Breaking Down DeMar DeRozan’s Fit With the Sacramento Kings | The Dunker Spot
[Music] hi hello and welcome to another episode of the dunker spot we are part of 342 Productions I am your host Nika Duncan and joining me as always is my co-host Steve Jones Jr Steve how are you doing sir aha feeling good feeling great happy to be here excited to be here thank you dunkers for once again embracing your bounce YouTube hi uh thank you for your support uh theas it’s time to hoop it up it is indeed time to Hoop It Up before we hoop it up and talk a whole bunch of freeny things and some W things as well just a quick bit of bookkeeping uh check out the JJ reic uh video If you haven’t seen so already gave us the farewell video gave you the update uh just to reiterate we are going to be here every week every Tuesday just as we were during the entire regular season and the postseason so we’ll continue to rock it out on Tuesdays plenty of NBA content plenty of w content as well if you’re trying to get into the league so continue to rock with us continue to support and check out that video if you haven’t already um on a much less serious note uh before we dig into the big freedy news of the weekend uh tough weekend for you boy uh as a big fan of poku Lexi pocoski uh as a big fan of Orlando Robinson um both of them being waved over the weekend is a big blow to the personal bit so had had to mourn for like two hours over the weekend hopeing they find some homes so I get to continue watching them play basketball so we very quickly take an L before I’m going to beat Steve to it hey what’s up real quick we gotta what’s the opposite of the minest Touch look all some of these players hey we got three years to pod now the the sample size is growing enough like hey let’s talk about it it’s looking Grim all right well fair enough fair enough uh you know it’s not looking Grim uh the Sacramento Kings offense as they had themselves a pretty big weekend demard de Rosen you are a Sacramento King via signing trade um they also signed Jord mcclaflin over the weekend but we will start with dear de rosan three years up to $76 million uh the first two years are guaranteed partial guarantee on the third year that coming from Chris Haynes uh the rozen last year averaged 24 points 4.3 rebounds 5.3 assists converted 51% of his twos which is absurd when you consider what his shot profile is uh as part of the signing trade Chris dwarte two seconds and cash going to the Chicago Bulls and Harrison Barnes and an unprotected first round pick swap in 2031 which could get interesting uh going to the San Antonio Spurs but we’ll start with dear uh just the your early thoughts on the Demar de R Roan fit uh how do you think it’s going to go I I like the move I like the move for Sacramento the Western conf conference is not getting any easier two years ago the Sacramento Kings team took Everyone by surprise won 48 games they were the three seed last year they took a step back to 46 games and they were in the playin if you can turn Harrison Barnes into demard D rozan to try and capitalize on this window I totally understand I think he’s a plus I think his scoring is really going to help the Sacramento Kings that’s what 20 a night for 11 straight Seasons that doesn’t just go away uh to to dive into I think his self-creation and the different spots and ways they can use him will really help balance them out in the half court I know there’s concern about fit with dearon Fox and sabonis and dear and maybe it’s redundant but to me I’d be more concerned if this is like truly a bulls type scenario where we’re actually trying to fit the pieces together and figure out which way is the best way for us to play the Kings have movement built in with The Monto sabonis with the handoffs with the cutting with the off ball actions the pace the tempo they’ve established that and we saw last year with Sacramento they were working to try and balance some of those things out in the half court hey what if we let de go a little bit what if he get the bonus to this touch here at the elbow let him drive well can we get Keegan M Keegan Murray going on his own this can help them just outright run those things but two when teams are physical when teams are active when teams are getting them out of their sets we have something we can go to so I think there’s potential for it to be a really smooth fit and like my mind immediately went back to that Bulls run and personally for me the moments where they actually got to flowing offensively and you had vich catch it at at the at the top and hey here’s Demar D roen setting the screen for Zack LaVine the defense switched oh Demar D rozan is now cutting back door and they could play out of that now few and far between for the Chicago Bulls during that stretch but it’s a lot more of what the Kings do traditionally on offense um so I know three-point shooting is probably a question mark for some folks out there totally get it you can still space the floor I I do think and wonder how much the pace and the tempo in Sacramento helps dear and how he fits into that do they get to more drive and kick once they get teams in rotation does he now also get involved in that is he going to be attacking maybe not a scrambling defense but someone who just helped and has try and recover uh the thought of going two man game with sabonis and Fox on one side doesn’t work oh now it’s Demar D rozan coming off for a hand off for pick and roll that doesn’t S fun for a defense so that that’s where I think he just going to upgrade their offense because a lot of times when we talked about the Kings last year hey is dearen fox’s jumper going does Malik monk have it going is Keegan Murray Ling to shoot is sabonis being aggressive and finishing I think having a Demar could study a lot of that out and and the other big thing let’s talk about the fourth quarter talk about these close games so I did a little amateur count 10 losses last year by five points or less so you you take dearen Fox who was second in fourth quarter scoring 10th in clutch scoring and fifth in total clutch points and you add Demar D rozan who led the league in fourth quarter points first in clutch points per game and second in total clutch points I think that could be helpful especially when might be pretty good you could just run actions with those two together so I I think the the offense is a is a major plus okay this is something that I’ve warmed up to a little bit more the that I’ve thought about it because like on a very basic level Demar de Rosen is a talent upgrade from Harrison Barnes with all due respect to Harrison Barnes also have Barnes Spurs thoughts we’ll get to them after we talk about the Kings but I do think you just have a general Talent upgrade and as you alluded to earlier the West just continues to get tough you just have to have top end Talent you obviously have to have the depth to complement that but you’re not getting to the dance if you ain’t got the top end talent to compete and we have seen at different stages of this particular King’s run like the monst has been an all NBA player dear Fox we know can just be one of the most dynamic point guards in basketball and you talked about the jumper did you know that de Fox shot 39% on catch and shoot threes last year I did so like it’s you’re Steve of course you did but like that seems pretty helpful like we talked a lot about Daren Fox’s jumper last year hey is he relying on a little bit too much is he finding the balance and that was more so hey what’s happening inside the AR what are you doing on these pull-up twos against drop Etc Darren Fox becoming a better catch and shoot threat I think makes it a little bit easier to slot demard Rosen into this I think from an overall shot profile diversification standpoint DeMar rosen certainly helps as dearen Fox though he can get downhill whenever he wants to he’s sprinkling in more pull-ups you’re still waiting on a little bit more consistency in the intermediate area uh damont sabonis we know he can put people underneath the basket but I think through a playoff lens like there have been I think valid criticism of okay what ex how diverse are your scoring chobs what does that look like can we just dump it to you and say get us one four or five positions in a row with dear Rosen you could just say hey here’s the ball get out the way I think the two-man game between him and de monus bonus with how good of a screener he is some of the rec screens they try to duck under against dear like that feels like a very natural pairing and again with dear with the ball in his hands if dearon Fox is able to build on to catch a shoot numbers from last year if Kevin herder who was not part of this deal we have an entire offseason to go so he may end up being moved later but Kevin herder for right now is still there down year last year but we know he can shoot Keegan Murray we know he can shoot like that’s a decent amount of space for DeMar rosen to operate with to add on to as you mentioned they already have the movement stuff built in with sabonis as a handoff hub or a post Hub they can just go highp pick Ro dear and fox like the wave that the Kings can come out with now to where we can push with dear off of Misses or even after make sometimes let’s get into some stuff early dear can go we can push early toss to damont he can go side to side and now you just have oh crap we did a good job against thearon Andor damont sabonis now demard de Rosen has it on the second side now we got to deal with all this now we got to deal with a guy that didn’t get to the rim as much as he’s accustomed to which I think that is something to monitor as you know we get to like year two of the contract and stuff like that and the Kings quietly were 27th in Rim rate last year it is worth note you know keeping I on how often does dear get all the way downhill will it be easier for him to get downhill if he’s playing offensive bonus as you mentioned does you do you unlock more of the cutting from him does that help him get more shots at the basket so like I like the offensive fit they have enough perimeter players that can space around him I feel like and your fourth quarter point was a really strong one I think more than the three-point shooting for dear which we don’t know how willing he’s going to be to take threes he take around three a game last year we don’t know what the volume’s going to look like and Ely don’t know what the efficiency is going to look like I I would imagine defenses are going to treat dear the same way they’ve been treating him on the perimeter if he space we can help off a little bit if he’s running a super high pick and roll we’ll go under Darren to take pull up threes I don’t think that shifts I guess defensively is more of where I have the question mark ah there it is death taxes Nas Duncan doubting the Sacramento Kings defense what you got big fell which they work I think I would imagine defensively Demar is just going to be the defensive four you take on this bigger guy that may not have the on ball chops do your best basically feel the Harrison Barnes role like I did not love Harrison Barnes on defense last year I’m curious to hear like how King’s fans felt about him but I in my watching I didn’t feel great about that I do think it’s still a little bit of a downgrade defensively from Barnes just I mean Harrison is still bigger Etc but it may not be as dramatic of a drop off considering the level that Barnes was at last year again in I watching at the very least but who’s the second best line who’s the second best uh rebounder in their projector starting lineup I feel it’s a lot of owners on demam Monas to be able to clean up and that’s before getting into any of the versatility questions that one may have with Sacramento as they tried to tap into more of that last year but they still weren’t in Elite defense on balance so I do Wonder like what the Gang bound is going to look like and in general if thear is in space against some of these top tier Guys Sacramento leans more in the switching what is that going to look like how do they help him behind that D no no respect for Keegan Murray and Daren Fox’s uh ability to help rebound no I asked I asked you the question uh Harrison Barnes averaged 2.2 defensive rebounds per game last year point that up uh here’s the thing right defense point I it’s going to be a loud point I hear it I think it’s fair I think it’s valid here’s my counter to everyone M was there truly a move that was going to make you believe in the king’s defense uh unsure if you’re firmly in you personally how much has your belief in the king’s defense changed in the last two seasons uh I got a little bit more last year they did get better second half of the year they did but overall is that a defense you trust uh not right now like I like I find it hard to believe they reach like the El if their ceiling is Elite I feel a little bit better about their ability to get to average based on what I saw the second half last year okay but now adding dear to this infrastructure like I have questions I just want to see it that’s fair you have all the questions you want but what I would say is if the goal is just to do our job is it not worth the gamble to get a higher offensive Talent yeah think about this two years ago kings first in offensive rating 11 18.6 24th in defensive rating 116 last year 14th in defensive rating Improvement 114.4 13th in offensive rating they can’t afford the balance they can’t be mid at both they need to either be really good offensively and and defensively or pretty darn good offensively and meh defensively that’s their bit right now I don’t see them going taking a leap to the top 10 defensively but I do think there’s a way they can get it done post off Serb the kings were ninth in defensive rating 11 10.9 in the 303 minutes that sabonis fox Malik Monk and Keegan ber played they had a one point a 112.8 defensive rating in the 326 minutes of damont sabonis dearon fox Keegan Murray Keon Ellis 105.2 defensive rate that’s pretty darn good so this is where it gets interesting and tricky who do you start if you’re Sacramento do you go Keon Ellis and say Keon Keegan you guys get after him and we’ll figure it out do you go Kevin herder and try and just really go all in offensively who knows it’s going to put a lot of pressure on the Keon Ellis’s and the Keegan murres of the world to defend at a very high level but the gamble for the Kings for them specifically is we have to maximize our offense if our offense only this we’re only going so far MH if we can have more Talent get better in the half Port be really really tough to deal with on that end of the floor we probably have enough to figure it out defense and so for me it’s can the Kings just become a doy your job team the effort is generally there for the Kings they fly around they rotate they work they need to execute consistently how much is having a good offense help them there how much did they learn last year through that so for me I understand if the king’s defense is super super bad and the offense struggles it’s not going to work we can all admit that but there is a world where the kings are very good again offensively can navigate some of these tougher matchups or half court battles and defense is just good enough they look like a different team I feel like that’s the bit as opposed to let’s run it back running it back is very tempting these days but running it back can also be very costly because now hey we’re ready for all of this you know in the back of my mind because a lot of people were reacting with well the three-point shooting the spacing it’s like do you think defenses were treating Harrison Barnes like a light out shooter in the fourth quarter or were they okay with his catches they were fine with us and to your point like the kings were third and three three-point rate last year like if they go from third to like sixth they’re still getting them up and that be worth we feel better inside the arc either at the paint or just again Demar Ros has been one of the best mid-range scores of basketball for a very long time so like even if you see some of the different three-point shooting if you’re more effective inside the AR that may balance that out anyway yeah I just I just for me it’s it’s not to Sho the idea it’s more like this is they’re going to have this defense thing no matter what right now this version of the Kings is GNA have the defensive question marks no matter what because if it’s not dear in space right can they contain can they help each other can they recover can opponents protect the rim can they defend and pick and roll those aren’t going away and they’re still going to have to deal with the top in the elite in the Western Conference so if we can’t beat them we got to join them and the best way we can join them is score the basketball the the old Addis the their their best defense may be their offense hey we we aren’t going to get to you mentioned ninth post Allstar break we may not over 82 games be a top 10 defense can we hover around that 14 15 range and in our goal in being that is it helpful if we just score more efficiently than we did last year and thus we are in the half court more defensively and thus we can load up our help more consistently and we can do more of the more of the game plan stuff does that help us get there like I feel like it’s not a onetoone conversation but this is similar to the conversation that had about Klay Thompson joining Dallas to where yeah there’s a drop off defensively between Derek Jones Jr to K clay however is our if is our infrastructure strong enough to help that and withhold that if so what we’re getting on the offensive end is so much better than what we just had we have a higher ceiling overall like I think that is a reasonable Bel bet that the kings are making and like even with my question about Sacramento defensively sliding dear in what that’s going to look like I still land on this is a good move and a good bet for Sacramento like to your point if the defense slides from 14th to 20th we will talk about that we’ll point that out if the offense goes up from 13th to sixth or fifth it may not matter they still may just be a 4647 win team so like I I think again this is a reasonable signing DeMar rosen is really good at basketball while are questions I think valid questions to ask he should add quite a bit to this offense and it may just be enough to offset that stuff so like I I’m here for it I want to see what it looks like the Nugget I want to say from Chris Haynes that Daren Fox was one of the ones that helped seal the deal for Demar coming there like that means something to me because if you were G to have any offensive questions about the two is it g to be my turn your turn Etc I personally didn’t have those but if you were going to have those questions like that nugget should at least alleviate some of those concerns if dear is saying hey no I want this guy in I’m willing to come off the ball like dear has had to sacrifice some of the own ball usage anyway with damont simonas being there and letting him handle the ball as much as he does and letting him operate as a hub as much as he does so I don’t think it was a situation to where dearon like worried about I’m only gonna take 13 shots or something like that he doesn’t seem like that kind of dude and so I I like the outfit of fit they have a lot of guard they have a lot of optionality in the guard spot period so actually very quickly I want to flip your question back to you who would you start if you’re Sacramento me I would start Keon ‘s okay I’d start Keon ‘s bring Monk and herder in with simonis get some staggering going hopefully Demar you can get him some second unit minutes see if you can liveen up some of the non sabonis minutes to a degree because hey we could just give to this guy uh so that’d be intriguing that’s probably where I go I go Keon Ellis okay I think his defense is very important and if you can kind of get that blend of Both Worlds that’ be key now I would understand if it’s Kevin herder but I pra go key on I got you and I guess just a quick followup on the Kevin herder front do you keep Kevin herder or do you try to package him for better backup big another forward whatever you may think the Kings also need are you just cool with just keeping herder and hoping he bounces back I’m cool with keeping Kevin herder unless a deal pops off you know I think the Assumption was they probably got to lose both to upgrade and they only had to lose one so I was like well I mean you got to keep Kevin herder so either keep a very good shooter uh who’s familiar with your team fits right in or you have another way to upgrade your team which is important these days so I probably lean keeping them okay fair I’m I’m a big believer here’s the thing who would you end who would you end what would your closing lineup for Sacramento be see that’s where it gets interesting for me like I think on a basic level the fact that I have like seven players for five spots is a good quote unquote problem to have if you’re Mike Brown as far as my ideal closing lineup obviously you’re gonna have Fox you’re gonna have D rozan you’re gonna have Keegan bur you’re gonna have saona out there the boring answer is Whoever has it cooking um I personally probably feel better with I think I probably flip it from where you are like I think I start herder and I close with Keon to have to add a defense out there I close with Malik monk H which that also just kind of looms like hey I got this money also has expressed interest to start I think he’s good enough to be a starting player in this league so I don’t think that’s an unreasonable ass especially with what he’s done during his time in Sacramento that’s also where I have like the hurder question in my head like Keon popped for us we just got Malik monk back we may be able to just use this herder salary slot to help for you know balance out the roster a little bit and just give those two guys room to grow at the two in addition to they just drafted dein Carter so at some point if not this year maybe next year they I would imagine the Kings want him to factor into the rotation so like this feels like a writing on the- wall situation in my opinion but that’s not a decision they have to make now so I am inrig um before we get to I guess we on the Kings just very quick any Ed do you have any thoughts on Jord mclin as a bench up for Sacramento solid pickup I think he fits with what they want to do he’s always generally brought the juice when in Minnesota I think with Sacramento little bit clear assignment as far as what’s needed from you I think you can operate in what they do movement wise so being able to add a player like that on the low thumbs up for me okay like it’s very reasonable like I guess technically fourth guard or fifth guard um but you lose Mitchell in the trade hey let’s get a ball pressure guy so if we do just want to go change of pace we ain’t came out with the energy that we want early second quarter here’s Jord mclin just to get on your nerves at the point of attack uh K knockdown shots you mentioned he seems like a nice fit with their movement stuff where at the very least they handoff stuff so like he very much he should fit in nicely as occasional spark plug on a random Tuesday and with the potential for more if someone gets hurt like I think I if Jordan mcclin is in my rotation for three weeks I’m not feeling that bad about if has the start that gets different but like behind the air like I’m fine with that um so like it’s cool for that for them to replenish that specific skill set with Davon out the door with a trade earlier this offseason so shout out to Jordan mcclaflin um very clear mentioned Chris dwte two seconds and cast to the Chicago Bulls Chris dorte used more as like a they tried to put him in the defensive stopper role it felt like in Sacramento felt like less of the Reliance on the shooting or in terms of role and in volume uh how do you feel he’ll slide into Chicago uh I mean I think the the issue for him it makes sense but he’s going to have to either show the shot is back or he’s have to show the defense is at a high level something has to stick there’s a lot of guards and wings there but they’re still trying to figure out who Dal and Terry is so you’re going to have to kind of find your way when you get your opportunity to show no I can defend at this level you need to play me or I’m making shots you have to play me you have to give them a reason to get that shot just because that the way that roster is kind of constructed I think they’re could be an opportunity but he’s got to earn it I got you shot 35% from three last year but again volume wasn’t super high new dorte came into the league with the reputation of someone that can really knock down shots at a high level so if something like I think the defensive chops that he showcased last year while not Elite I can understand how that may raise the brow for a team like okay there may be a little bit more here defensively than we thought that should then give him a little bit more leeway in theory to get more playing time return to form on the shot now you have lower tier mider three in the prospect that as Chicago’s just trying to take flyers on people they move into this second phase or move into this next phase rather like it makes sense for them to take make those kind of bets so I I dig it and if it doesn’t work think it’s going to be that difficult to move on from DTE so I dig it and then last thing again the unprotected 31 pick swap is really interesting to me we will see what when we got to make sure we’re all here by 2031 but beond that um it’s just a joke just a joke just a joke but we’ll see what that looks like if that turns into a hey how the heck that the Spurs end up with a top five pick when wmy just averaged 304 and seven or something we can look back on this deal Harrison Barnes in San Antonio two-parter for you Steve how do you feel about the fit do you feel like he’s going to be in San Antonio past the trade deadline probably I think Harrison Barn’s solid I don’t think this was the year for the Spurs to swing for the fenses but it’s pretty nice to have the knowledge that we’re going to have some IQ to get us better and have some better balance in our lineups having Chris Paul and Harrison bounds around that’s going to help with Victor and the young folk Harrison can face the floor he can switch can be involved offensively doesn’t have to shoot the ball so I think it I think it works I I don’t think he would here’s the thing where where is he getting traded to um good team Contender adjacent that needs help at the four which team is that on once a veteran with playoff experience Etc like I guess off top of my head since we’re going to talk about them shortly like if Philly wants another forward and we get close to the trade that or we get past January 15 KJ Martin hasn’t signed a new deal yet but if they do use his bird rights and hey let’s give KJ a two-year $18 million two years 20 mil or whatever second year non- guaranteed so we have a midsize salary to be able to move by the deadline like Harrison Barnes and Philly how do you feel about that I have to see what Philly looks like first yeah but I mean like that’ be the kind of team that could make that kind of move yeah maybe I don’t know you told me you think he’s you seem hellbent on this San Antonio chilling for two months strategy you what you mean said Chris Paul ain’t gonna be there Harrison bars a gonna be there what you what you trying to say I mean I ain’t got no Intel or nothing I don’t know if they’re going to be there or not I’m just saying that possibility certainly exists um I will say like I think Harrison being there is going to force some kind of movement in the Ford room whether that’s going to be him being moved again to a contender or playoff team and had helping the for dep or we want trust Ro the guys or vet around wimy because he is so good we can’t really tank anymore because he’s absurd and as we saw like Kellin Johnson move to the bench hey let’s move Kellin for someone that fits our core better I have a question what’s up you better get mad okay is the core in the room with us right now well uh you have wiby a ain’t that the core you have well oh no you got wimy you got Devon Vel clearly they believe in Jeremy soan they just drafted Stefon Castle they have that’s four it’s four people like I what you mean if you’re including Kellin that’s five though he’s I guess technically a young vet he’s been there for a minute but like he’s still very much young um but I guess for me like the move to the bench is what kind of intrigues me within like the team building sense it’s like okay is the tide kind of turning with how the building feels about him as a piece that we have to keep no matter what like it feels like it’s very much shifted on that front that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s just on the trade block period but at the very he’s not Untouchable and so again if they if they hop out the gate they’re 20 and 14 like does Kellen become a piece to help bring in insert much better player here Kellen plus stuff like I think if they’re bad it becomes more likely okay hey Harrison we appreciate you big dog here are these three playoff teams that want that need help where would you like to go so that that’s mostly what I mean okay I don’t think they’re beholding making a move but I think with Harrison there it makes it more likely that something happens on that front I got you okay all right moving on to some other free agency signings again just briefly touched on Philadelphia Caleb Martin you are a Philadelphia 76er a four-year deal worth $32 million uh the Sixers also waved the non- guaranteed deal of Paul Reed to open up some room so another L as I a Paul Reed fan but neither here nor there Caleb Martin last season uh 10 points 49% on twos 35% from three 78 from the line four point .4 rebounds 2.2 assists last season with Miami Steve how do you feel about Darton fit in Philly uh I like it I think for me part of it is like okay y’all had a bunch of room you got Paul George you got Andre drumond you also were able to get Caleb Martin that seems like a win considering who you got on the top end yeah uh so that’s pretty good stuff if you ask me I I think it tells me what kind of Direction the Sixers are looking to go defensively I’m assuming we’ll see switching uh I think it would be safe to assume Kelly UB Caleb Martin you guys are going to get the bulk of those key defensive assignments uh might allow Paul George to switch um at times conserve some energy play on the weak side and defend that way uh and B can continue to protect the rim and execute multiple schemes and Maxi can get that activity uh so I think the number one thing for me is defensively hey we know the activity he brings uh we know on ball off ball that he’s going to be locked in when it comes to showing help and pressuring the ball he can space he’s not down big threes he showcased that I am intrigued to see what the consistency of the shot looks like in Philadelphia one because you know while it’s a good move they are going to need him to produce at a certain level and when you are playing with Joel and beid and the double teams that he’s going to get there is a little bit of hey you need to make some of these and you have to make sure you keep taking these so he can’t kind of pass up some of the threes that are going to be available he has to make sure he’s consistently and stays aggressive uh I am intrigued to see what that looks like in a bigger role um I think the positive is we’ve seen Nick nurse be willing to have movement so Joel embiid operating at the elbow getting some dble handoffs can he now turn the corner does he get paint touches is he able to drive Closeouts can he attack and transitions that help them that way it’s not Apples to Apples but it’s like hey we kind of need someone to do the Tobias Harris rooll without asking Tobias Harris to do the the Tobias Harris rooll yeah so can we get all these pieces to do the Tobias Harrison so it’s I think there’s a little bit of a fit there um but he is going to have to produce so I think as long as he delivers defensively he stays aggressive offensively I think that that’ll be a big plus for Philly uh but it seems like small balls going be the wave yeah I think just to bounce off of that my early thought with Caleb Martin on the basketball court is how healthy is he going to be I think part of what nagged him last year led to some of the inconsistency that we saw was him dealing with I want to say Achilles soreness it was something with the lower body with Caleb Martin and I think him getting as close to 100% as possible very duh analysis here but him getting to as close to 100% as possible is going to be imperative for him to really hit in Philadelphia because if he’s if he is healthy everything you said just pops with Caleb Martin at a reasonable price point he will absolutely help juice their transition attack either someone who would just fly 100 miles hour down the wing and give an outlet for Tyrese Maxi or he can grab and go or Force the deflection he can take it himself he is not afraid to attack people at the basket and Philadelphia especially with Tyrese Maxi on the floor they played a little bit faster they push a little bit more with Tyrese at the helm he needs running mates like that’s that was part of what like I had some questions about the Kelly UB signing initially but like one of the things I did highlight was like okay well he’s at the very least he’s gonna run with Tyrese and that should be helpful so giving Tyrese another guy there will make some sense there and to your defense point I do think assuming that Caleb Martin is just going to be your starter and they just go Tyrese the three Wings Paul George uh Caleb Martin and Kelly UB and embiid like they’re absolutely going to switch more uh they switched about 26% of pick and roles the year before last that was down to 23% this year uh per second spectrum that was 17th in the league I would imagine we get closer to 30% at the very least if this is going to be your starting group and we’ll see what other additions the Sixers make as the offseason goes on obviously but it does feel like they’re going to Trend to kind of B uh pull that number up a a little bit hopefully that takes a little bit of pressure off of Joel embiid if they’re just switching two through four or maybe one through four if they’re willing to scram Tyrese out of some stuff should take some pressure off of Joel you may not see him up at the level as often as we saw him last year which I think for the regular season for Philly you got to go in conservation mode with Joel embiid we know how good you are let’s make sure you are right by the time the playoffs roll around that means you’re just sitting in a deep drop and we just switch everything else in front of you so you can to stay back here inhale shots at The Rim grab some rebounds I am curious about what the rebound is going to look like for Philly on both ends with Caleb Martin because he’s very willing to crash in there so I think in spurts he can absolutely help on the defensive glass uh I don’t know if he’s a game changer to where Philly goes from making up numbers in this case they go for like 23rd defensive rebound rate to like 15th because of Caleb Martin like I don’t think he’s gonna have that kind of impact but I think he will be able to help and get some contested ones and key moments and on the offensive glass he is very good and very willing to just crash from the corner at random and generate extra possessions and Philly hasn’t been a super heavy offensive rebound team uh in terms of offensive rebound rate anyway so I think Caleb can absolutely help on that front um but beyond that the drives are going to be very important you mentioned a little bit about the handoff usage he’s gotten more comfortable dealing with those with his St in Miami I’ll come off this handoff and immediately turn the corner or if y’all trying to duck under I can rescreen I’ve become more willing to kind of pull against an under so we’ll see what the three-point shooting lands but he has become more comfortable ex um executing in those actions and just in general because we talked a little bit about Paul George um and me keeping an eye on the rim pressure with him Caleb Martin will certainly help on that front he will attack the basket he will absolutely attack Closeouts so in theory if everyone’s humming like Tyrese Maxi gonna get downhill Caleb Mark can get downhill Kelly UB can get downhill if Paul George is able to get downhill more on top of that and we know what kind of pressure Jolan beid puts on the rim period you feel a little bit better about the offensive balance for Philadelphia and then just quickly to the defense I already touched on the switching but in terms of just initial assignments I’m glad you brought up like Paul George maybe acting as more of a RoR and conserving energy I think in theory again if Cayla Martin is healthy I think you just see Caleb barttin getting like the point guard assignments and just be getting those initial point of attack um assignments we saw that a lot in Miami like the heat Hawks matchups are just in my head where Caleb Martin you are defending Trey young you just have fun with that and so IID imagine he would get those types Kelly UB would get scoring you know more the wing type um and then Paul George again can roam around he’s still very good in the passing lanes and you got Joel and be back there so if Martin’s healthy that’s a very reasonable uh contract and he should help them tremendously on both ends of the floor so I like the signing but again if he’s not healthy then I can see where this might go south which again you point to the price point like okay it may not be that difficult to off of him since it’s 432 versus like 450 or something like that um but in terms of the scheme fit and stuff like it makes a ton of sense to me uh we can move on to Detroit uh to borrow from you Steve they they will have shooting this year they resigned Simone fono who shoted 40% from three last year and they bring in Malik Beasley on a oneyear $6 million contract Beasley averaged a shade over 11 points shot 41% from three on high volume he was one of nine players to shoot at least 40% from three on six or more attempts per game so that guy can get them up and he can put them in the basket in a hurry um Detroit needs shooting Malik Beasley can shoot also oneyear six Mill is easily movable a contender comes calling I’m more intrigued to see if the defense holds up and I say that while recognizing he was very much overtasked in Milwaukee last year with some of the assignments that he had to take on but the compete level was generally high with him he did hel he did hold up in certain matchups better than I expected him to if he can now just firmly establish okay I am just an average Defender which doesn’t sound like much but if it is just I am just I am just C+ in addition to that shooting like he’s a very valuable role player and he should help Detroit uh the Detroit Pistons said we will have shooting on the floor this year don’t even worry about that we got you uh 41% last year 42.4% on catch shoot 3es according to the tracking data that fits exactly what the Pistons need the thing with Malik Beasley I’m more intrigued by the lineups the Pistons can get to like what are they going to try and throw out there and which ones are they going to go with at different times because if you think about it having Malle Beasley having Tobias Harris having Tim Hardway Jr having some money from Techo that’s going to allow you to get a little creative but you also okay how are we maxing out K and jadeen Ivy are we playing them together are we staggering them what about uh are we getting assar Thompson unlocked at the four like there are variables to it so I’m intrigued to see which direction they go to but it feels like they can at least in their minds or in theory achieve a higher level of consistency throughout their lineups and they can achieve having some flexibility some versatility some spacing which I think is very important uh does feel clear as day uh the true double big lineup is dunzo uh so let’s pour one out for the annual p big shows that they can space the floor at Summer League run we had a we had a good time we had a good run or well we had a run uh debatable if it was good but that did happen uh shout out to Malik Beasley uh two Minnesota Joe Engles and PJ doer signning with the Minnesota Timberwolves uh Joe Engles shot 44% from three last year in Orlando Four Points three assists at about 17 minutes uh PJ doer did not play in the NBA last year but did play for partisan overseas uh averag nine points three rebounds three assists and a steal in a shade under 20 minutes per game uh other members on that roster Frank Kaminsky might have heard of him James Nunley might have heard of him Bruno kaboko might have heard of him uh Tristan vich who signed with uh Washington towards the latter half of the season last year and really put some fun film together if you if you cared as a non- Wizards fan to watch the Wizards last year so we’ll sprinkle that in but Engles and Doer adding to the wing room in Minnesota uh Steve how do you feel about the Engles and doer fits very solid additions for Minnesota in the sense that they can help them they don’t necessarily need them um because of what they have depthwise but I like the moves with Joe Engles you can space floor that number one the reun uh being reunited with Rudy and Mike salute to that uh he can give that second unit a boost um playmaking Can steady them out you can use them on ball off ball don’t have to rely on them to play a bunch of minutes so that’s a plus for Minnesota in that scenario uh the PJ doer one really intrigues me I wonder how they use him just cuz I remember kind of the leap he had in Denver boy the aggression off the bounce started to show off the drive started to show off the defense started to feel a little more better and in theory if he hits now you don’t know what the opportunities is going to be lineup wise if he hits he can give you some of what you’re missing from Kyle Anderson in a package you might enjoy a little bit more if you if you got tired of slow basketball as a Minnesota fan no disrespect to Kyle Anderson I think there’s question marks will the shot fall will the drives hit will the defense be there but if it is kind of a sneaky fit it’s good value it feels very much like they’re not the same player so it’s not an actual player comparison it’s more just like roll and opportunity bit it’s kind of like when Minnesota first acquired ni kill Alexander Walker it’s like here’s this guy with talent I don’t know what he’s going to do consistently and we don’t know how much burn he’s gonna get and then the kill just snatched the playing time and is now just one of the best perimeter defenders in the sport I don’t know if PJ reaches those kind of heights defensively he’s absolutely going to work his tail off defensively at the very least he’s willing to get down and dirty to help on the offensive glass in particular you mentioned the drives and The Cutting you mentioned the Denver era like him being able to play off of jic was a lot of fun because he just the cuts were at 300 miles per hour with him he did just a very good job like sensing when openings were there and just attacking those openings and so at the very least like he’ll be a very fun like Lane fielder in transition when Minesota tries to push so I don’t know what the burn is gonna look like there but if he is fully healthy I think the defense is gonna be solid we’ll see where the shot lands um so I like the flyer there with PJ doer nice to see him back in the league clearly Tim Connelly is a big fan of TJ uh DJ gez can I speak of Mr doer there we go were were you quoting Little Wayne hey that’s a good shot that’s a good shot as for Joe Engles as I guess he is the uh Direct speed replacement for Kyle Anderson in this case uh not GNA be much different on that front but the playmaking will remain being able to go from the uh Kyle Anderson shooting and how defens has treated him to Joe Engles where teams are still like not you not you I think it’s gonna be helpful uh Joe Engles reuniting with both Mike connley and Rudy goar Rudy goar now has a second player that will consistently pass into the basketball well hold on that be the third put some respect on cat okay fair fair fair the third player that will consistently pass Rudy goar the basketball um so a plus three to the morale boost for Rudy gobear there but no I think the shooting and the playmaking is goingon to be very important second unit that as we saw like one of the things that you know hurt me as just a basketball fan you know I love to kill Alexander Walker last year and we hit the postseason it was like hey he he kind of has to hit threes though we kept going it’s like he’s he’s gotta get back to knocking down some threes though Joe Engles is Gonna Knock Down shots so very excited for the m and like to lose Kyle Anderson to bring in these two like that’s that’s pretty solid underrated offseason for Minnesota at least on paper these games have to be played we know that but you don’t come in with a bunch of assets and you land Rob Dillingham you lose Kyle Anderson but you bring in Joe Engles you take the flyer on PJ doer like I don’t think they’re done yet so with not a lot to work with Minnesota making some moves around the margin I like it it’s G be very funny if Linder Miller’s just very good next year and I’m sure they would enjoy that well gets very very funny or it just gets uncomfortable for some of the role players with uh who’s making more money than he is but that is a different podcast for another day uh to Miami we’ll head out east uh Alec Burks signed with the Miami Heat Burks averaged 10 points per game last year shot 38% from three uh converted 36% of his twos which is a ideal but that was across both his stin with Detroit and New York um with the Knicks six and a half points in 13 and 1 12 minutes shot 30% from three though in the postseason six game sample 15 points per game 59% on twos 43% from three on moderate volume I am intrigued that the Heat have another guy that is willing to take pull-ups can take on some of the creation duties with the second unit that’s probably where it ends for me right now I need to see what the rest of the offse is going to look like for Miami as we’ve talked about this in different platforms uh about where Miami is right now but he does give them a shot creation boost he is someone that can knock down shots and uh it’s the interesting flyer for not heat to do something that’s all you got I did you out here bring the Miami Heat for two weeks hey please please please and now they do something and well that’s about it for me look man the shooting was not there in New York shooting 30% on twos and threes is not fun not ideal not fantastic uh you mentioned here’s the thing for me he’s got size self creation is important for an offense that can get in the mud sometimes so you use them on ball use off ball he can space he’s going to shoot it the biggest thing for me when it comes to Miami in this second unit not just how you can help them offensively hey between him Josh Richardson Jam hakz Duncan Robinson there are some intriguing sides with ability to just kind of do things with the ball in their hands how you tie it all together I’m not exactly sure but I’m kind of intrigued by Miami’s just ability to be hey we’re tall we’re we’re just tall in these lineups to counter you know the uh hero Terry Rosier bit that may happen or may not but having size I think he helps their line up versatility you have more opportunities in case he does have it going he’s probably going to win them at least a game or two uh just because of his ability to shoot but yeah I’m in treat by the size gu to to borrow from Eric Pooler I think allet Burks is still ignitable as a shooter and as a pull-up threat so you need something on a random Wednesday here’s 10 points in four minutes from alet Burks in the second quarter to save a run for you or he’s got it cooking here’s an early eight-point surge early in the fourth quarter for Miami so like he absolutely has that ability but yeah it’s go ahead is Marcus Morris ignitable that’s funny uh I mean does he take enough threes to be ignitable do we have a podcast title that’s pretty good stuff but no um I guess in a lital sense yes like Marcus Morris can absolutely Get Buckets for you okay I just want to see it’s just it’s just the general okay what else uh also he he was five for six in the Easter Conference semi-finals against the Boston Celtics there go just want to get that in anyways continue I respect that all right while we’re out East torian Prince you are a Milwaukee Buck or willby uh Prince averaged nine points per game last year shot 40% from three converted 52% of his twos with the Lakers last season I do appreciate this kind of being like the midpoint between Malik Beasley and Jay Crowder like hey we want a forward with size that can also shoot hey Tor Prince can you do that please now I don’t know how I feel about the uh the prince defense at this stage of the game he at least has the size to defend both forward spots at the very least in Milwaukee I would imagine he’s not going to be tasked with defending a bunch of like top tier uh assignments in that front but they needed someone with size that could shoot ideally he helps unlock some of your L Giannis at the five lineups and depending on what the price point because we haven’t gotten the official terms yet on the prince deal depending on what that is this feels like a really good bargain signing for a Milwaukee team that similar to Minnesota they don’t have a ton of assets to play with to acquire Talent so if you’re able to land torian Prince for what might just be the minimum might be some kind of smaller exception it seems like a good bit of business for Milwaukee can I ask you a question what up you said something intrigued me you said may not get some of those top matchups who do you think starting at the three for the Milwaukee Bucks uh is is that not is that not just Chris Middleton who you think starting at the two I feel like I’m blanking on somewhat very obvious I mean we have Dam you think T prin just starts we have Damen Li we have Chris Milton we have Giannis we have Brooke it’s not the yeah I think that’s reasonable it might just be Chris and tooran at the two and the three I don’t know if they like slot Pat pan in the starter I don’t know guess guess who Toran princess Garden Bud well in that situation then I am just dead wrong that he you will be defending top TI Wing unless they say hey Yiannis you just got to do more of this so I mean well no here’s here’s the thing they’re going to be they’re gonna be switchable we saw Milwaukee Char that out there I think the biggest thing is just again having another Wing who in theory has size and can give the effort defensively can space the so I don’t know how you feel about torian Prince against Malik Beasley some would probably give Malik Beasley The Edge shooting wise some would probably give Tori and Prince The Edge defense-wise any Los Angeles Lakers fans watching this would say no to any of them just out of principle they have the most fun with either yeah but I mean to me solid signing I think he’s a he’s someone who can help them he’s going to do his job but he won’t be in the way so it’ll be interesting to see if some of Milwaukee’s younger wings can develop and now you’re in a scenario okay some of these minutes can go somewhere else and toan’s kind of a spot starter stin starter type guy I did find something very interesting if I could be respectfully messy for two seconds sure it’s a little funny how uh Malik Beasley and tan Prince are just linked to each other in this type of way like Malik Beasley was in Minnesota and then torian Prince was in Minnesota and then Malik Beasley was a Laker and then they pivoted The tooran Prince and then Malik Beasley was a buck and they pivoted the tooran prince It’s Kind of a Funny bet yeah that’s yeah yeah when you put it that way that’s that is indeed funny so forever connected uh let’s close these out with a couple more Dario sarage you are a Denver Nugget a two-year deal worth $10.6 million a player option on the second year uh sarage averaged eight points 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in roughly 17 minutes per game last year converted 56% of his two 38% from three interesting uh 85% from the line he did start nine games last year with golden state 12 points five boards four assists in those nine starts I like this for Denver also just feel also just like personally sad for the young guys like dang I thought we about to get some early donon Holmes and uh we may just be getting Dario Sarge coach Michael Malone is still there uh but no in all Ser in all seriousness I do do like the fit as someone that can obviously initiate actions above the break and invert things for your offense someone that is willing to take above the break threes not just Corner threes and can knock them Downs with efficiency I guess for me it’s just going to be like the scoring pop inside the arc like what is that going to look like who can set him up who’s going to be the one to set him up with the second unit is it just going to be Jamaal Murray still waiting on a guard move with the second unit with Denver obviously we’re linked to Russell Westbrook earlier to in Frey but that hasn’t happened yet question mark so we’ll see what happens on that front but like he’s a steady vet um I guess I’ll talks you a quick question before getting your general thoughts how do you feel about Sarge defensively at this stage I feel fine I think he can do his job I think the question ultimately is going to be how much will it hold up in Denver what is it going to be asked to do defensively in pick and roll we’ve seen times where he was able to mix in switches and it worked we saw some times in Golden state where it didn’t work and now he’s kind of in this drop or high drop getting back all that good stuff I think with Denver it does have to hit because the the maximized version of SAR is someone who can play multiple positions for them and more importantly can play the five to a degree because if you’re telling me hey he can play the five that can help your non- yic lineups you can play through them hit them at the top get to your passing cut that’s a big boost you play them alongside yic that’s a whole lot of passing and playmaking out there on the floor um so you can Max it out if the shot and the defense holds up if the defense defense is limited then you’re in a scenario where okay he has to play with this person or that person now they have people to make it work so I mean if Aaron Gordon’s also out there you know I I think you can you can be okay but if the defense is only at a certain level and the shot making is not there it does it does kind of cap out at a certain level but it’s a good piece for them to have I think it’s important especially with this season where they are going to be playing more young guys and they’re going to have to navigate through that having someone with that skill set mentality is keep okay um I’ll toss you a quick free throw um is there a bench pairing that needs each other more than Dario sarage and pton Watson I mean I have to pull a roster up I’m gonna go yes why why Payton Watson because that man can defend his tail off and fly around in Block shots and if you’re worried about Dario and like more aggressive coverages I think it’ll be very important to pair those two together also as we are waiting to see where the shooting lands with pton Dario being able to space himself and also again you could run offense through him above the break unlock some of the cutting for Payton Watson which he’s very good at it just feels like a very fun like mix and match on both ends of the floor do they beat pton Pritchard plus any of Boston starters you know maybe got think got think of your toes got think of your toes you know what good stuff good stuff you know Indiana backup big plus TJ McConnell [Music] well touche Mr Steve tou speaking of thinking on your tones the the the New Orleans Pelicans looking for center help after losing JV and including Cody Zeller in the signing trade as part of the dejonte Murray deal uh Daniel Ty you are New Orleans Pelicans that news trickling in right before we started recording so thank you for the Tim Le this there uh six points four boards and a block in 17 minutes last year with Daniel Ty uh how do you feel about the fit I like the fit I mean he fits into what they do and technically there’s a world where Daniel Ty you are Cody Zeller Jeremiah Robinson Earl you are Larry Nance but we won’t have to talk about that right now uh but I think in theory screener roller can do some dribble handoff stuff if need be GNA move the ball uh defensively we’ve seen the flashes where he can contain he can switch at times although that’s kind of going backwards a little bit but he has kind of the that one’s wants in a big and so considering the market and where they’re at it’s good they got one yeah they needed to get one and again we have an entire offseason to go so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they make a move for I guess a more firm starting piece but in the short term like I think Daniel Tyson can slide in eight minutes for you you not feeling you’re not feeling messy I need to like see more of him before I have a firm opinion I I do not want to talk out of myself out the side of my neck on that front not getting me bud not getting me but no in all seriousness like if I’m glad you brought the switching point because like that was my initial thought like I wonder how much he maintains their defensive base or how much versatility does he unlock because we have seen at different stages with the Clippers with Boston Etc he has been someone that can be at the level and drop back you know be at the level and contain can just switch out if we need the blitz we can he has quick hands like how much of that does he replicate in New Orleans as we’ve talked about on the show like with JV like they didn’t mind ramping things up with him they’d also have in a draw but they didn’t mind ramping things up with him what do that look like with Daniel Tyson toe if it is Tyson Zion together do you just lean more into switching so you know what actually let’s just simplify some of this stuff and what does that mean for their overall defense I do Wonder as Daniel tyon like really good box out guy I think he helps your rebounding like if he does start I do just raise the brow with New Orleans rebounding early on like that’s very much going to have to be a gang ordeal with them as you know as much as we love Zion like the not as good of a rebounder as you would expect him to be with his tools like does he just refocus his game there and he’s averaging 10 plus that that may beat a bit if Brandon Ingram is still there do you just see a stronger commitment on that end like there are fixes but again like just thinking about it right now July 8th I least say okay what does the what’s the scheme versatility def defensively now and how are they ending possessions when they’re not forcing turnovers would be some of my early questions before seeing it play out I mean it’s going to have to be gang rebounding you’re not replacing yonas Valen chunis and everything he does on that end that’s a big boy that’s a big boy it’s a team that had Zion bi CJ Trey all average four or more rebounds so I mean it it’ll be by committee I’d assume um but yeah that’s fun hey Nik can I break some news for you sure per W free agent Haywood heith has agreed on a 2-year $1 million deal to return to the Miami Heat oh okay High Smith had significant interest around the league but stays with the franchise that developed him into an NBA player two years are fully guaranteed and no options on the dud okay well I know Miami is breathing a sigh of relief there because it felt like like both Haywood and Caleb I think were linked to Philly at different portions of the offseason and obviously Philly got Caleb Martin I think considering what the Ford room is or like what the perimeter Defender room is like losing Caleb and Haywood would classify as a disaster but that would be very tough for Miami to try to deal with for the rest of the offseason considering where they are in terms of the money underneath the second apron things like that uh so bringing back Haywood I think is that’s good work for them and to Haywood himself not g call he’s not all defense caliber right now so I don’t want to gas it but in terms of who he’s been tasked with guarding since joining Miami like Miami does not care about tossing him on just about anyone he is a very versatile Defender we’ve seen the shooting perk up a little bit with him and so like he they’re going to continue to develop him as a three and D piece with a little bit more they hope with the attacking close outs the occasional postup going back to his days when he was an undersized power forward in college and stuff so good on Miami for retaining him it would have made their SE a little bit tougher if they weren’t able to so did they did they breath a side relief or did you breath a side of relief big dog yes okay see I knew it I knew there we there we go um and just some quick resigning news the magic of France bner agreeing to a fiveyear deal up to $270 million France averaged 20 points five rebounds four assists and a steal last year 57% on twos which is career high 28% from three certainly not ideal did you have any qualms about the deal obviously Twitter isn’t everything but it seems a whole lot of how did France get this after that postseason run what are the what are the calms like I I’m not going to have qualms with numbers until things kind of just stabilize overall like some of these numbers are going to be eye popping and honest to God we don’t know yet this is the cost of having a Cornerstone if you’re the Orlando Magic you’re cornerstones are PAL man Caro and fron voder you’ve built the roster around their playmaking their ability their versatility pay the costs see what happens later keep it going seems pretty cut and dry to me fron is really good and she’ll continue to get better get three-point shooting bounces back considering what he already does as a driver and a playmaker you have a really really really good Wing who’s extremely young and can grow alongside poo as you mentioned so no real quals for me as we just wait for the rest of the rookie uh the rookie Maxes to roll in so we got Kade earlier got fron got Scot what do you mean by the rest uh we haven’t gotten the max with Evan Mobley yet we haven’t seen anything on jayen green yet which I don’t think he would get full Max but either way just listing names from that draft class like those are two proba the names that haven’t gotten the deals yet so again if we’re just piing in terms of likelihood like I’m sure Mo there’ll be something with Evan Mobley especially since they were able to lock in Donovan Mitchell I’d imagine that we get something some news on EV Mo by the time the offseason over with but it interesting that we haven’t heard anything on that front yet um I already talked about Sone fonio though note average 15 points in uh nine starts with Detroit once he was traded across the entire season 10 and a half points shot 40% from three four rebounds in 25 minutes shout the Simone also an underrated Defender so you talk about a guy with size that can also shoot and hold his own defensively that’s a very valuable role piece so good work for Detroit uh retaining him there uh we did get a trade update on the Mel Bridges front as that is I think official now um the Knicks signing and trading shap Milton to the Brooklyn Nets uh MD diakite also in that deal uh kada Bates Diop going to the New York Knicks uh I’m not taking any more else on this podcast I’m curious to see what tibs does with kbd uh so one toss that quick update there uh Cody Zeller already mentioned him being added and signing trade it’s part of the jontay Murray trade so he is in Atlanta at least for now uh the LeBron James Deal originally reported reported at two years 104 Ms actually two years 101 mil player option on the second year no trade clause a 15% trade kicker uh Lakers underneath the second APR now so they have a little bit more flexibility to do some things this off season uh the Hornets waving a whole lot of folks including Devonte Graham who is traded to Charlotte to open up some room to facilitate the DeMar rosen three-way deal uh but Graham wave Davis Bon’s on the free agent market now uh poku talk about the top of the show Bryce mcgallen interesting guard Prospect uh also a free agent right now and the Wizards waving Landry Shaman so putting another shooter veteran shooter at that on the free agent market so if contenders are looking for shooting help I would imagine they’re G to call Landry be very funny if he ends back up in Phoenix we talked about torian Prince going to Milwaukee no Malik Beasley obviously he’s in Detroit does Milwaukee come calling with Landry shamut to add another movement shooting piece there intrigued to see what happens with Landry uh any closing free agency thoughts no all right fair enough we did it we did it um on the W news front uh ke an eye on Thea ker we haven’t gotten an official press release on what the injury is or what the timeline is but she did Miss Saturday’s game with a foot injury uh suffered in the last game that she played uh but if this is longterm just quickly note fee is having an MVP caliber season averaging 20 points 10 rebounds 3.7 assists 2.2 Steals and 1.5 blocks uh overall she’s sixth in scoring fourth in rebounds third and steal seventh in Block she’s one of three players in the W that are in the top 10 in all those categories Asia Wilson and Brianna Stewart being the other ones so get well soon to fee as Mystics links very tightly contested game on Saturday without the of Coler so if you want a very quick snapshot of how valuable she is to what they do on both ends of the floor uh watch that one and particularly watch what the offense looked like without her as a pressure point there um Jordan Canada so oh go ahead d i do s swipe the links and the mystics in 15 seconds keep going keep it going say she’s one of the best offensive players in the league and the links miss her that’s all of it that’s that’s it that’s it mtic have been completing in midst of all their injuries I I meant no disrespect to any my apologies uh Jordan Canada just got back and she is now out again with a broken finger she is out through the Olympic break think a limp break technically starts July 21st after the All-Star game games resume on August 15 so we’ll hopefully get an update sometime between that time but Canada in her four games with the dream 8.8 points six assists 1.3 steals compared to 60% of her shots inside the art the drives were very important the pullup twos were fun to watch and the dream just desperately needed someone that could get to the teeth of the defense and open up some catch shoot opportunities for others take some of the scoring pressure off of Alicia gray so without Jordan Canada uh an Atlanta Dream offense that has mostly struggled this year uh has even more of their work cut out for them uh any fee or Canada thoughts to I guess save me from myself well I was say salute to fee career year uh those numbers you listed are career high so she’s doing doing a heck of a lot I think the one thing I was going to say with the links is their depth and their lineup consistency where you can slide dor uas in and the importance of zandel laini and Atlanta Smith shooting threes and Bridget Carlton shooting threes you don’t have the pressure point but if you can defend and you can move the ball I think the links can survive uh this stretch that’s that’s fair okay that’s fair in my efforts to highlight how important fee is I I did undale how good the other front Court pieces were that’s on me I will take my L live on air appreciate you Steve uh quick not to some history over the weekend or at least since the last time we recorded Asia Wilson becoming the acis franchise leading score passing Sophia young Malcolm Angel Reese now is the WNBA record holder for consecutive double doubles uh 13 straight surpassing Candace Parker anytime you can surpass Candace Parker in literally anything in the record book you tip your cap now keep in mind that’s the overall double double record folks the rookie record was six so just she already smashed yeah she has smashed that and even with Candace who had 12 again before Angel broke the record that was across two seasons yeah and so just again 13 straight is just a record it’s 13 straight in the same season which is also just the record I think she’s closing in on both the uh rookie record for double doubles and also the W record for double doubles which Alyssa Thomas I think last year had 28 in her 40 games last year so Angel ree might just break all of this in terms of double doubles in her rookie season which is insane uh during this 13 game stretch anger averaging 16 points per game converting 45% of twos she shot two of six from three had some fun against storm over the weekend taking shots from the perimeter 13 and a half rebounds which this may shock you Steve but leads the W during that stretch uh 4.8 offensive rebounds uh during that stretch as well very active defensively it’s just been a really fun season and a really fun stretch for Angel Ree and for Caitlyn Clark she became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple double um and over her last 13 games 15 points per game 55% inside the arc though low volume 34 % from three though on very high volume and difficulty six and a half rebounds 7.9 assists and 1.5 steals over her last 13 games this rookie class one even just focus in on these two what a race we have if we could just be basketball fans collectively like I know we just watched The Hoop but if we could just be basketball fans and enjoy this that there’s a lot to soak in like Steve in particular has hit on a lot of the Angel Improvement in season where she’s gotten better as a finisher and as a decision maker the defense has pretty much popped from since game one we know what the rebounding is at this stage but watching The Grow from Angel ree watching The Grow from Caitlyn Clark getting more comfortable with her right hand figuring out what passes she can and can’t throw the shots falling from the perimeter more or at a higher level than they were last year getting better against traps and blitzes and pick and rolls like these two they are very good already and they seem like different players from on a game to game basis like we’re seeing that kind of growth and this is with you’re not telling me a coach you know don’t the coaches don’t see the sky on the schedule say all right first order of business we we got to make sure Angel we need two bodies on Angel re the sky lead the W and offensive rebound rate we got to limit their extra chances and you can’t tell me coaches don’t see the fever on the schedule and say hey we need to make sure Caitlin doesn’t get comfortable we might need to send to we need to make sure we send her to this specific area of the floor Let’s see we can for some turnovers two rookies getting that kind of game plan attention and impacting the game that they way that they are is really fun and impressive to watch so just wanted to salute both of them very quickly and again that’s just them two rakia Jackson’s been on the tear JC Sheldon in Dallas that she’s gotten more playing time recently she’s lighting the Nets on fire and had Becky Hammond very upset over the weekend to where the aces score here’s JC Sheldon just running down the floor before anyone could get set and just getting easy buckets JC Sheldon having fun Steve you have been a very big proponent of what Aaliyah Edwards is doing in Washington particular in her roles and slips team the grow as a driver she’s very comfortable with the ball in her hands as a big growing defensively and you just go on and on this has been a really fun and really good rookie class I’m just having a blast it’s good stuff well I’ll just go real quick to add on to what you said the uh the drives from Angel Reese the com confidence on them the way she’s looking to initiate contact adding the spin move getting the extension finish down been really fun another thing from Caitlyn Clark this has been fun to watch especially in that Liberty game hey let’s dance like we’ve seen the drives this year we’ve seen the pick and roll play there were a few more of a hey give me some space I’m going to drive left I’m going to drive right I’m going to drive left again and then we’re going to see where we’re at being able to get some A1 finishes um you want to shave me right that’s cool I’ll take the right hand drive been try and finish or I will then get back to my left and just shoot a shot so just keep an eye on that yeah it’s been really fun stuff for the sky and a F both in the playoff hunt right now so it’s going to be a highly contested race both on the team side and in the Rookie of the Year race um and then just very quickly with some player shout outs Kelsea Plum say it louder say it louder listen say it louder for the people in the back I tell you what Kelsey Plum is playing her tail off right now like the drives have been massively important to the aces pretty much this entire run but specifically this year with Chelsea great missing the beginning of the year they needed the initiation from Kelsey Plum but they really need the drives to open up things for others the drives have been there just about all year the one thing that ni pck offensively with her has been the shot not falling some of that has been you know the difficulty of some of the shots being taken no don’t be mad at the threes that I shot that’s tremendous shot but uh Kelsey Plum over her last four games uh 346 and five six of 11 from three uh 28 points six of nine from three 21 points four of seven from three and then 23 points against Dallas on Sunday went three of nine from three but again the drives really pop with Chelsea back and just in general the team playing well since Chelsea’s been back kelse looked a lot more comfortable to the point to where the passing has really been fun for Kelsey like one just keeping the head up and looking for open players but she’s to the flare is starting to pop with Kelsey as well like the recent jump pass to Asia Wilson and fired that in there and she she’s just generally playing with a lot more freedom which is just nice to see generally I though this has been it’s been a really interesting year uh for Plum on the team side but seeing her kind of Pop now it’s similar to last year to where she was playing well but the three-point shot wasn’t falling and then the three started hitting it’s like oh snap what do we do with Kelsey Plum and this is with Chelsea gry looking more comfortable this is with Jackie Young starting to look back comfortable as a score and Asia Wilson just a metronome of 28-10 apparently the A’s big four playing very well but did want to highlight what Kelsey Plum is doing four straight games over 20 she has she she’s been playing very well it’s been a lot of fun to watch and then quickly one a shout out to Veronica Burton who when we talked about her signing with Dallas I mean signning with Connecticut excuse me I was like I I like the skill set she’s certainly going to fit into what Connecticut wants to do defensively she’s gonna pressure the ball she’s gonna fight over screens gonna be very good there offensively I know she’ll take care of the ball but like I had shooting questions just for me it just felt like hey here’s the depth piece in case Mariah Jefferson is out long to anticipated Etc here’s another opt option could go to we we just saw Veronica Burton start recently the defense has indeed popped the drives are also popping she’s a lot more comfortable operating ball screens than I anticipated and the sun are just flat out winning her minutes like she has just done a little bit of everything like the backcourt steals again timely drives timely playmaking she’s letting it fly from Deep again not high volume or anything like that defense are still largely saying if you hit that shot we’ll tip our cap but she is making teams pay right now and so I want to highlight Veronica Burton and what she’s doing in Connecticut right now yeah man hold on before you go to the next question let me just go ahead June 8th let me see what I said uh birie fits in defensively I know she’ll do her job want to see if the drives are there uh could be a good fit despite the shooting want to see overall aggression two thumbs up friends this is why you should listen to Steve you listen to me what you mean what’s your question see what’s going on here I have a an Alyssa Thomas process question as she has been very good this year should be on your all defense team should be somewhere on your MVP ballot like I think it’s fair techn knowledge Asia is your front runner right now and again depending on how long the fisa K is going to be out because that just gets into like games play stuff but just on the merits of the Season like I think the top two is Asian fee right now for the MVP Alissa Thomas that you can SL anywhere between three and five she’s been very good how have you felt about her process as a scorer this season the same as always the same as always okay there’s too many five field goal attempt games for me so like that’s that’s more so what I was getting at it does feel like I don’t know if it’s just an effort of sliding in the New pieces or if it’s again like DJ’s been more aggressive this year you’re getting more drives from danana they have the you know basically the rotating will of guards at this point due to health reason and stuff like that coming in so like I’m sure some of that just plays into at saying let me set the table and then I just drive or hit people when I need to but it does feel like this sun team is just so much different when at is just I’m I’m putting my head down first and if y’all react I can make these plays and I can try to set things up in transition as a passer but I need to make myself more of an early scoring threat I think it’s the balance for Connecticut more than anything else I think they more balance this year one I think danana is playing better earlier in the season at least it feels that way you have Tai Harris and D J both playing well or at least important parts of the offense and Bri Jones is back so it’s much more I have way more options to set the table rather than hey kind of ticked off with the last three possessions that we’ve had I’m actually just going to drive the ball for the next three minutes straight like you know just don’t have as much of that it’s more okay I think we can get a good shot yeah so again like that’s why I don’t I like fault her or anything like that but it’s just like okay is there you know to your balance point if it’s making up numbers in this case but if it’s like 3862 I’m looking to shoot versus looking to pass can we get that closer to like 45 55 to where she still primarily let me operate as a hub and be more opportunistic but there’s there room for a little bit more scoring aggression I think there’s always I think there’s always room I think the thing is you have to the timeliness of when she attacks is always key to me okay y’all going under and okay let me just remind you real quick Bop layup just so you know that’s in the back of your mind or transition I have an attack I’m gone um but it’s it’s not hit the hit the alarm for me okay just wanted to see where you were there Connecticut Sun’s still a very good team but just keep keep an eye on at there also like for me it’s also trying to make sure I’m not grading her against what she was last year as that was just a historic season and she still been very good even if it hasn’t hit the historic levels of last year so I don’t want to grade her on a curve on that guard so that’s just me as like a evaluator and Watcher of Connecticut on that front but I did want to see where you were with the scoring because obviously the rebounding is still there at The Playmakers there and she’s still insane defensively so that’s what I had on that front uh any anything pop for you from the weekend on the uh dear Ham’s been very good last five games 23 points believe nine rebounds four assists shooting 53% from the field 44% from three did you know she’s shooting over 40% from three this year and also taking step backs to borrow from you earlier in the Pod yes okay and and very quickly got Kennedy Carter hooping buddy budy quick first upep quick first upep quick first upep back cut quick First Step uh so I love to see that uh I said these two to uh prepare you for the Messi most improved player debate that is going to come in a few months time between dear Hami and Kennedy Carter if you did not like the satu sa Edition this one’s going to be worse and I will just one I’m just leaving out alone well we will talk most to prove when we have to but uh just very quickly to update uh Kennedy Carter as a starter her last eight games she is figuratively and literally playing herself out of the sixth Player of the Year award conversation at this point she’s gonna end up starting more than she comes off the bench but 22 points per game three boards three assists 1.6 steals she’s shooting 54% from the field as a guard and we’ve talked about Chicago spacing or lack thereof it’s not like she got a whole bunch of wide open driving lanes for her to puncture either like she’s doing a lot of this in these are a lot of tight area finishes she’s been Relentless I feel it I understand uh I want to give a quick hat tip to Natasha Cloud 31.9 rebounds five assists two steals two blocks against the Los Angeles Sparks fourth player to finish a regular season W game with that statline last five games she’s shooting 50% from the field and 44% from three I just I was waiting on you to bring up the she just getting all the shots that she wasn’t earlier this year look folks all right this is going to be a season long thing but the the Mercury the road record is the road record the shooting is the shooting that this team competes and they may be stuck at the six seed they may be 500 all year long but let me tell you what they have beaten the aces they have beaten the lyns they have beaten the storm they have beaten the Liberty the only team they can’t seem to get is the Sun but when you watch them play the sun makes a whole lot of sense why they can’t get the sun right now yeah I want to give a sleep to them what’s up guys okay just very quickly as we’ve like we’ve actually had a lot of conversations about this team on this podcast uh St you know who’s number one in offensive rating right now the Phoenix Mercury no the New York Liberty uh no they are now number two the Las Vegas Aces the Las Vegas Aces did you just sprinkle all this what do you mean after all this they’re very good yes they’re good but they’ve also been hurt there’s been lineup changes and all they like number three yeah they were the best offens in league history last year that’s a that’s a di that’s one of the most Shameless things you’ve ever done hey buy you’ll never guess who’s number one in offensive rating it’s kind of wild because it hasn’t felt like that for large portion of the season the we just in a little sense it hasn’t you know what I’m gonna look up in my notes I’m gonna look at my notes right now we I literally said hey the AC’s offense hasn’t felt like the AC’s offense but they’re still pretty good they’re like this in offensive rating I know I said that yeah I know I said that we both have noted that so why you had like this surprising it’s not surprising it’s funny you know what’s surprising the the Indian NF are being eight and5 since June 1st that’s good work it’s good work are you ready for the are you ready for the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky to make the playoffs uh yeah I can see it I can see it that’d be a very fun postseason we still just have acce of storm just just deadlock right now hey man storm took care of business six and one on that home stand that that little two game miniseries with the sky was important for them pace and Tempo and flow is key to what they do and Chicago was like absolutely not until eie and NECA were’re like absolutely not we’re connectors I hope you have to deal with this it’s going to be interesting to see storm Aces again very soon because I I secretly think the storm are a very tough match up for the Las Vegas Aces uh with their ability to switch and score on the other end but we will put that to the test once again um really again interesting they have won seven of 10 the aces of w eight of 10 no movement it’s very funny oh actually why we on the storm we get out of here shortly I don’t think concern is the right word but for the purposes of the question is being efficient with time I’ll just ask it in this way are you concerned at all about juel Lloyd no okay it’s here’s the thing it’s just shot making no yeah I I I imagine that will change okay I’m not necessarily sitting here like you know I mean jul Lloyd is a volume scorer and a volume shooter and she’s taking less shots per game she’s shooting 26% from three like that’s going to correct itself it’s I mean that has to correct itself we know she’s a better shooter than that percentage and teams still guard Her Like She’s a better shooter than that percentage which is the more important part it’s more the cuz she last time I checked she was what 41% inside the YK and like it was a pretty low number last year as well but I’ve attributed that more to okay this is just the Personnel she’s dealing with and she’s at the top she’s number one two and three on The Scouting Report uh for the storm last year and so like yeah she’s taking a lot of tough pullup twos and stuff but like that’s that just kind of comes with it the Personnel is better and so the fact that the it hasn’t bumped up you know the efficiency hasn’t bumped up to a meaningful degree uh this year to your point is the shopmaker but it’s like oh can we how can the storm get juwel some easy ones because we’re also I say this and like we’re not that far off from juel just having like the back toback 30s or whatever it was so it’s not like she can’t still score at a high and efficient level but I’m just kind of waiting on things to normalize I guess is the way I’m trying to phrase it where do we just hit the I believe the last five games she scored the most points in the W per game 36% from three let me let me give you a little split for you at home juw Lloyd 34.9% from three on the road 177% from three that is not ideal I think that that isn’t think that’ll fix itself it should it should and there’s a last quick thing on the uh on the Seattle Storm while we’re here uh last three games for eie mbor uh 14 blocks she’s very good at this defense thing she is she a defensive player of the year uh she’s certainly in my top three I’m not I’m not mad at Izzy Defensive Player of the Year who else in your top three uh I think off the top of my head like it’s probably like as at Asia this this doesn’t feel like an Asia year though despite the countings stats and them being as absurd as they are but like those are probably the three off top of my head or I guess like four if you want to expand this I’m I think you have to have fee in there I guess I feel stronger about fee all defense I do feed defensive player of the year which I just need to do more investigation on that front because like the links have the best defense in the league like her and Atlanta Smith have been very good in the front Court hey who who has the best defensive rating in the in the WNBA the the Minnesota links see he’ll be listening to me number one do do you know do you know what the sixth best defensive rating in the WNBA the the Las Vegas Aces got no links representative Minnesota Minnesota get him get him I see I see what you trying to I understand I ain’t gon mention who’s forth I know you I I know you ain’t put a liberty member up there it’s cool who would be your Liberty member Stewie’s been insane with Ste your rep probably they’re still Europe Asia but I’d have to I think again like we’re getting closer to the allstar Olympic breaks I do want to do the full-fledged let’s talk through all these Awards I don’t know if that’s going to be a guest episode or not but I do want to do that soon um and we are just kind of at the mid I think every team in the W has played 20 games at this point are you sure maybe next episode we just do the the mid-season check in Rocking with Mark Mark rocking with a we well I guess we know who’s going to be on the Thursday show huh uh but all right with that being said oh any closing W thoughts shout outs Etc no with that being said thank you for listening to another episode of the dunker spot you can listen to us on uh Apple Spotify uh beans you gonna finish out the outro we tagging me in no yeah yeah please subscribe to the YouTube channel great content we there every Tuesday that’s the day after Monday the day before Wednesday uh if you are not yet uh tap into the dunker spot live watch parties if you like basketball and life we be in there talking but yeah with that we uh what you be saying bid you a adios B miss me huh hey Steve great show great job uh who not like us what [Music]
Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. are back with another episode of The Dunker Spot!
NBA Free Agency continues to roll on, and the guys have you covered on the latest signings and trades around the league. After free agency talk, they bounce around the WNBA with news updates and general thoughts from the weekend.
0:00 Intro
2:10 DeMar DeRozan trade
29:30 Caleb Martin to Philly
37:10 Malik Beasley & Simone Fontecchio to Detroit
39:45 Joe Ingles & PJ Dozier to Minnesota
45:00 Alec Burks to Miami
48:15 Taurean Prince to Milwaukee
51:45 Dario Saric to Golden State
55:30 Daniel Theis to New Orleans
59:00 Haywood Highsmith back to Miami
1:00:40 Franz Wagner and other news
1:04:30 WNBA injury update
1:07:15 A’ja Wilson headlines history-making weekend
1:12:15 Bouncing around the W
If you have NBA or WNBA questions for us, email them to dunkerspot@yahoo.com.
If you’d like to join our Dunker Spot online watch parties — they’re free, and easy to sign up for — you can do so here: https://www.playback.tv/thedunkerspot
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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.
26 Comments
Demar gon cook
I fw the alley
Yh, unsubscribing, thanks for the memories jj 🫡
this is NOT JJ Redick 😭
BOOOOOO no more JJ Redick BOOOOO jk lol
I still enjoy listening to these guys
❤❤❤
Breakdown the Knicks offseason
Miss you JJ, but these bros holding it down with the most detailed breakdowns.
One of the most essential parts of my week
Steve and nekias are like pippen and cartwright when Jordan went to play baseball
DeMar replaces Barnes in the lineup. He's better than Barnes in virtually every way, except for shooting. Defense is pretty much a wash since Barnes was pretty bad. DeMar is actually a better rebounder than Barnes. Overall, an indisputable upgrade and a pretty big one. But what's most exciting is the Kings still have the assets and cap flexibility to get a defensive minded forward like DFS, Bobby Portis, Isaiah Stewart, etc. This move brought in star talent without the usual costs associated with doing so, and that's what makes it so special. DeMar is a big move, but the Kings could still make another one. Hell, they could even get Lauri still. This team is gonna be Top 6 in the West with the potential to get even better. Well done, Monte.
Can we get you twice a week now maybe?
Lets go!!!
Finally some guys on a podcast that know what they are talking about!!! great job!
Timestamp says Saric to Golden State…and he went to Denver 🙂
embrace that bounce!!!
Yall should def rename this channel 😂
Please change the name of the channel. Y'all are great, but it's weird having this all have JJ's name on it when he can't and won't be part of it. It's a bad look for the channel and for JJ as he begins his coaching career.
Thanks for at least keeping the wnba talk at the end. Would prefer it be a whole separate episode so I can avoid hearing it altogether…
Opposite of midas touch is the sheisty touch
as a kings fan I feel like, even though I like HB, he didn't really have much to do with their defensive improvements. That was all Fox, Ellis, and Murray. However, HB's decline on offense did effect them. Derozan fits right into the lineup at the 3 with Fox Keon Murray and Sabonis, not really hurting their defense, but definitely helping their offense. Plus they got Devin Carter in the draft and I think they'll probably still try to move Heurter for a big wing specifically to add to their defense.
Great stuff as always from Steve and Nekias. 342 is lucky to have them as part of their network. Some of (if not just) the best X's and O's content you're gonna find right now.
Dang Keon Ellis improved their defensive rating that much at the end of season 😳.
Sensational breakdown by both guys, it's really as simple as WATCHING GAMES and taking note of what you see!
Glad these dudes ain't into lazy headlines and hot takes 💯
This is some great conversation. Level headed analysis.