmly taken a seat aboard the Wemby Train. Who's coming with him?   2:44-4:03: “This is a [Nuggets] team that has been together, this core has been together for years, and they have so much chemistry. And I think that's one of the most undervalued things in sports. We tend to get excited about these big, blockbuster moves and player movement, but chemistry and continuity really, really help and go a long way when you're trying to contend for a championship. … There are a handful of contenders: Denver, Phoenix, the Lakers, and then, I think, to a lesser extent you go and look at Sacramento, Memphis, Golden State, Clippers.”   9:52-13:19: “We haven't seen a player like [Victor Wembanyama], ever. … LeBron James said he's an alien. He was like, ‘I don't want to use the word ‘unicorn.' That gets thrown around too often. He's an alien.' Giannis said he could be the best player in the NBA. I mean, these are superstar players that are raving about him and talking about him coming in and just dominating the league. Giannis even said, he was like, ‘I need to start winning some championships now because Victor Wembanyama's coming.' … It was interesting; in the first preseason game that Victor Wembanyama played, we saw [Chet] Holmgren and Wembanyama match up against each other, and it almost feels like the future of the NBA a little bit – these huge guys with crazy length that are kind of position-less that can do a little bit of everything and are super-skilled.”     17:49-18:13: “I still think there is a coming-out part to be had for Anthony Edwards, and I'm a huge fan of his game. I saw a ranking today. I think it was in Sports Illustrated. They were ranking the top five shooting guards in the league, and they had him at No. 3. I wouldn't be surprised if after this season we're talking about him as No. 2 and up there with Devin Booker, who I think is easily the top shooting guard in the league.” 33:09-34:13: “Everyone's on the same page now. They really came together, and I think some of the drama that existed there…they've all acknowledged their role in what happened, and it seems like they're ready to move forward. … This team has a ton of talent. They're one of those teams that you kinda put the question mark, like, ‘OK, well, if they stay healthy, they can be very special. I hope that Zion [Williamson] can be healthy and have a full season. He's so much fun to watch; we've just kinda been robbed of that as of late.”      36:00-36:43: “I think the question is can they take that next step? Can they become a legitimate championship contender? And if not, we could see this be the last year where this core is together. Guys could leave in free agency. The organization could decide to blow it up and make a ton of different changes. So, yeah, I'm very curious. The Clippers have a ton of pressure on them to kinda make it work. … There were reports toward the end of last season that the Mavericks were starting to worry that if they don't put a contender around Luka [Doncic] that he's going to want to go elsewhere, and that's so common in today's NBA.”      *The Steven Adams injury news broke after the recording, as did the Antetokounmpo extension.

Jake Fischer, Yahoo! Sports senior NBA reporter and the author of Built to Lose, makes his fourth appearance to break down the Eastern Conference's biggest storylines as the season approaches. Tune in to hear why he regards the Celtics as favorites, his thoughts on Evan Mobley's next leap, rookies you should keep an eye on, Jake's dark-horse team out East and so much more. 4:16-6:30: “I am pretty bullish on the Bucks. … but I think that Boston is the favorite. I'm not so certain that Milwaukee got so much better as opposed to how much better Boston got by adding Jrue Holiday to what they had. … I just think the Celtics' top six is way better and stronger, and that's kinda how I like to look at things, from a playoff standpoint. … The fact that Boston has its same core four basically of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Al Horford, you throw in Kristaps Porzingis and then Jrue Holiday, that's a pretty strong, switchable, malleable group.”        10:18-10:58: “The Clippers haven't put Terance Mann in any deal, and the draft capital that they've been able to figure out they could potentially send to Philadelphia in addition to the original offer of a first-round pick and a pick swap just hasn't gotten there to close that gap for the Sixers, so I don't think it will. The last call I had about this, before we were recording, was like 30 minutes ago, and my impression following that call is that [from] the Sixers' side of things at least, they don't seem to think much will change from a negotiation standpoint between now and the start of the regular season. So, if something were to happen, it would definitely be something out of left field.”       12:24-13:01: “Can he be a linchpin on offense? Can he be a legitimate stretch 3-point shooter that makes defenses guard him out to that perimeter and then he's got opportunities to make plays off the bounce, attacking closeouts? It's all about Evan Mobley in terms of what they're ultimate ceiling is, and I think we'll know within 10 to 15 games. We knew 10, 15 games into last season that Paolo Banchero was gonna be a force driving to the rim and he was gonna be one of the greatest players in the league at getting to the foul line. We'll know pretty early if Evan Mobley has taken that step or is in position to take that step.   13:53-14:34: “The Knicks could easily be the third seed and host playoff games and what have you. To me, the question marks are going to be there about Julius [Randle] in the postseason until they're not. … I am struggling to see the next leap from them being a good team to a great team. I don't know what it will be, but I feel like there is some move that has to be made for them to kind of take that next step.”    15:49-16:19: “Tyrese Haliburton was one of the most impressive players I saw in the FIBA World Cup. I've really come to appreciate him as a personality and a mind as much as a basketball player from my conversations with him. … I'm a big fan. I think he can lift that team pretty high, especially if all the other complementary pieces can continue to perform.”       22:24-22:54: “There's an organization pressure, especially when you've got…right now, the Eagles are one of, if not the, leading candidates for the Super Bowl…the Phillies are six wins shy of winning a World Series. That city's pretty used to winning right now, and if the Sixers come out and they fall flat on their face I think it will be heard rather loudly and clearly.”   *Our Built to Lose book special, Jake's previous appearance

Andy Liu of the Light Years podcast is back yet again; for a record ninth time, in fact. His task this time? Helping Aaron preview the Golden State Warriors as they attempt to bounce back from a 44-38 campaign in which just six games separated them from 11th-place Utah and they were eliminated by the Lakers in the second round. Andy and Aaron discuss last season's challenges, summer acquisition Chris Paul's fit, Draymond Green's leadership, Andrew Wiggins' value and Klay Thompson's future, among other timely topics.      7:31-8:39: “They tried to downplay it. They tried to make it seem like they would get through it. But that was the punch that ruined the season. It ruined Draymond Green's standing as a leader. Nobody respected him or wanted to listen to him after that. … It wasn't 100% Draymond Green's fault, but any time something happens that's like that, you end up not having the same voice you did if you're Draymond Green. And I don't think he's had the same voice for a while now. … I think it just makes things very, very difficult for him to be that guy for this team. I think it works if you're Steph and Klay. It doesn't work if you're Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga and some of these younger guys who don't necessarily want to hear it from him.”      17:35-17:47: “Steve's Kerr biggest job this season is to find a way to get Chris Paul to buy in on coming off the bench. Because if Steve Kerr can't do that…this team is cooked.”   20:53-21:14: “I think this thing is tenuous. I do. … The first 10 games are gonna tell us a lot about where the Warriors are gonna be the rest of the season.”       23:54-24:14: “That's part of the game that maybe last season they weren't good enough getting Steph the ball because Jordan Poole wasn't passing, Kuminga didn't know how to play, [James] Wiseman didn't know how to play, JaMychal Green didn't know how to play Warriors-style basketball. It's hard. And I think Chris Paul is one of those people that's smart enough in the NBA to just pick up off the bat, easy.”     28:46-29:21: “Look, he's not gonna be the No. 2, but he's such a good player as the No. 3. It's very reminiscent of what Aaron Gordon did in the NBA Finals, where if you're gonna leave him open, he's gonna make you pay. And he's gonna be so good defensively. He does all the glue stuff. Shout-out to the Warriors, 1 for trading for him, taking the risk, and then 2, identifying that he's gonna be able to do all those things. And of course Andrew Wiggins has to be the one that wants to do those things, right? I think of Kuminga as someone, and again different phases of their career, but Jonathan Kuminga could be Andrew Wiggins, pretty easily.”    37:17-39:04: “I think, moving forward with Mike Dunleavy [Jr.] and Kirk Lacob, they're not losing the Xs and Os or the strategic path of where they want to go. I think they're smart enough to do what [former Warriors president and GM] Bob Myers had done the last decade. What I do think that they're losing is the relationships, the kind of mending of relationships that Bob Myers could do, how Bob Myers can calm Draymond down and build a bridge between Draymond Green and Steve Kerr, build a bridge between Steph Curry and the young guys and kinda get people bought in, get [owner] Joe Lacob bought in. … Now, one thing I do think that may happen is that if this Chris Paul thing doesn't work, Bob Myers has never really shown an inclination to make big moves at the trade deadline. I think that changes with Dunleavy and Kirk [Lacob].”   41:34-41:40: “I think Klay will probably, most likely take a little bit less to come back to the Warriors.”   47:22-47:40: “All of these guys are pseudo-contenders, right? There's just a ton of question marks for all of these guys, and I would hesitate to put the Warriors in a tier below the Lakers or a tier below the Suns or a tier below the Miami Heat. It just doesn't make sense to me because everybody has the same questions.” 

Enjoy Ethan Scheiner discussing his new book, "Freedom to Win." Here are some highlights: 3:23-6:23: “The thing that is so incredible about this story is that it is an unbelievable marriage of politics and sports. That really is the thing that jumps right out. … This communist country, Czechoslovakia, which had started to become free, suddenly got invaded by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union said, ‘We're not gonna allow this country to become free,' and so all of a sudden the people of this little country were crushed. And they found that there was only one way they could fight back. … So they turned their whole world into supporting their team to try to fight back against the Soviets on the ice, and I just sat there going, ‘This is actually politics and sports completely overlapping. I think this is the greatest story I've ever heard.'”       14:08-15:36: “It took me a little while to realize that I actually had to tell the story from a more personal angle. At first, I just thought the history of hockey in Czechoslovakia was so amazing, that it was this country where hockey was so central to fighting the Soviets. … I thought that was enough. … ‘The great narrative nonfiction books, the things that really draw people in, are really focused on individual human beings at extraordinary times, so you need to focus more on the individual human beings.' Then all of a sudden, I said, ‘Oh, my gosh. This Holík family has had this extraordinary history that actually also at the same time tells the story of this incredible country, and it's woven into this unbelievable story of hockey and sports fitting in with everything.'”   32:06-35:27: “At one time, the communists in Czechoslovakia had imprisoned the national hockey team and sent two guys and sentenced them to 15 years in the uranium mines. So people actually thought that the Soviets had forced their hockey to die so that the Soviet team could become good. And so as time went by and Czechoslovakia had a hockey team again, people thought they weren't allowed to beat the Soviets. So this was all part of this sense in Czechoslovakia, ‘The Soviets are keeping us down, and they're using the communists to do it.' … The Soviets won the 1968 Gold medal, but Czechoslovakia was so happy to have beaten the Soviets. And people actually got a sense of ‘You know what? We actually seem to have real freedom now. We even are allowed to beat the Soviets.' They actually believed that.”       47:20-48:06: “We tend to think of democracies falling apart because a bunch of people in the streets start chanting and come in and run roughshod over those in power, and then suddenly grab the gavel and say, ‘OK, we're in charge now,' sort of Doctor Evil style. But more common, what happens is people gain power through free and fair elections, but then use the instruments of power to completely undercut democracy. And so that's a big fear that people have [that] could be happening in the United States; that's certainly what happened in Czechoslovakia.”      58:07-59:07: “We've heard this chant before when we get to 1989, as now there are hundreds of thousands of people in Wenceslas Square, and they start chanting, ‘Dubček! Dubček! Dubček!' over and over. And he steps out onto this balcony as 300,000 people are chanting his name. And so he hasn't been seen for 20 years, and he's this symbol of hope, and they're chanting his name. And in this moment, he had planned on reading some remarks, but he's so touched by the moment he pantomimes embracing the crowd. … It's a stunning moment.”

In a tightly packed Western Conference, where only a handful of games separate the first- and thirteenth-place teams, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report is encouraged by the Portland Trail Blazers' start. Specifically, the Blazers have gotten All-Star-caliber, not to mention career-best, contributions from Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons. Such stellar play from Portland's secondary stars has enabled it to weather a difficult early schedule played about half of the time without franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard. Here are some Highkin highlights on how Portland was able to stay afloat, lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe's early flashes, what's ahead for the Blazers and much more:    6:15-7:07: “I don't think they're a title contender, and I don't think they think they're a title contender either; that's the other part about it. Joe Cronin, the general manager, went into the season saying that he doesn't think this roster is complete and he doesn't think it's good enough right now to contend and that it's still kind of a work in progress. … Going into the season…I said they would probably make the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed out of the play-in. At this point, I'm pretty comfortable saying that I think they're gonna be Top-6 just because they're currently in the middle of the toughest part of their schedule. They've had a ton of road games.” 19:45-20:03: “Already, [Sharpe]'s way ahead of where certainly I thought and where I think a lot of people even in the organization thought he was gonna at this point, so that's something everybody's really encouraged by. And honestly, for Blazers fans that I talk to, they haven't really had a rookie that was exciting like this since Dame.” 25:45-27:15: “Well, [Grant]'s just found the exact right balance. … This spot that he finds himself in in Portland is kinda the perfect middle ground between those two [Denver and Detroit] situations, where he's not the first option most nights ‘cuz everybody knows it's still Dame's show, but he can be that guy. That game against the Knicks, Dame was out in that game and he was able to do that. He's had a couple of other 30-plus-point games this season. He had that game-winner against Phoenix. He's been able to do that stuff, and he can do that from time to time when you need him to. So this is like the perfect spot for him.” 28:10-28:30: “In those Dame-CJ years, they never had a third guy half as good as either of those guys. … This is easily the most talented team that Dame has had since those LaMarcus-Batum-Wes Matthews-Robin Lopez teams.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800- GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/TN/PA/WV/WY), 1-800- NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NH/NJ/ NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. $200 in Free bets: New customers only. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pregame moneyline bet. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Bet must win. Ends 1/8/23 @ 8pm. Risk-Free Stepped Up SGP: 1 Token issued per eligible game. Opt in req. Min $1 bet. Max bet limits apply. Min. 3-leg. Each leg min. -300 odds, total bet +100 odds or longer. Ends at start of final game of the 2022-2023 NBA Season. See eligibility & terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballterms.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the heels of a 2022 Western Conference finals berth, the 9-10 Dallas Mavericks are mired in mediocrity despite receiving historically brilliant contributions from superstar point guard Luka Doncic. Emmy Award-winning director Jason Gallagher, now head of production at The Old Man and the Three, triumphantly returns to shed light on what exactly isn't computing.    4:38-5:14: "I believe that the shooting will improve, but I believe that the Kemba [Walker] move is a result of not having a second playmaker. Spencer is just not that. He is about as good as an X-Factor could possibly be, and that's what you want. That's where he thrived last year. But as a reliable sort of playmaking second option, I think that we're coming to find that he's just not the decision-maker that Jalen Brunson was. He didn't have the steadying sort of temperament that Jalen Brunson had." 12:23-14:02: "You kind of come to this conclusion of 'Why does this feel more frustrating than before? Why does this feel like a weird stretch?' Tim Cato tweeted that this is as about as down as he's seen Mavs twitter in a while, and I think the reason is obviously making the Western Conference finals increases your expectations, but I also think that there's a level of, you have a generational superstar and, as importantly, you have a core that you've invested a lot of time and a lot of resources to developing that still feels like a work in progress. … And I think that that is why fans probably feel frustrated. … I do think that a move has to come. I think anyone but Dorian Finney-Smith, honestly, I'm willing to say goodbye." 24:46-25:41: "The reason why you love this sport is that it's a puzzle, and if the pieces don't fit, they don't fit. Right now, they don't fit. … I mean you're seeing him insisting on staying in all of fourth quarters and things like that. You have to keep him away, like he will want to be out there for as long as he possibly can. I just think that, you know, if the shots start falling from those role players, the load gets way lighter on him, and then he starts playing better. That is the puzzle that you want to solve." 48:22-49:24: "What I find to be most fascinating, though, is building around a generational superstar in the modern era, and if the Mavericks have the wherewithal to really understand what that is. … How do you make Dallas an attractive destination? How do you build properly through the draft and then manage a team that wants to play with such a ball-dominant player? There's so many moving parts there. I really think that you kind of go Lebron-Heat/Cavs, and you kind of give them the keys a little bit. I know that sounds crazy, but it is a generational superstar we're talking about. You sell the farm and you get one to two big names and then the rest come dying to play." Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800- GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/TN/PA/WV/WY), 1-800- NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NH/NJ/ NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. $200 in Free bets: New customers only. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pregame moneyline bet. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Bet must win. Ends 1/8/23 @ 8pm. Risk-Free Stepped Up SGP: 1 Token issued per eligible game. Opt in req. Min $1 bet. Max bet limits apply. Min. 3-leg. Each leg min. -300 odds, total bet +100 odds or longer. Ends at start of final game of the 2022-2023 NBA Season. See eligibility & terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballterms.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an 8-1 start to the season that had some prognosticators pegging them as dark horse title contenders, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been hit with the On the NBA Beat curse and have lost their last four games. To help us get into the ins-and-outs of this enigmatic team, we've brought on Cavaliers expert and long-time friend of the show, Justin Rowan, host of The Chase Down Podcast. Justin takes us through what the off-season trade for Donovan Mitchell unlocks for Cleveland, the growth trajectory of young stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, and how he projects the Cavs to compare to the other members of the Eastern Conference elite this season and beyond. 4:45-5:39: “I think the floor of what you're hoping for is to avoid the play-in tournament. But I think they have more than enough talent to get home court in the first round, and that should be the goal. If you're talking about translating that to the postseason, I'm always going to give the benefit of the doubt to the teams that have been there. Experience matters so much … so I'm going to give the edge to teams like Milwaukee and Boston when it comes to the playoffs, but in the regular season I do think they are up in that tier." 7:11-7:56: “The biggest difference from Donovan Mitchell and what the Cavs probably would have been pre-Mitchell trade is Mitchell kind of combines a lot of what you were looking for from multiple players. Collin Sexton is a good scorer. He's a very good scorer, and I think his passing maybe was a little underrated, but it's not at the same level as Mitchell. A lot of the actions that they were probably planning on running for Ochai Agbaji… you can run for Mitchell, but you also have the added benefit of his playmaking, the volume 3-point shooting, the improvement on defense, which I think was one of the things they were banking on prior to that trade. The fact that he brings all of those elements into one player is a massive boost for the Cavs.” 23:02-23:14: “[Mobley]'s impact transcends the box score, where it's just such great feel for the game. Defensively, the instincts are like Draymond Green with a 7-foot player.” 33:07-35:23: “I think J.B. Bickerstaff, this year is the year we're learning probably the most about him. Because when he was an interim in Houston, they led the league in 3-point rate… Then you go to Memphis, and all of a sudden the narrative around Bickerstaff is ‘He's allergic to shooting 3s' and ‘He refuses to play young players.' … He goes to Cleveland…he plays a ton of young guys, and now that there's more talent, you're starting to see more 3-point attempts. … Everything fell apart [last season], but the fact that he was able to adapt the game plan on the fly throughout the regular season and find success with multiple styles, to me, that's indicative of a head coach who's willing to adjust, who is willing to try to figure out what's going to work.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800- GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/TN/PA/WV/WY), 1-800- NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NH/NJ/ NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. $200 in Free bets: New customers only. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pregame moneyline bet. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Bet must win. Ends 1/8/23 @ 8pm. Risk-Free Stepped Up SGP: 1 Token issued per eligible game. Opt in req. Min $1 bet. Max bet limits apply. Min. 3-leg. Each leg min. -300 odds, total bet +100 odds or longer. Ends at start of final game of the 2022-2023 NBA Season. See eligibility & terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballterms.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last season's Memphis Grizzlies announced their arrival by earning the 2nd seed in the Western Conference and with the fifth-youngest roster in the NBA and proven success building through the draft and player development, there's no reason to believe their upward trajectory should not continue into this season. To discuss how this up-and-coming team can continue to bolster their franchise's history, we've brought on special guest, Molly Morrison, formerly of MadeInMemphis1, the most followed Grizzlies' fan account in Memphis. She takes us through the growth that led to Ja Morant winning the Most Improved Player Award and Zach Kleiman winning Executive of the Year and where the team can go from here. 4:06-4:55: “Ja Morant obviously is just the pivotal reason as to why you're sitting here saying, ‘They're not even an up-and-coming team. They're kind of already there.' So much of that does have to do with Ja's ability to attack the basket, along of course with his other skill sets… and just all the areas he's willing and working to improve in. … Just some of the things he does, I truly believe that I am excited to watch every single Grizzlies game in the regular season, which is not something I could always say because there will be some sort of highlight that just doesn't look like something a natural person would do.” 11:24-11:57: “They've been shooting better on a higher volume, which is extremely hard to do… and the whole team has done that. That really goes back to what I mentioned earlier with coach Taylor Jenkins realizing, ‘OK, guys. Our defense is going to struggle. … We need to stop shooting as many midrange shots. We need to either attack the basket or shoot from deep.' And I think you've really seen that pay off with the Grizzlies.” 28:05-31:06: “Honestly, I think the best thing [GM Zach] Kleiman has done is not overthink it. … I feel like just his consistency to keep on drafting these guys that end up being able to produce at the NBA level so quickly is just really impressive. … The draft wasn't an exciting time for a very long time. … To shift the narrative into, we don't have to have a top 10 pick to get a really exciting guy. It's normal to be able to find a steal late first round or second round. It's a new world for Grizzlies fans, and I give him a ton of credit.” 36:11-36:53: “Taylor Jenkins has been a huge part of this team's success. I really think you mentioning him and Ja coming in at the same time, it's such an interesting way to look at it because these two guys have immense, immense respect for each other. … Above all else… I think a really underrated thing with coaches is having that relationship between the star piece… and the coach because you've seen that go wrong time and time when that respect isn't there.” Molly's column about how she grew her MadeinMemphis1 anonymous account into the most-followed fan account in Memphis, and why she stepped away. Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800- GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/TN/PA/WV/WY), 1-800- NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NH/NJ/ NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. $200 in Free bets: New customers only. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pregame moneyline bet. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Bet must win. Ends 1/8/23 @ 8pm. Risk-Free Stepped Up SGP: 1 Token issued per eligible game. Opt in req. Min $1 bet. Max bet limits apply. Min. 3-leg. Each leg min. -300 odds, total bet +100 odds or longer. Ends at start of final game of the 2022-2023 NBA Season. See eligibility & terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballterms.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After their 2021-22 season ended with a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves retooled by trading for three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert in what many called the most surprising and impactful move of the offseason. They also re-emphasized their commitment to franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns by offering him a super-max contract extension worth $224 million. To help us assess how Minnesota will fare in the crowded Western Conference, we've enlisted the help of Derek James, former Timberwolves beat reporter for various outlets and writer of the By Derek James Substack. He'll take us through those two aforementioned big moves by the front office, the continued growth of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, and much more. 6:26-8:11: “It definitely struck me as a lot when the Gobert trade first went down and seeing all those picks (be sent to Utah) and then hearing Tim Connelly talk about how he feels like they probably maxed out their ceiling last year. … How are you getting even better and taking the next step there? I think that is really where this trade has pushed the Timberwolves. You could see them reasonably having home-court (advantage), at least in the first round. … A big, determining factor in where they finish is probably going to be how...other teams operate (with injury management). There's a range of possibilities. … Other factors in this, too, could just be Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, some of these younger guys, also improving like we think they should.” 10:43-11:55: “I think with the Tom Thibodeau regime and the veterans that he would bring in…they were probably on the back ends of their primes, to put it generously. … Kyle Anderson can still contribute. Taurean Prince can contribute. I think even with Austin Rivers… you don't really need much more from your fifth, sixth guard than that, just a veteran who came in and just knows where to be and what to do, but is still young enough to be a useful player. … This is the first time this team has actually developed players.”          12:30-13:45: “That's the thing with Anthony Edwards: I have no idea what his ceiling could be. … Out of the box, he was fearless in getting to the rim. He knew he was built like a tight end going to the basket. That was never a problem, but I think it was really just getting that shot consistent. And if that gets more and more consistent, I don't really know what his limits are.”  23:05-23:25: "Russell is going to have a great lob target [in Rudy Gobert], maybe somewhat like Jarrett Allen in Brooklyn, only a little better. So I think he'll make D'Angelo Russell look better, and I think there'll just be this effect on teams in the pick and roll, where they have all these different looks they can throw at defenses now." Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800- GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/TN/PA/WV/WY), 1-800- NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NH/NJ/ NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. $200 in Free bets: New customers only. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pregame moneyline bet. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Bet must win. Ends 1/8/23 @ 8pm. Risk-Free Stepped Up SGP: 1 Token issued per eligible game. Opt in req. Min $1 bet. Max bet limits apply. Min. 3-leg. Each leg min. -300 odds, total bet +100 odds or longer. Ends at start of final game of the 2022-2023 NBA Season. See eligibility & terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballterms.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a grueling, injury-marred 2021-22 season, in which the Los Angeles Clippers clawed their way into the play-in games but failed to advance any further, the Clips have returned for NBA preseason with a clean bill of health and championship expectations. We've brought back our friend Law Murray, Clippers beat reporter for The Athletic, to help us delve into the team some are calling the deepest in the NBA. He discusses the highly anticipated comeback of superstar Kawhi Leonard, what to expect from John Wall, the task ahead for coach Tyronn Lue and much more in this in-depth conversation. 5:34-6:11: “We always talk about 'if healthy.' We always talk about that being such a big swing factor for all teams, but the Clippers, everyone's more sensitive because they're just waiting for something bad to happen. Well, this is a pretty injury-proof team. … This team is going to roll out talent every night; there's just too many guys.” 8:40-9:17: A head coach has to be able to be an effective communicator, with the media, with his star players, with his young players, with his veterans, with the role players who have those roles where they could play 30 minutes or 10 minutes in the same week. And That's where Ty [Lue] excels better than any other place. Ty can get his message across and Ty can keep guys together and Ty can get guys to play hard for him. That's where he's at in his tenure with the Clippers. It's a great spot to be in, but that's an earned spot to be in.” 18:05-18:33: “I think Kawhi has an even greater appreciation of where he's at. I think Kawhi has an even greater appreciation of the guys that he's doing it with. He's been much more open and much more engaging. … Kawhi knows that he's a great player with a finite amount of time to be great going forward.” 21:48-23:35: “John [Wall] said it himself…he ain't gonna be Batman anymore, OK? And I don't even think he's gonna be a Robin…When John played for the Rockets, that was his age-30 season. It was the first time that he came off of not one but two procedures on his Achilles, on his heel. … John also had to deal with his heart too: losing his mom, losing his grandmom, losing his career, losing his original NBA city, all that. … Physically he's going to be different. Emotionally, he's a different person. Mentally, he said he needed help, and he's gotten it, and we expect him to be supported over the course of the year. And with that in mind, the Clippers ain't gonna roll him out there being like, ‘Hey, be the No. 1 pick John Wall, be All-NBA John Wall.'” 38:37-40:32: “Norm[an Powell] is going to be a great teammate. Norm has won a championship; he knows what it takes. Norm has improved parts of his game every year. … I can't believe the Clippers acquired this dude. … He's like the cheat code for them.” John Wall's Players Tribune piece: https://signature.theplayerstribune.com/john-wall-nba-basketball-los-angeles-clippers/p/1 Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXTSTEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA(select parishes)/MI/NH/NJ/ NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. $200 in Free bets: New customers only. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 bet. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Bet must win. Ends 10/17/22 @ 8pm. Stepped Up SGP: 1 Token issued per eligible game. Opt in req. Min $1 bet.Max bet limits apply. Min. 3-leg. Each leg min. -300 odds, total bet +100 odds or longer. Ends 1/8/23 @ 8pm. See eligibility & terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/footballterms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After two seasons of missing the playoffs, the Golden State Warriors are back on the main stage, making their sixth Western Conference finals appearance in the last eight years. Ahead of Sunday night's Game 3, they find themselves with a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks and are poised to make their return to the NBA Finals. Joining us for a record fifth episode is Andy Liu of the Light Years podcast, who never fails to bring both knowledge and passion to the show. 2:37-3:58: “In those comebacks, it was the defense that was great, but the Warriors rained 3s. It would just be left, right, Steph, Klay, repeatedly until they beat the other team into submission, and that's not what it was last night. It was a lot of defense, of course…but it was just getting to the bucket. A lot of that is Steph, Klay and (Jordan) Poole figuring out, ‘Hey, we're great shooters, but that's not our first option anymore.' That's different from what we've seen with the Warriors. Everybody always wants to see Steph go dribble, dribble, dribble, step-back 3, but I think those are less sustainable in the postseason. It's pretty cool to see a more experienced championship pedigree Warriors team kind of come back this way. It felt like more classic basketball versus the Warriors basketball that we've seen for a long time.” 6:13-6:38: “Luka Doncic is a traffic cone. Luka Doncic is amazing. He was damn near LeBron-like on offense Friday night with the way that he was making 3s and getting to the hole. But he doesn't hold LeBron's jock on defense. And he's absolutely terrible. Andrew Wiggins was going at him, Steph was driving right by him, and this Dallas team is exhausted. They go seven guys, they have like two, three good defenders – none of them great – and the Warriors know that.” 20:48-22:30: “I've never seen (Poole) lose confidence yet. … You could say he's already helped the Warriors win one game this series, and this was Game 2. He got to the hole, he made a few big 3s. That third-quarter run at the end and then the beginning of the fourth quarter, that was Jordan Poole. That was Poole, Wiggins, Otto (Porter), (Kevon) Loon(ey). Those guys brought the Warriors back and helped give that lead to Steph. … And that's something also that the Warriors have never had. Even when KD was on this team, the minutes that Steph wouldn't play were always terrible.” 28:22-30:23: [Steph Curry]'s been great at everything except the thing that he's the greatest ever at. Like his shooting has been down, he's shooting 80% from the free-throw line. Just weird. ... Outside of that, I would say physically he's as great as he's ever been. And he's also way smarter. ... I think right now if you're a Warriors fan, you can argue who's the best player in this series and people are gonna say, 'Luka this, Luka that.' Five minutes left, give me Steph Curry every single time." 37:36-38:08: "I don't want to say [Steve Kerr] stole the game with the defensive scheme, but he set the tone. He said, 'You know what, we're just going to run this scheme with 18 different coverages in Game 1,' and that's what set the tone on Luka, and they won that game because of that. They won that first game because of Steve Kerr." Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/ /NJ/NY/ PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

With the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors tied through two games of an intense Western Conference semifinal series, we're joined by Keith Parish, host of Grind City Media‘s Fastbreak Breakfast and Grits and Grinds podcasts, who provides insight from the Grizzlies' perspective. 3:47-4:17: “These Ja Morant highlights, 140 million people saw them, and that's by far the most of any NBA player. So he's becoming an absolute superstar. What he did in Game 2 was a little bit different. … The Warriors are probably kicking themselves with the way they covered him. They didn't seem to understand that he wants to drive left every time. They didn't seem to understand that the Grizzlies were really, really short-handed and had not their normal closing lineup out there, but they didn't force the ball out of his hands.”   12:32-14:11: “A healthy [Desmond] Bane I think could do incredibly against Klay Thompson. I'm not that confident in Klay Thompson's ability to defend, and the Warriors keep playing these lineups where if [Jordan] Poole and Thompson are both out there, those are two things that the Grizzlies can attack if Bane is healthy. ... If he's healthy and we get the normal Desmond Bane, he's this unbelievable weapon because when you start helping off of Ja, [Bane]'s just there and he's such a deadeye shooter. … If he's hurt like he was in the first two games, where he's not a threat, he can't even quickly load his shot like he normally does, [then] you can get away with having Klay Thompson check him. I know Klay Thompson is a historically great defender, but I haven't seen the athleticism from him yet this season where I feel like this is the old Klay on defense, so I think that's something the Grizzlies would hope to attack. But it's the health [of Bane], and we don't know. “         17:30-18:03: “I don't think the Warriors showed incredible poise outside of a Klay Thompson shot in Game 1, and in Game 2 they looked especially frantic. And they're also prone to turn the ball over, which is one of the matchups in the series that plays into the Grizzlies' hands. Clearly I have a lot of fear and respect for Klay and for Steph in the clutch, but I don't know how much overall that experience factor is gonna matter or decide the series. Of course, we could see Games 3 and 4, maybe the young Grizzlies come out shell-shocked in Golden State, but it's not something I'm expecting.”  29:26-30:31: “We don't expect the Warriors to shoot that poorly, like they did in Game 2, but some of it is a little bit calculated where Andrew Wiggins is being left alone to shoot; I know he has the ability to make shots, but it has felt like a pick-your-poison type thing, where they're saying, ‘OK, you can shoot.' ... Steph is the one you're obviously terrified of at all times. He missed a ton of very makeable 3s, including one where Ja and Ziaire [Williams] got mixed up at the end of the fourth quarter and left him wide open. As far as Jordan Poole, he's been a good huge problem and he's gonna continue to be a problem for the Grizzlies. They just have to try to continue to contest him, not foul him and hopefully he doesn't make too high of a number.”    Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/ /NJ/NY/ PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

With the Boston Celtics (arguably) improbably leading the Brooklyn Nets 3-0 in an opening-round 2-7 matchup, we're joined by John Karalis, host of Locked on Celtics, Celtics beat reporter for The Boston Sports Journal and author of The Boston Celtics All-Time All-Stars 5:07-5:45: Most importantly, defending at an extraordinarily high level; that's what got them to this place. In this series, they are not letting Kevin Durant close out. They are not letting Durant get going and start to do all the things that Durant does. When the Nets are closing out teams, it's Durant, just bucket after bucket after bucket, midrange after midrange after midrange. Unstoppable. In this series, they've frustrated the hell out of him, they've beaten him up, and he's throwing passes to nobody now.”    13:51-14:54: “The switching has, I think, taken them out of their rhythm. And when Kevin Durant is out of rhythm, then the whole thing starts to fall apart ‘cuz Kyrie [Irving] plays off Kevin Durant, and it's not the other way around. … I look at Game 3 and I say, ‘Bruce Brown got 19 field-goal attempts, and Kevin Durant got 11 field-goal attempts.' And to me, that tells the story of the Celtics' defense more than any of these other stats, the steals, the turnovers, Kyrie's numbers, KD's numbers. That one number: Bruce Brown had eight more field-goal attempts than Kevin Durant is everything you need to know.” 27:49-28:57: "Right now with the playoffs, everybody understands ‘Whatever works.' And so if [Payton] Pritchard is the guy that comes in and can hit some shots, then great. … If the series needs shooting and Pritchard's the guy who's gonna be hitting the shots, then great. I think Derrick White is ready to play 40 minutes or four minutes, and at the end of the game he's gonna be happy if they get the win." 34:39-36:26: "I said Celtics in five because of that defense. … Pick your poison: Kyrie, terrible defender, especially in Game 3 when he has five fouls. Seth Curry, terrible defender. Goran Dragic, terrible. Blake Griffin, terrible. Now you have multiple guys on the floor and Kevin Durant is so worn out that he can't be the defensive presence, the rim protector that he's supposed to be. … I never saw Brooklyn with the ability to stop the Celtics. And I always saw the Celtics being able to kind of get whatever shot they wanted in switches against a heavily switching team like the Brooklyn Nets." Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/ /NJ/NY/ PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

Shamit Dua, host of the In the NO podcast, discusses the promising, young New Orleans Pelicans, whose vastly improved defense and deadline acquisition of guard CJ McCollum has them tentatively in a play-in spot. Shamit discusses McCollum's arrival, including what it's unlocked for star wing Brandon Ingram, before exploring New Orleans' new dual-big man starting lineup, Herb Jones' seismic impact on its defense and the team's prospects for the remainder of the season and beyond. Among other forward-looking topics, Shamit pays special attention to the franchise's consequential upcoming summer decision regarding Zion Williamson's future as its centerpiece. 2:10-2:57: "From the get-go, CJ has brought professionalism, leadership and just attention to the franchise in a way that it hasn't had before. ... It's the kind of leadership that the team has really needed. He's been producing at an extremely high rate. I think he's up to like 27 points per game as a Pelican. He's jelling well with the other players on the team, creating open looks and just all in all making the Pelicans offense that much more dynamic and that much more difficult to defend." 7:46-8:45: "I think you as an organization have to do everything you can to sort of sort this whole situation out, and if at the end of the day it doesn't work, then you can say, ‘We did everything, we accommodated [Williamson] at every corner, and it just didn't work out.' So you don't want to look like the negligent franchise that the media will inevitably try to paint you as if another superstar ends up walking. With regard to his extension, I think that's gonna be a very fascinating question this summer because you look at how Joel Embiid did not play very much in the first couple years and he got a pretty conditional extension with a lot of injury provisions and whatnot. A lot of people are arguing that Zion should get something similar, and I think the Pelicans would be right to do that. But it's still a tricky issue. Do you risk alienating him further by putting that on the table? Or do you just kinda swallow the pill and offer the full max?     22:12-22:47: “I personally don't see [the Williamson-Jonas Valanciunas fit] as a challenge. You look at Zion last year: He averaged 27 points a game, shooting 60 percent from the floor, and you had Steven Adams as the center. People said the Steven Adams partnership wouldn't work. The Pelicans were a pretty decent offensive team, and Zion got whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Jonas is a much more talented offensive player than Steven Adams, just as good of an offensive rebounder, he can space the floor, he can draw doubles himself. If the Jonas and Jaxson Hayes lineups aren't obliterating teams offensively, Zion's just gonna take them to another level. So I don't see there being a question of fit.” 33:35-33:54: “They would like to win; that's why they traded for CJ McCollum. I think they view themselves as an organization that should be trending upwards, so making the play-in would be the right step. But I'm not sure there's this ‘World is ending. Are we gonna blow the team up?' or there's dysfunction behind the scenes if those outcomes aren't reached.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OR/ PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

Caitlin Cooper, contributing writer for SB Nation's Indy Cornrows, has experienced quite a memorable 2021-22 Pacers season so far. Although the team stands at 20-40 at the All-Star break, well below expectations, it boldly traded 25-year-old two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis, just days before the deadline, in a package that most notably returned super-talented second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton from the Kings. Caitlin discusses Indiana's team-building process, why Sabonis was ultimately dealt, what Haliburton's arrival means for Malcolm Brogdon's Pacers future, why she's excited about some of the franchise's lesser-known youngsters, the magic of Lance Stephenson's return, and that's not even all. Enjoy some notable excerpts below: 3:33-4:15: "When you go from Sabonis to Halliburton, both of them have really good feel for the game, and they process what's out on the floor very quickly; it's just that you're doing it at two very different positions. Knowing that they were moving on from Domas, they were mainly going to be losing what he does as a hand-off operator, his roll gravity, interior gravity, his ability to generate side-to-side action. They don't really have any other bigs that can do that to the level that he does, but I think the thought process was…I don't think the Pacers have ever in my lifetime had a point guard the caliber, even just after seeing these four games, of what Halliburton can do in terms of no-look passes, pass fakes to shake help defenders and get guys open and get everybody involved." 13:43-14:40: "I think that the skill that has stood out the most to me…is just the way that he [Haliburton] can freeze defenders. I mean you don't notice it right away sometimes even. But then I've watched the games back and been like, 'Oh, the reason Terry Taylor was just so open in the dunker spot is because he used a slight hand fake over to the corner and that defender jumped and then that was open.' Or, he'll look in transition to the opposite slot and then throw it to Isaiah Jackson on the roll. He has a really nice fake little lob pass that he'll throw that can even open up the lob even further. … Part of what's so exciting about his potential is that I can see areas that he can be better in in each of these games that we've watched, and then I'll look and be like, ‘Oh, that was pretty close to a 20-20 game.'" 31:30-32:08: "It's really tough to explain, and I'm even from Indiana. I live it. I've watched Lance [Stephenson] play since back in the 2013-14 era when they went to the Eastern Conference finals, and it's even hard for me to fully describe what the connection is between Pacers fans and Lance Stephenson and just how every single time, even since he's come back, when he enters a game, you'll start hearing the crowd get excited, and it's because Lance is going in. Even more so than watching Sabonis as a two-time All Star, or even sometimes what the reaction has been with Tyrese Halliburton getting introduced. He's said it before, it's like he gets superpowers when he plays with the Pacers." 42:49-43:11: “They do need to settle on, going into next season, exactly what type of defensive team they want to be because I don't think they've really ever solved that. When they headed into the season, what Rick Carlisle said that he wanted to do for this team, his top two priorities were togetherness and defense, and before they made these trades, I'm not sure that they really accomplished either one of those two outcomes.”  Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Zach Weiss, host of the “Across the Cavs” podcast, is back to provide Loren an update, and boy, is it an exciting one! As the Cavaliers ready to host the 2022 NBA All-Star game, they just received word that Darius Garland will be playing in the showcase event for the first time. On the heels of an 11-4 January, Cleveland is still playing excellent basketball, yet not satisfied with its roster. In fact, one-third of the way through this very interview, Zach learned in real time that Caris LeVert was on his way to Cleveland to improve the already talented squad. Among other topics, Zach opines on the acquisition, the Cavaliers' postseason chances and why their three-7-footer lineup has worked so well. 2:55-3:01 – “Garland's All-Star selection basically says, ‘Yeah, we're hosting the game. We've got players in the game. We are real!' 14:39-14:55 – “Justin Rowan of the Chase Down [podcast] – we had him on Thursday of last week; this would be February 3. He was big on Caris LeVert, who proceeded to drop 42 points, including 20 on just one miss in the first quarter in Indy's last game, so he's an option as well.” (Not even two and a half minutes later, Zach learns that the Cavaliers did indeed acquire LeVert, so be sure to listen to his excited, real-time reaction from 17:29-17:51.) 21:02-21:17 – “We get a guy who can create, he has playoff experience from Brooklyn, he dropped 50 in the Bubble, he's got a lot of talent, he'll have good nights, he'll have bad nights. But finally [much-needed help has arrived]! We talked about Darius [Garland] carrying too much weight.” 26:17-26:35 – “When you put him [Lauri Markannen] with two rim-protecting, mobile bigs, I think you scare teams. You go at them even if they're ready for the fight. Not many teams have figured us out. The Cavs are 32-21, and that includes a five-game streak without their bigs, so they're really 32-16.” 30:37-31:04 – “It'll be Darius and Caris, which kinda rhymes. LeVertland. Vertland, Vertland! There we go. Vertland. So take the pressure off Darius now. And they're not gonna have that much tape to follow us ‘cuz Lauri's not coming back until after the All-Star break, so for now you'll probably have LeVert and Okoro starting together. And so when you consider everything here, they're only gonna have 15 games of tape probably to watch.” 39:59-40:34 – “I don't see a weakness [with the Milwaukee Bucks], and they're gonna have [Brook] Lopez back in the playoffs, even if he's only playing 15 [minutes per game]. He was incredible last year when they needed him to be, and when he was out, you put in Bobby [Portis]. This is a scary team. I don't care they don't have PJ [Tucker]. I don't know how we beat them. I could be wrong because I said the Cavs weren't ‘this,' and then on October 1, I said we were a 12th seed. In November, end of the month, maybe even early December, I said we're not even a top-six. So don't take my word for it, I guess, but the Bucks are the team I'm the most scared of, more than Miami, more than Chicago, more than anyone else in the conference. Anyone!”    Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

We have officially crossed the halfway point of the NBA's 1230-game regular season and to celebrate the occasion and welcome our show back from its hibernation, Aaron is excited to present a special solo episode of his (subjective) power rankings of the league's 30 teams, organized into five tiers. Along the way, Aaron will also share his thoughts on a select number of teams and offer other interesting nuggets about the season so far. Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes. Subscribe to, rate and review On the NBA Beat on Apple Podcasts. Follow On the NBA Beat and your hosts Aaron Fischman and Loren Lee Chen on Twitter. Discover the rest of The Basketball Podcast Network at thebasketballpodcastnetwork.com.

The Cleveland Cavaliers outperformed everyone's expectations during a blistering start that saw them near the top of the Eastern Conference standings and rookie Evan Mobley as the odds-on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award. Recently though, they've fallen on harder times with six of their top eight scorers, including four of their opening day starters and the aforementioned Mobley, missing time with injury. During the recording of this episode, we received even more bad news for the Cavs, that fourth-year guard Collin Sexton would be undergoing season-ending surgery on his torn meniscus. We brought on Zach Weiss, host of the Across the Cavs podcast, for this episode to help us weigh the good and the bad for Cleveland so far this season and provide his insight on where this young team can go from here. 3:35-4:02: “It's clear they made the right decision to draft Evan Mobley and to pay Jarrett Allen. I think they can very much coexist. … Yes, [Mobley]'s hurt right now. He'll be back. … When [Lauri] Markkanen, who should be back very, very soon, once they're all together again, that three-7-footer lineup, I think it's special. You don't see other teams even willing to try that.” 5:04-5:24: “It's important to kinda be realistic and say that there's no chance the Cavs will be a top-six team by the time the year's over. And so that being said, I think it's all about the play-in. It's about just trying to win as much as you can. There's no more draft picks they need. You can only have so many young guys.” 8:09-8:55: “It was the Knicks game for me that stood out for Mobley. He had 26, nine and five… But Mobley was smooth, he was hitting clutch 3s, he was getting all the rebounds. He was taking one dribble from the corner, beyond the arc, and getting right to the basket. When you look at his averages of 15, 8, 2.5 assists, a steal, 1.6 blocks, the assist, steal and blocks numbers are kinda like a young Giannis. And he's not Giannis. He'll never be Giannis. There's only one Giannis. But impacting the game as a 20-year-old defensively is not something many players do. That alone is impressive. I think the shot is a lot better than we expected it to be at this point.” 14:16-14:42: “For [Collin Sexton]'s career, I think this is the best thing, but for the Cavs, this is a mega, mega issue because while he's been out, they've really struggled to replace his value. [Ricky] Rubio as a starter has not quite been the same player as Rubio, the backup. They're gonna have to sign somebody or do something if they really want to compete this year because Denzel Valentine is not that guy.” 24:53-25:15: Coming in last year when we drafted [Isaac Okoro], it was only a year ago. Remember how weird last year was? And he came in with these expectations – lockdown defender who will figure out his shot. Surprisingly, Deni Avdija of the Wizards is pretty much a slightly more developed Okoro, is what it looks like right now.” 31:10-31:31: “Once players get back and everyone can get a defined role again, I think we'll understand what they have. But it's gonna be six or seven weeks before we actually know good the Cavs are. Whatever their record is, whatever their rotation looks like, if everyone that's on the roster now is still there, there's a lot that we're gonna learn about them with No. 2 [Sexton] not playing again this year.” 38:32-39:00: “I think [head coach J.B. Bickerstaff] trusts his team, which is a great sign; not all coaches do. That being said, the fact that he can count on the five guys on the court at a given time to fix their own mistakes means that they have a good off-court relationship that they can kinda have that unspoken trust. I think he's gonna be a great coach. He will be the coach that gets them their next playoff series win. Whenever that is, it's gonna be J.B. Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

In Year 2 of 20-year-old point guard LaMelo Ball's NBA career, the Charlotte Hornets are playing with one of the league's fastest paces while managing to score efficiently. Their successful high-octane offense has provided a breath of fresh air, although their defense ranks among the league worst and they've been plagued by long scoring droughts as well as other types of inconsistency. As a result, despite notable improvement from Ball and forward Miles Bridges and a healthy start from Gordon Hayward (not to mention his reliable production), the Hornets sit just a game above .500. Nick Denning, former editor at SB Nation's At the Hive, breaks down what to expect from this enigmatic team that began 4-1 with three road wins, then dropped six of seven and has since won three straight, including a Sunday night victory over the then-11-1 Warriors. What can we make of this team? Nick will guide us through as we aim to determine that.   7:25-8:07: “Their offense, that's why people watch them. It's just how good they are offensively, it's all the weapons they have, it's the instinctiveness that LaMelo and others play with. He starts it, but everybody feeds off it, and head coach [James] Borrego really allows that instinctiveness. That's what's gonna keep them in games, and then those nights when they can play well enough defensively are gonna be the nights where they can pull off some wins and maybe beat some teams that they don't really have any business beating.” 13:26-14:02: “You're aware of just how underwhelming the Hornets have been for much of their existence, so to have a player like [Ball], just for what he does alone, it's worth the price of admission. It's worth planning your evenings around watching him because you know you're gonna get a couple plays that just, they make me shake my head, and they make me just think that everything that's come before this, all the missed draft picks, all the bad free agency decisions, maybe it was worth it if I can get a decade or more of watching this kid play for us and do these special things.'”    21:40-22:17: “The role [Miles Bridges] has this year was actually orchestrated at the end of last season. Basically, Borrego said, ‘Hey, we like what you did this year, but you've gotta take the next step, and that step comes with ball-handling. We want you to isolate more, we want you to be able take on defenders more yourself.' … I think [he's such an integral part of Charlotte's success] because the coaching staff looked at the roster and said, ‘Look, for us to improve next year or take the next step, Miles has to take the next step himself.' He obviously bought into that. He attacks the hoop much more effectively than I've ever seen him do before.” 32:38-32:48: “It's not flashy, and that's probably why [Gordon Hayward] doesn't get the attention that Bridges and LaMelo get, but he kinda holds things together.” 36:50-37:00: “I've come to realize through 14 games that this is who [Kelly Oubre Jr.] is gonna be. You just have to accept it and ride with it. No pun intended, but ride the wave.” 38:51-40:00: “Up until this point and probably for at least another season, [Borrego] is being evaluated on player development, at least primarily on player development. … Maybe not this year but definitely next year, that expectation is gonna shift from player development to winning, to making the playoffs and to competing in the playoffs.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

The Golden State Warriors have made their triumphant return to the upper echelon of the Western Conference behind an MVP-caliber start of the season from their star, Steph Curry. On this episode, Andy Liu of the Light Years podcast has made a similarly triumphant return to this podcast to discuss his expectations for the team this season. 2:55-4:16: "I think they could make the Western Conference Finals. I think that's their upside, and, you know, when you're in that one series to get into the NBA finals, anything can happen, especially if you have Steph Curry.… I think the worst-case scenario is just Steph Curry being hurt and if that happens, I mean, all right, here comes another lottery pick, right? But other than that, I think this team is bare minimum what that team was last season. They're an eighth-seed, seventh-seed at the very least, and then they have the upside to be a Western Conference Finals team." 5:06-4:30: "The amount of love Steph got when the Warriors went 15 and 5 at the end of last season with no chance of actually winning anything, it was incredible. It felt like everybody loved him and he never got that same love when he was winning titles.… Steph is not a different player than he was in 2018 when they beat the Cavs.… He's the same guy, but because the Warriors in the last few seasons, especially the last one, didn't have a chance to win a championship, I think people are coming out the woodwork and saying, 'All right, it's safe now to love Steph.'" 13:02-13:41: "I think Jordan Poole has proved that he has a lot of talent, especially you saw at the end of last season. He has a lot of talent and he's the only guy on this team, even if Klay comes back, he's the only guy on this team that can get to the hole consistently. It's basically Steph, Jordan Poole, and maybe Andrew Wiggins depending on what he ate for breakfast that day.… If he's bad now, that's okay, you got to let him play through it. It's more about what he looks like in March at the end of the season when they're gearing up for a playoff run." 16:25-17:18: "[Wiseman] was put in a position to fail last season. Just quite honestly he was thrown into the fire and he wasn't given much to actually succeed.… They also had him running Steve Kerr's system where they were doing split cuts and intricate passing designs. When the hell has a 19-year-old ever been able to do that? That made no sense, and so he failed. He failed in those moments and I don't blame the kid. Now what I think was successful near the end of the season, they started to put him in pick-and-roll and have them just run to the rim and dunk the ball. That's it. He was getting more comfortable and then he tore his meniscus." 24:15-24:32: "They picked up guys [Otto Porter, Nemanja Bjelica, and Andre Iguodala] that knew their role, knew how to play basketball and weren't going to make mistakes and I think that's really what makes life a lot easier and what made Warriors basketball so much fun to watch and they're bringing that back this season." 29:05-31:28: "I don't think at any point Steve Kerr should be fired. I think Steve Kerr should be the coach of this team as long as he wants to be the coach of this team because he doesn't do anything that that really derails the team. He's not actively making the team worse, but he hasn't also made the team better these last few years.… This season, they put a very veteran-laden coaching staff around him. Kenny Atkinson was an incredible coach for the Nets, he's on the staff now. Ron Adams is still there. They brought in a couple of player development coaches, [DeJan] Milojević and another one from Toronto, Jama Mahlalela. I think that with those guys, it's made his life a lot easier." Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Enjoy Aaron's one-on-one conversation with Bleacher Report writer Jake Fischer on his debut book, "Built to Lose: How the NBA's Tanking Era Changed the League Forever." 4:47-5:23: “There was a long Google doc of probably 600 names of people that were this player and his agent and the player's college coach and every single guy who was ever rostered by that team, guys who were in training camp. And then as you get on the phone with other people, you start to ask also, like, ‘Hey, now that we've talked for 20, 30, 40 minutes, and you kind of know who I am a little bit, know the work I'm trying to do, and just the honest conversation I'm trying to have, anybody you think you could put me in touch with that would help me further understand, add another perspective?' Sometimes I'll even ask for specific people.”     14:38-15:47: “For me, before I got into this more newsy space at Bleacher Report, at Sports Illustrated, I was working on “Built to Lose” for a long portion of my time there. I kinda developed a niche at SI of being someone who covered left-of-center stories, like I got coffee with Mike D'Antoni ‘cuz he's obsessed with Starbucks. And my last thing I ever wrote for SI was a profile on Red Panda, so stuff like that. I realized from [those], I don't really cover basketball that much. I kinda cover the people who work in basketball and things about the business of basketball and the ecosystem of the NBA. So it's always been difficult, I think at times, to throw like a random question to somebody, but there's a way to do it in a way that is interesting to them versus, ‘Here's this total left-field subject.' If you go at it kind of with humility and laughing at yourself…”     18:24-19:00: “I really do believe that every page has some type of new information that didn't come out before, whether it was furthering a story that had come out previously or just bringing out a new story altogether. That's a big goal of mine any time I write. I had a really great journalism adviser in high school named Greg Gagliardi, who I shout out all the time, who's one of the people the book's dedicated to. And he taught me back in my junior year of high school, maybe even my freshman year, if you don't have something new, then you don't have a story.”  30:11-30:50: “I really wanted to include the Lakers being that they're the independent variable in all this, where they were the worst team in the league during the five-year stretch in which we cover in the book. And it didn't matter. LeBron still signed there in free agency in 2018, Anthony Davis came soon after, they won a title. So I think that's exactly why tanking does exist in these smaller markets. If you're Utah with Donovan Mitchell, if you're Orlando when they had Dwight Howard, Milwaukee with Giannis, Portland with Dame [Lillard], you've gotta get these guys through the draft and do everything you can to build a contender around them or else you've got no shot.”   35:01-35:11: “The worst team in the NBA was creating some of the biggest storylines and the most interest in its product, so I don't see how it could've been viewed as a bad thing.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Sarah Todd, Utah Jazz beat reporter for the Deseret News and host of the Unsalvageable podcast, sheds light on last season's best regular-season team. How can the Jazz take their pre-playoff success and parlay it into a deep postseason run? 4:48-6:28: “I think it all has to do with versatility and health. Because if Mike Conley is healthy through the Clippers series, if Donovan Mitchell doesn't have a bum ankle, then maybe the Clippers' offense isn't able to break the point of attack as easily as it was able to, which then causes problems on the switch, which is what caused so many problems for Gobert on the defensive side. It wasn't that he wasn't good; it was just that the perimeter gave him too much to deal with because they weren't holding guys out. … Other teams have been exploiting that flaw of the Jazz's for years. … As far as versatility goes, that's what they tried to address in the offseason. They got Rudy Gay and Eric Paschall, both guys that can play small-ball 5 and can switch 1 through 5, are versatile defenders.” 12:50-13:06: “They saw firsthand last season how important health is once you are in the postseason and how much it can change things in a really drastic way. And so, in talking with some of these players over the last couple of weeks, they are more open to the idea of resting.” 14:42-15:10: “These are elite athletes. You've got two max players that the Jazz have completely built their roster around in Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. They want to be the best in their lane, and if there wasn't any tension between them at all, I think that I would be really surprised. That's not just for the Jazz; that's on all 30 NBA rosters. There's not an NBA roster out there where there aren't quibbles among teammates, and I think that's what this is.” 20:25-20:55: “His last season in Cleveland, some of the coaches started working with him on finding more efficient ways to play. They started trying to take and cut out some of his midrange game. And then when he came to the Jazz, they completely expedited that, and they say, ‘OK, let's almost nearly eliminate the midrange game. You can shoot absolutely as much as you want.' Jordan Clarkson wants to get buckets, he can get ‘em all he wants as long they're from the 3-point line or at the rim. And so, they just let him loose.”   28:24-28:51: “When you have a season like they did last year, I think that pressure is eased a little bit because the front office is able to look at the health of the team and say, 'What was Quin [Snyder] supposed to do when he's got injured players?' If something like that were to happen again this year, again I think the pressure will be off, but if the Jazz go into the postseason completely healthy, basically no excuses, I think that raises the pressure a lot because then you start looking at the fact that he's been here eight years and they haven't been able to get past the second round.”   36:33-37:38: “The fact that [Jared Butler] dropped to 40 and they were able to get him, that was like Christmas morning for the Jazz. …His handle and his decision-making with the ball in his hands seem incredibly advanced for a guy coming in to his rookie NBA season. I've been really impressed with that. … He's also just a pure shooter. He has just a beautiful shot, and he has amazing range.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Gregg Popovich finds himself in an unfamiliar position after a quarter-century of coaching the San Antonio Spurs. For the first time, he'll be tasked with leading a youthful group packed with promising but largely unproven players – a group projected by most to miss the playoffs by a landslide. In the offseason, the franchise parted with veteran mainstays DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay, and months earlier, it bought out LaMarcus Aldridge's contract. As a result, the youth movement is firmly here. And Popovich, 72, appears energized for his new challenge, expecting to lead a fast-paced team where playing time will be spread around generously. Project Spurs' Paul Garcia, who also hosts the Spurscast and writes for Analyzing the League, spoke with OTNB to help preview the young team's season and further describe the new dynamic. Discussing the youngsters, with special emphasis on Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Josh Primo, Paul gets us ready for San Antonio's season to tip off in T-minus three weeks.     3:01-3:29: "This is a new thing for the city here in San Antonio and for the fan base, and it's kind of exciting…that it's a lot of young players and a lot of these players, they're gonna finally get the keys to the car. … Now all of a sudden it's up to Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker, all of these young players. It's their opportunity now to basically see how far can they go, what kind of level can they get to." 7:40-8:22: "(Popovich)'s excited because I think that for him it's a new challenge in the sense of he's never been in this situation, (at least) in a very long time where the expectations aren't there to become a playoff team or become a championship (team) like the expectations have always been for San Antonio. But instead it's learning, 'How can I help these young guys develop? Who might turn into a star down the road here?' … He's also gonna change his approach. He already said because they're young, because they're quick, they're gonna try to play fast.” 15:27-15:34: “Now that DeRozan's actually gone off this team, they're gonna have better, more athletic, more energetic type of defenders.” 26:51-27:21: “The date that I'm watching right now – and we're all watching here in San Antonio – is October 18. Right now, the Spurs have 17 players on guaranteed contracts. So by October 18, they have to get their roster down to 15 players on guaranteed contracts. So they're gonna have to either waive or trade two players. And when you look at this roster, you see a bunch of young players, and then you see those two veterans. We're kind of watching in these next few weeks here before the season starts, ‘Is (Thaddeus) Young still on the team? Is (Al-Farouq) Aminu still on the team?'             32:17-32:53: “What you really saw from (Devin Vassell) was on the defensive end, just how good he is in anticipating passes incoming to an opponent, and he could get those steals, just really good about reading and providing help defense. … Now what was interesting to watch was how the team purposely wanted to see how he runs pick-and-roll in summer league, and so he got his opportunity – he played in like five games – and he did very well.”     36:02-36:26: "Whenever I get asked this question about who's gonna be the successor to Pop, I always say basically, in my opinion, that if Becky (Hammon) is not hired by anybody else, I think that she would take over as the next head coach whenever Pop decides to retire. … I really feel like she is the strongest candidate to get the job here." Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

The Memphis Grizzlies, particularly outside of franchise cornerstone Ja Morant, haven't received much national attention in recent years, but they increasingly should. They're a fascinating youthful team that's kept quite busy this offseason. According to Keith Parish, host of Grind City Media's Fastbreak Breakfast and Grits and Grinds podcasts, Memphis' flurry of moves were designed to enhance the quality of the young core around Morant and power forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who missed all but 11 games with injury last season. But even though the front office's eyes are trained on the future, Keith doesn't expect a “big step back” this year. He touches upon the expected impact of the Jonas Valanciunas trade, why so much is riding on Jackson's upcoming season, the gamble Memphis is making with regard to rookie Ziaire Williams and the team's pair of promising 23-year-old shooting guards, among other timely Grizzlies topics. 3:50-4:37: “It was perceived that Valanciunas was kind of like a bridge. We traded Marc Gasol for him, and then he was gonna be this bridge into the future where eventually Jaren Jackson Jr. maybe bulked up enough to play the 5. But then last season, Jaren Jackson essentially misses the whole year, and the Grizzlies are competitive and good and he's putting up these career-high numbers…and everyone's like, ‘This is one of our building blocks.' … The front office I don't think ever thought this is a long-term piece. The ideal form of Jaren and Ja together probably doesn't include Jonas at the 5. So when they had an opportunity to move him to pick up a future first-round pick and to move up in the draft to get the guy they wanted, they jumped at it.”    12:45-13:06: “I think he [Steven Adams] could fit really well alongside Jaren Jackson Jr. in a frontcourt. And I don't think the Grizzlies are gonna take a big step back because even if Adams isn't a big part of the plans, just opening more time for Xavier Tillman, who came on really strong last season, and then Brandon Clarke. I think this team is going to be competitive once again.” 16:45-17:29: “Ja was the Grizzlies essentially, and we've seen it now both of the last two years, and the postseason and the play-in games last year; this guy scores 30 points per game when it matters. … I guess a question for Grizzlies fans: Is that something he needs to do more? Does he need to be more aggressive? Does he need to take on more of the offensive load? Dillon Brooks still leads the team in shots.” 23:19-24:30: “He [Brooks] is a bizarre, unique player, and he proved this season that he is an unbelievable defender. He's an actual lockdown defender. … He hit his stride as a defender, which is what everyone was hoping for. … You don't want him to be your No. 2 scorer. He's been playing above his head because there's been no one else. He's the best guy at creating his shot in the halfcourt, and that's a problem of roster construction. Ja is not that great in the halfcourt yet. Everyone else, it was like, ‘Alright, do we post up Jonas Valanciunas in the halfcourt or just basically let someone miss the shot and hope Jonas gets the rebound?”   29:17-29:33: “That's the balancing act this team has been trying to do the last couple seasons. … ‘We want to be competitive but also be building toward a point where we are a contender.'” 34:41-35:28: “As long as you get some answers and some clarity about the young guys on your roster, if you identify which ones you're gonna use going forward…I think that would be a successful season. You want to gain as much information as you can about the young guys and then based on that have a plan for what Year 4 of Ja is gonna look like and how you're gonna use your resources and assets to bring in maybe another even better player and then really go for it once Ja heads into his extension.”  Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Author Pete Croatto, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, GQ and SportsIllustrated.com, among other places, discusses his debut book, "From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA." Check out some of the highlights below: 5:13-5:45: “You know, I've been doing this for a long time – I've been a professional writer for 23 years; I've been a freelance writer for about 15. And one thing I've learned is that this is a job, and I don't really have time to get wrapped up in the theatrics of writing. … I just have to go and just do it. It was almost like being shot out of a cannon, where you're kind of like, ‘Alright, I'm just doing this.'” 11:33-12:03: “We assume that it's always been this way. We assume that games have been available with a click of a button. We assume that we can find our favorite teams' gear or favorite players' shoes so easily. But that wasn't [always] the case. It was a long, hard struggle to get to relevance, and as times goes on and the NBA gets bigger and bigger and the players become bigger stars, we're gonna forget that. And we're already forgetting that.” 20:28-20:52: “It's always about the people, and I think that's the one thing about sports books that I think people who aren't familiar with them get bogged down. ‘Well, I'm not interested in the '27 Yankees or the '73 Lakers' or whatever. But if you're interested in people and their problems and their desires, then that book is as useful or as enlightening as any book you're going to read.” 28:56-29:22: “That is, to me, the beauty of the NBA is that it is never going to stand on its laurels or do the same old, same old, because they're gonna update it for the audience that has the most disposable income, which is teenagers, folks in their 20s, and that, to me, is the beautiful part of it. So yeah, they're gonna be flexible with the rules, they're gonna be flexible with how they organize the seasons and things like that.”  33:52-34:29: “The NBA is all about reinvention. It's all about trying to make it relevant for the cool kids. But they don't do that at the expense of the game. … It's still the best athletes in the world trying to get a basketball into a 10-foot high post. The essence of the game is never going to change. The things around that are gonna change to attract new viewers, to attract new fans.”    48:23-49:02: “The book is the triumph. The sales are gonna be what they are. The factors that affected publication or consumption are what they are, but nothing can dispute the fact that I wrote a book, I published it, it's out there. … That I was able to write a book when 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I didn't think I'd even be in writing, that, to me, is the triumph. Anything else after that is immaterial.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Blake Murphy of The Athletic joins the show to delve into the performance of the Toronto Raptors during Las Vegas Summer League, especially regarding the newly drafted Scottie Barnes. Additionally, we discuss the Kyle Lowry trade, what he meant to the city and the Raptors franchise, and how they will move forward next season and beyond. 9:10-10:08: "[For Scottie Barnes], the playmaking on the move is real. … Barnes' defense is gonna be his calling card early on. I think he's been pretty good on that end. The processing speed there is really high level and they've had him picking up full court, they've had him guarding across positions. So I think he's going to be a real player from day one defensively as hard as that is as a rookie, but the offensive game is gonna take a little bit of time." 18:48-20:20: "The Raptors haven't had a lot of guys stick around nine years. They haven't had a lot of guys win a lot in Toronto also. So I think the fact that Lowry's […] ascension kind of parallels the franchise's own rise to being a more legitimate franchise in the NBA, and being a pretty consistently good team and eventually a championship contender. The growth of Lowry and the growth of the team as a whole are kind of hand in hand. … Lowry has always really fit kind of what Raptors fans are about. And what I mean by that is, you know, the "We The North" campaign from back in 2013-2014 kind of tried to get at this like: 'Hey, there's an entire country here that's obsessed with hockey, but, hey, pay attention, there's a bunch of us basketball fans too.' And hey, there's 30 markets in the NBA, and 29 of them get what Raptors fans feel like is preferred attention. … They kinda had this level of othering with the fan base where you could kinda get people to buy in more by pointing out that they were...underdogs too. And I think that Lowry really represented that with his career path and his general attitude and the chip on his shoulder." 27:30-28:18: "Even with the COVID and the shoulder injury and the clutch struggles, I thought [Pascal Siakam] improved. I thought he improved as a playmaker, he improved his shooting from every area of the court inside the arc, so that's an important consideration. … Having said all that, he needs to keep going. He got paid, not the full supermax, but the 28 percent kicker on his max deal, and he needs to continue to improve to deliver on that. He's not that level of player yet.” 40:27-41:06: "If you tier out the Eastern Conference, they're probably in the 6-10 or 7-11 range. They're certainly not a team that is for sure going to avoid a play-in game. They're not a team that for sure is gonna make a playoff run necessarily. But I think a lot would have to go wrong for them to be bad. You look at last year, displaced from home, COVID outbreak wipes out half the team and half the coaching staff, including three starters, and even then, after all that, they still had to intentionally bench guys down the stretch to make sure that they didn't make the play-in game and could get a better lottery spot." Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

A couple days after the 2021 NBA Draft, independent draft analyst Brian Schroeder brought his insight and expertise as he ran through the most notable storylines surrounding this year's class. Among a slew of other topics, he addressed why Sharife Cooper fell precipitously, what makes the Cavaliers' Evan Mobley so adaptable defensively and why Brian's the "only person on the internet who likes and defends" a particular pick. 7:25-8:18: “[Scottie Barnes is] just cool. He's a really, really likable person. That's not to say that Jalen Suggs is not likable or somehow teams don't like him. I think [the Raptors] just fell in love with Scottie as the ‘guy.' I understand the rationale. The Raptors, maybe arrogantly, really believe in their ability to develop people. They developed [Pascal] Siakam, they've developed OG Anunoby. … They really think they can teach the kind of player that Scottie is to be more scoring-oriented. … He just does not look to score at this point, He's a defender. He's an excellent passer. But the frame and just the makeup, I think, are what they fell for.” 8:43-9:37: “I would have taken Mobley, but that's more because I think his skill-set at his size and position is just rarer. There are not five 7-footers who move like he does and can play defense like he does. … The way I've been referring to Mobley lately is he's like water – he conforms to the surface of whatever you put him in. Any possible defensive situation you put in, he will figure out how to excel in it. The question for Mobley…is he going to be your lead scorer? And it's like, ‘Well, probably not, at least not for a while.' And [Jalen] Green, I think, could probably do that immediately and is an elite athlete and hard worker.” 13:06-13:45: “I think it's probably reasonable to think to assume that, let's say they went to Duke, and [coach Mike] Krzyzewski has his system. He's not the most rigid coach in the world, but he's not gonna tear apart his system every year to fit two guys who are gonna be there for six months. I feel like the G league…I think it's fair to say that they catered directly to their skill-sets more, training and play-calling and all that.” 17:51-19:10: “This is the fifth draft I've done full-time stuff on. [Cooper] is the best passer I have seen, pretty significantly. Creating advantages, hammering them open, just like the technique of throwing passes, he's just completely sublime at it. And he was putting up 22 and eight in the SEC, the strongest, most physical conference after missing half the season and not being allowed to practice with his team. … I think teams were just, they didn't really know what to think of him or they had a point guard already or they just were scared off by the shot. … It's more than likely some teams didn't, for some reason, think that a 6-foot-1 point guard can succeed despite the playoff run that Trae Young just had and Chris Paul's entire career. It is true that for that size guy, there's a very high bar, but I think Sharife can clear that bar." 21:42-21:50: “I am not a [Jonathan] Kuminga believer, but he is a pretty great athlete, he's young, he plays hard, so there's reason to buy in.” 34:14-36:02: “I seem to be the only person on the internet who likes the pick and defends it: Santi Aldama at 30 to the Grizzlies. … More than any other team, they are very, very good at zeroing in on the guys they want to be their role players. And they cut Jontay Porter recently, which tells me that…they want to bring this guy over and have him be their backup center.”

In honor of the Milwaukee Bucks' 2020-21 NBA championship, the franchise's first in 50 years, two longtime Bucks fans share their joyous feelings and thrilling experiences from the past week. First, Frank Madden, host of Locked on Bucks, details his long journey as a fan, including what it meant to witness his very first title alongside the man who introduced him to the Bucks 29 years earlier, his father. Then, Jewell Graham of Gimme a Buck podcast goes through his unforgettable time at the Bucks' championship parade.      Frank Madden at 4:41-5:03: “For me, having a chance to be in the building and watch the Bucks clinch an NBA title with an historic performance by Giannis, it was pretty much the absolute fantasy of what I've always dreamed could be possible. I mean, basically if you had had me write up a script, I wouldn't even have had the guts to be so bold as to write out what happened in this series and in that last game.” 11:11-12:04: “The day before, my mom had actually texted me, ‘Hey, I don't know if he's gonna be able to go ‘cuz big crowds, his balance and going up stairs in a stadium may not be ideal.' But then on Tuesday, I talked to him. I was just like, ‘Hey, whatever we have to do – if you need to take me by the arm to feel comfortable, whatever we need to – let's do it. We've gotta see this game together.' And he said ‘Alright, let's do it.' …I paid more money for worse seats than we've ever had at any other game, and we could not have been happier just to be in the building and experiencing that with all the other people there.    16:27-16:49: “I think back to, in particular, the Giannis block on Ayton that sealed Game 4. That play, I'll never forget. The Jrue steal and alley-oop to Giannis, I'll never forget. I feel like I'll always remember the TV call as well. Those two plays I think will always stand out the most.” Jewell Graham at 21:28-22:07: “Our mascot, Bango, comes through first, and the fire truck. You could see just a see of people on both sides. The music is going, and they've got confetti that pops out. Bango is throwing T-shirts to the crowd. Everyone's yelling. It is a great time. And then they had more buses come. … It's nothing like I've ever experienced. Just everybody's so happy and just living in the moment.” 23:01-23:14: “My favorite from the parade had to be P.J. Tucker. PJ Tucker was the livest guy on the team.” 27:27-28:13: “After the announcer's like, ‘Yo, wait, wait, wait,' it's Ben – he's our guy that sung the national anthem game for us every home playoff game – singing “We Are the Champions.” It was like picture perfect. And as he's singing that, we get fireworks coming from up top of the Fiserv Forum.”        34:08-34:28: “Giannis is 26 years old, and he has pretty much every individual accolade. Like, what's next for…? I just hope he doesn't lose that hunger. I still need that mean mug, and I need him to want more and more and more.”   Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak, led his Milwaukee Bucks to the franchise's first NBA Finals in 47 years. Along the way, he received critical help from talented teammates Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez, among others. But through the first two Finals games, the supporting cast hasn't done enough. With the Bucks trailing the Phoenix Suns 2-0 and the series shifting to Milwaukee, Frank Madden of Locked on Bucks explores what must change as the team hopes to win four of its next five in pursuit of the 2020-21 title.   7:05-8:03: “You're tied in the Eastern Conference finals, you have the more talented team, you really should be advancing to the Finals, and then to see your superstar, two-time MVP, a guy who's been remarkably durable, just suffer this horrible-looking injury. You know, I kind of half-jokingly referred to it as like from a fan perspective, it was like a near-death experience. Basically, those 24 hours thinking that ‘Geez, I have to be prepared that he's blown out everything in his knee and next year is gone too' to then, the next day hearing no structural damage and we'll see what happens here over the next couple weeks. … To win those two games the way they did to close out the Hawks series was incredible to know that Giannis still had a chance to come back at some point in the playoffs. It just felt like a new lease on life, I think for Bucks fans, just that we had a chance at that. And then for him to come back and actually play at a high level has just been incredible.” 15:27-16:07: “Now you've got to win four out of five, so they [Middleton and Holiday] can't afford to have three off games out of five. They've gotta pretty much be good to great more or less every game from here on out. Certainly, they can't both be bad, as we saw in Game 2, shooting the ball. It's just really tough. And again, I mean, I think we've seen those guys when they have their game, they're really valuable two-way guys. They can both create for others as well as themselves. But you know, that's the difference between a top 5-10 player and a top 30-35 player. I think those two guys are both in that latter category, and they're just not going to be able to give you 25-30 points every night in the playoffs.” 19:06-19:26: “Part of the issue is just the Suns are really good. You kinda have to pick your poison. Are you gonna give Booker and Paul the looks that they want from midrange or are you going to try to put more pressure on them, try to turn them over more, but at the risk of letting those wings and those role players get open looks for themselves?” 28:16-28:43: “I think they do need to lean in a little more on Lopez, use their size, try to beat them up on the offensive glass. Interestingly, the offensive glass has been sort of their savior throughout the playoffs and kind of in many ways been the antidote to that poor 3-point shooting that I mentioned. And so whether it's just religiously zone-dropping in or at times switching him, I think he's kind of underrated in terms of his ability to kinda hang in switches.”   37:27-37:34: “That's the challenge for the Bucks right now. This is probably their best chance ever to win a championship. There's really no guarantee that they're gonna be able to get back.”  Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

The Phoenix Suns are headed to the 2021 NBA Finals, and there absolutely should be no asterisk attached to their stellar run, according to guest Greg "Espo" Esposito, host of the Solar Panel Podcast. And why should there be? Phoenix bounced back from a 2-1 deficit to dethrone the defending champions before sweeping the MVP Jokic-led Nuggets. Then, the Suns took down a deep and resilient Clippers squad in a gritty series that could have gone either way. Espo breaks down how the Suns just keep on winning and provides a brief glimpse into their forthcoming Finals appearance against either the Bucks or Hawks. 8:27-9:18: “Having grown up a big Charles Barkley fan, I've always taken issue with the ‘If a guy doesn't win a championship, you have to kind of pooh-pooh his career and his legacy.' … Basketball is a team sport. Individuals can have big games, but what you're seeing with the Suns is proof yet again that nobody wins alone. This team is truly a team, and the thought that Chris Paul's legacy or his career wasn't impressive until Year 16 when he finally made it to the Finals just seems somewhat laughable.” 16:14-17:06: "A win's a win. Doesn't matter if it's pretty, if it's ugly, if it's one point, if it's 90 points. In the playoffs, a win is a win. I think the Suns proved in the series against the Clippers they can win any way possible. They can win when the refs seemingly are against them like they did in Game 2 where they won on what's dubbed as the ‘Valley Oop.' … They found a way. Defensive slugfest where nobody's scoring the basketball, the Suns found a way. Just explosive offensive night, the Suns had that too. This team can win anyway, anyhow, anywhere." 24:41-25:41: "Boo-freaking-hoo. There's no asterisk. Does Toronto have an asterisk because Golden State was hurt? No, people don't think about that, they just go, ‘Oh, Toronto was the champions that year.' Last year because it was played in a bubble, do the Lakers have an asterisk? No, they pound their chests just like anybody. …The Suns have beaten everybody that they faced. Hands down, they've done what they've been asked to do. They can't control who's there. And Chris Paul had his shoulder injured against the Lakers and was out with COVID, Devin Booker as a broken nose. Things happen, and things have happened to the Suns. And in the past, the Suns over the last 50 plus years have been one of the most unlucky franchises in NBA history. I could not care less what the path was to get to a title." 31:33-32:27: “My daughter's four, so this has been kind of the first time she's really been into basketball, and they rush right to see the end of [Game 2]. And my daughter was just as excited as I was for it and that [the ‘Valley Oop'] is the kind of thing that makes a fan for life. It's those kind of moments that solidify it, and that's what made it so cool for me was I knew there was a generation, like my daughter and a little older than my daughter, that were like me during the '93 run, that that will be seared in their memory forever. That that may be the moment that they just decided I'm gonna love basketball irrationally well into my 30s and 40s and 50s because I saw something that was unbelievable in the moment. That's why we all watch sports and that's what I loved so much about that play.” 46:15-46:41: “Whether it's Atlanta or Milwaukee, that's going to be the biggest vulnerability for the Suns is can they mentally stay locked in to win four games? I think they can, I think they've proven it, but they have to work hard. And like I said, I mentioned this quote that Monty Williams says: ‘Do not get happy on the farm.' Because, and I add this part, if you get happy on the farm, that's when you're gonna get slaughtered.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Dan Morgan of the Process Potables podcast joins Loren and Aaron to break down the Philadelphia 76ers' heartbreaking Game 7 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. From Ben Simmons' offensive disappearing act to Joel Embiid playing through injury to Dan's faith (or lack thereof) in head coach Doc Rivers to President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey's offseason task ahead, this episode has everything. Enjoy some excerpts below: 15:02-16:26: “‘Can they [co]exist, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid?' Well, that's been the question for a long time. They did enough to be the No. 1 seed in an improved East this year, so there's something to be said for that. I still don't know that you can say, ‘No, it absolutely can't work.' But the problem is year after year, the conversation happens, and of all of Ben Simmons' shortcomings, this was the worst, and I don't think it's close at all. This was far and away one of the most atrocious things I've ever seen. … The one lesson that I think I've already learned and I'm not gonna get fooled again is believing that Ben Simmons is gonna add something offensively this offseason.”       23:53-24:15: “It's not people overreacting at this point because the argument has been ‘every other part of his [Simmons'] game is there.' But in this series, in fourth quarters, in second rounds of the postseason, it hasn't been. … There's been a lot of other gaping holes, and that is where the concern lies with this franchise.”  26:59-29:21: “Ben Simmons is gonna be the guy that is blamed for this, so Doc Rivers is gonna get a pass because he wanted the chance to make them work. I think you just realize he can't do it either. And now Ben Simmons will be the scapegoat. Next season, Rivers won't have the Ben Simmons excuse. … While I don't believe in Doc Rivers, and I'm pretty sure I don't believe in Ben Simmons anymore, I do believe in Daryl Morey. … Now it's time for him to prove why that's the case.”      32:13-32:30: “If you trade Ben Simmons, you really can't trade Matisse Thybulle because Matisse Thybulle made second-team All-Defense off the bench. That's how good he is on the defensive end. … You can't trade ‘em both.”    36:06-37:04: “The Sixers' third-most played lineup during the playoffs was George Hill, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle, Tobias Harris and Dwight Howard. … One starter and four bench guys, two of which cannot shoot a basketball at all. That lineup finished with a net rating of negative 16 points per 100 possessions, per Clean the Glass. That is an atrocity! … You've gotta play your horses.” 42:50-44:21: For all the Embiid turnovers and poor shooting nights, he's the only guy really on the team that was willing to be the person to go to. … After everything he did, playing on the injury, putting up the numbers he did, as soon as everything was done, he came out, said in his pressers, ‘I have to do better. I can be better. I'm gonna work on things' etc., etc. He went on social media. He said, ‘Philly, I love you. I'm sorry I let you down. I can do better.'  Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Nikola Jokic earned 2020-21 MVP honors and was presented with his trophy before Denver's home Game 3 against the Phoenix Suns. But an epic individual performance from the skilled center was not enough for the team to avoid another double-digit loss, its third in as many games of the series. Facing a 3-0 hole, the Nuggets will need a miracle in order to make NBA history and become the first ever team to come back from such a series deficit. Our guest, Mike Singer of the Denver Post, breaks down how the Nuggets got to this point, with specific emphasis on Denver's ongoing quest to replace the scoring void left by Jamal Murray's season-ending knee injury and the team's inadequate defense against Phoenix's devastating pick-and-roll attack. Finally, Singer looks ahead to the most pressing offseason priorities looming ahead for the franchise.   8:08-8:33: “If Austin Rivers and Facu Campazzo are not giving you anything offensively, that means that you are not making Chris Paul and Devin Booker work on the defensive end. Therefore they're saving all their energy for the offensive end and just picking you to pieces. So, talent disparity, but more specifically if you zoom in, it's in the backcourt.”   14:21-15:05: “There is no doubt that he [Aaron Gordon] has not been the offensive piece that they need this series, and I don't know if that's fair to ask of him to be the third scoring option in this series. That's not really his game. He has kind of an inconsistent, unreliable 3-point shot. His midrange is iffy. I even think his touch around the basket is a little bit suspect. However, he is really good in transition, when he's cutting Nikola Jokic really makes the most of him and finds him, and he's really good in that dunker's spot. … But the reason why they got Aaron Gordon was for the defensive end, and I think he's been reliable.”   19:29-19:42: “So they can hit you from so many angles. They're a dynamic, three-level scoring team that also plays defense. I think people are starting to recognize the Suns may be legitimate title contenders.”  25:44-26:23: “I think maybe among the coolest things about his legacy is that it will change the perception of what people think about as an NBA superstar. When you think about NBA players, you think of freak athletes. You think Giannis, you think Russell Westbrook, obviously LeBron, those fast-twitch leapers who are just incredible physical players, and then you think about Nikola Jokic. … He has proven that you don't need to be a fast-twitch, high leaper to dominate the game like he did this year.” 37:42-38:07: “I don't think that they've tuned out [head coach Michael] Malone by any means. He's a sixth-year coach. I think that there's a lot of respect that runs up and down the roster for him. He could be quicker in certain adjustments. He could try to change up matchups a little bit. But the reality is the Nuggets are depleted right now, and there aren't a lot of giant changes to be made schematically or personnel-wise.” 41:38-41:50: “I'm not gonna be shocked if they come out fighting and somehow steal Game 4, but no, I do not expect them to make NBA history. I think this team is exhausted.” *The Bill Clinton-Mike Singer Youtube video referenced in the intro. Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Despite a dominant performance by reigning, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nets star James Harden going down with a hamstring injury in the first minute of Game 1, the Milwaukee Bucks were not able to take advantage and secure the first victory in this highly anticipated second-round series. Pratik Patel of ESPN Wisconsin helps us digest that first game, the implications of the injury and what adjustments need to be made for the Bucks to advance. Specifically, he delves into how the Bucks can hope to slow down the supremely gifted Brooklyn offense, the leadership new addition Jrue Holiday provides and how Milwaukee's supporting cast must step up to support its stars. Finally, we discuss the possible consequences of another disappointing Bucks postseason, coming on the heels of early playoff exits in the prior two seasons as well. 8:30-8:52: “This is also kinda the loosest the Bucks have been the last couple postseasons. The last two years, they were really pressed. There was a lot looming, a lot of talk about championship window. There was all of the conversation surrounding Giannis' future and this year just felt different. The entire attitude of the team, the aura around them, the feeling in the locker room, was just different this year.” 15:01-15:37: “I think the Bucks are pretty happy with how they defended the stars, especially once they knew that James Harden was ruled out. … It's about the other guys and how you defend ‘em and what you're willing to sacrifice in order to potentially send extra help at the two stars for the Nets.” 31:04-31:22: “Last year or really the last two years, Giannis got really good as a passer, as a playmaker – and he's still getting better – but it really didn't matter. They didn't have the shooting around him that they do this year, especially from guys that you can trust out on the floor.”  35:22-36:04: “The biggest thing that they've done to help this offense is acquire Jrue Holiday. He's just a complete game-changer for this team, on offense and on defense. Offensively, it gives you another ball-handler and someone who can play-make, someone who can get the ball out of Giannis' hands and get him the ball on the run. It's a top-tier point guard in this league. I was an Eric Bledsoe guy. I was an apologist for quite some time, but ultimately he didn't show up in the playoffs, and you just felt the second you got to see Jrue start to jell with this team, ‘Okay, this is different.'”  45:35-46:06: “I think that if, let's say hypothetically, the Nets eliminate the Bucks and it's not a close seven-game series or whatever, let's say it's five or six, and then the front office decides its time for a coaching change, I don't know that you see much else in the way of changes. They're not in a position to blow up the roster by any means. I don't think that they try to move Khris [Middleton]. They're certainly not gonna try to move Jrue.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

As soon as eight-time All-Star James Harden was acquired by the Brooklyn Nets in January, "title" flashed on everyone's minds. The addition paired the talented lefty with fellow superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, forming one of the most talented Big 3s in NBA history. Only, the trio were able to log just eight regular-season games since then. How much of a problem will this lack of reps pose for the Nets, or are they just too darn talented for it to matter? Chris Milholen of SB Nation's Nets Daily and the Wingspan Podcast addresses this key question and much more, as Brooklyn leads Boston 3-1 and sees a challenging matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks on the horizon. 1:44-2:16: “Obviously everyone knows the type of offensive presence and the gifted style of offense that the Nets can play with these three players. It’s arguably the most prolific offense the NBA has ever seen. But their defense has also held up pretty well ‘cuz that was one of the major concerns: outside of chemistry, how would their defense look? You just see what they’ve done throughout the Celtics [series] this whole time, especially with this Nets switching defense, they’ve really done a good job of kind of trapping Tatum and restricting the other two options, Fournier and Smart, and same thing with Thompson.”    9:59-10:13: “We know the history between the Celtics and the Nets, especially focused around Kyrie Irving. The Nets don’t want to return back to Boston for a Game 6; Kevin Durant said that yesterday. … You know that closing out the series is on their mind.” 22:25-23:25: "He [Griffin] wasn't brought in to be that star player; he was brought in to be a role player. … When he came in, just throughout this whole entire year, you see what his value really is and that's kinda just having that veteran leadership, but also mixed in with that physical play, and someone that kind of just has that versatility element where he transformed his game from what we all know him as, or used to know him as, as that high flyer, dunker on the Clippers, that highlight machine. Now he can shoot threes, he picks and pops. You see all these little stuff here and there, and that's kind of a perfect ingredient for this Nets offense to kind of absorb." 28:56- 29:10: "One thing about Joe's game that a lot of people kind of overlook is when his shooting isn't falling, especially from behind the arc, that he gets himself involved and makes cutting passes, makes layups, tries to find a rhythm inside the paint. Joe Harris is definitely an X-Factor." 32:38-34:07: "We all know that common experience makes a difference in the postseason. That's what really makes the difference between championship team playoff contenders is that common experience and that chemistry. And throughout the Celtics series, like I mentioned, the Nets have … been using that time to really just jell together as a unit, because in Game 1 of the series, that Big 3 lineup with Harris and Jeff [Green], that was the first time they played together. … With Giannis, it’s gonna be interesting to see how they defend him and how well they defend him, especially in certain moments where the momentum is gonna be on the Bucks’ side in away games and stuff like that. … I would have to go Milwaukee in six, and if it goes seven, I think the Nets get it." *Chris is also the author of Basketball Beyond Borders: The Globalization of the NBA Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

In an opening-round rematch from the 2020 playoffs, the Mavericks have stunned many by stealing the first two games in Los Angeles. As the Clippers scramble for answers as to how to slow down Luka Doncic and company’s electric offense, The Athletic’s Law Murray breaks it all down. Is the series all but over? If not, how can the Clippers give themselves a fighting chance? If the Mavs do eliminate them, what’s the likelihood that franchise cornerstone Kawhi Leonard will leave in the offseason? Murray tackles these and many other timely LAC topics.   14:35-15:08: “The Clippers chose a lot of this. They chose their opponent. They chose a lot of the narratives that went into how they got here. They chose health over whatever could have been gained by playing the last two regular-season games. They chose their path. Now they’re in a situation where things are as hard as they can be. Either the Clippers are gonna overcome it and it’s going to be like, ‘Wooh, well, you got through that.’ Or they’re not gonna be around after next weekend. That’s it!  27:10-27:46: “The Clippers need to play with a lead, and then they won’t have to do the crazy stuff that comes with these unorthodox lineups and unorthodox defenses. They’re doing it because they have to create events to regain some level of control when they’re running out of time. … That’s where the Clippers are in trouble. They’re playing a catch-up game against a team that you don’t wanna be playing catch-up against.” 28:02-28:12: “They’re not getting enough out of Zu. Honestly, that’s been the biggest concern. [Mavericks head coach] Rick Carlisle should get a lot of credit for taking Ivica Zubac out of this series.” 34:19-34:25: “The Clippers have a surplus of options [to defend Doncic]. It’s just that not enough of them are good right now.” 39:06-40:25: “Marcus [Morris] is a vet. Marcus is supposed to be the guy that exudes toughness, that’s supposed to be the third scorer, that’s supposed to be the shooter, that’s supposed to be the versatile defender, that’s supposed to be able to respond when the team needs a response, and Marcus has been really, really bad. … The impact Marcus has had on this series compared to Tim Hardaway Jr. is the difference in this series. … For Marcus to be a no-show right now, the Clippers aren’t winning this series. They’re not getting close with Marcus playing as poorly as he’s played.”    48:41-48:52: “This Dallas team game-planned to take away the things that hurt them last year, and it’s just tough beating a team two years in a row in the playoffs.” Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

The 2020-21 NBA regular season has officially come to a close, and one of the most pleasant surprises was the year the Phoenix Suns recorded. Suns fans already had reason for optimism after an 8-0 performance in last year's Orlando bubble, but rarely does a team make the jump so quickly from outside of the playoffs all the way to the No. 2 seed, especially in the crowded Western Conference. We're joined this episode by Greg "Espo" Esposito of The Solar Panel, who attributes this growth to the veteran leadership of new addition Chris Paul, the coaching of Monty Williams, and a cadre of supporting players who all have effectively filled their roles when their names have been called. Espo also takes us through a few potential playoff scenarios, including a possible first-round matchup with the defending champion Lakers. Note: This episode was recorded on Sunday, before the Suns were locked into the No. 2 seed and the full seeding in the play-in games was still yet to be determined. 4:54-5:23: “I had them going like 41-31. I thought a 5 or 6 seed was probably where they’d top out. I did not see this coming. And a big part of it was they’ve been healthier than most teams, but I just did not see them being a top two team in the West, finishing with 51 wins and an over .700 winning percentage. It was not in my wildest dreams.” 9:19-10:38: “His [Chris Paul’s] talent is undeniable, but what he brought to this young group was a mindset, an approach to the game. And they did not take any night for granted this year. … And every night, they came out and they played hard. Rarely did they lose back-to-back games. … That’s Chris Paul’s doing. It was like having a head coach on the floor that went completely along with Monty Williams’ philosophy as the coach off of it. And that’s what Chris Paul did for this team. He helped them grow up." 17:39-18:07: “I was with the team Devin Booker’s rookie year, and I have never met a guy that is built for stardom like I have with Devin Booker. The maturity, the mindset, the way he approached the game, everything he wanted to accomplish from Day 1, he has it. And I hope that the entire NBA gets to see and witness that evolution in the playoffs." 19:30-20:53: If he [DeAndre Ayton] is inconsistent, it’s going to be problematic. If he gets in foul trouble, it’s gonna be problematic. Because the one thing that James Jones didn’t do…the one place he didn’t build depth was at that backup center spot. … If he takes some large step in these playoffs, watch out. That could be the difference between a second-round or a Western Conference finals exit, and a championship. That’s how big you could see a swing if DeAndre Ayton does something special.” 31:07-32:03: “They have a very good chance and maybe even likelihood of beating the Lakers, just because they’re coming off of injuries, the Suns have played very well. Their style of play has been geared toward the way you play in the playoffs, plus the Suns are a deeper team. … But whenever you have two of the top five guys in the game on the court for your team, like the Lakers do, that’s scary. It should be scary for anybody in the first round.” 37:40-38:23: “That is one scrappy group. Steph [Curry] still can put up 50 in a game. I mean it would not shock me if he has a game in the playoffs where he drops 60, and we all just go, ‘Yeah, he is one of the best scorers we’ve ever seen.’ So that factor is always a bit unnerving, but if I had to pick between Portland, the Lakers and Golden State, give me Golden State out of that group. You can just wear them down. Sure, maybe they get two against you, maybe they get lucky and Steph has three unbelievable games, but I think the path to four wins against the Warriors is a lot easier.” *Here's Jared Dubin's 538 article on the Suns' X-factors referenced during the show. Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Seth Rosenthal, video producer for SB Nation’s Secret Base, makes his triumphant return to discuss his beloved Knicks’ superb season in the face of extremely low expectations coming into the year. They’ve done it through seismic shooting improvements from Julius Randle and second-year guard RJ Barrett, Derrick Rose's inspired bench play, new head coach Tom Thibodeau’s seamless fit and much more highlighted in the show. Also included: A discussion of where the franchise is headed and where it stands with the playoffs just around the corner.         6:10-6:55: "As a fan of the team who has been stuck in his apartment for the last year, what a thing it's been to be able to depend on a player and a team like the Knicks to sort of cheer me up at the end of the night. I wasn't counting on that. And it's just the way Randle has turned his performance and his career around during this incredibly difficult year has been really inspiring, and it's meant a lot to me. And it's hard to fully describe. … I was searching around ESPN Trade Machine for ways to dump him for, like, Cory Joseph like four months ago, five months ago today. And now I'm ready to extend the dude. I've never seen anything like it as a Knicks fan, and the timing could not have been better." 7:58-8:10: “This is what we’ve been waiting for. This is why you take a gamble on a player. This is why you sign him to an initial sub-max contract. He’s 26 years old right now. Pay the dude.” 10:37-12:06: There is that sort of cultural fit. I think the characteristics that may have made Thibodeau a bad fit in some other places, some things that one might consider flaws, happen to vibe pretty nicely with the personalities of his best players or I guess the people who have become his best players, who weren't necessarily particularly good players coming into this season. … Thibodeau's rap has been: He overplays guys, he's an incredible hard-ass who will scream at you and will overwork you and just has this sort of military mindset. Turns out that someone of Julius Randle's experience and caliber and in RJ Barrett’s case, someone who came up with Coach K, and have these sort of gym rat reputations, they fit perfectly. They like that.” 18:46-19:09: “Coming into this season, I saw him [RJ Barrett] as someone who maybe should be traded because other teams still believed in him and I really didn’t. But I was pleasantly mistaken about that one, about as wrong as I’ve ever been about a Knicks player. He’s extremely important, and a lot of this remarkable season, this turnaround can be attributed to him improving immensely.”  23:25-23:49: “I think everyone understands that going forward with whatever draft pick the Knicks end up with, with the cap space they’re gonna have and the trade market, there’s a pretty clear path forward for this time to go from surprisingly OK to good to great, and it’s building the backcourt. The Knicks really need a good point guard, a star point guard, and I think there’s a good chance they’re gonna go get one.” 38:07-38:43: “Home-court advantage definitely matters, especially as I believe the state of New York is gonna dial up its capacity allowance for a place like Madison Square Garden right around the time the playoffs start. … MSG’s an important home-court advantage, and unless the players on the Knicks are gonna suddenly put their tails between their legs and shoot poorly with the Garden at 25 [percent] or half capacity, whatever it is, they need that.    38:48-41:33: “Erik Spoelstra has always ruined the Knicks. Linsanity, Spoelstra was the guy who just threw a wrench in that. He just really knows how to design a defense that can wreck the Knicks, and the Heat have destroyed the Knicks this season. … The Hawks are gonna be a tough matchup for the Knicks too, but I think not as much of a problem as the Heat would be.”    Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

NBA TV producer Kevin Cottrell Jr. joins the show to discuss his debut book, Ball Don’t Lie, a collection of detailed conversations with 10 legends of the game.   9:23-9:42: “I never wanted to be the forefront of the book. I wanted to be the writer, but I wanted to share other people’s stories that I thought were interesting. So I thought the quotes were very, very, very important. I didn’t want to really paraphrase anything. I wanted to you to feel what they feel. I wanted you to understand what they saw and how they thought.  13:06-13:40: “Did you know he [Vince Carter] was injured going into the dunk contest? Naw, yeah. So when I found out things like that, I was like, ‘OK, this a perfect story to tell because people might think one thing and they get another.’ Chris Webber, honestly, I don’t think the game we talked about ultimately, him playing for the Sixers, that’s not a game he wanted to even discuss. And I had to explain to him the reason why I wanted that game was ‘cuz people would forget A, that he got traded to the Sixers, and B, his first game was against the team that traded him. That’s just a crazy story.”      15:13-15:28: “What happened was it almost felt like a therapy session, like guys almost land on a couch, and I took them back to this moment in time and now they were expressing something that they never got to truly express. And then by the end of the interview, they’re like, ‘Man, nobody’s ever asked me such and such.’” 30:38-31:00: “Probably the most challenging aspect was just doing this whole thing independently. A lot of people didn’t trust or believe in my vision of the book because A, they didn’t think I could deliver those names, and B, they didn’t think those people would help promote the book. Being a writer is one thing; being a publisher is a whole ‘nother thing.”   35:11-37:03: “If it wasn’t for Sekou, I would’ve left journalism a long time ago. … I was just getting down. I wasn’t getting the opportunities that I wanted. … I was always like a day late, a step short on those opportunities. And one time, I’ll never forget, we went and met at Panera Bread, right by where we lived, and he just encouraged me to keep writing, keep creating and don’t give up. … He just always was somebody that if I had a question or questioned something about what I was doing, he’d be the first person I’d pick up the phone and call. Him and David Aldridge, the two best journalists I’ve ever had the chance to be around, work with and just pick their brains.”   Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Going into the 2020-21 season, the Atlanta Hawks revamped their roster, hoping a few high-profile veteran additions would help their talented young core finally make the playoffs. The plan didn’t exactly work out as intended, as the team incurred a slew of key injuries and fell to 14-20, which triggered the firing of its head coach, Lloyd Pierce. Under Nate McMillan, however, the Hawks have completely turned it around, playing high-quality basketball that’s put them in prime position to achieve a top-five playoff seed. And their veterans are excelling, including Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari and Clint Capela, who was acquired via trade last year. In the process, they’ve learned how to close games, most recently registering a 41-point fourth quarter to defeat the Greek Freak-led Bucks Sunday night, all without the services of a banged-up Trae Young. Joining Aaron to discuss this spirited group, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Sarah Spencer makes her first appearance on the pod. Near the end, she also touches upon what beloved Atlanta-based journalist Sekou Smith meant to her and her paper. 18:26-20:02: “The biggest factor for them has been [Clint] Capela. He’s been a good fit on both sides of the ball too because he gives Trae Young another rim-running target. … They needed someone to kind of organize and get things moving. I remember having a conversation with Kevin Huerter about this, and he said, ‘We want Trae to do that on offense; we want Clint to do that on defense.’ That’s what you need. You need guys to be vocal. And this was a pretty quiet team last year.” 26:02-26:28: “In the first half of the season, the Hawks were really pretty dreadful in the fourth quarter – that’s how they lost a lot of games. In the second half, in the fourth quarter, it’s pretty much been the exact opposite, which has been crazy how dramatic that turnaround has been. And I think Trae’s been a part of that. He’s had a few games where he’s come alive and been really steady in the fourth quarter, and that’s what you want to see out of a guy like that.” 32:28-33:06: “I think that the biggest thing with Nate [McMillan] has been his experience as a head coach over the years. This was Lloyd [Pierce]’s first head coaching gig, and it was a tough one. You take over a team that’s rebuilding, that’s very young, that’s banged up. But I think Nate’s experience has helped. Especially in the fourth quarter when things get dicey, it just seems like he’s managing things really well, and the Hawks are responding and you can see the results of that.” 38:09-38:59: “Before I could even send the email, he [Sekou Smith] had reached out to me. … And I just remember being blown away that this guy was taking time out of his day to do something like that. He didn’t have to do that. It was kind of on me to reach out, but that’s not how he saw it. He was just someone who was so happy to help and so earnest. My impression of him is that he was just an awesome guy who was always willing to give advice and talk through things.” *Link to the Twitter thread referenced in the introduction where Aaron pays tribute to the great Sekou Smith. Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Just in time for the start of the season, The Athletic’s Jared Weiss broke down the most striking storylines around the Eastern Conference with an emphasis on the Boston Celtics, whom he covers so closely. Among a slew of timely topics, Jared discusses his favorites to emerge out of the East, Jayson Tatum’s next expected leap, how good the Heat actually are and the new-and-improved Atlanta Hawks who seek to get back into the playoffs after a three-season absence.*Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary - 5:14-5:40: “I think it was Ryan Ruocco. I’ll give him credit for putting them as…they’re basically like the Death Star. And the Death Star very famously had a major vulnerability that allowed you to blow it up. And so if somebody can nestle right in there between Kyrie and KD and make the chemistry fall apart, this team can really, really fall apart . But they’ve got a giant frickin’ laser beam basically when it comes to KD and Kyrie.” 21:51-22:20: “The big thing for him (Jayson Tatum) this year is now that he’s the big star, everybody knows it. The amount of attention he’s gonna get, the matchups he’s gonna get, the coverages that he’s gonna get, he’s gonna be getting a lot of traps, a lot of blitzes and double-teams, he’s gotta be able to handle it. He’s gotta be able to handle that defenders, that they know that the spotlight’s on them when they’re covering him, and they’re gonna be showing up with their A-game, and they’re gonna be playing way harder on him than they were playing last year. He’s gotta be ready for that.”35:52-36:25: “If they’re starting John Collins and they’re starting one of the wings that they signed this offseason, then their defense is in critical condition because obviously Trae (Young) is a turnstile and then who do you put at the 2? … There’s not really a correct answer for their starting lineup. Their starting lineup’s always gonna have some sort of defensive compromise, pretty much.”

Sekou Smith of NBA TV, NBA.com and the Hang Time Podcast returns to the show to survey the ultra-competitive West, a conference replete with fascinating storylines ahead of the season’s start. For instance, should the Lakers be considered heavy favorites, what’s going on in Houston, which teams are best primed to squeeze into the postseason and what can we expect from the Warriors following a lost '19-20 season? Sekou tackles all these Western Conference questions and more, plus he offers a bonus Giannis extension reaction and Aaron delivers a Spurs-themed Sexy Stats segment coming out of the break. *Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary - 8:09-8:38: “To me, there’s a built in advantage for (head coach) T(yronn) Lue in familiarity that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. He’s the kind of human being – knowing him as well as I do – and kind of coach who’s going to be extremely beneficial to the Clippers as an organization. You’re talking about a guy who’s had experience with the pressures that come with a win-or-else proposition like he had with LeBron.”12:16-12:53: “They’ve changed the expectation for themselves in the postseason, which if you’ve built the way that they have – which I think is some of the best front-office work, roster building, player development we’ve seen in the past few years – then you’re right where you want to be. You’re in that conversation among the best teams in the Western Conference. You have young stars who are entering into their primes. You have even younger potential stars, like Michael Porter. Jr. – Bol Bol being an even bigger reach but certainly with an upside that is really incomparable when you think about his size and skill set.” 20:44-21:16: “Houston is such a difficult team to evaluate because we don’t know, is this the team they’re gonna carry throughout the season, is this the team that’s put together now with James (Harden) bought in or is James committed wholeheartedly at all to sticking around? When you strip all that away, if you start moving pieces and changing things up, then, to me, they fall out of the conversation of teams that are trying to make the playoffs.” 32:44-33:17: “I want to see him (Zion Williamson) play 30 minutes a night, just to see if he can sustain what we saw in glimpses during an injury-filled rookie season. He’s a mind-boggling talent when you look at his combination of size, heft and skill. And to me, that is the beauty of NBA seasons and the NBA in general, just watching talent evolve and seeing if it can reach its potential in a given situation.”

Longtime journalist Melissa Isaacson, who spent years reporting at the Chicago Tribune and ESPN, among other outlets, appears On the NBA Beat for a discussion devoted to her third book, “State: A Team, a Triumph, a Transformation.” It’s an intensely personal tale documenting her and her team’s four years as bona fide high school basketball pioneers that culminated in a state title. Join Missy as she details the inspiring journey.*Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary:9:14-10:17 - “I think that we’ve had our days of incremental progress. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with demanding change. … In the same ways that getting a uniform was a huge step and playing in the boys’ gym was a huge step, and we were patient and we did take each victory as the big thing that it was, I don’t know that patience is something that we should have (today). Not to get all political, but we’ve been waiting for the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) to pass for some time now, and patience hasn’t done us any good.” 15:42-16:10 - “I walked out into this bitterly, bitterly cold, cold, cold night back to the car with my friend Connie, and she said, ‘Miss, you’ve gotta tell our story.’ And it just hit me that I did. And it wasn’t mine to tell. It was our story to tell, but I was gonna be the one to have to tell it. And it was gonna be quite an undertaking, a responsibility, but I knew at that point that I had to tell the story.”28:54-30:26 - “It was her (Arlene Mulder’s) idea to stay away from us senior year because she wanted the new coach to bond with us. And then we won, and she got no credit, no thank you, no nothing, while the new coach got hallways and streets and awards named after him and was in the Hall of Fame and all these things. ...It took the reporting in the book to find out how unselfish she really was and how much a part of our victory she really was. … This is a woman that was really the heroine of the book, without question." 41:13-41:42 - “Books about girls are not generally put in the hands of boys. And so while I don’t in any way think this is a girls’ book – and I don’t – it’s probably not one that a lot of boys would naturally gravitate to unless they’re told to, and then I think they would find a lot of common themes and some inspiring themes to our story. So that’s the greatest thing that I heard.” 45:51-46:51 - “You really do remember the…holding up of the trophy in the middle of Assembly Hall in a court that we could never, ever, ever envision in our lives being allowed to stand on, much less play on. … I remember it vividly, and all just looking at each other, and we didn’t say one word. We just looked at each other and smiled, and it was like, ‘Damn, this is really just unbelievable. Who would have ever thought? We are gonna remember this the rest of our lives.’ You know what? We did! I did! I do!”

Javier Pesquera, roving NBA draft analyst and occasional consultant for The Stepien, returns to break down the fast-approaching 2020 draft. Then, after the break, Agu Ibañez Baldor stops by to discuss his book, “Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Teams in NBA History.” *Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary:Javier Pesquera at 7:28-7:39: “At No. 1, I do have LaMelo Ball in his own tier by himself, and I think LaMelo Ball is gonna go No. 1 unless Minnesota actually finds a trade that they like, which I don’t think is happening at this point.” 12:25-12:42 (JP): “I think there are a lot of doubters as well. I do like him [Obi Toppin]. He has as much potential as anybody in this class, and that’s related to his physical tools. … The comparison to Amar’e Stoudemire pops in your head right away because of the way he leaps off the floor and the way he finishes in transition. He has that type of ability.” 23:49-24:14 (JP): “I guess if Golden State surprises the world and takes somebody else other than [James] Wiseman or [Anthony] Edwards, that would also change things quite a bit. I don’t expect any trades in the top 10. I think the only one that could happen and it’s, more or less, the most possible one is if Charlotte actually trades up with Golden State and they give some sort of minor asset to secure themselves selecting Wiseman No. 2 instead of risking Golden State taking him.” Agu Ibañez-Baldor at 34:38-34:48: “I just wrote it the way I talk, honestly. I’m a bit sarcastic. I’m a bit opinionated. I’m a bit mean, but in a let’s get along kind of way.” 38:01-38:21 (AIB): “I think my favorite’s Pat Riley though. Pat Riley’s just an assassin. He’s a basketball assassin. He takes teams to the highest level and makes them win every single time. Even with the Knicks, he’s probably had the most competitive and successful rosters and teams since their championship days in the ‘70s.” 48:22-48:36 (AIB): “I put them [the Nuggets] down specifically because both [Nikola] Jokic and [Jamal] Murray recently signed long-term max contracts, so they have their two best players for the next five or six years locked down. And for that I think they have a very good chance, just for that continuity.”