Disaster In Detroit, The Electric Thunder and what’s OKC looking for? 🤔 | The Hoop Collective

Disaster In Detroit, The Electric Thunder and what’s OKC looking for? 🤔 | The Hoop Collective

Hello welcome to the hoop Collective podcast we talk about the NBA which we’re doing on Thursday afternoon yet again during the Tottenham game I can’t believe I allowed this to happen joining us from Boston where he’s moved up from Orlando to catch up with the uh ice cold Detroit Pistons that’s

Now a thing to Trail is Tim bontemps hello guys yes Pistons have a chance to tie the overall consecutive losing streak record with 28 losses tonight Thursday night against Boston so by the time you’re listening to this they have either pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory in

Probably across sports or they have tied the losing record so we’ll see what happens you know typically in Octo like you know whatever August October whatever when you looked at the schedule you’d have said this is a trap game and a half for Boston coming off a West

Coast trip you know we knew the Pistons weren’t going to be good and um but it’s the first game back from the West Coast strip is always the tricky game right right especially if it’s against the team you don’t get up for but I feel like it’s now the inverse

Teams don’t want to be the one who you know gets the streak over against them oh absolutely yeah so now cam Thomas cam Thomas Flatout said that on the the broadcast after the game the other night when they won they for the first time they beat they played the the last two

Games they played the Nets and after the game in Brooklyn He got interviewed post game by megga triplet from the S network and was like yeah look everybody knows what’s going on with them you don’t want to be the team that breaks The Streak by the way you guys want to guess the

Spread in that game well hold on joining us from Dallas Texas where Mark hubin is no longer the governor of the Dallas Mavericks but he still had a basketball operations that means he could still ban banned McMahon howy Partners listen there is nobody better to cover a

Historic losing streak than in the uswb himself the urine stained wet blanket Tim bonds this assignment was made for him I’m going to guess that the spread is three touchdowns three touchdowns I think that might be an NBA record it was it’s not that high the Celtics are I

Thought 21 and a half points is it not well hold on when we are right now as we’re doing this we don’t know do we know whether Tatum and uh Jason Tatum is playing Jay Brown is not okay all right that’s Factor um here’s I’m GNA tell you

Wow I think it was 21 and a half at one point it’s gone down well maybe it was 21 and a half I just looked at it now and my eyes popped out I I don’t know I’ve never seen a I haven’t the only time I saw three touchdown line like

That I would think would been back in like the process Sixers days who have the record for 28 straight losses across two seasons yeah 16 and a half is a still that’s still a pretty big number so that is that is the answer was just not going to guess the answer so does

Well right I would just say that even terrible NBA teams don’t lose routinely by you know by 17 points and if you look at the Pistons and it’s you know this is a Fool’s errand Because by the time this publishes everybody will know but like they have lost quite a few games by

A lot of points recently but they they are two and they are two and currently 28 that’s that’s what happens by the way we gonna do we’re gonna do the Pistons later but since we started this way I have a trivia question about the Pistons

Let’s go by the way those uh those point spreads are powered by ESPN bet there you go do you have a do you guys know the last time the Pistons won a playoff game uh was the Rick Carlile days no not Rick carile because Larry Brown replaced him

Um a little was F ways ago yeah it was they won a championship since then it was I want to say 2 eight did they win did they win a playoff game with Blake no the last time your Detroit prons one eight playoff game was game four of the Eastern Conference Finals

Wow in 2008 Kendrick Perkins started in the game our colleague at ESPN uh there are nine players in the NBA right now who were in The League the last time the Pistons won a playoff game who are they nine Lebron Nine guys nine times LeBron James nine times nine

Players Chris Paul I was referencing a movie Kevin Durant yeah it zoomed over your head just answer the question reference I don’t know the refence off to you Ferris berer I knew the reference Brian’s just ignoring trivia again so even Jackson knew that one yes you got three of you got three

Of them McMahon what I Chris Paul and Katie um was Russ in the league then NOP 2008 draft was the next year I just say that a trivia question with nine answers it’s none of them down to six they’re not secret names they’re all very prominent players yeah it’s it’s it’s

Down to six like do you want to throw some contributions out there my not really Udonis Haslam just kidding he’s not in the league anymore um come on Wendy help me out of here man I’m struggling who are the geezers in there’s there’s one guy in the 03 draft

Who’s obviously LeBron there’s one guy in the 05 draft is obviously Chris Paul there’s two guys in the 2006 draft Daren Williams glad you’re playing along oh Mike Conley’s got to be in one of these guys Mike connley is one of them that’s a good one there’s five guys in the 2007 draft

You’ve named two of them KD and connley oh man uh I’m trying to think of gyers around the leag H how many of these guys are still actually in rotations have I named all the rotation players nope there’s all but all but one of them

Are playing a lot of minutes one of them is starting or no one of them is two of them are coming off the bench Nota I’m just looking at standings to refresh Curry oh no no no no Al Horford Horford one up to five there’s two more

PJ Tucker PJ Tucker I’m up there’s one more guy in the ‘ 06 draft and there’s two more guys in the’ 07 draft Taj Gibson Taj Gibson was old enough but he was drafted a couple years later damn um all right where am I’m I’m still at six

One of them won the title last year in Denver who won the title last year Jeff Green Jeff Green Jeff Green yeah one of them used to be a raptor and one is currently a raptor those are the last two uh th Thaddius young is the one who currently is a raptor Garrett

Temple’s not that old huh no okay this this one this one should be very easy the former Raptor I think is it the greatest Raptor of all time as he’s called in Toronto OH Kyle Lowry Kyle Lowry is the other one that’s the nine guys there you go since P last tell you

What here’s the question is anybody that’s in the league now still going to be in the league the next time the Pistons with a playoff holy moly that is a gratuitous shot ah I tell I mean you know things are bad when the owner responds to loud sell the team chance

After the 20 whatever straight win or straight loss by calling a zoom call with beat reporters and basically saying we’re going to make a bunch of changes but the changes aren’t the coach who you just gave the richest contract in NBA coaching history second richest

Now but at the time it was and it’s not to be the the uh the GM like who you’re going to change the roster the problem is there’s only so many players on this roster anybody else wants so it’s tough man it’s a tough it’s a tough situation on a lot of

Fronts between draft picks that they’ve made and draft picks they’ve traded for I think Troy Weavers drafted like maybe 10 guys and nine of them are centers and none of them can shoot the only guy he drafted who can shoot is sadique Bay who he traded for a guy who

Can’t shoot the Pistons are dead last and three-point makes per game Dead last and attempts per game and 29th and three-point percentage Yeah so that’s a fatal combination in today’s League well and especially when you’ve got a guy who you hope is going to be like a premier

Playmaker who is just we have no idea how good Kade Cunningham might be because the circumstances are so bad around him like it the spacing is horrific and he’s played better lately but I think what you can sort of safely say at this point is he’s got a chance

To be a really good player but it seems unlikely he’s gonna be a you know top five like change the franchise kind of player yeah just because they he’s gonna be he that he’s even going to be the best player on a decent team well I don’t I think we’re a little bit

Premature L if you’re stand if you’re standard and look he’s the number one overall pick so your standard is that if you’re if you’re saying to me he doesn’t look like he’s jaah or Luca I would agree with that right statement but I still think he can be an Allstar oh yeah

I think he can be a really good player my point is only that you look at you know there’s certain number one picks that you get that they totally change and trajector your franchise right G’s going to be a really good player it does not seem like he’s going to be that kind

Of player Bon Temps and I were texting about this the other night so the it’s a little bit early but the 2021 draft which was the year that Cade was the number one pick there hasn’t been an Allstar from that draft yet um now well this year there will be

Potentially two I’m not sure that that’s true I think there’s some there’s some contenders to be all stars now you’re saying Vagner and shenon are the two I would soon I like I like fron a lot but he ain’t gon to be an All-Star this year I

Don’t think he will be no Scot Barnes Scotty Barnes I think is gonna be an All-Star this year you do I do you think the Raptors are getting an All-Star this year have you looked at Scotty what Scotty Barnes is doing yes I’m very well aware of what he’s our our our colleague

The machine a couple of weeks ago had Scotty Barnes as an All-Star starter this year Well we you and I know that that’s not happening well I know he’s not GNA start but I if you look at the competition in the Eastern Conference I think he’s pretty clearly the fourth

Forward as of now or the fourth front Court player he’s been he’s been tremendous I’m not prepared I don’t have enough research to say that he’s averaging 20 points n rebounds six assists and shooting 49% for a bad team that’s good but it’s not like demanding

His way sure but he’s he’s been he’s been really good and apparent shenon has also been really good and a shot in the west I think he’s got I think he’s got a harder road to a All-Star spot than Barnes but I think he’s got a shot no

But he’s clearly the Rocket’s best player and Jaylen green who was the number two pick in this draft is not second he’s not I don’t think third I mean he he’s having a he’s regressing I mean getting asked about him coming off the bench potentially right now he shot

It down but the fact it’s even a topic sort of says games yeah he doesn’t finish a lot of games he’s got a career low field goal percentage a career low three-point percentage career low points per game um you know and he’s he is a guy who you

Hope can be like a really Dynamic scorer right now he’s an inefficient scorer not a great playmaker and a poor Defender um you know young there’s still time but but his career is not trending up while you got guys around him alar and shenon certainly trending up jaari

Smith Jr trening up they’ve got a couple vets in there who’ve really tar een coming off the bench good draft pick he’s he’s been really really good yeah uh I’m just saying the 2021 class like you know it’s their third year let’s not I you know

But they’re not making you think boy we got to rewrite the history books for best draft classes um but if your point is that Kade Cunningham is not you know driving winning he’s not being a Difference Maker in terms of winning I think that’s if that’s your standard that’s that’s that’s question I

Think kad’s I I’m a huge fan of kad’s game I think he’s really good but he if he was if he was at that kind of a level like these guys wouldn’t be two and 28 like you don’t lose 20 27 straight games if you’ve got a guy who drive and

Winning yeah that’s that’s all the thing is and look I have haven’t watched a lot of Pistons basketball this year but the thing is is that in the NBA even bad shooting teams because the Lakers they’re actually a little bit better um their three-point shooting they’ve

Crawled out out of the bottom five but like the other night they had a game in Oklahoma City where they just hit shots LeBron went five of five and they won a game because even bad shooting teams you know in the rankings occasionally you play Four games a week occasionally you have hot

Night like you get to play half your games at home occasionally you catch a team on the second night of a back toback who’s got tough travel and you know they lay down and it’s sitting half the rotation like the Utah Jazz did recently oh my exactly a bad team

Like even if like you know there are teams that are outright tanking that still win 30 40 35 40% of their game well that and that’s the problem the Pistons thought they were going to be competitive this year they thought they were going to be in the playin mix and

They had won since freaking wh like literally since October their last win third game of the season yeah Zack LaVine had 50 points for the for the Bulls no assist and and no assists and and the Pistons won and they were two and one and this and from that call you

Had you mentioned the other day Tim this was Tom gor’s quote about his expectations for the season we wanted to be competing every day to have a chance for the play playin or the playoffs we wanted our players to grow that would have been success for us that’s what we

Discussed we knew that we had a lot of growing to do those were the expectations to compete grow and be near the playoffs that’s how you grow the most make no mistake about it that was the expectation team is now two and 28 his actions did match that he paid 80

Million for a coach and their offseason moves were to trade for two veterans they traded for Joe Harris absorbed his contract and they traded for Monte Morris now and didn’t trade buam bogdanovich who they could have traded and got some stuff for which they should they still should certain certainly

Should now like like it’s one thing to say that you know we thought we were going to be a playoff team and then field a bunch of 17 or you know 19 year olds but they actually got veterans and like we’re trying like that’s what’s that’s what’s so amazing of course now

That we say all this they’ll pull some miracle in win tonight in this PO will be invalidated I I would say one of their guys I do like Jaylen Duran second year super springy athletic you know well-built big he’s been hurt a lot but like I mean

There are individual pieces here that I think have potential but just the fit is awful and like man you pay $80 million for a coach and lose 114 straight games that’s the thing so last last February right before the All-Star break they played a game against the um

Spurs it was a double tank off both teams were in full tank mode and the Pistons won that game in double overtime now uh I did not watch that game uh I reviewed the box score of the game and it looks like in the second overtime pop pretty much pulled whatever talent that

He had again that may not even 100% be true but he didn’t even like basically play his starters in the second overtime and the Pistons won okay it was like on February 10th or 12th 2023 since that game going into this game tonight since that game they’re 4

And 51 oh four and 51 now last year was they were tanking but even when they were tanking they fell into a couple of wins they ended last season two and they ended last season two and 23 worse this year when they’re not tanking that’s what I’m saying and I

Just gonna point out the worst team in history by the way actually I just I’m just looking at the at the standings the only team they beat over the final two months of last season were the Indiana Pacers who by the way were also tanking that’s right so okay so they are seven

And 5 or four and 51 coming into tonight I don’t know they play the next two games against the Celtics I don’t like their chances there well they’re playing the Celtics and then they play they play the Raptors who are playing Boston here Friday and then go to Detroit on

Saturday that is a game they could maybe win and they would be well advised to do so because then they go on a West Coast trip after that let me just frame this let me just frame this for a the worst team by percentage in the history of the NBA was

The Bobcats in that in that Lottery lottery and that lockout shortened season 112 they were seven 7 59 seven and 59 I just said they’re 4 and 51 and that Bobcats team was tanking four and 51 7 and 59 they’d have to get red hot to

Get the seven wins before they get the 59 loss fellas here’s how bad the Pistons are their winning percentage 0.067 is a legal breathalyzer [Laughter] reading and of course McMahon is all over that they’ve got they’ve got about a a two maybe three beer breathalizer reading for their freaking winning percentage

It’s not good it’s not good it’s not good even in the states where it’s point eight where you know in those Renegade states where it’s 0.1 they got a comfortable yeah I mean look they they’ve had injuries you mentioned Jaylen dur missed time buan missed the first month of the season they haven’t

Had a lineup play more than nine games or play over a 100 minutes this year so they’ve constantly been changing stuff around I Monty Williams has made some weird decisions frankly I think from a coaching standpoint their young players have not developed I mean it a let

They’ve had some bad luck all this stuff sort of coalesces together the bottom line though is that this thing is in an awfully bad spot and for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in 15 years the only team in the league that hasn’t won a playoff game in that span not

Surprisingly because you literally WN one playoff game in that amount of time the the saddest part for the Pistons fan base is that they’re Ground Zero rebuild wise like We’ve joked a bunch about phase two with the Rockets but like you look at Orlando you look at Houston you

Look at Oklahoma City you look at all these teams that are on the way up trending up with young players like the Pistons they’re still at the bottom even after all that time there’s just it’s going to be a long grind to even get out

Of the hole they’re in now well and fans are still showing up like the sell the team chance are loud because there’s actually people still yes but for the same rubbernecking reason they’re there just to you know to try to see them avoid the history like the the crowds

Have picked up these last few games but there was actually reasonable energy in the building for that game against the Nets the other night yeah um uh speaking of the Nets just to illustrate how focused the Nets were on beating the uh pistons in that game for the 27 consecutive loss

The Nets had a backto back in Detroit on uh Tuesday home against Milwaukee on Wednesday and they basically prioritized the Detroit win over Milwaukee at home and jack vongh their coach did a weird thing well first off they announced several players were out due to rest like it was 2022 23 again

And then before the game jock Von said that he would have rested Mel Bridges but male Bridges wants to keep his consecutive games PL streak going so he’s going to let him play and it basically goes back to when he was playing on 8 foot Hoops like he’s never

Missed a game anywhere I think last year he actually played in 83 games he did because the and he and he tried to play in an 84th but he didn’t quite the trade wasn’t quite completed because remember when they had when they they had just been in Brooklyn when they did the

Durant trade they had to turn on and go back but right they couldn’t complete the trade but he wanted to play like the night he was Trading so they were going to play theck they played the Knicks they played the Knicks and at the Garden and they the trade didn’t quite clear

Get cleared get cleared quite in time for him to play yeah so anyway so they let him play but then he benched him after one quarter the Nets did sort of this weird resting hybrid Bon Temps and it irritated some people uh on Wednesday night well it was it was just an

Absolutely embarrassing display by the franchise I mean what are they doing they they’re a team that’s trying to get into the playin trying to you know they’re trying to make the playoffs like yeah Milwaukee’s really good they also are 500 on the road we’ve talked about

How bad their defense is the Nets fire up a bunch of Threes there’s no reason they couldn’t have won this game and like you’re tanking a game in December like what what are you doing I mean it’s it’s just a ridiculous thing to do on every level three your starters you

Three your starters you have Roy no cam Thomas and Mel Bridges basically play a quarter and then don’t play him the rest of the game and then you know Jack vaugh gets asked about it after the game gives this absurd answer where he’s like oh you know I’m out there coaching hard for

48 minutes and I didn’t sit down the whole game like yeah Jack I get it you’re coaching the guys around the court but that’s not what this is about right you literally tanked a game in the middle of December this is insane it’s not sitting Kevin Durant on the second

Night of a back toback back in his late 30s when he’s had a ton of injuries or sitting LeBron James at 39 on the second night of a backto back this is a young team that has aspirations to just make the playoffs and they just threw away a

Game in December it was absurd and embarrassing and just a ridiculous situation and I hope that the league gives them some sort of fine if they can find a way to do it because this is just a ridiculous thing for what would the F to be there there nobody in there as a

Player participation program completely embarrassing the NBA like what what is the point what is the point of having people show up to pay for these games there’s been there’s been way more embarrassing shutdowns that’s fine listen that’s fine the last week honestly like the the Mavericks when

They went to Houston Luca didn’t play exom didn’t play they had a bunch of guys legitimately hurt they got beat by I don’t remember how many points I think it was like a 65 point game one it was it was awful um that one though like you understand

Luca’s workload has been insane it’s reached a point where at least until Kyrie’s back Luca is not going to be playing both ends of back Tob backs he’s averaging 40 minutes per game in uh in December with a ridiculous usage rate um there’s not guys on the Brooklyn Rock

Like they don’t they don’t have guys who are playing crazy high minutes Bridges is averaging 34 minutes that’s the most anybody on the roster it’s not like they’ve got somebody who’s got a crazy high in in all honesty if you’re going to complain about something you should

Complain that it wasn’t made known to the public they were going to do this when there’s active engagement on betting for this yes including including in New York state the line on this game and I mean this is what it closed at I don’t know where it was Midday but the

The line on this game closed at Milwaukee uh favored by 9 and a half and the over under was 244 A2 the the over ended up flying through it was there was 266 points scored in this game and they end up um Milwaukee ends up winning by

22 and if they were going to play they were going to bench a couple of guys and play three key players one quarter that should be acknowledged if that’s the plan going in that should be acknowledged because certain people would be aware that that was the plan

And so if you’re gonna make a complaint that’s because the NBA doesn’t really focus too much on stuff that doesn’t affect you know money or whatever but that’s that can affect it and if I’m if I’m a better which I’m not um I’m pretty

Annoyed if I made a bet on that game and forget even about the line let’s say I made a you know you know there’s a whole world out there of uh individual player Wagers um uh you know well and there’s also I don’t know what the bridges Jackson’s

Wondering what the over was for male Bridges like if you’d have said to me would M you know if I was asked on some show yesterday afternoon would male Bridges go over against the uh the Bucks I like reasonable belief that he would go over you know they don’t play defense

Especially on the road sure mean there was there had to be money on the Mel Bridges over out there well listen if you want to say like look like you say you mentioned that Houston game McMahon like fine you have you have a bunch of injuries Lukas playing a gazillion

Minutes they’re in the top four in the west they have designs on doing stuff in the playoffs like okay like that stuff happen throughout the year I get it it is embarrassing to have these guys play a quarter and then sit them and then act

After the game like oh yeah you know we were very concerned about their minutes so we had to shut them down after a quarter like now you have Mel Bridges getting asked about this and he’s now popping off at the organization saying well look their beliefs are one thing

But I was healthy I should be I feel like I should be playing which certainly isn’t great for a next team that’s trying to reestablish a culture and and you know a way of playing in the wake of uh you know their Superstar era not working I mean the whole thing was just

A giant embarrassment across the board like it’s just and this is a franchise that has done this consistently over and over again for years and in a market where frankly nobody cares about the Nets they don’t have a huge foothold there as it is and now you’re just

Saying yeah well we don’t really care what our fans think anyway I mean yeah it’s it’s a crappy product for fans they you if you bought a ticket for that game you should get a ticket for a future game because that like you did not get your money worth see Giannis have an

Almost trip say unless you were wearing a Giannis Jersey and then he went for 3210 and8 but yeah it’s it’s a crappy product for fans also just an insane thing for a team that’s not doesn’t it isn’t playing for really anything past making the first round of the playoffs to do to

Begin with like what if they end up missing the Playoffs by a game or missing the playing by a game in April well this is this was routine it’s become less routine this year but what’s the situation when Brooklyn’s pick this year is it a swap I believe Houston just

Has it no I will look it up right now it’s either swap with the Rockets or Houston has it either way the Rockets liked their strategy last night I’m sure sure it’s great I’m sure sure sure phase two was pump and fist there there was no complaints filed out of Houston last

Night well the only thing the Rocks didn’t like about the Nets was that they traded Kevin Durant to Phoenix because the Suns broke out of their funk by uh with a KD triple double in Houston so they have to pick outright the Rockets there you go all right I’m protected

Okay so let’s go take a look oh did you have trivia or did you already give us the trivia he gave us trivia you just ignored the triv of N I didn’t ignore it I respect it I just I mean you didn’t respect it you gave insane answers the

Entire time no because I like a tri question that has nine answers you predicted or you called for Bob pet thought Bob pet was still in the league I respectfully didn’t do that I’m just I’m just saying Bob pet because I think I think I’m On Solid Ground when I say

Trivia questions with nine answers are mildly annoying listen people love The Whiz of the quiz that’s that’s bont temp’s way he’s good but mildly annoying that’s ah I would argue I would argue both good and mildly in those two that’s bont temp’s trademark sure um uh

On the other end of the spectrum Western Conference um we saw Oklahoma City uh have a interesting week they got beat by the Lakers right before Christmas at home when LeBron was red hot from three but they bounced back to thrash the Minnesota Timberwolves the team who’s

Right ahead of them in the standings and then they pounded the Knicks who’ve been reasonably hot um uh on Wednesday night the Thunder are 20 and9 as we record this podcast they um they have you know inbalance schedule that is favored them there you know there’s some teams that

Have played heavy Road schedules early on they’ve played a heavy home schedule they’ve played 17 home games and just 12 away games so you know there may be you know by the Doug Mo standings they’ve um they’re plus five um so I’m sorry uh subtract uh Ro Victory they’re they’re actually

Negative one I’m sorry in the Doug mo one somewhere in that R so um you know keep that in mind but uh like the Pistons are a 500 team give or take 26 losses right and the Doug Mo standings the Pistons let’s see what they are don’t

Worry read legal in those too let’s see it’s not good um anyway are really really really damn good no matter what standings you’re looking at that’s correct and uh uh Jay dub Jaylen Williams the uh the wing the 68 Wing uh had a terrific game put up uh what do you have 30

38 36 he had a huge game he and Shay Jes Alexander both had 36 in that win uh over the Knicks um they are you know they are I don’t you know they’re overachieving to this point um but we’re getting to the point well that’s what I’m saying we’re getting to

The point this season where like we did not it was not expected they would be number two they are overachieving their expectation they were not expected to be number two in the west at this point I think I I would say I would say that

This is the high end of the range talked about them as a possible top four before the season yes Sam presty and his minions made a priority of diminishing their expectations going into the season that’s that’s what happened because there was ample reason for excitement

Around the Thunder and they want to be a top six team I agree but to be top four we discussed top four a lot were yes we talked about it well I don’t know if aware of this there’s a difference between top two and top four I don’t

Know if You’ heard of that oh yeah and you know what that difference is right now let hold on let me get my freaking Bri do the math that that that they’re two games back and the number three team is one and a half games back so that’s the difference

Okay it’s like they are they have a 690 winning percentage the nuggets are 688 just because the the nuggets have played more games what we can all agree on is they’re at the highend games that whether whether you thought this was realistic or not certainly they’ve

Performed to the high end of what they were capable of that that we can all agree on and and I think the one way that they are really exceeding expectations is Chad holen is a much better offensive threat than I think anybody thought he would be just right

Off the bat like Chad being an efficient 18 point per game score is gravy shoot 53% overall 37% on four threes a game 84% at the line 84 four threes a game and 37% is what’s the game changing not only is he a guy blocking shots at The Rim he’s

Knocking down threes at the other end he’s spacing the floor it’s just that at that that is the thing his Improvement is what has launched them or his his play is what has launched them up a level for sure and Jaylen Williams is also an efficient 18 point per game

Score uh both so Shay’s Aver from whatever it is now 31 against game Chad and Jay duber right around in that 18 range all those guys have true shooting percentages that are north of 60% super dude Lou Dort is shooting 42% on threes yes Lou Dort L Dort yeah and

And he’s an elite Defender Lou dor being an elite three and D guy who hey are these threes a lot of times wide open yeah but you know what he’s making teams like you can’t leave lud ludor alone on the three-point line honestly the Thunder they’ve got to finish their

Breakfast right to use the prey line like we’re at least on the lunch now now is is are we I mean does he feel that way yes I’m sorry yes you’re eating lunch all all the all the big three did against the Knicks Wednesday night was

Combined to score uh 94 points on 65% shooting pretty good because because so breakfast was about a evaluating the the fit of this kind of getting a gauge on the talent and and listen if they decide we want a full season we want to see how

These guys fair in the playoffs fine all I’m saying is they are good enough to where exploring the trade market for a finishing piece a a piece that might be able to really Vault you to the top of the western conference is a reasonable possibility it is at least a reasonable

Possibility what would you think hypoth I don’t think they will I don’t I do not think they will admit that I don’t care what they admit yeah it doesn’t matter what they our conversation of the Oklahoma City Blue chws how excited we are about them how

Good of a big three they already have in place and obviously you’ve got to consider future finances and all that kind of stuff you have to consider do you do they need another star do they let me throw out two guys I think would be really interesting fits one is the

Big swing you going have to blow uh you know blow them out of the water to get it done package a whole bunch of picks you know Josh Giddy and some some salary and go get Larry marinan make Danny a tell you know you put Larry marinan next

To Chad hren the one the one flaw they have is they are pretty small yeah they don’t rebound they don’t rebound well between hren and Jaylen Williams you still have Sho just Alexander as your Superstar engine you plug Cas Wallace who’s a really really by the way real

Quick 30 second Timeout on Cas Wallace that dude is already a plus Defender he’s finishing some games Mark dagal will have him finish games ahead of Josh giddy he’s also do you know how hard it is for a rookie to be a rookie point guard to be an efficient shooter I

Don’t care if you’re shooting three shots a game yes you know how hard it is go look at the history of rookie point guards and what they shoot like they routinely shoot under 40% I agree I also he defends point guards I he really doesn’t play point guard most of like

His three-point percentage I’m not looking at right now but it’s phenomenal it’s a bunch of wide open Catch and shoots which I know great it’s 44% by the way he doesn’t shoot that many right I think I think you would you people in Oklahoma City wouldn’t mind seeing those

Percentages going down and seeing him kind of test the waters a little bit more on yeah need more than two attempts game okay that is a viable but he’s a stud evaluation but you’re much better off if you’re saying hey rookie guard who’s shooting 53% from the field shoot

A little bit more instead of hey oh yeah guard who’s shooting 37% the field don’t worry it’ll get better well listen he’s that that archetype is a much better fit than Josh giddy in their lineup like it’s just obviously the case the gaty fit we talked about it going into the

Season like the the two questions they had to answer right as far as the evaluation thing that we were talking about that you mentioned prey was talking about before the season one was cachette Homen play center and what would that look like that’s been a resounding A++ answer right the other

One was does Josh gidy fit with Shay Gill Alexander in the back court and is he part of their long-term starting lineup the answer to that pretty clearly is no he he’s not going to be a core part of what they’re doing long term if they’re going to be a championship level

Team because his deficiencies are just a bad fit with their current group doesn’t mean he’s not a really good player or really intriguing Prospect not he’s obviously not a really good player at this point he’s an intriguing Prospect who his deficiencies don’t match up with fitting ex go Alexander and Jay Williams

And Chad holer so wall wouldn’t exactly be selling high on giddy right now either for a variety of reasons well yeah that that obviously is true but to your point Larry marinin is a reason his name keeps coming up with them because he does check every box from size

Shooting do you let’s let me ask you this you’re you’re right Bon Temps McMahon do you honestly think that the Jazz would trade Markin in well blow them out of the water you like the Thunder has 17 over the next five years they’d have to bundle up a bunch

Of them now honestly I and I don’t know that prey would even make the phone call I don’t know that you know he I think the the position that the Thunder are in right now they’ll take your phone call I don’t know if they’re making the phone

Call the other thing though if I’m Danny a you know what I’m doing in that deal case Wallace has to be in it and then I think that I I think that’s enough to end the conversation okay that’s just one possibility right in terms of a and and then there’s questions like Lowry’s

Thriving as as the guy in Utah where do where would he fit in the pecking order in Oklahoma City what I think he’d be phenomenal there I think you could have your Superstar Shay Gill Alexander and two ABC with him Chad and J but whatever I’m not calling the shots the other one

At a at a much lower price point would be how about going and getting a premier role player who gives you a little bit more size still shooting how about going and getting I’m gonna throw out one of my favorite role players in the league Dorian finy

Smith you know a guy like that a guy with playoff experience why are they trading him why are the the Nets because they’re not going anywhere because they can get you know apparently they were ask for a couple first round picks this summer they can get a first round pick

For him because they’ve got a whole bunch they’ve got More Wings and they have minutes there I mean well I agree if he becomes available they will get Myriad offers if that would be true that but again that just that that type of player to me would also make sense now

The push back potentially from from Oklahoma city folks would be hey we’re already having not problems is not the right word but it’s already a challenge to find minutes for all these good young players that we want to get minutes for um but I’m just telling you man they’re

Really good now it’s a team with precious little playoff experience basically in the rotation SGA has a little bit Lou Dort has a series um but they’re awfully good now and have a chance to be really good for a long time well I would I would say that we

Always talk about actions over words when the Thunder executed that trade that they made made uh early in the season basically took Kevin Porter off Houston’s hands uh and then immediately cut him they used Victor Leo’s contract in that trade now they still have Davis Bon’s contract but

Bon’s contract has a guarantee next year um only five million though okay but you know it’s you know they if I if I thought that they were gonna they were seriously thinking about it making a major transaction later on in the season I think they would have either held on to

Porter I know it would have been a bad PR hit but you obviously never would have shown up and right said he’s not even on you know you would have just explained it or you’d have held on to olot um now again if they get a call

With a trade that they find juicy I’m not saying they’re not going to do it I just think I mean yeah with bons and with bons and poku though they’ve got 22 million in expiring money I mean because again you could say B times has a small partial let’s just call it expiring

Money they’ve got 22 million in expired money right there to make a deal they they’re flexible enough to do whatever they need to do from a salary right but I’m just talking about their their their mindset when they made that trade it was an indication that they wanna you know

How they’re going to go well and everything pry has said is is patience patience patience this is a quote discover year what you’re discovering is holy smokes do they got a a core in place and then again the other thing that has to be considered for them as a small Market

Team although one that’s being gifted a a new Arena um you have to consider Shay is going to be a supermax player for as long as he’s at least the foreseeable future right he’s on a Max now his next contract is going to be a supermax Jad might end up being a

Supermax player we we’ll see how that goes he’s at least going to be a Max guy Jay Dub’s probably going to be a Max guy and that’s why it is you know for them they’re going to need like you can’t take all 17 first rounders of the next

Five years but they’re always going to need a steady portion of their uh of their roster to be guys those rookie contracts well what you’re describing is interesting is is it is it applies to Josh giddy now he obviously is dealing with uh unknown outcome off the court issue right now

But independent of that yes giddy is due for an extension after this season um and so as you look at how you’re going to pay for this team you do have to figure are you going to extend you know where do you see Josh giddy I mean you don’t have to

Extend him you can let him go to restricted free agency but um you he’s starting for them they stting guards yeah I I just I I don’t think he’s a long-term fit you know maybe I’m both they have two guys who need the ball a lot one of

Them is one of the five or six best players in the league and one of them is Josh gidy so one of them’s gonna have the ball a lot and it’s not gonna be well and I would argue three Jaylen Williams who’s a an extremely efficient seconde

Guy right I just I’m just strictly talking about in the back court like if you have him out there with Shay Shay’s gonna have the ball all the time and if Josh giddy is not a guy who could shoot which he can’t to this point in his

Career and he can’t really guard then it’s a hard fit playing him next to a dominant on ball Creator just the way it is and and giddy you know again hending the outcome of this offc court investigation that is ongoing uh giddy is a player who is

Still on his rookie contract who would have interest I think elsewhere were he able to you know get uh I don’t know how I don’t know I don’t know how the CP it’s a toxic it’s a toxic situation the from a PR perspective Josh giddy is toxic right

Now that’s just like it is what it is right so so I don’t so I don’t know if it’s really a real conversation that you could ever that you could have so um at least not right now but um and that may have that may play into because he he

You know other than the picks he’s probably the prime asset that you’re talking about that the Thunder would be willing to trade they’re not trading not right now yeah right so like Jay Jay dub is Untouchable Chad hongan Untouchable obviously Shay Untouchable to me case Wallace is pretty close to

Untouchable again depends on the player but I honestly think that it would take a team to call the Thunder and say hey what about this and I also don’t think that they’re renting a player you know I don’t I don’t think like they’re taking Gordon Hayward yeah you know to try to

Increase their chances to you know you know beat the uh to beat the Nuggets this year um but you know I I do think when you look at that West that top end of the West like you know we’re pretty far into the season now the the the

Dudes who track this will tell you that the team you know and I I I will put a couple you know I put the Suns outside of this because they haven’t had their team at all but typically the team that you are through this course of the

Season is kind of the team that you are so that is relevant when it comes to where the Thunder and the and the wolves are you know the wolves are coming at this moment 22 and 7 the Thunder 20 and N the nuggets are 22 and 10 um so you

Know that’s you know those three teams there’s a good chance that they’re going to be the ones fighting it out for the top seat um there’s a there’s a bit of a of a line between them and where the Clippers and and kings are in fourth

Fifth and and Maverick sixth I hear you but the Clippers had how many straight did they lose after the Harden deal five or six I just think the Clippers have a pretty decent shot of being involved in that mixx given given the way they’ve been playing uh since kind of getting

Their feet under them and getting things sorted with a rotation yeah but you also as long as you’re going to project you know now Kawai is been missing games you’re going to project that there’s some of those guys are going to miss games too so but uh but you know but

Minnesota Oklahoma City and Denver can all look at each other and go you know we might be fighting with each other for this top seed I I doubt Denver really cares I think if they get it they get it yeah but for Minnesota and Oklahoma City getting that top seed could really be

Interesting yeah um Minnesota’s hands are tied they’re they’re they really can’t do anything um it has been reported by the way today while we were doing this pod that um uh the former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is joining the mark Lori and Alex Rodriguez ownership group ah because they need some more

Money basically some Google money is coming in and I then I now I mean I think it was headed this direction anyway um but Glenn Taylor at the the current owner of longtime owner Glen Taylor at the start of the Season gave an interview where he said he wasn’t

Sure whether or not Lori and his group were going to be able to execute the uh last 40% of the team that they were going to buy at the end of the year here well they have a new CEO I’ll go back to what I said at the start of the podcast

Um I want to know who the governor is um there is typically you can you can have whoever you want at the press conference all that matters is to me is is who the governor is and it was being set up that Mark Lori was going to be the governor

So I don’t see anything in this initial reporting that indicates that’s any different but um getting that kind of backing is important this is actually kind of sneaky big news yes because getting more Deep Pockets in the Wolves ownership group is key to what they can

Do going forward yeah I want I I want to take their temperature you know I want them on record about their willingness to pay luxury tax if it’s a contender because that’s the big question staring them in the face going forward they’ve got a first place in the west team

Almost Midway through the season um Everybody in the League’s been wondering how they’re going to slash payroll like are they willing to fund a contender and do what it takes in today’s NBA to do that yeah I think uh I I am seeing this being reported by sportico this is

Happening in real time so I don’t know if somebody else reported it first but um uh so anyway um the uh the that was significant news but the Wolves even if they’re able to uh the new owners are able to take over with the money the

Wolves have the challenge of um of uh of really not being able to improve this roster that much because of how much they owe on it but they’re pretty deep and pretty good um their biggest concern I’m sure is Health to uh to their star players but um we will be watching to

See if um if because you know the nuggets are prob are pretty locked into their roster too potentially a buyout destination if you’re Denver um but except they’re in the second apron I believe right so they can’t no they’re not I keep messing that up they’re not

Quite so they can get by out guys yeah so um but I don’t think Minnesota and Denver are going to change their core of their team between now and the deadline Oklahoma City doesn’t seem like they want to but they are obviously able to should they desire of of the teams that

Are fighting for that number one seed in the west so um okay well thank you for listening to H Collective podcast I hope uh everybody enjoys their weekend we will be back to talk to you uh next week adios amigos

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to talk the Pistons’ difficult losing streak, how they tried to shift to win-now mode, an embarrassing moment in Brooklyn for the Nets, the Thunders’ incredibly impressive season, if OKC should trade for another major piece this season and how the ownership situation in Minnesota could impact the team.

0:00 Losing The Wrong Side Of History
3:45 Trivia
7:39 Losing The Wrong Side Of History
21:05 Nets With Disappointing NBA Moment
30:30 Thunder Continue To Thrive
49:55 Minnesota Ownership Changes

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