Spurs Officially Contenders? Concern For OKC? - Wild Christmas Reaction

Summary

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Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective [Dec 26, 2025]

Episode: Spurs Officially Contenders? Concern For OKC? - Wild Christmas Reaction

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1. Episode Overview

In this holiday edition, Brian Windhorst’s ESPN Hoop Collective team—Tim Bontemps, Tim MacMahon, and Anthony Slater—delivers a spirited deep-dive into the NBA landscape after a wild slate of Christmas Day games. The conversation zeroes in on the surging San Antonio Spurs and their surprising dominance over the title-favorite Oklahoma City Thunder, the growing rivalry between these teams, and what this means for the Western Conference picture. The panel also covers developments with the Lakers, Rockets, Knicks, Cavaliers, and Warriors, with a focus on roster moves, coaching volatility, and the trajectory of veteran dynasties fading from prominence.

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2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

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A. Spurs’ Rise and OKC’s Reality Check

[00:34 - 27:03]

• Holiday Game Recap & Spurs Claiming Thunder’s Number

  • The Spurs have beaten the Thunder three times in 10 days— a “playoff series” sweep that shakes up the perceived Western Conference hierarchy.
  • Pam MacMahon: “We gotta stop talking about OKC being on its own tier … we can no longer say with a straight face” [01:22].
  • Anthony Slater quotes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: "You don't lose to a team three times in a row without them being better than you." [01:56].

• Spurs: Officially Contenders?

  • Tim Bontemps highlights standings: “The Spurs are only two games back in the loss column from the number one seed now. That's number one. And they got the tiebreaker.” [03:24]
  • Debate on whether to “book reservations” for San Antonio in June—panel agrees: maybe not yet, but “it’s a conversation.” [04:04]
  • Spurs are using a deep rotation and giving minutes to perimeter players other than Victor Wembanyama.

• How San Antonio Beats OKC’s Strengths

  • MacMahon highlights how the Spurs’ guard play is outclassing OKC’s vaunted perimeter defense:
    • “The Thunder are the best perimeter defensive team in years ... and they just tend to suffocate … The Spurs guards are completely unbothered, dude ... These guys had 60 points on insane efficiency today.” [05:27]
  • Slater notes physicality, athleticism, and size: Spurs are “so big physically across the board ... they're not bothered by the length and athleticism and speed of the Thunder.” [07:17]
  • All agree Spurs have outmatched the Thunder’s usual ability to “impose their will.”

• Matchup Specifics and Roster Observations

  • Praise for San Antonio's guard trident: De’Aaron Fox, Stefan Castle, and Dylan Harper, combining for 60 points on 26-35 shooting. [05:27]
  • The Spurs’ perimeter redundancy and rotation depth are major assets; Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes highlighted as effective role players. [11:33]
  • Victor Wembanyama is impacting on both ends in just 26 minutes/game due to a minutes restriction.

• Styles Make Fights — Why Thunder Struggle

  • “The Thunder had two of their worst possible shooting games because the Spurs’ strategy is they let Victor roam ... he can cover an absolutely astounding amount of ground” (Bontemps) [19:06]
  • “If Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams have the same amount of shots, that's a win for the defense. That's what they're trying to do” (Slater) [20:06].
  • Discussion on the Thunder’s “dogmatic” style: what’s their Plan B if their typical shot profile isn’t falling? [21:08]
  • Spurs have stymied OKC's transition game by limiting turnovers and getting back on defense. [23:48]

• Stat Nuggets

  • OKC’s offensive rating with Wemby on the floor: 0.91 points per possession (historically bad). [25:48]
  • With Wemby off: 125 offensive rating—massive swing. [25:56]

• Long-term Implications & Rivalry

  • This matchup adds intrigue to the league by “putting some doubt in the equation” for a presumed title favorite (Slater) [15:56].
  • MacMahon: “It’s got a chance to be a decade-long awesome rivalry. And Wimby wants all the smoke … there is damn sure zero intimidation factor.” [16:08]
  • Slater: “If you're a Thunder partisan, you could say, yeah, they didn't get a lot of free throws the other night. … But the bottom line is for a team that usually imposes its will ... they are not able to do that right now against this Spurs team.” [07:17]

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B. Lakers’ Internal Struggles and Rockets Resurgence

[30:00 - 36:50]

• Lakers’ Energy Crisis and JJ Redick’s Outbursts

  • Lakers are in a rut: three consecutive losses, major defensive & effort lapses, injuries to Austin Reaves. [30:00]
  • JJ Redick’s patience is gone: “We don't care enough right now. ... I'm not doing another 53 games like this.” [31:02]
  • MacMahon: “Don Nelson's thing was a coach has about six bullets to fire … He's used them up before the new year.” [31:43]
  • Lakers’ defense is bottom three; lack of defensive talent outside LeBron/AD cited repeatedly.

• Rockets Snap Slump

  • “Nice win for [the Rockets] against a Lakers team that just doesn’t have it right now.” [36:50]
  • Rockets rebounded after losing four out of five games; their 48-25 rebounding advantage emphasized versus Lakers' lack of hustle and athleticism. [33:04]

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C. Knicks Outlast Cavs – Tyler Kolek’s Big Day & Mitchell Robinson’s Muscle

[36:51 - 42:06]

• Game Flow: Cavs had dominant stretches but faded late; Knicks came back to win with clutch plays.
• Role Player Emergence:
  • Tyler Kolek—an “emerging cult hero”—makes game-saving block on Donovan Mitchell: “There’s a lot of folks who like him in New York, that’s for sure.” (McMahon) [37:29]
  • Mitchell Robinson dominated the offensive glass and exploited Cavs’ chronic boxout issues: “Mitchell Robinson is an absolute monster on the offensive glass.” (MacMahon) [39:09]
• Fun Anecdotes: Donovan Mitchell dunked “only because his fiancée was there”—caught on the Christmas Day broadcast mic. [37:44]
• Cavs Outlook: Encouragement from recent strong play, but troubles closing games and rebounding remain red flags. [40:47]

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D. Warriors: The Dynasty Dims

[43:48 - 52:32]

• Kerr, Draymond, and Fading Hopes
  • Slater on Kerr address after Draymond blow-up: “A pretty masterful PR job ... took all the blame, essentially, for this happening and said it was his fault for things escalating.” [44:31]
  • Kerr publicly recognizes the sun setting: “We are a fading dynasty. We know that, and everyone knows that.” [45:45]
    • Bontemps: “Does that qualify as the quiet part out loud?” [46:04]
  • Warriors likely not pulling off blockbuster trades; nearing the end of an era without Klay, with Draymond and Kerr's futures uncertain. [48:30]
  • The mood is compared to the “Last Dance” Bulls season and the end of the Kevin Durant era—everyone knows the window is closing.
  • Panel members agree: Warriors are closer to "play-in" range than serious contention, as inconsistency and roster limitations mount. [50:30]
  • Upcoming decisions at the trade deadline and offseason loom large with expiring contracts, draft picks, and Kerr's expiring deal on the table. [51:22]

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3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:
  “You don't lose to a team three times in a row without them being better than you.” (quoted by Slater) [01:56]

• Pam MacMahon:
  “We gotta stop talking about OKC being on its own tier ... we can no longer say with a straight face.” [01:22]
  “The Spurs guards are completely unbothered, dude ... these guys had 60 points on insane efficiency today.” [05:27]
  “And Wimby wants all the smoke and his guys are right there with him. There is damn sure zero intimidation factor.” [16:08]

• JJ Redick (on Lakers):
  “We don't care enough right now. ... I'm not doing another 53 games like this.” [31:02]

• Steve Kerr (per Anthony Slater):
  “We are a fading dynasty. We know that, and everyone knows that.” [45:45]

• Anthony Slater:
  “The bottom line is for a team that usually imposes its will on … the opposition every single night, they are not able to do that right now against this spurs team.” [07:17]

• Tim Bontemps:
  “OKC’s offensive rating with Wemby on the floor: 0.91 points per possession—historically bad.” [25:48]

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4. Timestamps for Major Segments

• Spurs vs. Thunder Reaction: 00:34 – 27:03
• Lakers/Rockets Breakdown & JJ Redick Quotes: 30:00 – 36:50
• Knicks vs. Cavs, Tyler Kolek's Moment, Mitchell Robinson Dominance: 36:51 – 42:06
• Warriors Fading Dynasty, Kerr/Draymond/Klay/Trade Scenarios: 43:48 – 52:32

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5. Tone & Language

The episode is lively, irreverent, and conversational with the panel swinging between detailed breakdowns and humorous asides, echoing the panel’s camaraderie and deep NBA knowledge. The language is direct and full of candid insights, with phrases like “no ceiling on these Spurs,” “Wimby wants all the smoke,” and “the quiet part out loud” highlighting the original flavor.

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Summary At-a-Glance

• Spurs: Suddenly in the mix for a top seed after systematically dismantling OKC. Their blend of guard depth, size, and “unbothered” offensive mentality matches up better with OKC than anyone expected.
• Thunder: Still a title favorite, but their “kryptonite” may have emerged. Need to show adaptability and improve offensive counters in half-court when the three isn’t falling.
• Lakers: Redick is already out of patience and public “bullets.” Roster's limited defense and lack of energy are fatal flaws.
• Rockets: Bounce-back win.
• Knicks/Cavs: Knicks show clutch genes, Tyler Kolek becomes a cult favorite, and Cavs’ boxout fails remain their undoing.
• Warriors: Kerr calls out the “fading dynasty.” Big changes loom as the roster ages; the magic is mostly gone.

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For NBA fans: This episode is must-listen for updates on the league’s new power dynamics, the emergence of a real contender in San Antonio, and the candid, inside-the-locker-room tonality that makes The Hoop Collective essential basketball listening.

Transcript

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[Tim Bontemps]

Hello, and welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we're even doing on Christmas evening. Joining us from San Jose, California, where his son celebrated his first birthday today, and I'm sure we'll have great memories, is Tim Bonteps.

[Pam McMahon]

His first Christmas. Son ain't Jesus First.

[Anthony Slater]

He is not Jesus. He is a cute baby, but he's not that cute. So first Christmas was a lot of fun. You said first birthday. It's all right.

[Tim Bontemps]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Anthony Slater]

First birthday's in a few months, but he watched a lot of basketball.

[Tim Bontemps]

My mother. Happy birthday to my mom. My mom turned 81 today. She's a Christmas.

[Pam McMahon]

There you go.

[Anthony Slater]

Happy birthday, Mary Lou.

[Pam McMahon]

Happy birthday.

[Tim Bontemps]

And that sound is coming from Dallas, Texas, where Mavericks fans had a tough one today. That's Pam McMahon.

[Pam McMahon]

Howdy. Partners at. I don't know about you, Bon Temps, but my first Christmas not having to work a game in many, many years. Shout out to the bosses for letting me handle this one from the couch. Yeah, festive Christmas at the McMahon household. Rough one for the mighty Mavs. I would say rougher one, Even though up I35, just across the Red River. And hey, we gotta stop talking about OKC being on its own tier that we can no longer say with a straight face.

[Anthony Slater]

Man. I think we could just read it. I think we can just read a quote. We can just read a quote from the reigning most valuable player in the NBA, Shay Gillis Alexander, who said, quote, you don't lose to a team three times in a row without them being better than you.

[Tim Bontemps]

Three times in 10 days, folks. That's a playoff series. Three times in 10 days, I end your season.

[Pam McMahon]

That's fascinating about this is it had like, obviously this. It's not playoff stakes, but there were some stakes in Vegas and the spurs were able to pull out a win there. Tough game, Close game. Pull out a win there. And Shea, after that game talked about it's kind of like being in school. You flunk a test and you get to take a retest real soon. Well, they flunked three Tests now and these last two ones, they flunked them badly. Right now. They're flunking the course right now. And look, I'm not saying panic and okay, student or anything like that. They're 26 and 5, but they're 26 and 2 against everybody else but the spurs, who they're 0 and 3 against. And you know, I'm, they asked me on get up the other day if San Antonio had OKC's number. I said it's way too early for that. If they don't have their numbers, I don't know, man. They, they, they at least give them a ton of problems and we'll see on January 13th if OKC can figure some of those problems out.

[Tim Bontemps]

First off, let me just say this. The spurs are only two games back in the loss column from the number one seed now. That's number one. And they got the tiebreaker.

[Anthony Slater]

I was going to say they clinched the tiebreaker now for sure. Even though they play five times, they've.

[Tim Bontemps]

Won three, so they're kind of a game and a half back. Now. I'm, you know, I'm not going to sit here and talk a lot about seeding, but I'm just saying in general, it's not like the Sports spurs are a good matchup. You know, they have a matchup advantage, but then they have trouble elsewhere. This team is hunting the best record in the league right now.

[Pam McMahon]

Well, okay, let's get to it. Wendy, do you have reservations for San Antonio in June?

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay, so at the start of this, do I have reservations? No, I do not. I only have reservations in Oklahoma City. I've actually been mulling. I just watched Jokic have an absolutely gorgeous first half against the Wolves. I have been mulling making them in Denver just not. And not a commentary in Oklahoma City just because you can cancel. Yeah, just because I am just in awe of Jokic night in and night out more than anything. But now it's a, I mean, I'm not there yet, but it's a conversation. It's a conversation. I. Look, this spurs team is so impressive to me. Um, and it's, it's not just Victor. Here's the thing. If Victor was coming off the bench.

[Pam McMahon]

With a minutes restriction and they've been.

[Tim Bontemps]

I know he's playing 20 minutes. He's playing 20 minutes in these games. So here's the thing. Like, if this was just Victor being like putting up 40 point triple doubles where he was just doing it all himself, that would be one conversation. McMahon, you were, you were Saying this on the, on the group text today. This is a eye opening, not even eye opening. It's an establishing moment for these perimeter players. Dude, who are giving the Thunder or giving the Thunder.

[Pam McMahon]

Hell, the Thunder are the best perimeter defensive team in years. I know they are historically dominant defensive team, especially on the perimeter with Lou Dortmund, with Alex Caruso, with Case and Wallace. Jalen was all these guys and they just tend to suffocate, smother and as you said, bully opposing guards. These spurs guards are completely unbothered, dude, the spurs guards and I'm talking about Darren Fox, who, hey, that's a dude who's been an all NBA player and boy, he looked like one today. Stefan Castle, reigning rookie of the year and man, he's taken a massive leap. Dylan Harper, who you know, number two overall pick and has lived up the hype. These guys had 60 points on insane efficiency today. What a 26 of 35 from the floor. And Fox, it was a great shot making game from him, you know, three or four from three point range, but just I mean dominant from the mid range. But the Castle and Harper in particular, these guys are attacking elite defenders. There was one play where Dylan Harper honestly kind of bullied Case and Wallace and got to the bucket for a layup and I'm just like oh my goodness, this is insane. You know, and that, that's their third guard. The way that the spurs are bullying okc, bullying them offensively and getting where they want to go and it's about, it's guard driven. That to me is what's been especially eye opening.

[Anthony Slater]

The thing that stands out about this matchup so far is that when you watch the Thunder play against basically any team, they tend to at some point in the game overwhelm them with their combination of athleticism and speed and physicality, right. And they create these runs where they go up by 10 or 15 or 20 points. It's why a couple of weeks ago there was a stat I believe going into the first spurs game where they had led by 20 minute 20 points for more minutes this season than they had trailed at all, right. And the thing that really stood out to me, seeing this team in Vegas, the Spurs team, which we talked about at the time, and it's really I think carried over to these games is this team is so big physically across the board that like you said McMahon, they're not bothered by the length and athleticism and speed of the, of the Thunder and they're able to give the Thunder problems at the other end in a way that no other team I've seen has been able to like Shay Gillis. Alexander rarely looks uncomfortable. He almost always looks completely unbothered. He often looks uncomfortable or has looked uncomfortable playing against these guys. Yeah, and if you're a Thunder partisan, you could say, yeah, they didn't get a lot of free throws the other night. You could say they didn't hit a lot of shots today from three, that's fine. But the bottom line is for a team that usually imposes its will on it, on the opposition every single night, they are not able to do that right now against this spurs team. And to pull back the curtain a little bit, we were only going to do a podcast if there was some extraordinary circumstances that would require doing one today. Well, I would say that the team that we thought could win 74 games, losing three times in 12 days to a single team, a team that, yes, we thought could easily make the playoffs this year, but certainly did not think was going to be competing for home court advantages.

[Tim Bontemps]

I wasn't sure they were making top six. I said this in the preseason. You have this right. The spurs fans were on me about that because I'm the no ceiling on Victor guy. I'm the no ceiling on Victor guy. And I'm still, still shaken.

[Anthony Slater]

Well, by the way, by the way, you know who doesn't. Who, you know who didn't expect this to happen? The spurs, like the spurs did not expect to be 23 and 7.

[Pam McMahon]

Wim having.

[Anthony Slater]

Well, we got competing discoveries here, which is hard, but they didn't expect to be 23 and 7. They didn't expect to be absolutely smacking the Thunder twice in three days, winning by 20 at home and then winning by double digits in Oklahoma City on Christmas Day.

[Tim Bontemps]

And by the way, this is not.

[Anthony Slater]

What they expected either.

[Tim Bontemps]

The first game was, you know, the game in on a neutral court, you know, was a two point game. Sure, somewhat of a toss up. The second game is the second night of a back to back, you know, coming in, I think three of the four losses that the Thunder had won the second night of back to backs. Like, you know, you could slap some, some asterisks on those. No asterisks on this one.

[Pam McMahon]

Not at all.

[Tim Bontemps]

Fully healthy. And at home with prep time, all.

[Pam McMahon]

The motivation in the world. Like did the, did the spurs have their full attention and full respect? Obviously. And absolutely. And the spurs controlled this game. Just completely controlled the game. And again with me playing 26 minutes, that to me is pretty scary. And I'm not going to Sit here and tell you that anybody but OKC is the favorite. But you say no ceiling on Wimby, I'm going to say no ceiling on these Spurs.

[Tim Bontemps]

You know, typically a team, maybe I need to pivot to that because the thing about it is their redundancy on the perimeter. You know, de' Aaron Fox isn't a strong defender, but obviously Castle and Harper and Harper are and even Vassell, you know, he has good size, you know, depending on the matchup. So like Fox had what I think six points on Tuesday and Vassell had like 20. So this game, Vassell is a bad shooting night. He's a non factor offensively. Fox has 29.

[Pam McMahon]

And listen, Harrison Barnes has been very good for them too. He's not a guard, but I'm just saying is another guy who.

[Tim Bontemps]

He's a perimeter player. He's essentially a perimeter player.

[Pam McMahon]

You know, he's, he's a three point shooter and he's got that old man slow step game that he's developed as a, as a finisher now. And you know, the other thing where OKC overwhelms teams on a regular basis is with their depth. They just come at you in waves and bon temps. I know you said you weren't that impressed with the spurs depth, but man, I'm telling you, they played nine dudes today outside of garbage time and they're nine good players.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, look, Keldon Johnson is a starter on a lot of teams. You know, he's got, he has no perfect game, but he starts for a lot of teams. Julian Champagne has been a starter for the spurs. Like that's a, he's a start. I mean, you know, he would be.

[Pam McMahon]

Starting caliber players for sure.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes. And so is Dylan Harper and obviously right now Victor is coming off the bench. He's, you know. Yeah, that's not going to last.

[Pam McMahon]

But Dylan said Dillon Hart's pretty tough when Wimby's playing.

[Tim Bontemps]

But those nine guys like assuming, you know, you know, Luke Cornet has, you know, he's. I don't know how many teams he's.

[Pam McMahon]

A starting caliber player too.

[Tim Bontemps]

They've got.

[Anthony Slater]

Coming into the se. Like look, Kelton Johnson has been awesome this year. I have not, I've not at times been a huge fan of his game in the past. He's been great for them. As a veteran guy who's been through a lot of losing there, I think it's been really fun to see how into this run he's been and there's at least once or Twice a game when he makes a big play and loses his mind. And it's been cool to see he's.

[Tim Bontemps]

Got a great personality. I got to know him a little bit during the 20s, 20, 21 Olympics where he was like a late AD. Like basically Popovich like says give me a spur that I can trust at the last minute. And his attitude on that team was infectious. He is a great guy to have.

[Pam McMahon]

On your team and Mike Warner will tell you he is the vibes guy in that locker.

[Anthony Slater]

Well, yeah, he's the same thing. I mean they've called him the heart and soul of the team to me and you could see it in the way he carries himself. And like you go through the roster, like you said, Champagne is a really nice def piece. Cornette is obviously a guy who has won a title, has shown. He is a guy who is a legitimate rotation player. He is. His story is remarkable.

[Tim Bontemps]

If they need to go French vanilla, they can, they can play them both together. I don't think that's going to happen a lot of nights, but they can do it well.

[Anthony Slater]

And the biggest thing that's changed here is last year, Stefan Castle run rookie of the year but was a flawed player and has made a, as you said, McMahon a massive step forward. And Dylan Harper has walked in and been awesome from the jump. You're talking about this team leaning on a lot of times a rookie guard, which usually rookie guards are terrible, and a second year guard and often second year guards aren't that good. And yes, the shot was to find Castle still an issue, but he's an unbelievable defensive player. He gets to the rim. He's become a way better decision maker playmaking on offense. Harper. I loved Harper's game since he was at Rutgers and I watched him in person a couple times. He's awesome like.

[Pam McMahon]

And they're tough, physical, explosive guards.

[Anthony Slater]

That's the thing coming out of that. I, I can't tell you how jarring it was to see the spurs in person for the first time in a long time and just to see how big they were across the board. And you can see like okc, like I said, they, they play with the physicality, with their, with not having huge size, with their speed and power and some of their length on the perimeter. Guys like Caruso obviously play a lot bigger than they are. The spurs are just big everywhere and that size, it's really worn on them in these games. And it like the fact that we're sitting here talking about the Thunder not only losing five games after being 24 1. But having lost three times in less than two weeks to the same team. I mean I had a couple people in the league hit me and say this is an awesome thing for the league.

[Pam McMahon]

Oh yeah.

[Anthony Slater]

And I couldn't agree more. This is incredible for the league that we're not sitting here saying, well the Thunder are going to walk to the title. I, I'm with you, McMahon. I think the idea that people are. If anybody starts saying the Thunder are like not all that good or anything.

[Pam McMahon]

Like that, they're still the defending champs.

[Anthony Slater]

In 2065 and they're off here. But there's, but there's doubt in the equation now and that was not the case two weeks ago. And from a neutral perspective, that's awesome.

[Pam McMahon]

And it's got a chance to be a decade long awesome rivalry. And Wimby wants all the smoke and his guys are right there with him. There is damn sure zero intimidation factor. And by the way, you're booing Wimby and okc, he loves it. You know what though? I'm serious about this. Mark Dagenham very rarely asks for my advice. I'm going to give it to him for free. Have Chet match up with Wimby. You. What I'm trying to do is get Wimby to make it as much about the one on one matchup as possible. Maybe disrupt the rhythm of the spurs. And I'm serious about that.

[Tim Bontemps]

By the way, Victor Wembanyama is a pretty thought out to make.

[Anthony Slater]

Well, you know what though? He's not going up against chat. He wants to destroy Chad every time they're on the court. He got that offensive foul the other day for no reason. Just did a little shove on him.

[Pam McMahon]

He took it. He took a. He got Chet on the wing today and took a really tough step back. Cause he like he's. He. The man celebrates. Chet's missed free throws.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, yeah, I know the. He had the mic on today and that was. That was caught a few times.

[Anthony Slater]

I am with McMahon. I think that it would be interesting to see if they try that how it would go because I could definitely see and look, maybe Victor just makes 15 or 20 shots and it doesn't matter, but it might get him off his game a little bit.

[Tim Bontemps]

One thing that the Thunder clearly were trying to do in this game, they were trying to bait Victor into offensive fouls.

[Pam McMahon]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

And there was even one play when Kendrick Williams did get an offensive foul. It was a soft call early in the game and Victor thought it was weak and he basically told Kendrich, like that was weak and he kept talking to him all the way down the court. And then a few minutes later, I don't remember, it was another. It was a different forward who sort of flopped. So that's clearly what they're trying to do.

[Anthony Slater]

I think it's all worth. I think it's also worth pointing out that for all of Victor's ethical hoops comments the other day, there was. There's been a fair amount of. Well, yes, there's been a fair amount of turnaround is fair play with him and trying to draw some fouls and some free throws over these games against the Thunder.

[Pam McMahon]

By the way, Shay is nothing but extraordinarily complimentary of the spurs and has repeatedly going back to Vegas and, you know, after these last couple games, talked about how they play the right way, you know, Shay's not going to say anything that's going to fuel the rivalry, but it's also just honest.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, Shay is a grade A professional.

[Pam McMahon]

Oh, yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

He's, you know, yes, he is. He says I'm consistent. Everything I do, he's consistent. You know, regardless of the stuff people get on him about free throws. Like he doesn't, you know, he plays a pure style of basketball and his.

[Anthony Slater]

Master, your team is as good. Your team is as good and as steady as your best player. And he's as good and steady as any player in the league.

[Tim Bontemps]

I will say this, if you are a Thunder supporter, what you're saying is that the Thunder had two of their worst possible shooting games because the spurs strategy is they let Victor roam. They will put him on a guy they don't care about taking an outside shot, and then they'll let him come over and be a help defender because he can cover an absolutely astounding amount of ground because of his length. He can get from basically spacing the floor defending a floor spacer to blocking a shot in help defense. And it's like no one. But that said, they are willing to give up threes, especially corner threes.

[Pam McMahon]

Well, and the Thunder, it was Caruso. Caruso missed his first nine, ended up 2:12.

[Anthony Slater]

And Alex Caruso is not a good shooter. And I'm sorry, him shooting 12 threes in a game, if he does that, that's a win for the defense. He might have games where he's corner threes.

[Pam McMahon]

He cannot pass up those shots.

[Anthony Slater]

I'm not saying, I'm not saying he should pass up shots. But for example, if you look at the box score of this game, three players shot double figure attempts in the game for the Thunder, Shea was 7 for 19. It's obviously uncharacteristically poor for him. Barely got over the 20 points today. Jalen Williams was 5 for 13. Just not good enough. Like he's going to have to be better against high level teams. And Alex Caruso had 13 shots. If Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams have the same amount of shots, that's a win for the defense. That's what they're trying to do. And you have to look at the box score and say the spurs got what they wanted in this game. And yes, the Thunder, I'm sure would tell me the shot quality was good on these shots. I'm not saying they shouldn't take the threes, but this has sort of been the thing with the Thunder for the last couple years where they are dogmatic. They do stick to what they do. They don't really go off script at all. And if they're in a situation like this where the shots don't fall, what's the plan B?

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I will say this. Lou Dort and Isaiah Joe are two of the best corner three point shooters in the league. And those guys weren't the ones necessarily getting those shots. So what I would say, although Dort, not sure what he do, but I.

[Anthony Slater]

Think Dort was 2 for 7. Isaiah Joe was 1 for 2 from 3. The team shot 11 for 44 from 2.

[Pam McMahon]

Jason Wallace was 1 of 4. Wallace and Caruso are going to have to make threes against this team.

[Tim Bontemps]

So I will say that the Thunder are I think seventh in the league in three point percentage. Seventh or eighth or something like that. And twice in the three games they've shot 25% or worse. On three today you shot 25. But I'm just, I'm not taking anything away from the Spurs. I'm just saying, like, you know, that's.

[Anthony Slater]

How they did happen. But that's how they lost to the Mavs, right. Two years ago when they lost in the semifinals to the Mavs. That was the series.

[Pam McMahon]

Sean Sweeney was orchestrating the Mavericks defense who's now orchestrating the spurs defense.

[Anthony Slater]

Now he's orchestrating the spurs defense. And again, if you go back and look at the shot quality, the Thunder got good shot quality, better shot quality than the Mavs in that series, but they didn't hit shots. And yes, like I'm as much a process over results guy as anybody. So I appreciate the Thunder's approach to that. And like, we're getting good shots. We're going to take These shots, bouchs Caruso is wide open. He's got to take these shots. I get all that. But you know, it is going to be a question that comes up if these teams do match up in the conference semifinals or the conference finals and if we get into a similar situation like with the Mavs, is it going to just be the same? We're going to get the shots, we're going to take the shots and we'll see how it goes. Or is the shot profile going to change? Is the approach going to change some? Is there going to be some attempts to do some different things? Because like, look, Chase said it like we're talking about three games now, neutral site, road home. And in the three of them, the spurs have come out on top. And in the last two, it frankly hasn't been that competitive, especially compared to what you expect for the Thunder to do. So I think all eyes should be on that January 13th game and that's one of the most fascinating games remaining in the regular season. Like, okay, like I was sitting there with McMahon when Shea said that in the presser in Vegas and we both said, hey, that's a, that's exactly what you want to hear him say. Let's see what these two games look like. And we saw what they look like and it was not what we anticipated whatsoever.

[Pam McMahon]

No. And the other thing with OKC is, you know, the Thunder are, they're not a bad half court offensive team, but they're a human half court offensive team. Right? Where the Thunder end up being ranked near the top of the offensive ratings is because they are elite at forcing turnovers and turning those into buckets and the spurs have not let them do that. The spurs only committed 12 turnovers a day. And you know, like Castle had four of those I believe. I think three of those four probably were him throwing the ball out of bounds, which. Okay, you can let live with that because you can't turn throwing the ball out of bounds into a transition bucket. The other thing is there was at least two or three occasions where it was a live ball turnover and the Thunder did, or I'm sorry, the spurs did a phenomenal job of getting back in transition defense and preventing it from, from turning into a wide open look or, or a layup. Now I do want to just point out that in called defense of the Thunder, I guess Jalen Williams is working his way back from surgery on his shooting wrist. Jalen Williams is not the guy that he is going to be in February and March and April, May and they Hope in June. Right. He's not all NBA Jalen Williams right now. If they have that second all NBA creator, then maybe things are a little bit different. But they asked, they asked dub the biggest problem something along the lines like the biggest problem with the Thunder's defense, he goes or Thunder's offense, he said, well, you know, there's a seven foot five guy out there. And let me just give you a little stats Williams special here. The Thunder are putting up 0.91 points per possession when Wimby's on the floor over these three games. 0.91. As good as Cornett is, since we.

[Anthony Slater]

Usually talk about per 100 possessions, that's 91 points per 100 possessions on offense. The worst offense in the league right now is like 110.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah.

[Pam McMahon]

And you know this what the Thunder somewhere like 103 lead the league by far in defense rating. As good as Cornet is, it's, it's 125 when Wemby's not in the 4.

[Anthony Slater]

The worst offense in the league right now is the Indiana Pacers at 107.

[Pam McMahon]

Yeah.

[Anthony Slater]

Just, just to give you an idea of what we're talking about.

[Pam McMahon]

And again, if you want to look at this from the spurs point of view and you know, playing a Fiesta in June, Wimby, hopefully he's not going to have a minutes restriction come playoff time.

[Tim Bontemps]

Good point. All right. I'll tell you one thing. No matter how many games the Thunder win, whether it's 70, whether it's 65, whether it's 75, whatever, this 10 days, 12 days, whatever it is, will hang over them. This will, you know, and that may end up being a good thing. That may be a focusing point. But this will. Now, despite the fact that they've, you know, been winning at a 80% clip for two years now, despite the fact they got a banner up there, they will have to deal with this sort of barking at their, at their tail for the rest of the season until they prove it differently.

[Anthony Slater]

I will say too, it's funny this. It's not a perfect comparison because of where the teams were and they were life cycles compared to where the teams are now. This kind of feels like the reverse of spurs Thunder in 2016, which is a series I covered in the playoffs and a matchup that I saw throughout the year where that spurs team was still, it was like the dying embers of. There was Tim Duncan's last year. They still had, they had, you know, Lamarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker they won 67 games. Manu was still on the team. They're chasing down the Warriors. The whole year it was everybody thought it was going to be Warriors Thunder or Warrior spurs in the conference finals. And the Thunder had like, this was like prime Kevin Durant, which is why it's not the same thing. But that was a team that was like physically overwhelming in a way I've maybe never seen a team otherwise. And they physically overwhelmed that warriors team that year and they physically overwhelmed that spurs team and beating them in the conference semifinals. This kind of feels the same way where, like, I don't know if the spurs are going to win that series or if the spurs would get by, say, Jokic or get by the Rockets or whoever. But like this matchup and the way the two teams line up, it is a very interesting stylistic clash. And it's it's now on OKC to figure out a way to do something about it. More Hoop Collective podcast after this as.

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[Tim Bontemps]

Speaking of the Rockets, they never really sweat today in LA blew the Lakers out. The Lakers have now lost three in a row, four out of seven. Their defense in this stretch has been at the bottom three in the league. But also their offense. I think they failed to crack 100 in two of the last three games. Austin Reaves after coming back from the calf injury. Re aggravated it and he's going to have an MRI on Friday. That's, that's not a good sign. But more than anything, the Lakers again are showing themselves to be a team that is struggles defensively because it's the nature of their team. They don't have good defensive players and then anytime the ball's in the open court, their athleticism gap is glaring. As it was against the Rockets.

[Pam McMahon]

They're up for gap. They're a bad energy.

[Tim Bontemps]

JJ Redick has been all. JJ Redick has been ripping his team for a week.

[Pam McMahon]

Yeah, which, how about, how about this quote?

[Anthony Slater]

Well, there's, I mean, two partial quotes Reddit quote We don't care enough right now. Reddit quote I'm not doing another 53 games like this. Here's a full quote why the team couldn't execute its assignments. This is from our internal transcription service. Quote, because we don't care enough right now. And that's the part that bothers you a lot. We don't care enough to do the things that are necessary. We don't care enough to be a professional. This is, I always say about, I always say this about culture. I always say this about a good team being a functioning organism. It can change like that. We don't have it right now. That's one of several just napalm quotes from JJ Redick after this game.

[Pam McMahon]

You know, and Don Nelson's thing was a coach has about six bullets to fire in terms of ripping his team publicly per year. He's used them up before the new year.

[Anthony Slater]

Well, and the problem, the problem for the Lakers, and this is the thing we've talked about a lot. Yes, their record is Now, I believe, 19 and 10. The underlying numbers have been very average and in particular the defensive numbers have been very bad.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's right.

[Anthony Slater]

And as JJ Redick has himself said repeatedly, the Lakers do not have high level defensive talent. So if they're going to succeed on the defensive end against high level teams, they have to play really hard, be really connected, do everything at a really high level to make up for not having good defensive players because they really don't have any good defensive players. The Lakers are not going to be.

[Pam McMahon]

A good defensive team this year. They're not going to be a good defensive team until they have a 40.

[Anthony Slater]

And that's the. But that's how they're going to be. Exactly. But that's how they could be an okay defensive team. And if they don't play like that, they don't have a really good chance to beat any good team, which is why they got rolled today and why they've struggled with, say, Phoenix, who's young and athletic and flies around and.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, Deandre. Deandre Ayden played 36 minutes today, got two rebounds. I mean, listen, Deandre, the Rockets had 48 rebounds. The Lakers had 25.

[Pam McMahon]

Yeah, Deandre Ayden is not the answer. They don't have the kind of three and D talent you have to have to complement Luca. I think what the Lakers have is a tandem in Luca and Austin Reaves that if healthy.

[Anthony Slater]

And LeBron.

[Pam McMahon]

No, because I'm talking long term, a tandem. And Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves that if healthy, they have. They're going to have plenty of offensive firepower. They've got to surround those guys with length, athleticism, enough shooting, you know, a rim runner, but they've got to have three defense first guys in the starting lineup with him and LeBron James as he's about to turn 41 ain't a defense first or a defense often guy anymore.

[Anthony Slater]

Here's another quote. Improving execution without many practices. Quote. Oh, we practice them all the time. It's not. Again, it goes back to what I said the other night. It's a matter of making the choice. And too often we have guys that don't want to make that choice, and it's pretty consistent who those guys are. And so Saturday's practice, I told the guys it's going to be uncomfortable. The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I'm not doing another 53 games like this. To your point, McMahon, they are 19 and 10, and we're doing this 29 games into the season. And this is, as Brian said several times now, where JJ has done some version of this that has a shelf life.

[Tim Bontemps]

He said it was a guy on his route. I don't. I'm sure the. The sleuths have figured out who he was talking about, but a couple days ago, he said that he had a guy on his team that didn't know what.

[Anthony Slater]

What?

[Tim Bontemps]

The flood.

[Pam McMahon]

What?

[Tim Bontemps]

What? The flood was a flood, you know, a term of. Of, you know, a tactical term. And you know, he's basically calling one of his players dumb, frankly. So, you know, the other thing about.

[Pam McMahon]

Jj that he's not paying attention in game planning and film, studying, scan report and all that kind of stuff. Either way, call one or the other way.

[Tim Bontemps]

I would just say that one of the things about J.J. tends to seethe. We saw that from his first, you know, I think he's a very tactically strong coach.

[Anthony Slater]

He's an incredibly smart guy.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. But he has a tendency to seethe. And it, and it, and it, it shows it. You know, he, he was, he sometimes would seethe on first take, right. You would, you know, you'd see him, you'd see him, you know, get under, you know, Stephen A or Mad Dog would get under his skin and he would seethe on there. So that's like, you know, it's. We all have our character, we all have pluses and minuses. This is one of the things that he's going to deal with is that he, he, he lets it come out a little bit. He gets a little bit loose. And so I don't know, I suspect when he gets to be a more veteran coach, he won't let that happen.

[Pam McMahon]

But going, I don't know if he wants to be a more veteran coach. He said 53 more games of this.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's a good point. My point is, you know, there are times when you, when his youth and his way looks at the game are benefits and there are times when you feel as an experience and I feel like this week has been one of them also.

[Pam McMahon]

I've got a solution. They can trade for a perennial, all defensive big man. Give the Mavericks a call, you know, make it a three way call because Mavs have two GMs. Give them a call. We want Ad back now. I'm not sure about Ad's health.

[Tim Bontemps]

He got hurt today.

[Pam McMahon]

There's the little thing that he's extension eligible this off season. But bring AD back to la.

[Tim Bontemps]

Just don't have him play center. By the way, the Rockets kind of needed that win. They've kind of been up and down, McMahon.

[Pam McMahon]

They've been down lately. They had two terrible losses on the. In New Orleans lost four out of.

[Anthony Slater]

Five coming into this game. They really needed to have that kind of performance. Nice win for them.

[Pam McMahon]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right. The first game out. Knicks, Cavs. Cavs played 36, pretty good minutes. Yeah, I would say that they played 24 excellent minutes.

[Anthony Slater]

They had a great first quarter. They had a great third quarter. They had a rough second quarter. They had a rough fourth quarter and you know, the game came down to the end and Tyler Kolek and Mitchell Robinson won the game.

[Pam McMahon]

Tyler Cole, like an emerging Colt hero. And yes, the block swipe. What did they officially go down as? A block. I believe on.

[Anthony Slater]

They call Courtney Kirkland said on the review was a block. So I believe it was a block.

[Pam McMahon]

Where it was the review because he was called for a foul roach. And then post game he basically said, yeah, Don was trying to do something crazy, cranking up for Windmill or whatever it was. He's like, if it had just gone in for a layup, no way I could get it. Tyler Kolek's gonna. There's a lot of folks who like him in New York, that's for sure.

[Tim Bontemps]

You know what's funny about that is that Donovan was caught on the m. All the big stars wore the mics today. Donovan was caught on the mic. He dunked in the first half. I think it was an alley oop dunk. And he got caught on the mic saying that he hadn't dunked in a couple of months. But he only dunked because his fiance was there and he was trying to impress her. She was sitting in the front row. I think her name's Coco Jones. Do I have that right? Jackson?

[Anthony Slater]

Yeah.

[Pam McMahon]

National celebrity. Bigger deal than Donovan.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. So, you know, it's just funny that Cold had called him out on that. Like, yeah. You know, Donovan, by the way, at 34 and a 15 the fourth quarter. But the, you know, as much as this is about Cold, Brunson made some big shots down the stretch, as he always does.

[Anthony Slater]

Huge. Yep.

[Tim Bontemps]

And. And Mitchell Robinson, like in the fourth quarter, the Cavs couldn't get a rebound that mattered. And Mitchell Robinson, this is the thing about the Cavs, like, it's gotten me to the point this year where I've been looking up box out statistics because I sometimes watch Cavs games and they just go through whole quarters and they just don't box out.

[Anthony Slater]

And this goes back years with Jared Allen and Mitchell Robinson. Like Jared Allen has been abused by Mitchell Robinson repeatedly, including in that five game loss a couple years ago. And that was certainly the case down the stretch in this game.

[Pam McMahon]

He's in good company because Victor Wembanyama was abused by Mitchell Robinson.

[Anthony Slater]

No, for sure.

[Pam McMahon]

In Los Angeles, Mitchell Robinson is an absolute monster on the offensive glass.

[Anthony Slater]

That's true.

[Tim Bontemps]

And on the defining play of the game, basically the play that settled the.

[Anthony Slater]

Game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Carl Towns, who by the way, shout out to Kat, he got engaged on Christmas. He apparently after the game, went to the top of the Empire State Building and got engaged to Jordan Woods. Good for Kat. Didn't know that. Yeah, congrats to Cat. But he basically sealed the game on a putback. It was a very athletic putback. But. But Evan Mobley, I mean, I don't want to say it was like of the egregious non box outs in the fourth quarter, it was not one of them. But Carl Towns flew past Evan Mobley on a vital moment and got a putback.

[Pam McMahon]

So do you think if the Knicks don't pull off the comeback and they lose that game, Cat's got to find another day to get engaged, Right?

[Tim Bontemps]

I'm sure that it was all like, they're like look like they were photographers.

[Pam McMahon]

I know, I know.

[Tim Bontemps]

You know, you can't do it off a loss. Maybe it doesn't get announced on social media today, but I think it happens today. I think it happens today.

[Anthony Slater]

Well, and Cavs corner I think can be somewhat encouraged by the events of the past few days. Nice win on Monday. Nice win on Tuesday.

[Tim Bontemps]

Darius Garland had 20 and 10. Darius Garland put together like four or five better games in the last two games.

[Anthony Slater]

They played better. Pretty soundly. Beat the Hornets and Pelicans earlier this week and again they had stretches of this game where they played quite well. They were in control of large stretches of the game, but that's a tough one to let.

[Tim Bontemps]

More than anything. They're three point shooting since Sam Mitchell came back. He's been back for three. Sam Merrill. Sam Mitchell was not available. Actually, Sam Mitchell is available, but not available on the Cavs roster. Merrill missed some open looks on Christmas, but since he's come back, their floor stretching has been much better. Yes. And Mobley came back after like 12 days, maybe 13 days from the calf injury, which, by the way, I've got a calf strain right now.

[Pam McMahon]

I can't do that.

[Tim Bontemps]

I injured my calf this week and I'm playing hurt. I'm doing treatment with it. I know, I've. It's, it's afflicting everybody involved.

[Pam McMahon]

Is it your soleus?

[Tim Bontemps]

It's, it's, it's on the high right side.

[Pam McMahon]

Oh, no, no, the soleus is down low.

[Tim Bontemps]

No, it's high. It's a high calf strength. My Achilles, I think is safe. Knock on wood. My God, that's a terrible thing. Even me to say good win for the Knicks. The Cavs now go to Houston and San Antonio will be Cavs corner will be active in the next week. We'll see if this lasts. But Mobley did go 6 of 8 with nine rebounds. He could have gotten some more in the fourth quarter. And Tyler Kolek is the hottest role player since Jeremy Lin in he's going.

[Pam McMahon]

To get some endorsement deals. Watch.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, and he also I also like they talked a little bit of trash today. I really hadn't heard him interviewed before. That's related and I liked that.

[Anthony Slater]

More Hoop Collective podcast after this.

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[Tim Bontemps]

All right, before we go in, we're giving short shrift to the Nuggets and Wolves because we started before the game was over.

[Pam McMahon]

Well, Joker's got a 32 point triple double in the third quarter. Ain't over.

[Tim Bontemps]

I see.

[Pam McMahon]

Well, they're down three starters and up double figures.

[Tim Bontemps]

Bon temps. You went to a Warriors practice this week and it was an interesting one. They bounced back today and you know, you know, Cooper Flag had a really good first Christmas Day game, but the.

[Anthony Slater]

Warriors completed a 30 homestand. The Warriors, Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

Even though Steph wasn't really good today by his standards, but their bench was really good. But you went to a Warriors practice this week and walked right into a little firestorm.

[Anthony Slater]

Yeah, obviously everybody listening, I think, is aware of what happened on Monday when Steve Kerr and Draymond Green had their latest Dust up on the bench. And Draymond Green decided to just leave and go to the locker room. Steve Kerr, in what I would call a pretty masterful PR job to move the story forward and end it, I took all the blame, essentially, for this happening and said it was his fault for things escalating and that he should have read the situation better. And he and Draymond apologized to each other and apologized to the team, and they moved forward and went on and on about, you know, how important Draymond is and how he. His, you know, his number one goal is for Draymond to retire as a warrior and to spend his whole career there, which I thought was noteworthy, given 24 hours later they were about to play a guy in Klay Thompson, who obviously did not do that. And as McMahon and Anthony Slater wrote recently, you know, is. There's still a lot of. I'd say there's less hard feelings than there was at one point, but certainly there's disappointment, I think, that they're not all playing in the same place now.

[Pam McMahon]

And Kurt said, you know, Kurt said today that he regrets that Klay left.

[Anthony Slater]

Yes. And Steve also said very frankly and flatly that, quote, we are a fading dynasty. We know that, and everyone knows that. Which was both a true statement and. As someone who spent time living here.

[Tim Bontemps]

Does that qualify as the quiet part out loud? Is that what you say about.

[Anthony Slater]

Yes, I would say it's exactly what it was, but it was also still a fascinating thing to hear in a press conference on the day before Christmas in front of a handful of people. And I think more than anything, to me listening to it, I think it's just a pretty clear recognition and admission of where this whole thing sits. And this isn't the Last Dance, which Steve Kerr lived through 27 years ago, in that this team is all. But certainly not going to win a title, barring some crazy trade in the next couple of months, which I would be very surprised. If the warriors make a trade like the Jimmy Butler trade again of some kind this year. They might add to this team, but I would be surprised if they add another star, is my point.

[Tim Bontemps]

I wonder what Jonathan Kaminga was thinking when Steve Kerr was saying was bad.

[Pam McMahon]

But have quite the same equity in the.

[Tim Bontemps]

I understand, I understand.

[Anthony Slater]

But if you. But if you go back, and if you go back and like, we all watched the Last Dance, and that whole season, from start to finish, everybody involved knew where things were headed. Yeah, right. And, like, from the beginning, Chris pretty much said, yeah, we're all going to be Done after this year. And back in 2018, at media day, Steve Kerr got up on the podium and essentially said, we all know Kevin Durant's leaving in eight months and we're just going to play this year out and have fun and see where it goes. And we're not going to spend every day breaking it down and discussing it. And this felt a lot like that in the sense that this whole thing feels like it's kind of held together with duct tape and bail and wire. And you've got Draymond late in his career. You've got Steve Kerr, whose contract is up at the end of the year. We'll see what his future is going to be like. It just feels like the end is coming quickly for this iteration of the warriors, which is one of the most defining teams and fascinating teams in the history of the league. And all of that was just on display in this 15 minute Steve Kerr press conference on Christmas Eve in front of, like I said, a half a dozen people and the warriors interview room.

[Pam McMahon]

And oh, by the way, if they are going to pull off some, you know, out of the blue blockbuster trade, Draymond Green's probably getting shipped out. Now, I agree with you that that's not a high probability situation, but just looking at the roster, looking at the.

[Tim Bontemps]

Salaries, well, it's, it's Kaminga, that's the guy that they would.

[Anthony Slater]

They've set up to be traded. It's coming.

[Pam McMahon]

A blockbuster trade. You're going to need more than that, Sally.

[Tim Bontemps]

I agree. Well, Ford Blockbuster is different. I would just say this.

[Anthony Slater]

They make a big salary trade.

[Pam McMahon]

They're a trade for Giannis or AD or one of these kind of guys.

[Tim Bontemps]

I would just say this having, you know, just, just today, we know I haven't watched the Nuggets second half, but I know what the Nuggets got. Even with Cam Johnson now being out four to six weeks at least. He had a knee injury the other day. But I know what the Nuggets got. I'm watching the spurs before our eyes. We know what the Thunder have. The Rockets. You know what the Rockets have. Yeah, I mean, we talked about the Lakers are flawed. They're still way ahead of the warriors understandings. Let's just be honest. Like the fading dynasty thing is like, I couldn't have said it better.

[Anthony Slater]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

You know, they're not, the warriors are not a fat. And look the way they finished last season. Steph gets, you know, hurt in the playoff series against the Wolves. You say to yourself, well, who knows if Seth doesn't get hurt. Maybe they're in the conference finals. There's none of that. Mojo is carried over. Well, that's all gone.

[Pam McMahon]

We. There was some reason for optimism and excitement because of the 22 and 5 record. With Jimmy and Steph in the starting lineup together, that looks more like fool's gold than, you know, any sort of sign of things to come. Obviously they haven't followed up on that and Steph is still an elite player. Jimmy's still a very good player. But as you said in the Western Conference right now, the biggest question in terms of where this warriors are is will they host a play in game?

[Anthony Slater]

Well and they look, they've had very high moments. You know, they beat the spurs twice in a row at home. They've had some other really good wins this year. Even the win over Orlando the other day. Orlando's a very good team. They also, on the other hand, have lost to Milwaukee without Giannis, to Indiana without most of their guys. Like they've, they've had some really desultory losses. They've had some nice wins. Like it's all been, it's all been very up and down and like, look, do I could I see a world where they have a second half somewhat similar to what they did last year and they get on a roll and play well? I don't think it's impossible. But are you asking me, do I think they're a realistic threat to contend with the Thunder and these other teams in the top four in the West? No, I don't. I think they're in the same realm as the Lakers and they're not bad teams, but they're also not contending teams.

[Pam McMahon]

And by the way, you're not picking them to beat the Wolves if they run into them again?

[Anthony Slater]

No, no, I'm not.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. Yeah, the Wolves have actually they're losing right now, but they've played pretty well for the last.

[Anthony Slater]

They've played better. So, yeah, so like it's, you know, it's there, there's obviously going to be a ton of interest in them for many reasons and like you said, McMahon, there's going to be very interesting decisions to be made both at the trade deadline and I think especially this summer coming up because let's say they don't make any big trades between now and February 5th, which I think is the most likely outcome. If they're in the same boat, then you've got a lot of expiring contracts and draft picks and young players to throw into different trades. And that's when you get to interesting discussions about what happens with the roster. And oh, by the way, again, I will remind everyone the head coach does not have a contract after this season and has said he's going to play it out and decide what he's going to do. So there's a whole lot that's sitting out there unresolved, and it's going to stay unresolved from now until April or May or wherever this thing ends, and then we'll see where it goes from there.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, that's we'll call it a Christmas and it sounds like Dorian is in need of his father. He's had enough.

[Pam McMahon]

He heard the podcast was ending and now he knows that Daddy's coming back.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, thank you to Jackson for working late on Christmas. Thank you to McMahon and Bontemps. Thank you for spending some of your Christmas weekend with us. We will talk to you next week.

[Pam McMahon]

Adios amigos.

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