The Los Angeles Lakers might miss the playoffs? 👀 | The Lowe Post

The Los Angeles Lakers might miss the playoffs? 👀 | The Lowe Post

And now the low post welcome to the low post podcast it’s Tuesday morning and oh my God what a Monday night in the NBA what a weekend in the NBA even leaving aside like the Warriors Lakers double overtime game feels like five days ago Chan gum how

Are you we’re here we’re in the building I’m back baby let’s go got the Rockets gear on speaking of the Rockets here’s just a partial list of topics that I want hit from last night um Jared Vanderbilt got ejected after appearing to give Dylan Brooks a Wet Willie and

And among among other things and the Lakers lost again cam Whitmore out hustled I think nine different Lakers for loose balls at rebounds and exploded through them like the Kool-Aid man and just dunked and dunked and dunked and dunked again on the Lakers faces we had two Elite versus Elite Games The Wolves

Exercising some for fourth quarter Demons winning in Oklahoma City and the Denver Nuggets the defending champs completing a trifecta of wins against Boston Philly Milwaukee the top three in the east by ruining Doc Rivers debut and CH I liked those games you know why I like those games why because after all

Of this whining offense is out of control all these guys score 70 every game I remember back in my day when 40 was big news and those complaints are not without Merit we’re going to talk about the scoring explosion but the Wolves Thunder game and the Nuggets Bucks game

Were reminders oh when you get two serious teams together you better buckle up and play some freaking defense and the games can get slow strategic grinded out in a way that is still pleasing to the eye because of all the strategy and back and forth and matchup juggling oh

Giannis is on joic but now they’re switching mic super fun games and a great antidote to the 150 14 40 score Fest all of which seem to involve the Atlanta Hawks and their pathetic defense um Ben Simmons came back and almost had a triple double in 18 minutes it looked

Good Evan Mobley came back and only played nine minutes with Jared Allen in the minute staggering thing that’s gonna happen for the casts Jan have you looked at seeds number two through five in the Eastern Conference today I have not looked at the updating standings I have

Not Boston is number one by four games here are the number of losses from the teams behind them two Milwaukee 32 and 15 three Philadelphia 29 and 16 four New York despite Julius randle’s injury and OG anobi out last night against the sad Hornets 30 and 17 Cleveland with the

Aforementioned Evan moley back in Garland coming soon 28 and 16 so to review losses loss column 15 16 17 16 the race for two and three and Boston avoidance in the second round is going to be hellacious uh let’s see what else happened the Miami Heat lost for the seventh

Consecutive game their offense stinks to high heaven and it’s all mid-range jumpers all the time and it’s not working even though Jimmy Butler has showed a pulse again for the last two games and Joel trowel embiid after you know this is what gets me a little grinds my gears a little bit

When he warms up against the Nuggets oh you’re old grinding my gears you said it you’re old officially I’m I’m unofficial I’m old officially unofficially on the record off the Record I’ve been washed up for minimum six years continue sorry Joel embiid uh this people like oh he he

Warms up and doesn’t play against the Nuggets oh he’s sandbagging it he’s ducking yoit would I like Jo lmb to play against Nicole yic in Denver for the first time since 2019 yeah I would I like watching those two guys play together also he’s generally outplayed

Yic the last three or four times that they faced each other all of which have been in Philadelphia um and people get all over him he’s sandbagging he’s ducking then he misses another game against the Blazers the Sixers get rolled in Portland somehow and he has

Now missed 12 games you can only miss 17 and win the MVP already last season chenet with 66 games played that’s the second fewest as a portion of total games possible to play out of 82 because there have been shortened Seasons before because of the pandemic and lockouts and

Back in the ‘ 50s it was a 72 Game season that’s already the second fewest games proportionately for anyone to ever win MVP Bill Walton won it with 58 games played in 1977 um and you know we’re so he’s already flirting with like is this too

Few games this is a lot this is a lot to talk about Chan I’m gonna start with your Houston Rockets beating the Lakers now the Lakers play again tonight against the Hawks in Atlanta on a backto back on the Grammy road trip so you know

We I don’t want to talk too much about them because they win by 30 tonight and reverse all this this Doom and Gloom I’m starting to to just not starting to every game that goes by it feels like they still despite the fact that D’Angelo Russell is making a lot of

Shots in this new starting five is one that they have finally settled on by the way it’s minus 10 overall for the season it’s defensively not been good it still feels like they can’t quite figure out who to play with who how to get everyone going at the same time how to balance

Offense in defense Austin Reeves just has games where he disappears while D’Angelo Russell is feasting here’s Christian Wood oh byebye Christian Wood we’re going to play ruy and LeBron at the five while ad sits here’s a lot of LeBron ad pick and roll and then it disappears for an entire quarter it’s

Starting to feel CH like despite the hopes of I don’t know the NBA’s broadcast partners and of the biggest fan base in the world I’m just it’s starting to feel like it’s just not going to happen for the Lakers are you there are you there yet

I’ve been there I’ve been there and it’s been hard for me to reconcile with this truth because every time I want to say you know what this Lakers team they’re gonna do something they’re gonna make the most out of it we got an instant classic between the Lakers and the

Warriors then the Rockets come on by it’s humble you see I I always sort of felt like that magic secret sauce from last year’s run to the West Conference Finals once we started to see the season where they were deviating from what that Norm was right like I don’t it you just

Start telling yourself a story oh ad needs to shoot threes more to be successful oh we need a more defensive rotation out there to be successful there’s so many different iterations of what we’ve seen the Lakers that have been sort of a departure than what we

Saw last year to make us feel like they were searching for a solution that probably would would never be tenable and so I think it was about a week or two ago I can’t remember oh wait which loss was it oh was it the loss they were at home was it to the

Nets the loss uh about a week or so ago to the Nets at home where I was like okay this is Rock Bottom for me uh to really feel like I mean and is this a safe space z it’s this is probably not but I’m going

To say that it is because I want you to say whatever it is you want to say don’t want to get you know like I I know our we have jobs that we do on television right and the Lakers drive a lot of conversation but my goodness I just it’s

Hard for me to get up for those conversations knowing the truth of the matter is that this team just isn’t necessarily up to the par in which the rest of the NBA has been elevating their standards based off of this explosion of scoring we’ve seen and it’s not just an

Individual explosion of scoring you know we’re seeing the emids and then all these like numbers now we’re like this run of Devin Booker like we’re seeing Luca it’s not individual it’s collective in the last 10 years I think the overall NBA scoring average has been increased by like 10 to 15

Points this is a calculated shift by the NBA and unfortunately teams that have won three years was it three years oh Dam it’s for yeah in the bubble a couple years ago on defensive prowess they’re not built to succeed the way that teams are built currently based off of

Offensive prowess that’s just the nature of the NBA right now the Lakers won their championship by having a number one number two defense over the entire season that if you have that now that is not necessarily good enough for you to compete in the top four of your conference well what’s happened since

Then is that LeBron got older Anthony Davis got older and actually Anthony Davis is starting to look a little tired to me in some of these games like his rightfully so no no he’s earned it he’s been an Iron Man and obviously that’s what’s scary for the Lakers is like you

Feel like the other shoe is going to drop with one of these guys missing 10 or 12 games they’ve been healthy the whole season but Anthony Davis looks a little tired right now they just don’t have enough two-way players some of them left in disastrous trades some of them

Left in free agency but they are increasingly making a choice between offensive players or Jared Vanderbilt who mostly a defense player though he’s become quite good at bringing the ball up in the open floor he used to get nervous when he does that I’m like he’s going do something he’s going to do

Something fun and and then they just like these These Wings like tan Prince and cam reddish who’s injured right now they’re just not good enough to play huge minutes on a championship contending team and look I know that the Lakers have been resistant to the whole Zack LaVine discussion and

Understandably so um I know that they’ve been resistant to include to even talk about Ree in any trade talk I I don’t know why the Atlanta Hawks would trade um deante Murray to the Lakers without getting Austin Reeves maybe they just love hood chafino and that unprotected first they

Have is a is a big carrot maybe it ends up being that big of a carrot but I don’t really know why the Hawks would rush to do that and like you run out of realistic guys that are really actually going to turn the ship around for the

Lakers pretty fast unless you start constructing multiplayer deals like I tried to build one they get Murray and bogdon bogdanovich in which case Reeves has to be in the deal or else the Hawks are crazy um I just this it just may this just may be it for the Lakers they

Just not they may just not be a good basketball team their offense stinks it’s stunk last year it’s stunk mostly in the playoffs they won with defense it’s stunk for most of LeBron’s time there takes it takes LeBron James four you know almost triple double heroics to

Beat the Warriors and double overtime it takes 20 rebounds thank you like what it takes you know for them to have that run through the inseason tournament it took a 40 and 20 piece from ad like it takes these superh heroic performances for them to do what they’re expected to do

And that has been the hardest thing so yeah I mean like I’m a girl who plays slash you know whatever the circumstances are for me um for the city and every like there’s this irrational confidence that no matter what circumstance we are expected to win and

We can win but then like also I’ve played on teams where it’s like H you know what the reality is of what we’re going up against and I feel like unfortunately this Lakers team is shaping up to be oh we know what the reality is of what they’re going up

Against because what they’re going up against I I did this calculation a couple days ago last year around a week ago let’s just say around January once the new year started there was only one team in the western conf confence that had a 650 winning percentage right I

Believe it was the Denver Nuggets that had a 650 win percentage now there were like and again this was like a week or so ago there were four teams like the West the league overall is getting better and I I know a lot of people are

Like get off my lawn play some defense man like we need the days with defense coming back what what is that who is that voice supposed to be what is the age and and cultural identification of what that voice is intended to be Chen your archetype okay all

Right play some defense that’s what play get off my lawn kid get off my lawn like you know the basketball truth like defense matters and it does but I firmly believe that the NBA that we are experiencing with the scoring the one that benefits offensive teams the one

That hurts the Lakers and anybody that’s constructed through defense based off just what they have this was by Design the rule shifts in my opinion have benefited the offense in a way that the regular season you’re buying a ticket to be able to see potentially Luca get 60 you’re buying a ticket to

See embiid do something and like it Works hand inand with the state of the game also like how often have we seen so many centers so skilled at so many things at the same time like this is just the Natural Evolution of positionist basketball skill sets being just completely

Unreal but I do think it’s by Design I think they like I remember a couple years ago when I was playing in Connecticut when they introduced through our Rules meeting the hot stove rule where if you are guarding someone dribbling up the court which we all know

You can only touch them once like body check them once until they get into the paint or even like closer to the lower defensive box so if you’re trying to full court press somebody you know how you like sort of hit them with the side with your you know your forearm to like

Sort of slow them down and get the momentum down so you can play defense like you can’t really touch them in a meaningful way until they get very Circ of the rim once that started happening I knew that scoring was gonna go through the roof I mean we

All sort of saw that on top of it the analytics long story short I guess it just is interesting to see teams that have gotten ahead of it or designed their teams through this passageway and teams that sort of are firm on like we can still do this with defense and it’s

Just so much harder for those types of squads so I don’t like clearly the league has changed and leaned toward offense right part of that is the rules and we’ll talk about the rules in a second a lot of that is it took teams a long time to really understand what a

Big deal it is that three is 50% more than two and now the entire structure of every team’s offense is based on everybody’s got to shoot threes or run to the rim and there’s just so much space for defenses to cover that it’s really hard to contain those offenses

Then then you tie in the fact that a lot of teams run everything through one guy Luca Booker when he’s rolling embiid when he’s rolling and you’re gonna get these games I actually like that’s different saying that there’s more offense now which is indisputably true and maybe you think there’s too much off

Offense it’s too easy to score the number of threes has reached a threshold where some people don’t like it and they want more post-ups in mid-range and I actually empathize with that um and and it’s just a circus it’s a carnival right um but that’s different than saying that

You you can win without defense you still need to be a really good defensive team to win and I will point you again to any NBA fan who’s sick of these carnival games watch Denver Milwaukee from last night and watch Minnesota Oklahoma City from last night those are

Two of the top six team four of the top six teams or seven teams in the league and those were defense first slow strategic Affairs the bar may be in a different place you still got to hit it as a defensive team yes you’re raising your hand today please go ahead and that

Is oh thank you uh Professor Zach my one comment would be that is exactly what I mean by Design I believe that the regular season these numbers help promote and sell the game you have these performances you have Team scoring buckets like that’s great but the NBA

Also knows that come the playoffs the defense will factor in when it matters most so that is where I see the oscillation the offensive regular season to the defensive minded you have to have a top 10 championship team that is gonna be seen in the slow down game of the

Playoffs and you’re absolutely correct because when we look at these major matchups it’s very few situations where there are very few situations where it’s dictated by offense like what we saw in Golden state with the Lakers and the Warriors like that was one of those anomalies that bust your head and I

Think that’s one thing that even after the the Bucks the Bucks loss that’s what people were talking about the effort that the Bucks put to play defense now I think it gets lost in the sauce when like Jamal Murray does what he does and by the way like if

We’re gonna dive into that game I was just having these like parallel I guess you can say dreams the two game between Murray and joic you see how beautiful that is like it’s just the behind the back drop passes to see Murray pick up exactly where joic leaves

It off to shoot a free jumper I was just thinking about how in my had I had those romantic views about that and the Bucks and it was interesting to see it on the same stage how far ahead uh and even like Murray not just scoring but like

Throwing it to the corner for his shooter like it just the nuggets what they have done with the game may not be the sexiest they may not have the 70 points from this person they could have I mean we’ve seen 50 pieces they may not have these huge highlights but what they

Do with what they have just sort of I mean I was just like a happy girl watching so we we’re hitting a lot um we’re hitting a lot Murray and joic it’s a dance they dance like they’re not just playing basketball dancing they they read each other’s minds they read each other’s movements

They’re dancing and Jamal Murray because of how brilliant joic is will never get the credit he deserves for his role in that partnership it’s all little hesitation dribbles and let me take one more dribble in to draw your def your Defender one extra half step to me and

Then you get the little floater it’s rescreens he’s bobbing and weaving he is awesome he’s making a little bit of an All-Star push right now as a lot of teams more teams are defending that two man game by sticking closer to joic and kind of Daring Jamal Murray to beat them

With scoring and kickout passes and he’s he’s like I I’ll I’ll beat you that way conversely we’ve seen in the Denver Boston game which was one of the games of the year Denver’s recent game in Indiana where they squeaked out a win despite Halle Burton not playing the the

Nuggets barely did both the Pacers and the Celtics essentially like almost very rarely sent any help to joic in the post and just said we know you want to pass we’re going to make you score now the Celtics did when Horford was not on jic

They sent some help and the bad news for Denver’s opponents is in the playoffs joic is going to score yic G be like all right I guess I guess got put up like 45 and like I’m too big and strong for Miles Turner sorry buddy I’m gonna put

You in the basket um we’re talking about Denver I don’t remember what we’re were talking about let’s talk about the scoring here’s I’m gonna put you on the spot are you ready oh yes let’s get it let’s posit that this is actually a problem right that there’s too much

Scoring that scoring is too easy that the game has tilted too far toward offense now I think the game has tilted a little too far toward offense I’m not sure it’s a problem given again these alternate kinds of games you can watch when you’re not watching the Hawks or bad

Teams what is an actual rule change you would enact to R tilt the game back to an offense defense equilibrium knowing Chen that you can’t just say allow hand checking again because the NBA has never going to allow hand checking again they’re not going to go back to the ’90s

When everyone thought it’s too much defense it’s too hard to score so everyone’s going to yell and scream about this what should you actually do to equal out the equation at like it could be anything you could tell me teams should be only allowed to shoot 35

Threes a game and after that you can’t shoot I don’t know but like that’s crazy to me I wouldn’t do that I’m just saying give me anything you know it’s not the the thing about the threes is it’s not about like I get the quantity is going

Up I just don’t like the feeling as a player that you’re hooping and you’re trying your best and you shoot a shot and all you hear and this is what most players hear all the time is get your foot off the line get your foot off the

Line yeah but also get your foot off the line that’s the wor people take a shot with your foot on the line should that’s that’s I call that the Danilo galinari the master line it does it does help the swag to like look down oh yeah my foot’s

Not on the line and then you shoot the three like yeah I got that you know it’s like a cool swaggy thing but it’s just that mental like dang we’re like micromanaging um the long to is the worst shot we’ve all talked about it I’m trying to think of what I would do

Because I’m someone that is like a very defensive type of player and I do respect defenses I do love six fouls like to me that is amazing I mean it’s just this is I got some you ready I got some give me give me some and I’ll

Approve all right let me give you the run-of the- mill ones which have come up in competition committee and general managers meetings the most recent of which was last week give me something um and keep in mind by the way that as much as people like Steve Kerr

Want to yell and scream about free throws and and guys grifting their way like free throws are down like free there is no massive increase in free throws that’s explaining this okay so here are some number one um call more illegal screens um there are too many illegal screens I don’t necessarily buy

This this is just an idea that comes up number two Okay Hand checking no you can’t just indiscriminately hand check people but I had someone within uh some someone who thinks about these things say there’s a difference between hand checking and like when a guy starts his

Drive can I ride him on his hip a little bit like can I can I do that that’s not technically a hand check can I can I do that just just give me a little physicality because the thing about the more and this a different person made

This point to me a coach made this point to me the more physical you allow defenses to be whether it’s hand checking or that like get on ride some guy’s hip like that with your forearm yes it will lift defense in the aggregate but it will also like this

Coach said to me if you if you just let teams hand check or like 50% hand check the big teams like Boston and Minnesota would just destroy everybody they would like and the small teams like this coach mentioned Indiana like Indiana can start hand checking you and you wouldn’t even

Feel it because they’re so small these big teams you’re it’s not just an equal advantage spreading a physical advantage to and then you have to then teams would have to reconstitute their roster so those are two you would you liked the the the driving one yeah I like the

Driving one because as someone playing the game I feel oftentimes powerless when I’m guarding in the half court someone in motion and they initiate contact and it’s more often than not that I get the foul for them initiating contact I think that’s a problem so here’s I’m gonna tell you right now

I think next season there will be a push to um whatever remains of these calls and the NBA has done a good job of like if you pump fake and jump sideways into somebody that’s an offensive foul if you kick your legs out that’s an offensive

Foul if you do the Chris Paul when you’re bringing the ball up and all of a sudden you turn sideways and stick your butt out and hit somebody that’s an offensive foul they’ve done well with that but I do think there’s going to be a push to two kinds of plays

Specifically I’m driving into the lane and I just jump into who’s ever near me and create the contact and throw the ball up that’s being called Defensive foul in FEA the refs just look at you like oh you thought that was a foul like you better get up and get your ass back

It needs to be a no call and the other one like that is I’ve heard is like Harden is the master of this and I don’t mean to scape goat Harden he’s incredible at he doesn’t do as much anymore the guys who gather and rise up

With two hands and sweep up for layups are just trying to get fouled and I think those are are two concrete plays that the league will take a look at is that really going to make that much of a difference I don’t know I think the driving one will because oftentimes like

Once that you can’t if they initiate contact you can’t retaliate so I’m here for like that to me is the one it’s because like the only other chance you have to defend is verticality and I actually do like verticality a lot like being able to jump straight up knowing

That there’s no consequence like you have to be able to defend yourself when you’re that close to the rim when people are coming in that so I do like that in motion uh initiation because that to me is like the mo you you can’t defend if someone initiates like how are you

Supposed to respond you know so I’m I’m here for that It’s Tricky though I don’t like the screening one though I think it needs to be more to protect the defender than it is like the I think screening is a little bit more nuanced it’s it’s um

It’s one of those things where you start calling them and you can call a lot of them and then you stop calling them and teams feel like well why you speaking of which Speaking of which here’s another hot take for nothing nothing to do with this did you see

Yannis got called for a 10-second violation last night did you see that they were counting like there’s first of all not only the fans but also everyone is counting now so so here here you thought I sounded like an old man before get ready the the com the comment you could

See Chris Middleton go to the refs and kind of be like really now at the end of this game you’re going to call this and the subtext of that is it’s every time so like when do you decide whether to call it or not like here’s you you want my proposal

CH tell me call it every single time there’s a rule you don’t need 15 seconds to shoot a goddamn free throw we don’t need to be treating Giannis with kid gloves the rule is 10 seconds call it until he can do what every single other

Player in the NBA does which is shoot a freaking free throw in 10 seconds call it every time embarrass him until he does it like everybody else I think the embarrassment needs to come in the beginning like there’s always a little bit of leniency as the game goes on like

A you know a foot violation on the free throw like there’s a little forgiveness there but they got to call it the first time like it should not become a thing throughout the course of the game that you’re St 14 seconds now it’s it’s while we’ve been we were hearing the

Mississippi and I’m a huge Giannis fan I mean come on it’s in my blood this right here thank you thank you but this right here and the thing is is like if he’s looking for a break my sister when she does her free throws she goes to the

Line but before they pass it she steps out wipes her shoes and then comes back she’s eaten up about like five seconds to do that but like that’s her break that she is entitled to and people respect right I think Kelsey Plum does something similar in like wiping her

Shoes too now what Giannis is doing is he’s taking his break as he’s shooting with like the game completely paused when my sister or Plum walk back people are still getting settled you know PE things are getting oriented for the free throw he’s doing it after everything has

Slowed down all right here’s your ball I I understand what it is when you are someone that is not necessarily like the most natural shooter and I say that with love because I was someone and I am someone that’s not the most natural shooter you have these processes that

You feel like you have to go through no matter what but this process right here is outside of the bounds of basketball and like the crazy thing is when you get the 10 like it’s a subjective 10 they’re you know sorry I’m just as frustrated watching it too because I’m like come on

Man like you only need about six six Max most people shoot within like the first four I’m sorry if I sound old just shoot and I’m old I’m old too all right let’s go back to let’s go back to Lakers rockets and then we’re going to

Transition uh I just want to say one thing I made I made a little py just comment about Jared Vanderbilt giving Dylan Brooks a Wet Willie um I think what Dylan Brooks did to escalate that entire thing which was shove Jared Vanderbilt in the back gently but still

Shove him as Jared Vanderbilt was in the air dunking is an incredibly dangerous play the fact that he was not even called for a foul was ridiculous you could argue you should get thrown out of the game for that and I would direct people to many have probably forgotten

Andrew bogut’s entire career was changed on that exact play when Amari STM shoved him in the back during a dunk and it doesn’t look like a big shove and Andrew boget grabbed the rim to try to balance himself lost his balance came down on his arm broke everything in one of his

Arms was never the same player again it’s an incredibly dangerous play and I don’t care that he’s sneering villain guy I understand why they threw Jared vanderbel out of the game you can’t give someone a wet Lily and point at their face and all that stuff and escalate

Like that but I just thought that was like I couldn’t believe there was no foul call now I got a Rockets question for you you ready well that wasn’t the only instance that like he did something you know what I mean the so I I I agree those plays are

Completely dangerous and for some reason as someone I know you have a Rockets question that watches these matchups extremely like a lot um this there’s something to this Lakers rockets that makes Dylan Brooks go put some extra sauce on it and it is not good so he

Needs to it back I think it’s LeBron James I think LeBron his his dis for LeBron James is the commented no I understand but there’s like the problem is is that like there’s a there’s a time and place for us to like reing bring that up again and it just like let the

Moment go let the moment go like we understand this sorry go ahead so trade deadline is a I don’t know nine days away uh we we know who the main names are uh but there’s always surprise names there’s always and I’m always talking to coaches Executives around agents around

The league they ask me and ISM like who’s it under the radar name that you think is like that you’re just thinking about or that you think um like you wouldn’t be shocked if trade deadline 250 PM like this guy got traded what and a name that comes up now and then

There’s been a little buzz not sure how current the buzz is he may have shut the buzz up last night what do you think about um and Bill Simmons has mentioned this person several times on his podcast should the Rockets be looking at trading jayen green for a more win now player Rockets

Fum man this is the whole side supply of rockets fandom it’s a LoveHate relationship with Jaylen green unfortunately the expectations being a number two pick and then also seeing the ups and downs of his performances at times I am not there yet where we trade jayen green I’m not surprised this is

Something that people talk about do we need him for the long term do we not all those types of things I understand the process of growth in the NBA I wouldn’t be surprised if a trade happened involving Jaylen green because the Rockets are taking steps to

Evaluate like who was a part of this core right now that will build for us in the future and I don’t know if he’s sort of it’s funny because like when we start hearing names what do we get what have we seen from DLo we’ve been seeing him

Ball out of his mind right bares Barnes and Kevin herder are like a don’t trade me tag team right now like all of a sudden they’re getting like 50 a game between them yes I mean look that’s we need to start repurposing the januaries for don’t trade me to February type of situation

Because we’re getting these performances from guys whose names are out there and so I’m gonna start looking at those things moving forward but yeah that I’ve noticed that from Jaylen green I would not be surprised if he gets traded just based off of the the frustrations that

Rocket fans have at times with his performances and also how sometimes you’ve seen situations where like if he’s not on the floor how the team does versus what how he’s on the floor but still they’re young they are embracing a new identity they’re playing harder they

Are getting great I mean have you seen like what cam Whitmore has been doing how fun it’s been I mean I saw the Hornets game where it was like some chirping and then he comes out here firing like there’s something happening I know that oftentimes in the NBA we

Don’t talk about these mid unfortunately sorry Rockets fans mid-level teams we don’t talk enough about it but there’s something Brewing that they’re figuring out that I have no problem with them giving a little bit more time time for shenon like come on man like there’s so many fun things that

Are happening with our Squad and so I’m not in a rush or a hurry because we have finally committed to the build and it’s gonna take a while of course yeah okay just you see what I’m wearing on my sweatshirt want d double check that um you’re so

Okay here are the only two justifications for trading jayen Green in my view number one you are getting ahead of the we can’t pay them all problem and uh you get an offer such that you actually have to entertain it because it’s fair to good value and by

Can’t pay them all I mean this shenon is part of shenon is the best player on the team correct um uh even players who don’t have Jaylen green upside are fit more snugly into the core player wait would you be surprised if shangom was an All-Star uh I would be a little bit

Surprised only because I have 11 Western Conference All-Star locks that don’t include Alper and shenon and so that leaves me one spot one not four not six one for Alper and changon both t-wolves big guys both Kings Allstar candidates both Pelicans Allstar candidates if you think there are any in New Orleans and

They’re probably going to both fall short in any case Chan I haven’t Built My Team out yet so that’s a good homework assignment for me shenon best player on the team tari een and Jabari Smith Jr just plug andplay role players love him cam Whitmore is just like bursting through cement walls and

Dunking Oblivion we’ll see what he is alen Thompson is starting to show us some flashes can’t shoot we got to see what he is if you think that all of those guys are going to hit you just can’t pay them all and so it would behoove you to say well we see how

Jabari and een in particular fit as just like classic forward secondary option types in a shenon Centric team with Van vet now who knows how long he’s going to be here um but then you go through the exercise like who would you actually trade Jay and green for what would you

Trade Jay and green for package type number one is just so many draft picks that we have to do it and it kind of resets our cap sheet a little bit I don’t know if that offers out there package two is youngish player not maybe as young as Jaylen green let’s

Say in the 24 to 27 range who’s good fits our team and is for some reason available good players like that are available because they’re on bad teams and that player is actually worth giving up the upside of Jaylen green who is 21 years old for 10 more days 21 and you

Start to find out like search for who that player is and you got to keep in mind that the team on the other end of this theoretical trade can’t have too many guards already because they’re going to get a guard back so you might want to thought think about like I I’m

Not even gonna say names just you have to keep that in mind the only guy that I Came Upon was male Bridges and I just maybe do it maybe I’m a little little bit tooo much of a cockeye jayen green Optimist I just like what am

I winning this year or even next year if I’m the Houston Rockets that even understanding the can’t pay the allall problem that is years away I just need more information on what jayen green can do before I make that kind of tradeit because the guy has talent and

Athleticism you simply cannot find and he put 34 up on the Lakers last night wherever he did thank you that part and you just said the key to all of this need more information I think that sums up the essence of what the Rockets are

Trying to do in their build yes it might seem like he’s someone that people would be attracted and you can get someone in bigger for but like needing more information that’s where I think we’re in the evaluation station of the the universe and so I have no problem with

Him being on our team I I love the I love the highlights I love the growth and I’m patient I’m in like you know because I’m glad that we are in this this zone of oh we’re trying to be good but we’re you know what I mean like we

Know exactly where we are right now we’re in the builds we need more information if no trade happens cool if something happens I understand as a Rockets fan but I I do love this team before we go to before we go to my next

Set of teams I forgot that I had a rule change about the scoring explosion like just just just a rule change that I spitball with some people you like if you really want to help defense and you don’t want to do you don’t want to let defense players like tackle and hand

Check all the time anymore what’s something you can do here’s something I’ve proposed to a few people I don’t believe that this is a good idea I just wanted to test it out a little trialon so you know there’s a defensive three seconds rule right you can’t be in the

Lane for more than three seconds you got to get out and tag somebody nearby FEA doesn’t have that rule FEA you can just sit in the lane as long as you want and be a big tall person like come at me NBA doesn’t want that because they like

Plays at The Rim they want people going at The Rim they want the rim to be cleared and uncleared and cleared so people can drive to the rim so I said what if you made it like D4 or D5 what if you gave me a couple extra seconds to

Hang in the rim to like just help the big guys stay on the floor a little bit more help defenses strategize and Zone up with a little bit more leeway and what I the push back I got from that is a the NBA doesn’t call defense of three

Seconds very much anyway I don’t really buy that ARG because they teams still kind of follow the rule and B you just don’t want to tilt the game too far toward no drives to the r i kind of I I love it interesting love it love it give

Me D5 give me D5 I am here for that Zack low what I love about D5 is yes they don’t call it but it is in your mind so you’re there you’re still moving out of the way just in case they may call it

And guess what I do as a Defender all or as an offensive player all the time I’m like Yen three seconds three seconds and you are forced to move it’s in your head D5 gives you more of a an ability to be present and impact what is going on

Because like you’re only there for two seconds before you have to go because if you stay on any longer you’re you know what I mean so I love this D5 idea let let me be clear I have not thought this through this is a hairbrain scheme I have not thought this through

Appropriately the last thing I want to say is again going back to these games from last night one of which we’re going to talk about now it’s as much a mentality as anything else and I think the explosion of offense has crept into some teams not all teams not the serious

Ones but some and it manifests itself in a mindset of H we can just get it back next possession we can just get it back now we could just get I don’t really we don’t have to approach this possession with urgency defense we just just give

Us the ball back and I look at the Hawks not to pick on the Hawks but that 73p point game from Luca the other night was incredible right to me the story of that game the scandal of that game was not was not the Hawks bad defense on LCA

Donic like Luca hard to guard he’s incredible he’s gonna score a lot of points if he starts hitting a step back three it’s gonna be a long night it was when they double teamed Luca which they started doing more in the second half their rotations out of those double

Teams were so lazy and so bad that they honestly might have just fallen asleep on the floor and done about as well preventing Corner threes and dunks like it just evinced a certain like we’re just not attacking this with any kind of seriousness of purpose because you know

What we’ll just get the ball back and we’ll have one of these 150 145 carnival games that we usually lose but it’s going to be close that was the scandal of that game okay let’s talk about a real game Minnesota Oklahoma City the Wolves uh who are 27th in offensive

Rating in fourth quarters and had been coming off some bad fourth quarter collapses and near collapses against against Charlotte Brooklyn and San Antonio win the fourth quarter fairly handily in Oklahoma City close it out with some hellacious defense on the Thunder did you learn anything from this

Clash between uh the number one and number two teams in the Western Conference well now actually number one and number three with Denver now balting over Oklahoma City hold up yeah let me look at the standings really quick yeah oh interesting yeah I mean look I didn’t learn anything significant I’ve always

Known that there’s going to be growing pains think that the Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder are ahead of schedule and the reason why the Timberwolves are even more ahead of schedule is because they have more veterans on the squad Rudy knowing what it’s like to go far um cat having more

Experience ant being the you know what I mean like the OK OKC Thunder have just now arrived so I was more surprised that one at this point in the season that both of those teams are currently now in the top three I am not surprised about uh the Timberwolves figuring things out

More on schedule than the OKC Thunder in certain situations I have been a little bit worried about the thunder as of late they really need a big like somebody to help them in the interior to deal with all of the forces that come through that paint and I think we saw another example

Of that but I I I mean I don’t I don’t I don’t think I learned anything crazy um other than consistency is going to be the bread and butter for these squads as much as people L I mean how much of a believe are you in the

Timberwolves um my Feer my I I believe that the Timberwolves could make the finals and I believe that the Timberwolves could lose in the first round if they get the wrong match up now if they’re the number one seed that’s going to be extremely unlikely but if

They’re if they fall to three and they get Dallas or Phoenix or somebody like that and the reason as I’ve said over and over again is because I don’t trust their decision- making on offense and that’s a and that’s primarily about towns who’s prone to some crazy turnovers and Ed and Edwards who

You know we’re we’re all all of our brains are hardwired in some faulty way to remember when Anthony Edwards hits three stepb Jumpers in a row and perk goes on TV and says this is an ex Michael Jordan he’s unbelievable and like Anthony Edwards is unbelievable

He’s a two-way player like when he dials it up on defense it actually gets kind of scary like he moved male Bridges backwards on defense that’s been the change that’s been the change for them seeing that commitment unlocks everyone else’s commitment but keep but you know what else happened in that game he

Missed like a thousand bad jump shots in a row and weens and we don’t remember that because it’s less exciting because those are low percentage shots so we expect them to be misses I think and so when they’re makes it’s like oh my God it’s incredible and they’re counting on

Mike connley to steady the ship and in some of these games and maybe that’s one of the reasons they floundered but he’s also old and carrying a huge load and they’re 19th in offense overall their offense just has not been good and I think they’re going to look around for

Another guard at the trade deadline I just can’t figure out what the salary outgoing would be I will say this though part of the reason their offense has gone in the toilet a little bit this year is that Kyle Anderson just has has lost it right now like the touch the

Floaters all that stuff from last year that made him such a valuable connector he just can’t make shots and he’s become a liability on offense he’s not shooting any threes and I don’t know I don’t know about you CH you’re oppos player I like when they run more stuff

Through Carl towns like when Carl towns moves off the ball when he’s off a pin down and comes off then it comes off a second screen and they get the defense rotating or like they had Jaylen Williams on him last night and he just to the bat now Jaylen Williams fights

Like all hell guarding opposing fours for the Thunder but Carl just faced up and took him to the rim a few times my my luk warmish take this is going to sound a little Blasphemous I think Anthony Edwards is the best player on the Timberwolves I still think Carl Anthony towns might be

The best offensive player on the Timberwolves is that crazy no it’s not crazy at all he is okay so sometimes being the that doesn’t mean you I hate using the word X Factor because it’s like so cliche but carony towns is The X Factor because nothing would work for

The Timber wols without him being able to go with a two big lineup does not work without car Anthony towns being able to shoot the ball at a high level and yes you will get the carony towns that shoots the way he did in that historic night that he had because

They’re still the Timberwolves but like that is the that is the downfalls of the situation but the goods are that your team is number one in the west so like I think sometimes keeping those things in perspectives cat unlocks this version of a squad that is not design not necessarily built to work

Right now in the NBA with two seven I don’t know how is cat 610 two seven Footers on the floor at the same time he is the reason why they are able to compete at the highest level and potentially go to the finals or you know

What I mean like cat would be the reason that they go to the finals right and yet every yet every time he throws like a thread the needle pass from like on the move I expect it to hit somebody’s feet or go into the second row and I just get

Like worried I get worried yeah and I think that that’s rational worries that all of us share so you’re not alone in this I do love what they have become because they’ve had to accept their issues in order to move forward and it seems like they’ve

Accepted more of them than they we all would have thought so I I yeah I’m all the way in on them sorry they their defense is absolutely for real and if you watch the last five minutes of that game last night smothering both in man and in zone They played some Zone last

Night and they close that game up six thunder come up with the ball like 45 seconds left you need a three you can’t take a quick two can’t take a quack two as Seth part now would call it and they’re trying to get a three they’re

Trying to get a three and when you have the two bigs McDaniels and Edwards out there they’re just so goddamn big and lud Dort somehow someone bent the defense and kicked the ball to lud Dort on the left wing and he was open and jayen McDaniels who’s gigantic and one

Of the best defense players in the league leaped and flew out at him and so Dort pump pump dribble side step 99 out of 100 Defenders is out of the play lud Dort gets an open three because Jayden McDaniels has flown 10 feet past him not jayen McDaniels he’s so big and so

Athletic he lands he pivots he jumps sideways back into lud D’s vision and lud Dort is rising shoot like oh my god what the hell where did this guy come from and he had to pass the ball you know how the possession ended with kenri Williams trying to who I love trying to

Take a running hook over Rudy gobear spoiler it missed and it was an awesome defensive performance on the Thunder in the matchups in this game were fascinating as they often are with both of these teams the Wolves open the game with jayen McDaniels on ched holgren and they put their two big guys

Goar and towns on Josh giddy who made three threes right away in the game they just gave it to him we’ve seen team do this over and over again and L Dort so we’re going to guard L Dort too with bigs and the thunder in that game and in some

Recent games kind of quietly distributed some of the giddy Dort minutes to case Wallace who is coming on like Gang Busters and doing more stuff with the ball Isaiah Joe who just runs around and shoots and has become a much better all-around player and kenri Williams who’s playing more at the four and

Playing well and I’ve said all year my gut and I’m not saying that they let me be clear I’m not saying the thunder are trading any of the players I just named because I would bet against it I do think they’re going to do something because I do think those

Minutes fluctuations even if it’s not a big like everybody wants him to get like I mentioned Wendell Carter Jr last week I think Orlando’s gonna keep him he’s just playing too well uh I think Orlando actually wants another guard um to help their kind of bereft guard rotation um

But uh like like how would Alex Caruso look in Oklahoma City for instance just one more guy I don’t even care what position he is who you trust on both ends of the floor to move the ball I just this is based on very little Intel very little reporting I’ve said it all

Year my gut is that everyone talks about the thunder either standing Pat and being the same old patient Thunder or taking the giant swing where they trade giddy plus a million picks for a star player and I’ve said all year there’s a lot of space between those two Trad

Trades they can outbid anybody for I me I’ve mentioned PJ Washington Kell John whoever it ends up being my gut says this team has been so good that the front office is going to say you know what you guys deserve a real shot you guys deserve an upgrade let’s let’s do

Something absolutely and if there’s one team that has assets it’s Oklahoma City Thunder to make something happen and I do like that because it’s not something that is like you know flashy or huge like a ruso fits also the mold of who they are and how they play and um yeah

No I I would not be surprised I would not be surprised if something like that happens Zach it’s sad but like they deserve it did you notice uh anything I realize I’m bouncing around because my brain is on fire today in a bad way um did did you notice anything different or new

About the Doc Rivers Milwaukee Bucks man so I know that that was tricky go walking you know into Denver for night one under his tenure I didn’t think I didn’t come in with the irrational idea that this is now a team that is going to beat the Nuggets right

Now because Doc Rivers is the coach I saw the defense the effort and maybe that’s the part that will continue to stay with the Bucks because not every night they’re not going to be playing the Nuggets every single night um I I think that that it was more of a

Statement to me of the Nuggets than it was a statement of the Bucks because if you are truly a competent defense right you’ve gotta pick and choose who you slow down either joic or Jamal and this is just a team that’s not equipped for that so I did not come in

With any Great Expectations that the Bucks were going to do move the immovable Denver Nuggets when they played it wasting it was interesting down the stretch um they started switching the Murray yic pick and roll even if Dame was on Murray and Murray was hunting Dame Lillard like every

Possession would start with Dame calling or with Jamal Murray calling Dam’s guy up set a guard guard screen for me get get damn on me then we’ll go in to the ballet with jic and the Bucks just gave up and like we’re gonna switch even if

That means Dame’s on yage we’re going to rescue him from the backline we’re going to have Brooke or Giannis Reser back there and jannis guarded yic actually fairly well just got just being a pest with his hands was a fun game um only nine Lillard Giannis pick and rolls so

No early C change there that’s that’s actually less than their average but 41 total Dame pick and rolls that’s his fifth highest total in any game this season that’s second Spectrum tracking data and a lot of those were with Brooke or with poris with Giannis kind of lurking around because they wanted to

Attack joic and DeAndre Jordan yic got a bunch of steals in the third quarter but like going up to the level um the one thing I will say is you could see the transition defense emphasis right the you watch the the the corner Shooters are running hard on the shot instead of

Lingering around and there was ALS there was one hilarious clip where Chris Middleton went up for a mid-range jumper and Giannis was under the rim Giannis is a fairly large individual who’s good at rebounding like I wouldn’t mind him staying under there yeah to get a rebound shot was in midair and Giannis

Almost like melodramatically started sprinting back on defense with the shot in midair maybe it was just a vote of confidence in Chris Middleton maybe he was like he looked at the trajectory like this thing’s going in I’m G to Sprint back I was like well Yan slow

Down man it might be a rebound there yep exactly and that’s what I was saying like the defense the defense was there the effort was there but is it like because you’re going up against the defending champs or is it because you have a new coach we’ll wait and see but

I do think like those things there were plays where Giannis would not get back there were plays when you know what I mean and we saw those timelessly um under unfortunately Griffin’s 10 years so the effort was there that’s what everyone after the game was talking

About oh you know our you know so we have things to fix but I think we’ll wait and see we’ll wait and see because against the Nuggets You’re Gonna Lose even in certain circumstances but other teams there’s an expectation to win we’ll see if the Bucks win those games I

Have a challenge for you CH are you ready let’s go here’s the challenge can you um can you explain the New Orleans Pelicans to me like what what what are the New Orleans every time I start to feel a little bit good about them all right here’s a big

Part of the schedule Oklahoma City Milwaukee Boston lost lost lost they played okay last night the first two were blowout Zion missed one of the games I get it it’s like what now they’re 26 and 21 all of a sudden and down to eighth after looking like oh

Could they sniff fifth maybe they they still can they’re only three games out of it they’re just so I just don’t I don’t understand what is what are they who are they do you like the bird Pelican do you like when they dive into the water head first and eat the fish

Like I just give me everything I feel like okay so I’m uh Louisiana is next to Texas and so I am inclined that’s accurate Chan thank you for the geography L and I am inclined to support this squad um I think that the wor the one thing that I’m worried about with the

New Orleans Pelicans is we had the expectations for Zion to transform this franchise right and show up and do what he’s supposed to do I don’t unfortunately like don’t like to I don’t want to things are still early for him but this is a circumstance where I feel like the

Pelicans I mean I don’t know if they’re gonna actually be that Squad that we all think if all the pieces come together and even if that means getting the best version of Zion along the way so I am not I am I I think they are supposed to

Beat who they’re supposed to beat but I don’t have great expectations of them uh you know I are your expectations for them are you thinking like top four or no no well the top four in the west is done I don’t think anybody cing those top four teams

Um they’re interesting to me because they have a lot of talent yes they still can’t seem to figure out exactly who should play with who and when and for how long uh like Zion played a lot of Center last night sometimes they don’t play Zion at Center at all you know they

Have I I would say four below average to bad Defenders and their starting five and just seem to be okay with that like they just don’t they seem Paralyzed by indecision about like what should we do can we really make any kind of adjustments that lineup should we just

Play it less and they they’re interested and like sometimes Dyson Daniel plays a lot and sometimes little sometimes Jordan Hawkins doesn’t play at all and sometimes he bombs 10 threes in 20 minutes they just seem all over over the place and why that’s interesting is there aren’t a lot of good teams who

Have as much to trade as they do the Thunder obviously can out trade anybody the Pelicans have a lot of midsize contracts a lot of talented players some big expiring contracts like valent junis tons of extra draft picks and I think they’ve been paralyzed at times by like

We don’t really even know what part of our roster we should try to upgrade and the buzz about them is all over the place and they could do nothing they could do something surprising I just don’t know I just don’t know and every time I feel like I know they get rocked

Sideways and I’m like G I don’t know no I’m I’m in the same place I’m in the same place and it’s a that’s what I was saying it’s a frustrating place to be in to be in that mid- level of the NBA um especially now and yeah I agree I agree

Completely all right well we have a we have a special guest that I’m going to bring in who is uh crashing this podcast unannounced and I gave him a challenge and I said I want I want this guy to come on and I just want to Scorch her I

Want at least one hot take it can be about trades it can be about anything Kendrick Perkins the man the myth The Legend um how are you and I I hope you can’t I want something that’s like not even safe for NBA today I want something that’s a

Scorcher I’m and loaded Zack you think I’m coming to a gunfight with a spoon in my pocket hey hell no look check this out I got this for y’all the heat has lost seven in a row I think it’s time for the Miami Heat and Jimmy but Butler to Port

Ways I think the Miami Heat needs need to do right by Jimmy Butler and send him to a legit title Contender I would love to see him with the 76ers but when I look at this roster okay stay with me Chan Zach stay with me I need y’all to be openminded openminded

Here okay Kevin Love 37 right 36 37 I think he is yeah 36 Jimmy buler 34 years of age they just got rid of Kyle Larry he’s 37 excuse me everyone else on the Heat roster is 30 and I believe bam is 26 Tyler hero 24 uh hquest Jr is 2221 it’s time for the heat to start their rebuild of their culture with the young guys and it’s not a bad thing I just don’t know how much time Jimmy got left of playoff Jimmy he’s 34 a lot of miles a lot of minutes a lot of we and

Tail on his body and I just don’t see the Miami Heat this season being a legit title Contender so with that being said I feel like it needs to be a it’s no such thing as a as a a pretty divorce so I’m not calling it a divorce I just

Think it’s time for them to sit at the round table and figure out what’s next and what’s next is getting Jimmy to a place where he actually could compete for a title because he’s not going to be able to do it with the Heat this year I

Think uh I think the Flames from that one shot out of the laptop and burned my eyebrows off that so so but you rais an interesting point perk they’ve lost seven in a row I actually am like a little uh shocked at how bad they have

Been in the last couple of weeks um and I and Jimmy’s been like way up and down Bam’s been up and down the roier thing hasn’t kicked into gear and you’re right they’re reaching a critical point as the trade deadline comes and and we were have 35 games left in the season the

Next 10 to 15 games they’re either going to click into place and the roier thing’s going to fit and Jimmy’s going to start playing consistently we’re be haak has is back from injury and like okay here’s the team that uh SPO said buckle up a couple weeks ago here’s the

Team they clicked into place and I think there’s a world where that happens because there is a lot of talent there or they just kind of sputter around and you just get the feeling like it’s it’s not going to happen this year and their offense I don’t know where they are now

I think they’re like 23rd or 24th and they play offense their shot selection is Like It’s 1999 they don’t take threes they don’t get to the rim it’s just such a goddamn slog to get any points out of this team right now but they were doing

This last year in in the play in tournament I was like are they ever going to score another basket and then three weeks later I woke up they’re going to the finals but they’re not they’re not sneaking up on anyone no more okay hold on CH just real quick before you go I

Want y’all to seven games last night the Suns beat them 118 and 105 so they got basically smoked the Knicks beat them 125 to 109 they got smoked the Celtics beat them 143 to 110 the Memphis Grizzlies the Memphis gz the me almost the Memphis hustle B Williams III or junr they beat

Him 10596 the magic beat him 105 to 87 the Raptors beat him 121 to 97 and the Hulk one point this is not a team that’s trending in the right direction and that next game against the Sacramento Kings I I I’m glad you said Memphis hustle because weren’t they the ones that just

Won a game on the out of bounds play or something like that with a second left I’m not sure I think I saw that highlight so that’s cute get him into the Pod uh I look look look look look look I hear you perk I think we

Selfishly want to see Jimmy Butler on a contender at this point right and it doesn’t look like the heat are a contender but I feel like we’re a prisoner of the moment because we got to note that Miami uh they’re right now 24 and 23 last year they were and 22 at

This time and somehow stumbled upon making the NBA finals on top of that we’re a few months like a few months ago the circumstance of Damen Lillard potentially coming to this team will we be saying this well he’s not we probably wouldn’t no we probably wouldn’t but

Like they were open to it it just didn’t happen so I don’t think I don’t I don’t I that was a very hot take to me because I like it though that’s what I wanted I wanted a hot take and like theying they’re playing bad they’re playing bad

Right now there’s no way around it here’s the thing right we we were expecting Caleb Martin to take another leap from what we saw in the postseason chenet you know this Zack you know this as well that once team start scheming and you get deeper into that Scouting

Report Things become a little bit differently right like bam so explain this to me bam is having an ex exceptional year right now right Tyler hero is playing outstanding basketball this year how are the Heat in this position and not they’re five and 11 when bam Jimmy Butler and Tyler hero

Play together you have a case okay so I could name I could name four teams in the East that will beat them in the seven game series the Celtics the Sixers the Bucks and the Knicks and you could even throw Cleveland in there the way that Donovan Mitchell been playing without Darius

Garland and Evan Moy they’re not sneaking up on no one no more they’re actually the hunted my brain is not ready to consider Jimmy Butler trades but if if your if your argument is that I have to trade him to a contender the most fun this is literally

Off the top of my head because I had no idea what perker was gonna come come on here and say the most fun I mean the Nicks and tibs they already kind of they have a lot of stuff to trade they just got in anobi Indiana just traded a lot

Of stuff for seaka they’d be a lot of fun they just don’t have enough left I don’t think it’s got to be a good team like a good team that’s wants to get good you know where he’d really fit again just the thought exercise people this is just perk is dropping bombs

Like he’d be kind of fun between Fox and sabonis and Sacramento as like a culture Setter Defender guy um they Bo Dallas is an obvious one I just don’t know if they have enough those are just this is just off the top of my head I wanted to say

The Warriors it’s just too crazy and I think the Warriors are actually going to go the other way if they’d make any moves and like more planned for next year that was a good one perk I’m I’m just say you last last note what did the

Milwaukee Bucks do when they were 30 and 13 they stopped the bleeding with the relationship with their head coach and with their players they were 30 they were 30 and 13 when Adrian Griffin got fired and but do they have the same pressure perk who like the Bucks and the

Heat don’t have the same pressure I’m not say I’m not so I’m not saying that Chate all I’m saying is is that Jimmy is 34 so how much like I understand we can’t never underestimate Jimmy but realistically like is this his best fit

For him to go and win a title and to me that answer is no and I just feel like the Miami Heat with a young a exposure because he’s still young just got a a Max contract extension yeah he got the Max and so now all of a sudden you got H

Quz Jr you have uh Tyler hero you have bam all of these guys have not even scratched the surface of their Prime you made a finals run with Jimmy as the head of the snake two finals runs I mean you know maybe the on the wall

This is tough but it’s kind of you’re getting me a little bit well look I am I am scarred from I am scarred from past instances of doubting the heat um same and I do like but they look dead in the water right now and every time they look

Dead in the water it takes one game and like they click but I don’t know what clicking looks like for this team many times they can do it I don’t think they’re going to trade Jimmy Butler but perk thank you for coming on I have actually one question for the two of you

Guys can you stick around for one question sure this this is a hot take question I want to hear both of your both of your thoughts on it we know LaVine has been like the name that’s been out there the most in the last two months it has been reported uh by Mark

Stein and elsewhere in the last couple of weeks that Detroit the worst team in the NBA is sniffing around to Zach is sniffing around the team that takes Zack LaVine off Chicago’s hand being that team we can presume I think that such a trade would not involve Cunningham would not

Involve assar Thompson would not involve Jaylen Duren who is like a freaking GI Joe character out there um and would probably not involve Jaden Ivy even though teams are trying to take advantage of the Pistons and pick him off so if those four guys stay and it’s

Just like big contracts and draft picks perk I’ll start with you then Chan does that make any sense to you is that is that a smart thing for Detroit to do it is because you have to find pieces that actually compliment k K cam right K

Cudham to me is a less a athletic version of LeBron from a point forward position right like that he’s your point guard I know it’s a positionist game and we we don’t have a traditional point guard but when Kade is on the floor not he’s your decision maker okay he’s

Running pick and rolls I think him and Zach compliment Each Other Well I think Zack you know understand saying his contract is massive and people are saying right like he’s basically not living up to what he’s getting paid but Detroit need new life and Zach has shown us that he is

Capable of averaging 27 in this league right a league that’s about getting bucket so I mean I could see it I could see why Detroit is fishing I could see the vision a little bit and you know and it’s a fresh start for Zach

Yeah I’m yeah I look if I’m Detroit I I do like all of the players you mentioned so it’s going to be hard for me to see a circumstance where that happens for Zach to include to not include that core but I do like this idea of if

Detroit were to move it would to be moving for shooting and that’s what you’re gonna get from LaVine I’m not sure that there’s a idea that you know when we talked about lavine’s potential to Los Angeles it was like but play defense I’m not sure if that’s going to

Be the main emphasis of what his purpose would be in Detroit more so like than perk saying that you need to space the floor and be dynamic for us offensively so I can see how it works the contract to me is hard yeah for the contract to

Me is hard the changing of young Personnel like this the slump that Detroit was previously in for like they had their shackles tied to the first quarter of the NBA season I don’t think it it did any justice to the actual Goods of their young players you know

And I think once you remove that lens of going on that losing streak it’s gonna be hard for me to see LaVine coming in at the expense of some of these young players that we’ve seen per you talk almost every other day at NBA today about Jaylen Duren like how much you

Love these he’s good man he’s good he doesn’t know how to play NBA defense yet in terms of angles and positioning but he’s like 19 or 20 and that dude has stuff you cannot find and he can dribble and he can pass too ever since he was

Drafted perk put me on to him him in his game and so I know you hear LaVine and it seems like that’s a solution but there are some really good pieces so I but I can see why it could work with LaVine in Detroit versus elsewhere because they uniquely need this just

Shooting and the requirements that he’d have to do and you better there than anywhere else go ahead per you know what was one a great move by Troy Weaver is that he traded Marvin bag bag the thir right and Marvin Bagley is a hell of a

Talent but now all of a sudden right instead of having that young competition in the locker room jayen Duran don’t have have to look over his shoulder now Zack before we leave you can’t ask us a question no I’m gonna answer it I need to ask you with shooting being so valuable so

Many contenders needed right like you see the model the that the mo that Boston Li by banovic right is that in Detroit does he get moved to a contender uh all of these questions are linked together right like LaVine and bogdanovich like Detroit has to figure

Out how much do we care about not being nine and 73 because we still got to not do that we’d like to not do that they should have traded bogdanovich last year so I particularly if they bring in some other veteran what I not I have no idea

How active the line talks if there ever were I think they should trade bonovich somewhere and he could help some teams my worry though perk is I do think he’s lost like a quarter of a step on defense and is is it’s okay that’s okay because

Guess what guess what the team that you you are that me you and chenet talked about earlier the Minnesota Timberwolves can you imagine if they could package up something and get banovic over there with the timber wols I don’t know how you know like I always say I don’t know

About the cooking apron first apron and SE second apron I don’t know how that works but but but but if there’s if there’s a team that you can lose a step to and be all right it’s gonna be the timber be the timber I mean he can shoot

And score the hell out of it to answer my own question on LaVine My worry is what it all depends on the price like Detroit already owes one first round pick to the Knicks they don’t have any extra first round picks from any teams they are bad in rebuilding so they do

Have to be careful about using those kind of future assets on a trade that’s let’s be honest like what’s their upside in the next three years trading for Zack line they’re not winning aamp or getting to the finals but I will say I could imagine how this goes here’s how it

Would go if it were to happen they make the trade everybody laughs at them for making the trade because it’s like what are you doing you won five games and you’re trading for this guy that makes a gazillion dollars and then Zack olivian plays well the team plays better and in

Like a year people are like hey that Zack LaVine trade kind of worked out okay for the Pistons and at that point you need to either move him again for value or the team takes off to a point that it’s worth keeping but I could see the the scenario events the series of

Events where everybody laughs at the Pistons then a year later like oh that actually kind of worked out all right for everybody and like Zach’s playing well he seems happy there’s a lot to talk about between now and the trade deadline chenade you’re busy I know you

Got your is it cake obligations you got to get to you got a whole family free agency drama you got to deal with with your sister there’s a lot going uh perk thank you for popping on I’ll probably see you later today with Malika and the crew on

NBA today you guys are the best thank you for your time and you can I don’t even need to promote you people people don’t where to find appreciate you Zach and keep doing a great job my brother the wildly successful L post pod okay enough out of you people have a good day

Bye bye everybody He

Zach Lowe and ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike discuss the offensive explosion around the league, the Jalen Green situation in Houston, the Lakers-Rockets fracas and the Lakers up and down play, Doc Rivers first game as Bucks coach, Wolves, Thunder, trade talk across the league, and more. Then ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins joins to talk about the struggling Heat, pitch a wild trade idea, Zach LaVine, Pistons, much more.

0:00 Welcome To The Lowe Post Podcast
6:00 The Lakers might miss the playoffs?
14:37 Defense is not deal
19:50 The influx of scoring
28:50 Vanderbilt ejected for shoving Dillon Brooks
31:31 Should the Rockets trade Jalen Green?
38:17 The influx of scoring
41:54 Reaction to Timberwolves vs. Thunder
51:53 Bucks playing with more effort under Doc?
55:23 What’s happening In NOLA?
59:44 Is it time to trade Jimmy Butler?
1:09:49 Could Zach LaVine get traded to the Pistons?

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