Come home, Come Home, Come Home.
On this episode of the Heat Check, the first round of the NBA Playoffs have.
Surprised this taking a quite a bit of a turn.
Sons and the Grizzlies might just find themselves in a dogfight here, folks. A seven game series, I would say for those top two seeds was not what they envisioned By winning fifty plus games. Sixers now have to deal with a major injury, and the nets are on the verge of a broomstick, just like everyone predicted. We love the playoffs, so brock. We also have to do the little winning time. By the way, we have our winning time recap, So do me a favorite rock and dropped out, motherfucking.
I'm perfect, righty.
I record Thursdays.
I record Friday's episode on Thursday, which means all of the games that happen Thursday night I have not seen yet. So there has been some games that have gone down since our last episode. We've got Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night set four nights of games, so we've got a lot to kind of recap things that are in flux. Two of the big favorites, the Sons and the Grizzlies, are now fighting a badger in a box. I don't know if I've ever told that term to you, Brock,
but I love it. Like it's just when a badger gets inside of a box and you try to attack. It is just my mom used to call me when I woke up as a little kid, a badger in a box, like just full of PiZZ and vinegar and fenom, and like if you try to come after that thing, you're gonna get fucked up. So that's what the Suns are and the Grizzlies are in right now. They are fighting badgers and boxes. Nets are on life support. And Ben Simmons just decided after promising us, promising he was
ready to go, and he was. He was ready to go. He was healthy, he was excited. His outfit game is definitely on point, and he's not ready to give those outfits up because Sunday he woke up with some back soreness.
So he's going to be out for Game four.
But the biggest news of all, Joe el Embiid's thumb is actually really fucked up, like it's bad, as we would say in Scooby Land, rout row rut row embid rot row Let's start out East Boston Celtics.
He's done.
Everything, pretty much, something that no one has ever done before. They have shut down the most potent scorer of our generation, Kevin Durant. He's not even shooting. He's telling us he's thinking too much. He's trying to be perfect. He doesn't know whether he should force it or whether he should give the ball up. He's like, literally every time, every
time I do anything else, I lose. Like I tried to play within the game and let the ball come to me, and somehow I'm only taking eleven shots a game now, Like I tried to force it and I'm like four for fifteen. Let's look at a stat line really fast, so I don't just make up his stats.
But it's not good. Kevin Durant stats all right.
Game game one when he forced it nine for twenty four, one for five, Game two, when he forced it four for seventeen, one for two from three, Game three, when he said he was letting the game come to him six for eleven, two for three, eight rebounds eight a SIS great stat line, not Kevin Durant's stat line.
NNL.
Most importantly, three l's in a row. Kyrie Irving Kyrie Irving. Let's look at his stats. After that incredible performance where he was twelve for fifteen in the play in game, he went twelve for twenty in game one with thirty nine points epic six for ten from three, and then he has fallen off cliff ten points in game two, four for thirteen, oh for one from three.
WHOA, I didn't even know this.
In game three, game sixteen points, six for seventeen, oh for seven.
You're talking about a man.
Kyrie Irving went oh for eight from three in two games. So back to Kevin Durant. He's in a tailspin right now. He's what we call in the barrel of the wave, your surfing, and you're doing your kid cutty thing and you're like, I'm riding the wave, can't find the way, and then you crash and he's looking up, he's looking down. He doesn't know which side is deeper into the ocean and which side is the sky.
That's where we're at right now.
In the first three games of this soon to be overseason, when Tatum has guarded Kevin Durant, he's held them to just ten points and made him commit ten turnovers. KD has made exactly two baskets in three games against Tatum.
KD has been locked up. They won't let me out.
No, no, and it's not gonna change. Everybody keeps telling me, Trista, don't take the under on Kevin Durant's points, don't take the under on his pra The man is the best scorer of our generator. Yes, that's why I'll continue to take the under, folks, because nothing's changing. Nobody's coming to save you, Kevin. And like I said in the beginning of the series, and I'm gonna continue to say it
because it was so spot on. As the series gets further and further along, they'll both Kevin and Kyrie will become less and less effective. We've got and even Steve Nash is talking about it. I'm sure this is what he said. I'm sure they're tired Kyrie fasting through Ramadan. Kevin's basically been playing forty minutes from the like forty minutes a game in the last twenty games.
Like yeah, like I this is Steve Nash's direct quote too.
When I'm fast, When I'm fasting and I haven't eaten and I played tennis, I feel like I'm gonna collapse. Can't believe Kyrie's even doing it.
Excuse me. It behooves you to have a solution to these problems.
And Blake Griffin hasn't played in a month and you put him in. I don't even know why he decided to do it, but thank god because Blake Griffin gave him a spark.
He was locking up Tatum. This man is, I'm.
Sorry to say it, unqualified for this job. Unqualified. Here's more of the problems they have, I might repeat myself. They have zero depth, they don't play defense well. They have two superstars who cannot care the team when they're consistently double teamed. They can't just yohannice themselves into it. They can't just yoki themselves into it. They have a coach with exactly zero answers about how to fix these things other than.
The switch to his own defense.
Literally, he's trying to box some ones he doesn't He's not running place to get Kevin Durant open. Think about that Kevin Durant, who can shoot over anyone. It's like, just go out there and go iso like it's an AAU scrimmage.
No, They're Celtics are operating like it's a war.
They've got onward Christian souls just.
Left, right, left, right, you know what I mean. Like they are in lockstep right now, and Kevin Durant is locked up right now.
And then you're like, okay, well, maybe Ben Simmons will come and he'll be able to lock up Tatum or Brown or some variation of bulk because Jason Tatum does nothing against Ben Simmons. And you're like, like I said, I'll believe it when when I see it. I fucking told you I know Ben Simmons like I know my own self. I know him better than maybe he knows himself. How long has the promise of Ben Simmons in clutch situations been hanging over the heads of us AS fans
and of course NETS fans as well. After being told Ben was a Gopher Game four, he woke up and just like, ah.
I don't know, but I think I tweaked it.
I think I'm And now he's having meetings with the NETS organization, him Rich Paul and him being like, we're gonna discuss a further plan on how we can return to the court mentally and physically, considering all the hurdles that Ben has to go through.
I thought he was ready. Why is there a new meeting taking place? He was ready? Why are there new mental hurdles?
Why?
I said it on Twitter?
I said I cannot wait for Ben Simmons to return back into the Nets. Lineup on an elimination game like Ben Simmons highest pressure. I'm sure that's got to contribute to it. They're not up three to one, they're not up three to zero. And he comes out like just front running. They need you, Ben, we need you shoot the ball. Ben shoot No.
Steven A, I had this to say, he is all of us. Let's go to that clip.
Jalen is different than me. I feel bad for anybody who was his teammate. He quit on LSU, he quit on the Philadelphia seventy six ers, and now he ain't showing up for the Brooklyn Nets. We can point to all the excuses, all the rationale behind it that we want to. I do recall, despite him not playing, he still filed the grievous to collect twenty million dollars that he has not earned.
This is one of the most.
Pathetic situations that I've ever seen in my life.
He ain't going to war.
He ain't going in the octagond, He's not going in a boxing ring. It's pulling teeth to get this man to play basketball. It's pathetic, it's sad, and it at the end of the day, when the NBA gets in the collective boggaining table and they go after the players in terms of a pay for play stipulation in the collective boggaining agreement, it's going to be called the Ben Simmons rule.
Sesh, I'm telling you everyone is coming for Ben's head. Even my man, Reggie Miller's coming after him.
This is what he had to say.
Come on, man out for Game four when it was rumored you were going to make your debut. This dude has zero competitive fire. As a small chance as the Nets have to come back in this series, you still have Katie and Kyrie. All you need is to win one game and take it for their hashtag.
Man up, sir.
Sir, couldn't say it better than my I couldn't say it any better myself.
The Nets are a train wreck. They are.
They have now constructed two of the three worst super teams we've ever seen, the one with Paul Pierce and them, and then and then who else?
Was on that squad.
It was KG was on that Derawn Williams was up on that squad. Joe Johnson, Yes, KG, drawn Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce. Now it's KD, Kyrie Harden, KD Kyrie Simmons. No dogs, there's no dogs on that squad. Got a DM. They tweeted, They tweeted at me and they were like, I think these are the three wor super teams of our generation.
And you know what, I agree.
So now that they will get swept or maybe Scott Foster will luck them into getting sent their ass home from Boston, which would be even better I think for Boston fans, better for the narrative, better for Kyrie versus. I mean, just imagine him losing in Boston. Those fans just tremendous. Then there's gonna be a ton of que Who's to blame? Is it Kyrie yes? Is it Hardened Yes? Is it Nash?
Yes? Does Nash come back?
Hopefully not? The latest news is that they do not expect Steve Nash to be fired. Here's why that's not shocking to me, although firing him is a thousand percent the right move, Like if you put emy Udoka as the head coach of the Nets and Steve Nash as the head coach of the Celtics, same teams, same construction. I believe Celtics are up, or I believe Nets are up three to zero on the Celtics. That's where I'm at. You're talking about Steve Nash from the beginning.
No e May.
Ever, a parallel universe where Eme never instills dog into the Celtics team. They're a badly constructed roster. They've got Tatum doing iso ball, Jalen Brown never passing to a soul, Marcus Smart chucking fifteen three's a game, Robert Williams trying to do something to help out in the paint, Peyton Pritchard coming in, Aaron Eieman.
This team would be gargar e May coming in.
Yes, that's a new term, garguard. It's from my youth. Nets would be.
A well oiled symphony.
That's how bad Steve Nash is. He has no clue how to handle things. He had Mike D'Antoni last year, Mike D'Antoni said, thank you, sir, goodbye. I'm out read it about which you will. But Sean Marks and Steve Nash were homies. Steve Nash and Sean Marks, the GM of the Nets, were teammates in Phoenix the years where Steve Nash was at his.
Pinnacle two time MVP.
You don't ever forget that as a teammate, Like you look at Steve as the player and you're like oh, and then you're like, oh, yeah, brilliant basketball mind. He must come in and deal with these superstars. He spent like twenty five minutes with Kevin Durant when Kevin Durant was in Golden State, and apparently they jeled, they had a coffee. He called him Yoda and like Kevin Durant signed off on it. Then of course Kyrie said, well, we don't really have a coach, So, I mean it
was destined to fail from the beginning. But if Sean Marks isn't fired, then Steve Nash isn't fired, and less and less, here's where it gets tricky. Nepotism falls when the guillotine falls. So if it's Josi saying Steve, it's either Steve, Sean or you. Sean will go back to backstabbing ways because this is what the executives do, and Steve will Steve and the Nets will will mutually part ways. It'll be an amicable mutually parting of ways. This is
now year three of the KD Kyrie experiment. Kyrie in those three years has played forty six percent of all NETS games.
Let me just repeat that again.
Kyrie Irving has played less than fifty percent of games as a Net.
Let me expand on this.
Kyrie Irving hasn't played in his eleven years a full eighty two game season. Ever, he's played ninety percent four out of his eleven years. The other seven years he's missed significant time. He's been finessing us for a long ass time. This is not going to go down any differently in the future. So the question is is Kyrie going to get a MAX extension or nah?
Do you trust him on a long term deal? Is this a long term commitment? Heell no?
Will they do a one and one, a one year deal with a one year team option and then they do the whole like it's the reverse of the Lebron James situation. It's like, we'll see how it goes with you. If they don't extend them, who else will? Will they do a sign and trade? I can't imagine Kevin Durant is gonna sign off on Kyrie not being there if they do trade Kyrie, does Kevin care? If Kevin cares, does Kevin ask for trade as well? The Domino's they
just continue to just that. These are the things that keep me up at night. These are the iterations of the possibilities that make me smile. Sometimes my dog wakes up at night and it's like it was just me laughing to myself in my bed thinking about all the situations of disaster and peril that could befall this league.
How do you fix this roster? Another question?
Huge gaps all over the place, almost no depth. They are over the luxury tax? Are ready?
Does this sort of Lakers esque with better players? When you have multiple guys on max deals?
And let's speaking of dysfunction, like this is the same team that was mad that DeAndre Jordan wasn't starting.
DeAndre Jordan got waived, Like DeAndre Jordan is washed.
Like the nepotism within the Nets organization, in the team environment is fucking crazy too. It's bonkers. Will we see another question? Will we see Ben Simmons to start next year?
Will he be healthy? Is he going to get another back surgery is he's still not mentally ready to compete. I don't know. I don't know.
It's gonna be a wild offseason though in Brooklyn, and they are for sure going home.
I mean so much.
Tell me explosive.
Another place is getting a little explosive. Another place there's got a team with a lot to lose.
It's not the Nets. Joel Embiid now needs surgery on a thumb. A little update. He has tornal ligament in his thumb. He has said publicly.
It makes it very difficult for him to catch the ball is rebounding, receiving passes makes him very makes it very difficult for him to pass the ball. Scoring is okay, it's like not as much of a the deal, but like the whole passing thing, assists and rebounds like very key pieces of Joel Embid's game, very difficult.
His stat line gross, We'll get to that.
Here's the problem Toronto and furthermore, Miami, who will be their next opponent if they win.
Very aggressive defenses like you're.
Talking about teams that will rip at the ball like that is possibly additional damage that will need to be surgically repaired and impede his progress and his effectiveness throughout the series. Right, it's gonna make it difficult, let alone, like he's gonna be pressed by Scottie Barnes, He's gonna be pressed by Pascal Siakam. And then in the next series, when they make it out, or if they make it out, you've got Bam Autebaio, You've got Jimmy Butler in a revenge spot.
And even more to the point, you've got PJ.
Tucker who just doesn't give fuck like he is going to rip at everything. He might just swipe at your hand period all the time. That's his nature. He's an irritant. It's affecting Joel Embiid. Let's talk about it. He averaged thirteen rebounds in the first three games of the series, only eight in game four after the injury. He averaged twenty eight points a game in those three first games, twenty one in the Raptors uh in the loss of
the Raptors. So that means Joel embid operating around seventy five percent and without a full Embeid, as I famously tweeted rot Row. And then of course, and then of course, lots of question marks about what happens next here too. He got a man averaging eighteen points per game in the playoffs, making thirty three million.
Dollars a year.
Toby, you gotta ditch them. How are you gonna ditch Toby? Are you going to extend Hardy? What's happening? What's happening with our man Moury?
See what I did there? See what I did there? Boom boom boom. That's what it is.
Let's go, let's move on to the next series because it is just electric factory.
Next one's five. Yeah, uh, that's five. It's a five. That's a vibe. Yeah, vibe. Oh, there's a vibe.
Let's catch you up quickly on the vibe, a vibe that the Memphis Grizzlies certainly did not expect when they were the number two seed in the West. At this point, it feels like they're the seventh seed and and the Grizzlies are the two seed and the Timberwolves are the two seed. It it's crazy. The Wolves blew a We didn't even talk about this. The fact that the Wolves blew a massive lead, like they were up twenty multiple times during that game and got outscored in the fourth
quarter thirty seven to nine. A professional basketball team scored nine points. In the fourth quarter, a professional basketball team got outscored thirty seven to nine. Karl Anthony Towns kitty Cat, shot the ball four times in that game. When they asked him why, he said, next question, when they asked him what he was gonna do to bounce back from the loss, he said, I'm just gonna chill out, drink
a little wine, and I'll get over it. The immaturity of these responses when you are supposed to be the leader of this team and of this franchise as the number one pick, it's it's disgusting. And I don't care that his teammates were responsible for not passing the ball like he's a front runner. He sang on the broadcast, we am Minnesota now. They don't even know we in Minnesota. We play him the first two times in Memphis, they don't even know what.
It's gonna be. I told him, I told him, And that was when they were twenty five.
And what happened thirty seven to nine in the fourth quarter, to the point where jaw Quote tweeted it we a Minnesota now smiley face as a quick decide I did not know this, but Jahn Morant's dad, Tea Morant, and Carl Anthony Towns's dad are like best friends. What a tremendous Also, like, if Jaw's dad is best friends with Cat's dad, then probably they're very similar, which means, like, how did Carl Anthony.
Towns become this soft? I mean, like cause it's John You.
Got Ta Morant literally hating on Jaw his entire life. He's Ja Morant's first hater, and like he'll just tell jall, like, you suck, Jahn Morant leader in points in the paint, you suck like MVP candidate.
You suck. Anyway, So.
Jaw tweeted out this laughing emoji the video, saying it during the game, I'll play the Minnesota clip for you.
Yeah we miss now, like I said as in the media, all right, cool, we gotta come back to our house now.
I only seen him at all that house Mando Manda we am mi in a seven now bad look, bad look anyway.
Apparently Kat was very pissed that he didn't get the ball that game, so much that when he there was a time out, he said to them, get me the motherfucking ball. These motherfuckers can't guard me. Let's go, and they didn't get him the ball for four shots. Uh, turns out that he was right that when he gets the ball, better things happened. He came out in game four and he dominated to the tune of thirty three and fourteen. Didn't see that coming light Game one, Memphis zero.
Answer.
Now, why is this part important? Well, now they're gonna have to make up. Memphis is gonna have to make up for less than one hundred percent John Moran, because we got something cooking. And John Moran is now telling us, and he doesn't look good. He doesn't look the part.
He's saying.
I'm not one hundred hundred percent. Something is up with Jaw. Jos says, yes, I'm not one hundred. I can be honest right now, I'm not jaw Right now, I've seen y'all's tweets.
Y'all know what.
I'm talking about. I'm not playing above the rim. I'm almost there. It's not an excuse. Fuck it, I'm playing his knees. Probably not right. He missed what the last nine games of the season. He played the last game of the season, so like I think it was nine he played he missed nine and played the.
Last I watched him in game what was it four?
He passed up a wide open layup in Game four and then made a pass that turned into a turnover instead of him just bamming. He doesn't feel as aggressive because that knee is not right and my hackles went up. Jaw only had eight only had eleven points in game four. The injury I think occurred in Game two in the third period when Karl Anthony Towns hit Jaw and he had to go back to the locker room. I don't know if you remember that, but he was in a
lot of pain. Looks like the leg has it fully recovered. And if you're a Griz fan, you're probably you know, ripping your hair out because there were some there suspect calls in Game four that happened in Minneapolis. A lot of people complaining about the officiating getting too involved, whistle happy.
You know who is pissed the most, though head.
Coach play better, but in my opinion, one of the most poorly officiated games I've ever seen in my NBA career. All five of our starters are borderline fouled out in the first quarter. Ten plus foul difference, forty free throws. Yeah, some things we got to clean up and get better at. But I've never seen a more inconsistent and arrogant, you know, officiated game. So I'll take whatever hits come in my way. I got to protect our guys. We know we've got to get better. But I mean, from the get go,
it was foul foul, foul, foul, foul, inconsistency. There was actually one play where a foul whistle was blown before contact was even made. It's embarrassing, you know, But I'm always gonna look in the mirror and say, how do we play better? How do we coach better? But I'm going a loss for words, and that's not I'm not going to go as far as saying that's the reason we lost, but I'm gonna let it be known that that's messed up in arrogance, inconsistency, and big fan you know, of the whatever.
Pat Bev responded, of course, when he heard about the quote, he said, I saw the interview with coach Jenkins about the referees.
Very interesting there.
Especially given the fact they shot forty two free throws the first time we played them. I don't think coach, Chris Finn Shower coach, complained at all.
It took it, we won. He took it on the chin.
You know, two fouls on John Morant, both games won, Game three only two.
I take charges for his third foul. I don't get the call.
But we're not here complaining about the referees. I think the referees are in a tough position, and coming from a young coach like Taylor Jenkins, that's just something you don't do. Me being in this league for a decade, that's just something you don't do, especially during playoff time. Kind of confused about that. Chippy chippy lippy be I said the series was gonna be lit. I said this was gonna be my favorite one. It is coming down
to it. I think this thing's going a distance. The Grizzlies are fighting the badger in the box, are getting caught in the bear trap, and they are fighting for the fucking wives.
All on one. Prayers up to the Grizzlies buying quiz.
No, maybe you are erect crash shot my place, baby, you are erect due.
This is set. I'll give you an out.
Checked. She was a this calling in quiz Now, maybe I'm erect crash, shaving my plays. Baby, you're erect digging in a bad way, losing your gript Give me my fing baby, don't trip.
Someone took a big I don't know when Phoenix got the one set, pretty much like.
Memphis getting the two seat. I don't think they expected this.
I think they expected a cute story, a story of a team that went one to twelve, made some moves, found their identity, have their star players are basically sitting on the on the bench full time, eating beignets and wearing lots of jewelry.
Okay, there's a very cute story.
Got CJ. McCollum and the deadline he can score. Brendan Ingram, nice player, you know. Nice. Valentcunis, good dude, But like we're the fucking phoenix Ons.
Let's make light work of them.
And it looks like it possibly could have happened until Devin Booker got injured. And now he's on the bench with a hamstring injury. So both teams with their star players out.
Except for the New Orleans Pelicans haven't had them all year and they've been doing just fine.
Little rebalancing folks, considering the path that the suns took.
Last year was filled with injured teams.
You had the Lakers without Anthony Davis and Lebron James who was hampered. You had Denver Nuggets who was missing Jamal Murray, and you had the Clippers that was missing Kawhi So now you're.
Facing a team that is young and is.
Just fearless, and they're athletic, and they're hitting buckets from everywhere, and they're doing suns things.
They're just getting in your face.
You've got Jose Alverado being the like the irritant that Chris Paul is. Jose Alvarado, undrafted guy out of Queens, came from Georgia Tech. He is averaging a steal over a steal a game. He became like basically in the clutch lineup, like pretty close to the end of the season, he forced Chris Paul.
Here's like a testament to how.
Good Jose Alverado has been, Chris Paul one of the best point guards, may be the best point guard ever to play the game. Like definitely one of the smartest high IQ players, especially in crunch time. Fourth quarter, Jose Alvarado came into the game and immediately with his physicality forced Chris Paul into an eight second violation in the backcourt. Like that is jose Alvarado, a kid that's undrafted from Queens.
Also Josey Alvarado in the game before Game four, So Game three, eight consecutive buckets down the stretch in the fourth quarter. They end up losing that game because Chris Paul was just certainly better. But you're talking about a rookie, an undrafted rookie making plays.
Herb Jones, another.
Guy who was a second rounder, All SEC Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Somehow Someway got six.
Guys in his conference drafted before him, an absolute steal which led leads to our next segment coming up just tons of blocks to He blocked mckel Bridges in a corner three and he wasn't even anywhere near him when mckel Bridges went up, Like his length and athleticism is.
Absurd. It is bananas.
Herb Jones might be one of the most valuable role players in the league right now, and that's considering I love mckel Bridges, He's also very valuable role player. Anyone who can just like Chris Paul wanted no smoke from Herb Jones.
He couldn't even pass the ball.
Herb Jones's wingspan is literally like a bubble around Chris Paul is too short for all that.
Herb Jones is just making life a fucking pain.
And these are guys who aren't even the ones like the ones brandon Ingram being unguardable, the.
Ones, CJ.
McCollum just being one of those tremendous playmakers. Jonas Valancouna is just bodying people down low, getting to the left shoulder, Yeah, getting to the left shoulder floater like I think he had twenty four rebounds one night. This team is going to be in a dog fight. This might go seven as well, And there's a legit possibility. I know that we don't want to think about it because the Suns
are such a good team and they're fun. But if they don't give Devin Booker soon, they could end up getting like bounced out of the first round, which I believe would be probably the greatest upset in NBA history, an eight beating a one.
But they're nine an eight. Let's be real, there were nine ten. There were nine ten.
They started one and twelve. They were three and sixteen to start.
The year like they were.
They were like a super senior, Like they're not even supposed to be here, and they're here. I tell you what they need book back asap rocky and because this scrappy, defensive minded, really well coached by Willie Green is going absolutely.
Nowhere and they are not.
I don't know what your quin No, I don't know what your quin.
Me down, donnay come aver this playoffs you're watching Like I talked about Jose Alvado, Herb Jones. It shows how important a great front office is, Like it makes or breaks you. Everybody who has a first like the number one overall pick, most people are going to get that pick right. They pretty much lay the path for you on the internet. You know who the player that you need a draft is overall, But like, who are the teams that can find guys out off the street and
they immediately make an impact. Who are guys who like, have a early second round pick and get somebody who's probably caliber lottery Jose Alurno undrafted guy, but he was acc defensive Player of the Year. I think that we should start thinking about players that fall into those categories and where they slip and say, Okay, I'm not going to be surprised if they make early impacts because a guy like him tenacious. He was the reason Georgia Tech was in the tournament. As soon as he left, they
fell off the cliff. Herb Jones wasn't just SEC Defensive Player of the Year, he was SEC Player of the Year, and six SEC players were drafted above him. How sway, Bones Highland another late pick that Denver ended up getting because Denver is good enough or they're not going to get a pick in the first lottery. He was so good in the game against Golden State. He almost single
handedly got them the win. Of course, Jokich is Jokic, but like, they need another guy and that now is Bones Highland, and he.
Was like anybody could got him anybody. That is what we call finding value.
This is exactly what the team needs to continue to do to be a good team, like an elite team finding trash off the street, undrafted guys finding value in the draft.
This is what makes a difference.
So I wanted to quickly take a look at six teams who consistently are up there in talent evaluation and find huge value in the draft and the waiver wire despite not always being in optimal draft situations. Let's talk about New Orleans first, because they're better than most. Herb Jones, second round Jose al undrafted Trey Murphy went seventeenth in the pick with Memphis. He's also a sneaky pick, getting a lot of corner threes. David Griffin saved his job
in the twenty twenty one draft. It is insane how good these rookies are playing fearless, athletic tough. That's the identity of the New Orleans Pelicans right now. Herb Jones is a top ten defender in the NBA his rookie year. Trey Murphy is getting more run in the playoffs than he has all year and is not disappointed.
Jose Elverado, like I said, just clutch.
And on top of that, there are some things like the emergence of Herb Jones, the emergence of Jose Everrado, that changed the landscape of that team, and it made me think about there are some things we have no control over that impact the course of our future, impact the course of our leverage and negotiating power. Do you know who has no negotiating power right now? Zion Williamson. Zion Williamson is going to try to get a max rookie, like he's trying to get a max deal, and.
Like they just went to the playoffs and took the Sun seven. Need Zion, We need not need Zion.
In fact, Zion might be a detriment And in fact, now we have ultimate leverage with other teams because like we'll just let Zion's it. We'll play on the regular season. It'd be nice, be a nice story. He'll be our jumbo lineup. We'll put on our jumbo lineup. It's all good. And I do mean jumpbo. So like it's very clear that the run stopper, like literally like third goal line,
we'll put him on the goal line. It is clear that the run that the Pells are making after starting one to twelve, that Zion has like zero opportunities on this roster. I think him not getting back on defense, him being a spacing issue. Like now you've got Brendan Ingram legit number one option, a superstar. What do you do when it's him and Zion and Zion is a black hole with the ball, Like, let's be honest, it's gonna be very very interesting team's very exciting. Another team Memphis,
we talked earlier about him. Damn Like if you look at him, all.
The picks that they figured out a way to get.
Desmond Bane was the last pick in the first round, Xavier Tillman and Brooks all slipped to the second round. Brooks went forty fifth overall. He was all packed twelve by the way.
Defender, he might be the most valuable player on this team.
Besides Jaw.
You've got Zire Williams tenth pick.
You've got Desmond Bank thirtieth pick, Xavier Tillman, thirty fifth pick, Dylan Brooks, Brandon Clark as well, twenty first pick traded on Draft night from ok See.
Just players that are legit.
Getting serious minutes that they got for almost nothing. Toronto Raptors also amazing at this. Probably no better talent evaluators out there than Massai u.
Zieri and Nick Nurse.
How do I know this? Because Scottie Barnes was regarded a dumb pick at four. It was like, why would you pick him? We've got Jalen Sogs, proven winner Gonzaga, you know, jumps up on the scoreboard, game winning shot.
You need a point guard who's your point guard?
And it's like no, no, don't you worry about us, don't you worry about us? Just wins Rookie of the Year, just all overwhelming, like Rookie of the Year winner, perfect fit long athletics, which is everything six seven to six nine, that's our mold. Jalen Sugs he doesn't fit in that mold. What has he done in Orlando? Nothing, no shade to Jalen Sugs. But he is in the black hole of the NBA, which is the Orlando Magic. So then like
how does important does he become on this team? Like when he goes down with that ankle injury, they lose. When he comes back and know Fred van Fleet, they win pretty simple. And this is a team that robbed the bank for Pascal Siakam at twenty seven twenty seven, one of the best.
Wings in the league. Og Ananobi, another wing.
Just puts up like twenty one on a regular basis, no, no big deal, nobody even talks about him. Twenty third, twenty seventeen, just steals. And while no teams ever come back three to zero in the first round, like with Embid being hobbled and Scotty Barn's being back like Scott Foster being the the we'll call it a inflection point of this series. In Game four, I could see it happening. The Sixers do not want to go back to Toronto for game sake. They want no part of that smoke.
They also are picking up guys on the margins raptors like Armanni Brooks. He was a ten day guy.
He got some run in the playoffs and the and then he just signed a multi year deal. Phoenix Suns not great drafting, not perfect team for drafts, but they've been picking up players in like these marginal trades and free agency, super astute moves. When you think about it, Michel Bridges is they're not like I would say their best move that they've made on Draft night, they.
Traded with Philly. They fleeced them.
Philly kid mom works for the Sixers, went to Villanova. Somehow he ends up in Phoenix and he's like just a perfect fit anywhere he goes. They got Jalen Smith, who they ended up trading to Indiana.
He was a perfect filling big man.
When DeAndre Ayton went down campaign they just stole him backup point guard Tory Craig. They got him for I think a bag of chips. He just signed a multi year deal, but he played in the finals for them last year. Who was a great small five. Got Javel McGee on a vet minimum, Like did you see I think he didn't miss a shot last game. I think he went eight for eight. Lander schamt for a low end pick, Bismack Bimbo. They took him off the street. He was basically on his couch. He became their third
option as a center, like he's now getting DMPs. Just the brains on this team. It's wild Denver. Probably no team is squeezing value out of low to middle first round picks better than Denver, and second round picks and second round picks.
Jokic soon to be the only.
Player drafted in the second round to win an MVP, probably twice. Three of the last four drafts have landed Nuggets porter Zeke Naji and now Bones Highland, who is averaging eleven to four and seventeen minutes in the playoffs. He hit three huge threes in Game four to win that game against Golden State, and then the heat which will lead me really quickly after this into our winning
time recap. But Pat Riley is just fucking ridiculous. Pat Riley just one of the greatest, one of the greatest executives period and just widely regarded.
So he knows what he's looking for, and.
He's he's the quintessential find you in the trash and turn you into treasure guy. He's the guy who would probably make a killing, like going to garage sales, like that's it.
Like the heat have been.
Great for fifteen years and they've been able to find guys just completely undrafted Bam and Tyler Low lottery m picks, Bam added Bio, Tyler hero. But what stuns me is they have four players on this team who were undrafted free agents. Duncan Robinson, Yes, Max Struce. Max Strus just said twenty the other night, gave Vincent he's the one locking up.
Uh Trey Young. Trey Young's telling telling us, I didn't even talk about that series. That series is done. Don't worry about that.
Yeah, that's it. Bose Bucks, that's over. I didn't even talk about it because it's done. Don't even worry. Uh Trey Young's being like, I've never been been guarded like this. All of them playing great, like just great Heat culture. They even picked Victor Oladipo up like on a fire. Victor Olidipo everybody thought was broken and now he can get like twenty seven on any given night. They just
justice Winslow. They picked up who they ended up flipping for value, Josh Richardson, they picked up fortieth.
He ended up being a nice player in the league.
And then the teams like Utah and in the Lakers, like they just live at the deadline, They just live life in the trash zone, and they just consistently underperform. So the way forward in the new NBA, I think is to maximize the draft when you don't get a high draft pick, and then find ways to just be smarter than your competition.
Like the Heat, It's like it's a wonder.
It's like, oh, yeah, Golden State got Jordan Bell, Golden State got Jordan Pool.
Yeah, it makes sense. He continues to.
Show if you got the nerd, lash out for your just deserves. It's not just the worst.
Some of y'all heads up.
In the cloud.
I'm gonna bring y'all back to earth. His black back to earth. Bullshit y'all talking about and.
Bounce your mouth.
I'm not concerned because y'all got the nerk is.
Y'all's turned like Detroit Bread.
It is all weekly Winning Time recount, and it's a week too late. Jerry Jerry West has already sued HBO, He's hired a defamation lawyer, and that is the week. This week is the week that they redeemed Jerry West six weeks a little six weeks too late. Truthfully, it's been building. I've said it before, like I knew it was coming. But the hilarious thing is that Winning Time just completely humanized him to the point where you're like, oh, I see why he's this tormented soul. Like I see
he's like really taking Magic under his wing. He's like really showing him how important it is to just tune everyone else out and be singularly focused on winning because that's all that matters. And him in Magic got some patico. It was like, we'll go into it, We'll go into it. The new target though for defamation the guys made out to be snakes pat Riley and Paul west Head, both men who very much are alive, in order to hire
their own defamation lawyers. The events, though of Winning Time, the funniest thing is that they probably changed the course of pat Riley's life forever.
You're talking about a guy.
Who was Chick Hearn's sidekick, a guy who is literally just getting shit on by Chick Hearn the play by play of the Lakers, like over and over and over again. A guy who was like probably one year away from just living on the beach in a van somewhere, like to becoming the greatest executive and head coach.
One of them in a long ass time.
And all because Jack McKinney got into a bike accident, he became the assistant coach, interim interim head coach. Just crazy shows how unpredictable life is because also you just never know who those people are. I'm not saying they're living in van somewhere on the beach, but like, it just shows you how an opportunity, the right opportunity being there can change the course of history forever. He is now, like I said, one of the best executives of our generation,
and now HBO is calling him a snake. Somebody who somebody who basically shived Jack McKinney how went publicly on TV and said, yeah, I don't think it's a good idea for him to come back until, you know, next year, We've been here with for fifty plus games without him. I think it would be a huge risk to the Lakers organization for us to try to integrate him back in.
It would be unfair to the team just they just.
Made him look like a total asshole, and Paul Westhead also looked very unloyal, which one and then also I think this is like more of an off the court drama episode, but it does touch on the All Star game in Larry Bird and Magic's first year where they became the face of the league, how that ended up happening, the relationship between Cookie and Magic, the relationship between Magic and Doctor J. How Doctor J was finessing him to get Magic comfortable just so that he could put his
boot on his fucking neck when they played and just bam on him things that you know, you just hate to see. They also slandered Larry a little bit too, because I don't think he was anywhere as much of an asshole as they show him to be. You know, they showed, like I said, they showed Doctor J schmoozing Magic just just because.
They were playing him.
Right after the All Star break, just so he could steam roll him get his guard down. And that was the moment that they humanized Jerry West that I talked about because he sat down with Magic and he told him the fame story about how Bill Russell used to glad hand Wilt Chamberlain being so friendly so as to take away his edge when they played each other, and that is why Russell won eleven NBA chips and Wilt
won two. As an aside, though Doctor J's legendary rock the Baby dunk that they showed on Winning Time actually happened in nineteen eighty three, so not nineteen seventy nine, nineteen eighty one of the greatest dunks of all time. But Jerry West quote to Magic was the quote of the week. He said this, I scored two thousand, No, twenty five thou one hundred and ninety two points in my career.
Do you know what keeps me up at night?
If I had scored ten more points in five games, I'd have five more rings. Magic takes notes and he tells Jerry West, I don't just want to win, I need to And Jerry West said, well, we're about to find out.
WHOA doesn't that just give you goosebumps. Watch the fucking show.
Even though it's a fictional account, I'm sure at some point Magic did sit down with Jerry and he gave him the wust what And even though it's fictionalized, I think they managed to capture.
This essence perfectly. Great show you need to be watching.
That's all the time that we have for the heat Check moved back Friday, early Squirrely with a new episode. Follow us to help you prepare and keep up with the playoffs. Do not forget to download subscribe. Please tell your friends I love it when you guys DM meet and give you your feedback. Follow us on social at trist Criek on Twitter, TikTok, and at this heat Check on TikTok