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Andrew
Okay, I have to tell you, I
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was just looking on ebay where I go for all kinds of things I love. And there it was.
Dave Dufour
That hologram trading card. One of the rarest. The last one I needed for my set.
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Shiny like the designer handbag of my dreams.
Andrew
One of a kind. Ebay had it. And now everyone's asking, ooh, where'd you get your windshield wipers?
Dave Dufour
Ebay has all the parts that fit my car.
Andrew
No more annoying, just beautiful.
Dave Dufour
Millions of fines, each with a story.
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EBay. Things people love.
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Dave Dufour
Good morning everybody. Welcome to the NBA daily morning shoot around our Wednesday morning live stream on YouTube. I'm Dave Defour here with Zena Kada and Esparaheni.
Zena Kada
Oh, you missed my.
Andrew
You did. Because you were muted. I felt it. I saw.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
How's everybody doing?
Andrew
You know, we're doing well.
Zena Kada
Living to see another day.
Andrew
That's.
Dave Dufour
Yes. Right. Which is a good thing, right. For everybody. Yeah. We decided we'd do another mailbag. The Discord has been a lot of fun the last few weeks, especially as we get more and more people in there who've been answering questions kind of in the Discord and. And we've been trying to bring that to the. To this live stream as much as possible. As always, you can join the Discord. The link is in the description. We mostly just sit around and talk while we're watching games. I mean, that Celtics Hornets game last night, I got. We got some hot Hornets takes in there. Guys, I got to tell you that the Discord is not sold on the Hornets being a good team. They think they're a good story, but they also feel like they're a little bit.
Andrew
Do I want to hang in the Discord? What's going on?
Dave Dufour
They're 3215 in 20, 26, and that's not good enough for our Discord. So I will say they do. You know, when you look at the top five teams since January 1st, it's San Antonio, Oklahoma City, you know, Detroit, Boston, and the Hornets. I. I understand that they are the odd duck, but yeah, I think.
Zena Kada
I think it's one of those things where people are scared to crown someone before they actually end up doing anything, which I think is fair. But at the same time, I will say, you know, we do have an Oklahoma City bias sometimes with our audience. So maybe they're like, sure, this is an actual threat. This is a real threat to our. Our throne, our reign, if you will con canipple shooting a bunch of threes. We are. I don't know. I'm just making that up.
Andrew
But yeah, I like it. I'm not against it.
Dave Dufour
I mean, listen, I. Look, it is a team that you can certainly poke some holes in. Sure. You know, but there. There are people talking about trading Lamelo this summer, like, sell high. And I just think you're still selling low because Lamelo is just getting started. This guy is one of the more creative players in the league.
Andrew
Yeah, I agree.
Dave Dufour
Yeah. Anyway, so I would be. Join the Discord.
Zena Kada
I would be all in on the Hornets selling high on Lamello.
Dave Dufour
That's insane. I wanted to go to Toronto.
Zena Kada
Yeah. I'm selfish. What are you talking about? Yeah, exactly.
Andrew
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
Okay, let's go to some questions. Actually, we got one here on YouTube that I actually. I think we could just go ahead and hit from Killian Gomez. Possible destinations for LeBron. Do you think the spurs would be a great fit?
Zena Kada
Oh, spurs would be a great fit, but I don't think it'll happen. I think it will be Xena and her neck of the land. Neck of the woods, if you will. The Golden State Warriors. I think it'll be a Steph lebron farewell.
Dave Dufour
Just get all the old.
Andrew
What is going on with Golden State being the farewell land.
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Like, what.
Andrew
What are we doing? We're like, this is where you go to eventually end your career.
Zena Kada
That's so funny.
Andrew
I don't.
Zena Kada
It would be so. Can I just ask.
Andrew
It would be amazing.
Zena Kada
Oh, he's so funny. Because we know the clip of Draymond yelling to Paul Pierce, they don't love you like that. Right. And to watch Draymond have to watch LeBron and Steph have all of the farewell tour on them, that would just be.
Dave Dufour
I don't know if Draymond would hate that, actually.
Zena Kada
He wouldn't. He wouldn't. I agree. But, like, it's just poetic. Funny.
Dave Dufour
It is funny. I. I do think that LeBron would rather just stay in LA. Sure. You know, he's been. He's been in LA for a long time now, you know, longer than he was in Miami.
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Yeah.
Dave Dufour
He's played so many games. It's because his career has been so long. I mean, there's still a lot of us like me that I think about him as cavalier first.
Andrew
Right.
Dave Dufour
And he hasn't been there in so long. And I think that maybe the Bay, you know, going up to San Francisco is close enough. Maybe a compromise. Cleveland is such a. It's a storybook fit.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
If they, if they don't change this team, there are ways in which he fits. You know, obviously they've got some contracts. There's a chance that they could do a sign and trade and. And make a move and bring them in, but I just, I. I don't. I don't like it as much now that they have James Harden as I did when they had Darius Carl.
Zena Kada
Yeah, I agree.
Dave Dufour
Seemed to me like bringing in a, like this CAB team. Now, to be fair, this Cavs team does need to. I think they need to win this year before there's changes.
Andrew
I think everyone thinks they need to win this year.
Dave Dufour
Next year would be like the last year. That would be like the desperation year of this group if they keep it together. And I just don't know if LeBron is going to. Is the guy that puts this group over the top. I mean, maybe, you know, signing LeBron
Andrew
to put your team over the top
Dave Dufour
at this point, that's the question. Right? Like what. What is exactly. What is it exactly that you expect if you're going to bring in LeBron James? Yeah.
Andrew
A 42 year old who has self proclaims that he's 41. He's tired spectacle. I think.
Zena Kada
I think anybody who's bringing in LeBron and I think LeBron has an understanding of this, too, that it would be more of a spectacle and truthfully, like distraction to your chances of pursuing an NBA champion.
Dave Dufour
I don't know, man. Listen, he can still play.
Zena Kada
He actually can.
Dave Dufour
Whether he can still do this next year, I do. I do think that he probably goes into it looking to play 50 games.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
You know, and be ready for a playoff run. I just. The warriors, do they have the talent for that? I. I just don't think so. I think the Cavs are much better fit from that standpoint.
Andrew
I gotta ask you a question then, Dave. Do you think that if a GM is tactically involving LeBron James in their plans to get to the championship, do you. You have respect for that gm?
Dave Dufour
No.
Andrew
Oh, okay. I just.
Dave Dufour
Great question.
Zena Kada
That's so funny.
Dave Dufour
No, not at all. I don't think you can give up. You can't give up any kind of future assets if you. Right. And. And the preference, I think, if you're a team would be to just sign him to some sort of a minimum. I just don't think LeBron is going to do that.
Andrew
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
I don't. Like, there's a chance he stays in la. There is actually legitimately a chance that he retires. I. I don't know. I think it's up in the air.
Zena Kada
I think he. There's no chance.
Dave Dufour
I know everyone thinks the ego thing. Everyone thinks the ego thing. Retirement tour. No, no, I understand. I think everyone expects him to want a retirement tour. And frankly, I'm not gonna say LeBron owes anybody anything. But I do think that, like, it would be good for the NBA to have a year.
Zena Kada
Absolutely.
Dave Dufour
Where we know.
Andrew
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
Right.
Andrew
Diana Tarasi was like, you didn't. You didn't get the chance.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Andrew
To give her. She.
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And.
Andrew
But she did that on purpose. I think she did not want the whole fanfare.
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Right.
Andrew
And I don't know, there might be something too. LeBron may maybe not wanting the fanfare as well. Like him just wanting to bow out and I struggle.
Dave Dufour
That would be weird.
Zena Kada
I struggle.
Dave Dufour
It would be weird if he didn't want it. Look, I think I remember Kareem's last season like I was a kid, but I remember, you know, the one team brought him the rocking chair out on the court. I would like to have that with LeBron. I just think, like, he's been such a. An institution for the NBA that, you know.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
A farewell tour. This is the kind of person that I think you do a farewell tour for.
Andrew
He's played with dads and sons.
Zena Kada
Yep.
Andrew
That's just insane.
Dave Dufour
Yeah.
Zena Kada
My entire basketball life, he has been a. He has been an NBA player. That's. That's crazy to think of. Yeah. Okay. You want me to throw you some questions from the Discord? Good old Discord. Okay, well, big shout out to H for Lauren Thorin, who asked us about our favorite dunk block, assist, etc. We will get to that.
Dave Dufour
Yeah, we're gonna save those.
Zena Kada
We will save those for. For another time we have.
Dave Dufour
But it did have me looking through a lot of film.
Zena Kada
I.
Dave Dufour
You know, I was like, oh, I remembered this. I had like three or four LeBron Dunks.
Zena Kada
By the way, there was a shade and sharp dunk that I kind of forgot about.
Andrew
That's. But how much. Wait, but how much is it that LeBron's old. Exactly the lore. He's not supposed to be able to do this.
Dave Dufour
That Marcus Smart. Marcus Smart threw him a lob a few weeks ago in that Nuggets game that there was no way that LeBron should have gotten to. And it was such a fun. Like that.
Andrew
That was.
Dave Dufour
But yeah. And then obviously you look at 4,000 YIC passes for the best assist of the year. I mean, pick one.
Andrew
Yeah, you were in the lab, Dave.
Dave Dufour
Oh, yeah. Well, I don't.
Zena Kada
I.
Dave Dufour
The thing, you know, the funny thing is I used to have to grind so much tape to do this and now it's so night to night and I. You don't have to grind. You watch these teams every night watching it and. Oh, man. But yeah, just skimming through like my notes and saying, oh, yeah, Jokic had this. That was fun. Okay, we'll get to that.
Zena Kada
Yeah, we'll get to that. KHS says, what are the most surprising in season player development for you? Most surprising in season player development. So surprising is, you know, we kind of talked about this yesterday on the
Dave Dufour
pod, but yeah, the most improved stuff.
Zena Kada
Yeah, yeah. Xena.
Andrew
I mean, Nehemias, we did talk about
Zena Kada
him, but yes, absolutely. Yeah.
Andrew
Yeah. I think his. His development is just being a solid big. That the bat the Boston Celtics could depend on for interior post presence on the defensive end, but also someone that can roll and catch in traffic and. And finish with just emphatically. I think that that has been missing for Boston for a while. Al Horford hasn't done that in a while. Kirstas Rosingus hadn't done that in a while. Robert Williams was the last version, I think that they had of what Nehemias is in that championship year. So, yeah, Nehemiah in one season has been phenomenal. That's one person that comes to mind. I don't know if you can call it in season. I mean, that game, Nikhil Alexander Walker the other night against the Knicks was.
Zena Kada
Yeah, I know.
Andrew
Like, I don't know that we ever imagined seeing him being able to do games, things like that when he was with Minnesota.
Dave Dufour
And I don't know, Jalen Brunson is something.
Andrew
Yeah, yeah. Going bucket for bucket like it was, it was insane to watch.
Dave Dufour
That's even a development over what I would say he's maybe done this year. Right.
Andrew
Like, that's what I'm saying. That's, that's what I'm saying in season. Because I mean, even in the beginning of the season, we weren't talking about Nikhil like this. We were saying he's good, he's like great. But like, we weren't saying give him the ball at the end of it. It was Jaylen Johnson. Right. Oh, Dennis.
Dave Dufour
And Dennis Jenkins.
Zena Kada
Dennis is very surprised.
Dave Dufour
That's an out of nowhere guy. Right. Didn't know his, didn't know his name this time last year. And now we're talking about how he's a key piece for the Pistons. Hey, by the way, speaking of the Pistons, Kate Cunningham's going to play tonight. Oh, yeah, yeah. And this is a, this is actually, this is a development that just popped up, which. Fantastic. Great. Happy that, you know, he seems to be healthy. Healthy enough. But also, does he have a chance to qualify for postseason awards now? I mean, are we seeing it, I wonder, are we seeing a guy come back too early from a lung injury to try to make the postseason award push? You know, again, the, the slippery slope when you.
Andrew
Yeah, because it is one of those things where he doesn't have to come back.
Zena Kada
So he would not be so, yeah, he's 61 games played. They have three more games remaining, so that would push him to 64.
Dave Dufour
And there's, there's of course, paperwork that you can file.
Zena Kada
Yeah, there is now paperwork that you can file to dispute or whatever. I, I, I don't know. I'm very interested to see how that works because obviously there's, you know, Luka Doncic is apparently filing to see if he could play or he could be eligible because he missed a coup, the birth of his, his child. So it's like, how can Cade figure out two games? It's like sick days off, you know.
Dave Dufour
Right.
Zena Kada
Can I get a doctor's note for the game I missed on February 3rd? Like, let's see if we can figure this out. It's weird to me, but I believe
Dave Dufour
you can get two exceptions for games you had to leave.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
Or whatever. I don't know. Figure out a way to fudge it.
Zena Kada
You could have two games where like you can play between 15 and 20 minutes that could be eligible. So maybe there's something there.
Andrew
Yeah, that's why Wendy's game the other day.
Dave Dufour
If you were born this third Wednesday in April, you get a special exemption, you know.
Zena Kada
Yeah, yeah.
Dave Dufour
I studied Russian and. And let me tell you that like rules and exceptions, right? Rules are fine. You can follow rules. But when the exceptions are three times as long as the rules, like now we got got a huge problem. Yep.
Andrew
You don't have to study Russia for that. The American English, I was gonna say.
Dave Dufour
So, you know, having English as your first language, you really don't understand how hard English is to learn as a second language. I've since learned this from other people,
Andrew
but apparently I'll tell you right now, the fact that through is said the way it's said and tough is said the way it's said doesn't make any sense.
Dave Dufour
A non phonetic language really is just
Zena Kada
English is a nonsense language sometimes.
Dave Dufour
That was.
Andrew
I want to keep this going because this is actually really fun. So Dennis Jenkins is one I want to throw out. Guy Santos.
Zena Kada
Absolutely.
Dave Dufour
Yeah.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Andrew
In one season this guy was a rotation player and not even like in the 15, like in the 15 man rotation, he wasn't in the bottom three. Like he was just stuck at the end of the, at the end of the roster. And then you're like, oh, Guy Santos is your 25 a night guy or like 20 point a game.
Dave Dufour
The other night I, I found myself saying in the, in the Curry game, man, this is a lot of GI Santos, Right. That just should not be in his shot diet. He.
Zena Kada
Santos is better than Grady Dick already. Like I was watching, I'm like, man, he's already way better than Grady Dick.
Dave Dufour
Like this use his body really well, you know what I mean?
Andrew
He's big and he was. But here's the thing too, is like he was like he was a point in Brazil. And so he already has that distribution type of, you know, feel to his game that he could take the ball up the court, but now it's a matter of like, hey, we need you to make shots too. He could that Guy too. And so yeah, I think the in season development for him has been a lot of fun to watch.
Dave Dufour
How about Keonte George? He couldn't get Past anyone last year he could not. He couldn't beat his man with the ball in his hands last year.
Zena Kada
Three point shooting has been huge for him. Like just being able to knock down
Dave Dufour
that shot that came out of the drive though, because now you, you. You can't just come up on him and take away the shot. You've got to respect the drive. It also was. His finishing is improved because of it. Everyone else's shooting improved because of it. His assist numbers go up and it's all because this guy either either had lost the first step and. And regained it or he found it. So I don't know if he came in. Maybe he was a little injured last year or something, but the difference in explosiveness on drives to me night and day. And I mean that guy. You talked about Dennis Jenkins as. As potential all NBA or all star player. Not only eventually.
Zena Kada
Yeah, yeah.
Dave Dufour
I mean Keonte George looks.
Zena Kada
Oh, absolutely.
Dave Dufour
Next year he could be like. I'll.
Zena Kada
I'll tell you right now on that door. This Jazz team next year is going to be good. And we're gonna have the competitions of like one of these guys or multiple of these guys being all Stars, etc. Like that's. I, I think they're prepared for that. And we'll see if they land a high lottery pick. Want to mention another guy? Actually two guys, Anthony Black I think is worth mentioning just because he was awesome. He's kind of tailed off here for Orlando. He's been hurt too.
Andrew
Yeah, the injuries, I think hurt. Yeah.
Zena Kada
And then for Philly Dom Barlow and Trendon Watford. I like those guys a lot.
Dave Dufour
Barlow going from two way to starter, like.
Zena Kada
Yes, exactly. And like he's there locked in even when they're fully healthy. I think is really important.
Andrew
Hold on, y', all, hold on. You know what I'm just thinking about? Do we need to put a little respect on the Pistons development game?
Dave Dufour
I mean, yeah, we don't really think about much better.
Andrew
We don't think about them from this regard. We always. We. We credit OKC for development. We credit. You know, I mean. Well, I was gonna say the warriors, but I only say that because Santa Cruz is consistently giving people. You know what I mean? And they. They develop within their program. Folks that have thoughts about Jonathan Minga probably will disagree with me. Alas.
Zena Kada
I.
Dave Dufour
Or they developed the right kind of players.
Andrew
Yeah, right, right, right. I don't know. This Detroit thing. I. That is a really good point.
Dave Dufour
A couple of guys, Dennis being a surprise. I'm not sure who you credit. Jalen Duran his defense improvement, I think. Yeah, certainly the coach.
Andrew
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
Something to do with that. I think you've got to have a bigger, maybe a bigger sample than just the last two seasons because like who else is coming up? Like a Sar, that's a, that's a high draft pick.
Andrew
Yeah.
Zena Kada
Sar and Ron are, are kind of established players. Those are two top five picks, you
Dave Dufour
know, and I think Ron Holland is a guy that I look at and I'm wondering where's his growth and development?
Andrew
Right.
Dave Dufour
It's early, but what does he look like next season? And then maybe we can start giving him some credit for, for development.
Andrew
Okay, well, now I'm gonna keep an eye out because I didn't even that
Dave Dufour
when Dwayne Casey was there. They were, they were great at it. Just like Toronto was great at development. You know, I give Dwayne Casey a lot of credit for that, but obviously the Pistons had a few down years. Yeah, yeah.
Zena Kada
Memphis is also very good at development. So I, you know, I, I, part
Dave Dufour
of that though is they're so good at identifying. Right?
Andrew
Yeah. They draft well.
Dave Dufour
Yeah.
Zena Kada
Like Cam Spencer is a guy who's had a really good year for them. You know, obviously Pat Spencer is, you know, good for the warriors guys too. But Memphis does a good job of scouting and figuring out guys too. Yeah, for sure.
Andrew
Yeah.
Zena Kada
Oh, more questions, right?
Dave Dufour
Yeah, let's go.
Zena Kada
Okay, let's see. Pulling it out because I think H for Lauren had another question here.
Dave Dufour
I believe it's half Thor is what we're going for there.
Zena Kada
I have no idea.
Dave Dufour
Something you could.
Zena Kada
Yeah, you can ask him.
Dave Dufour
I don't know. Guys, join the discord. Tell us what these names are. Okay.
Zena Kada
Where will Khan canipple end up on the all time three point shooting list barring injuries? And guys, I'm gonna tell you right now, he's going to be number one.
Dave Dufour
He's on base, right?
Zena Kada
He's going.
Andrew
Yeah.
Zena Kada
He's on pace to do it faster than Steph Curry did it. So Steph did it In I think 13, four or 13 seasons. Right. Or he's at the number that he's at right now at 14 seasons. Khan is on pace to do that in 12 seasons. So I, I guarantee, I would say he's going to be the number one all time shooter.
Dave Dufour
Yeah, yeah, it feels like it. It's, I would say this because I could see, I mean, I doubt there's a world in which his volume drops off.
Andrew
Exactly.
Dave Dufour
Anthony Edwards though, like that guy's gonna be a high volume shooter. He's Always got the ball in his hands for sure. Like I, I, I've been saying for years he would be the guy that has, has the best shot at catching Steph just because again he's gonna be that number one guy all the time. But I don't know if you're gonna make 300 a year starting, starting at 19 years old. And shooting is a skill that guys typically don't, they don't lose. You know these sort of movement shooters. You got to expect Khan's gonna have at least a 15 year run of being able to do this. So yeah, and I think the fact
Andrew
that you know you talk about Anthony Edwards, that team needs something else, right? They, they need something else to get to the promised land of wherever they're trying to get to the championship. Right, Right. Now the Hornets are built in a way that they're, they're pretty solid with particularly their, their backcourt lineup. Brandon Miller and Lamello Ball are playing their games, they're not playing truncated versions or whatever. And you're still getting this volume and efficiency out of conclusion. So the fact that that team is like, I'm not saying that they're perfectly established, they're probably going to get, you know, they're going to iterate as well to continue to grow. But at a high volume score like Lamelo and Brandon Miller scoring at the levels that they are con Canepel still getting his, that's pretty impressive for him to find his, his game within the, that very small crevice. I think between those two big time scores in Miller and Lamello, I look at Anthony and I'm like, you lose Nikhil Alexander Walker, which we now see what his game could have been or you know, had he gotten the opportunity. I think they're like if Minnesota comes and brings someone in, particularly a point guard or someone else another score alongside Anthony Edwards, his numbers could change, they could change in terms of his output. So I, I'm giving it to Khan just because he's already found a lane to score at that level and shoot at that level despite who's around him and there's some scores around him.
Zena Kada
So just to, just to clarify the numbers for everybody who's listening, Khan currently has made 268 three point shots this season. That's number one in Hornets franchise record. That's number one for a rookie ever also.
Dave Dufour
And number one in the NBA and
Zena Kada
number one in the NBA this season. And so Steph Curry has played 17 seasons so far. It would be awesome for Khan to play that long. Let's Just assume Khan plays that long. He would have at this point, his career, 500 more three point shots than Steph Curry has right now.
Dave Dufour
So like I, I mean, if you extrapolate.
Zena Kada
If you extrapolate that, yeah, if Khan were to play 17 seasons, obviously two additional seasons.
Dave Dufour
And by the way, Steph didn't hit this many threes in a season. He had 272 in his fourth year.
Zena Kada
Yes.
Dave Dufour
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Zena Kada
It took.
Dave Dufour
I mean, the volume, right? Yeah, it was minutes. I mean, it was. Also, remember he had the ankle injuries, missed a lot of time.
Andrew
Right, right, right, right.
Dave Dufour
Yeah, yeah.
Zena Kada
It's actually kind of crazy that that Steph is at this point just given the injuries and like the minute stuff to start his career, that in itself is crazy as well.
Dave Dufour
Well, listen, they don't get Kevin Durant if Steph Curry doesn't have paper tissue ankles.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
And sign that, that four year, forty million dollar contract. Yep, that's exactly what like NBA history completely altered because not only did Steph Curry have bad ankles, but he fixed them.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Andrew
Oh, yeah, right. That's really, you know.
Dave Dufour
Yeah.
Zena Kada
Maybe that, that's what happens with Lamello. We'll see what happens.
Dave Dufour
Okay, well, Lamello's got to get better at deadlifting. He's just six, seven. That's tough, man. Like also trying to go.
Zena Kada
Also driving, perhaps.
Dave Dufour
Relax. This guy gets to the basket. It's just you don't know what he's gonna do when he gets there. Okay. Oh, you meant driving a car.
Zena Kada
I was talking about the other driving.
Dave Dufour
At this point, Lamello doesn't hire a driver.
Andrew
Well done.
Ad
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
Hire a driver. I just don't understand. Every time some professional athlete does something dumb in a car, I think to myself, wow, you have someone cook your meals. You could literally have someone drive you around and not have to think about it.
Andrew
I wish I could, but that's part of the excitement for them. Like that. That is what Lamelo has that trap right above his apartment building so he can drive his car. Like he. That's what he loves. So.
Zena Kada
Yeah, it's gonna be okay. Also, H for Lauren Thorin gave us a big thank you. Said massive thank you to Xena, S, Dave and Andrew for a great year and an epic.
Dave Dufour
Also Alex Spears.
Zena Kada
And Alex. Absolutely. Yes. Alex absolutely should be mentioned here. It says thank you for the content. It's been a whirlwind of a season. We appreciate you guys and the effort and the guests and deep dive stuff that you guys do. So that's very sweet. Thank you. Very much. Absolutely.
Andrew
It's fun and thank you for listening.
Zena Kada
Absolutely. I'll pack. L al Tackle. What team is most likely to make a leap next year to take a leap next season? Who are we betting on?
Andrew
I mean, you just laid out Utah.
Dave Dufour
I was gonna say Utah. Utah feels like the one obvious one.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
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Andrew
It's tough.
Dave Dufour
It's tough because I feel like the Hornets like that. That's a little cheap. Right? Like, they. They made the leap this year.
Andrew
Yeah, let's. Let's put the Tornado to the side because we feel like they've made a leap internally and within this. This part of the season.
Zena Kada
How about the Washington Wizards?
Andrew
Oh, thank you. Dang it. That's. I was setting it up. I was gonna ask you guys. Yes. But we're on the same page. I love it. Go ahead. Yes.
Zena Kada
I mean, look, obviously a lot of injury concern with Anthony Davis. They've just brought in Trey Young. Who knows what the extension looks like, but it if in a perfect world, those guys play and play enough. You also have a young core that you're going to add to this year with potentially the number one pick. They have the worst record in the league right now.
Dave Dufour
That would be.
Andrew
Aldridge said. They landed the plane.
Zena Kada
They landed the plane. Absolutely. So, like, they have an interesting group with Keyshawn George and Trey Johnson and Bilal Kulibali and Alex Sar. Young guys. And they also have these two veteran former all star players. You add a potential top five pick, you're cooking with gas in the Eastern Conference.
Dave Dufour
I mean, the east is just wide open.
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Right.
Dave Dufour
It feels like it. Although, let's. Let's not forget the Pacers are going to be really good next year. They are really good.
Zena Kada
Maybe that's our leaf team.
Dave Dufour
Yeah.
Andrew
Well, they don't.
Zena Kada
Come on.
Andrew
Oh, man, that is going to be fun.
Dave Dufour
They actually had a gap year, you know, shout out to the Celtics for not.
Zena Kada
Yes.
Dave Dufour
Right. Pretty awesome.
Zena Kada
Absolutely. Yeah.
Dave Dufour
How about this? How about the Pelicans guys? Wow. Right? They've been. Since they've been healthy, they've been better.
Zena Kada
They have.
Dave Dufour
James Borrego took over and they're just better.
Andrew
Dave, you and I think about this a lot of, you know, they're a team that their record does not really reflect their talent. I like that pick a lot. And I think that their. Their athleticism matches what you need right now in today's NBA to be competitive. What they don't have in experience on their roster, they make up for and just like being annoying as hell to chase around.
Dave Dufour
Yeah. Jeremiah said 40 last night. And like, this team has looked so different since Dejante Murray came back. Who. He's been really good.
Andrew
He's been really good. And he fires them up.
Zena Kada
He does.
Andrew
Yeah, he fires them up. He gives them another edge and a little grit to them.
Dave Dufour
So I'm just worried that the tear downs coming, you know, I'm worried that this would be the summer. I mean, and I guess if you were gonna. If you were gonna move on from Zion, this is probably the easiest summer to do it. Just because he just had this season. He. He looked great all year. You know, he was, he was healthy. There was some injury management stuff that they had to do. But probably I would say the most. It's the most optimistic I've felt about Zion in mid April, maybe ever in his entire career. Where I look at it and I say, oh, wow, he gets to build on this this summer instead of trying to catch up like he usually does. It's sort of. I feel the same way about Luca. And this is another reason why this hamstring issue is such a bummer for looking at Luca, because he just had this, this really great season where he was in shape, came in in shape, had an excellent season, and then didn't get to finish it out and go into the summer healthy. And so. But if I'm looking at the Pelicans, you know, I think that they've got a coaching decision to make. Although I. I'm of the opinion Borrego's done a good enough job that they should at least. I mean, he should at least be one of their. Their finalists for this job because I just don't. I don't think you're going to get a lot of the high level coaches wanting to come into that organization. They might just need to say, hey, you know what? Love the one you're with. He's here already. Yep. I don't. He probably isn't going to leave. There's not really that many good jobs out there. You know, I think the Pelicans from a talent persp would be one of the more appealing ones. We'll see what happens with Orlando.
Zena Kada
I was gonna say. I mean, Shams reported this earlier this week, but There might be eight to 12 coaching openings this summer.
Dave Dufour
Oh, we could go down the list right now. I think some that would maybe shock people like Cleveland, I think could be open. Right. They're at least conference finals or bust, in my opinion.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
With this group Yeah. I think that when you look at the way that the Knicks have starting
Zena Kada
lineup, would we be surprised if Mike Brown ends up being changed as well? Like another head?
Dave Dufour
I wouldn't be.
Zena Kada
Dang.
Andrew
I'm still kind of blowing up.
Zena Kada
Nick Nurse with the Sixers.
Dave Dufour
I could see that you've listed two. Well, there's three.
Zena Kada
Doc Rivers.
Andrew
Okay.
Dave Dufour
Doc is out. Doc's got grandkids and golf.
Zena Kada
Yeah. Sixers, Nick Nurse, Mike Brown, maybe Cleveland with Kenny. Doc Rivers with the Bucksley with the Magic. Mosley with the Magic. Billy Donovan with the Bulls. I think is there's.
Dave Dufour
Although I think that he's. I would guess he stays, maybe. Yeah, sure.
Andrew
Okay.
Zena Kada
You're already at 6, you know, and then now you enter the Western Conference, where the James Borrego situation. We'll see what happens there. Maybe Doug Christie.
Dave Dufour
I think Doug Christie's got to be out. I mean, he's. He's legitimately been the best, or, excuse me, the worst coach in the league, or best coach, if you're tanking. But he's been pretty bad this year.
Andrew
Draymond had some thoughts on that last night, actually.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
You know, what did he say?
Zena Kada
What did Draymond say about that?
Andrew
He was talking about the fact that Steph Curry got fouled while the Kings or while the warriors were in the bonus with three minutes or so left in the game, and there was no reason that he needed to get fouled. And a shooting foul at that. And it's like. And Draymond's like, there's a problem. There's a tanking problem.
Dave Dufour
Yeah, that's a tanking problem. Oh, that's funny.
Andrew
Yeah, he's pretty animated about it.
Dave Dufour
I liked it. Portland is going to change coaches. Thiago, Splitter. I don't think he's going to keep that job, even though I think he's done a good job.
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Wait, wait, wait.
Andrew
Okay. Yes. Let's keep this in mind of, like, the coaches, but Portland was going to be one of the coaches, the teams. I was going to ask you about taking a leap. I could see that Damien potentially coming back, getting a little bit of veteranship there. I'm seeing, you know, Shaden Sharp, Donovan, Klingon, they could make some leaps here. Scoop being back. I think he's getting back into what we expected him to be. He's been pretty good. Yeah.
Dave Dufour
I wonder if he gets traded this summer.
Zena Kada
I was just about to say that.
Dave Dufour
Scoot Henderson.
Zena Kada
Yes. I could see him getting traded. I also would say they have the salary with Jrue Holiday and Jeremy Grant and the Bucks picks to go out and make some interesting things happen. So if there is a star out there now, I don't think it'll be Giannis, but if there is a star out there that they want to chase, like let's say, for example, like the Jazz did with Jaren Jackson Jr. Maybe the Trailblazers can kind of expedite the process if there's a player out there, you know.
Dave Dufour
Yeah. I mean, if they, and they've got the Bucks picks like you said, did Yanis Jaron is moving available?
Andrew
Because that's my issue is like, I, I struggle with this notion of going to get a star is I don't read the tea leaves well enough, apparently, because I did not think that Jiren
Zena Kada
would be the, the person moved instead of Jaw.
Dave Dufour
Instead, Memphis was in a position where they were this, that the version of the team that they had was maxed out. They weren't going to get any better. And part of that was because Ja wasn't as good. Right. And so you now have a chance to pivot, especially because you got that haul for Desmond Bain, and it's a haul you don't turn down for Desmond Bain. I'm sorry, like, Bane is a good player, but if you're the Memphis Grizzlies, you have to get those bites at the apple.
Zena Kada
I bet you they felt the same way about Jaren.
Dave Dufour
Right. And exactly. Once you've made the Bain trade, the Jaren Jackson trade makes it is much easier. And especially because they got a lot of assets. You know, I think that the Jaw trade, they're gonna just eat. Is it they're gonna move them this summer? Well, it, I, I, I think they did a pretty quick job of it. I, I believe I let's see how they do with the high draft picks that they wind up getting and then developing. But we got asked in the chat if Tamas Isolo is gonna stay and yes. You don't, you don't bring in this guy, tear it down and then get rid of him. Like, this is the guy I think that they would like to have for the rebuild. You know, if, if he winds up being their Mark Dagnal, I think they'd be pretty happy with that. I think the Sixers got to find Mark Dagnot. Honestly, every team in the league needs to find. Right. Where do you have a guy? I mean, I was watching one of his.
Andrew
There's someone going, duh, Dave.
Dave Dufour
No, but I was watching one of one of Mark's press conferences. The other day and he was talking about, you know, how they haven't had rotational stability and that's a good thing during the regular season. I mean, this guy, he, he's observant and he has learned quite a bit. And then also the, the, the franchise kind of gave him this road map and stuck with him. And I, I do think that Isolo is, is going to be on the same pair. Steve Kerr. Guys, I know a lot of warriors fans would like to see Steve Kerr gone for some reason sticking around. He is one of the best coaches in NBA history. I mean, like, listen, I understand, like it could be. I get frustrated when Steph Curry doesn't run 100 pick and rolls too. I do, I do. All right, I hate it. But you just cannot argue with this track record. The guy has four titles in the hardest time to ever win a title.
Andrew
The only time to go back to back leave is if he wants to leave. Yep.
Zena Kada
Right.
Andrew
If he wants to.
Dave Dufour
And give that guy a good team. And he is proven. And by the way, that last title team wasn't really that good. But you give this guy a good team and, and Steve Kerr has proven that he can guide him to a championship multiple times.
Zena Kada
So I will, I will also say just in general, as we look at like this crazy coaching carousel, teams are starting to go younger with their coaches. Right? Like Mitch Johnson. Younger coach Dagno. Not necessarily younger, but like youngish.
Dave Dufour
I mean, he certainly was younger.
Zena Kada
He was young. Yeah. Will Hardy, easily.
Andrew
Charles Charles Lee.
Zena Kada
Charles Lee. These are like all younger dudes. Jordy Fernandez, for the next younger dudes.
Andrew
Do we think. No, never mind, never mind.
Dave Dufour
I don't think Brooklyn's making a change. Brooklyn, look, they've got their guy. If they ever have a good team. Remember, they've had to take guys away from him that were mediocre because he had him playing too.
Zena Kada
This is, this is thing with Will Hardy and the Jazz, they're like, we know we have a good head coach. We just need to find a roster.
Dave Dufour
They're going around signing the worst 10 day guys you, you can think of. Yeah, they're like D' Angelo signed 10 days for the Utah Jazz numbers and we would get 40 minutes. It'd be the US two and Bryce Sensiba.
Zena Kada
I really wonder if someone gave me 40 minutes, could I get like one dunker spot layup.
Dave Dufour
No. 1.
Andrew
Well, well, well, well, well. It depends on who you're out there with. Because if you're out there with somebody that has crazy gravity, then yeah, maybe the defensive.
Zena Kada
Forgets it's like a quick little, you know.
Andrew
You know.
Dave Dufour
Yeah.
Andrew
All right. All right.
Dave Dufour
Let's get to the next. But yeah, there's going to be. There are going to be a ton of coaching changes and I think some of them are going to be unexpected.
Zena Kada
Yeah, I agree.
Dave Dufour
I mean, what about the Wizards? You know, that, that Bam. Out of bio game.
Zena Kada
Sure, I would like that.
Dave Dufour
Sorry, Brian.
Zena Kada
Jack P. Any sleeper in the playoffs, a team that could pull off a Heat run to the finals or something like that.
Andrew
The Jimmy Butler Heat run.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
I mean, the west just feels like chalk. Yeah.
Zena Kada
I don't see anybody in the west messing with the Spurs, Thunder, Nuggets.
Andrew
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
Okay, what if the Atlanta Hawks.
Zena Kada
What is this obsession with the Hawks?
Dave Dufour
Well, because they're so athletic, right? They're so athletic. They've been on this run and I know, you know, again, they, I don't
Andrew
know if they got enough.
Zena Kada
Hey, you know, actually, I will not deny, I will not deny they have played better basketball against good teams recently. They almost beat the Knicks. They beat the Magic. They like, they've been playing better and more competitive basketball. I just.
Dave Dufour
Making a run, I mean, it's unlikely the way the NBA works because the seven game series is unlikely for anyone to make a run.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
You know, yeah. Like the Timberwolves to me are a team, like if we were saying out outside the top four, it's the Timberwolves to me. But now with Jade McDaniels being potentially out and Anthony Edwards dealing with this knee thing, I just don't, I don't see it. Right. Like it's. The margins are that thin. So I just don't know.
Zena Kada
My pick is the Sixers I like because they, they are a conventional, random, make a run type team. If they are healthy and they get the right first round team, like let's say it's them because if they're healthy
Dave Dufour
all year, they're top six in the East.
Andrew
Right.
Zena Kada
Let's say they play the Cavs in round one or the Knicks in round one and none of those teams are prepared for a fully healthy Sixers team. I could see them making a conference finals run or maybe even a finals run if things go as well as they could.
Dave Dufour
That would be. That's insane.
Zena Kada
Yeah, I agree.
Dave Dufour
You think we got a problem with the 65 game rule now?
Zena Kada
Just wait until embiid.
Dave Dufour
Joel, we need you to play 20 games, buddy. Oh, and then we're gonna be giving him MVP because it's like, okay, clearly.
Zena Kada
Oh, man, that's awesome.
Dave Dufour
That I mean, I, I hope we can get a run. I mean even if we just get competitive first round series, you know, again, this is one of the nice things. The Hornets coming out of nowhere and, and potentially having a chance to come out of the play and the Sixers being in the play in right. We're guaranteed at least one of the, the series in the east between 18 and 2 7. I think at least one of those is going to be somewhat competitive. Like, you know, the, the lower seed will take a game or two and be in it. Whereas in the, in the West. I just don't know, man. Like if Oklahoma City, who are they going to get? The Suns? The Clippers? You know, I, I just, they're gonna just, I think they're just gonna run them into the ground. Yeah.
Zena Kada
It won't be close. Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Dave Dufour
Now let me ask you guys this though.
Zena Kada
If it's Clipper spurs, it will be an interesting series.
Dave Dufour
Different, right?
Zena Kada
Yeah. I really wish Yannick Nieder Coder has, Connor has. I completely butchered that name. I apologize. But Yannick, it was healthy.
Andrew
He was available, right?
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Andrew
But Darius Garland is playing some basketball right now. Like he is playing so well.
Zena Kada
Yeah.
Andrew
I just don't know if they have enough size to get through the likes of an okc. The likes of Denver.
Dave Dufour
Brook Lopez had one of his best games of the season last night.
Zena Kada
Yeah, I mean he's been good the
Dave Dufour
second half ever since Xena called him out. I know Exom, ever since Xena called him out, he's been pretty good. What's the next question?
Zena Kada
Okay, so I motivate.
Andrew
That's what I do.
Zena Kada
That's right.
Dave Dufour
That's right.
Zena Kada
We have two questions here from Zach and King J that are sort of related expansion slash tanking questions where it's like, should expansion happen? Will it be bad for tanking? Will the league be less competitive? More competitive? Etc? I'll let you guys answer.
Dave Dufour
Go ahead.
Zena Kada
What do you guys think?
Dave Dufour
I mean, I don't know yet because apparently we're going to get a holistic package that not only expands the league and adds, you know, 34 more roster spots and two teams, but also solves tanking, fixes the lottery.
Ad
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
Brings world peace.
Zena Kada
Brings world peace.
Dave Dufour
You know, I just don't know because like what we hear solves the house. As we know every change that happens there is the butterfly effect that like we just don't know how it's gonna impact things down the line. And we exist in this league where there's as many lawyers in front offices as there are basketball people and their lawyers jobs are to find the loopholes. Right. Where, like, this is one of the reasons why teams want rules spelled out black and white and they don't want referees interpreting things on the court because it's hard to litigate if you're, if there's vibes. And so I think that we don't know what the problems are going to be until we see the solutions that they present. But in my opinion, adding two teams to a league that has on any given season, eight teams trying to lose this year being an aberration, I'll throw it out the window. This is a great draft. Okay, cool. I'll, I'll hear that excuse. You're adding two more teams. I just don't, I don't see where, where the value to the actual league and competitive nature of the league comes from.
Andrew
I think you agreed. Agreed 1,000%. And I, I think about it like this. Whether you're someone like us that watches a lot of NBA basketball or you're just a casual fan in, in that span of. The span of people involved in that, who is clamoring for more teams. That's a good point. You know what I mean? Like, on an average, casual, everyday basis, water cooler talk, talk. Who was like, oh, God, we need more teams. Not more games on one network that we can watch and easily find. Not more, you know, teams that are being more competitive on a given night. No, who was out, out here being like, I wish I had more jerseys to choose from. Like, I don't think that's a thing. That's not. I, I felt it was very random. And when it actually went to a vote of. It felt like, I don't know, it just felt like I was being bum rushed with this. Like, did I need extra teams?
Zena Kada
I don't. I will say, I think, I think most of the expansion talk for the NBA or the desire for it comes down to fans want the Sonics back. That's the only thing.
Andrew
That's the only. Exactly. That's the only thing that I can think of is that one fan base wanted their team back. And that's fine. I get that. And you have to do it evenly. Right? You can't just bring one team back, et cetera. But like, it just happened so fast that I was just like, all right, this feels.
Dave Dufour
You got to think about the very important 15 to 20 billion dollars that the owners are going to make off this. Yeah, I think that that's like, that's super important there.
Andrew
That's the only group.
Dave Dufour
I will say this. You. You add two more teams and you cut the number of games down per team. I'm in. I'm in. No matter what else. I'm in. We have a problem right now where players cannot play the full season. Imagine within the NFL, the average was that players played 12 out of 18 games. Because that's basically where we're at with the NBA. You know, if the starting quarterback for your favorite football team was only available 12 out of 18 games, you would be pissed. Right? Like, I mean, and, and part of that is that NFL games are so much more valuable. Right. Your best player can't play for six games. You, you were, you were in deep trouble. Whereas in the NBA, teams can throw away a quarter of their games.
Zena Kada
Yep.
Dave Dufour
You know, and so to me, this is, again, it's got to be this holistic thing. Maybe they bring me in and I just tell them how to do it.
Zena Kada
You know, it will improve the TV product. Also, you know, think about it like this. You have, let's say you only have games three or four nights out of the year. Those three or four nights out of the year will be televised. You must watch these games because they matter so much more to the standings, to the implication of league, to health, to awards, whatever. There's just more stakes.
Dave Dufour
It's a shame. It's a shame. The last week of the season, when you go looking through the schedule and you, you say, okay, like tonight we've got Atlanta, Cleveland. Okay, that's a good game. Yeah. Minnesota, Orlando. It's a good game.
Zena Kada
Yep.
Dave Dufour
Milwaukee, Detroit, or one of those teams we know is not trying. Okay. Memphis, Denver. One of those teams not trying to. Portland, San Antonio. Good game. OKC Clippers. Good game. Dallas, Dallas, Phoenix. One of those teams purposely losing. Right. And that's a bad thing. If half the games don't matter on a given night, what are we doing here? And maybe we need to. Again, it's going to be. They're going to expand, they're going to solve tanking, they're going to fix the lottery. I, I'm, I'm behind these guys. I expect them to come up with a decent plan. I think that there's enough people working on the problem and it, but again, the issue isn't, isn't 65 game rule. The issue isn't necessarily even tanking. It's. There's too many games. You're tanking, you're tanking half the season. If it's 60 games, it's that much shorter to tank. Right. Teams are going to lose on purpose regardless.
Andrew
What do you guys think about what Richard Jefferson was saying? He went on the NBA today rant about the players wanting, wanting, you know, time off essentially. And Richard Jefferson making the point that there's a reason why it's the NBA, essentially, I'm paraphrasing, but there are those that can do it and those that can't. And these guys are supposed to be able to do it. They're supposed to be the ones that differentiate themselves in their longevity and their availability.
Dave Dufour
And the game is so different.
Zena Kada
Yeah, I was gonna say when he played, it's, it's not even comparable. And also the way these guys train their body year round, like there's, there's no off season for them in terms of training and preparedness and like the workouts that they put themselves through and also how early on they specialize in basketball. So there's just, I don't think there's that level of fluidity to be able to play as long and as hard as they do. And also to your point, Dave, the game has changed. The pace is different. The, the amount of ground that NBA players are required to cover is different than it was. If you go back and watch like a Lakers Celtics game from 1980 and the level of, and you know, you think of the Lakers as Showtime Lakers, fast paced basketball. The level of ground that they were, the size of the court and how much ground they were covering is so
Dave Dufour
different than a random war barely moved on defense. Yeah. Until literally like, I mean like 10 years ago. You know, I, I just, it's, it's interesting that, that people just can't see that or that there's a cognitive dissonance that allows your eyes to, you know, to see it and for you to not believe it. Yeah. But the sport is just so different. And honestly I think that in a few years, what we saw with Isolo in Memphis, that John Morant kind of got mad about these shorter stints, higher intensity bursts, I think that's going to be the standard. And like you look at like what OKC does, they've got to have 10 guys, you know, and I look while I appreciate from the chat, Sebastian Perez, boo freaking who, they play sports for a living, man. And a lot of them emerge millionaires. No, they're all millionaires in the NBA. Yeah, okay. But there's also, there are limits to the human body. And frankly I, I would prefer a league where the players were able to play because they were healthy. And not blowing their Achilles. Achilles injuries are way up, partially because of the style of play. It's a lot more run, turn, jump. I mean, it's just a completely different sport.
Zena Kada
Yeah, this is, this isn't us like talking about how the players are soft or whatever we're talking.
Dave Dufour
No, I think they play harder. They play harder now than they did 30 years ago. The sport is more difficult. You know, again, centers have to guard 50ft. They're, you know, high. Pick and roll now starts at half court. It is not inside the three point line. Like, Shaq would get run to death if he. If he was overweight now, young Shaq. No, he. He might dominate. Yep. Yeah. What's the next question?
Zena Kada
Okay. On purpose. Kind of like a play on tortoise turtles. Okay. Whatever. Purpose? It's not purpose.
Dave Dufour
Purple porpoise is like a dolphin.
Andrew
Like a dolphin.
Dave Dufour
It's not a dolphin, but it's a porpoise.
Zena Kada
You learn something new every day. I have no idea what that is.
Andrew
Sounds good.
Zena Kada
You guys spent a lot more time on planet Earth than I have. Okay. What players go relatively unnoticed by the national media that are crucial to the success of their respective team? Eg, I heart is critical to a well oiled OKC offense, but doesn't have the replacement with media.
Dave Dufour
How about another heart? Josh Hart.
Zena Kada
Josh Hart.
Ad
That's a good one.
Dave Dufour
It's crazy how important Josh Hart is to the Knicks. Yep. To the point where they, they need to make a lineup change. And he's the obvious guy to take out of the starting lineup. And you absolutely can't do it because he's the only guy that has a heart for 48 minutes. And I mean, it is. And pun intended.
Andrew
Yeah.
Dave Dufour
It is insane to me that this guy, I mean, you know, he, he was almost an all star last season. Was it last season or the season before last? Like he had that sort of season. He has figured out a way to fit in no matter what the roster around him. Looks like. He's become this amazing offensive rebounder. He's a knockdown three point shooter this year and he's fourth on the totem pole maybe of guys that you. If you're having a conversation about the Knicks, he comes up fourth or fifth, maybe even six sometimes because you're probably going to say, wow, Mikhail Bridges just isn't good enough. And so I think Josh Hart's a guy that. That gets overlooked a lot. And it's been his whole career. You know, Fred Katz and I are basically the Josh Hart fan club and otherwise. You just don't hear a lot about him.
Andrew
Yeah, that's a good one.
Zena Kada
I feel like you could. I feel like you could pick one for every single team. In the end, you could.
Andrew
Oh, go ahead.
Zena Kada
I was just gonna say from. From my side of things on Raptors land, like, RJ Barrett is so important to the Raptors, and he's an unrestricted free agent next summer for them. He's always been dangled in trade rumors, but his importance as a guy who gets to the basket. He is the only player on the team that can get to the hoop consistently. His. He drives offense for them. He's an elite transition player. He works off of the ball like their offense functions so much better when RJ is on the floor. And he. He truthfully doesn't get enough love for what he does for them and the type of player he's changed. You think about what he was in New York when he first got traded to Toronto. There was that report that he was called a toxic asset in trade rumors. I don't think he's a toxic asset anymore. I think he's a guy who can actually contribute on an NBA team and give you winning minutes. So I'll go rj because he's been very important for them.
Andrew
I like that. Orlando, Jalen, Suggs. To me, I think we all talk about Paolo, France and Desmond, but Jalen is the engine that makes that go. He keeps them organized. Palo doesn't. Both Palo and Franz can't really work off ball in the way that they would like. If it's not Jalen setting things up for them and setting up their offense, I just think that. And then defensively, we know what Jalen does as well. He's so, so key to them. I think Jalen's a good one. Jaden McDaniels in Minnesota.
Zena Kada
Yep.
Andrew
He's starting to get a name more publicly, but I think he. He's huge. And now that Nikila's gone, you're now seeing how valuable he is defensively. He is their best defender and also can score the ball, like, incredibly well. We could really go through a lot.
Zena Kada
And Johnson's a huge one for the Sacramento Kings.
Dave Dufour
Of course, Kelton's gonna be probably six man of the year guarding Jokic. Right. He's like the. The third center for them. He brings the ball up. I mean, yeah, I think Calton is. Is one of the more important pieces for that team, but, yeah, we could do this for every team. Yeah, we'll. We'll do that in the off season. Who's the most important unimportant guy?
Andrew
Oh, I like that.
Zena Kada
Yeah, that, that's it for the questions, y'.
Andrew
All.
Zena Kada
That's all we got.
Dave Dufour
All right.
Zena Kada
Hey, yeah, we answered all good questions. Efficient.
Dave Dufour
Got an hour. Let's see. We, we got Fred Katz on the show tomorrow. We're gonna talk his all NBA perimeter defense team. So that's gonna be fun. Me and Xena be chatting with Fred about that. We're gonna get Sam Amick on to talk about the player poll. We got Knicks, Celtics Thursday night.
Zena Kada
That's gonna be great.
Dave Dufour
And then Sunday we're gonna wrap the season up.
Zena Kada
We going live on Sunday?
Dave Dufour
I don't know. We're gonna see. I'm working on the logistics, guys. You know, let us know in the comments if we ought to go live Sunday night after the season wraps. Maybe we'll do another one of these. We can go an hour, you know, take some questions, see how it goes. Anyway, that's going to do it for the shoot around, guys. Thank you guys for hanging out. Come and join us in the discord again. That link is in our show description. We're having a good time over there watching games. It's been a lot of fun, especially this season when social media is not as much fun. But that's going to do it for the show. For Zena Kada and Esperaheni, I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily's morning shoot around. Thanks for joining us.
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Dave Dufour
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Dave Dufour
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Date: April 8, 2026
Hosts: Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, Andrew Schlecht
In this lively Wednesday "morning shoot around" episode, the NBA Daily crew brings the mailbag format to life with a wide-ranging discussion focused on the final week of the NBA season. The panel answers listener questions sourced from Discord and YouTube, touching on hot topics like surprising player developments, looming expansion, coaching changes, the LeBron James sweepstakes, and predictions for next season’s biggest risers. The episode delivers analysis, debates, and a few laughs, all while capturing the anticipation and uncertainty heading into the playoffs.
(02:13–04:13)
"They're 32–15 in 2026, and that's not good enough for our Discord..." (Dave, 02:59)
(04:27–09:33)
“I remember Kareem’s last season… I’d like to have that with LeBron. He’s been such an institution for the NBA.” (Dave, 09:07)
(11:02–20:09)
(20:51–25:18)
“He’s going to be number one. He’s on pace to do it faster than Steph Curry did it.” (Zena, 21:04)
“268 made threes this season – that’s #1 as a rookie, #1 in the NBA… if he plays 17 years, he’ll have 500 more threes than Steph.” (Zena, 24:00)
(26:39–39:48)
“Utah feels like the one obvious one.” (Dave, 26:54)
(41:23–44:10)
“If they’re healthy and get the right matchup, I could see them making a conference finals or even finals run.” (Zena, 42:41)
(44:57–49:33)
(49:33–53:49)
“Centers have to guard 50ft… pick and roll starts at half court.” (Dave, 53:22)
(54:11–58:12)
“It’s crazy how important Josh Hart is to the Knicks… the only guy that has a heart for 48 minutes.” (Dave, 54:32)
“Their offense functions so much better when RJ is on the floor… doesn't get enough love for what he does for them.” (Zena, 55:46)
On the Discord’s high standard:
“They're 32–15 in 2026, and that's not good enough for our Discord.” (Dave DuFour, 02:59)
On LeBron’s Farewell Tour:
“He’s been such an institution for the NBA… I’d like to have that with LeBron.” (Dave DuFour, 09:07)
On the risk of expansion:
“On any given season, there’s eight teams trying to lose... you’re adding two more teams. Where’s the value?” (Dave DuFour, 46:41)
On the unsung impact of Josh Hart:
“It is insane to me… he’s the only guy that has a heart for 48 minutes. And I mean, it is. And pun intended.” (Dave DuFour, 54:34)
For more Q&A and real-time takes, join the lively Discord community (link in show notes).