My most un favorite bit we have on the show, by far, especially on a Friday when people are trying to get their weekend started out the right way. We have a lot of bits on the show, and this, by far is our worst bit by far.
I'm not a pit Bull guy. By far, I don't know that we're not helping people get ready for the weekend. Does it helped your brand, Zach Harper?
Than in Salt Lake City? When people hear pit Bull, they think Zach Harper.
It's any city, any town city, anything thinks of me or thinks of pit Bull when the other one's mentioned or heard. That's the ultimate honor, especially getting the weekend going. This is weekend music.
All right? Well he is mister worldwide.
I have to ask you right out of the gates because I have your Twitter pulled up.
You did a count the Ding's Pod shout out.
Yeah.
One of the.
Topics was things that make us feel old and something that manifests itself from me every day?
What was the Zach Harper take on things that make you feel old?
One for me was anytime I'm like out at a grocery store, restaurant, anything a shop and I am around a group of like young people, right, and just hearing them talk it reminds me of how I was when I was that age and realizing like, oh, I didn't know anything and they don't know anything, and I don't know that I know anything now, but just being around that energy, I feel old energy when I'm around those people.
I was with my son and a few of his friends a couple of weeks ago, and they've never been to an ATM.
Now once what they've never They've never been.
Yeah, they've never needed These are these are young men in their early twenties. These are not twelve year olds. They've never because for some reason, I'm like, hey, I got to stop in at the ATM, and they're like, wait, what, Like you don't know what that. I'm old enough to remember when I needed cash to go to the bank and use a depot, you know, a withdrawal slip or write a check, and now these kids have never even been to the ATM machine.
I think that the thing for me too is, you know a lot of places will now like do electronic payments for rent, and my my building does not. I have to write a physical check. So that's like a grounding in the twentieth century every time where I feel like, oh, I right, like this is how it used to be. It's it's almost like I think if I had to move to an electronic payment for rent, it would actually sadden me a little bit, because I like, I like writing out of check.
You know, I don't think I have checks anywhere. I would have to look. But yeah, now everything is like Venmo, everything's online. But I was I was stunned that adults in American society would have no frame of reference as far as okay, you need cash, what do you do?
You know?
They don't even know.
So I thought it was a very good topic that you guys tackled off to check that out. How many pods are you currently recording right now? What's the what's the workload?
That's a great question. I don't know.
Let's just call it four four. I feel like that's low.
It might be by like four, I feel pretty confident in at least four.
Okay, all right, all right, yeah, fair enough, there's you know, that was good. I was gonna say, let's get some jazz stuff out of the way. They're just there's there's nothing interesting, man about the team. Ultimately, it probably is the worst team we've ever had here, and I'm serious.
They don't do anything well.
But I will get your take on a dynamic we just discussed last hour with Dave mcminnimon, and that is the conversation about Will Hardy, who seems to be like universally respected in pro basketball and look ultimately as of right now, you know the old saying you are what your record says you are.
He's seventy two and one thirteen.
The fact that he's almost won forty percent of his games here is actually a miracle. It's thirty eight percent technically as far as the win percentage goes. He's got an option picked up for both next year and year five, and they're not close to being good. Is there a danger here of the Jazz front office and there inability to get him high level talent? Are they running the danger of maybe scaring off a really good coach at some point?
Is he gonna look at being like, dude, what are we doing?
I think as long as they communicate with him, as long as you know, like you have to present a certain level of like we're trying to win and we're trying to do this publicly. But if internally, it's a clear line of communication on what the plan is, what's happening. I think that I would assume that he'll be fine unless another team just comes and throws an insane amount of money at him to try to try to lure him away. Right, So if that, like, if that doesn't happen,
I wouldn't worry about scaring him off. Like I think, I don't know. The whole conversation got really dumb about him after that time out called because people were like, but he scored. It's like three yeah, three seconds after a timeout was called, Like it's like, I get it, but it was it was such an obvious time out call at the time because that's just what you do. And I think it, you know, with with like casual
people don't really pay attention to the Jazz. I think it it like skewed the perception of the coach, like, oh, this coach is that. But I think the people around the NBA know what the deal is with him, know what the deal is with the Jazz, and it wouldn't shock me if the team tried to pull him away. I just think the Jazz would be smart to make sure that that's not a possibility, I don't think. But
I don't think it's a lack of talent thing. I think coaches recognize how few of these jobs there are, and if there is actual security with one team being offered in a secondary contractor or even a third contract, I think that's enough to keep him. But you know, the market will dictate what that is.
We're nine days away from December fifteenth, and the Jazz, of course, are a team. Every time somebody writes the whole like, hey, watch out for these teams to potentially make trades, the Jazz are on that list. Any of these vets hold any interest, I mean the weird thing. And look, if you're on an NBA team and that NBA team is bad and you played in the NBA for a while and you're just alive with the Poultz,
you can put up numbers. But John Collins is legitimately fifty to forty ninety this year, believe it or not. So there's Collins, there's Sexton, there's Clarkson, who is just no longer the guy that he once was simply because he's older. Any of these vets hold legitimate value on the open market.
I mean, I think anything with anybody with two or fewer years left on their contract, especially with the you know, the dreaded second apron. Now, I think those are attractive assets of knowing, all right, we get the rest of this year and then it's an expiring next year. And so I think anyone like like Collins is playing well. I've never been a John Collins guy, but he but he is playing well. He has played well for Utah, and I think actually in maybe a more consistent way
than what we saw over the years in Atlanta. But also it's in Atlanta, so you know, like I don't know how you actually judge that, but I think Collins would be someone that that teams are excited about. I think Collin Sexton would, I you know, Jordan Clarkson. I don't know if they ever could have actually gotten the first round pick for him, but that feels like that was a couple of years ago that that was a possibility. But I think, you know, I think they have like
this is the thing. I mean, the Jazz have been terrible, but they do have good veterans, they have good young players. Like I think that there's always a market there. I just I legitimately don't know how teams are going to approach it now that we've gone through one full offseason of this second Apron and what that's going to mean for team building in the future. I think there are a lot of teams that are very hesitant about it.
I think we're gonna see New Orleans make some really tough decisions over the next couple of months because it hasn't gone well and they don't want to be the Clippers who just keep saying, Hey, if we're healthy in the playoffs every year, then maybe we can do something.
Yeah, so you brought up the Pelicans, and you know, Philly's got to figure something out as well. Who are the other teams that you think you know? Because to your point with the second Apron stuff, if you are an owner and you're riding a massive check for a team that sucks, then you're probably wanting to get out of that situation. Who are the most likely movers prior to the trade deadline based off of lack of production early on after about twenty twenty three games.
Yeah, I mean, I wonder, I wonder if the King, like the Kings might have kind of like an itchy trigger finger there right, like they might start getting a little anty because it hasn't gone well. I think, you know, I don't know what flexibility Milwaukee could even have, but Milwaukee has to be looking at this and thinking this is supposed to be so much better, right, Like this is supposed to be so much better, and it's not.
I think teams like Houston and Memphis may have gone for big swings, but they've been so successful early on this season that that's not necessary. Minnesota obviously doesn't really have the flexibility unless someone all of a sudden wants Julius Randall, which I I don't think that's the case, you know, because New Orleans been so bad, Utah has
been bad. Portland's got some really interesting pieces, Like I think they should be looking to move a veteran or two if they can get any kind of assets back. But I yeah, I think more teams are gonna be buyers than sellers if they're not afraid of the apron, because that's what the play in tournament kind of gives.
Us, all right.
So one of the interesting dynamics here locally is most of the really good players who have gone elsewhere haven't necessarily excelled on a level that we expected namely Hayward, who unfortunately broke his leg, and Darren Darren Williams, who just never really figured it out after he left. But are we seeing Donovan? And you know, I'm gonna keep revisiting this because every time I watch Cleveland there is
this like level up type feel from Mitchell. This year the questions will have to be answered in the spring by his own accord. But twenty and three, you don't just fall backwards into that. And I know it's not just him, but he clearly has been the main impetus. He's their best player. So are you ready to talk about Cleveland in a more real way after this crazy start, and specifically from Mitchell?
What are you seeing?
I mean, yeah, like I do take them more seriously, but I just don't know, Like I like, I think Donovan has really impressed me. Where I'll be watching a game and it's, you know, the first couple, you know, two three quarters, I'm like, all right, whatever, it's you know, Donovan's good, but he's not doing anything special, and then he'll just go on those runs in the fourth order, right Like it's just that reminder of like, oh yeah, this dude can get stupid hot and and really like
hurt a team. And so when he does that, like when he's that player, I believe in them more. They've also been super injured, like that's a that's kind of an underrated I think because this team has not been very healthy. They've been missing guys left and right. Like I just s don't know. I don't know at what point before the playoffs I can buy in?
So do you think?
And the easy thing to say about the East is Boston and everybody else. I do think there's some there's some bite to Orlando that is surprising to me. I mean, look, they're new in this could to sack as far as winning basketball games. But is there anyone in the East come playoff time fully healthy that you think at least makes Boston nervous?
I do think. I do think New York has a lot of firepower. Right Their defense is not good, and I don't know if you can win with kat as the main big man defensively, I mean, if their offense just keeps going crazy like this, I mean, it's it's historic right now, But I do think New York is dangerous. There's still part of me that believes in Milwaukee on some level. Even though I don't believe in doc Rivers. I just think that there's there's just too much talent there.
I know it's a little top heavy, but I actually like a lot of their role players too. Like I just it should be so much better than it is. But I never bought Philly, Like I think Orlando is still probably a year and some shooting away. I think they need one more shooter. But no, like it just it feels like this is Boston's conference for a while and then and maybe Cleveland disrupts that. Maybe they do,
Like they played really well the other night. I know, you know, Boston was missing James Brown and Derek White, but that was a fun game and that was a good test for them. It just, man, it feels like it feels like Boston would have to historically mess this up in order to not win the conference.
What does Philly do? Like, what's their course of action at this point? I know it's only twenty games, but obviously, yeah, it's not working. And man, it's just every time you get like a Philly alert, it's just bad news, whether a players missing game or punching a reporter whatever, Like, what's there? What's their course of action. Do they just have to ride this out?
Don't be don't be dramatic media, it was just the shoulder push come on of the I don't, man, I don't know. Like I you're you're hoping, and like all you can do. I think that, like what they have to do is one, they've got to cultivate just a defensive mentality, right like that, like that has to be
their calling card. Is they've got to create, even if it's just creating ugly games, they have got to create an ugly mentality that is relying on defense and just that never goes away, whether it beads in the lineup or not. And so if they can get that identity, you can start carving away at some stuff. They they don't have to be good in the regular season, but they do have to build, right, they have to build towards the end of the season and then and then
then avoid the Celtics in the first round. I don't even know that they could beat any of those other teams, top teams in the East right now in a seven, seven game series. But I know they can't beat Boston
whether they're healthy or not. And so as long as they avoid Boston, I mean, they probably need to avoid Cleveland too, but as long as they avoid Boston if you're healthy in the playoff when the playoffs start and you've got some momentum going and man, this just feels like a broken record every year with feeling, no matter what the machination is. But but that's that's really all they can hope for, right Like, there's no getting out
of this. You're you're committed to this roster. It's just man, it's just not good.
Well, before we move out to the Western Conference, I have not asked you your opinion on the latest attempts by the NBA to fix the All Star Game with this different format, four team competition. We don't know much about how the players are going to be, you know, picked, and I don't know what the format essentially is going to look like.
We still have to wait for some of the details.
But I always appreciate the attempts to clean something up that's so boring people probably won't watch anyway. But do you like what they're at least trying to do with the revamped All Star Game format?
I think this year it's going to completely fix the
All Star Game, and then nobody will care next year. Yeah, like I just like, I mean, that's what happened with the elam ending, right, Like they got that really good one right away and then you know, hey, I got two hundred million dollars in the bank and I don't really want to get hurt, and I don't really want to, you know, go out there and and bust my tail after hanging out all weekend in San Francisco or wherever they're gonna be the Serrana time next year, wherever that's
gonna be, and like, oh it's in La next time. Yeah, the LA one's gonna be disaster. That now that I think that's an absolute disaster. So yeah, like I think it's gonna I think anytime you fix the format, they'll get into it initially, but eventually that human nature is just gonna take over. And I think that's the problem with the All Star Game is in today's world, that human nature is just not interested in trying.
Yeah, certainly when it comes to you know, pro basketball players now and the money has changed everything, as we've discussed. But speaking of Los Angeles, watch the Heat Laker game as long as I could, and you know, if it doesn't if it doesn't matter to you, It doesn't matter to me. So after they went down like forty or whatever, I just kind of turned it off. And look, I'm not laying all this at the feet of JJ Reddick.
I just wonder if there's legitimate conversations to be had about whether or not hiring a guy that's never coached pro basketball to coach that roster with that dude was the right course of action.
Through twenty two games, what's the early return on the Lakers.
I don't know about JJ, Like I'm not that impressed, but I'm not also looking at him like what are you doing? I think we're now on the third coach in four years with the pretty much the same roster, and hey, they haven't figured it out. Maybe it's the roster, like maybe it's the fact, like you know, there's all this like stuff about, Hey, the Lakers, they've been looking for shooters, and they put one around Lebron with Dalton Konnec.
I'm like, yeah, he's good, he's a nice rookie. At the same time, they haven't been looking for shooters because they haven't signed any shooters over the years, Like they like that. I'm sorry, Like you can go get shooters
if you want shooters. They have tried to put together a different thing around Lebron and hope that Lebron will will make them shooters right by just delivering the ball like it's a video game algorithm, and that's just not how it works, Like you have to go get shooters like this, this front office is not doing a good job. And I mean they're big unders still Jackson Hayes and like I think Christian Wood still on the roster like that in Ruey Hotchimore six foot eight Ruey hotchimra Is
is like a part time center for them. That's not good. Like they haven't done a good job of building any of this roster out. And so yeah, JJ like talked about emphasizing threes and they don't really shoot more threes than they did last year. NDO Darvin Ham, Like there are things to change, and there are things to tweak, and their game plans you can implement and all that stuff,
but the roster is still limited. And so I just like, I don't know how if we're going to kill I guess if we're gonna kill Darvin Ham over it, then I guess you kind of have to kill JJ Redick over it. But I always looked at this as a roster construction issue rather than whether you think Ham's a good coach or not. I like, I didn't think it mattered. I think the roster is just not capable of can.
I really wonder what Scott Brooks and Aate McMillan are thinking sitting next to JJ Reddick. They might just be grateful for a job, or they're probably like, dude, this guy has no clue what he's doing.
Yeah, I mean he he might he might not right like he might. This might be like, you know, a bit off more than he can chew with this job. And and it doesn't help that like six straight games Lebron wasn't any good right that all of a sudden his three point shot went away, Like I mean this this team is kind of teetering on on certain things
that can and can't happen. And when the bad things happen, I don't know that there's a fix, like I I you know, JJ, JJ's talking about how they're not doing the basic stuff like I mean, they're they're helping off strongside shooters and and they're not rotating into the lane like Lebron doesn't isn't in help ever? Right?
Like that?
I mean, Ad. You know, I've been on this AD is not that guy island by myself for years and it's not that he's not good, but he's not going to lead a team to a championship, right, And so you have all these factors where you need it to be really fine tune, and then the second like some some dust or Sam gets gets you know, lost it into the engine, it just falls apart. And I just I don't know that that's I don't know that that's coaching.
All right, before I set you loose, You're uniquely qualified to react to I'll just call it a epiphany I had the other night because you are a movie guy and a basketball guy, and I was watching the Nick Magic Game and watching Cat and you know, do cat things, and look, he is uniquely skilled for a guy that that's that big, and when it looks good offensively, it looks really good. But it just dawne on me that Cat reminds me of Will Smith. I don't know why, but.
That just hit me. That hit me.
Yeah, So I just want I needed your reaction to this thought I had watching him the other night.
You mean more like present day Will Smith, right, because yeah, like we got to remember the nineties, like he hit like like fifteen straight number one movies.
Yeah, not fresh Prince, not fresh Prince modern day Will Smith.
All right, we're talking like After Earth.
And Beyond Rock, you know, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, No, I like I like this comparison a lot because you can always tell, Like even in the stuff Will Smith does now, you can always tell the charisma and the talent is there. Just the understanding of how to maximize that is not anymore. And and with Kat that's all. Like Kat has always known what to say,
and he's so talented on the floor. It's why It's why I didn't I didn't enjoy criticism of him as a as a player when he would say, like, I'm the best shooting big man ever and everyone starts laughing. I'm like, look, I don't think you have to agree, but I don't think that's worthy of laughter either, right, Like he is crazy talented. He I mean, he is
an unbelievable shooter. He has unbelievable basketball skills offensively, but it is just there's a there's a corniness now in and not just the things he says, but the way he will try to do stuff on the court, like he will go try to block a shot and completely sell out his team and his team defense and doing so right, and it's there to like send a message like I'm gonna go slap Chris Rock and send a message and you just left going what happened? Why did
you do that? That didn't help anything? And that's what I think. You get a lot of that with Kat And at the same time he's so good that you're like, yeah, maybe it'll click this time.
It's the corniness you you you landed on it. It's just like the unauthentic. Donovan's got a little bit of that too from time to time, as we talked about, but it just dawn on me.
I'm like, man, he just he's like Will Smith.
Anyway, odd way to end the interview, Zach, I appreciate the time.
Man, have a great weekend, all right, appreciate it.
Thank you.
Zach Harper from the Athletic host of a bunch of different pods. Get him on Twitter at tak Hoops is where you find me, writes the Athletics Power Rankings every week and does a bunch of different bunch of different pods, both Basketball movie side with cenophobe so talenty Kid, give him a follow and support his work.