NBA Mailbag: Jokic & Nuggets still BEST in West, how LeBron & Lakers become ELITE | Hoops Tonight

NBA Mailbag: Jokic & Nuggets still BEST in West, how LeBron & Lakers become ELITE | Hoops Tonight

what’s up everybody thanks as always for supporting the show it would mean a lot to me if you would take a second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel and then follow me on social media on Tik Tok Instagram and Twitter so you guys don’t miss any of our content over the course of this season all right let’s talk some basketball what is your opinion on Grant Hills we are building a team rhetoric as a uh we’re building a team rhetoric as a Celtics and huge Jaylen Brown fan I get the white pickup however I’m confused as to why Kawai was on the team in the first place why embiid is playing as well couple things uh embiid I think is playing because he’s the fifth best player in the world and I think that uh I think that one he’s got the just more star power than Joel than Jaylen Brown and I think that that kind of gives him a certain leg up in these discussions two they absolutely need him for the yic matchup like he is a specific matchup tool that they need why was Kawhi Leonard on the roster he’s Kawhi Leonard he’s you know a guy that when he’s healthy is considered in that same tier with all those guys at the top of the league right like this is a guy that like is going to hit 55% of his pull-up jumpers 40% of his threes as an elite defensive player like he’s when kawhai is healthy he’s better than Jaylen Brown I I don’t know what else to say like yeah if I’m a general manager I’d rather have Jaylen Brown because for an 82 Game season uh I want I want Jaylen Brown I just trust him to be available more more right but like in terms of their ceilings kawhai is a much better player than Jaylen Brown when he is healthy and so that it and also just kind of brings a certain cache like if Kawhi Leonard call his agent calls Team USA and goes like hey qu’s healthy and wants to play like they’re going to answer in a different way different way than they will for a player that’s outside of that tier the way that Jaylen Brown is as far as the Derek white piece I didn’t think it was that complicated they’re running a lot of drop coverage I thought they’d be more of a switching team they still do with the Anthony Davis bam groups but they’re running a lot of drop uh especially with thembi on the floor they only have one guy on the roster who’s like a professional screen Navigator in Drew holiday I think they view J Jaylen Brown as another switching forward which they already have a lot of and so they opted for a guard that kind of fits that specific role as like an off-ball Cog who also can chase over the top of ball screens and gives them two options there in case something happens with Drew holiday you got some Flack for suggesting Canada should not have led up in the friendly against the US why do you think it’s important for teams to push themselves even in pre-tournament games uh I’m just I just think about it from the competitive nature side of it like if you’re Canada you want to beat USA uh there’s a chance that you don’t even get to see them overseas by virtue of maybe just being in a different pool and uh in single elimination going different routes right so like like there’s no guarantee you get to see him again and what a cool Moment Like if you got if you I was there in the arena guys that was a that was a basketball moment the arena was completely packed there were all these celebrities and famous basketball people there both teams were trying super hard like that would have been a cool game to win if you’re Canada and I just thought it was strange that they they pulled the plug the way that they did while the game was still in reach again I’m not I’m not criticizing the decision in the sense that like I I’m not saying it’s wrong but as a basketball fan I wanted to see Canada go back to their starters and then two I just can say that I feel pretty confident that the actual Canada starters wanted to go back in it was a decision from the staff because they are competitors and they wanted to beat the USA team who is the better win now player between kaminga and psky seems to me like backup point guard is a bigger need than Wing depth for the for the Warriors with their current roster sounds like both would need to go for Lori but if you could somehow keep one of them who do you trust more to help Steph win now I’d give up both of them if if that’s what it took but if I had to choose keeping one I’d keep pots like kaminga is going to be a better player than psky in the long run he just has too many athletic gifts but right now psky is much more of an easy plug-and playay guy that like fills a very specific role a guy who can run five out a guy who can defend at the point of attack a very good rebounder he kind of fills that Dante D venzo role from last year right like or from two years ago I should say like I I think Brandon pmy is much more capable of being a good rotation piece right now within the Warriors than Jonathan kaminga so take advantage of Jonathan kinga’s long-term potential by using him as a trade piece I know that there’s still some Warriors fans that are hung up on kaminga but like and again I would give up both of them if that’s what it took to get Lori but if I had to keep one I’d keep psky I think he’s just a better fit uh in the short term Jason Denver fumbled big time by not winning this year things undoubtedly get way harder for them had they won I think you could have put joic in a top 20 discussion now I think he’s firmly not in that couple this with the fact that he may not win another ring and then in parentheses he says would say that he does so couple things I’m not ready to punt on Denver I I do think that they are a different basketball team now one of the specific things that I’ve always talked about is you have to pick your poison with Denver right you’ve got to double the post you’ve got to defend pick and roll three on two you need to put your a lot of times have a big man running that low man spot so that he can navigate the Aaron Gordon problem along the Baseline right like there are things that they do but a big part of that is kcp and Michael Porter Jr on the weak side they both are just incredibly efficient spot up players to the point where if you do send extra Defenders because that’s the whole dynamic right you let Jamal Murray and yic play Twan game two on two you’re screwed you oh or three-man game I would even call it with Aaron Gordon on the Baseline If you defend that three on three you’re screwed If you defend joic one-on-one in the post you’re screwed if you switch and let Jamal Murray work on an island you’re screwed right but if you send extra Defenders here are these to like other worldly spot-up players on the other side of the floor with kcp it’s more close out attacking with Michael Porter Jr it’s more three-point shooting but by by the Numbers the two of those guys are two of the very best spot up guys in the league and so when you when you take a a player like that and you turn him into let’s say let’s just say uh Christian Brown right if it’s Christian Brown that goes from being a like cannot leave him open spot-up guy to like somebody that’s here you go 82nd percentile for cavius cell Pope 1.16 points per possession in spot up situations that’s really really good that’s hard to replicate and so let’s just say they slide Christian Brown into that spot now all of a sudden it becomes a very simple thing you’re going to ignore Christian Brown the same way that you ignore Aaron Gordon those guys are still going to be active as athletes and they’re still going to make a lot happen but as long as you’re big enough around the rim to kind of contend with those guys vertically you won’t have to worry as much about chasing Christian Brown off the line now there’s so there’s no doubt that Denver got a little bit easier to guard with kavus callwell Pope going out but most basketball teams have that same problem Denver had this uniquely fitting starting five now they have four of those guys and they’re going to have a downgrade at one of those positions but they’re still going to be really really difficult to guard yic is still the best player in the world the yic Murray two-man game is still incredibly difficult to deal with Aaron Gordon is still a handful underneath the basket they’re not going anywhere it’s just their margin for error has gone down a little bit a couple things I think Christian Brown is probably spending his entire summer focusing on ball skills like the ability to run second side action the ability to hit catch and shoot threes consistently into drive Closeouts because he knows that could potentially be his role and then who knows like Gary Trent Jr’s still out there and of all of the spots that I think and I want Gary Trent Jr to go to the Lakers that would be ideal because I think they need an athlete at that two guard spot but I don’t think he’s going to go there and if I was Gary Trent Jr and I did have to take something like a veteran minimum contract which uh like hopefully it doesn’t end end up being the case for his sake I think he’s probably going to end up getting the taxpayer mid-level but like if he ends up going to take a a a discount if you were to play one year in Denver alongside yic he could go on a deep playoff run and then sign a much more lucrative deal next summer if that’s what he wants whereas right now Gary Trent’s kind of in that weird kind of limbo where if he goes next year and has kind of a tough year where he’s maybe he takes more money at a at a mid-level exception somewhere but he’s playing for some bad team and he continues to kind of show some of his bad habits that he uh uh has shown um in the last couple of Seasons that could put him in a situation where he suddenly becomes a veteran minimum guy in the future and so like the we’ seen before guys take veter veteran minimum deals on really good teams that make deep playoff runs and then get more lucrative deals after we just saw it with Derek Jones Jr right going to the Clippers and getting a little bit of a paycheck and so Gary Trent’s a guy that like fingers crossed maybe a team like Denver uh could get to uh to solidify that two guard spot but the reality is is like it’s Pro there the more likely outcome is it ends up being a lot of Christian Brown and there’s an upside there like as much as Christian Brown is not as good offensively as kcp I actually do think with his size and strength Advantage he’s a little bit more versatile defensively and he does change the athletic profile of that team in a real way like he was the one guy in that Timberwolf series that kind of contended with Anthony Edwards athletically and so I don’t think Denver’s going anywhere they’ve obviously had a disappointing offseason the Deon Holmes uh uh Achilles terror is devastating I had heard that they pretty much intended for him to play a lot of backup center next year they viewed him as an NBA ready kind of guy and so super super unfortunate but don’t take away from the fact that you still have Jamal Murray you still have Michael Porter Jr you still have Nicole yic you still have Aaron Gordon you still have the gist of what makes the nuggets the nuggets in house and I also think that joic is going to be on a little bit of a revenge tour this year and I think that he’s going to be the best player in the world and so I I I I just have a really hard time writing off the Denver Nuggets and as of right now they’re still my favorite to win the West going into next season all right um um when KD comes back who loses the starting spot so uh I think KD is the easiest plug-and-play guy in the league CU he’s such a good shooter such a good close out attacker but can also run action can also beat matchups and he’s also a very good defensive player when he wants to be so like I would probably just slide Tatum to the two and move KD into the starting lineup and i’ and i’ take ant Off the Bench don’t think we’re going to see that I I an just got into the starting lineup hit a bunch of shots again today I expect ant to start but if I was coach the team I would go with Steph Tatum KD Lebron and Anthony Davis at the five and I would switch everything and I think that group would really get the ball moving side to side and then I’d let ant come in with the bench group and be like here are the keys you and embiid want to take turns playing one-on-one go ahead and be my guest do it with the bench group right because uh um I just I think that starting group needs to get more side to side ball in player movement um since the Celtics won do you think some of missoula’s philosophies will become more pervasive around the league things like heavy ball and player movement driving kick and an emphasis on getting back on defense attacking the margins Etc love the show keep up the great work thank you for the support um I think you know Missoula won me over in a big way in this postseason run and a big part of it too was like I I didn’t acknowledge enough during some of the downsides with Boston over the last couple of years that they were learning meaning the players just because the Celtics went down in took five or six bad threes in a row doesn’t mean Joe Missoula is in the Huddle saying dribble up the floor and take bad threes right Joe moula preaches being deliberate about setting up your spacing Joe moula preaches being deliberate about getting the right matchup and the right spot of the floor to get the defense in rotation Joe Missoula preaches attacking and playing quality driving kick basketball from there getting paint touches but then making good decisions when you get into the paint chasing the Great not the good shot Joe Missoula teaches all of that stuff it just took a while for the Celtics to really embrace it the way that they did right and like their ugly moments and H they were they were dominant this year but their ugly moments blowing the Cavs game blowing the Warriors game they’re uh they’re what were they two and four against the top uh three teams in the western conference right like they’re uh their issues that they had this season primarily centered around not doing what Joe moula was asking to do as far as like it being copied around the league everything has to do with your personnel you got to be really careful with uh taking a coaching philosophy and inflicting it on a roster you want to look at your roster and you want to build a coaching philosophy that fits that roster right and so for instance Boston has a lot of guys that have real downhill athleticism that can beat people off the dribble and from there they’ve got a lot of shooting so for them drive and kick basketball makes a ton of sense but there are teams out there where driving kick doesn’t make a ton of sense right and like a big part like for instance with Dallas last year they had all these play finishers and so it made sense for them to you know be a little bit more deliberate in the half court and you know use your off ball guys more as play finishers rather than Advantage extenders right like that’s what makes sense for that particular roster and so that said like I do think that more teams that have that type of roster should embrace more of a driving kick style I uh I think that you will see more and more of it anytime you see a team Hoist the trophy it’s copycat League people try to um people try to pull from what’s being successful elsewhere around the league as far as the emphasis on attacking the margins this is something that I’ve always been a huge believer in and it’s something that’s boring to talk about and it’s something that every single player knows it’s just it’s strictly a discipline thing like yeah if you become a an elite defensive rebounding team because you’re Scrappy and box out and you pursue long rebounds that will help you win games there’s no dramatic schematic element to that it’s just committing to the work and doing what you need to do to be a good defensive rebounding team transition defense there are some you know kind of schematic elements to it right like you want to get back and stop the ball and protect the paint and then you want to Fan out to Shooters from there it’s a lot of talking communicating but at the end of the day it’s effort you got to Sprint back in transition you got to uh there’s got to be a focus element of it too when you’re on offense identifying floor balance like oh this guy’s driving in a pick and roll on the right wing I’m on the left wing I can’t crash because the rle man and the ball handler are going to be underneath the rim when this is over I’m the only guy who’s back I’m going to start kind of drifting here a little bit as as soon as I identify the ball’s not going to make its way to me right like there’s a focus element but most of it is just sprinting you got to you got to put in the work to get back in transition uh like being deliberate about executing offensively is an attacking the margins thing like the vast majority of NBA teams are more efficient when they run action versus when they freelance being more deliberate about running action is an easy way to kind of squeeze more out of the margins of the game right like we can go on and on and on uh like being really good with your execution on sideline and Baseline out of bounds plays like being really good with your execution in late game situations there all these different areas of the game where you can kind of you know squeeze out a little extra right and I I just don’t understand why every team doesn’t do that or at least like put in a a ton of effort in those areas simply because like those are things that are under your control you can’t control if joic is just better than your Center you can’t control if nobody on your team can guard Anthony Edwards you can’t control if you get back in transition you can’t control if you’re at least a competitive defensive rebounding team and again there’s a Personnel element to rebounding too size strength and athletic iism but as long as you do all the right things you give yourself a better chance and so again I love that philosophy I do think that that’s something that every team in the league can do but as far as the specific offensive philosophy of Boston it is kind of unique to their personnel and there are teams that will try and fail at it because they don’t have the right kind of guys do you think the Mavs will start naagi over clay and have Clay be the sixth man at some point in the season they announced that they will start clay uh first but to me I feel Nai fits better with the starters and have play fill the t uh the Tim Hardaway Jr role so I’ve been hearing the same thing that Klay Thompson uh is going to start I don’t know how that works defensively at all whatsoever um I feel like a lot of it’s a concession to Clay and just his circumstance and the fact that he wants to start but like in the long run you need somebody that can guard Anthony Edwards the way that Derrick Jones Jr did that can guard the other team’s best guard and that who’s going to guard Shay gild Alexander and Jaylen Williams right like it just it’s a lot to ask for clay and Kyrie Irving to do that if you take PJ Washington and you utilize him as your primary point of attack Defender now you’ve removed your low man right that that Dynamic of the center Lively in this case being able to come up to the level of screens because PJ Washington is behind him and that Dynamic of that low man you you lose that if that becomes clay and Klay did not have a great season last year as a defensive rebounder and as an off ball Defender and so that like putting him in that role I I think could lead to some a messy results as well naji’s not as good of a point of attack Defender as Derrick Jones Jr is but he is a good point of attack Defender he’s physical and can slide his feet and then he’s a much higher level offensive player than Derrick Jones Jr Derrick Jones Jr really good ball handler for a role player guard has some like off the dribble pop and so like I don’t know if that means Naji starts cuz I I don’t think Naji is just like a shoe in start caliber player he’s kind of more of like a rotational player anyway but the the moving clay into the starters is going to lead to some issues on the defensive floor there’s no doubt the question is can they get enough offensively out of it for it to be worth it feels like kcp to the magic has been completely overlooked what are your thoughts on the move as well as them drafting Tristan D Silva I was just talking about this earlier with the Nuggets but kcp was one of it was an 82 percentile spot up player last year one of the best kind of like catch and shoot drive closeout guys in the league that was a specific weakness for Orlando right the ability to score from the perimeter and that allowing uh Cleveland to really pack the paint against them right so kcp just gives you more shooting it’s really that simple it’s just something to try to make things easier for fron and for pal bankera he’s a professional closeout attacker and and that is something that will make things easier for them on the offensive end of the floor he’s also a very good point of attack Defender just a much better version of Gary Harris in somebody that it makes the the magic you basically you’re just upgrading a starting position into a championship level starter a proven Championship level starter that’s doing it that’s done it in two different destinations so uh love the kcp pickup I think he’s going to make the magic better as far as trist to Silva is just kind of doubling down on what makes the magic great which is just lots of length and uh and guys that kind of bring that versatile length on the perimeter right just the forwards that can dribble shoot and pass that’s what makes the Magic The Magic and Tristan tova’s a natural fit there who do you think will rank higher at the end of their career Edwards or Shake Alexander I think it’s more likely ant I just think he’s a more Superior athlete I also think ant is a more Dynamic three-point shooting Talent which I think will benefit him well in the long run I think a can be a better Defender too as things get like I think when a is Shay’s age there’s a decent chance that he’s the best player in the world like that’s how highly I think of ant um so I I I think that ant will be a better player than Shay in the long run hey Jason do you think the way ad is playing right now in the Olympics that the Lakers realize getting a big is necessary if they want to contend for another title and who can you see the Lakers trading for this is tricky because what people are referring to there were some plays uh there were play plays in this Australia game where ant was the low man where like bam was up at the level of the screen dealing with like Patty Mills coming off in action and ant was like tagging a roller and then closing out to a three-point shooter in the corner and yeah it’d be great to have ad as a as a low man but it’d be great to have bam at a bio too and that’s the thing is it’s probably not going to if you get a second big to play alongside alongside ad it’s not going to be Baya bio most importantly you got to look at the context of the Lakers roster they’re playing ad next to Bam without LeBron on the floor with Team USA with the Lakers I’d love to see an ad at the four look that they use throughout the season as just like an Innings eater kind of thing but the truth of the matter is you’re always going down with LeBron and AD and LeBron at age 40 is effectively another big he he has to play the four he has to be the low man and so like the the way I look at it this ship always goes down for the Lakers with ad at the five no matter what and so while I do think it’s worth looking at backup fives that are an upgrade that could make life easier for ad I don’t think it matters if it’s not within the context of what they can actually use at the end of games and so investing heavily like investing heavy resources in a backup center I think would be a waste who’s the five you’re going down with you’re going down with Austin Reeves the one LeBron in ad and then a two and a three and that two and a three is not good enough right now it’s a lot of ruy hamura losing Michael Porter Jr in a huge fourth quarter possession because he doesn’t know how to play the three and D’Angelo Russell getting out hustled for a rebound or just not doing his job on the defensive glass because he sucks at role player stuff so like those two guys are the two upgrades that need to be made and like any sort of resource allocation in terms of draft compensation or young players need to be directed at the two and the three because those are the two spots that when the chips hit the when the hits the fan and you’re trying to get a stop against the Denver Nuggets in game four and it’s 99 to 99 and you got PTSD from all those times that Jamal Murray hit a gamewinner in your face the group you’re going to go down with in the final five minutes of that game is ad80 at the five LeBron at the four Austin Reeves at the one who are you playing at the two and three that’s where they need to invest their resources I would not agree with spending heavy draft compensation on a guy like Wendell Carter Jr uh like I really like Wendell I like the idea of him playing next to Anthony Davis even but I don’t like it within the context of LeBron playing the three CU he’s 40 years old and at the three point at the three right now you need someone who can navigate screens the Lakers need LeBron and AD to be 45 and they need their two and three to be athletes that can chase over the top of the screen it is a must for them in order to achieve their potential uh offense uh the defensive end of the floor and again 80 looks fantastic and LeBron’s going to be coming out of a Team USA thing so he’s going to be like kind of geared up for this season I’m a Believer in the Lakers if they can bolster the two and three I don’t think they’re that far off but I but I do not believe in their ability to do anything until they uh address those two positional needs and like we’ve when we talk about oh I’ll just skip ahead to the Laker question how far can the Lakers get as currently constructed as currently constructed they are what you saw last year they’re a team that’s good enough to beat anybody except for the real Championship contenders I think that I think the Lakers had the I think the Lakers would have beat a team like Minnesota I don’t think they would have beat Dallas especially not without Jared Vanderbilt they were one of those random teams in that matchup group were like past the ne past the Nuggets it it was like thunder well the Thunder actually got the one seed but past Denver is my best team in the west it was like thunder Timberwolves Maverick Clippers Suns Lakers those teams were all on the same tier in my opinion and they were all matchup oriented it just turned out that Minnesota had a really strong matchup advantage against Denver in particular but Minnesota sucks against Rim protection they got their butts kicked by Dallas they would have gotten their I think they would have gotten their butts kicked by the Lakers I think it would have been the exact same thing I think they would have just loaded up the strong side Anthony Davis would have shut down the paint the same way that Derrick Lively and Daniel Gafford did against Anthony Edwards I think they I think that the same strength advantages that uh Lebron and Anthony Davis have would have caused the same problems for Minnesota’s defense that Luca donic did like I those teams were all beating each other but at the same time we know the Lakers particular weakness was teams that could really manipulate their spacing and take advantage of the weak side could beat them because of their lack of perimeter Defenders I think Luca would have picked the Lakers apart I think that would have been an issue right like uh had the Lakers run into a playoff series against really quick perimeter teams like the Sacramento Kings I I think the Lakers would have lost that Series right so like right now the Lakers are capable of beating everybody except for the really good teams but they’re even vulnerable within that matchup tier in that in the middle of the league I think if they accentuate that two and three spot if they turn that shooting guard spot and that a small forward spot into athletes that can defend and at least are competent on the offens end of the floor that’s where I think the Lakers have the potential to enter into that top tier in the Western Conference a guy like Bruce Brown at the two I think would be huge a guy like Dorian finny Smith at the three literally if they just pulled those two moves off I know dor Dorian finy Smith and Bruce Brown are not necessarily that much better basketball players than DLo or and ruy haimura it’s specifically about the fit DLo and ruy are redundant DLo is red uh redundant with Austin ruy is redundant with LeBron Dorian finny Smith is a three a real three Bruce Brown is a two a real two those guys and Bruce Brown needs to be a two next to a real skill guard like a Jamaal Murray or in this case an Austin Reeves that makes sense Dorian finy Smith he’s not a highlevel offensive player so he needs to capitalize on advantages he needs to be the three next to multiple ball handling fulcrums well well ad LeBron and Austin Reeves have you covered there and so those are the kinds of moves that I think could like on the margins that can move the Lakers into a more serious level of basketball on both ends of the floor I’m worried about the Lakers doing that because in order to get good basketball players you have to spend draft compensation how did the Dallas Mavericks get Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington draft compensation are the Lakers willing to pay what it costs to get highlevel role players that accentuate what their best players do that’s going to be the question we’re going to find out the answer to over the course of the rest of this summer two more quick ones and we’ll get out of here Tatum’s shooting percentage on his in his pull-up jumper efficiency has decreased in each of the last three or four postseasons and you’ve said it’s just the Peaks and valleys that come with shooting variants but I think it’s uh it’s what he does in the offseason in all the weight training here’s the thing it doesn’t really matter how much you lift weights as long as you continue to uh polish up your shot there are a lot of really buff guys around the league that can shoot that that to me is is a cop out I mean Desmond Bane literally like looks like a cartoon character with how big his arms are on his body and the dude’s like just an absolute laser from the three-point line like that Kawhi Leonard is built like an absolute truck and he can shoot like crazy right so like to me it’s just right now Tatum’s going through some stuff with his form he’s got a little bit of a hitch right now you can tell he’s a little bit in just generally slumping in terms of his confidence he airball a corner three in the USA Australia game today so like I think he’ll get out of it but right now the big thing for me me is I just see a little bit of a hitch as he’s Gathering his shot as he’s kind of coming up in front of his chest into a shooting pocket he’s just a little bit hitchy there and that’s the thing he’s got to work out last question do you think Luca can be considered the second best player on the planet after getting exposed for all-time bad defense in the finals and um and then he put in parenthesis so bad it’s impossible to win with one thing here Boston let’s credit Boston in the sense that they are uniquely equipped to punish teams that typically need to hide one of their lesser defensive players I think there are a lot of stars in the league that would have struggled against Boston I think joic would have struggled on defense against Boston I think a guy uh I think a guy like a um like a Steph Curry might have struggled against Boston uh defensively I think that uh I think that a lot of like the slower footed players would have struggled right like I don’t think they would have been as bad as Luca I think Luca was exceptionally bad and I think that’s something that he needs to deal with but I think he’s going to deal with it this summer too like I think that was kind of a humbling experience for him but I think Boston in general just kind of made that situation looked wor look worse than it actually was and I’m not ready to bail on Luca as one of the best players in the world because he had a bad playoff series a lot of really good players before him have had bad playoff series and have rebounded [Music]

Jason Timpf answers listener questions during an NBA Mailbag segment. Jason discusses why Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are still the best team in the Western Conference, the big additions LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers should pursue this offseason, who Kevin Durant will replace in the starting lineup for Team USA, and much more!

Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/8esYlyZi8Fw

Timeline:
00:00 – Why Embiid is on team
02:22 – Should teams push themselves in exhibitions?
03:33 – Better win now player: Kuminga or Podziemski?
04:42 – Nuggets are still a problem
10:25 – When KD returns, who loses starting spot?
11:25 – Will more teams play like Celtics?
16:46 – Will Klay Thompson start?
18:40 – Magic get KCP
19:55 – Anthony Edwards vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
20:22 – Do Lakers need another big?
27:33 – What’s wrong with Tatum’s shot?
28:36 – Did Luka’s Finals drop his player ranking?

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