Braken was breaking down all the biggest NBA storylines lor so.
The heat Check. The Heat Check was just Cray the best podcast covering all the drama around the association.
Let's move on to the Brooklyn That's very fun team. Actually, they were forty five and thirty seven, sixth place. They of course a lot of those wins came with Kevin Durant on the team. Key editions Noah Clowney in the draft, Derek Whitehead, and my guy Lonnie Walker, who I.
Think is going to be a massive addition for them. Key subtractions.
You lose Seth Curry, you lose Joe Harris, you lose Patty Mills.
Brooklyn, Ye're one of The rebuild has begun.
This is like it's like a post apocalyptic society living in a silo like common as the Sheriff. They have now fully embraced the rebuild. They have shed KD and Kyrie. They have brought in Mikhale Bridges and Cam Johnson as the cornerstones of this team. They swapped out the bright lights of the Big City for let's be real, a tunnel three thousand miles below the Earth's surface. Instead of this team being all glitz, glam and Kardashians.
This is Ma and Pa Kettle.
This is not a sexy, particularly sexy team. I'm not throwing shade at Dorianfinny Smith or Spencer Dinwoodie.
I like this team, Okay, I like them. I like them. They're very cute, They're adorable, you know what I'm saying.
They're not doing anything of note, but they're gonna be fucking fun. And the Big Three era, of course, is gonna be marred by what ifs. But it's time to forget about all that, all the stars, all the egos, all the trade capital that you gave up for James Harden. No more ifs and butts, candies and nuts. Okay, now the eyes are on the future. Let's build a winning
culture here. Let's build a winning team like we did the last time, where you had D'Angelo Russell and Jared Allen all these young young up and comers, like gritty, scrappy players. They also lost Utah watt Nabe, so that was a key piece lost as well. This is basically an overhaul. The most interesting thing that they have is a healthy Ben Simmons, very important piece and an aspect of this team that could be very interesting.
Who knows what it means. I don't fucking know, Like is he healthy, is his mind right?
Is he right handed? Is he left handed? I don't know, sir, I don't know. That's They have a pretty good defensive team because they have Michail Bridges, Cam Johnson, Ben Simmons, Spencer Dinwiddie and Nick Claxton. The only player on this team that really isn't strapping you is Dimwitty. That's a fun ass core. Then you add Lonnie Walker, Dorian Phini's, Royce O'Neill. This is like a top six team in the East. Honestly, this is a team that could be better than the Knicks.
Not gonna lie to you.
I like this team, very pesky defensive team, got some bucket getters. If Michel Bridges can do what he did last year, but for the entire season, I mean give me thirty thirty five a game, which I'm not counting in, but I'm just saying he can be that.
It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be very fun. Are they a winning team?
Probably not, but they're gonna score enough to beat the lot of good teams on a lot of good nights at a couple exciting young players in.
The draft next year. Who knows?
This is a team that's on the up and up, on the straight come up. It's not smoking mirrors. The culture is being built. No more star hunting, no more chasing. Which brings us to another team, the New York Knicks, fifth place team last year forty seven and thirty five. They end up getting Dante DiVincenzo from the Warriors. They become Villanova New York Villanova team. Right, they got a few of them, they lose Dereck Rose and Obi Toppin.
Ain't no stopping Obi topp and now that he's not with Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks.
I don't know what to make of them. I really don't. I don't.
I go back and forth. Sometimes I feel very optimistic. Sometimes I feel like they can't shoot a lick. I'm not sure they got much better this year. I don't think so. Actually, do you swap out d Rose and Obi Toppin for Dante DiVincenzo. It's gonna be a team that tries hard all the time. You sign Josh Hart to an extension, that's big. Jalen Brunson's obviously there as the connective tissue. They won forty seven games last year. They can win games. Mitchell Robinson one of the best
room protectors in the league. But this roster bro if you look at it, doesn't inspire much confidence. Can they improve on the fifth place finish?
Probably not.
The question really is can they do better than they did in the playoffs last year when they looked awful against the Heat.
A lot of that I think comes from RJ. Barrett.
We're gonna need to see him take that next step. He showed flashes, but he would also disappear. They're very tough. They're a defensive, scrappy, hardworking team, like all Tom Thibodaux teams are. Jalen Brunson played in FIBA. How's that going to affect him? He was very meh and feba very me You add that to Julius Randall, who is an All Star but kind of plays like he's not an All star, kind of plays like he's still most improved player before he was most improved, went healthy. He's a
real problem, but he also disappears in big moments. You add in Josh Hart, who's like a roller coaster from the perimeter shot fifty percent from three as a Nick, and I think it was like twenty percent from three as a Blazer. Quentin Grimes is nice. Mitchell Robinson I like, but can't make free throws. He's not really a bucket for I like Isaiah Hartenstein a lot. You add them in, this could be a forty five win team.
What do I think of the Knicks.
I'm, as you can see, like, very confused. It's a fun team. They could make some little baby noise. They need to swing for something, Let's be honest. They need to try to figure out a way to get Donovan Mitchell or just wait for him to be a free agent.
They're a piece away.
There's now news that they could be going after Karl Anthony Towns.
I don't know how much I love that.
As long as Thibodeau is coaching this team, they're not in the doldrums, but I don't see them really competing on any real level with the rest of the teams in the East.
That's all the time that we have for this episode. That heat check. Come back later this week for a new one. We'll be back Wednesday.
Check out in the feed for past episodes and many episodes which drop unexpectedly like a island breeze, and follow us as we head into this new NBA season. Do not forget to download, subscribe and tell your friends, every single one of them, and follow us on social apps this heat check an interest to click on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.
We'll see you next time.