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- [00:02]
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- [01:21]
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- [02:54]
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This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apply for Apple Card today and start earning up to 3% daily cash back on everyday purchases. And that daily cash can even grow automatically when you open a high Yield savings account through Apple Card. What are you waiting for? Visit Apple Co CardCalculator today and to see how much daily cash you can earn. Subject to credit approval Savings available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility Savings in Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Member FDIC terms and more@applecard.com welcome to the Saturday Slammin Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. So glad to have you with us. On today's show, we are breaking down the most improved player odds. Zena Keda will join us to talk warriors and then Trevor Lane joins the show to talk about the Los Angeles Lakers. But before that, Alex, please tell me about all the NBA headlines this week.
- [04:06]
Alex
Well Andrew, the top story this week was what went down in the 76ers locker room after a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Joel Embiid confronted Marcus Hayes, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hayes had written a recent article about Embiid missing games, and to really hammer the point home, Hayes thought it'd be a good idea to mention Embiid's son and his deceased brother. Now you're probably thinking that actually sounds like a terrible idea, Alex, and you'd be right. It absolutely was a terrible idea. And Joelle let him know that in the locker room, a conversation that eventually got physical with Embiid shoving Hayes, all leading to a three game suspension for Embiid. Nobody does it quite like the Sixers do they just a never ending supply of things you've never seen or heard before. And unfortunately, the Embiid suspension isn't even the worst news for the Sixers this week because not only did they lose Tyrese Maxey for weeks with a hamstring injury, they are one in six dead last in the Eastern Conference. They're already seven games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are officially the last undefeated team in the NBA. This week the Cavs beat the Bucks in back to back games by three total points. In the second game, Darius Garland scored 39 to best Damian Lillard's 36. As of Friday, the Cavs are 90 second ranked offense fifth ranked defense by the time you hear this episode though, maybe the Cavs will finally lost because their opponent on Friday night is none other than the Golden State warriors who got Steph back this week and have won five games in a row. The warriors have a point differential of plus 15.8, largest in the league and while maybe you could quibble with the quality of their opponents through the early part of the season, wasn't the case this week as the warriors went into Boston and beat the defending champs 118 to 112. Now Steve Kerr was showered with booze throughout the game as a result of his despicable behavior at this summer's Olympics when he only played the Celtics who are good. Jayson Tatum got back at Kerr and continued his strong start to the season by scoring a game high 32 points, but in the end it was Steph Curry's 27, 7 and 9 that got the win. Now from a two time MVP to a three time MVP, Nikola Jokic continues to dominate the league and this week he helped the Nuggets get an improbable and much needed win over the previously undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder. And I say improbable because Jamal Murray was out with a concussion, Aaron Gordon out for weeks with a calf injury which meant that Jokic was playing with the Calvin Booth All Stars. And for at least one night all those late first and second round picks came through for Booth because each played a key role in the win, including Peyton Watson blocking the potential game tying shot from Shay Golgis Alexander in the final seconds. The Nuggets are five and three and have won three in a row. Now that win opened up the top spot in the west which was quickly filled by the Phoenix Suns who are now 71 and have won six games in a row. Last week we talked about how maybe this was the kind of weird year where a player like Phoenix's Ryan Dunn might be able to win Rookie of the Year. But not so fast because this week the rookies came to play first. We had Keyshawn George, the other other Wizards Rookie put up 26 and four with six threes against the Warriors. He took 17 threes in a game as a rookie. Do you know how many times that has happened where a rookie takes 17 threes in a game? It's happened twice. One was George. Do you know who the other rookie to do it was? No, you have no idea. I could give you a thousand guesses and you will never utter the words Armani Brooks because that is the Answer. He somehow took 18 threes in a game once upon a time as a rookie. Now we also had Zach Edie having his first big breakout game this week. 25 and 12 with four blocks against Brooklyn. And then in what is likely the most impressive game by a rookie so far this season, number one overall pick, Zachary Richesay. Riches, say, put up 33, 7 and 3 with three steals, two blocks and six three pointers. And he did it all in a very impressive win over the Knicks with that game. Risha Shay. God, man, I have trouble with this name. How do you say it?
- [08:21]
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Andrew Risa Shay.
- [08:23]
Alex
Recess again.
- [08:32]
Apple Card Ad
There it is.
- [08:33]
Alex
Lordy, lordy. Recession now leads all rookies in points per game with 12 per game. And those are the top stories this week. Andrew.
- [08:43]
Apple Card Ad
Man, what a week it was. What a week it was. Let's, let's take a look at our BET MGM line of the week brought to you by BET mgm. It's the most improved player. So in the preseason, everybody, everybody thought Victor Wibanyama, which I would have been just totally miffed if we gave this thing to Victor Wibanyama.
- [09:06]
Alex
Yeah.
- [09:07]
Apple Card Ad
Just makes no sense. Wimby had the best odds. J Dub from the Thunder second Jonathan Kaminga third Jalen Johnson fourth. Now Al, one of your favorites, Jalen Johnson, favorite at a plus 600. R J. Barrett. Shout out to RJ Barrett. He's had a really nice season so far. Plus 700. LaMelo ball boy. Do you see his name on the preseason here on the preseason odds?
- [09:37]
Alex
People know he, he was a, he was an all star, right? They know he was an all Star once upon a time.
- [09:42]
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What is, it's, that's a weird one. That's a weird one. But he's had a great season. And then Grady Dick, who I think we're going to talk about here a little bit later on, here is fourth in odds or most improved player. Anybody that you like so far, Al, Any, any, any names that pique your interest?
- [10:03]
Alex
Obviously I still like Jalen Johnson. Although I will say, like, at least for me, that was a little expected.
- [10:08]
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The yeah.
- [10:09]
Alex
What we've seen from Grady Dick, which I'm going to talk about him in a bit compared to what I was thinking about him at the end of last season. That's kind of how I feel the most improved player should be with the caveat that yes, he's a second year player. You expect second year players to get better. But the jump he's made from first year to second year feels even beyond that, like what you would expect so I'm kind of looking at him. I think RJ Barrett's a really interesting name. It is this, this Raptors team. Like, they're not good, but I have watched too many Raptors game at this point. They are so competitive. They've been competitive in every single game I've watched to them this season. Really entertaining team. And so that would be really interesting if RJ Barrett kind of establishes this narrative as the most improved player, because I feel like people have just been so down on him throughout his career. So that would be really, that would be an interesting story.
- [11:01]
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Yeah, I worry about that one in that is he improved or is this a someone has to score the points thing with the Raptors?
- [11:10]
Alex
It's possible. Yeah, it would be, it would be nice if they could win a few more games. Yeah, I mentioned that. They are, they are very competitive, but they're also 2 and 7. So.
- [11:20]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah, a very competitive 2 and 7.
- [11:23]
Alex
Very competitive.
- [11:24]
Apple Card Ad
Another competitive team, the Detroit Pistons. Jaden Ivey has made a leap as a score. Yeah, he's up from 15 points to almost 20 points per game. He's shooting the three ball well. He's at five attempts, 41%. He's, he's looking great. I mean, there were times last year where you hear murmurs from people around the league saying, like, I don't know if this guy is really very good at all. And he's starting to answer that call a little bit. He, he's been pretty good for, for the Pistons so far.
- [11:53]
Alex
And you can get him at plus 1700 still.
- [11:56]
Apple Card Ad
You can get him at on BET. MGM. Go get him.
- [12:00]
Alex
Okay, so that brings us. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [12:03]
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Favorites. Let's talk about our favorites of the week. That's what you were about to do. I'm gonna just throw us into it. Let's, let's do our favorite quotes of the week. Al, what was your favorite quote of the week?
- [12:11]
Alex
Favorite quote of the week. Listen, we're gonna talk to Trevor Lane later about a very entertaining JJ Redick postgame press conference.
- [12:20]
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Yeah.
- [12:20]
Alex
And we're gonna talk about a lot of things, but we're not gonna talk about this quote, which was another quote that happened in that same press conference quote.
- [12:27]
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Oh, boy.
- [12:27]
Alex
And he was referring to Gabe Vincent. It would be nice if a guy could play 18 minutes and not shoot 0 times. Followed up by, he mentioned that's not a knock on him. Which, like, how is that not a knock on him? But I, I, I, I appreciate, I love how blunt JJ Redick has been through this early part of the season. Yeah. And I think any NBA fan who's been especially a part of like a rebuilding team, like, there's always a guy on your team who goes out there and you feel like he's just getting cardio. It's like, how did you play 20 minutes and not shoot the basketball once? Yeah. And so it was just kind of nice to hear a coach voice that displeasure as well, because I have watched players like that too, where I'm just like, what were you doing out there? What are we doing? How did you shoot the ball zero times? What happened?
- [13:17]
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Well, it's funny because JJ. JJ's talked about the bench group quite a bit and how like, their job is not to score. Like, they have their scores in the starting lineup. Like, they, the job of the bench is to come in and like, change the. Just like change the environment on the court with their defense, which has also not been happening, by the way. Like, the Lakers defense has not been good. So it's just funny to hear because he's saying, like, yeah, that's not really what we want them to do. But also there's a limit.
- [13:47]
Alex
Don't go too far.
- [13:48]
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Yeah, yeah, don't go too far with this. My favorite quote was this one, and it's from Steve Kerr and Steph Curry. And I'm sure a lot of you have heard this already, but I just, I just think this, this is actually really cool. Steve Kerr said after the game, Anthony Slater, our. Our own Anthony Slater, who was on the NBA Daily earlier this week, talked about how the beauty of Steph is that I can yell at him. And then Steph Curry later said, I want to be coached just like everybody else this whole week. And we're going to talk more with Zena Keda about the warriors shortly. It just gives me shades of Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan, you know, like those two, can they. It just feels similar in that one. They just have continued success, you know, at times where people don't necessarily think they're going to. And a lot of it just kind of stems from this, like, top down that exists with Steve Kerr and Steph Curry. And I think it's. It truly is something special. It's something that doesn't come around a lot. I mean, honestly, I think like the Pop and Tim Duncan one is probably the last one that we can kind of turn back to to say, like, oh, I think this was like that. This doesn't really happen. One, like, players don't stay in one spot like this and coaches don't stick around this long, typically for a franchise. And so like, there's a uniqueness that exists there. But just the relationship, you know, between those two, I think is probably a big reason as to why they've gotten off to this great start, is that Steph Curry has ultimate respect for Steve Kerr. And like in just these quotes, they seem small, but to me they are very indicative of like why there is continued success around the Warriors. So I just kind of gravitated toward that.
- [15:35]
Alex
Yeah, and I've mentioned this before, but one of my favorite things about the NBA is when you get these types of situations where a player's with a team for his entire career where he has this, these long term relationships with people in the organization. I just think it's cool. Okay, that brings us to our favorite stat this week. Andrew, what was your favorite stat?
- [15:56]
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This one comes from Nightbear49 on Reddit. He posted that Anthony Edwards has made the third most three pointers through his team's eight games in a season in NBA history. All the other ones, all like the, all the top five are just Steph Curry, Steph Curry, Steph Curry. But you have Anthony Edwards here, which I just think is so, so interesting because when, when Ant was coming into the league, there were a lot of questions about his shooting is like his shot selection one, and then just his ability to be efficient too. I mean, he, at Georgia, he took a lot of threes. He took seven attempts per game at Georgia, which is a lot in college, and only made 29% of those threes this season. He's shooting 11.1 attempts per game at 46.1%. I mean, that is just outrageous. And his previous high was 35% on 8.4 attempts per game. And that was in his second year. But that, that to me is such a huge deal for this, this Timberwolves team to have Ant, who is just like this three point monster. And he's still, it's, it's funny that he's doing this and he's been like the best three point shooter in the NBA so far this year. And that's not even like the thing that I, if somebody were to tell me like, hey, this, tell me about Anthony Edwards game, I don't know that the threes would be the first thing that I would say about him. You know, I talk about his athleticism, his ability to get to the hoop, the way that he is just a monster in transition, but the fact that he has this and it's at like literally the top level in the NBA right now just shows you like the ceiling that is rising for Anthony Edwards and like the, the future that's bright for this Timberwolves team. It's. It's pretty astounding because obviously teams are pushing the limit on three pointers right now. And you know, Anthony Edwards is kind of leading that just on an individual level, but I thought that was pretty wild. I mean, for him to be on this list kind of smushed between other like Steph Curry records is just, it's just interesting to me and just something that caught my eye.
- [18:09]
Alex
Well, and also because you know, when that trade went down with Randall, a lot of things you heard from people who are concerned about the trade is like the shooting is going to take a step back. Like, yes, Steven Chenzo is going to bring something. But that starting lineup with Julius Randall not really thought of as like a great three point shooter. One thing I didn't hear anyone say is what if Ant just took the same amount of threes as he and Cat took last year combined? Because that's almost what he's doing. They took 12 threes combined last season. He's taking 11.1 now. Like that is wild. He's basically made up that volume that they lost from Cat.
- [18:46]
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I'll do it handedly, don't worry. It is so bizarre.
- [18:50]
Alex
My favorite stat this week. Well, first an honorable mention. I want to mention Demonis a bonus because he put up a triple double. But he did it while having zero turnovers, zero missed field goals and zero missed free throws. He also had zero fouls. It was just one of those hyper efficient triple doubles. Well, actually not one of those. It's never happened before. No one's ever done what I just described. And the Kings have gotten into a nice little groove and they are shooting up the west. So they're very fun team. But my stat, my favorite stat this week because I just saw it. Jackson Frank posted this on Twitter. The NBA's top five offenses this season are 1st, 16th, 20th, 23rd and 3rd in three point attempt rate. And I just thought that was very interesting because we have definitely heard a lot of people talking in the early going. Oh, everyone plays the exact same. You gotta shoot a ton of threes. You have to be one of the she the teams that shoots the most. Everyone's trying to be like Boston. And meanwhile, yes, all these teams are shooting more threes than teams were shooting back in, you know, 2010 or whatever. But you can still have a very good offense and not be a top five team in three point attempt rate. And so I think that's encouraging for a lot of teams. And by the way, I think the team that's third is Minnesota, which we were just discussing. Okay, favorite player this week. I mentioned him earlier, Grady Dick. He has been incredibly fun to watch this season. He's currently averaging 20 points per game, which leads all sophomores. He already has two 30 point games under his belt. On offense, he's super active, running off screens, getting to his spots. He's shooting a ton of threes over seven per game, but he's also showing off a real smooth pull up midi. Even his defense seems to be improving. Our good friend s from the NBA Daily pod, he tweeted out a great video detailing some of the strides Grady's made on the defensive end. Using his length to get in passing lanes, pull off chase down blocks. For a guy that I just was not really thinking about that much heading into the season, to be quite honest, he has been a blast to watch. And one thing I'm interested in watching going forward is his rim finishing because he was at 60% last season, which isn't great. He's under 50% currently through the early part of the season. This is per cleaning the glass. His efficiency is really being boosted by the fact that he's shooting 67% on long twos right now, which is obviously absurd. So as that number starts to come back down to earth, I'm wondering a, can he develop more as a finisher around the basket and then B, how good of a shooter can he be? You know, he's been solid from three, shooting a little under 36% but he looks like he could be a dead eye shooter. I mean that shot is so smooth, he gets it up so quick. So I just want, kind of want to see how his game develops over the rest of the season, but super impressed through these first eight games or whatever.
- [21:45]
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Yeah, he, he's, he's been really good. And his size as a shooter, yeah, is, is pretty special. Is pretty special on the wing and he's just a goofball. And I kind of like, I just like that about him. He's just, he's just an absolute goofball. My favorite player this week, Benedict Mah Al. On October 28, the Pacers fell to 1 and 3 and Pairo posted a 50 burger on this Pacers team. And Ben Mather really didn't play. He played 13 minutes. He had five points, two boards. But since then Ben Mather has been on a tear. He had 30, 11 and four in a win against the Celtics. He had 19, six and three against the Pels. And a loss 16, seven and three and a surprising win against the Mavs. And then 2011 and one against the Orlando Magic. In a win, Mather is scoring in a variety of ways, including he's shooting 70% in the restricted area so far this season. Also, he's got a little bit of an attitude. There was a kerfuffle with Jordan Hawkins post game against the Pelicans, and honestly I kind of like to see some kerfuffles and Matheren will give those to you. Mather is one of the reasons why the Pacers roster still has some upside. And he's shown in the last four games that he's really worth investing in. He's just a really fun and dynamic player that I think because of the injury last year got a little bit lost. You know, he wasn't a part of that Pacers run to the Eastern Conference finals. So you forget about him a little bit. But he, in those, in these last four games, he has really shown that he's a player that, you know, can help this Pacers team take the next step. So my, I've really enjoyed watching Ben Mather.
- [23:20]
Alex
You, you mentioned his game against the Pelicans. The Pelicans just announced that Jordan Hawkins has a low back strain, is going to be out one to two weeks.
- [23:30]
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Dude, what is, what is that? I don't know. Like, them and the Sixers are having like this like strange competition between the two of them. Like who can have the weirdest, most awful beginning of a season.
- [23:42]
Alex
This is brutal.
- [23:44]
Apple Card Ad
It is.
- [23:45]
Alex
Okay.
- [23:45]
Andrew
It is.
- [23:47]
Alex
Speaking of panicking, we panicked about them last week, I believe. Who's been your favorite team to panic about this week? I'm realizing by the way, with this category, like if we're doing two a week, just figuring out the math in my head, we're eventually going to have to panic about every single team. Will we be able to panic about like the Celtics for a week? Will we have to go back? Will we have to start panicking about specific players? Andrew? I don't know. I still have. I still feel good about it. There's still plenty of panic in my tank. But I'm starting to think ahead, okay?
- [24:20]
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I mean, listen, Sam Presti says the sky falls on every single team two or three times every season, so.
- [24:25]
Alex
That's right.
- [24:25]
Apple Card Ad
We're going to have our. We're going to have our time to panic about everybody. Al this week is the Orlando Magic, who've dropped five straight, they're three and six right now. Their last four games. Their 98.2 offensive rating dead last in the league. They're 11th in defensive rating. They're 29th in net rating with only the putrid Utah Jazz behind them. Out from the corners, they're shooting 23% from above the break, they're shooting 23%. From the mid range, they're shooting 32% in the paint, they're 41% in the restricted area, they're like a fine 62%. The offense is just non existent. They have their 20, 21 draft picks leading the way with. With Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs doing the best they can. Franz averaging 26 and 5 with Suggs at 18. 5 and 5. Suggs has actually been really good for them. They're doing all they can. But Al, do you know who their third leading score is without Paulo right now?
- [25:30]
Alex
Okay, so Franz, and then you mentioned Suggs, so.
- [25:38]
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Third. Who's third?
- [25:42]
Alex
I don't know. I'm assuming it's someone weird, so I'm gonna say Goga.
- [25:47]
Apple Card Ad
Goga's fourth, actually.
- [25:48]
Alex
Okay. All right.
- [25:50]
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Mo Vogner is third scoring for them. They just frankly cannot score. Like, they've got guys like Wendell Carter, could be that, but he's dealing with this like plantar fasciitis thing. KCP has not had a great start to the season. Anthony Black is really not that guy. Rookie Tristan Da Silva is playing a ton for them. Jonathan Isaac doesn't play enough minutes for them. One thing is I don't quite understand why Cole Anthony doesn't play, especially now without Paolo in the lineup, because he's somebody that can actually score. And so I, I don't quite understand what's going on there, but I'd be panicked. Now. The Magic are going to have to get some wins in these next five games. They've got the Pelicans that we've mentioned who are dealing with a ton of injuries. They've got the Washington Wizards, they've got the Hornets, they've got the Pacers and they've got the Sixers. And so they've got to win at least two of these games. And like, the thing that's the thing that they have working for them that's in their favor is really something that is really not even within their control is just that they're just in the Eastern Conference in which, like, everybody's terrible. So there's. The Eastern Conference is very forgiving to teams that have stretches like this, unlike the Western Conference. But I'm. I'd be worried because without Paolo, I just don't know how they score. I saw them in Oklahoma City earlier this week, and it was really. The Thunder didn't even play well, and we're able to just cruise to a victory because they. They just couldn't score. Like, they just go through these. These stretches where they just absolutely cannot get buckets. And so I'm. I'm really worried about the Orlando Magic.
- [27:30]
Alex
Yeah, the Cole Anthony thing's really interesting. I mean, his last five games, two DNPs. He played 3 minutes, 14 minutes and 8 minutes in the other three games.
- [27:38]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah.
- [27:39]
Alex
Just really strange, and I don't totally know what. What the story is there. I mean, I did read an article and he was just like Cole Anthony said, you know, I just haven't been playing well. But it still just seems strange because they definitely could use him. The other guy they could use, I don't know if it's going to happen, is Jet Howard. He is getting some minutes. I mean, that is a theoretical score, but it just hasn't really happened yet. But this would seem to be the opportunity where you'd want to try him out and see what you got. And I know they are trying him a little bit, but, yeah, it. It's going to be rough until they get Paul back. My favorite team to panic about now, it may seem obvious it's the Philadelphia 76ers, but I'll have you know I picked them before I even knew about the maxi injury. All right. I was already panicking before that even happened.
- [28:23]
Apple Card Ad
There was enough reason to panic even before the maxi injury. Yeah.
- [28:27]
Alex
As I mentioned at the top, Sixers are one in six, last in the East. Since the merger, 103 teams. 103 teams have started the season. One and six. How many of those teams have made the playoffs? Andrew, take a guess. 103 teams.
- [28:45]
Apple Card Ad
36.
- [28:47]
Alex
6 have made it. Now, that sounds bad.
- [28:51]
Apple Card Ad
600 teams, right? You say 103 teams or 103 teams?
- [28:55]
Alex
103 teams.
- [28:57]
Apple Card Ad
6 have made. 97 teams didn't make it.
- [29:00]
Alex
Yeah, it's about 5%. Now, that sounds bad. And listen, it's certainly not good, but the Sixers do have several things going for them. One, as you mentioned, with the Magic, they're in the East. Even at 1 and 6, they're two wins away from being in the plan. 2. Yes, he just got suspended, but Joel Embiid should be back soon, and we all saw how dominant Philly can be with Embiid. And three, they have ammo to go and make a trade this season. They actually have valuable picks they could trade if the right deal becomes available. When I read that stat, like, when I read that stat again next year about teams that start one and six, I fully believe that Philly and Milwaukee will both probably have proven that stat wrong. We'll have two more success stories. All that said, this team is bad and why I'm still panicking despite all those encouraging things I just said, is that I'm not sure the MB less version of this team is going to be able to hold up their end of the bargain. Like we all knew going into the season, Embiid is going to miss a decent chunk of the season. Philly's going to try to preserve him for the playoffs. But part of that deal was was believing that the Maxi PG Sixers could be a solid team. Night after night when he sat. And I know it's only been two games with PG and now Maxi's out, but this team is not good. I thought Philly had a good off season around the margins. They added a lot of guys who in a role player vacuum made a lot of sense to me. But, man, I was watching that Sixers Clippers game. Some of these lineups are things that I don't want to look at in 2024. Andrew. The idea of a lot of these guys made sense in the summer. They make sense with on Bead, but now I'm having to actually watch them play basketball and I don't like what I see. Okay. Even if Embiid comes back, I think this team needs a trade because I just don't feel great about the plan anymore. Because either Embiid's gonna have to play more than they hope for, or they've got to do something to inject some life into this roster. I need some youth. I need some athleticism. I need some playmaking. I need something without Embiid and without just PG and Maxi. Because looking at the rest of this roster and seeing how they've played in these most recent games, like, I'm not totally buying into the idea that when Embiid sits, this team is going to be able to, you know, be a.500 team or something. And so that's why I'm panicking this week.
- [31:17]
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Yeah, the. The vibe around the Sixers fan base is, is appropriate and terrible, so not surprising.
- [31:25]
Alex
All right, Andrew, it's time for our favorite moment this week. And this week we're going to do something a little different. The warriors win in Boston felt like One of those important statement games in the early going. And so to help us do a deep dive on the implications of that win, we're going to bring in Zena Kada, who you can hear throughout the week on the NBA Daily. Xena, welcome to Slam and Jam.
- [31:47]
Zena Keda
Thank you. I'm so excited. I actually wore my orange on behalf of, you know, the special invite, so thank you.
- [31:53]
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Nice. So excited to have you here. Xena. Before we get to the Celtics game, looking at the season as a whole, how surprised have you been about the Warriors 7 and 1 start based on how you felt in the preseason?
- [32:06]
Zena Keda
You know, I actually knew you were going to ask me this question because I feel like that's just been like the theme across the entire NBA. No one saw this coming. I've always been a person. If Steph Curry is on the team and he's healthy, I'm not counting them out. And I'm particularly not counting him out when he has his buddy Draymond Green. The way that Draymond handles the defensive end of the things and Steph handles the offensive end and the two of them kind of act as maestros offensively as well together, I was. I'm not that surprised. I will say what I am surprised by this defense. Did not expect them to come out and kind of age backwards in the way that they have shown up on the defensive end. But I'm not too surprised. But I am impressed.
- [32:52]
Alex
So the last time we saw a Warriors team playing this well in Boston was the finals in 2022. When this team is clicking, they look like a terrible matchup for the Celtics. What, what do you think it is about this specific matchup that seems to favor the Warriors?
- [33:07]
Zena Keda
I think it comes down to defense. When you look at the 2022 series versus the what we saw the other night against the Celtics, the Warriors defense has always been their bread and butter against this team. But I think it shows up differently between the two circumstances. Throughout the 2022 series, you think about who was out there playing defense. Klay Thompson, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney. Players that had been together for a very long time, playing in series for a very long time, adjusting to teams and their schemes for a very long time. So their defense was kind of like a mature defense in that they had each other's backs. They kind of knew where they were going to be on the court at the same time. Like there was an experience factor to their defense. And then you add on the fact that there was Andrew Wiggins, who was just playing lights out defense on one of their top scorers, Jason Tatum. Now what's been consistent between 2022 and what we saw the other night against Celtics, Andrew Wiggins still putting on the clamps on Jayson Tatum. But the defense still a factor differently though this time it was just about the fact that this, the warriors defense today is more active, they're younger, they've got a lot more bodies to throw at the Celtics, so their physicality was increased. And in both cases the Celtics did not respond well. I'll say the other night first half was bad for the Celtics. They did respond in the second half. So I think it's always going to be defense as to why they struggle against the Warriors. And then that aspect of experience. Steph Curry said a game four, you won't win another game. He didn't lie. So like, you know what I mean, like he has the experience. He's been in these situations, he's been in these type of matchups where he knows how to score against them and he knows how to derail them and really completely confused everything they're trying to do. So the Celtics don't have that quite just yet. They did win a championship, not taking that away from them, but they don't have the experience factor of how do we derail a team like the Warriors. And I think that that's why they're always such a tough matchup against the warriors, because that defense is there. But then also that that aspect of we've been here before, we know how to do this, that's something that the warriors have on the Celtics.
- [35:31]
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So Buddy Heald has been one of the biggest stories of the season and he continued his hot streak in Boston, hitting four threes, including a clutch three with less than a minute left. There were some questions about Buddy coming off last year's playoffs, and while he's probably not going to shoot 50% from 3, how sustainable does his play overall look and feel right now for the Warriors?
- [35:54]
Zena Keda
That is a good question. I just think that if he continues to be used in this offense the way that he's being used, which is being three, right, like in all the other places that he's played, whether it was with the Pacers, whether it was for Sack or the Sixers, I mean he's been a journeyman and in every single situation, I don't think he was set up to be able to come off screens and play off ball as well as he's been set up in with the warriors to do so. And when You've got Steph Curry on the other side of the court. Being a gravitational pull, it allows you to have the space to have some fun, and that's what you're seeing Buddy Hill do. He's playing so energetically and so actively and cutting harder, and everything about what he does, I think is just a reflection of him playing in this system with a Steph. You can't be in the Warrior system seeing Steph at 36 years old, cutting as hard as he is, setting up his defenders as well as he does off ball and coming off screens in the way that he does and not match that energy. It just.
- [36:55]
Andrew
You.
- [36:56]
Zena Keda
You can't. And so I think it's, it's. It's sustainable only as long as teams figure out who. Do we want to shut down tonight? Do we want to focus on Buddy Hill? Do we want to focus on Steph Curry? You know, Pajimski takes that mask off, hopefully the threes go up again. Do we want to focus on Pajemski? Like, I think once teams start to lock in on him, that's when it'll go down. But for now, the way the warriors are playing loose and free and spacing the floor, and I don't think it's going to stop.
- [37:27]
Alex
So, Xena, it's time for the big question. Because prior to this Celtics game, it seemed. Seemed like everyone was impressed with Golden State, but they hadn't totally bought into them as a contender. After this win in Boston, are you ready to say that we need to be talking about this team as a legitimate contender?
- [37:46]
Zena Keda
No, I'm waiting until okc. I'm waiting for this road trip.
- [37:50]
Alex
Okay.
- [37:51]
Zena Keda
Because here's the thing. Last year, the warriors were the road team. They had a better road record than they did at home. So we know they do play well at, you know, on the road in general. We've seen one team that has been a contender in their lineup, right? Utah. Houston.
- [38:11]
Alex
Right, right, right.
- [38:12]
Zena Keda
New Orleans, like, you know, you can't get too excited about that. Now. Boston, definitely a statement win, but now it's going to be about the sustainability of being statement type of players, because you've got to go play Boston, turn around, play Cleveland, who's undefeated.
- [38:27]
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Yeah, yeah.
- [38:28]
Zena Keda
And then turn around and play okc. If you can keep this up on the road. Okay, now you. You can't be denied. Right now. There's. You can. There's a little bit of room of like, it was one game. You can't be denied if you went out this three. And remember, they go home and play against Dallas.
- [38:47]
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Yeah.
- [38:48]
Zena Keda
So it's just a great stretch. It's a great stretch to really test, like, are the warriors who we think they are? Well, some people don't think they are, but who I think they are in being championship contenders could come out of the west type of thing. I'm going to wait until I see this OKC game and this whole week finish out. You know, talk to me on Tuesday. We'll see.
- [39:09]
Alex
Yeah, I can't wait to see that offense go against OKC's defense.
- [39:13]
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Yeah.
- [39:14]
Alex
To see who wins that matchup. That'll be so much fun.
- [39:16]
Zena Keda
About the offense against Cleveland's backline. Right. Like Jared Allen and Mobley, the warriors haven't really had a true backline test yet where there's not just one player that's good in the big position, it's two, and they play together and they run the floor. So we'll see what they do against Cleveland.
- [39:37]
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So, looking ahead, what do you see as some obvious needs for the Warriors? And are there any, like, clear trade targets that perhaps are popping up from warriors fans?
- [39:49]
Zena Keda
No. Shut this trade stuff down. I need people to let it go. I appreciated this in the preseason, Draymond Green said. You know, before all of this started, before the 71 run and everything, he said he appreciated Mike Dunleavy's patience and his ability to not have a trigger finger. And because he talks about how teams will make a decision hastily and it will set them up for failure five, 10 years down the line. And so this is why I'm looking at the Warriors. You're right now playing 12 people successfully. Everyone's getting in and doing good things for the Warriors. There's no need to ruin. What, what, what, what. What's the saying? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yeah, folks like, let's chill on the. On the trade rumors. However, what I do think the warriors need is for Trace Jackson Davis to get an extra year. They need an active big. They need a paint protector. Right now, Buddy Hield is doing a great job of being someone that comes off the bench and gives them an offensive boost. I would be remiss to say that they don't need a wing score. It makes sense that they went after Paul George. It makes sense they went after Lori Markkanen. You know, people have talked about Zach Levine. It definitely seems that they need that. But right now, I'm impressed with what Andrew Wiggins is doing. I like what Jonathan Kaminga is doing coming off the bench. Um, and Buddy healed adding on coming off the bench as well. So I'm saying chill, enjoy this 12 man rotation. I don't know how long it's going to last, but just enjoy the moment right now.
- [41:30]
Alex
Yeah, yeah.
- [41:31]
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Don't kill the depth.
- [41:32]
Alex
Yeah, their depth is amazing. I mean, you look at the last, the warriors teams from like the last two seasons and some of the guys that they were giving decent minutes to that just aren't in the league anymore and now they have. Yeah, they have so much more depth than they had the past two seasons.
- [41:48]
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Yep. Hey, go find Zena Keda right here on the NBA Daily. And then the, the athletic women's basketball show. It's a great show. Zena's the host of it. Go check it out. Right after this break, we are going to talk to Trevor Lane about the crazy, crazy week that the Los Angeles Lakers had.
- [42:09]
Alex
All right, Andrew, it's time for the Wheel of Fandom, the weekly segment where we spin a wheel, it lands on a team and we become fans of that team for the next week. And last week we got the Los Angeles Lakers. Now the Lakers start off the season with three consecutive wins over good west teams, the Suns, Wolves and Kings. But they've dropped four of their last five. They are back to.500 at four and four per cleaning the glass. Lakers have the 12th ranked offense and 24th ranked defense. Andrew, if our favorite team is the Lakers, who is our guest?
- [42:42]
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We've got Trevor Lane, who is the host of the Lakers Nation podcast and co host of the front office show. Trevor, how's it going?
- [42:51]
Andrew
Going well. Thanks for having me on and excited to talk some Lakers. Welcome in to Lakers fandom. Happy to have you.
- [42:59]
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It has been a wild week to be a fan of the Lakers, I will tell you that. Especially, especially last night. And we'll, we'll dig into some of that here in just a second. But if you had a couple weeks, if we had you on a couple weeks ago, I would say that this would be a very different conversation. Anthony Davis has missed the most recent game. We're recording this before the Friday night game. But has there been any common themes in these four losses after the hot start for the Lakers?
- [43:30]
Andrew
Yeah, their, their transition defense has been a really big problem. I think teams figured that out very quickly that you can attack the Lakers in transition. And so we Memphis do that. Last night we've seen, we saw the Cavs do it, the Pistons did it. A number of teams have been really punishing the Lakers just by pushing the ball down the court. And the Lakers not doing a great job getting back. So that's been a common theme in all of these games. And then just the lack of depth on the team. The bench is just not getting it done right now for the Lakers. They're definitely at a disadvantage when the teams go to their bench. So they're just too thin. That's been another, another issue for them over this strength stretch.
- [44:06]
Alex
So there was a lot of talk during that 3, 0 start about new head coach JJ Redick, how much better the Lakers looked after that Memphis loss. Redick had some very pointed comments about dlo's benching and he also abruptly ended his press conference. So we've already seen some highs and lows already with jj. What has been the biggest differences you've noticed with Redick as head coach compared to the last couple of Lakers head coaches? And that could be on the court or just as a reporter covering this team.
- [44:33]
Andrew
So I actually asked the question that J.J. mike dropped. That was quite a moment. But no, I'll tell you this, compared to other Lakers coaches in the past, and I don't know if this will serve him well in the long term. JJ is obsessed with this team, with winning. Like you could just feel. So I talked to him before the game, right after he had found out that Anthony Davis was not going to play against the Grizzlies. And he was bothered then. Like, you could tell he was not in the greatest of moods in that moment. Not that he was upset about anything or certainly not mad at Anthony Davis, but he did you. He knew that he would be in for, I think, a tough night without ad. And then after the game, he was definitely not in, in the best of moods. It really, really bothers him when they lose. You know, infamously, Darvin Ham had a quote last season where he talked about how he's. How it's ridiculous that people live and die with every game. I think J.J. redick lives and dies with every play and it all sticks with him. And he cares very, very much about the outcome of the game. So this man does not like losing at all. And I think that's been one thing that we've seen consistently from him in his time here in la.
- [45:40]
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So from your perspective, whenever he had the mic drop moment after you asked the question just. And the question was about, like, effort. What was. Like, what was the room like? Were you expecting that to happen? Like, what was. What was going on? Like, walk us through this a little bit.
- [45:57]
Andrew
So, yeah, so I asked, I asked him the question and I did A terrible job asking the question. I was not succinct at all. I rambled way too much. But. But anyway, I was asking the question. I wanted to find out, what's his coaching philosophy on how do you manage players who are not putting forth the effort, in your opinion? And so I wanted to find out that. And that's where he said, I just did, and dropped the mic. Now he walked on off, and then he turned and he said again. And he had dropped the mic, so I just didn't get picked up. But he turned. He said, it's the first thing I said to them. So when he said, I just did, that meant I just did. Like, I just addressed it with the team. That was the first thing I said to them when I went into the locker room. That's what he was talking about when he said, I just did. But at that moment, all eyes turned. I got a bunch of big eyes turned. All the reporters that turned and looked at these big guys, and they're all like, oh, oh, damn. So that was. And it was. It was. It was a moment that was for sure. But. But yeah, like I said, the. The context of him. And he wasn't upset at the question. He was using that to emphasize that he had just addressed the effort with the team. He didn't want to go into detail about how. Which was what my question was about how exactly how he addressed that deep, that lack of effort.
- [47:13]
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Do you.
- [47:13]
Alex
Do you feel like Lakers fans appreciate how blunt he is? Because, you know, his response last night about DLO was very direct and even more broadly, when he was saying, you know, if we only have, you know, one or two guys giving the effort, yeah, we're not going to be. Even if we have five guys giving the effort, like, we need effort from every single person. Do you think Lakers fans appreciate that kind of bluntness?
- [47:34]
Andrew
I do, yeah. Yeah, I do. I think that what drives fans crazy, and we've seen this in the. In the past, and we see this even. Even politically, right, when we look at just what happened with the election, everything. People get frustrated when they feel like they can't get a direct answer or when they feel like somebody is just kind of dancing around a question and not really addressing the issue. J.J. doesn't do that. Typically, he will give you a very blunt and very direct answer to things. And I think that is. That is appreciated very much because fans, that's what they want to hear, is they want to find out what is the answer to a question. They don't want the kind of, you know, word salad, if you want to call it that. Or like Mitch Kupjak was, was great as a general manager, did some great things for the Lakers, but he was phenomenal when it came to saying a bunch of things without actually saying anything. And that kind of stuff can, can be frustrating to watch and listen to.
- [48:26]
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Mm. Yeah. I just hope, I just hope all these losses don't kill JJ so much throughout the season because it does seem like. It seems like a lot. It's like, man, it's. Yeah, it's early November and he knows this like he played in the league. I just, it just feel. Everything just feels like really weighty, you know, I don't know if I don't. Maybe that's too dramatic. I don't know. Is that too dramatic?
- [48:48]
Andrew
No, I don't think so. I mean, I think, I think to JJ it's. He wanted the competition and now he's like in the thick of it. That was part of what brought him back to coaching. He's in the thick of it and he is, like I said, he's living and dying with every game. And I don't know what that's going to look like in January or in February. We get to the dog days of the season. I don't know what it's going to look like at that point, but it's very clear that it really gets to him when they lose, when they aren't playing well, when they aren't doing what he expects them to do. And yeah, he's very passionate, let's say that.
- [49:20]
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Yeah. So Dalton Connect is already part of the rotation in his rookie season, even if his minutes haven't always been consistent game to game. What have you thought have his early season play and his potential role on this team going forward?
- [49:33]
Andrew
Yeah, I mean he's already showing some, some real talent as a movement shooter and JJ obviously knows a little bit of something about that. That's exactly what JJ was. So we see the Lakers actually running plays for connect sometimes in high leverage situations. They're running plays to, to set him up to shoot a three. He does have work to do defensively and of course he's a rookie, so there's going to be plenty of highs and lows. There's going to be ups and downs night in and night out, but overall he's been pretty impressive. He is a three level scorer. He's got plenty of work to do. But for a guy who's a rookie who's already. Maybe it speaks to the lack of depth on the team. But the fact that he's already at least a night in, night out player, he's a rotation guy, I think that speaks volumes about the trust that J.J. redick has in Dalton Connect. And in fact with multiple players out in last night's game against the Grizzlies, Dalton Connect got to start and he pegged Dalton to be the guy to enter the starting lineup. So I think he's impressed so far. Long way to go, but I think he's going to be a pretty good one in the NBA eventually.
- [50:30]
Alex
So I'm sure Lakers fans are already creating fake trades. You know, the off season was pretty quiet. Connect was really the only significant addition. You've seen eight games. Now you mentioned the bench as being a weakness of this team. But more specifically like what types of players, like what skills do you think this Lakers team needs?
- [50:50]
Andrew
Yeah. So there's two things really that they need and that is they need a true physical big. Over the summer JJ Redick used the term bruiser. That's what they're looking for is a bruiser in the paint. They didn't add that. So it's really right now it's Anthony Davis. If he's out, it's Jackson Hayes. Christian Coloco made his NBA return after almost two years away from the game. He played in last night's game. So they're very thin at the big position and so they definitely need that. They could also use a two way wing. One of the challenges with this Lakers team, and it was the same last year with this roster, is they have a lot of guys who are one way players. They're good on the offensive end but bad defensively or bad or, or vice versa. And so they really need to get some guys who can play both sides of the ball. The NBA is so unforgiving now of any players who can't contribute on a particular side. You just get picked on over and over and over again. So they need to get a two way wing. Probably figure out something with the back court combination of D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves that's not quite worked out so well. You mentioned jj. I had some pretty pointed comments about DLO that has not gone well as to this point. There's just too too many overlapping weaknesses between the two of them. So you're going to have to rectify that situation. But a two way wing, a bruiser big and I think this team can make some noise.
- [52:05]
Alex
Okay. Because I know like in the off season, you know, there are rumors like Jeremy Grant and I feel like traditionally with the Lakers, the rumors are always for a relatively big name. You know, people bring up like Zach Lev. It sounds like you would prefer them to maybe use their assets to go get a couple guys as opposing to putting all those assets into one player.
- [52:24]
Andrew
Yeah, absolutely. And part of that is the lack of depth on the team. I think that you need to add more true NBA. You've got a lot of guys that aren't playing at an NBA level right now, and so you need NBA talent on this team. But also when I look at what pieces are out there. You mentioned Zach Levine. You're going to have to give up at least two starters to get them. Just to make the math work. Not talking about value, just making the math work. Gets very, very difficult and very challenging for the Lakers. Going after some of those, those bigger names that are out there. I'm sure they'll be interested in guys. They always are. If there's a big name that's attainable, they'll of course try to get into the mix. But I, I do think I look more at like what the Dallas Mavericks did last year. Getting Daniel Gafford, getting PJ Washington as that being a more realistic path. Getting players of that caliber and adding them to this team.
- [53:12]
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It feels weird to say this to me, but this is LeBron's seventh year with the Lakers, which is. It's kind of mind blowing when you think about it, which I think ties the longest stint that he's had with any team in consecutive years. So you've seen him play seven seasons in la. Where have you seen him slow down at all? Obviously there's a lot of talk about him almost being 40 years old and all of that, but where have you seen him slow down so far this season?
- [53:40]
Andrew
Sure, where it's noticeable has been in terms of the burst. We've seen a number of times where he's been blocked at the rim or not converted a shot at the rim this season that's been lacking a little bit that explosiveness and then defensively, and that started to become a thing last year where, you know, LeBron would need to make a rotation and he just. And he just doesn't. He doesn't get out there. We still see stretches where he does. He had that great game against the Sacramento Kings when he absolutely blew up in the fourth quarter and he was hitting everything. We see certain defensive possessions. He did it once against John Morant last night where he defended jaw on a. On a particular play and was able to get a stop. He can turn it on. He just can't do it. Night in, night out. He is still incredible and it's amazing to see him producing the way that he is at his age. But he's no longer that guy that 82 games of the season, he can put the team on his back, carry them and then into the playoffs and he's just unstoppable. He can't do that night in, night out. He can do that a few times over the course of a season. He can turn it on. He can try to really push down on the gas pedal in the playoffs, but on a night in, night out basis, he can't be that just next, you know, top one a type of guy at this point, even though he can still produce incredibly again at 39 points against Memphis. But he doesn't just totally take over and dominate an entire game. With some exceptions obviously, like that Sacramento game.
- [55:02]
Alex
Well, Trevor, thank you so much for answering all of our Lakers questions. But it is now time to play Andrew versus the Beat, our weekly trivia show where Andrew goes head to head with NBA beat writer this week, Trevor Lane from the Lakers Nation podcast and the front office show. So, Trevor, you've played this before. I've come up with eight questions about the Lakers. Some are easy, two are nearly impossible. You're gonna pick a number between one and eight and no correspondent question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points. If you get it wrong, Andrew will have a chance to steal for one and we'll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered. So to start us off, I just need a number between one and eight.
- [55:43]
Andrew
Well, let's go eight. My mentality here.
- [55:46]
Alex
Question number eight. Okay, this is one of those.
- [55:51]
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Sounds like this is the impossible one.
- [55:53]
Alex
We'll see the two hard ones. I do feel like they are gettable. They're just, they will sound very hard. Okay, which teammate has D'Angelo Russell played the most amount of games with during his career with 173 games played together.
- [56:11]
Andrew
And it's a Lakers teammate that he's, that he's played.
- [56:14]
Alex
It's just, it's just any teammate throughout his career. So you could have played with them on the Lakers, but he also could have played with them on another team.
- [56:25]
Andrew
Interesting. Let's see. And you said 173 games. Is that including playoffs? I've tried to do the math here and think about how many. No, that wouldn't quite be enough. Who's somebody that he played with on another team? It's Definitely not Austin. It's definitely not AD LeBron, not Rui, who was on another team with it. That is hard. God, I. I'll just throw out Anthony Davis because I know AD Was remarkably healthy, but I know that's short of the total numbers of that total 170something.
- [57:09]
Alex
Well, you're correct on the second point. It doesn't. Doesn't work for. For AD But a very good guess. Andrew, any guesses?
- [57:18]
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I don't know if this guy's played enough is like the only reason why I don't know, but I know he played with them for two teams. What about Jared Vanderbilt?
- [57:26]
Alex
A great guess. You're on the right track. It was someone who played with him both on the Wolves and one season with the Lakers is Taurine Prince. I feel like it makes sense when you hear it, but it is very harsh. Andrew, number one question. Number one, Dalton Connect. His career high so far is 18 points in a game. Andrew, who were the last two Lakers rookies to score at least 18 in a game? And you get one point per correct answer. And I will tell you one of the answers. Just straightforward. It's one guy. The other answer. Actually, two rookies did it on the same night. So if you give me either one of those names, it would count.
- [58:12]
Apple Card Ad
Two Lakers rookies did it on the same night.
- [58:15]
Alex
Yeah, they scored at least 18. So there's actually three names here, but you only have to give me two.
- [58:22]
Apple Card Ad
Okay, what about Taylor, Horton, Tucker?
- [58:26]
Alex
Andrew, that is incorrect. Trevor, you have a chance to steal. So the last two Lakers. Oh, yeah, go ahead.
- [58:34]
Andrew
Austin Reeves has got to be one of them.
- [58:36]
Alex
He's gotta be. He is. That is one point. Trevor, can you name one of the other two rookies?
- [58:45]
Andrew
The fact that it was two that did it on the same night makes me think we're going all the way back to, like, the Kyle Kuzma Lonzo ball stuff. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna go. Kyle Kuzma.
- [58:56]
Alex
So the correct answer. Mo Wagner and Jonathan Williams.
- [59:01]
Andrew
Oh, I forgot about Mo.
- [59:04]
Alex
On the same night. All right, so, Trevor, you're on the board. One up, and you have control of the board.
- [59:12]
Andrew
All right, let's go. Let's go. Lamar Odom. We'll go number seven.
- [59:16]
Alex
Number seven. Okay, you picked the other hard one.
- [59:21]
Andrew
But again, it was the last two.
- [59:22]
Alex
I thought you came there. According to cleaning the glass, the Lakers shot 33% at the rim on Wednesday night against the Grizzlies. That is the Lakers lowest rim percentage in a game since a February 2015 game against the Blazers. Who scored the most points for the Lakers in that game against The Blazers in February 2015?
- [59:48]
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Alex.
- [59:55]
Alex
You can get there, I promise. Is that.
- [59:58]
Andrew
Is this on me?
- [59:59]
Alex
Yes. Yes.
- [60:00]
Andrew
Okay, I'm going to guess. I'll guess Julius Randall. I would imagine he would miss a lot at the rim, but also grab a lot of rebounds and put him back up.
- [60:11]
Alex
That is incorrect. Andrew, you have a chance to steal most points by a Laker in a random February 2015 game against Portland.
- [60:26]
Apple Card Ad
Jordan Clarkson. Like, I don't know.
- [60:28]
Alex
That's good guess, Andrew. That's absolutely correct.
- [60:31]
Apple Card Ad
Yes.
- [60:31]
Andrew
There it is.
- [60:33]
Alex
I told you you could get there. It's not a crazy answer. It wasn't like, someone random, you know?
- [60:40]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah.
- [60:40]
Alex
Okay, Andrew, the board is yours. Tie game.
- [60:44]
Apple Card Ad
Okay, number two.
- [60:46]
Alex
Question number two. All right, D'Angelo wrestles. D'Angelo Russell is sixth all time in three pointers made for the Lakers franchise and will likely enter the top five this season. Isn't that exciting? Let's name the other nine players in the top 10 for most three pointers made in Lakers franchise history. So how this works, Andrew, you'll give me a name, then Trevor will give me a name. We'll go back and forth till one of you stumbles. So I already gave you one name. D'Angelo Russell. He's currently sixth on the list. Okay, what's another name, Andrew?
- [61:19]
Apple Card Ad
Kobe Bryant.
- [61:20]
Alex
A great guess. He's number one. All right, Trevor, we'll go D Fish. Derek Fisher, another great guest. Number two. Back to Andrew.
- [61:35]
Apple Card Ad
These questions you always have to go. New era. And I just got done asking him a question about LeBron being there for six full seasons, so I'll go with LeBron.
- [61:45]
Alex
Great guess. Andrew's number three. You guys gotten one, two, three in a row. Okay, Trevor, you're next.
- [61:51]
Andrew
I think he was a Laker for. For long enough. I'll go Byron Scott.
- [61:55]
Alex
Byron Scott, Number five on the list.
- [62:00]
Apple Card Ad
Oh, my God.
- [62:01]
Alex
All right, Andrew. This is where it starts getting juicy.
- [62:05]
Apple Card Ad
Scott. Oh, my gosh. He couldn't have taken that many threes per game, so this number's got to be not super high. What about kcp?
- [62:18]
Alex
Kcp? Andrew. He is number seven on the list.
- [62:24]
Apple Card Ad
Oh, dang.
- [62:25]
Alex
You got it. All right, so back to Trevor. There are four names to go. Four names left.
- [62:32]
Andrew
I mean, it was a different era, but what about Nick Van Exel?
- [62:38]
Alex
Guess who was number four. Nick Van Exel. That is correct.
- [62:43]
Apple Card Ad
Four.
- [62:43]
Alex
Number four.
- [62:45]
Andrew
That's higher than.
- [62:45]
Apple Card Ad
What a pull. Oh, man.
- [62:48]
Alex
All right, Andrew, three names left and they are 8, 9, and 10 on the list.
- [62:53]
Apple Card Ad
Oh, boy. What about digging back into the Shaq and Kobe days? What about Rick Fox?
- [63:05]
Alex
Rick fox is number 10, Andrew.
- [63:08]
Andrew
That's.
- [63:08]
Apple Card Ad
Wow.
- [63:10]
Alex
Okay, there are two names left. Number eight and number nine. Could you guys sweep these names? That'll be so impressive.
- [63:18]
Andrew
I'm. I'm gonna go with big shot Bob. Robert Ori.
- [63:21]
Alex
Oh, that's a good shot. Robert Oria. Great. Guess he is not on the list. Which means. Andrew, guess the two points. The other name, a recent one. Kyle Kuzma, number eight and number nine, Eddie Jones.
- [63:40]
Andrew
He was around long enough. Yep.
- [63:42]
Alex
Eddie Jones. Okay, Trevor, the board is yours.
- [63:45]
Andrew
All right, let's go with the younger Lebron. We'll go with number six.
- [63:51]
Alex
Number six. There is one player on the Lakers whose career high in points came during a playoff game. Who is it? So it's a player currently on the Lakers, and their career high for their entire career came during a playoff game.
- [64:15]
Andrew
Player on the Lakers career high end points came during their entire career came during a playoff game. I'm gonna go with Rui Hachimura.
- [64:23]
Alex
Rui Hachimura. That is incorrect. Andrew, you have a chance to steal.
- [64:31]
Apple Card Ad
That's what I thought I was gonna go with too. This makes me feel like this is some weird player. I don't know. Like this is Jackson Hayes. Like, I don't know.
- [64:41]
Alex
It is not. It was a player who had a really great run with a team that came out of nowhere. We're talking about Gabe Vincent with the Miami Heat.
- [64:53]
Andrew
I was thinking as a Laker. I got it.
- [64:56]
Apple Card Ad
Oh, so obvious.
- [64:58]
Andrew
That was my mistake there.
- [65:00]
Alex
Okay, Andrew, you have the lead. You have the board. Three questions to go.
- [65:04]
Apple Card Ad
Number three.
- [65:06]
Alex
Question number three. What is Cam Reddish's career high in points? Now, before you answer, you get to choose who answers first. You can make Trevor answer first, and you can go higher or lower, or you can answer first, and if either one of you gets it exactly correct with the first guess, you do get a bonus point.
- [65:28]
Apple Card Ad
27.
- [65:30]
Alex
Okay, so Andrew, set the bar at 27. Trevor, would you like to go higher or lower?
- [65:35]
Andrew
27.
- [65:36]
Alex
Cam Reddish's career high.
- [65:38]
Andrew
We're all. We're of like mind because the number that was in my head immediately was 26.
- [65:43]
Apple Card Ad
Oh, really?
- [65:44]
Andrew
Yeah.
- [65:46]
Alex
Oh, now you have a big decision to make. Cam Reddish career high. So would you like to go higher or lower? Now, based on your potential guess, you might go lower. Although out. Do you want to go higher now?
- [66:00]
Andrew
I'll go. I'll say I'll go lower. Then since I said 26 and don't, not much margin for error there, but that's what I'll go with.
- [66:07]
Alex
On December 22, 2021, Cam Reddish scored a career high 36 points.
- [66:14]
Andrew
Oh, my gosh, Cam. I'm sorry.
- [66:17]
Apple Card Ad
That feels unbelievable.
- [66:19]
Alex
It does feel unbelievable.
- [66:21]
Apple Card Ad
Completely unbelievable. He's played well for the Lakers recently.
- [66:24]
Andrew
Yeah, he has been. He has been.
- [66:26]
Alex
Okay, Trevor, two questions left. You still have a shot. Question four or five are. What are remaining?
- [66:35]
Andrew
Let's go four.
- [66:37]
Alex
Okay. Anthony Davis has one five by five in his career when he played for the Pelicans. While he hasn't had a five by five as a Laker, he's been getting pretty close with some of these crazy lines he's had. Who is the only Laker to ever get a five by five?
- [66:57]
Andrew
I mean, I would think given the amount of time he played and how dominant. Well, but how long do they record that station? I'm going back to, like, I. I think Kareem must have done it at some point.
- [67:12]
Alex
He probably did. I don't know, recording that status. It might have not been recording all of the steals and blocks at that point. So he has not the name that is in stat head that has been officially recorded. Andrew, do you have any guesses?
- [67:33]
Apple Card Ad
Gosh, I feel like people have been reading these names off because of the. The Victor Wimby.
- [67:39]
Alex
Yeah. One Laker to do it.
- [67:43]
Apple Card Ad
One Laker.
- [67:45]
Alex
One Laker.
- [67:46]
Apple Card Ad
Was it. Was it Vlade?
- [67:49]
Alex
Wow. Impressive. It was Vladi.
- [67:53]
Apple Card Ad
Wow.
- [67:54]
Andrew
I would not have. I would have taken me a long time to land on Vlade on that one.
- [67:58]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah, I remember seeing the list. I remember I read through the list.
- [68:01]
Alex
Because there's some random name on there.
- [68:04]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah.
- [68:04]
Alex
Yousef Nurkic and Jamal Tinsley are like the classic.
- [68:06]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah, the Jamal. Yeah, the Jamal Tinsley one is wild.
- [68:09]
Alex
Never makes sense. Okay, Andrew, last question. And this is a fun one. D'Angelo Russell is one of seven active NBA players who have played for the Lakers, made an All Star Game, but never made an All Star Game as a Laker. Who are the other six? And you get half a point per correct answer. So these are players who played for the Lakers, made an All Star Game, but didn't make the All Star Game as a Laker.
- [68:36]
Apple Card Ad
Didn't make the All Star Game as a Laker. But they're active players currently.
- [68:43]
Alex
And not necessarily Lakers, obviously. They just play for Julius Randall. Julius Randall. That's a good guess. Cause it's right. Andrew, any other guesses?
- [68:55]
Apple Card Ad
Let's see. Trying to think. There's feel like there's been a lot of players they've drafted that have moved on and then been good or that they trade. That they've traded. Shoot, I can't think of anybody else I don't know.
- [69:20]
Alex
All right, Trevor, you want to take a stab at this one?
- [69:23]
Andrew
Well, I know one is Brandon Ingram.
- [69:25]
Alex
That is correct.
- [69:26]
Apple Card Ad
Oh, yeah, duh. That's like the same. This is like the same deal, basically.
- [69:30]
Andrew
So these, they have to be players currently active right now?
- [69:34]
Alex
Yes. On a roster somewhere.
- [69:36]
Andrew
On a roster somewhere right now. Okay, let's see. Who else would that be that made an all star team? Played as a Laker, but not. So we got bi. We got Julius Randall. Alonzo never made it.
- [69:56]
Alex
I love these. I love this question because of course, when you hear the answers, you'll just.
- [70:00]
Apple Card Ad
I know.
- [70:02]
Andrew
Oh, of course.
- [70:04]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah, right.
- [70:09]
Andrew
Who else have they had that made an all star team eventually? Really? That they had without older? What about DeAndre Jordan?
- [70:26]
Alex
That is correct. Okay, any other names off top of your head? There's still three names. Three names to go.
- [70:36]
Andrew
I'm thinking the other direction. I'm starting to get into the older the guys the Lakers brought in when they were older but are still hanging around. Who else could that have been? Mellow's not playing anymore. Yeah, I'm spacing on the rust of them now.
- [70:58]
Alex
Oh, you almost said one of their names right there when you said the rust of them. Russell Westbrook.
- [71:05]
Andrew
Oh, Russell Westbrook. How did I forget Russell Westbrook? I was just talking about him.
- [71:10]
Apple Card Ad
Too old. Like Dwight Howard. Right.
- [71:13]
Alex
Well, he's not active, but I did have to look to make sure he's Westbrook. Andre Drummond for the Sixers.
- [71:21]
Apple Card Ad
Andre Drummond played for the Lakers.
- [71:24]
Andrew
I forgot he made one.
- [71:25]
Alex
This one is really tough because he got the all Star when he was very young. On the nets is Brooke Lopez.
- [71:33]
Apple Card Ad
Oh, yeah.
- [71:35]
Alex
That's a tough one to. To get.
- [71:36]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah.
- [71:37]
Alex
So, Andrew, congrats. You won. Andrew versus the beat this week.
- [71:40]
Andrew
Well done.
- [71:41]
Alex
Great job.
- [71:42]
Apple Card Ad
Hey, go check out Trevor Lane. The front office show is really fun. You should go check that out and then go check out the Lakers Nation podcast to stay connected to the Los Angeles Lakers. Trevor, thanks so much for coming on.
- [71:55]
Andrew
Hey, thank you guys for having me. I appreciate it.
- [71:58]
Alex
All right, Andrew. That was Lakers week, and what a spicy week. It ended up being Very spicy.
- [72:04]
Apple Card Ad
It was very spicy.
- [72:06]
Alex
Okay, so that brings us to the Wheel fandom. We're back here. There's now 28 teams remaining. Could be so many different teams. There's so many other teams that we could potentially curse by landing on possibilities for cursing. So let's spin the wheel, see who we get. This week's wheel of fandom team will be the Dallas Mavericks.
- [72:36]
Apple Card Ad
I like this one. This is good. The Mavericks. This is a, that's a good one in itself. It's good to kind of catch up on the Mavs. They've been, they've been very good this season. I, I talked to a lot of people in Oklahoma City earlier this week and was asking the question, who do you think the second best team in the west is? Because at the time the Thunder really looked like they were just a head and shoulders above everybody.
- [73:00]
Alex
Yeah.
- [73:01]
Apple Card Ad
And this is before like the warriors win against the Celtics and all that. But a lot of people said Dallas.
- [73:06]
Alex
Sounds well, we got a juicy week. Listen to this.
- [73:10]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah.
- [73:10]
Alex
Friday night Phoenix at home espn. Nice. Sunday at Denver, who just beat Oklahoma City.
- [73:18]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah.
- [73:19]
Alex
Tuesday at Golden State on tnt. Thursday, great week at Utah. Okay, so. But those first three, pretty good.
- [73:30]
Apple Card Ad
There's a lot of juice in those first three. That's exciting. Cannot wait to dig into Maps week. Hey, if you leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, we'll read it on the show. Just like this one from the Gill man Gilster. He says, back on top again. The kings of content and true goats of the game. Andrew and Alex are back Ball knowers rejoice. Thank you so much for that review. This next One comes from DGC7007. Quick and informative. So this is more about the NBA Daily, which I just like to read anyways because if you're not listening to the NBA Daily, you should. It's a great show. And this, this one from DG7007 gives a. Gives a great review on it. He says five stars. I like the new format of the 20 to 25 minute max during the week and an extended slam on the weekend. The most sports podcasts are no longer than 20 minutes are padded with mindless chatting, arguments and repetitive opinions. Just give me the headlines and the main stories from the previous night and some brief analysis and I can get on with my day, he says. I love the throwback theme music with the funky horns. Thank you so much for that review. This next One comes from spammy J21. It's a five stars. Great show. I've been listening for a few years now and I love the Saturday slam and jam. Alex's snarl when Andrew guesses wrong and trivia always makes me laugh. Insightful, informative and maybe most importantly, positive. I do miss the theme and the intro though. I often would listen while I was doing my yard work and the presence tickled me also. And to be 100 honest, I wrote this to this review to say that Kelvin Johnson is in the sixth NBA is in his sixth NBA season and I couldn't find Spears on Twitter to inform him of this crucial trivia. Fact check.
- [75:23]
Alex
I I had two spurs fans come at me. Now I had another one come at me on Twitter. I was trying to explain to them that I was just going by basketball reference. I wasn't counting the first five games of this season. I am. I'm aware. Okay. It wasn't a great question. All right. They're not all winners, Andrew.
- [75:39]
Apple Card Ad
People are going to keep you on their going to keep you on your toes, Al. You know that. You know that I'm going to make.
- [75:44]
Alex
Spurs Week the hardest trivia I can whenever that happens.
- [75:48]
Apple Card Ad
Yeah, you're punishing me for these people calling you out. Last one comes from Jen Marco 262 Slam and Jam created a monster five stars as a five foot four female schoolteacher, most people don't expect me to be to have a wealth of knowledge about the NBA. I've been a huge fan and fall and follower of my hometown Sixers tragically for many years. But Slam and Jam started my love for basketball podcasts. For the last three years I've been a student of the game and now I get to show everyone up with my knowledge. Andrew and Alex, thanks for creating a basketball podcast for every level of NBA fan. This teacher says keep up the amazing work. That might be one of my favorite reviews we've ever gotten. That really. That was really very nice. Appreciate you guys listening and tuning in this week. Hope you guys enjoy the weekend and the basketball and we will talk to you guys again next Saturday.
- [76:56]
Alex
As we.
- [76:57]
Apple Card Ad
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G
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- [78:15]
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ACAST powers the world's best podcasts here's.
- [78:19]
Andrew
The show that we recommend. Remember blowing into a video game cartridge.
- [78:26]
Wayfair Ad
Or taping songs off the radio?
- [78:28]
Andrew
How about Saturday morning cartoons?
- [78:30]
Wayfair Ad
Hey, AOL chat rooms.
- [78:32]
Alex
Did we just age ourselves?
- [78:34]
Andrew
Yep, we're Mike Finoya and Charles McBee.
- [78:37]
Wayfair Ad
Two comedians getting nostalgic and asking that nagging question, Are we old?
- [78:42]
Alex
Relive the laughs, the cringes, and the nostalgia.
- [78:45]
Wayfair Ad
Are we old? Podcast right here on acast.
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Andrew
ACAST helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere.
- [79:04]
Alex
Acast.
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Andrew
Com.