Contenders in the West + Potential Trades Ahead of the Deadline | The Lowe Post
Made basket by the Hawks and they’re getting oops on the other end COA that’s my sad Kaka for the Hawks COA and now the low post welcome to the low post podcast live from Los Angeles California it’s time speaking of California for a run through good Western Conference teams
Who don’t play in California not including the Phoenix Sun sorry Phoenix we’ll talk about you more when we get more of a sample with your big three but there are several good teams that don’t play in California in the Western Conference that may not be at the top of
The standings although one is but they’re right squeezed nicely in the middle and they’re all playing well and Tim McMahon is an expert on all of them how are you sir howdy partner doing just fine how are you Zach I am good let me tell you a story to
McMahon I looked it up on my phone was in August maybe September it was in September I think and I I jogged my memory is I was watching the Utah Jazz win yet another game the other day to go to 22 and 20 now up to ninth in the west
Not just scaming for playin they’re in the playin baby and they’re surging ninth in the west 13 and three in their last 16 games and you’re damn right we’re leading the low post podcast with the Utah Jazz the ratings will go in the toilet but we’re doing it anyway and I
Utah baby I texted I looked at my phone I texted Will Hardy and here’s the text I look forward to being too low on you guys in the preseason and you being 20 and 15 30 games into the SE 35 games into the season and I and I asked will can I
Share that story and he replied like LOL or whatever we were just spitballing catching up over the summer and I texted him I was like that actually wasn’t far off I took the under on the Jazz I felt good about it and now they’re 22 and 20
And they can’t lose starting zero this is very unusual for an allegedly rebuilding team who traded their two foundational pieces for 9,000 draft picks and it turns out an All-Star caliber maybe all NBA caliber player in Lowry marinan and a solid starter and Colin seon who people forget was along
With agbaji in he was like the last line in the Donovan Mitchell trade um and uh and I texted him like that a too far off here we are youah Jazz man starting Z oh that was the point starting zero players a rebuilding team starting zero players
That they drafted now that’s cheating a little bit because they signed fonio Simone fono household name we just you Simone um they signed him as an undrafted free agent but the these are just and there two of them are players the Bulls received in the Jimmy Butler
Trade which feels like 10 years ago Lowry marinan and Chris Dunn who Damn it I had Chris Donna on my all defense second team in 2020 which was the last time he got real minutes for the Chicago Bulls and I said then and I will say now
I am not sure there is a better guard defender in the world than Chris Dunn I don’t know what the hell is happening with this team but they’re kicking people’s ass and I’m hoping you can enlighten me a little bit because this team in their last 16 games is sixth in
Offense ninth in defense fourth in net rating and I absolutely love it they’re fun to watch and that’s where what’s what’s happening Tim did this happen I mean they’ve won six straight they’ve scored 130 Plus in three straight games that is a first in franchise history uh thanks
For ESPN stats and info for that little gy and I mean nobody saw this coming they were seven and 16 and you know I do a a weekly uh radio hit in Utah with Spencer checketts and I feel like every week I I had I just kept repeating the
Same line hey rebuilds are not without pain and that certainly seemed to be the trajectory that this season was on but you know you mentioned Will Hardy and I I if if the Jazz end up in the playoffs he has to get serious Coach of the Year
Consideration he of a job and it took it took a a quarter plus of the season for him kind of to figure out okay how do all these pieces fit and you know they’re doing like Walker Kessler was one of their Untouchables going to the trade deadline last year he’s coming
Off the bench why is that because if John Collins is going to be getting minutes and you’re not just going to bench a a veteran I know they didn’t give up anything in the trade for him but you’re not just going to bench a proud vet uh who who is still productive
If not Alo flawed but if he’s going to be in the lineup he has to play center offensively so they’ve kind of you know broken those to Jordan Clarkson was hurt for a while while kind of when they got roll and he was out with the hamstring
He’s come back and he had never come off the bench for a will hardy team until he came back from this injury he’s back in that sixthman you know he’s a former sixthman in the year who who’s back in that role uh and and playing as well as
He ever has you know as a playmaker which is certainly not something that he has a reputation to be in addition to a score you know Colin seon I think took will a a good year and change to kind of figure out how to maximize this guy but
You mentioned he’s been in the starting lineup I think he started the last 17 games or 13 and four in that stretch he’s putting up 20 plus per game pretty efficiently fono uh he is the one Wing sized Wing have no wi it’s unbelievable they have
No wings on the whole team other than fono aachi masquerades as a three bench their bench mob which we’ll talk about but it is interesting that they just have to finagle these like Wing minutes from from almost nothing but he’s good Fon good basketball player and and they
Figure you know will figure out hey it helps having a legitimate sized Wing who plays hard defensively who is a he’s not I’m not going to sit here and say he’s a wing stopper but he’s a solid Wing Defender who you a little bit of playmaking shoots well enough you know
Moves he he just kind of fits in that starting the lineup and and Larry marinan is a stud like he’s just a stud um Rick carile went so far as to compare him to Dirk last night and and and Rick I’ve been around Rick long enough to
Know that Rick is prone to some hyperbole he’ll he’ll give you you know especially when it comes to player comparisons but he is a seven foot shooter who uh is I mean he’s close to 50490 since he’s been in Utah putting up 23 plus per game this year 25 per game
Last year he is a is a is efficient of a uh kind of and they’ve got him playing Power Forward he has he has Center size Wing skills and his natural position is power forward they got him back playing that but they again I think it they’ve got a lot
Of quality pieces it took will a while to figure out how they all fit and the sum is definitely greater than you know if you add the parts up individually right now so about fonio said you can do a little bit of playmaking and I think
That’s actually quite apt um so just to review there’s starting five for people who have not dialed into the Red High Utah just it’s Chris Dunn Colin seon Simone fono Lowry mark in and John Collins that’s the starting five of a good basketball team in 2024 how that
Happened who the hell knows I’m happy for John Collins by the way because there was like a weird report about a month ago that they were like totally off of John Collins and I remember calling around being like how could they be this off of like the season just
Started and my whole thing with John Collins is look love him hate him he’s got flaws he’s been on the trade block for a million years he is a raw talent upgrade for the Jazz that was like a complete Talent gift for free and that starting five does not have one
Even like a minus level playmaker in it like Colin seon’s passing drove everyone in Cleveland bananas uh low Markin and it’s kind of the one weakness of his game while he’s getting better at he’s like a two assist a game but collectively they can all do a little
Bit of it and that adds up to like enough and the number one thing that lineup has done no pun intended because Chris Dunn and Colin ston and marinin are all pretty strong one-on-one players is the Jazz got their turnovers under control and that was what was holding
Them back early is they were throwing the ball all over to the gym it’s now a manable number and then their bench mob they have a fiveman bench mob keonte George who was the leading offender of their turnovers earlier in the season Jordan Clarkson agbaji Kelly o lenck point point point
Center Kelly o linck and Walker Kessler coming off the bench which as you indicated is kind of a gutsy move to make will discovered I can’t play Collins and Kessler together they do the same thing on offense we’re going to have to figure it out and I think what
That’s done for ke George is he’s flanked by a shooting big and olenic who does a lot of the playmaking he’s kind of the co-o guard and another big playmaker in Clarkson another high usage playmaker in Clarkson no one is overstressed on offense anymore least of
All the rookie point guard who I think is g to be good I like that kid a lot well and so does Will Hardy and they say lead guard point guard is not a term that’s used whatever okay sure sure Utah uh and Kesler look offensively he
Hasn’t made the jump that they hoped his minutes are down he’s coming off the bench he’s still a beast on defense opponents are shooting 45% at The Rim when he’s around that’s one of the best figures in the league the whole thing works MH and they have been a trade machine Team
All season long like even teams calling them about marking in you you said it last week I said it last week like there I would be absolutely blown away if they trade Markin and here’s the point that I’ve reached with them their trade of Mike connley last
Year was a death blow to their own team and they knew it like they were not surprised that that was the case I don’t know what role player trade would have a similar impact on their current team it would it would maybe be oen who’s got interest like I mentioned
The Clippers is an oin team last week there’s going to be a million teams interested in him maybe it’s seon I kind of hope they trade nobody none of their rotation guys because I think they’re pretty good seon has two years and $37 million left on his
Contract he’s 25 a good player marinan is only 26 he’s a very good player he’s an All-Star all-nba level I don’t know if he’s going to make the All-Star team but if they keep winning he’s going to um and Olin look he’s an expiring he has
Value can you trade him and it’s not like crippling to your second unit can fonio kind of become the new Olin maybe but look they this I tried to think of comps for a team that conceived of itself as a rebuilding team and just sort of like accidentally became a
Decent team and I can I can list you some comps later um I kind of like that they can build up from the middle like like this knowing hey if Cleveland ever takes a downturn if Minnesota ever takes a downturn we got whites at the Apple from those teams like I know they
Envisioned a scenario where their own pick netted them a great chance at the next Utah Jazz Superstar I kind of like this team as is I I kind of want them to keep it because I think they can build up from the middle I think that’s a a route you can
Go particularly with the new Lottery odds that are less favorable for tanking I think this is totally fine I kind of want him to do nothing well one comp for for a team like that is last year’s Utah Jazz until they made the trade just before the trade deadline and it was
Clear that uh the intention for the rest of the year was not to prioritize winning at that point they ended up in the top 10 and uh that’s what’s crazy they end up in the top 10 and and the rookie they took at nine overall Taylor Hendricks has primarily been a a
G-league player this year and by the way when he’s played in the NBA he’s looked good and particularly ready on like I like him too well defensively he’s got a chance to be really really good offensively he’s got a ways to go kind of the vision for him is a uh a bigger
Better version of Robert Covington but there’s there’s a ways to go uh to get there um you know this year honestly certainly when they were seven and 16 and and even going in the season I thought the question down to stretch for the jazz is going to be hey are they
Giving up their pick this year to Oklahoma City it’s top 10 protected um they’re a little while away from uh from from that at this point and I I last year shows you and and the conversations that I’ve had around the league or and with people with the Jazz
Back this up Danny a is not going to get sentimental about a competitive team right it’s still it it’s still the big pictures still in in at the front of their mind he’s going to be taking making calls etc etc um but Danny anger’s been plenty of times where he’s
Been on the phone a whole bunch or in this case Justin Zan’s handled most of the conversations and then not pulled the trigger at the deadline that’s certainly a possibility you mentioned o Len there’s there’s a ton of teams that would love to have Kelly OIC I was
Talking to somebody with the Jazz who said everybody wants o linic that doesn’t mean someone’s going to pay what it takes to get him there ain’t going to be a bake sale we can guarantee that if they’re making trades for value and and like you said with marketing um there
Definitely was some Buzz about that just the fact that he’s not labeled as Untouchable I’m keeping him I’m not trading him you got to give me like five first round picks to I I don’t I just he’s 26 and he’s really good and he makes everybody around he’s he’s not a
Great P he’s not even he’s not a passer but because of his shooting and his positional versatility and his movement off the ball and these these corner pin down sets they run for him are killing everybody in part because he is playing with a new physicality the season going
At bigger defenders in the paint and guarding Center he’s guard Miles Turner guard Anthony Davis in recent games like I he his kind of he’s like a floating helpful player just moving around is shooting I I’m not moving him I’m not he’s an athletic seven-footer who can
Shoot put it on the floor and finish those don’t grow on trees and I I won’t say the name that that was brought up but I I was talking to somebody with the Jazz and I said yeah you know five first round picks and okay five might be hyperbole but I’m
Just not I’m not looking to trade him I said an ex player a nice young player is kind of the headliner of the of the package and they were like no not that guy this other guy and the name that they mentioned made me gasp all that to say if Larry marinan is
Traded it will be for a package that would have to blow no I’m gonna come out I’m come they’re not gonna trade them they’re just not that’s what I’m telling you it would be it would be like you would not believe the kind of return it
Would take to to get Larry marinin I would waste my breath making that phone call I’ll put it to you like that they get offered like a good first for Kelly lenck not like a top 15 protect if they get offered a good first you have to
Think about it and I think they could Cobble enough together to kind of replace his role on the team but other than that I like to see I was thinking of comps like the the kind of classic build from the middle teams are the Pacers right of the of the mid 210s the
Pacers never famously picked like higher than 10 for a million years the Blazers when LaMarcus Aldridge left they won 44 games the next year because they already had Damen Lillard in house now Lowry now is like roughly equivalent to what Damen Lillard was then Damen Lillard was 25 in
That season the other team I and but look it’s hard to do even Oklahoma City it feels like they were bad for like a hot second and now they’re good again they were bad for two years and they got Giddy and Chad out of those it’s it like
Bottoming out is a thing that happens for multiple Seasons still the team I thought about was like the random Raptors team in 20134 that had Rudy Gay and traded Rudy Gay to the Kings for a bunch of bench players at that point Demar D rozan was
24 had never made an All-Star team made his first All-Star team that season Cy Lowry was 27 had never made an All-Star team the team had not made the playoffs as with that core of players and they kind of accidentally became good and I think most Raptors fans would be like
Yeah we had that was like we didn’t get over the hump we became lebronto like LeBron eliminated us over and over like that was a legit good team and we had fun and we kind of built from the middle around those two guys that was one of
The teams I thought of and I I I think Utah can follow that same path around marinin now do they have a second guy as good as Lowry maybe not but they’ve got a lot of good players yeah and keontay George is definitely the the young guy
Who is in the rotation now that they’re looking at as having real I don’t want to say starup side but like high level starter upside you know Walker Kessler needs to get better offensively as a as a screener you know as a uh his ability to catch the ball there’s a
There’s a lot of development to be had there but he’s already an elite defensive player um you know they’ve got some pieces in place and you know as you mentioned seon I mean we’ll see what happens um age- wise he fits the timeline and and the man can put the
Ball in the back he’s not a point guard they’re not asking him to be a point guard he’s putting the ball in the basket at a high high level and they just for a a team of kind of uh you know I don’t want to say leftovers or Misfit Parts but you
Know a a team of of guys most of whom have bounced around a little bit that that’s kind of been uh been thrown together I I think they’ve got a really good culture and there’s you know right now they’ve got 10 guys while while they’ve been on the stretch 10 guys that
Are playing right around between 20 and 30 minutes and there’s no whining there’s no moping there’s no you know complaining about touches or minutes or all those kind of things Walker kler is not pouting because he’s coming off the bench Clarkson’s not crying about hey I established my stealth myself as a
Starter all those kind of things and they’re letting will hardy coach them and I I do think they’re overachieving right now but that’s a that’s a credit to not just the coaches but to the players who are uh you know willing to go along with this and and and and
Also to to adapt it’s not like the rotation set in stone on a game to game basis they’re willing to to buy in and adapt on a you know on a night to night basis and that’s not always the case in the NBA Larry Markin is having a great
Season listen to him talk on listen to him talk on defense so you can hear it even over the TV he’s talking ver ve you hear him say that a lot that means ve back on the pick and roll like late switch Chris Dunn’s the best in the
League at that anyway let’s switch gears and talk about your hometown team the Dallas Mavericks again kind of just floating in a Nether world in the middle of the West not receiving a ton of attention I think it is a home run for them to be 24 and 17 with so that’s 41
Games Kyrie and Luca have played together in 20 of them they’re 24 and 17 eighth in offense 18th in defense as you have pointed out recently they’ve been a borderline top 10 defense now for the last month they are one of five teams in the NBA to as we are recording this
Early in the morning on January 16th in LA to not have a lineup any lineup of five players crack a 100 minutes so far this season 23 starting lineups in 41 games the other four teams are Charlotte Memphis Miami who has just been injured up and down and the Spurs so that’s the
Company you’re in with not having a lineup play that many minutes together Kyrie is absolutely balling out at an All-Star level carried them to wins over the Knicks and the Pelicans in the last four days 265 and five and they do play it’s not like beautiful Synergy but when
They’re on the floor together the offense is really really good um it’s interesting that we have reached 41 games I don’t what is the starting lineup of this team like do we know everyone is we know we know three we know three two stars in Lively I can
Tell you they’re F and by the way you mentioned 20 games lukea and Kyrie 16 with Lively with the with that duo I mean that’s that’s their core three guys Lively is is part of that who who are the other two starters they’re 11 of
Five in those games Derrik Jones Jr on a min and Dante exom who I think I might have my exceptions on a slice of an exception a $3 million year player they got to the point that was that’s my guess that’s my guess as of now no I’m I’m telling you
That’s that’s the plan like that’s coming that’s Jason kid on the record that is the plan um they got to the realization of hey we want exom and Jones their two best on ball Defenders um exom has become a solid three-point shooter that’s something that happened
When he went back to or over to Europe for a couple years and they they like having that third guy with some playmaking ability uh in that starting lineup and they and they came to that realization because exom was so damn good playing with Luca while Kyrie was
Out with that heel contusion that sidelined him for uh for mosta December and so hey Kyrie’s back we we think we figured out this fiveman uh starting line if it’s really going to fit here we go boom Utah and then exom got hurt in the first half of that game he has a
Just they can’t let him play in Utah just it’s cursed just don’t let Dante to X him said foot on the floor in Utah yeah and first they said heel contusion and then they changed it to a sprain of the planter there’s a minor tear in it which
You know it’s going to take a little bit of time I don’t know exactly how long Jones actually sat out last night with a contusion Luke has been out with a sprained ankle I they’ve been killed by injuries but that that’s their that’s the fiveman starting lineup that they
Plan to go forward with and I you know Jay kid said well we’re going to California hopefully that seab breeze can can help us get healthy that’s right I’m going to see them tomorrow against the Lakers I think uh that’s exciting yeah but that that that’s the group and
Um you know they got Maxi C but back he missed two months with a dislocated pinky toe that kept on popping out um they got him back I’m sorry the to the toe the toe kept on popping out that sounds horrible yeah it’s it’s not a pleasant thing it’s like how do you
Miss two mons with the tow injury because it keeps popping out of place that’s how uh every time they thought he was close to coming back it seemed like the thing popped out um but he’s he played the last couple of games games and that’s gives them some some
Flexibility there we we all know what he meant to their West finals run you know to their to that team being a top seven defense uh in the league Grant Williams now coming off the bench um it’s an if they are an average to above average defensive team which they
Have been for a while and they’ve got their three main guys healthy and I am counting Derek Livy II as a main guy then they have a chance to be dangerous in the west no absolutely like again the race for the top six that’s what we’re
Talking about today is like the I think the top four is going to be what it is right now and then the race for those last five and six spots is going to be fierce Dallas is is dangerous and they’re dangerous like they could win round and be a dangerous second round
Opponent to one of the heavyweights in the west League that’s how good their two best offensive players are and if they have Lively I want to give him a little love for his offense and it’s so much Beyond dunking my favorite thing about him is you trap one of those dudes
On the pick and roll he catches the ball 14 feet from the rim he is not passing by default it doesn’t even matter if the help Defender coming into him is a bigger guy he can put the ball on the floor and hit a little hook shot he’s shooting
57% on floater range shots like he’s got a nice little soft touch um now you mentioned exim and Jones that’s that’s what I was thinking too and I didn’t know J kid had said it that lineup has only played 26 minutes together there plus 35 in 26 minutes which is kind of
Like mathematically impossible to be that much of a plus in that little time um but what has happened in amid these absences is Grant Williams has kind of been in injured and banged up as an ankle injury he’ll be what he is which will be useful I thought he was going to
Start they thought he was going to start it hasn’t turned out that way that’s fine he’ll play Big minutes for them decent minutes Jaden Hardy has showed some signs of Life recently Josh green has showed real Signs of Life recently all of a sudden they look pretty deep you haven’t mentioned Tim Hardway
Jr who’s a legit six Man of the Year candid 18 a game well and while luk has been out with a sprained ankle Kyrie’s been cooking so is Hardway he’s averaged 32 and change very efficiently over these three games that’s why they’ve won two of them the tricky part is playing
Tim Kyrie and Luca together is going to hurt your defense but they they’ll do it here and there uh and kba you mentioned you know look he he unlocks some flexibility like even in the Pelicans game yesterday there was a lineup where I think Grant Williams was at Center
They made have put grant and CBA together there were five Shooters on the floor and Kyrie just like drove to the rim there was no big man waiting at the rim you you talk about Grant Williams and Derrick Jones Jr at the four and the five they played all three of Grant
Williams Derrik Jones Jr and CBA together for a couple minutes in that game it’s just interesting team um I I I think this team could be good and dangerous um if they can get their defense in order which they have been now the interesting thing is people have
Twitter people not I I have not heard any credible people um have speculated about their fit as a pascal cakam team um I I don’t really see it because I don’t see what salary they have to send out that any of these teams are going to
Want like kba’s got too much time left on his contract richan Holmes has a player option for next season that nobody’s going to want Hardway is not Expendable he’s too good you know for $18 million a year they do have one first round pick and three swaps that they can
Trade someone mentioned Jeremy Grant um to me as as a sort of like because his contract is so long he’s getable at a at a lower price is that a Mavs fit I I’m interested in your thoughts on that cakam and just you know if they just
Wait till the summer all of a sudden they have three picks that become tradable so maybe they just do nothing but is there is there an upgrade out there that you’ve heard Rumblings of not necessarily Rumblings it’s interesting Grant Jeremy Grant was mentioned to me yesterday and it it wasn’t from anybody
Like in the mass front office or coaching staff somebody’s around the team um and that’s interesting I like with seak you mentioned first like what does the trade look like um can they make the best trade for seaka but then there there’s just straight up there’s concerns about SE yakum wants a Max
You’ve already got two guys at 40 you know in that 40 mil range and in today’s NBA going forward with three guys making 40 mil plus is is very yeah so you know there’s concerns there um I would prefer if you’re going to lock yourself into a
Number three guy that is more of a shooting threat um because look if you’re playing with Kyrie and Luca you will get open threes P Pascal’s been on fire from three for the last month I just can’t figure out his true level is probably like League average or a little
Bit worse that’s probably where he is yeah um I I certainly expect as a three-point shooter to be clear I I certainly expect the Mavericks to kick a whole bunch of tires like every GM comes through town Nico Harrison the mass GM’s over there huddling up with them and
Then and chitchat and all those sorts of things they’re going to have a lot of conversations um there was a desperation leading into the trade deadline last year they got fortunate uh that Kyrie Irving became available and at a discount price because of a variety of
Issues um and by the way you and I did not like that trade for them and I I said on this podcast reacting to that trade I’m just on the the school thought where like I’m not trading for Kyrie Irving giving everything that’s happened
So far and the key is always so far with Kyrie like we got to e Crow on that he’s been really good and available and there’s been like really nothing noise wise like he is living up to that trade in that contract easily for them well
And he got a lot of uh of flack last year because the Mavericks fell apart after that trade and anybody watching that team understood Kyrie’s not the reason this team fell apart um and this year you know he he did have the the I think he missed whatever it was two and
A half three weeks with with the injury hey gu guys get hurt but uh you know I talked to him a little bit after the game uh yesterday after they beat the Pelicans and he is at peace he is comfortable he is happy he is I have not
Heard anything but good things about him as a teammate the young guys on the roster love him they look up to him they consider him to be kind of a a role model type of guy and he’s hooping I mean he is you know during his home stand he averaged 34 points efficiently
He’s rebounding he’s diving on the floor I can you know the Mavericks are are extraordinarily happy uh that they were able to pull that off and you know I mentioned the desperation last year they’re fortunate that the Bulls weren’t shopping Zack LaVine last year because the Mavericks wanted them to the
Mavericks wanted to to make a move for Zack LaVine and I think they’d be much worse off now if they would have done that um but as you know when I say there’s not nearly as much desperation that’s because the Mavericks tanking late last season embarrassing as it was
Shameful as it was was absolutely the right move and has paid massive dividends because if you are looking at why they’re as competitive as they’ve been so far this season and why you can convince yourself the arrow is pointing up I would introduce you to a 7 foot one super athletic
Hardworking low maintenance big man named Derek liver II he has been worth every penny of that fine they had to pay for tanking and the embarrassment they endured and all that he’s also the exact kind of big that Luca donic has been craving he is he’s never gonna clog
Things up I need post touches I need post touches he’s going to screen he’s going to roll you can throw it up to the third deck and he’s going to be able to catch lobs you mentioned he’s got some playmaking ability even even in the short role he’s going to rebound he’s
Going to run protect the rim uh he everything he does enhances Luca’s Brilliance and all of his strengths Luca can maximize and he he came in they didn’t think after summer league he was going to be ready he made such massive strides in the two and a half
Months between summer league and the start of Camp he impact and winning as a rookie and he’s never going to be like a primary offensive option type of player but he has a chance to be a star role player for sure yeah they got a couple of those primary option kind of players
On their team including a perennial MVP candidate who’s playing better defense this year than ever in his life LCA donic um and omx prosper has barely played that was the other big first- round pick they had and and he fits the template of kind of what they need in
Theory anyway I don’t know that I’ve heard a name even just spitballing like you and I were just wor about Jeremy like I’m not rushing into I just I don’t think Jeremy Grant is good enough for me to rush into to that contract if I’m the
Mavs as much as I might be hungry to win now because I got to win now guys I don’t know that the right name is out there on seak first of all siakam’s people had to be smiling ear to ear when Detroit cleared even more cap space in the
Marvin baggley salary dump to the Wizards which everyone’s excited about the cap space for the Pistons great we’ll see what they do with the cap space hasn’t worked out there with cat space in previous regimes a new regime we’ll see what happens well it really hasn’t worked out for this regime either
But give him another shot how about eating the Mulligan on the Marvin Bagley contract which was inexplicable the moment it was everyone around League was like what three years 36 million for Marvin bagy how did that happen and now whatever years later months later whatever it is they have to trade two
Second round pick in a useful is role player just to get out of that contract how many big men contracts are the Pistons is going to have to eat picks to get out of in the next five years I’ll say this as far as Marvin bager the
Third Mulligans go this is not the most painful one I would say the king’s taking him a pick before Luca is a bit more painful anyway anyway no Kings bechinger I I think see you you guys talked on the hoop Collective last week I I listened I have a bone to pick with
You by the way off a your I remember taking a shot I don’t remember exactly took a shot at me um it was a good natur shot but it was a shot um it you mentioned like look Pascal’s next contract is baked in to whatever team
Decides to trade for him and I do think he’s going to get traded I don’t know when or where but it seems like that’s where we’re heading we talk to people around the league whoever trades for him is going to have some idea of his desire to
Resign there and some idea of the price they are willing to pay get an idea of the price yeah it might be the whole damn thing dep you know obviously obiously if he gets traded from the Raptors you can’t make all NBA and get this supermax that you can only get that
On your hom grown team or whatever I just if you’re asking me to bet on a on a trade outcome I still would bet on the Pacers right now I don’t know what the price will be where and when but they’re the one team that’s been kind of
Consistently in there but look if any of these teams thought maybe we can and then there’s the whole leverage game we play with the Raptors right of like we can just get him in free agency we’re not going to give you everything now well Detroit just now loomed itself as a
Threat in free agency whether seaka would actually want to go there or not who knows but that would be my bet on them but anyway that’s a that’s a trade for you know the next three weeks Tim McMahon any closing thoughts on your hometown Dallas Mavericks well you know
I I look forward to at some point seeing them healthy and uh I’ll be honest they are they are much better not necessarily more interesting but they’re much better than I antici ipated they be this season they’re better and more interesting to
Me I mean for them to be 24 and 17 is a is a home run given their health issues I I feared the interest would not be a positive they were very interesting last season they weren’t good yeah that’s true but the interest on that kind of
Like you can only yell at them so often for tanking and being bad like it kind of expires this is more interesting it can go into a number of different directions Tim McMahon thank you sir we’ll see you around I appreciate it adios amigos continuing our tour of Western
Conference teams who are good and do not play in California hey the number one team in the west whoa 28 and 11 still first in the west the Minnesota Timberwolves John krinski I think we broke our streak of talking nicely about the wolves and then something horrible
Happening I think that streak has ended the wolves are 28 and 11 20th in offense we we got to talk about that still first in defense and first by a lot coming off a big win over the Clippers uh how are you sir I’m good Zach good to be back
Here and yeah you’re right it’s uh these are weird times now it feels like streaks are breaking it feels like curses are lifting a little bit we still got a long way to go but it’s a different feel around Minnesota these days with this Basketball Club for sure
Can I tell you my favorite moment from that win over the clippers please do and you talked about ghosts of the past and all this and I I don’t know if I’m on high alert for Clippers ghost of the past because the Clippers are like a cursed NBA franchise although I don’t
Really believe in that but remember when they got James Harden Paul George on podcast p with Paul George started talking about lobby lobby lobby lobby lobby lobby like all the lobs that are coming and like my spine tingled because that echoed the Lob City thing that Blake Griffin
Celebrating about how it’s going to be Lob City and that team was good but ultimately fell short against the Minnesota Timberwolves two nights ago in Minnesota the Clippers bench mob which consisted of PJ Tucker bones Highland and vit zubot who missed the game and vit zubats never misses games they uh
Delighted in Rudy goar’s first half uh struggles from the foul line which included back-to-back airballs I believe on one on one trip um and and they they hammed it up man they like linked arms on the bench they did the thing where you laugh and in anticipation of the
Second shot and when it’s an airball you kind of fall out of your seat dramatically and they laughed and they hammed it up and Rudy saw it and after the second air ball Rudy looked over there and gave him a little nod like I
See it and at the end of the game when the Clippers were trying to Rally they hacked go bear on purpose and he went four for four down the stretch in the last 90 seconds of the game I loved it it was sweet Vengeance and then I remembered wait a second I remember
Another Clippers team Hamming it up like this when an opposing player missed free throws and you know what it was it was in the bubble when Damen Lillard of all people missed two free throws with the Blazers down one and the Blazers like had to win every game or so I can’t
Remember what and it was Patrick Beverly and Street Clos and Marcus Morris and Paul George and Patrick Beverly did like the Laughing falling over thing and we know what happened with the Clippers in the bubble and John starting to get worried that the the basketball gods are
Sending signals but hats off to Rudy goar that was a fun moment and you wrote about it after the game yeah I did and you know uh there was two things that stuck out about that moment because one is that Rudy absolutely did see it he
Processed it he kind of filed it away for later in the game and he knocks down all four free throws in the clutch moments and also if you remember Zach Russell Westbrook who was actually filmed like turning his back from the Rudy on the free throw line and a fan
Was filming to me saying tell me what happens I I can’t even watch it Russell Westbrook missed two wide open layups no did Elite jump shooter Russell Westbrook yes missed two wide open layups one in the third quarter that would have kind of helped get them closer and then right
At the end the last play of the game just bricked a wide open layup and so absolutely karma coming back to the Clippers in that case and not only did Rudy hit all of those free throws he was dominant in the fourth quarter uh scoring rebounding blocking shots
Controlling the game like he’s done all season long and I can tell you that the Timberwolves very much enjoyed seeing it play out the way that it did um in in the locker room after the game we Rudy man like why why is it because he’s tall
And a little bit awkward is it because he’s French and I don’t like I don’t it’s there everybody Rudy is like the NBA’s most decorated punch punching bag in history I was going to say punch line but he’s not a punch line because he’s a very good player he’s GNA probably going
To make the Hall of Fame I mean you don’t win four three or four defensive players of the year you get in the Hall of Fame unless you’re on his team he becomes this target for mockery that like everybody just mocks him all the
Time and he just has to grin and B now look he brought it on himself a little bit with the covid stuff and and you know licking the phones or whatever he did than on the phones but man all that guy he’s trying his best from the foul
Line everyone’s laughing at him and then he then he comes back he has been the best defensive player in the in the League this year he is the front runner for defensive player of the year and he should be and this team like their defense has stood the test of time this
Is a legit Elite number one by two whole points per 100 possessions which is a lot it’s a very good defense and you wrote a great piece I want you to expound upon this a little bit people remember if if there are two concerns about the Wolves as like
Okay now now it’s going to be interesting John you’ve never covered I don’t think a wolves team that is going to enter the playoffs with expectations absolutely not not even close and they’re GNA find that that world as the number one or number two or number three seed is a different world
Of scrutiny and pressure and if that first round series whoever it is against is 1-1 or they’re down 2-1 it’s going to get loud and nasty real fast but if there are two concerns about their ability to withstand that in the playoffs I think the cliche concern
Would be well Rudy gets played off the floor by small ball lineups in the playoffs um that’s actually not the one I’m concerned about we’ll get to my concern later you wrote about why that is perhaps a fallacy based on what happened when the Clippers played the
Jazz in the sort of Nader of that Europe for the Jazz expound upon that please right so uh there is this long running theory that Rudy goar is so limited offensively and kind of this big slower guy on defense that you can go small with him and uh and play him off the
Floor or render him completely ineffective and um that the the kind of flashbulb moment of that is game six against Angeles Clippers Western Conference semifinals in 2021 and the the Jazz had two lead to open that series they were number one in the west they were favored in that series they
Open at two no nothing tyo changes some things up with his rotations goes a little smaller and the Clippers come back and they win three in a row and then they go into game six they put Terence man in the starting lineup at that point we didn’t really know Terence
Man that well he’s averaging seven points a game he was shooting 40% from three on very low volume but basically the Utah Jazz strategy was we’re going to put goar on man in this very small lineup and that will allow him to linger a little closer to the rim stop the
Penetration from Paul George and Reggie Jackson that was absolutely killing them and you just dare Terren man to beat you well he did he had seven of 10 three-pointers you could see over and over in that game Rudy goar sort of caught in no man’s land does he get out
To contest the three from man does he stay at the rim and and and try and shut off the uh the penetration and it was just driving kick drive and kick drive and kick man 39 points Clippers come back to win and that brought a ton of
Scrutiny onto Rudy gobear look at this guy he can’t he can’t perform in the playoffs against small ball lineup he’s an O he’s an move yes and so and what Utah people members of the Jazz organization people who are around that team a lot told me after the trade was
That actually Rudy goar was the one that was covering everyone on the court and you know Donovan Mitchell Jordan Clarkson buan bogdanovich guys on the perimeter could not guard for Utah and so you Rudy was having to just cover everything and it was not working and the difference here and what Rudy talked
About after beating the Clippers on Sunday was that he has people on the Timberwolves who guard on the perimeter and you have Jaden McDaniels you have Anthony Edwards Mike Conley knows where to be Carl Anthony towns is actually having his best defensive season um as a power forward you have Nel Alexander
Walker you have Kyle Anderson all of these guys can take pressure off and eliminate the penetration that allows Rudy to not have to do five things at once and so now you are seeing him close out on Paul George on the perimeter and actually hand look okay in that now
You’re seeing him block more shots at The Rim because he’s able to stay home and doesn’t have to worry about getting elsewhere and so the timber have this really nice the the UAH Jazz were built great around Rudy goar offensively that was a perfect offense for him this is
The perfect defense for Rudy goar in Minnesota and that’s what gives the Timberwolves hope that maybe they can change that narrative in the playoffs that maybe they will not be able to be neutralized as quickly as those Jazz teams were so the other difference it’s not just that the M that Minnesota has
Vastly better defensive players individually than those Jazz teams did and those Jazz teams had you know Joe Engles Boon bogdanovich guys who were heady and smart but sometimes against quicker guys were low over matched you know smaller guards all that stuff Donovan Mitchell was a disaster in some
Of those playoff series defensively um the wolves are also enormous like across the board enormous and what that means is the driving lanes are a little smaller and like sometimes so Jen McDaniels can rotate can like kind of half rotate lunge over and then get back
And all of a sudden like he’s back in front of you and that driving lane you thought was there is not there so that’s one drive where Rudy gobear if you’re playing Five out doesn’t have to come from the corner to the rim he can stay
In the corner and it just he has to everyone has to cover less space because all four of the five players other than Conley are giant for their positions I mean Anthony Edwards is a big big two guard Jaden McDonald’s is enormous for a wing um and Rudy to his
Credit has gotten I think more aggressive at if you put a smaller guy on him or he has a smaller guy in transition he’s running to the rim and sealing with kind of a new ferocity and polish that you used to only see when he would play for the French national team
And the Wolves will throw him the ball and yeah sometimes it don’t look pretty like he’ll bring the ball down and pump and Lurch around a little bit but if you got a guard on him he will go up and just dunk it might take a couple of you
Know gathers and whatever and maybe he’ll get fouled and and I know he’s struggled he’s what is he at 65% he’s like a horrible foul shooter um and the wolves and I think that’s important like Reggie Jackson teren man those guys got away with guarding him partly because he
Wasn’t sealing as aggressively and partly because the Jazz would just not throw him the ball they didn’t trust him the Wolves trust him a little bit more and he’s generally I think again he can he can be a little awkward and turnover prone but he’s generally paid that trust
Back right and and last year Zach they did not trust him Anthony Edwards wouldn’t throw him the ball in the playoffs because they just didn’t have the chemistry and Trust built up this year it’s a lot different Carl Anthony towns has been at the Forefront of that
He has been one of the most willing passers to Rudy goar on this team and he has thrown him lobs he’s thrown him passes he has really kind of helped bring Rudy along from an offensive standpoint and that chemistry is getting to be pretty good Anthony Edwards is now
Throwing him the ball a little bit more which is which is a plus coming off of the penetration that he can create and Rudy is getting more confident as you said Zack in in doing things to make himself an offensive threat uh his shooting percentages are down in in
Comparison to the record setting years he was having right before he came here he 71% from the field when he came to Minnesota in his last season in Utah he’s at like 63% right now but he’s trying little jump hooks he’s he is getting to the basket backing them in he
Has 122 dunks this season I think that’s second most in the NBA right now I’m not sure if that’s updated or not yet but right around there so he’s being really aggressive going to the rim and he is becoming someone that you cannot just ignore and that’s going to be crucial to
Their playoff hopes because he is going to see a lot of Drew holiday on him if they were ever to make the finals like Smalls that that that will try and rotate and hope that he cannot burn them and they’re going to have to find ways
To make that work Kyle Anderson and and cat throwing him that lob on the little half penetration has been really effective for them God I love slow-mo I love everything about slowmo so you said you said a lot of things there um Rudy jump hooks yes I know it’s it’s not and
He’s he’s actually taken a couple of little jumpers no no no I don’t I’m not I’m not rubbing my eyes cuz I mind it I was rubbing my eyes to to to jog my brain what I was gonna say yeah he’ll also bring the ball up and transition
Which is quite an NBA adventure and like I assume that’s one of those like no no no yes kind of things where Chris Finch has just learned to be like you know what we ask this dude to do a lot of dirty work on defense he doesn’t get to
Have that much fun with the ball if he grabs and goes we just got to let it ride like we got to ride the roller coaster and see where it ends up and sometimes it ends up actually kind of well and sometimes it ends up with like is there a guard
Nearby give the ball to the guard please the second thing you mentioned cat and I’ve talked a lot on this podcast about cat’s adaptability and you wrote about this the other day about Carl kind of finding his new water level as a second option um but it’s it’s actually quite a
Hard needle to thread when you think about it he’s now the second option Anthony Edwards is the first option and he’s the second option on a team where he’s playing with a traditional Center who owns the paint that’s hard for a guy who’s played
A lot of five to adjust to and he’s done well my question for you is this we all know this is a very strange situation and there have not been many like it in NBA history where they have this financial sort of Damocles hanging over their heads all season long everybody
Knows it I assume even the the players who are quite good at kind of blocking out cap stuff and trade stuff and all that I assume they all know it on on some level they have 170 million dollars committed to six guys next year cat ant Nas Reed who’s amazing Rudy goar jayen
McDaniels and Niki Alexander Walker who’s one of their three critical bench players that’s basically you’re at the tax for six guys we all know this everybody knows this the world knows it that doesn’t include Kyle Anderson it doesn’t include a point guard unless you count Alexander walk who’s kind of their
Backup point guard right now um does include Mike Conley obviously do they just not talk about it like is it one of these things where everyone’s agreed like no we’re just not talking about it for the rest of the year we all know like Carl must know on some level if
This goes badly in the playoffs I I’m the most likely out here because that’s just the reality of it but is it like Voldemort just nobody says it nobody talks about it yeah I think it’s it’s the players have done a good job of not acknowledging it um Carl absolutely
Absolutely understands the Dynamics that are at play here and he knows that there’s plenty of chatter about trades and and the future of this team and and all of those things but I think right now because of the level of success that they’re having on their Court they’re
Able to shut that out a little bit more if they were their typical Timberwolves that were hanging around the the um playing tournament type of of seating and scratching and clawing I think You’ feel a lot more pressure internally in the locker room uh and then I think the
Other part that that it has allowed team the the players and coaches to really not make that front and center is that it’s still you really just don’t know how this whole ownership situation is going to play out for those who are unfamiliar Glen Taylor has agreed to
Sell the team to Alex Rodriguez and Mark Lori they have uh the Alex Rodriguez and Mark Lori have until March I believe to make their final payment and then go through legal approval to become uh majority owners of this team and all signs are that it’s going in that
Direction and that things are going to play out that way but we haven’t seen what Lori and A-Rod want to do and how financially aggressive they’re going to want to be if this team goes to the NBA finals can I see this team paying a big
Tax and trying to ride it out for a year or two yes I can if the team Flames out early on in the first round of the playoffs and gets upset yeah then I think there are going to be real hard questions to to ask and probably going
To be some changes that are made but I think most of the players have just put that out of their mind right now and said we’re we have you know for cat he’s been here nine years and he’s lost a lot and he’s been through a lot of
Dysfunction and so there’s a part of him that’s sort of enjoying this moment right now of real success and kind of showing the rest of the League that he can be impactful on a very good team and however it shakes out it shakes out but uh for I have not sensed anything really
Within the team that that says you know we’re on borrowed time here I think they’re just going to let it all play out and see what happens so a number of people have cautioned me this front office Executives from other teams to be clear said you know everyone’s talking
About this tax issue I’ve called it the financial sword of damic like that tax they don’t have to pay that tax until next season is over exact so like you can go into next season way over the tax and see what life looks like in January
A year from now and figure it out ahead of the trade deadline they don’t it’s not like this summer they have to preemptively get under the tax it would be helpful but they don’t have to number two obviously it goes without saying I’m just going to be Crystal Clear they’re
Not doing any cost cutting trade this season the team is too good they’re going to ride this out and see what happens number three you said if this team makes the finals do you pay a tax bill if the answer is not yes to that like if this team makes the NBA Finals
Do you keep everyone together and pay the tax and build the team around if the answer is not yes the new owners should sell the team immediately okay because if the team makes the finals you just keep every you keep all the core guys and you try to make the finals again
That’s it by the way you can this is how broken my brain is just every time anyone and it just happened with you says the words Alex Rodriguez the first thing I think of is Bronson a Royo still to this day 20 years later I think of Alex Rodriguez
Cheating like a typical New York Yankee cheat trying to knock the ball out of Bronson and royo’s hands at first base and the greatest comeback in the history of sports and then apoplectic like a like an NBA player actually like who I I didn’t foul anybody how what is the oh
The replay shows that I clotheslined a guy in the head well I didn’t do anything A- Rod I will never get I don’t know where Bronson a royal is today he could be the manager of the Red Sox for all I know all I can think about what
A-Rod is um and I don’t know if I my dad is a lifelong uh New Hampshire native a lifelong Red Sox fan yes and I grew up a Mets fan um because they were the local team and my dad cautioned me against liking the Red Sox I wanted to like the
Red Sox cuz they were his team and he’s like you know it’s just misery just pick just don’t pick the Yankees pick a national league team pick the Mets and so I picked the Mets and that 2004 run we’re getting very sidetracked here that was the most fun I’ve ever had as a
Sports fan and they weren’t even my team because all I wanted I just wanted my dad to see the Red Sox win one time I mean like you didn’t know that they were going to win what have they won three or four more times since then I drove I was
Covering night I was on the night police beat for the Sanford Havoc a newspaper and I told them all as long as the Red Sox are alive in this series I’m leaving work early and watching the last three Innings of these games with my dad and because he lived about 15 minutes
Away from the newspaper and I did and I was driving speeding into my parents’ driveway when and listening to the radio call when A-Rod knocked the ball out of a Royal’s hands and I can hear John Miller’s voice I believe it was John Miller on National call saying a
Catastrophe for the Red Sox because it looked like they had blown it and I’m running in the house trying to figure out what had happened and that’s what had happened okay John sorry well I can just say Zach real quickly like you’re the only person I’ve ever heard who has
Anything bad to say about A-Rod so this is like very very uh unique on that part so fun the most fun I’ve ever watching my dad get to see the Red Sox one was was the best thing ever um I mentioned before that there were two concerns about the Wolves playoff viability
Contender finals viability and one we we addressed and dismissed the one that’s actually concerning to me is that their offense is 20th um and we’re halfway through the season now this is a bottom 12 NBA offense they are 28th in turnover rate just madting turnovers and it’s
It’s easy to say well if they just correct that everything’s fine because they’re shooting well from three they take generally pretty good shots um they have sacrificed offensive rebounding for transition defense which is a trade-off that has actually worked like their transition defenses gone from horrible to really really good
Um it’s not so much the turnovers that concern me as when it gets down to gut check time in the playoffs it’s do I trust the collective decision making of this team and specifically do I trust Edwards and towns with the ball in their hands to make the right play
Almost every time and that sounds crazy because Anthony Edwards has been a great crunchtime shot maker and will continue to be he can get a little Shan happppy and Chris Finch has talked about this he talked about this after one of their recent games sometimes the right play
For him is the easy pass the simple play draw Kick let the offense move and sometimes the ball will get back to you instead of forcing your third straight step back 20 footer as awesome as those are when they go in and Cat just gets like weird turnover itis it or foul itis
Sometimes but turnover itis in big games that’s where Conley comes in as a stabilizer and when you watch this team every time they get a little off-kilter you’ve seen it they call the same play conle goar side pick and roll no empty side pick and roll settled it’s their
Settle down play so what I’m asking you is what is the temperature take on this offense what has to happen for this because 20th look they can get real far in the playoffs because their defense is so good at some point that offense is going to become has to become a little
Cleaner for them to get where they want to go yeah it’s it’s been a constant conversation all season long and Chris Finch has expressed some frustration exasperation at times with decisionmaking and and turnovers because when you look at their raw numbers you can look at it and right now Zach they
Are sixth in the NBA in field goal percentage they are third in the NBA in three-point percentage they’re actually second if you exclude garbage time and Hees on cleaning the glass they’re second like they’re they’re shooting the hell out of it in in in clutch situations best winning percentage in
League they’re 12- four their field goal percentage is third in clutch situations 50% their three-point percentage is seven so when they make when they get shots they get the shots that they want and they make them but they turn the ball over too much and the offensive
Rebounding has not been uh not been great for reasons you articulated so their field goal attempts are dead last in the league they don’t take enough shots every game their opponent is taking 10 12 13 more shots per game one caveat the one caveat is they get to the
Free throw line a lot which dep presses their raw field goal attempts but generally that is you’re right the field goal it’s funny that sometimes you just look at the simplest stat is like how many shots did you take it’s like oh that seemed like a problem right yeah
Exactly and so what are trying to do and what Chris Finch and Mike Conley in particular every if you go into the locker room after most games Mike Conley is talking to Anthony Edwards and they’re just going over situations and scenarios Chris Finch goes over it with
Him in film sessions and they are trying to get a 22y old to kind of expedite the learning curve and and and get to a spot where he is trusting his teammates to get off of the ball when the double comes because it comes often in that
Situation and and trust that it’s going to come back to him in a better position and I think we’re starting to see more of that lately uh Kawhi Leonard even talked about it after the Clippers game about how patient Anthony Edwards was in that game and patience is going to be
The key because he can get trigger happy when he doesn’t get a shot up in two three minutes he wants to get it going and sometimes it’s great sometimes he makes unbelievable contested shots Bank Shot mid-range game is such a weapon the bank shot is just ridiculous like I like
I said this last week I don’t think any player has ever made a bigger year-to-year Improvement in Bank shots in Anthony awards he’s banking these shots like from almost the sideline on per it’s like crazy from 18 feet yeah it’s it’s it’s unbelievable and and that is what Zack gives the Timberwolves
Confidence that they can iron this out over the course of the season because he has proven to be so coachable in that Denver playoff loss last year he looked at it and said I need to be more multifaceted in terms of getting buckets in crunch time so all summer long he
Worked on that bank shot he worked on that mid-range game and he’s been really good in that in that respect now it’s about making the right decision it’s about doing that over and over again and with cat uh that’s that’s going to be a challenge for him because I do think
That he gets uh excited in those moments and sometimes a little bit he wants to make a great play instead of just the solid play and and that is a problem for this offense and so all over and over again that just underscores the importance of Mike Conley uh Chris Finch
Has said it after seven or eight games this year I need to get the ball in Mike’s hands more I need to get put the ball in his hands late in games and he is the one that quarterbacks this thing and either gets a shot for himself gets
A lob for Rudy gets gets something good for the Timberwolves but um eventually they have to be not as reliant on 36-year-old Mike Conley they have to be reliant on their two stars and I think that’s still very much a work in progress you said the words learning
Curve which I thought was very apt because that was the bet in the gobear trade as much as it was a bet on goar and boy was it a bet it was a bet on like all right we got to win immediately like that’s the bet we just made Rudy
Goar is almost 30 we gave up every first round pick in perpetuity essentially for him if we’re going to win big this 21 year old kid’s got to be the number one option in big playoff games and he’s got to be steady enough to do it that’s the
Bet and the thing about ant is he’s actually a good passer when he engages that part of his game and it doesn’t have to be tricky it’s just this when you get the pick and roll two come to you the corner guy’s open just make that
Pass the guy on the Wing’s open because they’re sloughing off him just make that pass leg jtim McDaniels attack a diagonal and Chris Finch has talked about how Jaden is kind of the bellweather for their offense when he starts to get Closeouts to attack he’s become pretty good at it like if you
Give him a Defender running him off the ark he can pump and go and finish at The Rim make the next pass that’s when they start to get rolling a little bit in a way that is harder to guard even like I think it was Terrence man maybe against
The Clippers ant had a post up late in that game where he scored like a little eight foot jumper and I just bookmarked it like it was against the smaller player that’s why I think it maybe it was man I don’t know who it was and I
Bookmarked it in my head because I remember talking before last season with ant about his post game about how he had very few post touches and he’s a big two guard he’s gonna get chances particularly because that was coming off the playoff series against Memphis when
He hunted Morant a lot and tried to get that matchup and he talked about like I want to build that I want to build that part of my game and it hasn’t really happened and part of the reason it hasn’t really happened is like they got
Two big guys who are inside all the time like but part of the reason I like that for him is not necessarily the scoring it’s it’s an easy way to draw to and see the whole floor in front of you and unlock a little bit of his passing so I
Just I just bookmarked that that’s all yeah he’s I mean he for all of his Charisma for all of his kind of funny sayings in uh you know after games and and and the the youth that comes out and and when you talk to him after games and
This exuberance and stuff he is very uh coachable and and smart in terms of what he needs to do on the floor and how he can get better and attack weaknesses and there are very few players on this team Zach that uh will absorb criticism or
Scrutiny and and in do it in the right way he doesn’t get defensive about it he takes it in from the people that he trusts he thinks about it and he finds a way to fix it and it doesn’t happen overnight but uh but in general when you
Are emphasizing something with him he from you know when you do it one game in two or three games you can say okay he’s he’s working on this he is getting he he is understanding the problem here and so we even saw it with the with the turnovers late against the Clippers one
Rushed shot one throwaway in transition just just like that’s still a 22-year-old that wants to go for the kill shot all of the time he loves to stick the dagger in and that is admirable um it’s a great quality for a number one uh offensive player to have
But there’s also a way to find the right spot so that you can make sure you make contact there instead of flailing and he’s still working on that part of it real quick um one of the reasons to really like this team there’s a stability to it it’s base like its floor
Is pretty high game game because of its defense because it has a very set in stone eight-man rotation the starting five then Nas Reed Kyle Anderson and Alexander Walker Off the Bench and if you just look at I I looked at all their different big man combinations all pairs
Of cat goar cat Reed Reed goar the three of them uh each one as the only big man which is rare they don’t do that much they’re all very solidly positive except for Nas Reed is the only big man on the floor which is not something you’re
Going to see all that much so everything they’re doing is working pretty well those three guys are Rock Solid bench players the ninth guy has like Troy Brown Jr has come in and give them some good games Jordan mcclaughlin like made his mid-season Cameo then annual mid-season Cameo give them some good
Games they have Shake Milton hasn’t been what they hoped for but he’s sitting there just in case that’s a eight-man rotation is great they don’t have a lot of stuff to trade is there any is there a move on the the margins that you expect them to
Make or try to make I I do expect them to be very active and having conversations now you’re right it’s it’s not going to I don’t think it’s going to be for a major move but there are areas that they know that they need to address
One is do you need a backup point guard for Mike Conley they’re going to be playing a ton of back-to-backs over this second half of the Season yeah only played 39 games they play one of the fewest games right now and and and one of the fewest uh numbers of backto backs
As well and that’s all going to catch up with them in the second in the second half of the season so do you need someone to steady that out and be more reliable there um that’s one area and then I think the other area is some sort
Of bucket getter uh in that second unit because they wanted Shake Milton to be that maybe he can still eventually become that but he’s just really hasn’t shot the ball well at all and so is it you know do go go out and try and find
Someone like that who can give you more offense from the perimeter and especially from the three-point range because this team doesn’t shoot a lot of Threes they shoot they make 38% of their threes but they only shoot 31 a game and and they need to I think need to get
That volume up if they’re going to kind of help this offense improve from 20th into 151 area they have to shoot more threes Carl Anthony towns has to shoot more threes but finding a bench scorer that could do that for them and and come out and and and outside Nas Reed give
Them 12 15 points in a game I think is is something that they’re going to look really hard at as the deadline approaches here look here’s where we are the the West is there for them like like the the the Lakers unless the Suns like really figure it out and become the team
That everyone feared we’ll see the Lakers they’re fig they might figure some stuff out they started this new line or new old lineup last night like maybe that works for them maybe it doesn’t they don’t appear to be on track to figuring it out in like a big super
Dangerous way now you never underestimate them in a playoff setting with those two dudes at the top of their roster the Warriors don’t appear to be anywhere close to figuring anything out the Thunder are awesome they have the second best net rating in the league the best net rating in the Western
Conference they’re also young like we’ll see how they do in their first go round to the playoffs I think they’re really really good the Clippers Loom as like oh my God are they are they like when you when you factor an experience are they like becoming the favorite in the west
Maybe we’ll see like we know what James Harden’s done in the playoffs I love what the Clippers have have been doing lately I’m excited to go their game tonight um but this is there for Min like I’ll tell you right now unless this offense stabilizes a little bit they
Will not be my pick to win the Western Conference in the playoffs I just I just can’t trust their offense but they have 40 games to iron it out and I it’s there like it’s there for them like they this there’s if they can just get this a
Little cleaner there’s a pathway where they can make the finals like 100% for sure it’s wide open that way and and I can tell you that the people in the organization feel that too Zach um this they know that this is a very rare moment for this franchise from one
Through eight like you said from a talent standpoint they are not going to be looking up at many teams that they play game in and game out and certainly not even in the playoffs and that is where I do think I’m going to be interested to see Alex Rodriguez and Mar
Glory and how they operate going into this trade deadline because they have been aggressive they went out and paid a bunch of money for Tim Connelly they okayed the Rudy go bear deal um and so they have shown that they’re going to go after things when it’s right there and I
Believe that this organization thinks that this opportunity is there for them that this window is open for the next year or two and so I wouldn’t surprise me at all for them to be aggressive at the deadline but they also know that they have put together a squad that can
Make a really Deep Run in the playoffs and that is something that just doesn’t happen here I’ll just give you this one stat Zack that I want you on on November 30th they were 15 and four they were the outright number one seed in the West for
10 days in a row at that point in their previous 34 years of existence they had been the outright number one seat in the West for 10 days they have held that since then it’s like 57 days now now they’ve had a tie here or there with OKC
But for the majority of it they been this is the this is how rare this success is for this franchise and I don’t think that anyone here wants to let that slip away just don’t jinx it John just don’t jinx it that’s what I do that’s that’s
Seems what I do in 20 years on this beat all right John krinski look there’s just nobody better uh covering a team than than John read everything he does covering the wolves in the general NBA he has we didn’t get to talk about he you have an absolutely beautiful story
About Ricky Rubio who just announced his retirement from the NBA a couple weeks ago in his time in Minnesota just AB like knockout coverage across the board thank you for letting us some of your time and hopefully I’ll see you soon anytime Zach thanks for having
Me all right let’s round this out with a Southwest Division more Southwest Division I think it’s a Southwest Division I don’t even know running to the airport yes formerly our new New Orleans Pelicans Zion beat reporter still on that beat kind of but now is shifted into Texas on the wemi beat has
A piece out this week on Victor wanyama playing Center over the last six weeks for the Spurs and what that’s done Andrew Lopez how are you uh I am I am warmer than the rest of San Antonio uh mostly because I am in Atlanta on this
Spurs uh five five game Road Trip before so headed headed to Boston uh I think in a couple of hours so a little a little warmer than than most uh Spurs fans right now fun Vindication for those of us who have been baffled All Season by Greg papovich is refusal to start Trey
Jones and play him with Victor wanyama like for I I literally was like I don’t know what the hell Trey Jones did um but now got it works I think their net rating is like still slightly positive for the season oh my God who knew a real
Point guard could help the San Antonio Spurs it was it was kind of funny because the Trey minutes started fantastic they were one of the only net ratings that they had that was positive through through the first couple of weeks of the Season you know
How hard it is to have a positive net rating for any Duo that plays a lot of minutes on a team that’s flirting with the worst net rating in like almost modern NBA history you know how hard that is it is it is very hard and the
Fact that they were able to do that uh it it took a dip I want to say like late November early December and then every lineup just just looked bad at that point but now they’ve started to figure some things out Trey looks great right now I think it’s the only two-man
Lineups with Victor that are positive ratings right now are Trey at plus four5 and I think now Devon Vel and I think I think that’s 0. five right now um I think they got a lot of that back after being benched yesterday in uh to start
The second half in in Atlanta but I mean things are are are trending the right way and and all kind of started with we should probably just play Vic at Center yeah um and not I I don’t want to bury the lead let’s just talk about wanyama he’s
Incredible um it turns out he’s absolutely incredible uh I’ve been saying all year like forget the shooting inefficiencies and off of whatever stat the crazy thing about him is even when they were playing him at the four defensively on the wing he’s so goddamn big and long and fast that he still had
A massive imp like I didn’t think they were sacrificing that much defensively by having him on the wing instead of in the Middle where he is now and his Rim protection is like massively effective because he’s just an allc Court Wrecking Crew by himself but the biggest thing
That you detailed is his shots his shots not selection just the shots he’s getting so many more of them are at The Rim so many fewer of them are threes which he’s under 30% I think for the season um and long to and you saw in that Hawks game you
Mentioned they benched three starters then they brought them back in and wemi made 11 consecutive shots one more terrifying than the next um or each more terrifying than the last whatever is appropriate and you see it in transition almost more than the half court but the Spurs ball handlers and like I don’t
Even think Vel has had that great of a season on either end of the floor flanker I think his development on defense has been a little disappointing I still think he’s easily the second most important spur long term and I’m a big fan but like I haven’t loved this
Season but he and Trey Jones and others are like oh we just throw the ball like and that’s the thing about wemi is you think putting him at Center is like he’s going to be Tyson Chandler getting these like pick and roll lob dunks right and he’ll get some of those but sometimes
And this is very handy for a bad team you don’t even have to like run anything or do any action that compromises the defense at all and puts them in rotation and then with six on the shot clock you just be like let’s just throw it up into
The middle and that dude will catch it or in transition just heave it up and that dude will catch it and they’re doing more of that the transition yesterday against the Hawks was the thing that kind of stood out to me the most because that’s when they’re starting to figure
Out more and more because there there was a little bit of a lull where you have the 74 75 guy running down the court or he’s got position on somebody and they’re they weren’t throwing the lobs and it’s like what what is happening and we asked him about this a
Couple of weeks ago he goes oh I heard it I I I heard what you’re saying he goes you know with with all the all the fan all everybody else is saying about my my teammates don’t want to throw me the ball he’s like that’s that’s fine he’s like we all
Understand we’re all on the same page and then slowly but surely they have started to realize oh yeah let’s just get it to the S4 guy around the rim sometimes that results in turnovers but more often than not it results in wimy at least catching it and against the
Hawks it was three to four times including in like you said in transition there were at least two maybe three where he just outran capella down the court just made basket by the Hawks and they’re getting oops on the other end Kaka that’s my sad Kaka the Hawks Kaka
So they’re starting to figure it out more in pick and rolls they’re starting to figure it out there was a few against the Hornets the other night where I think it was two or three in a row it might have been three in a row where
They just oh just oop oop oop oop oop layup oh I can get this dunk now because you overplayed the oop so they’re starting to learn more about him and he’s he’s enjoying this he’s embracing it he he likes look I remember it was back in the preseason when a reporter
Asked him a question about whether or not you would like to be the screen Setter or having the screen set for you as the center and he took he’s like I’m not a center he stopped it right there he said I’m not a center but and then
Continued on with his answer he said that back at the draft he said that several times even when we’ve talked to him about it however he’s like I this was in the article we had up on Monday I can be the center thir I might be the five on paper
But I could play the one 30% of the time when we played the the Pistons and I had the triple double I was the one when we played the Hornets I was the five he because I like that so he is he is embracing the role just as much as
Anything else to me his position is more relevant as is the case for most players on defense you are who you guard and if he’s guarding the five on the other team that means he’s around the basket and if he’s around the basket that means he’s blotting blotting out a million feet of
Space around the rim and you can’t even see the goddamn basket when you get in there offensively he’s correct like he’ll run an inverted pick and roll he’ll like bring the ball up and be like okay Jetty owman you’re around come come screen for me um and I’m calling it
Right now by the way the next 5 by five game in the NBA which is more than five points rebounds assists Steals and blocks is going to be wanyama he will be the next five I I don’t think there’s been one we did this a couple weeks ago
I think nurkic has the last one yeah nkic has the last one and I think it was like at a 2020 game like it was an insane game from nurkic I think wem’s doing it and because you nailed it I I think the the biggest I don’t know if
It’s a surprise because you saw saw some of it in Europe but the Bigg almost as much as the shot distribution moving to Center has really unlocked his passing and he like might be the second best passer on the team after Trey Jones and like considering his position his
Passes are sort of equally powerful and valuable because when he’s at the five and he’s handling the ball at the elbow that means the center is at the elbow the opposing Center and there’s no shot blocking and like you start cutting and moving and like you can see him in the
Way he directs cutters in the way he sometimes gets a little cranky when somebody doesn’t cut he reads the game faster than most rookies ever will read the game faster than a lot of his veteran teammates like that’s the most encouraging sign to me is how quickly
Like he’s a step ahead on offense and that’s going to translate to defense and I I don’t I look there’s not a lot of reasons to watch the Spurs obviously there’s one big one and he’s been every bit the Superstar rookie that people expected when he’s coming back on
There’s many times a game and this always doesn’t get shown on the broadcast but you know when you’re in the arena and you see it he’s always talking to teammates he’s always talking he’s always either congratulating him on something or you know hey you know you
Cut here he’ll get in guys faces he’ll you know he wants to be that guy and I think as much as that he wants to be coached he wants his teammates to learn he is all about just trying everything out and I think that’s what this season
Has been a about when you start Jeremy soan at point guard for 20 games it’s about experimentation it’s about trying to figure out what happen I erased that from my brain so I don’t want to talk about anym he’s now playing small ball five at times which I think is also
Great I I want to know what ends up being more is he end up the the the point guard in more minutes this year or the small ball five but they’re just they’re just throwing everything and it’s like every five or 10 games it’s like okay does this work no all right
Let’s try it hey does this work yes we’re keeping it so this is the year to experiment I think Victor’s on board with that so just keep throwing stuff at at the wall and see what sticks and by the way to be clear I like soam he shot
The ball well this year an incredibly high IQ connector kind of player I just don’t want him to play point guard now or for the foreseeable future I just very quickly on the Spurs uh wenyama deserves a lot of credit for accepting the move to Center because
The whole point of Zach Collins as a starter was we’re going to protect wanyama from the physicality of playing Center and it’s become kind of invogue to say well there are no physical centers there are no postup centers it’s embiid and yic and then who really cares
And if you’re looking at scoring like old school back to the basket scoring that’s kind of true but if you’re looking at just like what it feels like to box these dudes out it’s still valent chunis nurkic goar I mean Stephen Adams isn’t even healthy joic I mean we can go
On there’s a million big burly mean centers just that’s just the the West alone and like he deserves a lot of credit for being like yeah I’ll I’ll deal like I’m it’s going to hurt and but I’ll deal last thing on the Spurs uh and point guard I said last week that
They’ve they had some talks with Atlanta about a Deon Murray do over basically I don’t think those got very far because I just think Atlanta’s in a tough spot yeah with teams trying to lowball them on Murray and I was talking to someone from another team um last week about the
Spurs in this I talking to a few people and like if I’m them that that that little tidbit tells me a they know they have a problem B they’re willing to sign someone who is way outside of Victor wanyama age curve just to be kind of a
Bridge player kind of like how the Utah Jazz chased Drew holiday in the offseason before the Celtics got him and I think that’s smart and I started to go through with these guys like who’s a list of guards they could get where they they would be be looking at it like in
Impact guards impact guards not like you know this little backup here let’s add the other Jones brother there here are just some names that we kind of spit balled Josh giddy now I don’t think that’s anytime soon or this year there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be resolved
There I think you know Drew holiday is worth looking at depending on what happens with the Celtics I I expect him to stay there but who knows I would be I would be monitoring if I were the Spurs Jaden Ivy just like if he ever shakes loose in Detroit not not like a
Traditional patch first kind of point guard but I’d just be monitoring it as a talent play and a little under the radar one that again if he shakes loose you know I mentioned this team with Tim McMahon on on SE yakum if he shakes loose somehow I think and Andrew neb
Hard is like a decent starting point guard kind of waiting to happen in the NBA and other than that it’s like you know Tyler hero If he if you be become a third team in some trade if Miami ever makes the blockbuster trade I’d be monitoring the Blazers like with Anthony
Simons like what do they do with the Simon sharp scoot Henderson Trio marel folz is kind of in I don’t think I want to add a non- shooting point guard as as dynamic as he can be but I just thought it was worth noting that um that they
Looked at Murray I think that’s the right mindset for them yeah and it was kind of so we we I mean obviously it it was Spurs Hawks on Monday so we’re there was a lot of Murray talk around and and pop even mentioned they was asked what was his relationship like with dejon
Marray because de jante maray did not have the cleanest exit out of out of San Antonio um he you know he went on some pot he he said some things but when you talk to people yesterday you talked to people you know for the last couple of
Weeks or last week or so I guess it’s hey I love my time being there um I looked up pop it’s like a father figure uh he he said that I think it was when we talk to pop about it pops like I I talk to dejon all the time about things
Just checking in on life he was a kid he was learning he he did this and this here so it would initially it it kind of it didn’t make as much sense to me because like you mentioned the timeline the jante is just he doesn’t seem like
He fits the timeline the same but I think the fact that there’s still many people in the Spurs organization that that think highly of him it I could see if if something were there um I like the Jen iy one I think I think I like that a lot
I I think you’re still looking for more guys I don’t necessarily think even if you have just one guy and I think this is what they Tred to do right now if you have just your your one point guard in Trey Jones if you’re still looking for
Another lead guard it could just be somebody who can he can be a passer when he needs to but if you’re going to end up running some offense through Victor and let him get to be a five six seven assist uh guy G maybe your other guy can just be a
Shoo you want somebody out there who can just uh be able to make shots and I think that’s some of what they tried this year some of these lineup combinations but you know we’ll see what happens I’m also interested in the future of Kellin Johnson in San Antonio
On a good contract now coming off the bench but that’s a a story for a different day let’s switch back to your old team old team SL always part of your soul Andrew Lopez always always the New Orleans Pelicans who I think the national narrative left the Pelicans in
Las Vegas and with the is Zion out of shape discussion when the Lakers just obliterated them and really embarrassed like truly embarrassed the Pelicans on National T in front of the whole world uh and Zion embarrassed himself there’s just no it was awful well very quietly
They were 12- 11 after that game they’re 24- 17 now um so they’re 12- six since then they are 12th in offense seventh in defense seventh they’re getting a little lucky on opponent three-point shooting but still they’ve played the third hardest schedule in the league so it’s
Not like they’re fattening up on bad teams no pun intended I’m sorry I didn’t mean to do that um and they’re just deep as all hell like they’re healthy now Larry Nance is back he’s a big time stabilizer for them on both ends of the floor and has already
Closed some games over valent junis herb Jones is up to 38% on threes and is being aggressive herb Jones Dyson Daniels if when Dyson Daniels and Herb Jones Jr on the floor together I don’t even know what you’re like no one can dribble like it’s it’s not safe to dri dys and
Daniels I he probably denies people at the grocery store like he’s he is denying the ball all 94 feet like if if he if it’s him and you for like the last grapefruit in the he’s gonna he’s going to use his shopping card to deny you access to the grapefruit Zion has been
Good Brandon Ingram has been very good CJ mccollum’s back and is shooting 44% on three he looks Zippy to me lately like he he’s got a little bounce to his step uh Jordan Hawkins has re-entered the rotation with an explosion against the Nuggets over Jose Alvarado they have a
Bunch of stuff to trade you know two bucks picks the Laker deferral pick which is one of the most fun little soap operas in the league um I have described this team as a sleeping giant in the Western Conference I don’t even know like what this should be on the lookout
For if anything for trades as we’ve discussed many times they’re pretty well stocked across the board but I will put it to you like this even when they’re on a good streak like this and this is not this is totally separate from the Las Vegas embarrassment of
2023 um there is just something about this team that you just it’s like it’s it’s like a Vibe like it’s just a feel that you get that you don’t quite trust and I think it comes from like they have a couple of like really really great Defenders who are shaky on offense
Despite herbs shooting recently right then they have a couple of incredible offensive players Zion and CJ who are liabilities on defense Trey Murphy has been okay it feels like he’s still kind of finding his footing this season a little bit he he’s kind of a guy who can
Glue a lot of their lineups together and then you combine the fact that they’ve been a complete mess and crunch time for most of the Season particularly on offense even when they’re playing well there’s just something just like I can’t quite get there trusting them like I think can definitely make the playoffs
And be a dangerous playoff team something just doesn’t feel totally trustworthy about it I want you to talk me out of it but maybe you agree it was it to me at least it feels like they’re always one injury away from something going completely bad they were in almost
Identical record last year at this point um maybe it was 24 and 15 I think when Z went out against the the 76ers that was January 2nd last year um and then the the Free Fall happened they were third and then just dropped off um it it feels
Like that there there’s a couple of things still don’t you look at it and doesn’t make sense it’s better than what it was but the three-man lineup when when you have CJ Brandon and Zion on the floor right now is still a net negative um minus 22 their starting
Group is still a net negative in 260 minutes and that’s JV herb Brandon Z and CJ the combinations when you go all right when Brandon and Zion are on the floor a little bit better or when it’s Zion and CJ or Brandon and CJ it just they’re still trying to figure out a
Little bit about having all three on the court at the same time so I wrote this when I wrote about their crunchtime offense a few weeks ago in 10 things as a display which is really bad so bad I I wrote something about like part of it is
That they just haven’t played very many minutes together those three guys in particular part of it is and I this is what I wrote their skills are not that complimentary and I got a l lot of push back from people in New Orleans like what what do you mean they’re not that
Complimentary they’re like Ingram I mean McCollum is a great shooter and a playmaker and they they need like he’s been kind of a trade machine guy like I don’t know man they need they need I know he’s not a traditional point guard but they need his skill set pretty badly
100% um and like what Zion’s a super nova Talent Ingram’s a super NOA Talent they’re both ball handlers sure but you know Zion can be a screener he can play center although they haven’t done that much and I guess what if you just watch them
Play part of it is that Zion is a total non-shooter right and so if there’s a center on the floor which there usually is the spacing is a little clumped and like Zion’s got to figure out how to attack the basket JV is sometimes trying to skitter out of his way and like
Brandon Ingram is not an on shooter he actually shot 39% from three last year he’s at 34% this year and that’s just like not his game spacing the floor his game is playing with the ball and so one of of them and it’s often Zion late in
Games ends up just kind of standing around taking up space and yesterday they lose to Dallas another close game Dallas without Kyrie and if you watch that game they ran the same set over and over which was a Zion CJ McCollum inverted pick and roll great play very
Powerful Zion’s awesome of that and then CJ would flare out around a Larry Nance screen like the like flare screen right right at the top of the key top of the arc and that’s cool and it worked a couple times Brandon Ingram’s just chilling in the left corner doing
Nothing and that’s part of being on a good teams like sometimes you do nothing he’s just not that powerful of a player doing nothing and then they were like well he’s he’s needs some reps let’s put him in the Zion spot and then Zion is standing in the corner or in the dunker
Spot doing nothing and he’s obviously dangerous there a great offensive rebounder in the dunker spot you give him a a highway a Runway to rev up from the corner he’ll just go through people it’s just a little clunky I guess and and I had I thank you for looking up the
Numbers I had not checked the numbers and they’re still negative yeah they they’re still negative there was an uptick after like in the last month I mean since Vegas everything has started to turn around there was that the team meeting and you know we all talk about
Team meetings but this one you talk to people around there and it it worked and I think it it started with you know telling Brandon and Zion hey you guys are our two best players go ask like our two best players at all times and things
Started to kind of pick up from there they’re they’re still going to struggle in clutch they’ve been a little bit better I think yesterday was maybe only their second or third clutch game since Larry Nance uh had come back who had been dealing with a number of injuries
Honestly for the entire calendar year of 23 I think that’s part of it is that Larry n feels very important to their team and I love Larry and ANS Three Time guest on the low post podcast just like a basketball like he’s just a very smart high IQ fun basketball player he’s
Always hurt and I also feel like there’s a little passivity to his game in big moments like he do he gets a little gun shy on offense and a little pass happy and I’m like sometimes you just need to shoot man like and that’s part of like
The trust issue I have I I have trust issues Andrew I I see that and I will say Larry back on defense you swap him and JV out things have gotten better I think in that lineup if you just replace JV with Larry Nance it’s only played about 25 minutes but it’s plus
25 um but they’re only really going to it late in games um it it’s kind of the late lineup and then you have you know you can put Trey out there you talk about Trey Trey obviously he tours miniscus in the off season didn’t debut until I think right maybe it was the
Inseason tournament game it was right right around December 1st I think been it’s been about a month and a half I think like I love Trey Murphy like I think Trey Murphy has All-Star potential he’s just kind of getting back into it right now yeah and I will say if if
Anybody was making calls to the New Orleans Pelicans and they’re going for tra like just don’t even try just you’re gonna get no you’re gonna get told no it doesn’t matter hang up the phone um he did have a little bit of n tendonitis late in December like like
Maybe last week missed a couple of games so could see him still trying to work his way back from from that knee injury but the pieces are there if if they go make a move I the only way I I really see them going is maybe trying to swap
Out JV at Center just because he’s on that expiring see what you can get for him see what you can use pickwise uh I just don’t even know like who’s who’s out there for them like Miles Turner was the hot name for years and years they had really in-depth talks
With with um the Pacers a few a few drafts ago like I don’t like why are the Pacers the Pacers are good and the Pacers if anything are going to try to add to their team I think more than I I don’t know I he’s a big part of their
Team Miles Turner the only the big name that was floated kind of like training camp was was Jared Allen but I think now with that you’re you’re you want to see what Cleveland does you know especially since they don’t have Evan Moy doesn’t look like they’re gonna have Evan Moy
Back until after the All-Star break or after the trade deadline I should say so you’re G to monitor some names see what you can kind of go you can get to the the the one good thing you have right now is you can get to a really good
Number between jv’s salary Kyra’s salary that’s already at 2020 21 right there if you’re really gonna make a splash do you have to well you know which of the young guys do you really have to give up you know I don’t think you want to give up
Herb I don’t think you want to give up Dyson you’re definitely not giving up Trey uh but to give you know to get something you got to give something and I don’t know if there’s just AED deal Hawkins is good man F just I mean he just I mean after his 34-point
Game in Dallas the first night which um the the New Orleans Pelicans Twitter account uh dunked on our our friend Mr Tim McMahon uh for saying that the Pelicans were punting that game which I think was a fair thing when you sit CJ Brandon uh Zion and Trey because you get
In at 4:45 in the morning when you have to play a 90 a 22 and a half hour tip difference or whatever it was but um what you’re what you’re seeing there is Hawkins replaced Jose in the lineup he can shoot he can do everything you want
On that side of the floor you still have a lot of good numbers that you can send out so they if they want to make a splash they can but you know if they do we’ll we’ll we’ll see speaking of pelicans Twitter accounts this is not a pelic Twitter
Account I Got a notification on my phone over the weekend it’s a direct message on Twitter my my DMs are closed man you can’t you can’t get to me you know where this is going oh I have a very good feeling Mr zacko you you can’t DM me unless unless I follow
You I’m like oh who’s this check my phone King cake baby it’s the king cake baby’s Twitter account like oh King cake baby wonder what he’s up to the whole message is just the skull and crossbones that’s the entire message that’s it like no followup no hey happy
Marty gr season I’m back my account’s active just a skull and cross and the King K baby wonders why people are terrified of him that is honestly the scariest DM that I could get I think I think it’s the scariest possible one January 6 Carnival season starts King
Cake baby awakens season this year he’s like the Undertaker he just like sits up like oh I’m back he doesn’t tweet for like a year and then boom and you dming me this stuff I think you just gave the Pelicans their introduction video to King cake baby next year they
Just have to put him they have to go find a wrestling ring put him in a ring play taker’s music and let him sit up that I you know what as soon as we finish this I’m I’m texting their people right now that’s thank you Zack L for
Making this happen look okay back to the Pelicans look the top three in the west the top four in the west is set in some order wolves under Nuggets Clippers Kings Mavs Pelicans Suns Jazz who I just talked about with Tim are four to nine
Like that battle for six to get out of the playin is going to be fierce and I expect the Pelicans to be in the thick of It All season to me their ceiling is five like they’re a game out of five now I don’t see why they can’t get five and
By the way I think they were five yesterday before God forbid they ever the kings ever see the Pelicans again or in the playoffs because the Pelicans just beat out of them every time they play I just want to shout out one guy can I shout out one Pelican one Pelican
Go for it I I have this list of guys who are like you’re I call it like you’re always happy to have them around guys like they don’t they may not play every game although this guy does now um but when you need him you’re like oh this
Guy’s like I’m always happy he’s here he doesn’t take anything always he’s a good player like on that team will be Xavier Tillman like doesn’t play for 10 games and like everybody on the Griz gets hurt he’s like oh this guy’s good he can switch he can make Corners I like him
Amir coffee like out of the rotation for most of the Season know Amir coffee I like this guy I’m happy he’s still here Naji Marshall is the captain of my like I’m just happy this dude’s around every time you need him he makes a three he
Makes a he gets a steal he gets a rebound he guards everybody he dribbles the ball up and transition like a maniac and get you a transition bucket I’m just happy he’s just a nice guy to have around his so his nickname in New Orleans now is the knife because once
Willie Green was asked oh so and so is a Swiss army knife what does that make Naji Marshall and he just goes just a knife so he that better than a Swiss army knife is that it’s it’s more direct because that’s what Naji Marshall is Naji Marshall can do everything but if
You just need him to cut through a defense boom he’s doing it you need him to he’s just gonna be more direct than anything else he is the knife he’s going to cut through and I was talking with somebody about this here yesterday and it’s he’s kind of their enforcer too
Like he was kind of John I think with Grant Williams got double te’s yesterday he’s going to be the guy who if if if there’s if somebody you know put Zion on his ass it’s gonna be Naji to come and take care of business I don’t know if
It’s gonna be like James Johnson takes care of business level but you know naji’s gonna be there naji’s gonna gonna watch out for everybody um last thing on on Zion you mentioned I just want to I I’ve noticed a lot of teams Dallas did this last night uh Memphis did this in
One of the Memphis comeback games or the jaw games teams are putting Zion in the pick and roll a lot especially when they know he’s going to hedge because of the scheme or who the screener is and he’s very bad at that and they’re Relentless
With it as a way to Tire him out just something to monitor but this is a good team I like this team interesting trade deadline team I wanted to talk about them Andrew Lopez go catch your flight uh enjoy enjoy W the wemi experience and thanks for popping on oh I’m enjoying later Guys
Zach Lowe and Tim MacMahon discuss the resurgent Utah Jazz, how the Dallas Mavericks can be dangerous in the West, and possible Pascal Siakam teams. Then, Jon Krawczynski on the Timberwolves as title contenders, Rudy Gobert fitting in, and the looming financial hurdles in Minnesota. Plus, Andrew Lopez on Victor Wembanyama playing the 5 and the depth of the New Orleans Pelicans.
0:00 Welcome to the Lowe Post Podcast!
0:30 The Jazz are rolling! What’s clicking for Utah?
10:25 Lauri Markkanen & Kelly Olynyk trade buzz
20:30 Mavericks’ takeaways
28:06 Pascal Siakam/Mavericks trade rumors
39:56 Rudy Gobert gets last laugh after being trolled by Clippers bench
44:35 Playing Gobert off the floor in the playoffs is a fallacy
50:00 Timberwolves demonstrating trust with Gobert on offense
53:30 Financial hurdles facing the Karl-Anthony Town/T-Wolves
1:00:00 Wolves’ red flags on offense
1:10:44 Should the Timberwolves make a move?
1:17:15 Victor Wembanyama playing center for the Spurs
1:27:56 Dejounte Murray/Spurs trade talks
1:32:05 Do you trust Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans?
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21 Comments
👀The league has gone 🎯Hawk Huntin’🎯
I have 0 faith in the wolves post season. It’s not personal I just don’t believe in Rudy and Kat.
Pacers baby 💙💛🤍 We baaaaaaaaaaack ‼️‼️
Trust ant want both of them gone 😂😂😂
The lakers will make no moves
Thank you for finally giving Kyrie some credit. No one else is owning their takes. You the man for that.
MacMahon was talking about OKC with Utah for a Lauri trade and suggested a package around picks + wallace and/or Giddey, then the Jazz replied the package would have to be around Jalen Williams
So if Markkanen make all-nba Utah will be on the hook for a super max. How will that affect the team going forward if the rebuild is over?
Heat are 24-16 with probably the most injuries in the league and the most starting lineups. Spo deserves alot of credit.
Jazz have 10 players getting 20+ minutes a game.. it's no just lauri, they're deep.. Lauri is athletic Dirk, like you said 50/40/90..thanks finally for some recognition.
They have plenty of draft picks, they need to keep their foundational pieces, like Zack said.
Zach Lowe is the best journalist ESPN has
Have literally one of the worst reporters for minnesota on your show
Wolves have either 2nd or 3rd easiest schedule the rest of the season.
#1 seed it is!!!
Poor Zach Lowe, he really gets the worse media people on here, and I’m not talking about Banned MacMahon 😂😂
Kris Dunn is a pure Alpha Dawg on perimeter defense, im calling it now, Kris Dunn makes an NBA All Defensive team selection this season , KD is like Rondo mixed with Tony Allen and Danny Ainge & Will Hardy have found a diamond in the rough for certain 💪🏾 prices just went up!
As a wolves fan, this has been fun. Hope we can go all the way
I think every team has the type of foundation they want and swapping role guys just isn't as obvious a call but I think the Houston Rockets are really trying to get a Time Lord or DeAndre Jordan I don't think Capela is the guy they really want
Danny Ainge is the man is what happened to the Jazz. Us Celtics fans owe him big time as well if we can win it all this year
European team of Doncic, Jokic, Markinnen, Wembanyama and who????
Rudy doing his thing as usual looking good in January and he will still be unplayable come May