They're tuned into Heat Check. But just a quick.
On this episode of the Heat Check, we answer a very important question, what is happening with our dubs? Our dubs are in pre fall right now, and I need to know what is going on folks. So yeah, it's a Golden State episode. We break down everything. Not only do we get into my opinions, but we also are joined by two special guests, The light Years Boys, two
of the hottest podcasters on these blue wire streets. I think they're honestly probably the best follow on Twitter for a team duo, like somebody that covers an NBA team. Their engagements through the roof. They're funny as fuck. They're not afraid to say what truth it is, and so we.
Get to the truth. What's happening with our dubs?
So much to get into Nick drop that beat by now you probably know you probably know the truth about what's going on with the Golden State Warriors. But if you're living under a rock right now, Warriors as we sit are six and nine. It's bad and oh and eight on the road, oh and eight on the road, losing to teams like the Detroit Pistons, like the Orlando Magic like the Charlotte Hornets without LaMelo, the worst start ever in history for any defending champion ever, that's a stat.
So what's going on?
Well, well, things are not going as well as they thought. Things started about as bad as possible before the season even began.
As we all know.
If you don't know this, I don't know, you must not be following the game.
Uh.
The Warriors got involved with what Steve Kerr called the greatest crisis in his time with the team, The punch heart around the world. Draymond Green cold cocked Jordan Poole and knocked him smooth a fuck out, and then the video was leaked, and then that was even worse. The Warriors had to go into full crisis mode. Draymond is going to be suspended. They're finding in somebody who's they're running an investigation, who's the one who leaked the video
and sold it to DMZ? And you know what, nothing's really ever been good since. Like Jordan Poole, the guy who got cold cocked, he hasn't been the same. He's not starting. He was six Man of the Year of Canada. He hasn't been good. The whole season has been one long crisis after crisis. But it all comes to a head last night, two nights ago, because you're probably listening to this on Friday, absolute ass whooping by the Phoenix Suns one thirty to one nineteen, and what's stepf do
on that night? Check's notes had fifty.
Put up fifty points a fifty.
Nugget piece, and you know what, he didn't seem happy. Think of that a historic night for Steph and the team basically still.
Got blown out.
Before last night, Steph had fifty or more ten times in his career. Think about that, actually, for just one second. Steph Curry has had fifty points or more ten.
Times or more. That's crazy.
They've only lost twice in those ten times. This is the bottom line about this loss. If Steph Curry puts up thirty a normal thirty point night, which is what he's averaging right now, this team loses by thirty one points. Pretty much how the game felt not close. Mikal Bridges absolutely sunned Klay Thompson on the bench, splashing a three and then throwing the three fingers in Clay's face to essentially Clay for throwing up four for four rings just like three more points and you guys face.
I'd say it's rock.
Bottom right now for our dubs. Right now, our dubs are in peril. We need to support them, and we need to identify what's going wrong, and we need to really sort of analyze and diagnose how it gets better. The Light Years boys called it the worst loss of the year by far. So what is wrong in Golden State? I have five things that I think are wrong. One, no depth or veteran role players. Two claim is booboo right now. Three they have a bottom three defense in
the league. Trash defense the thing that the Warriors do really well, they suck at. Four young guys that are supposed to step up not performing in some ways regressing.
And five the vibes are bad. It's bad vibe.
All the things you think of when you think of the Warriors, the shimmying the night night, the pretending to boo boo on the court, None of those things, yeah he does that. None of those things are happening right now. Nothing not the three turn around look at the crowd. Not a smile, not a wink, not a laugh. So first and foremost, let's talk about the no depth, none for a team that was rolling twelve deep last year. The guys off the bench this season have largely.
Been on milk cartons.
Let's be honest.
Here are the players off the championship team who are no longer with the Warriors. Naman be A Lecha. I think Damian Lee, Gary Payton is Second, Otto Porter, Juan Toscano, Anderson Jta, Quinn Weatherspoon, and Chris Chiosa. Like, maybe you don't think this is like a good role player. Maybe this like this doesn't move you. But if this doesn't move you, let me introduce you to the role players now,
because it's really bad. None of those guys, with the exception of Gary Payton the second is really known to any non Warriors fan. But you take him as a whole, and they all play well. They all know their role. Damian Lee was really really good. Anno Porter was a plus fourteen in the nineteen playoff games last year and a plus one ten overall for the playoffs. That's pretty good for a guy off the bench. Gary Payton was a combined plus thirty five in his final five games
against the Celtics. Damian Lee spent four years in the Warriors system. Toscano Anderson three those guys knew the ropes, they knew what Warriors basketball look like. They replaced those vets with Jamichael Green and Dante DiVincenzo, two players with zero experience playing in the Golden State system. So is it a shock that the Warriors are falling apart when the second unit is on the floor. And now you've got Jordan Poole that has to be the floor general.
Sorry, they don't call.
It a pool pool regiment.
They call it the pool party. You know what I mean.
They call it the pool party. Pool Jordan Pool wants to come in and get buckets. It's not, uh, the pool orchestra, you know, it's the pool party. We're getting fucking lit, you know what I'm saying. And now Jordan Poole has to be the guy that runs this ship. I don't They don't call it the pool pilot.
No.
Number two.
Clay Clay top is just terrible. Just said bad. It's booboo right now. And I hate to say.
I love Clay Thompson. Clay Thompson grew up in Portland. You have a special love for Portland guys. John Hollinger said this, and I was like, damn, damn, it's so true, and it's such a shot, it's like a it's like a knife to the heart. John Hollinger said, quote, I didn't think I'd have Klay Thompson turning into Russell Westbrook on my bingo card. But here we are. Problem is that savage statements kind of true. Is not Clay is He is in a slump. He's in a terrible shooting slump.
He is not himself.
And this is, let's be honest, it's hurting the Warriors, hurting the Warriors in every single facet of the game. And he's one of the best shooters of our generation. And what his shooters do when they're in a slump, they fucking keep shooting.
That's what they do.
Have you seen Russell Westbrook, That's what he's doing.
And he's not even a shooter. And the Warriors.
Problem with that little mentality is the Warriors are losing games because he's chucking from the logo and he's bricking and everyone knows, his teammates included, no, that's shit's not going in soon.
As as soon as he lets it fly, everyone starts.
To look the other way, to go back on defense, and not because he's gonna make it, not because he's gonna make it.
He's had exactly one.
Twenty point scoring game this year. He has had eight games with five or more mysteries. He is shooting an atrocious thirty five percent from the field, not from three from the field this year, and worse, everything is drawing the front of the rim. He's got no lift in
his legs. We'll get into that. But it all came to a head last night because not only was Klay Thompson two nights ago, not only was he terrible six for seventeen from the field, three for nine from three, but it was just the teammates looking at him like, dude, what the fuck are you doing? Steph just looking resigned, like like, Steph, if you look back at the tape, because I did this afternoon. He's Steph's just like he's
got his hands in the air. As soon as Clay lets it fy Jordan Poole, he puts his.
Hand on his head.
Who does that.
He's like, oh no, yes, Draymond shaking his head, just ugh, yuck. Three seconds into the shot clock. Two seconds into the shot clock, chuck, chuck. Very crucial point in time too, in the third quarter, when is the last ask mean, riddle, mean this, when is the last time you have ever seen Steph Curry look absolutely exasperated by Klay Thompson like this fucking guy?
Never never? Now?
The answer is now only. So this is and Clay Clay wasn't bad in the finals or in the playoffs because a lot of people are like, oh, he's never gonna be the same again. He's not at full strength. That injury really fucked him up. And to that, I say, yes, he's not gonna be twenty nineteen Clay again. However, he averaged nineteen four.
And two in the playoffs. It's pretty good.
He averaged seventeen three and two in the finals. That was five months ago. So why is he so bad right now? This is what I think happened. I've been doing some thinking. I put my thinking cap on and trying to get into the Claye Thompson soul.
One.
I mean, he played great, and then you go into an off season and you've been partying and celebrating and now you need to get back into it. But what happened the last time you were in an off season where you weren't just rehabbing or rehabbing and rehabbing, because let's be honest, Clay Thompson wasn't able to play pickup games last summer.
No, he wasn't.
He was in a pt room, stretching out his acl doing work on his achilles, doing mobility stuff, doing strength work. He wasn't up and down at Lifetime Fitness with Devin Booker. No, so this is the first year he was able to really do those off season runs that they talk about, five on five drills all that stuff.
So what does he do.
He's like, no, I'm good, I'm not gonna do that because that's where I pop my achilles last time.
So he stays away.
There's articles written about Klay Thompson is not doing pickups, he's not doing scrimmages, none of that. His training camp he comes in late and he's out of shape. I mean not out of shape for you and me, but out of shape for an NBA player, and his conditioning
has declined. And thus, when he starts playing games, when your conditioning isn't right and your legs don't have lyft because you're not strong or you know, endurance, which only comes from playing basketball, not from doing anything else, you can only do it by playing basketball when that conditioning is not up to par and you're playing thirty minutes a game. Now you're hitting the front of the room in your threes. Now you don't have lyft. Now you're not able to sustain a full game and play at
that level. So now your performance is declining. And now what happens me Shannon Sharp, Skit Bayless, Steve all these.
Pundits are who else?
Charles Barkley, Clay's not the same, Clay's washed. Something's wrong with Clay. I don't know, man, he shouldn't be on this team. He's never gonna return back to where he was. And Clay's like, dude, I'm still getting back to where I'm supposed to be. I didn't play any basketball this offseason. You're bad, Clay. But also I get it. That's what trauma does, that's how mental anguish works.
He's got his.
Own stuff to work out, and then what happens when the world comes after him emotionally. It's the first time that Clay physically isn't able to do what he wants and everyone has expectations that he will, and emotionally that shit has a toll. And now he's fighting with Ronnie two qu over his rating and he's calling him a clown, and he's popping off at Devin Booker getting ejected from games.
And now he's doing articles with Ramona Shelbourne on his sailboat, and now he's doing one on ones with Chris Haynes. And now you're like, I think Clay's in his feelings. I think Clay. Now he's saying, listen, just remember I was a part of those four championships. Never forget that shit. I'm still that guy. And it's like, Yo, Clay, nobody ever said you weren't a part of those four championships. We're just saying you're boo boo right now.
And I think that.
Steve Kurz comments show that this theory has some truth to it.
It took a lot of quick shots.
You know.
Clay continues to come down and try to shoot his way out of an early season slump every night, and he's he's pressing, and he's pressing tonight. And the guy's got a lot of weight on his shoulders with the injuries and where he feels like he is right now where he wants to be, you know, So we have to help Clay, help him get out of his own way.
And when he get out of his own way, get.
Through his frustration, the game will come to him and he'll be He'll be fine, and he's going to play at a really high level because he's still got it. Clay still got it. But right now he's he's playing in a frustrated manner. It's leading to a lot of quick shots and he knows that, and we've got to help him through that. And we know how much Clay has done for this franchise and and our city, the Bay Area, So we're going to help him, help him through it, and he's going to get there.
Support Clay, support him. So I don't think that this is a long term problem. I think he just needs to get back in a condition he eventually will be himself. He's never gonna be twenty nineteen Clay again. But that pure shot doesn't go away. But in the present, like I said, he's had not one but two interviews dropped this week, one from Chris Haynes, one from Ramona Shelburne,
and they feel very email. Honestly, he's trending right now on Twitter at this very moment, and Clay returning to some version of at least where he was in the playoffs last year is absolutely critical and if he doesn't, it's night night sleep mask for them. Number three, This is a bad defense, like just really bad, top three or bottom three defense in the league, top three worst.
Only the Rockets, Pistons, and.
Spurs have a worse defense than the Golden State Warriors right now. I don't know if it's because a Gary Payton not being there, maybe because Clay isn't mobile right now as he's getting back into things. He's a big two way defender for them. Andrew Wiggins can't do it all. But they are fucking horrible, like horrible defense, currently ranked twenty seventh in the NBA one fourteen point one, after
being second in the league at one point. In another number one in the league, they were just like a little ball constrictor on really great offenses like Boston. They may Boston look like they were kids, like they didn't know how to play basketball. They are twenty second in steals right now. They were fourth last year, twenty fourth in blocks. They're in a defensive rebounding percentage they were sixth that that last year. They're twenty second and second
chance points given up. They were ninth last year. This is just a terrible defense, just in every way, like top the bottom, just trash. And I think some of this is obviously because those good defenders are missing, but the returning players aren't as good as they were last year.
Either.
Clay's not good, Looney's not good, Jordan Poole is never good. Draymond Green is playing okay, but not nearly to the elite level that they need them to. Are they going to continue to be Boogle? Probably not well they have an elite defense, definitely not unless they have a trade. Barring a trade, this defense is middle of the road at best. Number four young guys not performing. Joe lacub is like so fond of saying, we've got these two timelines.
We've got two timelines.
We've got the young guys, We've got the dynasty guys, and they're all gonna operate together and it's just gonna flow seamlessly. You've got Staph Clay Dre and then you've got the young guns that are the next generation of stars, like Kaminga and Moody, and he wants them both to coexist and play basketball together on the court the same time.
I'm not sure.
So sure that's possible.
Last year they thought that.
Was a win for the two timelines.
Was it a win?
No?
Why because the young guys didn't play a fucking lick when it mattered, right, They didn't. Wiseman wasn't around all year, Moody played very rarely in the playoffs. Kaminga played spot minutes. They did not need them.
It was like eight veterans.
It would all have got a little bit of minutes.
He was a veteran obviously for them.
But the problem is not only.
Are the young players playing bad, like they're unusable in some ways, they have regress to the point where James Wiseman has been sent down indefinitely to the G League. Jonathan kaminga horrible, horrible He had a promising rookie year. He was averaging nine three to one on limited minutes. He's averaging five to two and one to the point where they're just not using him now.
Moses Moody or Moses Mody, he.
Was supposed to take a huge jump. Everybody was saying how good he looked in Summer League. Everybody was saying he was supposed to be the next big thing. How much he could help them, and you know what, he's regressed in every single category.
Jordan Poole.
Jordan Poole just got paid one hundred and twenty three million dollars guaranteed, got on teed and he sucks. He won't shoot. He's like, as soon as he got knocked the fuck out, it's like he forgot he was a shooter. He's averaging thirteen a game off the bench. He's a minus ninety five for the season. And we already talked about Wiseman. I talked to a couple of high up Warriors folks at the summer League about this team and how good they were going to be and what we
should expect from them. And obviously, since I'm a loyal Dubs fan that I am just lifelong, I said, uh, well, obviously this is champion ship team again, right, this championship caliber team. And they said, you know now that our role players like Gary Payton and Auto Porter are gone, Bill Leach is gone. If Kaminga and Moody aren't good, this team isn't. We're not gonna be good, period. And I was like, ooh, that's saying a lot. They're like, we need them to be good in order for this
team to be good. And let me say this, that does not bode well for this team whatsoever, because neither one of them are being used, let alone good. Safe to say the two timeline thing is not working out like they were hoping it would.
Number five, most importantly.
Terrible vibes that the Warriors have just terrible. Still put up fifty right against the Suns. I did not see him laugh one time. We never saw shimmy one time. This team is used to having fun, beating up on everybody, laughing, dancing, boobooing on the core. All these things. There were teams that wins with constant motion, stifling defense, beautiful passes and of course just like killer threes, a barrage of threes, a deluge of threes, a tropical hurricane of threes, and joy,
lots of joy, no joy. The vibes are just abysmal right now.
They feel.
If you saw this team and their lack of enthusiasm, you would think this was a team that hadn't won anything in like the last twenty years, Like this is the Orlando Magic, Orlando Magic having more fun than the Warriors. Detroit Pistons when they beat the shit out of the Warriors in Detroit, which I was live for. They look like they were having a lot more fun than the Warriors, And I think that's because Draymond Greed decided he wanted
to punch his teammate. That doesn't go away, folks, that doesn't. You don't just like get over that he physically assaulted his teammate. He's still with the team and the other guy's still with the team, and I think that's a vibe killer. The Warriors were a team that everyone used to fear, and now it feels like no one is
afraid of them. Things are so bad right now that Steve Kirk compared how the Warriors are playing to what to what like the the Detroit Pistons, to what like the OKAC thunder No to the Drew League, to the fucking Drew League where guys who don't even play in the league come to become something European players, guys who.
Just are off the streets. This is what you had to say.
Yeah, Like, I think, if you know, when you come down and you don't make a team guard and you just shoot the first open shot, guys aren't tired at all. They're not having to fight defensively, so everybody comes down and they're feeling good, Like I didn't even have to guard at the other end.
Now I'm wide open.
They're playing in transition, a lot of long rebounds leading to transitions, so you're out of out of place defensively. So there's no collective grit. We lack grit right now. And if when you don't have grit, the game is really easy for the other team. These are NBA players. They spent all summer shooting thousands of jump shots, just like.
Our guys too.
And so when those jumpers are are easy and the game is easy and they don't feel feel any physicality, Uh, it's a Drew League game we're playing. We're playing a Drew League game right now.
Yikes. Yikes.
In other words, there's no execution.
It's basically just to pick up guys with Klay Thompson chucking five seconds into the shot, cluck, my.
Lord, We're never gonna panic, Like, there's no point in you know, in panicking. What we have to do is is stay with it and uh and and find it. But in order to find it, we've got to we've got every get everybody on on board, on on on the same page in terms of just worrying about winning, and that's it. And I think for you know, for right now anyway, I think we're just scattered or it's a pickup game. You know, it's a pickup game out there.
So there's no no execution at either end, no no sort of commitment to the group to get three stops in a row to execute on offense. And it obviously starts with me. I'm the coach of the team, So I have to figure out a way to get that that production, that sort of commitment to the team and to each other and to winning that that it's going to require.
Basically, what that translates to is that my players aren't doing what I'm telling them to do, but for whatever reason, I can't motivate them. So I'm going to take the blame instead of blame them to the point where they tune me out even more. That's what that means. The Warriors dynasty, as we know, has been built on quick scoring runs.
You go and grab a drink.
By the time they come back, you come back, they've gone on a fifteen seventeen oh run.
That's what they do.
They shimmy shimmy, they shake, they clown, they rock the baby, they go night night, and then you're getting none of that this year, not zero. A lot of that I think is due to the incident, the Draymond incident, and I think some way they're gonna have to get over that. But all of that to say, I need help. I need help from the light Years Boys. What is going on?
Our dubs obviously are in trouble. If they don't fix things, they could be partying like it's twenty twenty, twenty twenty one all over again, losing in the play on tournament, all the way out of the plan. Hate to see it, So let's go to our guys to get their take. Sam svin Diari and Andy luch All right, let's welcome in SAMs Vandiari, who comes in late because he has a million jobs, and Andy Lou to the show.
Sam and Andy.
They host one of my favorite podcasts on the Blue Wire Network called light Year's Podcast, a reference to the fact that the Warriors are light years ahead of everyone else, which I think is low key kind of awesome. Since I'm a huge Stubbs fan, the boys are the go to for all things Warriors.
We did in an hour interview.
They were really generous and gracious with their time in the middle of the work day.
We talked about how.
Much the punches loomed over the season, which was a lot. What is up with Klay Thompson, how do they fix that? How do they think that gets fixed? Can the Warriors season be fixed? And what will that take? And is Kevin Durant still a possible Warrior for trade? Some surprising answers from two of the most tapped in guys, probably some of the best follows in the NBA and in the Warriors space. Great interview, So let's get into it.
Our listeners aren't as.
Tuned in or plugged in on every detail of what's going on with the Warriors. So I think you guys are the really the vein and the artery into the soul of what the fan base feels on this team. So I wanted to get you on when it happened. What were you like thinking? What was your take on it when it happened? What's your take on it now?
Oh, so, look, this is when it happened. I was actually shocked. So we knew as Warriors fans that Draymond wasn't happy that he was not in line to get an extension. Versus Jordan Poole, I think Jordan Pools specifically, not not so much Andrew Wiggins, but the feeling around the team in the offseason was that everything was happy.
Jordan Poole is happy, Draymond's happy. Raymond came out on a press conference said, hey, listen, I know that at this point in my career, it makes a lot more sense for someone like Jordan Pule to get his money first. And so we all it was great. They went to Japan. Everyone was petting porcupines and Draymond was speaking Japanese. It was all fun and games, and no less than a
week later, he knocks pulled out. And I think with that punch, I do think it affects where the Warrior's at today, especially Emo emotionally, because everybody who I mean, you don't need to be a Warriors fan to know that the Warriors are usually the happiest team in the NBA. You see Steph smiling no matter what happens on the court. Last night, Steph Gray dropped fifty points. I didn't see him smile one single time. Now I'm not saying that's
Draymont's fault. But I do think a lot of the emotions around the team, even though they're not fighting about that now, I think a lot of it is under I think it's under mentioned that that changed the trajectory of how this team was always going to feel going to the season. And you know, outside of Clay and Pole playing terribly, I think that Draymond punch really changed the way, really changed the way this team started the season.
Do you feel like there was any real reason for it other than just normal smack talking, because Draymond came out and was like it had nothing to do with his contract. I don't care what another man makes.
I don't count his pockets pure lies. I think when he said that, I just that's the only reason I haven't. It's not that I have sources, but yet nobody has really hurt otherwise that it's something else. It's it's the fact that Draymond knows that he's the second most important player on the Warrior, second or third most important player. Maybe Andrew Wiggins has become the second, but he's certainly more important to them winning than in the last five
years and maybe even last season. Jordan Poole, right, And I think he looks at that and says, I've only ever made max, you know, one hundred million dollars on my contract, and here's this dude that's going to make one hundred and twenty three million guaranteed at twenty two
years old. He's lying. Everyone's lying if you're saying you don't look at that and realize, dude, I'm the best defensive player of my generation and I can't get paid as much as this guy who doesn't impact winning, especially in the postseason that I do. And honestly, Draymond's right, right, I would agree with him, but such as life, life isn't fair, right, Life isn't fair, is what I would say to Draymond. And these things are just going to happen.
And I think it's it's fine to be men, but man, he knocked the kid out and the and then it leaked, and then it leaked, which I think made it a million times worse because you know, you've you've got Jordan Poole, who's not he's not really a made man in the NBA. He's really still trying to figure it out, even though he's got this big contract. And you I think you're seeing some of those effects, like he's getting attacked defensively,
he's offensively. He's now the focal point of scouting reports along with Steph, and I think it's affecting the way he played. Yet he had he went over five last night in twenty seven minutes. Oh, the zero is not an issue? Took five shots? Yeah, I mean, what are we doing here?
That's that's insane? Two points on the night.
The question, I think there's there's a lot of people who are fan base is, you know, fans of other teams, and they don't understand why Draymond is so important to this team, and they think that he's going to be gone and that this all signals that, especially considering that Steve Nash or Steve Nash, Steve Kerr comes out and Steph comes out during that Ramona Shellburn piece and says, you know, the ends, the end of everything is really hard.
It's there's never anything good that goes with that. Does that mean to you that that Draymond's gone after this year?
The answer is maybe, which is the right answer, which sucks because nobody wants to hear that on a show. I would say maybe, but my take, is this coming coming into the season, I would have said yes. I would have just said, hey, he's gone. You I know, Wiseman and Kaminga, this is before the season. You know, have a lot of promise, and they really haven't shown that yet. But maybe you think they get to some
effecsimile of a defensive presence. You think that offensively, Jordan Poole Andrew Wiggins are going to be good enough along with Steph and Clay that you know it's gonna it's gonna help you overcome some of the Draymond ball handling and screening. Right, But you watch the first ten to fifteen games of the season, even though the Warriors are six and nine, They're not winning a championship without Draymond. They're not winning a playoff series without Draymond. And Steph
knows that. Draymond knows that. Steve Kerr knows that. And I think that's where you start to see some of the issues with the Warriors where they're spending so much time, effort, and resources on someone like James Wiseman and frankly someone like Kaminga, and none of that's even come close to what we're not talking about, Like oh kamingas you know, he's looking good. He's he just needs more minutes to get there. It's like, no, he might just suck at basketball.
And same with Wiseman, like he's so bad at basketball. He's in the G League, Like we're not we're not talking about Oh, he could play ten minutes and if he played, and his per thirty six is so good that if he plays thirty minutes, he's a star. Like the Warriors just need to give him that. No, he sucks, like he sucks. He needs to play in the G League to just try to be in the NBA four years from now. Because as of right now, James Wiseman playing in China four years from now, that's how bad
he is. And things could change quick, right, Things could change quick, Like Jordan Poole, Things changed very fast. Jordan Pole is the worst player in the NBA year one. It changes fast. But as of right now, that's how bad those guys are. And if I were Draymond Green, I would I And it's not like he's having a great, great season, he's having a good season. I would just PLoP my tape on the table to Bob Myers and Joe Lake and be like, guys, look, I know you don't want to pay me, but what else are.
You gonna do?
You wha rebuild? Right that you're gonna rebuild, what else are you gonna do?
There's people who think that it's the Warrior's fault that James Wiseman hasn't progressed.
I think the Warrior system does him no favors. It's a very I wouldn't say like it's an intricate system, but it's a system that relies on basketball IQ, of which he has zero because of a few factors, right, I think because innately he doesn't have that type of IQ to play in the system. He also hasn't played many games in three years, so I think those are factors.
He's definitely a guy that belongs in a more like a like a standard modern NBA offense where it's just pick and roll, pick and pop, that type of stuff where the Warriors don't really do that. The Warriors want you like you can see kaminga struggle with that a little bit. But I actually am bullish still on cominga because I do think he can figure that stuff out. It doesn't seem like Wiseman can figure that stuff out. On the Warriors. So I think, I to your point,
that does him no favors. But I also think at the same time, you know, you gotta you gotta be better than that. Like the guy. The guy is so the guy is just so bad every time he steps on the floor offensively and defensively. It's it's jarring. It's actually it. It's making jokes about it. Legit makes you feel like a bad person.
I said this his what was it twenty twenty twenty twenty one when we.
First met and I said to you, guys, I said, he looks like.
A deer in headlights and that joke was fine then. And now it's like twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three, and he still looks like a deer in headlights now, but now an entitled deer in headlights that wants the ball.
You know what I mean?
Your way to put it.
It, does it feel like twenty twenty twenty one again exact?
It's so for those right that that didn't watch the Warriors, that that was the season where Steph average thirty plus points. I think he averaged forty points on fifty to forty ninety for an entire month to get them to to get them to the playing game. He had to drag the Warriors to the playing game, playing next to kell ubray Ken Basmore JTA heavy minutes. Draymond Green kind of was in and out that season. He wasn't very good.
Jordan Pool was young, so he was dragging like a band of misfit toys to the playing game where they lost to the Lakers and the Grizzlies. And and I'd argue that that Steph is playing better this season. He had fifty points last night, right, like I mentioned earlier, on literally like five shots, which is ridiculous. And he's dragging the Warriors. He's dragging the Warriors to wins at
home against bad teams. I know the Kings are having a good season, but he's having to play out of his mind just to beat teams at home, and he's playing out of his mind on the road and they're not even coming close to win. They went zero to five on a road trip that they lost to Detroit, they lost Orlando, they lost to Charlotte. I mean, those are three of some of the worst teams in the NBA.
They lost to all of them. And let me tell you, they weren't even close, Like, at no point in those games was a like, yeah, the Warriors are gonna be like they're gonna come back, like they choked some of those games. But it's this is a team that just is bad. They might be worse than twenty twenty twenty twenty one because they have better players. Clay's playing Wiggins is he's better, right, Jordan Poole is better and they're worse.
It's it's actually impressive the way the Warriors are two in this It's actually impressive.
Yeah, that's crazy to me too, because if you look at offensively, they are tenth in offensive rating. But Steph is balling out to such a degree that if you were to take Steph and put him into like a regular night, like they would have scored one hundred and two points last night total, Right, They scored what one, yeah,
one nineteen to one thirty. So without if Steph only scores instead of fifty, the scores you know, twenty seven, you don't even hit the hundred mark, right, and twenty seven is a pretty decent scoring night.
Why do you think things look so stagnant?
So as bad as I talked about the young kids being those kids didn't play last night and they went with a vet heavy rotation. And Klay Thompson and Jordan Pole have been awful. Klay Thompson's more awful than Jordan Poole. But you've got two shooting guards. One of them shoots
too much on the other doesn't shoot. And that's really the If Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole played to the same level that they did last season, this team right now six to nine, probably nine and six, and they probably be nine and six, which is you know, you'd be asking me like, oh, do we panic about the Warriors, but you know, I'd say, like, no, not really right, they'll get better from there. But instead, those two dudes have been terrible and kind of to break down each one.
Klay Thompson wants so bad for it to be twenty nineteen, so bad it's like he's like that old uncle that wants to relive his college career or a high school career, and he wants to just you know, what's the point that it was Uncle Rico, Right, he's talking about how he wants to throw a pig skin of cord him out. He's talking about how he wants to be that guy again, and that's Klay Thompson, and you know, part of that is enduring and daring. I never, I never will slander
Klay Thompson. That's my guy. That's every Warriors fans guy for obvious reasons, four titles towards Aco Achilles, all that. At the same time, he I think mentally is just not where he needs to be. And also he's out of shape. He didn't play at all in the offseason, and I think that's part of it. Jordan Poole, on the other hand, he's coming off the bench. He thinks he should start, and he's probably right, but he's not going to And when he comes off the bench, they're
putting him with guys that he has to carry. And as a kid that's still trying to make it in the NBA, he's trying to figure out how to carry teammates rather than be the guy likely he was last season playing next to Auto Porter, playing next to G two, where he has a great defensive four round him, so he can just go out there and just get buckets right. He could just do his thing right. Now, it's like, how do I get guys involved? How do I figure stuff out? On defense, Well, GP two is not gonna
save me. Andre Goodald's not out there to run the offense. I'm the guy that has to do all that. That makes life very difficult, which is why when you see him with the starting lineup where Draymond Wiggins and Steph are out there, he's going off. So those two guys are the biggest problem. And then outside of that, I think that's the offensive issue. And then outside of that, I think defensively, they just they don't have enough smart players.
I mean, that's what happens when you've got seven kids on the team that are like twenty one. I don't know what I was doing at twenty one, but I definitely wasn't smart. So these guys definitely aren't. And it's it's I mean, it's obvious.
This is what I think is happening with Clay. I want you to tell me whether you think this is right. Because it was averaging seventeen three and two.
In the finals.
That's pretty good.
It's not twenty nineteen Clay, but that's a serviceable claim. And defensively he played pretty well against Jalen Brown. He wasn't you know, two way Strapham Clay but he was pretty good.
But this is what I think happened.
I think that the trauma from the injury bled into the off season because that gets you back to that place again, and you're like, I don't want to injure
myself in a pickup run, so I don't play. I just don't play and pick up runs because I associate pickup runs with tearing, something tearing and Achilles being out for another year again, so his conditioning declines, and then because his conditioning declines, his play automatically declines as well, and everybody notices, and everybody says and points it out.
Clay is not the same, play is not the same.
He sucks now, and then emotionally he spirals from there because he wants to get back to that place, but he also wants the respect from the people for what he's already done and some grace to get him back to where he wants to go. And then emotionally he sort of spirals, and then he's now pressing to show the world he's still elite when he's really not elite right now because of all those things.
Do you think that's right?
I would agree, I would agree. I think it is a spiral spiral effect from from I think just not being ready to play bask It's it's a little shocking because I do think if it's some this mental stuff I think affects everyone. I would say, like, if it was one person that I thought it would affect, it would be Clay, just because kind of the shooter mentality. He's always had the calmness, the poise. It's why he made eleven threes in Okay see Game six. It's why
he's Game six Clay. It's why he pulled the Warriors out of so many situations. It's the mental toughness. But there's always going to be things I think that all humans are going to struggle with, and I think that's what Clay struggled with. And it's also shocking because this is coming out, like you said, after what he did in the NBA Finals, he came back. He actually led the Warriors in minutes, which is insane. I thought he was back coming into this. You know, my co host
Samus Fendiari and I thought that. You know, we we were bullish. We were like, well, Clay's gonna come back and he's going to be nice like last season he was seventy five percent. He's gonna come back, he's gonna be eighty five percent of what he has, and right now he's like fifty percent of what he was before. And I I didn't I didn't see that coming. And then you you compound that, like you said, with the
fact that he just go and keep shooting. And for the first time last night, I know that Stephan Draymond has talked to him about being having a better shot selection. But that's what makes Clay clay. He's just gonna shoot that stuff. But I think for the first time last night we saw Steph and Draymond. They were they were they were exasperated, and they showed it on the court, which you never see from Steph. You see from Draymond every day, but you never see from Steph. And that
that's where it's that's concerning to me. Yeah, they lost to Phoenix. They lost the Phoenix. Fine, I mean they do that. Phoenix is a good regular season team. But it's the it's you look at this team and you look at how they are mentally and you're like, Ooh, I don't know if they're gonna make it back from this. And if they do make it back from this? How good can they actually be when they do make it
back from this. It's a lot going on with this team, and you know, almost it almost feels like a Lebron team where I think Steph is gonna have to go into to Bob and Joe's office at some point and just say, hey, we gotta, we gotta, we gotta do some drastic which is what Lebron would do and uh, which is what he's good at. I think, uh, Steph doesn't do that. But I think Steph also looks at his basketball mortality and says, I got two years, like
I could win five. Yeah, maybe I could win five championships. You're telling me I could be on the on the Kobe level championships. I could. I could go one up on Broun, because Bron's definitely not winning one right in the next few seasons. He's like, Dude, I could win five and be a mortal forever. And I'm not freaking wasting my time with the crap shit I have around me. Right, So he's not gonna request a train. It's not what
I mean. But it's like, what can we get for Wiseman? Yeah, what do we get for Kaminga.
You know, do you think that urgency actually exists for him right this second, or do you forecast that that urgency to have that move be made and to have that conversation is something that's going to take place in the future.
I think both. Actually, I do think there's urgency right now. They're six and nine. I mean, they're not that far out from home court advantage. I think they're only a couple of games. But it's like, you watch the team, just watch them. They're not a not a whole court team. All you gotta do is just watch them for ten minutes. And and I and I think the trade down line is in the February. So it's Valentine's Day, right, So it's sometime in February, So they got they got some time.
But they act though, I mean, are they going to be five hundred? I think they know they need to make a move. I think they know that. I think they know that. I think it's not even urgency. I think it's just fact they're not they're not winning the championship as is. But what is the move? Do they trade Wiseman for G two?
We don't want him, we don't want him.
I think that's that I don't want him, hasn't played yet.
Yeah, we don't want Wiseman. We know what wise Man.
Yeah, Portland has incredible vibes. I watched some of the Portland games the last few weeks. Simon's better than McCollum. Do you have a higher ceiling than McCollum.
I think so because he's six five six six instead.
Of like six three.
And then I think Shaden Sharp's upside is just ridiculous. Yeah, I what fourteen points in twelve minutes the other night.
Yeah, just sick.
And Jeremy Grant's a lot better than I thought too on this team specifically, And I think because you guys would love some Jeremy Grant right now.
So Jeremy Grant.
Is it interesting? So I've thought about this. Jeremy Grant, I think is a classic. I think Cominga is going to go through this, and which is why I'm not bullish on some of the kids. As a warrior. Jeremy Grant went to Detroit to do two things right. He got his money and he got his buckets. And I think when you look at someone like Jonathan Kaminga, Johnathan Mingo wants two things right now. He doesn't want to sacrifice. He doesn't want to he doesn't want to play team
winning basketball. And I get it, right, I get it. He thinks he's a lot better than than what he should be doing on the Warriors. He wants to get his contract and he wants to get buckets. You look at someone like Jalen Green's same thing, right, they get free reign to do whatever they want. But then you're talking about the third team, so you're talking about the team after that. So now Jeremy Grant's on Portland and he's saying, you know what, I got my money, I
got my points. I'm trying to win. And I think that guys like Wiseman and Kaminga are like six years away from that. They need to understand that they're not good enough to carry a team like that and win. And I think Jeremy Grant realized that he knows that he's not good enough to be that guy. So he's like, cool, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna I'm gonna be this guy with port that. I think that's what Cominga's
career arc is. It's a standard career arc for a lot of NBA players, because not all NBA players are superstars, right, So that's that's the predicament. I think the Warriors.
And he said.
Something to in this article that I just read that was so I thought, so self aware. He's he's basically saying, I'm not the fact that I can't get buckets and be the number one scoring option. But I can't be the leader of a team like I can't make sure everyone's good. I can't be the focal point of a team like I can get buckets, but ultimately I need someone else Otherwise I'm gonna draw double teams and I'm gonna be garbage.
And there's not that.
And he said it gave him a lot of respect for guys who are actually true number ones. To realize I thought I was a number one. I wanted to be a number one. I wanted to be paid like a number one. And you know what, I realized, I'm not a number one. But he can guard point guards, and he he protects Dame from a defensive standpoint to the point where this is a top five defensive.
Team in the league. Right now, are they, Wow, that's sixth in defensive rating.
Yeah, that's I mean, isn't that what angel. Isn't that what happened to Andrew Wiggins? Yeah, I mean that's exactly what happened to Andrew Wiggins. Who I mean, he's that guy that protects Steph defensively. Well, Steph is actually pretty good, so he protects Jordan Pool defensively now, So it's like he's the guy that realized I can't be the number one option. I just I can't, It's not possible. Now he became a Warrior and second best player on a
championship team. I mean, just simply put right. And so I think to pull it back to the Warriors, you can't cheat development and life lessons for these guys. You can't tell someone this like Andre Goodala for all he can do, he can only tell Kaminga all these things. Kaminga has to go through it, right. It's just it's
just like life. You know, your boys or your girl can only tell you you know that guy's not good for you or that girl so many times, but you gotta go through it for you to actually realize that or not. And I think it's that's what makes that's what's making this so hard for the Warriors, which I don't think they want to cut bait on these guys.
They definitely don't on Wiseman, Cominga and Moody. But man, if you're talking about the chance to win a fifth title versus the chance of maybe sort of being competitive four years from now, that's now. This is where the time two timelines are actually hurting the Warriors.
I don't know.
Last year it wasn't a victory for the two timelines because at the end of the day, the Warriors could just say, dude, we got eight nine ten veterans. We can just go with those guys who win a championship. Now, they tried to go with those two timelines, and it's ugly.
It's ugly.
I remember talking to I want to say, it was either MoU or can't Lake up, two guys that are high up in the Warriors organization, and they said, if Moody and Kaminga aren't good this season, we are not going to be good. And I remember being like, Wow, that's a that's not good from the actual horse's mouth.
To hear that one thing.
To hear, like, you know, some Golden State blog say that, right, It's another thing to hear the owner's son say that, you know.
And that's kind of what I feel like is happening.
You know, all these different role players who are young and all the ones that departed off the championship team that I kind of wanted to get your thoughts about. You lose Biolichia, you lose Damian Lee, GP two, obviously, Otto Porter, JTA.
Who do you who do you think the Warriors miss most?
Dude?
They miss all of them. I mean, I'm gonna give you an answer, but they so here. Here's what overall the problem. I mean, there's a lot of issues, but one of the big, big, big issues is that Damian Lee and JTA. I made fun of them a lot. They're ready to hoop at all times. They're ready to come in there, and it's a it's a mid November
game and they're just coming out there. They're like, yo, let's go, like I'm gonna give you eight minutes, but I'm gonna give you eight minutes, right, And Kamingo's like, I'm coming in here, I'll give you eight. And it's maybe I'm kind of sticking off half the time, and you know, I'm trying to he doesn't even know what's going on out there. JT and Damien Lee. The two worst guys though the five you mentioned are and they're ready to go. And the Warriors missed that. They missed
players that are willing to sacrifice. They miss players that know how to play defense. They missed players that can do all that. Now, now, of those, I think when you talk about missing defense, they missed Jake GP two the most they do. You can argue whether it's GP two or Arto Porter, but I think it's GP two.
They miss a guy that is a absolute game changer defensively, and he papered over a lot of the mistakes that Klay Thompson made, a lot of the mistakes that Jordan Poole made, and he just gave the Warriors another guy that made him that made them a lethal defense. The Warriors were the best defense in the NBA when they could put GP two out there. They put GP two, Clay Draymond Loony and Wiggins out there. I mean, my god, I mean that was that thing had Celtics in a chokal.
The Celtics look like a I mean, they look like a JV team trying to dribble against GP two and and Wiggins and those guys. Right, So I think they miss him the most. And I think to your point about Kent Lakeup saying Moody and Kaminga need to play well, I think they they thought that Kaminga would be that, like some version of GP two whards like I'm just gonna be a dog and just hound guys and finish
at the rim and just have that mindset. But Cominga doesn't have that mindset, right, And and then Moody is another guy that I think is just not He's not fast enough. He's not he's not quick enough to be that defensively and then offensively, uh, he shoots too much. And I think you put you put those two guys in, they just don't have the willingness to sacrifice an i
Q offensively and defensively. So I think they missed GP two, which is why, which is why I think you know they're talking about saying like, hey, I don't think it'll happen, like you said, only why would Portland do it? They're not rebuilding. Although I think you know nurkicch wise man, I don't know. Maybe that's the maybe that's your future center. But yeah, right, I don't know if Dame would actually I don't know Dame is very Steph like. Actually, but
they missed Chip two. They Dante DiVincenzo was real. He's actually really good for the Warriors. They need more. The more they have, the Warriors of the worst defense of the NBA, and it matches the eye test every second.
It's yeah, twenty fifth, but it looks like the bottom of the bottom. Honestly. There's obviously trade deadline talks all this stuff.
Who who do you think besides KD the Warriors could actually pick up that would help this team outside of like a collection of you know, role players like Jay Crowder and things like that, because I think about maybe Julius Randall, I think about Miles Turner, maybe some other guys like Yakub Pardle.
You just just glossed over. You just said, you know, outside of KD, like like like that's a like that's a realistic I don't think.
That's a realistic possibility. That's why we're just like and that's why we're just kind of putting it to the side.
I wonder if it is. I wonder, I wonder if I don't know, I wonder if it is. I think that when when Durant first came to the Warriors. You could argue that not good for him, and maybe it wasn't good for the Warriors overall. Just from an optics perspective, obviously I loved it. I think it was great. Yeah. Then the then KD goes to Brooklyn and we know how that's gone, and the Warriors win another championship. So wouldn't make sense for the Warriors to do it again
right this offseason when we're Katie requested the trade. But now you're looking at both teams and you're like, from an optics perspective, win win when they both need each other. You know, I think back to the to the to the Avengers. I think back to Thanos, you know, you know Kat's coming back to the Warriors. The Warriors are
coming back to KD. You know what I mean, Like this is a perfect match I think at this point in their career to put those two guys together again, I don't care who you give up, because a shit, just just give it up, right but who? But but now you can argue the Warriors are six and nine, they're not winning like this, so go get them. And Katie's sitting there and he just he just talked about how he had to play with Edmunds something like quoting guys by name and saying how bad. Just I know
he didn't mean it like that. Katie never really does, but sheeesh right, And so I mean that's the fit. Yes, we can talk about Yaka Pearle. I think that'd be a good fit. You know, I think I think maybe uh Sadik bay or Bojan Bogdanovic. Maybe those guys are good fits. On Detroit. You can talk about you know, you mentioned Jay Crowder. There are some maybe some wings. I think the Warriors kind of need a wing right now. But end of the day, man like is Kevin is Katie?
Is that not the move? Like would you trade Wiseman for Yaka Purdle?
I don't.
I would, but I don't know if the Warriors would. They're sitting there and they're like, well why, like like we're gonna have to sign him again, like Doc Prdos may not even close games in the playoffs, Like what's the What's kind of not what's the point, but like how much does he actually make us better? And I'm giving up a guy that maybe I'm still high on who has a high upside. Number two pick all of that so I think, to me, it comes back down. I mean, if they're gonna make a trade, I still
don't really think they're gonna make a trade. If they're gonna make a trade, it's gonna be for Kevin Durant like that. That's what That's what I would say, like Joe and Bob like that's the one where, without a doubt, if there is an inkling of Katie wants it to happen, steph wants it to happen. And I don't mention any of the names for a reason. If Stephan Katy wanted to happen, like I think that's the one that well that that could happen.
What's interesting to me about that is I said to someone who was around the Warriors organization in a high capacity no longer is, and I said, where do you think Katie ends up?
This is summer League. Where do you think Katie ends up? Where do you think he?
Uh?
And he goes, well, I know where he.
Wants to go, And I go where Phoenix like Toronto, and he goes he wants to go back to Golden State. And I go, you think so? And he goes, I know, so I'm one hundred percent positive. I spoke with KD about this and then you know, he changes his mind so fast so often, but that and I wouldn't.
I don't think this person would lie.
This person's you know, cream of the crop in terms of integrity, So that.
Has surfaced through his mind at least one time, you know.
I don't. It doesn't surprise, It doesn't surprise I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me, right, I think for someone like him to realize you don't know what you have until it's now gone. I think there were like different reasons. Again, like I think part of the reasons that made him so miserable at Golden State was less so about Golden State but what people were saying about him, what his own colleagues were saying about him. Clay had a quote that you know, I don't really
care what media says about me. I care about what my what my peers say about me. And I think Clay's Clays his peers love him. I think I think players love him, and I think that's you know, Clay is always going to be secure in that. I think part of Katie's insecurity is that is that, you know, some players feel that he took the easy way out, and I think that's what always made the run at
Golden State tough. But now I think this is the opportunity, uh for for I mean it's it's it's a fairy tale ending story for Warriors fans, right, And so I think I just think it's it's almost like Lebron going back to Cleveland. It's not the same because that was objectively a great story and a great ending. But if you're durrant and and you have the opportunity to say, you know what, I can get out of Brooklyn and also I can save Golden State, I mean, it's it's
it's a perfect story. I think the Warriors would do it. I just the second question after that is like, so is it gonna be Draymond? Is it gonna be Clay? Can't be Wiggans, Who's gonna be?
Could Wiggins?
It Couldah's that's tough, right because you know I'm sitting here and I'm like, I would say Wiggins too, but you know he he took a pay cut for the team. And I think part of what the war like, part of what good organizations do is is you don't you don't wanna you don't want to say, hey, you know, you took a pay cut and now we're gonna send you to Brooklyn a shitty situation. I think that's tough. I think Bob Meyer is not someone that would do that. But again it's like, well they do that to Clay,
you know what, They're gonna send him over there. So Draymond's probably your best bet, right because Draymond's the guy where you'll probably have the most friction with with the front office.
Raymond kaminga Wiseman picks.
I think so, Yeah, I think so. And you know, Draymond can't yell a KD anymore, and Draymond can't punch Pool. But at the same time, it comes back down to this, though, can you win a championship without that guy as your defensive anchor? I don't, I actually don't. I mean, look, you got Stephan Katie, it solves you know, ninety percent of your problems. But I'll scoring.
Wiggans and if you're not giving up Wiggins, then you still have Wiggins and Katie and Clay and possibly Steph and Pool and probably a collection of other role players that you'll get for nothing at the deadline, you know, And lousy yeah, and moody yeah, moody y or yeah looney yeah looney.
So I did a thing.
With locked On, like a cross promotion, and I previewed I don't know if you know this. I previewed like all the NBA teams, and uh, it was on all these different lockdown feeds, So I was listening to different locked on fees just to make sure that it was like in there.
So I was listening to the Golden State locked on feed and I don't really think much of it at all.
Until, uh, you guys got cut got strays from this same guy.
He came after you guys for what reason? Like is it? What's the is there a backstory here? It was just so unwarranted.
I don't know how you get dragged into these things. You know, it's you got the KD stuff where where you know? He did he? You know, he didn't like me for whatever reason. And I always go, you know, Katie never talked to me, you guys know that, right like he he never he never even acknowledged me. I don't take I don't this is not my fifteen minutes of fame. I don't even you know, I like the guy the guy seems cool, he seems nice. Never I never. Yeah, I don't know him and he doesn't know me. So
this really has nothing to do with us. But you know, people like drama. I like drama actually, so I'm not even gonna I like drama. I like chaos. I like watching you know, love is Blind. It's it's my shit. This stuff was was funny. So here here's what I
think happened. I do think, you know, if you don't already subscribe to the light Years podcast, I think there's a lot of uh in Warriors Twitter Warriors fandom that people because it's so passionate and the Warriors are so good, people tend to take different places, to take different stances. And I think there's a lot of fans that say, well, you can't you can't criticize James Wiseman. He's too young, he's this and that. You got to be a real
Warriors fan and cheer for the team. And then you've got the segment that are like, you know, we're gonna stand behind Klay Thompson and this and that, and trust the front office no matter what, and and and all this, And I think there's a lot of fan policing that goes on, and I think people get really annoyed and jealous of Salmini's show because we just, you know, we just tend to screw around and have fun. And I think people a lot of people take this more seriously
than they should. And I'm always like, we're just We're just you know, dudes or women, you know, just sitting behind some mics and chopping the shit up. And I think people take it too serious. So guys obviously emotional, it's obviously jealous of the light Years podcast. It's fine, it's oh my.
Dude, guys, I'm out, Yeah, I have I have a guess as to who Andy was talking about.
Do you think there's this like dislike by old school media to this non media coverage that happens to be wildly popular and successful, especially on the places where it matters most like social media.
I think I only see it from people who are in old media who are unsuccessful, because Andy and I have great relationships with a lot of the more senior writers who are doing very well. They hop on our show. They get what we do. You know, they treat us like we're just another like radio show or talk show that they go on. They understand it's a good way to you know, get their content out there to the masses.
It's really only like the subset of people who are insecure about their own job and you know, maybe are not all read, or maybe or not resonating that seem to to have this beef.
Sam and I just have fun. We don't. We don't take it. We like hearing from fans. We don't agree. I don't even agree with Sam half the time. But doesn't really matter, right, I think a lot of the times, a lot of a lot of media, Yeah, a lot of media, don't. They just want people to agree with them. They're just like, hey, like we we want people. We we feel like we are smarter than you and what
we say is more important. Whereas I do think Sam and I said Aaron, we're just like nah, we just or at least for me, I just say shit, like hey, whether people like it or not, I don't really care. I would just say stuff and it just turns out people like hearing it, and I never I will never say I'm right obviously when I'm right. I'll say I'm right when I'm wrong. I never say anything obviously. But outside of that, I think we.
I obviously believe what I say is true. That doesn't mean I have one hundred percent hit right, like like like everyone else, I have my missus, you know, like the hobbyist one would be like Andrew Wiggins. I did not his play coming around the way. I thought it was like it's life.
You know, you guys were very mad at me when I said James Wiseman was a deer in headlights and would never develop.
And here we are two years later and you.
Guys are now called your shot early. I mean, I'll give my one. Wiseman take nothing. I don't think he wants to be a center. I think he thinks he's a guard. I think watching him and it's just frustrating because it's like they want him to do center things and you see all he wants to do is like try to be Kevin Durant.
What are you guys most optimistic about Steph winning the MVP.
You know that it's so far that at that point, like I don't don't it'd be cool, but I don't care. It also probably means the Warriors like the Warriors, Steph winning the m v P probably means that he scored. I mean we're watching it. He's scoring a lot of points. Stats are great, but the team sucks. Team sucks, you know, you know, I don't know Sam Will. It's it's a dark time in the Bay Area, which is sad that just want a championship four months ago.
I would say the reason to be optimistic is their starting lineup still kind of kills most teams. So like, yes, they're not going to win a title with this roster, but they need to tweak the bench, which I think is easier than being like, yeah, we need like another superstar.
You know, that's a little harder. So like, if I was to hold on to optimism, it's like they should be able to find an auto porter or you know, someone like that in the trade market, and potentially that's the kind of thing that gets them move in a good direction. But I don't even know if I believe that. So that's just me. That's just me. You're asking me, give me the optimistics, but that's my optimistics.
Do you think that a valuable defensive role player unlocks Jordan Pool or does Jordan Pool psyche command.
Him to start?
I think if you put smarter players around him who can defend, he will look more like the Jordan Poole we saw last year. He played really well off the bench last year. He also played well as a starter, and like ninety percent of the reason he plays well as the starters because who do they have in the starting lineup? Smart defenders? Also also Steph. Everyone plays better
with Steph. But it's like, yeah, playing next to Wiggins, Draymond Looney, that type of stuff, Like it's different than play next to Anthony Lamb, who no one knew about a month ago, and whatever, you know, non voting age youngster. They want to throw out there with him.
Right, Reddit Warriors asked me for my next my I think they had the next twelve games, but the next ten. How many wins do you think? What do you think the record is?
What you do?
I don't even have to look at the schedule, I because because the Warriors could lose to I mean, it doesn't matter who you play. They lost a freaking They've lost to Charlotte without them like they can watched.
Them lose that Detroit game in Detroit. For that forty was in the building.
He wasn't Detroit.
Why forty came to watch you guys lose through the Pistons.
And by the way, they weren't closing that game, like they didn't have a shot forty.
Came to watch Isaiah Stewart emasculate James Wiseman nice.
I would say, like five and five, yeah, bro.
I go five and five two. This this team just screams five hundred. It's like Steph goes for fifty and maybe it's enough and maybe it's not. He has to go.
For forty to be the Kings at home, Like I just I can't get It's just you're watching that and you're so happy because your Steph is so amazing, But at the same time, the back of your head, you're just like that's what they needed. That, that's what they needed to do that seven, which is eight.
How do they get the good vibes back? How do we get the like happiness vibes back?
No one's happy, right, No one's well.
Bring back one to Scott Anderson. Where's Kent Bazemore.
At I'm seriously.
Honestly though, like that's who embraced being bench vets and don't really give a shit about their stats because they know that like their role is to be the good vibes guy. Probably would help instead of a bunch of kids who are like but hurt. They're not getting the minutes they think they deserve. And I can't even I can't even blame the kids in some ways. It's like it's you've created a very untenable situation by like by merging the two and it's hard enough, you know, So.
Fine, what does fine mean? This fine mean playoffs? This fine mean finals? Does fine mean? What?
Uh? Contending? Uh? They want to they want a title? Last year? Like, is anyone gonna be content with like Steph got him to the first round?
No shot?
You know, it's just like it's you you know that there's a core of a title team here, like they did it with at least six of these players. They just need to, you know, figure it out around those guys. It's my bigger thing, Steph.
I think this is the year Steph is going to ask for change, like he's I was. I was saying it earlier. Sam. He knows it's only it's one year left, two years left. There's not much left in the tank for Steph Curry. I know, we think he can go to forty, but there's not much left in the tank. It's the Lebron. It's like the Lebron there's two three years left and if he wins five, I mean, you know.
Well, and that's the and that's the larger point. Fuck them kids, even if they drafted correctly, even if they okay, So, who's the best player available Number two? Probably LaMelo who is the best player available at well? Either way or like you know, Franz Wagner the following year. Neither of those guys are ever going to be Steph Curry. And that's kind of the point. Even if they nailed those picks and they were productive players, this team's in better position.
This is probably the best player that's ever going to be on Joe Acob's Warriors. He's gonna probably die before they get a player of Steph's caliber. He's sixty five years old. Let's be let's be honest about it. This is like a what is he top ten player of all time? Yes? I mean, is he like that alone? Just do the math, like the odds you're going to have a player who matters as much to your franchise Again,
are is limited? You know, like, so just go all in deal with the future when the future comes, you know, would you rather would you rather have Okay, it's officially over. Steph's thirty seven, he's old, he's washed. Time to rebuild or like try to be super cute with it and then feel like you left a couple of chances on the table.
Yeah, I saw that Steve Kirk quote.
He said that he thinks this could be the last year or maybe next year is the last year of the dynasty, and that they're in the final stages.
Yes, that's that is super dramatic.
Do you think that was like a veiled like message to like, hey, this.
Is it guys?
Like I know you think in Silicon Valley there's like just forever or I guess what do you kind of what are your what is your.
Take on that?
Steve is is I think he knows he is dramatic, but he's smart. He knows that if they don't do something that nothing like I don't think much changes materially
on this team. Back to Sam's point, Victor Wenbinyama, who who is like the best draft prospect that we've seen at video games since Lebron He has like a five percent chance of being better than Steph, one percent chance of being better than Steph, and that I think is so you're talking about Wiseman and Kaminga, like those guys might have a zero point one percent chance of duplicating this. So back to Steve's quote, Yeah, I think he realized. I think twenty twenty, twenty twenty one. You can argue
I think Steve's argument wasn't and I'll clase out. But here we are two.
Years the whole year, and he's thirty three, and you know, guards of his age don't tend to get better at this stage. Like yep, I I can understand the doubt until you started seeing him play again and and like there was a whole COVID layoff, like no one really knew what was going on there.
It wasn't even a championship played that season, you know what I mean, like that thing that thing, yeah, you know.
So yeah it was that what was that that? Uh was the Disney World Tournament but uh.
Didn't pad to this day to this day.
But like I do think, yeah, and it's obvious Steve's point is like you know, kind of sees the moment like Steph looks like he's gonna do it for the next five years, but like who knows, right, he's thirty four, He's already in uncharted territory for like a guard of his size continuing to play at this level like you kind of have to treat every year like it could be the last.
Lebron's done, Like his career is over. You watch him play and you know he'll still go for three.
He's on the shop more than he's on the Lakers these days.
Yeah, he's done, Like he is finished, and that stuff just happens quick. And although it feels like he's been he's it's been supposed to happen for years now, but I think you can argue that you can finally say at this point he's done. And I think that's gonna happen to Steph at some point, but he is going to be done.
Yeah, that's the point. Like when they when they won that AU Tournament, I mean, I still felt like Lebron
had like three to four more years in him. And now we're two years later and it's like it's just very clear he's in like Wizards Jordan phase of his career, you know, where it's like he's obviously still really good and it's fun to watch him in the sense of, like, you know, all time great, but it's like his days of you know, oh shit, it's Lebron and he's going to destroy us or over right, And that's kind of the uh, that's kind of the point with Steph where
it's like it looks like he's in the middle of his prime, but like, be real about it, you don't know if he's going to lose a step next year or a year after that. Like these things happened, go for it, like to let live with it.
You know, I'm Brady might be done, you know, although you know the divorce might helped him out. But like that's another guy that played into the forties and.
And FTX losing six hundred and fifty million dollars as well. By the way Steph Steph ended up, that was probybe the worst alignment brand alignments where he's like s.
Orders are fully aligned with him. It's not just Steph, it's like the they Monday they gave away Jordan Poole bobbleheads with FTX. Yeah, and it's just kind of like, well they clearly already printed them, you know.
So any other parting thoughts, as you guys have given me so much time, thank you for jumping on.
I know you were almost unable to.
I was double booked. I thought it was going to go for an hour. I saw I got a half hour back, and I saw I still had a link to streamyard.
So I took much of let's let's go all right. A final to the Western Conference is bad. It is not good. I know that there's a lot of good teams hypothetically, but it is not a good conference. As a Warriors fan, you are still not scared of any of these teams. Uhawhy is questionable tonight. He is questionable in his life. That's how he is. So who knows
if he's ever gonna be back. But I think you can argue the Warriors still have like a chance of making the NBA finals, and once you make the finals, all that matter.
So and that's why they should go for it, because Andy is right, Like I think Memphis is probably the best other best team in the last Yeah they're good and uh you know they're nice, but.
They're not like they're very vulnerable.
It's not the ninety six Bulls, you know, you're not like staring down the Kadie Warriors, where you're like Yaka Peertle is not going to make a difference here. It's like it's very much a couple tweaks and get back on track and you can easily win the West kind of situation.
Correct, correct, Yeah, I agree with that.
I agree with that as well, specifically considering I watched Memphis play the Wizards, and mind you, there was no Jaw, no Bane, no Jaron Jackson. But like Jared Jackson, I don't think is a very basketball player. Like I don't think oh, I don't think offensively, I don't think he's.
A lot of threes.
A lot of threes, just a lot of flat fifteen year old girl threes.
Like just so gross, just so bad.
I like him as a person, like him as a defender, But I don't know. I think that they're very a very vulnerable team. Jaw obviously has had ankle issues that whole time, you know, last year, this year still, that was the reason he didn't play in the Wizard's game. Desn't Vane's been out, so you're you're an injury away. I think the MAVs have real problems Utah about.
Yeah, Clippers, I don't.
I mean, whatever, Who do you think is the best team in the West?
Probably Memphis right now. Like as much as like the idea of the Clippers is good, Like at a certain point, it's like I kind of need to see Kawhi play ten games in a row, like five.
Games in a row.
Yeah, games in a row, even if he's one days healthy in the playoffs, I don't believe he's gonna make it.
Through because he has to play in playoffs. You have to play. What if he just doesn't play?
Denver I think is good, but like, I don't know, they feel they also feel a tweak away in the playoffs, like who are they going to guard type of situation now, I don't know. It's all kind of it's there for it's there for the taking. It's like all Andy said it correctly. It's a lot of like forty eight win teams. It's a lot of like good teams, not no great teams.
You don't gotta play. You don't gotta plays Boston and Milwaukee to the finals. And once you get to the finals, you're just one steph Curry or performance away from stealing that thing.
Just little little game four in the garden and.
You are good to go. Number five on the way.
For the non Dubbs as I've always said, are going to be fine.
Championship aspirations still on.
Much love to Sam and Andy for joining the show for a third straight year. Actually now and actually the Warrior season kind of feels like the first season that I met him twenty twenty twenty twenty one, where it's just Steph and a bunch of dudes, just a bunch of role players out there doing nothing. Give him a follow Some of the best followers in the NBA social ad at Andy k H l I U and at Sam E.
S f A N.
D I A r I Savage funny, honest love them.
That's all the time that we after the heat Check. We'll be back Monday with an all new episode.
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