Media Day Episode 1 with Grant Mona

It's a little bit muffled, and so at media Day the microphone was going in and out and was very low. So after about Norman Powell, I realized I couldn't hear that much. So I thought I'd just come back and I'd start this live stream here and I'd give some commentary on what happened at media Day and go through some of the with you guys. Once again, if you can hear me, if you're out there, let me know here in the chat. Here's my guy jm I thirteen

twenty four. I'm guessing he can hear. Welcome to Clipperstock. This is a live edition. I'm out of Mosland. I still have the tie on, still have the media credential on a bit of a frustrating day for me since it's usually one of my favorites. But I don't know, I couldn't hear that well there, Jeffrey Beltron says, come say hi to the supporter section. I will try to do that extra. Ernie TV says, it's that time again. We back clip gang. We are appreciate everyone for coming

in here. I'm gonna keep this going for a while. I don't know how long. I got a couple of caffeinated beverages right here. I'm gonna drink through these. I'm gonna sort through some of the quote. In fact, let me grab my notes. I'll be back in one two days. Maybe we can go through in order of the guys were up who were up at the podium today, and go through some of the quotes that are coming out currently. I'll just pull up La Murray here. I'll pull up

far A boydsen Shari. I saw there Joey Lynn was doing some really good reporting there, justin Russo, of course, and just try to give you everything that was of note you could say from today's media day, starting with Norman Powell. He came to the podium first, was excited about that. He said he was super excited to get the season started, was ready to go. He was asked if he wants to start this year. I believe that was La Murray pose that question. He said, I want

to start every year. I'm excited to get back to that and show in training camp that I should be starting and I'm ready to fill whatever void or whatever is needed for the team. normOn Powell came across very very confident. In his presser, Holo Dolo says, I loved how all the guys said they are aware of the outside noise and motivated to prove them wrong. That's something else normOn Palell talked about. He said that he thought it was wild. Basically, I'm paraphrasing that a lot of

people had the Clippers basically written off. They had the miss twelfth in the West. So a little bit of an added motivation there, I think, not just from normOn Powell, but yes, it was a theme going on last week. Toron Lou said he wants this Clippers team to get out and transition more and take more threes. This is coming from Justin Russo's so normOn Powell was asked about that, Pal said he thinks it suits him well and this team quite well, and noted the analytical side of things

that shooting more threes is good. It is guys, shooting thirty three percent from three is the equivalent of fifty percent from two. So even if you are under league average, which is about thirty six percent from three, you shoot thirty three percent at high volume, that can still be good. That's exactly what the Boston Celtics shot at high volume in the NBA Finals, and they were able to take out the Dallas Mavericks in five games. A lot of that was due to the three points shooting and playing

the analytics game. Norman Palt talked about the off season, said he read a few books, said he was doing some meditation, didn't exactly say darkness retreat, didn't go Aaron Rodgers with it, but was taking care of his mental health. I guess this was interesting. Norm Pal said, I know media and outlets like to write us off because we don't have PG anymore. We're losing Russell Westbrook, and he brought up a point norm that that nineteen twenty Toronto Raptors.

Year after Kawhi Leonard left to become a Clipper, they were still a top team in the Eastern Conference. They were still a top five seed. Jeffrey Belchan said, wait, you're not here anymore. No, I had trouble hearing with the microphone. I know it was going in and out. Time seemed a little bit low. I looked at my right and asked Tamara Zari. He said it was bad too, So maybe it wasn't just my hearing. I hope, because I've had some issues, but there's no issue when I'm

plugged in and have an amplifier. It's basically a hearing aid when I'm doing radio and I have my headphones on and I can control the volume. So I thought I'd just come back home and I would start this live stream and I will keep it going for some time here. So join in, hang out. I'm not going anywhere over the next hour. Maybe we'll have some guests on to post Media Day and everybody getting up there

at the podium Nora and Pale. One of the last things he said was he's really excited to continue to prove the media wrong. Nicholas Battou. He was next. He came up, talked about anticipating this season, how it's a new beginning, got a lot of new guys that he's excited to play with, new arena, new jerseys, they're wearing the blue, new logo. Everything is new. Quote, can't wait to play a game in this place. Now it's into

a dome. Niko Pattoom said there were a couple offers out there, but he was talking to head coach Ron Lou and quote, it was pretty much what I wanted to do for me and my family, and Coach Lou is the guy I want to play for. Quote. I signed here after a really bad time in Charlotte and Coach Lou saved his career. That's nothing new. We've heard

him say that for a long time now. He joked, don't expect me to score twenty five points in reference to the team losing Paul George and Russell Westbrook and him filling that void. He also joked over the summer he tried to beat tm USA but couldn't do it. He was great though. Then it was James Harden who was third, as Jeffrey Beltrian says, we appreciate you bro

listening from the supporters section right on. I did see some people there that said they were listening to the podcast on the way into into it Dome, because I know there's a ton of fans there today. They made it available to a lot of people. Matthew A Jimi says, are we really going into training camp with PJ and no for other than Batoom, other than Kawhi, other than Kobe Brown, other than sliding up a mere coffee. More

on that in a little bit. But you realize Kawhi started at the four all last season, my friends, so hopefully he is available. More on that coming up with some of those quotes coming from Kawhi, but we'll go in order here. James Harden was next after Niko Batoum. He was asked how his role changes aggressive Aggressive. We tried to last year to where we try to figure it out guys in their roles. It's kind of difficult when you got that high caliber of players or Hall

of famers, it was pretty difficult. Certainly started off that way with James Harden where they were zero to five. That was when Russ was in the backcourt with him before making the change change to bring in Terrence Man there, James Harden said that this year there's a pretty clear space on what he needs to be doing on his decision to resign with the Clippers this offseason, and this is coming from Justin Rousseau, who I saw there was

hanging out with. He said, James Harden said, quote, I'm home. I'm home, and I don't plan on going anywhere else. I want to leave a legacy, especially here, that is big. That is a pretty cool statement. Matthew a Jimi follows up now talking about the four spot. Isn't four too tough on Kawhi's body? I don't know. It seems like you're moving around less when you're playing the four, and he just played sixty eight games last season. You can say yes, but then he hit the wall, wasn't able

to play in the playoffs. Well, it's not like playing the three kept him away from injuries. He toured the ACL he had the meniscus injury playing the three, and he played less games during the regular season than he did last season. So I don't think there's anything definitive to say that the four is too tough on Kawhi's body, because in theory, the three probably racks up more mileage

per game with chasing guys around the perimeter more. Where as you play the four, you are restricted a little bit more to the paint and guys trying to back you down, and maybe that actually makes it a little bit easier, he says, gotcha now. Kawhi Leonard of note last season at one point did say, I'll play it until we get a real one. So do they have

a real one. Niko batoom could be that guy, but I don't know if he's going to be playing more than twenty minutes per night on average, So therefore, can you really start him? Those guys typically are going to be playing twenty five plus minutes upwards of thirty minutes for some of the starters. I don't know if Niko Batoum would be able to do that. Shark in the Box says your starters, HU know, Norm, Kawhi, Djja and Zoo. Is that something coming out from coach Lou at this moment?

Is he at the podium? I don't even know if it's for sure happening where. Yeah, Derek Jones Junior is at the podium right now. We'll catch up to that because Coach Lou and Lawrence Frank talked last week. Let's get to Kawhi Leonard.

They could just be so overly cautious right now. They could be understandably proceeding with an abundance of caution so that you know, as training camp, do they really need to push Kawhi then I don't think so. He's thirty three, he's been through this. He's not going to learn anything more there. And if they just want to strengthen the

knee right now, it makes sense. Why risk inflammation at training camp when you're trying to have him complete a playoff series for the first time since the bubble in twenty twenty or at least since the first round of twenty twenty one against the Dallas Mavericks complete a playoff run, you could say, Polo Dollo said when Harden was asked about Kawhi, he said he should take his time. Seems like un is confident in him making the playoffs regardless

of his availability. I think it's more so he just knows the main goal is for Kawhi to be available when games are most important, when it's a playoff series. Now, I would make the argument that to get to the playoffs, they're going to need him as well. Without Paul George, with the way they've reconstructed this team offensively, they could

really struggle at times. I think, of course, James Harden is that floor razer for the team, and that's big and if he's available for sixty five plus seventy plus games, huge for the Clippers. But make no mistake, in this really tough Western Conference, the gauntlet that it is, they are going to need Kawhi Leonard during the regular season. You can't just hold him out till March, like some people have said over the years, just wait then and

then start playing him as the playoffs come around. Because you wait that long, you may not have him, you may not be in a playoff series to have him available. More on Kawhi Leonard, he said the team is making sure he's healthy for the important moments.

we want and what we figure out. I think it is a positive to think I will play, but we're taking it day by day. Nobody knows at this point, guys, I'm telling you they have to see how the knee responds to training camp and the strengthening of the knee during their time in Hawaii and back here five days later. No one can know. Kawai doesn't know at this point.

There is another juicy quote coming out from Norman Powell that I will bring up to you guys in just a little bit here, so I know I'm going a little bit out of order, but I want to keep going here after Kawhi Leonard and we can talk about that in the comments. I'm just kining to give you the quick rundown and gloss over some of the main points in talking points and quotes coming out of today's media day, which is still ongoing. My understanding currently is

Derek Jones Junior is at the podium. We'll bring you some of those quotes too, but still going in order. Next up was of eatsa Zubats. He says he thinks he's going to see an increased offensive workload this season. Good need that quote, just being patient when I get the ball down there, taking my time, using my body, my strength and my height. It beats a zoobots on the new arena. It's great having something you can call

your own. It's going to help a lot with scheduling, getting a better schedule for the season, not getting as many early games like we did in the past. I think that's going to be big for us.

we're counting on. That's huge, because, look, they had to learn on the fly ten games in they bring in James Harden. I mentioned a little bit earlier that obviously it took some time before they got on that big run thirty one game stretch they go twenty six in five, but it was a learning curve and he and James were doing the right things after practice. They were putting in the work. They were doing what they could to

develop that pick and roll chemistry. It's gonna be much more refined and you're gonna see more high pick and roll with James Harden. That was something coach lou said last week. I'm gonna run more high pick and roll, as they should. He's a pick and roll master, one of the best in the game to ever do it old. Dirty Dasher says, did you attend? Yes? I was there for I guess the first half of it, but I

don't know. My hearing's not great. The microphone was low and it went in and out a few times, and I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna go home. Start the live stream. React to some of these quotes. John Rodriguez says, seeing everyone's Twitter post at media Day is getting me hyped. With the jerseys just as nice in person than the pictures. The jerseys are real, nice, real and spectacular. They were wearing the blue ones. They're beautiful.

I heard complaints initially about the new logo. I'm hearing less and less of those as people are warming up to it. The alternate logos everybody loved immediately. Same with the jerseys. That is a hit. Going back to the cursive, they got a red jersey coming out to no complaints there. Izo said, I'm telling you right now, James is going to start the season off averaging twenty seven points. I

think that's aspirational. He's thirty five years of age. He only played thirty four minutes per game last season with the Clippers. That was a low for I want to say since leaving Okay, see, I don't think he's averaged twenty seven, maybe twenty five, maybe twenty four. He's not gonna go from averaging eleven points per game. I know Paul George isn't here anymore and Kawhi could be missing, but he's not going from eleven points to twenty seven points.

I think that's going to be difficult, and he's also going to be setting the table a ton. I just if he has to put up that many shots. I don't know if the Clippers are in a good space or good place. Jonathaning says, how was it being there and having the fans in the vicinity for media day? Saw some of the fans. I saw some of them, but I really didn't get a chance to interact. I was in the media room. I was hanging out with Brian Seemen a little bit La Murray Jessin, Russo tomer Azari.

So I can't really comment too much on how that atmosphere was with the fans there as I'm still looking for a little bit more clarity with I believe it's Derek Jones Junior at the podium. I want to see if we have any quotes regarding d j J. Now we got something from this was Terrence Man about a half hour ago. He said, this comes from Joey Lynn. We're gonna be a real competitive team. We got a lot of dogs on our roster. I'll go to war

with all the guys we picked up. He said. The Clippers see the media noise and they're hungry to prove it wrong. I like that. I like that Fishizl. But Dizzel I was referencing the amount of points yeah averaged. Excuse me, shots he averaged last season. I shouldn't have said points. You're right, James Harden was at eleven shot attempts per game. He averaged sixteen points per game last season. Going up eleven points is probably a lot to ask, but I appreciate pointing that out. I need to clarify

he attempted eleven shots per game last season. Poetic Tube asks does this mean Norman Pale starting is still a possibility? I think it's a distinct possibility. I think Norman Powell has a bullseye on trying to be in the starting lineup because he has That has been his goal for a long time. That has been his motivation. He said Norman Powell was first at the podium, quote, I want to start every year. This is nothing new from Norm. He thinks in his mind he should be starting. And

without Paul George. We talked about this last week with Att Murray, there's less of for him not starting now. The point would be where's his defense at? Where's his defense and where is his playmaking at? If you want to start next to James Harden, who yes, will have the ball in his hands a ton, but you still need to be a better passer and connector out there. If you're Norman Powell and you have to play better defense if you're gonna be in the starting backcourt next

to James Harden or else. This Clippers defense, the identity they're trying to build on that end. If you get cooked at the point of attack, it makes things really difficult on your bigs on Avitza Zubots, on everybody else, secondary rim defenders like Kawhi Leonard, it makes things so much more difficult. Mike Dangs says James passed up a lot of shots last session last season trying to figure

things out this season. He just needs to be more aggressive, as he said, yes he does agree with all of that. I just don't know if he's gonna go from eleven shots per game to twenty shots per game like that. Maybe I could sixteen seventeen shots a game. I could see that. Jonathan Ing says, looks like the first day of school. It kind of is like that old dirty Dasher says, best case scenario for me is barely making a play in tournament. That's best case, barely making the

play in barely being tenth. I think that's overly negative. I think even if Kawhi Leonard only played forty games that they would have a good shot of still being eighth or ninth. But we'll see. Holo Dolo says, maybe I'm wrong, but I think James will also have a say in who his backcourt running mate will be, not just ty Lou. I agree with that. I think James

Harden carries a lot of weight. The comfortability of James Harden in backcourt really is going to define this team offensively, So whoever he feels most comfortable playing next to, I think is huge. So if he wants a guy who's gonna be a gunner from the outside and Norman is not gonna pass down shots, like we have with Terrence Man over the years, where he's just not aggressive enough. He hasn't put up enough three pointers. You don't have

to worry about that with Norman Powell. What you do have to worry about then, is him guarding the other team's two guard or point guard. He tries to guard up and guards their three, or they tried to hide him there against a three that's not much of a score. I think he's gonna get picked on a little bit now. If he takes up the challenge of playing better defense, then I really think Norman Powell is much more in the running for the starting two guard spot. But we

haven't seen that much as a Clipper. He was better last season defensively, but I want to see Toronto Raptors level Norman Powell defense. That's when I thought coming out of UCLA, guys he hung his hat on his defense. That's what he did, that's what he was known for. Nobody thought he would get to this point offensively where he'd become one of the most efficient scorers in the league, not just coming off the bench, just efficiency period. Shooting

forty four percent from three. With the amount he took, Norman Powell has been damn impressive there with the proprison development throughout his career at this level. With his offense, it's his defense that has slipped maybe a little bit because of it that Mexican Nor says, Norman really needs to step it up. Averaging twelve points with nineteen minutes is not enough. Now I want to say, who was at fourteen points per game last season, which, yeah, is

not going to be enough. Also, most likely depending on what else happens, Yeah, thirteen point nine points per game. He was playing twenty six minutes. So could his minutes go up? Could his scoring go up? Norm Powell? For sure, that could happen. I would imagine his efficiency would go down a little bit if that happens. But if he's only shooting forty one percent from the outside and he's

taking more three pointers, you're fine with that. Last season, Norm Powe was at five three pointers taken per game. That's about what he's been averaging the last four seasons or so, going back to his last year with the Portland Trail Blazers. But Norm's got a gun. He's got to be a gunner. He's got to be on the aggressive side of things in looking for his offense. And I think he's well aware of that because here's the quote that people are talking about from Norman Powell that

is very interesting and a little bit juicy. And I don't know because I was there when he said it today at Media Day, if he meant it in a way that was necessarily a shot at Paul George. But the quote is the quote, and I will quote it. Norman Powell said this on losing Paul George quote. I saw it as addition, by subtraction, more guys getting opportunities, including myself. That is going to make the rounds guys.

That is going to be something that we are talking about coming out of this media day with again, on losing Paul George quote, I saw it as addition, by subtraction, more guys getting opportunities, including mysel. You can see this as two different things. Here a shot a bar towards Paul George or normOn Powell just being happy to get

more opportunities. And that's the way he phrased it. Given the way he was talking about being more aggressive, trying to be a starter, I leaned towards that's how he meant it. But maybe there's something more to it. Maybe there was.

on that quote alone. So the fans like it. I can understand why there were times over the last two seasons where people are saying Norman Powell was the third best player on this Clippers team, or at least the third best score because he would actually go out there looking to shoot to score and Paul George at times, you know, he'd have those games where he'd be up and down between game to game, between core to quarter with his aggressiveness. Matthew Ajimi says, I love it. Hope

we hear more shots from other players. Let it be known, then, let them speak their mind. If you're looking at per thirty six minutes with Norman Powell, last season, he was still only at fourteen attempts per game, but the two seasons before that sixteen attempts per game, eighteen a game, but that was only in five games. Remember he broke his foot. I think a game against Portland in Portland

right away as a Clipper that was unfortunate. I would look for him to get around fifteen shots per game, but there could be more competition than we are realizing. And yes, the Powell Rangers for real. Ree and Zarat said Norman Powell. We went into last season saying is norm a tradable piece to I'm saying, oh my god,

he's so critical to this team. He has helped solidify one of the best lineups in the NBA, and the Clippers' best lineup which was starters, but Norm in for Terrence Man so him next to it was James Harden, Norm PG Kawhi and it Beta Zubats. They were nuking. Their efficiency was off the charts. J M I thirteen twenty four said it was a shot at PG rightfully, So both are sending shots at each other and I love it. If you guys have a quote from Paul George earlier today, by the way, because I know it

was Philly's media day, send it over here. I'll read it, but it's got to be from somebody I trust. I don't want any fake news quotes coming from Paul George. I trust you guys. I love y'all, but I might have to double source it right now. Here's Joey Linn talking with Kevin Porter Jr. Discussing counseling, what he's learned during that time away from the league and his journey back to the NBA. Kevin Porter Junior said, for me, I've always believed in myself. I know my truth. I

felt like I had a good fight getting back. Definitely didn't count myself out. We'll look for more on this, but KPJ was made available to the media. I am pulling quotes from our lovely reporters and media members and the local beat writers that I encourage you guys to support. Now I'm at Justin Russo. He has a video up from Tomara Azzari talking with Steve Balmer as they were in a different section of the arena at one point.

Why don't I see what a good friend to marya Zzari has been posting He's gonna be all with me Wednesday from Hawaii. He'll be at training camp again. I want to reset a couple of things here Norn Palell and the Clippers. I've made it a theme to say they feel disrespected basically by the media. Pal said this, and he was first up quote outlets are riding us off. We lost PG, lost for USS and we're the twelfth seat, which is crazy to me, at least that's what they

were saying. I've been a team where we've lost a superstar and we still got a top five seed the next year. He's referring to being with Toronto they lost Kawhi. He comes to the Clippers, they were still a top team in the East. The hole was greater than the sum of its parts. S is saying, it's media day. Is media day over? What are you doing back home? The microphone was low for me. My hearing is not great right now, so I was having trouble picking up on any quotes and the mic was going in and

out a little bit. I just thought I'd come home and I do some analysis on some of this stuff instead. Hollo Dolo said Harden, saying he's excited for Zoo in terms of having a bigger offensive load is great. It just validates what all of us fans have been saying for so long. I don't think it's lost on the Clippers that of each the Zubots, he needs to be a bigger part of the offense. There just needs to be a more consistent, concerted effort to getting him the

basketball on a nightly basis. That's it. It's not that they have and I have joked at times it looks like they're freezing him out. It's just when you have so many Hall of famers like they have had over the years, especially last year, you can get lost in the shuffle. But now it is a necessity, it is non negotiable. You either get it beats the Zubas involved early and often, or you are going to struggle offensively.

He and James Harden I expect, you know, two of the first five times down the floor in the first quarter to be running high, pick and roll, and everything else should be working off of that, Jonathan Ing said. PG said it was the first time in his presser that it was the first time he was playing with an elite big and elite point guard at the same time. I did see that he is factually correct for the

first time. I guess that is an accurate statement. I'm hoping Ivitza Zubats can still prove, as he's gonna be twenty seven throughout most of this season until March, that he can be an elite big and an offensive focal point. That's what I want to see. Uh yeah, double sourced it right here. Jm I thirteen twenty four said the same thing. People are overreacting to it. Yeah, I didn't take that as much of a slight for the first time playing with an elite big and elite point guard.

That that's a fair statement from Paul George renee Zarat says, what's the famous Gino Smith quote? They wrote me off, but I didn't write back. I love that one. Love you know Smith for that one. I Meana Sean said, Man, I'm still concerned for Kawhi as am I, but no more concern than I was coming into this, no less either. I guess they're taking a day by day basically. Guys,

we're gonna be updated as this goes along. We hope during training camp how he's doing with the strengthening of the right knee, but we're not gonna know for a bit whether or not he's playing Opening night October twenty three against the Phoenix Suns because they have to see how his knee response. So follow Law Murray followed, Justin Russo follow Tilmarizari followed Joey Lynn follow the Great Reporters

Miriam Swanson saw her today too. Mike Dang says, we'll see what PG says when Philly fans are killing him halfway through the season. I don't know. I think he's gonna start off hot now. Philly is notorious for being tough on their stars, especially you get paid there great. They patched you on the back and say, go prove it. We know what happened to Tobias Harris. It completely killed his confidence. I'm rooting for him in Detroit now. I'm

still a Tobias Harris fan. But they chewed him up and spit him out a little bit, and it really wasn't his fault. They chose him over Jimmy Butler was a decision by Olton Brand. Was Tobias supposed to turn down that much money, No, it wasn't. They traded a lot for him. They felt like they had to pay him that. Mexicanara says, I would still trade Norman some seconds for Dante plus salary filler. I don't see norm getting better. Hopefully he proves me wrong. I can see

Dante starting for US. Do you think Minnesota's trying to trade him? They just traded for him. Great takes two to Tango. I don't know if they're doing that because he is the better defender with probably a little bit higher upside. Dante DiVincenzo, He's had some injury stuff, but overall had a great season. Last year helped the Knicks get to the second round. They lost to Indiana. He put up fifteen per game on twelve shots. He shot

forty percent from the outside. He is the better defender and he played eighty one games, So after a couple of seasons where he only played forty two games, he only played twenty five games two seasons. He's been much more durable. Dante DiVincenzo. Dante's inferno when he gets hot. Seventy two games his last year were Golden State, and then last season his first year with New York eighty one games. I don't think they just brought him in

to trade him. That was a big get. That's a bigger get to me than Julius Randall in trading Karl Anthony Towns. And he's younger slightly, No, he's a good four years younger than Norm Powell. Amina Sean says, when PG comes back to into it Dome, we get to see him get locked by DJJ again, I hope. So

that's what I'm looking forward to. Derek Jones Junior put the clamps on him in that first round series, and that was the first guy that the Clippers made a splash with as soon as it was announced that talks had broken off between them and Paul George the first day of free agency, and they went out and got Derek Jones Junior. Coincidence just gonna sit my tea here, I don't think so why not? The Clippers said, I'm so excited to see what the new roster brings. I

am two guys. I could see them finishing anywhere between six and ten. Much of that is just dependent on Kawhi and availability. But this roster defensively, I think has the potential to be a top eight defense, and I think they need to be. If they want to be the sixth seed, they have to hang their hat on their defense. Period. Halo Dolo says, the first ten to fifteen games are probably gonna tell us a lot about the season and how it's going to go or how

it's going to look. Like. Excited for the preseason games as well, me too, I've been this excited for preseason in a long time because so many guys are competing for spots. Coach Lu said, not just one spot is open, but two. You talk, give me two shout out PMS. Yeah, guys are going to be fighting, battling in camp and that brings out the best the competition, the iron sharpening iron.

I'm gonna have coverage from guys in Hawaii all this week for training camp and then on a five to seventy LA Sports on Saturday, I think a pregame show starting at three for Clippers and Golden State Warriors from Honolulu, Hawaii. Why not the Clippers says I'm so excited to see Yes, I already read this one out of me dumbas JM I thirteen twenty four says, can someone explain to me what a hate watch is and why you do it? I think that's when people get off on drinking too

much hater raid and enjoin the downfall of others. Shaden freudter Jonathan Ing says, will you be at front Wave Arena for the game on ten to eight versus the Nets? I will be an ocean side for that one. I'm excited. Amina Sean says, I think a seventh seed is probably a better bet considering Kawhi at most is playing fifty five or fifty two games, very interesting specifics. Fifty two I could see, but then fifty two, that's a very specific number there. We have no idea, Guys, I don't

want to project too much. I'll say this, I don't think he's playing any back to backs. I didn't think that before we heard the swelling is almost gone. So that puts him at most if he's not playing any back to backs at sixty six games. Timothy Albin who says, what's your opinion on Larry Nance Junior? He would be a nice option if the Hawks go into cell mode in the last year of an eleven point two million dollars deal. Is that accurate he is in the last year.

First of all, I'm a big fan of Larry Nance Junior. I am hustle guy at the four spot. He can play center two, He's versatile. He hasn't turned into a great three point shooter. He's only in his career averages one a temper game thirty four percent from the outside. Would have been nice to see him stretch the floor little bit more in that area. It's never really materialized. But I like him for twenty minutes a game. If you could pull that off, I'd say it's it would

be a wise move. But I'm guessing because other teams know the value of him, that's not going to be easy to grab him. And you could say, I'm not sure if you trade for him at this point, you'd have his bird rights coming out of Yes, him being in the last year of an eleven million dollars deal Larry Nance Jr. He'll be an unrestricted free agent next season. I'm not sure how that would work cap wise, it might be difficult to retain him. Therefore he's rental. You

gotta look at that part of it too. Luis Lemmas says, damn, I hate the Sixers. Maybe he's responding to da am I thirteen twenty four saying, uh, why people hate watch? Why do you do it? They don't like Paul George Now, I guess so they're hating on the Sixers. Uh see. He says, I don't know about y'all, but Harden got me hyped. Kawai can join when he's ready, Let's go. I've said this over the last week, since that presser

last Tuesday, hearing about Kawai's health. Wasn't exactly encouraged, wasn't dismayed. But you know, if it's true that he had surgery in May and the swelling's almost gone now it's almost five months, it doesn't make me feel great about it. They're obviously going to have to manage it, and he can't do drills right now or is not going to at least in training camp. At that point, I said,

it looks like it's James Harden's team for now. When Kawhi is available, he'll take the majority of the shots and hopefully he'll be back at the same level he played at last season, which was Elite top five and when he set the all time record for efficiency during a thirty game stretch where he shot fifty seven percent from the floor and fifty one percent from the outside while getting twenty six per game. Nobody had ever done

that in NBA history. As long as he's back to that when he is available, then yeah, when he's out there, it's his team, But it could be James Harden because of his position, because of his availability, running the show all the time, and he's gonna be the hub on offense regardless if Kawhi is there or not, he's the hub because he's the playmaker. He's that traditional point guard. He'll be the guy everybody's playing off of. But when Kawhi is not there, he's looking to score even more.

Helo Dollo says, this team gives me twenty twenty two Warriors vibes. I'm not saying we are winning at all. However, nobody expected the Warriors to do anything that year, but they shocked a lot of people. They had guys step up. Andrew Wiggins had his best season and was magnificent in the playoffs. Jordan Poole was big for them that year. Kaminga had a few moments uh and they got enough out of Klay Thompson who wasn't the same but was good enough. And Steph Curry and Draymond Green played a

very high level. Still, I don't hate the comp It might be too lofty, but I'd like it to play out that way. Amina Sean said, what's funny is l Frank keeps lying to us elaborate on that. In what way can you expand on that or are you just making some vague general statement that you hope gets attention on here And I probably shouldn't even brought it up, didn't screen it beforehand. Matthew a Jimi says, it's our year. Hey, that is the quote from will Updyke, this is our year.

I think it's tongue in cheek and he's being ironically funny about it. Since if there was a time to not believe it is the Clippers year after Paul George left, it would be now. I don't know. Stranger things have happened in the NBA. I'm looking for some more quotes here, looking for stuff from Derek Jones Junior. D j J. Who should I check out here in the comments section? You know what, I'll go back to Joey Lynn. I like his reporting for SI now shout out Joey Lynn.

Still not seeing anything on Derek Jones Junior. Maybe he didn't talk that much. Mike Danks said, KPJ going for the twenty twenty two Jordan Poole role. That's interesting, Mike, Mike Big Mike, I don't hate that idea. Honestly, we know how talented Kevin Porter Junior is. The off the court issues and transgressions have been talked about enough on here. I want to focus on the court right now, especially

on a daylight today and media Day. But the last full season in the NBA, nineteen points per game, almost six assists, the three turnovers played, fifty nine games started, fifty nine games. Was getting thirty four minutes a night. And he is a league average three point shooter at thirty six percent? Can he be better than that on a better team with more catch and shoot threes. If anybody has the number on Kevin Porter Junior catch and shoot threes, put it in here, because I'd be interested

to know what that was. It looked like wow. According to a thread on Reddit in twenty twenty two, he shot forty eight percent on catch and shoot threes in twenty twenty three. So was that the start of the twenty two to twenty three season. Let me see here. Let me see here. I don't want to put out any inaccurate news. That just seems unbelievably good. That would be a very high percentage from the outside and I

would be all here for it. Yeah. During the twenty one twenty two season, Kevin Porter Junior was at forty eight point two percent on catch and shoot threes. Guys, that's kind of revelation. Kevin Porter Junior in the twenty one to twenty two season. Was it forty eight point two percent on catch and shoot threes. I'm looking at an article in July of twenty twenty four from athlonsports dot com. Ooh, that is encouraging, to say the least.

That's special. That is a guy that can knock him down. Now, my guess is the reason why his three point shooting overall that season wasn't nearly that high as because he didn't get a lot of them or didn't take enough of them. But you, when you were one of the focal points of the offense for the Houston Rockets that year, he did shoot about thirty eight percent from three, but forty eight percent on catch and shoot threes in the

twenty one twenty two season. Damn. And I'm looking at forty two percent on catch and shoot threes for KPJ in the twenty two to twenty three season. OOO, that is interesting. Mo Hassen says fingers crossed. Kai Jones can grab the last two way, we will see. He's basically on a prove it type of deal right now. It's a non guaranteed camp invite contract, but they have a slot open, one more two way spot. Luis Limis says, I like the Clippers grit now that SOFTPG is gone.

Old Dirty Dasher says players have not played enough together to have a good year. Sorry, just being extra pessimistic this year. It's noticeable we can all tell. I think, given how good of Eacha's Zubots and James Harden looked over about a month and a half stretch before Zubots had that calf injury, I think they're going to be better than that this season together and that tandem is going to thrive and they need to. So I think there's a lot of positives there. It's James Harden getting

a training camp with this team. Now, that's much more chemistry built up, much more of an ability to mesh and meld some real continuity. Luis Lemmas says, if Kawhi is not able to go, I want to see Norm in the starting lineup. So that is one of the possibilities here. I brought it up last night. We had the guys on Brandon Marcus and Matt Matta Warren formerly of Sports Ethos. Now they have and I think a

new one. The first one is coming out today the inaugural Voyage of Talking Ships is coming out their new podcast. Love those guys, check it out. But I made the point that if Kawhi is not able to go Opening Night, and we can throw this around here, guys, if he's not able to go Opening Night, who do you want in the starting lineup? Because it could not only affect who replaces Kawhi, but who starts next to James Harden.

Because look at it this way, if everything in this ideal situation, with everyone healthy and everyone's available, I would say go James Harden next to Terrence Man. There's continuity there. Terrence Man started seventy one games last season with Derek Jones junior of the three, with Kawhi at the four, with it beats the Zobots at the five. But if Kawhi' is not available, that kind of up ends things because then you say, well do they need more scoring?

Therefore you start Overn Powell next to James Harden. Could you then slide up Terrence Man to the three, djj to the four and it eats a Zubots to the five. Maybe I don't know does but toomb men start at the four and you keep Terrence Man where he is that the two. These are the questions, This is the uncertainty going into the season, and some of what makes

it interesting. They just have a lot of options. I just I'm excited to see which direction they go, because obviously, if you're trying to get more buckets and more offense and have more of a scoring punch to start off games, you go with Noran Powell, but that hurts you defensively. There's no perfect guy. Unless KPJ really emerges in trading camp and says I'm playing defense at a really high level and I can score, then I guess you start him with the two. But I think that's kind of

a long shot right now. So you either go with offense with Norm Powell, more defense with Terrence Man. You can also go with Batoom at the four versus Dereck Jones Junior sliding up to the four. There's a lot of different combinations if Kawhi is not available that Mexican Nara says, I feel KPJ is being slept on, maybe so ashen Amina Sean says, I want to see those d j J lobs, Derrick Jones Junior lobs. Halo Dolo says, I think Tylu looked at that exact same stat and

that's why he made those comments. Maybe so, guys, that is that is something. The twenty one to twenty two season, Kevin Porter Junior shot forty eight percent on catching shoot threes, and the twenty two to twenty three season was at

forty three and a half percent. So even above forty two percent, if he's playing off ball more and getting more open looks next to James Harden, whoever else is out there, if he just has less of the defense angled his way like he did in Houston because he was one of their better players, so more attention went his way. If defenses get lost and leave him off ball, that could be a bucket. That's a revelation, I'm telling you. Amina Sean says, those lobs from Harden to DJJ are

could it be amazing? They're gonna feed families. Mike Dangs says, I'm optimistic this year. Every time they count us out, we have an exciting season. This Clippers team traditionally has overachieved win counted out. We saw it the seventeen to eighteen year where they still won forty two games after they traded Blake. We saw it the eighteen to nineteen year after they traded Tobias, still making the playoffs and then pushing maybe the best team of all time, the

Golden State Warris with Kevin Durant to six games. So there's reason, good reason to believe that's true. The twenty one to twenty two season the most recent of these. I don't want to say little engine that could teams, but teams with lesser talent that banded together to overcome losses from injuries. They didn't have Kawhi that entire year. They had Paul George for just thirty one games, and

they still had a winning record. Made the play in, lost the first game, lost Paul George the second game, and lost with the Pelicans after I think they had a thirteen point lead in that fourth quarter. That one still frush me. Tru frustrates me. The point it leaves to me tongue tied that playing game. Mo Hassin says, do you think Van Gundy will help us be a top eight in defense? Yes? He will only help. They will not be a seventeenth ranked defensive team this year

in defensive rating. They will not be that bad. They can't be that bad if they are the seasons cooked and maybe they won't make the plan. They can't be that bad defensively again, because I don't think they're going to be fourth offensively like they were this past season, and at times they were doing other worldly things on offense. I don't count on that. I still think though, they could be a top twelve offense, maybe even a top ten offense, just going off the data in the history

with James Harden. Yes, I know he's older, but his offense is over his last twelve seasons and he has led pretty much all of them. He's the guy. Have never ranked worse than twelve, and on average they have been fifth. I don't expect fifth, but can they be eight through twelve somewhere in there, ten through twelve. I think so. And if you combine that with a top ten or top eight defense, I think they need to be top eight on the defensive end, then you have

a top ten net rating. Top ten net rating is the goal to me overall. You marry those two things, where you're a top twelve offense and a top eight defense, you get a top ten net rating. That's what matters. Uncle Mike says, Bro, you finally did your homework on KPJ. Well, Coach Lou gave me reason to last week really after he said, and I want to quote this correctly because this changed everything of the way I read the situation with Kevin Porters Junior. This quote was everything to me. Guys,

here's what Coach Lou said last week. Quote. For us to have success, he's gonna have to be a big part of that. That changes everything. I didn't know how you viewed KPJ. We still don't know if he's going to be suspended or not. How many games that could be if he is suspended when it comes, If it comes early enough, you can miss the preseason. That would hurt his chances. So it's fair to say I've been dismissive at times because you just don't even know if

he's playing yet. If he's suspended early on in the season, with all these guys vying for different positions and roles on the Clippers, it would be a major setback for him. So I'm kind of letting this play out a little bit more. But I've gotten more familiar with his game, even though I knew him. Even though if you watch the initial podcast when we got the news live on clips and dip and I was cheering it on and

I was big on the move. Now that also came before I knew everything that would happen with him off the court, and that was extremely disappointing. And I understand it's controversial and will be scrutinized, but if we're just talking on the court, I have done more and more research on KPJ because coach lou was a fan. He said there's a reason he was getting paid twenty million per year. He's a big time talent. And this Clippers team, as Lawrence Frank has said, they got to take chances

on some fallen angels. That's what he has said before. So whether or not you like these type of moves, you can see the logic in them. And KPJ, I'm hoping you know. I'll read this quote again from Joey Lynn has made strides, has turned his life around in different ways again. Joey Lynn talk with him add into a DOLMA media day. When discussing counseling, what he's learned during his time away from the league and his journey back to the NBA, KPJ said, quote, for me, I

always believed in myself. I know my truth. I felt like I had a good fight getting back. Definitely didn't count myself out. We will see how this materializes, but the talent is obviously there on the court and the Clippers they're gonna need help this season and if he can miss defensively to what I think he's capable of. I put up a defensive highlight reel of him on X at follow out of a I think he could be much better on that end than people realize I do.

I think Kevin Porter Jr. Is not just an offensive talent who has shades of being a dime store no disrespect, but a poor man's James Harden. James Hard is the top seventy five player. Ever, it's no disrespect to say that about a guy. It's a compliment still, But a lefty that can run an offense. To what degree to how proficient he can be, we don't know. He hasn't been on a good team before, he hasn't been on

a team with playoff aspirations before. But you can make the argument on the other side, because he was one of the focal points, if not the main guy on that Houston team. Teams game plan to stop him. So what happens when he's playing off of James Harden, when he's playing off of Kawhi Leonard? What happens then? I

don't know. I think there is a lot of untapped potential, clearly, And we can continue to talk about KPg now because the way they're talking about him leads me to believe he's gonna get a real shot at making an impact this season. And Production says, what will Harden's stats look like this year? He's got to match twenty five plus ten plus assists question mark. Here's what I'll say. They need to be bare minimum twenty points per game, eight and a half assists per game. So what does that mean?

How much of an increase is that from last season? I'll tell you exactly. He was at sixteen and a half points per game last season, an eight and a half sis per game. What we need from James Harden, what I know you're hoping from bare minimum is basically what he did is last year in Philly, where he could have been at all star led the league and assists, he averaged twenty one to ten point seven assists per game, twenty one points per game on the dot and ten

point seven assists per game wasn't his career high. That came back when he finished second an MVP voting in the twenty sixteen to twenty seventeen season. I think to Steph Curry or no, that was to Russell Westbrook with the triple doubles. But he averaged eleven assists per game that season. But he is a year removed James Harden from almost averaging eleven assists per game and twenty one points. Now, Embiid missed games that season, but you can still say,

you know Embiid was there. He's feeding him. It was a good Philly team. Guys are hitting shots. The assists were up. James Harden bare minimum twenty and nine. I'll round up from eight and a half to nine twenty and nine bare minimum. Anything above that is gravy, assuming the efficiency doesn't fall off a cliff. Last season, while he only shot forty three percent from the floor, well when I mean seven of his eleven attempts per game were three pointers and he's from three, that's fine. That

efficiency was fine last season. Yeah, if he can get it up to forty four percent from the field and almost thirty nine percent from three, that would be big. But there are nights where Kawhi is not going to be there, maybe even opening night, and James Harden has to take shots to put up shots and be a threat and keep the defense off balance with not only his passing but his scoring. So they don't know how to play him. Are we playing the step back? Is

he driving past guys? And therefore makes the defense have to be in that predicament where is he going for the floater or is he going for the lob to a beat to zubats because that's when James Harden was at his best, when he had a roller in Clint Capella that you didn't know if that ball going up

was going to be a floater from James Harden. And he's kind of shot away from that floater recently, not Game four when he closed that game out against Dallas last season in the playoffs, but overall he is not taking as many floaters. It hasn't been as efficient from him. But when he was right, when he was at his best, MVP James Harden, that is the guy that would keep a defense off balance with his playmaking and scoring. And the most obvious way to do that was with that

little floater that could also turn into a lob. I see Grant Monas in the chat. Hey, Grant, if you want to jump in here for a little bit, let me know. I will send you a link. I don't know what your availability is, but I saw Grant Mona there today at Media Day. He's one of my favorites. He's been doing great things. And as Grant Mona said here and we've talked about on this show this Clippers Talk Live a Media Day special edition, Grant Mona says,

this team is hearing the noise, They're accepting it. Loved it. Some more questions. Oh, moneyball approach. I like it. Build a Paul George in the aggregate. I'd say you make up for the loss of Jason Giambi. No one guy can do it. Multiple guys have to. Clipser Die says. Bleacher Report has the Clippers starting five of Harden, Man, Derek Jones, Junior Kawhi and Zoo ranked twentieth. I can't

wait for this team to surprise people. I definitely think that starting five is higher than twentieth because outside of Harden, that is some elite defense there. That is a team that can get the job done and get a lot of stops and hopefully some easier points because of stops leading to transition points and runouts and advance passes by the Clippers. That's something Coachly wants. That is something he

has talked about just last week. They need to score and take advantage of teams and transition more than they have. They have to play faster. It's great that they have the top two isolation players in the game Kawhi most points per possession and isolation last season, James Harden just below them, kind of significantly below him, but still second. Kawhi first, James Harden's second. But what you want is to not have to rely on that so much and

get easier buckets. Part of that is just playing through a visa zubots more. In my opinion, I always say this, but there is an easier path to victories and it's playing through Big Zoo. So do that. But also with Derek Joes Junior and Terrence Mann, should they both be in the starting lineup, they can beat their man down the floor, find them with long outlet passes, advance passes over the top of the defense, that mortar fire pass where you catch them doing a little bit of cherry picking.

That's how you do it. Amina Sean said, you're right, Adam, very jumpshot heavy team. We need to get easier baskets. They know it. They're trying to figure this out. It's easy sometimes to have these goals and talking points during training camp, but it's kind of the old Mike Tyson saying, you know, everybody's got a plan until you get punched in the face. And the Clippers, unfortunately, have not held to some of their principles as the season has gone along.

They've said some of this stuff the last couple of years, but it deteriorates as the season goes along. Some of it's just because of injuries. But the goal was to be a top five defense. Last season they ended up seventeenth. They have to maintain their identity. That is the key, and they're saying all the right things, but you got to do them consistently. You have to be able to go out there. I thought I heard Grant Mona trying to get in here for a second, but now I

don't see him. You got to go out there on a nightly basis and know how you want to play. Your game plan cannot waiver based upon what the opposition is doing. Yes, there are times to make adjustments, but if you are imposing your will, if you're the aggressors, then you're winning a lot of ball games. That's what good teams do. Grant Mona's gonna join us here shortly. I don't know if he steal it into it dome, but this should be fun. Give me and my voice

a little bit of a break. Jam thirteen twenty four says, what's up, Grant, He'll be here in a second. Matthew a Jimi says, any update on finding PJ a place on another team? Don't have that for you. I didn't see anything about that today. Evil bod Adams says, you think Kawhi is playing Opening game like he said? He didn't say that. He said he wants to play. Doesn't mean he's going to be able to play. It's a day to day thing. His plans to play Opening night,

but it still depends on his body. His right knee is dictating things. If it's up to Kawhi, I mean in his head, of course he wants to play. He's a competitor, but he's at the mercy of how has rightning response to everything? Right now? Amina Sean says, hopefully we can reach our goals this season, such as being a good transition defensive team. That's another thing they're stressing, and a good rebounding team as well. Good points another

thing they brought up. They haven't been a good rebounding team, so it's because they're undersized and Kauhi playing the four. But if guys don't step up with the rebounding this season, if you don't win the possession battle more often, this Clippers team's going to be in trouble. Because you can play great defense, but if if you don't close out a possession and get the board, it doesn't matter. You

can't give up more opportunities. As we now have the opportunity to grant Mona from the Sporting Tribute grant help hear me and I help them hear you. Talk to me?

I'm gonna throw one at you right away. Natural Haunt said this could done potentially start alongside Harden to maintain the defensive identity.

the best perimeter guard defenders in the NBA. And he was with the Jazz for a couple of years, and I remember he was in the Clippers system too, and they just never brought him up from the G League. But this is a guy that I think can be one of the better defenders at the guard position in the NBA if you really want to go all in on defense. And from what I heard from everybody around the team this whole media day was like, we have a defensive identity. We brought in defensive players. All this

is about defense. If that's really what they're going for, then maybe you could see Chris Dunn slot in next to James Harden in that backcourt. Because listen, we know that James Harden is he got better, I feel like last year in the defensive end with his swipes and staying in front of people. But again, he's not labeled as a good defender, so if you compare him with a guy that is a good defender, and I know that Kris Dunn isn't that great offensively, but he's really

good defensively. It may cause some spacing issues. That's one of my concerns, like maybe that could be an issue, But I think that it would be pretty cool to have a James Harden, Chris dun Kawhi, Leonard, Derek Jones Junior, and Vitza Zubats starting five at some point. Again, I think this is fluid, so it's not really a set in stone thing with the starting vibe. I mean, Adam you or there Norm Powell so that he wants to start at the two as well. So there's a lot

of different people, a lot of different quotes here. I guess we're just gonna have to see his training camp in folds.

to t Man. There are not just a spot open because of Paul George's absence, but there's one that is up for grabs because even though Terrence Man started seventy one games and maybe the favorite, other guys are competing for it as well.

I asked him a question. I said, you know, is you know, are you going to be this high flying guy? Have you talked with James Harden about being this high flying athletic presence because the Clippers really haven't had that in years past. And he said, you know, I haven't really talked about it, but I think that's just given that was this kind of thing. It was just given

that I'm going to do that stuff. But in terms of what he said on the defensive end, Adam, he said, I want to guard the best player.

we know about his offense. We know that he can shoot the three at times, and he's not a forty plus percent three points. But if his defensive mindset is that, paired with JVG, paired with Niko Batoom and all the guys that they brought in, that was really an awesome quote for me, and I think Clipper fans are going to be really excited about him.

lot of crossover between those two. And to be honest, as good as Terrence Man as defensively, Chris Dunn is at another level when it comes to point of attack defense.

But every game you're gonna get defensive intensity from Chris Dunn at the guard position, and he is not afraid of guarding some of the best players in the NBA.

Jones Junior. But you know, in general, I think that if you put both of those guys in a lineup, even if you put Niko Batoum with a small ball five. I mean, that's very versatile defensively, you can switch one through five, I feel like, and man, that could be a cool lineup to see.

I thought the defense he played against Luka Nancich was probably the best defense he's ever played, considering it was the playoffs and he peaked at just the right time. But you mentioned the three point shooting from Chris Dunn. What's interesting is, well, you know, he only played twenty two games for the Jazz during the twenty two to

twenty three season, so the volume's low. But if you go out after his or go off of his last one hundred and fifty takes from the outside from three over the last season and twenty two games he played with the Utah Jazz, we're talking about somebody that shot like forty one percent from three. Now, it's not a huge sample size, and it's one season where he's playing twenty two games, combining that with the sixty six games he played last season for the Utah Jazz. But he's capable.

He's capable of knocking down catch and shoot threes. Something that I found interesting. Earlier we were talking a lot about Kevin Porter junior after what coach Lew said last week Grant regarding him and how if the team is going to have success, he's going to have to make a big impact. Why just looked up his catch and shoot numbers from his last two seasons forty eight percent and forty three percent on catch and shoots threes. That

is a revelation to me. A guy shooting almost fifty percent for a season during the twenty one to twenty two season. Kevin Porter's junior from three how much? And I don't know if you talked to him. I saw he was what near court side? Yeah, at into it dull, But how much of an impact are you expecting from him? Now?

he has to work through. Yeah, You've been very adamant about mentioning this is like, Hey, we don't even know if he'll be on the court for some time because there's still an ongoing investigation regarding it. But from everything that I've heard from him on the court and what I've seen from him on the court, I mean I've known his game for a long time since he came into the league, and even overseas.

junior on defense, but that type of offensive output. I mean, this is a guy that knows how to score the basketball. It has never been about his on the court ability. It's always been about his off the court stuff. So if they can get that intact and from all the quotes that I've seen, and he actually was interviewed by a few people, Law Murray has some stuff on X. Justin Rousseau as some stuff on X. They were there

talking to him and asking him questions. He really seems to be humbled by his whole experience off the court. He really seems to want to be a better person. He's going through counseling and stuff like that, and therapy and stuff like that. So if his mind is right, and if the team thinks that he can be a really good part of this team, there's no reason why he won't be a big part of this team offensively, I mean even defensive with his length.

Paul George. And he's right in that regard, like you're gonna see more opportunities for guys because you don't have those four superstars on the court at the same time or in the rotation at the same time. So I think that you know what he meant by it was like, hey, you know we're losing that type of player, and yes, that's gonna hurt, but it may be additioned by subtraction because it allows the development of other guys or it allows guys to blossom in that way. So it wasn't

a little bit weird. And I rememberkaw I said cau I said something like.

pointed at Kawhi. It's just we're confident still. And in terms of Norm Powell, he's been looking for this opportunity.

Kawhi the same way. So I think that, you know, whenever we talk about, oh, what do they think about Paul George, I think these guys are just level headed enough to say, like, hey, he left, it's a business decision, it's the NBA, and you know we're going to get better from this. So I think that was a sentiment as well around the team is like, hey, yes, we did lose Paul George, Like we all get it, Hey, we should be the twelve seed. They kind of accepted that,

and they're like, we want to work hard. We're going to be hungry, and we're going to be dogs on the court, and that's Something else that I really love that they said is that listen, we know the expectations for this team. We've heard the media noise. We hear what all the outlets are saying about how we won't even make the play in. But we're accepting it and we are hearing it and we are going to work hard to not let that happen.

couple of weeks. But if he's not available, how do you think that changes the starting lineup with maybe not just one guy being out with Kawhi and replacing him maybe with Nicholas Battou, But I think it could upend the entire starting lineup because then you're looking for more scoring and therefore, I remember, you can't start Chris Dunn or Terrence Man next to James Hard and then it

has to be Norman Powell. What do you see as the ideal starting lineup or just what's your read on the situation with coach lou if Kawhai is unavailable?

he gets the volume to do it. But you put him in that lineup if Kawi's out, and say you have like hardened, Norm, Derek Jones Junior like, I don't know, Derek Jones Junior, Batoum and Zuba like, I don't know. It's a it's gonna be kind of a juggle of, you know, kind of what they want to do. But it seemed like to me like Coawi would say, hey, I want to play Opening Night, I want to be and again he wants to do a lot of things, and I feel like the team is kind of saying, listen,

we want you for the long run. But if Kawhi is out, I am almost certain that Norm Powell's going to slot into that too. And if that's the case, Adam, then what does the bench look like? Does Bones Howell or excuse me, Bones Highland get an opportunity at the backup point position? Then you have Chris Dunn at the two if you want to do that. So, I don't know, it shuffles things around a little bit.

Frank today. What we heard from them happened last week, so basically we can take that out for media day. But we didn't even hear a guy mentioned PJ Tucker.

they competing for a spot? And as you mentioned, if there's gonna be an op opportunity for them, if Kawhi's not playing, what does that mean for the four spot? What does that mean for Bones? Highland fighting with all these guards now, yeah, it's it's kind of out of sight, out of mind, and maybe the silence speaks volumes to some degree because they're not here and saying anything. That means it's pretty definitive at this point that they are

looking to move them. If there's a real trade out there, I don't know if there's going to be. Honestly, I just PJ Tucker making eleven million dollars per season. I could see a trade package because somebody might want Bones Highlands. Somebody does want Bones Highland. There's no doubt about that to me. But yeah, Holo Dolo says, Wow, I totally forgot about PJ and Bones being there. It just seems like they've moved on. They're not in the short term

or long term plan for the Clippers anymore. This team and what we heard today and some of the themes coming out of this now grant with having that competitive spirit and hearing the outside noise and nailing up some of that stuff and those reports on the bulletin board for extra motivation. I like hearing that we heard more about the defensive identity. There was something else with Kawhi Leonard and I'm not sure who asked the question. I

think it was Om Yung Masouk. He asked him specifically whether or not this could be an ongoing issue with his knee. I want to know if you can give me a little bit of feedback on that, because again, my hearing wasn't great and I haven't seen that exact quote, but it didn't seem like Kawhi shied away from that one, although he asked him maybe to repeat it once.

haven't been able to finish playoff runs. And I think that is really getting to him. I think that's somebody that he look, he lives for the playoffs. You know, good of a playoff performer he is, and I know that, you know, it doesn't show it in his emotions, but it is eating at him that he can't be able to be out He wasn't able to be out there for the last playoff run. So listen, I don't know exactly,

you know, how Kawai wants to approach this. I don't know how the Clippers want to approach this, but from whatever I'm gathering, and even Adam James Harden said something that I don't think a lot of people are responding with or are talking about.

like he may you know. It's kind of saying like, hey, he may not be there to begin the season and he may not be his full self at the beginning of the season, but down the line is when we really need him.

playoff hunt. To me, grant this time around, if Kawhi is out for a significant portion of the season.

Nom Powell is going to elevate to that. So I think that, you know, Harden is one of those guys where I think he's just like Kauhi and norm where it's like, hey, I'm trying to do my thing, and obviously I'm for the team, but like I don't want to hear the outside noise.

and we'll be a right team. Obviously, they were never together as a team even after Christmas, but I feel like that's the kind of vibe we're feeling from this Clippers team. It reminds me, and unfortunately, it reminds me a lot of what happened when Kawai came back. I think that was a twenty two to twenty three year, whereas up and down, the Clippers finished as the five or six, the five seed, they played the Suns. I mean, everyone was down that year. That was a down year

for the West in general. But I feel like that's kind of where we're at right now with this Kawhi situation. I hope it's better. I hope the outcome is a lot better. But even from players, when what they're saying is that's kind of the vibe I'm.

an issue down the road. That is concerning to me, and it goes back to this is the swelling down because he's not playing high level basketball yet and once he does, it could rise back up or flare up, or the inflammation will reset. That's always been my concern. That's what it was in the playoff series when they

thought they had it more under control. You look decent in game two overall considering he hadn't played basketball in like a month, but then in Game three, after the swan went up after playing in game two, he looked like a shadow of himself or a fraction of himself. It was really concerning, and that's what worries me. Sore Losers Gaming says, we have no choice let's just load manage and pray he's okay for the playoffs, and just be more cautious than previous years if possible. Here's the

problem for the playoffs. Are you gonna be able at playoffs? Are you gonna be able to get buys? Zim More would say, if you don't have him enough during the regular season to what Grant's saying, you know, I think they need him at least fifty games to be in the playoff picture, Like you could flirt with being outside of the play in if you don't have Kawhi Leonard

enough this season. When you look at teams in the Western Conference, Grant that are getting better, the Spurs are gonna be better, The Houston Rockets are gonna be better. The Golden State Warriors might be about the same. The Lakers could be better, the Pelicans could be better. Most teams are getting better. Well, there's a couple contenders that you could say got a little bit worse. People are saying Denver gonna a little bit worse. People are saying

Minnesota got a little bit worse. Okay, see did not get worse. But for the most part, I mean, maybe Dallas got slightly worse, they lost DJJ. For the most part, some of the young teams are on the rise outside of Portland and Utah. How many teams do you think the Clippers are clear cut above in the Western Conference right now?

I mean, I know Kawhi is already the prime version of himself. He just had an insane year. But they're banking on James Harden getting back to his Houston days. So I can't really say like clearcut because the Clippers, I feel like, are if everything goes well, they will

be a middle of the pack team. They aren't going to be a top four team in my opinion, because of the ascension of OKAC, because of Minnesota, and I don't know what Minnesota is going to look like now because they traded Awa Karl Anthony, Towns have got Julius Randall and Dante di Vicenzo, so we were going to have to see about them. That's another question mark. New Orleans added to Jonte Murray. The Dallas Mavericks added Klay Thompson. We'll see what kind of version of Klay Thompson we get.

We'll see what Naji Marshall brings to that team. He's kind of like the Derek Jones junior replacement.

there's enough clear separation between the Clippers and anybody else. Now, if you tell me Kawi is good for sixty games and James Harden's good for sixty five plus, then okay, then maybe they have a shot at the sixth spot. But right now, it's really hard to say that with any amount of certainty that Kawhi is gonna be okay for that many games. Amina Shawn has said, we've tried everything to keep Kawhi healthy. Best bet is to have Kawhi play fifty seven or sixty three games. Just throwing

out random numbers here, like, I have no idea. How's his KNI going to respond to any of this stuff? Jonathan Ing has a question that I think is pretty good. Lucas style was mentioned by Harden and to avoid overextending and overuse given his age, how is the ball handling and supplementary playmaking from the bench going to look grant in your opinion? So Cardon isn't overtaxed.

and roll. And maybe, you know, to Jonathan's question, like maybe the front office or maybe coach Lou approached him and like, hey, I know that you've been a score for us in the past, and we've had the four Stars and you played excellent around those guys, but we're going to kind of need you to be that guy that you were on the Raptors where it was a two way player. You were great on defense, you could handle the ball a little bit, and you were still

a great scorer. So maybe that's what they're banking on, is Norm Powell kind of being that guy off the bench where he can be the guy that can ball handle and be a supplementary playmaker like Jonathan's asking. So again, Chris Dunn is not the guy that is going to be an excellent ball floor general. He's not that kind of guy. He can't handle the basketball. He can score sometimes,

but he's not that type of player. So I think that it's going to be a little bit of a process, right, It's going to be like, hey, let's just try Chris Dunn out the backup point. Let's see if that works. Maybe they try Norm Powell at the backup point if he doesn't get that starting two spot.

comes to pass it. He hasn't. If he's worked on it, If it's better now because of this offseason and the training he's done, I'd love to see it because if Norm could add that extra element with his scoring. Now you're talking. You mentioned him with the Toronto Raptors and the defense he used to be able to play. If you add a couple different elements. With him being a better playmate now and a better defender, then you have someone who's much more valuable to this team, and it

would help his own cause with getting minutes. If he's not so deficient in these other areas and he's just being a one dimensional scorer out there, that's no disrespect. I don't want to make the Chris Carter he only scores touchdowns type of mistake. It is very important what normOn Powell does, but he does have weaknesses that keep him from being on the court enough in a season where you no longer have Paul George and you have

a guy who's a bucket. But if he can't playmaking, if he can't be a connector if he can't be a great defender out there, and he's a liability or a negative defender, then he can't play as much and he's jocking for position with other guys that do some of those other elements better than he does right now. But that could be big. I mean, Ashwan said this, normOn Powell is more of a catch and shoot attacking

closeouts players. Yes, agree, he can create, but he excels off of attacking closeouts and catching shoes he can create is kind. Norm Powell has been a bit of an adventure you could say, when he's trying to create for others. That's just not what he does well. He scores, and like you said, he's a decisive scorer and he takes the right shots. He's an analytics Daryl Morey type of dream because everything's at the basket or catching shoot three.

But I think for the Clippers to have success this season, Norm is going to have to expand his game in the ways he talked about today. Gret.

getting better at that. But I think if and here's the other thing, Adam, if he does go to that starting two spot next to James Hardy, does that kind of hinder his offensive ability because I feel like if he's on the bench, he has more of a free will to kind of be norm and be a guy

that can blossom. So I'm that's something that just popped into my head, like, yes, he could be great around the guys like around Harden, around Kawhi and the starting lineup, but we probably won't see the full Norman Powell experience unless he's on the bench and unless he's playing with that bench unit as the main scorer on the bench unit. So that's a little bit of a concern too, A question, I guess.

And that's a beats a zoobas what did you hear from him today, Grant, that needs you to be a little bit more encouraged that not only has he gotten paid and that should encourage him to have a bigger role on this team, but just with what he said today at media day to back that up.

Law or till Mayor asked it. I think till Mayor asked him, Hey, are you going to be quicker going to with your back to the basket, because that's a lot of people's concern is like when you get it to Zoo, it's going to take him four or five seconds to get into his offense and do his thing. So are you is that something that you've been working on, you know, maybe in the Olympics with Croatia, And Zuo was like, not really, because I have to read the defenses and I have to kind of see what the

defense has given me and what it's not. So I didn't really work on it, but that is something that I want to key in on. That's something kind of

that he wanted to focus on. Another big thing that I heard from Zoo was like, I think somebody asked him, like, your experience with Croatia and the Olympics and the ability to, you know, play as kind of the main guy for Croatia, and he said, look, I played with Croatia and they expected me to have a higher offensive volume and so I'm not, like, it's not like it's new to me. I'm used to being like a higher offensive volume guy,

a guy that they rely on more. So it's not really something that I have to work on it because when I go over to Croatia and when I play with the national team, that's what they expect of me. Anyways, So coming back here and signing the extension and everyone's like, hey, you're the third option now, it's like he he kind of basically said, like, it's not really that new to

me because I do it in my international team. So that is a really good sign because that does that means that he doesn't really have to work on a lot because he's already kind of familiar with that. More I guess attention on him. So I think Zoo understands, like he understands that they lost a twenty point per game score and Paul George, they lost that kind of offense about what and he knows that he's gonna have

to step it up. But I think that, you know, he also talked about his defensive ability, the ability to you know, play on the perimeter and and be more laterally quick, and you'll be that rim protector that the Clippers love and they that they need honestly, and that means right like, Zoom needs to probably average fifteen or sixteen points per game in order for them to be

a very good team this year. So again, I think I loved what I hear what I heard from Zoo, but I think I would love to hear a little bit more about how he can expand his game. I think Law like joked with him, Hey, are we going to see you shoot any threes this year? And he said, I don't really want to answer that, and last said, come on, just just give me an answer, and Zue said, yeah,

I'll shoot the threes for you man. So I'm not going to say he's going to do it, but it was kind of like a tongue in cheek kind of answer.

and eleven if Zoo is anywhere in that range. To me, the Clippers are staying afloat in the Western Conference.

they've gotten together. I mean, James Harden mentioned this, like they've already had some time together to kind of mesh in the off season. They've gotten together in Arizona, and the team has gotten together on bonding trips and they've worked on things already, which is a cool sign. So, you know, Zoo mentioned his chemistry of James Harden, like he wants to take that next step and he feels

like that next step is there. So if you have a Zoo and hardened pick and roll game that is even better than it was last year because last year was so good, then that means a lot, not just for James Harden, but for Zoo as well. If he can get more points in that pick and roll situation, he has the ability to pass out of that pick and roll as well. So maybe we see his assists numbers go up. I'm not really sure, Adam, but I think the scoring output, he understands it, and the fact

that he's willing to kind of manipulate his game. He's willing to work on his game in other areas. With the left hook, the right hook, you'll maybe farther from the basket. I think that's really good. And you know, the fifteen and ten again, that's baseline. I feel like that should be what he's shooting for. But sixteen to eleven, I think would be a blessing for this team. I think that would be That would mean that the Clippers are in the mix in my opinion.

Marcus Morris said I want to be the starter. He was basically saying, I want to be the four, and I believe Marcus Morris got hurt and Niko Batum came in at that four spot, and it was a competition in training camp. Niko Batum started the season at the four. When Marcus Morris came back, he didn't really play that well, you know, he didn't really play that well, and Niko Batum was playing well. So Marcus Moore said, hey, you can take that four spot for now because we're doing

so well. Buttoom started to slow down a little bit. Then he passed it on the Marcus Morris. He said, look, Marcus has gotten hot, he's probably the best fit for the starting lineup, and he allowed that to happen.

negative way at all. I think that all of this talk about who's going to start the two, who's gonna start the four, that's going to better the team because now you're going to say, look, there's gonna be competition in training camp. In years past, it's been like, Okay, here's our starting five, and it's kind of what it is. Now, it's like, hey, you're gonna have to earn these spots, and I think that will be better for the team

chemistry wise. I mean, all these guys have a dog kind of mentality, I guess you could say, and they all have that hunger. So that's going to better the chemistry, not negatively affected, in my opinion.

sixty four percent from five to nine feet out. So there's false narrative number one, number two, while also being a much better rent protector. Nobody in the effing league was a better rent protector last season than Aviza Zubos. Teams only shot fifty one point nine percent in the restricted area against Aviza Zubats. Are you guys seeing this? Do you get it? Do you understand just how good he is on that end? Oh, he's also a lead at defending the pick and roll. He was only second

to Rudy Gobert there. Aviza Zubats, his entire tenure with the Clippers has been top five in rint protection and multiple times has been the best at the season end when it comes to field goal percentage in the restricted area. Could we stop the false narrative about him? Please? My god, it is I'm sorry, it is just a mind no.

big men or whether when they're evaluating centers. And look at the names he's up there with. It's not just look Chet Holmgren, Kristaps Porzingis Wehm bin Yama, like that guy was in the conversation for defensive Player of the Year and the fact that I Vitza Zubats is near the top of that. I think Vitza Zubats is near the top guarding Nikola Jokic too, who is obviously the best center in the NBA. So I don't know where this narrative came from. I think it's just that Zoo isn't.

and a rint protector. That's what you look for in today's NBA. And to your point, and I know you got to leave here in a second grant, but nobody has been better defending Jokic in one on one plays in isolation than Avitza Zubats. In fact, it's by such a wide margin it's incredible. If you're going off the last five seasons, including the playoffs, points per possession against Jokic, Jokic is only getting point six to eight points per

possession against Avitza Zubats one on one. The next closest guy, Jokich is getting a point per possession against, So there's a point four to two difference. It's incredible. His defense against Jokic. He doesn't get applauded for it enough. He's one of my favorite players. I feel passionately about it. If that's why it sounds so intense right now. It's

just one of those things. It's a crime against Avitza Zubats and the Clippers organization that value him so much to give him this new contract if you don't realize that he has been one of the top rim defenders and just was the top rim defender in the league this past season, and there's nobody better against Jokich.

is a pleasure being here. But it's good to see you today and all this passion. I hope the Clippers have heard it. I hope that they are going to embrace it. And I hope that Vitza Zoo Bots doesn't listen to any of these people, because he's the man.

I think it's the third time he's come on the last month. Grant, I have a good one safe drive home. Get all that good content up for the people.

Hope he walks the walls. Not is it because of the Clippers wall walks the wall instead of the walk. I don't know. He did talk for a bit. I like what James Harden said too, walks the walk is what he meant there. So we've pretty much gone through God, I want to say everybody, at this point, maybe I should just end this so you can go back and listen to the beginning of it, and if any other news breaks later today, I will start another Clippers Talk

Live related to media day coming up tomorrow. We have Noah Ego coming on, your former radio voice of the Clippers. He will join me here and maybe I'll talk with somebody from Hawaii at training camp tomorrow night. We'll see ano. They're flying out to Honolulu. They have a game against the Golden State Warriors that is on Saturday. We'll have it for you on the radio side on seventy LA Sports. I believe the pregame show will be starting at three Wednesday.

I already know I have til Marrazarali coming on from Honolulu. He'll be joining me Wednesday, So a little bit of a rundown and what to look forward to on the schedule here on Clippers Talk. But if more news breaks, if more comes out, we will have it all for you. I appreciate everybody here that's been in the chat, that has been asking questions here, that has been supporting of eatsa zoobots, like evil Bot Adam who said zoo is like my paycheck. It's doing work, but I don't see it.

That's pretty funny. I will not be in Hawaii. I gotta stay here and help Fred Rogan at a five seventy LA Sports. But I at least had the day off there to some degree. So the work will continue. The content will continue here on the Clippers Talk side. I told you once the Clipper season started, I will not miss a day when it comes to posting and

uploading content on YouTube at Clippers Talk. But you can also follow me at follow Adam a on Twitter, on x at Clippers Talk, on the TikTok at Clippers Talk, follow Adam Ay on the Instagram. Jonathan Ing says, Adam the Clipper content goat. I don't know about that, but I am posting a lot, so I appreciate the love.

I appreciate everybody who's been here for the last two hours on Clippers Talk as I drove home midway through the media day session going on, because I could just talk to you guys and do a little bit of analysis. Evil bot Adam says, if you haven't subscribed, what the f or you're all waiting for to have the best Clippers analysis and news, Hit the like and subscribe button. I concur hit the like, hit the subscribe button, show

a little bit of love here. Moas Scene says. Getting Zubots in the Mouskala trade was a steal, I said at day one, and he's been excelling his game every year. Zubots is a real one. One of my favorite Clippers of all time already and he's only been in for what five and a half seasons? All right, it's been two hours. I gotta rest the voice. Maybe I'll get a workout in and come back and do another live

later tonight. For that scheduling, just check follow outamea on x I'll post it there as always, or if you're subscribed and you hit the little bell button, you'll know when we go live. You'll know when there's a new episode here of Clippers Talk. So for Grant Mota, thanks again for coming on. I'm Madame Maslin. This has been a special edition of Clippers Talk Live on Media Day. We will talk to you guys soon.