← Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
End of Season Apologies + Drafting the Best Players in the Eastern Conference Playoffs
01:16:22
Loading summary
Transcript165 lines
- [00:00]
Northwestern Mutual Advertiser
You're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Advisor as your partner. It's not only possible, it's personalized. So if you're tying the knot, closing on a house, or welcoming a little one, you'll be ready for whatever life tosses your way. It's the right time to feel less stressed and more certain. That's a better way to money. Let's get started@nm.com the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the home
- [00:31]
Greg Menakes
Depot we have all your appliance answers and with Spring Black Friday Savings you can get up to 40% off plus free delivery on select brands like GE Profile. Simplify your day and get the GE Profile all in one washer dryer with a quick 90 minutes wash and dry time now available in multiple color options and a fridge with hands free autofill that fills your cup perfectly. While you prep for your day, shop Spring Black Friday Savings and get free delivery on appliance purchases of $998 or more right now at the Home Depot offer valid April 9 through April 29. US only C store Online for details. This is Mike Gorman and you're listening
- [01:02]
Will
to Green with Envy with Will and Greg. All right everybody, that is officially a wrap on your 202526 NBA regular season for the Boston Celtics. They wrap it up with an absolutely inspiring and an absolutely atrocious defeat for the Morelando Magic. Celtics Finish as your 2 seed 56 26. We'll talk about the play in game which will determine their first round opponent. We've got some apologies to give out from our podcast. Beginning of the year we've gone back, listen to the archives. We've got a few apologies that we're going to give out and then we're going to wrap this podcast tonight by starting to get ready for the NBA playoffs and we've got our Eastern Conference player draft that we've got coming for you. So a lot to get into, little time to waste. You guys know the deal with live on YouTube, live on Twitter. Make sure you get yourselves in the chat. This is Scream with Envy. You guys know the deal. Let's lock in. What up, what up, what up? Welcome into another edition of Green with Envy. As always, this your boy will wear. Checking in. How you doing? How you living? Celtics the I can't even call them the hospital cel. This was basically the legit main Celtics pull off a 113108 regular season finale victory over the Orlando Magic who might Very well be the Celtics, also their first round opponent coming up in the playoffs. We're going to talk about that more. Joining me as he does each and every time, my best friend, co host and the coach of our podcast, the one and only Greg Menakes. Greg, I don't know about you, but I, I honestly didn't really have plans to, to really watch much of this season finale game here. Especially when you saw essentially, you know, half the team was listed as out going into this game, including all five starters, Peyton, Pritchard, Gonzalez and I didn't catch up to this game till about midway through the second quarter. And then the third quarter just the Garden went bananas. Shire went bananas. Harper Jr. Went bananas. Luca Garza had himself a night, a pretty fun way to end what's been an unbelievably, unexpectedly fun season for the Boston Celtics.
- [03:31]
Greg Menakes
Yeah, it was the perfect microcosm of what this season has been, right where everyone counts the Celtics out, all the guys that weren't there at the beginning of the season from last season, all the guys that, you know, been there all season and weren't there tonight. And the Celtics still find a way to win. They still have Joe Missoula's identity and you know, fingerprints all over that game. Shireman was great. Harper Jr. Even though he got hurt, I hope he's okay with that knee injury because I think there's a role for him in the playoffs if, if things break right for him. He's, he's got, he's got a little bit more in his bag than, than I think, you know, some of the other guys in that young wing, stable of young wings that we have. I really like Ron Hopper Jr. And then Luca Garza, man, he's going to be a big part of my apology this year because, man, Luca Garza with the, the game winning three from the left corner reminiscent of Larry Legend. That was beautiful.
- [04:22]
Will
Yeah, unbelievable game for the Celtics and they really just embodied what the season has been about, right? The Joe Missoula always stay ready the, the extra efforts. Like there were definitely times where it was not pretty, but it's like you're not expected to be with the lineup of guys that you have out there and for them to pull off what they did versus a fully, I have to reiterate this multiple times, a fully healthy Orlando Magic team that needed, needed this game to have a chance to stay out of the play and could have put themselves up to, I believe as far as the six seed with a victory. And now the Magic find themselves on the road against Philadelphia as the eight seed. We've got the 10 teams locked in. They're all locked into place here, Greg. And just for this magic team, man, we're going to do a, an Eastern conference playoff player draft later. I, I had Magic players on my, on my big board. They're off. I, that's just. It was, it was that pathetic. I, I had a lot of Paolo stock going into the year. It's not gone great. I picked the Magic to be in the conference finals this year. That's not gone great. I'm telling you right now in advance of our, of our third segment tonight, there will be zero magic pick for me during that draft.
- [05:38]
Greg Menakes
Okay. All right. I like it. I like coming out hot, you know, taking big swings for the fence already. But yeah, man, we'll, we'll get into it. Do you want to start by just listing the Eastern conference standings right now?
- [05:52]
Will
Yeah, let's just, let's just give this right here because this is all locked in right now. So we've got the pistons at the 1 seed, 60 and 22. They'll await obviously the final play in game. So two games from now in the play in, they'll see who they get. Celtics finish as the 2 seed at 56 and 26. We're going to talk about it here in just a second 76ers magic on Tuesday night that will determine who the Celtics get in the first round. 4, 5, 3, 6 matchup. And this is pretty important because this was completely a result of the Celtics beating the Magic. So the Celtics, while they rested, a lot of guys did have some incentive here knowing that they're likely going to play the. Oh, they are going to play the winner of this 3, 6 matchup, which is now the Knicks and the Hawks. And if the Celtics had lost, the Hawks and Raptors would have flipped. Raptors now end up in the five seed. And so we get Cavaliers, Raptors in the four, five again, Sixers, Magic in the seven, eight, Heat, Hornets in the nine, 10. And Greg, honestly, I feel kind of bad for the Hornets. They've played so well for, you know, 70% of the year, but their start was so bad that it's pretty amazing that they still, despite all these net ratings, all these, you know, from point X to now, it's like they're in one of the, you know, always in the top six, seven, eight teams in the league and in a lot of these stats and they've got to win two games just to get in it. It also says a lot of things about the Eastern Conference, despite being disappointed in the Magic, really outperforming preseason expectations, which will be a theme throughout this podcast.
- [07:25]
Greg Menakes
Yeah, for sure. And I think with the. At least the Hornets get the home game, right? So they're, they're the nine seed, so they'll host the Miami Heat. So they get one home game guaranteed. And you know, that place is going to be bananas. And then they're gonna go on the road. I'm expecting they beat the Heat, but who knows, man? The Heat, they, they show up. That's. That's going to be like a 135 to 131 game because the Heat get up and down. So that's going to be a really fun one that. Well, I think, you know, for the average fan who hasn't really been following the NBA this year, I don't know if they'd have much reason to tune into a Heat Hornets game. But I'm telling you, watch that game. It's going to be a lot of fun. I think the Hornets will pull that out, and I think depending on the matchup, I think they beat the Magic. If, if the Magic lose to the Sixers. I think if the Magic beat the Sixers, I think the Sixers beat the Hornets. I think their, their style with Maxi and Edgecomb, I think they, they would have enough to get it done. But it should be interesting, man. I think the most interesting part of tonight is that the Hawks end up in the six seed. So they'll be playing the Knicks. And now the Knicks have to deal with Jalen Brunson being guarded by Dyson Daniels and the Kale Alexander Walker for six or seven games. However long that series goes, I think there is still a world. The Knicks pull that out pretty easily in four or five. But I think the way that the Hawks have played over the past couple of months just tells you that they're a legitimate team. And the Knicks are in for a dog fight in that first round.
- [08:50]
Will
Yeah, I mean, honestly, I, I think the next player, like, I, I have very little doubt as of today. Unless, you know, obviously injuries or whatever may change stuff in the future, we can't predict. I have very little doubt the Knicks will pull this off. I think if the Knicks and we ever text him with a, you know, our buddy Liptak about, you know, Raptors versus Hawks, like, if it's the Raptors, I'd probably predict a sweep. Right. Like, at worst, gentleman sweep. I don't really see that. I think there's a world they could Do a gentleman's sweep against the Hawk. I, I really think this is probably a six game series and I had already said I on this podcast about a week or two ago, like if it's Hawks Cavs, I'm choosing Hawks. And a little bit of that was, was part of my non belief in the Cavs who now I think are going to get, they're going to get what should have been the Knicks sweep and or gentleman sweep likely against the, against the Raptors and for Knicks Hawks. Like you said, this is definitely the most consequential part of the Celtics pulling off this pretty unprecedented victory with the team that they put out there is now the Knicks are gonna have to work, right? Like that's, that's the thing. Knicks are gonna have to work. This will not be an easy series. The Hawks have Jalen Johnson who's gonna potentially be second team all NBA, maybe third team all NBA. Like they've got a legit guy to start with, right? And then you add in those dogs you talked about from Dyson Daniels to Nikhil Alexander, Walker Okongwu, now you got Kaminga and his athleticism. That's kind of a wild card in the mix as well.
- [10:14]
Greg Menakes
And CJ's been balling.
- [10:16]
Will
That's where I was going. Like CJ can get a bucket. C.J. has one playoff series, right? Like you think back, this has been a while now, but Nuggets, Blazers before you know Jokic fully, I mean Yogic was Yokich, but he wasn't full formed jokic yet. Like CJ McCollum walked off Jokic at the buzzer. Like that's a thing that actually has happened in the NBA playoffs. And you know the Knicks and Hawks played I think it was like two weeks ago and McCollum nearly hit that crazy buzzer beater, right? And those teams were right with playoff implications. I'd have to look back at the box of course if anybody was out. But it, it was a game where both teams were given their all, right. And so I, I think that's going to be, I'm definitely going to pick the Knicks. I would be shocked if the Knicks didn't win. But I think for me I think that's probably going to be a six game series. And so that's big for the Celtics and gives the Celtics a lot of incentive that now when you look to. And let's pivot to Sixers Magic here, which is going to be the 78 play in this one game alone will determine who the Celtics play. Let me ask you this, Greg, going into tonight's game, this was like the, the most likely scenario by the percentages going into tonight. So going into tonight, who would you have wanted to play and did tonight's game change anything?
- [11:35]
Greg Menakes
I mean so if we're talking about the Raptors, Sixers or Magic.
- [11:40]
Will
Well, no, just, just between the Sixers and Magic, like if, like, however you would have ranked them as to who you wanted the Celtics to play before tonight. And is it the same or different after that atrocity that just happened?
- [11:50]
Greg Menakes
No, because I think the Celtics handled their business in the first round against either of these teams. So I, I honestly don't really care which of the teams that we play. I think the, the series against the Magic, they look like a broken down team, like a beaten team. I don't know if they, if they want to be playing basketball right now. Like last year was such a fun season for them. They have a ton of talent, they've got a ton of size. They've got a bunch of dudes that if for whatever reason they put it together, like they just, I think they're coming off of coming into this game in a five or six game win streak, right? Like they're playing their best basketball. They're getting healthy at this point of the year and you're like, man, like that Magic team, although they've underperformed all year, they still got some top end talent there. They got some defensive dogs. I probably wouldn't want to play them. And then the Sixers, with what they have coming into tonight, it's like Maxi, yeah, okay, he's great. Edgecomb, he's a rookie. Paul George is pretty much washed up at this point. I like Quentin Grimes.
- [12:48]
Will
I like pretty good since he came back. Just yeah, yeah, change the series. But he's been playing well.
- [12:54]
Greg Menakes
I like Kelly Oubre, I like Quentin Grimes, I like Barlow. Like there's a bunch of dudes that I like. But if Joel Embiid is not going to play in this series, the Sixers can't beat the Celtics. He was the wild card. It's like you don't want to play the Sixers in the first round with a fully healthy Joel Embiid. If you play him in the second or third round, it's most likely he's not going to make it that far. But he could do it for seven games and that was what was worry worrisome about them. And then of course you get like the ultimate irony. That might as well have been a onion post where Joel Empede ends Up missing. Pretty much missing the rest of the season with an appendectomy.
- [13:26]
Will
Like, what the. My.
- [13:28]
Greg Menakes
My buddy was a Sixers fan. He, like, we. I was. I was telling him in the office, I was like, dude, I'm a little bit nervous that the Celtics played the Sixers. He's. We're not going to be healthy, bro. Like, Embiid's gonna get hurt. And then, like, two hours later, he texted me the screenshot of Embiid being out with the appendectomy shout out to Ryan Nixon.
- [13:46]
Will
Dude, that's unbelievable. That's. And the thing is, dude, I saw. This is really bad, man. There's, like, three years, and it's like 170 million or something crazy is left on, like, Joel Embiid's contract. It's like, it's. It's. It's. Honestly, the only scenario for the Sixers fans is let's just hope he's healthy for, like, 30 games a year, and he just happens to be healthy at the play the playoffs. Like, that's our best case scenario because no one's taking that. So that's, like. That's. That's all you have. And it's. Yeah, it's. It's amazing when we look back and think of in 10, 15 years, what Joel Embiid's career is and was like, that's a whole other thing to dissect, but just. Just unreal. And. Yeah, I think that within itself, you know, makes maybe the Sixers slightly more the team you want to play. Just because, like you said, they've got four or five guys I like, and then they've got some depth pieces that are okay, but, like, don't do anything for me. Whereas the Magic, like, this is actually their whole team. And, you know, the craziest part about the Magic is Greg. They're with their whole team. And two guys that were probably question marks are actually. They've kind of answered if they're. If they're real guys or not. It's like, Anthony Black. Interesting. De Silva have had pretty good years for them. And so if you coupled that, like, hey, these two guys who are like, we really kind of need them to pop at least a little bit to give us depth. Like, everything should have pointed to the Magic having a great season, a solid team. And to your point, just watching that game tonight, like, juju's off. The karma's off. I don't know, like, what it is. Like, I'm not a. I don't love, like, the Bill Simmons body language. Doctor stuff. But, like, it doesn't feel right. Nothing about that feels right. And you know, thinking back to the. Because this might be a repeat of last year, right? It was Celtics Magic first round last year. That was a tough five game series. Right. Like, I don't know what most people remember of that series because it gets overshadowed, obviously with everything that happened in the next series. But, like, that was a tough series where there was no Jalen Suggs. And I just remember watching that series like, okay, but they've got Frowns and Paulo and they feel like a different version of like the younger Jays where it's like, you know, those two guys will get you pretty far. You just got to give them at least a little bit of support. And I know Franz has been in now, France was kind of like weirdly injured and then not injured and even within this game tonight. And it's just off, man. So to your point, bring on whoever. I think it's. I think it's a five game series regardless of. Of which team it is. I would say out of the two, I'd be more likely that the Sixers would end up a sweep than the Magic. But I think both of those, I would be surprised if they go beyond five games.
- [16:19]
Greg Menakes
Yeah. And so what's up with Mo Wagner? Is he.
- [16:23]
Will
I didn't see. I honestly, I don't know. That's a great question.
- [16:27]
Greg Menakes
Let's see. May 24, Mo Wagner loses rotation spot to Bataze. Looks like he played seven minutes a couple nights ago. Which is interesting because, like, the reason I bring it up, you said fully healthy. And I was like, yeah, I didn't see Mo Wagner out there. And I know he's been like, kind of in and out of the lineup as in addition to his brother, but he's one of those guys where every time we would play the Magic, when they would scare me, I'd be like, God damn it. I don't want to see Mo Wagner, you know, he'd like, make some plays here or there. I think he's better than Bataz, but apparently Baz won that spot and he's just one, you know, against the Celtics. It's like, it's not the top end guys that worry me. It's the role players that end up doing some weird. Like Tristan De Silva as an X factor in that series is someone that would definitely worry me. But like, I'm not that concerned about Paulo. I'm not that concerned about Franz. Like, will somebody else step up on that team? Yeah, it's pretty interesting. Though, you know, with the. The body language stuff at. When Garza hit that three pointer in the Magic call timeout and they go back to their bench. You know, at one point you're just like, they don't look. Nobody on that team looks like they're. They're gonna win, right? They think they're gonna win. And that. I think that's. That was the difference. Like, the Celtics were pumped up. Baylor Scheireman was talking, sticking his tongue out. Ron Harper Jr. Was talking some. John Tanjay is out there hitting buck, getting buckets, hitting three.
- [17:46]
Will
Never played like a real NBA minute in his life until tonight. It was out there closing this game against the team fighting for their. With what's supposed to be multiple all stars and multiple Max guys that could have been outside of the play. Just incredible stuff at the Teton Garden tonight. And yeah, I think ultimately, just handicapping the 78 matchup, I. I really don't know who's gonna win, but at the end of the day, I honestly don't really care. Like, I think this is a Celtics in five regardless of who comes out.
- [18:14]
Greg Menakes
Well, if you think about last, you know, last season against the. The Magic, remember Tatum got beat up in that first series. He hit the ground hard a couple times. I think he hurt his wrist in that series. So, like, the Magic gene where they have some guys that might do some dirty. Desmond Bain's kind of a dirty player as well, so.
- [18:32]
Will
Great. Kind of just think of that about him earlier. I. I don't need Desmond Bane out here playing dodge. I always played dodgeball a couple times out here and like, started some. I don't. I don't need that Woody Woodpecker energy, you know, coming. Coming around in the. In the first round. That's a great point. So, like, for that reason, maybe it is the Sixers that I would prefer to play, especially without him being like, Paul George ain't starting. Tyrese Max, he's not really that type of like, oubre maybe is a guy that might stir some stuff.
- [18:57]
Greg Menakes
Yeah. But he respects the J's. Like, he's not gonna do anything dirty. You know, like, people. The Magic kind of played dirty and they're. They're one of those teams that's just angry at this point. And like, you ever hooped against some dude that was just like, clearly looking for a fight? Like, that's what the Magic. You used to be like, ah, dude. Like, I don't want to fight. Like, I'm here to play pickup. Like, that's. That's what the Celtics are going to be like in the playoffs. Like, we're here to just like, get to the next round and you guys want to start, like, come on, man. Like, let's not make this a football series. Let's not make this UFC fight. Let's just play ball.
- [19:27]
Will
Yeah, you're right. Now I want Sixers. So give me the Sixers. I want the Sixers. And then I want to see the Hornets beat the Magic. And I, I need to get Hornets Pistons, because that. That would be such a great series. They got into a little scuffle again the other night. Duncan Robinson and I think it was Brandon Miller maybe kind of got into like a little scuffle. Yeah. So just for like, the entertainment value. And I like, I like. And honestly with the Sixers, I like watching Tyrese Maxi. I think Tyrese Max is really fun to watch. Edgecomb's fun to watch. So, like, also from. And the Magic are not entertaining to watch. They're really, they're. They're really kind of a downer, if I'm being honest. So I, I think if we can get Maxi and Edgecomb into the playoffs and then get the Hornets and the Pistons, that's the best grouping of Eastern Conference teams, I think, for us, entertainment wise and just, like, level of play right now for. For us to get. So that, that's my hope for. For the upcoming play in this next week. So we'll get through the play in games here. And then late next week, we will have a full playoff preview. Luckily sometime on Friday once we kind of know how everything has broken down, we will have that set up before we get into our Eastern Conference player draft. Greg and I, we want to make some amends.
- [20:38]
Greg Menakes
Big thanks to our sponsor, BetterHelp, for partnering with us for this important conversation about mental health. This is Steve Smith here, former NFL wide receiver and host of the 89 show on YouTube.
- [20:49]
Will
So having a counselor and working with
- [20:51]
Greg Menakes
BetterHelp, that gives you an opportunity to really start to unpack. But people don't understand when you unpack things, you also open up a box that you're not always sure what's inside.
- [21:01]
Will
So I think that's why seeing a
- [21:04]
Greg Menakes
professional is extremely important. If you need someone to open up to, visit betterhelp. That's betterhelp.com89.
- [21:13]
Northwestern Mutual Advertiser
To get started, you're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan with the Northwestern Mutual financial advisor as your partner. It's not only possible, it's personalized. So if you're tying the knot, closing on a house or welcoming a little one, you'll be ready for whatever life tosses your way. It's the right time to feel less stressed and more certain. That's a better way to money. Let's get started@nm.com the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- [21:45]
Will
So going into the season and now listen, I'm going to throw us a little bit of grace here. We certainly were not in the full on gap year. Let's tank. Let's get the bands. I don't think that I. I didn't listen to every podcast we had. I don't think that ever came out of our mouths, as that should be priority number one or even option number one. And you know, you had some people who were like, this season's already lost. Let's trade Jalen Brown. Let's trade Derek. I thought that was insane. That's lunacy talk. And so we were never that. But I know. I think Greg, for me, I think going into the season, I thought succeed was like the absolute highest ceiling this team could reach. And likely we were more like a 7, 8 just cemented playing team was really what I expected. And then injuries would potentially put us out and that's when we could look to that, to that route. What were you, if you remember back to that, like, where was that? Right around kind of the same ballpark that, that you were in with this team. Yeah.
- [22:43]
Greg Menakes
Yeah. I, I had very. I didn't want to overshoot on my expectations for this team just because I couldn't allow myself to get my hopes up when I just had like so much other going on in my life, like new job promotion, like, James is getting older, thinking just like, oh, trying to make time for family, trying to make time for friends, trying to make time for music. And I'm just like, I don't know that I can really invest myself 100 emotionally in trying to convince myself this team could be better than. Than like what I just thought they might be on paper. And I was like, you know what?
- [23:18]
Will
Succeed.
- [23:18]
Greg Menakes
I'll be okay if that's what they end up with. I'll be okay if we end up tanking. I just didn't expect to be at this point where I'm like, holy, like, Banner 19 is right around the corner.
- [23:28]
Will
Yeah. And I think, and I think honestly, we were very, very reasonable leading up to the start of the season. The one podcast that I do think we got very probably unreasonable was after the Celtics lost the first three games of the year. And I'M pretty sure we sat here and mapped it out and we were like, I don't know, man, they might go 3 and 18. Like we had some. I forget what the number is that we got to, but we went game by game through the schedule and I know we got to a very egregious number which now as the Celtics finished with 56 wins, feels absolutely bonkers. So what we're gonna do here is, and this isn't like we're not going to go through too many of these, but let's just do a couple here. Greg, let's just go back and forth with a couple of our biggest apologies that we want to hand out. I'll have you go first here and we'll, we'll just go back and forth here for a couple minutes.
- [24:23]
Greg Menakes
Okay. I'm gonna start off with an apology to Luca Garza just because I think it's very timely with his big game tonight. You know, the best game he's ever had in the NBA. Hit the game winning shot left wing three, which is something I just didn't think he was capable of shooting the three pointer at a high clip. And I didn't think he was a third big in an NBA rotation. I thought he was a fourth big in an NBA rotation. Then throughout the season I was like, you know what, Luca Garza is probably a third big in an NBA rotation. And now we're going into the playoffs, we have a legitimate starting center, Nimi Keda, who probably could use his own apology. Nicola Vucevic, who has been, you know, a 15 year NBA vet who's, who's definitely been number one big and a number one option on a team before. I think he could be the second big in an NBA rotation still at this point in his career. And I'm here advocating right now that Luka Garza should play over Nicola Vuchevic. So I'm advocating the. Luca Garza is actually a second big off the bench in an NBA playoff series. Which is something I said at the beginning of the series season. I said, Luca Garza will never play a meaningful playoff minute. I think Luca Garza is going to get some meaningful playoff minutes this year. And for that Luca Garza, I owe you apology. I think a lot of it had to do with your eyebrows and I, I apologize for that, man. Like you're, you're awesome. I love the energy that you bring to this team. Boston's lucky to have you.
- [25:53]
Will
Do you know what his final three point percentage was, Greg?
- [25:56]
Greg Menakes
I don't.
- [25:57]
Will
Let me guess It Take a guess,
- [26:00]
Greg Menakes
did he get over 40? 40.7.
- [26:08]
Will
I was trying to keep myself contained because he is easily over 40%.
- [26:14]
Greg Menakes
Really?
- [26:14]
Will
Of the final total for Luca Garza is 43 point.
- [26:18]
Greg Menakes
Let's go.
- [26:20]
Will
Three.
- [26:20]
Greg Menakes
Let's go.
- [26:21]
Will
That's. Listen, I remember and I gotta give a shout out to. I think it might have been Bobby Manning. It might have been. It was somebody in South, I can't remember who was like, yeah, I mean Luca Garza's a shooter. And I remember like what people talk about. Luca Garza's a shooter. His past three point percentage was 27.8, 28.1, 35.9, 32 points. I'm like, what are we talking about? He shot like under one per game. What do we mean he's a shooter? Apparently his man's a shooter. We saw it tonight. He shot 43.3 on real minutes across an entire NBA season. Apparently Luca Garza can shoot that thing. And I think I also owe him at least a mini apology. I remember I was, I was slightly higher on his at least regular season impact that he would have this season after the preseason than. Than you were. But I, I did compare him to Andrew De Klerk and Vitali Patapinko. So I think that alone probably deserves a little bit of an apology based on what we're seeing here. And I think it's gonna be really interesting to see how Joe does balance the Vch versus Luca Garza. And actually I thought about this last night. You know, I've been getting some really good thoughts that come to me when I'm putting the baby down to. Down to sleep because I just kind of sit there for a few minutes, make sure she's good and like, you just got to kind of be quiet and just. I get really good thoughts. I gotta start writing them down. I usually don't. It's like in the shower when you just start a very clear thoughts.
- [27:39]
Greg Menakes
Yeah.
- [27:40]
Will
But then they leave because I don't write down it's that which is on me. But I remember this one and I was thinking like, you know, I think at least to start the playoffs, regardless of matchup, you're gonna see Vuch and probably no Luca Garza. And my thought process on it is Vuch has been a guy since, you know, year one, year two, he's constantly been in the rotation, right. Like all he knows is playing 25 minutes, 30 minutes and having time to get into a rhythm and into a flow. Traded here. He already talked about this like, like after one of the last games where he's like, I know my, I know what my role is. I'm coming off the bench, I'm playing 12 to 15. It's different, but it's something that, you know, I want to do. I want to win. Like, he's all in on what his role is going to be. And I think for the moments that you're going that you might need Vuch, I think it's going to be the long term game that Joe's gonna play and say, all right, let's. Let's get vouch because he. And he lost the last, you know, three fourths of his season just into the finger injury to even get used to this 12 to 15 minute roll. So I think Joe's gonna stick with him even when it doesn't look great. Until, of course, you get to a point where you can't. Where the Celtics were surprisingly down 2:1 to the Sixers in the first round. It's like, all right, that's. You're out. Garza's in. Right. Like that will happen. But I think until it gets to a point where Joe has to make that move, I think he's going to play the long game and try to get Vuch into a rhythm because we've seen, just like tonight, Garza has played his whole NBA career scrapping and clawing and making sure that he's ready to be thrown in at a moment's notice. And he's done that a couple times this year, been sent to the benchman, come back, and we've seen him execute, we've seen him jump right back in and feel like he hasn't missed a beat. So I think Joe can have Luca with that confidence. And so while I think Garza probably deserves the. The second big man role going into the playoffs, that's my thought process on Joe probably sticking with Vuch until he has to go to Garza, because it may pay off for whenever it is that we need Vuch in that. Those big beefy roles that we talked about, and he's better for it at that point. So that. Yeah, I want to lay that out there.
- [29:45]
Greg Menakes
Keep. Keep writing those thoughts down, man. That's a good one.
- [29:49]
Will
All right, let me go to. So this, this is this apology I got to put out there just because it's. It was a little mean at the time, and now it just feels like he's gonna play a pretty important role in the postseason. We sent Jordan Walsh to Shanghai at one point. We. We just straight up something China. We were like, dude, you're just done. You're. You're off the, you're off the radar. We're not even putting you on the big board for, you know, the young Wings leaderboard. And it's been up and down, like, it hasn't been 100% smooth. But as we talked about, you know, episode or two ago, certainly feels like heading to the postseason. Joe's. Joe's leaned into Jordan Walsh being a guy that defensively is going to get the looks for stretches of games against Lamelo Ball, against Tyrese Maxey, against VJ Edgecomb, Donovan Mitchell, you know, Jalen Brunson. Like, we've seen this in these last couple of games in which we've played some playoff level opponents. And so Jordan Walsh, you're a real dude, You're a real guy. You're. I don't know what your long term future is going to be, but in the immediate term for this postseason run, I fully expect you to be in there getting some offensive rebounds and getting some really important defensive possessions where you're going to need to make some plays to, you know, to, to help the Celtics win. So, Jordan Walsh, you're not going to Shanghai. You're going to the NBA playoffs and you're going to the rotation. So my apologies to you.
- [31:07]
Greg Menakes
Yeah. That all I have written down for Jordan Walsh is apologies to Jordan Walsh. We had you in China, my man. Yeah. Hey, I feel you, man. Jordan Walsh has been, has been great. It'll be interesting because Walsh is one of those guys, he's a defender that, you know, I think there are times Ugo in just like his defensive impact, I think at times can be even greater than Walsh. And sometimes I think he's a better defensive player overall than Jordan Walsh is. But Walsh is just a guy that makes the opponent think. And I don't necessarily know that Ugo makes the opponent think. Think at this point. And that Bones Highland game was the, the one that like, really made me question, like, how much does the league respect Ugo as a defender? Because Jordan Walsh, he comes in, Jalen Brown's hyping him up on Twitch. He's like, yo, you're the best defender in the NBA, dog. Like, let's go. Like when you, when we put you in the game, like, we're putting you in there because you're our stopper, right? And Ugo, I don't think he has that reputation and I don't think he necessarily instills any sense of fear in the opponent where when Jordan Walsh comes in, I could See, guys like Lamella Ball and Jalen Brun start to wilt just a little bit under that pressure.
- [32:13]
Will
Do you think Ugo doesn't get the respect because of the llama cut?
- [32:16]
Greg Menakes
I think that's definitely part of it. And, I mean, he looks like a little boy, man. Like, Google's 19 years old.
- [32:21]
Will
Like, foreign foreigner with a llama cut. Get the hell out of here. They just. Just don't. Doesn't get the respect. What else do you got for. For apologies here? I've got at least one or two more.
- [32:31]
Greg Menakes
Okay, let's see. I mean, I gotta apologize to Jalen Brown, right? Jalen Brown been my guy since day one in Boston, right? And I think as a fan and a fan who has become a podcaster who has been doing this for over half a decade now, as a podcaster, I try to not allow, like, my true art on my sleeve. Just pure, raw emotion and how I feel about players come out too often. I always try and, like, temper that just a little bit. But I apologize to Jaylen Brown and I apologize to myself, and I apologize to the audience for doing that, because I just need to trust what I believe and just speak wholeheartedly about how much I love Jalen Brown and how, like, every year, the ceiling that we put on him just, he crashes through it and he goes up and we have to build another floor in the building. Like, that's every year with Jaylen Brown. He does this. And I apologize to you, Jalen. Like, you're my guy, and I should have believed that you were capable of a top five mvp. I thought you were capable of second team, all NBA, which is still awesome, but I didn't realize that you were capable of this, dude. Like, unbelievable stuff from Jalen Brown. I apologize to you. And like, truly, I apologize to myself. I apologize to myself. I need to be better. I need to trust myself. Which is why. Let me just. Let me just add this. I'm gonna go out on a limb right now, and I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say Amari Williams at some point in the next three years, will be the second big in the Celtics rotation.
- [34:10]
Will
Unexpected pivot at the end of your Jalen Brown apology to get. I just want to come out with
- [34:14]
Greg Menakes
all the hot takes, man. I just want to. Guys want to say how I feel.
- [34:19]
Will
Hey, he looks great, man. He looks great. Yeah, with. You know, with Jalen, stealing is the roof, man. You just. You can't. You can't put it down. And, you know, one of the guys that I'M gonna apologize. To apologize to is is Joe Missoula. And it kind of goes hand in hand with Jalen Brown where I was like, listen, if this best case scenario, if this team is a sixy, because that was like, kind of my, you know, max of what I was giving them was like 565 a seed is like, maybe, you know, shooting for the stars. I was like, if that's happening, I'm gonna think Joe Missoula is one of the best coaches in the league, and Jalen Brown second team all NBA. Well, Joe Missoula's about to win coach of the year, and Jayla Brown's supposed to be first team all NBA. So I, you know, I, I severely obviously underestimated the two of them. And, you know, Missoula, I definitely had some doubts going into the season. I was kind of prepared mentally, and it took me probably through with the first, like 34, 30, 30 ish games to really just come around. And now I'm just, I'm all in. I just believe in Joe, like, to the point. Even when I, like, would question something, I'm like, joe knows his man. What? Why? Who, who, who am I? Who am I to question? Who's Korean Garcia? Who am I to. To question him? You know what I mean? So Joe Missoula and Jalen Brown both definitely get an apology for me. And then my last apology. And I think this was actually a podcast from really last year. There's two things I'm apologizing for. One of the podcasts from last year where we think we did like, a Valentine's Day gimmick or something in the Mishkeda. I basically said, who are you, man? You're gonna show up. What type of, like, consistency? I just, the inconsistency and the people that were hyped on him. I was just like, guys, like, I get it, he has a moment. But, like, if you don't have a bunch of moments together, it doesn't really mean anything if you're gonna show up one, you know, show out once every. Every five games or something. And I specifically remember last preseason game this year against the Raptors. The Mishkeda had like, three fouls in about five minutes, and I was losing my. I was like, jesus Christ. I said, my best case scenario for you was like, 9.8 rebounds and like a block shot. And you know what? End of the season, I love Nami is Keda, and I think he might end up. He's not going to win most improved player, but there's a chance he ends up as one of those top three guys. How they do like the three guys and then they'll, they'll give you like I think there's a chance he ends up at least on the ballot for most improved and that was along with Joe Missoula being coach of the year along with Jalen Brown being second team all NBA. That was one of my other requirements for this team is going to finish outside of the playing. Obviously not nearly second seed. But Namish Kata was going to establish himself as a real. I said rotation guy at the time. Again underestimate the mini Escada. I am more than happy that he is our starting center and I think we should lock him up long term to be a starting center. Like that's where I've gotten to with him. And so the Nami is Keda that I thought was going to frustrate me all season literally never happened. And all I did was fall in love with his play and you know, really for the last second half of the season. I keep saying he's got to be number one on, on Brad's priority list here as far as how do we get him on the Peyton Pritchard, Sam Houser early, lock them up 8, 10, 12 million. I don't know. We'll see how this postseason run goes. That will probably dictate what that final price is. But Namishkeda, you are a starting center. You are a playoff caliber starting center and we are lucky to have you. And it is again, maybe there is a reason that maybe Amari Williams will be his backup in a year because I think that's. That could be where we're heading.
- [37:47]
Greg Menakes
Well, the, the biggest thing with Keda is that he got in legit NBA shape before he was unable to change ends to the court and do it consistently and just like run full speed, sprint up and down the court like UC Kata. He is busting his ass out in transition to rim run. He is just busting his ass to get back to protect the rim and he can get out. He can like make multiple efforts on defense and then still have the energy to contest at the rim and then get out and run the break and finish an alley.
- [38:17]
Will
76 games. He played 76 games.
- [38:19]
Greg Menakes
Awesome this year, man.
- [38:21]
Will
That's. Here's his final.
- [38:23]
Greg Menakes
Go ahead. Yeah, go for it.
- [38:24]
Will
Yeah. 76 games played, 25 minutes a game. 10.2 points, 65 from the field, 12.5 from three. Hit a three the other night, 70 from the free throw line, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, a steal, 1.3 blocks per game, a plus 6.3. Crazy metrics that just show you the Celtics defense and even offense are just better. When he's out there. He's. He makes the Celtics better in every quantitative stat you look at. Unbelievable season for him.
- [38:52]
Greg Menakes
Yeah. And the biggest thing with him in the playoffs and I think this is where you're going to see how much is Nemias Keda going to get paid second round against the New York Knicks? Is he going to be able to handle Carl Anthony Towns for seven games? Is he going to be able to box out Mitch Robinson? We got Vuchevic for that matchup up, but there's going to be times where Keda has to go, you know, man to man against, against Mitchell Robinson on the glass. And he's been able to push around most guys in the NBA this year and get rebounds and block shots. Mitchell Robinson's a whole nother beast. When they were standing next to each other in the Celtics Knicks game, I couldn't believe that Robinson was a legit, like 2 inches taller than him in the shoulders. His shoulders are so much higher than cadence. And I looked to Lip Tech, I was like, is Robinson like a legit 7:2? And he was like, yeah, man, he's huge. Because Katie's a legit seven feet, man.
- [39:40]
Will
Yeah, that's. That's going to be the series. And I mean, that's, that's where I think we're. We're heading towards in that second round. And that's going to tell you a lot about this team in general. So we'll have plenty of time to, to get into that. Any other apologies you have, Greg? Because I have one thing that I want to just read through here that Sean Grandy tweeted out and then we'll get into our player draft. But any final apologies that. That you have to dole out now?
- [40:02]
Greg Menakes
I was thinking of doing some like, more national apologies, but I'll keep them. I'll keep them. Celtics, we have. We have a special guest hopefully later this week. So maybe we'll do some national apologies later in the week.
- [40:12]
Will
Yeah, we'll do that. So I just want to read through this real quick and we'll get to our Eastern Conference playoff player draft. So Sean, Granny tweeted this out here after the Celtics game. The gap year Celtics. And this is just the list of accomplishments for this year, so bear with me here. I'm just, I'm just going to roll through this year real quick. The gap year Celtics 56 wins NBA's fourth best record, second in the East. 27th Atlantic Division championship, fifth straight 7.7 score and margin. Fourth best Celtics number in the last 40 years, 7.56 scoring margin on the road, ninth best in the NBA history. Not the NBA. NBA history. Just real quick. 1.20 points per possession. Fifth best offense in NBA history. Allowed 107.1 points per game. Fewest in the NBA. 1,268 threes, eighth most in NBA history. 1014 turnovers, the fewest in the NBA this season. Only wins over 26 of 29 teams. Only got shut out by three teams. Denver, San Antonio, Minnesota. Interesting note, just in case you get to the Finals. Swept season series of 12 teams. Swept the Pacific Division 100 including all the California teams. Tied NBA record with 29 threes versus New Orleans. Clinch playoff spot before 12 of the 16 playoff teams. Longest losing streak, three games which we violently overreacted to. Fifth straight season without a four game losing streak. Eleventh straight season without a five game losing streak. 20 point wins, 1715 point deficits, 1720 point leads, 3610 point deficits, 3620 point wins, 1720 point losses, three wire to wire wins, nine wire to wire losses, only two, 1354 opponent free throws fewest in the NBA. Jalen Brown 2035 points. Fifteenth best in Celtics history. Led NBA inmate shots. Derrick White came just short of a really, really cool place in history. But still first 90 block, 203 pointer season NBA history. Led east in the plus minus category. I can't believe he didn't get those two blocks, Greg.
- [42:15]
Greg Menakes
I know.
- [42:16]
Will
Unbelievable.
- [42:16]
Greg Menakes
He didn't have a block in the last five games he played.
- [42:19]
Will
It's unbelievable for a shot blocker of that caliber. Just rarely see that happen. Happened. But still, despite the shooting, I underappreciated. Probably Derek White season.
- [42:30]
Greg Menakes
You got more? Is that it is at the end of the day.
- [42:32]
Will
No, that's it. That's it. We're done.
- [42:33]
Greg Menakes
I was gonna say, dude, you should like go to a poetry slam competition and just read that out and just like get the poetry clam cadence. And I feel like you'd win first place.
- [42:43]
Will
Snap, snap, snaps.
- [42:46]
Northwestern Mutual Advertiser
You're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan with the Northwestern Mutual financial advisor as your partner. It's not only possible, it's personalized. So if you're tying the knot, closing on a house or welcoming a little one, you'll be ready for whatever life tosses your way. It's the right time to Feel less stressed and more certain. That's a better way to money. Let's get started at NM.com, the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters. But when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Grainger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Grainger offers millions of products in fast, dependable delivery, so you can keep your facility stocked, safe, and running smoothly. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [43:47]
Will
All right, let's get into our Eastern Conference playoff player draft. And this is right now, these are the only the 10 teams that are in the playoffs are eligible. So no Giannis, no Holly, no. No Halliburton, no Siakam, no yada, yada, yada, Anthony Davis, whatever. They're. They're out. So it's just the teams that are in right now. Greg I figured let's, let's draft 10 guys each. Let's get through. Through 20 guys. This is a pretty solid number to, to get through. This was actually a little bit harder than I thought because I was trying to figure out how I feel right now in the moment, best players, and then also how I value that, given that postseason is just different than regular season. Right. So I, I think for me, I'm gonna. I have a list here of a big board. I don't love it. I think I'm gonna probably mix up a bunch of this stuff on the fly. But I'm curious to see how, how you went about making your list.
- [44:42]
Greg Menakes
I just listed, like, first players that come to mind. I, I kind of started it with, I'm ranking them, and then I was like, you know what? I'm just going to list guys, like, first guys that come to mind. I just thought about, you know, I moved some people around if they were like, down in the 20s. I was like, oh, no, actually, I have. I think they're like more like a top 12 guy. But, yeah, I'm kind of the same way. I just have guys listed, and then I'm going to kind of pick and choose. I did want to bring up here was my preseason ranking of players. I just want to list my top 10. Just, just for context, I had Giannis 1. Donovan Mitchell, 2. Jalen Brunson, 3. Jalen Brown, 4. Kate Cunningham, 5. Paulo 6. Cat 7. Mobley 8, Siakam, 9. Trey Young, 10. For some reason, Because I think it was because there was an NBA.com list that had Trey Young at 10. And I was just like, yeah, I'll just accept Trey Young at 10. And you were like, hey, what about Tyrese Maxi? And I was like, oh, yeah, Tyrese Maxi is definitely better than Trey Young. So apologies to Tyrese Maxi. You know, belated apology for not having you in there, because you're way better than Trey Young. Is this as everybody in Atlanta can tell you?
- [45:47]
Will
Yep. Yeah. I mean, they've taken off since he left, so, yeah, there's no denying it. All right, let's get into it here. I'm gonna give you the first picks. I'm pretty sure I know who you're gonna go with, and you've already apologized to him, so I'll let you make him the first pick if you would like.
- [46:02]
Greg Menakes
Oh, damn. Okay, well, I'm actually.
- [46:05]
Will
Unless you're not going that way.
- [46:06]
Greg Menakes
I'm gonna pick Jason Tatum.
- [46:10]
Will
All right. All right.
- [46:11]
Greg Menakes
I'm gonna take Jason Tatum. Jalen Brown would be my number two pick, but I think Jason Tatum has shown me enough where, like, the defense, the rebounding, the passing in addition to the scoring, and there's just, like, a willingness to kind of fit in and kind of raise the boats of everybody around him. Not that Jaylen Brown can't do that or hasn't done that all season. I just think, gun to my head, who's the better player? I still think it's. Tatum is a little bit better than Brown, but, I mean, if you had taken first pick and took Tatum, I would have been more than happy to take Jaylen Brown. And actually, on my list, I have Jaylen Brown listed one, Jason Tatum listed two. But it just says, take your pick.
- [46:53]
Will
So interesting.
- [46:55]
Greg Menakes
That's okay.
- [46:56]
Will
So I'm definitely taking Jalen Brown. I had Jalen Brown one on my list. I actually had Tatum a little bit lower and only. So here's the thing. If we were doing this. This is why I said this at the beginning, in this moment, like, right now, like, factoring all of the context. Next, like, him and Kate, I had sl. They're still my top tier, but I said I had them both kind of towards the back of my top tier. Just Cade coming back from the collapse loan Tatum, while he looks fantastic. Right. I still think, even though we're seeing, like, we've talked about, like, this new apex of Jason Tatum, the Jason Tatum that we. We knew from. From before was, like, you could pencil them in for 30, plus a lot of this other stuff. Right. Like, we can't quite get to the pendulum for 30. And some of that is contextual because JB's gone up a level. Right. So it's, it is interesting, I think, just because Tatum is still coming back and like, the playoffs are really going to ratchet things up real quick for a guy who, I mean, you look at whether or not if the paces were in contention, would Halliburton have come back on a similar timeline? Kyrie, Fat Haley, like, yeah, fat Alley. I don't know if I've seen this. He put on a little bit of weight.
- [48:07]
Greg Menakes
Yeah, he looks. He looks a little chunky.
- [48:09]
Will
Oh, I haven't seen that. Yeah, I gotta look that up. But he's still so far ahead of that timeline and like his progression has felt since he's come back, like, pretty linear. But, you know, progression's not usually that way, especially with an injury like. Like something does kind of fade out. So I had him a little bit lower. I have no problem with you going one. That put me at Jalen Brown going number one for me. So that's who I'm taking with my pick is Jalen Brown because I think he's been, from start to finish, the best player in the Eastern Conference. Like, I don't think, you know, I. I think if Giannis is available, he's. If we're looking like, outside of just the immediate right now, Giannis is still probably the number one pick in this draft, but I think there's cases for these other guys that we're talking about right now. And Jalen Brown being first team all NBA or should be first team all NBA. I'll say that right now. I know it'll probably be pretty close if he's going to get on that first team or not. He should be first team all NBA if there was such thing as an Easter Conference mvp. I think given the injury to Kate Cunningham, I think there's no way it could be anybody else besides Jalen Brown. And the way that he's leveled up his game, leveled up his shot making, leveled up the shots that he can get to, the patience that he shows or he has shown this year, far more far exceeds what he's done in the past. And so I think the way the team and himself have assimilated to Tatum coming back from the way they, you know, started the season, he was the alpha. Now it's kind of co Alpha, but he's still, I think, actually the alpha, at least in the moment. For right now. Jalen Brown is the guy that that I'm going with is my top pick.
- [49:40]
Greg Menakes
I love it. Yeah. You know, no, I think the world of jb. Okay, let's go to you. Let's just snake it. So go back to you. You get the, the next pick.
- [49:51]
Will
So I get the next pick. So if I wasn't accounting for injury, this is a kuni handpick for me. I think, I think Kate's the guy here. But I'm gonna go Donovan Mitchell because I think, I think they're fairly close. And there's one other guy here that, that's in contention for me in this spot as well. There's a group of five that I think are like kind of separate. Separated themselves from. From everybody else. And I'm just gonna go Donovan Mitchell because I think he, if I have to look at them in a vacuum outside of the Jays, I think he's just the best out of those three guys. Accounting for Cade's injury. Injury. If I knew Cade was the K that I thought might be the MVP for like two weeks of the season, I would probably go Cade because I think Cade. I was thinking about this earlier. Donovan Mitchell, we've talked about this. He can play defense. Kate Cunningham is much more consistent of a defender. Like, I think they're not bigger.
- [50:39]
Greg Menakes
He's like, he's bigger too. So any.
- [50:41]
Will
Right.
- [50:42]
Greg Menakes
So at times he's, you know, he's not a bad on ball defender. He's a good help side defender. He's a better rebounder. So. Yeah, I mean, I think, I think you picking Mitchell is funny in that at the beginning of the season, I don't know if you went back and listened to the pod. You picked Brunson over Mitchell. I picked Mitchell over Brunson and I was like, I just think Mitchell's a better player than Brunson. And you're like, no, dude, Brunson's a better player than Mitchell. And now you're picking Mitchell over Brunson. So I find that funny.
- [51:07]
Will
Yeah, no, it's. I mean, it's probably a little bit of the. Just underappreciating Jalen Brunson, I think, I think it is probably that. But Donovan Mitchell, like, he's like, if you, if you do line up his numbers next to Jalen Brown, like, like they're just as good as Jayla Brown's numbers. I just think the impact Jalen Brown has had has been. Has been more meaningful as results of the, you know, of the, of the standings. We'll show you. And so for that reason, I'm Just. I'm gonna go Donovan Mitchell, but I think there's three guys that you can't go wrong with. I'm gonna get at least one of them, depending on who you pick.
- [51:37]
Greg Menakes
Yeah, I mean I. It's a snake. So I get the next two.
- [51:40]
Will
Never mind.
- [51:41]
Greg Menakes
Yeah, I'm gonna go Cade Cunningham here just because of the size and the, and the defense. Him or Brunson. You know, if I got into my head, I would probably pick Cade just because of the size. But end a game situation. Jalen Brunson, I think is probably the best clutch player out of any of these first five guys that we've listed. Right. I think he's the guy that you want ball in his hands, last 45 seconds of a game. I feel like Jalen Brunson is going to get a good shot up. You're going to have to send two at him and then he's going to have to trust his teammates because if you guard him one on one, Jalen Brunson is going to hit that little 18 footer, he's going to get to the rim or he's going to put you on skates and get a wide open, open three. So I, right now I'd go Tatum with my first pick. Cunningham and Brunson, you have Jalen Brown and Donovan Mitchell. So back to you, buddy.
- [52:29]
Will
Yes. Where it gets. This is where it gets tough, man. So I think those five live very easily in a top tier.
- [52:35]
Greg Menakes
Yeah.
- [52:35]
Will
And I think after this it's like I really don't feel confident with whoever that I'm gonna go with. And there's some really good players here, but it's just like, like those are the five guys where I feel like, okay, if I'm asking you to lead my team, do I think I have an actual realistic chance of making the finals? I think those are the only five guys in the current playoffs that I would feel confident about that with.
- [52:59]
Greg Menakes
Right. And it makes sense. I mean, those are the top four teams in the East. So like you need what, you need one of the top guys on one of the top teams. Right. So all the other guys that we're mentioning here, I guess that means we don't really think any of those teams that were about to. Players that we're about to mention could actually get out of the East.
- [53:15]
Will
Yeah, I think that's actually. And that's, that's extremely accurate. So I'm gonna go with a guy the Celtics might see in the first round. Irish Maxi. I was gonna try and pause for dramatic Effects. See if I might go. Go back on my palo, but I told you, I'm not picking any. Any match in this draft, but I'm gonna go. Tyrese Maxi, man, I. I just think he's built for the moment, right? Like, the dude's not scared, like, even in the little bit of playoffs that we have seen with him, like, he's just there for it. He's there for the moments, but he's a small, undersized guard. He can only do so much. He doesn't have around him what Jalen Brunson has around him, and they play, like, differently. But, like, that's the biggest difference in. In separating the two of them is, like, Brunson has a team that he can help elevate. Tyrese Maxey is. You know, we talked about the situation, the Sixers, and they're. They're. They're caught between two timelines, and he's just the guy that. That's gonna. Gonna lift them to a certain level, but I think it's going to be limited as to what he can do. So Tyrese Max is my. My next guy that I got here, and then I get two picks here, right?
- [54:15]
Greg Menakes
Yeah. And I just want to let you know, this was how I actually listed the players one through six.
- [54:19]
Will
Yeah.
- [54:20]
Greg Menakes
So I take your pick. Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum. But I actually have Jalen Brown listed one, Jason Tatum listed two. Kate Cunningham, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey. So Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, Kate Cunningham, Jalen Brunson, Donovan, Mitchell, Tyrus Maxey. Those are the six people off the board.
- [54:37]
Will
That's. That's the same sex that I have at the top here. This next after from 7 on. I'll be honest. All of these guys, for the most part, are guys I look at that are, like. Some of them are. Are young, but most of them are either masquerading as ones or even started dipping into the. The twos. Right. The. The second best guys and a lot. Two teams for this pick, for this particular postseason. This. Honestly, I. I don't feel great about this. This feels like a stretch, but I said that I do somewhat believe in this team. I'm gonna go Jalen Johnson. I. I think this is probably a little early to grab Jalen Johnson. This is the spot that's supposed to be Paulo Bankero. This is where it's supposed to be Paulo. And it's just not like I have Paulo listed here as ninth on my list, and I'm just not. Not gonna pick him. I'm just. I just. Because he's not. I, I don't. I, I want him to be Equity. Yeah. I want him to be there for my take Equity, but he's just not. Right. Are you talking about Paulo or Jalen Johnson?
- [55:34]
Greg Menakes
Paulo.
- [55:36]
Will
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jalen Johnson. I, again, there's a couple guys that all live in this area that like, I, I don't know. I'm. I'm more betting on the future stock of Jalen Johnson with this pick. And I think this year in the postseason against the Knicks, who have a bunch of wings, a bunch of guys that they can send at him, like, like this is gonna at least tell us, like, hey, do we think that the future involves Jalen Johnson being the one for this Hawk team? If this is real, what this has been since Trey Young left? Or is it like. No, he's just really good and we probably still need like another number one guy or a co pilot to go forward and so we'll find that out. I'll bet on Jalen Johnson. He's going to be second team, maybe third team all NBA this year. I like his game super well rounded, kind of like a 20108 guy. Like, you know, that's, that's always really nice to have. It's always really nice to have pretty good. So, you know, it's, it's a bit of a toss up, but I'll take Jalen Johnson the slot.
- [56:29]
Greg Menakes
Okay, so your last two picks were Maxi and Jalen Johnson. All right, so two picks in a row for me. So I'm kind of in this big man comparison right now where I think there's a bunch of big men that you could particularly choose from based on what you think wins in the playoffs. Do you need someone who's more versatile on offense? Do you need a defensive anchor? Right, so you've got the car, Anthony Townsend of the world, the Bam out of bios, the Jalen Durans. Maybe you throw in Evan Mobley in there, right? Like, who are the, who are the bigs that you actually think can help you lock down in the playoffs? I'm gonna go cat here just because I, although I'm not like a huge cat guy, I can't deny that he's an unbelievably talented player. Right. And he, as frustrating as he is, you saw against the Celtics, there were times where the Celtics just couldn't really do anything with him. He's just too big. He just throw people around. He gets offensive rebounds, his defense, although it can be alarmingly bad, there are Times where it holds up pretty well and, like, as long as you're not getting. If you're. If. If he's back in transition and he's playing in a drop coverage with, like, a set defense around him, he's pretty good at just, like, understanding angles and. And walling up. It's just when he gets in rotation, when he has to defend multiple actions, when he has to get up and down the court against a fast team, that's where you see a little bit more of those warts. But the. The Knicks, I think, do a pretty good job of playing at their pace and allowing him to be successful on defense. So I'm gonna go Cat there at number at my fourth pick. I think it'd be my fourth pick. What are your thoughts on that?
- [58:06]
Will
Yeah, I mean, Cat was a guy. I didn't really know where to slot. I. I had him 13 on this list, but honestly, I. I could push him up. Like, it. It. It. It's kind of this big group of guys that I just kind of wrote down the names and then was like, you know what? I. I. What am I going to sit here and try to debate these guys for when I. I really don't have a strong opinion of. Of whether it's him. You. You mean you named a bunch of guys Him, Mobley, Bam. I had listed in that area during. Literally, Mobley, Cat, during and Bam are all in the same order. Like, that's, like, they're right next to each other. So I. I think it's, you know, like you said, Cat's never been either one of our favorites. I can't wait. Like, we talked to Alex from. From kftv. Like, I can't wait to talk. Talk to my Knicks friends in my life after the Cat days are done. And it's like, man, how much you have to talk yourself into that every game. That sounds. That sounds exhausting.
- [58:55]
Greg Menakes
It really does. All right, I'll make this next one quick. Yeah, I'm gonna go just how I listed it. I'm gonna go Bam. I had Bam right after that. So I just think Bam is a proven playoff guy. He's all NBA defense every single year. He can do a little bit more if you. If you have the right pieces around him for him to be able to run offense, you know, at the elbows you saw, I mean, out of bio. Well, I don't know if, you know, he. He scored 83 points this year, so he's capable. I think he's capable. Bam. Adebayo, you missed this 83 points in a game this year.
- [59:27]
Will
The financier. That guy.
- [59:31]
Greg Menakes
So I'm gonna go, bam. And it's funny. So here's, here's how I listed Will. My top. We've. We've taken nine guys so far. Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum, Cade Cunningham.
- [59:44]
Will
Game.
- [59:44]
Greg Menakes
Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Cat. Bam. Jalen Johnson. Those are my top nine. Those are all the guys that are gone right now.
- [59:53]
Will
Yeah, I think that's. I think that's just about right. Yeah, I had Cat a little bit lower, but that's all. All right. In the same vicinity. Okay, so I got two picks here, right?
- [60:02]
Greg Menakes
Yep.
- [60:05]
Will
Let's go. God, I don't. I don't feel great. I will say. I, I, I'm not gonna pick them because. Or, or pick them, I will say, because I just don't know what to do. Actually, I'm gonna save that one because you might pick somebody. So I'll, I'll bring that up later.
- [60:20]
Greg Menakes
Okay.
- [60:21]
Will
Sorry. Let's. I really. I'm gonna go have a Mobley. Let's go, Mobley. I, I, again, a little bit of a future pick here. Like, I, I just feel like it's. It's now or never. Show. Show me that you're like, I think
- [60:32]
Greg Menakes
we've said this the past, like, two seasons.
- [60:35]
Will
I know it's who he is, is fine. But it's just like, it's now or never with the, the Cavs is like, are we. Because here's the thing. If the cast flame out hard in the second, in the second round, they got to try to put together a Mobley package for Giannis. I think that's the absolute. They gotta find a way to try to do that.
- [60:54]
Greg Menakes
Let me pause you real quick, because, yeah, I think it's interesting that you picked Mobley over Duran. You know, I think Mobley, I mean,
- [61:01]
Will
to be honest, I'm gonna pick both of them. That's. That's kind of where I'm going.
- [61:04]
Greg Menakes
Okay. So, so why, why, why, why, why did you go Mobley before you picked Aaron?
- [61:10]
Will
I, I just think Mobley has. Even though he has a lot of flaws offensively, I still think he has a little bit more juice than Jalen Duran does. Like Jalen. Even though he actually really stepped up impressively when, When Cade was out. I've seen moments of Mobley be able to give you a little bit more now. He disappears far more often. Like, Dern, I know, is just going to be a animal.
- [61:33]
Greg Menakes
Have you seen during person. I can't Remember?
- [61:35]
Will
Yeah. We saw him together when we went. Okay, yeah, spurs and Pistons.
- [61:38]
Greg Menakes
Yeah, no, that. I couldn't remember if I, If I went to that game with. Or if that was the game I went with my brother. Yeah. No, he. He's a beast dude. He's so big and I, it's one of those things where like, we, I say this to people all the time. If you've never been to an NBA game, like, you need to go to experience how big these guys are. Jalen Duran is huge. He's huge in person. He's the biggest guy on the court by far.
- [62:02]
Will
Yeah, I mean, I said two. I think two years ago we did like a. Predicting, you know, around the Olympics. Like, I put Jalen Duran on my. Or at least on the Team USA radar because I was like, that dude is legit. Like, I'm like, I've loved Jalen Duran for the last couple years. I just think, you know, for the Cavs, like, I guess I might pick. I don't know. Either way, I'm picking them together. So it's kind of a moot point. But I, I think Mobley potentially can give you a little bit more on offense than Duran can, but it's, it's pretty much a toss up, depending on the rest of your team as to which one. I think you would, you would prefer.
- [62:36]
Greg Menakes
Okay, I'm gonna go defensive identity because I think we're kind of at that point where I, I think defense in the playoffs is such an important thing. Like, I could go with a certain guy that the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for mid season this year, but I think we've seen enough out of him to know that like, you probably don't want him in a playoff series and he doesn't play any defense where, you know, to your point about kind of projecting with these young guys, we have such an interesting group of, of young stars in the Eastern Conference this year, Right. And we might not think of them as stars because they're not like the top tier guys, but Scotty Barnes, man, Scotty Barnes is potentially. If Victor Wembanyama doesn't get to 65 games, which he does, there's a world in which Scotty Barnes wins defensive player of the year this year. Right? So he's been that special on defense. He's. His offensive game never quite developed to the point that Raptors fans were hoping, which is why they had to go make a bet on a guy like Brandon Ingram. But I think Scotty Barnes is that special of a defender the, the defense that he Played on Jalen Brown, and just, like, recently, where I was like, damn, Jalen, can you even dribble anymore, dude? Like, what's going on? Like, Scotty Barnes is. Is a disruptive force on the defensive end, and if I'm picking Bam out of bio before Scotty Barnes, I don't necessarily know that Bam is, like, all. Is really a better defender than Scotty is at this point in their careers. He's definitely a better offensive player, I think, But Scotty Barnes, his defense is at that point where I'm looking around the league, and I'm just like, I don't know who's better than you on the defensive end of the ball.
- [64:09]
Will
Yeah, that's the right pick I had. I had Scotty actually listed, like, at 9, and I just kept skipping over him. I don't really know why. I. I think it's just, you know, for the Raptors, he's. He's kind of the number one guy. I think of when I said earlier, like, some younger guys that are masquerading as ones that are really, too. I think he's an. Oh. He's just sitting there waiting to be one of the best, you know, number two guys in the league. Right. Like, I think that's a perfect spot for him, and so. But he's just really good. So I think that's. That's a right pick there. Who's the next guy you get yet?
- [64:42]
Greg Menakes
I'm gonna go complete opposite. I'm gonna go with lamelo ball.
- [64:46]
Will
Okay.
- [64:47]
Greg Menakes
So I'm gonna go Lamello, who I actually have listed 10th, just because there's something special about Melo, man, in every sense of the word. Special pick. Pick one. Positive, negative. LaMelo ball is special. When you see him on the court, man, like, there are games, like the game he had against the Celtics recently, where in the first half, you're like, damn, the Celtics literally cannot stop this dude. He can do anything he wants. Early in his career, he had games like this against the Celtics from, like, he makes the right decision every single time, and then he makes, like, 10 wrong decisions in a row. He doesn't make 10 wrong decisions in a row quite so much anymore, right? And if. If he becomes the player that is within him, he could really be, like, the best player in any playoff series because he's that special of an offensive player. Defensively, he. He doesn't do all that much, right? So that's one of the issues with Lamelo. It's why I don't love picking him ever, just because I Hate how he plays defense, but he's not Trey Young. Right? He's not Trey Young on defense. He can play a little bit more. He's 6 foot 7. He can rebound. He can get out alone.
- [65:57]
Will
Makes it. Makes it. It's just the kind of the. He doesn't have the beef of Luca, but it's like the same thing with Luca where it's like, hey, if you're gonna be bad on defense, at least be 6, 7, 7 and huge. You know? Whereas Trey Young just gets lost in the mix at six one or six feet, whatever he is.
- [66:11]
Greg Menakes
Yeah, exactly. So I'm gonna go Lamello. And he's just fun to watch too.
- [66:15]
Will
So when I stumbled earlier, the reason that I was like, I'm gonna say so. I'm not gonna say something. I wasn't gonna pick Lamelo. It's. I. I literally have at number 15 on my list Young Hornets. I don't know. I don't know who, like, out of, like, him. Brandon Miller, Conable. He's probably not even. Probably. He is the best. Best of them right now for the best that he can be. But to your point, I hate that he doesn't play defense. I just. I can't take his unseriousness, even though it seriously goes in more than you expect when he. When he does the things that he does because he's that talented. Like, I prefer Con Canipple and Brandon Miller. When I watch the Hornets, like, I enjoy watching them so much more, even though Lamelo breaks my brain sometimes. And so I was just like, they're the Young Hornets. I don't know. They're fun. I. They belong somewhere in here. Here. I'm glad you picked one of them. I. I couldn't decide who to go with, so I was like, I'm just gonna throw them out as an honorable mention. But they were on my list as 15. Just young hornets. Completely. Just bailing on picking somebody there. All right, we're at the point now where James Harden sitting out there. I should probably take him. I'm not going to. Same with Paolo, same with Franz. Like, they're. These guys are better than the next two guys that I'm gonna take in a vacuum. But I'm just. I'm sorry. I'm at the point now in our draft here, I'm just picking the guys who they. They. They're the definitive guys that help you win. Taking Derek White and OG and Anobi. Those. Those are the next few guys I'm taking here. Yeah, they're. They're both guys that are, every single year they're gonna be brought up as these, like if they play enough, the, the borderline All Stars that aren't gonna ever make it and they're gonna do all the things you need. They're both going to average like, like, you know, 15, 16 points. It's going to come down to sometimes do they hit threes, but they're going to defend their asses off. They're going to make hustle plays, they're going to make all the little things that you want. There's not a single team in the NBA that wouldn't want either of these guys. So at this point when I'm debating between them and Tyler Hero and you know, the other guys that I mentioned, Brandon Ingram, just give me the guys that I know are gonna, gonna influence winning. I'll, I'll take those guys over the ball, dominant guys and I'm not sure where that's taking us.
- [68:18]
Greg Menakes
No, I think that's a really well said point there. I had OG listed at 14, Derek White, I, I have him listed at 19 here. But I think your point about like how he impacts winning, he's, he's definitely a top 15 guy in terms of like who you want in, in the playoffs, right? So I, I totally agree with you. I think both of those guys, they live in the same spaces. Every single team in the playoffs would kill to have an OG Anunoby or a Derrick White. Whereas the two guys that I'm going to pick right now that, that we've mentioned, James Harden and Paulo Banchero, it's like what are we getting out of you right now? Like are we, are we, are we getting a 6 foot 10 guy who played center for like team USA and can actually be a legitimate number one option as we saw in last year's playoffs? Or are we getting a guy who, who seems like he doesn't have a plan on offense and doesn't know when he's supposed to shoot, when he's supposed to pass and can you actually be a legitimate defender in a, in a rim deterrent in the NBA? And I just don't know what this has been like the worst possible outcome for Paula Banchero this year where there are times where I see Paulo and they utilize him well. He's coming off of pin downs, they get him with some web like wedge screens inside. Had little back action, like back picks and he's able to like play off the ball. And then other times it's just like Paulo looking at a set Defense going high, pick and roll, not really sure what to do. Or like a 14 set where he's just going one and one on one looking for guys like in the corners or in the dunker spot. And I don't really know what Paulo's plan is. A lot of that might be coaching. A lot of it might be roster construction. So I still am a pala believer. I. I think if you're gonna buy stocks, knock. Buy low on somebody, buy low on Paulo. He's still super young, and I think he's got the talent as he showed in last year's playoffs. And then James Harden, at this point, it's like, I'd rather have James Harden because I know he, you know, he is the offense. James Harden can. James Harden can do some stuff in a playoff series. It's just. Do you want him to be the number one guy in your playoff team? No. And at this point, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [70:28]
Will
I mean, dude, still think back to that Sixer series. He had two great games. He had three games where he didn't show up at all, including game seven. But, like, he had two games where he won basically for the Sixers in that series a couple years ago. Real quick on Paulo. I was thinking about this because I mentioned for the Cavs, like, hey, if they flame out, you got to find a way to try to put a package for. For Giannis together. If you're the Bucks, who, by the way, Doc River's not coming back next season. Not a big shock. If you're the Bucks, forget about whatever, you know, draft pick compensation might come along with it. If you have to have a headliner to trade Giannis, would you prefer Paolo or Evan Mobley?
- [71:05]
Greg Menakes
Paulo, hands down,
- [71:08]
Will
I picked Moby ahead of Paulo. I think it's mostly. I'm just sour on. On this whole Magic experience. I had Paulo ranked higher than the Moby. I think I'm. I'm with you. I. I still believe in Paulo. I'm disappointed in this season, and it's just showing in this draft right now. But I. I'm with you. I. I think the sea, like, I. I thought Paolo know going into this year, I was like, yo, Paulo, if he's not top 10 this year, that means he's top 12. Like, I. Like I thought he was going to be that. And I still think I can see that more than I could see that for Mobley.
- [71:35]
Greg Menakes
Yeah.
- [71:36]
Will
Even though I think maybe Mobley's further ahead right now. Defensive player of the year did make it all NBA last year, so I don't know. Have your pick, but I'm with you.
- [71:43]
Greg Menakes
I think Paolo, let me list my, my 15 because I think it's interesting. There's only one guy I think Derek White's the one guy that didn't make my top 15. That, that's got picked. Oh, James Harden was 16, so Jalen, Jason Cade, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxi Cat Bam. Jalen Johnson, Lamelo. Jalen Duran, Scotty Barnes, Paulo OG Mobley. That was my top 15 right there. Harden and Derek White were, were both outside of it, but they've been picked.
- [72:11]
Will
Yeah, no, I think that, that's tracking right now and I think right now we're, we're at kind of the role player du jour, right? Who, what's your pick? What's your style? So I think I got. This is my last two picks, I think, right? 1, 2, 3.
- [72:25]
Greg Menakes
I think so.
- [72:27]
Will
Yeah. No, this is, yeah, this is my 9 and 10. Yep. So 9 and 10 here. You know what? I'm gonna. At least one of them. I'm just gonna go with a guy that I think is gonna be awesome. Give me a star Thompson. I know this is probably, probably too much it, it. They like a lot of these other guys. Again, I'm just going with a guy that I, I enjoy watching. This is a pick for me. I really love watching Asar Thompson. I, I think very rare that you get a guy who you're just like, man, I watched that guy play defense for 48 minutes. Like that's just not the way basketball is designed. But he's one of those guys. And I remember when I went to the Celtics Pistons game around Thanksgiving. Peyton Pritchard has great handles. Asar Thompson didn't let him get over half court at least twice. Maybe three different times. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I watched that happen where I think it was one time he turned him over and one time he caused an 8 second violation. And I'm like, paper is some of the best handles in the league. Like paper can get by just about anybody, especially just to get to half court. And you think about, you know, what he can do in a playoff series. It's, it's really, really impressive. So Sar Thompson is going to be my pick here and then my final pick. I'll take Mikhail Bridges. I think there's other guys that they can make a case for here, but Bridges is, you know, I'm just not into Brandon Ingram, not into friends. Friends. Wagner. Desmond Bain could have been an option here. Jared Allen could have been an option. Edgecomb, Little too early. Pritchard, Mitchell Robinson. If we were building, like, real full
- [73:55]
Greg Menakes
teams and not just Alexander Walker, some other guys.
- [74:02]
Will
Yeah. You know, I think if we're building out full, like, full real teams, maybe I go that way. But Mikhail Bridges, you know, he killed us last year, right? Like, he's going to be a big swing factor. Like, he has it in him. He's a good defender. I think maybe he's come down a peg, you know, as to what his level of. Of defense is. But he's a swing guy, and his length, his size, his ability to knock down the three when he gets hot. Like, he's a guy that can put 40 up. Like, it's rare that you have a fourth guy that can put up 40, and that's. Mikhail Bridges is a guy that can do that. So as him as my 10th pick, I'm cool with that. I'll take Mikhail Bridges.
- [74:38]
Greg Menakes
Cool. My last pick. I'm gonna go con. Canipple.
- [74:43]
Will
Yeah.
- [74:43]
Greg Menakes
I think con. Just his movement and his shooting ability, his basketball iq, all the scrappy white guy things that you want to say about Conk and Nipple. He's great, man. He's just so fun to watch. Big reason why the Hornets have become the team that they've had. He is the connective tissue that makes that team work. So I'm gonna go con. There, there. You know, it's interesting when. When we're doing these. These debates, I'm thinking to myself, you meant. You mentioned Mitchell Robinson, and it's like, in the playoffs, would I rather have Mitchell Robinson on my team? Would I rather have Paulo Bankera on my team? And it's like. I don't know, man. Like, like.
- [75:20]
Will
I mean, context, man.
- [75:22]
Greg Menakes
17 minutes of Mitchell Robinson anchoring my defense versus Paulo. Not really sure what you're doing out there, buddy.
- [75:29]
Will
Impact question, right? It's the value or the impact question. And a lot of that will come down to context, right? Because, like, Paulo has an opportunity to, like. And this is the thing. This is where part of my Paolo stock comes from, is last year when we watched him against the Celtics, a team that was definitely more talented than the Magic, especially without Suggs last year. No Suggs, no Mo Wagner. Like, Paulo was doing the thing that stars do when they're undermanned, where it's like, all right, he's gonna get his. Like, he's still gonna score. Dude, he looked great, right? And so it's just like, listen, he's over. I Think back to, I think it was the year before the Heat brought in LeBron and Bosch. The Celtics played the Heat in a first round series. They were up 3, 0, and Dwayne Way went just superhuman in game four. Got win, and then they had to go for one. I was just like, yo, that's why Dwyane Wade is a top five guy. Like, that's the type of thing where it's like, yo, I've got Michael Beasley being a head case and I've got, you know, I don't know, whoever else they had on that team. Like, you know, he had nobody else, but he's playing a team that's competing for the championship. He was just like, I'm getting one. I ain't going out like a pitch. I'm getting one. And, you know, that's what I thought maybe Paolo might have tonight. He did not have that tonight. And so, you know, but that's what I thought I saw last year in the playoffs from Paolo is like, okay, he's gonna be that type of star. Like, he's gonna at least get you to a certain level, and we'll see. Maybe he gets back to that. But it's. But it's interesting when then you start to get to the end of these lists here, and it's value and impact versus who has potential, who hit, who can carry a team to a, you know, to a certain level. But I like it. Great. Let's just recap our list real quick before we get out of here. So, Greg, on your team, we've got Jason Tatum, Kate Cunningham, Jalen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns, Bam. At a bio. Scotty Barnes, Lamello Ball, James Harden, Paulo Banquero, and Con Can Nipple. On my team, we have Jalen Brown, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Johnson, Evan Mobley, Jalen Durham, Derrick White, OG Anunoby, Asar Thompson, and Mikhail Bridges. Guys, hit us up. Let us know what you think of this list. Who do we miss? Who should we have picked and who won? Did maybe you have a thought? Maybe you think one of us outdid the other. I think it's pretty even, to be honest. Like, I think we had basically the same list in different, slightly, maybe different forms, but we had the same guys, and it's gonna be a fun postseason. Man, I'm. I'm really excited for the playoffs to get started. I think this is one of the best times of the sporting year. I love when there's nothing but just for all the people that have to say about the NBA doesn't play defense, doesn't do yada yada, like tune into the playoffs. There's a lot of teams that fit the mold that you and I have been talking about for two months that play their asses off. And you're going to see them excel in this postseason. And it's gonna make for some really great basketball, I think.
- [78:09]
Greg Menakes
Absolutely. Couldn't said it better, man. We've done 75 minutes. Let's get the hell out of here. There.
- [78:14]
Will
Let's wrap this up. That's gonna do it. This is the last podcast of the regular season. The regular season is behind us. We're gonna have a playoff preview coming up later this week and then starting next weekend, whether it's Saturday or Sunday, we don't know yet. They'll have that out. We'll retweet it. We'll do all the stuff that you do when you're covering the team. You'll see it out there. We will have game one coverage of the NBA playoffs. So go enjoy your week, enjoy the play in, rest up, recharge. Next weekend, the grind begins again. We got 16 more wins to get to get that banner back up in the rafters. Excited to join you guys on this journey once again. Appreciate y' all joining us. We'll catch you guys later. I hit the floor every time I hit this high it's you I find it don't take much no more until I'm at your door.
- [79:28]
Northwestern Mutual Advertiser
You're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan with a Northwestern Mutual financial advisor as your partner. It's not only possible, it's personalized. So if you're tying the knot, closing on a house, or welcoming a little one, you'll be ready for whatever life tosses your way. It's the right time to feel less stressed and more certain. That's a better way to money. Let's get started at NM.com, the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.