NBA Mailbag: Durant RETURN to Thunder? Nuggets & Celtics NBA Draft, Knicks big moves | Hoops Tonight

NBA Mailbag: Durant RETURN to Thunder? Nuggets & Celtics NBA Draft, Knicks big moves | Hoops Tonight

what’s up everybody thanks as always for supporting the show it would mean a lot to me if you would take a second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel and then follow me on social media on Tik Tok Instagram and Twitter so you guys don’t miss any of our content over the course of this season all right let’s talk some basketball wish you discussed the Celtics selection of Baylor shyman Baylor seems to be one of the more Pro ready guys in the draft and fits the current mold of what teams are looking for thought that was a great pick well you’re right we didn’t get a chance to hit him yesterday so why don’t we hit him today so here’s my little quick Scout on Baylor shyan he’s a 66 movement shooter Lefty out of kraton his jump shooting numbers from last year really good 39% on jumpers overall 39% on catch and shoot jumpers 26% when he was guarded and 49% when he was unguarded that wasn’t surprising to me on tape because he’s a little bit of a ground bound shooter a little bit of a set shooter with a low release point so that means he needs more separation to get clean looks he was 39% on pull-up jump shots he had a lot of Pull-Up threes as well so he was up over a point per shot attempt he was actually pretty successful on the ball at kraton he shot 59% field goals 59% as the shooter in ball screens overall in ball screens including passes he was 998th percentile in efficiency 1.33 points per possession including passes I’ll be at low volume he was only 140 reps all season long so he was more of like a guy who was flying off a screens off Ball but he did have some on ball reps in ball screens not an ISO guy he only ran 16 isos all season but as we know within Boston’s offense he’s not going to be used on the ball this what I think of him as within Boston within the context of Boston’s offense is just a movement shooter and he was a good movement shooter last year he shot 42% coming off of screens that was 55% in effective field goal percentage when you wait it for threes movement shooting in particular is very valuable within the context of Boston’s offense and the reason why is that’s usually where you hide your weakest Defender right you hide your weakest Defender typically on a movement shooter because they’re not going to do as much stuff on the ball and asking a guy just to Chase and stay glued up to a shooter is probably the easiest defensive responsibility among all of the many different things that you can do at the NBA level aside from gu guarding a complete non-threat offensively guarding a movement shooter is the next easiest responsibility right so like that’s where you tuck your weakest Defender right so if you’re tucking your weakest defender on let’s say Baylor shyman and you’re Jason Tatum or you’re Jaylen brown or you’re Derrick White you’re trying to bring that weakest Defender into the action we saw this a lot in the finals when the the um the mavrick put uh when they put Luca donic onto Sam Hower right and we saw lots of spamming jayen Brown same Hower two-man game where Hower would come set the screen and Luca would end up switched on to Jaylen Brown and then Jaylen Brown would get down Hill and one of the reasons why that works is Sam Hower is a movement shooter and so if Luca throws a hedge then Hower can slip out of it and shoot a three and Dallas because Luca was so slow-footed they didn’t have him hedge very much they would just switch and so as a result that ended up with Luca on Jaylen brown or on Jason Tatum so much he’d give up dribble penetration and then their defense would fall apart right so like in order to punish a team for throwing a hedge or to force a team to switch an action like that the guy has to be able to quickly slip out of the screen and knock down three-point shots right that’s the thing if Sam Hower was not a good movement shooter then what Dallas would have done is either blit those ball screens or had Luca throw a hard hedge to cut off the driving lane and then recover to Hower they could not do that because if they did they’d be giving wide openen threes to Sam Hower that’s what I like about the concept of a movement shooter within their offense right teams are going to tuck a weak defender on Baylor shyman then the Celtics can bring that Defender into the action they’ll have no choice but to either hedge or to switch and if they hedge you’re going to be able to get Baylor wideopen catch and shoot threes on the move if they switch then Jason Tatum or Jaylen Brown can attack inferior individual Defenders that is the thing it’s it’s part of like and it’s it’s fascinating to me because it’s clear that Brad Stevens is has this like very clear basketball philosophy right and this is something that I think is important for a front office to have you need to have like a year-over-year consistent philosophy it tells me that you believe in something as a basketball mind and it’s clear that Brad Stevens wants everybody to be a threat all eight rotation players for the Celtics last year were a threat Baylor shyan is going to be able to step onto an NBA floor immediately and take advantage of the attention that the Jays get the attention that Derrick White and Drew holiday gets he’s going to get clean looks really it just comes down to what he can do on the defensive end of the floor can he follow the path of pton Pritchard and Sam Hower as le as lesser athletes who learn how to do well enough defensively to be a functional player that can stay on the floor and I’d actually argue Pritchard and Hower both did a good job last year on the defensive end of the floor Hower got multiple stops against Luca Pritchard got multiple stops against Kyrie Irving those guys did great right so the question is can Baylor shyan do that in a similar way to what Pritchard and Hower did but I like it it was just a it’s a for a late first round pick to get a guy that can play Rotation minutes in the NBA regular season and and just kind of be another functional piece of that Boston five out attack I really liked the move what do you make of Ryan Dunn at 22 for Phoenix his defensive tape is some of the best I have ever seen dude dude looks like Draymond out there sometimes I have a lot of fun watching Ryan Dunn this morning unbelievable defensive prospect has great tools unbelievable ground coverage which is what we talked about a lot with s Vini if you guys remember like his ability just to get from one part of the floor to the next is insane I was watching film of him this morning multiple plays one against Georgia Tech that I saw one against Duke where he blitzed a ball screen out like 3035 ft from the basket and then recovered as as the blitz came the guard made the over-the-top pass to the short roll man the short roll man came down the lane and engaged the low man and dropped it off to a cutter along the Baseline and on both plays Ryan Dunn literally came from the blitz 30 35 fet away from the basket and recovered to the rim to block the guy cutting along the Baseline imagine that like Blitz quick pass over the top drop off for a cutter and he was throwing the Blitz and blocking the cutter at The Rim saw multiple times in my film session this morning that is ground coverage that is the ability to be multiple places at once he has the ability to throw an aggressive coverage to force a ball handler to get rid of the basketball and be the same guy who cleans up the mess that coverage produces on the back end that is unbelievable defensive potential he had crazy Closeouts there was this play against Wake Forest where he got kind of caught it was a it was a cleared corner on the right side and the the shooter was kind of relo locating along the uh along the right wing and he caught got caught a little bit High and the swing pass was made and the offensive player caught it in the corner and Dunn was way up on the high side so there was an easy rip through move available the uh the Wake fors player rips to the Baseline and Ryan Dunn closes out chases him off the line somehow manages to funnel and push him behind the backboard the player tries to bully him back underneath the rim dun just swallows it up and swats him out of there like just unbeliev able ground coverage he’s a quick two-foot jumper he’s got great instincts to kind of snuff out plays it it was just a lot of fun watching Ryan dun tape this morning but at this point he’s a legitimately bad offensive player he was five for 27 on unguarded jump shots last year that’s an issue he was 58% on layups that’s an issue for a player as big as he is he can’t put the ball on the floor he can’t make reads so it’s a developmental type of move for Phoenix right like you’re betting that if you can turn Ryan Dunn into a functional offensive player then he suddenly becomes a huge asset for you as someone who roots for the Lakers I can tell you have kind of had a similar experience further along with Jared Vanderbilt right like Jared Vanderbilt when he’s actually like healthy is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league who’s also an excellent defensive rebounder who also is an excellent helps side Defender he’s this like Swiss army knife do everything type of athlete that can do so much but it’s it’s just really difficult to find a functional role for him two years ago when they made the Western Conference Finals run he was such a bad Corner three-point shooter and he kept getting those wide open Corner threes that it became an issue and the Lakers had to bench him but that was in a four out offense where he was consistently spotting up beyond the three-point line suddenly in the springtime this year before Vanderbilt got hurt the Lakers actually managed to build a functional role for him as a dribble handoff and roll guy kind of like as a cutter he was operating a lot more in mve movement in the middle of the flooor rather than standing still in the corner and he had a bunch of double figure scoring games and became like legitimately a functional part of the Laker offense and that was when they were playing some of their best basketball in that time period right so like like that’s what you’ve got to do with Ryan Dunn you’ve just got to find a way to make him useful offensively if you do then he becomes this profoundly impactful player because of what he can do on the defensive end of the floor but I just have a hard time believing that within the short term they’re going to be able to get enough out of him offensively for him to be a guy who’s like a significant rotation player for them but we will see and Devin Booker Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal do uh bring in a lot of attention and so there the if there’s anything in there for him in terms of functional offensive ability this is a situation where he should be able to show that but we will see I kind of view him as more of a long-term Prospect for Phoenix I’m going to leave you guys before we go uh to the next question with this quote qu from s Vini as you guys know he’s the guy that I trust the most when it comes to the draft he said quote I cannot overemphasize dun’s defensive level he is in the top tier among all wings I’ve evaluated over the last decade and is on an all defense candidate long term or and is an all defense candidate long term if his offense allows him to stay on the court I thought he was one of the two most disruptive defenders in college basketball this season that’s quote from s Vini by the way guys he he’s the lit he’s literally the best his uh uh draft guide that he has on the athletic is unbelievably comprehensive as information on family background tons of information on strengths and weaknesses extensive statistical history it’s just you guys got to check it out he also will bring those guys on his show and go over tape on his YouTube channel like I can’t say enough about the quality of Sam’s content you guys got to get over there and check him out next question this was an interesting one which is the better foundation for a modern NBA roster a star guard Center combo like Chad and Sh gild Alexander or two star wings like Jaylen and Jason for starters I don’t want this to become a debate about specific players Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum at this point in their careers are a better Duo than Jay gild Alexander and Chad holgren they’re older they’re more experienced they’re just better basketball players right now so I’m not trying to make it an argument between those uh two pairs right also the Jays play alongside two $30 million guards and a $30 million Center so they kind of have that and the guard Center combo right so like I it’s just not even remotely comparable I don’t even want to get into that so let’s remove the names and let’s just talk about the gist of the question would you rather have a guard Center Duo as a foundation or a forward forward Duo as a foundation and my answer is pretty simple it totally depends on the physical build of the players is the guard a good point of attack Defender with size who can switch onto Wings is the center a legit rim protector but one that can also switch onto guards and slide his feet in guard in space if so I want the guard in the big and the reason why is they are more versatile a guard Center Duo can attack and defend in multiple ways on offense they can run pick and roll they can run pick and pop but they can also matchup hunt with size and quickness right like chett in the long run will be able to beat switches by just shooting over the top and using his size Shay gets a big on a switch he’s going to be able to drive off of him or score uh with his like kind of step back mid-range game right so like a a guard Center combo can attack in traditional pick and roll traditional pick and pop and in switch situations attack matchups right on defense you can run a deep drop coverage right you can keep chat Homen by The Rim in a drop right you can play aggressive coverages with him using his length and you can switch you can have CET guard a a guard on the perimeter he’s got the length and quickness to kind of handle that sort of thing right like if you’ve got a guard that is also big enough to switch onto forwards and to guard in space and and to guard in the post and things along those lines that is the versatility element that comes from a guard Center combo if you have wings they’re just a little bit more focused in what they can do right right like they’re always going to be a switching look on defense can’t run a drop coverage with the forward they’re just not tall enough to bother lob passes right so like you you’re going to be you’re going to be switching almost exclusively with that type of kind of construction and for the record that’s what the Celtics do a lot of switching and then they run drop with christops porzingis right who’s their rim protector kind of fitting the the mold of this question right and then on the um on the offensive end of the floor if you don’t have a versatile offensive Center then scoring and pick and roll is harder just ask just just just take a look at that Dallas Minnesota series right like you’ve got you’ve got uh um Rudy gobear setting screens and rolling into the lane it’s an issue right it’s hard to score that way and so basically like if you have a forward type of setup where you just have a couple of scoring forwards they’re primarily going to be hunting matchups it’s uniquely Chet’s ability or let’s just say a a star Center’s ability to function in multiple different ways offensively to be a dribble hand off fulam to be a pick and pop guy to be a pick and roll guy to be a guy who can be a vertical spacer in the dunker spot look at that dunky had in game six that put the M uh put the Thunder up one before the final possession just him sitting under the basket and just being a release valve for a quick little lob pass for a dunk like there’s just a lot of different ways that those guys can look to attack on offense and on defense you can run drop you can run aggressive coverages you can switch and so again like the guard Center Duo just has more versatility in the way that they can play on both ends of the floor that said it has to do with the physical build because if the guard Center Duo involves some limitations then it doesn’t function as well right let’s take Trey young and Anthony Davis for instance this is a trade that has been proposed a lot over the course of the last few months involving the Lakers and the Hawks it’s a trade I do not want to see the main reason why is that’s a small guard who cannot defend in multiple different ways in a big in Anthony Davis that can’t shoot so now most of those advantages that I just discussed don’t exist your optionality on defense is not there you pretty much have to either hide Trey somewhere or ask him to chase over the top of screens you can’t get away with a ton of switching with Trey Young on the floor right so like your optionality goes away so it’s a complicated question if I had to pick between a big guard who is versatile and can defend multiple ways and a 7ot rim protector that has guard skills then I want that over two wings but if it’s a tiny guard and just a rim protector that doesn’t have a ton of Versatility then obviously I’d take the forwards and and that’s why these kinds of conversations are always difficult because it really has to do with just how good are you at basketball overall because you know that that sort of thing kind of complicates this questions these questions but foundationally give me a versatile Garden a versatile Center just cuz I have more different more coverage op options on both ends of the floor next question why didn’t the Thunder trade for KD they have the picks I think the fit on defense would be awesome as he can give them the length and maybe the rebounding that they need and offensively he fits everywhere also would be a great story and if he helps OKC get a title he can kind of redeem his whole career it’s just about the timelines KD is going to be 36 by the start of training camp and like you’re looking for sustainable success if you’re Oklahoma City like you trade for KD you’re the title favorite next year no doubt but any sort of injury disrupts that now Katie’s 37 The Following Season like you’re Sam prey and those guys are going to be looking for sustainable success it’s like the um it’s kind of like what we’ve heard out of Denver it’s like they’re more interested in winning three titles in five years then one title next year does that make sense and so I think that I think as much as KD is a perfect fit they got to look for somebody that matches their timeline better also the Suns would want win now pieces not picks Oklahoma City has more to offer in the way of picks it it it just isn’t a really good trade partnership in that regard next question what about Denver getting D Dron Holmes well this is going to be our third uh draft evaluation here in the show or fourth I should say it’s just clear that Denver is trying to find a long-term option at backup center they Ron homes is considered undersized for an NBA Center he’s only 6’8 and 3/4s without shoes but he does have a longer wingspan a higher standing reach than Zeke Naji so he’s a bigger frame than what they had at backup center last year obviously I don’t I don’t think DeAndre Jordan is is an option either obviously I covered him with the Lakers and he had his moments with Denver but all of you guys who are Denver fans know exactly what DeAndre Jordan is he’s a locker room guy right uh but what I like about Dron Holmes is he’s a prototypical five out big especially on the offensive end of the FL he’s one of the best Roll men in the country last year he can roll hard and finish lobs Above the Rim he can short roll out of traps and he can pass pretty well out of those situations and he kind of demonstrated a little bit of a pick and pop game last year for Dayton uh he’s a really quick decision maker and ball mover this is one of my favorite things about a center who plays in a five out system you’ve got to be able to quickly flow into the next action and one of the things I like about Deon Holmes is when he catches on the perimeter he makes quick decisions if he doesn’t see something that he likes as a shot attempt or as a roll attempt he’s just going to quickly either make an outlet pass and go set the next screen or flow into a dribble handoff like you’ll watch these possessions where you’ll see Dron Holmes set five ball screens and he’s just like flowing into the next one gets it flows into the next one rescreen rescreen like the dude is just a Super Active Center in five out that greases the wheels in the sense that he just flows into the next action and as we know in five out ball reversal is vitally important getting the defense to switch sides and the only way you’re going to do that is if you have a big that can quickly flow into actions on both ends of the floor I I just think he’s going to be a really natural offensive fit with Jamal Murray a really nice ball screen partner if we think about those bench units when joic is off the floor especially in the playoffs it’s been mostly Aaron Gordon at Center and they they’re probably still going to do that when they get into the postseason next year but in the regular season last year was a lot of zek Nagi right this gives you kind of like more of a traditional Center type of option to run with Jamal Murray in those situations so that Jamal can kind of run a similar style of offense to what he runs with Nicole yic in the sense that there’s going to be flow he’s going to be coming off of dribble handoffs he’s going to have an option to throw in the short rle that can make quick decisions a guy who can hit pick and pop threes again like I the main issue with him is size and that’s what everyone’s going to be talking about as a negative like will will he be able to defend and rebound at the NBA level but the Nuggets don’t need him to become a starter they just need him to be able to play when Nicole yic is off the floor right so like that’s an advantage Denver can give him an achievable role in the way that like if you were drafting him as a foundational piece to be your starting center then those concerns about defensive rebounding and size in general become an issue but like I I I like this move for Denver if you look at the center Market it just isn’t great this summer in terms of free agency so the draft was just a great place to look for discounted options Holmes was actually one of the guys that I had my eye on for the Lakers at 17 because they also need a better option at backup center so I really like this pickup for Denver as a discount just a functional five out big that can set screens and roll and pop and at least try on the defensive end of the floor to do a a an effective job uh in those bench units for Denver next question what do you think about the Washington Portland trade I view it as a pretty weird move by the Wizards especially after a big leap season from AIA which still has a lot of upside I was surprised too uh Denny was already tied up on an extension that has descending numbers so like in the year 2028 Denny AIA is going to be making less than $12 million and I’m pretty sure that’s after the new TV deal kicks in so that’s like a that’s pretty crazy I figured they’d trade Kyle kosma he has more trade value around the league excuse me he has more trade value around the league and he’s on a a more expensive deal so you could get more back uh in in terms of trade return and maybe they still will trade kozma so we’ll see in the long run but I just looked at it as like an asset accumulation move like they clearly did not view avdia as a foundational piece otherwise you would have kept him right they got the 14th pick in this draft which they used on bub carington who’s like got a big kind of scoring guard right they got a future first round draft pick out of it and they got Malcolm Brogden who they might be able to flip for even more draft compensation this summer right so like they’re just trying to start their rebuild I should say rest start their rebuild right like they took Alex SAR at number two you’re going all in on youth if you if you have a guy in the rebuild that doesn’t fit your timeline or doesn’t fit the build that you’re going for you got to move him for compensation that’s what they did with AIA as far as Portland goes from what I understand it was just a move about saving money because apparently they’re in the luxury tax yeah you heard that right the Blazers are a luxury tax team right now before the deal they had four players on the books for next season combining to make $112 million in trading Brogden helps them relieve some of that next question what makes you think JJ is going to run five out that isn’t Darin’s team anymore uh JJ reck’s offensive philosophy is five out it’s also the setup that most benefits this roster the stretch that they had in the second half of this season was the best offensive basketball the Lakers have played in the LeBron era and it’s just what makes the most sense given their personnel I think JJ’s going to add complications and make it even better I think he’s going to help him get it to the next level and then the the Lakers do not have a movement shooter and so bringing Dalton Connect into that situation is of huge value in five out when you have these bigs running these dribble handoffs and ball screens having a guy that can fly off of that and if you’re not attached can shoot that forces the screen Defender to actually show on Dalton connect as he’s coming off of those actions that’s what opens up rolls and slips for Anthony Davis and LeBron James that’s a dynamic in the offense that wasn’t there last year so I JJ is a five out coach it’s the perfect fit for this ER and with him just kind of adding complications in the addition of Dalton connect I just expect a better version of the Laker offense heading into next year why do you talk about Julius Randall as if he’s just some sort of ancillary piece and not a two-time all-nba player that is a key cog on this team I have a ton of respect for Julius Randall I think he is a a player that’s a little bit underrated in terms of what his ceiling is as we’ve seen him make all NBA teams before it has a couple it has to do with a couple things one injury history just been consist stly unavailable and as a result unavailable Andor playing injured which has led to poor results that’s been part of it and then two it’s I don’t think it’s the right the right type of fit with this offense the Knicks I think are going to be a pretty active five out team next year with a lot of ball and player movement Julius Randall is a ball stopper in order to play in five out you have to be able to read and react and make quick decisions and those are not strengths for Randall so it’s not about whether or not Randall’s good enough to be your second or third best player on a championship team team it has everything to do with whether or not he is the appropriate use of resources for this team because he does make a lot of money because you do need to get a player that can play alongside male Bridges and Jaylen Brunson and Dante Devan chenzo and ogan anobi and so here’s the thing you just look at the trade market and by the way I in my breakdown talked about what it would look like if Randall stays Randall stays I’d probably take Dante dienzo to the bench and play Mel Bridges at the two I’m a big believer in like play your players so like I’d play Brunson Bridges OG Randall you know just just go all in on your on your talent if you do that you have a small ball look for the Celtics where you can play divon chenzo at the two and play Bridges anid Obi and Randall at the 345 like there’re there’s a version of this that works with Randall my thing is I would just I would peruse the market I’d peruse the market and I would just look to see what you can get for Randall because if you can get quality pieces or assets back that fit the actual motion of the team better then that makes sense to me or like like let’s say for instance from a money standpoint what if you have the ability to withstand a long-term deal for Isaiah hartenstein by virtue of getting rid of Randall I’d rather have hartenstein at the five alongside anobi Bridges divon chenzo and Brunson then have Randall on the team but lose Isaiah hartstein to free agency right so like they just got to figure out what makes the most sense in terms of what Randall’s value is this summer but like at the at the end of the day I just view him as a little bit of a clunky fit even if I do respect him as a player and so I would at least be exploring options to make better use of his salary slot next question my buddies were having an argument on whether or not Caruso should start over Dort I’m of the belief that Dort would be better in their driveing kick offense than Caruso but Caruso on some nights might be on the floor and closing lineups over Dort because of his knack to make winning plays also my buddy feels like Chad is best with this grou group at the five but I feel like they should look at him at the four what are your thoughts couple things uh let’s start with Chad as far as whether or not he plays the four or the five it all just depends on what kind of player like if you’re getting Isaiah hartstein at the center I like that alongside Chad at the four because Isaiah hartstein is just a complete just just a just a pain in the ass on the glass right which would address a specific need for Oklahoma City he’s a great five out big great dribble handoff fulcrum who can score on the roll and is a great offensive rebounder also a great out of those situations love the fit there Chad is a shoe in obvious fit at the four if that’s the case I like CAD at the five if you can get him a big power forward like if you got a Jeremy Grant at that position I like a Jeremy Grant Chet home grin 45 it all just depends on the type of player you can get I don’t want ched at the four next to a bad Center and I don’t want ched at the five next to a bad power forward it just depends on what kind of player that you can get as far as Caruso and Dort they’re two very different types of players Dort is like a more confident sh shooter and a guy that has a little bit more offensive upside but Caruso is a higher floor offensive player he’s a better decision maker he’s not going to hijack as many possessions really active off ball as a screener and a cutter loved watching him play on offense alongside LeBron James as a as a result of that kind of thing I think defensively he’s a different type of player I think Caruso is probably a better defensive player in terms of the the overall number of guys he can guard but Dort I think is better for the bigger forwards which is especially Val in the later rounds of the playoffs when you run into your Lucas and your tatums and your LeBron and your KDs and your Kawhi Leonards and just those all these huge forwards that we have in the league so like Dort in all in all likelihood it’s it’s just it’s just optionality right like there will be games where you close with Jay dub Shay Dort Caruso and Chad there will be games where you close with cruso in for Dort and with another big on the floor there will be games where cruso doesn’t close right so like it’s all about option optionality is a good thing you have the ability to tweak your approach based on your opponent and so again you can’t have enough you can’t have too many good basketball players right and and Caruso is just another really good basketball player and again you turned a player that didn’t fit in your team in giddy into a player in Caruso that you’re going to be able to play one way or another it’s just a question of how often next question with the Knicks acquiring Mel Bridges do you now have them as the second best team in the East if so who would you have as your top four teams in the east absolutely would have the Knicks at number two right now I think Milwaukee and Philly will end up being the three and four but and both of those teams are capable of passing the Knicks for me at number two but it it’s just so much is up in the air with them I have no idea what Philly’s roster is going to look like next year and I have no idea what Milwaukee’s roster is going to look like next year Philly Dam near near has a clean cap sheet and Milwaukee is probably going to look to make several trades this summer so like I just don’t know what those teams are going to look like I also think Orlando could crack into that mix this year especially if they get some more off ball shooting like I I the the East is going to be tougher next year and certainly more deep with talent but I think at this point given what we know for sure I think the Knicks are clearly the second best team in the league uh did you watch the JJ reick press conference I think he showed that he has the right mentality about taking the job and knows what he’s getting into and still seemed very confident his answers in Charisma were very impressive in my opinion I think he’ll be able to connect with the players well would love to hear your thoughts everyone knew JJ was going to nail the presid conference I’m I liked the JJ hire but I the press conference for me wasn’t going to be a major swing factor in that regard it’s just he’s a professional he’s a media professional like it’s just like he’s good at being in front of camera and communicating his thoughts and I the the thing that stood out to me like his attitude came through in a big way which is like we see JJ reck as the media professional but we forget he was a basketball and that’s a good thing in my opinion right like the that’s the competitiveness right like that’s the the best kind of guy that you want is the guy that like when it’s go time is a and then when it’s off the court is a nice guy right and like that that’s that’s the kind of like competitive energy that you’re looking for right you don’t want him to grade on people behind the scenes but you need him to be a in the trenches Warrior right like and so that’s kind of what I’m hoping for from JJ is the ability to do both the ability to be diplomatic the ability to be an right and if you can do both that’s what gives you the ability to kind of like pick spots of when to be hard and when to not to identify different personality types like oh this guy needs positive reinforcement this guy needs negative reinforcement as a basketball player I needed negative reinforcement I needed a guy I needed my coaches to name call and and tell me to stop being a and to do that sort that sort of thing resonated with me better but I had teammates that like needed more coddling that needed more positive reinforcement right and so like it just it’s that’s the type of Personality d dnamic that JJ’s going to have to to to figure out and I actually think he’s got the ability to do both like he can do the good cop bad cop thing and he he can bring that competitive energy I think like I think the attitude about when he got asked the question about um when he got asked a question where he he basically said like I don’t give a when he was talking about what people think like I think that energy will serve him well because this is a job that’s going to come with a lot of criticism this is a job that’s going to come with a lot of negative energy online and there’s going to be a certain amount of mental toughness that he’s going to have to show but did the press conference surprise me in any way no JJ’s a professional but I just I I loved that we got to see a little bit of his nasty side because I think that’s going to be a significant part of what makes him a good coach all right we have three non-basketball things before we get out of here Jason I’m listening to basketball content I don’t want spoilers for an episode I haven’t seen yet that’s not cool I am sincerely sorry in our uh we did a a mailbag not a mailbag I had a comment about the acolyte the other day and I kind of spoiled what happens in the first couple minutes of the show and I should not have done that that was a mistake I am so sorry um second one comments about my nose there were like 20 or 30 of you guys who asked what happened to my nose I had that scratch on it uh those of you who guess basketball were correct I was high pointing a rebound and a guard tried to like swipe up at the basketball as I was coming down with it and like just missed everything and like it was weird like just straight up came across the tip of my nose with this fingernail so like I didn’t bust my nose or anything but I just had this like really clean cut which was super bizarre like immediately started bleeding and everything I obviously was super annoyed but it is what it is it’s part of the game I’m actually I was actually thinking about it I am shocked that that hasn’t happened to me more often uh since I started doing this cuz like I’ve been doing this on camera every day for two and a half years and this is the first time I’ve had like a a significant like obvious face injury right and like it’s not the first time it’s happened to me playing basketball I’ve got busted in the nose a bunch of times I’ve had cuts and scratches and I had uh I remember when I was uh uh just before I started playing in college I was playing pickup at the University of Arizona one time and this guy tried to take a charge on me at half court like I made a move in the open floor running full speed and the dude slid in front of me and fell down and I ran into his head and I had like an inch long Harry Potter scar which I still have right here that goes up my forehead literally split open it was bleeding ever was it was actually kind of funny cuz the kid who did it was a med student so like suddenly as soon as I am like laying on the ground bleeding everywhere the guy like started taking care of me as if he was a medical professional it was so funny because he was doing he was super nice and he was doing all the right things and he was just trying to take care of me but at the same time I’m like you just took a charge on me in a pickup game at half court and now my forehead’s busted I was just I was so damn annoyed and like but it’s it’s part of the game like I I I play back basketball competitively four or five times a week and so I it’s not the first time or it is it’s not the first time I’ve had a scratch on my face or some sort of laceration from basketball and it probably won’t be the last and I’m thankful that it hasn’t happened too many times since I got started with the volume uh last question hey Jason love the show wanted to start watching Star Wars but I don’t know where to start do you have any ideas and again before I get into this I wanted to remind you guys I do have a a podcast where I cover TV shows and movies right now I’m covering House of the dragon as well as uh the acolyte I do it with my buddy Luke who’s my best friend we do it right here in this studio uh very different vibe than Hoops tonight but it’s a it’s another format that I use this is the name of the show it’s called two sons uh exact spelled exactly as it sounds you can find it on YouTube as well as on your podcast feeds wherever you get your podcasts we uh do a do pretty much like bi-weekly content on that account you guys can check that out there but no secret on a Die Hard Star Wars fan and if you were starting from scratch with Star Wars I’d start with the movies and I’d do them in order because I think that would make the most sense so I’d watch Phantom Menace attack of the Clones Revenge of the Sith then A New Hope Empire Strikes Back Return of the Jedi the sequel Trilogy sucks but you got to watch it uh just by virtue of just being aware of what happens uh after that clone wars and Rebels are really really good those are two they’re two cartoons that are on Disney plus but don’t let the cartoon thing fool you fool you they are like deep deep deep Star Wars content um there’s a little bit of like a childish element that you’ll run into on occasional episodes but the majority of it is really good rebels in particular was just an awesome awesome show uh all the Disney plus content is good Mandalorian Kenobi was good Ahsoka the acolyte uh and then books if you’re into the book side of it uh the Darth Bane Books are really good the Darth pagus book is really good the thraw books are some of my favorites they’re getting into thraw in the Ahsoka TV series so that would be a good one uh and then if you at the high Republic series I’m struggling with right now because it’s a little bit weird but that is some stuff that helps set up the the world for the acolyte so it might be worth checking out but that’s just like an initial kind of list if you’re looking to get into Star Wars but again those of you guys who are already fans don’t forget I have that other podcast where we break that sort of thing down [Music] he

Jason Timpf answers listener questions during an NBA Mailbag segment. Should the Oklahoma City Thunder make a move with the Phoenix Suns to bring Kevin Durant back to OKC? What does Jason think of the Celtics and Nuggets moves in the NBA Draft to build on NBA Finals-worthy teams? And are the Knicks the clear-cut second best team in the Eastern Conference after adding Mikal Bridges to his Villanova core of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo?

Timeline:
00:00 – Baylor Scheierman to Celtics
05:48 – Ryan Dunn to Suns
11:25 – Best foundation for NBA team
17:00 – Should Thunder trade for Kevin Durant
18:05 – DaRon Holmes to Nuggets
21:48 – Wizards-Trail Blazers trade
23:30 – Will JJ Redick run 5-out with Lakers?
24:37 – Is Julius Randle underrated?
27:11 – What Thunder lineup will look like
29:47 – Are Knicks second best team in East?
30:40 – JJ Redick press conference
33:10 – Apology for Star Wars spoilers
33:33 – What happened to Jason’s nose?
35:42 – Where to start watching Star Wars

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