Are the Hawks better without Trae Young? + Pelicans fire Willie Green

Summary

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The Athletic NBA Daily — November 17, 2025

Episode Theme:
Are the Hawks better without Trae Young? + Pelicans fire Willie Green

Hosts: Dave DeFore, Zena Keita, Esfandiar “S” Baraheni

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Episode Overview

On this episode, the crew recaps an action-packed NBA weekend, dissecting pivotal games, major injuries, and organizational chaos. Featured topics include the surging Hawks during Trae Young’s absence, Willie Green’s awkward firing in New Orleans, and the incredible performances from stars like Steph Curry, Victor Wembanyama, and up-and-coming contributors. The hosts also weigh the implications of a series of injuries across the league and muse about the dynamics of reintegrating star players like LeBron James and Trae Young.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Magic vs. Rockets: Offense, Hierarchy, and Houston’s KD Factor

• Magic:
  • Played without Paolo Banchero, but the offense “made a little bit of sense” with “21 assists tonight for the Orlando Magic. Ball was flying a little bit. Basically, every single player that played tonight had an assist.” (03:09, S)
  • Desmond Bane and Franz Wagner stepped up, but the consensus is “not time yet to say they’re better without Paolo.” (03:09, S)
• Rockets:
  • Houston “is a machine at this point…lethal offensively” with a clear identity—crash the glass, exploit isolation (03:09, S).
  • Kevin Durant “running more pick and rolls than ever,” and Alperen Sengun “has taken a leap” as a scorer and facilitator (03:09, S).
  • Durant and Sengun combined for 65 points. “KD had huge shot after huge shot.” (03:09, S)
• Hierarchy Shift:
  • “You can feel the hierarchy in Houston now…Sengun kind of acting like the engine of the team, pushing everyone across the line.” (04:41, Zena)
  • “Most importantly, you’ve got Sengun and KD sharing those late-game possessions. It’s less ‘somebody save us’ and more ‘one of y’all got it.’ And that feels good.” (05:12, Zena)

Notable Quote

“They have an identity which is we’re going to crash the offensive glass like Mad Men… We have Kevin Durant, who’s a great isolation scorer… Alperen Sengun, who has taken a leap.”
— S [03:09]

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2. Steph Curry vs. Victor Wembanyama: Enigma vs. Enigma

• Steph Curry erupted for 95 points over two games against the Spurs, a “nightmare” for Wimby’s young career.
• The dynamic: Curry’s relentless motion and quick decision-making challenges even someone with Wembanyama’s gifts. “There was a possession that stands out…down the stretch, you watch Wimby just trying to track Steph. That’s impossible.” (06:35, Dave)
• Wemby deserves credit—“a lot of chasing Steph, but then also being…in the paint” (07:23, Zena).
• The hosts marvel at the “poetry” of NBA generational clashes—“old guard vs. new guard” and speculate about a potential playoff series between Spurs and Warriors.

Notable Quotes

“We are blessed by the basketball gods that we get to see a matchup like this in real time…Wemby’s ridiculous size and the space that he covers versus Steph’s processing speed.”
— Zena [07:43]

“It’s Enigma versus Enigma…Steph was the guy who…you’re like, ‘what am I watching right now?’ Wemby is that guy now.”
— S [08:24]

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3. Hawks Without Trae Young: Defensive Renaissance & The Real Question

• The Hawks are 7–2 without Trae Young, “the second best defense in that time…just went 4–0 on this west coast road trip.” (10:10, Dave)
• The offense has also been solid: “12th best offense also since then, which maybe is a surprise since Trae Young is an offense to himself.” (10:10, Dave)
• Notable names stepping up: Dyson Daniels (averaging 7+ assists), Jalen Johnson (triple-double: 31/18/14).
• Debate: Are the Hawks better without Trae?
  • Zena reframes: “That’s the wrong question…Can Trae Young plug into this version of the Hawks…without slipping back defensively?” (11:13, Zena)
  • “Hawks play better defense into offense than we’ve ever seen before, and that’s what’s really levitating them.” (12:20, Zena)
  • S and Dave: Offense can incorporate Trae’s gifts, if he buys in off-ball and defensively. “He should just be joining in on the fun. He should blend in. Hopefully he does.” (14:10, Dave)

Notable Quotes

“My question is when Trae Young comes back…can he ensure him coming back does not slip this team back from a defensive perspective?”
— Zena [11:13]

“That is the thing with Trae Young that’s been missing from his game: being dangerous without the ball in his hands.”
— Dave [14:03]

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4. Pelicans Fire Willie Green: Organizational Dysfunction & Borrego’s Challenge

• Willie Green was fired after weeks of speculation and mishandling: “Dragged it out quite a while and, in my opinion, got a bit disrespectful…including dragging it out an extra like two weeks and then not announcing him along with the starting lineups at home.” (18:00, Dave)
• James Borrego named interim head coach.
• Zena: “It’s been messy as hell…serves as a perfect parallel to what Willie Green has had to deal with in terms of his roster and the consistencies in his roster.” (18:53)
  • “I do feel like he got the short end of the stick…For the Pelicans organization, you can switch out the coach, you cannot switch out dysfunction.” (18:53, Zena)
  • Derrick Queen’s emergence noted, but Borrego “won’t suddenly solve the problems—too much dysfunction.” (19:58, Zena)
• S and Dave: Derrick Queen is a bright spot but not enough to change the fundamental issues.

Notable Quote

“You can switch out the coach, you cannot switch out dysfunction…you cannot switch out what you build around Zion.”
— Zena [18:53]

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5. Injury Round-Up: Knicks, Grizzlies, Nuggets, and More

• Knicks: Jalen Brunson (ankle), OG Anunoby (hamstring, out at least 2 weeks).
  • OG Anunoby: “Not just like a role player for this team. Like, he is solid 16 points a night, almost two steals a game.” (22:56, Zena)
  • Team depth needed, Clarkson and McBride highlighted as key fill-ins.
• Grizzlies: Ja Morant left with injury. He “hasn’t really looked like himself…shooting 30% from the field, 18% from three.” (24:40, S)
• Nuggets: Christian Braun out at least six weeks (ankle), but depth much improved.
  • “Nuggets are only –1.6 plus-minus without Jokic this year…last year –10.8.” (25:59, Dave)
• Rockets, Pacers: Tar Eason and Aaron Nesmith out a month; Pacers likely tanking.
• Bulls/Jazz Double OT Thrill:
  • Kobe White returns, “27, 4 and 8,” with a layup forcing double OT (27:32, Zena).
  • Lowry Markkanen and Keyonte George combine for “80 points” in the Jazz win. (28:04, S)
• Lakers/Mavs: Anthony Davis still out; Cooper Flagg emerging, Anthony Davis trade chatter beginning.

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6. LeBron’s Return and Lakers Fit

• LeBron James Sr. to return to practice: “NBA players don’t just practice for the hell of it…assuming he’s ramping up to return.” (29:32, Dave)
• Lakers’ need: 30th in transition frequency—LeBron can “speed them up. Luka likes to play slow. LeBron will speed them up.” (30:17, Dave)
• Zena jokes: “I love that one of the oldest guys in the league—we need you to speed us up.” (30:17, Zena)
• S’s concern: “Ball has looked good in Austin Reaves’ hands, and Luka Doncic’s hands…LeBron will want the ball in his hands…That might mean a little bit of a work in progress over the next couple weeks.” (31:22, S)
• Dave: Ultimately not worried—“Nobody’s ever said we don’t need LeBron James.” (32:04, Dave)

Notable Quotes

“We need you to speed us up. Right now we’re playing slowly and badly in transition and we need LeBron, 40 years old to come in.”
— Zena [30:17]

“Nobody's ever said we don't need LeBron James.”
— Dave [32:04]

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Additional Memorable Moments

• On Playoff Desires:
  “I want a playoff series—give me a playoff series of Spurs versus Warriors.” (08:43, S)
• On Derrick Queen Jerseys:
  “There’s a lot of bachelorette parties in New Orleans. You could do Queen New Orleans.” (20:30, S)
• Trade Rumors: “They need AD to come back so that he can rebuild his trade value.” (28:47, Dave) “I think it’s time to pull the plug. I think it’s time to start over with Cooper Flagg.” (28:47, S)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:09] Magic-Rockets recap and Houston’s new offensive identity
• [06:35] Steph Curry vs Victor Wembanyama: generational duel
• [10:10] Hawks’ hot streak without Trae Young; defense focus
• [11:13] Zena’s reframing: Integration vs. subtraction with Trae Young
• [18:00] Pelicans fire Willie Green, Borrego takes over
• [22:56] Knicks injuries and depth challenges
• [24:40] Ja Morant’s struggles and Grizzlies injury woes
• [27:32] Kobe White’s return and impact for Bulls
• [28:04] Jazz’s Markkanen and George go off for combined 80 points
• [29:32] LeBron James Sr.’s return to practice and Lakers transition issues
• [31:22] S’s devil’s advocate: LeBron's integration into Lakers offense
• [32:04] Dave’s reassurance: “Nobody’s ever said we don’t need LeBron James.”

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Tone and Language

Throughout the episode, the hosts balance sharp analysis with playful banter and a conversational tone, frequently referencing insider perspectives, fandom narratives, and basketball history. There’s an emphasis on nuance (especially around “Are they better without [star player]?” tropes), as well as appreciation for the emotional and human side of the league.

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Summary prepared for those wanting a comprehensive, engaging recap of The Athletic NBA Daily’s November 17, 2025 episode.

Transcript

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[Dave DeFore]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for November 17, 2025. I'm Dave DeFore here with Zena, Keda and Esperaheni. Coming up, big weekend. We're going to recap as much of it as we can. We had Steph vs Wimy on Friday Crazy Magic Rockets game and we got a bunch of injuries to get to. Good morning everybody. Good morning guys. Another crazy weekend around the NBA.

[Zena]

Good morning.

[Dave DeFore]

Fun Sunday. I didn't. I thought we were going to wind up talking Bulls Jazz guys, because of all the overtime. We will get to it.

[Zena]

I Don't know.

[Dave DeFore]

Where do we start, guys? You guys want to start with the game? Magic Rockets on Sunday. The. The Magic roll in there with no Palo Banchero and s Unsurprisingly, the offense seemed to make a little bit of sense for the match. Yeah, it did.

[S]

21 assists tonight for the Orlando Magic. Ball was flying a little bit. Basically, every single player that played tonight had an assist. The playmaking pop from Desmond Bain, who is getting downhill and creating his shots. Franz Wagner's has looked good since Paulo has been out, too. I. I don't think it's time yet to do the whole, are they better without him? But they do look good. And honestly, they are playing better basketball since we kind of pushed them on the panic meter a couple of weeks back. So they're starting to figure things out. But at the same time, this Houston Rockets team is a machine at this point. They are just lethal offensively. They have an identity which is we're going to crash the offensive glass like Mad Men. At the same time, we have Kevin Durant, who's a great isolation scorer. He's running more pick and rolls than ever Alper and Sengun, who is. Who has taken a leap. Right. I think we can all agree that Sengun has stepped it up as an isolation scorer, as a guy who can create his own shot. And we saw that tonight. Like, they combined for 65 points in this game. KD had huge shot after huge shot. Sengun got it in the post, right finish. He was really, really impressive in this game. And those two leading the way for the Rock.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, I mean, Zeno, look when we were watching the Rockets last year, down the stretch, fourth quarters, it's a different world now that Kevin Durant is out there making, making big shots. And you've got Alperin Shingoon, who looks so much more confident this year. It's not the grenade at the end of the shot clock like with Fred Van Vliet like it was last year.

[Zena]

Yeah, I feel like you can feel the hierarchy in Houston now and very clearly know what the tiers are. Of course, Durant is the bucket going to get 25 a game out of him. Solid lock that in. But you've got Sengun kind of acting like the. The engine of the team, kind of pushing everyone across the line like he's the one now at the top of the arc making those handoffs, making those decisions on, you know, whether he wants to go ISO whether he wants to take someone in the post. He's also a really great passer from that. Like when you compare it to last year, you've got a lot more options in their crunch time offense. But most importantly, you've got Sengun and KD sharing those late game possessions. And it's less somebody save us and more one of y' all got it. And that feels good.

[S]

And Reed shepherd is figuring it out. Folks just want to mention that he's playing some good basketball. Recently dropped 16 tonight too. Look him back.

[Dave DeFore]

They got him closing games. I mean, part of that is because they have to, you know, they've, they've had some injury issues and, and they've got to stretch the floor, right? Like they can't just go double big the whole time. But yeah, Reed shepherd looking like a basketball player. Also, basketball players Stephen Curry and Victor Wimanyama unrelated to Reed Shepherd. The spurs are probably sick of Steph Curry by now. And nobody more than Victor Wimanyama between the Olympics and then the 95 points that Steph dropped on the spurs and the two games that they played Wednesday and Friday of last week. I don't know, guys like Steph Curry's got to be the most annoying player to play against. You can't guard him when he's got the ball in his hands. You can't keep up with him when he's off the ball. And Zena, look, I know that, like, you're super plugged in on this game, maybe even more so than I was because you had to talk about it right after. But there was a possession that stands out to me at the end of this game. Like down the stretch, you watch Wimby just trying to track Stephen. Yeah, that's impossible. Number one, it's impossible to do. But number two, did Wimby do a better job than we've maybe seen anybody do?

[S]

He was great.

[Zena]

I mean, he was great. And I think the possession you're talking about, he was going off of multiple screens. Again, off ball. So this is with Steph just utilizing his energy to make Wemby chase him. And then Wemby also had to recover and cover the paint in that same play. So I do give Wemby a lot of credit for the amount of chasing Steph, but then also being the, you know, basic full cone around the paint for the Spurs. But ultimately, like, yes, we know Wemby is the future. We saw what he was capable of doing. But yes, there's some ptsd. Whether you're the spurs, whether you're Team France, whether you're anyone that is above the height of.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, right.

[Zena]

Anyone you're above the height of six, three, and you're just like, how is this man coming in here at 37 years old and within 72 hours dropping 95 points on my team? Yeah, 72 hours at age 37. He's.

[S]

And he became a free agent. Sneaker. Free agent in that time, too.

[Zena]

And he's. Exactly. And he's playing games with, you know, not quite literally playing games with the mambocidas on, but warming up and then showcasing two of his Curry shoes during the game. Two different shoes. So I just love this. This matchup. I literally wrote that we are blessed by the basketball gods that we get to see a matchup like this in real time and understanding that it's not just what typically you see with basketball. Oh, it's small versus tall. Right? Like, oh, he's just so much smaller than. No, this is. This is Wemby's ridiculous size and the space that he covers versus Steph's processing speed.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[Zena]

And how quickly he can make decisions and change the geometry of a game.

[S]

Honestly, Xena, it's funny you say that. It's Enigma versus Enigma, because Steph was the guy who, like, you watched him for the last 10 years, and you're like, what it. What am I watching right now with Steph Curry, especially in his prime. And Wemby is that guy now.

[Zena]

Right.

[S]

He is the guy who we marvel at constantly. And so that's why this is. I want a playoff series. Give me a playoff series of spurs versus Warriors.

[Dave DeFore]

It's old guard versus new guard. Right. It's. You know, I compare Steph Curry to Shaq all the time. And then Wemby is like, if you take Shaq and Steph and threw them into a blender and then maybe a little bit of KD in there. Kevin Garden. I don't just throw in every single player.

[S]

Throwing everybody.

[Zena]

Yeah, yeah. Throwing everybody.

[Dave DeFore]

And the thing is to watch the warriors beat them two games in a row. Even as we're watching the spurs kind of grow and figure things out, I got the thought like, Xena, you threw it in the group chat. We need this for the playoffs. It's like, we believe Spurs. We keep talking about how the spurs remind us of, like, the. Oh, maybe it's OKC a couple of years ago when they were like, a year early. Yeah. I don't know.

[Zena]

They were in OKC a couple of years ago. Remind you even OKC now reminds you of what, the 2015, 2016 warriors. So lineage. There is this heritage of this, you know, up and coming team, like trying to figure it out. This youth coming about it and all of them hinging on one superstar player.

[S]

Yeah, right. It would be, it would be fitting if. You know, I think the one series I always think about when it would like Stephen, the Warriors starting off is that I believe either 2013 or 2014 series versus the spurs, where they, they arrived. Right. It was their moment. I don't know, maybe we get a full circle, right?

[Dave DeFore]

I mean, basketball is poetic like that, especially the NBA. Speaking of superstars missing guys, the Atlanta Hawks have now played nine games without Trey Young. Okay. They are seven and two without Trey Young. Now after the comeback win over the upstart Suns, who we, we really like and play good defense on Sunday, big comeback, eight and two if you count the game that he left early with an injury. They've got the second best defense in that time. Guys, they just went four and oh. On this west coast road trip, they beat the Clippers, the Kings, the Jazz and the Suns. Okay, I get it. Not world schedules. Yeah, the 12th best offense also since then, which maybe is a surprise since Trae Young is an offensive to himself. And Dyson Daniels, who we talked about kind of finding his way, figuring out who he is again averaging seven plus assists since Trey's been out. Xena, I'm going to ask you both this question, but I'm going to start with you. Are the Hawks better without Trae Young?

[Zena]

I feel like that's the wrong question to ask. I feel like I want to ask not, are the Hawks better without Trey Young? It is. Can Trae Young plug into this version of the Hawks, taking them back into the 120 plus defensive rating they had right before he went out. This is the issue whenever you have stars go missing the because of injury or whatever it may be, and you see them play better, right? I cover the Warriors. You know, we see this right now with Jonathan Kaminga. The warriors have won and Jonathan Kaminga's got knee injuries. There's a lot of fans talking about, what is that gonna look like? This is always the conversation. You think that when a team gets better because someone is absent. Oh, are they better without them? Listen, assess how you want. My question is when Trae Young comes back, because he is inevitably going to return to his team, let's just be clear, it is still his team. Can he ensure that him coming back does not slip this team back from a defensive perspective? Because that's the biggest thing we know. The Dyson Daniels seven plus assists, the playmaking that's coming out of him. Jalen Johnson popping off or a triple double the other night, 31, 18 and 14 assists. These things can still happen with Trey Young available. It's about the defense for me because I think what's, what's happening this not right now. We're seeing the Hawks play better defense into offense than we've ever seen before, and that's what's really like levitating them. So I'm not going to ask if they're better without Trey Young because a version of them with Trae Young is really, really good. I'm going to ask, can Trae Young fit this version and get them better?

[S]

It is the perfect answer. I genuinely cannot add too much, but I will just kind of sprinkle some more numbers for you. So since Trey has been out, they are the number one offense when it comes to cuts. They are dominating when it comes to finding guys off of cuts. Dyson Daniels is really good at that. Jalen Johnson is really good at that. Nikhil Alexander Walker also very good at that. He had a really great game against the Suns tonight. When you look at their offensive system, this is something that Trey should be able to play into because he's also great at finding cutters. But it's a willingness. And that's the thing that I wanted to add is like, is Trey Young willing to buy into what they do offensively? And at the same time, like you mentioned, defensively, they're switching everything. They, they have Wings R Us when it comes to how they can guard on the perimeter. Can they continue to do that with Trey? I don't necessarily know.

[Dave DeFore]

They can't.

[S]

You know, they can't.

[Dave DeFore]

They can't do the defensive stuff. They're going to have to change it. They're going to have to cover up for him. Right. But offensively, when you've got the gifts that he has as a passer and as a shooter, he should be better at plugging into what they're doing between cutting and himself playing off the ball. That is the thing with Trey Young that's been missing from his game is being dangerous without the ball in his hands. And until he figures out how to.

[Zena]

Do that, 2.0 is what he should be.

[Dave DeFore]

That's right. Yeah, that's right. Because he's got the range, he's got the touch and I mean, he should just be a threat. And he's a good finisher, too, so he should be cutting off the ball, too. Like he should just be joining in on the fun. He should blend in hopefully he does. If he does, this offense will will be a top seven offense in the NBA. Period.

[S]

100%.

[Dave DeFore]

It's just.

[S]

Look, it's worth noting that like Trey was also really bad before he got hurt. That was the worst version of Trey Young. Like he was shooting 19% from three. If you get an average or above average version of Trey, I don't think the on off disparity is as crazy as we look at it right now.

[Dave DeFore]

So yeah, probably not. All right guys, we got a lot of news to catch up on injuries. We got people coming back and Willie Green was fired in New Orleans.

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[Dave DeFore]

All right, we were anticipating this for a while, but the New Orleans Pelicans have finally, after dragging it out quite a while and in my opinion, getting a bit disrespectful with the way that they were treating Willie Green. They did fire, fire Willie Green finally over the weekend. James Borrego's been named Imran interim head coach and he's going to finish the season. They didn't let James Borrego interview for other jobs this past summer because they knew that this was coming. And guys like, we kind of lose sight of the human being part of this, especially with coaches. But they put Willie Green through quite a bit after the initial reporting came out that they were going to let him go, including dragging it out an extra like two weeks and then not announcing him along with the starting lineups at home. And I feel like, I mean, it's just kind of uncalled for for an organization that's just been just doing bad business for a few years now.

[Zena]

It's been messy as hell the way that all of this has played out. And it's very, I mean, it serves as a perfect parallel to kind of what Willie Green has had to deal with in terms of his roster and the consistencies in his roster. I've already mentioned this on this podcast. I mentioned it on, you know, covering the Warriors. I feel bad for Willie Green. I do feel like he got the short end of the stick when it comes to what was available to him in terms of talent. And I feel like for the Pelicans organization, you can switch out the coach, you cannot switch out dysfunction, you cannot switch out what you build around Zion. And, and that's going to be the biggest question. The thing we saw against the warriors when Borrego in the first game that he takes over for the Pelicans is Derrick Queen enters the starting lineup. Kevon Looney does not play at all. Now, I don't mind this switch because Derrick Queen has been phenomenal. And I love Derrick Queen on the court as much as I love the fact that he has Queen on the back of his jersey. And I feel every woman should buy one. But I. He didn't play that well.

[Dave DeFore]

Nobody wants a Pelican jersey. Xena, come on now.

[Zena]

Well, listen, you want a Queen on the back, I think it's great. It's a great buy. But I. He didn't play that well against the Warriors. That's one game, whatever. But I still don't see enough. I don't think that Borrego is going to now take this roster and find a way to the top of the Western Conference like this. There's too much there in terms of dysfunction that has. Will not be addressed. Just because you switch out one coach, mind you, the rest of the coach is still there. The. The rest of the staff is still there. Like, I mean, I'm. I'm curious about how all this is going to play out, but I do feel bad for Willie.

[S]

You guys are making me think of a business idea. By the way, there's a lot of bachelorette parties in New Orleans. So you could do Queen New Orleans.

[Dave DeFore]

We're going to buy wholesale Derek Queen jerseys, which, by the way, not a bad investment. He has been probably the best player for the Pelicans this year. Like, he's been good, he's been talented. And, and so, like, we. We're going to hammer that trade still, because it was awful, but player can play.

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You.

[S]

We just talked about the dysfunction of the Pelicans. They need like a one shining light type of player. A guy who just injects positivity into that franchise. And from the way everybody talks about Derrick Queen, the way, like, he is just apparently one of the funniest players to be around. That is the type of guy you need in your locker room if he's good, if he becomes an All Star. He's the type of guy who can really change around a franchise.

[Dave DeFore]

I think if he can get in the weight room, that's going to be super important.

[Zena]

Shout out to Willie Green for developing the players that he's developed. Right. We just talked about Bryson Daniels, who helped develop that guy. Willie Green. Looked at, looking at Yves Mesi, looking at all these young players coming out of New Orleans. I mean, they were athletic as hell. They've got potential. They just need a little bit more order. And like you said, S. You're. You're talking about the. That one shining guy of positivity. I also think it's like one shiny guy out on the court that can take over. And Ingram was that guy. Ingram's not there anymore or supposed to be that guy. Right. Zion was supposed to be that guy. Like Jordan Pool's supposed to be that guy. We just haven't. We haven't been able to see it come to fruition.

[Dave DeFore]

I do think that they could be.

[S]

A little bit off of Zero Fears. Zero Fears jersey and then a Queen jersey jersey.

[Zena]

Jeremiah Fears playing really, really well.

[Dave DeFore]

We're. We're going to New Orleans for Marty G.R. basically what S. Is trying to say. All right, all right, let's get to some injuries, guys, because, yeah, I'm trying to set it up. You know, we're now almost a month into the season and the injury bug is biting and it's biting every single team. Want to start with the Knicks? Jalen Brunson has the ankle issue that he's dealing with. He was in a walking boot, but he's traveling with the team. But OG Anunoby is going to be out at least two weeks with that strain left hamstring Zeno. Look, the Knicks have got more depth and, and this is, you know, been good for them, but being down two guys out of the starting lineup, but especially OG Anunoby, I think is going to be tough for him.

[Zena]

Yeah, this is tough because OG is not just like a role player for this team. Like, he is solid 16 points a night, almost two steals a game. Like, he brings that energy, he helps their transition game, he makes them pop, playing above the rim, etc. But let's just be real, like, if you, you don't have Landry Shamit the other night against the Heat, like, they're not winning that game. There was way too much depth in the starting lineup and the bench for the Heat if Landry, Shammit and Cat didn't go off for the points that they had. And so it does, it does show you that the starting lineup for the, for the Knicks, Mitchell Robinson, you got to step up, right? Especially if OG Is going to be out there. There's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of want still to be seen in the, in the Knicks offense, especially now with OG out. So I'm very curious as to how New York's going to survive this period of time, but it, it will take Jordan Clarkson, who's been playing really well for them, like this is his opportunity to shine. We've already seen McBride and what he's capable of doing when he gets the opportunity to and has the ball in his hands a little bit more. So those guys are going to really have to step up for the Knicks. In the midst of OG and Jalen.

[Dave DeFore]

Being out, the Grizzlies might be without John Morant for a little bit. We don't know yet how long he's going to miss, if he's going to miss any time at ball. He did leave Saturday's game against the Cavs that the Grizzlies wound up losing after about seven minutes. S has been a rough start to the season for Ja. He hasn't really looked like himself as far as being explosive. Obviously the finishing and around the basket the shot has just been non existent. I don't know. I mean they're down so many guards they had to sign a two way guy and bring him up. It's not looking great for the Grizzlies.

[S]

No, it's not looking great for the Grizzlies and honestly I don't envy the position jaws in either because with everything that has happened to start this season, he now has to try to build himself back up. Like look when he came back from that suspension, he's shooting 30% from the field, 18% from three. Like there's something wrong there. Whether it is the coaching staff not getting out to him, him not feeling 100% or maybe the whole stints substitution patterns that have become this big issue for the Grizzlies. I'm really curious to see whether they're going to work through having Morant play more off ball when he comes back just to get his legs back because he didn't look healthy to finish out the last couple of games at the same time. Maybe the Grizzlies end up looking better. Like Zach Eddy is back. They're probably going to get some of their guards back eventually. Cedric, theory here.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, I think it's the right move.

[S]

I don't know, it's. It's something to watch for. But I, I honestly don't envy the position Jaw's been over the last couple weeks because how do you make something out of nothing even when you're not 100% like that?

[Zena]

Yeah, this sounds like the Ewing theory.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, I don't know. I'm not ready to go there yet. We'll, we'll see. I mean I think if Jock can bounce back and be Josh, that's what we all. That's what the Grizzlies want. Yeah, I agree.

[Zena]

I agree.

[Dave DeFore]

All right, guys, we got. Christian Brown's going to be out for six weeks at least with the left ankle sprain. Tim Hardaway put up 23 as a starter. Look, normally we'd be worried about the Nuggets losing a guy, but this is the season where they have some depth. I mean, if you look, the Nuggets are only negative 1.6 plus minus without Jokic this year. Last year they were minus 10.86 points. Right. And in their championship year, minus 14.8 without Jokic on the court. So doing a little bit better from the bench standpoint, so maybe can withstand that. Tar Eason's going to be out for a month to six weeks for the Rockets. Aaron Neesmith's going to be out a month, but the pacers are 1 in 12 and probably tanking at this point. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. They're looking at highlights.

[S]

Go watch them. Great game against Yukon.

[Dave DeFore]

Not just injuries to report. We actually have some good news. Kobe White's back. He came back Sunday for the Bulls. Came off the bench, completely blew through the minutes limit because this game went to double overtime, which by the way, Kobe White help get it to double overtime with a crazy layup with 0.2 seconds left at the end of the first overtime, which the Jazz end up winning in. In two overtimes. The Bulls have now lost five in a row. Not great after the start that they had. Yeah, he put up 27, 4 and 8. I don't know. Zena, look is this. He looks good out there. Him and him and Josh Giddy gave him a little bit more juice, right?

[Zena]

Yeah. The Bulls finally are going to get to see what this Giddy White back court looks like that that carried them late last season. Remember the games that we were like staying up and screaming about? It was those two being absolutely electric and this is exactly what I mean. 27, 4 and 8. This is who Kobe was after. All Star last year. 25 a night, 50% shooting. Like he was efficient. And so I am. I'm looking forward to seeing him back on the floor and if he can survive 30 minutes already, I feel like he's raring to go as well.

[S]

I feel like we should talk about the fact that Lowry marketing, Keonte George combined for 80 points tonight against.

[Dave DeFore]

I mean. Yeah, pretty incredible. Yeah. Lowry market in 47 points in the game. Just absolutely absurd performance from him. Anthony Davis guy is going to be out at least another seven to 10 days recovering from a calf injury, the Mavs did pick up a win on Sunday. Cooper Flag has been fantastic last four games, averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 stocks, 4 assists, 54% shooting s. They need AD to come back so that he can rebuild his trade value, buddy. Yeah, they do.

[S]

Yes, they do. Because I think it's time to pull the plug. I think it's time to start over with Cooper Flag. I'm very curious to see what kind of trade value Anthony Davis will have once he starts to play for this team. Because, like, Cooper Flag is awesome because he's been playing great basketball. Because guard help shout out Brandon Williams has been really, really important. The fact that Cooper is playing better basketball. He has been muscling through contact, playing in the post more often, creating his shots with physicality. He had a couple of possessions tonight where he bodied to Monica Kamara. I'm really excited for Cooper Flag if the Mavs tilt and pivot and go away from Anthony Davis and everybody else.

[Dave DeFore]

As long as they keep the guards out there.

[S]

Trade value I need.

[Dave DeFore]

Is that.

[S]

That.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, it's very important. All right. And finally, guys, the Lakers have called up an older guy out of the G League. You may have heard of him, the father of LeBron James Jr. LeBron James coming back to practice with the Lakers on Monday. Assuming that we're going to see him soon. I mean, you know, it's not. NBA players don't just practice for the. For the hell of it. They don't love that. So I'm assuming because he's practiced, he's ramping up to return to play. And the Lakers could actually use them even though they've been pretty good to start the season, their 30th in transition frequency. That's bad. Like, this team needs to get out and run a little bit. And LeBron will speed him up. Luca likes to play slow. LeBron will speed him up.

[Zena]

Yeah, I love the fact that one of the oldest guys in the league. We need you to speed us up. Right now we're playing slowly and badly in transition and we need LeBron, 40 years old to come in. How old is LeBron?

[S]

Yeah, he's 41 at this.

[Zena]

41.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[Zena]

And speed us up. And yeah, LeBron is going.

[S]

He'll be 41 in December.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, he's going to be great for that.

[Zena]

For. We've seen the Lakers. Yes, they're doing well. They're great. But like, their half court is a grind and they need some easy buckets in transition. And we know one thing LeBron is good for, the leak out. He's good for this, you know, being able to be a target down low that Luca will love to toss to. We've seen it already when he was out there to get, when they were out there together. And yeah, this will be so fun to see him back in action. But it's just, it's comical to me that we're looking at, hey, Bronny James, can you go get your dad so we can speed things up?

[S]

Can I, can I be the, can I be the devil's advocate here?

[Dave DeFore]

I was going to ask you. S. OK. Are you any worried about LeBron integrating into what is working for the Lakers? A little bit.

[S]

Because the ball has looked good in Austin Reeves hands. The ball has obviously looked good in Luka Doncic his hands. Those guys have created most of the possessions and offense for this team in the half court. LeBron James will want the ball in his hands. I understand the leak outs. I understand being a play finisher, he's one of the best of all time at doing that. But at the same time, he's going to want the ball in his hands and that's going to change things for this Lakers offense. That might mean a little bit of a work in progress over the next couple weeks as they integrate them, but. But overall they should be fine. That's my conclusion. They'll be okay.

[Dave DeFore]

We have too many speed bumps, too many ball handlers. Nobody ever said we have too many creators and nobody's ever said we don't need LeBron James. I am not worried about this being exactly.

[S]

Exactly.

[Dave DeFore]

All right, guys, that's going to do it for the show. So much stuff happened since Friday. So thanks for hanging in there with us. Thanks to Zena, Keda and Esperahenny. I'm Dave Duf. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

[S]

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[Dave DeFore]

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[S]

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[Dave DeFore]

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[Zena]

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[S]

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[Dave DeFore]

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[S]

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