NBA Daily Mailbag - Last Week of the Season | Morning Shoot Around

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily

NBA Daily Mailbag – Last Week of the Season | Morning Shoot Around

Date: April 8, 2026
Hosts: Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, Andrew Schlecht

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Episode Overview

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.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hot Takes from the Discord and Mailbag Questions

(02:13–04:13)

• The podcast’s Discord community continues to grow, bringing energetic debate. The Hornets, despite a strong record, face skepticism from Discord regulars who see them as “a good story” but not a real threat:

  "They're 32–15 in 2026, and that's not good enough for our Discord..." (Dave, 02:59)

• Hosts reveal audience bias (notably favoring OKC), but agree the Hornets’ improvement is legit, even if hard to crown early.

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2. LeBron James' Next Move – Possible Destinations

(04:27–09:33)

• Listener asks: Could LeBron fit with the Spurs?
  • Zena: “Spurs would be a great fit, but I think it’ll be Golden State Warriors. Steph–LeBron farewell.” (Zena, 04:42)
• Dave: “LeBron would rather just stay in LA… been in LA longer than Miami now.” (05:31)
• Discussion of Cleveland as "storybook fit," but obstacles include new contracts and fit with James Harden.
• LeBron’s legacy and potential retirement farewell tour are debated, with the consensus being he deserves one:

  “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)

• Andrew raises the counterexample of Diana Taurasi deliberately avoiding pageantry.

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3. Most Surprising In-Season Player Development

(11:02–20:09)

• The crew is prompted to name the season’s most improved or unexpectedly emerging players:
  • Nehemias Queta (Boston): “Being a solid big the Celtics could depend on, a presence missing since their championship year with Robert Williams.” (Andrew, 12:12)
  • Nikhil Alexander-Walker: "Insane to see him going bucket for bucket with Jalen Brunson. That's in-season development." (Andrew, 12:17)
  • Dennis Jenkins (Pistons): Surprise contributor, “didn’t know his name this time last year. Now a key piece.” (Dave, 12:57)
  • Guy Santos: “In one season this guy was a rotation player… Now you’re like, oh, Guy Santos is your 20-point a game guy.” (Andrew, 15:41)
  • Keonte George: Notable leap in first step and three-point shooting, transforming his offensive impact. (Dave, 16:43)
  • Anthony Black (Orlando), Dom Barlow (Philly): Barlow’s two-way to starter leap especially praised.

Fun Tangent:

• Pistons’ player development now deserves more respect; Memphis and OKC also commended for their draft-and-develop models.

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4. Khan Canipple and the Three-Point Record Chase

(20:51–25:18)

• Discord user asks about Khan Canipple’s all-time prospects:
  • Zena emphatically predicts he’ll become the NBA’s all-time three-point leader, surpassing Steph Curry in fewer seasons:

    “He’s going to be number one. He’s on pace to do it faster than Steph Curry did it.” (Zena, 21:04)

• Andrew affirms the volume and efficiency are historic, especially given strong teammates.
• Canipple’s rookie/year numbers contextualized:

  “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)

• Dave notes Steph’s early injuries ironically enabled the Warriors’ dynasty.

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5. Teams Poised to Make a Leap Next Year

(26:39–39:48)

• Utah Jazz spotlighted as the most obvious potential riser:

  “Utah feels like the one obvious one.” (Dave, 26:54)

• Washington Wizards are a dark horse, especially if healthy (AD and Trae Young) and after adding a top pick.
• Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans (post-James Borrego) also highlighted, depending on offseason moves.
• Extensive discussion on looming coaching changes:
  • “There might be eight to twelve coaching openings this summer.” (Zena, 33:35)
  • Candidates include Cleveland, Sacramento (Doug Christie criticized), Portland, Orlando, Bulls, etc.
• Shift toward hiring young coaches (Mitch Johnson, Dagnault, Lee, Fernandez, Will Hardy) underlined.

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6. Sleepers for a Heat-Style Playoff Run?

(41:23–44:10)

• West playoffs predicted to go “chalk,” but possible upsets theorized:
  • Atlanta Hawks: “So athletic…been on this run…” (Dave, 41:48)
  • Sixers favored as true sleeper if healthy:

    “If they’re healthy and get the right matchup, I could see them making a conference finals or even finals run.” (Zena, 42:41)

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7. Expansion and Tanking—Will Adding Two Teams Hurt the League?

(44:57–49:33)

• Expansion’s impact on competitiveness and tanking hotly debated:
  • Dave: “On any given season, there’s eight teams trying to lose... you’re adding two more teams. Where’s the value?” (Dave, 46:41)
  • Andrew: “Who is clamoring for more teams?... The only thing is fans want the Sonics back.” (Andrew, 47:42)
  • Zena and Dave agree the main real driver is the massive revenues expansion would bring.
  • Potential for fewer regular season games is a tantalizing possible benefit.

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8. Workload, 65-Game Rule, and Old-School vs. Modern NBA Debate

(49:33–53:49)

• Richard Jefferson’s comments on player rest and durability discussed.
• Hosts emphasize the game’s increased physical demands, pace, and year-round training make direct comparisons to previous eras tricky.

  “Centers have to guard 50ft… pick and roll starts at half court.” (Dave, 53:22)

• Support for reforms that would put less strain on players, potentially resulting in better health and postseason product.

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9. Most Underappreciated Players—Crucial Unsung Heroes

(54:11–58:12)

• Listeners ask for unsung players essential to team success:
  • Josh Hart (Knicks):

    “It’s crazy how important Josh Hart is to the Knicks… the only guy that has a heart for 48 minutes.” (Dave, 54:32)

  • RJ Barrett (Raptors):

    “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)

  • Jalen Suggs (Orlando): “Engine makes them go… so key to them.”
  • Jaden McDaniels (Minnesota): “He is their best defender...”
  • Keegan Johnson (Kings) and Keldon (Spurs)—praised as examples of team glue guys.
• Plan for an offseason segment: “Who’s the most important unimportant guy?”

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• 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)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Discord/Hornets skepticism: 02:13–04:13
• LeBron’s future / Farewell tour: 04:27–09:33
• Most surprising player development: 11:02–20:09
• Khan Canipple three-point chase: 20:51–25:18
• Teams likely to leap next year / Coaching carousel: 26:39–39:48
• Playoff sleepers: 41:23–44:10
• Expansion & tanking: 44:57–49:33
• 65-game rule, player durability debate: 49:33–53:49
• Unsung heroes: 54:11–58:12

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Closing Notes and What’s Next

• Upcoming guests: Fred Katz (“All-NBA perimeter defense”); Sam Amick (player poll); Knicks vs. Celtics preview.
• The crew may go live Sunday night to wrap up the season—audience input welcomed.

For more Q&A and real-time takes, join the lively Discord community (link in show notes).

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Transcript

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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.

[Ad]

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.

[Ad]

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[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.

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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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[Dave Dufour]

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[Dave Dufour]

Oh, you're definitely a groupie.

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