Well, well, well, the Thunder the Pacers exactly as we predicted, exactly exactly as I predicted, like thirty minutes ago. They appear to be on a finals collision. Course, we'll discuss whether wolves or Knicks can extend things, even make an unprecedented comeback, I guess not unprecedented. But also some news from around the NBA with NBA writer and musician Claire de Loon on today's episode.
I'm Jack O'Brien and I'm Borian from Miles and this is Miles on Jack.
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What'd you go? Honest? Claire, Yes, NBA writer for The Guardian, lead vocalist and songwriter for Tiny Deaths. Just to remind you, because I don't know. Sometimes it's helpful. I forget who I am. Sometimes I do all the time. Yeah, what's good? How are you doing? How are you enjoying your NBA postseason thus far?
I'm good, I'm uh.
I guess there's been some controversy among the NBA fans about like if it's cool or not if that we're heading towards like a PACER's Thunder Finals. And I would just like to put my two cents in and say that the basketball aside as a media member, I would say this.
Is like a zero tier.
Travel finals for those of us to travel, right, So that that would be my two cents is that, Like I think the basketball would be hypothetically phenomenal, but from a travel perspective, Indianapolis and Oklahoma City are like pretty low on the power rankings of NBA cities to travel to for work.
Like even San Antonio has the River Walk, you know, like you can even pretty.
Much every other NBA city has.
A little bit more has a little something. Indianapolis has that one steakhouse that has cocktail with very spicy, clear your nostrils all the way out. So that's something there, you go.
Cocktail.
Was it just for like the Final four or something like that, or does Indy, if I'm not mistaken, to have a basketball court at their airport?
They did?
That was just when they hosted All Star weekend.
Yeah, got it didn't even look forward to that. Got it.
Do they just have like a giant Papa shot thing and there was that just just for the Final four? Is there Convention Center always filled up with like basketball trivia games. Yeah, you know, it's a great play. I mean, they love hosting things that they're enthusiastic hosts. And imagine I feel like the fans of both sides will be so revved up for this that maybe you can at least like bask in the secondhand serotonin, all the good brain chemicals that'll be sloshing around.
In our cities arenas. It'll be awesome.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And the basketball is good. We'll get to that. But the basketball, I feel like the two coolest things I've seen so far in the postseason are the Pacers coming back, just like making incredible, unprecedented like comebacks. It's like just starting from the Bucks series, Like I remember that was I think that might be the only thing that I live texted you guys about Jamar. I was like, yo, just see how Milwaukee went out.
And then also Oklahoma City's defense. It's to the two kind of strongest weapons that seem like they're going to actually be in the finals, which is exciting, but of course we have to talk about the Lakers. Of course, because we got Claire here, who you know, great Lakers coverage.
Lebron rumored to be planning to opt in this summer. Yes, I feel like Lebron currently is underrated once again because one thousand, Yeah, because of how the season ended, by the way by Lakers fans full disclosure clear.
So I feel like Jack is going here, I'm going to tell him myself, I am not underrating Lebron. I merely stated that in the event that he wanted to move on for his final season and go back to Cleveland, I would support him in his dreams.
That's all I agree with that.
I'm I'm currently like tempering my rage because I was listening to Bill Simmons this morning and he was ranking his top fifteen players heading into next season, and he didn't even have Lebron in the top fifteen, not.
In the top fifteen, and I was like, it's death. At like eight or seven.
I was like, can we make the math math the fact that this man was second team All NBA, which just by definition theoretically makes you a top ten player in the NBA if you're just going by the numbers, of all NBA as theoretically the best fifteen players in the league, and then he doesn't even make your top fifteen, even with a spot vacated by Jason Tatum, who he left off due to injury. Yeah, because he'll be out
for all of next season. Yeah, so I'm like, make make the math math that Lebron is somehow now a worse NBA player than Jalen Williams and Karl Anthony Towns and like.
In his top fIF like Iron James.
I saw. I saw people saying Kat has like had a great season. I've seen him play really well in the playoffs. I've seen him play not so well in the playoffs, and I'm here to tell you that I would take Lebron James over that.
Yeah.
That that was that was interesting. I feel like in intense recency bias, well it was about.
Kingd of recency bias, which is what I tried to tell myself as I was like going into a blind rage.
Yeah.
But but yeah, No, I do think Lebron is just sort of like the last few years he's just been there's been this rhythm of like he is consistently underrated in the off season due to his age. Yeah, then he spends an entire NBA season showing that his age is like not nearly as much of a factor as the like theoretical narrative would have you.
Believe, because people are like, surely not this time.
Surely sure They're like, like Bill's reasoning was like, well, he's going to be forty one.
I'm like, well he was forty and he just made second.
You know how you know how old he was last season? Is cravity.
I have a theory to that it's all the lost guys like me that are like, well, I know how I feel in my forties way that I can.
Almost as if Lebron James is a unique physical specimen that is not a direct one for one representation of other people who are forty plus.
But I'm just going to need to see him do it more, you know, like he did it as a forty year old one years. Yeah, so defying expectations.
But I agree with you that if the Cleveland thing happens, I think you know it would be there's plenty of reasons for him to want to play for Cleveland versus LA like not, the least of which is that the Eastern Conference looks like it's going to be as weak as it's ever been next year.
So fun. Yeah, I think I think I support that on the mainly on the basis that it would be so cute if you actually it would be so.
Actually, I think that you're onto something there, even though I know it's sort of tongue in cheap because I think, you know, people have asked me like, where would Lebron go and whatever, and what I've said to them every time, and this isn't like reporting, this is just conjecture based on you know, following him very closely.
Is that I think he's.
So preoccupied with narrative and I think that's super important to him. And I really don't see him ending his career anywhere besides LA unless it fits like the narrative arc of his career that he's trying to create. And I could really see like a end it where I started it and it where it all began, just a
kid from Akron, you know, type narrative arc. So I think if he's gonna leave LA, which I haven't really heard anything to make me believe that that's the case, I think it would be cleveland if I if I had to guess, But I haven't heard, honestly, anything that
makes me believe that he would be leaving. The only thing is just like if you're watching the Lakers and watching the sort of trajectory of the team, if he wants to win a ring next year in his theoretical potential last year in the league, Like I just based on the moves the Lakers can make right now, like and how good the West is and how much even better it's potentially going to be next season, Like it's an uphill it's going to be an uphill climb for
them to become contenders with what they have to work with right now.
I think, and I feel like he's best served right now. But he did defensively towards the end of this season where he just suddenly became a stopper and like was just awesome all over the boards and stuff. Was like, it's amazing to see that he can do that. But I feel like he might be better served on a team like Cleveland where he's just like there's an offensive weapon and you know Mobile is backing him up. Yeahs oppose time have.
To be the defense at forty one years old, It's like that you're sick.
I would imagine you had an idea.
Yeah, big news. Though, there's a picture of Luca where he's looking slim and trim, so that's the other big Lakers news. Are you guys buying it? He did look slim, he looked trim A hell great.
Yeah, I mean that additive free European food can do the body good. He's back home for a while, I think, Yeah, I don't think he's to my knowledge, he spends his off season not in the United States. But yeah, I mean I think, you know, he's got to be on a mish at least a revenge mission like whatever however that manifest for him, whether that's like, you know, putting the time and energy into getting in better shape or
whatever it is. But like, there's no way he's going to be going into his first full season having been traded from the Mavericks without being on like a violent mission to prove Neco Harrison wrong. You know, like that just seems inevitable. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if he got in really great shape this summer.
People need to just start seeding like being like Cooper Flag. A lot of people are calling him the new Luca. People are saying that that trade actually makes a lot of sense.
Now, Mavericks have been doing that for freaking six months, just like dragging his name through the mud and leaking every like besmirching story that you could possibly imagine, Like he has all the fodder that he needs.
Do you remember, you know what it feels like.
Do you remember that one Kobe commercial from back in the day when it was like it shows him in training and it was like all of the different articles, all of the different headlines, all of the different you know, like rebuddle to you know, his greatness or whatever, and it was essentially him saying, like, you know, like I'm going to use this as motivation, just basically just put up all of Nico's in all of Dallas's you know, comments and leaks over the last six months to your point,
and yeah, I can't see how he's not going to be ready.
Yeah, no, for sure.
Do they have moves? I don't. I refuse to learn do the homework of like learning about the yeah, the apron all that stuff.
How do we feel I would debunk one thing that I've heard Lakers fans say, which is like, oh, well, if Lebron walks and we'll have all this cap space to like go sign whoever. There's two things to that that to debunk that myth thing. Number one, the way that the collective bargaining agreement it's et cetera.
Work.
It's not like they just have access to all the money of Lebron's that was on the books if he were to walk, like, oh, he left, so now we have fifty million dollars to play with. Like, I think what it actually ends up being if Lebron and Dorian Phiney Smith both decided not to opt in, is I think they have total as far as like tax pit to stay under the taxpayer limit. It's like sixteen million or twenty million or something like that. It's very little
to work with. So it would not be to the Laker's benefit for Lebron not to opt into his contract. Like if you're trying to say, like, oh, that money could be better used elsewhere and he decides he wants to be traded because he does have a no trade clause, then that money could be used for something else, but not just if he ops out. And then the other thing is I think there's been a lot of people being like, oh, like go get this and go get that.
They don't have a ton of like movable assets that are desirable or have like positive trade value, even like they have one first round pick left, but that first round pick is now of course worth a lot less than it was before Luca was there, because theoretically they're going to be good for a while with such a young superstar. But yeah, so I think the average fan things they don't might maybe don't know. A Lebron has no trade clause, so he's only gonna if he opts in.
He can only get traded if he wants to, and he has to sign off on wherever.
That is.
Number two, they don't have access to that salary if he does opt out. That's not how the aprons work. I'm not going to get too far into the weeds there. And number three is like they probably have to get pretty much anything that they're going to want to get because of the aprons via trade and they don't have a ton of super valuable trade assets ipso facto like dramatic, huge seismic moves this summer probably not in the cards. But I would have said that a Lukadn's trade mid season wasn't.
In the cards either.
So Lakers fans love making a shopping list for you. They're like, let's go get me proof.
So we're going to respond as a Lakers fan and say, so, what you're saying is Austin Reeves is gone?
Now, okay, got it all right? What can we get?
So I guess that's also another good Maybe I'm just here to debunk Lakers things. The other thing I would mention as because there's been so much talk about I've heard talking heads be like he's for sure gone this summer. Like I haven't heard that at all. What I would say about Austin is like what makes a lot more? He's on one of the best.
Value contracts in the ABA right now.
He's if he think he's making like sub fourteen million dollars at the moment. So for what he provides as like a bonifide third option, like that is crazy value.
Obviously, that crazy value.
Makes him a more desirable trade candidate, except that he's up for an extension, which he's almost certainly going to decline. He's going to become a free agent. He's going to want to get paid. He's going to command upwards of thirty million dollars. A year, and anyone who trades for him would know that, So it'd have to be a team first of all that's willing to pay him, so that eliminates some people. Second of all, the Lakers could actually, in my opinion, benefit way more for the reasons I
said about the Lebron salary thing. From keeping Austin, giving him whatever money he commands as a free agent next summer, and then if they want to make a trade, then they can get thirty to forty million dollars worth of player back for him, versus if they trade him right now. Because of the salary cap and how close they are to that will be to that second apron, they can't take back more salary than they give out. So they're going to have to get fourteen million dollars worth of
NBA player back for Austin Reeves. And if you you know, survey the market, even if you're just looking for a center, the caliber of player you're going to get back for fourteen million dollars is just not what Austin Reeves is bringing to your roster. So it's in the Lakers' best interest in all likelihood to keep him, give him whatever.
Money he wants.
Next summer when he's a free agent, and then at that point, if they want to move on for him for a fit that they think is better next to Luca, it'll give them more salary flexibility to do so.
I'd like fourteen million dollars worth of NBA player please, thank you very much. I get that tick sliced.
And it's a nice empathetic way to discuss human beings.
Love it it's I mean, it is the It does feel like the Laker fan way where they're just like, all right, go ahead.
And get Rea and that's it.
Fifteen million dollars of small forwards, get me, thirty million dollars of backup center and point guard. You guys need a dang point guard. It turns out. Let's uh, let's take a quick break and we'll be right back and talk about the remaining teams and why point guards are suddenly so valuable and we're back, and yeah, I mean it's three to one. Both series I wish it wasn't. The Next Pacers series has been super fun. I wish
it was going going the distance. Maybe, I mean maybe the next turn a corner, but it certainly didn't look like it in Game four, it looked that that felt like a pretty definitive win for the For the Pacers, it doesn't feel I don't know, I just don't feel great about where the Knicks are at right now, especially like the feels like even though Brunson is a bucket when you most need a bucket, and he has scored forty three thirty six twenty three thirty one in the series,
the game where he scored twenty three and was in foul trouble was the game where they like made a run. They seem to have like made more runs when he's out. I think it's because like the Pacers seem to match Haliburton with him, and so like Haliburton might not be
in as much when he's out. But it just, I don't know, like there's something about this matchup where in just the speed with which the Pacers moved the ball around and you know, Brunson's defensive limitations that it just like I feel like it's a riddle that the Knicks still haven't quite solved and nobody has really I mean, the Pacers feel like they're about to go to the finals, and it's I'm convinced, like I don't I don't feel it doesn't feel fluky to me, like they feel like
the best team I've seen in the East.
Yeah for sure.
I mean their path was bonified, like they got through Giannis, and also all of this has been in five games, Like they've gotten decisively through all of these rounds. You know, they got through honest, they got through the Calves, which were ostensibly the best team in the East all year long. And then the Knicks, you know, who just took down the defending champs and were kind of on fire and on a roll. They seemed to be making like relatively quick work of them as well. So like that's kind
of hard to argue with. I would push back on you saying that Game four seemed super definitive, like I think all these games have been, you know, like I don't feel super convinced about either team in any win. I mean, if you look at it, like the Knicks should have won Game one, Like were it not for Andrew Neasmith, absolute heroics the likes of which we've almost never seen I think in the NBA playoffs, like they would have won Game one.
Yeah, I thought it was just because his great grandfather invented the game.
You know advantage, you know, I think this could easily be a two to two series. And that's kind of how Game four felt to me, Like there were so many moments where the Knicks just weren't able to capitalize on the momentum. Like it felt like every time they were kind of taking control of the game, they let go of the rope in one way or another. But I didn't feel like, Oh, the Pacers are definitively the
better team here. I just felt like, Oh, the Pacers are playing just better enough tonight to eg out this win. And I feel like every single game has been like a coin flip really, which is what's made this series so fun. But I don't think I don't think the Knicks should overreact to this series and be like, Oh, we need to tear this all.
Down, we need to get this whole project.
I think there's a universe where, you know, the Pacers aren't the team of destiny that it feels like they are this year, where every bounce goes their way, every you know, every shot that needs to go in goes in, where all those variance elements are not you know, not in their favor, where the Knicks are going to the
NBA Finals, like they are right there. They were so close, and I think we have sort of like a tendency to overthink the playoffs sometimes when like a bounce doesn't go our way, when like the controllables are what you can control obviously, and then there's like the luck, fate, destinies and a siquah of the playoffs, and like certain teams just kind of feel like they have that, and I feel like that's how the Pacers feel right now.
Like I don't think the Knicks are far away, I do feel like their weaknesses have been exposed specifically in this Pacers series, which is that because Brunson isn't like a defensive minded Garden, he kind of needs to be on the floor for them to be at their best.
It is like a little bit of a.
Liability to have another offensive first player like Kat on the floor with him, and your top two players are basically like offense first, like defensively lacking, and that's made their starting lineup have a horrible plus minus and that's made it kind of hard for Tips to juggle lineups. So that would be where I think they could address in this offseason, Like we need to surround Brunson should
be the priority, like with more defense. But besides that, I mean, I think they're right there, and like the Celtics are a non issue for the next year, Johannis might be leaving the conference. So I wouldn't like overreact to this Pacers series, would I would be this is the farthest they've gotten in you know, my lifetime, so I think they should. They're on the right track. There's just tweaks that need to be made.
Of the two teams between the Knicks and the Wolves.
Obviously the two teams that are both down, you have three one which do you feel more confidently in at least extending.
This series? It's sending this year.
This year, I think the next time a better chance than the Wolves, just because I think the Wolves have looked relatively outclassed in most of these games, except for that one game where they absolutely blew them out and it was just.
Like the upside down.
But I would say for the most part in these games, it's more what you were kind of referencing, where it's like, oh, one of these teams is clearly better than the other, And I just personally feel like these the Eastern Conference finals. The reason they've been so fun is because it really
does feel like a coin flip series. It feels like two teams that are both really good in very opposite ways and like play very different styles, and the clash of the styles has just sort of been like the Pacers have been able to impose their style on the series more than the Knicks have been able to do so, and you know, at the end of the day, their best handful of players have played better than the knicks handful of players in that series. But it does feel
like a more closely matched series. And if the Knicks were able to, like, for example, command the boards like they should be doing because that's more fundamental to their identity than the Pacers, like, it could be a different series. So to be fair, I don't honestly really think either of these series or going in the distance, But if I had to guess, I would take the Knicks over the Wolves in that scenario.
That's fair.
Yeah, yeah, I guess, not definitive necessarily, but just like it. They do seem to have like more bullets, They seem to have like more ways to win for sure.
Yeah.
Deeper, I feel like they're like they have the better coaching going right now Pacers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, which.
Is funny, am I.
So I know that we're having like a Carlisle renaissance right now, and you know, deservedly.
So he's been awesome. I'm like, I'm old enough to remember.
Last year when he made some like horrible coaching blenders in the playoffs and we were like.
What are you doing?
Like the it was they were on the other end of some like comebacks and like unlikely things last year. So obviously he you know, they grew from that. And I'm not putting that all on Carlisle because it was a young team and you make mistakes as a young team. But I remember having conversations like as a guest.
On podcasts passed him by, yeah.
Yeah, being like, oh, he's like messing up like kind of a lot, Like this is atle embarrassing, like does Carlisle still have his fastball?
Like what's going on?
So it's kind of interesting that now the narrative it's like we're as such a recency bias like economy of media, but like now every conversation is like he's a bonafide Hall of Fame NBA coach.
Is he one of the top four coaches in the league.
Like the conversation just hinges so much on this run they've been on, which is understandable. But it's just like he he got out coached in a couple of series, like you know what I mean.
Yeah, last season, the people were coming back on them, and he was like, we should do that, and also like people when he saw those people like making shots to come back, he was like, we should like do
better shot making. I think being even older than you and being able to remember like a decade ago, he does seem to be the only coach that I can remember where it was like, oh, I think they won, Like you know, the team won because like they didn't have as much talent, but they won because like they had like schemed in a way like that in Dallas when they beat Len where they just like broke Lebron's brain. And I don't think that was all him necessarily at all.
But he's a really good coach.
Just yeah, that, but like going into the playoffs every year, I'm always like, well, and they do have Carlisle, which is you know, that's that could be an advantage. He's also just such just knowing people in the coaching world. Uh, my dad worked for him one time. He's like a nash Or. I guess he's like in Texas, one of the top table tennis players for his age, A classically trained pianist. He's like a scratch golfer who makes his
own golf clubs. He's just like this, Like he was just like, yeah, he just never sleeps, and it's just like a weird genius.
Looks like Jim Carrey.
And also my other friend who's a coach, told me that one time they were getting lunch and he ordered a graveyard.
Do what that is?
No, It's like when you get you ask somebody to go to the soda fountain and just put every different type of soda in it like a child. It's a child's drig and he has a grown up was like, yeah, give me the graveyard. Anyways, Okay, see, I mean what do we think is It's like there's been a lot of talk about you know, ANT isn't showing up. I feel like I feel for anybody who has to go
against that, okay, see perimeter defense. And I feel like what we've seen from Aunt again, who is like so much younger than I feel like people remember, yeah, has been a step forward, like compared to what he did in the Western Conference Finals last year, which again he's in the Western Conference Finals again with probably less talent around him. I've been impressed with what I see in places, and then there's definitely been some rough spots too, But yeah.
I think the thunder of to answer your first question, like kind of like they've answered every question that people had to them going into this postseason, myself included. It was just like they are it's so rare for the youngest team in the league to be the best team in the league, Like that is just really hard to compute. So it was sort of like I'll believe it when I see it, you know, with them, even though they had shown us all regular season that they were the
best team in basketball, like with a bullet really. And I think we've kind of, like not to sound too like Saccer, but I think we've kind of watched them
grow up over the course of these playoffs. Like I do feel like they look like a different team, different caliber of team now than they did in Round one and even for the majority of Round two, Like, I think that test from Denver really brought out their maturity, and it was the first time all season that they had really been sort of rattled, and I think you kind of watched them grow up from that, and they just look so mature and poised and different in this
Minnesota series, partially, I think because Denver was like a little bit worse of a matchup for them than Minnesota, but partially because they've been now, they've gone through, They've gotten further in the playoffs at this point than they ever have before, and they just look ready to me, Like I wasn't sure if they were, but at this point I would be really surprised if either team from the East beats them in the finals.
Like I think, I think they're ready.
One of my favorite things is watching a young team developing the way that you just described.
Because like, I love watching how a team responds to getting punched in the mouth. You know, they go.
If I'm not mistaken, they went down to one to Denver? Did they not in that series?
I think they they lost game one, but I think did they not then win the next two?
I might be remembering incorrectly.
But I could be off, but they were obviously challenged along the way, and seeing them get off the mat each time and seeing them not just do that, but respond and say like, Okay, yeah, we got this. Seeing Jalen Williams, who's found his offensive groove again over the course of this postseason, it's inspiring.
But you're exactly right, they have been the best team.
It was really just upon us, with us sitting back saying like, oh, you have to show us, and clearly they were ready to do that.
Yeah.
I think it was mainly me challenging them that did it.
You were alone in your concerns.
No one else still still don't see it.
But with Minnesota, I think, yeah, I'm actually writing on that right now, and like, I think we have this sort of tendency to project expectations on a team or a player and then when they don't meet those expectations, the sky is falling. And it's like everyone was like, you know, making comparisons to Michael Jordan and like saying it was the next face of the league. And the truth is he's still twenty three years old and he's just.
Not there yet.
But the fact that he's already been the best player on a Western Conference finals team two years running is like a legit accomplishment. And I have no doubt that he will at some point make the NBA Finals and win a championship, like he's that good, But I do I think he's had a subpar supporting cast both times.
Like I just like, I know they're deep with you know, as far as like role player talent, but his like number two in both cases I don't think was a like good enough and be like the ideal fit next to him in either case. And then I think Rudy Gobert is like a really clunky fit with Anthony Edwards. And I've always felt that way, and I never was,
you know, in favor of that trade. I think it's really really there's like the floor spacing is obviously lacking, and it's especially lacking when Julius Randall is a no show, which has happened to out of the four games in the series.
But I just this is not the ideal.
Team build around Anthony Edwards, I don't think, and I don't know how long it's going to take them to get there, but I think it's a little bit like unfair to expect a championship when the team is still like quite a clunky fit, even though they are deep and they are good and you know whatnot and they're is a great regular season defensive player, but like he's just proven that in the playoffs there is a minimum of one series per year where he is basically unplayable,
Like it has been true his entire career, Like, regardless of how far his team goes in the playoffs, there's a series where Rudy gober gets played off the floor.
And like Misther, what is either a second highest paid player or third highest paid. So it's just that's just tough to overcome, I.
Think, all right, from one player that's openly disliked by players around the league to another. I do just want to talk about Halliburton and specifically, I actually just want to ask this question broadly. Is it a coincidence that three of the four final teams that in a playoffs that has felt like a sort of changing of the guard, where like I feel like a lot you know, these are a lot of young teams, a lot of people
who you know, haven't done it before. Three of the four final teams are led by like scoring point guards or you know, like Halliburton is scoring a lot right now. It feels like point guards have suddenly like it I remember two years ago watching the Suns be like, we don't need a point guard, Like we're just like Devin Booker, our shooting guard will bring the ball to the court and we're just you know, And that didn't go well.
The Lakers kind of tried like a similar thing at various points this year, and I just feel like we're seeing a thing happen where like point guard is suddenly incredibly important at a time when it was supposed to be becoming less and less important.
I mean, I would say, like the point guards that are left are so different that I don't know if like you could take it as a referendum on the position, like the version of a point guard that Jalen Brunson is and the version of a point guard that Tyre's Halliburton is, or like universe a part I would say, like Tyreus Halliburton in and of himself might be a referendum on the importance of the point guard position, because he is like a true blue old school run the offense,
like getting myself looks and scoring is like bottom of the totem pole of importance type of point guard. Like he's like a quarterback out there, like he's quarterbacking their offense. He's dictating the pace, he's dictating the style, he's getting people involved.
That is like a dying breed.
I would say in the NBA, like there aren't many point guards like that left, Whereas I would say like Jalen Brunson is more of like a new school point guard where it's like well by de facto because he's the shortest player on the floor, like he kind of falls into the position of the one. But his facilitation is not why he's there. He's there to score. He's a score first player. So I don't really think it's almost like in name only, they're the same type of players.
So I really think it can serve as like this is the future of the league. But I will say that like Tyre's Halliburton has shown that, like we don't need to kill off the old school version of a point guard so fast. It just needs to evolve because to your point, he can score at a high clip if he needs to, he just doesn't choose to do that first because that's not his priority on the floor.
And I think we kind of like threw the baby out with the bathwater with the point guard position, and we're like, well, we don't need someone to orchestrate the offense because we just need one through five like spaced out.
Everyone needs to be able to score, where it's like the more evolved version of that thinking is like everyone needs to be able to score, but it's still really really valuable to have like a super high level offensive you know, creator, facilitator orchestrator on the floor for sure.
So Claire just really quickly, we were talking beforehand, how do you think Sacramento feels about getting.
Rid of right they feel?
I mean, it's crazy because now they're talking about, you know, moving off of Sibonis, like that's those are the rumblings I'm hearing, and that's who they got back in that because they had they it's sort of like Sophie's choice. They had to like in their estimation, like equally high level point guard prototypes of Deer and Fox and Terrys Haliburn or guard prototypes, I guess, because I don't think Fox is even playing the point guard in San Antonio,
and they chose Fox. And now not only is dearon Fox not on those Kings anymore, but the guy they got back for, Tyreus Haliburton, is probably about to not be on the Kings anymore, so they didn't choose very well. I would say glass half full for the Kings. They've taken so much flak for their drafting over the years, and like the problem isn't the drafting, I think is what history is telling us, Like they can pick them, it's just knowing who to keep and how to keep them build around them.
But it does probably make them feel better, that's more.
Well.
I just remember, like every NBA draft I've been like cognizant of it's like the Kings again, like they messed up the draft again or whatever, and it's like, I don't they're drafting fine, It's it's definitely more like then.
They're like, yeah, we.
Actually but no, I'm sure.
I mean, I'm so glad that Tyre's Haliburton ended up where he did because the Pacers obviously saw something in him, and Rick Carlisle saw something in him where they're like this guy's style of play and the way he plays basketball, like let's just go with that, let's just build around that. And and I think, you know him happening Like I've heard people like wish casting like like what if he had gotten drafted into Golden.
State or whatever.
But and he might have fit in nicely to the Steve Kurse style of play, you know, of the sort of egalitarian like the beautiful game, like whatever. But I'm just glad that he basically got handed the keys to his own franchise to play like Tyre's Haliburton basketball, because I don't think there were that many teams in the league that would have done that. And obviously it's paying dividends absolutely.
All right, let's take one more break and when we come back, it's time for the rabbit fire around of questioning. We'll be right back, and we're back, and it is the rapid fire round of questioning, Claire. We're going to fire some questions that you you are just going to give us your first answer. We're trying to keep this moving. It is known far and wide as the fastest segment in podcasting, so we've got a reputation to uphold.
Don't mess us up.
Don't mess this up for us, please, Brian, could you do me a favor? Actually, could you start the clock? Okay? Cool, thank you, thank you, Brian.
Ops the world.
All right, do you want to start off, Jabari or would you like me to go first?
We can bounce on these.
Okay to mine?
All right? So clear here we go. This player or that player?
Which would you rather see Shay playing back in the nineties or Rime in healthy Penny hard way into Day's game.
Shane the nineties would be fun.
I feel like he would fit in really nicely in his play style and it's just like a more evolved version of that game.
So I'd like to see.
It Halliburton on those nineties Pacers teams or Prime Reggie joining this current squad. And keep in mind, you do if he's on the squad, he can't be doing the game.
Essentially, my answer, I would pick I would pick Reggie. It's the same reason I was excited when Jeff and Gundy got a coaching job. I was like, yeah, like, keep these guys busy. It's like handing a toddler, like a Nintendo switch or whatever.
You're just like just go sit over there.
I feel like this has to be hard for Pacers because it's like you're you're like watching your team's finally making it, and it's just hard for people to root for them.
Keep it a going.
Jalen Jalen Bunch Jalen Brunson Berner.
The Bunsen Burner exactly, Jalen Brunson transported back to join peak Ewing in ninety four, or Prime past jumping into DeLorean and being available for this current series.
Oh, Prime, Pat would be pretty freaking handy right now. For the New York next, I would have sure, I'm going to go.
With that one two minutes to I bet tips just doesn't play. Yeah, it just doesn't play.
You'd be older.
Forty minutes a game, all right, and finally Aunt alongside KG for that two thousand and four run, or KG lining up beside Colbert for the current team, or maybe in place of Cobert.
I mean in place of Gobert, like ten times out of time, what give me that one? Give me give me the Kevin Garnette instead of Rudio, a bear option, like on any team at anytime.
Like that's great, Yeah.
That is fair. Give us your prediction on these following players and where they are.
Next, be honest, San Antonio, wow.
Zion Williamson, The New Orleans Pelicans, John maritt Man, I think I think he says it grizzly for now.
Kevin Durant, who did make these ryn kd with the rockets. That would be so fun.
It would be so fun. He's exactly what they need. It's like it's a beautiful fit.
And Lebron James.
Los Angeles Lakers.
Yeah, he's your face, Jabbari, it happens. It happens. Sorry, the best player of all time stays on your team sometimes it happened, all right. And finally, we want to tap into your musical knowledge and expertise with the Kendrick and this is a co headlining tour currently taking place. We want to hear your choice for a tour that blends genres and like has two headliners just tray on and off. Who are you going with?
Well, the thing about this is in Kendrick tours, they have a lot of songs together.
So that's it?
Does that is that a prerequisite? Like do they have to have shared songs?
They could?
They could record songs for this tour together based on your direction. We have a ton of power in this scenario.
Man.
Well, Beach House is like my favorite band of all time, so I want that to be one of the artists. I mean, it feels like a cop out to use Kendrick, but like Beach House and Kendrick be like on Fire Tour. I would love that so much, and they would be really cool collab. I think like they could make some really cool songs together. And I mean Kendrick has sampled them before, he sampled them on Money Trees, So I do.
A good start.
I give you so much bready.
I didn't realice that was then.
I can tell you right now.
I absolutely thought, okay, so tiny this, and I.
Mean I would love that, but like, yeah, I feel like it's like the what are they isn't it? With awards voting, It's like you have to like leave yourself.
Recute yourself.
Yeah that's fair.
Nah on that, not on this sved, not on this show where crooked as.
Hell, myself, me and jay z Onto worlds do that.
Yeah, the fans have been asking.
That's the answer.
That is the answer.
It is correct.
Thank you Jobori for leading her to the right answer. That just checking our scorecard and yes, every single one of those was the correct answer. Congratulations returning champion Claire Dulon. Thank you so much for joining us. Where can people find you? Follow you, hear you, listen to you all that good stuff?
Well, basketball wise, you can find my stuff at the guardiantheguardian dot com and also I tweet about basketball and like post about across all social media at Claire Mpls music wise, you can find me under tiny Deaths wherever you stream music.
Yeah, yoh, you can give us a follow on Twitter. I'm at Jack Underscore. O'Brian Miles is at Miles of Gray. I'm at Jack ob one on Blue Sky and Miles as also at Miles of Gray. He has good social media continuity. I have the opposite, Jabari, where can people find you?
Easy A? Davis on both?
All right, and that's going to do it. Another one in the books, swish we did it. We did it back next week, Kobe Lebron knuckle come on,