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Jay E. Skeets (7:04)

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Tuesday, April 14, 2026. I'm Jay E. Skeets here on the Classic Factory. And alongside me, as always, Tas Melas.

Trey Kirby (7:16)

Oh, for those who love it when basketball gets testy, this one's for you.

Jay E. Skeets (7:21)

Next to him, it's my top shot, hot boy Trey. Kirby Ayo. Hey O. And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer jd Hello. There he is. Here we are. Hello to everybody on YouTube. Hello, podcast listeners. On today's show, we're going to talk Doug Christie. We're going to talk Mike Breen. We're going to talk Anthony Davis. That's all in the up down report, but we start with our NBA playoff previews and predictions. We're going to start with round three of the Nuggets Wolves. Yeah, it's the rubber match, baby. Nuggets beat Minnesota in five games in the first round of the 23 playoffs. But the Wolves exacted revenge in the 24 semifinals. They won that epic seven game series. Jamal Murray really kept in check during that series. Ken. Minnesota do it again this time around though. Denver, they've won their last 12 games coming into the postseason. They have home court advantage against Minnesota that sort of limped to the finish line. Big part of that was injuries, but 9 and 10 over their last 19 games. If you care. Denver won three of the four meetings against Minnesota this season, including the Overtime Classic on Christmas Day. Jokic with the triple double, 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists. Ant scored 44 in the loss. Hell of a game. Good game. Hopefully we have a hell of a series here. Let's break it down. We'll get to our predictions at the end. But what's one thing you're watching? TAS when it comes to Nuggets Wolves

Trey Kirby (8:45)

Round three, I'm starting at the top in terms of how the Minnesota Timberwolves try and slow down Nikola Yogic, which, which they can't do. But a couple years ago when they played in the playoffs against those Timberwolves and the Timberwolves won in seven games, there was a Carl Anthony Towns that they were able to throw at Nicola Jokic after Rudy Gobert went to the bench. This is different, obviously. No, Cat and you said those stats on Christmas. I mean the stats are ridiculous. Through the four games that they played this year, they're, they're bonkers. 36 points, 15 boards, 11 assists. The percentages 65% from the floor. Just think of that 10 shots he took. Six and a half were going in and then you pushed him out to the three point line. 50% of those were going in as well. 93% from the free throw line. And Cat did a good job at taking away space. The thing that Rudy does poorly against Jokic is he gives him too much space. He's one of those feel it out and able to recover and block guys. And Jokic just takes advantage of those situations. And if they try and get the ball out of his hands, Jamal Murray will kill him. Jamal Murray had his best season. I think that's clear to a lot of people. But I, I, I, I don't think his numbers are appreciated, especially technically. His catch and shoots are up 46% on threes. Off the catch, career best percentage. That's a good percentage. And off the dribble, just as good as he's ever been. So those two guys, I know it's super simple, but that's the important part. And I think the reason why they were able to beat the Nuggets a couple years Ago, the Timber Bulls were able to throw cat at him. And now when Rudy Gobert goes to the bench, are you going to try and throw Nas Reed, who's been really cool cold recently? You know, 28% from the all Star break, after the All Star break, from the three point line, it's scary. I know he's too tiny for Nikola Jokic, but how are they going to try it? They're going to try and throw Julius Randall at him. I just find it difficult to think that the Nuggets are going to fall out of this groove that they've been in, winning 12 straight games. Jokic cooking, Jamal Murray cooking. So I start at the top. I mean, that's the most important thing for me.

Tas Melas (10:47)

Yeah, Rudy's going to have to play basically every single minute that Nicola Jokic does. They'll probably be subbed at the exact same time. That's the thing that's pretty exciting about this series is that Jokic has dominated against the Timberwolves, Curry has dominated against the Timberwolves, and Anthony Edwards has dominated against the Nuggets as well. All the stars play well against each other because there's not great matchups. Like one of the best Jokic moments in his career for me is whoever's telling the story about Jokic going one on one with Rudy Gobert back in the Jazz days. And Rudy's like, I got him. We don't need a double. And Yogic just says to him, brother, I have 47. That's the kind of way Jokic plays against Gobert. He's gonna light him up. Absolutely. But it goes the other way as well. That's what I'm watching, is how does Denver possibly even try and guard Anthony edwards this season? 30 points per game on 50. True shooting, pretty good. Pretty efficient. Last year, 31 per game on 63 to true shooting. There's just no matchup for Anthony Edwards on the Denver Nuggets. Peyton Watson battling a hamstring injury. He hasn't played in a couple of weeks. That's bad news for Denver. Spencer Jones also battling a hamstring injury. Maybe he would get a chance on Anthony Edwards. That's bad news. So I'm thinking they're going to have to do some really funky stuff getting the ball out of Anthony Edwards hands. You look back at 20, 24 and the four wins that Minnesota had against Denver. Only 1.75 turnovers for Ant. That's awesome. In the three losses, four turnovers, he's been a little bit banged up. John Krasinski of the Athletics says he's as healthy as he can be right now and they just need Ant to be at playoff level because he's been a great playoff performer throughout his career and he's going to have an advantageous matchup. It's just a matter of how can he figure out how to be a scorer and a playmaker at the same time.

Jay E. Skeets (12:26)

Health is important not only for Ant, but some of these other Wolves guys too, I guess. Jaden McDaniels they're, they're convinced is sort of back to 100%. He had the bone bruise. Nas Reed, you brought up him TAs his shoulder injury and, you know, maybe improving here. Gobert and Randle even got some time off down the stretch. The Wolves are a funny team heading into the postseason because like I said, they're sort of limping into the postseason, but some of it's maybe by design. They sort of fell into their seating, didn't have a great year. I think we can all agree with that. I think most people thought they'd easily be a 50 win team.

Trey Kirby (12:56)

Yeah, it's a funny and they came up short because they got the same number of wins as last season. But it's a different ending for sure.

Jay E. Skeets (13:02)

But that lease like Anthony Edwards is a good example. Like he's played like 75 minutes over the last month. So yes, that was injury related, but also you get him some rest here. And this guy has proven to be a playoff riser. I mean, he's played in like over 30 playoff games. The numbers are awesome. He plays huge minutes. He's. His usage rate goes up and the Nuggets are going to have to try and slow him down. Like some people are saying, like this one's going to be sort of a cakewalk here for the Nuggets the way they're playing and being one of the championship contenders. But I don't think so. Like the matchups we've seen between these teams and just Ant alone, if he's at least close to 100% healthy, this is going to be another battle. I think here going long is my impression.

Tas Melas (13:43)

This could definitely be the best series in the entire first round of the playoffs.

Trey Kirby (13:47)

No doubt.

Tas Melas (13:49)

But I think the reason that people would look sideways at the Timberwolves is that they play to their competition. They're terrible against bad teams. They can be good against good teams. Denver is a really, really good team. We've seen Ant have an awesome round one, an awesome round two, and the conference finals. A little more hit or miss this is more like a conference finals level matchup with the Nuggets. But like you're saying, the Nuggets are pretty banged up. All of their most athletic guys, it feels like, are the ones going down with injuries. That's certainly a concern against Anthony Edwards specifically. And I mean, you got to worry about Aaron Gordon. I think he'll come up definitely in the X factors when we're talking about that. But yeah, I mean, these are two teams that have played each other a lot. They play each other pretty well. It did feel like the Timberwolves had the recipe for beating the Nuggets, but that was back when they had two seven footers. That's not the case now. So, yeah, it's exciting. I mean, this is pretty close to a real rivalry.

Jay E. Skeets (14:43)

Yeah, I think.

Trey Kirby (14:44)

And I think it's by far the best first round series. I know people say, yeah, The Timberwolves are 9 and 10. Their last 19 going to the playoffs. Well, last year they're 174 Cook it going into the playoffs. In their last 21 games, last quarter, their season, they're absolutely the best that they had been all season. Julius Randall was absolutely cooking going into the playoffs where people questioned Julius Randall, is this guy good enough? And then he started cooking. So I think it's way different this 49 win season than last year's 49 win season. So I'm, I'm sure people just cutting off the Timberwolves saying they're done. But Anthony Edwards, even though he only had 75 minutes, he's only played three games in a month. I mean, that's, that's, that's not a lot. It's one every three days. It's, it's just not a lot. But you watch him against the Rockets in their last game, he looked like Anthony Edwards. He looked so good. He wasn't turning it over. That, that turnover number so important going into the playoffs against the Nuggets team that isn't an incredible defensive team at the rim. We know that. We know Anthony Edwards can get what he wants. And then you go down the line. Jay McDaniels I think will be totally fine. I think Julius, they're all healthy enough to me, but at the same time, that other team is cooking. And that's why this is the best first round series, I think, by far. Because they have a rivalry and because Denver absolutely looking their best, I think.

Jay E. Skeets (16:01)

Let's do X factors. Get us started. TK who are you going with?

Tas Melas (16:05)

I hesitate to call him an X factor, but Julius Randle is The biggest question mark for me in this entire series and specifically for the Timberwolves. Just look at the playoffs last year. First two rounds, he was awesome. 24 points per game on 50% shooting, 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. Then in the conference finals against OKC, he was kind of back to the bad Randall. 17 points per game on decent percentages, but 15 assists to 18 turnovers. They need him to be a secondary creator because like I said before, I'm sure the Nuggets are going to do everything they can eventually to get the ball out of Anthony Edwards hands. Like, they'll probably play standard defense as much as they possibly can. Maybe Peyton Watson's able to go and he can move into the starting lineup eventually. But I do think they're going to have to scheme around taking Ant out of the game. And if that's the case, Randall will be able to attack. He'll have chances to create for himself, create for others. Like Task said, the Nuggets aren't a great interior defensive team, and that's somewhere that Randall can thrive. So they need him to be as good as he was the first couple of rounds of the playoffs last year because that was a huge question mark Coming over from New York, he's had some bad playoff series, and last year he kind of changed the story around him. And this year they need the exact same thing.

Trey Kirby (17:16)

Yeah, I'll. I'll go the other side. I'll go. Tim Hardaway, I think is. Is an interesting guy for the Denver Nuggets and that he had his best season. He averaged a ton against the Wolves this year, nearly 20 points per game against one team. It's shooting 61% from the floor and 55% from three. I mean, those aren't just fluke numbers. They're just good numbers. And our friend John Krasinski broke it down, like, literally game by game. Tim Hardaway was able to turn games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, game one against them. In that third quarter that they played, he had five threes, five for five from three. In the second game, that third quarter, again, just like in that first game where he went 5, 5 from 3, he had 13 points both in Minnesota. I think that's super important. There's something about that Minnesota water that Tim Hardaway plays really well at. He went. He went so deep. John Krasinski went so deep. I didn't realize this, that when he was playing with Michigan, they had NCAA tournament games in Minnesota and he was awesome. I don't know how he played well in the barn, as it was called. But he was super, super good. The Gophers just bring something out in Tim Hardaway. So on that side, that's. That's who I'm looking at. I mean, there's another one obviously on the Wolf side. I don't know if you're picking that side.

Jay E. Skeets (18:36)

Yeah, I got a few names. I mean, I was just another one on the Nuggets. Christian Brown is always sort of an X factor. I always go back to this game recently against the spurs where it was like, just leave him open, see if he'll shoot threes. That game he did. He took a ton. He took 11 three point attempts. He had five of them. You're going to live with that. But so many other games where he's 0 for 3, 0 for 4 and teams are going to dare him to shoot. I mean, you got to. You got to try. You're trying to take away Jokic, you're trying to slow Jamal Murray. That's going to leave somebody open. And Christian Brown is out there for defensive purposes and he's a good player and he's a winner, but he's going to have to knock these down with some consistency if he's left alone. But back to the Wolves. The big difference between this rivalry of these previous seasons, they didn't have these two guys in the Twin Turbos and they could be an X factor in IO Desumu and sort of Bones Highland here. These guys, they give them another like jolt, a boost off the bench there. Especially IO who's been great since joining Minnesota. 14 points per game, shooting 41% from deep. He just gets that ability to get out in transition and again, sort of give a little punch to the offense when they maybe get ant arrest or go away from him a little bit. But also I'd include Boden in there too, because they sort of both play that way, that energetic way, especially at home, that can like ignite a crowd and stuff like that. You rip off the 80 run and suddenly you're back in a game or blow open a game. So I look at them as the Wolves X factors.

Tas Melas (19:54)

Yeah, I like IO as an X factor and Bones as maybe a Z factor. Like IO has to play well every game of the. For the most part, I think he will be the guy that can really attack downhill. If the Wolves are getting doubled and somebody needs to make a play, that's where he thrives. Bones is more like, if he gives you a 25 point game, you better win that game. You're not expecting it seven times, but if it happens once, that's gotta be a game that the Timberwolves win. Because I do think that the Minnesota bench can be better than the Denver bench. I think the Denver starters are probably better, but the game can flip in that little bit there.

Jay E. Skeets (20:31)

Who has the most pressure on them in this series? To you, either team. Hell, coaches included, if you want, go to the front office if you dare. Like, who has the most pressure in this first round matchup between these two teams?

Trey Kirby (20:43)

From the Nuggets side, I think there's just going to be pressure on Aaron Gordon to body Anthony Edwards as much as possible. I know it's. Pressure is probably not the. The right adjective, the descriptor for this one, but he's just got a lot on his shoulders because Trey mentioned Peyton Watson may not play and he is probably their best perimeter defender, you know, alongside Aaron Gordon, I mean, more consistent than Aaron Gordon. So they're just gonna have to throw bodies at Anthony Edwards and Aaron Gordon's hamstrings are going to be challenged. That guy was injured last year's playoffs and throughout this year. So I think he's going to have a lot of Anthony Edwards responsibility from that side. For the Minnesota side, we just talked about X actors. The guy that Anthony Edwards always calls Minnesota's X factor and Jayden McDaniels, I think, has a lot of pressure on him. He's got to produce. We know there are games where he doesn't produce offensively, and that's where it'll probably fall on, I would assume to produce to just to be that guy who gets downhill and does a lot of that. But if Jaden McDaniels can be consistent, as Anthony Edwards always says, if we're going to win a championship, that guy has to be great. I mean, really, he could swing the series totally.

Tas Melas (21:51)

Third man is important for both teams. Aaron Gordon, 39% from three this year, most makes per game of his career. But I was like, I don't know if I buy this. He went 10 for 11 in game one, literally the first game. And if you take that out, he shot 35% from three this season. Still better than he ever was. You know, like he's become reliable. But, you know, there's a difference between 40% from three and 35% from three. And that's one game for Aaron Gordon. Kind of put him over the top because he didn't play a whole bunch this year. Most pressure for me, though, has got to be Chris Finch. I don't Know how things will go for him if Minnesota loses in round one, Especially if they lose in a sad fashion. I'm not necessarily thinking that's going to happen, but if it's a five game series after a regular season where it seemed like they had motivation problems, where they didn't take a step forward, they didn't take a step back, but it felt worse if they don't make it back to the conference finals, like literally anything but the conference finals is falling short of expectations for Minnesota. And I think that they would rather go further. Right. Like it's a. It's more likely that Minnesota comes up short this season than going further. And that makes you just question who the front office is going to want to be coaching just because things change.

Jay E. Skeets (23:02)

Yep, that's a. That's a good pick. All right, let's get to predictions here then. Where are you going? Is this a short series, long series? Is there an upset Bruin?

Trey Kirby (23:09)

Yeah, it's difficult to say it's a short series against the Timberwolves, but I'm doing it. I think the Nuggets win in five.

Jay E. Skeets (23:14)

Okay.

Trey Kirby (23:15)

They are just absolutely smoking right now. I think the Timberwolves. Yeah. Not ending the season well is part of that. Also, they were able to beat that really crappy teams this season pretty badly. The. The teams that aren't trying, the tankers, they're plus 13 points in margin of victory against those teams are 20 and six against them.

Julian Edelman (23:35)

And

Trey Kirby (23:37)

it doesn't bode well against the Nuggets team I think is cooking. They're just hot. And yeah, I could see Tim Hardaway in game three or game four in Minnesota stealing one and going back to Denver and they close it out. I'm taking them. I think they're. Yeah. This. You mentioned the Chris Finch off season and how that goes. I think that is going to be big swing for his future with Minnesota.

Jay E. Skeets (24:03)

Okay. Nuggets and five from tests. What about you, T.K.

Tas Melas (24:06)

first of all, do you guys consider this a rivalry?

Ad Voice (24:09)

Good question.

Tas Melas (24:10)

Third time in four years they're playing. So that. Yes.

Trey Kirby (24:13)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (24:13)

Doesn't feel like they hate each other though.

Jay E. Skeets (24:15)

No. No. And like they're meetings.

Tas Melas (24:17)

Players don't play against each other at all. Like Murray and Ant aren't gonna guard each other. Obviously Jokic and Ant aren't gonna guard each other.

Jay E. Skeets (24:25)

Yeah. And like they met in the first round. In the second round. Like no even conference finals matchups. It's. It's on the precipice. I'll. I'll say that Precipice Yeah.

Trey Kirby (24:32)

And the way they ended it, the. The Timberwolves ended it in that second time they played. It was the seventh game in Denver. Denver was up 20.

Jay E. Skeets (24:42)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (24:44)

Makes it a rivalry. I just think that Denver knows that coming into this series. So feels rivalry.

Ad Voice (24:50)

Ish.

Tas Melas (24:50)

It feels rivalryish.

Jay E. Skeets (24:51)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (24:52)

We need a little bad blood though. We need.

Trey Kirby (24:53)

Yes.

Tas Melas (24:54)

Valentunas to right. Throw somebody to the ground. Probably Kyle Anderson. I could see those guys getting in a fight with each other.

Trey Kirby (25:00)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (25:00)

Kyle Anderson of course fought his teammate once on the sidelines for the Minnesota Timberwolves. But he's back now.

Trey Kirby (25:06)

That's a good one.

Tas Melas (25:06)

I forgot about that.

Trey Kirby (25:07)

I do. Go Bear. I did. I did forget.

Tas Melas (25:09)

McDaniels broke his hand.

Jay E. Skeets (25:10)

Same game.

Tas Melas (25:11)

Weird, weird stuff from the Timberwolves back in the day. I think this goes a little longer than tasks, but I'm still on the Nuggets here. I'll take Nuggets and six.

Jay E. Skeets (25:19)

I'm with you. Nuggets and six. I am excited to see once again Anthony in the playoffs. I mean, I love it here. Is Kevin Garnett going to be in attendance? They're going to bring him right back after he made his appearance there for the first time in eight years and everybody was going nuts. Get him sidelined. Yeah, but I like Denver in six. They're just like to go back to yoke Jokic. Like what are they going to do here? Like how are they going to stop him in his first game, 25, 19 and 10 against the Wolves. Second game, 27, 12 and 11. Then he had the Christmas Day 56, 16 and 15. And then the fourth game. Not bad too. 35, 13 and 9 shooting splits just bonkers of the 65, 50, 93 at the free throw line. Sound like fake numbers. So good luck stopping him. But I do go back to the. You know, Jaden McDaniels gave Jamal Murray fits. When they did win the seven game series in wins, they shut him down. Jamal Murray's playing at a higher level here. Obviously healthier than he was. So good luck with that.

Trey Kirby (26:18)

But no Nikhil Alexander Walker.

Jay E. Skeets (26:20)

Yeah. Who played a part. McDaniels got a lot of the credit. Deservedly so. So like that's a big, big matchup. But think Jamal with the way he's playing with Jokic right now, just unstoppable. So I'll go Nuggets in six.

Trey Kirby (26:30)

Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (26:30)

But entertaining. I think a close. Some close games here.

Trey Kirby (26:33)

Down the stretch we might get some fights. Kyle Anderson may fight someone other than Rudy Gobert. I Guess I think that is why they brought back Kyle Anderson in the middle of the season. And Mike Conley is to try and get this thing.

Jay E. Skeets (26:46)

Mike Conley ain't getting in a fight.

Trey Kirby (26:49)

They didn't bring him back to fight more so to bring this locker room together. Because they're glue guys. That's what they are. They're just rah rah guys. Yeah, we'll see if they can do that and hopefully push somebody. Ideally, you know, little. Little fights.

Jay E. Skeets (27:04)

We had the poll going. I saw here in the stream team on YouTube. Do we have the results?

Tas Melas (27:08)

Yeah. It's a big landslide victory here for The Denver Nuggets. 85 going with the Nugs.

Jay E. Skeets (27:13)

Okay, that was just a straight up pick. Who's winning? Yeah.

Tas Melas (27:16)

Okay. That's four options.

Jay E. Skeets (27:17)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (27:18)

I can't give you the full eight.

Jay E. Skeets (27:20)

You don't want to do the classic results in four or five, Nuggets in six or seven.

Tas Melas (27:25)

Okay. My guess is that we would. If you could split. If I would have split it up like that, I think it would be 40 saying nuggets in six or seven.

Jay E. Skeets (27:34)

Yeah. I maybe even go higher.

Tas Melas (27:35)

Oh, yeah.

Trey Kirby (27:36)

So, yeah, I had to go higher. So you'd think 60 in four or five. That's high.

Tas Melas (27:40)

No, I'm saying some people would pick between the other.

Jay E. Skeets (27:43)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (27:43)

Because we know 15 is on the Timberwolves already.

Trey Kirby (27:46)

Oh, okay.

Tas Melas (27:47)

85.

Trey Kirby (27:48)

My bad math there. Yeah, yeah, it's. It's one of those things with Timberwolves fans. They say, hey, we won the same amount of games last year and we got to the conference finals. But I think it's so different going up against the Nuggets versus the Los Angeles Lakers that you had in the first round last year, that you're super athletic. And then Steph went down in the second round. Very, very different. So 15% believe the wolves. Fine. I accept. I accept he's accepting that.

Jay E. Skeets (28:13)

All right, so we got Nuggets in six here and then task Nuggets in five. Let's hear from you guys down in the comments.

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Trey Kirby (29:06)

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Jay E. Skeets (31:05)

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Trey Kirby (35:51)

Well for the Lakers to have any chance here, I think we're going to see some throwing out of lineups by JJ Reddick just to just have his defense scrambling rotate and creating some turnovers because they're not going to out talent the Rockets. We all know that. And so how are you going to guard Durant to start? I I bring up all the bodies getting thrown at him because you're going to have Rui most likely getting the primary responsibility but you'll probably get some Jared Vanderbilt who for JJ Redick's team last year in the playoffs 60 minutes so you'll see some of that. You'll see 82 game Jake Laravia out there as well. I think they may go small a little bit even though this Rockets team is huge. I think you're just going to see these weird lineups that JJ Redick is watching is throwing out there. I think that is super important to try and get some extra possessions because the Rockets play super slow. We know that they're the 29th lowest team in the NBA, the 29th longest to shoot the ball. As our man John Schuman pointed out, of the 10 NBA players who have taken the most Shots in the final four seconds of a shot clock. The Rockets have three of them. They're super slow. If the Lakers can somehow get extra possessions and take this to the 47th or 48th minute of a game where it's still close, that's when maybe they can win these games. I think we're going to be watching a lot of JJ and see if he can somehow get some turnovers and just really throw things up, you know, throw the range. Yeah, he'd love to. He would love to.

Tas Melas (37:22)

Yeah. He's like, watch this. Luke, do you know all the guys that played 82 games? Now, you brought it up yesterday. There was 18 guys, and you just dropped 82 game jig, like his nickname.

Jay E. Skeets (37:31)

It was news to me.

Trey Kirby (37:32)

Yeah, mostly. Mostly. I couldn't tell you many of them, but I know 82 game. Jake will be playing some small ball. Five, I guess. I mean, it'll be weird.

Tas Melas (37:43)

He's gonna play a lot. Marcus Smart is going to be important. Like, I think he'll probably guard KD and try to frustrate him a little bit, get up underneath him, get up into his nips, that kind of stuff. It would be awesome to see LeBron and KD guard each other in this series, but I don't think it's going to happen basically, at all. There's no way LeBron guards KD for the majority of the series. I mean, maybe he will a couple of possessions at the end of games or something like that. More likely, I think LeBron will hide on Amen Thompson.

Jay E. Skeets (38:11)

Amen.

Tas Melas (38:11)

Thompson will probably guard LeBron on the other side, and that's a little exciting to me.

Jay E. Skeets (38:17)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (38:17)

Can LeBron do it, man? Can he throw it back? This guy's the reigning Western Conference player of the week. He had a great four or five games there.

Jay E. Skeets (38:27)

You know, all the guys that played 82 games, this guy knows. Player of the week's. That's right.

Trey Kirby (38:32)

That's right. April.

Tas Melas (38:33)

LeBron.

Trey Kirby (38:34)

Oh, man.

Tas Melas (38:34)

Man, almost 25 a game, Tas. That's a. That's a low number.

Trey Kirby (38:39)

Yeah, it is a low number for him, but it is.

Jay E. Skeets (38:41)

But nobody was playing in the last couple games.

Tas Melas (38:43)

Exactly.

Trey Kirby (38:44)

Yeah. And they destroyed Phoenix. Right. So he just chilled for the second half. Either way.

Jay E. Skeets (38:48)

Whatever.

Tas Melas (38:48)

Yeah, it's pretty funny. But it's going to be fun to see if LeBron can just totally backpack the Lakers, because I'm with you. It feels like at least Luca is going to miss the first couple of games here, which means LeBron would have to go. Jalen Brunson mode when Brunson took over for the Mavericks when Luca was out against the Jazz back in the day, Reeves maybe comes back. I think he's going to be out for the entirety of the first round. Oblique injuries take forever to come back from. And what, he can't go to Arkansas and get a whole bunch of injections? They don't have that kind of stuff.

Jay E. Skeets (39:19)

They don't have that medicine.

Tas Melas (39:20)

They don't have. They don't have the same steroids that they have in space, apparently. But, yeah, seeing LeBron as the number one option when we just spent a month and a half talking about this guy did such a great job of buying into the number three role.

Jay E. Skeets (39:33)

Guess what?

Tas Melas (39:34)

He's back, baby. Number one guy, just like Jax Taylor. It's interesting to think, what kind of style is he going to play? Like, is he going to go even slower than the Rockets?

Jay E. Skeets (39:44)

That's what I was thinking, because you said you've seen this before where LeBron has led a team that's completely outclassed because of talent, because of injuries, and he has just slowed the game to a goddamn crawl.

Tas Melas (39:55)

Yes.

Jay E. Skeets (39:55)

But you're playing the Rockets, who are like, we love that type of place. Yeah. So that's where it's a little fascinating. You're not playing this run and gun team where maybe it gets them in a funk and they don't want to play that way and it really bogs it down. But that's not the case in this matchup, and they're to their depth. That's the thing to watch for here. Yeah. You said Luke Canard is in the starting lineup. Rui Hachimura is in the starting lineup along with LeBron Ayton and Marcus Smart. That's a crazy starting fight for a number three seed in the Western Conference. It really is. And then that means all these other guys, the Jake Laravas and everybody else coming off the bench that, like, you know, they're put into a bigger role because they're. You're taking away, what, like, over, like 60 points, basically, from. From Luca and Reeves being gone. That's a tough ass.

Trey Kirby (40:38)

Yeah. We are going to see some weird stuff from JJ Reich. Just throwing bodies out there. Like, Marcus Smart is gonna, you know, hit somebody. He's gonna get ruined. Hit Kevin Durant. We all mentioned the injuries of. Of Luka and Austin Reese. What about Luke Kenard's fingers? What about it? It's hurt. He's wearing a splint on his index finger of his shooting hand. Nobody cares.

Ad Voice (41:00)

He played through it.

Trey Kirby (41:01)

Yeah, it's not good. And the whole Luca thing, it's so funny that it's a story because he's in the United States. That's why.

Ad Voice (41:10)

That's why.

Jay E. Skeets (41:10)

God, Customs.

Trey Kirby (41:12)

He's playing basket. Yeah, he's. Well, I shouldn't say he's playing basketball. Yeah. His body got through customs and he can maybe play again. It's so weird, man. That's a story.

Jay E. Skeets (41:23)

But it's gonna be hanging over the entire series of like, Kenny, Willie, Izzy.

Trey Kirby (41:28)

But it is a mainstream injury. It's just highly unlikely.

Jay E. Skeets (41:33)

I mean, does it depend on how the series starts? You know, like, if they lose the first two games at home, I don't think we're seeing Luca. I don't think they're going to try and salvage the series and come back.

Trey Kirby (41:43)

But if they sneak one.

Jay E. Skeets (41:44)

Yeah, maybe. Maybe.

Trey Kirby (41:47)

Okay.

Jay E. Skeets (41:47)

Or obviously advance and then it's a different equation. I'm watching forward to talk about the Rockets a little bit here. Turnovers with them is always a story. When they take care of the ball, they're pretty good. And more recently, you know, the off ball movements been a little sharper down the stretch here. They look really good when they do that. So, you know, teams are forced to try and slow. Kd, try and slow. Shen Goon, they throw multiple guys at them, so things open up. They get a nice little flow going. They compound the glass. We know that. But they just have to take care of the ball because we go back to that game that they played about a month ago, the Lakers forced nine fourth quarter turnovers against the Rockets as they just fell apart in the clutch. And you went, you said that task. Can these games get close in the final five minutes? If they are, then maybe the Lakers can pull out a couple victories here. Despite two of their best guys not playing. The Lakers turnovers have declined.

Trey Kirby (42:39)

Yeah. So who are you betting on in the last few minutes? That's the key. If they're close, if they're close, it's LeBron or it's Durant. That's. That's who you're betting on. And, and like you said in late in the fourth quarter in that game, the Rockets struggled, obviously. And they couldn't close out, obviously, as the next game, they got better. And so, you know, maybe that bodes well for the Rockets that they've had some, some history, some experience of dealing with that defense that Reddick is going

Ad Voice (43:07)

to throw out there.

Jay E. Skeets (43:08)

X factors in this Lakers or Rockets. What are you looking at?

Tas Melas (43:11)

Rui Hachimura just Became very important at work. He's going to have to guard KD a lot. I think he will be the number one defensive option for JJ I think he kind of has to be the second scorer for the Lakers as well. With the injuries that they're dealing with. It'll be by committee. 82 game. Jake will be involved, hurt finger. Luke will be involved as well. But Rui is the most reliable offensive option that the Lakers have left outside of LeBron. I gotta. I gotta think he's gotta hit the glass as well. Like, I think that's a area that really can contribute, that he's got size, he's got athleticism. We know the Rockets like to offensive rebound. You're talking about the possession game, Skeets. It's very important that the Lakers control the defensive glass. We know Ayton can be a good rebounder. He almost had a big beef in a finals game. Came up one rebound short. I forget who stole it from him. Somebody did on the Suns there. He got really upset. But they need to rebound the Lakers too. Part of that is Rui. He's got a lot to do in this series with Luca going down, with Reeves going down, getting elevated back into the starting lineup. He's got to perform.

Trey Kirby (44:20)

Yeah, it feels like the Lakers just are full of X factors. Rui definitely is one, but it keeps trickling down because of the lack of depth. So I'll say DeAndre Ayton, I mean, he could easily be their second best player. I know Rui is probably their second best creator now. But you're going to rely on DeAndre Ayton a lot. And he hasn't played in the playoffs in a while since he was with the Phoenix Suns. It's been three years. It was 2023. He played the Clippers and Zubots in the first round, did pretty well. And then the second round played. Jokic got burned. They pulled Jock Landale off the bench to help out. That was a good jock series. He was. He was all right against Jokic. But the question is, can JJ Redick get him to keep on playing like he has been the last couple weeks? He has been really good in that role. Playoffs could be different. You might have you Donnis Haslam on the Amazon broadcast talking him up again. Hey JJ can you get Udonis Haslam on the mic and talk up deandre Ayton like he did last week, saying, you're doing. You're so good in that role, man. You're doing so good in that role. You're excelling it was hilarious hearing that. But that's what essentially JJ Wright is going to be doing. Getting the most of DeAndre and Rui to see if they can help.

Jay E. Skeets (45:33)

Yeah, they're the underdogs in this series because of the injuries. So they have the playing, I don't know, playing with house money a little bit because nobody's expecting them to go all that far. Led by a 41 year old LeBron and then this like ragtag bunch with no Luca and Reeves. A couple X factors on the Rockets. I think Reed shepherd is interesting. I saw Schuman had the numbers. Rockets road scored by 29 points in Shepherd's about 80 minutes on the floor against the Lakers this season. He struggled from three in those three games. Just five of 18, but we know he needs to play and we saw down the stretch when he was inserting the starting lineup and when he was shooting and playing, the Rockets just look so much better. They're spacing for Sengun, they're spacing for Kevin Durant to work in the mid range area. So Reed Shepherd I got my eye on and Tari Eason wants to do the dirty work. Steely Dan style, he's active, man. He's active on the offensive glass. He can create turnovers and get some easy points which they could always use. So I think he's going to be all out there too, running around and getting someone and getting against maybe LeBron at times. So Tari Eason, I got another X factor.

Trey Kirby (46:35)

If he's clicking, the Rockets are kicking ass. He's sort of, he is good bellwether.

Jay E. Skeets (46:39)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (46:40)

When he's having a good game, beating the secondary defense like he's the secondary playmaker. It's just cutting and slashing and then turnovers and re offensive rebound. He's the guy. Yeah, yeah. He's like.

Tas Melas (46:51)

He was cold though, second half of the season and that was a big problem for the Rockets on the offensive end because even if he, he isn't shooting the ball well, he's still doing whatever he wants to out there. He's a very feast or famine kind of player. So I kind of think all the guards are super important for the Rockets. Reed, like you're saying, has to make threes, has to not get picked on the entire time, which kind of favorable matchup for him with Luca and Reeves going out. Amen. Thompson has to be a threat on the offensive end and neither of them can turn over the ball like that's the easiest way for the Lakers to score.

Jay E. Skeets (47:20)

Let's get to predictions Here, Lakers, Rockets. You go first TK well this is

Tas Melas (47:24)

a gift for Houston. They I think were probably a lot of team, a lot of people would have picked them to be a first round playoff loss if they're going into this series against the full strength Lakers team and against any of the top four in the Western Conference. Instead they have a clear talent advantage over Los Angeles. Right now. It's just impossible to know how much Luca specifically is going to play. I will go Rockets in six games.

Trey Kirby (47:51)

I'm saying Rockets in five. I, I just think their athleticism, their length, it's going to show out in this series against the Lakers. They're going to be ready from the get go. That little experience recently dealing with the Lakers offense or excuse me, defense in the fourth quarter, I think that plays a factor. So I think you'll get some good minutes from other long athletic guys. We didn't even mention Alper and Chengun doing really well against this team. I think he's going to be awesome. So yeah, I'll take the Rockets in five.

Jay E. Skeets (48:19)

This is from Schumann here. Statistically, Houston has been the much better team this year, outscoring opponents by 5.4 points per 100 possessions. That's the league's sixth best mark. It's three times better than the Lakers differential. And Shu notes, that's a similar situation to last year when the Lakers were the number three seed versus the six seeded Wolves who the Lakers lost to. The Wolves had a better regular season point differential compared to the Lakers of last year. So maybe that holds here as well. This in a 45 match instead of the 3 6. I'm going rockets in 6. But this comment made me laugh from the Athletics. Somebody down in the comments section that I saw quote Marcus Smart front rimming threes early in the shot clock eight and missing defensive assignments. LeBron being asked to play 38 minutes per game. The one team that could lose to that squad, it's Houston. I'm calling it now. IME Udoka is going to get fired. And it made me laugh because I was like, oh God, there might be a lot of truth in that. Oh yeah. Which is like you went Rockets in five. You know they, they should be the favorites here with no Luke or Reeves. But I'm like, well this is going to go longer. It's going to get a little more uncomfortable than it probably should. I think I go Rockets and six ultimately, but it's not going to be convincing.

Tas Melas (49:30)

No, no. This broke pretty perfectly for the Rockets for them to even be getting picked Here.

Jay E. Skeets (49:36)

If.

Tas Melas (49:36)

If you knew that Luca came back in game three, what would your pick be? No, no Reeves.

Jay E. Skeets (49:46)

No Reeves.

Tas Melas (49:46)

Okay. Reeves out all seven.

Jay E. Skeets (49:48)

We know Lucas in Houston. He's returning. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would go Lakers in seven.

Trey Kirby (49:57)

I would not. I'd go Rockets in seven.

Jay E. Skeets (50:00)

Okay.

Tas Melas (50:00)

I'd flip the Lakers as well.

Trey Kirby (50:02)

Okay. Okay.

Tas Melas (50:03)

Houston is pretty bad.

Jay E. Skeets (50:04)

Do you think we see him at all? I mean, I know we're completely. He'll be there.

Tas Melas (50:08)

He's back.

Jay E. Skeets (50:10)

He's clearly at all in this series. What do you think?

Tas Melas (50:13)

I bet he plays game five.

Jay E. Skeets (50:14)

Wow. Yeah.

Tas Melas (50:15)

Limpy. Limpy. Luca. Game five. 40. 40 points on one leg in a loss.

Trey Kirby (50:20)

Wow.

Tas Melas (50:21)

Still looks good.

Trey Kirby (50:21)

40 spots.

Jay E. Skeets (50:22)

Do you think, like, Jose Calderon's hams will come up or something like that? That's what they were feeding them. Yeah, exactly.

Trey Kirby (50:29)

Strings from Spain. He's got a farm there.

Jay E. Skeets (50:32)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (50:33)

Which breeds those hams. I do think he will come back. I can't help but buy these reports that he's coming to play, but I don't see a 40 spot that good. I mean, when he was. When he was holding that thing, it felt like he knew it was going to be well. So. Man, I mean, I don't know.

Jay E. Skeets (50:58)

I don't think we see him.

Trey Kirby (50:59)

I haven't checked the schedule. Maybe there's a lot of days off in between.

Jay E. Skeets (51:02)

Oh, they take a long time. Yeah, there's a long time. If it goes six or seven, it takes two weeks.

Trey Kirby (51:08)

Yep.

Jay E. Skeets (51:08)

All right, let's hear your predictions. Do we have a poll on that one?

Tas Melas (51:11)

We have a poll on that one. 70 of people think it's the rackets.

Jay E. Skeets (51:15)

Okay. Yep, yep, Yep. Dub rockets, 70 to 30. Yeah. All right. All right. Excited. Can't wait for actual postseason basketball here. We're gonna take a break. When we come back, the up down report.

Trey Kirby (51:28)

Let me ask you guys a personal question. Are you more inclined to make a bet on an NBA game if, when you look at it, the logos for each team are just a jersey with three letters on it rather than the actual team logo? Like. Like, let's say Miami Charlotte tonight, it says just MIA on a jersey. Jersey. Like it's not their actual logo?

Jay E. Skeets (51:52)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (51:53)

Are you more inclined to do that because on FanDuel predicts the app because they don't have actual rights to have the actual logos on there. Yes. Tonight, MIA versus chm. Like, oh, wow. This is like a game.

Jay E. Skeets (52:06)

Oh, you're more likely.

Trey Kirby (52:08)

Yeah, more likely.

Tas Melas (52:08)

Oh, wow.

Trey Kirby (52:09)

Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (52:10)

Didn't know where you were going.

Tas Melas (52:11)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (52:13)

Thank you. Although you're not betting on FanDuel predicts. You're not betting. But you're kind of betting. But you're not betting. Either way, do what you got to do right now. New FanDuel customers on their actual FanDuel app can bet $5 and get 250 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right. Turn five bucks into 250 in bonus bets just for getting started. From player props on your favorite stars to all the tools you need to back them up. You got so many tools with FanDuel. Check stats, trends and matchup all in one place and make your picks with confidence. Everything you need all in one app. Unless you need logos. That's a different app. That's the FanDuel Predicts app. There's two apps. FanDuel, they got the rights. FanDuel Predicts, not so much. So don't miss your shot. Head to FanDuel.com podcast to get started.

Jay E. Skeets (53:02)

All right, if you're just joining us, hit the like button. Subscribe. Podcast listeners, help your boys out as we get ready for the second season of the NBA year by giving us a five star rating and review. We really appreciate it.

Tas Melas (53:13)

I got a trivia question for you. Task. Who's the only team that had two players play 82 games I wasn't ready for?

Trey Kirby (53:21)

I actually. I actually don't know. Wow,

Jay E. Skeets (53:26)

There's. Was there 18 guys total?

Tas Melas (53:28)

18 guys? Yeah, 18 guys and one team had two of them. Oh, Desmond.

Jay E. Skeets (53:34)

I mean, is it the magic?

Tas Melas (53:35)

No, he did.

Jay E. Skeets (53:36)

I thought maybe like a silver or something. Played with. With Bane.

Tas Melas (53:39)

Yeah, sure.

Jay E. Skeets (53:40)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (53:40)

No, yeah, we obviously got a bridges.

Jay E. Skeets (53:42)

We got.

Tas Melas (53:43)

Okay, okay. Well, I'll say this. Your. Your body was close to one of these men this. This very season.

Jay E. Skeets (53:49)

My body? Whose body? Our body?

Tas Melas (53:52)

Your body? That man's body? My body.

Trey Kirby (53:56)

Johnson. Johnson.

Jay E. Skeets (54:00)

Okay.

Tas Melas (54:00)

And Julian Champagne together. It's the San Antonio Spurs.

Jay E. Skeets (54:03)

Very good. Very, very good.

Trey Kirby (54:04)

Good.

Tas Melas (54:04)

82 game Julian, they call him.

Trey Kirby (54:07)

People are so mad when we didn't give last week. We picked the awards.

Jay E. Skeets (54:11)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (54:11)

And Kelvin Johnson has the best odds of winning the six man award. Yeah, people were so. I mean, it was spurs fans I assume, but a lot of we were basically saying Jaime Hawkez, I mean, is a better story. I guess those were my words.

Jay E. Skeets (54:25)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (54:25)

That Jaime Hawkez was a better story. Not enough. Not enough love for Keldon Johnson, but I don't know.

Jay E. Skeets (54:30)

Yeah, he's probably. Probably will win this. I mean, interesting. Good for him.

Trey Kirby (54:35)

Good for him.

Jay E. Skeets (54:35)

I would just. There's a Big article on his farm that he's got his llamas and all his other animals.

Tas Melas (54:40)

I'm glad he got him.

Jay E. Skeets (54:41)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (54:41)

Even though they didn't win the cup.

Jay E. Skeets (54:43)

Yeah, right, right, right.

Tas Melas (54:44)

It turns out I did the math and I could still afford the llamas and the feet.

Jay E. Skeets (54:48)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (54:49)

And the. The attire he had. It didn't look like a farmer in those photos I saw with Jared Vice, who wrote it.

Jay E. Skeets (54:56)

Yeah, that's right.

Trey Kirby (54:57)

Jared Vice looked more like, I'm a farmer. Wow.

Ad Voice (55:01)

I don't know.

Jay E. Skeets (55:01)

Really?

Trey Kirby (55:02)

Yeah. Kelvin Johnson looked more like. To me, like cowboy hat on. Yeah. But he looked a little too pristine, you know, not enough. Like a hard working. Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (55:09)

A little too far. Anyway, fake farmer calling him out.

Trey Kirby (55:13)

Oh, yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (55:15)

Let's get in the up down report. The up down report. I got a few questions, questions for you guys. Thumbs up or thumbs down when it comes to these three topics. First one, despite a 2260 record that has them at the bottom of the west standings, the Sacramento Kings are reportedly retaining coach Doug Christie for next season. The decision seems to center on the poor roster that Christie inherited along with injuries that he endured. There were a lot of injuries to the Sacramento Kings, and they're saying, okay, Doug Christie had a rough go of it. Let's give him another chance. Are you up or down on the Kings running back with Doug Christie next season?

Trey Kirby (55:57)

I'm both up and down on this. I think it's all dependent. It's all dependent on that roster. And if they move on from some of their starters that they had at the beginning of the season because all those guys are signed through next year. Lavine Sabonis keeps going. DeRozan DeAndre Hunter. Who they got?

Jay E. Skeets (56:17)

Malik Monk.

Trey Kirby (56:17)

Malik Monk? Yeah. I don't disrespect Malik Monk, who's coming off the bench. I think it was a little different. And those four guys there I mentioned off the top, if you're bringing them all back, Doug Christie is going to do the same job. Right. He did a way better job in the second half of the season. There's no doubt there was more ball movement or player movement with the young guys. With Nick Clifford out there, Maxime Reynold playing way more minutes, even some Devin Carter, good minutes out there, I think it makes sense to bring this guy back who has a contract through next season. I. I don't belittle the front office for making this decision because I think he had them working extremely hard. But if you're gonna just insert all these same ingredients into the recipe and say, hey, do it again, but better. Somehow it doesn't really make sense. They have to move on from some of these guys and those are going to have to be through trades where they're probably attaching a pick. Potentially. Yes. With some of these guys. So yes and no. I mean, I. Again, they played hard for Doug Christie the second half of the season, but not those guys I mentioned. Not, not the old guys I mentioned. The young guys I mentioned.

Tas Melas (57:26)

Yeah, I think DeRozan is like non guaranteed so they can cut him. Levine is like, I don't even know if I want to be around anymore. I might decline my option and just go into free agency.

Jay E. Skeets (57:38)

It's like he's like a 40 million dollar player option guy.

Tas Melas (57:42)

Yeah, 48.

Trey Kirby (57:43)

How would he decline that? How would he decline?

Jay E. Skeets (57:46)

That would be silly, man.

Tas Melas (57:47)

Well, I mean, the Bulls have cap space. If you want to come back, they would do it. But I'm telling you, if Doug, if Doug's back, I'm locking in the Kings over again. Just get ready. I thought he deserved a shot after the 24, 25 season. He went 27 and 24 after they fired Mike Brown. Kind of got one. But like you're saying, the starters never played a minute together this season. Really actually unbelievable. He doesn't deserve another shot. This is a management decision. Yeah, they gave him a three year deal before the beginning of this year and it just seems to me like they probably don't want to have to pay two coaches maybe.

Jay E. Skeets (58:22)

Yeah, it is weird. Coaching turnover has been pretty frequent since Vivek Ranadive has taken over and purchased the Kings in 2013. Christie is the seventh permanent coach the Kings have had since then. If he finishes next season, Doug Christie as head coach figures all season long. 82 game Doug, as we'll be calling him, he will have been the second longest tenured Kings coach in the Vivek era behind Dave Yeager. If he goes next season. Wow, that's crazy.

Trey Kirby (58:53)

82 game dugouts a good nickname for him because as a player, this guy would play 82 games, this guy would work his ass off. And that's why I don't think this is a terrible decision because he somehow connects with guys to work hard. As far as the young guys go. Again, there's player movement, there's ball movement. There was. It was a different team.

Jay E. Skeets (59:14)

The counter is. Could have anybody had done that. Could you have done that, slid into that role and say, yeah, we're not playing all the old guys. Well, first off, they're injured. Doug Would probably have played them if they weren't. But then. Yeah, Play Renault. Play Card. Well. Play Carter. Play Clifford. Like, like, let them go now. They. It was. Look, you get into Mickey Mouse March. They did win games, so they won like 10 games. You could also turn around and go, there were winning games. They probably should not have been winning and all that because they hurt their chances in the draft lottery. We'll see. Maybe they'll be blessed by the. The ping pong lottery gods because of that. But I don't know. I guess what I'm getting at. Is he really a good coach? He literally got investigated by the NBA because they're like, is he tanking?

Tas Melas (59:54)

Why?

Jay E. Skeets (59:55)

Is he fouling?

Tas Melas (59:56)

No, just bad strategy.

Jay E. Skeets (59:57)

He's just actually pretty bad.

Trey Kirby (59:59)

He messed up. He messed that one up. Yeah. And. And, yeah. Well, I just wanted to say Keegan Murray didn't play too. That's the reason why that was right away, right? Yeah. The reason why they didn't have all their starters play. I hear what you're saying, but this King's team allows themselves the easy ability to decide you're out of here, like 30 games into the next season and say, hey, we're trading everybody who wants the bonus that I think I say Sabonist first and foremost, because that's a guy that everybody wants.

Tas Melas (60:31)

Nobody wants.

Trey Kirby (60:32)

Nobody wants him.

Tas Melas (60:33)

He was available at this deadline.

Jay E. Skeets (60:35)

The Raptors tried to get him, but they were like, you're taking back Pearl. And the Kings wisely said, no, we're not. Yeah, that's what the reports say.

Trey Kirby (60:42)

I will say more wanted than Levine. Let's rank them. The guys that would be wanted by other teams. I mean, we're basically talking Levine, DeRozan, Sabonis, the big three.

Tas Melas (60:57)

I think DeRozan number one. Just because, like, if he says, yeah, I'll be a bench scorer.

Jay E. Skeets (61:03)

Right, right, right.

Tas Melas (61:04)

That's fine.

Jay E. Skeets (61:06)

Yeah. Much more affordable.

Trey Kirby (61:07)

Yeah. So on this body doesn't look all that good. That's the worrisome part.

Jay E. Skeets (61:11)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (61:11)

Yeah, yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (61:12)

All right. Doug's gonna get another go.

Tas Melas (61:13)

What do you think the over under for the Kings is going to be next year?

Trey Kirby (61:16)

Oh, good question.

Tas Melas (61:17)

It was high this year.

Jay E. Skeets (61:18)

It was high.

Tas Melas (61:19)

And I.

Jay E. Skeets (61:19)

And I still lost 35 wins this year.

Tas Melas (61:21)

It was at 30. Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (61:22)

34 and a half.

Tas Melas (61:23)

They went 22 and 60.

Jay E. Skeets (61:25)

Yeah. They had 12 wins at the All Star break. They were the worst team at the All Star and then actually won some games in the second half. What will it be next year? It's going to be Low man. I think it's going to be 29 and a half.

Tas Melas (61:38)

Oh, like under that?

Jay E. Skeets (61:41)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (61:41)

I mean, I have a 24 and a half.

Jay E. Skeets (61:43)

That would be a guess. I guess it could be.

Trey Kirby (61:45)

Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (61:46)

You're taking the over.

Trey Kirby (61:48)

Whatever it is.

Jay E. Skeets (61:52)

We believe in you, Doug.

Trey Kirby (61:54)

Look, I mean, 82 game Doug.

Tas Melas (61:56)

It's also just fun to call Coach Doug.

Jay E. Skeets (61:58)

Yeah, it is. May 10th is huge, though, for the Sacramento Kings. I mean, that is the draft lot three. They are going to find out where they are in the top eight selection. Are they going to be at the back end of it or can they actually get some luck here and. And get one of these very high picks? Let's say even top four. Even. They'd be laughing. Top three, of course. So we'll see.

Tas Melas (62:17)

I just think one spin on Tankathon number two for the King.

Jay E. Skeets (62:20)

Oh, geez. And take that, baby.

Tas Melas (62:22)

Hell yeah. Get Marvin Bagley.

Jay E. Skeets (62:26)

Right, right. That's true. It always works out for them.

Trey Kirby (62:29)

Yeah. And the higher they finish, the more they can trade their picks along with their guys to get rid of them.

Jay E. Skeets (62:34)

Right?

Trey Kirby (62:34)

Aside from that high pick. Cause I'm going right now to see what. What their other picks are to attach. Yeah. Not the top pick. No, no. What are you crazy? But, you know, another pick with some restrictions. And that's why the draft lottery is great. So good. Because their front office shows up and says, hey, well, you want DeAndre Hunter, we'll give a man to pick.

Jay E. Skeets (62:57)

You think they're going to send Doug Christie to the draft lottery? Will he be sitting in the big chair there? Oh, Doug, the smell insults right before they unveil. That'd be good.

Trey Kirby (63:07)

Let's do it.

Julian Edelman (63:09)

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Trey Kirby (65:11)

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Tas Melas (70:00)

I think he's right, and I think it's pretty cool that it's Mike Breen, the guy who's saying it. He's like, literally, you're gonna hear me again. I'm basically talking about Clyde Frazier. We got a great Knicks team here, and he's not going to be talking about him at all. Getting towards the end of his career. You would have to imagine as well. Clyde's, like, 80 years old almost, right?

Trey Kirby (70:17)

Like, yeah, he's 80.

Tas Melas (70:18)

Is he?

Trey Kirby (70:19)

Wow.

Tas Melas (70:19)

Okay, so he's. He's an old fella. But, yeah, I mean, it's good for fans to be able to have the option. Like, I watch the national games. But if you're a Knicks fan living in New York, why would you not want to hear Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier on the call? It's good for the announcers. They're a part of the team. They travel with these guys. They're with them the entire season, and it's just part of the bonding and, like, the experience of being a fan. So, yeah, this is kind of disappointing and not something I'd really considered either, until Mike Green, of all people, comes out and says it.

Trey Kirby (70:51)

Yeah. And that's the case for every single organization out there. Stinks. Yeah. It is sort of conventional tradition for the broadcasters just to be able to carry it through the first round. It is wonderful to hear the guy who's going to be on the call for ESPN in the NBA Finals to be saying this. It is very, very refreshing for this guy to come out and say, hey, it sucks. Yeah, me and Clyde, who's 81. I said he's 80. He's 81. Because we just had his birthday. Yeah, just get him on the call for at least. At least the first round. That's all he was saying. Just the first round.

Jay E. Skeets (71:29)

I think it's. I think it is important that it's Mike Breen saying it, because if this is Just whatever random Maddie Devlin. Well, Maddie Devlin has done also a national broadcast. I was trying to think of just somebody that only does their local broadcasts. Then you're like, okay, you're just salty because you, of course, want to do it. But Mike Breen, he does both. He does the Knicks games and then he's the lead voice for ABC and espn. So it carries more weight to me, him saying this. He even said it. He's like, I'm going to be on the call. I'm paid handsomely. And he knows it's because the new media deal with prime and NBC and espn, like, they paid millions upon millions to get these games. So he understands it, but he's at the same time, come on, man. What about the local fan bases of these squads and these broadcasters, too? It's really weird when you think about it. It's like you do all 82 games, and then they're like, all right, bye.

Tas Melas (72:20)

We got it from here.

Jay E. Skeets (72:21)

Yeah, it's like, can't even get a first round. Get in on the fun of, like, the crazy crowds and stuff like that for this. So we're all with Mike Breen on this one. But these are gonna be on, you know, Prime. I mean, it's a national televised streaming service, but it's not even on the air. Like, over the air. These first three games. Right. On Saturday.

Tas Melas (72:41)

That's a great point.

Jay E. Skeets (72:42)

It's sort of weird, kind of unusual. That's sort of weird.

Trey Kirby (72:45)

Yeah. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

Tas Melas (72:47)

Yeah, a lot of people have Prime.

Jay E. Skeets (72:49)

A lot of people have Prime.

Tas Melas (72:49)

Yeah, a lot of people don't have more people.

Jay E. Skeets (72:52)

I saw people very upset about this. Like, are you kidding me? Like, playoff games are not on, you know, traditional television.

Trey Kirby (72:58)

Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (72:58)

First three won't be on Saturday. I know that. I guess that last one is Lakers, Rockets.

Trey Kirby (73:04)

Yeah. I wonder if something that they change for next year, if people are upset about it enough, they could just to have it over the air in some ways. I know that's paid for, but going back to last, the last TV deal, I mean, they allowed the broadcasters to just have it through the first round. What's the big. I don't. I don't really understand the. The monetary difference. I'm not doing the books, but still, I don't think it's a huge deal.

Jay E. Skeets (73:32)

I don't know.

Trey Kirby (73:33)

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know the monetary reasons. But it is funny how it stops after the first round, too. It's like, that's it right? Traditionally.

Jay E. Skeets (73:40)

Traditionally, yes.

Trey Kirby (73:41)

Second round, you're just getting the national broadcast.

Jay E. Skeets (73:44)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (73:44)

Does prime still have games further into the playoffs? Like round two, conference finals? That's even crazy.

Jay E. Skeets (73:51)

Top of my head. I want to say no. They have it in their. Their media deal package, though. Eventually they're going to get like, like Western Conference finals or Eastern Conference. But that's like down the year. Yeah. Air down the line. Yeah. A couple years in, they do have

Tas Melas (74:05)

the movie Mercy on Prime Video. I watched that last night with no NBA going on.

Jay E. Skeets (74:10)

What's that one about?

Tas Melas (74:11)

It's basically reverse AI Minority Report with Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. And I just have to say, don't watch it. It's terrible.

Jay E. Skeets (74:19)

Oh, okay.

Tas Melas (74:20)

Really bad. But the NBA games will be good.

Jay E. Skeets (74:24)

What if Clyde Frazier was on the call for that movie Mercy.

Tas Melas (74:28)

Mercy. Mercy.

Jay E. Skeets (74:29)

Hating and investing make it better.

Tas Melas (74:33)

Kind of interesting.

Trey Kirby (74:34)

Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (74:35)

Final one. Anthony Davis made it clear Monday that the Washington Wizards must present a credible path to contention this summer before he's, like, officially locked in on this squad. AD stopped well short of requesting a trade, acknowledging his contractual obligations. He even said, I love my money. He was joking. He was joking, but he left the door open. Depending on what discussions with the front office do produce here, and apparently he's going to meet with them over the coming weeks. Are you up or down on Anthony Davis wanting a championship plan from the Wizards before, like, committing long term to this franchise?

Trey Kirby (75:12)

I'm both up and down. I know I'm sort of playing it neutral here. Well, I will say.

Jay E. Skeets (75:17)

Jesus, I hate when people do that. Today it's morning.

Trey Kirby (75:22)

When Anthony Davis was traded, I thought the wizard should not be giving him an extension. So I'm up on that, that they won't be giving him an extension immediately because he signed through next season and then a player option for the following season and he played 20 games this year. I don't see how that front office just says, hey, long term deal for somebody who's limited at the same time, sort of down. Like, you didn't have to tell people. You didn't. You didn't have to go on a podcast. This was on Draymond Green's podcast. And tell people that you're not extending. You don't have to do that. I like the idea of Anthony Davis being there for a full season and probably for that player option he picks up in that second year and potentially be dealt during that second year just to be that old guy for Alexander Saar. Mostly to see how you play defense, how you go about things. So I like him there, But I also like this idea of not extending him. Yeah, I don't. I don't understand how you would extend him for a big contract at this point. I understand the Wizards aren't paying anybody really right now, but to lock into somebody like that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Tas Melas (76:28)

Yeah, they're mostly going to be paying Trey Young and Anthony Davis if he decides to re up with them. Because everybody else is on rookie contracts, which is why Anthony Davis was like, I love these young guys. They're like my children. Yeah, he is so much older than mostly everybody on.

Jay E. Skeets (76:43)

33 years old, by the way.

Tas Melas (76:45)

So much older. What plan can they possibly give Anthony Davis that like, yeah, this is a championship plan. That's believable. They haven't made the playoffs since 2021.

Jay E. Skeets (76:54)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (76:54)

They haven't had a.500 record since 2018. They haven't won 50 games since 1979. I don't understand a realistic plan. You could show planthony Davis here.

Jay E. Skeets (77:05)

Right, Right.

Tas Melas (77:06)

To see him want to resign with the Wizards, but they wouldn't have traded for him if they didn't want him.

Trey Kirby (77:12)

Is it just they get a high draft pick and have a great player that they draft. Is that the idea for Anthony Davis?

Tas Melas (77:19)

Maybe. Yeah.

Trey Kirby (77:20)

But he also. You thought that he didn't have a great time with Cooper. Flag this year with it with a young guy who was.

Tas Melas (77:27)

He didn't.

Trey Kirby (77:28)

He wasn't high fiving him.

Tas Melas (77:29)

He was never high fiving him. But he likes Bilal Cool Bali.

Trey Kirby (77:33)

Yeah, he likes Bilali and all his other kids.

Tas Melas (77:36)

Bob Carrington tells funny jokes. He thinks that Will Riley is a picky eater, but that's fine. He'll make him peanut butter on toast with honey every single day if that's what he wants.

Trey Kirby (77:45)

Son, I'll give you a peanut butter. Yes. Listen, I liked him on the Draymond Green podcast.

Jay E. Skeets (77:52)

Well, some of this, by the way, some of this was him talking to the media.

Tas Melas (77:56)

Oh, was it?

Jay E. Skeets (77:56)

Because this blew my mind Monday when he did. This was Anthony Davis's first formal availability with the Washington area media since the surprise trade from the Mavericks in early February. Just lurking behind the wall the entire time. Can we talk to you? He's like, just back here. That's crazy. So this is why he had a lot to say. And, you know. Yeah, he's joking about the money and he's joking about the kids. He did say, like, I. I'm pretty impressed with the Washington sort of organization. He basically was like, A shithole here, but it's not that bad. But yeah, the whole money part. He's owed nearly $59 million in 2627. So that's next year. Then. He has a $63 million player option for 2728. But the industry speculation is he wants additional years here on this current deal. And that's where we get into will it be with Washington or not? Or is he just doing the whole like, yeah, I mean, it's not a bad place here, but I don't really want to be here long term because, like, come on, we're not going to be competing. He's probably thinking, I'm getting near the end of maybe my career, I guess, 33 years old, but I want to compete and it's not going to happen here in Washington anytime soon. No matter how good these kids are. No matter. No matter how good Trey Young is. Which. It's just fair. But then you could say, like, does ad should he have that? Is he allowed to have like that sort of like demand, you know what I mean? I don't know. I'm not really convinced he should.

Tas Melas (79:24)

It is kind of weird for him to be like, I played 20 games zero for this franchise. Prove it to me that we're gonna win.

Jay E. Skeets (79:29)

Right? Right.

Tas Melas (79:30)

They should be like, prove it to us. You're going to play.

Jay E. Skeets (79:32)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (79:33)

He was out with a hurt finger on his non shooting hand. Luke Canard is laughing at Anthony Davis for not playing. Will they make the postseason next year? They ain't making the playoffs. They're not going to be a top six team. Could they be a top 10 team in the Eastern Conference this year? For the first time in ages, every team in the top 10 was actually over.500. Miami finished 43 and 39. That is a 26 game difference with the Washington Wizards.

Jay E. Skeets (80:01)

I look, I think it's going to be tough because the Pacers should be right back in the mix. I don't have a lot of confidence in the nets jumping up into the conversation yet. The Bulls, probably not because they're finally in rebuilding mode. Milwaukee is a fascinating one. What happens there. But I'll say no. But then starting to run out of teams here that Washington. I feel comfortable sort of leaping.

Tas Melas (80:26)

Right.

Jay E. Skeets (80:28)

They should be in a play in race. They should be in a playing race.

Tas Melas (80:31)

It'd be great for them to be playing race.

Jay E. Skeets (80:33)

Yeah, yeah. But I wouldn't. I'm not locking it in that They're a top 10 seed in the Western Conference next year.

Trey Kirby (80:38)

Yeah, I hear what you're saying I can talk myself into it with Trey Young and Anthony Davis being out there, along with a very good pick in this draft.

Jay E. Skeets (80:46)

Yeah. And there is talent on the team.

Trey Kirby (80:49)

Yeah. It is a drastic drop off from 10th to 11th. As you said, 43 wins for the 10th seed to 32 wins for the Bucks in the 11th seed. Anthony Davis, I guess, was just talking, as you said, he was talking to the media. I, I do think that especially if you're talking to Draymond Green, you know, future hall of Famer, they're just starting to say, hey, I want to be here for long term. And, and I think, I think that's where the hey, I want to be extension. He didn't say I want to be extended, but that conversation was with Draymond Green. So I can understand why, you know, the pride of the brotherhood, they're part of the future hall of Famer, both future hall of Famers. So I can understand him just talking. But at the same time, if you're the front office, you're not just extending this guy this off season. That would be bananas to me.

Jay E. Skeets (81:36)

All right, that's the up down report. Thanks for throwing your thumbs on that. Look, they weren't the sexiest up down questions. Okay.

Tas Melas (81:43)

I'll admit that's a nice B block for everyone.

Jay E. Skeets (81:45)

We got there. We got there in the end. Send in questions. You know, we might have to have a nice little beach step in sesh this week. Email in your questions. No dunks incmail.com because tomorrow we will be previewing and predicting the two playoff series in the Eastern Conference that we know. Knicks, Hawks and Cavaliers, Raptors. So we'll do those tomorrow. We've got playing games tonight. That's right. Some are saying this is the best batch of teams since the play ins inception in 2021. Because just one team with a losing record and it's the Warriors.

Tas Melas (82:22)

Exactly.

Jay E. Skeets (82:23)

Yeah. So that is the fewest in the play ins history in terms of like losing teams, fewer losers.

Tas Melas (82:30)

Yeah, that's good.

Jay E. Skeets (82:30)

Maybe there's something there, maybe some truth there. That first game tonight of the play in tournament, we're going to be live on YouTube. It's going to be a watch party. An absolute hang second screen experience.

Tas Melas (82:41)

Hanging out with my friends.

Jay E. Skeets (82:42)

You got prime on one tablet and you got us on the other. Come hang out. I'll get that. I'll get that stream going on YouTube a little bit later today. But the game is at 7:30pm Eastern on Prime. So we'll just be hanging out Chatting it up and keeping our eye on hopefully an entertaining Heat Hornets game. I think it's going to be high scoring, hopefully not a blowout.

Tas Melas (83:05)

Yeah, I'm into both these games tonight. And speaking of questions, I saw a great one today on NBA Reddit from user tough today 2563 who says the post is titled Colonoscopy Prep vs NBA Play and Tournament. What would you do? I'm about to face a serious dilemma. Hornet Superfan right here. Haven't missed a game all season. However, I have a colonoscopy scheduled on Wednesday tomorrow which returns Requires prep beginning 6pm the evening before. I could reschedule, but there's a $1,000 late rescheduling fee so I can't justify that. Would you suck it up and go to the game and try to make the fast break to the bathroom or stay home and wallow watching from the toilet? This is not a joke. I really am torn.

Jay E. Skeets (83:50)

Hope you're not torn.

Tas Melas (83:52)

I think it comes out pretty easy when you're prepping.

Trey Kirby (83:54)

Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (83:58)

Oh yeah.

Ad Voice (83:59)

I've done it twice.

Tas Melas (84:01)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (84:01)

You. You cannot go to the game.

Jay E. Skeets (84:03)

Yeah, I was gonna say just stay

Tas Melas (84:04)

home, watch from home.

Jay E. Skeets (84:06)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (84:06)

Oh no. Reschedule the colonoscopy.

Jay E. Skeets (84:08)

A thousand dollars. It's a playoff.

Trey Kirby (84:10)

It's a play in game.

Jay E. Skeets (84:11)

It's not a playoff game, it's a play game.

Tas Melas (84:14)

It might be their only one though.

Jay E. Skeets (84:15)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (84:17)

Thousand dollars plus the cost of tickets.

Julian Edelman (84:19)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (84:19)

Can you call management, say, this is my situation. Can I have a seat? Pretty close to a bathroom.

Jay E. Skeets (84:26)

Wow.

Ad Voice (84:26)

Just close to a bathroom.

Jay E. Skeets (84:27)

Oh, it's. Yeah, pretty close.

Tas Melas (84:30)

Can I sit on the aisle?

Trey Kirby (84:31)

No, no, it's not. Not. What if the bathroom. It's not an option.

Jay E. Skeets (84:36)

What if they brought a like, you know, a porta potty in and put it. But there's a window that you can see out of in the arena.

Tas Melas (84:48)

Like it for just this guy?

Jay E. Skeets (84:49)

Yeah, for this guy.

Trey Kirby (84:51)

Okay. But then. Okay, look, it lasts all night though, right? So you're like there after the game for the entire night. Basically. You're not getting in a car, going somewhere. We're gonna think these things through.

Jay E. Skeets (85:06)

Yeah. Yeah.

Trey Kirby (85:06)

You know.

Jay E. Skeets (85:07)

What about the bag?

Tas Melas (85:09)

That's a colostomy.

Trey Kirby (85:10)

Yeah, that's a.

Tas Melas (85:11)

That's a different thing.

Jay E. Skeets (85:12)

Well, okay.

Trey Kirby (85:13)

Yeah.

Jay E. Skeets (85:13)

True calling.

Tas Melas (85:16)

Quick, get me a bag. I'm not coming in for the colonoscopy, but I'm doing something colon related.

Trey Kirby (85:23)

Oh, you're referring to the, the guy with the purple backpack. The, the hardcore. Interesting. Have that bag ready to go.

Tas Melas (85:30)

That's what was in there.

Jay E. Skeets (85:32)

Maybe. Maybe. All right, good luck. I hope we find out the answer. Yeah, this guy here.

Trey Kirby (85:37)

Great question. Follow up.

Jay E. Skeets (85:38)

We'll see you tonight on YouTube. Hopefully. Hopefully. If not tomorrow morning here at 10am Eastern to break down two of the Eastern Conference series and talk about tonight's playing games. Clipper Bros. You heard it here first. Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome.

Trey Kirby (85:51)

Thanks for joining us. And remember, if you're looking for great stats, the Finder with Tom Haberstro has a great substack page. I mention it because it's a great page for stats. Also because I didn't give him love for a stat I said earlier and so I squeezed them in here. It's a little late but I got

Jay E. Skeets (86:09)

them in Brace the day people

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Jay E. Skeets (88:34)

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