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responsible gambling resources. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week. We got a fun show for you today. I watched Clippers Suns last night, so I wanted to get a instant reaction in on that game. Then we're gonna do our power ra like we promised yesterday. And then at the end of the show, we're gonna do eleven mail bag questions. Gonna be bouncing all around the league. You guys know the joe before
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in the YouTube comments. And then just so you guys know, I'm leaving in about an hour and a half to go to the airport and flying up to Park City to ski this weekend. So I'm gonna be gone for a little while, but we'll if something major happens, I'm bringing my stuff with me, and then well, I'll be back in about three days and then we'll get back
to it. And then lastly, before we get started, have you guys ever had like a really bad ticket buying experience, Like the price ends up being way more than you expected because of the way that the individual ticket price is marketed, or you're not sure where your ticket is or just how much value you're getting out of your purchase. That's what I want to talk to you guys about game game Time for a minute. I love their transparent ticket purchasing process. They have all in pricing so you
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All right, let's talk some basketball. So the Suns took a brief, little five point lead in the second quarter and then the Clippers just methodically pulled away from there. James Harden was awesome in the run there at the end of the second quarter as the Clippers took the lead back was just killing him and pick and roll.
He hit a step back three at a pull up mid range jump shot when he snaked to the pick and roll, got all the way downhill and got his shoulder and he drew you banks and finished on the left side of the basket. He hit zoobots on a couple of pocket passes which led to weak side rotations to get guys like Terrence May and close that opportunities.
Just classic Harden offensive engine stuff. Remember James Harden. As much as we can criticize him in the postseason, there aren't many players that are better regular season engines than James Harden, because he can consistently generate high quality shots for himself in pick and rolling in ISO, and then he can get the defense in rotation. I thought Terrence Mann did an awesome job defending Devin Booker and kind of taking away some of the advantage situations that Devin
can generate. The Clippers four to seven, Booker into six turnovers. Kawhi bounced back from his rough shooting night went eight for fifteen after going six for seventeen against the Lakers the other night. The Suns it just never felt like they could gain any sort of significant momentum in this game. And that's where like what screamed to me off the screen in this game, is that the Clippers are just a better version of the Suns. These are two teams that have a lot of guys that like to look
for their own shot. Right, These are a lot of guys I would argue that like PG and Choire a little bigger and maybe a little bit more efficient overall and can get closer to the rim. But Katie and Devin Booker I think are better passers. But they're if you actually look down the roster, it's like Kawi's kind of every bit as good as KD, if not a little bit better, right, and has played better basketball this year than KD. Paul George is playing better ball than
Devin Booker this season. If both of those guys PG and Choire significantly more impactful on the defensive end of the floor, James Harden is playing better basketball right now than Bradley Beal. Terrence Mann, Like if you start to look at that, like Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon, Joshakogi kind of like fifth guy in the lineup thing, Terrence Man is just a better two way player than all those guys.
Even though he's having a rough shooting season and then Zubots is just a better version of Yusef nurkicch more physical, is a better defensive player, holds up more. He can actually cause more problems fighting guys off as spots. When it comes to the other centers around the league, they're just better. Clippers are eleventh in defense, the Suns are seventeenth in defense. Both suck at defensive rebounding, but the Clippers are twenty first and the Suns are twenty third.
Both teams take a ton of pull up jump shots. Last night was crazy. There was thirty three pull up two pointers in the game and nineteen of them went in. That's one point one five points per shot. Imagine that all the analytics guys were probably having a heart attack watching all those mid range jump shots and yet them still being highly efficient shots. But here's the thing in the big In the big picture, both teams attempt a
ton of pull up jumpers. The Clippers get one point zero one one points per pull up jump shot this season, the Suns get zero point nine to four. So even in that, the Clippers are a more efficient offense. Now, to be clear, the Suns still have a ton of room for improvement. But even just from the standpoint of personnel, the Clippers just look like a better version of them.
And that would scare me if I was a Phoenix fans a fan, just because you know, when you start to look at these teams in terms of their championship contentionent, you're every team is good and bad at different things, right Like, every team has strengths and strengths and weaknesses. Like Denver, even winning the championship last year, their bench is not their strong suit. Right Like, that's not gonna be an area where they win games in most situations.
Right Like, everyone's got their strengths, everyone has their weaknesses.
The difference is the Clippers and the Suns have similar strengths and weaknesses, except for the Clippers have better strengths and their weaknesses are less weak And that would concern me from that standpoint, because you're either gonna have to go through the Clippers or go through teams that the Clippers beat, And in that specific case, it's just a tough matchup because a team that would beat the Clippers would present similar issues for the Suns in terms of
their overall size on the front line and things along those lines. Now, for the Suns, to try to close that gap. They need Devin Booker to get back to the level he was at in the playoffs last year, which he has not been except for out of the first few games of the season. They need Bradley Beale to find his groove. He's struggling to convert spot up possessions into points right now, even though he's shooting the
ball well. In general, looks like a little bit of a clunky fit offensively at this point, and they probably need to hit a trade something in terms of a wing athlete that can do dirty work for them while also being a plus offensive player. They need all of that stuff to go right for them for them to get up to that level. So definitely concerning for the
Suns right now. Again, I talked about that. I'm going to talk more about this in the power rankings, but I'm going to put the Clippers on my championship contender list. I just want to wait until after these Thunder Thunder Timberwolves matchups that are coming up next week. I think it's the twelfth and the fourteenth, so it's right around the corner. Those games we'll see, but right now, i'd put them above the Suns for sure at this point.
All right, moving on to our power ranking. So to give you an idea, I wanted to read this out because it's classic example of January in the NBA. So last week our power rankings were Boston at one, okay See at two, Minnesota at three, Clippers at four, Milwaukee at five, Philly at six, Sacramento at seven, Nuggets at eight, the Pacers at nine, and the Pelicans at ten. But it's January in the NBA. So this is what has
happened since I put that list together a week ago. Today, the Celtics just lost to the Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton, after beating them with Tyres two days earlier. The Thunder followed up their huge win over Boston with back to back losses to the Hawks and the Nets, two teams that have been free falling over the last month. The Minnesota Timberwolves have lost three of their last four games. The Los Angeles Clippers just lost to an ice cold
Los Angeles Lakers team. The Bucks have lost four out of five and just got murdered at home by the Utah Jazz. The seventy six Ers have lost three of four and they just got murdered at home by the Utah Jazz. The Kings just lost by thirty three points at home to the New Orleans Pelicans and lost to Charlotte a few days before that. The Nuggets just lost
to an ice cold Orlando Magic team. And the Pelicans and the Pacers are both playing well, but they both recently just got outclassed by the Clippers and the Celtics. So like, we're gonna move teams around accordingly on the power rankings list this week, because that's the purpose of the list to kind of, you know, quantify regular season basketball. But we should never read too much into January basketball.
It is a confluence of events that lead to a lot of wild swings in effort between teams on a night tonight basis, which can lead to some weird results. Everyone has been in this grind since early October, so it's like three plus full months of work, yet you're not even halfway done, so you can see how that can get fatiguing. The trade deadline is still a month away, so there's no real change on the horizon. Most change
usually when we get to this point. It's not until like the last couple of weeks where you start to see some action and then all the shit you've accomplished to this point just doesn't matter when the Utah When the Utah Jazz come into your building and they're young and they're athletic and they're playing their ass off, they don't care how many wins you have, they don't care
where you're at in the standings. They're young, they're talented, and they're gonna come play hard for forty eight minutes and if you don't, you're gonna lose, and you might lose ugly. And it's worse now than ever because there's so much talent in the league. So the point being, we can still learn things during January, but it's probably the month that can most misrepresent what a team is
capable of. Like, for instance, a lot of people are jumping off the bucks in the Lakers right now because they've been playing some god awful basketball in the last couple of weeks, right, But I mean, you're be my guest if you want to pick against Damon Giannis in a playoff series, or pick against Lebron James and Anthony Davis in a playoff series, Like I think both teams are still really good and they're just just stuck in the mud of January NBA basketball. I think the Lakers
in particular are desperate for some turnover. I think the Bucks two could use an upgrade, although I know Malik Beasley wants them to stick with what they got. But again, the point is January in the NBA is weird, so we learn what we can, but we try not to overreact to anything that happens in this particular month. I have two teams dropping out from last week. The Sacramento
Kings are five and five in their last ten. They just got obliterated by the Pelicans at home the other night, lost to Charlotte before that, just going through a rough patch, so they're off the list for right now. The Pacers
I'm taking off. Yes, they're playing amazing basketball, they've won seven out of eight, but Tyres Halliburnon just strained as a hamstring and is going to be out for at least two weeks, So I kind of want to just use that spot as an opportunity to shout out another team as the Pacers will have to play some fun n key basketball for a few weeks. The Pacers, I fully expect will make it back onto the list. Into
the future. So Number ten the New York Knicks. They are undefeated four and uh since Og and and Obi joined the team. A one to twenty one offensive rating, which is awesome, in a one to zho three defensive rating, which is the best in the league. Over that final that last four games quality wins too. They destroyed the Sixers in Philly and they also beat the Minnesota Timberwolves. I want to shout out Julius Randall. He's gone for thirty five plus in four of his last six games,
hooping his ass off. The Knicks have a much more imposing physical profile now with Og in the lineup. They're going to be a hard out when we get to the postseason. Number nine the Dallas Mavericks. They've won four out of five, including wins over Minnesota and Golden State.
Kyrie and Luca were playing so well against Minnesota that, even despite them having two of the best perimeter defenders in the league when they're engaged, they were throwing multiple bodies into their two main game, which was just putting Minnesota into rotation and causing all sorts of problems. Just a testament to how good Kyrie and Luca can be in the half court. But most importantly, the Mavericks are
third in defensive rating over their last ten games. Really encouraging stuff coming out of Dallas that could bode well for the postseason. That's much closer to the Dallas team that we saw from two years ago. Number eight the New Orleans Pelicans took a beating from the Clippers, who are just a better basketball team right now, but they are still playing great ball. They've won each of the other five games in their last six. They bounced back
by obliterating the Kings and Sacramento the other night. They're getting super balanced scoring, really high level pick and roll shot creation from CJ. McCollum and Brandon Ingram, and they have the second best defense in the league over the last fifteen games. We have Pelicans at eight. Number seven the Philadelphia seventy six ers. During this one in three stretch,
their offense has completely fallen off of a cliff. They're shooting a league worst forty two percent from the field in that span and a league worst twenty six percent from three over that four game span. And beat has been great, but Tyreese mack seas in a little bit of a slump. That's been a big driving force behind their offense. Struggling. Number six the Milwaukee Bucks. They've lost four out of five and five out of eight. They've
been a bottom five defense over their last eight games. Obviously, the point of attack has been a problem, helping rotation has not been great. They're only tenth in offense over that span. Basically, everyone not named Giannis isn't playing well. I think this team is much much better than they look right now. They're just a victim of some January basketball, some mid season blues. They have issues, but so does
everyone else, and they have a ton of strengths. I think they're gonna still be at the top when we get or near the top when we get to the end of the season. Number five the Minnesota Timberwolves. They're starting to crack a little bit under their brutal schedule. They've lost four out of seven games. Ironically, it's been their defense that has struggled. Their twelfth in defense over that span. I didn't really like their strategy late in
the game against Dallas. This is not a defense that has a ton of foot speed, so they really need to keep their perimeter defenders defending actions one on one and two on two, which means less aggression in terms of bringing their help side defenders out. I think when they get into rotation, their foot speed becomes a little bit of an issue. That's just a little schematic thing. Two more tough games in this schedule stretch, at Orlando and at Boston, and then things will lighten up for them.
Number four Oklahoma City Thunder. Their defense has caused the slippage since the Boston win. They were third in defensive rating in December. They are twenty seventh so far in defensive rating through four games in January. They are also giving up an offensive rebound on thirty nine point two percent of their opponent's misses, which is by far the worst mark in the league over the course of January
so far. That's been a consistent weakness for the Thunder during the season is their inability to clean up the defensive glass. Number three the Denver Nuggets. They dropped a game to Orlando the other day, but it was something crazy like their ninth back to back of the season, which is an absolutely brutal schedule when you consider we're less than halfway through an eighty two game season, so eighteen of their you know, like basically half their games
to this point have been in back. That's tough. So I still think they're the clear championship favorite at this point, barring an injury to his starter, I just think they're going to win now. Peyton Watson has become so good that he's kind of filled that Bruce Brown alternate fifth closer spot really nicely, and I actually think he can be better than Bruce Brown in the long run because he's a bigger, stronger, a bigger, more long athlete. Right. Nuggets all the way up at number three, number two
the Los Angeles Clippers. They're basically undefeated with Kawhi in the lineup since November outside of the Laker game on Sunday, and the Lakers are a much better team than their record shows. And the Lakers were at home and they were super desperate, so that's a tough game to win under any circumstances. They came back the next night and
just completely outclassed the Phoenix Suns. I'm going to add them to my championship contender list, It's just a question of where, and I'm going to do it after the Minnesota Oklahoma City game. So we'll do like a Championship Contender Update episode when we get closer to that point. And then lastly, I think they've been here three four
weeks in a row. Now, the Boston Celtics, they lost a weird game to the Pacers last night after Tyres Haliburton left the game, but they did just literally outclass the Pacers with Tyres Aliburton in the lineup two nights earlier. So just kind of weird January basketball stuff. Tatum's pull up jump shot is red hot, and the Celtics offense is insane right now. One twenty eight offensive rating in their last ten games. That's a full two point one points ahead of the number two spot over that span.
All right, let's move on to our mail bag. We have eleven mail bag questions today. Hey, Jason, big fan of the show, how do you think the Kings should handle the trade deadline? It was already clear that an upgrade from Barnes was necessary, but now Herderr Struggles has added a new sense of urgency for a trade. What do you think is the smartest approach to the second half of the season for the Kings? So you know it's interesting, is I look at the Kings, I want
to like. I really like the idea of more size in the lineup when you factor in Demonis Sibonis and some of his defensive limitations. Right, we've seen this before with We've seen this with the Pelicans this year. We see it with the Nuggets this year and last year in the postseason. When you have a really really good low man, like a guy like kind of like what Brandon Ingram's been doing for the Pelicans a lot this year, kind of like what Aaron Gordon's been doing for the
Nuggets forever. When your weak side defenders have real length and size and athletic tools, it makes it so that you can bring your big man higher into your pick and roll coverage is to be more aggressive where his inability to block shots is not as much of a problem and it's more basketball like Q, quick hands, defensive rotation stuff that comes to the surface, which actually fits
the Bonus' skill set more. But you have to have a top tier athlete at the four that can really cause problems as a low man in help situations, rotating back to the weak side and cleaning up the defensive glass. So we know they went after Siakam and that that deal fell apart, probably because Kevin Herder or not Kevin Heurder, because Keegan Murray was being pulled from the deal, and I totally understand that thought process. Keegan Murray's a really
exciting young player. But the idea is if you can get a Siakam type of player in at the four all of a sudden, that raises your defensive ceiling substantially. I also think people have underested me to Pascal Siakam is a post up shot creator, which would add a kind of additional, you know, playoff entry point for their offense, which I think is worth looking at. The other thing too, I think when push comes to shove, you got to go down with Malik Monk and Dearon Fox on the floor.
I think it just gives you the amount of Gerbil penetration you need to dissect playoff defenses, and so a lot of that kind of entails. If I've got Dearon Fox and Malik Monk, Darren Fox can take high leverage defensive assignments, and I actually think that that's kind of the best version of the Kings is when Dereon Fox is really locked in on the defensive end. But if
Malik Monk's your two. I really need three good forwards there, right, or two good forwards next to Demoness Sibonis and so like, at a certain point, you got to ask yourself, like, do you want to sit here and wait for Keigan Murray's development and see if you can find some discounted forward to upgrade Harrison Barnes or do you want to push your chips in and try to go at this thing.
And that's a decision for the front office to make, because there's a version of this where maybe you package Herder and Keegan Murray and you bring back a player like that and you slot Harrison Barnes up at the three they've had some success with, like Sabonis, Trey Lyles,
Harrison Barnes lineups that are just bigger this season. Those lineups are actually plus nine per one hundred possessions and ninety one possessions this year when Barnes is next to Lyles and Sabonis and so like, maybe you end up making a move like that and you have a Sabonis, Siakam Barnes, Moleik, Monk, Deer and Fox kind of lineup that you can go down with in the postseason. But that puts off a lot of your long term upside, right because of whatever Keegan Murray and Kevin Herder can become.
So it's tough decisions. But at the end of the day, like if you want to keep Keegan Murray and keep some of your long term upside, that significantly diminishes the caliber player that you can bring back in that four spot, you know, unless unless you can hold off, and maybe you get lucky and you hold off until the deadline, and then Siakam does go without having to include a
Keegan Murray in the deal. But I do think it's smart in the short term to wait until February before including a guy like Keegan Murray in a deal like that. But the point is, I like Sabonis, hyper athletic versail forward, someone like a Siakam, and then I like that deer and Fox Malik Monk backcourt when we get into the postseason. Next question, the Warriors seem like they have a depth an issue with depth a depth. People blame Steve because he wants to play like nine guys, but we have
twelve that can play. I think a good trade would be great for adding back a better player or two while also adding a subtraction. It seems like no one can get a rhythm since everyone's minutes are up and down. Do you think the Warrior's depth will get better with the trade or worse. Thank you for your thank you for the time you put in the show, thank you
for the kind words. I talk about this a lot with the Lakers too, because they have a similar issue where they've got like a bunch of guys that can play. They got like eleven or twelve guys that can be in the rotation. My thing is like, consistency is what matters. It's like, yeah, at the deadline, you want to make
a consolidation trade is what you call that. If you've got guys at the end of your rotation that are good enough to play more minutes, but they aren't playing more minutes because you don't have room for them in the rotation, then you're getting less out of that contract than someone else could get, which means it's worth more to you as a trade piece than it is a rotation piece, unless you're planning in the long run, right.
So a lot of this comes down to the warrior's decision making as it stands, like, are you going all in on the stepf era or are you trying to rebuild for the future and leaning into Comen gud Moody and Tray Jackson Davis and Brandon Pazimski. Right, And that's decision number one. But if you make the decision to lead into STEPH, then from there it's a two step process. Step one lean into a rotation. We're gonna talk about this when we talk about Draymond here in a minute.
But there's a specific lineup that I want to see the Warriors lean in to until the deadline. When you get to the deadline, then it's about a consolidation trade. You want to turn two or three rotation players into one or two better rotation players because it simplifies your rotation and raises your ceiling. That's the way that I would approach it when we get to the deadline this year. We're going to talk more Warriors here in a minute.
Next question, how come you never talk about the Magic who's been in top four in their conference all year long, and how Palo Mancaro is already taking a superstar leap in year two. I've never seen a number one pick get such little coverage as Palo does before these last two wins, the Magic had lost eight out of eleven, and that was the main reason why we haven't been talking a lot of Magic. They're a young team. I
don't view them as a serious championship contender. And as you guys know, this show is going to take a much harder look at the top ten teams in the league. Like there are NBA shows out there that have a more balanced approach to all thirty teams, that's just not
the way we do it here. Like I will occasionally talk about young players and rookie rankings and draft stuff, and we will look at the team in that eleven to twenty range occasionally, but I'm primarily leaning into those top ten teams, and the Magic have for stretches of the year been a top ten regular season team, but I don't view them as a champion top ten championship contender. They're super young, and they're a half court offense is garbage. So that's the main reason why that's why we don't
talk about him as much on the show. But that said, we have hit the Magic at like a half dozen times this year. It's not like we don't talk about them. And here's the thing, I think Palo is gonna be awesome. To put it simply, Pawlow represents a type of player that I really really think thrives when we get to the later rounds of the postseason. He is a bully ball forward, and he's actually more advanced as a passer than I think a lot of people expected him to
be at this point. Jumper still has a ways to go. He's gonna have to get better at it. He has shot the ball better this year than he did last year, but that there's room for improvement there. He's better defensively than he was last year too. I actually do see him as a guy that could take the leap to
legitimate superstardom in the future. But most importantly, I just envisioned Plow in an Eastern Conference finals, just in a rock fight of a game, just playing bully ball around the rim and generating open looks out of drawing multiple defenders, and out of just being bigger and stronger than everybody.
So I'm a huge fan of Pallo. We're gonna talk in a little bit about Jalen Suggs too, when we talk about role players, so like, it's not so much that I dislike the magic or that we're ignoring them on purpose. It's just kind of like the way the layout of the show works, right, Like, we're gonna heavy focus on the top ten teams, occasional focus on the middle ten teams, gonna hit the big markets, your Celtics,
your Warriors, your Lakers, are gonna get the knicks. We're gonna do a lot of that kind of stuff because that's just kind of the layout of this particular show. All right. Draymond Green is back. He has signed a multi year extension with the Volume, which I'm very very excited about. I feel I'm proud to be under the same media umbrelliz Draymond. I think he's one of the great up and coming media talents that we have in
the industry. I think he's got a long media career ahead of him after he retires, and I'm very very happy to have him on with the Volume. Yesterday, he released his apology podcast, which needed to happen, as we know. I thought it was super, super transparent, and I thought he was being super vulnerable with something that I respected,
you know, Draymond. I Draymond talked about, you know, how he got frustrated after what happened with all the people talking about how he needed help, and I, you know, part of me kind of like saw where he was coming from in the moment too, because like that's the thing is like we see Draymond a lot, but we see him in these brief windows, and like I could see how he would be like who the hell? Like
why do you think you know me? Like why do you who have only seen these brief windows into my life think you know who I am as a human being? And I totally sympathize with that because it's the truth. Like I'll just put it this way, like I'm a lot better now in my early thirties, But like if you only knew me on the basketball court when I was like twenty five, you probably didn't like me very much. I was I was a dickhead, I was a hot heead I didn't really handle I handled I didn't handle
my competent a competitive energy really well. I just I had issues that I had to deal with on the basketball court. Off the court though, totally different guy, right, And so like it wouldn't have been fair to judge who I was as a human being based on that. Now Draymond did does have some on court issues, and he specifically addressed them, but I did sympathize with his
frustration there. There were two things in the podcast though, that I thought were we're super super interesting as it pertains to Draymond, like really taking a different approach to this one. He said that he turned help from a negative thing into positive things, and I thought that was really cool because he's right, Like why is it that we suddenly look at the idea that you need help
as a bad thing. We all need help, Like you guys have no idea what my wife does for me on a daily basis to keep me sane, right, Like that's help? Does that? Like, like that's that's that's help that I need on a day basis. Some people get excellent benefits out of therapy. Some people get excellent benefits out of specific relationships that they lean on for emotional support.
Like that is not a weakness. And I thought it was cool that Draymond, you know, basically, was like yeah, like people, I was hearing these people saying I need help, and I was like, screw you, Why are you saying I need help? And it's like actually, no, no, no, Like help is a good thing. Help is not a negative thing. Why am I putting such a negative energy on that?
And then the second thing that I thought was really interesting is he talked about how he always used his play as an excuse for his behavior, right, and Draymond all the time would remember that big Instagram story that he recently had, and he talked about how like, yeah, I have always been wired this way and this is how I win, and like I channel this energy and that's what makes me who I am and it's a good thing, right, and it's like part of who I am.
And like Draymond was like, no, that's an excuse. I was using it as an excuse for bad behavior. And I thought I thought those were two really good examples of Draymond like completely changing his approach to put it simply, the Gobert thing, he was making excuses and this time he wasn't that to me is a is a sign of a guy who's like really looking in the mirror and striving for self improvement. At the same time, he said like, I have not changed completely in three weeks,
Like it takes a lot of time. He's like, this is only the beginning of this process. I thought it was really, really I thought it was a really reflective podcast from Draymond in terms of just him striving to be the best version of himself. Now that I want to move into our follow up question, is Raymond Green the key to unlocking the Warriors' lineups featuring both Kaminga and Wiggants? Personally, I see that lineup as potentially devastating.
This is where it gets exciting, because I actually think Draymond coming back now could mean a lot more for the Warriors than people think. And there's a couple of specific reasons. One, I think Draymond thinks he let his team down, and I think that that's going to cause him to approach this next couple of months with an insane level of intensity as a competitor to try to make it up to his teammates. Two, the Warriors are in some trouble. They're in some legitimate trouble in the standings,
and they got to figure some shit out right. Steph went right back into a slump, played horribly against the Rafters as they got thrashed. They're in some trouble. They need to play really good basketball. And so when you combine like the kind of personal feeling of wanting to make it up to his team. With the urgency of the situation, I think we're going to get some incredible play out of Draymond Green over the next couple of months.
I think that that specific lineup that you're referencing, that Steph Clay, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan kaminga Draymond needs to start every game until the trade is made. It needs to play major minutes and have a long leash until every game is played. That is your five best players, That is your best opportunity. Like I understand that Wiggins is not playing well, but you need to try to push through that a little bit longer to see what you
can get. Because you're not going to be trading Wiggins in all likelihood, so you're gonna be likely having to move some of these younger players, So you need to lean into Wiggins getting back on track. But I see switchability there. I see drop coverage. I see the ability to run multiple different coverages. Defensively, I see like if with Draymond shooting the ball as well as he has this year, I look at a lineup with a lot
of offensive firepower in terms of downhill athleticism. Obviously, Kaminka and Andrew Wiggins on the weak side, and shooting could be an issue, but that's already been an issue in other lineups, So why not have that but also be super athletic. I think they're going to be really physically imposing in that group. That's the one you lean into. You lean into that five, you see what you have there, and then you make a call when you get into
February and they get closer to the deadline. Next question, I think the reason the Clippers have been relatively healthy this year versus the versus last year is because of the aggregate ball handling and taking pressure off of PG and Kawhi. Do you think that plays a factor and do you think it will hold off in the playoffs. Honestly, I don't know. I do think the aggregate ball handling has really helped in terms of just how good they look.
They're more organized on offense. James Harden, just to put it simply, if I had to put it down to one concept, he gets the defense into rotation a lot, which makes the game of basketball so much easier when you're playing with guys closing out at you versus a set and loaded defense. So I think it's helped as far as the injuries go. Like, your guess is as good as mine. It could be luck. It could be Kawhi and PG just playing more and them just being
more conditioned and therefore holding up better as they play. Like, I don't really know what it is as far as the health goes, but I do know the ball handling has really helped the basketball product a lot. Next question, Jason, in your opinion, who do you think is the most valuable player to their team? I don't mean who's the best player that could possibly be a player that's like the fiftieth best player in the league, if you think
they're the most valuable to their team. This is meant as a question that's sort of more fun if you want to set aside versus obvious answers such as you Embid, Giannis, Luca, Kerry Curry, etc. And pick someone you feel has a role on a team that is absolutely essential and reliant to them having any team success, no matter how small or large. Have at it all, right, great question, by the way, So the star guys, the three guys that
come to minor Embiid Haliburton, and Luka Doncic. Those three guys I think have been doing the most with least in terms of the superstar class this year. Some role player examples Aaron Gordon and KCP with kntavi's callwell Pope as a primary point of attack defender, Aaron Gordon as a low man and as a guy that can guard the Kawhi's and the Lebrons and the Kevin Durants. I don't think that you can do much more in terms of importance in the winning context than what Aaron Gordon
and CACP do for Denver. Derek White with the Boston Celtics. Here's a crazy stat for you. The Celtics are fourteen points better per one hundred possessions with Derek White on the floor versus off. The next closest Celtic is Tatum
at plus four. So that goes to show you what Derek White does outstanding point of attack defense, one of the best shot blocking guards in the league, really really good offensive player, gets an excellent passer, gets the defense in rotation primary action that the Celtics like to run at the end of games. As a Derek White Jason Tatum two man game like his pull up three point shooting has been outstanding. Derek White's just an awesome role player.
Jalen Suggs in Orlando. He was the hero of the end of that Denver Nuggets game the other night, just with the job that he did on Jamal Murray to help shut down that Jokic Murray two man game at the end of the game. Just an incredible point of attack defender. Jump shooting comes and goes. But I think his physicality at the guard position is immensely important to what Orlando does. Alex Caruso and Chicago very similar concept.
Lou Dort in Oklahoma City, very similar concept. Like Lou Dort, I think is vitally important to Oklahoma City with the job that he can do as a primary defender on the ball, taking those specific assignments. A lot of point of attack defenders in there. That the having a guy that can guard the other team's best player and you know, respectably fight over the top of screens and make things difficult and pick and roll is a hugely valuable concept
in the NBA. All Right, four questions left. What other NBA content do you consume besides games? Do you ever watch thinking basketball videos? On YouTube's play on YouTube player, podcasts? Or other shows. So I used to consume a ton of NBA content. Before I was doing this for a living, I was listening to a lot of Zach Low, I was listening to a lot of Pete Zais with like her film room, I was thinking basketball was a channel
that I spent a lot of time on. There there were JJ Redick, I think is one of the very best in the business. Like JJ Redick is the guy that I personally strive to be. Like when I think about like the guy who's the best at doing what I do for a living, I look at JJ someone that I respect a great deal. He's kind of like a role model for me, so to speak, in the industry,
someone that I look up to a great deal. But since I started doing this for a living, honestly, like I've been trying to find, I spend a ton of time around the game. So, like I coach basketball at least twice a week, I play basketball in some capacity at least six days a week. My strength training is geared around basketball. And then for this job, like I literally watch like thirty hours of film a week at
a minimum, if not more. And so as a result of that, like I actually have been trying to find reasons to not do basketball related things. And so it used to be I'm a big like I put in my AirPods whenever I'm doing like weight training, shooting workouts, any sort of housework, anything of that like that nature, I like listen to stuff for like hour and a half a day. But that used to be basketball podcasts, and now I'm using that as an opportunity to take
a mental break from the game. And so I still occasionally listen to those guys, mainly just because I'm a big believer and like, learn as much about the game as you can, and I learn about the game from guys like that. I learn about the game from you guys in the comments. They're they're about once a week, twice a week. I'll see a comment and I'll be like, I'm like, oh, that's a really interesting concept that I wasn't thinking about a lot of you guys who are
specific fans of teams. It really means a lot to me when you guys take time to write out like you're frustrated, Like it's if you're a let's say you're a Pacers fan and you're frustrated about a specific lineup thing, or you disagree with something that I'm saying when you like write out the basketball case for it in the comments. I read those every single time, and I learn about that kind of stuff, Like I have no delusions of grandeur to think that I know everything about the game
of basketball. No, Like I consume as much of it as possible. I try to learn as much as possible. I'm constantly changing my basketball worldview based on new information. And I don't think there's any person out there that can't teach me something about the game. And so I definitely still listen to those guys when I every once in a while, but I listen to a lot of Star Wars, Star Wars audio books and stuff like that.
Like I'm a huge Star Wars fan, so I look for opportunities to I have just like just went through the new High Republic book that just came out. I've been listening to a lot of Expanded Universe stuff like I just it almost allows me to disconnect. And so now when I'm you know, doing the dishes, instead of constantly inundating myself with more and more basketball, I'll take a break and I'll listen to a Star Wars book and now it's like I disconnect. It's almost like I'm
relaxing in a different way while I'm working. So hopefully that answers that question for you. Speaking of Star Wars, Ryan Rumley, our lead producer, sent me a link to
a new movie coming out that's called The Adventure. I think it's like The Adventures of the Mandalorian and Grogu or the Mandalorian and Grogu or something like that, and he asked me my take on the movie, and I I was looking at it and like the Mandalorian season three ended with Grogu and Mandalorian and Mando's sitting on like a porch chilling, and they did like the shrink
circle thing on them. It made it kind of seem like it was o. And what kind of bothers me about this is it's very much like Classic Disney, like, let's make a movie because this is popular and we can make money on it. And I understand Grogu's got a big following and a lot of people are fans of him. My thing is, I think the Grogu Mandalorian storyline has kind of run its course, and so that means that they're going to force something to make a movie, which it just to me is just a bad process.
Like I understand the idea of like take something that's there that already has a certain amount of public interest and then build around it, and then you have a certain guaranteed amount of traffic from that, but it may I think that approach has too much fear as it
pertains to creating something new. And Star Wars is so desperate to go out of this timeline and to make something different, get out of this into I don't care if it's way in the past or way in the future where they can build something new that can capture the old Star Wars fans and the new Star Wars. But I think they're just scared to do it. And that's a real bummer, And I'm hoping Dave Filoni can kick that trend over the course of the next couple
of years. Thanks question, We have two more. Why is the three and D player so rare in the NBA? Every team wants one, but not all teams can find them. It's really this simple to me. There's a lot of guys that can shoot three that aren't really great defenders, and there are a lot of really great defenders that
can't really shoot the three. The guys that can do both make like twenty five plus million a year, and now you're talking about a damn near star level contract for a guy that fills that three and D role player role. And so generally speaking, most of these teams are looking for the discounted mid level exception veteran minimum bi annual exception, guys that can do one thing really well and are only okay in the other and try
to build a lineup around that. But the truth of the matter is it's not so much that there's not that many of them, it's just the ones that can do it are too expensive to really take up a significant chunk on your roster, especially if you've got multiple stars on your payroll. Last question, you've had way too many or you've had too many basketball questions. So let's get weird. Have you ever thought about snowboarding? So? I ski? Personally, I heard it was easier on your knees. That was
the main reason I decided it to begin with. Also, most of the people that I go with do ski, so like I have two groups that I primarily go to the mountain with. I go with my friends and I go with my wife's family. My wife's snowboards and my wife's brother snowboards, but my wife's other two brothers both ski, and my wife's father skis, and my wife's father is an excellent skier and he actually taught me
how to ski, and so that group largely skiers. And then when I go with my friends, I've got my wife who snowboards in one of my buddies who snowboards, but then the rest of us ski, and so it just makes more sense to ski because I get better pointers. It's more camaraderie in that respect. I also just heard it safer on your knees because your feet get anchored. Now, my wife, my wife's an excellent snowboarder, has been snowboarding since she was very young, and she just is like, oh, yeah,
I want to try skiing this year. And I literally told her, I'm like I don't get that. I'm like, you're my wife is like really good at snowboarding, Like she's way better at snowboarding than I am at skiing, And like I'll be like, you're already so good at this. Why would you want to go on the mountain and be less good at something? When you can just continue to be really good at snowboarding, and she's great at it too, Like, like, how are you not just wanting
to do more of that? I know, for me personally, like I won't try snowboarding because I've actually become a decent skier and I have a freaking great time when I'm skiing, so I'd rather just ski. That doesn't mean I won't ever try it, but like it would have to be I'd have to like literally live on a mountain and ski fifty days a year for me to be like, Okay, I'll take five to try snowboarding just
to see if I like it. But like right now, I'm skiing on average like eight to ten days a year, and so I'd rather just spend those eight to ten days doing what I'm already good at, which is skiing, you know what I mean. And I'm not like great at it by any stretch of the imagination, but I can get down, you know what I mean, and I have fun doing it. I was talking about this earlier
today with the buddy mine at the gym. I'd say skiing is probably my I'm gonna go with third favorite thing to do in the world, behind playing basketball and playing guitar. All right, guys, that is all I have for today. Headed out of town for a few days. Like I said, i'll bring my gear with me in case anything big goes down. If not, i'll see you guys in a few days. As always, I sincerely appreciate you and I'll see you that the volume