Gottlieb - All Ball - w/special guest Sam Vecenie

who's the head coach of the Washington Wizards. We got some more of those interviews returning in the coming weeks. Just kind of tease a head for it. But this week we're gonna kind of get into some hoop because you have college practice starting, you have NBA training camp starting as well. This is a shout out to the guys are training camp fodder. Never got a chance to be training camp fodder. All I wanted to be was training camp fodder, and I could not make a training

camp roster. And there's some hard decision times with some of these guys who could go to training camp and go through the G League, or you can go and make more money overseas. Rooting for all you guys that have the two way contracts to get or even the ones that don't have the two way contracts to get called up into the from the G League to the league. This year, UM, I am fascinated by the NBA. I

think the NBA has found new life. It's really good ball in comparison to the NFL in terms of popularity. It's growing, not shrinking, and there is no risk of long term brain damage. But also they figured out long ago with the NFL is trying to figure out which is offense wins. Defense still wins championships. Gotta shut people down,

but offense gets attention. I would only warn you that if you're comparing this generation of previous generations, it's not just the use of three point shots, more possessions, it's offense friendly rules. Um, all of these things have sped up the game. It's given more possessions, more possessions, more three point shots is more points. Less protection at the rim, less bodies in the lane means higher efficiency finishing in the lane. Less postops, post up shots mean more efficient basketball.

There's still room for post up, still room for the mid range pull up, but we are getting smarter, and smarter means more points and more possessions and a better watch, and the NFL is trying to play catch up with the NBA figured out a long time ago. Lebron is in l A. That one's just and it's one of those things where you might have thought it was a possibility. And last year this time, everybody's saying, Hey, the Bron

is gonna be a Laker next year. But I had heard that before I heard Kevin Love was gonna be a Laker, right that that didn't happen, and Paul George was gonna be a Laker. Ever, lots of people are gonna be Lakers that didn't end up being Lakers. Lebron is really a Laker, and that really does change so much of the Eastern Conference but also the Western Conference. But I'm interested in Rondo being named starting point guard

before they ever had a pre season practice. Some of that is Zo coming back, but isn't that a kind of tweak at Zoe? And hey, dude, you're gonna have to earn it. You have to take it from Rondo because we just can't hand you the keys to this kingdom. And then I think the Boston Celtics are suddenly the most underrated team and Tera Rosier was their fourth guard, and Jason Tatum probably wouldn't have started if not for

Gordon Hayward's injury. Gordon Hayward been back, and if he returns to form before he got hurt, he was an All Star in the West and he's gotten better every year. I would expect him to have a huge year, and I think the Celtics are viable challengers to the Golden State Ward. Alright, We're a year removed from the FBI arresting a bunch of coaches and the entire college basketball

world freaking out. And there's no better guy to come and have a conversation with about this than Sam Passini, who also has been arrested by the FBI in the past. But that that stuff, when I'm kidding, you got brush down of the ruggy rights for the athletic he joins us. Now he has his own podcast. It's a really good one. Um. Okay, A year later, where are we with this stuff? Rick

Pettino lost his job, a couple of assistants lost their job. Um, but that and that's kind of all that happened, right, Yeah, that's all I feel. I Mean, you could say the fallout is that Rick Petino is no longer at Louisville, so we had to deal with Ristino in the media for a year. And then Chris Mack is now at Louisville where he's absolutely killing and recruiting and he's going to turn that program around and everything is gonna be great.

Travis Steele is now elevated his Davier. There's been some fallout there. There's been some fallout with recruiting, like who knows what happens with Romeo Lankord's recruiting if Rick Petino and Louisville are still at Louisville and still at the level that uh they were before this entire thing went down. But at the same time, nothing has really changed in the grand picture, Like in the big picture, that stuff it may not seem small, but it kind of is.

There's no real momentum towards a reform in college basketball. We had this commission on college basketball that was set out with trying to change the game and really trying to make it so that this stuff quote unquote won't happen again. But at the end of the day, you look at what the changes are and they really aren't that significant other than to the recruitings calendar. So it's it's really just been much ado about nothing so far.

Now I assume the FBI investigation isn't over, but you know, so far, it's fair to say that where you're out and not much has really changed. Yeah. It was super weird, right, super weird, especially when the FBI they had this like, hey, we we got your playbook, we got your playbook. We know a yeah, right, like, oh well they got some people here and you know, you know, basically come out

with your hands up, admit that you did it. Nobody did that, and there hasn't been much of anything outside of some embarrassment from Adidas, you know, a couple of players losing their lgbilly, an entire kind of freshman class kind of gets caught up in it, and then and then we move on. Alright, So, um, the recruiting calendar changes. You and I have been to these events. You go to all of these events, you know a lot more. What what has what? What? Really has anything changed in

the recruiting landscape? Not yet, but I think that it genuinely will change. Like you're talking about a schedule now that is markedly different, Like there is no longer a live period for coaches to go to Las Vegas at the end of July and go see a bunch of players in a singular circumstance. Under the a U umbrella.

There now these camps that you know, USA Basketball is supposed to be involved with, and uh, the n c A is supposed to be running that College coaches are supposed to basically hand over their recruiting lists and say, hey, you should invite these kids to these events. So, I mean it's gonna change. It just hasn't changed yet. We'll see what the changes are. Like, the funniest thing about this is I think that the n c A and

it's not really funny. It's actually kind of sad. They've made it harder for kids to get found in my opinion. And I'll give you a great example of this, Like I talked to Dylan Windler out at Belmont last week for a story I'm gonna run at the athletic at

some point. And Dylan was a kid who played golf throughout his first I would say, like two years of high school and played basketball on the side, and then the summer before his senior year he goes and plays on Kyle Guy and UH India elite in the AUTH circuit. Belmont recruits and sees a six foot seven kid who can shoot, says, hey, we want to get this kid. Last year, Dylan Windler was the only kid in America to average seventeen points, nine rebounds, and shot from three

while having three assisted games. He doesn't get found by Belmont, he doesn't get found by all of these other UH schools that offer him scholarships. If there's no grassroots system that he can just easily join because he's been found previously. So it's it's gonna hurt kids in the long run. And that's what's frustrating to me about it. And that's where I think the biggest change is gonna be a lot of these under the radar kids are gonna end up knock getting found and you're gonna see D two

kids end up transferring up to D one. Yeah, I mean, like, I don't I'm gonna I agree with you. There are problems with AU basketball, and there are problems with the connections with the shoe companies on the other hand, and and I do like that some of the powers being put back in the hands of the high school coach. But even that there are shoe companies that control the high schools and the high school coaches. It's like we're

completely missing missing the point. And I'm not sure if we didn't just kind of move things furniture from one side of the room to the other and uh yeah, if if if a player like him is his coins stuck under the couch, he's still stuck onto the couch, only it's harder to find because now we've rearranged the furniture, and the thought is that you've already gone through that couch and you have not. So um, Okay, we're heading into college basketball season, we're heading in the NBA season.

I don't want to get too lost caught up in in the college basketball thing just yet. I do think one of the great adjustments that's been made to the college game is that teams are already practicing like that, to me is awesome. I've always felt like and look, I do think that college coaches can evolve, but some of it they're kind of working on the fly and plugging holes and you don't know who you have do

you play live games. While we can be smartly critical of their changes in the recruiting calendar and how some of it doesn't make as much sense as they think it does. We could both agree that more time together earlier in the year is better for the overall product once we see it in early November. Correct, Yeah, no question. I'm excited that we're going to have more together college basketball teams. Then I think it's ultimately good for the

kids that they get more time in front of coaches. Now, I think that we have to if their coaches don't abuse it. But at the same time, I think it's great. You know, Here's that this is a big misconception though. I think um that some people have is that the point of the coaches abusing how much time they have with their teams. You can lose a kid, you can lose a team if it's I bring up um Duke's team when they had Austin Rivers. I don't remember that year.

They went to Beijing and they went to Dubai and I called those games for ESPN. I didn't get to go to Dubai in China. I did it from a studio, but I talked to the coaches and then I talked to I remember talking to a couple of the coaches in like February, and I said, why aren't you guys better? You know? They said, you know what, You're around each other too much, too much, like just too much. We we started the year before we ever got to school.

There's just kind of a natural evolution of a team, and we kind of jump started the process by having those nine practices and then going overseas, and guys are already around each other from the moment they start school until the moment that the season is over. But we're just around each other too much. And I do think that one of the misconceptions is, hey, look, kids are gonna be in a gym anyway, it's better off when

they're under the watchful eye of their college coaches. I actually like, I would actually like to be no hours limits, um, because I don't I do think it's really hard for a coach to abuse those numbers because the abuse the hours because you can one wear a kid out too They tune you out after a certain number of hours. They just don't have that attention span. And then you know you'll get in fighting within a team simply because guys are around each other too much. Yeah, no question,

I think that's absolutely right. And then I would even throw in it. In addition to this that the advents over the last let's say like four years of the like personal trainer that goes around and you know, it kind of helps these kids out. Some kids have them, some kids don't. The higher end kids for the most part them nowadays because it's big business for the trainers get involved earlier on. Uh. It does help a little bit.

I think is well in terms of these coaches not being able to be on the court with their players having someone there who hopefully uh and in most situations and most trainers that I've met are very smart and can help kids get better at basketball. Yeah. I also think the other thing that's changed in the last this is like ten years, is everybody has a facility now and and so kids can get in and they're getting

shots up. Like you said, they have that personal trainers or you know, you have a group of managers that are feeding kids. And that's why I do think that having practice time and workout time with coaches on a daily basis, they're going to be in a gym, why not you know, it's like, would you rather kid lift on his own or lift with your strength coach? Would you rather kids shoot in his own or shoot with your coach, so he's taking game shots and working on stuff.

You do want some other voices in their ears so they don't get tired of you. But but I do think that having those basketball facilities, which almost almost everybody at the high level and even mid major level has, I do think it's changed how much kids kind of live in the gym, and it's helped the skill of players. The question is does that skill fit in with their role in college. Sambasini is our guest here on the

All Ball podcast. All Right, NBA teams have had their media day, and um, let's start with the Lakers, because that's the biggest change for a team. I would say them and the Calves obviously has the worst Lakers for the better. My My couple of quick takeaways are Lebron is smart, smartly speaking the truth, and that hey, they're building this thing kind of from the ground up. They are chasing the Warriors, but they are not even close

to being competitors with the Warriors. And uh and and I think he seems sensible about his own expectations and maybe he's lowering our expectations. I found it a little bit curious that the Lakers already announced that Rondo is gonna be the starting point guard at the start of the season. What are your thoughts on the Lakers now that we're two or three days into training camp. I

was surprised by the Rondo news, no question. It wouldn't surprise me if they end up starting both of those guys, Like I don't think there's been an announcement on like who's the starting two is gonna be. But I'm not surprised that Rondo is gonna start the year as a starter. I'm sure that there was some sort of statement made to him that he's going to come in and have a specific role. And you know, Rajon Rondo is coming off of the year that I think was drastically underrated.

Like over the last couple of years, he's gotten a lot of crap about being a player who dominates the ball and pounds the ball in the ground and doesn't defend. Look, he's not a great defender anymore. I think that that's clear. But you look at his role on those New Orleans teams, and you look at on that team last year, and you look at how he performed in the playoffs. He was really good. He was really useful for them, I thought.

And then the other big takeaway I agree with you is that Lebron is starting to kind of lower expectations for this team whatever he signed there. My assumption was that he's playing the long game here. He's playing the game, uh to where he knows that this year is a developmental year. He wants to see which of these young guys he wants to keep around long term, which of these young guys can be used as trade bait going forward.

And they're in a good situation where, now that you know Anton gave us assigned with Rich Paul as his agent, they could potentially go down that road for a trade, or they could also have the option of using their max cap space next summer, and it could be a

situation where they use both. So he is in a year where I think he knows this is I don't want to say it's a wasted year, but it's a year where he's probably not going to be competing on the highest level and he's trying to position the chips on the board to where he can compete at the highest level with the Warriors. Again, especially when you know we can talk about the Warriors situation as well. There's no indication right now that Kevin Durant is for sure

going to be in Golden State next year. Yeah, I want to get to that. Let's let's conclude here. On the Lakers, I'm trying to figure out though, Like I do think there's a certain amount of tweaking taking place to where they're they're trying to figure out if a Lonzo has it right. Like I think that, I think the coaching staff that the parts that the guys that I know they like. Look, we really like a Lonzo.

He's a very good rebounder. He's an incredible passer um, and he's a He's a good teammate and a good player in that he you show him something on film and he tries to legit, tries to make an adjustment, and like this is basically freshman year to sophomore year. His body has changed dramatically and that should help his game all around. On the other hand, he didn't get to play that much with that body because he had

the knee surgery in the off season. That said, I don't know, I feel like announcing it that early is either to pacify Rondo or to motivate Zoe or maybe both right, Like they didn't announce a KCP starting, or if it's Josh Hart, they announced anything out, Like what are they doing with Kyle Kuzma. You know KU's in many parts is better coming off the bench, so he

can be a starter to a bench player. I do feel like they're tweaking Zoe a little bit to try and figure what he's got between his chest and if he can stand up and take the job from Rondo. Is that Is that a fair guess? I think that's a reasonable guest. I am fascinated by this Alonzo ball gen Rondo situation just because I think it's incredibly combustible in a lot of ways. Like Jon Rondo is starting.

We've seen what LaVar ball is like whenever Alonso is wronged in LaVar's mind, So it's it's a combustible situation. But I think Alonzo proved last year that he is a useful NBA player. He's a very good defender. Last year he's a very good passer. Uh. He plays team ball in the manner that I'm sure Luke Walton wants to run in his body makes it so that he's a lot more useful in their defensive scheme where they

want to switch all actions. So it's it's a complicated situation, but I think I agree with your initial point that it is a place where they're trying to challenge Alonzo Ball to come back from this injury with a vigor and with a verb and to get used to his body and to figure out everything that is going on

with this game. And then there's the part that maybe I don't get, which is I like Rondo, um, but you know, guy like me can appreciate how you can play this long and be this successful without a jump shot, but that that's not traditionally what Lebron likes for his point cards, right, and and Lebron no, he wants to handle and even Lebron plays out of the post, like

are we gonna have back? You know, Rondo back, you know in what's called the ghost which is the position if you take the backboard and you go all the way out to the end edge of the court, like below that level, closer to the baseline. That's the ghost position. That's where Boston would put him offensively so that his man couldn't help or double team or get in the way because he can't shoot. Is that where we're putting rondo? Is that? Because that screws up your defensive balance as well.

I just I'm fascinated to see how the rondo a Lonzo thing works out, how the rondo and loop things works out, and then how the rondo and Lebron thing works out, because those are not pieces that traditionally would be aligned. Yeah. No, I agree with that, But even more than that, all of those combinations fascinating. I agree with you. But the most important thing that the Lakers have to find out this year are how a Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram play together with Lebron James. Because

Brandon Ingram not a super comfortable shooter. Yet he's shot, like, I want to say, from three last year or something in that range. So he did it on like one attempt to game. Bonzo Ball obviously struggled to shoot it last year. I'm a big believer in body strength and just improving your frame, improving your muscle uh tone and definition can really help a jump shooter because it becomes a little bit easier to keep your mechanics consistent throughout the long kind of an NBA season. So I think

that that could really help his jump shot. But again, we're talking about a guy who's an unproven shooter right now at the NBA level. So how did those two guys more for Lebron, who is traditionally, as you said, love to have shooters around. I am fascinated and I think that that is the absolute biggest thing that the Lakers have to figure out in the first year of Lebron experiment. Here, any join us, Let's let's get to

the Golden State Warriors. There is kind of this, this pilaver, this this slow murmur of hey, Kevin Durand doesn't He's not tied to any one place. If you had to put a percentage chance he he leaves Golden State, what would it be. It sounds fifty to be honest, Like it really sounds like it's up in the air that at some point over the next year, probably in free agency next year, he is real potential leave. He talks

to people around the league. You here New York, like I've heard something like Rich Kleiman is close with the Knicks front office. He grew up a Knicks fan, Like he's gonna kind of, you know, maybe push Kevin Durant that way or Uh. You know, I don't think anyone pushes Kevin Durant, but he could end up playing a role moving Kevin Durant that way. You hear about lost

names with Lakers, hear about the Clippers. You hear all of these teams that are gonna have max cap space next summer, they're gonna be in the Kevin Durant market. And I don't know what Kevin Durant still its throve uh in Golden State right now in San Francisco. I'm just unclear what his what his motivation would be for staying, unless he genuinely just wants to win seven or eight championships,

like that's fine, that's totally a reasonable assessment. But if he wants to go down is one of the five best players to ever play the game, which I think is a reasonable approximation of where his ceiling is, he probably has to go somewhere else and pleas that he can do it on his own. And why does he have to go somewhere else? I mean, like, look, if at the end of the day, he's led the league in scoring, he's won an m v P and he wins let's say they win it this year and he

wins four or five or six? What is he? I don't I don't understand what's going on. You know, everybody wants everybody wants to be the guy that fixes the Knicks, right, And I could go through the Phil Jackson and Larry Brown and come in Low Anthony, and like I could, you could go through the list of guys that, over the last thirty years, Rick Pettino of the last have tried to be the guy like yeah, Marius Dottomyer's a

penny hardaway. I mean there, but there are plenty of guys who are like, I'm gonna be the guy who fixes the New York Knicks. It sounds like a great idea, and at some point somebody is going to find a way to win, right, we see futility streaks come to an end. But uh, I don't know. I don't know why he have Why do you have to Why would

you ever split tens? And any that he's splitting tens he's got twenty one showing Yeah, no, I I generally agree with you on this, but you're always going to hear that from other people who do these legacy type conversations. Oh he had to go join Stephan Curry and the best team ever to win a title. He had he couldn't win on his own, so he couldn't win with Russell westbro CU's an m v P. He couldn't win with James Harden who's an m VP, so he had

to go do it with the best team ever. That's gonna be a thing that is said about his legacy, like we did it with Lebron until Lebron one in Cleveland by himself, essentially with helping Kyrie, I mean, Kevin Love, but it's very clear that he's on a different level than those guys. So look, I agree with you generally that we shouldn't hold this against Kevin Durant. You know that with the way that this stuff goes, now, that's

gonna be what's said about it. Like that is gonna be what his legacy would be if he wants to win five or six titles. No question, it's funny. It's it's at least interesting. Maybe I don't know if interesting or funny. It's like Lebron, Like, look, when Lebron went to Miami, they went got Chris Bosh and Dade Wade was already there, so one that was essentially a super team, right, and then they added you know, Ray Allen, Right, so you got you got four Hall of Famers on a

team that's not a super team. I don't know what it is. And three of those guys were playing in different different UH locations, you know, before they got to Miami, so it's not like they were a homegrown and people people held it against him that he left Cleveland, but nobody said, how you joined a super team? Now you have and and he got to the NBA Finals, couldn't win. He got to the Eastern Conference Finals and lost. Kevin

Durant is the same thing in Oklahoma City. He leaves and joins the Golden State Warriors, and all of a sudden, he well, he's the only one joining a super team. I don't help me out. I don't understand that. Is it? Because the Warriors beat the Thunder and the Heat didn't beat the Calves, that's the logic behind it. Are you saying that you think that the narrative was Lebron didn't

join a super team? Yes, I think I think that. No, I think it definitely was the narrative, like from what I remember, at least, like that's all That's all I remember. But I think that people, I think people are forgetting that part of the narrative. Now. Now it's because he won, and because it's time, because he went back to Cleveland ultimately one and right, like, look, when he went back to Cleveland, he Kyrie Irving was waiting there and they did.

They went and got Kevin Love instead of keeping the number one overall pick, which was Eggins. So I mean there was a super team kind of form there too, And let's just be honest. But I don't think I agree with you, So so won't time won't time heal that wound? With Kevin Durant, I think that success yield that wound for Lebron, and the idea of quote unquote going home kind of brushed over it in many ways. Bringing Cleveland their first title is a shitty in what

sixty years something like that. I think that that brushed over it in a way that uh, continuing to win titles in Miami couldn't ever really brush over for his legacy for some people. With Kevin Durant, I think that he needs to do basically what Lebron did. Their careers are on stunningly similar tracks right now. In terms of team success. Both of them went to an NBA Finals before leaving their first destination, and both of them ended

up being unceremoniously kind of beaten easily. And then they go to a different home, they win a couple of titles. They're very clearly established. In my opinion, Kevin Durant established him best player on that team last year at some point. So they've established themselves over the incumbent star as the best player on the team. And now what happens next is a big question. How does this go from here? And to me, some people are always just gonna hold

it against Kevin Durant. To me, I'm a big fan of do whatever makes you happy, Kevin, Like we we see Kevin Durant have to create burner accounts and talk to people online because there's clearly something there that is I I don't want to know if I don't know if it's an insecurity, I don't know if it's just something that he's not pleased with in his life. I

just want Kevin Durant to be happy. I want him to feel fulfilled in his life, and I wonder if he will get the respect that he so meaningfully requires if he stays in Golden State. I just don't know if that's gonna happen. He's had his success, he's had his titles, he has established himself, in my opinion, as someone who will go down as one of the ten best, fifteen best players. Ever, I think to raise into that next spechial on, which is genuinely where his feeling lies,

He's gonna have to go somewhere else. For a lot of people. Boston Celtics to the second best team is I don't really feel like it's close. Like I think Oakland City has improved. I'm not sure Houston. I don't think Houston is as good a team, even though they have really really good pieces. Uh, but I feel like people are underselling how talented, how talent laden this Boston team is, and how I actually think the pieces fit together really really well. Um, would you dispute that I

agree with you one Uh? Like you said, they're kind of a perfect modern basketball team, and that's the pieces fit together super super well. You have young stars and Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum and Terry Rosier who are kind of motivated I think to continue their rise into the upper echelon of basketball teams. You have older stars like Al Horford and Kyrie Irving who are looking to establish themselves as pre eminent players who can lead a team to a title. Uh, you know, as the leaders

of the group. And then you have Gordon Hayward, who, if people forget since his injury, was genuinely one of the twenty best players in the NBA when he signed in Boston. So the pieces fit together. They have a legit bench in Terry Rosier in uh, you know, guys like Marcus Morritt, Marcus Smart. Yeah, all all of these excellent players. They're loaded. I think they're gonna win like

sixty five games this year. Loaded. Yeah. It's it's really fascinating on how people have I don't know what it is, is maybe their infatuation with Tatum and with Rosier, and then all of a sudden they dismissed Gordon Hayward like, well, maybe he'll come with the bench, Like he was an All Star in the West. You know, he was the biggest free agent prize and they landed him. Um, he's

not coming off the bench, you know. Yeah. By the way, he's a guy who can play four positions on the court and has improved every year he's been in the NBA. Why why would he? Jason him has a chance, has a chance somewhere down the road to be a better player than Gordon Hayward. He is not close to being that player yet. Gordon Hayward did not play last year except for what a couple minutes, and Jason did manage fourteen a game in the regular season and there was

like seventeen a game in the postseason. Like he has he has to be a really good player, but he's not there yet, and he was not coming off the bench anytime soon. Yeah, I mean, if Hayward returns to what his peak was in Utah, he's not, or Jason Tatum is not as good as he is yet. It's it's just a reality of the situation. But I think that's where the question comes in, Right, is Gordon going to come back and be that same guy or if he's gonna be a slightly diminished version of that coming

off the knee injury. I tend to think that at this point, medical uh expertise has come so far that h c L injuries, you miss a year and you come back mostly the same, So I think it's probably gonna be fine. I think he's gonna return and be every bit of what he was. Yeah, you break your leg, I mean, I mean all we can go by is Paul George, right, I mean break you know, that's that's like the only guy who's had that kind of injury

and he's come back. And Paul George wasn't great right out of the shoot, but Paul George and Paul George broke his leg in the summer. This one happened ruin the fall. But I think Gordon Hayward has been ready to go for a while now. All right, last thing, um after the draft, I thought, well, Trey Young, because he's on a terrible team, is going to shoot the ball all the time, is going to be Rookie of

the Year. Like just the sheer volume of opportunities that he's going to get leads me to think that he's gonna be He's gonna have some crazy nights that are good, some crazy nights that are awful, and winning doesn't really matter, so the stats will carry him through. But everything everyone I've talked to about Luca don Chick has said like, look, you guys, realize he's ready to play and contribute and be good in the NBA for a good team him

right now. And I don't think the Mads are nearly the train wreck that they look like they were because they were trying to lose games at the end of last year. If I make you pick a Rookie of the Year before the season has ever begun, who is it? Uh? Yeah? I picked Luca at the draft. I picked Luca a month ago when I got lucky and got him at one to win Rookie of the Year. And I am picking him like I've seen no reason to believe that

he's not going to be the best rookie. He is very clearly the like most ready to step in and see the guy for a Dallas team. He's gonna play just as many minutes, I think is what Trey Young does, and I think he's a better player right now. So I'm gonna Luca don Chich and I agree with you. The Dallas team not nearly as bad as what people are expecting. DeAndre Jordan's going to play a significant role. Having adults in the room like Harrison Barnes, Wesley Matthews,

Turknovitsky that's gonna help a lot. And then a year of maturation from Dennis Smith is gonna help. So yeah, the Grizzlies were trying to lose games. The Mavericks are trying to lose games. I think the Sons if they can get a point guard, and looks like they may get one as part of this Minnesota Jimmy Butler trade. Um, I think that's gonna be fascinating sun skiing in a point guard if they can start trying to win games.

Last thing, let me ask you about Jimmy Butler. Um, he was supposed to be the guy that was the best fit for Tips and yet NAT turns out he and Tibbs don't actually like each other all that much and he wants out. I had I had been told that he didn't jibe with Carl Town's or with Wig all that Well, going back to last year, what are we left? We're left with Minnesota team that finally got to the playoffs and we thought we had some hope and now Jimmy Butler's on his way out, Like, well,

what are we left with here? In Jimmy Butler's case, I think we're left with questions on a uh, does he fit personally with anything but a select few players in the NBA, like, let's just be honest. Not everyone in the NBA the work ethic that Jimmy Butler does. It's I think okay to just admit that, and I think that Jimmy has to maybe recalibrate that when it's sometimes he doesn't quite He said this in the past, he doesn't really get that everyone doesn't have the drive

that he does. I think that's more of a personal adjustment he has to make. And then secondarily, on the Minnesota side, they have to figure out what they want to do because you hear reports out of uh Minnesota, you hear reports nationally that there's a real power struggle going on right now in terms of who's going to complete this deal and if this deal is gonna be completed. Tom Thibodeau doesn't want to complete this deal because he

doesn't want to rebuild. Glenn Taylor kind of sees the writing on the wall and is reading the tea leaves. He says, we should do this and just cut our losses. Teams that have come into contact with them are struggling in terms of the breakdown of communication on trade talks. So it's a mess up there. Man like I am fascinated to see how this thing ends. It seems like Miami maybe has taken the lead, but there are a lot of teams that could use Jimmy Butler and use

him potentially in the Eastern Conference. Is the propelling point to move from borderline making the playoffs maybe being a four or five seed to legit competing I think at least for the number two seeds behind Boston. Fascinating, fascinating stuff. Sam. Look forward to reading your work, hearing your work on your podcast, and of course hanging out with you and talking ball uh the entire season long. Thanks so much

for joining us on All Ball, Doug. I feel like so many of my brethren who cover college basketball and who do in fact love college basketball, we're like trying to shake every dollar out of college basketball to get to the players when they're already really well compensated, and we're trying to chase guys to the NBA, even though there's a natural progression from college to the NBA and

there is no one kind of protecting it. You know, for years we've heard from college basketball coaches saying, you know, why not put the baseball rules in the problem with the baseball rules, in addition to the fact that baseball players don't actually get paid until really their fourth year in professional baseball. As you get college baseball, which as good and gritty of sport as it is, is not nearly as well regarded, as well funded and as as

well watched. So with every game being on TV, with Urena's getting bigger and so the crowd sometimes get smaller, you lost some of your you're built in traditional rivalries with conference expansion. Um, I think college basketball is it

doesn't mean it's stinks and it's still gonna be awesome. Gonzaga, We're gonna talk about Gonzaga and Kentucky and Duke and to a lesser, slightly lesser extent, a couple other Okay I mentioned Kansas, Like, those are the four probably favorites coming into the year, Four big boys that have all kind of been to a Final four recently, one a nationally many of one national championship recently, or Kansas and can Zach have been really close. Those are the four favorites.

And then there's you know, the Carolinas and the Syracuses and some of these other teams that are uh that are trying to kind of climb that climb that ladder to being in the final four. It should be a great college basketball season. I just I wonder if as basketball people were doing a good enough job to protect

the sport as to the NBA. The couple of interesting points that should be made about this NBA season that are not I think sometimes in mainstream media anyway, as good as the San Antonio Spurs were last year, and think about what they're gonna throw out there this year. You know, you add a DeMar DeRozan to LaMarcus Aldridge and de jont Murray as you're starting point guard for the second consecutive year, you'd think he'll develop some offensive game.

He's already stellar defensively. The Spurs should be better. Look at the West and you tell me where the easy nights off are. I look at the Milwaukee Bucks, and I think the Bucks and the Wizards among other teams, and of course the Raptors should be I think they're better getting Kawhi Leonard. And remember you're like, wait, you just said the Spurs are better because they lost Kawhile Leonard. No, Kauai didn't play last year except for nine games, So

Kawhi Leonard healthy playing in Toronto, Toronto be better. He's better than DeMar dear Rosen, But DEMARDA Rosen playing is far better than Kawie Letard not playing. Last year, you got teams like the Utah Jazz, Portlands Trouble Lazers probably overachieved. They take a step back this year. The point is the NBA has done a really good seat job of kind of controlling the narrative, the storyline all of basketball.

That's what we're talking about, not really the college game, with the exception of Duke because their trip to Canada and um, I think the West is stacked, but I think the East, at least the top of the East is better than it has been or you know, in many ways, the Celtics are a better team. I think if healthy, then the Calves were over the past couple

of years. Do they have any one player who's as good as Pete Lebron James, No, but they have Kyrie, and I think Kyrie should be a better version of himself with Brad Stevens with this lineup, second year in Boston plus coming into his prime, and they're supporting cast is better than that which the Calves had. Hey make sure you listen to The Doug Gottlieb Show weekday afternoons three to six Eastern time on twelve to three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio dot Com, Fox Sports Radio, The

Philly at the I Heart Radio app. And I believe we're back on serious sex sem Channel Light three, but don't hold me to that. Fired up for basketball season, We'll continue to throw great interviews your way, and we appreciate you downloading, subscribing, and listening to all on Doug gotlind