Lakers trade deadline, Steph & Warriors future, Knicks surging, Clippers legit | Colin Cowherd NBA

Lakers trade deadline, Steph & Warriors future, Knicks surging, Clippers legit | Colin Cowherd NBA

Welcome to the official YouTube channel for the Colin coward podcast go on hit the Subscribe button there you go right down there if you want to be among the first to hear my weekly takes NFL college football more right there Jason T and I are just about ready

To talk about the Lakers before we start with Jason I want to grab your smartphone download the game time app grab it right now that smartphone 90 seconds game time app want to go to a basketball game download Game Time use the code Colin C L I N that’s an easy

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Those gems we found hunting through podcast after podcast uh Hoops tonight host he’s done just a remarkable job for us his growth has been uh exponential and we don’t ignore him during the football season but we got middle coff here is my is my lead back so now we’re

Pivoting here in about four or five days to the NBA and I found myself about three weeks ago really starting to watch the NBA and Jason and I are going to cut it up for about 45 minutes let me start with a trade deadline a lot of times

There can be sort of um overhyped uh trade suggestions I have not seen any irresponsible reporting by uh NBA guys I don’t think there’s a ton out there I think dejonte Murray would make the Lakers better I don’t think he’s a game changer so your thought on what is a

Pretty quiet trade de well it’s interesting because I think the playing tournament has made it so that more teams than ever are more willing to think within the scope of the current season which has diminished the number of Sellers and yet and yet there are so many teams that feel close which has

Increased the number of buyers but the problem is the majority of those buyers don’t have much to offer like the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns would love to have a perimeter defense upgrade but they don’t have any first round picks to offer which severely limits their ability to go out and get

Somebody the Lakers would love to go out and get an athletic guard but they have some limitations in that they basically have this one draft pick to offer and chances are you can’t get a really great transformative player for that type of talent and so in a weird way even though

There are a lot of teams that would like to make a trade there aren’t just there just aren’t that many trades to be made and so I think that will kind of limit what we see over the course of the next couple of days of course you never know

We’ll see what happens before the deadline of desperation kicks in and some stuff starts flying around but I have a feeling that we’re poised for a relatively quiet uh deadline so you follow the entire league let’s start with the Lakers because that’s always been a primary uh asset of

Your NBA knowledge I’ve kind of rolled my eyes at any suggestion to trade LeBron mostly because the five previous years before him they had the lowest winning percentage in the league and he saved the franchise ticket sales merch intelligence he’s still an elite scorer and distributor I’m not giving up LeBron

For 19y olds that may or may not hit and be players my here’s what I view the Lakers as and you can tear this apart I view this team as an elite scor and distributor LeBron the best defender in the league and Anthony Davis an excellent third wheel sometimes

Inconsistent but a good score in Austin Reeves excellent length that’s why they can match up with a Denver they have excellent length could use another shooter I would love to see him give up a little length to get a shooter to jeante Murray then I think they would be

In the discussion as the third best team in the league they’re not Boston though the Celtics have no bench and they just beat him and they’re not Denver if joic it just it Anthony Davis does about as good a job as you can on him and he’s

Going to give you 288 and8 or whatever but I think the move is a tweak and I don’t think I’m selling the future uh when I don’t know because of the way the NFL draft works I get 23 year olds in the NBA I get 19 year olds who knows

What they become I have a much greater sense of a first round NFL pick than a first round NBA pick so so my take is if you could get a shooter give up a tad length I think you’re arguably capable of beating a Milwaukee a phoenix is that

A fair uh kind of view of the Lakers the Lakers have had such a weird season but it makes a little bit more sense when you kind of split it into thirds so they come out the gates and they’re actually pretty solid in spite of the fact that

D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves are both struggling they started 15- n capped off with winning the Inc tournament right then immediately after that which was somewhat I was our mutual friend Logan swam I was texting him at the time I was like I hope they don’t just completely fall apart after winning

This thing they go three and 10 over their next 13 games with some bad losses they lost to a Spurs team that hadn’t won in like a month they lost to the Bulls they lost to the Grizzlies they basically let go of the rope and it does

A ton of damage to them in the standings well they kind of circle the wagons and they get their feet back underneath them and they’re 10 and six in their last 16 games with some impressive wins they beat the Clippers they beat the Thunder they beat the Celtics they beat the

Knicks they beat the Mavs they beat the Warriors so I think more or less I’m kind of exactly where I was with this team before the season which is they’re really damn good but they’re not as good as Denver they’re not as good as Boston

And so I think I think I think the Silver Lining and the reason why I would invest in this group is you and I talked about how LeBron and AD in a lot of ways needed to get better especially on the offensive end for them to be able to

Hang with Denver a LeBron James jump shot last year was worth 0.9 points a LeBron James jump shot this year is worth 1.06 points that’s an 18% Improvement you’ve seen that when you watch the games he’s he’s executing the Golden State Warriors with pull-up jump

Shots at the end of games he just was completely incapable of doing that last year he had a bizarre shooting slump in last year’s season and then Anthony Davis is having the best postup season of his career he’s reading double teams better than ever and so to me he’s so

Good and so to me like uh you mentioned that core three Austin LeBron and AD the biggest Mark for the Lakers is the two guys in between D’Angelo Russell brings a lot of offensive Firepower to the table but you can’t play him next to Austin Reeves against good teams you’re

Not athletic enough in the back Court torian Prince who’s been Darin Ham’s favorite player all season long he is a bench player here’s a crazy stat for you he has started twice as many games this year as he did in the previous three seasons combined so he’s Mis

As a starter on this particular team although they just recently moved him to the bench your opinion there that bench length they have all these guys like ruy hamura and Jared vanderbel are really good but they can’t really play on the perimeter on both ends of the floor the

Way they need and so so bringing in someone like a Deonte Murray another guy that they wanted last summer that they didn’t get who I know they’re looking for again this year is like a Bruce brown or even like a smaller move on the margins with a team like Brooklyn for

Something like Royce O’Neal and Dorian finy Smith getting quality NBA starters at the two and three will give them their best punchers chance but at the end of the day Colin like is Denver just better than everybody because that I think is what’s causing a lot of the reticence here is

Whether or not they can even beat them I talked about this on the her today if you look at the history of the NBA teams have been very even those Utah Chicago series very even what was the difference Michael hitting key shots Spurs dynasty was largely Duncan kiding

Hitting key shots Shack and beat the Blazers in game seven on a series of great shots late Lakers I would argue were outplayed for much of that series trailed in several games so if you look at the history of the NBA the best player wins it’s not always the best

Bench Denver’s bench is average um it’s not always the best support system Michael Porter in the finals he’s been such a hit and miss up and down player yokas just makes big baskets late and so I don’t think the Lakers are worse than Denver and Boston for any other reason

Then the best player on the floor so Boston I still I’m going to transition to them in a second I still have my misgivings about Boston uh because I don’t love their best player as much as I love Denver’s or the Lakers or Milwaukee but I I tend to think the

Lakers are the third best team because yic is the world’s best player and I do think that a Celtic starting five is really really good and usually good at home so let’s pivot to the east coast we’ll come back West because I I’m starting to fall in love with the

Clippers and that sentence I’ve never uttered in my life but I want to I want to go first let’s go to Boston so listen I know their starting five is great I don’t love Missoula I think he’s a little over a skis at times in big games

Against a bolstra uh in big games against Malone uh I wouldn’t trust him in a big series I think he gives away a game in a series they don’t have a bench I do really like their starting five I think porzingis is a just a unique body

That’s it’s he’s just hard to match up with he forces you to pay attention to their fourth best player and he’s a weird body type but I see this is that we’re trying to convince ourselves to what Tatum is I know exactly what porzingis is not a great

Leader not always healthy but a very effective score and a unique body type Drew holiday Elite score ble score Elite Defender B- Lev score Jaylen Brown great athlete better every year little bit of a star ceiling but an excellent player with Tatum it’s different I think people

Think you know listen next year he’s Kobe and this year he and I’m like no he’s never going to be that it’s not his personality he is an a player a top eight guy in the league but he doesn’t have a little bit of that um kind of get

Me the ball I’m going to be selfish for six minutes it’s not in him it’s why he’s a terrific team player but I think we keep waiting for the next level of Tatum and I’m like he’s a two-way player excellent love him team guy but this is

What he is there will be game sixes and sevens when he’s on the floor with a LeBron or Steph and you’re like he’s the second best player on the floor He’s Just Not That player is that an an unfair appraisal of Jason Tatum and the Celtics it’s so funny because you can’t

Talk about this with Celtics fans because they’re so that this their record is incredible they have all these boxes that they’re checking and it’s like this looks like the best team in the league except for Guess Who their last four losses were against the Lakers the Clippers the Bucks and the nuggets

And and specifically those four games their offense faltered in every single one of those games and the bizarre the bizarre thing with this Celtics team is they have attached their fate to variance they attempt the most three-point shots in the league when they’re going in they look awesome when

They’re missing their offense completely stutters and they can be beat by anybody basically and even Jason Tatum himself and like you know this is the most disappointing thing to me he came into this uh this season he put on more muscle he’s one of the most physically

Impressive forwards that we have in the league and he comes into the season he’s posting up more than ever and then somewhere after like 20 games or so he stopped posting up as much and he went all in on this stupid pull-up jump shot which is now become a half of his shot

Diet this is a crazy stat for you Colin there are nine players in the NBA that have attempted at least 400 pull-up jump shots this year okay Trey young a small guard Shay gilders Alexander a finesse guard Jaylen Brunson a smaller power guard Steph Curry a smaller guard Devin

Booker a a decent Siz two guard but who’s not a great athlete Donovan Mitchell good athlete but he’s small Luca donic a a Ford who is more ground bound and doesn’t have Elite athleticism and then Anthony Edwards and Jason Tatum so all these other guys they do it

Because they have to that’s how they’re in the NBA and not to mention all of those guys Trey SGA Jaylen Steph Devon Booker Donovan Mitchell Luka donic they’re all great at that shot they get more than a point per pullup jump shot that they take the problem is is Jason

Tatum and by the way Anthony Edwards has to be lumped in here because he’s the same type of guy disgustingly good athlete just a ridiculous athlete who bails the defense out by taking these long pull-up jump shots and Jason Tatum about a half of his shot diet is a shot

That is worth less than a point which is his pull-up jumper for years now he’s never been able to make it at a high enough clip yet he is attaching his Destiny to it and it’s discouraging because again he is 69 Ripped Freak athlete can bully people

To the basket do all of this stuff and he’s bailing the defense out more often than not and like you know it’s so funny it used to be like a Tatum’s young he’s figuring it out Tatum’s young he’s figuring out he’s he’s going to be 26 in

This playoff run this is usually the time when players figure it out now I don’t want to bail on him cu I’ve seen enough like there in game you know five and six against the Heat he kind of looked like he started to figure some stuff out before he got hurt in game

Seven it’s not over for him by any stretch of the imagination but it’s just discouraging for a player this deep into his career with the athletic tools that he has to basically cut everyone a Break by taking such high difficulty shots that he can’t make it a high enough clip

To really punish defenses and between that and then as a team them leaning so heavily on three-point variants they’ve made them V beatable in a way that a team that talented really should not be beatable looking for a super offer for Super Bowl 58 draftking Sportsbook has you covered new customers

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Draftking an official sports betting partner of the NFL remember redeem code Colin C L I N the crown is yours okay so I want to go back West to the Clippers who I saw dismantle the Celtics in Boston from the opening tip so a couple of nights ago I’m out and

Lawrence Frank is sitting next to me and we just chop it up for an hour and I said man was I wrong on that deal I said I hated it I’m like oh y y what are you gonna do with Westbrook he went to the bench where he’s playing about 23

Minutes a night and doing really good things in that 23 minutes last night he had a couple of beautiful passes against the Hawks um uh Kawai and Pao was tremendous two-way wings uh they’ve got size plumbley you know they’ve got some size but I said I I said you’re a

Beautiful team to watch the the ball movement they don’t have a single player in the top 35 in ball usage and you can see it I think they’re the most beautiful basketball right now in the league to watch Jason the Clippers ball movement they get a great shot three out

Of four times down the floor they get beautiful shots they have surging offense with with with uh like a coffee and a Westbrook off the bench size experienced Wings veteran point guard experienced head coach and I’m sitting there watching them I know it’s the Hawks and I and I know the Celtics

Probably no I’ll just give I’ll give them the win over the Celtics that’s a cred credible win and I’m watching those two games and I’m like this offense you can score your way to a title there’s there’s no Tim Duncan in this league now like you can score your way to a title

Joic is not a great defender Milwaukee’s not a great defensive team I think we have to take the Clippers seriously I think they’re a machine offensively Westbrook deserves credit and Harden Lawrence Frank said right now in his career all about winning most coachable guy so you’re takea away on what you’re

Watching with him I think with James Harden we overestimated I think going into that deal how much like his playoff shortcomings really play a role in the regular season which is they don’t like James Harden is still even last year in Philly one of the best regular season

Offensive engines that you can have in the league that specifically is of Great Value next to Paul George and kawh Leonard because they are both very much tip of the spear type of scores if you can get them into Advantage situations they can kill people Paul George has

Been playing with like a Defender closing out at him most of the season this year and he’s so damn good when you give him that type of Advantage right and just in general their overall floor organization with James Harden has just made offense so much easier for them

Which was interesting because early on they struggled offensively with James Harden that took a little bit of time for them to figure out now the offense is clicking in addition to the defense and now they’re beating everybody the other part of it too is when when when

We really look at uh uh the Clippers as a regular season team they’ve been more on like the Lakers side in years past where they’re kind of just getting through the regular season and one of the things that NBA history has told us is Denver Nuggets one seed Warriors

Before Steph Curry sprained his foot right there with the Suns at the top of the West the Bucks one seed the Lakers one seed the Raptors a two seed like team that is a veteran team that has talent that attacks the regular season with like a real ferocity usually wins

The title and so the Clippers I think just from the top down have approached the season with a lot more urgency this year and I think that that’s a big step in the right direction for them now I want to be clear there’s some question marks around in this team they are 23rd

In defensive rebounding that’s usually a a big red flag for the playoffs they also attempt 26 pullup jump shots per game which is the second most in the league and right now now they’re making them at a really high rate but we’ve seen what happens when I mean when they

Lost to Denver in the bubble that’s what happened their pullup jump shots went cold and they didn’t really have another punch at that point but to be clear all these teams have holes Boston has offensive issues Milwaukee has defensive issues so it’s not like the Clippers

Issues are you know the only team in the league that has that type of red flag but I the way I look at it it’s it’s one last thing on the James Harden front that I think we didn’t properly account for in Philly he was getting the best perimeter Defender every night Tyrese

Maxi was viewed as the secondary option they’re throwing the forwards at Joel embiid he’s getting the best guy on the other team at guarding a perimeter initiator who you throwing your best guy at for a perimeter weapon with the Clippers you’re probably throwing it at kawhai who you throwing your second best

Guy at uh you’re probably throwing it at Paul George James Harden is getting quality matchups every single night I think just in general there’s lower press pressure on him in this postseason there’s if you actually look back last season they were below 500 in the regular season and in the playoffs when

James Harden shot below 40% they did not have that margin for error in Philly for James to have a bad night with the Clippers this year they’re well above 500 when James Harden shoots below 40% there’s margin for error James can go off the reservation and they just keep

Trucking right along and so I think I think they just kind of increased their margin for error they improved their regular season offensive organization but once again it will come down to Kawai and Paul George knocking down pullup jump shots when they get into the postseason yeah and then Westbrook comes

Off the bench where he’s often the best guard on the floor you know when he comes in at the8 minute Mark he’s only playing like 23 minutes a night but he’s first of all he’s always been an energy guy I’m never worried about that but I think he really he deserves credit he

Just said listen Carmelo really struggled to adapt to his role Off the Bench for like three years Westbrook’s like I’ll do it and it’s I mean when Terren man your fourth best starter in the starting five you’re like that’s a that’s a good team like I and I think

You you it’s a really brilliant point they’re a little bit of a matchup issue so um because Kawai and Paul George are very similar um I think Paul’s the most underrated player in the league like he gets this whole playoff p and then you go look at his playoff numbers they’re

Not bad at all they’re not bad at all so I think he’s a really underrated player and he and choir very similar players so you have to pick your poison and if you start looking like the other night and kawhai is still such an effective player

Because of his hand size down low he’s really he’s really a problem he’s so strong Paul’s more of a pure perimeter player Kawai can go inside I think they’re just a matchup problem I think they’re a matchup problem with Westbrook Off the Bench and I love watching them

Play so let’s go back East to the Knicks so I watched the entire game Lakers knicks now OG didn’t play in Randall but I mean the Lakers beat the Celtics without LeBron and AD so Julius Randall shouldn’t be the difference I think Grimes was out but my Takeaway on the

Knicks is this first of all I always thought Jaylen Brunson was a 1A maybe he’s a one 27 a game I love his leadership his IQ his toughness I think he’s the best Nick sent Ying was never a huge Carmelo fan didn’t give anything on the second on the defensive end and a

Little bit selfish wouldn’t step back and hit threes for years he just got stubborn on the twos so at brunson’s and a I do believe you need a very strong two I think OG and Randall are threes good threes um and and and at the end of that

Game if brunson’s not hitting forget Randall because Randall would be slowed down by ad he’s not getting any cheap points ad is the best low post defender in the game and I look at the Knicks and what I’ve seen Jason in the last three years with them is patience and part of

Me’s like just go get a two and then part of me’s like no that’s the Nicks you’ve been desperate Amari stmy you always reach on people is there a player in the the league if not this trade deadline next trade deadline because I think they need it too so address if you

Think the Knicks do if brunson’s not hitting late like he wasn’t against the Lakers boy they go dry fast I mean they go dry fast now Randle didn’t play but I don’t think OG or Randall are Elite scorers per se is there a guy in the

League that you say you know what I thought it was Carl Anthony towns I was kind of in that for a while is there a guy that you would like for that role patience is the perfect way to put it because they could have jumped on Donovan Mitchell and now it’s one it’s

One of those things where it’s at the time of the trade we didn’t realize Brunson was this good so like maybe internally they were like brunson’s our guy and maybe that was some of the reasoning behind it but the point is is waiting ended up being smart because

Then Jaylen Brunson popped and now they can kind of be more patient in terms of waiting for who that next guy is I thought the OG and anobi trade was was genius because it didn’t waste any sort of super legitimate asset in terms of their uh pursuit of an eventual star I

Think one of the reasons why that Laker game looked the way it did is the Knicks are very much like a physically imposing team like they are very much like a power beat you up for 48 minutes classic Tom Fido type of team right and when you

Take OG and Julius out they just become small really fast especially with Mitchell Robinson out of the lineup because he’s been injured although he might come back before the end but I mean this won’t come as any secret to uh anybody who’s listen to you and me talk

About this before but we’re both really high on Jaylen Brunson and I think like I think Jaylen Brunson has entered into that conversation with the best guards in the league like I think he’s just on that tier we’re we’re on an extended stretch now where he not only that he’s

Improving and like to take it even a step further look at the playoffs last year he straight up outplayed Donovan Mitchell head-to-head and woned series and he went to I think frankly Jason I think he’s a better player than Mitchell he’s not quite I don’t think he’s quite

I shouldn’t even say anymore I got I got to get over this I think he’s a better leader I think he plays with a very steady temper I know exactly what I get from Jaylen Brunson every game I watch him Donovan I get I get stretches where

I get he just like forgets his teammates I think Brunson is a top you can name it but I think he New York loud he’s classic Villanova Tunes out the noise coachable leader grownup defends like I’m sorry but I I have I think he’s terrific I love him to Donovan

Mitchell’s credit he’s having the best season of his career as well the Cavs are literally the two seed he’s having the best defensive season he’s had of his career so I want to give Donovan Mitchell some credit but I agree with you Jaylen Brunson is a better

Basketball player than him but then he also went toe-to-toe with Jimmy Butler the reason why they couldn’t beat the Heat last year was J Julius Randall was a complete non-factor in that postseason run now in his defense he was hurt he had hurt his ankle right before the

Playoffs was pretty beat up throughout that playoff run but to your point the Knicks have already shown us they can make some noise with just Jaylen Jaylen Brunson so you can imagine what a number two would do for them now the question is who the guy that I know that they’ve

Been waiting on is Jo L embiid but I do get somewhat concerned about with his with his injury history now like here we are again with him with his knee struggling to make it through a regular season but I think joeel embiid is a guy

They’ve had their eyes on I think if the war if the Lakers just absolutely like flounder this year like just an absolute disaster end of the season I put like a like a 5% chance that someone like LeBron could potentially either opt out of his deal this summer and sign there

On like a mid-level exception or opt in and do the James Harden where basically you opt in and ask for a trade and then try to do that because I look at LeBron James as basically even at this phase of his career just a way better version of

Julius Randall which kind of is a shoe in fit to that position you know what I mean so like but I think I I think when it comes to with to the Knicks patience has been the name of the game Jaylen Brunson has bought them the ability to

Be good while they wait for the right guy but at the end of the day there’s no reason to jump at anything unless it is the I wouldn’t trade for a single guy unless he was better than Jaylen Brunson it literally is that simple to

Me yeah I I I think brunson’s the future of the Knicks and and you know there’s a lot of people that are you know there’s you you hear this uh I I think it was said about Jaylen Brunson he’s a little guy you don’t win championships with little

Guys and the NBA is getting bigger I mean there’s a certain recent formula size in the league but I gotta tell you as the league gets younger I think there’s an increasing value in maturity and leadership as the league gets younger it’s why Lebron is so valuable

And I think Tatum in New York you can get lost in that City I mean that that that that City beats guys like if you’re not I mean I remember guys like Jeremy shock I mean that’s why the great Jeremy shaki was a great New York Giant just not ready for the city

Quite right if you go to the history of New York go look at their Stars Jeter Aaron judge Eli Manning what’s the theme go home all about the sport grown-ups with the media good background adult you know relationships with family it’s funny Jeter close to his family Eli

Manning brunson’s dad in the NBA Aaron judge a lot of times they’re small town guys if you come to New York as a star A-Rod you’re a big free agent and you get all this expectation it eats you up jaylen’s the opposite cast off for

Dallas all he has to do is prove stuff like villan Nova he is your classic I mean Eli Manning went to Old Miss Jeter struggled in the minor leagues who’s Aaron judge he’s from Fresno New York has a prototype you’re a little overlooked undervalued good background family

College I think that’s so the League’s getting so young that these older players that can bring maturity to me Jason I mean it’s just it’s like it’s like I say about LeBron it’s like LeBron it could be you know he’s like a coach general manager star on the floor he’s

Thinking about who Am I who should I have relationships with who can I Elevate who should be on the floor with me he’s thinking through every possession and every game I don’t know I just can’t say enough about Brunson I think he is New York’s next star I love

Him I think he’s the best quarterback in to his credit too like he signed up for this like the Mavs it was it was a little different in the annual value but the total contract value that the Mavs offered him was pretty close to what the

Knicks offered him he straight up said I want it I want the pressure I want like he he signed up for what New York brought to the table and he’s not just arrived in that environment he’s completely exceeded expectations we have a couple of uh big Nicks fans that

Helped produce Hoops tonight and I talk with them about this behind the scenes and like it’s crazy how that One Singular signing transformed the entire landscape of the Knick’s future because they got like think about Jaylen Brown just signed a deal where in the final year he’s gonna make like 70 million

Okay and like and and jayen brunson’s making in the 20s and he’s giving you Superstar production like it it’s C it’s crazy what that one move has done for that franchise let’s go back to the West Coast and the warriors uh Klay Thompson end of games being benched kaminga now

Is starting to really play well not exactly sure why it took so long did Chris Paul start the unlocking has Steph Curry I don’t know a lot of times we forget these guys come into the league at 19 it just takes a long time to get

Your footing I don’t care if you’re a podcaster a broadcaster a basketball player it’s just lot of rep she got me in the treadmill in games so I’ve said before I I would move everybody but Steph and Draymond and I think I’m gonna add kaminga to that so so look at their

Current state um can they make a move is is do you disagree would you I mean nobody’s moving Steph would you move Draymond would you move kaminga what what’s the future look like for that so it’s funny because like a month ago it was it was leaning heavily towards the kaminga trade

To give you an idea of just how crazy this kaminga stretch is he had never in his entire career had back-to-back 20o games ever not once and then he notched off like eight of them in a row like like he he in his last 10 games is

Averaging 25 points on 61% shooting from the field like he’s on an incredible run flashing like true Superstar upside and so it like a month ago I was actually pitching on my show I was like call the Nets and be like here’s Jonathan kaminga Andrew Wiggins and Moses Moody give me

Male Bridges like a legit number two for Steph and Dorian finny Smith that way we have some two really versatile two-way forwards to put between Draymond and Stephen Clay and go make another run at this thing kinga’s made that not an option anymore like he’s just so he’s so

Damn good that you can’t afford to let go of that upside here’s the problem he’s 21 so like like we we talked about last year in the finals Michael Porter Jr is 25 and he struggled on that stage it is a it is very much a man’s game

When you get to the later rounds of the NBA playoffs and so here’s the thing like I I feel more sure than ever that kaminga has star upside but I also everything about NBA history tells me that he’s not gonna push Steph into title contention this year either and so

They’re kind of in this weird thing where it feels like a gap year in a lot of ways because they can look to make a move they I know they’ve looked to move Andrew Wiggins I’m sure they’ve uh looked at all these sorts of ancillary

Moves and they may still make a move for like a Dorian finy Smith from the Nets and just like a throw like Moses Moody and and another one of their smaller contracts that way for a veteran forward they might call Orlando and get a backup center something along those lines like

A Wendell Carter Jr who knows but none of those guys are really transforming their their Outlook within the scope of this season I think I think like in a lot of ways especially with Steph only being 35 you to and Steve Kerr basically said this in in his presser the other

Night he goes we’re not going to get anything better in the trade deadline then Chris Paul coming back to shore up the bench then G Gary Payton coming back to shore up their perimeter defense and then Jonathan kaminga rise is an influx of talent in its own way and they’re

Actually starting to trust him a little bit more at the end of game Steph in a big possession against Brooklyn last night just threw the ball to kaminga in the post and got out of the way and he drew a foul got to the foul line he’s actually been really gifted at getting

Defenders out of position and getting to the foul line this year so like it’s weird because in a weird way it kind of turns this year into a gap year because I don’t think they have enough but kinga’s upside is more than enough to make up for that in the big

Picture yeah and I mean again he’s 21 I think we we forget college football players come with three to four years they’re on a college campus these kids you you put them in the NBA they can’t go to the hotel lobby bar they’re kids it just and then then you bring them in

Jason and they’re not getting any real game time minutes so they’re not getting they’re not they’re not you know in the NFL even a rookie who’s kind of a Miss he’s on the field he’s on special team team so you can only do so much with practice in your eight preseason games

So I I have a a soft spot for like the kingas when especially they run a system that catch and react system that is not for 19y olds like it’s just it eats people up so to me kaminga has always looked the part length twitchiness vertical hungry it’s just a matter of

Time wisan I always thought was a weird fit I don’t think kaminga is a weird fit at all I think he fits I just think he’s a kid and this is I mean there you’re talking about a sophisticated offense that’s almost European the way it plays it’s it’s functioning I mean D’Angelo

Russell came there and had years in the league they spit him out they were just like not interested the guys that have worked Iggy bogot you know like older Wiggins older veteran players that can come in and find a spot so I’m I’m I’m glad to see sort of kaminga flourishing

Because I I do think he looks the part I think he’s a really special athlete let’s go back East um to the Sixers I’m zigzagging here but if for our podcast audience I want both Coast I don’t want to bore you with too much left or right

Coast so I I defend the NBA on the Joel embiid injury first it was random a guy fell on his knee it happens secondly the NBA didn’t want to create this structure where you have to play 79% of your games they didn’t want to do it they created it because

When the TV contract is up advertisers came to them and said yeah it’d be nice if Giannis was available for the Saturday night game we’re paying you know $800,000 a commercial and it became sort of a three-year load management pattern which there’s no data to suggest that it makes you better we we’ve

Learned that this year that the load management is a lot of nonsense so the league says okay we’re we’re a players league but we need you to play more games so you know you can argue well embiid shouldn’t have been playing but embiid missed his first two years

Because of injuries he’s had chronic injuries as many bigs do it was going to happen he’s been hurt every year so I’m not going to blame the league on this but we got into this discussion the other day and the name I threw out because I’m old somebody said um who is

Embid if he never wins a title because all the bigs have dominated I watched my first NBA game in 72 with wilt titles Kareem titles Shaq titles uh AEM titles Duncan big titles um and all of a sudden you’re like okay is he Ying Bob laner

Who again at my age was a dominant big uh showed up in light or Miller Light commercials whatever it was but I think that’s what embiid is I think you have to look at him like ying and Ying got to two finals you have to look at atbi and

Say listen injuries weird teammates but I can’t make him a top 30 player ever he statistically great he’s the closest thing to Sha but for Bigs you know in a sport where you have a genetic Advantage you’re 72 like I’m going to hold you kind of accountable

For trophies they’ve never been to the Conference Finals I we always bang on quarterbacks that don’t win Super Bowls but there’s limitations on what you can do with 22 guys on the field I want my bigs to win trophies isn’t is that a fair criticism of EMB he’s not a top 30

Player he’s just a top 30 Talent yeah well he was having one of the best regular seasons that we’ve ever seen before he got hurt this year but like he was also having one of the best regular seasons we’ve ever seen last year and then the knee started to break down got

To the postseason and his jump shot started started missing and then all of a sudden everything kind of fell off for him he kind of reminds me of that conversation we were having earlier involving Jason Tatum and Anthony Edwards where he has attached a good amount of his success to jump shooting

Like to Nicole aic’s credit most of his shot making is like little push shots and hook shots that are around the basket which have more like playoff uh you know resiliency so to speak like it it just translates better to that phase like last year Joe and beat knocked down

All those little face up jab step jumpers in the regular season and then he couldn’t make them over Al Horford and all of a sudden the bottom fell out for him so like I think I but I think it’s important to acknowledge the injuries and some of that’s out outside

Of his control some of that also is kind of historically you know uh not exactly the most shocking thing in the world for a player his size to kind of encounter some recurring injuries on that front I think the tougher question is as it pertains to the NBA regular season is

Like you might have to Super load manage Joel embiid from now on you might have to literally hold him down to 50 games in a season and never let him play more than three times in a week or do whatever it is you’ve got to do to

Maintain his knee because if the issue is he’s hurt every year in the playoffs then you have to find a way to get him there you have to find a way to get him there and you know what that might involve not chasing 70 points against the Spurs that might involve taking more

Nights off along the way and like you know as far as the 6 65 game limit thing goes I because our colleague Draymond Green came out critical of it the other day too to me it’s kind of misdirected criticism in the sense that like I think

A limit like that makes some sense it’s an award it’s a regular season award you should participate in the regular season if you’re going to get that award the bigger issue is if you don’t let the press affect your salary take that part out that’s the part I don’t understand

Make it so that the people voting on the award aren’t directly affected your ability to negotiate your salary that’s where the issue is because I want players to play more frequently but I don’t want them to play on a bum knee for money that’s where that’s where it becomes an

Issue so here’s my thing Jason if I said to you listen I’m not going to screw with your base salary Jason at the volume I’m not GNA screw with your Fame your personal life I’m not going to I’m not going to screw with your social media money your shoe money but your

Bonuses is you have to hit 88 podcasts a year I don’t think that’s outrageous I mean if Fox came to me calling we’re not going to scoot with your salary your social the volume but that $600,000 bonus a year you got to work 21 days on

The year that’s all the NBA is saying we don’t want to touch any of your money and these guys now make social shoes overseas advertisements you’re not getting the bonus you’re not getting the plaque money we’re out on that I think that’s incredibly incredibly reasonable reasonable okay

Now this isn’t a because I love the NBA and I now I pivot every year early I would say mid to late January I kind of pivot to the NBA and I just I’m so deep into the college and pro football stuff I I just can’t do it and so over the

Last I would say two weeks now I’m watching a game a night sometimes two a night so two things can be true as a sport and a America gets more International the quality of the sport is better but it doesn’t help attendance or ratings because the sport becomes less domestic and less

Recognizable so hockey and baseball and now the NBA are much more International arguably best players now International Players certainly in the NBA you’re we’re on a heater now about four or five years all the all the MVP sgaa Luca embiid Giannis uh Wy by next steer Lake

Yeah okay so yic so that I don’t worry about the NBA in terms of stability aesthetic some have criticized the way it looks I don’t worry about that playoffs come mid-range basketball comes right back guys need buckets but I do think in terms of ratings I think the

NBA to get the 75 billion they want is going to have to spread it out it’ll be less Dependable on significant one big significant Network it’s getting more International and unless you follow European leagues which people don’t unless they’re die hards you’re not going to really see them in

March Madness they’re going to go to bad teams finally make an imprint in the playoffs wemi by year three now wemi again is is already iconic it feels like but that the NBA will be less viewed going forward the basketball will be better the playoffs will be intense but

It will be thin it will be International like hockey and baseball I mean hockey looks so much better today than 10 years ago it’s so much faster I mean baseball’s insane Otani is is significantly better than bab Ruth the quality of the NBA’s it’s often hook

It’s just I mean the idea the reason you can’t stop anybody is because seven Footers can pull up for threes you have to defend them so there’s no bigs in the paint and you don’t have a hand check so you can’t stop anybody there’s a re last night Hawks Clippers it’s 300 points

Guys were trying there’s nobody in the basket plumbley is the the plumbley is a rare guy that doesn’t shoot a three it’s like when you see plumbley it’s like a 1980s player I can guard the basket so the way I look at the NBA I do worry about if we’re gonna talk about

Ratings I just think in a more distracted Society it’s not going to be a great ratings League it’s going to be a great talent league is that a reasonable appraisal going yeah I 100% agree with you I actually think I think they could lose ground even on the on

Those like specific TV ratings numbers because I think attention span is getting less and less and the the league is becoming more and more of an inventory sport like they’re adding the inseason tournament they’re adding the playin tournament they’re just it is very much like a you’re not getting the

Like I saw the number from the AFC Championship game it was like half a Super Bowl you know what I mean like it’s like you’re you’re not getting those kinds of numbers from an NBA slate where it’s like you the Lakers play the Nuggets TNT major game on Thursday kind

Of a big game too like the Lakers are on a three-game winning streak like they could they beat Denver on Thursday kind of changes the tone and tenor of their season in so many different ways they also could lose by 40 and it could mean nothing because that’s just the reality

Of the way the NBA season season is set up and so to me I I I look at it as I look at it more optimistically just in the sense that I don’t ever really see the NBA as being the huge gigantic rating draw in a singular contest the

Way that the NFL is it is an inventory Sport and I think that expands to the global potential too just the ability to earn you know little bits and pieces of income from a ton of different sources rather than these big singular events if that makes

Sense yeah and I and I also if you you know the PE a lot of the people are intellectually dishonest if you don’t like the NBA keep it to yourself I love the NBA and my criticisms are based on I love it here’s what I see so I’ve

Watched the same number of NBA for as long as I can remember I watch football until about mid January February starts I start getting into it and by I’ll take a vacation for a week after the football season where I’ll kind of unplug from Sports I come back and I’m into the NFL

Free agency in the NBA and I’m watching a game or two every night so um I’ve W and I think the quality is off the hook um but I do think international players have a couple of advantages they get into those and play against older men early they don’t have the distractions

Of our domestic players you know they they don’t they’re just over there in Lithuania working on Hoops playing against older men uh they don’t have the social media platforms like we do over here they have them but they’re not you I mean America’s different it’s just

We’re so Star Struck yeah so they have and so our guys come in distracted I mean a johnar an Zion they’re Stars when they’re like 19 years old meanwhile wemi can come in here and frankly kind of hide except for d hards Jana sort of hid for four years jic absolutely hid for

Five so our guys can’t hide johnar comes in he’s a star Zion’s a star so I think there’s some advantages to be the international player I don’t think the aou system big picture makes our players better I think it makes him something I’m not sure what it is Steve ker guys

Like that but I don’t think the NBA um they’re going to get their money we all need condad we all need content I just saw foxy ESPN Warner Brothers just started a new streaming service so it’s like listen the games are going to be played and the reason they’re doing that

So they can afford other sports to go up against apple and Amazon but I think the League’s fine but I think what’s happened Jason is everything outside of the NFL is Niche by the way everything in Canada outside of hockey is Niche everything in England outside of the

English Premier League is Niche you just have to own it it’s okay every every country has the sport cricket is the national Pastime in England nobody watches it all right it’s a soccer so I I think the NBA is in great shape because I do believe just like a podcast

Or a radio show if your content’s good you’re fine whatever’s happening to the platforms the content of the NBA is really good so it’s fine it’s built for social media the highlights are are are completely insane it can be digested in smaller portions as a matter of fact

Like to your point it’s like the NBA’s awesome at everything except for the big singular TV event that that that’s kind of like their biggest weakness in so many ways even extending into the NBA playoffs I mean we watch you and I watched the Lakers last year literally

Deliberately punt games in the playoffs so like they they they went through Memphis and Golden State in the exact same pathway they were like win game one who cares game two win game three and four who cares game five like there’s just so much less urgency on a night

Toight basis and I don’t even think that can be recreated it’s it’s not possible I mean the NFL’s urgency extends into the regular season it’s the craziest thing it’s appointment television I all my family and friends very few of them watch NBA basketball all of them watch

The NFL it is so much more culturally resonant and and my thing is like I’m I’m not of the opinion that the NBA should even be compared to the NFL the NFL is like an entirely different entity but the NBA in and of its own kind of

Self is succeeding in a lot of different ways and I think it’s getting better I think I think you mentioned the officiate the or the playoffs when you get to the playoffs and things kind of get better that’s the interesting thing to me is like officiating to me is one

Of the bigger issues in the NBA and then we get to the playoffs and they kind of get it right you know so like so like even on that front I I feel like I’m I’m kind of nitpicking so like I’m generally an NBA Optimist I’m just a realist in

The sense that they’ll never ever compete with the NFL well listen I worked uh I’m at FS1 it’s number two to ESPN it’s a very good life there’s so many advantages to not being the NFL the scrutiny in the NFL game to game is in insane they flush out

Seven coaches a year I mean a quarterback basically gets to Thanksgiving of his second year and and and if you’re not good upstairs they’re moving on I mean you can Zion has had a weight issue for four years and they’re still in on him so there’s advantages of

Being two a lot of people at Pepsi made a lot of money I I think to your point I don’t think you worry about anything other than I I’ve I will say I’ve always believed that college basketball has a place in the NBA I think you can kind of

Get you they I wouldn’t know Zion without him it’s for the Casual fan you meet these stars in March and it’s like oh my God I want to watch Zion he doesn’t play at Duke he’s just another Jaylen green just another guy I mean the average fan has no idea who Jaylen green

Is so I my only knock on Adam Silver is I wish he would just say to college basketball hey it’s kind of a microwavable version of us you get three weeks where everybody watches the sport then you wrap your arms around Zion and college basketball and you can get some

Of those college basketball people that feed into the NBA I I’ve never thought the co listen you can make an argument the more popular your college sport is the more popular the league is so college football is number one NFL number two is college basketball NBA number three is the College World Series

Baseball four and then then College hockey right like so so I mean if you look at it you’re the more popular your minor league system is it absolutely is a push into your major league platform so I I don’t know I think the NBA did you like the n Season tournament

I thought it was so good I don’t understand the amazing Adam Silver’s bat in a thousand all so first of all if you’re upset about Taylor Swift or purple basketball courts get a life like who gives a secondly is there’s no question when I watch those games I mean LeBron was

First of all he shot 57% he was all in so when your stars Buy in I’m like okay LeBron’s I mean the Lakers played like it was playoff basketball LeBron in his 20th year or 19th year so again people are nitpicking I thought the inseason tournament I’m saying it’s

A home run standup double quality of it I mean Indiana was playing their arof Lakers were playing their but those bought into it I thought they bought into it way more than I would have I I first I thought this is hokey and then I watched like my second game on the court

And I’m like these these guys are playing this is like what was it December I’m like or November I’m like these guys are all out yeah it it it was exactly the tent pole that the regular season needed because like the NBA season it’s kind of like you go through

Two-thirds of it and then there’s the trade deadline then there’s like the stretch run but it’s almost like a big sink in the middle there and sometimes like like Colin I don’t blame you for not watching the NBA in December and January it can be so not only can it be

A little boring it can also be it can also give you a lot of really fake results like the Utah Jazz went won a bunch of games in a row in the middle of January you know like like this this is the time of year where like Youth and

Athleticism kind of Rises to the surface in so many different ways and the MBA needed something a tent pole between the start of the season and the trade deadline and that what the that’s what the inseason tournament served as a breakup of monotony in so many different

Ways also the NFL’s taken away their number one marketing day Christmas to some degree so the NBA is like okay if you’re going to take that away or minimize it they’re we’re going to going to create an inseason tournament before you get to your tournament so it’s all

Listen the NFL has always been playing around with the calendar I think I think Adam said okay you’re gonna F us on Christmas then we’re gonna create Urgent by the way some of those playing games got numbers these Commissioners used to be buddies now it’s now you’re all fighting for Amazon money nobody’s

Buddies anymore so the NFL moved free agency moved into Christmas and the NBA says so we’re going to create urgency before I thought worked and also the NBA’s always been about the trade deadline on it it it’s in my everybody’s at 50 games now so you get to about game

5560 everybody tightens everything up the rotations get tightened up you coach with an eye on the playoffs I think we’re going to have a great stretch run I think Boston and Denver are the best teams neither has a good bench and I think there’s some Milwaukee Lakers Phoenix Oklahoma City Minnesota can’t

Wait to watch it um Jason Tim Hoops tonight 5050 minutes we’ll do do more of this stuff it’s great seeing you you’re crushing uh you’re going to see a lot of adjacent stuff on my feed now as I kind of go heavy football and now uh the NBA

Is getting good and I’ll tell y’all say what you want give the Clippers a chance if you’re listening to this podcast it is beautiful basketball it is no high usage rate tremendous movement uh next time we’ll talk we’ll talk Oklahoma City Thunder we’re not ignoring ignoring Denver Minnesota but watch the Clippers

Play if you’re a casual that is good basketball that is beautiful basketball ball movement shot makers shot creators mid-range post inside transition it’s great final thoughts Colin I just wanted to say congrats to you on three years with the volume it’s crazy because like a year

Ago you and I had a similar conversation about how crazy the growth is been and even in the years since it’s been even crazier I I like I I’ve been I just have to say say Obviously being a part of it has been an honor but like getting to

See what you’ve built and and from what it was at the beginning to what it is now it’s just incredibly impressive and I just want to say congratulations well uh you’re really valuable to us and I mean I think the thing we lean in we lean into some

Gambling NBA NFL and strong opinions and you’re such a unique voice in basketball you know we got Jenkins and Jones who culturally are so important to us Draymond green the player and I don’t think there’s anybody in the country that breaks it down like you I think you

Give people a really datadriven smart former player context that matters it’s not you know listen I get called a hot take guy but I’ve said before I can’t watch every game I’ve got to cover all these Sports and I’m going to give you broad views of stuff you really dig deep

I think it’s necessary and I think you’re the best in the country at it and I love it so good good see you too Colin looking forward to next time Hoops tonight Jason Tim money at the volume

Colin Cowherd is joined by Jason Timpf of ‘Hoops Tonight’ to break down the top storylines surrounding the NBA’s biggest contenders. Are the Los Angeles Lakers or Golden State Warriors one piece away at the NBA trade deadline from returning to serious NBA Finals contenders? Should Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers be placed in the same tier as Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets and Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics? And is it time to view New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson as a legitimate superstar? Later, the guys discuss Joel Embiid’s injury and its impact on the Philadelphia 76ers as well as their thoughts on the state of the NBA.

Timeline:
00:00 – Check out Gametime!
01:30 – Will Lakers make a move at trade deadline?
09:02 – Should Celtics trust Jayson Tatum?
15:13 – Time to buy the Clippers
21:46 – Jalen Brunson & Knicks surging
30:32 – Warriors future
35:22 – Joel Embiid’s legacy
41:00 – State of the NBA

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