Our Dream Western Conference Match-Ups | JJ Redick and Tim Legler

Our Dream Western Conference Match-Ups | JJ Redick and Tim Legler

All right last thing real quick uh we were uh texting last night and just we we’ we’ve talked about it I think we we did a thing last week about uh you know which Western Conference or two weeks ago rather which Western Conference team can move into sort of the tier one um

That are that are on the outside looking in right now and I think that tier one is is Minnesota Oklahoma City Denver Clippers right and they’re the four best teams to me in the Western Conference the standing say so like I think all the all four of these teams can have a lot

Of play playoff success obviously the Denver Nuggets have shown that um so we were saying if you could put up a dream scenario dream matchup in the western conference right now like for the playoffs what series would you most want to see and this could be a first round

Series it could be a second round series it could be uh Conference Finals I I don’t care but which two teams do you want to see in the playoffs against each other I’ll do it this way because this is and I’ll do it quickly this is how I

Kind of envisioned how I would like to see the first round go and the reason I I want some of these matchups in the first round rather than say oh well this would be awesome if I could see him in the semi finals or the Conference Finals

Because you don’t know if you’re going to get there like that’s how much balance there is in the west I don’t know how the first round is going to play out so to guarantee some of these matchups I need to see them in the first

Round so I went this way I’d like to see T wolves Lakers I want to see those front lines go against each other I want to see a young guy in Anthony Edwards who we’re wondering where the void’s going to be filled when LeBron and Curry aren’t there anymore we’ve talked about

Anthony Edwards Shay gilis Alexander guys like that being the ones that take the take the torch so give me Anthony Edwards and LeBron give me Anthony Davis against that front line so mini La I want to see OKC and New Orleans I love like the that core unit at the top of

The roster those those top three guys offensively let me see you know six seven games of that I want to see Denver Dallas because I want to see joic and and I want to see Luca right two guys that control the game offensively to a higher extent than any two players in

The NBA and do it stylistically completely differently uh I want to see I want to see that in the first round and then finally that leaves me with clippers Suns yeah you give me you give me seven of that you know Durant going back up against Harden again the

Firepower of the Suns the two-way play of the Clippers how well they’re playing right now uh that would be the four matchups JJ that I would love to see in a dream scenario in the western conference I like all of that um I

Looked at it a different way cuz I I I I could talk myself into a first like anybody versus Minnesota anybody versus OKC anybody versus Clippers anybody versus Denver um I would love to see uh the Clippers against the nuggets in a playoff series I would love to see

That but in terms of first round where we get a guaranteed matchup I love that Denver Dallas call I really do how Dallas would guard joic with Derek Lively rookie Center um do they take him off the ball and put Grant Williams on joic uh you know what’s their how do they stagger

With Dwight Powell lineups um does Maxi kleba does he guard joic and then the conundrum of Luca and the defense coverage is there where joic doesn’t like to play Drop he likes to be up so y so Luca creating four on- threes on the back I think that series would be really

Fascinating if we got that in the first round oh definitely and and I think you know those two guys first of all they they’ve got they’ve got a relationship great respect for each other but they love to compete against each other and to to watch those two guys that can beat

You as a score and facilitator at a higher level than really anybody else in the league the combination of both of those things in one body it’s those two guys are at the top of the list in the ways that they can beat you so that that

Would be one for me that I hope at some point we get look what’s interesting about this I listed eight teams you know and that means you know you’re leaving some outs I don’t even have Sacramento listed in there uh certainly don’t have a team like Utah that’s red hot but you

Know they don’t belong in this Les I don’t I got to say I I I I I kings are fun to watch uh sabonis is having a [ __ ] monster season Fox had a insane stretch he’s cooled off a little bit but the these four matchups Denver Dallas OKC

Nola Clippers Suns t-wolves Lakers I don’t want to leave the Kings out I love the Kings uh I mean I’ll take I’ll take any of those matchups they’re great that’s that’s what I hit you up about yesterday when I texted you I said it just it’s insane you could okay see I

Have eight teams here write write their name on a piece of paper throw them into a hat pull out two different names and and let’s this Lakers in the first round Clippers Lakers in the first round that’ be great any combination of these series no matter what you get uh it’s it’s it’s

Gonna be incredible I just really believe and I don’t know if they I’ve ever said it or felt it maybe I’ve said it before I’ve never felt it um as deeply as I do this year I really genuinely believe and Hope all these teams go into the playoffs healthy with

Especially with their top guys I think this could be the single most compelling Western Conference playoffs we have had start to finish I think that all of these series think about the what I just laid out for a f for first round matchups so you’re talking about potentially a one8 maybe with Minnesota

And the Lakers as a one 18 now normally a one 18 you’re like okay let’s just get through this right and let’s hope this doesn’t drag out because you know who’s going to win ultimately I don’t necessarily know that if the Lakers get into the eighth spot and Anthony Davis

LeBron are healthy and you got Minnesota that hasn’t had a ton of playoff success collectively having to play that team in in the first round you don’t know what’s going to happen OKC very little you know playoff success collectively together with that group as

Young as they are you got to play a like a veteran group like New Orleans that’s got CJ McCollin Brandon Ingam with as much playoff experience as they have like that that’s you know a different feel for them Denver Dallas two of the top stars in the league single-handedly

Controlling the game and then Clippers Suns with what that could represent I mean so there there’s no telling how any of this is going to go and I I certainly feel a lot differently about the East I feel very confident I think in three of those teams advancing to the second

Round I don’t know how I feel about any of these teams making it to the second rounds in the Western Conference besides probably Denver I said at the beginning of last year playoffs you could talk me into seven teams being legit uh contenders to win the west and

You saw golden state with the six seed win their first round series uh Lakers with the seven seed make the Conference Finals Minnesota I know they lost 4-1 but all the Denver guys were like ah that was the toughest series we had and they did it without Nas Reed and Jaden

McDaniels so I think there’s parody and I think it’s good I think we go into these playoff series now and it’s like what’s going to happen you saw that in the East last year right with Miami getting all the way to the NBA finals this is great this is great I

Love the fact that it’s not like I we just write it down this team’s advancing yeah yeah there’s so many legitimately good teams now we have to parse through this throughout the season how many legitimately great teams there are as why we do this every Monday but there

Are legitimately so many good basketball teams right now and then there’s some really shitty ones there are some there some really shitty ones too look and I said I said about the West I don’t know a couple weeks ago I said there was 12 interesting teams you know that’s EXT

That was that was leaving out Portland Utah and San Antonio basically well you can’t say that about Utah anymore right you can’t you can’t they’re fun they’re fun as hell to watch they’re awesome to watch and they’re winning and they’re this meteoric rise they’re now a 500

Team and look where they were a month ago um I probably still feel that way have out Portland is probably the one team I’m not you know I’m not circling them on league pass to watch the Blazers play and even San Antonio look you know

I guess it’s still worth it to watch him just to watch Victor wanyama as progression but I don’t necessarily like watching teams that aren’t in a competitive environment I don’t really feel that they are you can’t ever say that historically about the West I don’t care how good the West has been there

Has been this many teams that genuinely I sit down and I’m going to be entertained by what I’m about to watch and fascinated by it’s going to play out so it’s and look we’re we we’re halfway through we’re halfway through and who knows what could potentially happen as

We get near the trading deadline too you don’t know there’s G to be there’s going to be some some moves made then that are going to shuffle things around a little bit as well but this is great it’s great for us um it’s great for basketball fans

Because right now you can mix and match any pairing you want in the Western Conference and there’s no guarantee how that’s going to turn out

In this clip, JJ Redick talks about his dream Western Conference Match-Ups – featuring Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers, Nikola Jokic and The Denver Nuggets, LeBron James / Anthony Davis and The Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Doncic and The Dallas Mavericks and more.

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