Double Dribble Previews: Southwest Division

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1:00Now, it's your time. Ask your prescriber about Wigovie, some Maglatide Injection 2.4 mg, a GLP 1. Call 1-8334 Wigovie or visit Wigovie.com to view the Medication Guide and to learn more about Wigovie. Why wait? My day kicks off with a refreshing Celsius energy drink. Then straight to the gym. Pre-cap pick up, back home to meal prep. Time for my fire session shift. One more Celsius kind of keep the lights on. When the three alarm hits, I'm ready. Celsius, live, fit, go. Grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now at Celsius.com. Welcome to the Double Dribble Podcast with Dubin and Doc Kilt. That's Jared Dubin, author of the great newsletter, Last Night in Basketball.

2:01Make sure you're a subscriber. Make sure you're helping our guy out there. I'm Mo DeKill, former NBA video coordinator. For Bleacher Report, I will probably be back on NBA TV this year with all that fun stuff. And make sure you guys are right. Review and it's subscribing to the Real GM Network. If you're new here, you're going to love us. We're just going to have fun talking to Hoops and occasionally some college football. But you're going to enjoy us. It's going to be fun. We're going to have a good time. We are continuing our season preview and we are moving on to the Southwest Division. More importantly, Jared does all the homework. Jared has a list of questions. We've done this before. If you've been listening, you know the questions. We're going to ask and how we're going to go through this. I think it's a fun way to do it. Before we get started, Jared, how are you doing? I'm doing great, man. I'm excited to talk about this Southwest Division. How are you doing? More importantly. I'm doing well.

3:01We are about to have one of the hottest days ever in Los Angeles with maybe the nastiest humidity. So I'm trying to limit my exposure to the outdoors today. It's not that hot here, but I like the hot weather. So I'm jealous when it gets pretty hot out there. It's not about it being hot. We're not built for this humidity. We get hot, but we don't get the humidity. Now, we have to live for Miami for four years. I'm used to that humidity. Yeah, I did live in Miami for four years and the humidity doesn't work for me. In the sense of I'm already kind of a sweaty dude, so it makes it way worse. I want to just go walk the dog. This could be a two or three t-shirt day type of scenario for me. Because I just I don't have to change shirts right away after that. And nobody cares. Let's get to the Southwest Division. They're all here with a mother talk. Right.

4:01And how many shirts I go through a day? Let's get to the Southwest Division. Yeah. We'll talk about the Southwest Division. We are going to start alphabetically as we always do. But before we do that, just in case you are listening to these for the first time, we go through all of the major moves that a team made during the off season. Then we talk about one thing we're excited about, one thing we're worried or concerned about, and we make one prediction about the season. That can be an over under or their playoff positioning or literally anything about the team that's going to happen this season. And we will start with the Dallas Mavericks, hired Dusty Mayas, their head coach, drafted Marez Johnson, Sergio De LaRrea, treated for Sandi Aldama, Marcus Sasser and Zachary Risa Che, matched an opera sheet for Musa Cisei, an extended Najee Marshall. Their over under is 33 and a half wins. Mo, what are you most excited about when it comes to the Dallas Mavericks this coming season? I would be shocked if we don't have the exact same thing here. We might have something different. Oh, okay.

5:01I don't know. I'm actually excited for the return of Kyrie Irving. Oh, okay. So we do have something different. Because of what I think that does for the overall team and offense, I thought, we talked about it last season. I hated let's experiment and make Cooper flag a point guard. Not to say he doesn't have skills and things in playmaking ability, but I felt like his rookie year, like let him explore the space more and kind of see what I think having Kyrie there has another playmaker can put him in good spots in positions where he can get the ball in different ways. Kyrie can break down the defense, suck them in and then find kickouts and open opportunities for flag to be able to attack on the second side and have a little bit more of an easier lifespan than he's had in the NBA so far. And I think that's kind of the thing I'm most excited about.

6:02It's not just watching Kyrie who I think is one of the best ballhand lose of all time, but I think it's the effect Kyrie will have on the team and mainly Cooper flag going forward. So I'm pretty excited for them with this and I think that's kind of my what I'm excited to look for or that's what I'm looking forward to for the maps. Yeah, that's a good one. I mean, coming back from the ACL tear is going to be interesting. He hasn't played in like 18 months or something. Yeah, those lines. It's crazy. Obviously it was out all of last season after I think in like February or March of the previous year if I'm remembering correctly. So it's been a long time since we've seen him on the court. And certainly like you said, one of the best ballhandlers of all time, obviously a terrific shooter. He can draw defensive attention away from Cooper flag like he said. So yeah, I mean, I'm looking forward to it, but not quite as much as I'm looking forward to just year two of Cooper flag. Like I really want to see what this guy looks like after a year in the league and an off

7:05season to be able to just work on his game as opposed to like getting prepared for the draft and playing in summer league and whatnot. Like I really want to see what new skills he comes back with. I mean, he's going to be such a fantastic player already one of the best transition players in the league last year. I think he'll be better in the half court this year. I'm hoping that the jumper comes around a little bit more than it did last season. We talked about it earlier in the year. I thought he was just jumping way too far on his jumper. I'm hoping to see something a little bit different in terms of the forum on his jumper. This year, I think he's going to be a better shooter than he was. I think he's going to be a better defender than he was last year. So I really want to see what he looks like in year two in the NBA. Yeah, I think you know, there was the shooting obviously. I'm not as concerned. I think the shooting will come around, right? You know, the 38% three point shooter in college. I know the line's a little bit further, but I feel like that will come around. I'm not as concerned about his shooting numbers with everything. I think he's going to be an unbelievable talent for the maps. Like, you know, they they gave away Luca, but they got lucky in the draft lottery and

8:10end up getting flagged. I think goes a long way for them, but I'm excited for him. Like that's the thing. Like part of my Kyrie excitement is more just what can Kyrie do for Cooper flag as part of it, because that leads into more of just flag gets to play more, gets to be more free and not have the responsibility of play making. So I think this is going to be a fun one. I actually think this is going to be a pretty fun team. It could be, I mean, we can get into what we're concerned about in a bit, but just with those two guys, like being able to work off of each other in different ways. Like he said, flag getting to attack from the second side, rather than having to be the primary initiator as often as he was last year. And I was more into the flag at point guard idea than you were. And obviously I was wrong about how that will work out. It did not work out well at all. And he struggled offensively a bit when he was tasked with that responsibility earlier in the year. And it was better over the second half of the season offensively, especially once he was able to get out and transition where he became one of the best transition players in the league over the second part of the season.

9:12Once they took the ball out of his hands a little bit more, I'm really excited for what those guys look like together. What is the one or go ahead? No, no, keep going. I was just saying, yeah. I was going to say what is the one thing that you're most concerned or worried about coming into this season? I still worry about kind of like their overall talent level. Right? Like I like all the guys on the team. Like when you go through the roster, it's like, oh, I like PJ washington. Oh, I like Daniel Gafford. Caleb Martin can play Salty O'Donnell who they just got. Like I like him. I can see where all this works out. Risha Shay. I don't really know where I stand on Risha Shay at this point with where he's at in his career. But Naji Marshall had a flat like all that stuff. I like Max Krisky who they got in the Luka trade. How does this all fit together? What's the puzzle pieces?

10:13How does it all fit together with all this Derek lively junior? Derek lively the second now. He's not a junior. Sorry guys. But like I just how does that kind of all work itself out into a formidable rotation where I think you know and and and new coach and dusty may and trying to figure out how to make all of that work together. I'm just kind of fascinating. They got a lot of guys I like. How does that fit together though? Yeah, I had just like how do they work out all of this all of these front court pieces? Like not just all the guys you just mentioned but also Maraz Johnson who they drafted and Daniel Gafford who's still there and Cooper flag like this flag going to be a full time like two or three just based on all of the different front court guys that they have to get minutes for like where are you getting minutes for flag washing? Ten lively Gafford Marshall Martin and Johnson that's like eight guys right.

11:15Is that eight guys? I stopped counting it was a lot of guys it was more than five so it's in that sense like it's going to be hard like they have to kind of figure out and that's the challenge right like that's part of what we're generally saying the same thing in terms of just the puzzle piece like how do you figure out your rotation? Who works for them and who and who you know where do they kind of spin off and where do they sort of you know what's who do they lean into more right as like these are our guys and then how do we how do we kind of do that moving forward? It's going to take a little bit of time like I think there's going to be a little bit of a lyrical and again new new NBA head coach right does he may never coach in the NBA I know he was a video guy with the Clippers I don't know where you know his full resume in terms of assisting coaching runs and things like that but as a head coach it's going to be interesting

12:15to see how this kind of how he puts this rotation together. Yeah I also didn't even mention out Domain Risa Shea in with the the front court guys like then you also have you also have like the point guard deaf like who other than Kyrie is playing point guard on this team like you have Marcus Sasser there and you have Sergio De La Raya there how good is the backup point guard play on this team because we saw last year they do need somebody else to create off the dribble and to be able to penetrate from the outside and I'm not overly optimistic about that group behind Kyrie. I like Sasser I'm you know he had a couple of flashes in Detroit but then never really kind of got and just the talent for it like just never really good you know he's like an okay player he's a serviceable backup point guard so you know for me but like you're right in that like that's another question mark you know how does that kind of get shore up and and how does that sort of play itself off they have a lot of questions they just they have a lot of questions you know they just need

13:17if they need to find the answers to yeah there are a lot of interesting pieces and it's going to be interesting to see how it comes together but May has like a really fascinating coaching job ahead of him because it's a very unbalanced roster I think. Right and they'll they'll have to kind of figure out where they where they end up Jared predictions my prediction is that Cooper flag makes the all-star team I think he's going to be really fucking good yeah I don't think that's I like that one I am going to predict I don't think it's going to be Kyrie but they're going to make a major like consolidation trade you have said it all the guys that they have at the wing and and trying to find maybe you know maybe it's finding a backup point guard maybe it's fine you know or maybe it is Kyrie and we're just going to take a big you know a lot of it depends on how the season goes and where they're at kind of the trade deadline so for me I think they are going to be a heavily involved at the trade deadline this year I agree with that I'm going to say that

14:21Gafford lively or Washington is not going to be on the team after the trade deadline at least one of those three guys I mean it'll be hard with lively if he's not on the floor like that's been the hardest thing for them in in that situation and if he's not healthy and I know we've we've outlawed talking health too much but makes it hard to trade a guy like Gafford yeah just because you know because you need the big and I think that's sort of where you're you're kind of trying to figure that stuff out so I I just think a big like consolidation trade of some sort is coming to kind of give a little bit more back or out yeah for sure you got anything else in the maps or you want to move on well I think we didn't even mention you know they do have Messiah now like they've overhauled their front office Messiah Africa oil oh god yeah whiteboard reference if you if you guys don't know what Jared's talking about um just just

15:23Google those three and see what happens um you know I just think like there's a front office I actually trust right like there's I'm not the the end of Messiah's tenure in Toronto wasn't very interesting or you know I think he made a lot of mistakes and stuff but like there's still a level of okay like this is a good front office like sure maturity level of front like it's a trustworthyness that you didn't have with Nico Harrison after the Luca debacle but also I'm not surprised that Messiah built the team of all guys who are like six six to six ten yeah the whole his whole six seven vision or whatever the hell it wasn't Toronto that failed like I hope he doesn't try to revive that here yeah I mean it seems like he is so we'll see with the consolidation trade what six eight wing they bring in anything for you parting shots or you you're good no I am ready to move on to the Houston rockets

16:27who had a pretty quiet offseason honestly they extended to our eastern sign Marcus smart and extended them in Thompson and I think that's it for their major moves this offseason if I'm unless I miss something that I didn't find on spot track um they're over under 46 and a half wins well I forgot to write down what I'm most excited for for this season so you start with this and I'll think of one more you're talking no wow just just just straight away throw it at me with with what am I most excited about can I be honest I'm not really excited about anything with the Houston rockets I guess like I'll just cheat and say their big move is getting friend of an elite back from injury you know and missed all last year and and that will help them with having a steady point guard hand and things like that it doesn't they're not going to be so relying on reach shepherd they're not going to be so relying on almond Thompson to be the point card remember last year around this time it was oh what a blessing in disguise this is going to be

17:28for the for the rockets you know with almond Thompson and getting point guard reps and didn't really kind of turn out that way um I'm not really crazy and thused about this I think they're going to be fine but like I just think it's just more of the same with them yeah they're bringing back basically the same group but getting van Vley back so it's it's not like there's big changes that you can get excited about here I'm gonna go with two things I have one I'm excited to see if email yodoka actually trusts reach shepherd at literally any point during the season oh I can answer that for you now yeah that's really that is going to be no that is not going to happen at any point um but I like reach shepherd a lot more than any may yodoka does uh the shooting is obviously really good he did show a little bit more and pick and rolls than I thought that he had last year um the defense questionable obviously he's just so small that it's it's it's a little bit easier to attack him than you would like it to be but I'm interested to see what happens on that

18:31front and then I want to see a ment Thompson back in a role that is more suited to him as opposed to having to play as like a lead guard more often than not and I want to see if he can get back to the defensive level that he showed two years ago where he was like defensive player of the year level defender as opposed to last year where he was like an all defense level defender yeah I think it's there's a lot of stuff it's funny like you're you're excited about is all kind of somewhat negative in a in a weird way and or in like it's it's more just kind of questions that this team has it's I honestly like with a man there were moments where he looked brilliant last year and there years there were times where he didn't how do you feel about the extension it's basically like you know what do you almost think it's not 42 million here 42 yeah it's around that like you know it escalates it's 35 38 41 44 but like so it averages out I think somewhere around like 40 something

19:35a year yeah it was it was five years two hundred eight right yeah yeah something like that yeah yeah I mean I feel pretty good about it I feel like it makes sense he's one of the best defenders in the league and he's not like he is much more of an offensive player than his brother is he's a really good passer he's incredible in transition he's not like a point guard level passer or playmaker and he's not like like to use another non shooting incredible defender he's not like a dream on level playmaker but he's a very good one especially when he gets into like four on three and three on two situations and he's incredible in transition and he does have really good vision and he's good in the dunker spot he's a really good cutter the the shooting obviously is an issue but I feel like he's he's a valuable offensive player he just has a weakness that can be exploited by smart teams but I'm good with the extension yeah I think it's I think it's about right what I think the most important thing about the extension and correct me if I'm wrong but in the reporting

20:39I saw there's no like bonuses for making all defensive all NBA defense and things like that and in that regard for him so I feel like that's like that's about the right number for him maybe I mean if his offensive game doesn't really improve me on this we might be looking at it going like you know in three years going like damn you're paying him 44 million dollar like well even that though it's like 20% of the cap you know like it's crazy the numbers that there are but like if you're paying one of the best defenders in the league who is also like a pretty good offensive player 20% of the cap I feel like that's fine well we'll have to see what it looks like though one the team because at that point this probably there's no KD there's no vanfully you know who knows what happens with Shengoon like we'll see how they kind of sort themselves out like I'm just going to be very interested in seeing how that contract ages it's the right number it's the right

21:44and like I think it's perfectly fair contract it's I'm just very curious about it yeah I'm curious to see how the team of all is more than anything else because it could look much different in a different team context like if they have more shooting on the roster eventually right then he makes much more sense in terms of the roster than he does right now like because I don't think they're like a true title contender this season which means we could see some significant changes in the next couple of off seasons and that can make the deal look much different depending on what the roster looks like what it least no no I want first what are you least excited about I just think they are like dependent on Fred Van Lee to an extremely dangerous degree which is kind of the problem that we have with them last year when he was out like they need him to organize the offense they need his shooting to hold up and they need his defense at the point of attack and this is a guy who is now like into his early mid 30s who's coming off a major injury who's on

22:47the smaller side who doesn't make two point shots to begin with and is like an okay to pretty good three point shooter like they are dependent on him to an extremely dangerous degree like I said not concerns me yeah I mean that's definitely a problem and again it's always and it's something else happens to him and he goes down they're screwed yet again I'm going to go with Kenny Mayu Doka coach like is he going to like this I think he got exposed last season as a coach that who literally was like it was almost like I coach out of fear I coach that I motivate using fear in a weird way right like you would see him at time out and trying to be just you know given these guys these cold hard stairs and done it you know his own players and things like that and there was nothing offensively like the and then you know you go back and you start looking at his

23:52Boston teams I'm pretty sure I was saying it back then too he didn't have a bag offensively like the offensive play the offensive playbook in Houston last year was give it to Katie give it to Shengyun let them work and that was kind of and then hope it all works out like no real setup no real organization of what they're doing no sort of how we're going to attack why we're going to attack this way like no real thought it felt like was put into it and I think like that's really kind of my question with Eme going like yo are you going to coach this year like are you going to actually do something yeah there's not even like in the offensive playbook there's not even a lot of like fluff to distract teams on the weak side and whatnot which is sort of like base level stuff that you need to involve so that the help defenders aren't so trained on the guy with the ball especially when so much of your offense is just here go do something like you need stuff away from the ball or more stuff away from the ball certainly than they had last year and obviously

24:56he's just got guys that he trusts and guys that he doesn't and some of the guys that he doesn't they need for reasons that are inherent within their roster like they need to reach shepherd to be on the court at times because they don't have anybody else who can shoot and they specifically don't have anybody else other than kd who can shoot off the dribble right and I like here's you're the one that actually pointed this out last season in your great news letter last night in basketball well like just great kind of coaching points like they ran a play three times and got a score I think it was against the bulls and then they didn't run it and then once it the fourth time it didn't work and then didn't run it again the rest of the game like three out of four times you were successful 75% of the time maybe run it a fifth time see what happens maybe we're on the start of the fourth quarter two and then they didn't go back to it and then he go back to it and it's like that's the kind of stuff you know I then you you had pointed that out and as I kept watching I was like god he did it multiple times I'm like this is a regular like that's the stuff I'm like trying

26:02to figure out with him as a coach like what's he doing yeah so on this front I will go with my prediction and my prediction is they have a new coach next season yeah I mean yeah that was I'm gonna change that was gonna be my prediction but I'll just let that let you let you have that one I still think there are top 16 in the West I still think they have the talent to do it and their defense is gonna be good enough to do it I mean like the the West does have a lot of depth you know and I'm curious to see if their offense can hold up enough to be one of those top 16s I it's you talked about Fred of Amphelite being a key one other guy we didn't mention that was really important for them when Steven Adams got hurt it really sank their season as well right and like that's too much dependence on a Steven Adams injury right like if that could sink your season you're not built well enough and that that goes to more of the front office than anything else but

27:03I think that's that's something to also keep an eye on with them but again I still just think top six in the Western Conference if you don't have anything else let's take a quick break and then get to the rest show blood in here football season is finally back and prize picks is bringing out their best offer yet new users who sign up will get 150 dollars in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup that's right if you win your first $5 lineup you'll get 150 dollars in lineups on prize picks you simply pick two to six players pick more or less on their staff projections and submit your lineup then sweat it out as you watch your picks play out live it's the best way to get more locked in on game day make all the picks you want this football season all in the same act also prize picks is going crazy with the deals to start the football season giving users a new promo every day during stack September and now prize picks is available nationwide so what are you waiting for

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29:08and we are back folks. Jared who's next I know we're going in alphabetical order but I already forgot the teams in the self alphabetical order up next is the Memphis grizzlies drafted cam booster and kareem Lopez traded jama rant for jermy grant and christmurby traded barisayah Stewart de angelo russell Jordan Hawkins and mike a pv and very sadly lost brand and Clark this offseason they're over under his 28 and a half wins Moe what are you excited about when it comes to the Memphis grizzlies this season. I mean the easy answer is is cam booster but I'm thinking that they're cam cam booster and and and cedric coward okay well I was going to take the other guy I was going to take cedric coward I'm excited to see year two of cedric coward I think you know there's he the numbers don't like jump out at you right like when you go look at his like what he did last year is a rookie and things like that they're good but they're not like holy crap

30:08you know but like I think there's so much more there that we that you know hasn't been fully fleshed out yet like I'm excited to see year two with him under his belt and then also not having as much pressure with cam booster there and and you know I think you know if ed can be healthy they're going to be you know like there's a lot of sort of like core kind of built there that I'm sort of like quietly excited for this team like I'm like they're going to be one of those teams or I'm going to be like I'm checking them out they might end up a guilty pleasure team for me Jared yeah I mean they could certainly be entertaining I think that they've got guys that are like aesthetically pleasing to between Booser and like Ty Jerome and coward and some of the other and Scotty Pittman Jr like they've got guys that are fun to watch um coward last like coward at an above average usage rate and an above average true shooting percentage on a team where like nobody else was really playing as a rookie who was not coming into the league sold as someone who

31:10was going to be like a big time offensive player and you know the numbers were only like you know 13.5 six and and three I think yeah 13.6 points 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists for game but he only played 26 minutes a night like when you look when you look at the per 36 was 19.8 and 4 like on 47.34 84 shooting like that is just a really really good player and now he doesn't have to be as much of a focal point offensively as he was last year because Booser is going to be the foundation of what they're doing offensively I'm really excited to see what he does this year and then Booser is just like he's just going to be a really good player man like yeah maybe the ceiling isn't quite as high as the top two guys in the draft but I feel so strongly about the floor of him being like not necessarily an all NBA level player but a close to all star level player throughout his career just because of how versatile his skill set is yeah I think that's it like

32:13I'm excited for for Cam and seeing how he kind of works his way into it like it wouldn't shock me if he went to rookie of the year like it wouldn't it's not out of the realm of possibility for me with what they knew it wouldn't shock me if this is one of those teams that we look at going like hey man this is a tough ass team on a nightly basis you know and and how do we kind of figure this out and how does this all work out but like when you're playing against they're going to play their asses off and they're going to go hard right and I think that's really where I'm curious to see I'm just excited to watch them they might they really might be a guilty pleasure team for me yeah I mean like Isaiah Stewart is there too like they sign Quentin Post they I like right for them yeah Jeremy Grant could be interesting for them like I wonder if he starts or comes off the bench I would assume he probably comes off the bench just because they've got you know coward Booser and yeah eating presumably starting and like Taylor Hendrix is there now who is like an interesting kind of player like there's a bunch of different guys here that could

33:16be fun like Lopez could be an interesting player they still have Scotty Bippen Jr. Cam Spencer still hanging around there Chaelin Wells who we haven't even talked about yet right I mean they got a few second draft guys too right like what you're talking about with like Hendrix and things like that I'm I'm just this is going to be fun what are you concerned about though when you look at that I am very interested to see how the non Booser front court depth shakes out like I know we're not supposed to talk about injuries but Zach Edie like can't really stay on the court and they are I think very dependent on him at center even though they got Isaiah Stewart and Quentin Post now like I feel like Edie offensively they need what he brings to the table as a post-up threat and a and a pick and roll threat obviously Booser is going to be able to do those things too but I feel like Edie really changes things for them whereas Stewart obviously is a really good rim protector but doesn't bring as much to the table offensively and then post-conchute but doesn't bring as much to the table defensively I feel like you get two way play with Edie at a

34:20higher level than those two guys yeah I think that's pretty much like I killed you last time you used this with the health but this is the right one to use it on because of like how important he is for everything else that they have going forward with them I have questions about all the whole my my concerns the whole roster right like how do they handle this is such a young team how will they learn to win games down the stretch and so on like I get it they have a veteran in grant and you know Stewart's been around for a while like it's how does this kind of work with the way they kind of develop and blow out I mean tied your own like they pay you know stole them away from Cleveland and he barely played last year because of injuries and now what are we going to get this season you know what's his experience like the whole roster I'm just sort of like I what's it going to look like again and I know I used it earlier with Dallas but it's kind of

35:21similar in that way of like all right how do the pieces all fit like where's the the puzzle piece with it log jam it you know in the back court with a lot of wings a lot of you know a lot of power forwards not enough centers like you said like I'm kind of curious to see what shakes out with this team you know like this this could be a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a Stewart is really good he's a limited player in some ways I'm just I'm not a big Quentin post guy but as your third center I think that's probably fine you know but I do think they need 80 in a in a pretty big way and and tied your own like you mentioned didn't really play last season but he was incredible when he was on the court like he was a really good and honestly I would like to see him shooting his is like 18 foot floater and having that go in all the time again that's

36:23one of the things I'm excited you miss that you miss that I do he took it like 6,000 times in that season in Cleveland and it went in every time until the playoffs when it went in zero times right well I don't think they'll have to worry about the playoffs this year no I don't think so either what is your prediction for this team this season my prediction is they're going to be that scrappy young team they're going to contend for playing spot but not get it that's my prediction I think they're going to be quite scrappy so you've got like definitely way over this 28 and a half win over under yeah yeah the over under I think is a little bit low again I think part of it is just I think Cameron Boozard is going to help them a ton I think that's going to help up you know coward a bunch and I think just those two right there are going to see a particular bounce going forward in the next season yeah I mean if you got them in the plan next they got to get into no no yeah in in the mix I think they're going to be in the the mid 30s and I should say playing

37:24in mix but like maybe the last two weeks of the season we're going to be like oh they're out I I don't know I'm not necessarily that high on them I just think there's a lot of youth and a lot of things to work out there I feel like probably low 30s like 32-33 wins is maybe more in the range than I'm at but that would still be obviously quite a bit over the 28 and a half wins my prediction you mentioned it earlier can Boozard's going to win working of the year yeah I think you can be really good right away and he's in a situation where he's going to have more opportunity as Boatie joins the podcast here you might be a museum I love it I saw for a minute yeah I think he's going to have more opportunity right away than DeBonza and Peterson who are on teams where they're not necessarily at the very top of the offensive pecking order where Boozard's going to come in and be I think the foundational guy offensively right away yeah I think that's an easy call I think that's the he's definitely going to be I'll be shocked if he isn't to be honest with you that would be my bet is him just because of opportunity like you said he's going to get may

38:29way more reps and and and touches than just those guys in that rookie of the year race all right what do we got next next up we have the most interesting team in the league the New Orleans Pelicans they hired Jamal Mosley as their head coach they resigned DeAndre Jordan to a deal that is for some reason two years long and therefore doesn't get them the minimum salary benefit they signed Trenton Watford and Benedict Matheryn they traded Jordan Hawkins and like a PV for AJ Johnson and Tosh Gibson they're over under his 27 and a half wins Mo what are you most excited about when it comes to the New Orleans Pelicans this season I'm excited for Dare Queen that's really it like I don't have much excitement for them as a team like I don't really I don't know what they're doing as a front office I don't know what they're doing you know I'm gonna say something positive I didn't do

39:31this a lot last year Jamal Mosley was a good hire for them because they need to kind of set a foundation and I think he can do that in New Orleans and we were we were very hard on Jamal Mosley last year so that's like it's it's it's an interesting bit of praise and I agree with you well yeah no because but it's because it's what he did in Orlando right like he set the groundwork for them and then he never evolved as a coach as the team needed to evolve and I think that's kind of the that was sort of his his downfall but I think Dare Queen's fun man like he's a fun watch he has he has a lot of little skills he's fun to facilitate offense through I think you know he can do a little bit more even with the ball give it to him in the high post and let him go to work obviously the price they paid to get him not really worth it in my opinion but that's not a shot at the kid that's more just how dumb Joe Dumares was in that trade with with what he wanted but I

40:35think you know I like him I think like there's there's there are flashes last season where I saw him go to work and I was like damn man okay like I kind of like what he can kind of put together and I want to see him build upon that in his second season he's a really fun and really aesthetically interesting player and I'm excited to see what he does in year two also mine was to spend the entire year cooking up trademark betrayed scenarios because I want to see him on a really good team and I feel like he's going to be the most sought after guy in the league at the trade deadline this year so see that's that is my what I'm not looking forward to is the whole discourse of like we're not trading him we're not trading him we're not trading him we're to well don't know where these rumors are coming from and then they trade him you know like that's kind of the the stuff because I just think you're right in that like contending teams are going to try to make a massive

41:38run at him and probably hurt Jones too you know and I think you're going to you're going to see a lot of teams try and if the and if the pelicans falter like I think they're going to make that push of like yeah it doesn't make sense for us to keep these guys but I also feel like two phones Joe is going to be way too stubborn about trading and the price is going to be like three first round draft picks or something like it's going to be something ridiculous where a team's going to be like yeah no we're not we're not that interested yeah I would just like to see him on a really good team like I feel like there are so many like all of us would yeah the shooting the defense he can create off the dribble more than he showed earlier in his career I think he showed that the last couple of years like he's just a really good really fun player I love his release on his jump shot it's one of the prettiest in the league like I just want to see him on a good team man yeah what's your concern my concern is that queen and Jeremiah fears could get a little bit buried by what else is on this roster like I don't know how queen and Zion work it together

42:46which means that queen is probably not starting which means he's probably not playing a ton and then like they have Jordan cool and the jonte Murray still hanging around like his fears going to get the chance to run the show like I feel like those guys are not going to get to explore the studio space enough to the point where like I want them to be able to do it and that I think it annoys me more than it concerns me because I'd really like to see what they can do and I don't think we're going to get the chance to see them really explore what the best of their skill set is I think that's a great concern in that way because they do have so much playing in front of them I think this will go into my prediction then and you know the easy prediction is they will be one of the worst teams in the NBA right my prediction is they will there will be a fire sale they will trade they'll find homes for Jordan pool they're going to try to find a home for de jonte Murray

43:50tough with him having a player option I don't know if they're going to be able to find a home for Zion Williamson but I think they'll try and they won't trade murphy or Jones I think they will be stubborn about that but they'll look to be they will they will look to move those other guys to see what they can do with Jeremiah fears and those and and if they can find a takeer for Zion and open up minutes for for queen this is very funny like the reason you saw me trying to stifle in a lab at the beginning was because I have literally exact same prediction which was they're not going they're not going to trade trainer be or hurt Jones but they are going to try to trade every other veteran on the team there we go we're on the same same wave light between between that that's our prediction and I do think they will be one of the worst teams in the NBA yeah I mean I don't think they're going to actually find a home for Jordan pool or de jonte Murray I think Jordan pool probably gets like bought out after the deadline that's possible de jonte Murray with like the he's got a 30 million dollar play out player option for not this season but next season like I don't think

44:58you're getting off of that money this year and then Zion his 44.9 million dollars for next season is I think it's totally non-guaranteed it is not guaranteed that actually might be movable that might be more movable you're you are 100% correct it is non-guaranteed yeah that's a little bit more movable than the other guys but like trainer being hurt Jones eminently movable and I would luck to see them on good teams even Cdc Bay I would like to see on a good team that's a guy photo they went in the final year of his deal no no but Troy weaver literally went running to like it's in his contract when he signs with the team that I get to bring in Cdc Bay and never trade like that's his his his guys I just tried to be shocked I'd be shocked if Troy weaver allowed that one uh let's take a quick break and then let's go to our last team to think we'll have a lot more fun with going going into it uh we'll be right back.

46:03This podcast episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash progressive makes it easy just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies the process only takes minutes and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates potential savings will vary not available in all states. When you clock in with Ford Pro, we clock in with power, business driven tech, adaptability and service that comes to you. When you're on we're on Ford Pro. And we're back folks and it's the end of the last I know it you know I know what team we're going to. We're going to the San Antonio Spurs this is the last team in the Western conference

47:06for our season preview of the West. Jared take it away. The San Antonio Spurs dreaded Jaden Quayton's in Tarris Reed, resigned Julian Champany and Harrison Barnes, signed to buy his Harris and extended Victor Wimbanyama for not the Rose Rule Supermax deal. He got the straight up 25% their over under is 60 and a half wins. Mo what are you most excited about when it comes to the Spurs for this season? I feel like there are two options here and I chose the one that I didn't think you were going to pick because I feel like I know what you're taking and if you don't take it then I'll take the other one. Okay I'm going with Dylan Harper. I'm all in good because this is what I thought you were going to take so I intentionally went with something else so we didn't have the same thing. I am all in on this dude to the point where I'll let you know I have an article coming out on Bleacher Report where I tried to predict MVP candidates five years from now and I put it at the very bottom Dylan Harper has

48:10the potential to be an MVP candidate that's how good I think this guy can freaking be. At the very bottom I feel like he should have been in the list. Well I had no he's on the list. He's number five on the list. Okay. Okay. The rest are pretty obvious but like he was my long shot and obviously the main reason he's a long shot is if he's on the Spurs the other guy is going to get a lot of votes for MVP for the next 10 years. I am like you saw everything we saw from him not just in the finals but throughout the whole playoffs. He was the second best player in the finals and at times you can make the argument he was the best. He was better than Wembee even in terms of composure and how he handled himself with the with the expectations in the finals and in the spotlight. I am blown away with how good this dude is. Like how good and this quickly to the point where it's like they're going to have to figure out how to get in more minutes and if that's going to be hey

49:14we're going to have to really tough conversation with Darren Fox about sitting and giving him the starting stuff like that's a weird position to be in there was already whispers a little bit about him Harper not being too happy with coming off the bench so I'll be curious to see how that I play it in like the post finals press conference I can't remember who said it. It was it was either Sham Penny or Devon Vesel like one of them said it like it was hard kind of trying to talk him you know into that stuff there was a weird like he reshared and I hate that I know this like a tick-tock that was making fun of Darren Fox with with that stuff but I think ultimately like this dude has the goods you know his three point shooting is going to come and he's going to be fine you he got to the rim so easily against the and going both directions too but against the best

50:15defenders right like in the playoffs like he was going through the he was going he was getting by OG like he's getting by bridges and the finals he was blown by Dork like and at times finishing through these guys and I was just kind of like yeah not just going by Ludoord going through Ludoord like straight that through him that doesn't happen man Dorks built like a linebacker so for me like I looked at it and was just like I'm so excited there's so much to be excited about with this first team that this is really a fun and good team but I'm so excited to to watch this dude kind of evolve yeah absolutely already one of my favorite players in the league and he shot I believe let me bring it up yeah he shot 48% from three after the all star break last year 25% before the all star break is he gonna shoot 48% no can he get into the mid to high 30s yeah and once he does that like just an unbelievably good offensive player and he has great

51:19size and he's a good defender like he is going to be so incredible for a decade or more like there's there's nothing really left to say about it you can't stop him going through the rim going in either direction I've talked about it a bunch of times he gets to his right hand as easily and as as quickly as any lefty I've ever seen right he's so good at going to his offhand it's unbelievable um because I knew you were gonna take Dylan Harper I took like the Wembee revenge tour as a villain um like he turned into a villain in the finals like he did because of like the dirty plays and whatnot and because everybody sort of fell in love with the nicks during their run to the sorry the defending champion New York nicks yeah you during the final so winning the bottom during their run to winning the finals like we've seen this happen with guys before like when Lebron became a villain and so to hit another level when he was with the heat I'm very interested to see whether Wembee can do that coming into this season and then just like what he adds to his

52:23skill set like can he be a little bit more of a self-creator offensively can he be a more can even more consistent three-point shooter can he handle some of the stuff that the nicks through Adam defensively where he's on the perimeter a little bit more and not just taking away the entire paint by himself like the sky is the limit there's nothing that I would be surprised if he could do I just want to see what it looks like coming into this year especially like the the villain angle I think is a really interesting one for him because everybody was kind of in love with him for the first three years of his career and even as late as the Western Conference finals it was like this guy is the media darling everybody loves him he's the best player in the league now and then all of a sudden it kind of changed on a dime in the finals I think part of it one I think I think some of this villain and villainous stuff from the finals is a bit overblown I think also everybody fell in love with the next story so much the nicks

53:23yeah I'm not you can do that I'm not doing that here the that they they they sort of decide like that was like the nicks became America's team very quickly in in in that way and obviously his play and and and and the the plays that happen and it even really started in the Minnesota series with the elbow and I think people slowly started to kind of do it but also like nicks fans turning on a web because I think they didn't have a they liked him before the series that they then turning on him was you know because he was there there he was standing in their way of winning a title I think some of it's a little bit overblown but I also say this there is no player and I'm even going to include LeBron more built to handle being the villain than Wembee in the way of like the off the court distractions I remember LeBron did like a home even tried to do like a commercial he tried to lean into the villain stuff and it just wasn't in him

54:28right or as I feel like Wembee has that in it like if he leans into it I think he's going one I think it'll be sincere if he leans into it because I feel like everything he kind of does is relatively sincere for the most part I know a lot of people think he's kind of performative but I don't I don't feel that when I watch him and and listen to him in press conferences and things you know like he actually takes time to listen to the questions and kind of think before he answers something we don't get a lot from players Lylem we just get sort of the same clichés over and over again I think he will I think he will be if he wants to he can relish the villain role and have some fun with it I'm I mean it's a fun one and the revenge story it's coming I think it's coming we just got to see what it looks like but it's coming everybody better be ready it's absolutely coming and I feel bad for chat home group yes I do too what is the one thing that you're worried or concerned about

55:34Dehren Fox and that whole conversation it even started last year before the finals before the playoffs everybody was like oh they screwed up giving Foxes big the extension way too early and now it's you know they they have these two stars in Harper and Castle on the the come up you know like they're stuck with Fox how do you handle it you know there was people like can they start with an all-star point guard you know right but like the discourse is more what I'm yeah like the the conversation of it I think is going to be really kind of nauseating at times and I think it's like hey man like Foxes the job for Fox always was I'm going to be here to shepherd in the the young guys and when they're ready they're probably going to get rid of me I just don't think anybody was ready for Harper to be disgood this quickly for Castle to take the leap that he took last season I think it's that's going to be my my concern and and not looking forward to is just that whole discourse

56:40the discourse I'm with you like I'm not necessarily worried about Fox like as a player no I think it's important to remember that he was playing through a high ankle sprain for basically the entire playoffs obviously that affected it did that affect his decision making against the nicks I don't think so and you got to fault him for that but physically he just clearly was not the same he didn't have the same burst that he usually does he's like the best player in the league and he didn't have that throughout a lot of the playoff run um but I'm I'm not worried about him like as a player but the discourse is definitely going to be annoying like every time Harper and Castle go obviously be like oh why do they have the iron box they should trade the iron but like the right place it's going to be annoying that said my warrior concern is that we actually don't get enough talent Harper because I just don't know how you find enough minutes for all three guys unless you're splitting the guard minutes 32 32 32 like and not playing any other guards which is not really practical I don't know how you find enough minutes for him that's going to be that's

57:42the hard part that's the hardest part about Mitchell opposite of mithrops Mitch Johnson's job right now is figuring out how to get Harper on the floor more and I think you know they got up my all three guys together more like you just have to do it and you actually can with the fact that those two guys Harper and Castle are so good defensively I think you lose a little bit shooting with with that and in the way of like you know how good you know Champaigni has been for them and and playing the three spot and things like that I do think we're sleeping a little bit on the pickup of Tobias Harris being a really big pickup for them I think that's going to help them quite a bit I'm pretty fascinated with that but that's a good one though because that's a tough question for Johnson to have to really kind of figure out how do I answer this how do I make sure I get part of it is also keeping everybody happy that's keeping Fox engaged keeping Harper engaged keeping Castle and get no one their role minutes wise and when they're going in and how it all works

58:44it gets interesting very quickly for them and and and becomes tough and I'm not saying it's not out of their own possibilities they trade the air in Fox but it has to be an amazing package that comes back their way and it probably brings brings in a a a better backup big for them yeah I don't think they compare with when beat I'm not sure they can get like an amazing package they'll give them the size of the contracts yeah so I mean that's just it's just what it's going to be but we're going to hear the discourse over and over again about how they should trade them and and attach a pick and dump them yeah I would absolutely not do that they're not going to dump that they're not going to dump that they're not going to do before we get to the predictions I do also agree with you about Tobias Harris like they could have really used him against the next last year yeah you would have been great for them or the next last year it's it it's been really interesting to see how it goes I'm excited for this team all right yeah your prediction I've got a dual prediction which is that when B wins MVP but they lose to the Thunder and the Western Conference

59:48finals so I kind of gave it away what I gave it away in the the Thunder preview I have this first one in the championship I have the revenge tour I have this kind of coming I feel like I don't know if you watched a little bit of the the the Fiba euro qualifiers but he looks when he looks like he's put on a little bit more muscle he looks a little bit stronger in that sense like I feel like there's a level of this stuff kind of coming he had pretty much a good number of the team in France working out with him this is going to become a new trend with the European players fly it out guys to come work out with them uh Yoke it's just going to have everybody on the little horsebuggies uh I feel like that storyline though is over like everybody gets their guys together somewhere it just so happens that these guys the best players are from Europe it doesn't happen as often I I think as you think whereas like the star player calls and gets all these guys I mean

1:00:51the laker one was absurd because it is literally everybody except the rookie right like that's pretty rare where you get the whole thing I know there are guys like there are groups that work out together and a lot of that stuff is actually organized by the player development staff and things like that of like all right let's all do this and stuff like that I think is interesting but I think there's just a level of like I think the teams way more together than people realize I mean Harper and Fox were both in part of the Paris workouts you know and and and and get and that stuff worked out so I feel like there's going to be a lot of uh so I think they're going to hit the ground running I think they're going to the finals definitely a fair prediction how many all stars does this team get no I I mean for sure when be right like just just put that in right away I they probably get another guard I don't know it depends how Fox Harper and Castle season goes

1:01:53I don't think they get three I think they just get two I mean that's probably right what's your um so I had something in my mind and I totally forgot I was trying to see if it would come up the Mitch Johnson hot seat then can I just can we just put cold cold water on that everybody who was like oh he really fucked up the finals in his first year coaching at full term as the head coach he went to the NBA finals yeah would the coach the best finals know but also the spurs don't do that they're not going to fire a coach after two years not even that it's but like also like he took a team that everybody all year was like they're too young they're too young we've never seen like they're not going like if you it became like a talking point of like they're too young they can't they can't possibly get to the finals you know and and so and and he led them there obviously having Wembee helps you know a whole ton of that and the and the guards but like I feel like there's a

1:02:57level of like they they needed to I feel like they the the discourse around that it's just stupid everybody needs to chill out I'm with you we talked about that when they brought in Billy Donovan as an assistant coach correct it was also a big pickup by the way I think that's a big pickup for them as well I think that'll help them specifically offensively he's shown an ability throughout his career to sort of tailor offenses to the skill set of his team and they did need a little bit more variety I think offensive like the next and win the finals because they're often they want to be because of their defense and the spurs need to get better on that end I think also the I just want to touch on this one part here and I think this is where Billy will help and I think it's really important for Wembee I just wanted to they need to find the Wembee spot right like I think he's he's so talented and can really do just about anything but they need to find what is our go-to spot for him in the way that Dirk and the high post you know um

1:04:02back with the post up obviously we don't post up anymore but whatever the action is what is it and how do we get Wembee to that spot and how do we operate when he's at the spot with the ball is something I think they need a craft and figure out how to go how to uh uh sort of explore and I think that and also end a game offense would be something really important for them we talked about it last year they blew a lot of close games at the end a lot of big leads and it ended up biting the costing them the finals um you know and I think part of that is youth part of that is they need to have a better end-to-game offense yeah I mean you mentioned it I think the spot is like the Dirk spot at the nail for me that would be the spot for him I'd love to see it and if that's where that that that develops everybody better freak out because it's like one step and dunk for right it's one step and dunk or it's raise up and shoot over whoever is on him or it's like be able to survey the floor from that spot he's a pretty good passer like

1:05:04you can't send help from every direction it's too much it's it's too difficult yeah it's too much all right folks I think that wraps up our south west division preview which also coincidentally wraps up the entire western conference division preview or the conference preview I guess season preview I'm running out of words folks um I think that'll do it Jared do you have anything else none and we'll be back next week with the central and south east divisions and then we'll move on to some more general season preview stuff perfect well thank you folks for listening to the double dribble podcast see y'all so if you've ever furnished a restaurant hotel or an office you know the drill five vendors five invoices five delivery windows but there's a better way to do this

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