With the NBA draft and the league's 2024 free agency period over with for all intents and purposes, we know what every team in the league is going to look like on opening night. With that knowledge, we can begin to project how the order of each conference will come together once the games start getting played as the Boston Celtics pursue another title.
And with an eye to how the Association's Western Conference is likely to look come the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza. We of course talk about how the Oklahoma City Thunder have reshaped their roster, and who else might threaten to come out of the conference as a potential obstacle to Boston hanging Banner 19.
We also get caught up on what little news there is from Las Vegas Summer League, Team USA, and the usual grist of the offseason beat. Check it out!
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Discussing OKC's off-season
3:06 - Summer League insights
7:58 - Two-day draft format
10:18 - Derrick White joins Team USA
13:16 - Team Canada exhibition game
15:54 - Josh Giddey's situation
19:20 - Chad's potential and role
21:00 - Thunder's Christmas game suggestions
23:32 - Spurs offseason moves
25:13 - Western teams tanking
29:55 - Denver Nuggets' disappointing offseason
31:32 - Thunder win in 5 games
34:18 - Golden State's dilemma
37:32 - Pelicans as pretenders
39:45 - Pelicans' future uncertainty
42:01 - Rockets' roster imbalance
43:57 - Kings' middling status
46:44 - Olympic-caliber basketball
52:31 - Conference Finals in the West
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#celtics #NBA #BostonCeltics
The CLNS Media Network is the leading provider for video/audio content. CLNS is a fully credentialed member of the media with access to all NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB teams & venues.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLNS' rebuilt their YouTube community in less than 12 months, during a pandemic that attacked sports. Wondering how? Find out here (and support our channel) - https://www.tubebuddy.com/clnsmedia
Visit the Official Home of CLNS Sports Coverage - https://clnsmedia.com
And with an eye to how the Association's Western Conference is likely to look come the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza. We of course talk about how the Oklahoma City Thunder have reshaped their roster, and who else might threaten to come out of the conference as a potential obstacle to Boston hanging Banner 19.
We also get caught up on what little news there is from Las Vegas Summer League, Team USA, and the usual grist of the offseason beat. Check it out!
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Discussing OKC's off-season
3:06 - Summer League insights
7:58 - Two-day draft format
10:18 - Derrick White joins Team USA
13:16 - Team Canada exhibition game
15:54 - Josh Giddey's situation
19:20 - Chad's potential and role
21:00 - Thunder's Christmas game suggestions
23:32 - Spurs offseason moves
25:13 - Western teams tanking
29:55 - Denver Nuggets' disappointing offseason
31:32 - Thunder win in 5 games
34:18 - Golden State's dilemma
37:32 - Pelicans as pretenders
39:45 - Pelicans' future uncertainty
42:01 - Rockets' roster imbalance
43:57 - Kings' middling status
46:44 - Olympic-caliber basketball
52:31 - Conference Finals in the West
CLNS Media is Powered by:
Prize Picks - PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100!
Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.
Elevate your style game on and off the course with the PXG Spring Summer 2024 collection. Head over to https://PXG.com/GARDENREPORT and save 10% on all apparel.
Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!
#celtics #NBA #BostonCeltics
The CLNS Media Network is the leading provider for video/audio content. CLNS is a fully credentialed member of the media with access to all NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB teams & venues.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLNS' rebuilt their YouTube community in less than 12 months, during a pandemic that attacked sports. Wondering how? Find out here (and support our channel) - https://www.tubebuddy.com/clnsmedia
Visit the Official Home of CLNS Sports Coverage - https://clnsmedia.com
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SportsTranscript
00:00Celtics Lab is brought to you by Price Picks and the GameTime app.
00:05All righty, welcome to the Celtics Lab podcast brought to you by Price Picks,
00:10the exclusive fantasy basketball partner of the CLNS Media Network,
00:13and by GameTime tickets, last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.
00:17I'm camera-tipped by your host.
00:19It's so hot and humid in Boston, I feel like I have marbles in my mouth
00:23because I'm holding on to every bit of moisture in my body, but enough about me.
00:29Last week, oh, Alex is off, his cat's not doing so good, so send your positive vibes to Alex.
00:35I'm here with Dr. Justin Quinn.
00:36Last week, we talked to Kai Carlin from Sixers Wire about the East,
00:40and this week, we're going to talk to Clemente Almanza
00:43of Thunderwire to talk about the West.
00:45So, Clemente, what's up?
00:47Hey, what's up, guys?
00:48Super excited to talk about the West.
00:50I mean, OKC's had quite the off-season.
00:52A lot of national media talking heads are really raving about what they've done,
00:56so just super excited.
00:58Should be.
00:59Are you going to set the record straight?
01:03Off the jump, do you think the talking heads have it wrong?
01:06Um, wait, why don't I repeat the question you're cutting out?
01:11I said off the jump, do you think the talking heads have got it wrong?
01:15I feel like the consensus is they're the team to beat in the West.
01:20No, yeah, I think they got it right because, I mean,
01:25obviously, you know, youngest first seed in the league last year,
01:28they took the Mavericks to a competitive game six.
01:31I think that series ended in a zero-point differential.
01:34And obviously, Dallas went to the NBA finals against your guys at Celtics.
01:40But I think they were able to kind of, you know,
01:43the two biggest, like, areas of weakness everybody kind of talked about at OKC was
01:47size and rebounding, and they were able to, like,
01:50single-handedly solve that with the addition of Isaiah Hardenstein from the Knicks.
01:54And then they were able to swap out Josh Giddey,
01:56who became unplayable at the end of the Dallas series,
01:59and who had his up and downs throughout the year for a much easier fit.
02:02And Alex Caruso, who's going to be a three-and-D guy with,
02:05you know, championship experience as well from the Lakers.
02:10But yeah, I mean, they basically swapped out Giddey and Gordon Hayward,
02:13both of those guys who ended up being unplayable in the playoffs for
02:17Hardenstein and Caruso, who are going to be top seven rotation guys right off the bat.
02:21Yeah, not bad.
02:24OK, so let's put a pin in that, but that's a pretty concise summary of,
02:28yeah, I mean, the Thunder are in an unbelievable position.
02:33What we'll do is, in the lab portion of the programming,
02:35we'll do the rest of the Thunder and the rest of the West,
02:38but quickly we'll do the news.
02:39There's not that much of it.
02:41I guess off-air, so it's the middle of Summer League, Boston lost to Miami.
02:47Cato's looked really good.
02:48JD Davidson's looked pretty good.
02:50And then Boston beat the Lakers, the Summer Lakers, last night.
02:53Cato, again, looked really good.
02:57Both of you, and myself included, kind of have the same position that
03:01there's not that much to glean from Summer League.
03:03So Justin, play good cop and pretend like it matters,
03:08but what's your big Summer League takeaway?
03:10Well, it does matter.
03:11It just doesn't matter very much as an entertainment product unless you are a suko.
03:15Like, if you really need to have basketball that you want to watch
03:19that vaguely resembles NBA basketball, then, you know, it's a good thing for you.
03:23But you're really, you're just watching kind of something in between the combine
03:29and, like, individual workouts and a practice with the structure of an NBA game.
03:36But really, like, the goals are not aligned.
03:38Winning is not super important.
03:40It's important to the players for them to win.
03:42Winning is not super important.
03:43It's important to the players for sure, but to the organization,
03:47they're focused on how these players do in certain contexts and certain matchups.
03:51So you can get a feel for, for example, how Baylor Shireman is going to be doing.
03:57Like we were talking about earlier off air,
04:00there's not a very realistic path to Baylor getting a lot of time with the Celtics this season.
04:05And if he does, things are very bad for whatever reason.
04:09And when he does get on the floor, and I think he will get on the floor,
04:11he defends better than I expected.
04:13I think he passes a lot better than I expected.
04:16His shot is not coming around, but it's been two games.
04:19I don't really think that that's a very big harbinger of the future,
04:22particularly when he's experiencing this kind of length and athleticism.
04:27And it's only going to go up, right?
04:28So do not be disappointed when you do finally see him in a game.
04:33But there is something to be taken from these games.
04:36You just have to put yourself in the right mindset.
04:38This isn't really an entertainment product so much as it is a measuring moment.
04:44Yeah, I'll add to that.
04:46It's a lot more like an AAU tournament.
04:48Like the teams that are about to play next are sitting on the sidelines.
04:52There's really no space between, say, the baseline and the wall in the gym.
04:56It doesn't have the same pop as an NBA game.
05:00And it's really transactional.
05:01If the second one ends, the next one begins.
05:02So it doesn't have the same breathing room that an NBA game has,
05:06like really as a summer showcase.
05:09I guess to that end, there's a link.
05:12Jordan Walsh has kind of admitted he's a little frustrated with his role.
05:15That feels premature, both for his career arc and where we're at in the season.
05:23Am I over-indexing that, you think, Justin?
05:25No, I actually don't think so.
05:28We just ran into a pretty interesting interview with Ray Allen,
05:32where he was talking about how after the Celtics won their first title,
05:37he was sitting down to dinner with MJ.
05:39And he was like, well, you guys won one.
05:41Now let's see you win two.
05:42It's really, really hard to repeat.
05:44And the reason why is because all the guys who were playing
05:46rotation roles last year were playing bigger roles next year
05:51and think they deserve it because they won a title, right?
05:54And while that's not exactly what we're seeing here with Jordan,
05:58it's just a natural progression of things to begin with.
06:00Then you throw into the mix winning a title.
06:04I do think that he has the opportunity to earn some minutes this season defensively.
06:08His three-pointer hasn't really shown much in the way of improvement.
06:12Too slow. So slow.
06:13Yeah.
06:14But I mean, it's understandable that he wants more because he has been working.
06:19He has seen the glory, mostly in Portland.
06:23And he wants to be close to that flame of excitement.
06:28Clemente, if there are any sickos listening,
06:30who's like the hot shot on the Summer Thunder team?
06:35I think AJ Mitchell has looked really good.
06:39He's kind of taking a second round guy.
06:40I think he had to make like four trades just to get him on the second day of the draft,
06:45but came from a small school on a two-way deal.
06:49But he's just looked really good out there,
06:51like a solid traditional backup guard, able to man the pick and roll,
06:55able to attack the paint and penetrate and kick out.
07:00I think Mitchell's looked really good.
07:01Dylan Jones was their late second or their late first round guy
07:04that they traded five seconds to the Knicks for.
07:07And he's had his up and downs.
07:09He looked a lot better in the Salt Lake City portion
07:11of their summer league schedule these last couple games.
07:14You can kind of tell he's kind of getting fatigued out
07:15because he's played every game so far.
07:17But he's like another solid kind of point forward type guy.
07:21I'm not totally sure what his role is going to be next season, if any at all.
07:24I'm assuming both of these guys are probably going to spend
07:25most of their time in the G League just because of just how static OKC is.
07:29But, you know, getting into this event, those two were the most important guys,
07:33like really keep an eye on it.
07:34I feel like they've been pretty solid in their minutes.
07:38Where does the OKC G League team play again?
07:41They play in the same arena as the Funders of Paycom.
07:43OK, that's why I was like, why can't I place the name?
07:45Yeah, they're the OKC Blue.
07:46That's what they're called.
07:48Yeah.
07:48So maybe the Blue and the main Celtics are headed for another clash.
07:55Just because you brought it up, what do you think of the two-day draft?
08:00I think it was great for us personally, content wise,
08:02because you're able to kind of, you know,
08:03milk it out a little bit longer for multiple days.
08:07But I like it for sure, because I mean,
08:11average draft day, it's just so much,
08:13you can just kind of drown in the amount of news that happens.
08:15I kind of like that little 12-hour break between round one and round two.
08:20I guess my only, I don't really have a complaint,
08:21but I saw a lot of people who just kind of, you know,
08:23bring up the fact that how just like
08:25un-aesthetically pleasing it looked for round two,
08:28where they just kind of held it in an office or whatever.
08:30Maybe they could fix that.
08:31But I really like the format, maybe,
08:33especially in the summer when nothing else is going on.
08:35Like, I don't see why people would be opposed to having,
08:38you know, round two, having it be its own day.
08:41Because like I said, I really like the format for sure.
08:44My big complaint, and they did have Givony, I think,
08:47in for some of it during the second round.
08:49But particularly in the second round,
08:52really in both rounds with the more time between each pick,
08:55they really should have been really leaning into draft efforts.
08:59Like not just one here and there for every third or fourth pick,
09:02but like getting us up to speed on every pick.
09:04So every team has someone explaining to them
09:07the player they're getting while they're watching the event.
09:09Because otherwise, why are they watching other than,
09:11woo, now I'm done, right?
09:12You know, you can learn something while you watch.
09:16Yeah, for sure.
09:16It definitely felt like most of day two was just talking about
09:19the whole Brownie James stuff.
09:22My conspiracy is the whole thing was around Brownie James.
09:28It definitely felt that way.
09:29So, I mean, it's going to be interesting to see how, you know,
09:32that kind of plays out next year when there's not
09:34a Brownie James type prospect in the second round.
09:37But yeah, I definitely liked it for sure.
09:40I didn't really like it, but I also don't like the drafts very much.
09:46Mike Zarin told me that he was someone who spearheaded the two-day thing.
09:51And Brad Stephens had his back on that.
09:52So I think it came from the Celtics orbit in part,
09:56anyways, to get this off the ground.
09:58So I guess I have to bite my tongue there, but I didn't like it.
10:02We can be thankful that it is not the old style draft,
10:06which was like six rounds or something ridiculous like that
10:08with only like a handful of teams at that.
10:11That must have been very exciting.
10:15Yeah.
10:15Okay.
10:16Anyways, let's round out the news.
10:17Derek White has caught up with Team USA.
10:21They're in Dubai now, or they were this morning.
10:24They played a game in Abu Dhabi against Australia
10:28after beating Shea Gilgis Alexander's Canadian team in Las Vegas.
10:36I care so little about the kerfuffle between Jalen Brown not making the team.
10:42I guess I'll do 30 seconds on it, which is last night.
10:46Jalen showed up at the Celtics Summer League team game and said,
10:51yes, I do think Nike had something to do with it.
10:53More will come out on this.
10:54That's all I'm going to say for now.
10:56And then later was seen on,
10:59seemed to slander Bronny James on camera
11:03and then had to like tweet a weird apology.
11:05So that was kind of more of an admission apology
11:09than it was an apology.
11:10But sure, I just think Jalen is on top of the world right now.
11:15And like, maybe you should go on a long vacation.
11:18They don't need to.
11:20I'm fine with the slates as long as they're coming from outside the team.
11:25Yeah, I don't know.
11:26He said he called Derek immediately and no love lost.
11:29And yeah, that's probably true.
11:31I take him in his word that he did.
11:32It just.
11:34That's not the.
11:36I think sometimes he's a little.
11:40Naive or hopeful about how the media landscape is going to actually work.
11:43I think it's really mad when it doesn't work out that way.
11:45And it's like, well.
11:47You've been at this for a while.
11:48Maybe you should have expected this to happen, maybe.
11:51Anyways, Jalen, if you're listening, sorry, but come on the pod and we can talk.
11:57Otherwise, Clemente, I assume Celtics fans are dialed into Team USA.
12:01How's Team Canada looking?
12:03How many is Shea the only Thunder player playing in the Olympics?
12:08Ludo is also on Team Canada.
12:10He's coming off the bench.
12:11I knew that.
12:12Yeah, but I think that was their only like exhibition scheduled.
12:16Like besides that, it's just going to be group play later this month.
12:19But I mean, from that one game.
12:22They've got the tough group, right?
12:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:25I think they got like the toughest group out of out of all of them.
12:29But in terms of like how they look like in terms of that exhibition, like,
12:32I mean, it's just hard to really take much out of it just because it is an exhibition
12:35that you don't know how much of it was, you know,
12:36Jordan Fernandez and the coaching staff kind of experimenting with stuff.
12:39But it kind of it was kind of underwhelming because
12:42it kind of felt like Shea was used as a decoy.
12:44And this is the guy who ended up finishing second in MVP last year.
12:48Top five guy over these last couple of seasons.
12:51And for whatever reason, I feel like Dylan Brooks had more isolation possessions than Shea.
12:55And that's just not a winning formula to me.
12:57And, you know, this isn't just a one time occurrence either.
13:01Last year in the FIBA World Cup, a lot of the things also happened.
13:04But I mean, yeah, I think Shea's look pretty.
13:09I think Shea, you know, look pretty decent against the USA.
13:12It could have been a little bit better.
13:13But I think that's more of like a Canada thing.
13:17Yeah. If not Canada and the US, who would you pick?
13:20Both of you.
13:23I wanted to pick Australia, but I just I think they're like a player too short.
13:29France, I think.
13:30I mean, yeah, maybe maybe Serbia with Jokic.
13:33But yeah.
13:35France would be cool because it's obviously a hometown, but also Wembley.
13:40Even meddling at is he still 19 or 20, whatever it is, would be stellar.
13:47But I do think the United States is going to be bad if they don't win the gold.
13:52I was listening to Michael Wilbon on the Tony Kornheiser podcast,
13:55and he was saying people are comparing this team to the Dream Team.
13:58And I haven't heard that.
14:00But if you are, shame on you.
14:01That's preposterous.
14:03The level of talent isn't even close.
14:04I mean, like there's a very good talent on this roster,
14:07but talents who were in their prime like three, four, five, six years ago, mostly.
14:11This isn't even as good a team as the Redeem team, I don't think.
14:15Anyways, let's do this.
14:17Let's transition to the lab portion of the programming and talk about the Western Conference.
14:21But first, let's pause the action and talk about our friends over at prize picks.
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15:25Okay, back to the show.
15:27And that was a clinic.
15:28Other than that one stumble, that was the best ad read I've done in a while, Justin.
15:30Okay.
15:31Nice, well done.
15:32And we got another one coming up.
15:33Clemente, let's, well, Justin, let me swing to you.
15:38Clemente, you gave us your quick hits on the Thunder.
15:41Anything you think you want to ask Clemente about with the Thunder?
15:44I mean, they're so good.
15:47So I would like Clemente's opinion about someone who's no longer on the roster.
15:54That would be Josh Giddey.
15:55And to me, it feels like, you know, there are very valid reasons to not like Josh Giddey,
16:00which I am not going to get into.
16:02We all know what those are.
16:03But as a player, not what he does off the court.
16:07It seems to me that people really piled on with how a, I think he was 21 years old, I think.
16:15Basically, a very young player who is still really finding his game at the NBA level.
16:23At the NBA level.
16:25To me, any 30, look at how Jalen Brown was in his third season in the league.
16:30Like he was still able to contribute, but like he wasn't like a major part of
16:35Boston's ability to succeed at that level.
16:37In fact, a lot of the times the mistakes he was making, like they were succeeding in spite of
16:41some of the mistakes that he was making.
16:43He wasn't maybe as bad as Giddey was in this last playoff scenario.
16:47But I feel like maybe there was just a bit too much piling on to what kind of a player he can be.
16:55Because we saw his three-point percentage get better.
16:58We saw him expand his game.
17:00Not as much as we would like, but he definitely grew as a player.
17:03So I just want your opinion.
17:05Do you think that they made a mistake with how much they got back from him?
17:10Is he, you know, does he have a future or are the Bulls making a mistake?
17:14What's your take on the Giddey situation that led to the OKC team you have now?
17:20Yeah, I just think this is just a classic good player, bad fit type of situation.
17:25When Josh first got drafted to the Thunder, he was giving the keys to the franchise with Shea.
17:30And he was, you know, one of the primary ball handlers his first couple of years.
17:34And then obviously they added Jalen Williams.
17:37They added Chet.
17:38And you saw this last season, those guys kind of, you know, surpassed him on the totem pole,
17:42which kind of led to Giddey in this awkward, like, four-scoring option role
17:46where he doesn't really have the ball a ton.
17:47He's got to be like the catch-and-shoot guy.
17:49And that's just not really his game.
17:51I mean, he said so himself in his Bulls introductory press conference,
17:55where he wants the ball in his hands.
17:56And he's more of a point guard.
17:58And, you know, he's obviously was OKC's one of the better passers last year.
18:01But, like, he just didn't have the on-ball reps to, like, really show that off.
18:07So this just felt like a classic case where, you know, Giddey might be—
18:11Giddey's a good player, but he's just in a really bad situation last year in terms of fit.
18:15And with the Bulls, like, he's going to go back to, you know,
18:17a familiar role to what he had in OKC his first couple of years,
18:20where he's the primary point guard.
18:23And in terms of, like, his perception last year,
18:25I just think it's just a matter of perception.
18:27Like, he was the fifth-worst player on the team
18:32of a bunch of guys who looked really good.
18:34And that's going to look bad regardless.
18:35If you put Giddey on, like, the Charlotte Hornets last year,
18:38he wouldn't have looked as bad.
18:40So, with Chicago, he's probably hoping to, you know,
18:42go back to being a starting one with them
18:45and, you know, being able to, like, facilitate and be a playmaker for them.
18:49But, I mean, yeah, this Giddey situation,
18:51it really reminds me of kind of, like, the Jeff Green situation,
18:53which, you know, the first go-around where Green was traded to the Celtics as well.
18:57And he kind of, you know, has carved out a really nice career since then
19:00where, you know, Green was just not going to, you know,
19:04get more touches or more shots up than someone like KD or Arden or Russell Westbrook.
19:09It just feels super similar to that situation with Giddey right now.
19:14I'm going to keep on that theme because, you know,
19:17young players deserve a little bit of runway to become who they're going to be.
19:21Where are you at with Chet?
19:22I think he kind of...
19:25I think in the, like, grander zeitgeist,
19:28he quote-unquote disappointed this postseason,
19:31but I think he also performed like a rookie or a second-year player,
19:34however you want to peg him.
19:35So, where are you at with Chet?
19:36What are your expectations for him next year?
19:39Yeah, I think Chet disappointed playoffs in terms of his shooting.
19:41And, like, I think a lot of us are just fatigued
19:43because he ended up playing literally every game last season,
19:46from preseason to regular season to the playoffs.
19:49And that was a big goal of his after he missed all of last year.
19:52But in the playoffs, like, Chet was, like, their defensive anchor.
19:56Like, if you saw the on-off numbers with him on the floor,
19:58like, OKC's defense, like, really struggled with him.
20:01That kind of led to them to go out inside Hardenstein.
20:03That way you could have someone on the court at all times
20:05who's a good rim protector.
20:08In terms of Chet, like, Chet's, like, he would have won rookie of the year last year
20:12and any other year, but he just got unlucky
20:14having to be in the same rookie class as Wimby.
20:18Chet finished second last year in total blocks.
20:22Like, the defensive stats, like, were fruit of root for him.
20:25His on-off numbers were great.
20:27I really like Chet, and, like, he's obviously,
20:29I think he's going to be one of the best bigs of this upcoming generation.
20:32Just turned 22 years old.
20:34OKC's going to want him to be,
20:36they're going to try to make him be more of a playmaker this upcoming year,
20:38so we'll see how that goes.
20:39But, I mean, he's just a really great modern-day big where,
20:42you know, he can stretch the floor, handle the ball a bit,
20:45great defender, a good rebounder,
20:48and, I mean, he just seems like to be the starting,
20:51he's going to be the starting center for the foreseeable future for them.
20:54Who do you think the Thunder will
20:56and who do you think the Thunder should play on Christmas?
21:01Oh, man.
21:02Well, maybe the, maybe the Mavs, just to kind of get...
21:08I was going to say exactly that.
21:10But the Mavs and the Warriors, that match-up writes itself.
21:15Yeah, you're right.
21:17Maybe the Wolves.
21:18There's a little bit of sparks between Minnesota and OKC last year,
21:21or maybe Denver, one of those upper echelon teams in the West for sure.
21:27Those are probably my two top picks,
21:28because last year those games were entertaining.
21:32Throughout, like, all seven, eight of them.
21:34So those are definitely the two top teams that come to mind if I can't pick Dallas.
21:39They're going to make it the Bulls and make it boring.
21:44What? They're going to make it the Spurs and it's going to be one B.
21:46I thought this was...
21:46That would be fantastic.
21:48Yeah, come on, y'all.
21:51All right, let's do this.
21:52Let's talk about the rest of the West.
21:56Maybe not the Spurs.
21:57I mean, we could talk about the Spurs a little bit, but we'll talk about the top.
22:00We should talk about the Spurs only because I have a question on here about the team that
22:08more than anything else caught your attention.
22:12And they did a really good job.
22:15I'm just going to jump into the Spurs right now so we can get out of the way.
22:17Well, I'm going to jump into an ad break first because...
22:20OK.
22:21I think that's the timestamp they want us to put on this one.
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23:29Okay, back to the show and Dr. Quinn.
23:32Back to the Spurs.
23:34Clemente, I suppose, over to you.
23:36What do you think of the Spurs?
23:38I really like what they did in the offseason.
23:40I mean, they got CP3, Harrison Barnes.
23:43And Wimby's obviously going to take a leap from what he was last year.
23:46And I just really like what, and Stephon Castle as well.
23:49I really like what they did this offseason for sure.
23:51Wimby by himself is just going to make them a title contender sooner rather than later.
23:54But I mean, overall, they were able to kind of improve their depth for sure.
24:00Justin, did you ask because of Castle?
24:03I was actually going to say that definitely caught my attention,
24:07being the homer that I am for the Huskies.
24:09But I was a little nervous about his shot.
24:11It's coming on a little bit better than I expected.
24:13Very small sample size.
24:14He's ruled out for the rest of summer league with, I think, spraying wrist actually.
24:20But the fact that they were able to get a point guard on the team without using their number eight
24:26pick and were actually able to roll that into better draft cohorts, I guess you could say,
24:31in future drafts and instead just sign Chris Paul to cap the base and then basically steal
24:38Harrison Barnes.
24:39So you have some veteran in the front court.
24:41You have veterans in the back court, able to kind of impart the wisdom to skill sets
24:45that are more germane to their own areas of expertise.
24:48I thought was a really good move on their part.
24:50Really good character, guys.
24:52And I am not in some of the predictions.
24:56I've seen some predictions, some variable predictions that think that they will be in
24:59the mix for an outright playoff spot.
25:01But I do think that they could conceivably trade their way into that position if the
25:06start of the season goes really well.
25:07And even if they don't, I think they will be in range for one of the last positions
25:11of the playing tournament.
25:14Yeah, I would add to that.
25:15Unlike the east where a number of teams are going to be tanking and tanking hard of the
25:24jazz, the only tanking team in the West right now.
25:27Oh, yeah, right.
25:29So at the moment, oh, Portland, yeah, Portland, I'm sure.
25:34So it'll be hard for the Spurs to like everyone's competing for a spot, Justin.
25:40Um, yeah, unless one plays 82 games and is really good in 82 games, I suspect they don't
25:46have enough talent around him, but they could go make that happen now.
25:51I think that if he comes off of Paris and he's feeling really good about himself, they
25:55definitely have another honeymoon season where they could lose respectfully and it won't
26:04start the clock on them.
26:05Justin, the last when we talk about the east, I'm going to borrow Justin's take and try
26:09it on size with you.
26:12Justin said, hey, maybe the Bucks are in a staring contest with Giannis and they don't
26:17want to pay for an expensive team and they're hoping he blinks first and ask for a trade
26:24and then ownership in the front office.
26:25Don't have to say they're the team that traded Giannis.
26:28It occurs to me that the Denver Nuggets are owned by notoriously cheap owners and I have
26:34no idea how you could manage to have such an uninteresting offseason.
26:40I guess the prevailing wisdom is Calvin Booth, the general manager, just wants Mike Malone
26:45to play the young guys.
26:46But Clemente, am I wrong in saying that the Nuggets are somewhere between confusing and
26:51disappointing?
26:53Yeah, it definitely feels like in terms of like from the top teams in the West, like
26:56they've done very little out of all of them in terms of like improving this offseason.
27:01They lost KCP.
27:04They had a bad year this past year and sort of like playoff success.
27:10But I mean, yeah, I just think that, you know, as long as they have Jokic and Murray healthy,
27:14then they're going to that's a guarantee 50 wins right there.
27:16And that should be good enough for top four seating in the West.
27:19But it definitely feels like that.
27:20You know, they're definitely leaving some meat on the bone for sure for what they did
27:24in this offseason.
27:26And you have to wonder just how much has to do with the fact that you've been hearing
27:29the second apron a lot recently, and the Clippers have been like the biggest example
27:34of that having to like not be able to keep Paul George because of it.
27:38So you have to wonder just how much of that second apron effects are also kind of, you
27:41know, limiting difference in terms of like what they can do.
27:45Yeah, we're so what they can do or what they will do a good point.
27:50Well, supposedly they were going to trade Michael Porter Jr. for Paul George, or they
27:54were more than flirting with that idea.
27:56I love that idea for them.
27:59I understand why the Clippers didn't take it, I suppose.
28:02But I just I I can't get past the fact that they have not quite a generational talent,
28:10maybe a generational talent, but very close to, if not a generational talent on their
28:14roster.
28:15And just trade him if you're not going to build around me, just trade him.
28:21Are you talking about Joker Joker?
28:23Yes, he's of course, he's a generational talent.
28:25He has three MVPs.
28:27It's so generational.
28:29OK, fair.
28:31There are some people who would push back on that.
28:33I don't agree with them either.
28:34But if we are going to say even if he's not a generational talent, someone who's won three
28:39MVPs in a row and is clearly still able to win titles at a high level now, if you are
28:44in this new regime, if you are just going to like, I do think now that you know what
28:48we're talking about, they are they are bucks west, effectively taking that position where
28:52even if they aren't doing it on purpose, they are doing it effectively.
28:56And in the long run, for the fans and for the records, it doesn't really matter if they're
29:00doing it on purpose, right?
29:02They are mismanaging one of the best contracts in the league.
29:05And yes, he makes tons and tons and tons of money.
29:07But anyone who knows anything about NBA basketball knows that the salary cap artificially depresses
29:13their actual value.
29:15So they're just wasting a prime asset.
29:18And frankly, if they had even if they are trying to get him to blink, if they don't
29:23get him to blink next offseason, if they're not trying to contend, they need to trade
29:27him just to recoup as much assets from what they have as possible.
29:30This is not going to get any better.
29:32Yeah, I would love again, I would love for them to trade Porter rather than like run
29:37it back.
29:37It doesn't work.
29:38And then fire Mike Malone to say they did something.
29:42I also don't like Porter very much, but that's beside the point.
29:48Clementa, you mentioned the Mavs earlier.
29:51I have a particularly low opinion of this Mavs team.
29:54Where are you at with Dallas?
29:57I think that they definitely prove.
29:58I think they're one of the teams that has one of the better offseasons.
30:01I just think Clay's just like it's such a seamless flow of them.
30:04I know a lot of people see a lot of people think Clay's kind of lost a step.
30:07But like last year, he averaged like he shot nearly 40% from three on nine attempts.
30:11So that's that's like, I guess, quote unquote, wash clay.
30:14Then that's that's like one of the best three point shooters in the league still.
30:18And who did he stop?
30:19That is the real question, right?
30:22This is a team that's going all in on an offense.
30:25And I mean, like Matthew Marshall can defend.
30:27I don't really think Quentin Grimes is a great defender.
30:30He's a terrible defender.
30:31So they probably didn't lose too much by adding him.
30:34But I do think that the Jones Jr.
30:37Defection is going to affect them more than they realize,
30:40particularly when they face a team like Boston.
30:43Who's going to stop the Jays on this team?
30:45Najee Marshall by himself?
30:46I don't think so.
30:47And that's really a problem for every team in the league, really.
30:51Who's going to stop Tatum and Brown?
30:52Like, that's not a Mavs exclusive problem.
30:54I just think if I had to figure out what they're thinking, I'm assuming they're thinking like
30:59maybe Lively is going to take that next step as a protector and he's able to kind of, you know,
31:04shore up some of the some of the defense they lost in Derrick Jones Jr. last year at the rim.
31:09But I just I just think the office is just way too tantalizing
31:12to kind of pass up on because Luca and Clay,
31:15just imagine like Luca and Kyrie just, you know, driving to the basket,
31:18kicking it out to Clay over and over again.
31:20Like, that's just that's just going to produce a ton of points.
31:23And I think they're going to be like a top three office next year for sure.
31:27I just feel like if you run it back and it's Thunder Mavs,
31:32the Thunder win that series in like five games at this point, because the defense,
31:35Clay is my favorite player in the NBA.
31:37Like, I'm not trying to kick rocks.
31:39I just that defense wasn't very good last year and it definitely took a step back.
31:45To be fair, they can get better midseason with a trade or two, right?
31:49So this isn't necessarily the team that we're going to see at the end of the season.
31:53Just like last season, they started the season terribly, right?
31:56So maybe this is a multi-stage thing as they continue to try to build around Luca,
32:02which they should, right?
32:04But as of now, I am not morally afraid of them.
32:06I think they are probably on average a little bit better than they were,
32:10but I still don't think they're even close to good enough to really contend for the title.
32:13So when we did the East, we didn't plan it to be like this.
32:18We kind of rift, but it ended up being contenders, pretenders,
32:20and like tankers and what the heck are they doing?
32:24And I thought we could do that on the fly in the West, but the West is so difficult.
32:28So I guess, how's this?
32:30Let's just like go through the teams.
32:33We can go rapid fire-ish and our categories are contender, pretender,
32:37tank, tankola, and what the hell are they doing?
32:43So I think I know the answer to this, but where are you at with Minnesota, Clemente?
32:50I think they're contender for sure,
32:54because I think Edwards is probably taking another leap
32:56and Goberntown is such a strong frontcourt that
32:59I think that should, at the very least, make them a 50-win team.
33:03And like I said earlier, that's a top four seed in itself.
33:06Yeah, I can't argue with that.
33:08If you're a top four seed in the regular season
33:10and you are not the Oklahoma City Thunder of last season,
33:14very little playoff experience, then you're a contender.
33:16If you have playoff experience and you finish in the top four
33:19until you are proven otherwise by being ejected from the postseason,
33:22as far as I'm concerned, you are at least a very fringy contender,
33:26if not a contender contender.
33:28The position I would take on the Tibberwolves is if
33:31it looks like Mike Connelly is in a different stage of his career,
33:34they should pull the plug and trade Kat.
33:36Because I don't think that that team worked without a player
33:41like Connelly to slow things down.
33:43And I think Ant isn't going to get there next season
33:47and probably isn't going to be that kind of player.
33:50And just that they're not a team with huge pockets
33:54and they don't have a lot of other moves to make.
33:57So I'd be curious.
33:58I do think in the abstract, if they're healthy, contender, of course.
34:02Contender, of course, but that's a team that if they aren't proactive
34:07about what their team looks like in 25, 26 and 27, it could get ugly fast.
34:13But yeah, probably contender.
34:17Talk about Dallas.
34:17Talk about Denver.
34:18Golden State.
34:20They lost Clyde.
34:21They had a tiny heel.
34:24They added slow-mo.
34:25They added the Anthony Melton and his bad back.
34:29Yeah.
34:29What do you think of Golden State?
34:32I just feel like they're kind of like...
34:33I mean, what are they doing at this point?
34:35Because like I said, they lost Clay
34:36and maybe they might get Mark and then before it still matters.
34:41Like you said, it doesn't matter.
34:42At the end of the day, it's probably like what?
34:44A second round ceiling at best.
34:45And if that's the case, why are you paying this super old
34:47and expensive roster this much money just to be like a second round team at best?
34:52And it just kind of feels like they're just kind of stuck in the middle right now.
34:55And obviously, I don't think they can really trade stuff
34:59just because of how much he means to the franchise.
35:00So just kind of writing it out right now.
35:03I hate that.
35:03I think that's the dumbest, dumbest, dumbest thing there is.
35:07I hated when Danny Ainge got to do what didn't happen
35:12when he was a player to his team and traded away the 2008 title core.
35:18It really sucked.
35:19I really hated it.
35:20And you know what?
35:20Then I very quickly, because he had lots and lots of assets,
35:24not just because of the value of the players,
35:26but also because the nets were kind of dumb.
35:29God bless them.
35:31That is what players like.
35:33They like a lot of high draft picks coming into the team
35:37rather than watching their favorite players suck and be depressing.
35:41And yay, we honored them.
35:43Is that really honoring them?
35:45Just send them to a place where they can be a complimentary player and win another ring.
35:49Like, I don't want Steph Curry on the Lakers.
35:52I don't think there's an easy path for it.
35:54But maybe at one point there could have been.
35:56And maybe now he'd be winning some titles instead of being a really good player,
36:00top 20 player, maybe even top 10 player,
36:03who's just going to suffer until people are like, or he is like, screw this.
36:09Yeah.
36:11I think the Celtics are a perfect example of that, Justin.
36:15It was a 10 year rebuilding project.
36:17The Thunder, maybe not 10 years, but like took it down to the studs.
36:21And now look at how much they're benefiting from that.
36:25Um, I wish they had traded,
36:29figured out how to put LeBron and Steph on the same team.
36:32But they've been fun.
36:34They would have liked it.
36:35And one franchise would have remained something like a contender.
36:38And the other franchise could have started,
36:42which is to say, I think we're in agreement that the Lakers are
36:46closer to what the hell are they doing than anything else?
36:50You could probably make the case for the Warriors as what the hell are they doing
36:52now that we're talking about that?
36:55I just like the LeBron thing is so dumb.
36:59Like, why would he do it?
37:00The trade kicker in that contract?
37:02So you just committed to staying to LA and LA clearly doesn't have the,
37:07the assets or the maneuverability to make that team better.
37:10So he, I don't know, whatever, but $50 million is a lot of money.
37:16Okay.
37:16A couple other teams.
37:18We don't have to spend much.
37:19Actually, this seems really interesting.
37:20I apologize to them for taking this long to get to them.
37:25The Pelicans, Clemente, you're a Western conference correspondent.
37:30What do you think?
37:31Um, well, I think I probably close to a pretender than a contender.
37:36Like I just, like, obviously he's on the playoffs last year, like Zion,
37:41he had a help season, but he kind of wasn't able to play at all in the playoffs.
37:44And, you know, that led to New Orleans getting swept and, you know,
37:47BI just had his worst playoff showing yet of his career.
37:50And who knows if he's going to be there for the long haul.
37:53I mean, I think, you know, well, the off season they had,
37:57they're probably gonna have a similar season next year where they're kind of in the playing range.
38:00And, you know, if they managed to advance the plan,
38:03they're probably losing the first round.
38:04So, I mean, when I say, I think they're basically on the same spot.
38:08They were at last year for me, really.
38:11We had the in-season tournament in our news portion of the program,
38:14and I just skipped it because I don't care.
38:16And now they did the Pelicans when they made it to the
38:19West finals of the in-season tournament,
38:22which was our first chance to see Zion play competitive NBA basketball.
38:26Yeah, I suppose we're, we're, we're Laurie marketing and, or Brandon.
38:31Damn you, because I think they're going to end up being traded for each other.
38:35It's just, to me, all the signs of a Danny Ainge special are right there.
38:41The Pelicans can get a little salary relief.
38:44They can get in a player who, for a season, they will have to pay next season.
38:48It needs to be extended and can be a part of their future.
38:50Solves a lot of the big man issues more reliably than,
38:54I think, some of the decisions they made so far.
38:56And Danny can turn around and let that contract expire,
38:59create more cap space that he can use,
39:00or he can file, convince some other team to file some,
39:04some different paperwork with a couple of second round picks,
39:06create a massive trade exception like he is very well known to do.
39:10I, this is a Danny, he basically, Danny's waiting for anything else out there,
39:15I think, and if nothing materializes where someone's going to throw the sink at him,
39:19that's where he's going to end up, in my opinion.
39:22Wow, I hadn't considered that.
39:23I was just saying, those are the two chess pieces that are still on the board this summer.
39:28I quite like Brandon Ingram.
39:31I think in the right, I don't think New Orleans is a good place to be a winning basketball player
39:35right now.
39:36I wonder if he moved, like if he joined the Heat or something.
39:40That was a thought too, yeah.
39:42That could be interesting.
39:43Okay, so Clemente, it's an admirable nothing burger from the Pelicans.
39:48That sounds like a fair summary.
39:50Yeah, like I said, like if they keep everything as is,
39:53it's going to be, I'm assuming it's going to be the same type of season they had this last year.
39:57Yeah, I agree completely.
39:59They're, they're like, they're the opposite end of pretender contender as the Timberwolves are.
40:04If they made a move, they could get better.
40:06If, you know, the Timberwolves don't have the youth they're looking for,
40:10they might flip the other direction.
40:11Both teams could end up in the other category with the right mid-season trade moves,
40:15but since we're talking about them now, then yes, we're going to pretend to move.
40:18I got a team that I don't, I don't think I understand, and that's the Rockets.
40:23I think everyone is really high on the Rockets didn't make too many moves too quick,
40:32and they're going to go into next season with a lot of steam and confidence.
40:36I kind of think that they're not going to be that good.
40:38They're going to continue to be an average team that won a lot of junky games.
40:45But Clemente, what's the read on the Rockets for you?
40:48This has been my read on them ever since they traded James Harden.
40:51It just kind of feels like, like, what are they even doing?
40:53Because, I mean, Reed Shepherds like has all this hype in the summer league,
40:57but what's it going to be worth when,
40:59considering the fact that he's probably going to come off the bench next year?
41:01And I just don't understand why they even added Van Vliet, Fred Van Vliet,
41:05and Dylan Brooks to the team.
41:07And because now you kind of create a lot of jam at guard where, you know,
41:11Amin Thompson and Reed Shepherds are probably going to come off your bench.
41:15And is it really worth it to work at the bench to your potential cornerstones for,
41:20you know, these two middling role players who are like,
41:23you know, under 30s or on the downward trend?
41:27And then you got the whole, like, extension talks with Shane Goon and Jalen Green.
41:32I'm kind of stalled.
41:32And, I mean, Jalen Green, I completely understand.
41:35Like, he's just been underwhelming in his three years in the league.
41:38But with Shane Goon, like,
41:39he's been your best prospect since you started this rebuild.
41:43It kind of feels like an easy decision to extend them.
41:45But they aren't for whatever reason.
41:47It just kind of feels like they kind of become like the Sacramento Kings of old,
41:51where they're making all these, like, one-down moves.
41:53But they just don't have the young cornerstones,
41:56like, really propelled them to the next level.
41:58And that kind of results to what they're at right now,
42:00which is like an average team who could maybe be around 500.
42:03And, you know, maybe he's in the playing tournament
42:06in the first round of the playoffs.
42:07But that's really about it.
42:10I kind of feel like it's all completely right.
42:12I feel that it's too many cooks slash too many young guys.
42:16There's just not enough time to develop anybody.
42:19Everybody is putting, it's kind of like summer league on one team.
42:22It's just everyone is looking out for themselves,
42:26except for maybe the vets.
42:27And there just isn't any room to find out who actually is worth keeping.
42:32Speaking of vets, I forgot Steven Adams.
42:35No, no, no.
42:35I was looking at the Rockets depth chart,
42:37because I was thinking of who are the veterans.
42:40I forgot that they have Steven Adams, which is intriguing.
42:47They just have way too many veterans.
42:48It's like you're playing,
42:49you're beginning to play all these veterans ahead of guys
42:51that you want to develop.
42:54And it's just kind of a bad mix of all these veteran guys,
42:57like all these young guys who are being forced to play reserve roles
43:02when in any other rebuilding situation, they'd be getting starting reps.
43:05Yeah.
43:06Did you cover Steve when he was with the Thunder?
43:09Uh, no, I didn't.
43:10That was before my time, but he was an OKC whenever.
43:13I think he was still with the Grizzlies.
43:15But yeah, he's definitely a fan favorite here for sure.
43:17He's like, yeah, he's, I'm not saying this because he went to Pitt where I went.
43:21He's the night.
43:22No, he's the nicest guy.
43:23He's Steve.
43:23I really like Steve Adams.
43:26OK, well, since you said Sacramento Kings,
43:29let's talk about the Sacramento Kings.
43:31They added DeMar DeRozan and Jaden McDaniels.
43:33They lost Davion Mitchell and Harrison Barnes
43:36and Chris Duarte and some other people.
43:40Sasha Vesnikov, who is not real thrilled with the whole NBA thing.
43:46Sure.
43:47Yeah.
43:49I don't know that I really like DeRozan.
43:51I don't really get the signing for either party.
43:54But Clemente, do you think that they're going to recapture the,
43:57like the bean magic and be a real player in the West again?
44:00Or do you think they are?
44:03Yeah, I mean, this time last year,
44:04the Kings are kind of talked about as this young up and coming team who,
44:08you know, have like a long runway in terms like,
44:10you know, being a lot better.
44:11And like now, a year later, just kind of back to what they were previously,
44:14which is like kind of stuck in the middle,
44:16because like I said, I don't really get the DeRozan signing.
44:19I like the fact that they kept Malik Monk.
44:21He's been kind of a six man for them and has had his best years with them.
44:25But the DeRozan signing just doesn't make any sense for me at all.
44:28And it just kind of feels like they're kind of just content
44:31being an average team that, you know, makes the playoffs,
44:34which is, you know, perfectly fine, especially for,
44:37you know, what the Kings fans have dealt with for the last two decades.
44:40But it just kind of feels like, you know, all of the,
44:43all of the, you know, all the lights and all the excitement
44:47surrounding Sacramento just kind of went back to what they were previously,
44:49which is like a middling team.
44:52Yeah, I can't really add too much to that.
44:54Good middling team.
44:56I mean, it's good for the franchise.
44:58They needed a stretch where they make the playoffs or flirt with making the playoffs.
45:02I mean, they were really bottom of the barrel for a while.
45:06I think the only other two teams we've talked about,
45:08I'm pretty sure are, what the hell are they doing, candidates?
45:11That would be the Suns and the Clippers.
45:16Clemente, how's that?
45:17If you like the Clippers, you might have a direction, but I will hold that opinion.
45:21Well, I mean, I was going to ask something spicy.
45:25Is Kevin Durant a member of the Suns this time after the trade deadline?
45:33And should he be?
45:37I think so, because I feel like if Durant was going to happen,
45:40we would have heard about a request by now.
45:43And should it be a problem now?
45:44They probably, it just kind of feels like a Suncost fallacy in Phoenix,
45:48where, you know, they brought in all these guys and Durant, Beal.
45:52And I mean, you know, it was a failure last year,
45:55like they couldn't get out of the first round.
45:57And now they're just kind of stuck with this
45:59old expensive team with Durant and Beal and Devin Booker.
46:03Like, who knows what's gonna happen with him?
46:04And I mean, you saw Woj kind of, you know,
46:07tease the fact that Durant might ask out with the whole
46:09Rockets thing that happened a few weeks ago.
46:11And it just kind of feels like, you know,
46:14Matt Ishby is kind of way over his head right now.
46:17And it just kind of feels like eventually Durant's gonna
46:20eventually ask out because this team's just not,
46:22it's just not a type of contender.
46:23And there's no way to really improve this roster.
46:26And I would add to that, that Booker's young or young-ish anyways,
46:30but Durant is not, they're both nominally playing in the Olympics.
46:33So they're not gonna have a long restful off season where they sit and recuperate.
46:39They're gonna perhaps be playing Olympic caliber basketball deep into August.
46:44Um, yeah, the fact that the Knicks went and kind of cleaned everything up
46:50suggests to me that the noise around Booker to the Knicks was never real.
46:55But I do wonder if the noise around Durant to the Rockets had some juice to it.
47:01It felt random.
47:02Like, Woj randomly tweeted about it.
47:04And then like two minutes later, he like retracted a little bit.
47:07It just, there had to be a reason for that.
47:10Just Durant, I understand like the,
47:13they're a good team that it just like didn't quite pan out.
47:16I mean, the Beal thing was probably new owner syndrome
47:19and they shouldn't have done that.
47:19They should have done something else.
47:21But yeah, if Durant's gonna win, it's the same with LeBron.
47:25Like maybe, you know, he's good.
47:27He's happy with where he's at and he can ride off to the sunset.
47:31But if he wants to win again, I don't think it can happen to Phoenix.
47:34And Booker, I think Booker probably is like one of those athletes
47:40that's like nearly untouchable in his home city.
47:42Like you could do no wrong, but I don't know.
47:45Maybe he'll start having wanderlust.
47:48Justin, on a podcast about the Celtics,
47:53one of the guests who covers the Thunder,
47:54let's close up shop and give us your take on the Clippers.
47:58My take on the Clippers is there's rumbles that
48:01Kawhi may be on the move fairly soon as well.
48:05Or at least that the Clippers would like to make a fresh start.
48:10I don't know if that's going to happen.
48:15It's not exactly easy to move off of a guy like Kawhi
48:18as good as he is when he has shown how healthy he is when it counts.
48:22He's not exactly healthy right now.
48:24That's why Derek White is in the Olympics and he is not.
48:27But if they can find ways to move that contract,
48:34great, if not, then he can be the centerpiece of the rebuild.
48:36But I do think that they realize who they are now.
48:39And I don't think they are trying to contend anymore.
48:41So I do think we are going to see something happening.
48:45I don't think they are in the what are they doing phase anymore.
48:49I think they have figured out what they're doing.
48:50I don't think they like how they arrived there.
48:52But once Paul George left, I don't think there was any doubt
48:55that they had to rebuild.
48:56There's just nothing else to do.
48:58Then why would they sign James Harden for that big ass contract?
49:03Well, that was before.
49:05Yeah, but I feel like the writing was, I don't know.
49:07Anyways, I agree.
49:09Completely agree.
49:10But they thought they were getting Paul George back and they did not.
49:12Westbrook should do that thing where he plays in Europe
49:14and he just has one season where he gets to live in the Mediterranean
49:19and everyone comes and watches him play basketball
49:21because that's another player I like to root for.
49:24But I think it's blouses for his NBA career.
49:28Clemente, let me do post roll and clean up shop.
49:33And then I will ask you who you think in the East
49:35and the West will be the conference finals teams.
49:38So marinate on that for a second.
49:41Well, I tell our listeners that this episode of the podcast
49:44was brought to you by Price Picks,
49:45the exclusive fantasy basketball partner of the CLNS Media Network
49:48and by Game Time Tickets, last minute tickets, lowest price.
49:50Guaranteed, if you enjoyed this podcast,
49:52check out the How About Themselves podcast,
49:54the First to the Floor podcast
49:55and the many other New England sports podcasts
49:57available on the CLNS Media Network.
50:00We've been talking with Clemente Almanza from Thunderwire,
50:03our colleague at USA Today, SMG.
50:07Like and subscribe to like everything that you are a fan of,
50:11even if it's not our podcast or our websites,
50:12like click, click, click,
50:14because we really need those clicks in the summer and it goes a long way.
50:17Okay, Justin, you can play too.
50:19But Clemente, you get to go first.
50:21Who will be the conference finalists in the East next year?
50:26I think it'll be Boston and Boston, New York
50:29will definitely be the spiciest one for sure.
50:31So I'll go with those two teams because, you know,
50:34obviously, you know,
50:35there's a little bit of rivalry there
50:36considering they're in the same division
50:37and the Knicks really upgraded their roster this year
50:39or this offseason with Nicole Burgess.
50:42So I'm going with Boston, New York for sure.
50:45And Justin?
50:47For the East, I think the Gary Trent acquisition,
50:50I'm just kidding.
50:51Wait, I was gonna do the exact same joke.
50:52That's so funny.
50:53Oh, I mean, there's not a lot of situations.
50:58Yeah, exactly.
51:01No, seriously, I think Clemente nailed it.
51:03I cannot believe that the Joel Embiid-led Philadelphia 76ers
51:08will get out of more than two rounds of the postseason
51:12until I see it happen,
51:13because the man needs to pace himself in the postseason
51:16and he refuses to.
51:18He also refuses to pace himself
51:19on the way to the postseason.
51:21So until those things change,
51:23until they find a way to manage his,
51:25look at what the Celtics did with Chris after his innings.
51:27If they can do that,
51:28then I would say that the Knicks have a chance,
51:30but otherwise, completely agree.
51:32Yeah, Embiid is looking slow in the Olympics.
51:36I'll take Celtics.
51:39Pacers, to be different.
51:40I like it, yeah.
51:42Justin, what about the West?
51:44In Clemente, you close up shop with your West pick,
51:46but you get last word.
51:47So Justin?
51:48I think West is going to be the two top teams from last season.
51:51I think the Timberwolves and the Thunder
51:53are going to duke it out.
51:54I think as much as I would like to see Joker
51:57get back onto that stage,
51:59I don't think they built the right team around him
52:01and I don't think they have the tools
52:03to continue adding to that team,
52:04or even mid-season to do much to fix it.
52:07And I don't think that Dallas has what it takes
52:10to get back to the finals now.
52:11They could change the team and completely change my mind,
52:15but the way they are structured now,
52:16I think they are still a little too exploitable.
52:19Sure.
52:21I'll say Thunder, Suns, to be different.
52:25Go Devon Booker, go.
52:25That's different.
52:26That's different.
52:27All right, Clemente Almanza from Thunderwire,
52:30who's going to be in the conference finals
52:31in the West next year?
52:33Well, I think it'll be OKC,
52:35and I think they'll face off against a team
52:36which we haven't talked about yet,
52:37which is the Memphis Grizzlies, who...
52:39Ooh, I love it.
52:40We haven't talked about the Grizzlies at all.
52:42Awesome.
52:44I knew there was another team, man.
52:45It wasn't counting, but it felt...
52:47OK, OK.
52:48That's how under the radar they are.
52:50Take it away.
52:52Yeah, like, obviously, the Grizzlies
52:53were kind of had a forgettable last year.
52:55I think they, like, broke the record
52:56for most players used in the season,
52:58just because of the amount of injuries they had.
53:00Obviously, John Moran missed most of the last year
53:02with suspension and his shoulder injury.
53:05But I really like the Grizzlies, man.
53:06I think they're going to be a top three seed next year.
53:08I really like their offseason.
53:09I think Zach Yeady's, like, the best fit.
53:13For him, in terms of, like, teams
53:14that could have drafted him.
53:15And I think John Moran, like, before,
53:18you know, these last couple of years,
53:19John Moran was seen as, like, a potential MVP,
53:21future MVP.
53:22And I think he's going to have a bounce back year to this year.
53:24And I really like Memphis for sure.
53:26So OKC Memphis would definitely be...
53:28It's definitely my pick, man.
53:29I mean, Shea versus Jha kind of sells on its own.
53:33Man, so this whole time you were like,
53:34when is this dumbass going to bring up the Grizzlies?
53:37Yeah, Yeady's setting high screens for Jha
53:39is going to look so good.
53:41He's, like, 7'5", right?
53:43Like, he's huge.
53:447'4", 7'5", but he's going to get eaten up on defense.
53:47Thankfully, it won't matter too much
53:50with the people he has around him.
53:52Wow, that's such a good poll.
53:54Well, all right.
53:54That's why we bring you on,
53:56because you're better at what you do than I am what I do.
54:00All right.
54:00Well, like and subscribe if you haven't.
54:02Otherwise, congratulations to the Grizzlies and the Thunder
54:05for making the conference finals next year.
54:08Clemente, I'm sure we'll lean on you
54:09a couple more times between now and then,
54:10but until then, people, go check out his work.
54:13Go check out our work, and we'll catch you next week.
54:16Adios!