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Up next, finally, special edition, we have a very informative interview with Bill Ryder, hosted the CBS sports show Writer than You and longtime NBA writer. Bill joined me and my co host Ryan Horbot and Nick Ashew on our show bet MGM tonight. He gave a nice otterview of what's popping around the league. So let's get into it.
Yeah, Bill, I don't want to make Bill Rider wait anymore time to get sports NBA insider Writer than You CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, if you're mad that, if you watch the show and you hated the way that it end it, feel free to jump that in. Bill. But let's start with also James Harden who is with the Sixers in camp, and Joel Embiid says he's not a distraction. Of course he's gonna say that what do we make of this situation? And where do you see this actually going?
The same thing I make of I guess where a showtimes I wish it would he would just go away that was the way just to cancel his appearance in the NBA. Look, so you're right, he is going to make life as miserable as he can for that organization. He's already done this.
We know this.
He called Daryl Morele liar over the summer. But just talking to folks in that Philly organization, maybe their words are tougher than their actual fort two, but they say they're gonna just make him play. They're gonna wait for the price to go up. They take some strength and some some some you know, a sense of optimism from what went down with Lillard, even though it wasn't as ugly. So I think that Harden's going to be out of
shape and miserable. And I think Darryl Moore and the Sixers are gonna say, politely, to hell with you, We're not trade me until we get what we want.
Wow.
Yeah, it's gonna be a saga, Bill. Absolutely. I'm curious your thoughts on the Bucks. Obviously they add Damiel Loeward. This is going to be a really explosive pick and roll type offense. But what concerns me is that now Chris Middleton again not healthy, held out of practice. New coach Adrian Griffin being very shady about what Chris Middleton is even dealing with.
How do you feel.
About this team if they don't have an entirely healthy Middleton for the entire year, or maybe if he never returns to what he was when he was in his prime.
I mean, look, we are in an era. We know you can have a big two and get it done. But they need Chris Middleton and one executive and a guy was a long time former scouter worked his way up made the point to me that yes, as you know that they are amazing offensively, Damian Lower is a huge addition. It takes a ton of pressure on the offensive side off of be honest, and the pick and roll game could be amazing, but that backcourt defensively now
is not very good. It's the point this executive made, So you've got to make that up with more offense. It's a similar model what Boston's doing leaning offensively. I think you need Middleton to be in the mix at least in the postseason, given how good the Celtics are, and I think still how many land mines there are in the Eastern Conference from other teams.
What are your thoughts on Drew Holliday and his fit with Boston. I mean kind of taking over obviously the Marcus Smart role where he's, you know, a non ball defender. But what are your thoughts on Boston coming into the season, because I feel like in the East it's really just Boston and Milwaukee right now.
Yeah. I like Drew Holiday. It's a great quite like Drew Holliday in a vacuum. I love it. And so Marcus Smart basically leader, respected guy, but did not get along this is pretty clear from the press conferences. But did not get along with Joe Mazzuola. It wasn't a good fit. The perspective in Boston is you get a bit of an upgrade from Andrew Holliday Offensively. He's still great defensively. He's also well respected. Guys around the league
love him. But he's known to be easy to work with for coaches, right, He's not going to undermine you. There's a different kind of edgy. It comes out on the floor, not in the locker room. So for Holiday as a player, and frankly as a guy who's going to make life a little leader on a head coach
who's under a lot of pressure. I love it. I think it's really interesting to see what Porzingis can be and what he can do, and whether or not some of the players who were moved out who are defensive focused guys, whether that's gonna hurt the Celtics as it relates to what they want to do. But we know Missoula is much more offensively inclined than he. Mayo Dooka.
He leans that way. So I love the hot move, I love the Celtics, but it's gonna be really interesting how these pieces fit because this is a team that's made a game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals the last two years. They obviously made the finals a couple of years ago, and it's very they've retooled this basketball team pretty aggressively.
Yeah, Bill, it's not like the Celtics haven't been in this position before. The co favorites of bed MGM to win the title four to one along with the Bucks, and then you got the Nuggets the defending championship plus five point fifty. Where do you odds aside for this? Where do you stack the Nuggets up right now with some of these other teams like the Celtics and Bucks and then the Suns all of who have had a you know, pretty active offseasons.
So Denver is a known quantity and they've got one of the two or three best players in the game. He's probably the best player in the game, and every year it changes. I voted for Yogus for MVP. I think they're the best team of those three that you
noted because of what we know. I think it's likely that in Boston or in Milwaukee, and maybe in both, I don't know, it's gonna work really well, and they're gonna actually be a little bit higher level that obviously have to face him in the finals for that to matter in the playoffs. I love Denver, and I think there's a lot of question marks in the Western Conference makes their road easier. I'm not as high on Phoenix as other people. I know they got some depth in
that trade. John Moran's gonna miss a huge chunk of the season. What is Memphis gonna be your third best player here in LA with the Lakers? Is Austin reeves out that that's the end of the world, But I'm not sure that it's a guarantee. And Anthony Davis, Anthony Humpty dumpty Davis, I know he wants to play eighty two games. I love it. It's a guy played seventy two games. Lebron's amazing, but he's one hundred and five years old, So you just sort of you go to
the Western Conference. There are potential challengers, but at least on paper, nobody to me is as sure a thing as the Denver Nuggets.
I'm curious your thoughts on the Dallas Mavericks because I had a healthy debate with a friend of mine earlier today because he, for whatever reason, thinks that Grant Williams and Derek Lively are gonna move the needle in terms of just the overall defense, which was terrible last year. Like, what's your thoughts overall on what this Dallas Mavericks team is going to be this year?
Have you guys seen that gift where there's a dumpster on fire floating down a swollen river. Yeah, that's my perspective on the Dallas Mavericks, and really respective on any team that has Kyrie Irving, there is massive, massive, massive concern and worry that they are not going to capitalize on Luca Dodge's window. And while Luca hasn't made any suggestions,
he wants to leave Dallas. We saw this year. I think the moves that are going around Eastern Conference and what's happening right now is force and Harden to stan Philly. It's all about the fear that Yiannis will be the guy that won't stay, or MB will be the guy that gets them happy and doesn't stay. And doctor GM's around the NBA. There's a hope, right if you're not the Dallas GM, then in a year or two, doncas is gonna be the guy who doesn't want to be there.
And so I think Dallas has massive pressure without a roster that can make good on it. I'm not a big Kyrie irving guy, so maybe I'm swinging and missing on a level of greatness he brings to the table that I'm somehow not seeing. But the moves they've made, the team they have, the roster they have, I don't think it's very impressive. I know doncon is amazing. You
guys know doncas is amazing. The guy's an incredible player, But he's not on a team that I think is gonna live up to anything remotely resembling even conference championship appearances, let alone the finals. Think they're in trouble.
Bill with the Heat missing out on the Damian Lillard and missing out in the sweepstakes for Dame Lillard, there's still minus one ninety to win the Southeast. I was just like trying to make the case for any of these other teams, you know, from a betting standpoint, and you have the Hawks plus two twenty. I don't know if I fully trust them. I like the Magic, I just don't know if they're still a year away. They're eight to one, and then the Hornets and the Wizards.
Could you make the case for any other team in the Southeast other than Miami this season?
What's the number of Atlanta?
I think plus two twenty.
Yeah, I think Atlanta is interesting if you're feeling like if you have a little gamble, right, because it's probably Miami. We know how consistent they are. It's not just that they didn't get Lillard in terms of their championship hop, but it's how much better everybody they compete with, really Boston and Milwaukee got and they lost other pieces that are important. But that is a very weak group of teams.
That said, Gwynn Snyder is extremely well respected. It sounds like Trey Young wants to do the things he needs to do for Quinn in that organization. I wasn't. I think that place is a mess in terms of their limico dynamics at their front office. But Quinn's a really good coach. He's now gonna have obviously an entire training camp team in late last year, a very weird situation.
So there's gonna be a surprise, and maybe it's a heat trail off a little bit, or there's injuries or emo Jimmy so emotionally can't get out there that haircut and play for me. Atlanta would be the other team Bill if.
People are looking at maybe the possibility of finding an edge in like the win totals market. Right now, the Toronto Raptors are a team that's been thrown around for it feels like the last couple of years is maybe potential sellers and then what maybe there may be there's some extensions for some guys, or maybe they're gonna trade.
Nobody seems to know what they're gonna do. Do you think that this is a team then finally, let's say even just come trade deadline, they finally start selling that team off or are they still committed to actually winning with essentially the roster that they have.
Yeah, I think it's a really good I think it's a really good question, a really good point. I think that it depends how things go, and they believe that their roster is good enough to at least compete in the second tier in the East right somewhere to four to six as happened to to try and avoid that
play in. I'm not sure how realistic that is, and I do think that if the wheels come off, if things go badly, if they're not in the mix, they very well could be sellers and you can move on for most of those guys and see that team basically go into bring an assets, do what Portland's doing do to a degree with the thunder did lose a bunch of games, focus on draft picks. So depending where the total is for what's their win to over right now, like forty two, I don't even know.
I think it's lower than that isn't if you guys know, it's not BETVGM doesn't happen in front of us right now. But I want to say it's actually like I think it's under that.
Yeah, I mean, I guess it depends what it is, but I would either for me like I used to bet win totals all the time. Yeah, I would either pass on it or go under because I do think they're not gonna.
Be a pirty thirty six and a half.
I mean, Vegas thinks they're going to sell them right like that seems really low to me for that roster.
I'm curious. I wanted to follow up with you on the Raptors because it just feels like they're a mess.
Bill.
I'm not sure.
Massi was known as one of the better gms in the league, and now it feels like his reputation is in shambles and they're letting players walk for almost nothing. He's bringing up petty things like the lawsuit instead of addressing you know, what's going on with Pascal, and he's calling his whole team selfish and that they're not making the right decisions.
Is it just me?
Or is that organization kind of toxic right now?
Yeah, They're not in a good place. And look, I think Massi's really People that are smarter than I am about the NBA are impressed by the guy. But pat Riley talked about the disease of more right, you win something, you start to really believe in yourself. You start to buy the headlines. They won an NBA championship. It's been a minute now. It was very impressive. But obviously they
brought in Kawhi Leonard. It was a crazy spark. There were multiple injuries that were significant in that series against the Warriors that got in there. Not taking anything away. They had a crazy bounce against Philly, and I think there's just a chance that Massi doesn't understand that they got lucky and that there were some things that need to be retooled, especially when Kawhi moved on to answer quiet.
And yet they're absolutely toxic. It is a miserable place, and this is part of the debate about where you bet on their win total. He thinks they're good enough on paper and that these guys aren't loaded up expectations, and in that locker room they think that he's a delusional strong but he is overestimating the roster that he's put together.
Bobby Webster said Bill that they offered the most that they've ever offered for a player for Damian Lillard. Do you know what that deal was?
I don't know. The Liard thing I mean, I know, I don't, and I have trouble believing that because I can tell you this from the Portland side. It wasn't personal with the Miami Heat. It really wasn't about wanting to screw over pat Riley. They wanted the most they could get, and they thought it was Milwaukee. And some of that calculation is that they think those Milwaukee it's one pick and it's two pick swaps, twenty eight thirty
pick swaps, twenty nine first round pick. They don't think Annis is going to be there regardless of what happens with LOWERD in the next year or two, and that the Bucks are going to be an utter and total disaster, and that those picks are very actually extremely valuable, and whatever happens in Toronto, it's just a more desirable market than it used to be because there's a lot of guys who are international players if we know in the
NBA who will play there. So I don't know, I don't know what Toronto offered, but I do know that Portland thinks that what they got from Milwaukee and what they're still getting because they're gonna move on to Malcolm Brogdon. Obviously, they traded for a holiday. They think that return is by far the best that was offered.
What do you think ends up happening this year with the uh not even so much this year? Like the future of the Kings. I really like the Kings that I'm looking at the Pacific Division.
They're eight to one, and.
It's just like with the Suns and the Lakers.
They're old.
I feel like their goal is obviously to win the championship, and then I still think they're gonna use load management. You can throw the Warriors in there too, and the Clippers. What do you think about the Kings eight to one to win the Pacific? I think they're gonna be a tough regular season team.
I love the kid. It's funny I did when I was talking to you guys about sort of where to Denver rank, I was trying to like, who am I trying? Who am I forgetting? I'm muscle memory to never take the Sacramento Kings seriously. It's like a part of my basketball DNA. But that's changed. I mean, that's that's a really tough team. It's a really good team. They're really young, they're well coached. They finally we think of a front offense for the first time in a generation that's well
run and you're on. I think their window, or they think their window for really competing it is probably not this season, but the season after. But we've seen teams and the Warriors are one of those teams make really big leaps that are earlier than people expected. So yes, I think that's entirely possible. I have a soft spot in my heart for Golden State, largely because I just I love Steph Curry, class act, amazing player, But they're old.
I don't know that. I believe Chris Paul is gonna work, and forget whether he starts, I don't know if he finishes, which is what really matters. We know Bob Myers is gone. Steve Kerr has become you talk to beat riders and folks there a little more. He's a nice guy, but a little more frustrated, maybe a little more burned out
in a long term sense. I do think there's some vulnerabilities, and I think the Kings are the kind of team if things click, because they have so many young guys, and young guys tend to make big leaps in years two and three and sometimes four. The Kings are Ploys potential to be one of those teams that make it.
For Yeah, it's probably a culture shock for Steve car because he's used to just dominating the NBA and all of a sudden now he's looking around going, damn it, we're not what we used to be anymore. Bill ryders CBS Bores always good to talk to you, man, Thanks for coming on.
That's all the time that we have for this episode of the Heat Check. Many thanks to Bill Ryder and my crew I bet at MGM tonight. Come back later this week for an all new episode and check out the feed for past interviews and past episodes which drop unexpectedly. We're going to be doing an interview with someone from the MAVs beat give a little update on what's happening with them. Follow the Heat Check as we head into
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