Are the Nuggets still the favorites and other Christmas Day analysis | The Athletic NBA Show

Are the Nuggets still the favorites and other Christmas Day analysis | The Athletic NBA Show

Hello and welcome to the athletic NBA show it’s a day after Christmas and all through the house only me and mo deil are stirring around the athletic NBA Show podcast uh I’m Dave dor that’s modil he’s live from an undisclosed TR we can tell we can tell

Them I’m in Hawaii yeah mo mo is uh in Hawaii for the holidays uh I’m I’m you know at home so uh everybody’s good Mo how how was your Christmas Day festivities I’m assuming everybody had a good time great it was great it was a lot of fun we had a wonderful Christmas

Eve dinner with the fam and then uh one thing about Hawaii Dave because it’s two hours behind even everybody else so the Christmas Day game started for me at 7 am so it took me a minute to really kind of wake up to start watching basketball but ultimately yeah man it was pretty

Great how was yours uh mine was great um you know uh on the west coast so the game started at 9:00 am that’s exactly to me that’s exactly the way it ought to be I I think Pacific time zone as we’ve chronicled here it’s the best for sports

So um you know beautiful Christmas day full of games speaking of should talk a little bit about them um we’re just gonna run down sort of what happened I mean there’s a lot of storylines actually for Christmas day um this year bucks and nicks sort of playing a backto

Back Mo do you think that had anything to do with how good the Knicks looked I’m actually glad you brought that up Dave because it’s something we didn’t even mention in our rundown that bothered me that the Christmas Day Games should not be the second of the uh backtack the little major league

Baseball games that they’ve been doing which I like but that shouldn’t be the case for Christopher stes I think that needs to be I would actually prefer when it’s team meeting for the first time even but I think that’s you know maybe more difficult with some of these in uh

Conference teams but I just didn’t like that the the Knicks and Bucks played you know Friday and then now and then played again on Christmas day I just didn’t really like that as much I felt that was a bit of a problem but it definitely helped the Knicks because it’s hard to

Beat a team two times in a row yeah absolutely I mean Jaylen Brunson was pretty insane in this game uh he had 38 points on Christmas day I mean right like this is like the the brightest of Bright Lights 38 points just carved up the the Bucks perimeter defense and and

Mo we’ve been harping on this for a while and one of the things I want to make sure we don’t do is come across like the sky is falling the Bucks are really good really really good I mean this loss aside I mean they’ve really red the ship from the the shaky start

That they had and I wouldn’t even say they were shaky because they were still winning games Chris Middleton has looked good for a while now but they still have this issue perimeter defense and transition defense it’s still a problem for him yeah it’s a massive concern for

Them I think in the first half of this game the Knicks had 15 fast break points you know and I think it wasn’t just Brunson I mean RJ Barrett was killing them I think their inability to contain drives is a problem and I think the during the regular or the start of

Training camp and everything is like don’t worry about their defense they have the hnis and Lopez it’ll be fine but those guys can’t handle just constant barrage of drive after drive after drive and I think that leads to the issues there for them defensively it is a playoff problem more than a regular

Season problem because as you said they’re winning games like they’re they’re right there in the west I mean excuse me in the east in record-wise and things like that but that’s an issue that will need to be addressed at some point because playoffs you’re not playing the Charlottes you’re not playing the

Atlanta well they might end up playing Atlanta on playoff shake out but you’re not you’re not playing you know some of these teams where you can get away with that you know you’re going to try to go to the finals you’re gonna end up having to have to guard Tyrese Maxi you’re

Gonna have to figure out how to guard Jaylen Brunson which they showed last night they couldn’t and you’re gonna have to figure out how to guard Boston’s guys and I think there’s a lot of issues with that and a lot of concern with that stuff it’s sometimes the record can be a

Little bit of a Fool’s Gold sort of scenario thinking everything’s fine look at the record they’re winning games are killing everybody and their offense is exceptional but it’s it’s the other end of the Court you got to be a bit concerned about yeah and and again it’s

Not it it’s just it’s transition and perimeter which I know is like all right these are two of the most important aspects of Defense but I think that there’s a chance they’ve got Personnel like already on the roster that can solve this problem and you know Malik

Beasley I as the season goes on his shooting has been great for them but they may not need that they may need to just upgrade that position and add another good Defender but I don’t I don’t agree with you on the they have it on the roster I mean Pat conathan really

Kind of moving you there on ability to defend guys I mean Beasley’s been okay but he couldn’t guard Brunson he got torched I mean then then you have I mean now you have other you know I know Crowder’s out but like let’s just be honest when was the last time Crowder

Was guarding quick guards like that’s really something you got to be concerned about and those are issues there for them and I think you know I don’t know if the ansers on the roster already I mean Andrew Andre Jackson is getting playing time and and you know you got to

Hope maybe that’s there but it’s also a rookie like there’s a lot of stuff I’d be concerned about yeah um with the Knicks man you know Mitchell Robinson is gonna miss the rest of the season and they’re very lucky to have Isaiah hartenstein anyway he’s a he’s a high

Quality backup but he was really good in this game and and really I think he just did a great job on the glass fighting with Brook Lopez I mean this is um I I you think that they can get through and be as good as I mean they’re not going

To be as good as they could have been with Mitchell Robinson but do you feel like they could get through get to the playoffs win a playoff series with with harinstein I think they can I mean listen part of it all comes down to who

You match up with in the playoffs and I think the Knicks team is is pretty built I mean we saw them last year win a Playoff round granted it was with Robinson but they kind of won it pretty easily and I don’t feel like you know as

There is a drop off between Robinson and hartenstein but I don’t think it’s so massive that you say okay this cost them a playoff series I think you know I think there are different things that those two guys provide I think hartenstein passing is actually a very

Underrated skill in that regard and I think that’s stuff that they can use a little bit more but ultimately I think they would be fine yeah if they can get another big guy sure great you know and they have the assets I just think that we also know with the Knicks they’re

Kind of like just trying to keep the powder dry right I mean well toj Gibson’s back though he was pretty good I was shocked I was I was making fun of it and and shout out to a former SC guy but like he was pretty good man he did a

Pretty good job on you a couple couple of strips and well I can they say they’re fresh legs when they’re that old I mean he hadn’t played right like he’s just been sitting around couch old legs they’re old legs they they run out quicker fresh um should we let’s talk

About Steve Kerr Steve Kerr Spending All Season working on podcast takes he’s stealing all of my takes Mo first he complains about the club music in NBA arenas and now he’s complaining about the officiating and the fact you can’t play defense now Mo tell me how much of

This is because the Warriors lost and their defense stunk in this game I mean yeah joic gets 18 free throws that stinks and and we know that the n ba doesn’t allow defense to be played but Steve Curry complaining about it at this point I mean after all these years of

Steph Curry not getting calls other guys getting calls against them because you know they do have a tendency to foul a lot this is the game that pushes him over the edge yeah I mean some of it has to do with them stinking I mean look joic getting 18 free throws when he

Averages 6.3 a game is is a bit surprising um but I I think some of that might have to do with joic not getting the calls and I think that might be more of a a case there in that regard but yeah I mean Kerr’s frustrated with the

Team and the roster and and the way the uh season has gone so far I mean it’s been frustrating time you got to deal with Draymond all the damn time I imagine you know well they’re not dealing with Draymond right now I’m sure he’s getting I’m sure he’s getting text

Messages from Draymond uh and and all of those things but I think you know you you and Seth are the ones that are annoyed with the move the music takes and things like that you I’m not annoyed with the T I’m annoyed with the music itself that’s I’m saying I see what

Steve Kerr’s doing here this is it this is he’s quiet quitting Mo he’s preparing for a career in podcasting for next season I think he’s just like he’s seeing how good Bob Myers has it and he’s jealous he didn’t go first that’s it like I think that’s he doesn’t want

To deal with this Draymond stuff anymore he’s over it he doesn’t want to deal with having to play Jonathan kuminga more yeah I think the the bigger issues for this team though is I think defensively they got to get back to kind of their principles and whatnot and I

Think the other thing with that is they just they need to find offense I I thought kaminga was pretty good in this game for the most part they didn’t play Moody much but you know what they got a pretty good Andrew Wiggins game he took over a little bit in the fourth quarter

Or tried to take over a bit in the fourth quarter thought they got a good Klay Thompson game but also at the end of the day you’re playing the defending champs Denver is really good folks like it’s not a surprise yeah I mean look man like we we

Talked about joic it was kind of it was not a great joic game by the way but the the fact that the Nuggets can withstand a a not great yic game against a Steph Curry LED Warriors team tells you a lot um Jamal Murray down the stretch was insane this was playoff

Performance Jamal Murray before we get to that because I do want to get on that I just we got to talk about the start that Michael Porter Jr had to this game because he set the tone early well it helps that Klay Thompson would just falls asleep guarding clay defensively

Was a lot of issues but even with that he set the tone early was cutting was moving well off the ball getting clean looks had a uh probably one of the ugliest behind the back passes to an assist to kcp kcp on the wing you know

But still like all that stuff and then more importantly he was defending I mean he blocked clay at least two or three times like I thought he was all over the place defensively I thought he did a great job in this game kind of setting the tone early and I think that really

Put a lot of pressure on the Warriors defensively and it took a little bit of pressure off of the other nuggets guys and that allowed Murray to conserve his energy to take over when he had to in the fourth quarter you know and it’s here’s the thing it’s a

Continuation of a season long thing for him I mean he’s having a great year he started out extremely well I mean one of the things we talked about was Michael Porter Jr turning into this two-way player and the difference that it makes for them but I mean he’s also I mean

He’s what is he 16 points a game uh almost eight rebounds uh half a steel half a block but shooting about almost 5040 uh and 75 from the free throw line I mean the guy is just having like a complete season for them I mean he’s been there I I I’d say definitely

Offensively third best player yeah that’s what they need they’ve needed him to step up but now let’s get to what we really to be a playoff guys like joic and and a guy like Murray that can do what he did yesterday or yesterday and in particular by the way it’s not lost

On me that he’s doing this against Steph Curry y it was almost I’m not gonna say this is a passing of the torch because Steph Curry is still better than Jamal Murray I think uh but this was a a high leverage game and Jamal Murray shows up

In these in a way that not a lot of players do and he just took this thing over down the stretch yeah I mean look he had just jumper after jumper it looked like it was going to be a shootout for a minute and then he kind

Of just went through it and then he had probably the play that was kind of the dagger for me coming off of a double screen first it’s a switch and he gets Curry on him and Curry tries to come and beat him over the top of the second

Screen and Murray just goes behind his back right into a three and I mean that was the dagger play I mean he was just he was in killer mode and I think that’s great on a night where joic did struggle shooting wise you know he was four for

12 from the field and whatnot I think it you know the free throws allowed him to get all those points but I think the the the Warriors besides the fouls did a pretty good job on joic and I think you know Murray just kind of stepping in and

And showing you like hey man I can still do this stuff it’s pretty impressive are the Nuggets still the to win the title for you yeah why why would they be any like what are we I mean we yes move on next question it’s one of these things because you I mean

You know where I’m coming from like we we just at this point their old hat which is funny to say because it’s not like they’ve won multiple titles in a row but they are a little bit old hat like I’m very comfortable with where they’re at the warriors on the other

Hand every time we write them off they have a game like like the game against the Celtics last week right where they just pull one out and it’s like okay well they still have Steph Curry and and when things are going right it’s like oh look Moses Moody Moses Moses Moody plays

Three minutes in this game I mean are the Warriors really good enough to not play Moses Moody I I just don’t understand well if they get the game they got from Wiggins which I thought was a pretty good Wiggins game yes they’re good enough where they can say

Hey we don’t necessarily need uh Moses Moody to to step in and then you also got to talk about um uh P psky psky yeah psky excuse me he was really good for them as well and has provided a good boost for them but when you just go look

At Wiggins coming off the bench giving you 22 points like that’s a pretty strong number for them you know and that’s the the scoring that they need to a degree and I think that’s an important view of those things and I think you know yes I think if they’re getting that

Game from Wiggins then yes they can kind of survive without Moody I still feel like they they’ve got a trade to make I mean we’ve been we’ve been kicking around fake Warriors trades for a few days now but uh I don’t I don’t know I don’t know if they’re going

To swing anything big or not definitely not before Draymond comes back in in a few weeks um this team I don’t know they they should be better and a lot of this rests on Wiggins obviously clay was struggling a little bit there for a while he seems to have at least turned

It around yesterday’s game notwithstanding but turned around a little bit so maybe they’ll flip it around um let’s get to the Celtics and Lakers this is uh this was actually kind of a good game I mean it was a fun game no it was a fun game man the Lakers came

Look the Celtics blew the doors off in the first quarter where I thought like oh this is gonna be an ugly one and then they give the Lakers a ton of credit they came roaring back and you know I forget what the lead was at half it was

A onepoint game at half time yeah they were down as much as 18 in the first quarter like give the Lakers credit for being able to handle the barrage from the Celtics to start the game and I think they kind of they made it a tough

Game and the guy you got to talk about for the Lakers was Anthony Davis he was phenomenal for them the whole game and to the point where he had no other help and he looked gas yeah I mean look his defense has has kept them in games sometimes when their offense is stalled

Out uh every that’s every game you’ve just described every game of the Lakers so far this season and and this was a huge example of that right like on on the brightest stage the Lakers it’s funny to say this uh about this team every single year but

The Lakers might be the team that’s most fixable with the trade because it’s obvious the thing that they need is just where do they get it from Mo because this is what they’re doing right now I mean they’re the losing sort of uh it’s not a streak but

The the losses are starting to mount since the inseason tournament championship the run that they’ve been on here the last few weeks is has not been good and at some point they’re going to have to tweak this offense a little bit and I think it’s a Personnel

Tweak it’s it’s a Personnel tweak of somebody they have to go get whoever may be yeah it’s not a it’s not a uh uh it’s not sitting there on the bench you know and I think it’s hard when you start games I understand why they bench

D’angel Russell and and and start with a more defensive back court but you don’t have a lot of offense in that group you know and I think that’s a lot of pressure there so you have to get a whole lot more stops than I think even

That group can get and I think that’s difficult and that’s a tough ask for a lot of those guys and I think that’s a problem and I think you know they they need to figure away to get those guys offensively and it’ll be interesting to

See who they end up kind of getting and and poking their you know uh the most important thing to me though Dave is they can’t go get somebody like Zack LaVine and sacrifice their defense the defense is what makes this team special is what’s going to set them apart but

They need somebody to lift their offense from like the low 20s to like 15 it’s kind of the flip of what we talk about with like if you have this great offense you just need an average defense well if you have a great defense you need an average offense they don’t even have

That they’re well below average and also I mean the trickiest part is the fit with LeBron offensively you need a guard who can go back and forth between on the ball and off the ball on any given night depending on what LeBron needs and and also can play and run the

Offense when LeBron has to sit this is this is the other like there’s just too many LeBron and AD minutes they need another guy and they just don’t have it and I’m with you I don’t think LaVine is the right answer because of the defense you don’t want to lose that like Drew

Holiday would have been a great piece for them would would have been great but you know what he played on the other team that was pretty awesome we should probably talk a little bit about the Celtics get there they weren’t great also man we gotta christops porzingis

Has been a GameChanger for the Celtics a and his postup game has improved so much in the last like even two seasons has improved so much there was a post up um and I I can’t remember the time stamp on it I pulled the clip but he was just

Incredibly patient he turns around in the post and realizes he’s got you know a four it was against ruy it was against R just just put a bank shot up and it was just easy but he’s done he’s been doing it the way the Celtics are getting to that is actually pretty interesting

Um and we got to give Joe maula credit like as much I kill the Celtics offense I think more than anybody else uh in the uh industry um he ran a play it was in the third or fourth quarter it was a double stagger for uh Jason Tatum Tatum

Comes off they get the switch and porzingis gets now has cam reddish I think in the post and they just swing the ball around and then enter into the post and porzingis has deep post position against reddish it’s a bucket or a foul like each time so they’re

Doing some clever stuff in how to get him those post-ups and I think that’s a real important aspect of the Celtics offense yeah but again though two years ago that was a fade away and this year it was I mean he didn’t even jump it was

A bill ambir set shot off the glass from six feet away it was it was fantastic it was that to me that’s going in my porzingis highlights when I’m getting ready for the playoffs this is like a different player now but Boston are good the Celtics are good I was gonna say

Celtics are good um that’s a team that looks like again I I can I can quibble about their late game offensive execution right that the fourth quarter that they had against the Warriors the other day I I I can 100% go through and I can nitpick about their stuff but when

They stick to their principles this is a team that probably doesn’t doesn’t need to have that many competitive you know last five minutes of the fourth quarter like they should be able to Coast through most of these games the offense is so potent when it’s rolling especially with porzingis and

The defense I I think the the you know the ceiling of that is best defense in the league yeah I for sure and I think they’re they’re right up there I think it gets interesting in terms of they have the top six I think you probably need one

More guy maybe one more ball handler maybe uh uh to kind of help them out there a bit and you gotta listen man you gotta hope porzingis stays healthy all year that’s something that he kind of has a struggle with and something you got to keep an eye on um for for folks

Who are just listening to the audio and not uh watching on YouTube MO is absolutely getting cooked for this podcast doing the podcast on the patio Mo just move into the shade move into the shade we’re good yeah just getting a sunburn for the sake of the podcast for you guys for the

People d a man of the people this is how we drive viewers to to the YouTube is uh if you want to see Mo get a sunburn in in real time go and do that um Mo go ahead I’m going to I I’ll pause us there

All right quick break and now we’re back we had a little set change for Mo uh Sixers man Sixers Heat this was a little bit of a bummer um a rivalry game because of the whole Jimmy Butler Philadelphia situation and and the way he left there embi is a

Scratch on Christmas Eve he you know we get the news that he’s not gonna play Christmas Day we get the news Jimmy Butler is not going to play and mo like you know this is something that the NBA was trying to avoid this year and I you know injuries rack

Up is is embiid getting a little bit of an unfair rep for dodging big opponents on the road I think so I think he’s done it before I think you know uh I have to I didn’t watch the Toronto game the one before this where he played I’ve heard

He was kind of laboring or whatnot and I’ve heard other people say he was fine or or whatnot I don’t know but if he hasn’t ankle injury you got to be careful right and if you’re the Sixers that’s your ticket that’s how you’re going to win a championship is with him

Or at least get out of the second round and I think that’s the important thing I think people are uh being a little bit harsh on EMB in that sense I understand it I understand the Optics of it and how it looks and things like that but the

Dude’s putting up crazy numbers and everybody’s all mad like do it against somebody that matters well like he doesn’t control the schedule that’s really something he can’t handle and then when they played Minnesota he beat the breakes off those guys and I think that’s I think that’s something that we

Don’t really kind of give him we don’t want to give him credit and it’s it’s what we do Dave right you have to do it in the playoffs which is fair right but like we we that’s really the thing now it’s he’s hit the uh Pat the head you

Know kind of deal true you know and I think it’s a bit unfair because he’s having a great regular season has improved his passing and everything I will say this the bum hunting thing is funny but also he play you know he gets to play Detroit and Charlotte all the

Time and the Wizards like that’s not his fault you know he’s in Philadelphia you know we’d be killing them if he was struggling he’s doing what he’s supposed to do against these guys yeah me all right so let’s talk about this game a little bit Mo if you were doing a

Redraft I don’t know if you do those uh if you were doing a redraft of this year’s draft where would haime hakz go for you well one he went to dumb school so I probably wouldn’t draft him just off that listen he’s not going to Miami that’s for sure no he’s going much

Higher this was all these teams that passed on him it’s it’s pretty surprising but it’s you know again this is one of those guys four-year player you know very mature a perfect landing spot for him being Miami but like this is a guy that can just flat out play and

Even looking at hey looking at you Portland like this is a guy you could have had that would have been a good piece for you in the future with this squad like I’m sorry like with the group you have like he’s great toughness for you guys could probably fit right in

With the team that you have and really help you along your rebuild but that’s a podcast for another day and Portland fans can scream about it later the kid can flat out play he’s tough he’s mature how about this here’s a list of names Mo okay Wilt Chamberlain Oscar Robertson Patrick Hing Walt

Bellamy and haime hakz the only rookies to have 30 points and 10 rebounds on Christmas Day Dave he showed everything in this game knocked down shots had some midst stuff some stuff in transition was making some passes some of the shots didn’t go in for for proper amount of

Assists and whatnot for him and then the other thing defensively he was all over the place guarding Tobi his hair switching on to Maxi and really kind of I thought he just showed everything he does in that one game and this was a nice little coming out party for people

You know if they watching this game on Christmas day like on a national TV stage he really stepped up every year there are guys like Jame hakz that you know he’s not a oneandone guy a bad team can’t take this guy Mo you can’t have a really good ready to go

Young player on on a bad team they’ve got to take a bad player and hope he gets to be this good one day I mean it’s just incredible um bamat bio also was awesome in this game um Mo what’s the stat line no one’s ever done before I

Mean it was it was he’s joined his statline of excuse me 26 points 15 rebounds five assists three blocks yeah that stat line has only been done by two other players in the NBA Kareem aluar and Shaquille O’Neal on Christmas Day I think was the I love a good

Christmas Day stat I mean but that’s impressive like that’s that’s highly impressive stuff with no Jimmy Butler on a night like this and I know I know him beat all that stuff we could do you know like that was a nice him stepping up and I think that’s a that’s a strong level

Of of what he does and I think defensively just solid I just again man like this Miami team is the team that just will never die and I think everybody just better get used to it and that’s the case we’re just gonna have to deal with yeah pretty much um okay Le

Let’s move to to the the last game um Maverick Suns number one if you’re just getting here this season the Mavericks are pretty good they I mean they just that team is really good and they have a guy who can be the best player in any single

Game against any other team in Luca donic and and he was crazy in this game he had 50 on Christmas um also 15 assists also four steals also three blocks uh this this was one of the most impressive performances of the Year for me yeah I thought he was great you know

And and the way look the it they built a big lead the Suns came back on them in the third quarter it was very easy to see the this Mavs team like go of the rope and instead they kind of pulled it together and I think look Luca having

First off a fun center and Derek Lively you know was as a rookie a fun lob threat for him all the time I think Grant Williams was pretty good for them in terms of spacing the floor and helping with their defense and whatnot and adding a little more toughness to

This team I think across the board you know Tim Hardway Jor has been great I think everybody’s kind of been awesome but at the end of the day it all ends it all starts and ends with Luca and he was just flat out amazing in this game yeah

Um just every single time he wants to score it just seems like he can and there were times where against the sun’s defense Yeah well yeah yeah I mean okay yes I what I loved is that they were sending two to the ball and LCA would

Get the ball back and then still make the pass and get the assist I mean Lively has was really good I’ve SE I’ve watched him over the course of the Season get even better uh when teams Zone up after they send two at Luca I don’t know if

You noticed this I mean of course you have where he he’s working the nail looking to to to get that pass to find the shooters and I mean the Mavericks they’re now 18 and 12 I mean this this team is is pretty good I think that

They’re built to win in the playoffs too Mo I I love what I love what Lively is doing for them on the glass I love what he’s doing for them offensively he was eight of nine in this game mean this is the first time Lucas ever had a guy that

He could just kind of toss the ball up and say hey go get it for me yeah and I think this is a a fun play for you could see him enjoying the way he’s playing right now and there’s a lot of fun with it the other thing with this m Steve

That we’re not talking about also is they’re doing this without Kyrie right now when they get Kyrie then they add another scorer another ball handler again to take more pressure off of Luca and things like that I think that goes a long way for them I think this is going

To be a very interesting team you know I still think they need a work on their defense they still need to add some more size defensively I know Jason kid’s kicking around starting Luca uh Kyrie and Dante exam I think that might be a bit too small you’re

Gonna have some issues there defensively but I still think there’s some stuff they can do it’s a very interesting team to keep an eye on yeah I mean look they just like everybody if they if they could get a three and D Wing like Dorian finny Smith would be perfect for this

Team I mean if they could just somehow get him back I think that it would go a long way for them um the Suns on the other hand Mo I mean they’ve got some problems uh health is not been their best friend this season Bradley Beal has

Has barely played we have yet to see Beal Booker and Kevin Durant oh they played one they played like 20 minutes together yeah yeah but I mean ween yeah is it time is this a bust is this it is this it is it over I don’t know any shot of making this

Good you know I I don’t know I I don’t want to say that it’s December there’s still a lot of basketball season to come together but I think you have to be concerned with the fact that Bradley Beal’s not healthy and this is a back injury that it seems like every time he

Gets out on the court he he he starts doing stuff and then bam his backs locks up on him again like this is this is definitely concerning for them and this was a obviously the third part of a trio that was gonna help them kind of take

That step forward and then also last night no youf nurkic like I think you have a lot of stuff there that you got to start kind of worrying about with this team and this is why look when they made the trade and traded DeAndre Aon

And we all know I’m not an Aon fan but when they made that trade I told you right away I’ve taken them off my Contender list I just I think they have a lot of issues there and I think they could have gotten more for Aon than what

They did and I think they could have been uh better positioned than what they’re at now and I think now they’re depending on guys that have injuries and good luck I would even say this Mo I think nurkic has been better there than I expected I would I would say he’s been

Better than I expected for them and I still don’t like the even going back I don’t like the eighton trade because I didn’t think they got enough I didn’t think they got enough pieces guys who were actually going to play for them I mean nir little like sorry like you

There’s a chance that you watch too much basketball if you thought that nir little was going to play in Phoenix in a a pivotal role that he couldn’t get to in Portland somehow you know what I mean like it’s one of these things where it’s

Too deep of a cut there’s a reason um I just not only like I think the be trade really sunk this team I mean it put them in a bad spot yeah in that I mean listen it didn’t cost them much so like that’s the one thing we can talk about with

Them but I think at the same for he’s got a no trade clause Mo well yeah I mean that’s they’re not trading people Dave like that’s just realistic with that stuff and I think the I don’t there’s not suitors he’s just not healthy nobody’s going to jump at it but

I think the big issue for this team is they just don’t have enough time to figure this out you know we talked about it on nerder like how much how many games do we need to see these guys fully healthy all of them to feel comfortable

With them and it’s just we don’t know what they’re going to be and and you know if they get be and you know towards the end of the season they still don’t know the rotations they don’t know the defense that works best for them they don’t know the the right lineups and

Whatnot it’s a lot of work for vogle to have to figure it out and it’s not enough time to do it I mean that’s really the concern right now is is the clock’s ticking on them just in the sense of every game pass where they’re not fully healthy is a missed

Opportunity that they need to build the chemistry and everything that goes into it this isn’t a team that can just come in F fully healthy into the playoffs and be like all right we’re ready to roll they don’t know each other they don’t know how to play with each other yet and

I think that’s still a lot of problems and we’re even hearing Rumblings from the team that’s what I was about to go to next I mean we’re starting to hear that Kevin Durant not necessarily happy you know with the way things have worked out which of course not I mean I

Wouldn’t be happy either Mo if you know and and that’s without even pointing fingers at anyone you know injuries having poor injury luck is bad luck so you shouldn’t be happy with it but feels like some of this is predictable you know the the cupboard was not exactly full you don’t have a

Whole lot of assets to go and complete a team you know you get this whole the this huge Beal trade I that’s a lot that’s a lot resting on Bradley Beal yeah and and somebody not known to be healthy like let’s just be honest you

Know he’s he’s missed a ton of time you know the past few seasons so it’s just a concern there for them and you know you can’t go back and and and fix those things and those issues but right now they just need to get healthy I mean like there’s there’s a lot of

Frustration there and I just don’t know what this team is going to look like you know when they get healthy I don’t even I don’t know if they have a trade move to make but just if they can get healthy I don’t know if they if they got that

And what it’s going to look like because I still have my doubts when it’s fully healthy we gonna get some New York Knicks Kevin Durant trade chatter is that is that what we’re destined for we need it we need something um Mo you ever do you um subscribe to the theory

That the playoffs are set at Christmas day no okay and I think we’ve had we’ve had enough proof with that and I think the play in has changed things as well like we’ve I think the uh they like I don’t know what it was like this time last year but New

Orleans was really high up in the standings and whatnot and then they tumbled and stuff there’s there’s still a lot more movement I think it might have been the case back in the day but I think now the League’s more volatile in terms of the standings can change very

Quickly I’d like to offer a prediction uh oh okay I know where you’re going the Memphis Grizzlies are going to make the play in and I think that they’re going to win their playin game I think that the Memphis Grizzlies are going to shock the world for the rest of the season johnar

Has something to prove by the way Western Conference player of the week johnar has something to prove how do you feel about it I mean look it’s it’s they’re going to need help we’ve talked about this before on podcasts and those things and you know they had a nice three- game

Start okay you know and let’s let’s see how it goes I’m not ready to jump on that bandwagon with you Dave I’m I’m happy that you want to make that prediction as early as uh December I’m I’m as early as I can possibly be as

Early as I can be you know when you look at it right now they’re five games back of the Warriors for the 10th seed in the uh playing tournament you know it’s pretty you know I would have never have guessed Houston would be in the playing tournament right now sitting at eight as

Well um stranger things have happened they definitely can make a run but they got a lot of work to do because they’re still 10 games below 500 and that’s a big one there Dave like that’s that’s a lot you know and that’s a pretty big hurdle right there so I uh

Good luck with that prediction Dave well once they just finish ripping off this 133 game winning streak that they’re three games into they’ll be back at 500 mode that’s the prediction I think that they’re just G to go on a huge run uh at least it would make good television uh

Let’s get out of here uh what do you say um happy Boxing Day to all of our you know friends that celebrate that especially the ones up north in Canada for motor I’m Dave deor and this has been the athletic NBA show thanks for tuning in go and subscribe to YouTube

Leave us a festar review over on iTunes Everybody Take Care happy holidays

The Athletic NBA Show discusses

0:00 Intro
2:23 New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks
7:26 Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets
15:30 Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers
23:04 Philadelphia 76ers vs. Miami Heat
27:53 Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns