Is this Kawhi Leonard's best season?

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – March 12, 2026

Episode Theme:
Is this Kawhi Leonard's best season? Plus, playoff contenders update, and an Orlando Magic deep-dive with Josh Robbins.

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Main Theme Overview

The episode spotlights Kawhi Leonard’s remarkable recent performances for the Clippers and debates whether this is his best season yet. Co-hosts Dave DuFour and Zena Keita analyze the Clippers’ playoff outlook, key Western Conference games, and the surging Orlando Magic—with special guest Josh Robbins providing inside perspective. The show also delivers in-depth commentary on playoff implications, notable player comebacks, and the state of tanking teams like the Washington Wizards.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kawhi Leonard’s “Best Season” and the New-Look Clippers

• Kawhi’s Historic Night: Kawhi dropped 45 points against the Wolves—his fifth 40+ point game this season, extending his 20-point game streak (03:30).
• Context: Clipper’s win comes despite the team being just above .500 and in the play-in zone—yet, as DuFour highlights, no team wants to face this current Clippers squad in an elimination game:

  “This is some of the best basketball that Kawhi Leonard has maybe ever played...He looks fantastic right now, and the Clippers have no real hope of getting out of the play-in...But man, I would not want to play the Clippers with Kawhi Leonard looking like this.” (03:44 – Dave DuFour)

• Surrounding Cast Stepping Up:
  • Derrick Jones Jr., Jordan Miller, and Benedict Matherin contribute energetically.
  • Brook Lopez stretches the floor; Darius Garland (21 points) is rounding into form (05:35).
• Youth and Speed: Clippers feel “so much younger” post-trade, playing faster and more efficiently (06:00).
• Notable Quote:

  “It is so weird to think that we're saying this after the departure of James Harden and Ivica Zubac...But Kawhi Leonard is such a force you cannot deny. It feels like all of the Clippers are raising to the level of what Kawhi needs.” (04:29 – Zena Keita)

• Playoff Outlook: Despite middling season-long stats, recent games have Clippers top 10 in net rating, showing marked improvement and making them a potential surprise in the playoffs (06:28).

2. Denver Nuggets Dominate, Rockets and Raptors Falter

• Denver–Houston Recap: Nuggets decisively beat Rockets (129–93), showcasing their full-strength starting lineup.
  • Jamal Murray: 30 points.
  • Nikola Jokic: Efficient triple-double (16p/12r/13a/5s/1b).
  • Christian Braun: Standout bench performance (09:41).
• Houston’s Issues: Exhaustion on back-to-back nights; lack of size and poor three-point shooting (4-of-33).
• Pelicans Outplay Raptors:
  • Raptors slide to 6th, trailing Magic.
  • Zion Williamson impressively playing 50 games and continues healthy stretch.
  • Dejounte Murray has best post-Achilles game (27p/6a/2s).
  • Trey Murphy and Herb Jones added crucial shooting and defense (10:59).
• Notable Moment:

  “This is kind of what we wanted to see. This is that starting unit we’ve been waiting all year to see full strength... and they finally really put it all together last night.” (07:23 – Dave DuFour)

3. Orlando Magic: Playoff Readiness & Roster Analysis (w/ Josh Robbins)

[Segment Starts: 15:38]

• Magic Move Up: Now 5th seed after beating Cleveland 128–122; possible first-round matchup preview.
• Ideal Opponent Debate:
  • Robbins prefers Detroit as a matchup for Orlando due to easier defensive focus (17:11).
  • Cleveland next best, Knicks the toughest (17:11).
• Orlando’s Strengths and Weaknesses:
  • Paolo Banchero showing growth, improving defensively and overcoming a nagging groin injury (19:40).
  • Team is 7–3 without Franz Wagner, showing adaptability, but Robbins notes they're definitively better with him (20:44).
  • Magic struggle with dependable three-point shooting, especially with projected starting five; playoff slowdowns could expose this (20:45, 21:45).
  • Tristan Da Silva and Jett Howard (off the bench) bring needed shooting; Desmond Bane provides improved offensive creation, though spacing concerns remain (23:51).
  • Jalen Suggs named as the team’s “ultimate X factor”—if he’s healthy, Magic’s ceiling rises due to his defense and infectious energy (26:32 and 27:14).
• Memorable Quotes:

  “You better have at least three people on the court at all times who you can count on to hit 38% or more of wide open threes. And when they’re fully healthy, they’re not quite there...It’s the same old problem they’ve had.” (22:53 – Josh Robbins) “Jalen Suggs...is their force multiplier.” (26:32 – Josh Robbins)

• Playoff Viability: Defensive excellence is necessary, but offense—especially shot-making—will decide their fate.

  “You got to hit shots come playoff time, unless you’re playing against a subpar offensive team yourself.” (25:26 – Josh Robbins)

4. Tanking and the Washington Wizards’ Future

[Segment Starts: 27:24]

• Wizards in Transition:
  • Trae Young has real instant impact as creator; young players like Tre Johnson benefit (28:12).
  • Next year, with Young’s playmaking and A.D. (Anthony Davis?) potentially in the fold, Robbins predicts a major boost in open shot opportunities.
• Bam Adebayo’s 83-Point Game:
  • Wizards’ defensive effort on Bam was “atrocious,” high-profile embarrassment a byproduct of tanking (28:53).
  • “If you’re a tanking team, you’re putting yourself in line to be humiliated. Now, not to the tune of 83 points...but when you’re tanking... you’re setting yourself up and your young guys to be embarrassed in some way.” (29:44 – Josh Robbins)
  • Team adjustments and pride issues discussed as symptoms of league parity being artificially compressed by tanking.
• Outlook for 2027:
  • Could the Wizards be next year’s Hornets? Scouts are mixed, but the addition of star players and a “try to win” mentality could push them toward playoff contention.

  “Maybe it’s possible...that they will be...better next year than they've shown because they're going to be trying to win games.” (33:32 – Josh Robbins)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Kawhi’s Level:
  “This is some of the best basketball that Kawhi Leonard has maybe ever played. Yeah, and that’s not hyperbole.” (03:36, Dave DuFour)
• Clippers’ Vibe Post-Harden & Zubac:
  “We immediately thought, oh, they're clearing out the cupboards... But Kawhi Leonard is such a force... all of the Clippers are raising to the level of what Kawhi needs.” (04:29, Zena Keita)
• Jokic's Quiet Dominance:
  “It’s a good night for him because he only had 16 points. His triple double. Right.” (08:07, Dave DuFour)
• On Tanking Risks:
  “If you’re a tanking team, you’re putting yourself in line to be humiliated... you’re setting yourself up and your young guys to be embarrassed in some way. And this is where it came back to really bite them.” (29:44, Josh Robbins)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:34 — Opening banter, jumping straight to recaps (after ad break).
• 03:30 — Unpacking Kawhi Leonard’s 45-point game and extraordinary run.
• 05:35 — Clippers looking "younger" and new energy post-trade.
• 06:28 — Clippers’ statistical surge, net rating context.
• 07:23 — Nuggets’ dominant showing against Houston.
• 10:59 — Raptors–Pelicans; New Orleans' health and playoff ceiling.
• 15:38 — Orlando Magic segment starts; Josh Robbins joins.
• 17:11 — Debate on Orlando’s best playoff matchups.
• 19:40 — Magic’s resiliency and Paolo’s emergence.
• 22:53 — Orlando’s three-point shooting dilemma.
• 23:51 — Desmond Bane’s importance to Orlando’s offense.
• 26:32 — Discussion on Jalen Suggs as the under-the-radar “X Factor.”
• 27:24 — Wizards' segment; tanking lessons, Bam’s 83 points.
• 29:44 — The real cost of tanking and its impact on young players.
• 33:32 — Projecting the Wizards’ ceiling for next season.

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Episode Takeaways

• Kawhi Leonard is at or near his career best—though the Clippers’ standings don’t reflect his individual brilliance, they’re suddenly a threat in the West.
• The Clippers, despite high-profile departures, are now a faster, more energetic, and cohesive team—a testament to their coaching and Kawhi’s leadership.
• Denver and New Orleans demonstrate the power of health and depth as the playoffs approach, while Houston and Toronto struggle with key weaknesses.
• The Orlando Magic are one of the league’s best stories: surprisingly resilient without their stars but ultimately needing a healthy lineup and better shooting for playoff advancement. Jalen Suggs’ two-way impact could determine their postseason fate.
• Tanking's dark side is exposed by the Wizards’ recent humbling loss and long-term reputation risks, but the future could brighten with a healthy star core and young prospects.

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For full season context and deeper statistical breakdowns, check out Josh Robbins’ coverage on The Athletic and The NBA Daily’s upcoming playoff preview episodes.

Transcript

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[Dave Dufour]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily presented by Amazon prime for March 12, 2026. I'm Dave Defour here with Zena Keda. Coming up, Kawhi Leonard has a huge night for the Clippers. And Josh Robbins is here to talk about the resurging Orlando Magic. Good morning everybody. What's up, Xena?

[Zena Keda]

What up? I'm so jealous. You guys got an 83 point game out of Bam. And don't get me wrong, Kawhi tried his best to get there, but it's just not the same vibes.

[Dave Dufour]

Bryce, Sensiba. Look, I'm just going to say he had 10 points in like the first four and a half minutes of that game.

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[Dave Dufour]

And I was thinking, oh man, that guy, he's a, he's a walking bucket as it is. It'd be amazing if he did it. But no, did not happen. Shout out to the Knicks for coming back because man, if they lost to Utah, talk about.

[Zena Keda]

Right.

[Dave Dufour]

Well, let's talk about. Look, the Wolves, they lost back to back. This LA double dip back to back has gotten a couple teams. They got the Knicks the other night, now got the Wolves, they've lost back to back games here in the west and everything's super tight. But the Clippers, look, they, they have been very good as of late. They now, you know, they're a game above.500. Kawhi Leonard, 45 points is his fifth 40 plus point game this season. Still got his 20 point game streak, you know, going. This is some of the best basketball that Kawhi Leonard has maybe ever played. Yeah, and that's not hyperbole. Like he looks fantastic right now and the Clippers have no real hope of getting out of the play end. Like I don't even think they can get to the seven seed. But man, I would not want to play the Clippers with Kawhi Leonard looking like this in a must win game. Xena, are we going to see the Clippers maybe make some noise?

[Zena Keda]

I think so. I absolutely think so. And it is so weird to think that we're saying this after the departure of James Harden and Evita Zubots because we immediately thought, oh, they're clearing out the cupboards, they're moving on, we'll see what happens. But Kawhi Leonard is such a force that you cannot deny. And that's what I think is even most impressive about his game. Yes, the 45 points last night against the Wolves is phenomenal, but it's also what his performance is doing for everyone else, right? It's the water, the tide that raises all ships. You're seeing Derrick Jones Jr. Make these outside shots get inside. You're seeing Jordan Miller, this young guy coming off the bench, being so explosive to the basket. Of course, we know the story about Benedict Matherin that's been dropping buckets. Derek Garland looks amazing. Like everyone on this team. Brook Lopez was hitting outside shots like this was amazing to see overall, that it feels like all of the Clippers are raising to the level of what Kawhi needs. And I mean that from a speed level. How fast they're playing, how fast they're playing on both sides of the ball and their efficiency from the floor, you. You're impressed.

[Dave Dufour]

They feel so much younger, right? Like they're way younger than they started the season. And look, Janik, Conan Niederhausen being out is. Is a huge bummer. I know to use Zena especially, but him being out is, is a huge bummer because we got to see a little bit of his athleticism on display and you could see how, man, come playoff time, he would be a nice guy coming off the bench, you know, if maybe Brook Lopez isn't as effective. So we're not going to get a chance to see them at the full strength of what the team could have been. But it is odd to talk about the Clippers team and feel like, oh, wow, they kind of got some youth out there, you know. And you mentioned Darius Garland. Look, put up 21 points, rounding back into form. Like, I don't know, they're. They're a lot of fun for the, for the Wolves. Look, it's tough, tough to go back to back against, you know, two pretty good teams or at least two decent teams, you know, around your level with the Lakers catching them.

[Zena Keda]

I'll just say this really quickly on The Clippers, like two really good teams. The Clippers, all season long, 17th net rating, 12th offensive, 19th defensive. Like not that great in these last five games. Top 10, almost top five in their offense and their defense. So, excuse me, in their net rating. This is the difference. You're seeing them play a lot faster. The Wolves were victim to this and you saw that blowout, 27 point blowout. Anthony Edwards, you heard even their announcers talking about this. The Clippers announcers talking about the inconsistency of the Timberwolf, the Timberwolves. And this is why it's hard to take them seriously as a contending team. But we know, and we've talked about this the Wolves have a way of waking up. They wake up for the big stages and so they have these type of games and you're like, how much. How much weight can we actually put on this?

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Zena Keda]

But man, they. They got blown out last.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, yeah, it was. It was. Honestly, it was pretty embarrassing. Look, we should move on to the other big game in the West. Speaking of embarrassing, it's tough again. Second night of a back to back for the Houston Rockets too. And they look like it. Especially in the second half when. When the Nuggets really just blew them out of the water. 129.93. The nuggets, you know, just. They won going away. I. I think that the biggest takeaway, not much for the Rockets, but for the Nuggets this is kind of what we wanted to see. This is that starting unit that we've been waiting all year to see full strength. And they finally really put it all together last night. You know, Jamal Murray has 30 points. Jokic, you know, it's a good night for him because he only had have 16 points. His triple double. Right.

[Zena Keda]

Thank you. That's the biggest point when you have a triple double. Sure. 16 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assist adding also five steals. That's another m major factor we want to touch on.

[Dave Dufour]

And a block. Hey, we got to give him credit for the block.

[Zena Keda]

Exactly. Let's give him all his credit. He didn't need to score. The ball movement was immaculate. It was a master class. And then it was. A lot of stuff was coming off of transition and they had the momentum going up the court. You're. You were watching Denver blitz Kevin Durant almost every pick and roll opportunity. The Rockets shot 4 of 33 from the three point line. Now don't get me wrong, they're not a great three point shooting team, but do we know Denver to be this phenomenal three point line defending team? Not typically, but they stepped it up. The energy was there. They made Houston turn the ball over in that second half, particularly in that third quarter. They won 40 to 22. It was just pure. We have more energy than you. We're going to. They were bopping rebounds off of out the hands of the Rockets players. Jokic was. Balanchiunis was. Balanchinus had turnaround Js. Like I was. I kind of squint at my screen. Is that Jokic? Is that. I didn't know who was.

[Dave Dufour]

Rockets are too small right now.

[Zena Keda]

Yeah, they were just.

[Dave Dufour]

That's actually. They really highlighted that. They lack that depth and that size and you know Clint Capella, you know, getting minutes is great, but I think they really miss Stephen Adams and, you know, just. They don't shoot enough threes. You know, they got to figure out a way to shoot more threes and hopefully make them.

[Zena Keda]

And we got to give love to Christian Brown. He was absurd off the bench. Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, I had a great game. The Raptors drop a game to the Pelicans. Wow. S is in shambles right now. The. The Raptors have fallen behind the Orlando Magic in the standings. They're now the six seed. And look, I think the big takeaway from this is. All right, we. We talked about the Raptors quite a bit, and none of us really bought into them as this, you know, contender. Okay? But the Pelicans are better than their record, and they've been getting healthy over the course of the last few weeks. Got to note a couple of things. Number one, Zion Williamson played 50 games this year. That's pretty incredible considering what our expectations have kind of been with him. And there's still time to go, and he's still healthy. Dejounte Murray coming back from the Achilles. I know we kind of went way over the top on the Tatum stuff. You know the story there. Just such a short window there. But Dejounte Murray had his best game back from his Achilles injury. Put up 27 points, had a couple steals, six assists. That's been a big change for them, too. Like, you get a guy out there who. He really is a playmaker. He's good rebounder, good defender, and it really raised, like you mentioned before, that Rising Tide. He really has been a Rising Tide, I think, for this team.

[Zena Keda]

And it's easier for him to be a Rising Tide because he quite literally is the table setter, right? Like, he gets them into, I think, better quality sets than they had before he came back to the floor. And he does a really great job of penetrating gaps. He's very aggressive. And we. I mean, I don't know if you guys saw that in the fourth quarter, that little crossover into a three, and then, you know, standing over a player, he has such a feistiness to him and a grit and a chip on his shoulder to him, which I love. Shout out to State of Washington and where he's from in Seattle, because they gave him that. But that's. That's starting to show up for the Pels. I absolutely believe we. All season, we were watching Jeremiah Fierce and Derek Queen, and we were like, ooh, look at them go. Like, this is fun. But now you've got Trey Murphy hitting outside shots the way he's supposed to be. You've got Herb Jones also shooting outside incredibly well, playing defense incredibly well. You've got Zion Williamson with the paint presence, the physicality which was huge. Against Toronto. They could not match up. Jakob Hodle was not matching up well against Zion. He kept getting to the line. This is, this is a true team that you can't say, look at the little engine that could. Like, this is a, a team that sure, their record is representative of the injuries that they had earlier this season, but they, they what they can't afford to take.

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, they're starting, they're starting five veterans in this.

[Zena Keda]

Veterans. Exactly.

[Dave Dufour]

And they, they look like it. They look like a much better team. And frankly, like there's some guys on that team that if the Raptors had, they probably feel a lot better about life, especially Trey Murphy iii. Anyway, guys, stick around after the break. We got Josh Robbins to talk about the Magic and a little bit about the Wizards in that Bam. Out of Bio.

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[Dave Dufour]

All right, the Orlando Magic are back. They are now the fifth seed after last night's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. 128, 122. And with the Raptors loss, our guy, Josh Robbins, star of the show, special guest star. This is almost like, you know, when they would bring in, you know, like a famous person on your favorite TV show. That's who Josh is for us.

[Zena Keda]

And the whole crowd goes o.

[Dave Dufour]

That's right. That's right. So we need to get that sound sprinkled in. Josh Robbins in the house. You were there in Orlando for the win. This, this is like a playoff preview. This is a potential first round matchup, I dare say likely, like the way that we're tracking heading toward the playoffs. And if the playoffs started today, this would be the first round series. What's your takeaway from from last night's game?

[Josh Robbins]

Well, it would be a great seven game series. It wouldn't necessarily go seven, but it would be a great series. And I covered that series. Their first round series that went seven two years ago, that was an excellent series and I think that would be a very entertaining series nationally. It would come down to whether you know who makes some more shots. Particularly can the Magic hit threes at a decent enough clip. They could not do that two years ago. There are times this year, many times this year when they don't do that. I would Enjoy covering that. I'd enjoy covering any series.

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[Josh Robbins]

That would be a fascinating series to watch. And we were talking about it tonight. Who is the better matchup for Orlando? Is it Cleveland? Is it New York? Is it Detroit? Many ways I think maybe Detroit's the better one for them of those three teams, which is bizarre to say, but that is how I feel. And I think Cleveland, from the Magic's perspective would probably be their second best possibility, followed by the Knicks. But it would be a heck of a series if that's how it comes comes down.

[Zena Keda]

Why is why Detroit?

[Dave Dufour]

Because of Detroit? Yeah, I was going to say, is it the offense? Zena and I, we're just like.

[Zena Keda]

Yeah, we're like.

[Josh Robbins]

Right. I don't know. Refresh my memory. Where is Detroit in the league rankings on its threes?

[Dave Dufour]

Oh, well, we can look that up. Yeah, certainly.

[Josh Robbins]

But I think, you know, that's a team where they can key on one guy offensively, and I think that makes them, in my opinion, in the half court in a playoff series, more easy to guard than Cleveland. Now, having said that, the last time those two teams played the Pistons, physicality dominated that game. So that would be a tough, rough series, but so would a Cleveland, Orlando series.

[Zena Keda]

Detroit 21st.

[Josh Robbins]

All right, so there you go.

[Dave Dufour]

They're bottom three and made an attempted threes. Right. Like the volume thing becomes a problem for Detroit.

[Josh Robbins]

So I think that's a team that Orlando can stick with in a best of seven series. Because of that, it's not. Yes, Detroit's a better, much better three point shooting team, but not to the degree that other opponents would be.

[Zena Keda]

I'm curious. You've. I want to. I want to focus particularly on all the things that Orlando's been doing really well, especially in the absence of a particular, really special player named Franz Wagner. Seven and three in his absence since the break, winning record, top defense. We've seen Paolo lock in not only offensively. He's been kind of resurgent in a. In a defensive manner that we haven't really seen out of him at all. What is it that's clicking for Orlando right now?

[Josh Robbins]

The two most impressive wins were the ones in Minnesota, which they won going away, and then tonight, a lot of the other wins have they beat Washington, for example. No offense to Washington. Washington is not now where it will be next year or two years or three years from down the line. No, no, I'm not dissing Washington. That's just a fact. Okay, what are they doing better? You're right. Palo is playing better defense. I think he's finally over that groin injury. I think also that for the most part right now, tonight and also over the weekend, they are able to field lineups that have a preponderance of enough, just enough three point shooting to make sense. And that's not always the case when they're fully healthy. And that's a huge problem for them. They just don't have enough reliable three point shooters, particularly if a game slows down like it will in the playoffs. Now, they're not a better team without France. Not even close.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Josh Robbins]

Especially defensively, they're just not. They need him desperately to get out of the first round. And they're not a better team defensively without Anthony Black. But in terms of offensive balance, that's different. And the way they look tonight, they look much more balanced offensively than they had earlier in the year. And there's a lot to be said for balance sometimes over talent and guys who. Or women who fit right, right where you can do. Where you can beat an opponent doing multiple things. Whereas if they with their projected starting five, they're going to have to get into the paint. And there's no guarantee they can hit threes. Even now, there's no guarantee they can hit threes. Again, something to watch. But they need Franz back. They do need AB back, but it's still right now the offense is more balanced and it's more diversified.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, having having Tristan De Silva as the shooter and play finisher out with Suggs and Bane and with Paolo, I just think like it's fewer mouths to feed and in a lot of ways that that just clarifies the roles more on the offensive end. But when, you know the, the thing about talent is that it's up to the coach to kind of figure out how to make this stuff fit. Like our style of play, you know, what, what our goals are as an offense. And this is where you get into the math problem that Orlando may run into come playoff time if they're full strength because they just don't have the floor spacing with their starting unit. That is their best five. I mean that is the best five man unit they could put out there. And it includes Franz and Paolo.

[Josh Robbins]

That's right.

[Dave Dufour]

You know, sorry to say to all the people who think that they need to be split up. I just don't know that it. How it works in the way that we're seeing right now. And some of this, hey, it's March basketball like you said, Josh. But you know, what is this? What does this team look like full strength come playoff time. Like, are they just right back to the same offensive issues that we saw to start the year.

[Josh Robbins]

So by the way, Triston was great tonight. Jed Howard was superb tonight, by the way. He made two big threes. Tristan was not playing like this two, two months ago. He was, I think, battling through an injury. You know, he started the season off pretty strong and then he had that lull and he had a shoulder issue, I think it was with his right shoulder. Anyway, when he's playing well and he's hitting shots, you got to have people knock down shots, right. You don't really need to get too much further into the X's and O's other than saying you better have at least three people on the court at all times who you can count on to hit 38% or more of wide open threes. And when they're fully healthy, they're not quite there. They're not even close to quite there. Yeah, it's the same old problem they've had. They had some improvement.

[Dave Dufour]

Okay. But the difference is Desmond Bane, right? You have this guy that's on the ball, that can run, pick and roll, that can shoot the way that he does hit a huge shot. After that controversial call, they out of bounds call at the end of the game, he seals the deal. And he, he's been the big three point shot guy for this team all season. So I, I think that that's a little bit different than what we've seen in the previous iterations of this team come playoff time.

[Josh Robbins]

Yes. However, when the other team can still pack the paint and they're still going to, and then they could still hedge toward Desmond enough to take away some of his threes. And if you're going to have fewer three point shooters alongside him, that makes him less effective. But yes, he was excellent last night. Excellent. And he's a gargantuan offensive improvement over KCP last year. Now, defensively, not an improvement, but in terms of toughness, intensity, he's superb. And offensively last night he was flat out great.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, anytime you get 60 points from your two top guys, I mean, you're going to win a lot of those games with him and Paolo, you know, combined for 60.

[Zena Keda]

I'm curious, like we briefly touched on the playoff aspect and this offensive issue is like, do we think that their playoff viability hinges on their ability to sustain their three point defense, their swarm defense? Is that going to be enough for them to win on the defensive margins as opposed to the offensive?

[Josh Robbins]

No, I don't think that that's enough. It's necessary. They've got to have it. They've got to have it. They are, at their essence, an excellent defensive team when they're at their best. But you got to hit shots come playoff time, unless you're playing against a subpar offensive team yourself.

[Zena Keda]

But, I mean, Cleveland's not a subpar offensive team.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Zena Keda]

That's why I'm like, this is kind of really impressive that they were able to, you know, pull out this win.

[Josh Robbins]

Well, Donovan wasn't his best tonight, although Noah Penda, by the way, really opened my eyes. I thought in the minutes that he guarded Mitchell. I thought he was excellent. Very impressive. But no, it's Cleveland. They're going to dare you to make shots in a playoff series. Any of these teams that they're going to face, just like last year with Boston, they're going to dare the Magic to beat them with threes.

[Dave Dufour]

Cleveland played a lot of zone last night, and they.

[Josh Robbins]

That's. That's fundamentally Orlando, who's got to be able to hit some shots.

[Vanta Advertiser]

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[Josh Robbins]

Which makes me. Makes it sound much too basic, and I am. But that's really what the series two years ago came down to. Having said all this, there is one X factor, and it's not just Franz. Franz is an X factor now, but it's Jalen Suggs, the ultimate X factor for them. He wasn't there last year against Boston, and with him out, they had no chance to win that series, just as if they wouldn't have had a chance to win the series if Franz had been out and Jalen was there and Paolo was there, for example. But if he's fully healthy and creating the kind of havoc that he can create, there are. He's their force multiplier.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Zena Keda]

And on defense and the floor setter on offense. Yeah.

[Josh Robbins]

Couldn't agree with you more. And that is someone to watch.

[Vanta Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Okay, let's talk about the other team we cover. Washington Wizards, the primary beat. Yeah. They kind of been in the news here the last couple days. You know, I'm not, You know, I'm not sure if you caught the game, but they gave up a lot of points to bam. And it has triggered a lot of discourse. But listen, this is a team that's. We. We kind of understand what they're doing. We. We got a chance to see Trey Young. Right. They rolled him out. They had more people in their arena to see Trey Young that it looked like they had seen in a long time. What's. What's like the latest with the Wizards. And if you've got a BAM 83 point take, I would love to hear it.

[Josh Robbins]

Well, I don't. I don't know where to start. I don't know where to start. Let's. I'll try to go as quickly as I can, and I'm going to try not to stammer.

[Zena Keda]

Take your time. You want to hear this?

[Josh Robbins]

Okay. So Trae Young's impact on their offense, that's real. It's only been two games for him, but that's real. There was one play in New Orleans. I was in New Orleans for it. Trey drove to his right toward the right edge of the lane. He took four defenders with him, and he threw it out to the top of the arc where Tre Johnson was. And Trey knocks open a wide open three. And so next year, when Trey Young is playing 30 plus minutes, Trey Johnson, Keyshawn George, everyone else is going to get so many more open threes.

[Zena Keda]

Beneficiaries.

[Josh Robbins]

Yeah. It's going to be insane for them. So that's. And then ad, you know, what kind of. How healthy will he remain? What kind of mindset will he have? Will he be happy to be there? You know, we'll see. As for Bam, their defense on him to begin the game was atrocious. No resistance. They made hardly any adjustments in the first half, as Brian Keefe said, and he said a lot of things after the game, including some of those fouls might have been ridiculous. Well, okay. But he also said they have to own the fact that in the first half, BAM had no resistance. So that was horrendous. And the code. They have to have more adjustments. And when they finally made the adjustments, Miami was then in a point where it was turning the game into not a true NBA game in the sense that they were up 20 and they were fouling. Okay. They're missing free throws on purpose, which doesn't upset me. I would imagine it infuriated the wi. I would imagine that infuriated the Wizards. This is. I've been working this out in my mind for now, 36 hours. And what I keep coming back to is if you're a tanking team, you're putting yourself in line to be humiliated. Now, not to the tune of 83 points.

[Dave Dufour]

Right?

[Josh Robbins]

That's. That's insane.

[Dave Dufour]

It's absurd.

[Josh Robbins]

It's the second greatest scoring output in the history of the, what, 84 years of the league or whatever it is. That was. I mean, that's insane. 83 points. Okay. But when you're tanking and you're not making your best efforts to win. The guys on the court are. But you're not putting out lineups out there. That always makes sense. You're not putting your best players out there. You're setting yourself up and your young guys to be embarrassed in some way. And this is. This is where it came back to really bite them.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, stuff.

[Josh Robbins]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, listen, I and Alex Sar did some stuff in that game that I think, like, if I was looking for a bright spot for, for the Wizards or Wizards fans, it's like, okay, we get A.D. you know, we have Trey Young. They could maybe be like, are they the Hornets next year? You know, this team that's scrappy and maybe a little bit better than we expect, I don't know. But they've got some good players. But I. I'm with you, Josh. I just think, like, when you tank as hard as they are, this is what's going to happen. And. And frankly, maybe this is the thing that we need to see more of. Maybe we got to make it a pride thing, not just for the players, but also for. For the front offices. Hey, like, are you a little bit embarrassed that that happened to you, not the players? I mean, these guys try hard, right? I, like, I don't blame the guys that are on the court that are young and not good enough. I blame the team.

[Josh Robbins]

And they weren't put in a position in that first half especially, but even a little more beyond that to succeed.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Josh Robbins]

To the degree that they could have succeeded.

[Dave Dufour]

What else?

[Josh Robbins]

I think one of the more interesting things that Adam Silver said at All Star Weekend, and it was, I think, a question related to tanking or parity. Either way, his point was the league and its teams don't know truly how much parity there is between whatever the 22nd best team is in reality compared to the 30th best team, the worst team. The teams are now artificially finding ways to depress their own win totals and their own on court product. What I wonder is, are the Wizards much better than what their record says they are? Of course they are to some degree. But how much? Right, how much?

[Zena Keda]

We were just talking about this with

[Josh Robbins]

the Pels up there thinking that the

[Dave Dufour]

Pels are not healthy record and they're way better than their record with the Wizards. I would think that they're slightly better than a record, but like you just said, I mean, Josh, it's a little bit of a gamble because you don't know.

[Josh Robbins]

Right. So what am I saying here? Shoot, I sound like Admiral Stockdale, when I have this rhetorical question, what I'm saying is maybe it's possible. Okay, likely, maybe not. But possible that they will be, even if you were to discount AD and Trae Young, that they would be better next year than they've shown because they're going to be trying to win games. And then you had the two former All Star bets. So they might be a team. And I've had scouts tell me they might be a playoff team.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, maybe.

[Josh Robbins]

Yeah, it might be a little strong. One of the scouts said that's absurd. But the others didn't the others think that they could be a playoff team if everything breaks?

[Dave Dufour]

Well, I don't know. They are a basketball team. That is a mystery box. And I guess we'll find out next season what they could be.

[Josh Robbins]

And I can't wait to see it. I can't wait to see it. And just on an intellectual level, they're going to be fascinating and it's going to be a stark contrast to what the last two seasons especially had been because you knew going in what their priority was and most likely how it would end next year. We know what their likely priority is going to be and we have no idea how it's going to end or how it's going to transpire. And that's going to be fascinating to watch, even for a disinterested old man like me.

[Dave Dufour]

Disinterested? Yeah. Right. Josh Robins.

[Josh Robbins]

Yes. Not uninterested. Disinterested?

[Dave Dufour]

Well, in the outcomes, certainly. Yeah. You're more of you like to observe. I'm like, come what may, I'm like

[Josh Robbins]

a Supreme Court justice in what we think would be the ideal sure sense.

[Zena Keda]

All right.

[Dave Dufour]

Well, we won't go any further into that. Josh Robbins, my guy, our guy, your guy, the NBA Daily's guy. Go and read him at the Athletic. Thank you, Josh, for hanging out. Thanks to Xena Keda. I'm Dave Dufour. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for hanging out with us.

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