Welcome in. We'll drive into great episode three thirty two on a Monday, doing a live show. So this week, by the way, this is a great time and a great reminder to like, rate, subscribe, review, do all that stuff. The reviews just help us, as do the likes, but the subscriptions hopefully help you guys this week as well, because we're gonna have an odds schedule because we're doing the show today. Tomorrow, I am buying my house, and then Wednesday I head to Indianapolis for the Indy five hundred.
It's kind of the timing's crazy. I live in New York, the Knicks are playing the Pacers I had to Indy for and I'm gonna be in Indie for games one and two, which are in New York, and then I'm gonna come back here and in games three and four, which are in Indy, I will be in New York. So at all, if the Pacers just had a better record, I could potentially go to the first four games to the Eastern Conference Spinals. Instead, I'm gonna be able to
go to zero of them. But the point is, I'm not sure exactly when we're gonna be on the air this week emergency shows, whatever it is. So the way to make sure you don't miss anything, subscribe on YouTube, subscribe on iTunes and Spotify and everywhere else. Let's get right into it, Demonse, So here is what missed the cut. This was a story that missed the cut, and I missed my radar entirely. This Bill Belichick spending five grand on milk for Tom Brady has an Antonio Brown wrinkle.
I do not care lebron wins the shack and the fool MVP. I missed that as well. And Caleb Williams is he happy in Chicago? The answer to that question is I hope. So the bigger Caleb Williams question is this, was he right about every single one of his concerns? Turns out yeah, was he right about? Man? I wonder what I'd look like if I was in Kevin O'Connell's
offense on that team. And the answer as well, Sam Darnold had fourteen wins and through for four thousand yards, So probably pretty damn good Caleb Williams instincts through the roof. That was my takeaway from that article. Caleb nailed everything. He got everything right. Demon say you're laughing, showed me the lie. As the kids say.
I mean, that's fair, but you know you're a rookie, just go and play for whatever team they throw you on.
You.
Well, that's what he ended up doing. That's literally what he ended up doing. But I'm just saying his instincts were correct, all right, Game seven last night legacies made in a Game seven except for a Game seven leg last night, which was a game for about a quarter and a half.
Go ahead, Okay, So he took care of business last night against the Nuggets, backed him by thirty two points. Denver was obviously dealing with injuries with MPG. With MPG, they were now they were neutralizing Yo Kic. Do you think that this has any implications with the MVP debate? What is where as your head after this series?
Well, so listen, it doesn't have any implications for who should have won it or whatever, because it's an obviously regular season award, But it is a good time to stop and take stock of what the two MVP candidates did in this series. And so I want to start on the thunderside, then we'll get to the joker side. This was a sorry to be cliche, but a coming of age moment for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it's
one that I think they needed. I don't think it would have been good for them to cruise through Round two the way they cruised through Round one, because there is going to be adversity at some point in the playoffs. Now they have faced it, and they faced down the best player in the world and blew them out in a Game seven in their building. And there aren't many places with a legitimate home court advantage left in this league,
but Oklahoma City might be one of them. The college like atmosphere, how loud it gets, it reminds you a bit of the Old Oracle where nobody you know won playoff games there for five years that wasn't named Lebron James and there is. So they needed a real test and they got one in the form of the Denver Nuggets. Shae. Here's the thing. Shae was good in last year's Round two when Luca and the MAVs beat him. It was his co stars who were not good in that round,
and you were worried that was happening again this year. Shae, and Round two this year gave you basically right around his regular season numbers, he was thirty six and six on fifty three thirty three splits. So Shae didn't you know, he didn't raise his game to a new level, but it didn't drop off. The worry was Jalen Williams, who was bad in last year's Round two, was playing poorly
in this year's Round tw two. And then in the second in the quarter that you know, I don't want to say saved the Thunder season because maybe without that quarter they still win the game. But in the quarter that ended last night's game or yesterday afternoon's game, and in the biggest quarter of their season up to that point, the second quarter of Game seven, Jalen Williams showed up
to the party. Now, Jalen was really good in game was a game tour Game three, I don't remember of this series, but overall in this series he had been terrible. Despite the game, uh what was it? It was Game three performance. He was still shooting like thirty two percent from the series, less than twenty percent from three and
struggling massively. And then last night he has twenty four five and seven has you know in the mid teams in that second quarter and the game was never close again and Now, if you're den if you're Oklahoma City, you feel like you are more than prepared for a little bit of adversity in round three against Minnesota, a
Minnesota team that I think is super live. Now, you guys know, despite Demonds's scurless allegations of team hopping by me, once my championship pick, the Lakers was eliminated were eliminated, I said, I think Oklahoma City is going to win the title. I have not strayed from that. I had no choice but to change championship picks. My champion got clopped in round one. So I still think Oklahoma City is going to beat Minnesota. But I think Minnesota is
going to present very different problems for Oklahoma City. To the tune of that you are going from playing a four man team in Denver to an eight man team in Minnesota and a team that wants to run with you. What Oklahoma City reminded everyone of yesterday is they have the ability to go on a fifteen to two run unlike any team in recent memory. Because they're fifteen to two run is not predicated on getting hot from three. Their fifteen to two run is predicated on getting hot defensively.
And just all just sending wave after wave of young plus Alex Caruso athletic defenders at you and wreaking havoc. And if you guys remember the day after Thanksgiving, I went to Lakers Thunder in LA, and I came on here and said, Man, Oklahoma City's ability to just go to whoever they want on their bench and those guys being plus plus defenders is just a pitch no one
else in the league hass. And so the fact that you get, you know, twenty plus minutes off the bench from Cruso, who was unbelievable, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins, who were both good defensively even if they struggled offensively. You don't even play Isaiah Joe. You don't really even have to play Jalen Williams. That's ten guys plus you're starting five, obviously. And so I thought Shaye was outstanding yesterday.
I think Shae has now proven, over his relatively limited playoff career, but still a playoff career, that he's not the dreaded playoff dropper, which wasn't. Anytime a guy makes so much money off the free throw line, you worry is that you is he going to have the Harden embiid playoff drop and in now back to back postseasons go ahead.
So he's still getting pretty good whistles. Though.
Yeah, I was about to say the whistle didn't really taper off like we finally felt it would in the postseason. I feel like he's been getting pretty consistent whistless.
One hundred correct. In fact, he is. In the regular season, he averaged eight point eight free throw attempts per game in thirty four minutes per game. In the postseason, he's averaging eight point seven free throw attempts per game in thirty six minutes per game. So the free throw attempts are basically identical. The minutes are slightly up, so he's maybe getting, you know, on a per minute basis, like five percent less calls. But he's still it's it has
not been that. Oh he hasn't been able to get to the line, which I thought my own I had. I guess three pockets of OKAC skepticism. The first one was, is Shay gonna get the same whistle he has thus far for the most part. The second one was are
the co stars going to be co stars? That one looked like it could cost them this series, and then it didn't, and now you've got to feel like Jalen Williams is going to go into the next round super confident and Chet Listen, I don't think Chet is ready yet and I don't know if he's ever going.
To be uh but to be Jalen Williams. Though, say it again, say he's been more consistent than Jayalen Williams.
He's been more consistent, but his peaks haven't been to Like, I just don't think Chet's ready to be the second option on a champion. Like, You're totally right about his consistency. You can basically pencil him in for thirteen to nine foreen and ten every night, but we're now ten playoff games in. He doesn't have a twenty five point game in this series. He didn't have a twenty point game. So I just don't think checks ready to ascend past
Jalen Williams as the number two. But he's been fine fine as the number three, and his rim production is legitimate. So that was the second concern, And the third concern was less of a concern and more of a I don't know analysis question, however you want to put it how valuable was the depth going to be when rotations get shortened, And the answer is it was super valuable because you aside from the overtime game, demanse Shane never played forty plus minutes. He never like they were able
to give Shay real rest. And you saw it, Listen, Denver was gonna lose that game even without this happening. But you saw yesterday when Denver tried to give jokicch a break, it was an eight to zero run in forty five seconds. It was just like all the Cleveland years with Lebron, where you try to steal him minutes of rest at the end of the first or the beginning of the second, and whatever lead you built up with him on the court gets evaporated in ninety seconds.
It is still beyond me why no team has coached their no team that is so reliant, and we haven't seen anybody as relying on one player the way the Nuggets are on Joker since Cleveland era Lebron. It is baffling why the strategy is not while our guy is on the bench, we want to play as slow as possible. That way, there are we are minimizing the number of possessions that occur, while our guys out Denver didn't do
that yesterday. They give up a basket race down court, Russ throws it away, give up another basket race down court, Russ misses a shot. All of a sudden, it's a six to zero run. We're not even at the eleven minute mark of the second quarter. So listen, credit to OKC. It would have been really cool if the NBA had taken my advice and given Shay his MVP award before that game. It would have added a little more Jenna
Sae quad to it. They didn't do that. Instead, I would imagine he's gonna get his MVP award before Game two of the Conference finals. And you bet your ass man Anthony Edwards, even though he was nowhere close to the MVP conversation, will take that personally, and I'm excited. I'm excited to see that.
Okay, see why to cracked the code with with guarding Jokic maybe showed it show in the NBA a little blueprint.
So let's talk about because you're talking about with Cruso.
Yeah, he did really good on him, he did.
Now listen, Crusoe is a great defender and very strong. And remember when it seemed like and it seemed like I was only picking on, uh, white guys, but I was talking about NBA guys with bad bodies, and about how it there's it irritates me, and how there's no excuse to not have you know, defined arms when you're an NBA player, unless you're an Eastern European guy, in which case.
I'll allow it.
Caruso is a great example of the opposite of what I'm talking about. Go look at clips of Caruso when he won a championship with the Lakers. Go look at what Alex Caruso's body looked like early in his career. And by the way, Crusoe sneaky old. Do you know how old Crusoe is. I'm not just giving away by his kids saying sneaky old. Say it again, thirty thirty two,
thirty three, Yeah, thirty one. But the like that is he doesn't feel thirty one because it took him so long to get to the NBA and it felt like we've only seen him really for five six years. But he was twenty six years old when he won that championship with the Lakers. But at twenty six Kruso was he didn't have the exact Austin Reeves body, but it wasn't that dissimilar. And now he's jacked. Yeah, I mean you see it in what his traps like you. And that allowed him to play a stut a physical style
on Joke, on Jokic. That prevented Joker from getting to his spose and so he just had to catch the ball a little further out. Sometimes he denied to catch it fully and and and when Joker did get the ball, he had to worry about Chet or someone else coming from the weak side. So Crew, I don't know that they cracked a code because I don't know how many teams having Alex Caruso, but they obviously gave Joker some
trouble and he was not good. Listen, I laid out on Thursday show the Lebron game six and seven, down three to two to Boston going forty five and then thirty five. I'm talking about that. You might be like, which time when Lebron did that against Boston. I'm not talking about twenty twelve Lebron with the heat, talking about twenty eighteen Lebron with when that when that team it was a similar situation to this, and that you didn't have that much talent on your team to begin with.
Your second best player got hurt and I thought that was a heroic effort by Aaron Gordon just to be out there and he gave you real minutes. It's it was so heroic that I am going to be everyone. Everyone in Unison was like, how is Aaron Gordon doing this with a Grade two ham string string? It should be impossible to do this with a grade two hamstring string. Ham strange ham string string. And everyone was saying that
as if they all had personally reviewed the MRI. Here is here is my you know, just gut feeling on Aaron Gordon's Grade two ham strained string. God doug it ham string strength a grade one. Just my gut, just my gut that he didn't he wasn't actually out there playing with an injury that knocks you out one month. I think he was playing with the same injury. Again, maybe I'm wrong, but the way he was moving everything, I thought he was playing with the same injury that
knocks Steph out of round two. And by the way, this whole like, so you're saying Steph couldn't give us a minute. No, like they're drastically different players asked to do drastically different things, and I I and there was to me demands if I just the Gordon versus Steph thing, there were a lot of qualifiers where I think people were being unfair again when it comes to Steph Curry dialogue.
I'm ros algoul. I'm just bringing balance to the universe, and this is an instance where I think we need to balance out on the You gotta be kidding me with criticizing Steph here side of things, because first of all, Aaron Gordon is not asked to run around one thousand screens again. Second of all, Aaron Gordon did not suffer this injury in game one of the series. And so do I think if stuff is Steph so I can't talk today, if Steph suffered his injury at the end
of game six, I do think. I do think that if Steph suffered his injury at the end of game six, there's a real possibility that he would have gone out for Game seven, almost as a decoy, see what it's like, whatever it is. But that wasn't that wasn't the case, and it didn't make sense for him to do that in Game two when it's like, Okay, if I reaggravate this, then I'm definitely out for the postseason. And then they never got with you know, within reaching distance of Minnesota.
I mean, did you.
Well, yeah, and the right a huge age difference, there's just there now. I also, so, the only thing that I think is the same between Stephan Gordon's hamstring injuries is I think they were the same grade. And if Aaron Gordon really did have a grade two hamdstring, I can't, you know, Hammy, I'm just gonna call it hand a grade two Hammy, Uh, then that's one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen in my life. But I, you know, unlike everyone on Twitter, I didn't personally review
the MRI. I just read what Sham's tweeted, and I'm like, so, I'm not sure.
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Now back to what I was saying about the opportunity Joker had in front of him. It was a missed opportunity, missed in that he is, what he is chasing is such legendary status. I'll give you a four instance. Somebody over the weekend tweeted a picture of five centers and they left out the old timers, so they left out Wilt Russell and Kareem But it was basically like, you know who's who's not making the cut here, and it was a keen shack Joker, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing. That
was the list. And to me, by the way, that was a very easy cut and he was one of my favorite players growing up at The answer to that is Patrick Ewing, and then like five four, three two on that five and four are simple Patrick, who was a great player, but unlike the other four guys, has no MVPs and no championships, so that one's a pretty
easy you know X number. The next guy you're getting rid of is David Robinson, who is a great player, one MVP, a couple championships, only one where he was still, you know, a super impactful player, the three Spurs title. Robinson was a you know, super role player. And then it gets interesting Joker Shack in a team. I have
Joker still pretty solidly behind Shaq in a geam. That could have changed this postseason, Right, that's a fair thing to say, Like had he carried this team to the NBA Finals, much less to a championship, how does that?
You know?
Then? How do we do Jokers resume of three two rings versus Shack one MVP, four rings a team one MVP, two rings a team. The greatest defensive player ever, Shack the most dominant at his apex, maybe players certainly sinner ever, Joker the best passer connector all that stuff. So it's a missed opportunity, not in that. I do not think that, Demons,
where do you sin on this? I do not come out of this series feeling like, well, there's an argument now sha' is the best player in the world even though he just you.
Agree, no, no, no, yeah, I agree that that's not That was not a thought that crossed my mind after the series, I still.
Think yog me too, That's what I'm saying like that, And I understand that Joker, like Shay just beat Joker in a series, and you could argue outplayed him. Like Joker's numbers in this series were good, and they were great by regular All Star standards. They were good by his He was twenty eight, fourteen and six on by his standards, not that efficient forty eight slash thirty three. So again, that's a really good series. It's but he needed a legendary When you are chasing legends, you need
legendary series. And for him, the tough part is going to be this, are there going to be how many more during the remainder of his prime? How many more times? How often is he going to have a team better than the one he had this year? And your answer that might be that team was not that good this year. They fired their and that's totally true, and MPJ got hurt and Gordon got hurt at the very end of
that series. But I don't think just like and we'll talk about this later now that we saw the totality of Nick Celtics, I don't think Tatum, you know, tearing his achilles changed the outcome of that series. I don't think Aaron Gordon's straining his hamstring changed the outcome of that game and therefore that series. So you might say, oh, we should have a bunch of teams better than this one. How though, Like that's the tricky part for Denver is
everyone everyone talks about. Oh, well, obviously you trade Michael Porter Junior. I don't know what great assets you get back for Michael Porter Junior at this point, forty million a year for a guy who I there's no other way to put it. At this point, he's like a very poor man. Zach Levine just tall. Oh wow, I mean Zach Levine's a good I like Zavin a lot too. Yeah, that's Zack Lavine is a good player, you know what.
Like I'm not killing him, but like Michael Border Junior is to me significantly worse than him.
Sorry to Nuggets fans if this is blasphemous or anything. I don't know what the contract situation is looking like either, But I mean, can anybody get out of the building Like Jamal Murray, Like, I mean, did he he really show up yesterday?
Well?
So no, and listen what have. I always said this is one of my greatest takes. Honestly, one of the greatest.
That's here.
No life better than being the twelfth to twenty fifth best basketball player alive. No life better. You make the same money as the very best. When you're awesome, you get sick nicknames, and we're talking about you in these amazing uh you know ways. And in a game seven, when you're six for sixteen with two assists and a minus twenty one, you get brought up forty minutes into the show discussing the game. Yeah, like nobody gives a shit. It's just such a sick.
Life, Like they can they shop him? Like no?
Yeah, So listen, Jamal does have value. But in the and Man, what one of Wild's best takes is that basketball fans shouldn't have to be accountants to you know, figure out their team and to be a fan of their team, and that stuff and the second Apron stuff has forced us to all become to a degree. But when I'm just pulling up on my phone the Nuggets cap sheet, Jamal has a four year contract starting next year. That is four years, two hundred and seven million dollars.
I does he have value? Absolutely does. Does he have you know, massive value given the contract, I'm not sure. And also that Jokich Murray pick and roll is still the thing that works better than anything else they do. So I I just they need those young guys to take a leap. They need a lot of stuff. And it does feel Demon's like while we were all, you know, hand up for me at least, but it wasn't just me holding on to two eras ago, the Lebron Steph
Durant Kawhi era. Even going into this postseason after that Game two by Kawhi, people like the Clippers can win the championship. You know, I thought the Lakers are gonna win the championship the Warriors after beating the Rockets. A lot of people playoff Jimmy's Jimmy's in that group as well, Jimmy Harden holding on to that era, and now everyone kind of accepting the only way for that era to sustain is by someone from another era, like Luca joining
Lebron or Yannis joining staff or whatever it is. In the midst of all that, I think there now has to be a real consideration. Did the Joker Yannis Embiid era also close as far as Championship Windows Championship, Like is it now Shay and Aunt and Brunson, and like, I know those are the guys left, but those are also the teams that you feel like are positioned, like right now for Embiid, Yannis and Joker, the three well, the last three MVPs before Shay wins his and two
of the three best players in the world. Can any of those three guys realistically think that in what's left of their prime, say it three years for each of them, they can win a championship without changing teams. I don't think so, right.
Yeah, I mean, if you got to change teams and change teams, right right?
But so is Embiid's contracts underwater? Joker is Meanwhile, somebody in the Blue Duck studios because Demonsi's at home today, check on Daniel. Daniel might be committing sepuku right now, like he the we're talking about like the Joker era ending. I mean, I I don't know how this poor like.
It's the problem though, unfortunately, but those other guys need yeah.
Yeah no, but it's just it's really hard or just.
Like the best player on the team, like can't you like force ownership's hand, like, you know, get some guys around me.
It man, this is Johannis did it. Jannis did it, and now jiannest might force them to move him. I just I so let me try to put a pin in or you know, put an exclamation point on the Joker conversation. I he is going to be so I you know, you guys know how much I love these player ranking stuff. I've done the top twelve a bunch again. If you're new to the show, Lebron Kream, Michael Magic, Russell, Wilt uh Duncan, Kobe bird A, Keem Shack Steph, there's
your twelve. And in fact, I even had a pretty cool graphic about it about the you know, how how high can Joker go? And then right outside that top twelve is the group Jokers in with Doctor j and Moses, a bunch of old timers Elgin Oscar West and then Giannis and Durant all you know what I mean. And that wasn't in order, that was just the group. It is going to be I think very difficult, not even
very difficult. I'll go ahead and say it. I think it is going to be impos possible for Joker to crack that top twelve without either a bunch of super deep playoff runs and by that I mean like four years where you're in the final slash conference finals every year, or with you know, without winning a championship or won more championship. Like, I just think he's got a hard ceiling because when you look at those guys in the top twelve. Again, I'm not a count the rings guy,
but the rings have to matter. All of them have two and the only guys with just two are a team, the greatest defensive player maybe ever in certainly the last fifty years, and Wilt the guy who averaged fifty in a game for a season. Everyone else is three plus and so it wouldn't. So that's the that's the missed opportunity.
If you had a bet right now, it sounds like, would you take Yok winning another ring in his career?
Sounds like you're pretty iffy about it.
I don't think so. I just be for you to take that what odds? Oh you gave me, uh two to one? Do I think he has a one in three chance? Yeah?
You know what?
But like even money, I would say no, I just the now he he just I just think he's say it again.
This shocks me with like how high you're put him?
I think there's no way yo Kich goes the rest of his career that one in another ring.
I just don't know where he gets that. Denver does tuh to not have Because here's the problem. Houston is coming, Houston's you know, they were the two seeds. Oklahoma City is loaded for Bear Minnesota. Back to back conference finals for Minnesota. You know, like Anthony Edwards now in like
it's insane to say, but it's true. He has as many conference finals appearances as Joker two like, so they he just joke like, So there's just I think it might make more sense if you look at it more like the window was twenty one to last season like that, and you have the year, you know, Jamal Tears' acl you or maybe nineteen to last season, whatever it would have been, Jamal misses a postseason or two you win a championship. Last year is the how the hell did
that happen to us? In game seven? And then this year if fire your coach and you end up where you're at, all right, let's quickly go to the Western Conference Finals and then we'll do the East as well, and then I do need to talk about Brock Purty getting paid, and I need to talk about once again, demons ir. It just seems like it's not possible to have a sane WNBA conversation. It doesn't seem like it's possible. It just it doesn't seem like it's possible. We'll get
to all that before the show's over. But let's get to the conference finals.
So yeah, the thunder are now going to face off against the Timberwolves, who have been waiting for them after their Game seven, Minnesota's obviously been waiting. Okay, see, he's thrown right in the fire. I think their games tomorrow, But okay, see's still heavy favorites. Why would Vegas have them as favorites.
Well, I mean because they've They've been the best team all year. Now they are huge favorites, yo, like minus three seventy five for the series and minus seven and a half or something for Game one. What I would say is, you would think the layoff would be good for Minnesota. It was not in that Warriors series Game one against the Warriors, they look terrible, you know, after that long layoff. I my pick would be Okay, see. However, I I think minus three seventy five is too big
of a favorite. I also think that for Minnesota to have a realistic shot at this, I think that they do need to do what Denver did in Round two, which gave them a realistic shots. They forced the game seven, which is I think they need to steal game one. I think they need to take advantage of the fact that Okac is maybe a little you know, relieved, plus maybe be a little tired, and that they're rested, and I think they need to come out and play great
in game one. I think it's gonna be too hard for them to beat Okay See four out of six with one of those being a Game seven on the road. So I think that Minnesota's got to steal game one.
Jayleen Williams, I feel like that should be the game plan.
Lock him up obviously, you know SGA is gonna get buckets, Jayla Williams coming off the warm game, don't want him it continue.
So you so you would deploy, So that'll be interesting, do you do they deploy Jaden McDaniels on Jalen Williams neutralizer and just tell aunt hey man Shay is Shay's been talking about you just trying to get Aunt fired up. And also the other thing that works in Minnesota's favor is I gotta tell you I right now, I can already see it like it's a prophecy, and I can guarantee we are going to see this image. This is why it's good to watch on YouTube if you can.
I'm gonna I'm gonna be Chet Holmgren for a second. We're gonna see this early and maybe often doubled over grabbing his sternum because Julius Randall has dropped his shoulder into Chet's chest and we're gonna We're gonna ask in real time like does he need to be metavacked somewhere? Like is like serious? No, seriously, we need to stop the game. Is did his did his chest cavity just collapse?
That's gonna be a tough one man. And so like Julius is Julius did that to Lebron, he did that to Draymond, and now he's gonna have Chet Holmgren and so like that is a real matchup that I'm interested in. But I hope that series is awesome, and I'm also even the I picked Okay, see, I'm like an adopted You're gonna call me flip flopping. So this is what
I was. I told the story about our friend Nick from sugar Hill Creamery who's been watching all the Timberwolves games at the house, and that he's, you know, he has a real rooting interest, and so I like, I am rooting for me personally for a Nicks Timberwolves NBA Finals because I want to be able to go to games, and I I think if that happens, then I'm kind of happy with either. Winter. I don't really like, okayc
I find him a little corny. I I don't. I'm not a huge chet I'm sorry, not a huge shave fan. I don't like.
I don't find their whole scheme little thing.
Yeah I find it.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan, but I gotta give him respect where it's due. I don't like, No, it's just fair, like you're for you like who you like. Love is love, all right. The NBA fighters almost here, and every play could be the one that changes everything. This is the NBA Playoffs, where heroes rise and legacies are built in the action never lets up and with DraftKings Sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NBA.
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seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG dot co slash b ball. All right, demonse, let's go to the Eastern Conference and your Celtics getting what's the term dog walked in a game six?
Go ahead? Uh? Not fair. I mean we didn't have our best player, but it is what it is.
Yeah, and I was obviously a little confident that we're gonna win that game and that's h So that how it went. It's time to go home. Tatum was out. We got dogged in the game six. Like you said, do you think that we should blow this team up for the money or do you think that we showed enough to keep the band together, try to run it back next year.
Listen. I always, I certainly don't think they I don't think they should blow it up. They could have won the championship if things break a little differently like I, So, I can hold both of these thoughts in my head. I do think if you had a healthy Jason Tatum and the Knicks series was a best of twenty one first to eleven, you beat them in that series every time it's played, like you know, I mean, no, no, no, no. My point is is, I do think Boston, over a
large enough sample, would have beaten the Knicks. I thought where I thought people blew the analysis of it was because games one and two were you know, one point in overtime games, despite the Celtic shooting twenty five from three. What I where I thought people screwed up their analysis was is that it they acted as if it mattered that ah, more often than not, the Celtics will at least split those two, if not win them both. It didn't matter. It's a race to four and it's too nothing.
And so to me, I thought the series ended then when the Knicks were up two to zero in Boston, and I think the series even if Jason Tatum is healthy, and I think you might agree, the Knicks still win because the Knick. If you agree with this opinion, the Knicks were winning Game four even if Tatum doesn't suffer that horrific injury. Then I just think it was unrealistic to say the Celtics were gonna win three straight. And I think you saw that in what happened in Game six,
not the blowout. Here's the part I think people are missing and gets lost because it was a blowout. The Celtics were relying too much on old guys who showed you all postseason that they were not able to be good in consecutive games unless they had multiple days off, and that's Horford and that's Drew Holiday, and that you weren't gonna get those days off, and so you had
a bunch of time between Game four and five. Those guys were awesome in Game five, and then Drew was one for eight in Game six and Horford was four for seven, which is fine, like they so, so I think the Knicks were better in this series and that's what mattered. Now, would I blow it up? No? Do I recognize the Celtics' financial realities are such that they are going to have to make some significant changes. And the answer to that question is yes. To me, it's
pretty obvious. Here are the changes I would make if I were Boston because they are in such a devastating salary position. I would, And I am now opening the Celtics cap table. Al Horford is a free agent. You just have to I think he retires. Yeah, you just have to let him walk. So that's gone. You then have these big salaries Jalen Brown fifty three, Tatum fifty four, Drew thirty two, Chris STAPs thirty, Derek White twenty eight, and then a sneaky one which is Sam Houser ten million. Okay,
I would if I were them. You let Horford walk, and you trade Drew Holliday then and you keep together Tatum, Brown, White, and you hope that Chris STAPs next year is healthy. And now here's the other piece of the Christaps thing, because I wouldn't trade him before the year. If there is real hope that Tatum could be back for next
year's playoffs, I think that is unrealistic. However, it does seem like that because they did the surgery like within hours of the injury that that could really, you know, Curb shave some time off the recovery at next year's
trade deadline. Because Christaps is an expiring contract, I would, I would and see does it make sense to offload him or to keep him if we think he's gonna walk in the offseason either way depending on is Tatum gonna be back for this playoff run, but the next time Tatum's healthy, I would definitively want Tatum, Brown, and
Derek White together. The reason I brought up Sam Hauser is I read something that because of like the repeater tax and the aprons and all this shit, Sam Houser's ten million dollars demonse costs the Celtics sixty two million dollars because it's of the different like three xing the penalties for if you're over this certain lines. So it doesn't that money doesn't go to Sam, it goes to the league. So he's a fine player.
On a nice count salary basically, right, Well not.
So it's on anyone's salary. The point I'm making is if you if you stack the salaries up and like and you're like, hey, here's our total salary, what would happen to our luxury tax bill. If we traded the ten million dollars Sam Hauser contract, that one move, if they had everyone else still there, would save them the ten million in salary and fifty two million in penalties. Now obviously that means trading Drew Holiday saves you even more.
But that's that. That was just an example of what the financial realities are for a team that I think next year is not really competing. But I do think Tatum Brown, Derek White, there's proof of concept when I say competing, Like I think they'll still be good.
I just don't think they're not a championship level next year.
Right and so, and this was the point I made going into Game six. If you treated Chris STAPs as
if he were out, which I was. If you had a team going into a year and you said our best players Jalen Brown, our second best players Derek White, Our third, fourth fifth guys are Drew Holliday, Al Horford, Peyton Pritchard, you would put that team in the same tier you put the regular Detroit Pistons, like, oh, that's a good team, Like you know what I mean, they should make the playoffs, Like Jalen his caid in that situation, you know, you go on down like, but you wouldn't
look at them as a championship contender, and that's what the Celtics were by the end of that series. Does that make sense?
Yeah, that makes sense. I like it all. I love getting rid of Drew.
I love both those guys, Drew and Al Horford. But it is it's in honestly not Drew Drew.
I honestly, if you will have the test things out a little further, but that makes sense to me.
It just if you if you feel like, here's the point I would make on Drew, if you if you're if the feeling is of your guys making thirty ish or way more Chris STAPs, Derek White, Drew Holliday, Tatum Brown. That Derek White is too important and younger and all of that. Tatum Brown untouchable. And it's a decision between
Chris STAPs and Drew. The the easy answer is will move Chris STAPs, He's but if you want to try to get real draft compensation back because you are trying to you know, get you know, more young cheap players, Drew has way more trade value, right that Does that make sense? Since that, so I those, but I don't think you're trading Jalen Brown. You're obviously not trading Jason Tatum, and I would be shocked if you're trading Derek White.
Uh.
You have a follow up about the playoff schedule.
Yeah, so you were saying there weren't enough games in between the between the Celtics games. You know, Drew Albert enough days, enough days. Yeah, so Drew and Alhober can keep up. Gordon also said there needs to be more time in between playoff games. Do you think the NBA should change the playoff schedule?
So it's really weird. Round one there's plenty of time between games and the finals, obviously, there's plenty of time between games. Rounds two and three are damn races just and like the conference finals for both series every other day, so every night we have a game, because every series is every other day. I think the obvious thing they should do is make Round one less time between games in round one and add a few off days in
rounds two and three. Now it's tough obviously when series go long, like you would have more time, if you know, if the Western Arms Finals didn't go seven games. I understand that, and I don't think you want to push the finals, you know, and you definitely don't want to push the finals into July. But they also give guys, here's the other thing that one of the reasons for this is the play in. Like everybody gets that week
off during the play in. Would those would those days be better served if they were you know, in between, in between or elsewhere? Maybe? And so but certainly with the schedule as it is, too much time, but in round one, not not enough time in rounds two and three, Daniel asks, why can't it go into July? Because people
don't watch TV in July and August. It's just why It's just a ratings thing, like people are vacation and they saw it, and Daniels saying, because, well, no, I mean, I think the people have done the research on it. Maybe people people are used to the NBA Finals being in June, and I think they hated it when because of COVID and then different schedules of seasons, we had to move stuff. All right, let's do Eastern Conference then some other stuff.
We've got to throw back in the Eastern Conference finals with the Knicks and the Pacers, Game one is going down in the garden and the Knicks are favored.
In the series on DraftKings. I don't know if I was supposed to say that, But are we confident or.
Are fans a little too confident in their Knicks and overlooking the feisty Pacers team?
Well, how confident are fans?
You are?
I'm picking the Nicks.
Yeah, I know you're picking the Nicks that I'm it's going to be that light.
Oh, I don't think it's going to be light either. I don't think it's going to be light. But I think the Knicks are better, all right. I think that there's going to be real. Now, this is you know, T and t's final series, and it's Reggie Miller on the call for Nicks Pacers. So that is going to be unbearable watch the game if you're rooting for the Knicks, and I will be rooting for the Knicks, and the listen, the Pacers are tough, and the Pacers are good, and
and the Halliburton thing is, it's Halliburton. Everybody cares that. That stupid NBA player poll, which, to be clear, ninety players responded. He won it with eighteen percent of the vote, So it means like fifteen guys called him the most overrated. What that to me is more indicative of people just don't like him. I don't think he's very popular amongst his colleagues. I do think he's I think people respect
his game to a degree. He's really good. They've got two guys who will fight in nim Hard and Matherin. Siakam's tough, Miles Turner's tough, McConnell's of pain in the ass. That's a good team. But I think the Knicks has now seven they really trust and they're healthy. I think they have their starting five. I gotta tell you, I have been impressed by the Duce McBride minutes, and Mitchell Robinson's really good, and so I also think Mitch, if there was ever a player who has enough this is
gonna be I should have. This is my best take of the day. God dog it. I'm gonna say it on TV too. Don't clip this until later. I don't know. You don't even have to clip this. This won't do well on social media, but this is true. If there's ever a player demonse who has enough tough guy equity and is beloved almost overly beloved given his contribution by his home fans that they could get away with it. Mitch is the guy who should go underhand free throws.
He's the guy like nobody's gonna say like like like he his free throws that were so devastating at times and his fear of because his fear of shooting the free throws has now meant past the size to something I don't remember. Do you know what I'm gonna say here?
I don't know what you're gonna say here.
But it's interesting following the narrative around his free throws, But what are you about to say here?
It's not just that they take him off the court if the other team's going to the hack of strategy. Watch Mitch Robinson the last few games. When he gets offensive rebounds, he doesn't try to go up and score. He turns his back to pass because he knows they're gonna faul him, and so like he there were a couple instances where it felt like he could have gotten a put back dunk, but his instant reaction was turn around and kick it out and so go ahead.
I see the video of this guy going around playing like pick up basketball and doing like turnaround jumpers that he's like flowing with the dribbles in the hand handling all that. It's I'm very confused on how he like it shot.
What's happened to his free throw?
It has to be mental. Oh but here's the man. Hold on just the I'm back. Don't worry, I'm back. I asked the guys before the show if we've had any tech issues. They said no, And now we've had two outright freezes today. The first one, I think was brought on by the fact that I the internet in YouTube was just dismayed by the fact that I could not say the term hamstring strain. And they were like, get this guy off the air. Here's another free throw thing.
I've never understood why nobody like shoots it like everyone refuses to shoot it like a jumper. I get why good free throw shooters don't. And you might be like, well, you can't step over the line. You could step back, you can you can stand anywhere you want in the semi circle like and it does feel like some of these guys who are brutal from the line, if it was just like a seventeen foot pull up like that,
they would be better. Like yeah and so, and that wouldn't be you know, but I think Mitch can go granny style. I think he can.
I think it would be sad.
There you go. It's bigger than basketball. So ask me, uh, the Chalo May question before we move on.
It's early. What is Timothy chalomey on pace to be a Hall of Fame Knicks.
Fans not phony like you got the tims on. But it's also he's got he's got receipts. So I'm sure I'm not the only person who, up until eighteen months ago, thought this kid was I thought he was foreign, like, I thought he was French or something because of the Yeah, I thought he had to be from somewhere in Europe. I'm like, oh, it's this amazing actor that you know, women love, and he has two ease and an accent mark in his first name and his last name is
Chala May. But this kid's from New York, and I mean his parents just kind of fried him on the spelling of his first name, like timothyy like it like and Challo May. There's nothing to do about. But it just so, I didn't even know up until relatively recently that he was American. But then we also find out not only is the American, he is hang out outside the garden hoping to meet Landry Field's American. And and you know when an Amuri Stottameyer signed basketball on Twitter,
American like he is a true die. And I gotta tell you then, Nick and I am friends is way too strong to put it. I'd love to be friends with this person, but I'm not at the moment. But I would uh friendly for sure with Spike Lee and I adore Spike. I will tell you Spike showing up at the met Gala and Timmy Shows going to the Knicks game that night, that's a big pecking order thing. And so he's not a Johnny cum Lately Nick fan.
And also like him bringing his gorgeous girlfriend with him, making her sit, you know, at a front row root for the nixt girlfriend.
I thought he's like Caitlyn Jenner or Kendall Jenner or something like that.
He's with one of the gin That's yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
This is his girlfriend. I know it was his girlfriend. I thought those were just his homies, kyl.
He's no, he and Kylie are like real serious.
Okay, I thought they were just all boys or boys and girls.
Yeah, no, no, no, no. He and Kylie have been together for quite some time. I think Patrick's but yeah, I mean yeah, I mean he's living the life and so and is a true diehard. So I think that's sick. So yeah, I do think. And he like is gonna awesome.
He's He's just.
Gonna be a fixture of the like courtside seats and the broadcast all that. It's great.
All right.
So and the Knicks that series starts Wednesday, right, it starts Wednesday. I am just beside myself. That's too strong. Uh. The latest w NBA controversy is just evidence demons that we are not yet ready societally to have this rivalry exist, and I don't know that we ever will be. So here's the thing that I shouldn't have to say, but
I think, because it goes without saying ball say it anyway. Obviously, if fans are chanting anything racist or making racist animal sounds anything like that, that is abhorrent, deplorable, and those people should be banned for life. If you didn't catch up, let me, let me. People might be like, the hell are we talking about? So here's the deal. Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever played Angel Reese's Chicago Sky. Caitlyn had triple double, Angel had a bunch of rebounds and a bunch of mislayups,
and the Fever one by thirty. During the game, Angel committed a hard I'm sorry, Caitlin committed a hard foul on Angel that was called a flagrant. To me that was borderline, but whatever, it was a smart, hard foul. And then Angel got pissed. Is some professional or semi professional lip readers you know, think she's you know, said she was effing crazy or something. There were there were you know, dueling technicals, right, do we think we have
this all correct? Just some random person on Twitter who we have no idea if they were even at the game. Was like the crowd making monkey noises at Angel Reese is you know, way out of line. Obviously that'd be way out of line. The thing is the game was on tv I there seems to be no evidence of this whatsoever that this happened. There is a clip when Angel misses a free throw of what sounds like a
dolphin noise. Now, I because it's twenty twenty five and everything sucks, have learned there is some streamer who laughs sounds like a dolphin, and now idiot gen zers like laugh like him, do what demons can you kill us in on this?
His name's Fly.
I think they're talking about a fight like a popular two K that's right, t K two K YouTuber. I can see a dolphin noise sounding pretty close to monky noise though.
I so I agree with that. I agree with that, I agree with that entirely. That may but again, I need more than one person's tweet before I'm going to and let me say this as well, before we get to what I actually want to talk about here. Some of the alleged Caitlin Clark fans and I said this last year, we had really you can just check our archives. We had real smart, I think, conversations on this. Some of the Allegedkaitlyn Clark clans are not Caitlin Clark fans.
They are just racists. Some of them. They just like that they think this white girl is humbling these black girls that definitely, unequivocally clearly exists. The thing is, it mostly exists online. It to my experience, does not seem to exist that much in person at the Games. And now again the WNBA needs to be proactive about making sure that doesn't, you know, invade the actual arenas. There's nothing you do about the online stuff as sadly it's
the world in which we live. Those people are pieces of shit, and now I think everybody knows it. But then the race stuff then gets even more complicated because then there are fans of Angel who I don't even know if they're fans of Angel, but there feels like there is a like a solidarity of like no, like there are shitty people on you attacking these black WNBA players.
So we then need to act like Caitlin Clark isn't this super nova of the talent, And the whole thing just sucks because idiots get involved, and the WNBA commissioner, who I don't know that Kathy Ingelbert's a wartime consuliari releasing a statement today like we're investigating this, like I'm not sure I maybe would have investigated it. And then if there was any evidence whatsoever that this happened, then I release a statement like to me, your statement validates
the allegation when I have seen no evidence that this happened. Okay, now there's all that here's the thing I want to talk about. People are gonna be mad, don't care, Demanse. Angel Reason needs to be better. Yeah, at basketball. I'm talking about as a person. I'm not talking about as a podcaster. I'm not talking about it as at the met Gala. She needs to be a better player if we want this rivalry to be able to have some
staying power. Like she had a very very busy offseason. Again, we are we are one game in, but at this moment, it does not seem like the off season involved a lot of Mike and drills of left handed layups. And she is right now, Angel Reese. I'm I'm sorry, right now, she is a wildly famous rebounder.
It's like a.
I mean, somebody had the funniest tweet on this. I think it was Miles Brown who tweeted it was the Caitlin Clark Angel Reese rivalry is like if Kobe had a rivalry with Marcin Gortat. And I just can't get that out of my head, Like, I mean, this is the there Listen, I don't think Caitlyn is the best player in the league. To be clear, that's still Asia Wilson until proven otherwise. I think she will one day be the best player in the league. But ain't Angel
Reese right now? Okay, Kent Taggert evidently gets credit for that tweet. Thanks guys. I mean that was really funny. Caitlyn's team is I think gonna be awesome, and she's awesome. An Angel is a nice player that has real value and is maybe already the best rebounder in the league, certainly one of them. But if that is going to be a real right on court rivalry, then Angel reason needs to get better at some of the fundamentals. That's just a fact. And this is where I'm gonna sound
like the old man. But you had a very very very busy public offseason and if you didn't all like, if you come back this year the same exact player that you left last year, that's a miss by you. And so that's that to me, is the more the thing to watch is that is Angel going to continue to be a thirty five percent layup shooter, because that's gonna that that is going to put a real ceiling on who she can be as a player. And this is where I am just going to trust my entire career.
Bona Fides that people aren't going to be able to try to draw me into the I mean, you know what, everyone is gonna get drawn into it. Damn. Look, people, is I guess accused Lebron of being anti black because he gave props to Caitlin Clark and so they're there. This is so toxic on certain levels that anybody could be you know, people could make allegations about anyone's motivations. My real motivations on this are, I do I love the idea of this being because they clearly don't like
each other. I love the idea of this being a real rivalry, but one both parties got to hold up there into the bargain as far as making them both being awesome, Like is that all fair stuff?
In between the whistles and not after?
And I listen and I don't even I don't mind the hard fouls, you guys know from this show. I wasn't playing tiny violins last year for Caitlin Clark and the flagrance. I didn't give a damn like that. That's sports. And she didn't care either, and she's I say this nicely, I say this with respect. On the court, she's kind of an asshole, like so there is a real edge to her that I think has you know, that can irk people, and there's a lot of things that can come from that. But I the let me, let me
get this back together. See can you guys DEMONSI talk to me real quick. Yeah, sorry, my headphone died. That probably means we're going too long. It's almost noon. Holy moly, the Niners overpaid on Rock Party. They shouldn't have done it.
There's gonna say that their championship window just opened up, just opened up. Yeah, that's gonna be my leading Okay, tell me go ahead any more. I was just gonna say, hey, man, NFL call the forty nine Ers championship window just opened up.
Rock Party. Five years, two hundred and sixty five million. They're screwed.
I would have listen. I would have I would have wanted to see one more year from Brock. I have a feeling that's going to be a huge part of the TV show. We'll get into it more there. I don't have time to do ten minutes on Brock Purty here. Let's by the way, before we get to a few listener questions, reminder like rate subscribe review and also this week reminder I'm not sure exactly what the schedule is gonna be, so you know, head on a swivel for
when the next POD's gonna drop. Uh. The listeners evidently forty listeners said they think the Thunder is gonna win the title. That seems fair.
Go ahead, Uh, Tim asked Murray and MPJ for Kadi and Filler, any chance of that.
That's one of the tim I say this with respect, that's one of the worst trade ideas I've ever heard in my life. You can't trade Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Junior for Kevin Durant. Just ruined the nugget. When I first saw that, I thought you were gonna suggesting Michael Porter Junior for Kevin Durant. Now that's a trade I would consider. I don't think they can make that work capwise. I think that there's too many Apron and it's almost impossible for two second Apron adjacent teams to
make a trade. But I would consider Michael. If you're the Sons, you're like, Okay, maybe you know at least he's younger, and maybe he stays healthy, whatever it is. But you know, if you're gonna trade Jamal Murray, you need to get a bunch back. You can't trade Murray and Michael Porter Junior for Kevin Durant and Filler. Sorry, Tim, I appreciate you watching, but that's a terrible, terrible, terrible trade. It's almost as bad as Bruce. What's up with everybody
making these terrible Durant trades? Brew on TV suggested that the MAVs offer Anthony Davis for Kevin Durant. I said, Bru, what are you What are you talking about?
Man?
You can't trade Anthony. You traded Luca to get Anthony Davis. You can't trade Anthony Davis to get the thirty seven year old Kevin Durant Thursday, Wednesday or Thursday. I told Brew leave the fake trades to me.
Jordan.
Jordan asked the Celtics try to trade for Marcus Smarts to run things back with him.
I think Marcus Smart might be done. Yeah, I think that. You know that that's a guy who's, given his style of play and what a beating his body took's not going to age that well. All right. I am headed to Indy in a couple of days. We'll have another pod this week. I just don't know when to be totally honest with you. Uh, this is a really fun show. I hope you guys Enjordan on a Monday. See you guys on TV in a few hours. Great job to Monday Blue Duck, volume DraftKings, and apologies to Daniel Who's
listen man. That banner will fly forever. It might be the only one flying in Baller area for the rest of Jokers career, but it'll fly forever. Sorry Daniel. Still not over those brooms you sent me after the Lakers got swept three years ago. See you guys later once right, See you guys