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JJ On Where He Stands on the Chet vs. Wemby ‘Rookie of the Year’ Debate (For Now)



JJ On Where He Stands on the Chet vs. Wemby ‘Rookie of the Year’ Debate (For Now)

Uh coach of the year you know um obviously uh the clutch Player of the Year six-man Tim Hardaway is still kind of in the lead there but in particular Rookie of the Year JJ just I don’t know if you have a quick thought on this one

But we’ve gone back and forth uh wemi was uh your favorite going in and then it flipped at one point to Chad holgren being a favorite well now it’s flipped back to wemi I think he’s around minus 150 or so he’s really turned it on had a

Great month of January uh what do you think are we going to flip back again or do we see wemi kind of uh take it from here on out no I’ll be honest with you you know I I me uh Steve Jones n Duncan from the dunker spot we all caught a lot

Of backlash from uh San Antonio Spurs Twitter uh about our pick at the time and again this is the thing we are we are uh explicitly stating at the time at at this time I give a slight Edge to Joel embid for MVP at the time we

Recorded a few weeks ago I gave the slight Edge to chat um wy’s play particularly over the last six weeks since he moved to Center full time uh has been spectacular and we can recognize that San Antonio as a team is pretty much a mess we can recognize the

Pieces around him aren’t going to necessarily lead to a a playin or playoff spot but what he’s doing is remarkable right now I feel like this is neck and neck and what did you say the odds were right now yes flip so no guy has gone above minus 200 so that’s kind

Of the breaking point I think odds makers are just protecting themselves they don’t want to basically give the dog too of a plus money number so the weird thing is JJ so I think right now W I want to say minus 150 minus 175 in

That area but the weird thing is you can kind of Arbitrage it so you could basically have both players at plus money so that kind of no matter what happens you turn a profit uh but again really big move here toward wemi based upon his play really this month yeah and

I I I would again I would say as of today as of today they’re neck and neck they’re tied to me and that’s why the beautiful thing about the NBA is we probably have you know the those teams have 38 uh to 36 more games so a lot of

A lot of NBA basketball to be played uh last thing I want to get to you uh is is the odds on the Lakers right now big win uh last night against the Golden State Warriors uh Lebron with a you know another alltime performance Steph of course just those two the value they

Bring to the NBA uh where do they stand stand in terms of making the playoffs yeah this one’s really interesting JJ so to prep for you know talking to you about uh betting markets I try to look at like the the markets that are kind of

Not just right in front of you but kind of go down the DraftKings options and find something that’s kind of interesting to me so the interesting thing here with the Lakers is that there is a prop will they make the playoffs now it’s minus 110 both sides so that’s

Basically a coin flip there’s no uh plus money either side and it’s basically right down the middle now there is some fine print with with this one as well and I think you got to know this as a better it’s not just to make the

Playoffs to get in but you have to be in the top six so they can’t just make the play in they have to be in that top six So currently after you know big win against um Steph Curry and the Warriors they’re now 24 and 23 uh they’re in the

Ninth spot right now so my question you JJ is are the Lakers the kind of team that they don’t really care whether they’re six or nine and kind of it’s just hey let’s be healthy let’s get into the tournament we’re going to bank on our talent I mean they’ve already won

The inseason tournament they’ve kind of fallen off quite a bit since that point they’re turning it around a little bit now but how would you think if you were betting this prop how would you approach it you know would you lean one way or the other I think oddsmakers don’t know

How to handle it they’re telling you that based upon this uh minus 110 both sides so are they a team that just wants to get in and doesn’t care they’ll do play and doesn’t matter their talent will take over or do you think they’ll really fight to get in the postseason uh

The official postseason that way they can maybe get some rest uh before it really starts well as it stands right now they’re in ninth they’re four games back in the last column uh of the sixth place team the Phoenix Suns who lost last night but are 12-4 in their last 16

We finally seen a little bit of a longer stretch with the big three when those guys are on the court they’re eviscerating opponents uh so I I’m fairly confident no I’m very confident the top four teams right now in the Western Conference the Oklahoma City Thunder the Minnesota Timberwolves the

LA Clippers and the Denver Nuggets those four teams I feel like are going to be in the top guaranteed playoff spots so then you have to look at the Sacramento Kings the Phoenix Suns the New Orleans Pelicans the Dallas Mavericks those are the four teams ahead of the Los Angeles

Lakers right now and I wonder uh given the up and down consistency of the Lakers shooting uh the fact that LeBron James just turned 39 years old in year 21 like how much are they going to have at the Finish now obviously it to me if you’re making this

Bet as a yes that they’re going to be in the top six you’re banking on the fact that they are going to make a trade and I mean that I don’t think that this team as it’s constructed I’m not comfortable making that bet that they’re a top six

Team so I to me I’m more comfortable making the no bet but if you make the yes bet to me it’s you’re banking on the fact that they’re going out and getting de jante Murray right that that’s been that’s been the rumor for the last week

Um does it does that get them ahead of the Kings and the Suns and the Pelicans the Mavericks that remains to be seen But as it’s currently constructed this roster I don’t think they are better than the Dallas Mavericks the new orange Pelicans the Phoenix Suns or the Sacramento Kings

In this clip, JJ Redick talks Rookie of The Year odds with Josh Appelbaum and the Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City Thunder) vs. Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs). One thing is for sure… Chet vs. Wemby is so fun.

Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.

42 Comments

  1. Wemby shouldn't be penalized for being on the worst team, without Wemby they are worse than the Pistons! The Spurs won't even give wide-open Wemby the ball, and he still has better numbers!!

  2. jj is just being stubborn, its not neck and neck right now. Chet was better the first 3rd of the season due to his efficiency. Wemby is finally moved to the center position and has had similar efficiency in the second 3rd of the season with insane stat lines while playing LIMITED minutes. He has gained a huge edge and is only getting better each month so its safe to assume he'll win it by the end of the year. btw this is no knock on chet, he has the potential to be a superstar in the future.

  3. Meanwhile, Thinking Basketball just stated that Wemby authored the best month from a rookie in a quarter century.

  4. Two players shining in totally different environments. Both deserve big props. Excited to see how they play the rest of the year.

  5. Victor no if ands or but. Thunder fan and have said all along it's Victor and thees no doubt

  6. wemby such a phenomenal player can't get his team over ten wins haha he's generational lol can't shoot turns it over every big has a day out against him but oh wemby he's roty lol

  7. ROTY isnt a team award JJ is basing his choice off of team stats which he is wrong for. Theres no way Chets 2 stats carry more weight than Wembys 8 stats that hes leading in. If you watch the games you see the games are actually close when Wemby is in the game then when he goes out the other team starts taking a big lead.

  8. Chet is not a rookie. shouldn’t be in consideration. Neither was Blake Griffin or Ben Simmons. Still don’t like that rule.

  9. it shouldn't even be in question. the only thing Chet has going for him is team record. that shouldn't come into play for this award. Wemby deserves the award very clearly

  10. Chet he is actually playing meaningful minutes. Wemby is empty stats. Chet is constanly making clutch game end shots. Spurs are on pace to lose more than last year lol

  11. Does anyone else find it disturbing how deeply the gambling industry has embedded itself in the channels of most of everyone’s favourite NBA YouTube channels. It’s literally exploded in 2023-24. Everything is being talked about in terms of odds. I think it is a very unfortunate look for JJ to be saying things like “if you’re making this bet…”.

  12. wemby is a borderline all star chet isn’t even close. they played eachother a couple weeks ago and wemby was HUNTING the chet matchup while chet was completely avoiding the wemby matchup on offense. btw wemby is years younger.

  13. Dudes like you are funny cause you act like we can’t just pull up the video of you saying it was almost nothing wemby can do to changer your mind it wasn’t for no reason and it wasn’t just San Antonio twitter, Stephen A😂

  14. "NECK AND NECK"? JJ are u blind? Here, take a look a this. As of today 02/04/24:

    WEMBY – 20.4 pts, 10.3 rebs, 3.2 assts, 3.1 blks, 1.2 steals

    CHET – 16.4 pts, 7.6 rebs, 2.7 assts, 2.6 blks, 0.6 steals

    Wemby is clearly the better player. He should be the NBA's Rookie of the Year. He leads Chet 5 to nothing in 5 major statistical categories. Wemby also leads all rookies in double-doubles. He even leads the entire NBA in blocks per game and total blocks made. Wemby is The DPOY and/or at least a candidate for DPOY. Chet, is clearly RPOY, as in, The Role Player of the Year! Third best on his OKC team behind MVP candidate SGA and 2nd option JWill.

  15. Why tf does team record matter when one team has an mvp candidate, plus elite role players when the other team has one rookie. Without Chet the thunder are most likely still a top 5 seed

  16. If Chet was averaging 18.5 ppg and 9.1 rebounds + those wins, i would probably give it to him. Rebounds are letting him down A LOT, let's not act like he isn't 7'1. He's just rebounding like a pg with good rebounding skills

  17. At this point, I’m almost positive that JJ is either being forced or deciding to push this agenda forward himself. It’s like the media is just desperate for the ROY race to be close. It’s not close right now. 90% of the fan base can see this. Wemby by a landslide.

  18. I genuinely wonder what's going on with some of these takes from basketball players. They're just so bad. I wonder if they have an agenda or something. It truly shouldn't even be controversial to anyone with a brain that Wemby is at the top for ROTY.

  19. i did not expect to hate on JJ as a reporter, but damn is he wrong abotu the ROY conversation. Wemby and Chet are not tie, or at least not any more. Wemby is already a better player than Chet was at the same age. Team record has nothing to do in this conversation, and Wemby leading the run while having teammates blatantly ignoring him on open shots is even more crazy

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