Hoops Tonight - Lakers & Warriors offseason moves + Trades for Derrick White, Wiggins, Paul George?

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our draft reactions. I've got some big picture NBA stuff for ranking recent NBA champions We're going to talk about some Grizzlies and hornets to a couple of teams that are in a little bit of a holding pattern around a star player who has struggled to be available. We have a question regarding who would be the best fitting five to send to go face the aliens in a single game. We're going to get into that one, talk a little bit about rim finishing and different dynamics that

can affect a player's efficiency. There are lots of interesting stuff to get to in our mail bag today. You guys are the job. Before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore jcnlt so you guys don't miss you announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever you get the podcast on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if we leave a

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the trade market. So it's so funny. I was texting with my buddy Pzeis, who runs Laker film room, the other day. I've just been in completely out of the Laker frame of mind ever since they got eliminated in the first round.

And I'm just starting to kind of dip my toe back into those waters and bounce ideas off of people and and kind of figure out where I'm at in terms of this Lakers offseason, and the main thing that I've seen that's really caught my attention is this potential trade that has been kind of floating around in the ether, and it involves potentially the Lakers sending Gabe Vincent and ruy Hachi Mura to the Miami Heat for Andrew Wiggins. And this trade makes a lot of sense for both

sides on a bunch of different levels. For a Miami Heat team, you get a guard in Gay Vincent that has been proven to be a success in their system, just kind of like a really natural fit in their five out attack. And then ruy Hachimura fits a need in the sense that they are thin at power forward specifically, and obviously ruy Hatcha Mura is a starting caliber a power forward in this league. He's a guy that can

bring some real value there. And then Andrew Wiggins. In a team like the Los Angeles Lakers, where they are devoid of perimeter athleticism, they don't have a great option a starting caliber player that can guard the other the

team's best player. This is a guy and Andrew Wiggins, who would immediately address two massive needs for the Lakers in terms of just overall perimeter athleticism and a guy in the starting lineup that like every single night is like he can guard the best dude on the other team, whether that's you know, we've seen him in the past do an incredible job on a Luka Doncic in late playoff rounds. We've seen him guard quicker guards. He has

some switchability. Andrew Wiggins is a very very versatile perimeter defender. And there's a lot of focus on the center position for the Lakers this year, and I get that, and like, ultimately, if you can't find any other better options to upgrade at the two and the three, and you decide to go with a more aggressive move for a guy like

a Nick Claxton, there's upside there. Nick Claxton is a better player than some of the free agent centers that are available, like a Brook Lopez or a Clint Capella. But for me, I would rather have Andrew Wiggins and then a guy like Clint Appella, then not have Andrew Wiggins, or bring back Gave Vincent and Ruey Hachimura and run it with a guy like Nick Claxton. I think that the Lakers have had a roster balance issue for a

little while. Now in terms of like, now they've got these two on ball skill guards and Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic, and you've got these two starter like power forwards that both start in Ruy Hachimura and Lebron James. And so what ends up happening, Like we always talk about, there's boxes that get checked, right, and Ruy and Lebron check a lot of similar boxes defensively, right, and Austin and Luca check a lot of boxes that are similar defensively.

And while that group has been very good offensively, especially when Dorian Finney Smith is out there, and they can really create all that space, they just can't hang physically with a lot of these teams. And So to me, a move like that, flipping a bench guard and a starting power forward into a starting small forward for a team that does not have a starting small forward, I

view that as a roster balancing move. And among all position groups, these guys that kind of fit into the taxpayer mid level exception, you know, in that like five six million dollars a year, I think that type of guy relative to a thirty to twenty five million dollar player at the center position, that gap is smaller than it is at other position groups, at other position groups. I think once you get up into the twenty five thirty million dollar range, you actually really start to run

into some talent. Like Andrew Wiggins when he's healthy and engaged, is one of the better three and D guys in the NBA because of his defensive versatility, right, Like Nick Claxton at twenty five million, is a firmly a league average starting center.

this summer is Dorian Finney Smith. He's got a player option coming up, I think right around like fifteen million, and so obviously him and his representation are going to be thinking, like, hey, if we to pick up this player option and we just run through this season, there's a chance that we become veteran minimum candidates if it's a mediocre season off the bench for the Lakers, right so like, especially if they do make a move for a guy like Andrew Wiggins and Dorian loses his starting spot,

right so Like, with that being the case, I think it's at least like worthwhile for Dorian to consider the idea of opting out and trying to sign a long term deal elsewhere, right, or a long term deal with the Lakers. And I just think it's very important for the Lakers to make sure that they secure Dorian Phinney Smith. They don't have a starting caliber three. Dorian Finney Smith is the closest thing they have to it. But if you get rid of him, you lose a lot of

depth at that specific position group. And there are versions of this where you could see lineups where they put Luca out there with Lebron and Dorian Finney Smith is out there with and Andrew Wiggins. Right if they were to make that sort of move, and if it's not an Andrew Wiggins, then another type of athlete that they bring at that position. I viewed Dorian Finney Smith as part of the ultimate construct of the Lakers, and so I don't want them to let him slip through the

cracks this summer. All Right, A couple of draft related questions, who will be the best pro out of this draft class if not Cooper Flag, Dylan Harper, vj Edgecomb or Ace Bailey. So we're gonna spend a lot more time talking about Trey Johnson later. But Trey Johnson is a

guy that I have my eye on. He's just your prototypical scoring wing in the mind an MBA because of his ability to score out of screening actions, which again, most NBA offenses now are built out of either three man pick and roll concepts or five out kind of like ball in player movement concepts, and one of the most important elements to that is the ability to come off of a screen with the ability to score if you can score coming off of a screen. You can force the big to show at the level and the

guard to chase over the top. As soon as you do that, you're inverting your spacing by bringing the big man out away from the basket to the perimeter, vacating the paint and starting a four on three in the in the action behind it. It's one of the most valuable traits that an offensive player can have. And so I do think Cooper Flag is going to be the best pro in the NBA. I think that's a safe bet. I think Cooper has more resilience than Dylan Harper in

terms of just the different ways that he can impact winning. Like, there's a version of Dylan Harper. Excuse me, there's a version of Cooper Flag's career where he is, you know, underwhelming on offense, but he still is a very very very very good NBA player for a long time because

he's just a deeply versatile defensive player. Right, Like, there's a version of Cooper Flag's career where he becomes what we saw from Jason Tatum this year as like a high twenties, low thirties point per game guy who can you know, get up to six seven assists per game and grab a bunch of rebounds and be a hyper versatile defender. There's just a lot of different ranges of outcomes for Cooper, but they're all positive, and so to me, I think it's most likely that he's the best pro.

But outside of that group, I would lean towards Trey Johnson. You said before you think this Thunder team was the second best champion since the twenty tens. Do you still believe this. I don't think the Heatles, Spurs, Warriors, et cetera would have gone to seven with the Pacers. If you still do If you do still believe this or not,

why couple things. The two teams that took the Thunder to seven were the Denver Nuggets, who were a specific mismatch in terms of some of their physical size advantages. And Nikole Jokic, guys, is still the best player in the world. I know we all want to pretend it's, you know, a very straightforward one on one basketball game where the best player always wins, but that's not how it works either. Are tons of examples in recent NBA history where the best player in the world ended up

losing in the playoffs. At some point along the way, that's a very damn good team that dragged the Thunder to the limit. And then I am done with the underestimating of the Indiana Pacers at this point, Like if you think it's fluky that they took the Thunder to seven, like any of us, any of us who want to sit there and pretend like that's fluky anymore, we can't. The success was undeniable. What they did to Cleveland, what they did to the Knicks, what they did to the Thunder,

pushing them to the brink. I just have too much respect for them to view that as some sort of shortcoming for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were not a perfect team, but they won sixty eight games in the Western Conference of the NBA, where there were legitimately like twelve team tams trying to win seven really really good teams. You play fifty two of your eighty two games in your schedule against your own conference, I can't deny what

Oklahoma City accomplished this year. So as I look at the champions since twenty twenty, obviously we have the Lakers, the Bucks, the Warriors, the Nuggets, the Celtics, and the Thunder. I've thought a lot about this over the course the last few weeks, and to me, the top four are all pretty close, and you can make a case for

any of them being number one. Right, So like Boston, for instance, they won what sixty four games last year, dominated through the playoffs, some of the most beautiful offense that we've ever seen, moving the ball around for wide open threes. They kind of just kicked asiden were never threatened. That's you know, it's boring that a team never gets threatened and there's no adversity, But that's a sign of greatness, right. Oklahoma City sixty eight games in the Western Conference, probably

the best defense of this era. They beat really good teams along the way. Denver's really good, Minnesota's really good, Indiana's really good. That's a rock solid candidate for number one. Now, Los Angeles Lakers team started the season twenty four and three. They were on a sixty win pace before the season got shut down, and then they got into the postseason and kicked everyone's ass. So, like, I think the Lakers have a legitimate case. And then the Denver Nuggets same

sort of thing. They weren't as good in the regular season, and that's probably what's going to put them down on this list, but best player in the world played. You know, they literally ripped through in the postseason. Anthony Edwards in the first round, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker in the second round, Lebron James and Anthony Davis in the third round, bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler in the finals. It's like, I know, the win totals weren't as super high there. Everyone gets

focused on win totals. Win totals to me are a really, uh like kind of bizarre way to look at, you know, what a team's competition was, because especially in the Western Conference, when there's so many good teams, you're not going to see a bunch of sixty win teams.

as like a juggernaut roster. It was Steph Curry and a bunch of role players and a couple of guys who peaked at the right time in Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, and you know, catching a younger Celtics team that wasn't quite ready, and they a younger MAS team that wasn't quite ready, and they were able to squeak through a legitimate champion, but not a team that we're looking at as like one of the all time greats

in NBA history. And similarly, the Milwaukee Bucks a team that kind of slipped through the cracks in the year after COVID when all of the good teams in the NBA were injured. So if I had to rank them, I would put I think it's a real tight debate between Boston and OKC one two, and it gets really really nitty gritty when you start to look at them playing against each other. I'm only in OKC though, because I think they had a more impressive regular I thought

they played tougher competition in the postseason. They weren't as smooth through that competition, But I think it was a higher degree of difficulty. I think Oklahoma City has a good claim for that number one spot. I'd go Boston number two, I'd go Lakers number three, I'd go Denver number four, I'd go Golden State five, and then I'd go with the Milwaukee Bucks at six. Next question, why is it so hard for the Warriors to build a

competitive squad? By competitive, I'm meaning a team that takes it, that makes it to the Conference SEMIS at the very least, for three years they've absolutely failed. So I think the issue here was just kind of like the classic example of splitting the difference between two timelines, and you know, all of a sudden, Jonathan Kminga is a very different type of asset now that he's doing a new deal, right So, like that's the tricky part with this sort

of situation that the Warriors to put themselves in. Had they made that sort of trade back in twenty twenty two and Jonathan Minga had some theoretical upside that people weren't sure if it existed or not, that's a positive asset right now, different type of asset, right Like, there's a lot of there's a lot of lost opportunity cost there, right, in terms of the time that they waited to pivot off of some of their young players, like even Jordan Poole,

like really successful in that twenty twenty two playoff run, but then he has like a pretty brutal twenty twenty three playoffs. It kind of hurts his value a little bit on the way out the door, right, And so they waited, and they knew the exact thing they needed. It was abundantly clear what they needed ever since Kevin Durant left, which was a legitimate number two option, because we had seen that Klay Thompson after his injuries, was not capable of becoming that guy anymore. And they waited

till now to do it. And you know that comes with downsides in terms of age and Steph breaking down with injury. But I do think that they have a legitimate, you know, competitive squad this year coming into this postseason or excuse me, this offseason. A couple tweaks here and there, a full camp to incorporate Jimmy Butler. Jimmy and Steph both approaching things with a real belief that they have a chance to win the title, which I don't think

either of them had in the offseason last year. This is a classic example of an older veteran team that legitimately has a chance to win the title, but they have a very thin little pathway that they have to thread, and that pathway is thin because they waited so long to make this type of move. But it is what it is ultimately, that's what took that that's what delayed this process, That's what delayed the competitiveness. We all knew Steph needed a second option, they never got him one.

Then now they have, but it came at the first time in Steph's career where his body like straight up like failed to take the floor in the NBA playoffs in a in a big spot.

to manage your young assets. Well, what I mean by internal improvement is this, specifically, for Ja Morant and LaMelo Ball figure out a way to be on the floor. Invest in a more rigorous strength training regimen, diet treatment, flexibility training. I don't care what it is. Find a way to be on the floor. If you can't stay on the floor for most of the season, your team

will never catch a rhythm. And if your team never catches a rhythm, we'll never get a chance to actually learn what your team is really good at, what they suck at, and then have the information we need to adjust accordingly as a front office. Also skill development. Ja Morant's jump shooting is flatlined since he came into the NBA. He's hurting his chances to become the best version of himself. LaMelo Ball is rim finishing overall decision making a shot selection.

Last year, LaMelo was below fifty percent at the rim, even including dunks thirty two percent on pull up jumpers. He shot below forty percent as a shooter. In pick and roll, you guys can go ahead and shelve any ideas of the the Hornets or the Grizzlies becoming contenders until those two guys actually become good enough at basketball to lead a contender. It's not about roster construction until

those two dudes actually become that type of player. Both of them have come into the NBA and flashed all sorts of upside, become immensely popular with the younger generation, and have flatlined as basketball players. And as long as that is the case, there's gonna be no progress internally for those teams. As for supporting talent, Ja Moran and Jaron Jackson, we have a pretty good idea of because we've seen them play in enough high leverage moments. We've

seen them play in four playoff series. Right for Jock, Memphis has consistently surrounded him with poor spot up talent to create space. That has consistently been an issue. They've been towards the bottom of the league in spot up efficiency year in and year out in the Jamrant era. Some of that is the situation with their bigs, which we'll get into in a minute, right But what they need is big, physical wings, guys that can do what Dylan Brooks did for them, Big physical wings who can shoot.

And I think they took a good step in that direction yesterday with Cedric Coward. He has a pretty extensive track record of being a good spot up shooter. He's a big, physical wing with super long arms in a world of defensive utility. He's also a bit a bit older, and he has a game that's actually built to win in a winning context right away, that's a good step

in that direction. But big physical perimeter defenders that can shoot the basketball, that have some switchability, that can attack close outs, those are the kinds of things that they need to surround Job with. And as far as Jaron Jackson goes, he's a batterybounder who fouls too much and doesn't do a particularly good job of holding down the paint because he goes after every shot at temp hunting block.

So we know that Jaren needs to be anchored by a supporting bit that can be more disciplined around the rim, and that of course comes with foot speed and spacing issues right which we saw immediately come to fruition in the Thunder series. And so Jaren's generally just kind of tough to build around because he has some big weaknesses. But that's what I mean by internal improvement, Like, if Jaren's gonna have to play the four constantly, he's gonna

have to become a damn good perimeter defender. Excuse me, a damn good perimeter offensive player. And so there's a lot of internal improvement barriers that stand between Memphis and where they want to go. As for Charlotte, they were

the seventh worst defense in the NBA last year. They were built around two slender perimeter shot creators and LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, and obviously another athletic forward in Miles Bridges, who isn't a good defender, And they went and drafted two on athletic shooters per round in Conkinent Bull and Leam McNeely. So they feel super far away from us having any real idea of what their pathway forward is to contention. So I like Charlotte, it's just

it's at this point. I guess we'll find out now that they've surrounded him with more shooting what kind of offensive upside they have. But they just don't feel anywhere near like let's even discuss what they need to do to content, if that makes sense. Welcome to course correction, brought to you by Microsoft. Just like star players and teams navigating performance hurdles, business decision makers today are under immense pressure to get things right. They must rise to

the occasion, turning challenges into opportunities. Microsoft empowers these visionaries with AI solutions, simplified cloud and data management, and trustworthy responsible AI. When you're in the NBA, you have your own hurdles to face. In this segment, we will highlight the player every week that has risen to the occasion when his team needed in whatever challenge you're facing, Microsoft

empowers you with the expertise to say bring it on. Today, we're covering my favorite draft pick from yesterday, Trey Johnson of the Texas Longhorns and now the Washington Wizards of the NBA. Trey was my favorite player that I watched

when I was prepping for this draft class. To me, he represents the modern NBA score, an extremely gifted movement shooter that can shoot both off the dribble and off of action sprinting off of off ball screens by going both left and right at full speed with every dribble combination, every piece of footwork in the book. An awesome work ethic and attitude, and yet still a lot of room

for improvement. Some real upside there. He made one hundred and twenty six jump shots this year, high volume in the college game, with how dedicated the defensive game planning is and how hard people play on every single possession. It's extremely difficult to do. To make one hundred and twenty six jump shots out of almost four thousand players in college hoops last year, that ranked thirtieth. Really impressive

stuff in terms of high volume shot creation. He shot fifty two percent as the shooter coming off of off ball screens. By the way, that's field goals not weighted for three, so he made more than half of his shots in off ball action. He shot forty two percent on guarded catch and shoots routinely was hitting tough, contested shots on the move coming out of action.

McCollum and Chris Middleton, those are excellent examples of guys that weren't, you know, top tier athletes that learned how to use savvy body movements and physical leverage and timing and change of pace to get open off of screening action. So I think they're just awesome guys to put with Trey for him to learn how to do a better job of that, because, like, if we look at his areas of opportunity, there's playmaking, which we'll talk about in

a minute. He obviously needs to improve as a defensive player, but a big one for me that I noticed on tape is like he's still pretty raw in terms of like actually learning how to get himself open, which is insane considering how many jump shots he made last year in the college game. I still think he has a

sizable room for improvement there. And we did see in the Xavier game in particular, Sean Miller basically denied him the basketball most of the game by locking and trailing him and denying him whenever he could and kept a shot attempts down and really influenced him. And so those are the kinds of things you're gonna run into in the NBA. Is a really good lock and trail defender so how do you do a better job of finding openings within the offense when you're being guarded that way?

that will help him get open more frequently. In the NBA and then the playmaking piece of it, this is where being more of like a traditional I shouldn't even traditional. The modern NBA score actually presents really basic reads as you're coming off of action, right like, oh, he shows at the level, I'm gonna throw the pocket pass. I come off and they help at the nail, I'm gonna throw the swing pass like they help at the level and they're packing the paint. It's the skip pass to

the opposite corner. Like there's all these like basic reads that you have in these situations. And I think CJ and Chris will be able to help a lot with that as well. I'm super excited to watch Trey this year in his first NBA campaign. That's it for this week's course correction. Remember Microsoft's AI solutions empower you to take bold steps and make informed decisions, sparking new ideas

to help drive your business forward. With Microsoft as your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey with confidence, finding innovative solutions, and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft dot com Slash challengers to learn more. All right, few more? Should Philly look to move embeid or give that group one last run to see what they can do next season?

Given Boston and the Pace are out of the picture next year, it seems like the perfect year for EMBID in Philly to make at least an Eastern Conference final or a final. You kind of have to We talked about this last year, like you kind of or this last season with all the investment that's been made in EMBIID in Paul George, like even just in time with Tyres Maxy, like you kind of have to give it

one more shot. And I agree, like the wide open Eastern Conference it's gonna be tougher than it looks Cleveland is gonna You don't think Cleveland is now strongly considering standing pat after watching two of their biggest pieces of three of their biggest pieces of competition in the Eastern Conference in Milwaukee, Indiana and Boston all get chopped off at the knees, like Cleveland's gonna be there, Orlando's gonna be there, Like it's it's not going to be easy

out in the Eastern Conference, but it's less deep, and that just means more margin for error. And so I do think you run it back, and you do hope that Paul George just had the injury season from hell and that he's able to get back up to being more of a volume score. And you do hope that Joel Embiid's knee recovers and that he comes into camp in good shape, and that they're able to make some sort of legitimate run next year. You kind of have to.

But at the same time, they have some young pieces to get excited about, Jared McCain, bj Edgecomb that could be literally your backcourt of the future, and they're cheap because they're on rookie deals. So like if you have to. Let's say it's at the deadline this year or it's next offseason. If you finally go, that's it. We're done with the Joel and B Paul George experience. We're blowing this damn thing up, and you know, we're gonna have

to take back some iffy contracts in the process. They're not as bad as the MB Paul George contracts, but they're still iffy contracts. You can bring bad guys in pay inflated salaries while you're paying young players on rookie contracts, and so that opening is still there, but I think you got to try to at least give it a

go to start this season. What are your thoughts on Atlanta what they're starting lineup now with Christops Porzingis and a healthy Jalen Johnson given an injury riddled East, how do you think they'll stack up competitively? Love the content, one of the best ro basketball coverage. I thanks so much for the kind words. As mentioned earlier, things are wide open in the East. That is what kind of

makes this exciting for Atlanta now. One of the things that you guys that we haven't got to see a ton of pray Young is an underrated driver of the basketball.

He gets into the paint a lot more than most of his guard here is this is something that I was staring down the face of when I was digging into the numbers regarding in for any Simons like Trey Young gets into the paint a ton, and this is really his first chance to play with a true spacing five now all like the Hawks have had issues with spacing over the years, playing with traditional rim running bigs and forwards that don't shoot the ball super super well.

Porzingis can help with that. He's one of the better above the break shooting bigs in the league, a guy that you actually have to account for there. I also like that Atlanta can keep them super athletic between those two guys like chrisps, Porzingis has legitimate issues getting up and down the floor in transition, I'm not sure I've ever seen a player run the floor as Zachary risache Like legitimately gets up and down the floor as well

as any forward I've ever seen. Jalen Johnson is obviously a great option there too, so they can keep elite athletes in the middle at Dyson Daniels as well at all times to anchor those guys. It's a super fun, high risk, high reward type of move for the Hawks. They also drafted Asa Newell, a super athletic, undersized big out of Georgia yesterday, so they got a big to replace in case Clincapella leaves in free agency, which is almost certainly going to If you were going to give it,

at least one go with Trey. This is a fun way to do it. They'll be interesting. Are they gonna win the title? Probably not, But in that Eastern Conference, really any of these teams could talk themselves into a conference finals appearance, even if it doesn't amount to anything, and that's an exciting opportunity for Atlanta. Hey, Jason love to Work, What player of players do you think need a new team slash environment heading into next season? Really

good question. I picked three guys Devin Booker. At a certain point, if Phoenix comes out the gates and they're not good, like, at what point does Devin go I've been on a bad team the majority of my career and I want to go play somewhere where I can be competitive.

That's something that Devin Booker could help with. San Antonio for the Spurs is another situation that I thought made some sense for Devin Booker, as surgical scoring will be something that they struggle with a bit in their current construct. Zion Williamson is a guy that obviously could use a change. It's so difficult to find a destination for him. I'm not even sure that Zion Williamson is a positive asset

right now. Like I'm not even sure that they could get compensation for him if they look to move him. It's really difficult to find a fit as well. And the two fits that I found that made some sense are like a Cleveland because it would have to be alongside a big who could both protect the rim and

also shoot the ball from the perimeter. Cleveland and alongside Evan Mobley is an interesting option, but that comes with a bunch of clunkiness in a bunch of ways Miami alongside Kell all where and that is actually my third player that I would consider as a guy that could use a change of scenery is bam At a Bio, a player that seems to have hit a ceiling in Miami and a Miami team that doesn't really have what they need to contend and a guy that I think could help a lot of teams get to the next

level as like a five out passing folk rom at the top key and as a defensive anchor. And so if Zion were to go to Miami, I could see bam getting moved elsewhere. But those are three guys that I think could see a change of scenery in the next couple of years, Devin Bookers, Ion Williamson and bam At a Bio. All right, next question, can you speak broadly on the Celtics' immediate and mid term need to acquire a versatile big man to replace Chris tops Porzingis

who's available, who would fit, et cetera. Lots of teams are looking for this, and there's a reality to Boston's payroll situation. If you're going to keep Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, Derek White. When Tatum comes back the year after next, that's one hundred and forty five million dollars on the books just on those three guys. So you are kind of looking at the fringe market in a lot of ways. That's gonna be older guys that struggle to move or

younger guys that have skill limitations or size limitations. The good news is that you've demonstrated that you can find those types of guys. Luke Cornette, who's basically going to be your center for the next couple of years, he was an undrafted journeyman that you found value in right. Nimi Kueita was a second round pick. Now he wasn't perfect, but he had his moments. But you basically have to cycle through those guys on the margins until you find value.

And when it comes to Biggs, I personally think it's easiest to work with a guy who has really good natural motor meaning you play super hard, good athleticism and intelligence meaning I would be willing to give ground in terms of size and length and some of like the like for refined offensive skill like jump shooting and stuff like that, I'd be willing to give ground on those areas.

If he's a good athlete who runs super hard and is a smart player like that, to me, I can make good use of in terms of putting him in spots in a scheme, right, But like if he's super tall, but he can't run the floor and he's not very physically competitive and he's a little bit soft and he can shoot threes like that, that doesn't really do a ton for me, especially in the context of Boston Celtics

basketball in the way they like to play. A smart guy who knows how to relocate in and out of the dunker spots, screen, to slip out of screens, that can flow side to side an action, and that runs the floor hard. It can do his job on defense, I think is all you need in order to fill that specific role. What percentage, what field goal percentage at the rim or layups is considered bad? And is it an easy thing for a player to fix or is it something more complicated. I heard Jeremiah Fears was a

poor finisher, but I don't know if that's true. So Jeremih Fears shot fifty one percent on layups last year, most of his misses when I went through them this morning were related to poor decision making, and this falls in line with one of my biggest kind of basketball world views. For the most part, layup percentage is about decision making. Most guys are going to make a layup when it's open. Now, there is value in the ability to make contact layups, sort of make layups in traffic.

We've all seen guys like Kyrie Irving do it, Steph Curry do it. Really high level guards with soft touch and being able to shift angles and finish in traffic. There is value there. But ultimately, if you beat your man off the dribble and you encounter a big at the basket, there's another advantage there. There's another advantage in the form of you compromising the defense, and so a lot of times, like I would argue, one of the

worst shots in basketball is a heavily contested layup. It can sometimes cause problems for your transition defense, especially when you're careening down the lane from the top of the key. There are versions of that that can be successful. Miss layups where you occupy the rim protector and then your

big comes in and gets an offensive rebound. But there's a downside if you miss layups they often lead to transition opportunities going the other way, and so rim decision making is ultimately where you can improve your field goal

percentage on layups. There were a lot of Jeremiah Fear's layups that he missed where he didn't beat his defender and so then he tried to get into his body and go way out wide and flip something crazy or like I saw some of them where he was shooting through two people, like didn't beat his defender and was trying to shoot through a rim protector, and those are going to be low percentage layups for anybody. That is a decision making piece for me. Now, it's worth mentioning

that Fears's volume was super high. His one hundred and ninety two rim attempts ranked one hundred and thirty eighth in all of college basketball, again out of almost four thousand players. So that's going to be an upside in terms of his ability to get into the paint. He just has to improve his decision making when he gets there.

The thing that Fears will have to work on in terms of translating his game to the NBA level will be I noticed a ton of like straight line speed, but the the actual first step is not like nuclear

if that makes sense. So, like I am a little bit curious to see, you know, like you'll see when if there's a loose ball, or if he can get an extended ball screen where the ball screen is a little bit further out, or if you can start his attack from further out, or in transition when he's going, he's blazing, but in like straight up like set defender right in front of him. You know, he's not the fastest player that I've ever seen off that first step, And so whether or not his first step works to

NBA talent will be an interesting swing. And then obviously the jumper for him as well, it's kind of a little bit of a clunky fit in New Orleans as well. They can surround him with some shooting, but then obviously there's a Zion Williamson piece.

up top players. I'm always gonna go with fit, so let's start there, and I'm gonna have my top five, and then I forgot about that subpart, so maybe we can all work through that together. Here in a minute, I want the best player in the world on my team, so I'm going with Nikola Jokic. From there, I want to surround Nikola Jokic with a group of talent that kind of fits his particular game, right, Like that's what

we're doing when we're talking about fit. So I want athletic size that is super smart, knows how to move the ball, and can make open shots. This is one exhibition game, so I'm not worried about health. Right at the four, I'm looking at Lebron or Yannis. Both are excellent backline defenders and defensive rebounders. I think Giannis is a bit better at both. Lebron is a better shooter and a smarter off ball mover and off ball screener. But Jokic kind of unlocks this vertical spacing window because

he doesn't occupy space underneath the rim. So I'm gonna actually go with Yanis here. I do think that means we're gonna need a ton of shooting elsewhere on the floor, But I think Yannis makes Jokic more tenable defensively as you comes up to the level in ball screens. Giannis is one of the best low man defenders in the history of basketball. I think it's a perfect spot for him to fit in there and be able to cover

both the roleman and that weak side corner piece. But then Yannis is also a very natural fit as a vertical spacer working along the baseline off of Nikola Jokic. Our three man needs to be a lights out shooter and a weak side scorer. I think Kevin Durant just makes all the sense in the world here. Tatum, if he's healthy, is an option, But then I think if we bring in Tatum, I think we're playing a dangerous game with jump shooting because he's just so finicky as

a jump shooter. So I think I'd pass on Tatum. If we went Tatum, Janis Jokic, and Jokic can be finicky as a jump shooter as well. I don't think that makes a ton of sense. We don't really have a ton of other great options in terms of elite athletes that are great shooters and have great positional size and athleticism at the three spot, So I think KD

is our best option there. Our two guard would absolutely need to be an apex perimeter defender that can shoot the ball, but you also don't want to forego talent here for no reason, so I wanted to think through the star guards at least, right I want a freaky athlete as a good defender at the guard position, but that also brings star level talent. Ideally, Anthony Edwards would be this guy if he was further along in his career, but I just don't think he's put things together enough defensively.

Yet he's too inattentive off the ball, and he doesn't navigate screens well enough.

jump shooting. Devin Booker did an admirable job in the Olympics, but I think at that point, especially with who I'm about to pick for point guard, I think we wouldn't be athletic enough if he was there. So I think our best bet here might be just like the guy that we all say whenever we need a two guard to be a role player, and that's Dreue Holliday. He's still one of the top tier point of attack guys in the league. He can guard multiple different types of players.

He's got great size for the position. His shooting is inconsistent, but I think he's a more reliable, just like catch and shoot guy than Jaylen Brown. And he's a super smart off ball cutter and screener. He's very good at finishing around the rim if he ends up in dunker spot situations. He has a shit ton of big game experience.

He's won multiple championships. He doesn't need the ball in his hands at all in terms of the flow of the offense, I think Drew Holliday makes a ton of sense as that two guard, and then for the point guard spot. I want the best possible option in the world for a two man game partner with Nikola Jokic, and I can't think of anybody better than Stephan Curry for that spot. The relentless movement, the ability to set his man up for screens, Jokic's unbelievable screening ability. You

would never be able to switch that action. Anybody who's big enough to guard Jokic is hopeless to be fast enough to guard Steph, and anyone who's fasten to guard Steph is going to be hopeless to be big enough to guard Nikola Jokich. I think that that would be the indomitable two man action that you could run in the half court that just kind of gives us a level of resilience when the game really slows down, and then from there as far as the sixth man goes,

this is a really good question. I think I would I think I would strongly consider Shay Gil just Alexander for this spot as a guy that is just a supremely gifted isolation scorer who could come in and provide a different form of offense in minutes when Steph Curry comes off the floor. I think Shay would be a really good option for that sixth man, just as a get Let's put him in the game and just let him shoot the ball and attack one on one whenever

he can. So as far as the starting five goes, I'd have the two best offensive players in the history of the sport running a perfectly complimentary two man game. I'd have the best week side score in the history of the sport. On the week side, an absolute beast working the baseline, Giannison Tanna Kumpo, one of the best role players in the history of the league, filling out all the gaps at that two guard spot spot, including

guarding the other team's best player. Still plenty of defensive talent on the floor with Drew KD and Giannis, lots of rangy athleticism to cover ground, especially with Giannis and Kd. Stefan Jokic aren't great defenders, but they're smart and they compete and they do their job. And then obviously a sixth man in Shake Gildas Alexander, who was the best high, high high volume isolation player in the league last year,

to fill that spot. That's the group that I would send to fight the Aliens, all right, guys, that's all I have for today. As always, a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and suporting the show. We're taking the rest of the weekend off. We'll be back on Monday to cover NBA Free Agency. I will also have my equipment with me for any sort of trade or

big major NBA news that comes down this weekend. But maybe we'll get to have this weekend off as we get a little break after this crazy last couple of months. I will see you guys on Monday.