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- [00:00]
Commercial Announcer
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- [00:33]
J. Skeets
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- [01:00]
Tas Melas
Limu Emu and Doug.
- [01:03]
J. Skeets
Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating.
- [01:15]
Tas Melas
It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.
- [01:18]
Commercial Announcer
Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.
- [01:21]
J. Skeets
Cut the camera.
- [01:22]
Tas Melas
They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty, Liberty, Liberty.
- [01:27]
J. Skeets
Liberty Savings. Very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts. Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast. It's Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Happy NBA Day to all that celebrate. I'm J. Skeets here in the classic factory. And alongside me, as always, Tas Melas.
- [01:50]
Tas Melas
Way to go, Blue Jays up now.
- [01:53]
J. Skeets
Next to him, it's my big blazer boy, Trey Kirby. Hey, yo. Hey, yo. And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer JD Hello. There he is. Here we are. Yeah, you got a little George Springer step to you today, guy.
- [02:07]
Tas Melas
He's a baller.
- [02:08]
J. Skeets
That was amazing.
- [02:09]
Tas Melas
He just steps onto the field. Three run, Dinger.
- [02:12]
J. Skeets
Hello. Hello to you.
- [02:14]
Tas Melas
Hello. This is exciting times.
- [02:16]
Trey Kirby
This is exciting times.
- [02:17]
J. Skeets
Jay's in the World Series. It is weird when you say it out loud. Listen, I think it's extra weird because we have NBC coming back to broadcast NBA games like it's the 90s. Now we got the Jays in the World Series like it's the nineties. What else?
- [02:33]
Trey Kirby
Bulb are back.
- [02:35]
Tas Melas
Maybe.
- [02:37]
J. Skeets
Maybe.
- [02:37]
Tas Melas
Yeah. Listen, the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025 are the Toronto Raptors of 2019.
- [02:45]
J. Skeets
Go on.
- [02:45]
Tas Melas
The Blue Jays came back from down to zip in the alcs, just like the Raptors did in the Eastern Conference final against the Bucks. They go on to the finals against the Golden State warriors team that no, no one had any expectations for. The Raptors just like the Blue Jays going against up up against the Los Angeles Dodgers powerhouse. No one expects.
- [03:06]
J. Skeets
Great. They're shocked the world is what you're saying.
- [03:08]
Tas Melas
Absolutely. And it's going to come down to Shohei Ohtani at the plate.
- [03:12]
J. Skeets
Oh my God, you are dressed like an elk today. Wow. You look like an elf. Holy crap. You literally look like an elk.
- [03:18]
Tas Melas
Shohei Ohtani up at the plate. Two down, game six. The two, two pitch. Oh, he's got the counter.
- [03:31]
J. Skeets
Oh, podcast.
- [03:33]
Tas Melas
And you should have chosen Toronto over la.
- [03:36]
J. Skeets
Oh, wow. He's literally mistake it. Wow. Go J's, go. Yeah.
- [03:40]
Trey Kirby
Hum.
- [03:40]
J. Skeets
Now, Jays, we're pretty fired up. World Series start. Thankfully not till Friday.
- [03:45]
Tas Melas
Yeah, that's good.
- [03:46]
J. Skeets
You know, we got, we got basketball tonight, tomorrow and Thursday and all that, so that's good.
- [03:50]
Trey Kirby
What's the wait for?
- [03:52]
Tas Melas
They play like every single day during the series.
- [03:55]
Trey Kirby
We take a week off.
- [03:56]
J. Skeets
Huh? I don't know, man.
- [03:57]
Tas Melas
It's a good question. It's literally three. Three days off. Yeah, it's weird.
- [04:02]
J. Skeets
I'm happy for it as a basketball fan, so it's good. Anyway, that was fantastic. Podcast listeners, come on over to YouTube. See Umpire Tas. He had the. What do you call it? Your little pitch count, I guess, thing.
- [04:14]
Tas Melas
Yeah, the counter.
- [04:15]
J. Skeets
Is that what it's called? It's the counter.
- [04:16]
Tas Melas
Okay. Yeah.
- [04:18]
J. Skeets
You used to ump games.
- [04:19]
Tas Melas
Yeah, this was done in part because I haven't been able to use this mask for 30 years. Danielle sees it every once in a while. She's like, why do you still have that? And I say, there will be one day where I need it. And it came through.
- [04:34]
Trey Kirby
It's.
- [04:34]
J. Skeets
The shirt is making this and you're like pretty jacked right now. So like, you look like you got sort of padding off. It's just you.
- [04:40]
Tas Melas
Yes, it's a good shirt and I.
- [04:42]
Trey Kirby
Think it's impressive you're doing a squat for this whole episode, not sitting in a chair.
- [04:49]
Tas Melas
This is also something I haven't used in 30 years. I say, hey, daughter, would you like to keep score of the game here that we're watching? She's like, no.
- [04:58]
J. Skeets
I never realized how difficult it is for an umpire to talk in one of these masks.
- [05:02]
Tas Melas
Yeah, I think it's a wrong hat. That's better.
- [05:07]
J. Skeets
Talk now. Oh, there we go.
- [05:08]
Tas Melas
Yeah, there.
- [05:09]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, now you can look super smooth.
- [05:11]
J. Skeets
Okay, we're fired up here. What a day. Look, let's. Let's talk basketball here. New season, new merch. I want to remind everyone our latest no dunks shirt crew neck. It's up. It went up yesterday. People are already gobbling this one up@nodunks.com. our friends at Breaking T have a promotion going on. 25% off this item. Either the shirt or the crew neck if you use the code nodunks25. So again, go to no dunks.com or hit the link in the show notes to get that. God, that pops. Oh, my God, you're right, Taz. I mean, Trey. I guess it was Trey yesterday saying the small logo on the front, big ball on the back.
- [05:52]
Trey Kirby
We have big balls. Yeah. Looks cool.
- [05:56]
J. Skeets
And I had somebody reach out to us. TK slid into the DMs. JD you know them well. Shoe for Shoe Fury.
- [06:04]
Tas Melas
Oh, yes.
- [06:05]
J. Skeets
Did your custom kicks.
- [06:06]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [06:06]
J. Skeets
Over on the other shelf. I said, hey, I can paint a basketball. I'll paint that basketball for you.
- [06:12]
Trey Kirby
You can paint a shoe, you can paint a boat. Everybody always says that. Excellent. That'll be very cool to have in here.
- [06:17]
J. Skeets
Yeah, he did say explicitly, you can't dribble it. You can't use it. Okay. Okay. We'll. We'll obviously have it on the table or somewhere. Decoration. So anyway, thank you.
- [06:26]
Tas Melas
Because it wears off the paint.
- [06:29]
J. Skeets
All right. Well, it is a ball. All right, so we have some fun today. We're going to draft some bold predictions that you guys made on our substack page. But before we get to that, some NBA news got some extensions to talk about. Nuggets guard Christian Brown has agreed to a five year, $125 million rookie contract extension with the franchise. I am pretty sure this deal has no team or player options, but Nuggets take care of some business here right before the deadline tests.
- [06:57]
Tas Melas
This is a great fifth guy to have in your starting lineup, and he proved it last year. Bigger role, became more efficient. Now you add Cam Johnson beside Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, and I think the attention will be all on those guys. I think he's shown that he's pretty good at attacking closeouts. He can drive. Obviously, he loves fast breaks. Like, he is just the perfect guy to have there as. As your fifth guy. He showed it. I mean, he led the league in fast break points per possession. What is that stat? I don't really know. But going into it, I mean, he scores six points a game in transition. So Jokic will get those boards and feed this guy, and then they're ready to go.
- [07:36]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [07:37]
Tas Melas
And yes, and he's just ready defensively. But because Cam Johnson is there and had 11 drives per game last year, Jamal Murray looks Better. Aaron Gordon looks good. Working with Jokic, Christian Brown showed that he can be a very, very good complimentary player. You know, down the peg, obviously, like he is not going to be, hey, I'm going to break you down type of offensive player. But when those other guys create space, he will be able to take the space that he gets. And I think there'll be plenty of it. The guy's super durable. He's missed only nine games in his three year career. That's part of what you're paying for. He's shown that he's really, really great.
- [08:16]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, Nicole Jokic is the new Steve Nash. He just gets guys paid. Look at all of the players who have played alongside Jokic who have gotten gigantic contracts. Jamal Murray, like, he might have done it on his own, but it definitely helps being part of the 12 game. Michael Porter Jr. Got paid. Bruce Brown got paid. KCP got paid. Now Christian Brown is getting paid as well. And this is a great deal for the Nuggets. It's like 13 to 14, 15% of the cap through age 29. And this is a guy, like T said, who has improved basically every single year and also was great in the NBA Finals as a rookie. Like, he's a perfect support piece for this Nuggets team. He's one of their better defenders. You know, Aaron Gordon takes the bigger perimeter sort of players. Christian Brown takes the smaller guys. And I think he does a pretty good job. He could be a better defensive playmaker. Like, he doesn't get a ton of deflections. He doesn't get a ton of steals or blocks, but he holds his own on that end. Great in transition. Knocks down three pointers. You got to do that playing alongside Jokic. He could probably stand to take some more three pointers. That would definitely help the Nuggets. But they knew when they let KCP go last year that Christian Brown was going to be ready to start. He started, he was great. Now they've done the good work of getting him paid and improving their bench, replacing Christian Brown off the bench, basically because he took KCP's spot. But they never had anything to address the bench. Now they got a better bench. Question is, could they have gotten him for cheaper? Like, if they let him play out this season, he goes into restricted free agency. Maybe they could have maybe got him for like $20 million a year, which would help their books long term because they are kind of locked into their team now. They're going to be an expensive team, but the good vibes are probably worth $5 million per season to have this deal done. Everybody on the same page ready to go at the start of the year.
- [09:58]
J. Skeets
Yeah. And if they believe he can continue to make even more of an offensive leap, which he might be able to. What did he average? 15 and a half points per game. Unbelievable shooting splits 58% from the floor. Basically 40% from three. He's good at the line, 83% from there. You brought up the fast break points.
- [10:14]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [10:14]
J. Skeets
He gets out there. He's obviously super athletic. You play with Jokic, run man, he's going to find you. But you said it, tk they are all in on this starting five here. These guys, Jokic, obviously the huge paycheck. Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Brown and Cam Johnson. What I like about that though is like they all get paid accordingly. Like it's sort of the pecking order. It like goes down, down, down, down, down. Jokic to Jamal to Christian Brown and then Cam Johnson slots in there. The one guy they didn't reach the rookie extension with was Peyton Watson. So that is one name that didn't sign right before the deadline. And you know they'll have decisions to make. But they also think they're a championship contender, as we all believe as well. Especially when they showed up the bench a little bit.
- [10:53]
Tas Melas
Yeah. And Christian Brown obviously improved the efficiency, improved on as a bigger role. So this guy's a kid. So they feel like he will get better. I mean, he's 24, so he still has his prime years left. But it feels like Nikola Jokic ain't going anywhere. Maybe I'm just being optimistic after signing a guide now to a five year extension where he'll be there for six more seasons because it starts next year. Jamal Murray's going to be there for at least four years. Aaron Gordon, at least four years. If it just feels like you're satisfying Nikola Jokic with all his supporting guys, Cameron Johnson is probably the next guy that they have to sign as long as he fares well these next two years. And I imagine he will. But that starting five is fricking fantastic to go along with the bench, as Trey mentioned. So the Peyton Watson thing I'm not so worried about. They're deep enough, but he's. He's a solid young player at this point.
- [11:50]
J. Skeets
Any other thoughts on the Nuggets or we can move to Dyson Daniels.
- [11:53]
Trey Kirby
Anybody wants Zeke Naji? He's like the only bad contract on the books. We'll see if anybody takes him and Peyton Watson. Take him or leave him. I think is kind of the idea here. Like if you can outplay your contract, we can sign you in the summer and if not, good luck to you.
- [12:10]
J. Skeets
Well, Hawks all defensive guard Dyson Daniels has agreed to a four year, $100 million rookie contract extension with the franchise. This happened yesterday, of course. Daniels won the NBA's Most Improved Player. He was runner up for defensive player of the year and he finished with a whole bunch of steals, 229 steals last season, the most in a season by any player since Gary Payton back in 95, 96. Start with you on this one. T.K. daniels, four years, 100 million.
- [12:38]
Trey Kirby
He has the same agent as Josh Giddy and he got the exact same contract. 4 years, 100 million. I don't know who you would take, Giddy or Dyson Daniels. They both have their strengths, both have their weaknesses, but just the same as Christian Brown. 13 to 14% of the cap. But Dyson Daniels is a lot younger than Christian Brown. Dyson Daniels signed through age 26. So the Hawks if he sticks around for the entirety of this contract, we'll have to pay him again. Kind of a flip side player as Christian Brown. Daniels is a great defensive playmaker. He makes incredible plays down in clutch time. He's a steals guy, he's a deflections guy. He turns defense into offense and that's kind of his best way of scoring. He did take a step forward I thought on the offensive end last year. Could stand to get a little bit stronger, finish better inside the shot is still a work in progress, but he's a pretty good playmaker I think so Is he like a point guard of the future for the Hawks? If things don't go well this season, Trey Young decides to look elsewhere. I don't know about that, but you could call him like a timur on that side. He's not going to be a scorer, but he can create for others I think he could outplay. This deal could be worth more than $25 million a year. And as kind of the Hawks fourth guy in the pecking order. Pretty good, yeah.
- [13:51]
J. Skeets
According to the Athletic, the Hawks had pushed for Dyson Daniels to take a five year deal in the range of around 23 million. But in the end they took one less season. Daniels and his team took one less season on the contract with that slightly higher average annual value at the 25 million there for the 4 for 100. But you know the Hawks were like well what about five for a little bit less? But they sort of compromised on this test.
- [14:14]
Tas Melas
It seems like a Very good deal for Dyson Daniels because you know he's going to be incredible defensively. It's just fun watching this guy defensively being able to get in the space of an offensive player and then, yeah, that initiates his offense, which surprisingly he got way more efficient at. He did get better at playmaking. He is more of a secondary playmaker as opposed to a point guard. Yeah, I don't think you can ever call him a point guard. That's not really his forte. But he got better at shooting the ball. He got better at this three point percentage which we were. We all wondered is he going to be a good three point shooter now? He's a little bit below average, but I think here, just going through his third year in the NBA where he got such an increased role, to see that efficiency jump. I think you're buying in. As you said, Trey, he's a young dude. I'm totally fine thinking that he's going to get better. And he said he worked a little bit more on his mid range game this past off season, which he never really shot incredibly well at. But he's getting. I think he can get better offensively. So I got no worries about this guy. I think it's a better contract than Josh Giddy. Knowing that on the defensive end, you literally can put him on anybody, on anybody.
- [15:26]
J. Skeets
Definitely helps.
- [15:27]
Tas Melas
Yeah, he's incredible.
- [15:28]
J. Skeets
Yeah. Both of these rookie extensions are like great in my opinion because you said it, TK it's like these are like in theory your third, maybe even your fourth best player on hopefully a good team. You're laughing if that's at 13, 14% of the cap space moving forward for these guys. You know that they're both. I'm talking about Christian Brown here and Dyson Daily. They're both energy guys. They both just slot into good teams, great teams. They sort of like continue to improve. Just like no brainers here for both these. And this is wild for Dyson Downs. When you think about like before he was on the Hawks last year, there's no way we would have been projecting him to get this type of payday. There's like not a chance because we hadn't seen it yet. Right. And we didn't maybe didn't think he even had it in him, the offensive growth. We didn't know he's that good a defender. So what, a year in Atlanta and then he gets paid here.
- [16:14]
Tas Melas
Yeah, the Pelicans needed to give him a bigger role to see what he had and unfortunately they did not. They moved on and here we are. It's a conversation. A contract we talked recently about with Keegan Murray, who hasn't shown a lot of improvement. He needs to be beside better players like some of these guys, like Dyson Daniels is, like Christian Brown is. And maybe he'll be better, but unfortunately he dropped off because of the Sacramento King situation. So we'll see there. But Dyson Daniels doesn't look like he's ever going to drop off.
- [16:46]
J. Skeets
Are you basically saying you're not?
- [16:48]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right.
- [16:51]
J. Skeets
Are you saying you're not as high on the King?
- [16:54]
Trey Kirby
If you want to be pessimistic, you would say he had one good season, right?
- [16:56]
Tas Melas
Sure.
- [16:57]
Trey Kirby
Yeah. And he shoots under 60 at the line.
- [16:59]
Tas Melas
Yeah, that's true.
- [17:00]
Trey Kirby
So can he actually shoot? We'll see.
- [17:03]
J. Skeets
Fair point. Are you not as high on the Keegan Murray deal? Yeah, maybe now that these other ones have come in at lesser money.
- [17:10]
Tas Melas
Well, he's got to be on a better team. No. Yeah, it's slightly. It's more money, lesser. Yeah, you're right. You're right. Am I? Well, the whole King situation is just. Is the bigger problem in Sacramento than, than the one contract. But I, I think Dyson, you know, he moved up to 34 at. From 3. Yes. The, the free throw percentage is. It's an odd one, that's for sure. It's not good. No.
- [17:36]
Trey Kirby
Which is usually Rondo like, player, like he's a great passer, has good vision, makes some crazy passes. You know, Rondo was a better player for sure than Dyson Daniels, but the shot never came around for Rondo. I don't really think Daniels is a threatening shooter. He shot, what'd you say, 34? That's under league average. I'm sure all of his shots are wide open, but they need somebody who can guard on the perimeter to play alongside Trey Young. Also, he's got a brother coming to the NBA.
- [18:00]
Tas Melas
Dash.
- [18:01]
Trey Kirby
Dash Daniels.
- [18:02]
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah, great name. Wow, what a name.
- [18:04]
Trey Kirby
You thought Dyson Daniels? Yeah. Yeah.
- [18:07]
J. Skeets
It's a fair point about Daniels. We're basically getting at like, is there any worry he's an awesome, incredible all defensive guy, but is there any worry that he'll be played off the floor in a playoff series? And we just don't know because he's played like a handful of minutes in the playoffs back in the Pelicans days. Yeah, like we got to get there with the Hawks and like, I'm not as concerned that that will be the case, but I get what you're saying like Izzy, who was a prime example of that, that was like, like Tony Allen, like, I mean he's a better offensive player than Tony Allen. He's got more touch, more feel I think on the offensive end. But that's what we're getting at. So we'll see.
- [18:44]
Trey Kirby
Well, that's why they signed Nikhil Alexander Walker. Is it going to be a problem when Nikhil Alexander Walker is closing games over Dyson Daniels? Because I think that'll happen sometimes it's going to be somebody's going to have to sit down. Reese Lachey, Daniels, Nikhil Alexander Walker, these are all guys that the Hawks are invested in that are played basically the same position.
- [19:01]
J. Skeets
Yeah. So we'll see.
- [19:02]
Tas Melas
Yeah, I don't think that Dyson Daniels four and a half assists per game is just going to go away. I think he can handle, he can pass. So yeah, he's not an incredible shooter, but again, getting close to 3 point percentage to league average. I think he's one of those guys that, yeah, you'll leave open, but he's going to shoot it and then he can play.
- [19:20]
J. Skeets
Make do we know if Dash Daniels plays just like Dyson faster because of his name or what's going on?
- [19:27]
Tas Melas
I think he's played rugby in his, his past, so he's a tough because he's an Aussie. Dyson did not though.
- [19:34]
J. Skeets
Dyson did not.
- [19:35]
Tas Melas
He did not.
- [19:36]
J. Skeets
That's fascinating. Wow.
- [19:37]
Tas Melas
Surprising.
- [19:38]
J. Skeets
Yeah, like with his build, the way.
- [19:41]
Tas Melas
He plays, you're like, yeah, he can rough anybody up.
- [19:44]
J. Skeets
That's very weird. All right. Finally, in deals that got done, Pacers forward Aaron Neesmith agreed to a two year $40.4 million contract extension with Indiana through the 2829 season, plus a trade kicker. So, you know, this was the max that he was eligible for. And the Pacers and Niecemith and his team get it done. TK Thoughts on 2 year 40.4 for NeeSmith?
- [20:10]
Trey Kirby
Great deal. I mean he's getting paid less than Christian Brown and Dyson Daniels and he's a fifth starter on a good team. So I think that's pretty good work for Indiana. He had that awesome 15 point fourth quarter against the Knicks last year. Watching it in New York, one of the greatest moments in my life seeing these Knicks fans get destroyed. Oh, so good. So good.
- [20:32]
J. Skeets
That was at the game. We went eight for nine from deep.
- [20:35]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, yeah. And then Halliburton hit the crazy jumper as well. But this guy kind of reclaimed his career playing in Indiana as well. Found himself as a player after two Seasons in Boston where he looked like maybe he's not going to get a big contract after his rookie deal figured out. I can play full court defense. I can foul guys up and down the court for the entirety of the time that I'm out there and make three pointers. You'll get paid if you can do that. If you buy into your role, people will give you $20 million in the NBA.
- [21:02]
Tas Melas
I love how the Pacers just haven't given up on their entire rotation, frankly. Here we go. Let's do it again. You see it sometimes in the past where you have a good team and then you start to tear it apart. We see the Boston Celtics, obviously, they had one more year after winning the championship and you just tear things apart. We saw the old 2011 Maz and start tear things apart. This team is the same team.
- [21:25]
J. Skeets
Well, they lost Miles Turner.
- [21:26]
Tas Melas
Yeah, they lost Miles Turner.
- [21:28]
J. Skeets
It's a pretty notable.
- [21:29]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah.
- [21:30]
J. Skeets
You know, guy leaving.
- [21:31]
Tas Melas
This is totally true. Yeah. What a mistake I just made. Yeah. But otherwise the same unit. This is the time where guys in the front office, they do their books and they. They did it extremely well here. Just looking at what they have going forward for several years, everybody is paid other than Miles Turner. And it's the same team you're going to see out there, who's going to. They're going to tough it out. I imagine 3 and D player gets.
- [22:02]
J. Skeets
Thrown around a lot in the media. Hell, I did it yesterday when comparing to Mani Camara's sort of new contract extension and his role to J.D. mcDaniels and Herb Jones and so on most of the time. Again, I'm admitting this. Like, we're sort of stretching the definition to me, though, Neesmith, that guy has proven he's a 3 and D guy. You said it. Trey picks up guys, full court, super aggressive. He's always given the top defensive assignments. We saw it in the playoffs. Be it Brunson, he's got. He's playing Giannis at times. He's played Garland like he can play small guys, big guys. And then last year's Postseason, he shot 49.2% from three seam. Said in one of his tweets, the best by any player in a single postseason with at least 100 threes attempted in NBA history. That's the definition of a 3 and D guy. So congrats to niece Smith. Well deserved and not bad. Like you said, Trey, like you're comparing it to other guys. That's good.
- [22:56]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [22:56]
J. Skeets
20 million for him. Yep. You know what?
- [22:58]
Trey Kirby
You're an established guy who's done it in the playoffs and done it in the Finals. Shot 53% against the Knicks in that series.
- [23:05]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [23:05]
Trey Kirby
Also, he's the only guy in the league, I think, that has just the bottom of the goatee. He looks like he should be in the movie Swingers.
- [23:12]
J. Skeets
So it's like soul patch.
- [23:14]
Trey Kirby
Soul patch is just like underneath your lip. He just has just the bottom part.
- [23:18]
J. Skeets
Oh, right. Yeah.
- [23:19]
Trey Kirby
No, no mustache.
- [23:20]
J. Skeets
Yeah. It's a hell of a look.
- [23:22]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [23:23]
Trey Kirby
He looks like the guy that says this place is dead. Anyways, right before they leave.
- [23:29]
J. Skeets
Any other thoughts on Niecemith and the Pacers?
- [23:31]
Tas Melas
Well, I just love watching paying a guy to start an NBA game. 20 mil is totally reasonable. I mean, it really is.
- [23:39]
Trey Kirby
Yes, it is. Nowadays.
- [23:43]
Tas Melas
Yeah, it does sound wild. But they have literally the. The six guys who are their core guys. Siakam, Halliburton, Nemhard, Toppin, Neesmith and McConnell together for at least three more seasons, including this coming season. So it's the same squad. Pritchard did the numbers extremely well. The next guy up is Ben Matheran to see. We'll see. You know, he's just signed through this year. He's playing for a contract they didn't extend him. So here we are with Ben Matheran, who as we'll get to our predictions a little later, I'm sure some people are predicting him as either most improved or six man because he's going to have the opportunity to score without Halliburton on this team. And Doug, here we have the Limu.
- [24:26]
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- [24:35]
Tas Melas
It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.
- [24:39]
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J. Skeets
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Tas Melas
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J. Skeets
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- [25:21]
Julian Edelman
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- [26:09]
J. Skeets
Rockets got new deals done for Jabari Smith Jr. And Kevin Durant this summer, Tari Eason ended up as the odd man out. So we were wrong on this one. We thought after the KD extension that, you know, Tara Eason was up next one probably get it done before the deadline. But nope. Seam said both sides could not bridge gaps on multiple fronts and so E will become a restricted free agent next off season. TK I assume you were surprised because we were talking about it yesterday. We thought it would probably happen, but what do you think?
- [26:38]
Trey Kirby
Well, it's surprising just because Kevin Durant did take a discount. So it seemed like that money was being saved for Tar Eason for this to happen. But I think this is a combination of a few things. Number one, Tar Eason betting on himself. If you follow anything he says on Twitter or that his mom says on Twitter, this guy thinks he's a multiple time all star in the waiting. Maybe he is. Maybe he's overvaluing himself a little bit similar to a Kaminga situation. I think another thing you can throw into the mix is that the Rockets, like we talked about yesterday, have been negotiating with their guys like they got Shangun at a discount, they got KD at a discount, they got Jabari Smith at a discount, probably they said, Tari Eason, we've got your number, we want to give you that number wasn't what Tari Eason wanted. So he says, I'll play out the season assuming I can outplay it. Go either get a restricted free agency deal somewhere or the Rockets just decide not to match it. And I think this is probably smart for the Rockets. Eason is an injury guy, unfortunately played at 82 games his rookie year, but he was hurt in college, 22 games his second year, 57 games last season. So let him play, let him stay healthy. The market can dictate what he's worth and then they can sign him to a deal is a team going to pay him more than like Christian Brown got more than $25 million in the summer. I think that's unlikely, but I think that's probably what Eason and his crew are looking for. So this is just how it goes sometimes. You can't win every negotiation.
- [28:00]
J. Skeets
I just, I wonder for Eason and his team here making this decision. Again, we don't know the exact numbers that the Rock is offering but like is there going to be enough of an opportunity in this loaded Rockets team here for him to actually play and shine and warrant a restricted offer to that they men then maybe match or whatever? Like that would be my one concern here.
- [28:20]
Tas Melas
Yeah, I assume there will be. Just because of who they've signed. They have a giant team. They need wing players to get out there and play. I think he has that capability, I'm sure.
- [28:30]
J. Skeets
And he's strong defensively, which we know Udoka loves.
- [28:33]
Tas Melas
So ridiculously strong defensively financially. I think he looks at a couple things. He sees Jabari Smith getting a monster extension and he probably sees that money and says I want something similar. Or Fred Van Vliet, his teammate who always said bet on yourself. Maybe rubbed off on him to some degree, but I thought it would happen considering what Raphael Stone has been able to do financially. But then you start to look at some of these contracts like the Steven Adams extension, the Clint Capella contract. The money has gone to elsewhere with.
- [29:06]
J. Skeets
This roster and Amen Thompson needs an extension next summer. And I'm sorry Tari Eason, but he's a much higher priority.
- [29:15]
Trey Kirby
Well, I think that's part of it is that Tari Eason, he's a good player, but he's kind of a luxury for the Rockets. Right? Like they have four guys ahead of him in the pecking order. They signed Dorian Finney Smith who plays the same position as Tari Eason. It's very reasonable. He gets squeezed.
- [29:32]
Tas Melas
Yeah. The Rockets fan base is now saying would you rather have Jabari Smith or Tar Eason because of the contract extension that Jabari Smith just got slightly different players. Jabari Smith, incredible shooter, a little bit of a better shooter than Tari Batarison, a better perimeter defender. And so yes, they've paid a lot for Jabari Smith for a long term contract. Well, Terry Eason could be gone next.
- [30:01]
J. Skeets
Season or this season. He's a name to watch, potentially being moved if there is no opportunity and a team like sees his potential. A guy average 12 and basically 12 and 7 last year. And he is a good defensive player. So I could see a team wanting him. Like a team that's obviously rebuilding sees him as a piece. I mean, not all that dissimilar to what happened with Cam Whitmore leaving. There's just so many guys. I had it in my show notes when we were doing Friday's podcast about which player will be traded. Like we were talking key players and I had Tar Eason down, but I was like, I thought he was going to sign this extension, so I thought it's probably unlikely, but maybe not now. Maybe a team will come knocking with enough to offer the Rockets.
- [30:38]
Tas Melas
It seemed like he was part of the Raphael Stone and front office plan. See you later. Cam Whitmore we're moving on from Jalen Green, but in came Dorian Finney Smith and yes, he has been put down on the pecking order.
- [30:51]
J. Skeets
Bit some more injuries for you guys. Injury Update 2.0 we did Injury Update 1.0 yesterday, but here's some names. The Bulls Kobe White he is out at least two more weeks with a calf injury. He hasn't played at all, I believe, in the preseason, so he's been nursing that. So it's going to be into the regular season here. He'll miss some games. Grizzlies new guard Ty Jerome he's sidelined with a calf strain. That's a huge blow for The Grizz and OKC's Jalen Williams JDub he is out as he still rests and heals his surgically repaired wrist. Not a surprise we knew this, but he's going to miss some time here at the start of the season. Wrist rest, wrist rest. Shaden Sharpe's shoulders Williams Wrist rest William no.
- [31:35]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [31:37]
J. Skeets
Well, that one's somehow tougher. That's tough, man. Any thoughts on either of these?
- [31:43]
Trey Kirby
TK who's playing for the Grizzlies, I guess, is the main question for me. John Morant Still a question mark if he's coming back. It doesn't feel like he's going to miss a ton of time. Maybe he's ready for the season opener. But we know Ty Jerome is down. We know Scotty Pippen Jr. Is down for a couple of months at this point. So it looks like jaw. Well, I'll pencil them as their starting point guard even if it's, you know, week two of the season. KCP Jalen Wells Luckily, Jaren Jackson Jr. Is back and then Jock Landale is starting while Zach Edie comes back from surgery for laxity of the ankle. That sounds not great. It's like your ankle is just Lazy, lazy. Tightening up.
- [32:28]
Tas Melas
Yeah, I know, right?
- [32:29]
Trey Kirby
They're like, you've sprained your ankle so many times, we just gotta tighten it up. It's like tighten your shoe tighter. But inside they still got Santi Aldama, their new draft pick. Cedric Coward, Gigi Jackson, Cam Spencer. They still have bench guys. So I don't know. You know, going through our over unders, we're talking about picks that we regret. Look at Memphis, they were 39 and a half on Fanduel. I'm like, that's still reasonable. Even though they've lost two of their rotation players, at the very least they've got some centers who are out that we've talked about. So the Grizzlies, everybody gets hurt on this team at all times. You go back and look at some of their rosters over the past couple of seasons and they're like 30 names long. I don't know what's going on in Memphis for people to be hurt all the time, but it's piling up right now. I guess you would rather have guys injured at the start of the season rather than the end. But they then therefore have to make it to the end of the season and we'll see if that happens.
- [33:25]
Tas Melas
Yeah, as you said, they do have a bunch of bench players. They are really strong wing wise but they have lost a couple ball handlers and a couple big men. Brandon Clark as well along with Zach Edie out long term here to start the season. Then you got Pippin and Ty Jerome who will be reevaluated in four weeks. So he could be out long term. But you're Gigi, you're Jalen Wells, you're Cedric Cowards. There's. There's a bunch of wings to help out. So that 39 and a half over under, that's Ron's doable I guess but the point guard it. This position does hurt that they've lost them because Scotty Pippen, 12 weeks reevaluated. We'll see what happens. Tight drum, at least a month reevaluated. We'll see what happens. And John Morant, yes, he's back now but he just did get hurt in training camp. He could get hurt again. And who is his backup now?
- [34:16]
J. Skeets
It's not good. Not a great start. I. I can't remember what you guys. I was team under on I was over Grizzly 39.
- [34:21]
Tas Melas
I went over.
- [34:22]
Trey Kirby
Okay, go to instagram.com no dunksink here.
- [34:26]
J. Skeets
So rough start there for the Grizz and these other ones. Yeah, couple weeks or at least couple games for Kobe, White and J Dub. Yeah, OKC is not going to be rushing to get him back.
- [34:34]
Tas Melas
No.
- [34:35]
J. Skeets
Take your time, man. We're good.
- [34:38]
Tas Melas
It is interesting what Jalen Williams said after everybody found out that he had was it 30 shots during the playoffs last year just for pain tolerance. Now going into this year, he basically says my right wrist isn't, hasn't allowed me to shoot. I have to learn to shoot again. I mean, I'm, I'm summarizing in a different way, but he's basically saying like I can't shoot right now. So how long is it? How long doesn't seem like it's going to be a game. It seems like it's going to be a little longer.
- [35:06]
J. Skeets
I think so. And again, they're not. There's no rush. They're going to still win games and they're going to like we want you back when obviously it matters most and.
- [35:15]
Tas Melas
You took the under so that helps the 62 and a half under, right?
- [35:18]
J. Skeets
I'm only cheering for injuries.
- [35:21]
Tas Melas
I know it feels.
- [35:23]
J. Skeets
I love J. He's one of my favorite players. So hopefully gets back soon. All right, well, we're going to get to some drafting of your bold predictions, but first a quick break from Peloton.
- [35:33]
Tas Melas
Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Peloton Cross Training Tread plus. Powered by Peloton iq. I was kind of locked into my workouts like when I do a Rebecca Kennedy 45 minute strength. Her focus gets me focused. But this new product has got more locked in potential because the new Peloton Cross Training Tread plus is Peloton's most elevated equipment with real time guidance and endless ways to move alone or with your favorite instructors. It's cross training reimagined with features designed to make your workout more personal. Peloton IQ provides intelligent strength coaching. It tracks your progress and suggests weights that challenge you so you can get stronger. And the new movement tracking camera allows Peloton IQ to count your reps and correct your form in real time, taking the guesswork out of your workout so you can train safer, lift smarter and make every rep count. The new Tread plus comes with a swivel screen so you can go from running on the Tread plus to strength training or yoga off it with one smooth spin of the swivel screen. No more straining to see a screen little swivel for you. It offers endless ways to train for a well rounded routine. Pelton IQ creates a personal workout roadmap with weekly recommended Classes led by instructors who match your mood, vibe and personality. For me, it's Becca, Jess S and Adrian Dub. That's my squad. With personalized plans plus insights and guidance. Peloton IQ helps you unlock new breakthroughs. Peloton is built for breakthroughs. Let yourself run, lift, sculpt, push and go explore the new peloton cross training tread +@1peloton.com all right, we're here in the classic factory.
- [37:06]
J. Skeets
If you're joining us live on YouTube, hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners, five star ratings and reviews and the stream team here I see voting on a poll that we had up. We're doing all that contract extension talk a little what you got when it comes to three players that were name dropped and have signed deals this summer or just the last day. Christian Brown, Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey. Who you got from the. What you got? And right now, Dyson Daniels with 53% of the vote. But it's still live. Anything could happen.
- [37:35]
Trey Kirby
Wow. Dyson Daniels has taken the cake, huh? Yeah, I'm a little surprised by that.
- [37:39]
J. Skeets
Oh, you thought it would be who.
- [37:41]
Trey Kirby
I thought it would be? Christian Brown.
- [37:42]
J. Skeets
Okay. Wow.
- [37:44]
Tas Melas
Dustin is definitely the highlight leader. Just in terms of narratives. Out of all these guys, you're telling me you're not.
- [37:52]
Trey Kirby
You're undervaluing. Josh Giddy making a half court shot to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. Lose Cooper flag in the draft lottery.
- [37:58]
Tas Melas
No.
- [37:58]
Trey Kirby
Number one play of the year according to the NBA's YouTube page last year. Excuse me. Yeah, he puts up the biggest numbers for sure.
- [38:05]
Tas Melas
Yes, he does.
- [38:05]
Trey Kirby
He's the only one of these guys that could potentially be an all star.
- [38:08]
J. Skeets
I would say, this season or just moving forward in their careers.
- [38:13]
Trey Kirby
Moving forward in their careers.
- [38:14]
Tas Melas
Yeah, actually, because he puts up the numbers. Yeah, but the great barrier thief leads those YouTube headlines and those stories. Just the things he does. He ended a game stealing it from dear and fox. It ain't a half court shot against the Los Angeles Lakers, but it's an important play. Yeah, I don't think I'm biased just because I'm in Atlanta. I think they were sexier leading the league in deflections and steals three per game. So who takes more of the headlines, more of the stories? It's not Christian Brown.
- [38:46]
Trey Kirby
No, it's not Christian.
- [38:47]
J. Skeets
Although yes, he's always good for a huge monster poster or two. He'll have one or two of those. But no, not him. That's a funny question though. This is why it's a good poll. They're red all around there. There's no wrong answer.
- [39:00]
Trey Kirby
Exactly. I think they should all be at about 33. You can't really make the case for any of them. And also kind of funny, Daniels and Giddy. That's the Australian national team backcourt.
- [39:09]
J. Skeets
Yeah, right, right, right. Christian Brown is.
- [39:12]
Trey Kirby
We got one guy who can only play offense and one guy that can only play defense. Put them together again.
- [39:17]
J. Skeets
Just a super player when you put them together. Okay, let's get to some drafting. Bold predictions. Yeah. After weeks of recording NBA season preview pods, we're officially open. All prognosticated out, at least when it comes to ours. I think, you know, we've done over unders. We've done the award predictions, we've ranked teams by tiers, we've done the burning questions. Today we turn it over to you. We're drafting your best predictions. That's right. We asked our paid subscribers on Substack to look into their crystal balls and to be brave and be ridiculous and be bold when it comes to your predictions. The people came through. Shout out to everybody on substack. And so we're going to draft our favorite one. So we're all, we're all pulling from the same same comment section of that post on Substack. How many rounds you want to do?
- [40:06]
Tas Melas
Four?
- [40:07]
J. Skeets
Five?
- [40:08]
Trey Kirby
Yes.
- [40:09]
J. Skeets
Okay.
- [40:09]
Tas Melas
We'll see how it goes.
- [40:10]
Trey Kirby
Four or five sounds good to me.
- [40:12]
J. Skeets
Here's what we're doing. Tas, you're just going to start this one. I started the last draft. We did. We'll go. You first, Trey second, myself third. We'll just keep it going around the horn. We'll make our picks again. These are your predictions and we'll talk them out. So, Tas, you have the number one pick in the drafting Bold predictions.
- [40:30]
Tas Melas
I saw this one and I couldn't help but jump in on it. Steph Curry smashes the three point record in one game.
- [40:38]
J. Skeets
This is bold.
- [40:39]
Tas Melas
Eighteen threes.
- [40:41]
J. Skeets
Whoa, whoa.
- [40:42]
Tas Melas
On route to a 60 point game from Travis O. Now the record, it's 1418 would be ridiculous.
- [40:49]
J. Skeets
Wow. Come on.
- [40:50]
Tas Melas
I mean, I'm more, more of the idea that Steph goes and gets this record for himself rather than the 18 over the current 14. I'd be fine with the 15.
- [41:01]
J. Skeets
That'd be fantastic.
- [41:03]
Tas Melas
But, but still, I just like this idea that Steph, it just takes this record that belongs to him and you can't help but think of 20, 24 in the Olympics, in the finals and what he was doing to end that game. And thinking 48 minutes with Al Horford dishing to you as you run circles around the other team. It makes sense. So. So you just want to.
- [41:28]
J. Skeets
Curry retires. For him to have this record. That only feels right. I mean, I would agree with you.
- [41:33]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [41:33]
J. Skeets
Clay. Clay has it at 14.
- [41:35]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's a 18 from Travis O here.
- [41:40]
J. Skeets
That's full. That's brave. That's probably ridiculous.
- [41:43]
Tas Melas
Yeah, that's why it works.
- [41:43]
J. Skeets
Plus 15. I mean, he hit. Didn't he have two games where he hit 12 last year?
- [41:47]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I mean, that's right. He's second.
- [41:50]
Tas Melas
He's second on the.
- [41:51]
Trey Kirby
The leader list, right.
- [41:53]
J. Skeets
Yeah. I mean, the thing is, he could do it. It's like, just whether they really wanted to do it, you know, like himself, his teammates, and Steve Kerr and the coaching. Like, Steph Curry could have a game where he shot 45 threes.
- [42:08]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah.
- [42:09]
J. Skeets
Who would never be like, cool, man. He'll probably hit 18 of them. Like, it's fine. Like, of course he could get there. It'd be funny to see how the defense would try and react to that.
- [42:16]
Tas Melas
But anyway, yeah, I love it. Steph isn't retiring this season, so I. I don't know if it's like Kobe going for 60. Yeah. And Kobe's last game where it was just Kobe. This is your ball, sir. Go get it. This is. Stephen still has a couple of years left, but still. Just do it now again without Horford. Literally, it's Al Horford and Jimmy and Draymond. Just give him the ball. Yeah. I don't know how many he has to shoot.
- [42:43]
Trey Kirby
You know, I would guess at least 20 plus. Yeah, yeah.
- [42:47]
J. Skeets
And to hit 15. Yeah.
- [42:48]
Trey Kirby
Oh, to hit 15.
- [42:49]
Tas Melas
Yeah, sure.
- [42:50]
Trey Kirby
So three times in NBA history, a player has taken 20 or more threes. And, you know, just looking at basketball reference, it looks like Curry has done it the most amount of times. No surprise. I guess James Harden is in the mix as well. It would just have to be Seth deciding, I want to go get the record. But playing with Jimmy Draymond and Al Horford is the way to do it. Cause those guys are very much like, we can feed the hot hand. And we understand the system is anytime Steph is open, get him the ball.
- [43:15]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [43:15]
Trey Kirby
You saw that with Jimmy last year was like, he fit right in at the pass it and suddenly just hand it right back to him. Cause you fall asleep for a half a second. That'd be cool to see. I'm with you. I hope Steph Curry has every three point record when he Retires.
- [43:27]
Tas Melas
Absolutely.
- [43:27]
J. Skeets
All right, that one is off the board. Trey, you have the next pick here.
- [43:33]
Trey Kirby
This might be controversial. I'm going to take three predictions in one.
- [43:36]
J. Skeets
Go, go nuts.
- [43:37]
Trey Kirby
Yeah. This is Alfie Muckle and Josh Shanes all said something similar. Alfie says Victor Wembanyama will not only nab a coveted five by five, he's going to do it twice. Muckle says Evan Mobley ends the season at the head of the MVP table with a repeat DPOI award and the MIP Player award. That would be amazing. He also adds what I'm mentioning here. He records a five by five before Wemby and Josh said Flag and Wemby will Both record a five by five in the third Mavs versus Spurs matchup this season, which is February 7th in San Antonio. I will be locked in.
- [44:11]
J. Skeets
He's calling a shot for the game.
- [44:13]
Trey Kirby
He is calling a shot for the game. But the reason I take this with my first pick is we only talked about Wemby as a guy who could get a five by five. And will he do it? We all assume, yeah, he will do it. The fanduel odds kind of lean that way as well. But that's what I'm wondering is what other players could do a five by five. Nurkic has one, Jamal Tinsley has one. It happens with other dudes. I think Flag is a reasonable bet on that. You know, he's seems to be a guy who can fill up the box score. Evan Mobley, I think as well. I was kind of surprised how many 5 assist games he had. Most of them coming last season. As he became a bigger part of the Cavs offense, he took a step forward on the offensive end as well. Other guys I would throw in the mix. J Dub, I think is a five by five candidate. Scotty Barnes and Giannis, because that guy does everything.
- [44:59]
J. Skeets
Yeah. What about Dyson Daniels?
- [45:02]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [45:03]
J. Skeets
You know, he'd have to get some of those. Those like steel blocks, you know, where.
- [45:07]
Trey Kirby
It'S like, hold on, which was it?
- [45:08]
J. Skeets
Yeah, right, right, right. And then maybe another one where it's like a bang, bang block. Because he just happens to get a guy in inside. The blocks will be tough for him.
- [45:15]
Tas Melas
Yeah, the blocks would be tough. He had four at his high last year.
- [45:19]
J. Skeets
Okay, okay, okay. I like the guys you named. Yeah. Scotty Giannis. Okay, so who goes first? So you're just taking. I like that you're taking the 5x5.
- [45:26]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [45:27]
J. Skeets
Prognostication a little off the board. Okay. Anyone else to add to the 5x5 potential. Call your shot.
- [45:36]
Tas Melas
Did you say Anthony Davis?
- [45:37]
Trey Kirby
I didn't say it. He has one.
- [45:39]
Tas Melas
He has one.
- [45:39]
J. Skeets
Yep.
- [45:40]
Tas Melas
Yusuf Nurkic has one.
- [45:43]
Trey Kirby
He's gonna be a big part of this. What about Shen Goon Sengun? Yeah, I think the blocks would maybe be the hardest part for him.
- [45:50]
J. Skeets
Yeah, probably. Yeah. Because he's got active hands, so I could see the steals being easier.
- [45:55]
Tas Melas
He's got active hand, obviously.
- [45:59]
Trey Kirby
Hey, if I look at your basketball reference and your career high steals and blocks is five. You're in the mix for me.
- [46:04]
J. Skeets
Okay. Just all come together on one night. Okay. I love it. All right. I have the next pick here in the first round. When it comes to your bold predictions, I'm going to go with a Rookie of the Year prediction from Ramez. Vijay Edgecomb will lead all rookies in scoring and win Rookie of the Year over Cooper Flag due to his larger role on an injury plagued 76ers roster. Okay, here's his thinking. Dallas has one of, if not maybe the deepest team in the league when it comes to bigs especially, which could ultimately hurt Cooper's numbers and his ranking on the Rookie of the Year big board. I like this. Yeah, this is bold. Everybody's thinking Cooper Flag is going to win it. I mean, we all picked him when it came to our predictions. I get it. He's going to be good. He's going to be on a decent team. He's going to fill up the box score. But I'm a huge VJ Edgecomb fan. He's going to start and this team is perpetually injured on the Sixers, so maybe he just gets a bunch of opportunity and puts up monster numbers. And if Embiid's healthy and stuff like that, maybe they're not brutal. I like it. I like it. So I'll take that with my first pick.
- [47:10]
Tas Melas
He's a very capable player, will have the opportunity. It sure feels like in Philadelphia makes sense. And everybody picking Cooper, you got to pick something else. The Dylan Harper option is also a decent option for sure.
- [47:23]
J. Skeets
Ace Bailey. If you're talking scoring, he could score a lot.
- [47:27]
Tas Melas
He could. Do we care if the Utah Jazz have a poor record?
- [47:30]
J. Skeets
No. Doesn't matter at all. None. When does it ever matter for Rookie of the Year? It matters some degree, maybe. If there's a race that you're like, oh, yeah, these guys are almost identical, but this team's won 20 more. Yes. Then that's got to be the last thing you care about for Rookie of the Year. In my opinion, they're the Best rookies because they go to the shittiest teams generally. I know the Mavs are an exception, jumping all the way up to number one. But I'll take EdgeCo.
- [47:57]
Tas Melas
That's a good one.
- [47:58]
J. Skeets
Okay, second round, here we go.
- [48:02]
Tas Melas
I'm definitely.
- [48:04]
J. Skeets
I didn't know if that was coming or not.
- [48:05]
Tas Melas
Yeah, that's what I was. I'm interested in. And the Phoenix Suns. I've started to jump on the train a little bit. Not only from everyone's predictions out there, but just from the Internet. Loving the Phoenix Suns potential here. So I went with Espo's prediction.
- [48:24]
J. Skeets
Homer.
- [48:25]
Tas Melas
Yeah, there's some homers out there. I didn't repeat yours from. Just also, Ramez also made a Phoenix Suns prediction, so I got him out here and went with Espos. The Suns will win more games than last year, surprise the NBA and make the play in with Booker being the second team. All NBA. All good. All good. And there's some. There's some potential there that Jordan Knott creates a locker room along with Dylan Brooks and those dogs in there to win some games. Playing is a very, very, very, very bold prediction.
- [49:04]
J. Skeets
It's a lofty goal in the west.
- [49:06]
Tas Melas
But to finish 10th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference. I know it doesn't sound very bold when you say it that way, but at the same time, you gotta be better than a team like the Grizzlies, the Spurs, maybe. The spurs maybe. Or depending who's dropping down, there could be a bad Clipper season. You never know. So then making the plan would be a huge, huge accomplishment. And listen, I'm starting to buy into the. The camaraderie, the chemistry in there, because I think Devin Booker is a hungry leader this season. After last year, he was asked what he could improve on from last year. He said everything. Just see us last year, we stunk. So there's that part. I mean, 36 and 46 is what they were last year, if I'm not mistaken. So they have to win, you know, high 30s to make the play in.
- [49:58]
J. Skeets
I had this one on my list here to draft from because I'm intrigued, too. I took the over when we did our over unders with the Suns, I think. Yeah, obviously a whole new makeup to this team and just expectations completely lower, too. Maybe they surprise people on any given night. They do have some dogs. Devin Booker is still good new coach. It was like people are refreshed. Maybe I could see them winning just over 36. Yeah.
- [50:22]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, that's not a great season. Yeah, they can easily win 39 games and get into the 10th seed. That's what the Mavericks did last year. I mean, the Western Conference is better, but an under 500 teams still made it into the play in tournament. So I, you know, it's not about wins and losses this year for Phoenix. It's about successes. And I think that would be a mild success if they're better than last year. Even though the names on paper look like a talent downgrade, if you're playing it even one post season basketball game better than it went last year. As long as there's a smile on.
- [50:52]
Tas Melas
Your face, I think, yeah, yeah. I think if they finish 36 and 46, it's a better season than last season.
- [50:58]
J. Skeets
Just what I think they need one more win. 3745. I'm in on that. That's better.
- [51:04]
Tas Melas
The expectations are extremely low.
- [51:07]
J. Skeets
So Trey, you're up next.
- [51:10]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I'm going to go to Simon here who said Jalen Brunson will have a 20 assist game.
- [51:16]
J. Skeets
I love it. I wanted this one. I like it.
- [51:18]
Trey Kirby
That's Good. How many 20 assist games were there in the NBA last season?
- [51:21]
J. Skeets
There were no. There was more. There was more. There was. Jokic got one at the end of the season.
- [51:26]
Trey Kirby
There we go.
- [51:26]
J. Skeets
Trey Young probably got one last year.
- [51:28]
Trey Kirby
Three.
- [51:29]
J. Skeets
Damn.
- [51:30]
Trey Kirby
22, 20 and 20.
- [51:32]
J. Skeets
There's a weird one.
- [51:33]
Trey Kirby
There is a really weird one. I'll tell you. There were six total 20 assist games last season. You got Jokic, you got three trays. There's a guy who.
- [51:41]
J. Skeets
Giannis had one.
- [51:42]
Trey Kirby
That's right. 20 assists. And then there's the weird guy.
- [51:45]
J. Skeets
I got it. Alfred Payton.
- [51:46]
Trey Kirby
That's right. Nicely done.
- [51:48]
J. Skeets
That's early.
- [51:48]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [51:49]
J. Skeets
Yes. We talked about.
- [51:50]
Trey Kirby
I don't remember exactly what time. I think, yeah, he had a 21 assist game. He just came back out of nowhere. They're like, you're from Louisiana. Come play for a. Yeah. And he had 21 assists. So if he can do it. If Yousef Nurkic can have a 5 by 5, Jalen Brunson can have a 20 assist game. His career high in assistance lists is 17. Now, the interesting part of this is that by all accounts, the Mike Brown system is going to be more egalitarian than the Tom Thibodeau system. Thibodeau basketball was, we give Jaylen Brown the ball, he dribbles it for 20 seconds and either takes a fade away or finds somebody for an assist. That's a good way to goose your numbers. So maybe playing for Mike Brown means less on ball opportunities for Jalen Brunson, but maybe it also means better offense in general, which could lead to assists for him. The Knicks are a good enough team outside of Brunson at converting his passes that I think it's reasonable he gets to 20 assists. I just personally would bet against it. Him having a 20 assistant, that's a lot.
- [52:52]
J. Skeets
So many.
- [52:52]
Trey Kirby
It's a lot.
- [52:53]
J. Skeets
Yeah. I like it, though. I had it on my list here to draft as well.
- [52:56]
Tas Melas
I do wonder what Jalen Brunson will become under Mike Brown, because it is supposed to be more of a hey, get off the ball. Mike Brown working under Steve Kerr, just seeing what they did. That being said, Brunson did take a step back last year after he was an MVP candidate the year before. He took three fewer shots last year. He was off the ball a little bit more. How much can Mike Brown get this guy to move off the ball? I'm sure Jalen Brunson is willing to do it.
- [53:28]
J. Skeets
It.
- [53:28]
Tas Melas
So it is interesting. 26. A lot of sis. I'm surprised that we had six games. You said.
- [53:33]
J. Skeets
You said Trey Young did it three times. Wow, wow, wow. That's amazing. All right, I have the last pick here in the second round. I'm going to go to the Boston Celtics for this one. I'm going a bit of a crazy one. Dan lan. In our substack, he said, quote, the Celtics collapse and Joe Missoula goes insane. Think Martin Sheen from Apocalypse Now. The NBA has to step in for player safety after a press conference where Missoula slices his hand open and spreads his blood on the table. I like it, Dan. I like it. I can see it with Crazy Joe trying to send some sort of message here, him going nuts because maybe the Celtics are struggling. But yeah, collapse. Look, it's obviously a stretch. I did take the under. I am one of these guys. I think they might struggle more than some do. Maybe they're still good. We have. Hell, we have some predictions where it's like, the Celtics are going to be awesome. Maybe we'll get to them. Maybe we'll get drafted. But I love the idea of Joe Missoula just going insane because they're struggling.
- [54:29]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [54:29]
Trey Kirby
FanDuel has minus 250. Joe Missoula most likely coach to bleed at a press conference. Doug Christie, second and Rick Carlisle.
- [54:39]
J. Skeets
Wow. Yeah, wow.
- [54:40]
Trey Kirby
Surprising, but not surprising that Missoula would be the leader.
- [54:44]
J. Skeets
No, no, no, no.
- [54:45]
Trey Kirby
He's.
- [54:45]
Tas Melas
He.
- [54:45]
Trey Kirby
They played that pickup game against the beat writers, and afterwards he said, I don't want a Stage for my press conferences so we can all be eye to eye together. And we're going to do it again. He's like, we're going to keep playing against each other and we're going to keep beating you, beating you, beating you every time. They'll never take it easy on the beat writers. This guy's so crazy, man. He's just a good character to have in the league.
- [55:08]
J. Skeets
He is, yes.
- [55:09]
Tas Melas
All right, we got to just watch. I want to watch NBA games, but I also just want to watch coaches versus the media throughout the league.
- [55:17]
J. Skeets
There's a lot of talk of one happening with the Raptors I saw over the last little bit.
- [55:21]
Trey Kirby
Nuggets are going to do it.
- [55:22]
J. Skeets
Oh, great.
- [55:22]
Trey Kirby
It's going to catch on.
- [55:23]
Tas Melas
Nuggets are officially doing it. Yeah. Our man Will Lou asked Darko Rajakovic about it, and Darko said, yeah, I'm up for it. And Darko said, you think you can guard me? Literally got into. You can see.
- [55:38]
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah. They're psychos. They're all competitive.
- [55:43]
Tas Melas
Well, I don't know. I don't know. If I call a coach a psycho, I would.
- [55:46]
J. Skeets
I'd call them more psycho than most people.
- [55:48]
Tas Melas
The 30. The 30 coaches, I mean, we can rank them by psycho level. Joe Missoula, easily.
- [55:53]
J. Skeets
You gotta be a psycho to take that job, let alone be in an NBA. And most of them are NBA, former NBA players, or at least college athletes. They're all psycho, dude. They're all competitive, psychotic, crazy people. In the chillest coach. The chillest coach was always Don Nelson. But who's the chillist?
- [56:13]
Trey Kirby
Nick Nurse has the guy guitar.
- [56:15]
J. Skeets
He's not very chill.
- [56:16]
Trey Kirby
I don't think so either.
- [56:17]
Tas Melas
Throws himself around on the side.
- [56:19]
J. Skeets
He needs the guitar. That's his therapy.
- [56:21]
Trey Kirby
Yes, that's a great point.
- [56:23]
Tas Melas
Yeah. Spra is intense.
- [56:25]
J. Skeets
Mike Brown, he's pretty wild, though. You see him running.
- [56:28]
Trey Kirby
He's good for like a hilarious press conference every single year.
- [56:31]
Tas Melas
I don't know if he's psycho. Quinn Snider seems like, no, no.
- [56:35]
J. Skeets
Oh, my God. Oh, guys. Okay, we'll think that anyway.
- [56:40]
Trey Kirby
Chillest coach, so.
- [56:41]
J. Skeets
But okay, so we're gonna get these media versus these coaches and assistant coaches games that' until somebody inevitably tears their ACL or an Achilles, either from the media or maybe one of these coaches that it's like, well, that's it for that.
- [56:56]
Tas Melas
Do you think it's a concern if a media member tears his acl?
- [56:59]
Trey Kirby
I mean, Andrew Schle last year playing around with his sons, right?
- [57:04]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [57:05]
Tas Melas
You got to sign a waiver before you start playing if you tear your acl.
- [57:09]
J. Skeets
No, I thought I said what about if the coaches, though?
- [57:12]
Tas Melas
Oh, coaches. Yeah.
- [57:12]
J. Skeets
It's more of a pain in the ass, I guess.
- [57:14]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [57:15]
J. Skeets
You know, it's going to make travel a little more difficult. Wasn't.
- [57:19]
Trey Kirby
Wasn't there a coach that had a, like a bad injury last year and they had the.
- [57:22]
Tas Melas
Well, Chris Finch was on that.
- [57:23]
J. Skeets
That's what it was.
- [57:24]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [57:26]
Tas Melas
That was hilarious.
- [57:27]
Trey Kirby
Dangerous, man. They're like, they have like, back him up from the sidelines.
- [57:30]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah.
- [57:31]
J. Skeets
He had to sit second row, didn't he?
- [57:32]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [57:32]
J. Skeets
So he didn't get like, bumped into.
- [57:34]
Tas Melas
Yeah. And Doug, here we have the Limu.
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J. Skeets
Cut the camera.
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Tas Melas
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- [58:35]
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- [59:23]
J. Skeets
Okay, where are we? We are at the start of the third round. Tass, you have the board.
- [59:30]
Tas Melas
I'm going to join the club of of drafting some odd ones. Here. This one from Jamie. The NBA cup is so ignored that the finals never happen and no one notices.
- [59:42]
J. Skeets
Get out of here. Jamie.
- [59:44]
Tas Melas
We Will not let that happen. Maybe we'll be there, maybe not. We'll see. But, yeah, it's.
- [59:54]
J. Skeets
So Jamie. Not a fan.
- [59:56]
Tas Melas
I understand Jamie's not a fan because the NBA cup has been anointed as important. I understand that. Just out of nowhere as Adam Silver has created it. That being said, I don't think it's going anywhere. Number one, I think people will still talk about. I think Adam Silver did a good job of placing something in the season where there is more eyeballs on different leagues prior to Christmas here. So I think it does make sense. Although I hear what Jamie's saying. There's some. There's some tension out there. I can't wait. I can't wait to see a cup.
- [60:31]
J. Skeets
Starting even earlier than normal now.
- [60:33]
Tas Melas
Starting in October.
- [60:35]
J. Skeets
Mad early. Yeah. We have cup games at the end of October. You're right. Like final week of October. So let's get into it.
- [60:41]
Trey Kirby
I haven't seen the courts yet, though. No, we had stripeys. We had circles.
- [60:47]
Tas Melas
I have seen what shape is next.
- [60:49]
J. Skeets
We were hoping triangles.
- [60:50]
Trey Kirby
That'd be cool.
- [60:50]
J. Skeets
This last designed by Matt Austin himself.
- [60:53]
Trey Kirby
Doodle mode.
- [60:54]
J. Skeets
Doodle mode in his triangles. Yeah. Yeah.
- [60:57]
Tas Melas
We have seen designer Jeff Hamilton somewhere, though. What's he up to?
- [61:03]
J. Skeets
We saw him personally.
- [61:04]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, he was somewhere. I can't remember where he was.
- [61:06]
Trey Kirby
I don't know what he's specifically up to, but I guarantee he's designing a leather jacket. Wherever he is, he's putting a lot of patches on it, and he's figuring out a way to get it to these guys for the NBA Cup. Top six in odds according to FanDuel, not really that surprising. The top five. Thunder, Knicks, Cavs, Nuggets, Magic. Okay, number five at plus 1100. And then the Atlanta Hawks plus 1300. Number six in NBA cup odds.
- [61:34]
J. Skeets
Okay.
- [61:35]
Trey Kirby
It's usually been veteran teams that win this. It was Lakers first. It was Bucks last year. Both teams decided, we are not celebrating after this. We got to take it seriously. Well, wait, I think it's the other way around. Didn't the Lakers celebrate and then they.
- [61:49]
Tas Melas
Had a bad season and then they.
- [61:50]
Trey Kirby
So then the Bucks, like, we are not celebrating. And then after that, they lost. Lost in the first round of the playoffs as well.
- [61:54]
J. Skeets
So what are the odds on the Clippers?
- [61:57]
Tas Melas
They both struggled immediately after winning the NBA Cup.
- [62:00]
Trey Kirby
Hey, Clippers plus 250025 to 1. There you go.
- [62:03]
J. Skeets
That's my NBA cup champion.
- [62:04]
Trey Kirby
Perfect. Yeah. Warriors are up there, too. They're an older team. Yeah, I. I wouldn't I think those are both solid bets.
- [62:10]
Tas Melas
Yeah, those old guys are not partying in Vegas while the younger guys might.
- [62:14]
Trey Kirby
Interesting.
- [62:15]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [62:16]
J. Skeets
All right. NBA cup is ignored. Drafted here in our bold prediction.
- [62:20]
Trey Kirby
We respect the cup here.
- [62:21]
J. Skeets
We sure. All right. Trey, where are you going?
- [62:24]
Trey Kirby
I'm going with die, Mr.
- [62:26]
J. Skeets
Bond.
- [62:27]
Trey Kirby
Remember that?
- [62:28]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [62:28]
Trey Kirby
Remember Tweet of the Week shoutouts.
- [62:31]
J. Skeets
Yes.
- [62:31]
Trey Kirby
Die, Mr.
- [62:32]
J. Skeets
Bond.
- [62:33]
Trey Kirby
Rubio balls. What are you up to, big crocodilega? We gotta find some of these guys because some of them have made their way to our substack. No dunks. Substack.com. i like what die Mr. Bond says here. Steph Castle is going to have the highest dunk score this year.
- [62:48]
J. Skeets
Okay, first off, we're not calling him Stephen.
- [62:51]
Trey Kirby
Steph Castle.
- [62:52]
J. Skeets
What's wrong with that? No, we have a Steph. He's the greatest shooter of all time. I can't do it. I'm saying no right now. I'm getting ahead of it.
- [62:59]
Tas Melas
I'm a Stefan.
- [63:00]
J. Skeets
His last name's Castle, too. Yeah. And he's got a cool name overall. Yeah, no, I don't like Steph Castle. I'm saying it. Okay. Yeah, I like. Yeah, there you go.
- [63:09]
Trey Kirby
Stefan Cassel.
- [63:10]
J. Skeets
But I like the prediction.
- [63:11]
Tas Melas
Like Steve Urkel.
- [63:14]
J. Skeets
Highest dunk score.
- [63:16]
Trey Kirby
The thing I like about Steph Castle's dunk scores is a two foot jumper. He's always a two foot jumper. He started putting together a real nice dunk reel heading into the contest last year. Skeets and J.D. i know you saw the one against the Pacers over in Paris. He had a big timer, so he probably actually was probably. I don't know, he probably had some in the top 10, I would imagine, from last year. But yeah, he's a little bit of an underrated dunker, I think. And he's kind of gotten lost in the shuffle. I feel like with the San Antonio Spurs. Kind of a weird situation with Stefan Castle in that they drafted him last year. All the talk was, I'm a point guard, I'm a point guard, I'm a point guard. Then they traded for a point guard, then he won rookie of the year and then they drafted another point guard. Now I'm kind of like, how does this guy necessarily fit on the team? Because he's a talented guy. Maybe he doesn't get drafted as high if he's in a more well regarded draft, like 20, 25 was. But he still seems like an important piece. But I just wonder if he's a long term core guy for San Antonio. I think they're still in the find out phase, but you can see him getting lost in the shuffle. I think with Fox signing the gigantic contract, they're going to be invested in Harper. He looks really good as well. How does Castle fit into the mix for San Antonio? I think it's a good question.
- [64:31]
J. Skeets
Yep.
- [64:32]
Tas Melas
After last year watching him, he seemed like he was okay being a secondary playmaker and that's what he excelled at. He wasn't necessarily a point guard. Now you draft Dylan Harper to go along with de' Aaron Fox. I think in theory, I think it works. But is he cool with that? And San Antonio makes sure everyone is cool with that, so I think it could work very well.
- [64:51]
J. Skeets
Good news for your actual prediction here from die Mr. Bond. I believe Castle already eclipsed 100 on a dunk in the preseason. Trey Kirby, they do dunk score in the preseason. You know, I got my eye on it and it was a huge dunk. And you're right that the jumping off two feet, obviously because of his build and his size. I forget who it was on, but it was, it was nasty. So this could be true.
- [65:13]
Tas Melas
Cool.
- [65:13]
J. Skeets
Always going to be tough to beat. I think like a shade and sharp. Anthony Edwards, always good for a monster dunker, too. There's other guys, but he'll be in the mix. Castle, good prediction. Had it on the list.
- [65:23]
Tas Melas
Yeah. I wonder if he goes back into the dunk contest this year. He's that good.
- [65:27]
J. Skeets
Probably not.
- [65:29]
Tas Melas
I mean, he was good. He was sexy.
- [65:30]
J. Skeets
Yeah. I just say probably not because most guys are like, look, I did it, man. I don't want to do it again.
- [65:35]
Trey Kirby
Mac McClung won the dunk contest again last year.
- [65:37]
J. Skeets
That's right. Yeah. And then he was on your bulls for like 45 minutes and then he was waived.
- [65:42]
Trey Kirby
G League mode. Yeah, exactly.
- [65:44]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [65:46]
J. Skeets
So I can't wait to see him in the dunk contest again when he gets. Obviously he's got a two way contract.
- [65:52]
Trey Kirby
Call him up. Call him up.
- [65:54]
J. Skeets
All right, my pick here in the third round for your predictions, I'm going with Dylan Horner who said, quote, Cole Anthony explosion. He'll average 18 and six a game and he's going to win sixth man and most improved. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Dylan, I was sort of almost with you until you threw out both awards. Just pick one of the awards or the other. You know, sixth man or mip. But anyway, I like it. Cole Anthony you keep talking about. Giannis loves it.
- [66:24]
Tas Melas
He does.
- [66:24]
J. Skeets
There's going to be a potential chance. I mean, they got other guys that they're Going to be starting?
- [66:28]
Tas Melas
Oh, yeah.
- [66:29]
J. Skeets
But you never know because of injury. He's got some years unders, you know, in his career here. He knows he's had moments where he's had monster, monster performances and he is good. But can you string it together over 82 games? I don't mind it, though. This is far fetched. 18 and 6 would be an amazing season. Anthony.
- [66:46]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it seems like they're going to push Kevin Porter Jr. To play a lot of minutes at the starting point guard spot. It seems like Ryan Rollins is going to take a lot of minutes. So how many does Cole Anthony get? 18. Six is nuts. It's. It's big. But then you start to hear some of the talk going around the podcast world, the media world, Gilbert Arenas and friends saying that the Milwaukee Bucks got to be a top three team in the Eastern Conference. They got to be a top three team. There's no doubt they've got Giannis. Now, they don't go name any of their point guards or any of their wings when they, when they do this analysis, but Giannis, along with Miles Turner, I mean, they don't, they don't mention the Orlando Magic or the Detroit Pistons or anybody who could be third. It's the Knicks Cavs. And then people see Addison, that he's going to do well. Now, he could make Cole Anthony a good player, but Cole Anthony starting. I'm not even sure if he's going to even smell a starting role on that team.
- [67:36]
J. Skeets
He better not. I need him to win 6th man of the year. Cole Anthony explosion. One more round, one more round, one more round. When it comes to bold predictions, Here we go. J.D.
- [67:49]
Tas Melas
Listen, I don't think this is all that bold. I think this is literally legitimate that Luca could average 35, 10 and 10. That's it. Huevos Bancheros coming out with that.
- [67:59]
J. Skeets
Wow, what a. That's a great fantasy basketball.
- [68:02]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [68:03]
J. Skeets
That's amazing.
- [68:05]
Tas Melas
I was also very excited.
- [68:07]
J. Skeets
Yeah, I was excited.
- [68:07]
Tas Melas
Just say that name.
- [68:10]
J. Skeets
35, 10.
- [68:11]
Tas Melas
Now that's a lot of points. That's a freaking lot of points. I do think he leads the league in scoring. I don't think there's a question about that. Okay. About 35, 10. 10 is giant. I mean, how close has he gotten? He's gotten to 33.9, 9.8, 9.2.
- [68:27]
J. Skeets
Pretty good.
- [68:28]
Tas Melas
Yeah. Oh, God. Pretty close. Yeah. So could. He could get close. And so Huevos Moneros. I appreciate that. That's a good one.
- [68:36]
Trey Kirby
Underrated part of Luca's game. Is rebounding and they need him to rebound. So maybe I kind of think 10 boards is the hardest thing for him to get to. I think it's more reasonable. He averages 35 a game, but. But there's talent on the lakers. They got LeBron James there. Yeah, he's not playing right now, but.
- [68:52]
Tas Melas
Yeah, that's why I think the points are, yeah. Reasonable here to start the season. Austin Reeves looks good, Gabe looks good, but he's going to shoot as much as he wants. But you're right, the board seemed to be the toughest part because he should be able to average 10 dimes.
- [69:09]
J. Skeets
Trey Kirby, what's your final prediction from the people out there on substack?
- [69:13]
Trey Kirby
Tomer writes in and says 75 wedgies this season. Oh, wow, that's a high number.
- [69:20]
Tas Melas
Come on.
- [69:21]
Trey Kirby
Plus 50,000 on FanDuel.
- [69:23]
J. Skeets
Wow.
- [69:24]
Trey Kirby
To go over 75 wedgies last year, 48 wedgies. And I'm sad to report it's been 179 days since our last wedgie. We had John Conchar get one in the first round of the playoffs.
- [69:35]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [69:35]
Trey Kirby
And then no more after that. So it's been almost six whole months since we've seen a wedgie. Up or down. On getting a wedgie tonight on NBA opening Night on.
- [69:46]
J. Skeets
On NBC. Oh, on the cock.
- [69:49]
Trey Kirby
Who's calling the game tonight?
- [69:52]
J. Skeets
Good question. We just played who they work for and I already forget.
- [69:56]
Tas Melas
Yeah, but Tariko get it and jump in.
- [69:59]
J. Skeets
He's got Reggie Miller. Tarico and Reggie Miller is on one of the games. Yeah. And. And Jamal Crawford. I think that's a three man booth. I think. I don't know about the other game, but wedgie tonight, I'm gonna say no. Unfortunately.
- [70:14]
Tas Melas
If we're gonna get to 75, we gotta start strong.
- [70:16]
Trey Kirby
Yes, we do. The lake. Okay. Mike Tirico, Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford are on the early game, late game is Noah Eagle, Grant Hill and Ashley Shahmadi.
- [70:28]
J. Skeets
Okay.
- [70:28]
Trey Kirby
So I hope if it happens, it's in game two to see if Noah Eagle continues the family tradition of being excited about wedgies. And Grant Hill, he does love wedgies.
- [70:39]
Tas Melas
I agree.
- [70:39]
J. Skeets
Yeah, I'm a little worried about Tariko on the call with wedgies. I don't know what to expect.
- [70:45]
Trey Kirby
Great point. Never had to say it before.
- [70:49]
J. Skeets
So we'll find out. Hopefully we find out and see what he does. All right, I have the final pick here. I'm going to make a weird one because I'm really going against another prediction I already made because I talked about the Celtics collapsing And Joe Missoula going nuts. So let me, let me completely swerve MTR saying the Celtics are going to make 16 pointers and they're going to win the East. NBA casuals learn who Derek White and Peyton Pritchard are. Okay, there's been other. We had some other predictions about the Celtics like still being good and Jason Tatum comes back and leads them to like a finals run or something like that. I like that as well. So let's just lump those together. So again, this is the opposite side of the coin here when it comes to the Celtics. I generally don't believe this. I think it's going to be a bit of a down here. I think they might even make some business decisions when it comes to maybe a bit of a rough season. But hey, why not Casuals. Do Casuals know who Derek White and Peyton Pritchard are? I guess not. They probably don't. Nah, they will now. One of those guys will be an all star. Let's say here they both got drafted.
- [71:51]
Trey Kirby
In our first time all star draft, right?
- [71:53]
J. Skeets
Yeah, I took Pritchard.
- [71:55]
Trey Kirby
I think he.
- [71:55]
J. Skeets
I took White last year. Nice.
- [71:58]
Trey Kirby
14:57 Threes for Boston last season. That is the NBA record. So we're talking about another hundred and forty three more.
- [72:07]
J. Skeets
So they need another one and one and a half per game. I mean it's a lot.
- [72:11]
Trey Kirby
They got Luca Garza now, so I mean that helps.
- [72:14]
J. Skeets
Let it fly. Yeah, I like it. 1600 threes. That's what we're going to be watching here. Total three pointers for teams. Now we're watching. Wow.
- [72:21]
Tas Melas
Yeah. No, that's a good prediction. Threes because in the three seasons under Missoula, the three point shots have been 47.9% of their shots. 47% of their shots and it jumped to 53.5% of their shots. So could it jump to 56, 57. Whatever it takes to get there.
- [72:38]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [72:39]
Tas Melas
Okay. It's possible.
- [72:40]
J. Skeets
There it is. Our four rounds of drafting your bold predictions. Do you want to recap them or just leave it there? Everybody make note of theirs. Do you know what yours are? Yeah, like give the shorthand version of your predictions here.
- [72:53]
Tas Melas
So I'll give you a shorthand. Steph smashed the three point record in one game. You gotta do it. The Phoenix Suns are gonna be good. I mean better than last year. That's good for them. With no Durant, the NBA cup is ignored. That's not gonna happen. Jamie Huevos Banchero has given us a great one with Luca is going to average 35, 10 and 10. Sorry to Travis, oh, Espo and Jamie for not saying your name while I gave you the prediction. But I just want to say huevos bancheros.
- [73:26]
J. Skeets
Okay, tk, what's your team here?
- [73:29]
Trey Kirby
Cooper Flag and Evan Mobley get five by fives. Victor Wembanyama gets multiple five by fives. Jalen Brunson will have a 20 assist game. That one came from Simon Die. Mr. Bond said Steph Castle, please call me Steph. Will have the highest dunk score in the league this year. And Tomer says has 75 wedgies this season.
- [73:50]
J. Skeets
All right, and my bold predictions from you guys. Vijay Edgecombe of the Sixers going to lead all rookies in scoring and he's going to shock the world and win rookie of the year over Cooper. Dan Land says Joe Missoula is going to go insane. That's what I'm going to go with here. Right at a press conference. Specifically cut his hand open, spread blood everywhere. Dylan Horner, Cole Anthony explosion. 18 and 6 from Cole. Anthony is going to win one of the awards, either six man or most improved. And then MTR saying the Celtics are going to hit over 16 and they're going to win the east and we're going to learn at least the Casuals will learn who Derek White and Peyton Pritchard are because they're going to pop off. Love it. I did have one more. I saw from Ghostface Ziller a prediction he had in his newsletter this morning. I want to read it to you guys, get your opinion. Ziller's thinking this when it comes to the broadcasts. Peacock, NBC's presentation of the NBA this season is seamless and earns plaudits. So people are going to like it. Amazon prime set up up. They try to capture a bit of the TNT energy, but it's uneven. And the ESPN presentation is pretty similar to before, but Legler basically replicating Doris Burke style on the top crew. The inside. The NBA gambit on ESPN turns into the inside guys trying to see what they can get away with in the house of the mouse. I love that last part from Ziller. Is that where it's going to head with those guys?
- [75:10]
Trey Kirby
Oh, yeah.
- [75:10]
J. Skeets
See what they can get away with saying and doing.
- [75:12]
Trey Kirby
How. How willing are you to make it like it was at Turner Sports and how okay with Charles Barkley trashing your executives, are you? Yeah, because he is gonna say stuff.
- [75:26]
J. Skeets
I can't wait for that.
- [75:28]
Trey Kirby
How early does Chuck call at tnt? Like oh, oh God, immediately. I mean, he's Been working there for 30 years.
- [75:35]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [75:36]
J. Skeets
So quickly are gonna be like, what's different? It's the same people here, same makeup. We're in the same studio. Like, yeah, I do want to. I'm fascinated to see how much Ernie does try to reel them in when they start going with the who cares, we work at ESPN sort of vibe. Like, I don't know, Ernie could also be team who gives a damn? Or sometimes he, like, tries to keep control a little bit.
- [76:00]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [76:00]
J. Skeets
Can't wait.
- [76:01]
Tas Melas
Can't wait. Anyway, Charles is going to go from. I don't think we can work at espn. I mean, that's. I want to be able to say what I want to. Probably saying the same thing.
- [76:12]
J. Skeets
No, probably about it.
- [76:13]
Tas Melas
I don't think he ran.
- [76:13]
J. Skeets
No probably about it. He's going to say whatever he wants. And that's why we love him. Okay. The 80th NBA season tips off tonight. We got the doubleheader. It's the Rockets versus the Thunder, followed by the warriors versus the Lakers. We're getting the NBA on NBC. And that theme song, round Ball Rock, for the first time in more than two decades, at least. I mean, we've heard it, but obviously in real games here. I wonder if we get that intro part into the Round Ball Rock. Yeah.
- [76:47]
Trey Kirby
How are they gonna.
- [76:47]
J. Skeets
How are they gonna do it?
- [76:48]
Trey Kirby
We're all listening.
- [76:49]
Commercial Announcer
Yeah.
- [76:50]
J. Skeets
Yeah. We're gonna be tuned in tonight to these preseason shows. I guess let's start at 7:30. Maybe 7. I don't know. But we have pick em. It's back.
- [76:59]
Trey Kirby
Oh, yeah.
- [77:00]
J. Skeets
We're doing a pick' em payoff short month here for October. We got basically less than two weeks. We're picking games from. And we've already decided what it's gonna be. Short month troll man. Whoever finishes last in our October pick' em battle here, when it comes to picking games every night is gonna have to co host the show from underneath the table dressed as a troll.
- [77:24]
Trey Kirby
It's a short month troll man situation.
- [77:25]
Tas Melas
Of course.
- [77:26]
J. Skeets
Yes. Everybody knows that. Short month troll man. So that's what's at stake.
- [77:30]
Tas Melas
Yeah, I've done it before. I mean, you did a different way. Yes, yes, yes. So it feels like with my pick here on the first game that it's destined to happen one more time. So the two games, we're all 0 and 0, but I'm the only one. I'm the only one taking the Lakers at home against goals eight, Warriors. I picked that game because I thought it was a little bit more interesting than the Rockets. Visiting the Thunder with a seven point spread. Lakers at home to the Golden State Warriors. No, LeBron, obviously. They're a slight dog. Plus two and a half via FanDuel. I'm the only one taking the Lakers. It's essentially, yeah, the Lakers are going to take care of business at home. I just feel like that's the biggest thing that they're playing for. They're playing for the home court in the home opener. Can they do it without LeBron? I feel like it.
- [78:17]
J. Skeets
I feel like, look, now more than ever, you're going to want to get off to a quick start here in pick them.
- [78:22]
Tas Melas
Yeah. There's only nine games.
- [78:24]
J. Skeets
Once you get down two or three games.
- [78:26]
Tas Melas
Exactly, exactly.
- [78:28]
J. Skeets
It's a big one. It's a big game. With troll man on the line. What type of troll man are we going for with the costume? Are we going like the old 90s doll troll, Puffy hair, straight up hair, or are we going more like a storybook troll that lives under the berries and steals your shoes and stuff?
- [78:49]
Tas Melas
I think fairy tale is the way to go. I'm a little worried about the camera getting troll hair under the table. You know, whether it'll not. It'll be visible, but maybe I'm just reaching here.
- [79:00]
J. Skeets
Okay.
- [79:01]
Tas Melas
I mean, the troll under the bridge, what are we dressing him like?
- [79:04]
J. Skeets
Well, that's what I mean.
- [79:05]
Trey Kirby
I feel like dirty, I think. Uglier.
- [79:07]
Tas Melas
Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to dress.
- [79:09]
J. Skeets
Yeah. The. The troll, the toy troll was easier, actually. Sort of cute, right? Colorful.
- [79:15]
Tas Melas
Yeah, definitely colorful.
- [79:16]
J. Skeets
Yeah. But you're at 20 stage 80. Yeah. What do you want?
- [79:19]
Tas Melas
Maybe a bit of both. Both. You know, like.
- [79:21]
J. Skeets
Oh, wow.
- [79:21]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [79:22]
J. Skeets
Super troll.
- [79:22]
Tas Melas
Yeah. Like, you got the hair, but you also got the griminess, ugliness of a troll under the bridge. Yeah.
- [79:29]
J. Skeets
Okay, cool.
- [79:29]
Tas Melas
True troll.
- [79:30]
J. Skeets
And I think it's fair for that one episode when whoever is doing the troll man, like, the other guys could be mean to the troll.
- [79:37]
Tas Melas
Oh, yeah.
- [79:38]
J. Skeets
Okay.
- [79:38]
Trey Kirby
Okay.
- [79:39]
J. Skeets
Like, sort of like kick them and. Yeah.
- [79:42]
Tas Melas
You know. Yeah. The troll could be asking for, like, passwords and stuff to continue talking or something. You know what I mean?
- [79:47]
J. Skeets
Like, okay, good. Don't trolls do that? I don't know.
- [79:52]
Tas Melas
Know. Yeah, like the Three Billy Goats Gruff, they go, you know, you want to pass a bridge, you got to say the password. You got. You got to solve a riddle or something. I don't know. I'm not really well versed in troll.
- [80:04]
J. Skeets
The troll's oddly in control of that situation.
- [80:06]
Tas Melas
Yeah. Yeah. We need the. The troll has to be Punished. Yeah, great.
- [80:11]
J. Skeets
Kick the troll.
- [80:12]
Tas Melas
I like, just kick the troll.
- [80:14]
J. Skeets
Dumb point troll. All right.
- [80:17]
Tas Melas
Wear your dirtiest socks. You know what I mean?
- [80:20]
J. Skeets
Oh, for the guys that don't lose, you're saying.
- [80:22]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [80:24]
J. Skeets
Eat a bunch of beans the night.
- [80:26]
Tas Melas
Exactly. Farts and feet.
- [80:28]
J. Skeets
All right, fantastic.
- [80:31]
Trey Kirby
So tune in early November.
- [80:33]
J. Skeets
Going to be a weird show. Absolutely. All right, enjoy the games tonight. Super excited to have real NBA basketball back in our lives. We got the double header, so we got the ring ceremony there in okc. We got this new presentation from NBC. We got lots to talk about on tomorrow's show. Hopefully you'll join us live at 10am Eastern here on YouTube. Obviously flipped into a podcast. Hit the like button. Subscribe, podcast listeners, five star ratings and reviews. And until tomorrow, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.
- [81:00]
Trey Kirby
Have a great time. Turn up.
- [81:02]
J. Skeets
Love you guys.
- [81:03]
Tas Melas
Awesome. Thanks for joining us. And remember, Stefan Cassel is only the second Stephan in NBA history. History to Stefan Marbury. Yeah, of course. Will he be better than Stefan Marbury? I don't. We don't have to compare. We don't have to compare. But I, I do feel like. Should you. It's a good question. Should you call him Stefan or Steph?
- [81:28]
Trey Kirby
We never called him Steph Marbury. Very rare.
- [81:30]
J. Skeets
No, Very rare.
- [81:31]
Tas Melas
Yeah, it's true.
- [81:32]
J. Skeets
Hey, let us know. Brace the day people.
- [81:37]
Tas Melas
Thursday Night Football is on and it's only on Prime Video. That's gonna be on this week. The Minnesota Vikings head west to face.
- [81:45]
J. Skeets
The Los Angeles Chargers. They will take that all day.
- [81:49]
Tas Melas
Coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with football's best party, TNF tonight presented by Verizon. Not a Prime member. Not a problem.
- [81:56]
J. Skeets
Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial.
- [81:59]
Trey Kirby
It's the Vikings and the chargers Thursday.
- [82:01]
Tas Melas
At 7pm Eastern only on Prime Video.
- [82:03]
Trey Kirby
Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for T jumps.
- [82:07]
J. Skeets
Ah, greetings from my bath festive friends. The holidays are overwhelming but I'm tackling.
- [82:13]
Trey Kirby
This season with PayPal and making the.
- [82:14]
J. Skeets
Most of my money.
- [82:15]
Trey Kirby
Getting 5% cash back when I pay in 4.
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J. Skeets
No fees, no interest. I used it to get this portable spa with jets. Now the bubbles can cling to my sculpted but pruny body. Make the most your money this holiday with PayPal. Save the offer in the app ends 1231. See paypal.com promoter points can be redeemed for cash and more. Paying for subject to terms and approval.
- [82:35]
Tas Melas
PayPal Inc. And MLS 910457 what does.
- [82:38]
J. Skeets
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