NBA Mock Draft + Trade Options

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – Episode Summary: NBA Mock Draft + Trade Options

Release Date: June 15, 2024
Hosted By: Andrew Schlicht, Alex Spears, and Fred Katz

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Athletic NBA Daily, hosts Andrew Schlicht and Alex Spears delve into the intricacies of the upcoming NBA Mock Draft and explore potential trade options that could reshape team rosters. Joined by Fred Katz, the trio provides insightful analysis, backed by their extensive knowledge of the league's dynamics and player performances.

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Top Picks Analysis

**1. Number One Pick: Alex Sar to the Atlanta Hawks
Andrew opens the discussion with enthusiasm, declaring, “Anthony Edwards, Put that on a poster” ([04:30]). The consensus among the hosts is that Alex Sar stands out as a premier talent deserving the top spot. Alex Spears emphasizes Sar's versatility, likening him to an Evan Mobley type, stating, “Alex Sar has higher upside... he has the potential to do things defensively and offensively that Derek Lively doesn't” ([11:21]).

**2. Number Two Pick: Donovan Clingan to the Washington Wizards
The Wizards are positioned to make a strategic move by selecting Donovan Clingan. Spears discusses the Wizards' need for a defensive anchor, noting, “Clingan is a defensive anchor. Seems like that's something they could use” ([11:59]). The hosts weigh the benefits of Clingan's defensive prowess versus other potential picks, concluding that his addition would bolster the Wizards' frontcourt.

**3. Number Three Pick: Reed Shepherd to the Houston Rockets
Reed Shepherd emerges as the Rockets' primary choice, aiming to add shooting and defensive capabilities. Spears argues, “Reed Shepherd is the best shooter in this draft... he could do that with his athleticism, contesting shots, active hands” ([51:13]). The Rockets are seen as prioritizing shooting to complement their existing roster, particularly enhancing their spacing on offense.

**4. Number Four Pick: Risa Shea to the San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio secures Risa Shea, a forward known for his shooting ability and defensive skills. Spears highlights Shea’s fit within the Spurs’ system, stating, “Risa Shea makes so much sense for them... he's really good off the ball, covering ground with his athleticism” ([52:21]).

**5. Number Five Pick: Brad Spell to the Detroit Pistons
The Pistons opt for Brad Spell, focusing on adding depth and versatility to their lineup. Spears notes, “If Risa Shea fell to 5, it would be a home run for the Pistons” ([61:04]), underscoring Spell's potential impact as a versatile player capable of fitting into multiple roles.

**6. Number Six Pick: Stefan Castle to the Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte drafts Stefan Castle, aiming to enhance their perimeter defense and playmaking abilities. Spears debates between Castle and Ron Holland, ultimately favoring Castle for his ability to fit seamlessly between LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller: “I like the idea of him in between LaMelo and Brandon Miller... better connective tissue” ([60:22]).

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Trade Options and Strategic Moves

Trade Proposal: Mikhail Bridges to Houston Rockets
A significant trade scenario explored involves sending Mikhail Bridges to the Houston Rockets in exchange for key assets. Schlicht outlines the potential value exchange, stating, “Blowing them away with the number one pick... it might be something that happens in conjunction with a Dejounte Murray trade” ([20:53]). However, Spears expresses skepticism about the feasibility, noting Brooklyn’s likely resistance: “I think Brooklyn says no to that” ([20:53]).

Trade Scenario: Thunder and Wizards Exchange Draft Picks
Another intriguing trade proposal discusses the Thunder trading their number twelve pick along with Josh Giddy to the Wizards for Denny Abdurrahman and the twenty-sixth pick. Spears evaluates the trade's merit, considering the Wizards' need for a dependable wing and the Thunder’s requirement for enhancing their guard depth: “I think he [Abdurrahman] would make a lot of sense for them” ([80:56]).

Trade Scenario: Sacramento Kings Acquire Kyle Kuzma
Spears suggests trading Harrison Barnes and Chris Duarte to the Kings for Kyle Kuzma, aiming to provide Sacramento with an immediate offensive upgrade. “Kuzma is a player I really like... makes sense there” ([87:20]). Schlicht agrees, highlighting Kuzma's fit within the Kings' system and his potential to elevate the team's performance.

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Team Needs and Future Prospects

Houston Rockets’ Strategy
The Rockets are portrayed as focusing on adding shooters and versatile defenders to complement existing talents like Alperen Şengün. Spears remarks, “Reed Shepherd... he could guard the second or third best perimeter player” ([51:13]), indicating Houston's intent to balance their roster with both offensive and defensive assets.

Washington Wizards’ Rebuilding Approach
The Wizards are depicted as steadily rebuilding, emphasizing asset accumulation and strategic signings. Spears notes their potential move to retain Tyus Jones, believing, “They’re probably just going to try to retain assets... nurturing a long-term rebuild” ([24:40]).

Detroit Pistons’ Young Core Development
The Pistons are focused on developing their young core, with Spears expressing confidence in their selections: “Brad Spell... gives the Pistons depth and versatility” ([52:21]). The discussion underscores Detroit’s commitment to nurturing young talent as they rebuild their competitiveness.

San Antonio Spurs’ Balanced Approach
San Antonio’s draft choices reflect a balanced approach, blending defensive capabilities with shooting prowess. Spears emphasizes Stefan Castle’s role in enhancing the Spurs’ defensive structure while providing necessary offensive support: “He could really help LaMelo with some of the ball handling duties and defensive stuff” ([59:58]).

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Andrew Schlicht: “Anthony Edwards, Put that on a poster.” ([04:30])
• Alex Spears: “Alex Sar has higher upside... he has the potential to do things defensively and offensively that Derek Lively doesn't.” ([11:21])
• Alex Spears: “Reed Shepherd is the best shooter in this draft... he could do that with his athleticism, contesting shots, active hands.” ([51:13])
• Alex Spears: “Risa Shea makes so much sense for them... he's really good off the ball, covering ground with his athleticism.” ([52:21])
• Andrew Schlicht: “Never before has a podcast done such a horrific job in setting up its credentials...” ([05:38])

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Conclusion

This episode of The Athletic NBA Daily offers a comprehensive analysis of the NBA Mock Draft, highlighting the strategic decisions teams are likely to make to enhance their rosters. Andrew Schlicht, Alex Spears, and Fred Katz provide valuable insights into how these draft picks and potential trades could influence team dynamics and future performances. Whether it's the Hawks securing Alex Sar as the number one pick or the Rockets aiming to bolster their shooting with Reed Shepherd, the episode underscores the meticulous planning and foresight required in crafting a competitive NBA team.

Listeners are left with a deeper understanding of the draft's implications and the intricate maneuvering behind the scenes as teams position themselves for success in the upcoming season.

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Notable Mention: For those interested in the full breadth of discussions and nuanced analysis, tuning into this episode of The Athletic NBA Daily is highly recommended.

Transcript

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[Andrew Schlicht]

Welcome to the Saturday Slammin Jam hosted by Andrew Schlicht with Alex Spears.

[Alex Spears]

How about we can just watch basketball?

[Andrew Schlicht]

That's a man's jam.

[Alex Spears]

I like that idea. Live from Oklahoma with questions and participants from all around the world.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Anthony Edwards, Put that on a poster.

[Alex Spears]

Whether you're flipping your flapjacks, tending to.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Your yard or just sipping your coffee.

[Alex Spears]

Get ready, sit back, relax.

[Andrew Schlicht]

It's the Saturday Slammin Jam.

[Alex Spears]

Fact is, I missed a shot. I'll walk away. I'm still a chump.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Here's Andrew.

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Welcome to the Slam and Jam here on the Athletic NBA Show. Please check out everything that we're doing at the Athletic right now. There's so much great work being done across the Athletic about the NBA Finals. Also, continue to listen to the show today. We're taking a little bit of a break from the NBA Finals to talk about the NBA Draft. But after, after every Finals game we are having our beat writers come on to discuss the Celtics and Mavs. And it's been just so much fun to have Jay King and Tim Cato and Jared Weiss come on to give us their expertise on these teams afterwards. So please listen to that tonight. It will be with Dave Defore after Game four. So please go listen to that with me as always. I've got Fred Katz. Fred, how's it going, man?

[Andrew Schlicht]

It's going lovely. It's just going wonderfully.

[Apple Card Ad]

Ready to show off.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Just a fantastic day.

[Apple Card Ad]

You ready to.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So ready to show off all of my incredible draft knowledge. I've been watching the college season all year. I've been watching all the foreign leagues. I've been watching like the B league in Germany. Oh, boy, do I have thoughts. I can tell you there is one guy I'm ready to tell you about. I guarantee you he is the next Isak Banga.

[Apple Card Ad]

I am ready to go, man. Banga. Shout out to Banga. Shout out to all the Wizards fans who loved Banga back in the day. Fred is going to help guide us through a mock draft here and to give us like all the draft knowledge. This has been a long running tradition of the Slam and Jam is to take the Game Theory podcast co host and bring them on to Slam and Jam. This time it's Bryce Simon. Bryce, how's it going?

[Alex Spears]

I did not know whenever I committed to this Game Theory podcast the kind of pressure that goes with being in that spot. Everybody was like, hey, you're the next in line to get a actual MBA job. Or you know, because Penn and then Spinella and I'm like, okay, yeah, I'm gonna go from middle of nowhere Kansas to some scouting job in the NBA. I don't. I think I'm about to break this streak, guys. So I did not anticipate the pressure that was coming with this position. And I didn't know this as well. I guess I told you this though, when you text me, Andrew, this is a bucket list thing. I am a listener to the athletic pod. My guy, David Aldridge does a show for you guys. He graduated from the same school that I played at American University. So this is, this is surreal for me to be on here and be able to talk hoops with you guys.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I just want to be clear about something. Never before has a podcast done such a horrific job in setting up its credentials by me coming on and being like, by the way, I know nothing. Followed up with, oh, by the way, our expert is significantly less expert than all of the other people in his position before him in the middle of Kansas and nowhere. Not going to get hired away. Nothing's going to happen. Happened. Good. He's just, he's just here for the vibes, dude. Yeah, that's right. Price, I think you are underselling yourself. I will say that I Work. We're very excited to have you on.

[Alex Spears]

Thank you. I will. I work very hard. I'm very proud of what I do. I'm just saying that I'm in a little different position than those guys in terms of being a father of three and where I live and stuff like that. I don't know that my goal is the same as what those guys goal was.

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Yeah, well, you'll get the offers. You just might not take them. Bryce. I want to contextualize this draft because everybody loves to say this is a bad draft. Oh, not looking forward to this draft, such a bad draft. I personally don't think it's a bad draft, but I think it's a. It's not a great draft at the top. And so I wanted to kind of contextualize it by asking you this question. How many players from the 2023 draft would be the number one pick in this current draft? Obviously, Victor Wembanyama, but like let's talk through other guys that were picked last year. And how many of them you think would go in this number one slot today?

[Alex Spears]

Guaranteed three and potentially a mint. For me, a Min Thompson would probably have a strong argument. You know, a Sar Thompson went five. I did not have a Sar Thompson on my board at number five. But I think those big three would have unquestionably be the number one player in this draft. And that's Victor, obviously. Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson. I would guess we'd be having a conversation about a man versus Alex Sar versus Zachary Ricochet, but I would say three for sure. And I guess to Fred's point where I do feel like I'm pretty good at this. I said six months ago that this is a draft where if you took even three average, like the average of what the top three picks in the draft look like and put them at the top of this draft, people would be super excited. That's what's missing in this draft, I think. Andrew, you called it a flat draft at the top. That's what it is. My first tier has like eight, nine dudes because there's just. It comes down to fit. This is why this will be so much fun today with Fred, where he goes, this is what this team needs. And then we can go through our boards pretty deep if we need to. It just. I think the sweet spot is late lottery into the mid first round, but definitely not at the top. There's no guy that screams, oh, this looks like a number one pick. Especially coming off the Victor draft.

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Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Now I'm curious To know. I assume you just answered that question, taking us back in time and what the evaluations were on these guys when they were at these stages coming out. Knowing what we know now, if you can factor in what we know now, and you could just redraft these guys along with the guys who were drafted this year, the 20, 23, and 24. Like, I assume lively would be going number one, right?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

How many. How many guys add to that list?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, Like, I was.

[Andrew Schlicht]

We know now.

[Alex Spears]

I would still say school. I think a man has shown enough that he would. I feel like I'm missing somebody else. Like, Hawkes and Pajimski were awesome, but I don't know that those guys are, like, going number one. Here's the other thing, and we'll talk. I do like Alex Sar, but I also am in love with that archetype of player and what I think he can be. So, yeah, Lively would be interesting to add to that mix. I think Amin definitely would with what he showed late in the season with Houston. So you're looking at a couple more, but like I said, I think it's three, six months ago, four or five maybe, at this point.

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Yeah, I wonder about Lively, too, because, like, the thing about the number one pick is, like, you're looking for somebody that could potentially be your best player, you know, And I think Lively is a really good player. He may be the second best player on a really good team. Like, I could see that happening, but without being able to have the ball in your hands, it's really tough to be, like, the best player on your team.

[Alex Spears]

Well, well, like, what would be better for Atlanta, Derek Lively or Alex Sar? Like, what fits better with what they want to do? Derek Lively, I think I agree because he replaces what we saw. Capel. Yeah. Yeah. I think Sar has higher upside to your point, Andrew. I think Sar has higher upside.

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Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

I think he can be just as impactful defensively, and he has the potential to do things offensively that Derek Lively doesn't. But there's also a chance he doesn't do those things, and he isn't the lob threat, rim gravity guy that Derek Lively has already shown to be. And so for a team like Atlanta, I mean, that's where this thing really shakes up.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Right.

[Alex Spears]

Like, not only do we have this weird talent draft, we have Atlanta go from 10 to 1 and shake things up even more.

[Apple Card Ad]

Right.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Can I make a Derek Lively point which has nothing to do with the draft, but is relevant because they're in the finals and it's something I actually know about because I do know about the NBA. I think we're putting lively and I don't even mean the three of us. I think the basketball world is putting lively in too much of a box right now. I think people are talking about him too much as a pick and roll threat who can throw down lobs and make plays in the short roll while also being able to protect the rim. I am not convinced that's where he's going to end up. I'll tell you this. I don't know if it's going to happen next year. I don't know if it's going to happen for sure at any point. But you talk to people over there who watch him play consistently and there are people who are with him every day who are convinced that he's going to be shooting threes at some point. Just convinced that he's going to be shooting threes. The way that he's able to make decisions in the secondary role, the way he's able to get balls, he's not just getting the ball, taking a step in defense collapses and he's hitting the corner. He's looking the guy off on the wing and then going to the corner, looking the guy off in the corner and throwing a no look to the wing. And then when they rush the wing, knowing he's going to get the hockey assist when it swings to the corner. He's making these passes in playoff situations that are so far evolved past just being good in the short roll. I'm not with his athleticism, his brain, he's so smart. Everybody on that coaching staff talks about how incredibly coachable he is, how much he wants to learn. I'm just not ruling out that he turns into Bam out of bio. Yeah, I'm just not ruling it out.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I just. I think it's not saying it's the most likely outcome. Bam out of bio is an incredible, incredible player. Arguably the best, most versatile defensive center in the league. And you can pass and do all this stuff, but like, I'm not ruling it out. He just. There's something there with Lively that I am. The returns look really good.

[Apple Card Ad]

Well, and what he has over Lively is that he's like seven one, two or over Anabia is that he is seven foot one and like there's some. There is something very unusual about him for sure. And he is the second youngest guy drafted in the lottery last year. So like the Runway for him is immense and he's playing with the perfect player with in Luca as Well, which is accentuates everything for him.

[Alex Spears]

I pulled up my notes from when I watched him in high school coming out because I always like to watch these guys even before their first year of college, just to get a foundation of who they are, what they're supposed to be. And it's interesting I put that his passing was the most impressive part of his game from, from that film. I remember watching clips where he attacked closeouts off the bounce. I'm not saying that we've seen that yet. It may never get there, but it's something that I noted. I put here that the shot is okay, quote unquote, but not sure I'm fully bought in yet. Again, this is a young kid, but at least was something I noted in terms of that, so I think that's fair. Fred, I feel a little bit burned on this right now as someone who watches 82 Pistons games and thought this was like Jalen Duran, who is still very young, was going to turn into the bam out of bio type of passer, playmaker, do it all offense, and we just haven't seen it yet. So I have some early scars on that. But you're right, it's a little bit unfair. And I think it's because he's so, I don't want to say elite. He's incredible in the role that he's being asked of right now as a rookie, but the, the passing is, is awesome. It's so much fun to watch.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Well, Bryce, here's the good news for you as a Pistons fan. If Duran doesn't turn into that, you've got 47 other centers tonight.

[Alex Spears]

James. Yeah. Former number two overall pick James Wiseman will, will bring back Bagley.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Bring back Mason Plumlee. You'll be good to go. Yeah, Mason Plumlee, Highly underrated passer Mason Plummet makes these crazy bounce passes. You'll be good to go.

[Alex Spears]

He had a sick, like, he had a, he did have a dribble move where like, he did the like fake pass while he's dribbling and like dropped a dude and every what. And then Mason, of course, famous for the reverse dunk and.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yeah, the superfluous reverse dunk.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

The only reverse dunks when he doesn't need to reverse dunk.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, yeah. Mason Plumlee. Those were the days.

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Wow. Did not think we were going to talk about Mason Plumley today.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I, I, I did.

[Apple Card Ad]

You planned this. You totally planned this. Let's, let's get into the mock draft. Let's, let's go to the number one pick. So how we're going to do this, Fred is going to guide us through. We're going to talk through with Bryce who he thinks should be the number one pick and then we'll talk about possible trades and you know, whatever needs the. The Hawks have. So number one, Bryce, is this Alex Starr for you?

[Alex Spears]

It is for me, but I don't think that that's like written down in pin. He's not in his own tier. You know, last year Victor was in his own tier. Like no matter what team out of 30 teams got the number one pick, Victor Wimanyama was going to be the draft pick. That's not Alex Sar. I think Zachary Ricochet is a real option here. It sounds like maybe even for Atlanta, like in real life that is a real option. There's some other guys, you know, maybe people like clinging a little bit more, you know, whatever. It's Alex Sar for me. So I'd be interested from Fred. Like, is Capella getting moved? Does Alex Saar, who is a. My best comparison for him would be an Evan Mobley type player. Is that something that makes sense for Atlanta?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I think what's going to end up happening with the Hawks here is they are going to have to decide so much more than just who they want at number one before they take number one. If they take number one, it's really going to start with somebody's getting moved this summer and they are going to have to figure out exactly what it's going to be. It's going to be at least one of the guards, Dejante or Traymer, Trey. And it's gonna have to be potentially somebody more because it's not just Capella. It's also a congu who they committed to last year with, I thought was a pretty good team. Friendly 4 year, 60 million dollar extension which kicks in for the start of this season. And he was good for them and they would like to open up room for him. They have been open to moving Capella for a while. They've been open to moving one of the guards, I think preferably Dejounte Murray. And I think they're gonna end up moving Murray instead of Trey Young. But if someone blows them away with Trey, I think it's possible. But look, I think more likely than not it's on the table that they trade this pick just because like you said, there's no consensus number one. And if they get word that somebody wants to take Sar number one and they don't want to take ser number one and the Rockets are willing to up to one, or the Wizards are willing to move up to one, or the spurs at number four are willing to move up to one to take somebody. It's not a guy they want. They might be willing to move down. It might be something that happens in conjunction with a dejante trade, and they, instead of rebuild, they just restructure and it's like dejante and the number one pick for something really big. Like, I could see something along those lines happening. But. But I do. I do think they are going to draft in this scenario. Like, they know over there that it's broken. And I do think in this scenario, they're going to draft it whoever they have at the top of their board if they have this pick.

[Apple Card Ad]

Bryce, tell me this. Tell me, is this. Is it crazy for me to think that if they do end up trading Dejante Murray.

[Alex Spears]

What'S.

[Apple Card Ad]

What's wrong with Stefan Castle? Like, why would you not. Why would you not consider Stefan Castle? I'm a huge Stefan Castle guy. I think at his size 6, 7, his ball handling, his passing, the shooting is a little questionable, but I like that pairing of him and Trey Young a little bit better because of his size and the defense. What are your thoughts about Stefan Castle?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, I have him a little bit lower in terms of just the order, but as I mentioned, at the top, my tier is very fluid here at the top. So if you want to go with Steph Castle, I would not do that. But I'm not gonna, like, oh, my gosh, you're taking somebody that's 15th on my board and in a completely different tier. I think what's interesting here is Steph Castle would be a nice fit off of Trey with everything other than the floor spacing. So if there's enough floor spacing on the rest of that roster, it's okay. I don't think Steph Castle shoots it right now. I do think Steph Castle is the best perimeter, point of attack, defender at the top of this class. And that is something that's very intriguing to me. Next to Trey Young, it's a guy that can handle the ball when Trey Young is off the floor. I do not think Steph Castle is a primary initiator as a starter, but maybe in the second unit, second side, those type of things. And he's a great cutter and mover off the ball, offensive rebounder. So I think in those ways, he could play nice off of Trey Young.

[Apple Card Ad]

Okay, before we move on to the second pick, I have a trade for the number one pick. What about Mikhail Bridges to Atlanta for the first pick. Clint Capella and Kobe Bufkin.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I think Brooklyn says no to that. Okay, I, I can't tell you exactly what Brooklyn has been offered for Mikhail Bridges. I can tell you the vicinity of what they've been offered and it's been a bunch of first round picks and they're not crappy first round picks and it's been good young players. Houston is really making a play. I mean I'm gonna give something away. And number three, I might have been thinking about a Mikhail Bridges trade right there also because I think Houston would really love to go for Mikhail.

[Alex Spears]

Don't include Tar Eason, Fred, or else you are going to hear from Houston Rockets fans, I can tell you that much.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Well, you know what, that's fine. I can hear from Houston Rockets fans. I like Jar Eason. Good young player, plays with amazing energy, great defensive potential. I like Jar easing good in transition. Got way better this year I thought actually under email Udoko when they played with so much more discipline than they did under Silas. But with Bridges it's like you gotta blow them away.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, it's.

[Andrew Schlicht]

It's taking more and I don't think the Hawks have enough. I mean the, the Nets have still gone by the company line of when teams call them about Bridges. Everything that I hear from when every time any team calls them is they want to hold on to Bridges because they believe he is going to be the number two to whatever star they bring in. And they still have their objectives. They don't have any of their own picks moving forward but they have those Suns picks which are unprotected and super valuable. They have the Dallas 2029 first round pick. They would love to be able to use those picks and some other stuff and be able to bring in a star to play alongside Bridges. Now after the season they had and the rest of the roster and how that looks like, I don't know if that's going to be enough to make them anything beyond a play in team depending on who that star is. However, I think that's the plan as of now. If you want Bridges, you got to blow them away. And the Hawks the problem is don't have a lot of picks moving forward because they traded two unprotecteds for Jonte Marie.

[Apple Card Ad]

Right.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So. So I don't know if there's a viable Hawks offer unless maybe you three way it with like number one to Brooklyn and Trey going somewhere else or Dejante going somewhere else. And then picture going from that third team to Brooklyn as well to make up for it. Or maybe players that Brooklyn really likes going there as well to help with it. And then maybe a little something goes back to. To Atlanta. Or maybe it's just Dejante for Bridges. I mean, Bridges is probably the superior player to Dejante anyway, so maybe that's. That's something. But that would be. That would be so disappointing by. If they. If. If after all of this, what they learned was let's just bring in a number two or three option behind Trey and we'll be good to go. That would. How disappointing would that be?

[Apple Card Ad]

It feels. It feels kind of likely to me. And also, you're telling me you're not a Buffkin boy. That's. That's also pretty sad.

[Alex Spears]

I. I was gonna get the Kobe Buffkin, like pitch in there because Kobe Buffkin was a guy I really liked in last year's class. And going to Brooklyn, I would love for that because they need a guy that can play on ball and do some of the things Kobe does. So them getting Kobe and then I would draft Alexar if I was Brooklyn as well. I don't know what that would mean for Nick Claxton, but yeah, I was going to give Kobe Buffkin a shout out.

[Apple Card Ad]

Just quick. Yeah. Okay, let's go. Number two.

[Alex Spears]

Wait, who did we take? Like, are we. Or are we like making official picks or we're just kind of talking through.

[Apple Card Ad]

The official slamming jam pick for number one overall is Alex Sar.

[Alex Spears]

Okay, love it.

[Apple Card Ad]

Number two, the Wizards.

[Alex Spears]

This one's interesting.

[Apple Card Ad]

This gets pretty interesting. Fred, can you talk us through just like the wizard situation right now, as you know it.

[Andrew Schlicht]

The wizard situation. The Wizards have quite a situation. The Wizards are basically doing whatever they can to accrue assets and players, and that is about it. They've got Tyus Jones coming up as non restricted free agent. I anticipate they'll make a real play to resign him. They could have traded him at the deadline, didn't like the offers they got. I think like Orlando was into him. They didn't like the offers they got for him and they're just going to try to resign him. I could see a similar situation with their free agents to what they did with like Kyle Kuzma last year where. Where they, you know, where they. They just resign the guy because keeping the asset is better and they sign him to a declining deal because they're not worried about their current day money. And, and that could be a nice way to hold on to Tyus Jones. I think he'll have other teams will want Tyus Jones. Tyus Jones. Because I'm the only person in America who watched the Wizards, including I think like Wes Uncell Jr. And Brian Keefe. I'm the only one who knows this. Titus Jones had like a great year last year. Yeah, had like a great year. So I think, I think they're probably just going to try to retain assets. They're going to try to scoop, scoop up young players where they can and just kind of move forward with this long term rebuild. I do have a trade for number two. Should I wait till after Bryce drafts.

[Apple Card Ad]

Or should I say let's draft somebody and then let's, let's talk trades.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Okay, Bryce, let's hear it.

[Alex Spears]

So my thing then is if they retain Tyus Jones and I agree that he's a very good player, I think that throws out the primary guard initiator stuff for them. Is the Fred Andrew. Is the wing room stocked enough that you would balk at adding another one of those when there is a big man on the board in the same tier? To me it comes down to Donovan Klingon versus Zachary Risachet. Is my long way of getting to that. Cling in. Is a defensive anchor. Seems like that's something they could use to play at the center position. Or Risa Shea is best player available on my board, but he's another wing to add to this mix of wings that they have. Those are the two names I would throw out. I mean you could talk Reed shepherd at guard, maybe topage. This is a little high for topic for me at this point. Topic, you know, being the primary point guard type of player.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So here's a question for you. And this is going to be my trade.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So we talked about guys from previous drafts who would be number one in this draft. I'm sure there are more who would be number two. The Wizards have two trade exceptions. They have a 12.4 and a 9.8. You know who fits into that 9.8 million dollar trade exception? Josh Giddy, the Wizards.

[Alex Spears]

I love this trade. Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

The Wizards won a young point guard and and I feel like this is a good question to ask because we got two draft guys and Andrew does the Thunder. How do we feel about that? Josh Giddy, Washington pick. First of all, Washington is now run by Michael Winger who started in Oklahoma City. Will Dawkins is the gm. He was in Oklahoma City until a year and a half ago and played a hand in drafting Josh Giddy. I think we can probably all agree that Giddy would be at his best if he were in a situation where he could have the ball more in his hands as opposed to being more of an off ball guy and basically just be kind of a, a taller, better Ricky Rubio sort of player. And he's still only 21 with tons of potential. He's extension eligible this summer, which means you're gonna have to pay him. But you're Washington, what do you care? You're not going to go into the tax, you're not going to worry about that kind of stuff. And it might be able to get you a point guard with like long term development who's still really young, who might be younger than some guys who are drafted in the first round this year. Like, is that worth it for number two? Is that terrible value for number two? Should there be something else thrown in on either side of this deal to make it more, to make it make more sense?

[Apple Card Ad]

I would be floored if this is what the Thunder got for Josh Giddy in a way that's like, oh my gosh, I can't believe they got the number two pick for Josh Giddy. You know, even though it's not a great draft here at the top, I would still be very surprised if the Thunder could walk away from this draft with the number two pick and the 12th pick still in hand.

[Andrew Schlicht]

What if they threw in number 12? What if it was Gideon 12 for number two?

[Apple Card Ad]

I think you have, you'd feel a lot better about that if you're the Wizards. Yeah, I think that there, I think there's something there and I think you're right. The situation with Josh Giddey was not great, especially against Dallas and throughout the season. Like, the Thunder starting lineup played really well together, but there's still questions about fit there. And then they. The playoffs will expose all of your warts. And that's like, that happens every year. And this is the Thunder's first chance and they could only play him 12 minutes, you know, against the Mavs per game, which is just not great. And so with his extension coming up, I do think Presti doesn't like guys to get to restricted free agency anyways. He doesn't have a history of that and so it would not surprise me to see him traded. But I think that 12 and giddy for two, like there's something that does make sense there. And if you're the Thunder, there are a lot of guys that you could, you know, look at in that situation to help you. I still would be surprised. I actually have another Josh Giddy to the Wizards trademark later on that we'll talk about. Oh yeah, that might make a little bit more sense in my eyes about value, but what do you think, Bryce?

[Alex Spears]

Well, I say we did 26 and a second round pick for Giddy recently when we did the all trades mock. But I will say we got crushed for that. Being too low on Josh Giddey.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

And then I saw somebody else had done like 11 or what. No, it wasn't 11. It's Utah, Chicago, 1110. And I thought that was too much. So to me and I felt like we were probably a little bit low. So to me, a mid first round pick is probably Josh Giddy's value, which may be a little bit more to what we're talking about now in terms of moving back 10 spots. I don't. It's. Again, it's a flat draft, so moving back 10 spots. There's some bigs at 12 that I would be excited about if I was Washington still. Like, I could, I could get excited about those guys and then I'm adding Josh Giddey as well. If I was Oklahoma City, I'd really want a way to find one of those wings. But then that gets real convoluted. I think that starts to sway it the other way potentially. You can't get two and Corey Kisper in this deal. I don't think like that's. That's swaying it too much.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, yeah. I, I think that's probably one that like the Thunder would. I. I don't know if they would like that or not, but I think that that's something that you jump on pretty quickly if you could get that done. But.

[Alex Spears]

And then I would take Zachary Richochet for the Thunder if I was him. Like, he's the number two player on my board. He comes in, plays on the wing for them three and D can guard team defender can space the floor, shoot it. I would run to the podium if I'm Sam Presti at number two.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. Is that. Is that where you go or would you go clinging for the Wizards if.

[Alex Spears]

Listen, for me, if I'm the Wizards, I probably draft Clingan. I like this idea from Fred, though. I mean, I don't care which one we do. I think this, I think this Wizards giddy thing makes a lot of sense and it's one of those. I'm like, it makes a lot of sense to someone like, you know, like us, obviously, Fred, you guys are way more connected than me in terms of this stuff, but I'm interested if, you know, the Wizards see this option and go like, hey, this makes a lot of sense for our team as well. So I'm cool either way. If I was the Wizards, I would take cling in here. If we make the trade to the Thunder, whatever that is, I would take Zachary Ricochet.

[Apple Card Ad]

Let's keep it as is. I want to present my. My Thunder trade later, and then let's talk about which one we like better after this. So let's go cling into the Wizards. The thing about it is, too, that these picks get discussed so much every year and rarely ever get moved. Yeah, you know, I think, like, these top five picks are going to be discussed so much leading up to the draft, especially with the kind of draft that it is. And it. This may be one where it actually happens, but it is so rare that those guys actually pull the trigger on trades, you know, this high up in the draft.

[Alex Spears]

My. My hope is, because this talent is the way it is, that teams. Boards are so different all over the place, that teams see insane value. Oh, you know, Donovan Klingon's there at 5. Memphis, we have to move up. That's the number one player on our board, and we can trade up with Detroit to five and draft him. You know, like, whoever it is, it's going to be where the tear breaks are and all of those. I think every team's boards across the league are looking extremely different, and maybe people just stay home and draft the guy they want or maybe they find value in moving up. I'm hoping so, because that just makes more chaos and content on draft night.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

Draft nights. Draft nights, I guess.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah. Draft nights. Yeah. That's going to be different. That's. That's going to be. It's going to be interesting. Let's move on to number three. So we have Alex Argo, number one. Donovan Clingan going number two. Let's go, number three to the Houston Rockets, which is where, like, I think the volatility, like, really starts to begin with Houston. Fred. Let's just talk about where they are first of all. Like, they. 1. They jumped up six spots, and this is not their own pick. The Thunder actually owned the Rockets pick. This is the pick that they got from the Nets in the James Harden deal. But they're in this spot because they got really lucky. Where do you see Houston right now heading into the draft?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I would not be surprised if they traded this pick.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

At all. I'm not saying they definitely will, but I am saying they definitely will canvass the league to see what they could get. I don't think they are going to draft on draft night at number three without knowing who they could have had for this pick. They really want to be good next year and they wanted to be good this year. I think they fell a little bit short of their goals. They wanted to be able to get into the play in tournament, but it was positive steps. Like they. They played like adults this year. You know, they were, to me, the ultimate. Two years ago, the ultimate Houston Rockets stat was not that they were winning fewer than 20 games every year. The ultimate one was that two years ago they actually led the league in offensive rebound rate. And the reason they led the league in offensive rebound rate was not because they were a really good offensive rebounding team. They were the only team in the league that did well in offensive rebounding because they just decided what if we just all run after the ball like we're a bunch of golden retrievers. By no coincidence, they had the worst transition defense for two straight years anybody's ever seen from a bunch of players who are actually paid to play basketball. It was a disaster. And you can be really good at offensive rebounding and be really good at transition defense. It's a myth that you can't. You absolutely can. However, when you're constantly running in the opposite direction of transition defense after every single possession, you probably won't fare well. And they happen to get like 32% of offensive rebounds. And they justified themselves as a good offensive rebound team when they were giving everything back on the other end. This year's team at least played with discipline. All of a sudden, all those nonsensical mess ups that they had this past year. The transition defense went from disastrous to legitimately good. The rebounding got better. Sengun makes a huge leap. I think they are ready to. They feel like they're ready to bring in somebody else who's big time. We know that they've had interest in Mikhail Bridges. They have a decision coming up with Jalen which the. With Jalen Green, who's extension eligible and is in a very interesting extension eligible situation because if they extend him, they're not going to be able to trade him this summer and they might want to use him as a key piece in a big trade that brings in another big name. They have a bunch of picks they can trade. They have those Nets picks that they can trade. They have other picks that they can trade. They can make a legitimate offer for someone like Bridges or for someone like Donovan. Mitchell, if he were to become available or somebody else, I, I, I think they're shopping free. I really do. And I think any kind of move is, it's on the table if it means bringing in a really good player who can help them.

[Apple Card Ad]

Right now, let's talk about who's available here. Reed Shepard is kind of a popular name because of the shooting. I think there's, there he makes the most sense to me. I don't know if that's how you feel.

[Alex Spears]

Bryce no. 100. Like I, I try to think outside the box. I try not to just go with, hey, this is, this is what everybody's saying. I like to give other options, you know, to me, you know, Risa Shay again is still the best player on my board. I don't see where he gets playing time in Houston because of the wings they have and the young talent they have. I don't think this is a great spot for Ron Holland. I will say this. If Fred and you want to execute this. Mikhail Bridges to Houston trade. Ron Holland may be my pick for the Nets because if I'm the Nets, I'm swinging for a grand slam and you know, trying to go yard. And to me, that is Ron Holland in this draft. He has the, the potential to be a two way bucket getter and defender on the other end of the floor. But I don't think that's something Houston needs to do. Reed shepherd is my next player and I think he not only can play off of some of these guys, he could also be the heir apparent to Fred Van Vliet eventually. I think him playing with a man, Thompson, long term makes a lot of sense. We had someone viewing the other day that said he doesn't make sense with Jalen Green. I get it. Houston has a lot of talented players. You're not going to draft somebody that doesn't somewhat step on the toes of somebody else already on the roster.

[Apple Card Ad]

You have a trade, Fred.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So here's a Bridges trade. Mikhail Bridges goes to Houston. Houston sends back Jalen Green, Steven Adams for salary purposes. For what it's worth, the Nets have a really big trade exception. They could slide one of those guys into the trade exception, create like a $12 million trade exception as well. And Houston could conceivably send them the number three pick in the draft, the 2025 Nets pick that they own, the 2028 Nets pick that they own, and they could trade them swaps if they wanted to. I don't know if that's enough. I genuinely don't know if The Nets are this dead set on, you have to compete and you have to be prepping for bringing in the star, and the star has to play next to Mikel Bridges. Then I don't know if that's enough because to my knowledge there have been talks between Houston and Brooklyn about Mikhail Bridges, but to my knowledge, I've never heard of anything that actually has any amount of traction. I've heard teams calling Brooklyn about Mikhail Bridges, and they kind of all say they have the same response. But at some point, if Brooklyn keeps losing and Bridges has two years left starting this next season, and he's a free agent in 2026, at some point you got to be like, well, he can leave for nothing in 2026. Let's see what we can do. And it's going to be a lot less than the, you know, four unprotected firsts that they were reportedly offered at one point shortly after acquiring him. So, like, we'll see how it goes and we'll see if they have like a come to Jesus point at some point. But as of now, I have not heard anything that indicates, like, the Nets are down to do something like this.

[Apple Card Ad]

What about this trade with the number three pick, Jabari Smith, Jayson Tate, the number three for Lowry, Market in and number 10. So if you're Utah, you get the third pick overall. You get to decide, like, hey, we really like whoever is here up at the top, you get Jabari Smith, you get a forward that can really help you. And then if you're the Rockets, you want to be better next year, you put Markanen next to Sengun, the guy, he would find so many great shots for Lowry, Markkanen, it would be insane. And you have these like two seven footers. Markkanen is a much better defender. I think he could help them. And Markkanen is. Is a guy that mostly is like catch and shoot and like really operates playing off ball, kind of running around, getting great shots. And I think he would help Houston's offense so much and he's extension eligible. Houston would probably gladly give him that extension. And then if you're Utah, you actually get to pick a direction because they've been kind of sitting in the middle. They've had to tank their way to the ninth pick twice because they traded a pick to the Thunder that's top 10 protected. And it's been honestly kind of disastrous for them because they've been just good enough for people to say, like, hey, good job, Jazz. And just bad enough to get the ninth pick. Every year. If that's where you're operating from every single year. It's so hard to build a really good team. But this is like a good reset. You get the third pick, you get a guy who was just picked at the top of the draft in Jabari Smith. And maybe this is too much for Houston at this point. Maybe Houston's just like, yeah, we're not giving that much up for Lowry. But I just could not. I was trying to think of a fair trade for marketing.

[Alex Spears]

That's only seven spots for Lowry. Right. Like, that's seven spots. I mean, I'm not trying to discredit. Jason Tate is a quality rotation player somewhere in there, but essentially it's dropped seven spots for the. Whatever. How much ever better Lowry is than Jabari Smith Jr. Right. I didn't miss anything else. Correct.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, that's it.

[Alex Spears]

Is that good value for Lowry? Fred?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I was going to say I think Utah would probably want more. I think Utah, especially knowing how Danny Ainge operates. Danny Ange isn't going to make a fair deal. Danny Ange is going to make a deal that's going to leave you on the floor, anemic, crying, curled up in the fetal position.

[Apple Card Ad]

What about no number? What about no number 10 then? Like, what if, like the deal was like, we'll do that. It's jabari Smith, Jayshawn Taten 3 just for marketing. No. 10.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I. I think and Bryce could speak to this more intelligently than I could. I think based on the reputation of this draft, they would probably prefer a like one of the Brooklyn Future picks.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Than that pick. I think that would probably be more. I think they get a lot for Markkanen's coming into an expiring year, but he is a really good player. And Andrew, you nailed it with how good he is off the ball. When you said him with Houston, you know the first thing I thought, the big, big pick and rolls with him and Shen that you could run in any order, could run it with marking and screening. Marketing could run it with Shangoon screening. And the playmaking you could get off of that stuff would be so unbelievably difficult to. To guard. I think one of the interesting things with Houston, though, is they kind of have this. They're gonna get to this point where they're gonna have to realize, figure out exactly what they're gonna do with Sengun. And I think part of the reason why, and this is me putting two and two together. This is not like a source told me explicitly, this is why they're interested in Bridges, but I think one of the reasons why, just putting together context clues, they would be interested in Mikhail Bridges is because if Sengun is your center, you're going to have to deal with the fact that you just don't have a guy locking down the paint in closing time. And you need to make up for that with incredible wing defense. And one way you can make up for no rim protection is just don't ever let anyone get to the rim to begin with. And so that's why, like, there's no way that Dylan Brooks would be in a trade for Mikhail Bridges. You want to pair those guys together, you want to have Fred Van V there and you want to just be crazy physical and just have unbelievable ball pressure on the wings and great guys guarding cutters. So that way it makes Sengun's life a little easier. I think if you use those resources to go get Lowry Marketen, who's not a bad defender, but he's not necessarily a lockdown down guy on the perimeter and he's also not a rim protector at a big position. I think you leave yourself vulnerable to just not saying you're not going to be good, you'll be good and you'll be better than you were the year before. But when it's nut cutting time, when you reach the point of like, okay, well, now we're at 47 wins and we really want to figure out a way to get to 53. We want to figure out a way to be top three now. Now we've been top six in the conference for two years and we want to be a title contender. That's when it becomes tough. And I think they kind of realize like, Sengun is awesome, but he is a specific kind of player who requires certain role players around him to fill in his voids. Whereas you could also just move on from Sengun and get a ton for him. And I don't expect that to happen this summer at all. However, I do think it's something that if they were to make a move for a marketing type of guy and that's where they place their resources, I do think that's a question that would probably pop up for them at some point in the next few years. Like, is this viable not to be good with, but just to take it to the next level and be a consistent title contender with.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Alex Spears]

Are we sure we want to sell on any of these young guys just yet? And I realize we're not selling them for nothing. Jabari Smith Jr. Had a much better second year than his rookie year. And Jabari Smith Jr. Was something I was in, someone I was in insanely high on in that draft. I'm not saying he's going to be Larry market in or he's better than Larry. I'm not saying that I'm not crazy. I'm just saying there's part of me that would rather see another year from these young guys before I have to make a decision on which one I put in a trade for Mikel Bridges, Larry Markin and whoever to make sure it's the right one. Am I crazy there, Fred, Andrew, or like, do they need to do it?

[Andrew Schlicht]

No, no, you're not crazy at all. They don't, they definitely don't need to do it now. It just seems like they would like to do it now if they can find something good. And I'm with you. I, I should have mentioned Jabari Smith. He was good this year. He got way better. And he can guard too. And he's, he can guard the perimeter. He can guard down low. Like he's the kind of guy. Well, if he develops into what he can and it started to look like this year that's exactly what's going to happen. And if he's gonna drain, he was 36 from three on five attempts a year, five attempts a game, and he's good enough to where you have to guard him. If he can get up to even more consistent from beyond the three, he's still really young. If he can really piece together defensively and be able to guard wings, guards and bigs and if he can switch on to anyone, that's the kind of guy who you would love next to someone like Sengun all of a sudden, like, that's perfect. He shoots, he play, makes a little, he guards a million positions. He can guard the rim a little bit. Like, that is a perfect guy to have next to him. So I, I, I generally am of the, of the feeling when it comes to team building that I just don't want to speed up my timeline if I don't, if I don't have to. But I don't work for Tillman Fertitta.

[Apple Card Ad]

So, yeah, that was like my motivation and is like, yeah, I think, I think I would rather hold. But I also wouldn't have signed Fred Van Vliet and Dylan Brooks either. You know, like, those aren't, those weren't things that I would have done because they have a lot of young guys that need development that are not going to get it because they want to Be good now. And especially in this Western Conference, there. There's just no guarantees, like, of who's getting in, you know, because the. The west is going to be even crazier next year because Memphis should be. Should be back in. I think Houston's going to be better. I think Houston will be better no matter what. No matter if they make a trade or not, Houston's going to be better. And so trying to get into the playoffs is going to be so difficult. And so I think making risky trades for older players and trading your younger guys is probably just not wise.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So before we move on to number four, I want to ask Bryce. So number four is the Spurs. They have number four. They have number eight. Any chance it would be advisable for them to look into packaging those two together to move up to 1, 2, or 3? Is there anybody who you see is like, that guy could be 1, 2, or 3, and, oh, my goodness, if only he were a spurt.

[Alex Spears]

No, I don't think so. The only thing that I just think is fun is them drafting Alex Saar and watching teams try to score on Victor Wembanyama and Alex Sar on the defensive end of the floor because they would just cover so much ground and so much space. And with the offensive player that Vick already is and what Saar could be down the road, you actually could make that work offensively, but I don't think I would do that. And I just don't think that there's anywhere else, anybody else that just like Zachary Richache is about to fall into their laps right here. And so, you know that that would be a guy that would be exciting anyway. So I think if I'm them, I just stand pat for now. I don't have a guy that I just think is the absolute perfect fit.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

So I would say, Andrew, if we don't make a trade, the Rockets take Shepherd. If either of the two trades in any sort of capacity happens, I would probably look at Ron Holland. Although if Jalen Green went to Brooklyn, I would take Zachary Risa, Shea. So I don't know where you want to go, because that's three different names I just threw at you.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, I think Shepard makes the most sense. I think they. They need to add shooting. Like, overall, they need to add shooting to their roster. And Reed shepherd is. I think he's the best shooter in this draft. I think that. Oh, yeah, that he. And he makes a ton of sense, too. If. If, like, you are bought into kind of having these, bringing up these young guys, you know, all together. I think Reed's like such a good player to kind of link this team together. And then also just more shooting off of Sengun the better.

[Alex Spears]

I think another thing I like about Reed and Houston is they're not going to ask him to be the main point of attack defender, where he's going to struggle because of his size, but he's really good off the ball, covering ground with his athleticism, contesting shots, active hands. And I think in Houston, he could do that. He could go guard the second or third best perimeter player and play that role as opposed to the primary point attack defender, where he may be asked to do that for other teams.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah. And Van Vliet's like such a great mentor.

[Alex Spears]

Yes.

[Apple Card Ad]

As well.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Apple Card Ad]

So I like that. All right, we got to get this moving a little bit faster because we're through three picks and we're on like a game theory pace right now.

[Alex Spears]

I was gonna say, like, we are about to crush game theory and I'm gonna have to stop giving Sam such a hard time. I told you with my rec. I had to tell him the other day how much my daughter hates him because every time I record with him, she rolls her eyes and because she knows it's three hours before she's gonna see her dad again.

[Apple Card Ad]

Right. Let's kind of fire through some of these picks.

[Alex Spears]

We can do that.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah. Yeah. Let's go. Let's go to the spurs at 4.

[Alex Spears]

I would take Risa Shea here.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, yeah, I think that makes sense. I think they would be elated to have him drop to them at this spot. Just to have, I mean, more shooting him on around women. Yama makes so much sense. Fred, are there any trades, like for the spurs either at 4 or at 8 that makes sense to you?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I don't think so. I mean, this team is young. It's still getting better. If they want to try to bring in a veteran presence, they want to try to bring in a point guard, they could use cap room. They could go after Tyus Jones. They could make a trade elsewhere. I don't see them at this point in their development trying to trade number four for something that could help right now. Or number eight, for that matter.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Unless, I guess the only way it's possible is if they are just, you know, so unbelievably unenthused with what's around it. For that, they trade down or something like that, which is impossible to guess right now.

[Apple Card Ad]

The Pistons at 5, which is a familiar phrase for Pistons fans because you're you're three with a fifth pick. I am so intrigued to see what the Pistons do because they obviously have new management coming in. You have all these draft picks that have not all worked out well for them and now it's like, okay, what do we think Trajan Langdon thinks of this roster? Like, what does he think about these guys? And I don't know if we'll even he he may just make a pick at five and then we'll learn other things later. Or we could learn pretty quickly what he thinks about these guys. Bryce, what's your feel for what's going to happen here?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, I don't know. It's good for content creation, I can tell you that much. The Pistons keep things interesting and the fan base is strong even for a 14 win team. That's what makes this pick hard is they have so much cap space. You don't know how he feels about Jay Nivey, Jalen Duran, Asar Thompson. And so it'd be like, you know, Ron Holland's the best player on my board. I think he could make sense there, but he doesn't help the spacing issue. Well, maybe there's a plan in free agency to help the spacing issue. Or I could take Dalton Connect, who helps the spacing issue but doesn't help the defensive issues. Well, maybe in free agency they can solve some of the defensive issues. So I don't know what they think they're going to be able to do in free agency or trades if they're going to consolidate some of these young guys. So that's what makes it hard. I think that's why a lot of like if Risa Shea fell to 5, it would be a home run for the Pistons. That should be what they should be praying for. I will say on game theory, we traded this, we traded back to eight and San Antonio actually traded up and took Steph Castle and then I took dalton connect at 8 and I kind of like that. Since they're staying here though, I'll take a guy that I'm really nervous about, but I think could potentially check the both of those boxes and that's Matas Buzelis and I don't think Mata should have went to the ignite. I don't think that was a good decision for him. I am very nervous about how well he shoots the ball, but I think he's a pretty good defender. He's long, can weak side rim protect, play as the low man on the ball. He's going to get beat, but he can recover and Use his length, dribbles it, passes it a little bit. I don't know whether he shoots it or not. If he does, this is a great ends up being a great pick. If he doesn't, it's another non shooter to add to a core of non shooters.

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Fred, what are you, what are your thoughts on the Pistons sense?

[Andrew Schlicht]

It's very hard to get an idea because Troy Weaver's gone and Trajan Langdon's in and we don't quite know exactly what it's going to be like. You know, you heard all the noise before they made the change in the front office that they were going to try to use their cap space and maybe sign Tobias Harris, maybe go after Miles Bridges. I, I don't know how much that changes now that Trajan Langdon's there.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

One thing that I have my eye on just because it's somebody who they had contact with during the regular season is if a push happens with Dejante Murra, I wonder if that's someone they go after. I wonder if there's just like number five and Jaden Ivy for Dejounte Murray. They have 60 million in cap room and I don't know how much the appetite is for them to just use that cap room as a way to just take on bad contracts and add assets there. I mean just going off of James Edwards's reporting, he is, he has written and James is the best there is and yeah, it the best and. And he is, he has written. You know that that's not the expectation for this summer. The expectation for this summer was you're gonna clear cap space, you're going to attach second rounders to get off of Marvin Bagley. You're going to clear 60 ish million dollars in cap room and the expectation is not. You're going to now just like absorb Joe Harris and take on a rogue second rounder in order to do it with that cap room you're going to go actually acquire someone good and that could be with free agency or it could be in a trade where you just don't have to give out a lot of salary and worry about matching salaries. And I wonder if dejante is a guy like I, I mean Bryce would. This is right in your wheelhouse is the Pistons. This is like what, what if it's what, what if. I have no idea. To be clear, what Trajan Legden thinks of Jaden Ivy, I have no idea. But Ivy and Cunningham and Dejante doesn't make a ton of sense.

[Alex Spears]

No.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So let's say Ivy and number five for Dejante Marie. What would your reaction be to something like that?

[Alex Spears]

I would get it. Listen, I'm a little bit more of a Jaden Ivy fan than some. I think when you have a guy that can put pressure on the rim, the Jade Nivey does. That's a pretty valuable skill in today's NBA. He also has struggled to shoot the ball. He's also struggled on the defensive end. And so I would understand it. My opinion is it doesn't seem like the organization values him the same way I do. And, you know, they're probably right because they see him every single day. And so getting in somebody as talented as Murray makes a lot of sense to me. This is a 14 win team. They don't need to build a championship perfect roster this off season. Just raising the bar would be a really nice step. My biggest thing is, like, do Murray and Cade play well together? Because I do think Cade wants to play on the ball a lot. And does Dejante want to play off of Cade the way he had to play off of Trey? I don't know, but I have an appetite for that. In the same way, I don't think Brandon Ingram's a great fit, Fred, but I have an appetite to bring him in because, again, it raises the bar. And what it really does, guys, it allows people to slot into roles that they need to be in. Who's the second best player on Detroit? Exactly. We have no idea. And so now Marcus Sasser. We have Marcus Sasser trying to be the second scorer on this team. And that Simone Fontechio is the dude that looks the best on the Pistons. You know why? Because he gets to play in the role that Simone Fontechio should be playing in and not a role above what he should be playing in. So I have an appetite for these ideas.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Dude, that is the most depressing sentence that's ever been said on this podcast. Simone Fontechio looks like the best player on the. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I am whis. I am misquoting you, my friend. And I am happily spreading propaganda that is Simone Fontechio looks like the best player in the NBA on the Pistons is your exact quote. And that is. That is really something. I don't care how you phrased it, to be honest. That is. That is the most depressing thing that's ever been said on this podcast. Should we move on to six?

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, let's go to six. It has to be Stefan Castle, right?

[Andrew Schlicht]

It's The Hornets.

[Alex Spears]

Or Ron Holland.

[Apple Card Ad]

Or Ron Holland. Okay, well, give me the, give me the, the pitch for, for Holland over Castle.

[Alex Spears]

For the Hornets, Holland would be just the excitement of the offense transition. You have floor spacers and Lamello ball and Brandon Miller that can make up for his lack of shooting. Castle obviously has shooting questions as well.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

Do you need that upside swing? Because there's a chance that Ron Holland ends up being former Piston Hamadu Diallo. Like that's, that's, that's potentially what Ron Holland ends up being. Or do you take what I think is. Take. Excuse me. What is probably the safer pick in Steph Castle, Better point of attack, defender. I talked about all that earlier. Better connective tissue, all of those type of things. Andrew, for the sake of your sanity, I will gladly take Stefan Castle here.

[Apple Card Ad]

I just love the idea of him in between Lamelo and Brandon Miller as like, makes sense. I just love that idea. Like, you have great passing throughout the roster. You can play with kind of this rhythm and flow. And I think, I think people forget how good Lamelo is too. And I think like Castle could really help him. I think that he, he could help him with some, some of the ball handling duties. He could help him with the defensive stuff. And you also have like these. Now you have this backcourt that's like both like 6 foot 7. Like that's pretty unusual. And so I really, I really like that for the Hornets. Any notes on the Hornets, Fred?

[Andrew Schlicht]

New management, new ownership, Jeff Peterson taking over?

[Apple Card Ad]

Yep.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I think they're going to want to take their first pick and they just need to add young talent. They've got cap space. I would say the most likely way they use their cap space is to try to just take in bad contracts and gather some assets because they could use it. They're a candidate potentially to Bruce Brown somebody. Somebody I was talking to in the league suggested them to me as like a candidate to Bruce Brown somebody. But I, I think the most likely way they use their cap space is probably. There are so many teams that are going to be in the first apron and want to get out of it or second apron and want to get out of it or at least get a little bit lower and closer to it and save themselves a lot of money, resources, whatever. It's going to be really easy if you're a team with cap space to take on an unwanted contract and get like a price might be a first round pick this summer in order to do some of that kind of stuff. So I think this is the summer to do it and I could, I could see them, I could see Jeff Peterson doing that.

[Apple Card Ad]

Let's go, let's go. With Castle at six so so far the top six. Alex Saar to the Hawks, clinging to the Wizards, shepherd to the Rockets, Risache to the Spurs, Bazellas to the Pistons, Castle to the Hornets. Let's go to the Blazers who sit at 7. Who do you like here?

[Alex Spears]

Bryce Dalton. Connect. This is one I had months ago and got absolutely crushed because I was a little earlier on. Dalton, connect. He was one of my guys in this draft.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

And people didn't like it at the time. People have warmed up to it since I did have somebody bring up the other day that essentially you have a bunch of non defenders now in Portland with, you know, Scoot's not known for his defense. Shane's not known for his defense. Simon's not known for his defense. Dalton connect. Not known for his defense. Yeah but you might score a whole bunch of points which would be a lot of fun to watch. And the Blazers may be in a position right now where that's good enough. Dalton connect. Big time score. Big time. Floor spacer, older prospect has had an awesome journey to this spot where he went through juco, then Northern Colorado, then transferred to Tennessee and really burst onto the scene. As a former juco player myself, I have a soft spot for juco players so he's one of my guys in this class. He can really score it. More athletic than you would guess. Dalton connects.

[Apple Card Ad]

Freddie, thoughts on the Blazers?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I don't think there's anything they can really do like they're not going to use number seven to get off of Jeremy Grant's contract. They're just going to let that sit because they're not in a cap situation to where like they need to get off of his $32 million a year. I wonder how much they would want to bring in another guard who doesn't necessarily defend. Just because I know there is some worries there about like okay, Scoot really wasn't just that exclude actually I thought had some decent defensive moments during his rookie year. He's, he's strong in the chest, he could defend, he plays hard and I could see him getting in, I could see him getting into guys defensively and be more physical at the point of attack, being good around screens, all that kind of stuff. But there's concern there with like him and Shaden Sharp and Anthony Simons and oh man, do we just have like a worse McCollum and Lillard situation? That's budding here. And, and one thing that I that I wonder, and this is what was so interesting, was the way they as an organization reacted to the season that Kamara had this year. Ritumani Kamara was just this really good defensive rookie and they had this reaction of like, damn, he's so important just because he's so good and versatile defensively right off the bat. And I wonder if with that group they already have, if they wouldn't just be more prone to looking more in that direction. Now if that direction doesn't exist, that' that's something else. But I think they might also be getting to a point where it's like, all right, we paid Simons a hundred million dollars. We're, we're going through scoot. Let's see how he develops in year two where he really, he really struggled as a rookie and, and Shaden Sharp really seems like he's going to be somebody you want to tie yourself to long term because he's such an incredible talent. But like is this viable having this many guys who can't guard? We saw what happened before. Maybe we need to make some sort of change here, but I don't see them like moving off of seven in order to do it.

[Alex Spears]

So real quick, Andrew, if that's under that context, I think Ron Holland would be more in play here than what we talked about because Ron Holland could be that level of defender. He just doesn't space the floor very well right now.

[Apple Card Ad]

Let's go. Ron Holland. I think it makes sense to like just take another swing there for them too.

[Alex Spears]

Perfect.

[Apple Card Ad]

Because they need to, they need to find their way at some point and need to need to develop these guys. Eight to the Spurs. We've kind of talked through the Spurs a little bit already. Who do you like for the spurs here?

[Alex Spears]

I would take Topic here. Topic is a guy that at 4, at one point I was taking for the Spurs. I think this makes you give them a. At the. I think at the very least, Nikola Topic is a ball screen, pick and roll point guard that's a maestro that uses eye manipulation, has good size, all of those things. I think the shooting touch could be better. We don't know what the knee situation is entirely. I mean I don't anyway. I don't have that type of intel. But I think Nikola Topichira, 8 is a real great pick for the spurs and I like this draft for them with Topic and Zachary Risa Shea. I think this ends up being really nice for them staying at 4 and 8.

[Apple Card Ad]

The Memphis Grizzlies who are in an interesting spot.

[Alex Spears]

I hate this so much.

[Apple Card Ad]

I, I mean they're going to be a much better team next year. Like they just are. They're going to get John Morant back. This is going to be a good team. Now I think for them, I think it's about finding somebody that can help you right away, that can contribute right away. I'm kind of with you. I'm looking at who's left?

[Alex Spears]

Devin Carter. Devin Carter. I mean, yeah. Okay. Fred. Do they need a wing floor spacer like Dalton connect? Like we just. That doesn't really play much defense. Like maybe they're. What are the chances Luke Canard gets moved in some sort of move for some reason? Is that something that's possible this summer?

[Andrew Schlicht]

Well, here's what I'll say about Luke Canard. Tons of teams who don't have Luke Canard always want Luke Canard. And basically whatever team has Luke Canard is always down to trade Luke. And that's what I'll say about Luke Canard. He tends to fall out of rotations in important moments. Moments. So I think, I think they would be down to move Luke Canard. I can say with Memphis for sure. Like they view themselves as like they will be right back at it next year. They're like there was the jaw suspension, there was the jaw injury, there were all the other injuries even right off the bat. It's like Stephen Adams doesn't play all year and then they trade him when he's injured just for like salary reasons and Brandon Clark gets hurt before the season starts and can't go and it's like Marcus Smart has an injury riddled season. They just. Ban is dealing with injuries. Like they, they feel like they are going to jump forward and be really good again next year. They like to draft guys they're not big on. We're gonna use this pick and try to bring in a good role player. Like they'll use their picks and, and try to draft players who they believe they can develop because they have a ton of faith in their player development system internally. But, but they, they think they're, they think they're good. I don't know if, I don't know if Luke Canard would prevent them from drafting a shooter if they really liked that shooter. I'll put it that way.

[Alex Spears]

Okay, let me throw out three options in and then you guys can make. So it's either connect Devin Carter who gives them. I think both of these guys are ready to play because they're older. Carter Is a, you know, the defender can space the floor a little bit, play a little bit on ball and second units or a trade that Sam and I came up with was actually trading this to Toronto for Jakob Portal. And Purdle comes in and plays that five spot for them that right now is missing if they don't have some other plan to fill that role. So if we're keeping the pick, I would say Connect or Devin Carter. Those would be the. The two.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yeah.

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I think Connect. If you're Memphis, I think you just need shooting also that. I mean they have Marcus Smart.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, that's my hold up with Devin Carter as well. For what it's worth, he kind of.

[Apple Card Ad]

Occupies that space as like a smaller like defender and.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yep, they love Marcus Smart. Yeah, they love Marcus Smart.

[Alex Spears]

Let's do Connected.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, let's go connect. Number 10, the Utah Jazz. I think this is an interesting spot for Utah. I think they could go in a lot of different directions. I don't know that they're really just like set at a particular position moving forward. Maybe if they do give this extension to market, then he's going to be their power forward. But I don't necessarily see them set at like 1 through 3. And so I think you have options here. Where would you go, Bryce?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, I think Cody Williams is probably the name that sticks out just as a wing, a potential two way wing for them. Bub Carrington is a name that is really interesting to me because of his size and I think him and Keonte would play well off of each other in that way. And so it would be one of those two guys. So I don't know. Fred, your thoughts on Utah adding a essentially kind of two way wing in Cody Williams or another backcourt? Like, do they have any sort of reason to add another young backcourt player into the fold here year?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I think if Utah uses this pick, they're going to take whoever they think is the best player.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I don't think they're in a position to where they feel like, oh, we shouldn't draft that guy. Like they like Keonte George, he had a really encouraging rookie year. Colin Sexton honestly has become a really underrated player.

[Alex Spears]

I think he's solid. Right. Am I crazy for kind of liking Colin Sexton?

[Apple Card Ad]

No.

[Andrew Schlicht]

No, you're not. I don't know why everyone just kind of decided to just on Colin Sexton, but everyone decided to just on Colin Sexton and that was it. And we talk sometimes, we pick players and we're like, well, I guess there's we will give up on that guy and pretend like he's never able to get better at all. Colin Sexton's young and got way better. His decision making on drives is way better. He'll find guys. He's like really good at creating corner threes now. He didn't used to be able to do that. He's also efficient as hell. He's like a really efficient scorer. Like Con Sexton's good, but Sexton's got. What, what's the contract situation with Sexton? He's, he's expiring 2026 and he's going to be unrestricted and Jordan Clarkson is expiring 2026 and he's going to be unrestricted. And chances are you're not going to be competitive if you're Utah next year. And you might have to seriously look at training those guys and that's when you've got kind of your young guys coming up. So I, I would not at all. Okay. Expect them to say, we have Colin Sexton, we have Jordan Clarkson, and thus we can't draft this guy who we think is the best. Or I should say, I wouldn't think they should do that.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

All right. So Andrew, Devin, Carter, Bub Carrington, Cody Williams. Those are the three guys that I would like have at the my top three in this spot.

[Apple Card Ad]

Then I feel like Cody's the biggest swing. Right.

[Alex Spears]

I would agree. Like, I've had people tell me, Bryce, you're too hard on Cody Williams. He was battling through these injuries like he's, he's better than what he's shown. My thing with Cody was I didn't love Cody coming out of high school.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

And then it carried over into college. So it's not just the college evaluation. But of course there's a chance. Like he did shoot 40 from three, even though it was on crazy low volume. He has the best touch of all the players we've talked about so far. Like around the rim, the floater. The touch is really good. Some of the finishing. If he gets stronger, he doesn't have to be J Dub strong. But if he gets stronger, then he really is impactful on both ends. So I, I, I, I like that for Utah.

[Apple Card Ad]

Chicago, who hasn't made a trade ever, maybe ever, ever.

[Alex Spears]

Right. In the history of the organization and never when people say they should at the deadline or predict they're gonna blow it up and then look like idiots when they don't blow it up. They would never do that.

[Apple Card Ad]

It's so strange. There's Been like Devin Carter rumors for them that I think, I mean it, they seem to have a type, you know, when it comes to player. Fred, what is your thoughts on, on this team where you start to just like hear rumors a little bit about them, just like wanting to run it back. So, you know, let's just do that again. Like things were, things are pretty good. Let's just do that. That team again. Just like, I just don't, I just don't get it.

[Andrew Schlicht]

The Pistons and the Bulls in the same podcast. Andrew, you trying to kill me? Yeah, I mean, look, they were not active at the trade deadline. They, they were fielding calls, but they weren't active. I mean, I know teams that called about Alex Caruso hoping to be able to land Caruso, and I couldn't even tell you exactly what the price was for Caruso because I don't believe they ever got to a point where they were close enough to even saying a price. Like I, I think if you offered two first round picks for Caruso, then they weren't saying yes. And to be clear, I don't think they were offered like two picks that were both likely to be number one and unprotected and all that. I don't think that was the case. But they never got an offer for Caruso that I even considered looking at and they were pretty, pretty much swatting away offers for him before. I think they're going to try to resign DeMar DeRozan this summer. They took him to free agency and I think they're going to try to resign him this summer. I think they're going to at least offer him the most money and then it's going to be up to Demar if he wants to take less money and maybe have a better chance at winning or resign and maybe get paid a similar salary and continue averaging 20 some odd a game with the Bulls. I don't know. I don't know, man. I assume they're just gonna kind of run it back and do their own thing and they're going to try to figure out they got Patrick Williams who's restricted and they, they kind of have to re sign Pat Williams. He was kind of their, their brightest spot of the young guys from this past season. He was good for them this year. He really, really proved to be a really, a really nice player for them. I, I, I guess, I guess, I guess, I guess Kobe White is, is the other bright spot for them. Yeah, yeah, massively improved and yeah, would have had my most improved vote if I had one. I Just thought he, he got so much better. It was so fun to watch. But with the Bulls I feel like run it back thing they, I know the Bulls never make trades but it would make sense for them to trade number 10 for a role player if they could. I don't know what the trade is. I don't think you can call up Washington and try to trade like salary and number 10 for Denny Abdia. I don't think Washington does that. I don't think that's good enough volume, that's good enough value for Abdia who's on a team friendly deal right now. Makes about mid level exception money. I, I, maybe You trade number 10 for a role player and you're just like we're running it back baby. Plus, plus a solid 7 million dollar role player. I, I, I don't know, I don't know.

[Apple Card Ad]

Who, who would you take here, Bryce?

[Alex Spears]

I mean Devin Carter's the best player on my board. I think the difference between him and Bub are just, you know, I think Bob plays a little more on ball, has a little more scoring juice, a little more length if you like that next to Kobe White and the Sumu I think is a factor here as well. The other thing I would just throw out. We're starting to get in the range of the two bigs I like that are dribble, pass shoot guys in an archetype I really like in Philipowski and Duron Holmes ii. If you think that you're going to move on from Vuch or you need some, you know, a third big to put in the rotation, this is starting to get the area for that. But to me it's like take Devin Carter who's really good unless you feel a different way about their roster and those names games.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, I'll put Devin Carter here.

[Alex Spears]

I like it.

[Apple Card Ad]

I think that makes sense. Okay, number 12, the Oklahoma City Thunder are up. I promised another Giddy trade. Here is the giddy trade. Number 12 and Josh Giddy for Denny Abdia and 26.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Wow, two Denny Abdia references in a row. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Alex Spears]

I like Denny Obvious a lot. Who's up? Washington. This would be Washington.

[Apple Card Ad]

We just, this would be Washington picking at 12 and they would have Josh Giddy now as their point guard. So they have Clingan and then you.

[Alex Spears]

Put Giddy at point.

[Apple Card Ad]

You think this is Fred? Do you think this is fair value?

[Andrew Schlicht]

So it's Gideon 12 for Abdia in 26. Yeah, it could be. Abdia got really good this year. He guards. He was hitting the three dropped 41 game. Danny Abdia just randomly going for 40. He's a very good passer. He's one of the best in the league at grabbing a defensive rebound. Just darting the other way like he's so fast in transition and he's become this really good distributor in those situations too. He's developed his off the dribble game, his half court game. He's become a good defender. He's still fouls too much. He would be great for the Thunder. He would be just what the Thunder could use. A big wing who's a really good rebounding wing too. Everyone talks about the Thunders rebounding problems because they were 27th or whatever it was in defensive rebound rate and they think, okay, that means they have to sign a big. But actually what you can do is you could sign a really good rebounding wing to replace someone like Giddy who's a really good rebounding guard. But a really good rebounding wing is going to be better than the really good rebounding guard and that can help you kind of improve in that area a little bit if you just chip away at it a little bit at every position. So I think, I think he would make a lot of sense for them. He's a quick decision maker. It's interesting and, and we talked about Giddy with Washington before and why that makes sense. I'm kind of into it and Washington.

[Apple Card Ad]

Gets a walk away with the second pick, the 12th pick and Giddy from the draft. Then if you're the Thunder you need a, you need a big forward like you just do. And like I think this is a.

[Alex Spears]

Hundred percent for the Thunder. I'm trying to decide if I'm Washington, who's on the board here at 12, that I would be willing to give up Denny for because it, I think it would take me liking the person here beyond getting Josh Giddy, if that makes sense. Right. Like I, I want to, like, like I would want to be in love with Tin John Saloon or whoever. You know, like if maybe they would think that Bub and Giddy could play together. Maybe, maybe they think that Daron Holmes can play enough minutes at the 4 that it would make sense to draft two bigs. I don't think that that's great value, but you know what I mean? Like that that would be the ultimate deciding factor for me if I was Washington because Denny Fred is probably a top 10 contract in the league with it descending. Is that, is that too, is that too far?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I would have to run through it in my head, but it's a good contract.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, it's a really good deal.

[Alex Spears]

It's descending as well if I'm not mistaken. Right. It's like.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yeah, yeah. They did all their contracts.

[Alex Spears]

So this dude is going to make less than $12 million in 2728. He's going to be like 66 of the MLE in 2728.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

With the way the cap goes up, that's an insane contract. He's own to me. He's only going to get more valuable whether to you or on the trade market. So I would have to love who's there at 12, I think. Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Meanwhile on the other side you're gonna have to pay Giddy because he's extension.

[Alex Spears]

That's a great point. Yeah, yeah.

[Apple Card Ad]

And he's gonna make a lot more.

[Andrew Schlicht]

You're costing yourself long term dollars. So maybe, maybe I wouldn't want to do that if only because of the finances that you point out there.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, I think that's. I think that's right. I think that's.

[Andrew Schlicht]

And there's room for more upwards trajectory for Denny. Like he's not. He's not done. Can I, can I say one thing that I think is interesting about this? The Thunder and the Wizards I believe have not made a trade since Will Dawkins took over the Thunders front office, Right?

[Apple Card Ad]

Correct.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Danny Abdia by the way, is 23 years old. So plenty of.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Plenty of room for improvement. However, they have proven to have very similar taste because Will Dawkins was one of the guys who was heavily involved in the Thunders draft process for a long time. And last year at the draft, if you remember, there's this race to get to number seven, which was the Pacers pick. And the Wizards traded one spot up, up to number seven to draft Bilal Koulibaly. And the reason why was because the Thunder were also trying to trade for number seven to draft the same guy. And the Wizards felt like they had to move up one spot because if they didn't then they were too worried that in. I don't know if it would have happened or not, but they were concerned enough that Indiana was going to trade number seven to OKC who was going to draft Kulibali. And so the Wizards ended up moving up for Koulibaly. So we've seen the Wizards and the Thunder having very similar draft interests already and it affecting the way the draft goes. So I like that we're throwing a Wizard's Thunder draft thing into this just to mix things up.

[Apple Card Ad]

So let's say the Thunder are picking at 12. Who are the guys that you like for them? Bryce?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah. I mean, honestly, Bub, again, is the name we've brought up. I think could be interesting there because he could play with Case in a second unit and then eventually, eventually, as this roster hashes out and moves on, which is ultimately going to happen over years, he could play with any of those guys. Saloon we've talked about and gets mocked there a lot. And then again, the two big. So I think Philipowski and Duron Holmes, those would be the four names at the top of my board. If I'm Oklahoma City, and I don't know that I would have anybody else outside of those four.

[Apple Card Ad]

If you're picking between Bub Carrington, who has one of the best names in the draft, and my friend Alex pointed out today that also Carlton Carrington is also a great name, too. So he's got two awesome names. If you're picking between him and Daron Holmes, who do you choose?

[Alex Spears]

No, don't do this.

[Apple Card Ad]

I have to. These are like my two guys that, like, I look at and I watch them and I say, how are both of these guys so much lower? We talked about this. Like, how did this happen?

[Alex Spears]

You know, Daron Holmes is like my guy in this class, so this is unfair. This is unfair. I think it really comes down to which one you think. Like, what do you think Oklahoma City actually needs more of? Here's what I love about Duron Holmes. I was doing some numbers today. Like, his defensive rebound percentage this last year wasn't that much lower than Zach Edie and was higher than Donovan Klingon. His defensive rebound percentage, not the raw defensive rebound numbers. Defensive rebound percentage on B ball reference, I do think he spaces the floor. I think he dribble past shoots. I think he does all of. I think Duron Holmes fits what Oklahoma City needs. And I took him above Kyle Philopowski in a recent mock that I did for the first time. And so it really would come down to, do you think they need the guard depth with Bub or do you think they need the big depth with Duron Holmes? That's what it would come down to for me.

[Apple Card Ad]

I think they need both, but I. I think I would take Bub Carrington.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Apple Card Ad]

Just because I think that they need a creator. I think it's harder. I think it's harder to find creators like, on the cheap. I think you can find a backup big man that's, you know, on the market. I think, like the Bub Carrington Guys like those, if he, if he hits, like, he's the kind of guy that doesn't really even hit the market, you.

[Alex Spears]

Know, and, and he really. I think I, I think he can really defend, which would fit in obviously, with what Oklahoma City does. Defending on the perimeter. He showed real flashes that he has. Really nice length as well.

[Apple Card Ad]

Sacramento Kings at 13.

[Alex Spears]

I have one simple question for Fred, and then that'll help make me. Is Malik Monk on this roster to start 24, 25?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I think. I think he kind of has to be.

[Alex Spears]

You don't think they get outbid, though?

[Andrew Schlicht]

They could get out bid? I think more likely than not, they don't get out bid. You look at, you look at the teams with space, and they're not necessarily Malik Monk. Teams there aren't. They're. They're. The Hornets aren't going to pay a ton to bring Malik Monk back. I mean, maybe I don't see the Pistons paying a ton to bring in Malik Monk. I don't see Orlando paying a ton to bring in Malik Monk. I think they would rather have, like a true point guard to actually run their offense in that sense, as opposed to more of a instant offense guy. Even though Monk has become a way better facilitator.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

That he was before and did a great job running the second unit. I think they just kind of have their sights set in a little bit of a different type of player. I think he might be the kind of guy who, when he hits the open market, like, there aren't a lot of teams with space this year, and I think we're gonna see a lot of guys just get squeezed down to the mid level exception. And they're going to end up having to go back to their teams and be like, okay, well, you're willing to pay me more than the mid level exception, so I'll go back here. And I think, I think that's a plausibility with Monk. I. I would say the most likely is that he's back. I do have a Kings trade, though.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I do have a King's trade. We're bringing the Wizards back into it here. Harrison Barnes and Chris duarte and number 13 for Kyle Kuzma.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, I like it.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it's a nice upgrade for them. Like, the Kings need to find a way to upgrade their roster this summer, and this is kind of a sneaky way to do that for them because I just, I look at the board, I think there are guys that could help. I think Tristan da Silva, somebody that could probably come in. It's like a big shooter.

[Alex Spears]

I asked about Malik Monk specifically because if he's. If Fred's answer would have been Malik Monk is gone, I would have really considered Rob Dillingham here. Yeah, yeah, I'm lower on Rob Dillingham than most in terms of like a lottery pick. But you start to get late lottery mid first and specific teams and he starts to make more sense for me.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, Dillingham or McCain even at that point. Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

100. Jacoby. Jacoby Walter is another guy I'm lower on, but he got invited to the draft room. So I assume that the intel is he's going to be, you know, late lottery, mid first round pick. Even though I have him a touch lower. I also think they could go bigs because, you know, your Trey Lyles had to play some center. Alex Lynch, Val McGee like those guys. So Philipowski and Daron Holmes makes sense for the Kings as well. I love this trade. Kuzma is a player. I really like Fred. He's on that descending contract, which is like, I love guys that have those contracts. And if I'm Washington here, then I would immediately take 10 John Saloon to replace that. Over time. Not right away, obviously, but over time to be the replacement for that role in position.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yeah, I think something like that could make sense. You move on from Kuzma, you kind of split up that contract. You get fewer years coming back. You get a first round pick out of it. And Sacramento's been tied to Kuzma before. Yeah, they almost got him from the Lakers before the Westbrook trade. They have talked about him since. He makes sense there. He's been sought after by there a lot. A lot of the times in the NBA. The way this stuff works is a team just. Just yearns for someone and then eventually, after all those yearnings, all that yearning, it happens. Remember how much Andrew. Remember how much Sam Presti Yearned. Yearned. Went to bed at night clutching his pillow thinking about Ronnie Price. Do you remember how much he yearned?

[Apple Card Ad]

In my head, Ronnie Price is not one of them.

[Andrew Schlicht]

And then. And then eventually, after all those years of yearning for Ronnie Price, what did he do? Sam Presti, who is. Is as brilliant, calculated and wonderful elite executive as exists in this entire league, maybe ever. Right. And then finally you can get Ronnie Price. What's he do? Oh, here's two guaranteed years for Ronnie Price. And then he got cut during training camp. Sometimes you just yearn. Sometimes you just yearn. And I'm getting yearn Vibes from the Kings and Kyle Kuzma. It's been long enough and you did.

[Apple Card Ad]

Not have to bring the samaj. Christian. Christian memories back into my brain. Fred. That's. That was evil.

[Alex Spears]

And.

[Andrew Schlicht]

And I think. I think. I think he would. I think he would make sense. I think he's an upgrade on Harrison Barnes. He's a creator. He's been part of a championship core before. You know, I think he. I think he makes. He makes sense there and it doesn't. That's the whole reason that Washington resigned him. They resigned him because they just needed to string along the asset and they can't lose him for nothing. Then at some point over the course of his contract, they trade him.

[Apple Card Ad]

This is my first trade that I'm actually approving. Let's send Saloon to the Wizards. Let's get Kuzma.

[Alex Spears]

Love it.

[Apple Card Ad]

Let's get Kuzma to the Kings. Okay. The Blazers are picking again at 14. Who do we like here to end the lottery?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, I would probably go Tristan De Silva. We went with Ron Holland earlier. I would. I still think another wing. De Silva, again, kind of that dribble pass shoot. I'm a little bit worried he. He doesn't rebound a ton. He is skinny even for his age, but very skilled. I think he's a really good off ball defender, not a great on ball defender. But ideally you may up for some of that with the pick of Ron Holland. We've talked about these bigs. I just don't know what they think about their bigs in Portland with Ayton with doo off Wreath. And so I don't know if they would want to go there. I think that they would be really upset that Saloon just went one pick before them. I think he makes a ton of sense for them. I don't think the guards like Dillingham and Collier make a lot of sense again, maybe McCain, Jacoby, Walter. I would just go to Silva here for them to finish this off.

[Apple Card Ad]

All right, let's take a quick break and after that we're going to do some trivia. Bryce, thanks so much for answering all of our questions. It's now time to play Fred versus a Friend, our weekly game show where Fred goes head to head with a friend. This time it's Bryce Simon of the Game Theory podcast and the Pistol Pulse podcast. You get two points for every question, the answer correctly, one for each question that you steal. Let's get this going. Bryce, here is your first question before this Piston.

[Alex Spears]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. I've listened to this Show a lot. Andrew. I thought I got to pick a number.

[Apple Card Ad]

We're not picking. That's. That's an Alex thing. I'm. I'm not.

[Alex Spears]

We. We changed the rules of the game.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, we're changing the rules of the game.

[Alex Spears]

For what. For what it's worth, I want everybody to know I've been having heart palpitations about playing this game for 24 hours since Andrew told me I had to play. And I am very strongly going to give this back to him when he comes on the Pistons Pulse on Monday. I. Because here's the thing. I get my butt kicked on my own podcast playing trivia, so. All right, sorry I delayed the start of the game.

[Apple Card Ad]

Let's go before this embarrassing Pistons rebuild. The last Pistons team to lose 25 games or less was the 2011-2012 team. And we were going to try to name all the Pistons that were on that team that played minutes. So how this is going to work? We're going to go back and forth naming a player until one of you goofs. So from the 201112 Pistons team. Bryce, give me somebody that played any minutes for that team.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, I was hoping we were going to stay with draft because as, like, I just started doing pissing stuff like four years ago, so this is definitely not my strong suit.

[Apple Card Ad]

There's some names.

[Alex Spears]

2011. Let's go. Tayshawn Prince still on the team in 2011. 2012.

[Apple Card Ad]

Sean Prince was on the team.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Fred, this is tough. That was the lockout year.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Trying to think.

[Apple Card Ad]

This is. This is a transition time for the Pistons.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Greg. Greg. Greg Monroe.

[Apple Card Ad]

Greg Monroe was on that team. Third most minutes on the team. Back to you, Bryce.

[Alex Spears]

Brandon Knight.

[Apple Card Ad]

Brandon Knight played the most minutes on the Pistons that year. Fred, back to you.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Wasn't that the year DeAndre Jordan dunked on him?

[Alex Spears]

Oh, that was.

[Apple Card Ad]

He just ended him.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yep. Or maybe that was the next one.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, I felt so bad for Brandon Knight because he also. Who threw the ball off his head in the.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Kyrie.

[Alex Spears]

Kyrie threw the ball of his head in the. What was it called then? It wasn't rookie sophomore game. It was called something different, but Rising stars. The rising stars. Yeah. And Kyrie threw the ball off his head.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yep. Which I hate. Because stars. Stars don't rise. They're in space. They. They collect space dust and grow. They don't rise. It should be the collecting space dust.

[Apple Card Ad]

Fred, you're stalling.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I'm not stalling.

[Apple Card Ad]

Okay.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Because I know exactly who I'm gonna say.

[Apple Card Ad]

Huh?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I'm Gonna say phenomenal scorer. Who? When I was in college, I was convinced was going to be like the next 20 point a game guy. And he definitely wasn't. Rodney Stuckey.

[Apple Card Ad]

Rodney Stuckey. Fourth most minutes on that Pistons team, Bryce.

[Andrew Schlicht]

What a terrible team.

[Alex Spears]

And then we came to 2024. I only got one more name, and that's. I think Ben Gordon was on this team.

[Apple Card Ad]

Ah, Ben Gordon. 7th most minutes on the team, Fred.

[Alex Spears]

I think I'm out.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So, Fred, if Rip Hamilton was gone by then, Chauncey was in Denver. Actually, that was the year I think Chauncey went to the Knicks. If Tayshawn was there, I have no idea. I'm just gonna guess that Ben Wallace is still there.

[Apple Card Ad]

Ben Wallace was still on the team. That's right, Fred.

[Alex Spears]

So that would have been. If Fred got one and I had to come back. Ben was all I had left that I would have tried to hope that he was there for one more year.

[Apple Card Ad]

There's some Pistons legends still left here, Bryce.

[Alex Spears]

Pistons legends.

[Apple Card Ad]

Oh, yeah, Legendary. Well, not really, but there's some guys. There's certainly some guys. Some guys that played in the league for a hot minute. One that Je. Skeets would always argue he thought that this player would be a. An all star before Danny Granger. This is like one of his first, like, real takes that he put out there.

[Alex Spears]

So I have a name because I did anticipate Pistons draft stuff. And so I don't know the year for these necessarily, but I will say Austin Day. I just don't know.

[Apple Card Ad]

It is totally correct. Austin Day was on this team. Fred, back to you. He's still alive.

[Andrew Schlicht]

What a call. Oh. Oh. What am I supposed to do with this? Who played for the Pistons? Oh, you said Ben Gordon. Who signed the same summer as Ben Gordon? Someone else signed the same summer as Ben Gordon. Charlie Villanueva. Signed the same summer as Ben Gordon.

[Apple Card Ad]

Charlie Villanueva, that's right. Who could forget those iconic photo shoots from Charlie Villanueva years?

[Andrew Schlicht]

And then they weren't.

[Apple Card Ad]

Oh, it's beautiful. All right, back to you, Bryce.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I can't believe I. I got that one. I'm throwing a party for myself right now.

[Apple Card Ad]

There's five guys left that played minutes on this team.

[Alex Spears]

Listen, I'm. I'm out. I don't have. I'm gonna go back to my draft names. Kyle Singler. Am I?

[Apple Card Ad]

Oh, Kyle Singler was not on the Pistons this year. The names that are remaining, Jonas Jerepco, Jason Maxiel. Who's who? J. Skeets said Would be an All Star before Danny Granger. Damien Wilkins was on this team. Will Bynum. Y'all remember Will Bynum?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Apple Card Ad]

And Vernon Macklin were the other players. What year was on this team?

[Andrew Schlicht]

I was. I was ready to guess Tracy McGrady next, because I was wondering if it was the John Kuster Mutiny year.

[Apple Card Ad]

Oh, my gosh.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Because I couldn't remember what year that was.

[Apple Card Ad]

What a year.

[Alex Spears]

I played against Vernon Macklin in college.

[Apple Card Ad]

Oh, really?

[Alex Spears]

Should have known that one.

[Apple Card Ad]

Wow. The points go to Fred. Fred, this is your question. The Pistons are getting the fifth pick in the draft for the third year in a row since 1999. That's 25 years. There have been seven future All Stars taken in the fifth slot. Can you name four of them? You get half a point for each correct answer.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Wow. And the fifth slot? Well, that's really hard. Kevin Love was the fifth pick.

[Apple Card Ad]

Kevin Love. That's half a point, Fred.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Darius Garland was the fifth pick.

[Apple Card Ad]

Darius Garland. That's a full point, Fred.

[Andrew Schlicht]

All Stars.

[Apple Card Ad]

You said All Stars.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I said I would keep thinking, but it would be bad podcasting. So I'm out at 2.

[Apple Card Ad]

Okay. Bryce, any All Stars that you can think of?

[Alex Spears]

So Trey Young, right, Because that's the. That's the Luca trade.

[Apple Card Ad]

That's half a point point.

[Alex Spears]

And then Bosch. Bosch was five.

[Apple Card Ad]

No, Chris Bosch was not the fifth pick. Did I have it backwards?

[Andrew Schlicht]

Dwayne Wade was five.

[Apple Card Ad]

Dwayne Wade was the fifth.

[Andrew Schlicht]

When Wade was five. Bosch was four.

[Alex Spears]

Was four. I didn't count enough spots. Just count dumb on this podcast.

[Andrew Schlicht]

And. And, And. And then it really fell off for the Clippers. I grew up with Clippers fan, so I remember it being, oh, yeah. LeBron James, number one. So thrilled. Darko, number two. Dude's gonna be the greatest European savior in the league. Yeah. And then Mellow, number three. Everyone knew he's gonna be amazing. He's gonna be the sidekick to LeBron. And then Bosch, number four. Gonna be amazing. And then number five was Dwyane Wade gonna be amazing. And then it got to the Clippers, and it was like, how you feel about Chris Kamen?

[Apple Card Ad]

Chris Cayman, hey, made an All Star team.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Chris Kamen made an All Star team. I remember.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Average like 18 and 9.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Chris Kamen was a good player.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, he was a good player. The players that you missed, Darren fox was picked fifth. Devin Harris was picked fifth. DeMarcus Cousins was picked fifth. So those are the players left on the board. So now the score is a three to half a point. This next one goes to you, Bryce. The number two overall pick in the 2020 draft was James Wiseman. He has five nicknames on Basketball Reference. I'm gonna give you four nicknames, and one of them is not a basketball reference nickname for James Wiseman. Here they are. Slim Jim, Jimmy Wise, Big Ticket, or Big Jim.

[Alex Spears]

Okay, can you say him again?

[Apple Card Ad]

Slim Jim, Jimmy Wise, Big Ticket or Big Jim, Big Jim.

[Alex Spears]

Big Ticket, Big Gym. One more time.

[Apple Card Ad]

Slim Jim, Jimmy Wise, Big Ticket or.

[Alex Spears]

Big Jim, Slim Jim. This is why I got. Listen, I'm not gonna lie. I knew you guys, I knew you played this game.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

And so I, I, I, I would be lying if I didn't go through the Pistons roster. Looking at know what sucks is not very many of them have nicknames.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, they don't.

[Alex Spears]

They don't. They're the most uncool team in the league and therefore don't have very many nicknames. So I'm gonna say Slim Jim.

[Apple Card Ad]

Slim Jim is absolutely correct. Very good. Could not fool Bryce on this one.

[Alex Spears]

Because, Because Big Jim. Big Jim was one. So I like.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So hold up, hold up.

[Alex Spears]

What?

[Andrew Schlicht]

Somebody nicknamed him Big Ticket.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yes.

[Alex Spears]

Yes.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Like, gave him Kevin Garnett's nickname.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlicht]

It's so sad nickname that is very specific and was previously exclusive. It's on one of the greatest power forwards of all time.

[Apple Card Ad]

It is his Instagram gave it to him handle. His Instagram handle is big ticket, underscore J13.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Wow.

[Apple Card Ad]

So there you go. Something that you probably didn't know about. James Wiseman. All right, over to you, Fred. The score is now three and a half to three. Your question is this. Since 2004, the year the Pistons last won the NBA championship, the Pistons have drafted three players that have won an NBA title. Can you name them all?

[Alex Spears]

Since when?

[Apple Card Ad]

Since 2004, there have been three guys that have gone on to win. Obviously not on the Pistons.

[Alex Spears]

In NBA titles, I can name two.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Of the three in the first round or overall.

[Apple Card Ad]

Overall. You have to name all of them to get the points, by the way.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, that's not fun.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I, I can't think of them.

[Alex Spears]

I have two.

[Apple Card Ad]

Fred's tapping out. All right, let's go to you, Bryce.

[Alex Spears]

Bruce Brown and Chris Middleton.

[Apple Card Ad]

Chris Brown and Chris Middleton. Those are both correct. You want to think on a third?

[Alex Spears]

No, I don't. The only reason I knew that is again, I thought maybe one of your questions was the Pistons have had name three players that have been drafted because Rodman was also drafted in the second round and then won a champion and they all won championships for other teams. So I kind of. This is the only. That's the only reason I knew those two, because I thought it was interesting that they had drafted these second round guys that won championships.

[Apple Card Ad]

The third guy. You're going to be kicking yourself. I told you probably wouldn't be kicking yourself. You're going to be kicking yourself tonight. What about Kentavious Caldwell Pope?

[Alex Spears]

Oh, Jesus.

[Andrew Schlicht]

One, two.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, he won twice. But kcp, Bruce Brown, Chris Middleton. That's right.

[Alex Spears]

So I'm not doing as bad as I thought. And I still feel like an idiot because I. I miscounted Bosch at 5 and. And then didn't come up with KCP. So this is going way better than I thought. And I am still going to be pissed at myself at the end.

[Andrew Schlicht]

We have. See, this is why. This is why Bryce will get hired by a team and I won't, because Bryce is going to beat me and he's kicking himself and I'm sitting here and being like real Rodney stuck. He was a pretty good.

[Apple Card Ad]

That's right. Okay, Bryce, this is your. This is your question.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Apple Card Ad]

Everyone, including me, loves to talk about how the Pistons are obsessed with big men, but can you tell me this? How many true seven footers have the Pistons drafted since 2004 in the first and second round, both count. Here's what we're going to do. Bryce, I'm going to give you the chance to pick a number, and Fred will have to say higher or lower. Or you can make Fred say the number and you say higher or lower of the number of players that the Pistons have drafted in the first or second round since 2004.

[Alex Spears]

You said seven footers.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yes, they are. They are measured and listed at 7ft.

[Alex Spears]

I will let Fred give the number because every time I listen to this and have heard you play the game, I always think it's crazy that people don't take that strategy.

[Apple Card Ad]

And so it's usually when it's Alex as the host, it's usually me that always just guesses the number just because.

[Alex Spears]

I'd be a hypocrite for not taking this strategy. Okay, I put a lot of thought into this before I came on.

[Apple Card Ad]

Fred. Pick a number. How many pistons players since 2004 have they drafted that were seven feet or taller?

[Andrew Schlicht]

See, I'm trying. I'm gonna say two.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, good number. This all comes down to the listing.

[Apple Card Ad]

The. I forgot to say this because you get a bonus point if you guess the number exactly correct. And Fred just guessed it exactly correct. It is Two.

[Alex Spears]

Okay, so who doesn't? Because the three I would have said is Garza, Drummond and Monroe. So one of those guys isn't listed at seven foot or. Who are the two? I guess.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, let me.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Gosh.

[Alex Spears]

Seven footer. Okay.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah. Monroe is not a seven footer. That's.

[Andrew Schlicht]

So Garza and Drummond is it. Garment was the only one I could.

[Apple Card Ad]

So Garza was not listed at seven feet.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Apple Card Ad]

He's 611. So the guys that were listed at seven feet. Chick Samb at 50, first pick in 2009 and then Balsa Copa. Yeah. Was the 57th pick in 2021. Those are the only two. And this is according to tankathon.com.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yeah. Chick. Chick Sam was the first guy I was thinking of.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yeah, of course.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah. How dare I forget about Balsa.

[Apple Card Ad]

Come on. Don't forget about.

[Alex Spears]

I've ran into him at summer league. The very first year I ever went. Just walking around.

[Apple Card Ad]

Wow.

[Andrew Schlicht]

I mean, I smoke. I spoke to Chick Sam like three days ago. He was. He was telling me all about how tall he was. How could I possibly get that wrong? I was like, you know, everyone thinks I'm 6 11, but I'm actually 17. I said, I know. I'm doing trivia about you in a couple days. Make sure everyone knows.

[Apple Card Ad]

Fred, your last question is this. Asar and Amen Thompson are famous for being a twin brothers in the NBA. Can you name the other four pairing of twins currently in the NBA?

[Andrew Schlicht]

The Martins.

[Apple Card Ad]

The Martins.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Are we counting the Lopez's because. Because Robin's not technically employed.

[Apple Card Ad]

Yes, we're counting them. He was employed at some point this year.

[Andrew Schlicht]

The Martins. The Lopez's. And who's the other set of twins?

[Apple Card Ad]

There's two more.

[Andrew Schlicht]

The other two sets of twins. Oh, the Morrises.

[Apple Card Ad]

The Morrises. Yep. There's one more.

[Andrew Schlicht]

One more pair of twins.

[Apple Card Ad]

I thought the Martins would be the toughest one.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Not for me.

[Apple Card Ad]

Not for. Not for Fred.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Not for me. Love Cody Martin. Love watching Cody Martin play. That's a good player. And I can. It's not the Thompsons.

[Apple Card Ad]

No, they've already been. Yeah, there's one more Chick.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Oh, Chick Chicksam. And his. And his brother Chucks. On.

[Alex Spears]

Not in the. Not in the same draft. They got drafted in back to back years.

[Apple Card Ad]

Bryce.

[Andrew Schlicht]

But identical twins. Chuck just wasn't ready to.

[Alex Spears]

No, I'm talking about the answer. I'm talking about what the answer is.

[Apple Card Ad]

Bryce, you get to say it.

[Alex Spears]

Bryce, you get to say the Murray twins.

[Apple Card Ad]

Keegan and Chris Keegan. Chris Murray. That is absolutely correct. Unfortunately, Bryce, you lost four and a half to five to Fred.

[Alex Spears]

So the fact that I can't count to five to get to Dwyane Wade cost me a win.

[Apple Card Ad]

That's exactly right.

[Alex Spears]

I won't sleep.

[Apple Card Ad]

Congratulations to Fred for winning Fred versus Friend. Hey, go listen to the Game Theory podcast. Go listen to the Pistons Pulse podcast. Thank you so much for listening to this show. Hope you guys enjoy the weekend and we will talk to you guys again next week.

[Shopify Ad]

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ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

[Andrew Schlicht]

Remember blowing into a video game cartridge.

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Or taping songs off the radio?

[Andrew Schlicht]

How about Saturday morning cartoons?

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Hey, AOL chat rooms. Did we just age ourselves?

[Andrew Schlicht]

Yep. We're Mike Fenoya and Charles McBee, two comedians getting nostalgic and asking that nagging question.

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Are we old?

[Andrew Schlicht]

Relive the laughs, the cringes and the nostalgia.

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Are we old? Podcast right here on Acasta. ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

[Alex Spears]

Acast.com.