M hmmm. Welcome to the Day of the Lakers podcast. Happy Thursday everyone, although it's technically a Friday for me because I'm heading out of town this weekend for a for a wedding. But Roger and I are here. We're excited. This is probably gonna be the the second to last pod that will do before the first preseason game. Um, but we're very excited to be here this morning. Rog How are you doing, man, how's your week going? Doing great?
Doing great? It's a beautiful Thursday. As you said, Media days in like six days, so we're um getting started here pretty soon and we'll be into really daily episodes. It feels like once once the season starts. Before we start, though, I just wanted something funny I saw over the weekend. Um, I saw you live tuning football, which I thought was hilarious. Um, I think you compared some into like a two guard
or something like that. I saw that. I saw people telling you stick to basketball, which I thought was just the most hilarious thing in the world. I just wanted to share that with you because I thought it was pretty funny. When I so, I was like, oh no, I see going over to try to eat live football and someone's like, yeah, I just you know, keeping off basketball. I just thought that was hilarious. Well, you and I probably wouldn't be able to do this if we let
twitter trolls effect to uh. I just got a good laugh out of it. Oh no, it's funny, and that just in general, it's just like I think, I think that's hilarious, Like god forbid, I sit down and enjoy. I don't know, I don't know what I was thinking. Um. Anyway, we are going to and Justin Herbert, the quarterback for the Chargers, unbelievable. The dude is just a freak physical talent. I was blown away and I couldn't believe the Cowboys
won that game with how with how talented he is. Anyway, we uh today are going to break down the first fifteen games of the Lakers season quickly, kind of go over additions that those teams made, and what we think about those teams, and then what we think what we think the Lakers are gonna accomplish in that first fifteen games. A lot of road game or excuse me, home games, a lot of home games, and a lot of teams that the Lakers are gonna be heavily heavily favored against,
and we'll kind of discuss that in detail. Then we're gonna talk a little bit about Frank Vogel's comments during his interview on the Spectrum sports Net show that he sat down for. And then if we have time at the end, we're gonna talk a little Ben Simmons in a little bit of Wayne Ellington's interview that he did with our friends Zack and Rouche over with the Balls Life podcast. So lots of cover today, we're gonna get right into it. So the first game of the season
is at home against the Warriors. Um. The Warriors added Namania be Eliza, they added Otto Porter Jr. They added Andrea Guadala, and then they have Clay Thompson coming back from injury. This is a team that I'm super intrigued by it just in general because they've kind of, uh, they have all of the pes from the death lineup in addition to some guys that they could kind of plug in there that are super interesting like Otto Porter Jr.
If they can be healthy. Now Clay Thompson is probably not gonna play to start the season and probably not gonna look much like himself until later in the season, so I'm not particularly concerned about them being much of
a regular season jugger. Not However, this is one of my like sneaky picks for a team that could be super dangerous in a playoff run, because when push comes to shove, if it's two games to two in Game five in one of these arenas, it's gonna be Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, Andrea Gudala, Draymond Green and probably uh Andrew Wiggins or Auto Porter Jr. In that other spot, and They're just gonna be really, really tough to beat in that type of environment. So I consider them to be
somewhat of a threat. However, season opener in Staples Rock as house Lakers size is gonna be a huge problem. I expect the Lakers to handle them on opening night when by ten. What do you think about the Warriors? So to me, opening is always tough, So Lebron, this is gonna be Lebron's fourth year with the team. Um, we've lost opening Night the first three years, so every single time, every single opener we've lost, I have this
one as a loss. I just think the Warriors in a one game sample are really tough Um, I think our defense will be as connected opening night. I think Steph is just a handful and I think Stephan Draymond feel like they'll have something to prove. I like the auto Porter pick up for them as well. I just think in a one game, first game, as staples, all this energy can kind of go against you sometimes as well. You kind of feel the nervousness, you know, they want
to get that win, um on the first night. So I have this one actually as one of their few losses to start the season. Um. I just think like they'll lose a close one of the Warriors that I really respect them as a team, and I think they'll have something to prove. I just I think this will be a really close game and they'll want a little playback payback for what what happened in the playing game
as well. Mhmm, you're not You're not wrong about those early season things, and that's definitely gonna be but works against them. I'm more concerned early in the season for the Warriors of just having a legitimate talent issue. They're just not gonna be super deep with talent, and I am really interested to see how experimental they are with their uh with their young players to start the season, like,
are we gonna see a lot of Wisemen. We're gonna see a lot of those two forwards that they drafted this year. Um second game of the season, also at home against the Suns, they added JaVale McGhee to spruce up their front court. If you remember last year, DeAndre Ayton was awesome, but when they went down to Dario Saris and Frank Kaminski, it was a gigantic drop off in terms of their in terms of their physical presence inside.
So they got JaVale McGhee to spruce set up. I like javal solid pickup um Alfred Payton, which I think was a really interesting signing simply because when they would go down to Campaign as their backup point guard, it was another really small player. It made it difficult for them to play multiple guards because they would have big a size disadvantages in the back court. Alfred Payton is just a much bigger, more athletic backup guard to have in that spot. So I actually like that pick up
a lot too. And then Landry Shammon, that's just another shooter off the bench, not too much of an interesting piece for them. I think this is a revenge game for the Lakers. I think I think they're gonna attack it, and I think they win. I think it would be close, just because the Sons are a very good team, but I think that I think the Lakers will win their game somewhere five ten points something like that. What do
you think? Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I think this is the one that Lebron and A D probably had circled already, you know, that first home game because the Sons how the playoffs ended. Um, a D should still be able to eat. I don't know why the matchup hasn't changed enough to me to where A D can't be the impact player that he was um when healthy in the series. Um, And yeah, Lebron should be ready to kind of get some hopeflic Campaign isn't himself.
You know, Campaign kind of killed us in the playoffs, so maybe they would keep a lid on him a little bit better than they did. But yeah, I see this one as a win. Um, they should start the season to me one and one, And I think it's a good, good early test for them as well. Westbrook kind of contest Westbrook as well against a really good team.
So I think they beat Phoenix to start. Yeah, I'm glad they have a couple of tough games at the start to kind of at them going because they come into a really funky stretch against a bunch of bad games. After that, we have, um, the third game of the season, also at home. Again, I think if I'm not I might be miscounting here, but I think eleven or four or twelve of their first fifteen games are at home, which is like absolutely crazy. Um, Grizzlies at home. They
added Steven Adams and then they added Jared Culver. It was a former lottery pick for the Timberwolves, classic case of lottery pick changing teams because things didn't really work out. We're gonna see a lot of that, uh later on in the schedule. Um, but I wrote this down as the first game that they'll play against a really really aggressive dribble drive guard. You know, they're gonna play Dame and Steph and and teams like that early in the season. However,
those guys are more really aggressive off the dribble jump shooters. Uh. You know, Jared uh. John Morant is just a relentless back basket attacker, especially at a pick and roll it's gonna be a really really interesting challenge for the Lakers. Defensively, I think the Lakers will win. Um, But I think it's a class I think it's a one of the ones that circle is a potential upset just because if the Lakers do not have their guard core dialed in defensively,
John Moran's gonna light them on fire. Um. What do you think about the Grizzlies and what do you think is gonna happen in that game? Yeah? To me, they're very similar team the last year as well. It called kind of relies on the growth of Jaw, which I think he's gonna be even better this year. And then Jaren Jackson Jr. Who I think he's made in it out of the lineup, but he's a he's a star
big man when he's healthy. To me, so him those two, And if you remember last year they play the Grizzlies at home, Grizzlies went up like twenty in the first half or something like that. I think the Lakers were kind of sleepwalking as well. But Job really kills them. He really kills that drop coverage. He has a really nice floater game. He gets into the paint really nicely, so it'll be a nice test. I also think they win. They're still a really young team as well. Um, still
kind of rebuilding. Um. But uh, and then they lost Jonas Valan chooses as well. I think that swapped between him and Adams makes them a little worse, um just in the just in the front court. But yeah, I think the Lakers win. That this is a good team though. I think they're going in the right direction that should be in that playing and of the playing game area of the of the Western Conference. But I think it's a win as well. Yep, we are on the same page.
There After that, they go on the road for the first time the season. They play in San Antonio against the Spurs. Uh. This is a team that's gone full rebuild. They have Doug McDermott, they have Thaddeus Young, and they have Zack Collins, but they lost to mar De Rosen. Their guard corps is super young but very talented. There's certainly a threat. However, this to me, also in the Lebron James era, the Lakers have pretty much just dominated the Spurs. UM. So this, just in general, is is
a game that I expect the Lakers to win. Classic road game against the rebuilt probably gonna be sloppy, but eventually I think they'll pull away third fourth quarter win by like ten fifteen points. What do you think? Yeah? I agree. I really like Dean Timry, Like, I think he's a really nice player, especially when he's healthy up, but I think he has a bright future. But yeah, they just don't have enough options. Lost to mar de
Rosen as well, who is really their main playmaker. Like you said, they're in a full on rebuild, all these young kind of cards any minutes. Derek White, I think I like him as well. I mean I should be a young team kind of like a close game and then pull it away at the end. Um in San Antonio definitely is going the other way in terms of wins and losses. So I agree with you. I think it's a I think it's a win. I have them and I think three and one. Now, um, you have
them at four. I know, is that great? Yes? I don't. I don't have them with the loss yet. Spoiler. I have the Lakers winning a lot of games earlier this. Yeah, I have a I have a rationale. I will explain as we get to the games. So then they stay on the road and go to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder, another full rebuild team. Obviously, Shay Gilders Alexander is a All Star in the making, probably not the guy who's gonna be a superstar, but a guy that I expect to be kind of like a competitor for
third team All NBA for most of his prime. Um. They added Derrick Favors and then they drafted that really tall point guard from Australia, Josh Kiddy. Um, this is another game I expect to be sloppy, but I think the Lakers will win by twenty just because there's just a gigantic talent gap between the two teams. What do you think? Yeah, and my notes I put Okay, see isn't fielding a real basketball team. So that's that's my notes on the Oklahoma City Um, I love, I love,
I love Shay gil just Alexander. Um, I'm happy for him he got the MAX. But yeah, that team is trying to lose and trying to lose a lot um and it's kind of flagrant what's going on there. But that's another discussion. I think the Lakers definitely pull this one out and pull and it's a little homecoming for us as well. I think he loves playing in front of Oklahoma City. Gives him even that extra boost. Not that he needs it, but he playing in Oklahoma City,
I think it's different for him. So yeah, I think they win that one as well. So this next game at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, I think it's pretty interesting. The Cavaliers have been a team that's weirdly generated a lot of buzz recently just because some of the bigger some of the bigger NBA writers out there, guys like Zach Log, guys like Kevin O'Connor, have been really pushing ah, you know, an emphasis on how good the backcourt is,
the sex Land court, which is calling Sexton and Darius Garland. Um, I'm I'm also on board with them. However, I and Zach look kind of touched on this in his appearance on Bill Simmons podcast the other day. But like there is, at the end of the day, you know, a heavy reliance on guys in the front court that aren't exactly like Evan Mobile will one day be a fantastic front
court player. Jared Jared Allen is already a great shot blocker in the front court, but just in general, they don't have a lot of guys in the front court that can put the ball on the floor and make plays, which inherently makes the game tougher for their guards. I find them to be a very interesting team. However, I find them to be a team that's gonna lose a
lot of games. They added Lori marken In. That's another example of one of those guys who's a lottery pick who really struggled in Chicago, who early on in Chicago showed a lot of promise as like a good two way forward who could really shoot the ball and was kind of weirdly uh a presence around the basket, is just like a big wing who could have some defensive impact, but just in general didn't perform up to that expectation. It was it was like the idea of Lori marketing
was better than he actually was as a player. Um Evan Mobley we just mentioned that had brought in Ricky Rubio, which is gonna be really nice for Collin Sexton to just kind of learn about some of the intricacies of point guard play that he's kind of missing. The rub On Callin Sexton is even though he's actually a super efficient score for a little guard. He doesn't move the basketball and so there have been issues over the years with his teammates in particular that have complained about him
never passing the ball. So that's uh something. And then then they added Denzel Valentine. I put this down as the first real risk of loss for me personally on the team because it's the classic game where if Darius Scarland and Collin Sexton are going in the Lakers guards aren't dialed in defensively, they could easily trick this game off. Um, it's kind of attacking one of the Lakers specific weaknesses. But I do think the Lakers end up winning close.
What do you think? Yeah? I think so too. Cleveland's interesting because I callin Sexton. He averaged twenty four game last year, which is, you know, it's nothing that's scoff at. That's not something that's easily done. We kind of put down scores in this late, but twenty four games, twenty four a game, whether you're passing or not, that's still pretty pretty good on good efficiency. Um, I think losing
Larry Nance hurts. I think he's better than Larry Marketing, honestly, And they paid marketing as well, which is really strange to me. They give Jared all On a hundred million dollars and then took Mobile as well in the draft. I know, just a strange team, a lot of guys trying to get minutes. I really like Garland as well, but again Rick Rick Rubio there all the minutes. Lebron loves playing in Cleveland as well. If you remember last year, he had that crazy kind of game at the end
res hitting all the shots. Um, I think they win as well. I think Lebron loves playing there. And there's still a young team to me, still trying to figure things out. Um. I don't remember if they have a new coach or not, but uh, but I think they're a young team trying to figure it out. And the contexts and stuff is just a cloud over all of this with him not getting his extensions. So I think it's just a weird still a weird young team. I
think they're gonna be fun, exciting. Rob the Lakers pointing this when out should be a team a game that you win as a good team trying to trying to pursue a title here, I think these are games you have to take. I agree and I and I think I think they're gonna lean heavily and Evan mobile to get him minutes so that he can kind of continue to grow as a player. And I think the Lakers front court is just going to demolish them. Um at home against the Rockets as the next game, they have
Usman Garuba. He's We've learned a lot about him in the Olympics, but just a fantastic defensive forward with flashes of like incredible all defensive potential. Jalen Green obviously, who we watched in Summer League show flashes as just a dynamic athletic two guards score. And then Daniel Tye if you guys remember as the starting center from the Celtics
teams that did really well a couple of years ago. Um, I put them down taking Team Lakers by twenty and the and but it will be sloppy, and they actually played his team back to back, both games at home, so the second one will probably be sloppier than the first. But I expect these both to be Laker wins. Yeah, me too. I like Jalen Green a lot. Houston is a really young team. They're just starting the rebuild as well, so just a young team doesn't really know how to
win yet, but I think they'll be really fun. They have a bunch of young guys that seem really exciting. Um. Obviously John Wall won't be there, so it really opens up minutes for Kevin Porter Jr. As we said, Jalen Green a group as well. Um, but again, just a young team doesn't know really what it's doing, but it should be fun. I feel like this is gonna be like a one twenty two like one ten type of just scoring game where the Lakers pulled out. They should
win both of these games pretty comfortably though. Yeah, and uh, like you said with with Kevin Porter Jr. And with Christian Would in particular, they're gonna have lineups that have a ton of talent on the floor. I don't think they'll win games, but they will have stretches where things kind of all click, where they look like you know, Houston fans are gonna be really excited about the future. Um. Back against the Thunder again for their next game at home.
I just put Lakers win by fifteen. I'm assuming you would agree. There were already talking about that team, so this next game is super interesting to me. Uh, this is on the road against the Trailblazers. They added Ben McLemore, who I have defended as being kind of in a tough spot in l A last year. UH just kind of thrown in in the middle of the season into a UH and being asked to do a lot without
given much of an opportunity to really figure it out. Um. They got Larry and Aunts back in that deal with the Calves, UH, nice little spruce up for their front court. And then they got Cody Zeller. I put this as a real road test, especially after two terrible teams. One of the things that I always watch out for is when NBA teams play bad teams, they form bad habits, and it's not it's hard to overnight UH fix those habits, and so I I see this as a game where
the Lakers could potentially fall behind early. However, again, there's a gigantic talent gap here, and you know there's one person on the Lakers roster who's going to make sure that the Lakers are fired up for this one, and that's Russell Westbrook. So I put this as a as a game that the Lakers would really really want to win, and thus one that I think they would win. What do you think? So I have this one as a loss. Actually, I just at Portland always seems like a tough situation.
Also in my notes to put Dame hates US for some reason, and obviously that hate is doubled now with what you just said. With Russell Westbrook on the team. M him and mccollumn for some bring for some reason in the regular season, just a tough matchup for US. Two guards who can shoot off the dribble, come off screens and pull up. That really kills that. That's really kind of our heel here um in the regular season. And I just think Dame in the regular season and
they'll be healthy as well. Norkus, Will Nurki should be there. Um. Covington I think is still there. Um. And they obviously switched out Gary Trent for Norman Pale last year and they resigned Norm Pal. I think they have a nice starting lineup. I think I saw the numbers They're starting line up last year was like plus eleven or something, and it was even better than the playoffs. On their bench was just terrible, and I'm not sure if they
really fixed that uh in the off season. Um. But I just think regular season at Portland is a tough game. One of the losses I have for them in the regular season, it will be close. If I just have I have Portland's sneaking that one out. Yep. Bland's an interesting team because that was the that was always the silver lining for them last year was that they're starting lineup.
Not only did they outscore teams by a lot in those minutes, but they they defended well, which has always been the rub on the Blazers was the fact that they didn't play any defense and essentially when they when they had that group together, for whatever reason, it clicked, but they lacked the depth to kind of maintain that as they went further into games. Um. Okay, so at home for the Hornets is next. They added James buck Knight, UH rookie that they just drafted. Super athletic kind of
scoring guard. The kind of guy that's not going to have a ton of impact, especially coming off the bench for them because they already have so many uh you know, shots coming to those two guards. UM west of wound do super athletic forward, defensive type of player. UM not really too much of an impact on them in their rotation, but an interesting piece. Kelly Ubre from the Warriors kind of another interesting player who's capable of going super frosty cold.
But then I'll have a game every once in a while where he looks like an All Star and then Mason plumb lay to kinda spruce up there. The center position another challenge for the Lakers defense because of how good their guards are, you know, with Almelo and Terry Rozier.
But I think the Lakers size will just be completely overwhelming for them and they're just like in that season, They're gonna be games on the schedule where regardless of what's going on with talent, regardless of what's going on with uh, you know, matchups in the backcourt, regardless of what's going on with the schedule or anything, they're gonna be games where the Lakers size is just so overwhelming that they're just gonna win. Which is what happened in
And I put that as one of these games. Um, Lakers by ten, What do you think? Yeah? I think so to Charlotte's an interesting team. Um, I think they go as far as LaMelo kind of takes them right, Like what is his jump? Like, is he stay the same or is he make that like Donovan Mitchell, not Luca. Maybe Luca is a tough one to make too, but kind of, you know, next level, kind of close to start here, um Ken LaMelo turned into that if that that's what it is, and they're gonna be a off team.
They kind of built around him as well, right. They brought all these young kind of wings you talked about Kelly Ubre. They have Miles Bridges as well, guys that can run the wing for him. Um, I forgot the center they brought in, but the big man they brought in. But okay, yes, they brought in another like athletic kind of big for him. Um, just to run the offense through. Again, I still think they're a super young team. Uh, they're kind of They're gonna give you fits in the regular season.
They're gonna try to run the ball and all. That. Should be a fun one at Staples. I think the Lakers pull it out, but I think they'll be close. Last year, they gave us a They give us a hell of a game last year too. I remember when we were healthy. I think LaMelo had a big game at Staples. Just a fun young remember that. Yeah, and LaMelo is good. I think he's the real deal, so we'll we'll see his kind of the next step in development.
He has a full, healthy offseason as well to work on his game, so I'm excited to see what Charlotte turns into. But the Lakers winning this one as well. The interesting phenomenon with LaMelo last year was that he often was taken off the floor for clutch situations. Um, he's got great physical rules and has a tendency to disrupt a lot of plays defensively by getting his hands on the ball. However, he's your classic young player who
doesn't really understand that. You know. Uh, there's uh. I can't even remember who said this, so I want to be I feel bad because I'm not going to properly credit them, But they laid this out so perfectly. They were saying, like, good defense is about making good offense not happen, not about turnovers, you know, because a turnover
is difficult to replicate. If you reach in and swipe a ball from somebody and go the other way, that's great, But the next time you tried that, he's probably gonna do behind the bactory will leave you in the dust and break down your defense. Good defense is about always being in the right spot at the right time so that good offense doesn't happen. LaMelo has to learn that
side of the game. It's kind of a similar stuff that we've been talking about with th h T. But I'm really interested in watching LaMelo's progress because he should be a good defensive player in the long run. That was actually that was Pete Webb, who was on the Laker film room. Thank you so much. That was a really interesting pot. By the way, I really enjoyed it was. It was great. He's great. Um So home for the Miami Heat added Kyle Lowry, markis Morris P. J. Tucker
from the Bucks. Um I put this is the only Lakers loss in the first fifteen games, so I have them going fourteen and one to start the season, large in large part because of the uh the week schedule. But this is a couple of things. This is a team that for starters, the Kyle Lowry has always had
his way with the Lakers. Um Secondly, the Heat always play their brand of basketball, which is in this season in particular, I think it's gonna be just very similar to the two thousand nineteen Raptors, just like obnoxiously good defense and just really fundamentally sound offense. To me, this is the kind of game where it's gonna be in Staples.
The Heat are going to kind of always be up by five, and the Lakers are just gonna seem a little bit out of it mentally and kind of coasting their way through the game, and then all of a sudden, like Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler are just gonna make a bunch of big shots down the stretch, and then they end up losing about like ten, and it's just kind of one of those weird games. So I have this as a Lakers loss. What about you? I actually
do too, you know what? You know, it's funny. Those are actually the worst games to watch as a fan where your team is down five and you can never like get over that hump, you know what I mean? Like those are the most frustrating kind of games, Like you make it close and then they make like two shots in a row, which is exactly what Miami does. Jimmy Butler plays at his pace, Kyle plays at his pace. Baman of Bio is kind of a slow, kind of big right, He's kind of just plays his pick and
roll kind of game. UM. I agree, Miami's gonna be a great regular season team to me this year. Eric Spoelstra amazing coach. Um, he'll find a way to make that work. I have this one as a loss to UM, so I have this as their third loss UM in this series. But yeah, I think Miami is a really good team that's gonna be a tough one to kind of pull out. UM should be close, though, two really good teams. To me, I think these are both teams that could compete for an NBA championships. So I think, uh,
I think Miami wins this one in stables. Yeah, no, I I would pick the Lakers over Like, there were a lot of people are like, oh, gotta watch out for the Raptors in the playoffs if we ever run into them in the finals, they're a bad mans up, And I always disagreed with that, Like, I never thought that the Raptors were a real threat to the Lakers
in a playoff series. I just think some there are some types of matchups that are particularly tough for specific types of teams in the regular season, and I thought that that was kind of what that was. And I think the Miami Heat are kind of a similar example in that regard um next home for the Timberwolves. The only meaningful change that I put down with Patrick Beverley, they're kind of more or less the same group of
guys that they were last year. The cores center on Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell, and Karl Anthony Towns, which is really funky fit because Anthony Edwards will one day be a great defensive player, but right now he's not, and neither is Dangel Russell, neither is Karl Anthony town So they're kind of built around a core that doesn't defend, and that's obviously your recipe for disaster in the NBA.
I put the Lakers win by ten. But the weird wrinkle with this is the Timberwolves are potential Ben Simmons trade destination, and it's very possible that by this point they look very different. Um, but that's where we might as well react to what we know for now. And so right now it's Patrick Beverley in the same group, and I think the Lakers went by ten. What about you? Yeah, I agree in Minnesota has their own issues. Um. I think they just like let co of their GM yesterday.
For some weere some other reasons. Um, but yeah, but yeah, I just I think the Lakers win this one as well. I think, uh, Minnesota is gonna depend on Cat. To me, like Edwards is obviously great still in the second year DEALO is who he is now in the league. I think we know what D'Angel Russell is. Um, he's gonna be a kind of off the dribble, high volume kind
of score. Um, it's all around Krar Anthony Towns. Kenny Carl Anthony Towns came to league as like this defensive big, like we forget his rookie year, like he was a good defensive big. Like he was there. They used to do these poles like who would you take cat Um, Anthony Davis or Embeed And people would pick Karl Anthony Towns a lot of times. And I'm not sure if just Minnesota not really being a real fan franchise for
a while um kind of changed that. But uh yeah, I think I think they're gonna depend big on Cap. The Lakers should win this one. I think they're the overall talent gap is just too big. When Minnesota, you know, takes away the starting lineup, they really don't have much coming off the bench, So yeah, I think the Leaders win this one as well. So, you know, Carl, I think there are Karl Anthony Towns is an interesting case defensively because I think there are two different kinds of
of defensive players. They're like tone setters, and then there are guys that kind of like like think of it as like leaders and followers, right like you know, um, like Anthony Davis is a defensive leader. Like whatever tone he sets defensively, the rest of the team just kind of follows. I think Russell Westbrook will be a guy like that this year, to like, if he really sets the tone at the point of attack, I think the
rest of the team will follow. Karl Anthony Towns And this is I kind of was defending him a little bit on Twitter last night because people were bringing up the two thousand eighteen first round series against the Rockets and how he didn't play particularly well. You know, in general, I was defending Dean DeAndre Jordan for the same example.
DeAndre Jordan and Karl Anthony Towns, in my opinion, are guys that if they are put around a group of guys who are defending, they are capable of being much better defenders than if you ask them to lead the way. Carl Anthon Town's clear really doesn't have the defensive impact or the defensive you know care, you know, for passion, whatever you wanna call it, for lack of a better term, He's not going to set the tone for you defensively.
But if they did bring in Ben Simmons or somebody along those lines, who could be a tones that are defensively. I do think Karl Anthony Towns will have a phase of his career where he defends well. He just so that's kind of the way that I would frame his defensive progression to this point, if that makes sense that does.
He's also like an offensive monsters. Numbers are insane. It just doesn't really translate to like super dominant basketball, you know what I mean, Like is it shooting numbers are like when you talk about him, they say, like he's one of the best shooting bigs ever, But you look at it in terms of impact winning, it doesn't really impact the scoreboard as much as I think it should. And again maybe that's just his surrounding roster around him.
But the talent is there, like he should be this defensive leader, like you're saying, but he's just not He needs like a he needs an anchor around him. Obviously Jimmy Butler was that for them. But again, Minnesota is in a weird place now where they're trying to figure things out. And when they had Jimmy Butler and they
were healthy, they were actually really good. Um it didn't really build so much because they had big injury problems and then they barely squeaked into the playoffs because of those injury problems and a mid season trade for Jimmy Butler. They got into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season by beating the Denver Nuggets, and then they ran into that buzz saw Houston Rockets team, which is one of the best teams to ever not win
a title. And uh so, just in general, the way that I would frame that is like, he had one real season, half a season really where he was in a competent system, and he will have more seasons in the future where he's in a competent system, and we should evaluate him then. And lastly, he in theory, is a devastating playoff weapon. He is a guy who can score out of the post, meaning that you can absolutely throw him the ball out of a switch in a
playoff defense. That's switching and attack mismatches. And he can space the floor, not just space the floor, but like space the floor to the elite level, Like he could shoot six threes a game and make forty two them. That, in theory, should be a really devastating playoff player. And I'm excited to see whether or not that really amounts to anything. Um home for the Spurs next. We already talked about their roster. I have this as another Lakers win.
How about you? Yeah, me too. Yeah, it's still young team. We went into the mory so uh. Last game in the first fifteen is the Bulls. They added a Lonzo Ball, Demarta Rosen and Alex Caruso. Um, this is a team that has really varying opinions. You've got guys on their online we think they're gonna be great, and then you have guys who think they're gonna be terrible. I put this as a tough game. I think the Lakers are more equipped to handle this team defensively because they don't
have fantastic dribble drive guards. Most of their offense centers around really aggressive jump shooting from Levine. You know, Alonzo has turned himself into a really aggressive jump shooter, and then Demarta Rosen who likes to attack mismatches in the post. So from that standpoint, I see this as a team that that kind of plays into the Lakers matchups. So even though I actually am higher on the Bull than
most people are, I do believe in their formula. I think the Lakers will win this game by about ten points because I think it's a good match up. What about you, Yeah, I mean too. I went back and forth with winner loss. I ended up on the Lakers winning this one. Chicago is like a real test case for like what matters defensively in the NBA. Right, they have all these like not all. Obviously Tomarrojamarto Rose, and Zach Kalvine aren't great, but Lonzo Ball and Alex Cruso
are good on ball defenders. But in their back line they have Vukovich as their main, you know, rim protector. Like it's gonna be interesting to see if they can even keep a good defense with that. And obviously when you play Alonzo and Alex Scruso, you give up a lot of offense as well, So I'm just wondering how that works and then Zach Lawe Jamada Rosen kind of going to kind of do the same things. Um, So
I'm really interested to see how they work. But they did put a bunch of talent together, like they have talent, I just don't know how much it impacts to winning, So I'm interested to see how how that works. But you have the Lakers winning this one. I don't think the Bulls um can defend well enough inside. I think a D will be a lot for you know, Lebron and they have nobody that can guard the barn. Yeah, exactly, and again the perimeter defenders. You give up a lot
of offense when you play those two together. So I'm just interest to see how that works. I think the Bulls will be an okay playing team. That's where I have them at Zavine Demarmarta Rosen should be able to rack up a good enough regular season wins to put them in the plane, but I think they lose at stables. You So you have them at twelve and three. Am
I accounting that correctly? Yes? Yes, I do. Okay, So I had them fourteen in one and I wanted to explain why because there are a couple of coin flip games that I had going for the Lakers. And this is something that I've talked about on the podcast before, but I just wanted to quickly reiterate it. You know, it's really easy to sit there and be like, oh, you know, classic Lebron team coast through the regular season, and you know, they like they're they're they're not going
to really be trying to win all these games. Oh there's basketball fit, you know that takes time. Blah blah blah blah. They're gonna I think I think the Lakers are gonna win sixty five games this year. And I've laid this out before, but the reality of the Lebron A D experience has been that when Lebron is healthy,
they absolutely try in the regular season. They try harder than just about every team in the end be A in the regular season, you know, maybe then the other the other than maybe the Bucks, so like the and that is evidence in their defensive ratings, and it's evidence in their win loss record. They won sixty They wanted a sixty four win paste before the bubble last year, and they wanted a six or two years ago, and they wanted a sixty four win paste before the Lebron
and a d injuries last year. So the reality is is when they're healthy, they try to win. If the Lakers are are not in uh near the top of the standings, in my opinion, it will only be because of injuries. And if you look at that schedule, every
one of those games is winnable. They absolutely they don't play a real contender at all in that first I mean maybe the Sun's if you're counting the Sun's maybe, but like they don't play any of the top tier teams in the league in this first fifteen game stretch. They will probably in Vegas be favored in every single one of them. So it is absolutely in play that they could go fifteen and No. I'm picking fourteen and one because I think they will drop one of them.
But I I I really think people are going to be surprised at how well the Lakers mesh pretty quickly and how well they attack the season. And lastly, the people are obsessed with the Russell Westbrook fit. And I think Darius Oriana laid this out the other day on his pod, but the Shrewder fit for for the fact that Shrewder is obviously an inferior player to Russ. It's a similar basketball dynamic though, and this is something that
I addressed on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. But like the Lebron is familiar with what it's like to play with the ball dominant guard, and people are are kind of over and and if you're concerned about spacing issues with rust, do you think people regarding Dennis Shrewder out by the three point line now? So, like, in my opinion, it's going to be a very similar fit
to last year, just with a much better player. So I expect that in Lebron and a d one went twenty four and three in their first season together to start, So I don't think fit and and that and integration is going to be much of a problem. Yeah, And at twelve and three, I kind of looked at it from percentage point, that's about a sixty five and a half win pays um eighty two game regular season in twelve and three fourteen and one isn't that crazy much off?
I'm going off that twenty one and six kind of very pessimistic. Um. What's funny though, after after those fifteen games, the next two games are actually Milwaukee and Boston, So that's a kind of nice little test there, um those two games right after that. But you're right, this is a really easy schedule and they should win a lot of these. You're gonna hear a lot of strength of strength of schedule kind of arguments again, ready for that, like it did in nineteen. But yeah, a lot of
these should be wins. Man. The league kind of hooked them up a lot of home games against a really bad team, So you should be able to rack up wins. And I think in the regular season that matters, you know, getting some wins, getting some confidence, you know, as a good team. Um, when you have a good record, it kind of plays out through the year and really helps out. So um. I think also with the new team, that's
a big deal. And Westbrook, Lebron and a d is just enough talent to bulldoze um more than percent of the league to me, no matter what system or whatever chemistry it takes to build with them. So I agree with there should be fun. It should be a fun season fans back in the stadiums, I think means a lot. Um those first regular season games early in the year last year just felt dead a lot of the times, just no energy, and uh, I think crowdback means a lot,
so that we should have a good start here. I think fifteen games is a nice kind of benchmark that we looked at there. Um and yeah, we have them winning a lot of games early. So hopefully this doesn't backfire and they're like they're like seven and eight or something to start. But but but yeah, this should be a good, good start this season. I would be absolutely
flabbergastaid if they lost more than three years and that start. Um, So we're gonna move pretty quickly through these next couple of topics because we only have about thirteen minutes, so uh, really quickly. Frank Vogel did an interview with the Spectrum Sports Net, and the two main things that you and I took away were him saying that region Rondo was
going to basically be Jared Dudley. We won't talk about that per se, but I think that's good news for both you and I because that was one of my biggest concerns when they brought him in, was whether or not he was gonna take minutes away from some of the other cards. Um. The one we will talk about is Frank mentioned that he doesn't know if a D is gonna play at the center and that it's gonna end on training camp in which groups look good together. I'm gonna let you go first, but I'm gonna say
I'm calling BS on this one. What do you think? Yeah? I think he was just giving all of you guys a bone, you know what I mean. You guys have kind of been waiting for this, for this kind of news, and he kind of threw it to you. I'm not I don't know if i'd call it BS, like I do think he goes into training camp like with an open mind. Obviously, every coach is going to go in with who they think, right Vogel, this is his life, so obviously he's been drawing up rotations since you know,
August or whatever September for what he thinks. But I'm sure if he goes in and someone kills one of the power four is just kill it. Let's say a reason is just amazing in camp. Maybe he starts, you know, at the at the three, with Lebron at the four. So I think that is an open possibility. I think DeAndre Jordan has or Dwight Howard has to kind of lead in this to be the starting uh starting center but I think it's open, and I think it's good
to hear him say that as well. So I don't I don't call it BS, but I do think he has an idea of his rotation would be. But I think training camp things can't change. People can win. I think th ht of really impressed in training camp in preseason last year and put him in the rotation when you know it probably wasn't sure if he was going to be So I think there are there are spots to be taken in and with the Rondo news, it means that like you know, uh, Kendrick Non Maligue Monk
are probably gonna get those minutes at backup guards. So I think that's a that's a good thing as well. Right, Yeah, So I would say that this is just my prediction and we're gonna we're gonna find out here pretty quick. I would say that they absolutely know what the starting front court is going to be. I think it's gonna be Lebron and a D at the four and the five.
That's my prediction and we will see um. But regardless whether it's a D at the four with Dwight or or DeAndre Jordan at the five, or a D at the five, whether that's one or two spots. I do think that the one or two guard slash wings that they're gonna put next to Russ and Lebron and a D. I absolutely think that's up in the air. My guess is that that will be entirely based on camp and I really think it could be anybody if I had to, If I had to pick, I would guess that it
will be Ellington and uh and Aresa. That's start. That's just my guests will be Russ, Ellington, Areza, Lebron e D. I love that lineup defensively, and I love that lineup with the shooting around UH, the A D at the five lineup to create driving lanes. That's my favorite starting lineup combo. However, you could you could make the case for anybody to me. I think Kendrick nun is somebody that I don't expect to start. But I wouldn't be surprised if Malik Monks somehow got it. I wouldn't be
surprised if th Ht somehow got it. I wouldn't be surprised if Baysmore somehow got it. I think every one of those other guys is absolutely in the equation and training camp will be when they fight for and earn that spot, if that makes sense, right, Ran. There's a little other tidbit that vocals hit in there. It kind of went unnoticed, a little hit I saw. But he was talking about the defense, right, and they told him a lot of our defensive guards went out this summer.
He said, they did, but we did get a lot of kind of players back that you know, aren't liabilities, is what he called them. And then um, he said about the defense, Um, the guards will have help back there again like they did in twenty money. So you kind of referred to the uh he kind of referred to the Yeah, he kind of he kind of slid it in there and went kind of unnoticed, but I made sure to write that down. You know. He said, hell back here again like they did in twin twin,
referring more to me to the shop blocking, right. I think that's the difference. Dwight Howard and uh DeAndre doner more shop blocking type of bigs than Harrow and drummondware. So the treas and Mark just weren't just Mark vertical exactly. So you know, these little TIBs he throws out there it could put us in any direction. I'm just I thought that was interesting as well, when you, uh, when he referred back to that title team. But it's gonna
be interesting. We'll know really soon, so we'll know in a few days anyway, but I just thought those were kind of interesting takes from him. Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that part about the defensive liabilities, because that, to me is the is the key difference. Like, do the so the last year's Lakers lacks defensive liabilities almost entirely, right, like maybe aside from Ben McLemore, like, all of their guards were good defensive guards and and we however, this year,
do they have weak defensive cards? Yeah, they do. They have some on the roster, like in wings like Carmelo that's a weak option. Leaku Monk at this point in his career, that's a weak option. Russell Westbrook has shown a tendency to be you know, we've talked about it, but he's he's he's capable of being a good defensive player, but he hasn't been in recent years. Same thing goes
for Kendrick Nunn. However, they will apt Frank will absolutely have access to lineups that can defend at the guard position. Will he have options that will be more offensive oriented, Yes, but he will be able to go th Ht Russ, bays More, Ellington. Those four players are all capable of being above average defensive players, and so from that standpoint,
he will always have options. If if the offense is stilted and he needs to get Lebron and a D going, He'll be able to put a D at the five, put a ton of shooting out there, and Lebron and Nadie will build their confidence. If it's a rock fight like that game against Miami and it's just like we're we're in a in an ugly fist fight, it's two eighty two, four minutes left in the fourth quarter, he'll be able to go to lineups with more physical point of attack guards that will be able to hold their
own On that end, it's there's a more defense. There are more defensive options than people are letting on outside of the Laker fan base. I think, yeah, no, I agree with that, and they should be able to keep a company defense and Vocal seems Um seems ready to do that. But I'm really interested to see how it looks and how he kind of builds that. Uh, if he goes back to that kind of defense, or if he starts eight and Lebron at the four or five, we kind of switch a little more. So interesting see
how he goes with it. But we're not pretty soon, so we have about seven minutes here. We're gonna talk about the Ben Simmons situation, and I'm gonna I'm gonna let you go first on this one. So the obviously the Ben Simmons situation in and of itself is complicated, but it's been kind of attached to this larger narrative having to do with player empowerment. So I think I'm just gonna ask you the broad question, what are your thoughts on the Ben Simmons situation and uh, what are
your thoughts on the player empowerment movement in general? So to me, these are two separate entities. Like to me, this is a totally different situation because usually in the player townament era, players who are at Ben Simmons age, he's like twenty four who are star players. Ben Simmons a star in the name, he's been an All Star and all that, who is on a long contract. The reason they want to leave is because it's not a winning situation, right, That's usually the way, so they pull
themselves out of it. It's not a winning situation. They want to go somewhere where they can win games and make money and live in a nicer area. Right, that's kind of the way. This is not what's happening with the Ben Simmons situation. He wants to leave a good team. Philly was the one seed last year. Like, we lose this because they lost to the Hawks in second round, but they were the one seed. I think they won sixty games or they want close to it. They want
like fifty maybe they want like fifty seven. Whatever, they're a good team. They'll still have their good core, interactive Ben Simmons or to have stayed um. But to me, this is totally different than the player powermon area. Now what's going on in Oklahoma City. I feel like that should be more of what people should be looking at, like what's going on there. To me, that's a bigger issue that the lead should be looking their eyes at.
Adam similar has totally just you know, took a blind eye to that, letting them do whatever they want, let their star go home in March because they want to lose games. Like, to me, that's that's what we should be looking at Ben Simmons situations and totally different. DC Rivers should not be going out and saying he doesn't know if his star point guard he can win with when the star point guard is signed for four more years, like he's been the lead too long to say these
kinds of things. If Joel and Beat says that, Okay, it's his teammate, you know, he's not. Really It's not his job to kind of have pr relations or whatever. DC Rivers, part of his job is to be good in the media, Like that's part of his job, he's part of. Part of his job is to be paid to do that. So I think this is a totally different situation. Ben Simmons obviously felt disrespected and wants to leave,
and I don't really blame him. Now, Ben Simmons deciding not to show up to camp, I think that's a threat that I'm not sure he'll really go with. I mean, that's a lot of money to give up. Um. I saw like Brian Windhorse said he got paid like half his salary are ready or something weird? Um, because you know Rich Paul of course, how dare they you know, get their clients their money early. But uh, obviously it's
Rich Paul's fault. But uh but yeah, so I think this is just a different situation to me, Like it's it's totally new. This is not why star players leave or are leaving. Ben Simmons is a totally different situation. So that's how I said, how do you see it? Do you kind of go with that or you think this is all in part of the plant Parliament area as well. Also, what's happening in New Orleans to me is another thing that like people should be looking at
with Zion, you know what I mean. I think that's a bigger thing the league should be looking at, rather than this Ben Simmons situation, which to me is totally different. Yeah, you're preaching, Roger. I agree with literally everything that you're saying. I would argue that there are three completely separate situations
taking place here. There is the Ben Simmons situation and the problems that the Sixers should have with the fact that he hasn't improved at all, um not not anything that they should be able to actionably do anything about. But however, there is conversation to be had about Ben Simmons and how like, uh, culpable he is in his lack of improvement. Then there's an issue with the player
empowerment era. Right, There's a conversation to have about the problems that could manifest in the long run for the league with the health of the of the fan bases if you continue to let players flex their way out of contracts with many years left. However, that is not at all related, in my opinion, to this specific situation. The Anthony Davis situation with the Pelicans, that's a great example. Grass is greener. On the other side, Star just wanted to go to a better team in a better city.
You know. The Khi Leonard situation is very different. He had a problem with the athletic training staff, you know. Uh, but he did do some flexing when he went to the Clippers because he was asking for basically, you know, completely uh, you know, outrageous favors from the ownership groups. Like, there's a conversation to be had about player empowerment. I just don't think it's related to the Ben Simmons case.
In the Ben Simmons case, you have a player that has been like directly attacked in the in the press by Joe l Embiid his co star and by his head coach and a general manager has gone out and openly shot the guy. He has every right to want out, and I and I will be I think it would be a huge mistake for Darryl Moorey if he decided to try to withhold any salary, because I think all the players in the league are watching this situation and I think it would directly impact their ability to sign
free agents in the future. But I think it's important for us to delineate all those subjects, like Ben Simmons deserves criticism for not improving. The Sixers should absolutely pay Ben Simmons until they trade him. If they want to hold out for a better package, by all means, go ahead, but they should absolutely pay him because they are partially responsible for for him wanting out. And then the situation with UH with player empowerment, there's a conversation to be
had there, but it's separate. Those are all separate issues and they shouldn't kind of bleed into each other. If that makes sense. No, it does. And I see people talking about Ben Simmons game like, oh, like you know he still does this and he's still Like to me, Ben Simmons, his issue was never his game. It's like this, it's a lack of aggression, it's a you know, it's a lack of like uh using his talent to where he could, like if he just didn't shoot would be
a bigger issue. So to me, his game he isn't even a part of this. Like, this is totally different. This is a whole different situation to me, um than what people are talking about with this has nothing to do with the James Harden situation. Comparing to that just doesn't make sense to me, Like he wants out due to externally or factors. Right, most players who want out it's because of what's it's because they're not winning. So
to me, it's a totally different situation. And withholding money, like I don't know, we joke about clutch, but I mean that's not an enemy you really want in the league to me, like like so I'm just I'm just thinking. Also it's a bad look as well, just withholding with holding money from a player, it's just it's just not a good look on your franchise. And to me, I would have let Doc go before I go through this fire like I mean, like it's just to me, like
that's the movie here, Like I mean, DC Rivers. I'm sure it's a good He's been named as a player's coach, which is hilarious about you know, it's kind of funny how this worked out. But like just I feel like I would have let go before I go through this flame with VN Simmons um. And again, this could have all been probably avoided if none of these comments were public.
But you know, what goes in public is probably half of what's said in private, right, Like just think about what they say in private if if what came out publicly came out. So this probably has been brewing him. Ben Simmons isn't dumb. He knows they shopped him for James Harden and that's part of the NBA. That's not that's not That doesn't mean he should have asked for a trade. Then I'm just saying like this is stuff
that's all been building. But it's totally different. Man. Like again I said, like, what's happening, Okay, see what's happening in New Orleans to me is a thing that Lee should be looking at. This is totally separate. This is uh something that Philly has done to themselves in my opinion, and Ben Simmons is at fault. He shouldn't be passing up dunks and that's the fourth quarter of Game Seven's like that. He should not be. He needs to be uh, he needs to help hold himself accountable for all the
stuff on the basketball court. But this is totally separate from that. And I think I think you've kind of talked about this as well. So I think he's gonna be traded. I think they waited too long though, like the seasons about to start. I don't know what they do here. What can you get a D'Angelo Russell trade package? Just doesn't really I don't know Doo much. And again, it's such a it's such a like one of one situation because usually when you're the one seed, like you're
not giving up your star player for anything. But just a different situations that I haven't really seen before that can even compare it to. Because you can't just trade him for first round picks. That does nothing for Joel em Beats. So I don't I don't know where they go from here. I don't know what they trade him for. But he looks like he's done in Philly. Yeah, I think I think most of this has been posturing to try to get as much as they can out of him.
Um uh. And my guess is Daryl will eventually bite the bullet because I don't one in doubt, don't go into training camp with drama. Like the Sixers are a legitimate contender, make a deal so that you can go from day one of media day all the way through to the end of the season without turmoil. I think that there's some value to that, and that's, for instance, why I think the Anthony Davis trade happened in the
summer and not during the season for example. Um. But yeah, so the last thing, the very last thing, and I'll be really quick as I need to leave. I don't
like the comparisons between Ben Simmons and Draymond Green. Um. To me, they couldn't be more different, you know, uh for starters offensively, every everyone just kind of attaches two things to each other, like can't shoot and good passer, and then they just use those two things to immediately marry the two of them together as as similar basketball players. To me, in just strictly between those two skills, they
could not be more different. Draymond is the best back line defender of this era in terms of communication and ability to disrupt things around the basket, either vertically or using his body to put people off balance, or using his hands down around the lane to to disrupt little drop off passes and things along those lines. Draymond is actually not great out on the perimeter guarding really quick,
shifty people. It's not a strength of his. Ben Simmons exact opposite, just a a wing defender that will just swallow up any super elite offensive player out there. It's a it's a completely different defensive skill set. And then offensively, they're both great passers. But Draymond Green is a great passer when the defense is already compromised. He's great at
making reads. Ben Simmons is someone who breaks down the defense and makes great passes, either by shoot the ball in transition or beating people at the point of attack to get a second defender involved so we can kick
out to open three point shooters. So I think it's important to clearly differentiate between those two guys in that regard and the reason why Ben Simmons is so much better in my opinion, in terms of a long term prospect is the fact that Ben Simmons it can absolutely generate advantages and if he can get over some of his mental hurdles, he could be a devastating playoff player because of his ability to attack mismatches. If that makes sense. No,
I totally agree with you. I think those comparisons are way off to me, Like Draymond is one of the best competitors ever as well, just their mindset when they go into these big games is totally different. Like it's just not even fair to compare them to right now, where Ben Simmons is, his talent might be more than Draymond is, just overall in terms of what he can do. It's just trying those players where they're at right now, and the careers just wouldn't be fair to Draymond as well.
I agree, yep, I agree. Al right, everybody, thank you so much. We gotta get rage out of here. We will get this uploaded to the podcast feed shortly. As always, reappreciate your support and we will see you guys next week. Thanks everyone,