Our NBA Offseason Awards: Part 1

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Athletic NBA Daily – "Our NBA Offseason Awards: Part 1"

Release Date: July 18, 2025

Hosts: Dave DuFour, Andrew Schlecht, Alex Spears

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Introduction

In the premiere episode titled "Our NBA Offseason Awards: Part 1," hosts Dave DuFour, Andrew Schlecht, and Alex Spears delve into a comprehensive analysis of the NBA's offseason moves. Structured around a series of themed awards, the trio evaluates and debates the impact of various trades and acquisitions on the upcoming season.

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1. The Needle Mover Award

Definition: This award honors the offseason move that is expected to have the most significant impact on next year's championship race.

Winner: Denver Nuggets' Cam Johnson Trade

• Dave DuFour ([03:30]): "I'm going to say the Cam Johnson trade for the Denver Nuggets. I think that the downstream effects of that trade for them, where they saved money and were able to get all these other players, was the first domino to drop."

• Discussion Points:

  • Strategic Fit: Cam Johnson's high basketball IQ complements stars Nikola Jokić and Aaron Gordon, enhancing Denver's defensive and offensive dynamics.
  • Financial Flexibility: The trade allowed Denver to free up cap space, enabling them to acquire Jonas Valančiūnas as a backup center, providing depth without compromising financial stability.
  • Long-Term Implications: The move not only strengthens the Nuggets immediately but also sets the stage for future acquisitions, positioning them as title contenders.

Andrew Schlecht ([08:14]): "I think it's Bane. Desmond Bane's addition improves the Magic's spacing and overall offense."

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2. I've Made a Huge Mistake Award

Definition: This award identifies the offseason move that is projected to be the worst a year from now.

Winner: Phoenix Suns Trading for Jalen Green

• Dave DuFour ([11:12]): "I think that the Suns trading for Jalen Green is such a bad, bad move. They don't have the team to make Jalen Green the best version of him."

• Discussion Points:

  • Team Fit: Concerns over how Jalen Green will integrate with the Suns' existing roster, particularly alongside stars Devin Booker and potential new additions like Chris Paul.
  • Player Development: The Suns may struggle to maximize Green's potential due to limited offensive roles and the team's possession-heavy style.
  • Long-Term Impact: The trade could stagnate the Suns' progress, making it a regrettable decision in hindsight.

Andrew Schlecht ([12:01]): "It's going to look really bad a year from now when Phoenix is in the same or a worse place than they were now."

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3. Not Good, but Not Bad Award

Definition: This award goes to a team that, despite having no realistic chance to make the playoffs, managed to execute a commendable offseason.

Winner: Charlotte Hornets

• Dave DuFour ([19:55]): "I'm probably going to say the Charlotte Hornets. They've just... no big flashy moves, but solid. They clearly are trying to clean house a little bit and make a culture change."

• Discussion Points:

  • Strategic Restructuring: Charlotte focused on building a sustainable foundation without engaging in risky or high-profile trades.
  • Future Potential: With key players like LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller returning healthy, the Hornets are positioning themselves for future success.
  • Cultural Shift: The team is moving away from past inefficiencies, aiming for a more disciplined and cohesive unit.

Andrew Schlecht ([22:04]): "They are building in what I think is the right way, through trades and the draft."

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4. What am I Even Looking At Award

Definition: This award is given to the team whose offseason moves have left analysts and fans most confused.

Winner: New Orleans Pelicans

• Dave DuFour ([30:19]): "They've mismanaged everything. Every single thing they've taken this offseason, they've mismanaged."

• Discussion Points:

  • Confusing Strategy: New Orleans has made several moves that lack clear purpose, leaving fans and analysts puzzled about the team's direction.
  • Player Integration: Acquisitions like Jordan Poole and rookies Trey Murphy and others have not been seamlessly integrated into the Pelicans' system.
  • Future Outlook: The uncertainty surrounding coaching changes and player roles makes it difficult to predict the team's trajectory.

Andrew Schlecht ([32:16]): "Did you even get Jalen Green?"

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5. Watchability is the Best Ability Award

Definition: This award honors the team whose League Pass ranking has dramatically changed based on their offseason moves, enhancing or diminishing their appeal to watch.

Winners: Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks

• Orlando Magic ([33:40]):

  • Dave DuFour ([33:40]): "I think Orlando adding Desmond Bane makes their offense at least more functional. They are going to be an easier team to watch on television."
  • Impact of Desmond Bane: Enhances the Magic's offensive capabilities, providing better spacing and scoring options. With key players like Jalen Suggs returning healthy, the team's overall performance is expected to improve both on the court and in viewership.

• Atlanta Hawks ([35:01]):

  • Andrew Schlecht ([35:01]): "The Atlanta Hawks. That team is going to fly around. They're going to shoot a ton of threes. I think they're going to be a good defensive team."
  • Team Dynamics: The Hawks have remodeled their roster to complement star player Trae Young, incorporating players like Dejounte Murray and Dyson Daniels to bolster both offense and defense. Their dynamic playstyle promises an entertaining season for fans.

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Conclusion

Throughout "Our NBA Offseason Awards: Part 1," Dave DuFour, Andrew Schlecht, and Alex Spears provide insightful commentary on the NBA's offseason transactions. By categorizing these moves into themed awards, they offer a structured analysis of each decision's potential impact, fostering a deeper understanding for listeners. The episode sets the stage for further discussions in the subsequent part, promising continued exploration of the NBA's evolving landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

• Dave DuFour ([03:30]): "I'm going to say the Cam Johnson trade for the Denver Nuggets... that's such a huge upgrade just from a basketball IQ standpoint."

• Andrew Schlecht ([12:01]): "It's going to look really bad a year from now when Phoenix is in the same or a worse place than they were now."

• Dave DuFour ([19:55]): "They clearly are trying to make a culture change. This is the first time that I think I've ever had something positive to say about the Charlotte Hornets in July."

---

This detailed summary captures the essence of the first part of "Our NBA Offseason Awards," highlighting key discussions, insights, and the hosts' perspectives on critical offseason moves shaping the NBA landscape.

Transcript

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[Dave Dufour]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily Live from Summer League. I'm Dave Dufour here with Andrew Schlecht. We've got the trivia master Alex Spears in the house live and in living color for the first time that we've got a chance to hang out. I'm extremely pumped and we're going to be talking off season Awards, but we're doing it in the Alex Spears style. So, Alex, can you lay them out for us?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah. So I've come up with 10 awards for the off season, which we haven't really discussed that much yet, and we're going to go through them. I'm going to give each of you an opportunity to nominate someone. But here's the deal. We're going to go back and forth between the awards, and if. If Dave says something, Andrew, you can't steal it. You can't say, oh, that was mine too. That was mine too.

[Dave Dufour]

Got to pivot.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, you have to pivot. So I just. Just some added anxiety.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Is what I'm looking for there. Okay. Okay. So you guys want to jump into it?

[Dave Dufour]

Let's go.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So the first one, this is a big one.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Andrew Schlecht]

The needle mover award. This award goes to the off season move that you think will have the biggest impact on next year's championship race. So, Dave, I'm going to start with you.

[Dave Dufour]

I'm going to say the Cam Johnson trade for the Denver Nuggets. I think that the downstream effects of that trade for them, where they saved money and they were able to get all these other players, I mean, that was the first domino to drop. And he's a seamless fit in what they're trying to do. It's an upgrade for them in a lot of different areas with him. Like, he's a smart player playing next to Jokic and Aaron Gordon, like, it's such a huge upgrade just from a basketball IQ standpoint.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So for. For you, it's not just that move. It's what that move.

[Dave Dufour]

It allowed so many other things. They were able to shave money off the cap. They, I mean, they wind up getting Jonas Valanchunas to. To be the backup for Jokic because they saved money on this move by getting Michael Porter out of there.

[Unknown Speaker]

The reluctant backup.

[Dave Dufour]

The reluctant backup.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay.

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, the thing is, look, the sales pitch for that is, yes, it is. It's going to be an easier job. But also you were going to probably win a title. You know, you're going to play with Jokic and win a title. I think that that's a pretty good trade off to come off the bench.

[Unknown Speaker]

Maybe. Maybe Valentunas has watched the Thunder.

[Dave Dufour]

You think, oh, no, now the Thunder are the new Lakers. They just get in everybody.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's right.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Dave, I want to ask you about the swap of MPJ for Cam Johnson specifically, because mpj, for some of his faults, he does do some things better than Cam Johnson. So what do you think about that trade off? I'm specifically thinking about the rebounding.

[Dave Dufour]

Rebounding is going to be tough. Right. But the thing that you're going to get is the defense. Cam Johnson is going to be able to defend better than Michael Porter, so there's going to be more rebounds available. And Jokic is a great rebounder. Aaron Gordon's a great rebounder. You know, theoretically, they could get some more rebounding. Jamal Murray is actually a pretty good rebounder. We'll just see how much the rebounding matters. I think that they're going to score at a rate. They're going to be a top five or six offense like we expect. If their defense can be top 12, top 10, we're cooking. And I think that that's. That's the most important thing. They're going to have better defense overall, especially with all the moves. But Cam Johnson for mpj, just as a direct swap, that defense, you know, goes up a couple notches.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Can I ask a question real quick?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Sure, Andrew.

[Unknown Speaker]

Do we. Do we like this or see this as an upgrade just because we like Cam Johnson and do not like Michael.

[Dave Dufour]

Porter Jr. Well, I happen to like Michael Porter Jr. And I think when Michael Porter Jr. Was healthy, like the. The title year for them, right? Yeah, they don't win the title without him. His defense actually was great. He was good, right?

[Unknown Speaker]

He was good.

[Dave Dufour]

He could get up and block some shots. He can protect the rim, but Cam Johnson can protect the rim and he can also guard on the perimeter and he doesn't make the dumb mistakes.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You're not.

[Unknown Speaker]

You're not answering my question.

[Dave Dufour]

Well, we like it because Cam Johnson is a player that doesn't make as many mistakes.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm talking.

[Dave Dufour]

He's cheaper.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, I'm talking about personality wise. Are people. Are people seeing this as an upgrade? Just.

[Dave Dufour]

You're saying because MPJ tends to maybe like, shoot himself in the foot with his mouth.

[Unknown Speaker]

Absolutely. Because in Cam.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Curious, Mike.

[Dave Dufour]

He's just asking questions.

[Unknown Speaker]

He's just asking questions. But Cam Johnson, like, he has a podcast. He's.

[Dave Dufour]

I had no idea that Cam Johnson. That's breaking news for me, by the way. How would I know?

[Unknown Speaker]

Come on.

[Dave Dufour]

How would I know?

[Unknown Speaker]

Listen, young man. There are three. Come on, dude.

[Dave Dufour]

There are four. Oh, is that it? Oh, okay. I didn't real. I didn't know that was Cam Johnson.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, he's on it.

[Dave Dufour]

There's not 450 NBA players that all have their own podcast. I can't.

[Unknown Speaker]

You know, you still you are like doing everything you can not to answer this question. We can move on.

[Dave Dufour]

I think you're right. I think you are right. At least that there is something in that. We like Cam Johnson more as a guy.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Maybe. Than curious. Mike.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I think there's also something to be said for the fact that Cam Johnson has been like the focus of so many teams for the past year. Like, who's going to get Cam Johnson? And so when some team gets him, everyone's going to love that move no matter what, because it's Cam Johnson.

[Dave Dufour]

Marcus Thompson laid it out on the show during the season. He called him the hot girl in the club.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

But now the Nuggets got the hot girl, so, you know, we'll see if it works. I think. I think that that's the biggest move. I mean, it just obviously the downstream benefits that they got off that too.

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

I also want to bring up that if you're watching on YouTube.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Anthony Edwards just walked by behind us.

[Alex Spears]

Really? Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So you can watch it on the Lives on the stream.

[Andrew Schlecht]

What a treat. Should we just go back and watch?

[Dave Dufour]

Try to get him to come do the.

[Unknown Speaker]

Just throwing that out there.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Andrew, it's your turn. You can't say Cam Johnson. Although based on some of the things you just said, it sounds like you. Sounds like you want to say.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, man.

[Dave Dufour]

Cam Johnson. Ha.

[Alex Spears]

Who?

[Dave Dufour]

I swear, I swear we had a conversation about how great Cam Johnson would be on the Thunder.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm just like, curious, Mike. I'm just asking questions. Just asking questions.

[Andrew Schlecht]

All right. So, Andrew, who is your award winner for the needle mover award?

[Unknown Speaker]

I think it's Bane.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Desmond Bain.

[Unknown Speaker]

They had such horrific spacing.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And just adding one guy that you care about will help everybody. It's not just about him shooting and making threes that will help a lot. But like, Paolo needs somebody needs a little bit of space to be a better shooter.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And so I think, like, there's going to be a pretty big shift for the Magic. Just having a guy that people care about on the perimeter.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So I think he's. That's a huge upgrade. Tyus Jones as a backup point guard will be helpful. They obviously need to be healthy. That's the number one thing. And I think they will be better no matter what. Even if they didn't get Bane, I think they would be a better team next season.

[Dave Dufour]

Jalen Suggs being healthy is the key to them. Right. Like, I mean, when he went out last year, people. People don't realize that Jalen Suggs Saved the magic season.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

When Paolo went out with the. The AB injury, Jalen Suggs kept him afloat offensively. And then when Franz was out, I mean, Jalen Suggs and the key to all of their best lineups, every single one of their best lineups was Jalen Suggs. So I think that the Bane move actually makes Jalen Suggs even more playable. Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

Like, it's a great backcourt.

[Dave Dufour]

It really is. Defensively, it's going to be. It's going to be pretty tough. I mean, you know, I do think that there's maybe high level ball handling might be something that, that they struggle with. Like they may turn the ball over just, just like a little bit more than most teams do off the dribble. But other than that, I mean, I do think that they're going to be tough. The Paolo question though, right? Like, Bane takes a lot of shots. He shoots a lot, a lot of stuff in transition. He loves that pull up three. Like, how's this going to work? There's a lot of mouths to feed now because Suggs needs shots, Franz needs shots. My guy Goga needs a lot of shots. No, he does feed Goga.

[Unknown Speaker]

You're creating problems that don't exist.

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, I'm just worried, you know, I'm just worried. There's only one basketball.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, don't do this. Don't do this. With one of the worst offensive teams we've ever seen.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah. My fa. One of my favorite stats is that last year, Orlando, when they just shot 32% from 3. I'm not asking a lot. 32% from 3. They were 29 and 10.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And then you do the math about like what they were when they didn't shoot 32%. I mean, that was.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's terrifying.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's a sleeping giant.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And if they can just get consistent three point shooting every night, I think it's going to become immediately apparent that who cares about those picks, Right. They gave up for Desmond B. Yeah, I agree.

[Dave Dufour]

Problem is which of Paolo or Franz is going to become a higher volume 3 point maker? Right? Like, yeah. One of those guys got to figure it out.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Someone has to.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay. Moving on to our second award, the I've made a huge mistake award. This award goes to the off season move that you think will look the worst a year from now. And Andrew, we're going to you this time, man.

[Dave Dufour]

Going second is. This is actually really awful.

[Andrew Schlecht]

It's stressful, isn't it?

[Dave Dufour]

Stressed out right now.

[Unknown Speaker]

You're stressed. I think the Suns trading for Jalen Green is such a bad, bad move. They don't have the team to make Jalen Green the best version of him. They just have a lot of better versions of him or different versions of Jalen Green on their team already.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's like, how is there space for other people? Like, how. How can he be Jalen Green?

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

The best version of himself. Ramon Sessions walking by us. How can he be the best version of himself in Phoenix? I don't think he can. I don't think it's a fair position to put him in. I don't think it's. I. I think it's going to look really bad a year from now when his value is going to be lower and Phoenix is in the same or a worse place than they were, you know, right now.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So I, I don't like that move. I think it's great. From Houston's angle. I've said it multiple times. I think just getting off of the Jalen Green deal.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

With the Kevin Durant move is good enough.

[Dave Dufour]

Really. I mean, Houston kind of nailed their summer, in my opinion. And part of that on the other side is that I think the Suns just continue to not. I don't know, they're just. What are they doing? I'm constantly confused when the Suns add a player.

[Unknown Speaker]

Don't know.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I mean, other than Malwatch, that felt like, oh, my gosh, this just fell into their laps. This is perfect. This is the exact person they need. But then everything else doesn't really.

[Dave Dufour]

And they.

[Unknown Speaker]

And they're like, hey, you know what? You know what looks great to us? The front court of the Charlotte Hornets. Let's have that be the answer to whatever. I don't know what question is being asked.

[Dave Dufour]

The thing is, I. I understand. I understand, like, the guys that they got, like Nick Richards, Mark, these guys are crazy athletes. And I. So I understand what they were going for. Like, they do have a vision. I see it. It's just maybe like they need to clean their glasses. Right. Like, they, they have a vision.

[Alex Spears]

They.

[Dave Dufour]

They want an athletic big that's roaming around, someone that can finish plays for Devin Booker.

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Dave Dufour]

A pick and roll partner. But those guys just aren't the level. But who can they get? They already got rid of deandre Ayton, who was very good at some of those things. Now, he was bad at other things, but at least in Phoenix, there was no bad weather.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's true. It's facts. I would have loved to know what the other offers were for kd because I do feel like it's hard to grade the Suns because they were in such a tough spot. And you almost have to grade, like, all the bad moves they made before this because this is just like the end result.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Like, do you think there was significantly better deals than what they got for Kevin Durant from.

[Dave Dufour]

From what I've read and heard, KD kind of controlled the whole process. Right. Like, only a couple of teams, they negotiate. Like, the Wolves weren't really in on it or KD wasn't totally in on the Wolves.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

So when you're negotiating with one team, what's going to happen?

[Unknown Speaker]

You tell Kevin, sorry, man, you're already in such a bad spot.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Why would it be worse to say we're not going to take this deal?

[Andrew Schlecht]

I love, though, when that happens and the fan base is like, hey, in the future though, stars are going to see how we treat. They're going to really like us.

[Dave Dufour]

I was telling someone that the other day that never. That never is a real thing. No one cares. Come on.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay, Dave, who is your winner for the. I've made a huge mistake.

[Dave Dufour]

I think that the Clippers are going to regret sending away Norm Powell. Like, I just think that when you, when you have a guy who's a borderline All Star, who can, who can score 40 in the playoffs, like, this is a guy who gets ultra violet, red hot. Like, this guy is 43% from three. He can handle the ball, he can run second units. I mean, he fit well before Kawhi was there and he got hurt. They never really had a chance to fully integrate him and Kawhi. And I think that, that scoring is going to matter now. Look, the John Collins move, for whatever it is, it's. Their goal is to be bigger. The whole west is huge. So I can understand the mindset and the contract dynamics behind that, but I do think that, like, having good basketball players available for your team matters more than anything to winning. You know, obviously. And Norm Powell is nearly an All Star. John Collins is not that. I mean, maybe he has a nice season and is 18 and 10 and, you know, blocks a couple shots and. And is fine. But Norm Powell and that ceiling that he has, they're going to miss it big time.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You know, how different does it make you feel, though, if you consider it as a package deal where we haven't heard yet about Bradley Beal, but Right. If you're assuming that they're getting Bradley Beal and that they made that trade knowing that they would get Bradley Beal, does that make you feel it is.

[Dave Dufour]

That is a difference? Because I mean, I think it's a step back to Bradley Beal from, from Norm Powell. But in the aggregate with John Collins, I think maybe you get a, you get a deeper team for sure because you get two guys who can play. You do get bigger with John Collins and Beal, if he still got anything, you know what I mean? Which I think he probably does. But then what happens with him? Does he come off the bench? You know, like, do you think Beal is going to sign, you know, and then not be a starter? I don't know. And it's a clunky fit with him as a starter next to James Harden because defensively that's a problem.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

And Ty Lou is traditionally leaned toward defensive heavier lineups. I mean Chris Dunn had a great season last year because of his defense. Right. He got all those opportunities. So I, I just don't know now if Beal's going to come over there and maybe be like this ultra six man and close games or something. I, I don't know. But yeah, I do think that, that, that would matter. You got to replace Norm Powell in some way and I deal would be close.

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[Andrew Schlecht]

All right, our third award. That one was a negative one. We're going positive now. There we go, the not good, but hey, not bad award. This award goes to the team that had the best off season of the teams that you think have zero chance to make next year's playoffs.

[Alex Spears]

So.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So this is a team that is going to be bad. You think they're going to be bad, they're not going to make the playoffs. But you look at their off season, you're like, you know what? They did a pretty good job. Dave, who do you got for that?

[Dave Dufour]

I'm probably going to say the Charlotte Hornets.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay.

[Dave Dufour]

Right. They've just. No big flashy moves.

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Dave Dufour]

But solid. They clearly are trying to clean house a little bit and it feels like they're trying to make a culture change. And this is the first time that I think I've ever had something positive to say about the Charlotte Hornets in July.

[Alex Spears]

Hmm.

[Dave Dufour]

I thought, I think that they've just done a good job of, okay, hey, we are not good, but we're not going to go out and do something dumb.

[Alex Spears]

Right?

[Dave Dufour]

Right. And I think now that we have dumb teams back in the league, you know, the Kings, Pelicans, looking at them, Charlotte getting themselves out of that category, I think is a. Is a massive win. Now does this put them in play in category next year? Depends. I mean, I think if Brandon Miller and Lamelo are both healthy, yeah, they got a shot. You know, they've got talent. It's just, you know, the pieces around Them, but I think they had a pretty good summer.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So who's your favorite center on the ordinance?

[Dave Dufour]

I think that they. They got to figure this out.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I think they're employing the thunder tanking strategy of, like, we're going to improve our talent overall, but we're going to ignore the center position because we know that'll eventually just hold us back and get maybe one more good pick.

[Unknown Speaker]

Shots fired at Moose.

[Dave Dufour]

It is true. It is true. Like, you. You need to be bad enough to be bad.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Too good to tank is a real thing. But they have done. I. I think that this at least looks like they're putting one foot in front of the other instead of constantly taking three steps back every time they take one step. The Hornets have just traditionally been run so shodly.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

And then the Lamelo situation, I think, is, like, the real thing to watch this season with them. How does that work out? Does. Does he kind of like, can he be healthy and does he buy into what they're trying to do there? I mean, I think that this could be the year, like, people have been looking for a new home for LaMelo Ball for a long time. This would be the year, like, if they were going to move off LaMelo Ball after what they've done, I think that this would be the year where we would all say, huh, Interesting.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Smart move.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

You know, and it just feels like they're thinking ahead now.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And by the way, the answer to that question.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Thank you.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Was Moussa Diabate.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Because there were some moments last year in fantasy basket where he was putting up some crazy sticks.

[Unknown Speaker]

I.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You know, and I'm very excited about this season.

[Dave Dufour]

I don't play fantasy sports, but my buddy Keith Parrish from Fast Breakfast, he does negative fantasy. So I hear more about the players that are good at being bad.

[Alex Spears]

Right. Okay.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So who is the MVP of that?

[Dave Dufour]

Has told you.

[Alex Spears]

He.

[Dave Dufour]

He knows that off top of his.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Head, but I'll have to ask him.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah. We'll find out.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay.

[Dave Dufour]

Andrew might be diabate this year.

[Andrew Schlecht]

No, no, no. He's real good. Andrew, who is your winner for the not good but not bad award?

[Unknown Speaker]

The Wiz man.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah. The whiz.

[Unknown Speaker]

They're. They are building in what I think is the right way. I don't think they're going to have a chance to get free agents anytime soon. So if you don't have that road or that avenue available to you, then you have to build like this through trades, through the draft. I like Trey Johnson a lot. I think that's a. That's a good upside pick at six. Because, I mean, it did not. It did not go well for them in the draft lottery. Like, if they had a really good chance to get Coop, Dylan Harper, Vijay Edgecomb, they didn't get any of those guys. But I think getting Trey Johnson is a good consolation prize. And then all. They're just taking a lot of swings here on a lot of different guys. Malachi, Brandon, Blake, Wesley from the Spurs. Sure, why not? We'll see. We'll see what happens. Cam Whitmore for a couple second round picks. Yeah, we'll see.

[Dave Dufour]

And they've got all those expirings.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Veteran players on expiring contracts. And we just. We just watched the playoffs, you know, even more of a war of attrition.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

They missed out on the Dame trade, though. I know they missed out. I feel like they really could have done. They actually had an in there with the Marcus Smart and Chris Middleton.

[Alex Spears]

They could have.

[Dave Dufour]

They could have made a good move.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I'm trying to do this math in my head. So they have like $95 million worth of expiring contracts.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Just between Middleton, McCollum, Marcus Smart, and Rashawn Holmes.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I kind of forgotten about.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

But three of those guys, like, you could see a team saying, you know what? We could use C.J. mcCollum.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, totally.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

And this front office, I don't. I don't think we'll just sit on them. I think if there's deals to be made that they will make the move.

[Unknown Speaker]

A Rod. A Rod. A rod's in the shop.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, man.

[Andrew Schlecht]

He's my favorite player growing up.

[Unknown Speaker]

He's right there.

[Dave Dufour]

Alex Rodriguez making his first appearance on the pod.

[Alex Spears]

Yep.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I picked my favorite baseball player when I was young based on my first name, and it came down to Alex Rodriguez or Alex Cora.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, wow.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I think I.

[Dave Dufour]

You don't like the scrappy second baseman?

[Alex Spears]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I needed the flash. Okay. Great job on those answers.

[Unknown Speaker]

Great job.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Great job.

[Unknown Speaker]

Transitioning.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Transitioning award number four. The what am I Even Looking At Award. Okay. This award is going to the team whose off season has left you the most confused. You're just staring at what they've been doing and you still just don't totally get it. Andrew, who is your pick for that?

[Unknown Speaker]

I mean, there's a lot of candidates for this, I think.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

I. I don't know. I don't. I don't like the New York Knicks. Just, like, not getting better.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Weird.

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't. Like.

[Andrew Schlecht]

No. Why would you say they haven't gotten better?

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't. I don't think that Jordan Clarkson is moving the needle.

[Dave Dufour]

Yaboo doesn't do anything for you.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yaboo. Yabu. Yabu's not doing a whole lot for me.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

No, really.

[Alex Spears]

I.

[Andrew Schlecht]

How could. How could they be worse? How could you say they're worse?

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't know that they're worse, but there's just, like, a. A huge opportunity for any east team to get better.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

I just don't know that I've seen anything that makes me think, like, hey, that team is actually going to make the finals next year. There's. There's a. A golden opportunity in the Eastern Conference, and maybe they still get there. The Knicks have the talent to still get there. Like, but do you sit here and, like, believe that they've done enough?

[Dave Dufour]

Definitely not.

[Andrew Schlecht]

But what did you want? What would you want? Because you would have to trade one of their big names.

[Dave Dufour]

Oh, I think Mikhail Bridges is the guy that. That you. You probably are okay moving, even though you gave up all those picks a year ago. I mean, he's the. Like, the worst fit, maybe.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

On the court, it hasn't really worked all that well. He wants a bigger role, it seems like. I mean, I. I think that if they were going to upgrade, that's the spot that they could use. Like, they could use him to maybe upgrade.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Do you think they're betting on Mike Brown's kind of offensive acumen being better than Tibs?

[Unknown Speaker]

That's the other thing is, like, changing the coach.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And. And part of this is, like, maybe they jumped the gun or maybe. Maybe they would have just done this anyway.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

Seeing how everything played out. But I don't love the idea of just changing coaches.

[Dave Dufour]

Don't like it at all. I mean, I thought. I thought Tom Thibodeau had done enough to save his job. It went from, oh, no, he's getting fired to, he. I thought he did enough to save his job. And, I mean, what are you going to do? You gave this guy, like, how many. How many days they have before the season to work Cat into what they were doing?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

No training camp.

[Alex Spears]

You.

[Dave Dufour]

You're limited because you've got Jalen Brunson at the point of attack. Like, I mean, he is just getting hunted.

[Alex Spears]

Yep.

[Dave Dufour]

Right. I mean, you can't play your two best players sometimes together because of the defensive issues. And he had to figure this out on the fly during the season and got to the conference Finals. I don't know how that coach loses his job and, and moving to Mike Brown. Like, Mike Brown's clearly a good coach in the NBA, but you ever, like, is he like a magician? You know what I mean? Like, is he going to just come in and magically. Oh, I've. I'm going to just fix all the marginal stuff that Tom Thibodeau missed. I don't think so. Where is.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Isn't that kind of what he did in Sacramento A little bit.

[Dave Dufour]

But they actually, they changed their team too. Like, they actually got better players. I mean, it's all about players. Like, it's a player driven league and there's only so much that you can scheme.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, I, I'm excited to see more Karl Anthony Towns, like, operating at the elbow and the wing with the ball in his hands.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

And hopefully fewer post ups.

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Dave Dufour]

But I just. I don't know. I think Tom Thibodeau needed an offensive coordinator for years, probably most of his career. But this is not the move I would have made. I think they got worse because you lose that, that continuity. And, you know, I think corporate knowledge matters.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So if I'm hearing you guys correctly, correct me if I'm wrong. Are you saying that you are more looking at this like what they can do in the playoffs? It sounds like you both still think they're going to be.

[Dave Dufour]

They should be. They're in the East.

[Unknown Speaker]

They should be in the Eastern Conference Conference finals again.

[Alex Spears]

Yep.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So this is more just concerns about, like, they had a chance to make it to the final. So you don't feel like they've done enough.

[Unknown Speaker]

The window is wide open and I. And I don't think that who they acquired is helping them get any closer.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So would both of you still have. If you're picking right now on July 11, you would still have the Cavs and would you have the Magic over them, like thinking about who's going to come out of the East?

[Dave Dufour]

Oh, I, I think the Knicks. I have them above the Magic.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay.

[Dave Dufour]

I need to see the Magic.

[Unknown Speaker]

I do. I do as well. I have the Knicks about above the Magic.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Well, because you guys don't hate them.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, no, no.

[Dave Dufour]

But they do.

[Unknown Speaker]

I just think that there was. There's golden opportunity. I think I actually like what the Cavs did.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Their offseason. I think that they made some moves that will move the needle for them. I just don't think. And. And maybe it is that they didn't have a ton of opportunities like what was really right there. For them.

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

But listen, I just hate it for Knicks fans because, like, this is your chance. This is your chance to get excited. I. I'm just telling you, this is.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I hate it for you guys.

[Dave Dufour]

They're like, I hate it to get.

[Unknown Speaker]

To the NBA Finals, though, right?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

That is like getting.

[Dave Dufour]

By the way, they still might. Like, they still might make the Finals. They have a lot of talent.

[Unknown Speaker]

They still could. I just don't. I don't like the idea of bringing Jordan Clarkson as, like, hey, this is.

[Dave Dufour]

This fixes things.

[Unknown Speaker]

This is where we upgraded things.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't think that helps them.

[Dave Dufour]

Another guard that's going to get attacked when he's out there.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

You know.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay, so, Dave, even though you agreed with Andrew's selection, you have to make your own selection for the. What am I even looking at Award. Who would you pick?

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, I feel like I'm a broken record at this point, but what is Joe Dumars doing? Yeah, what are we doing in New Orleans? How many centers do they have right now? Who's your favorite Pelican Center?

[Andrew Schlecht]

My favorite Pelican Center.

[Alex Spears]

Wow.

[Dave Dufour]

I like using this a lot. I thought he had a really nice season.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

But apparently they didn't.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I know. I did think that was strange when all the lead up to the draft was all about, like, how they're into all the centers. Like, everyone's talking about the centers. Yeah, I did think that was strange.

[Dave Dufour]

Odd.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

They trade away this. This draft pick that. I mean, it's maybe the worst trade in the last decade.

[Unknown Speaker]

Mismanaged everything. Every single thing, every single step that they've taken this offseason, they've mismanaged.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And I think the scariest part is that, yes, there's a possibility it works out, but it feels like that path is very narrow. Like a team adding two rookies and expecting even one of them to give you, like, positive value on the court in the rookie season, like, to help you propel towards a play in spot.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Feels like a lot to ask.

[Dave Dufour]

And how does it work with Zion? Well, if Zion's on the team. Right. If Zion's on the team, how does it work with Zion? And if Zion's on the team, he's your best player, right? You have to play him.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

So where does he fit in what they're doing?

[Alex Spears]

I have no idea.

[Dave Dufour]

You know, I. I think if I was. If I was another gm, I would be calling every single day. Hey, what's up with Trey Murphy? What do you got, y' all don't like Trey Murphy.

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Dave Dufour]

What do you got going on there?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Just telling them that.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You don't like him.

[Dave Dufour]

No, no. You got to neg them a little bit, right? Yeah, yeah. He didn't fit.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay.

[Dave Dufour]

He's too good for you guys.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

But I would be calling about Trey Murphy constantly because now, like, where's he fit?

[Alex Spears]

I mean.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, because last season it felt like they were ready to, like, really build him up and like, hey, let's see, like, what the ceiling of this is.

[Alex Spears]

Right.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And now when you've added in a Jordan pool and these two rookies who need the ball.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

It does kind of become a little muddled.

[Dave Dufour]

Well, the Jordan pool part of this is. I mean, I. I just can't. I can't wrap my head around wanting Jordan pool. And they wanted Jordan pool.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

I mean, there's a lot of things that you can't wrap your head around.

[Dave Dufour]

The Pelicans have just.

[Unknown Speaker]

Jordan Poole might be the least of my concerns. But, hey, where this is headed.

[Andrew Schlecht]

The Herb Jones extension.

[Dave Dufour]

Good business. Yeah, good business. But. But do you guys think they back on them being bad? The A Zion trade? Right.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

What does that even look like?

[Andrew Schlecht]

I don't know. I had ideas early in the summer and now they don't make any sense.

[Unknown Speaker]

Did you even get Jalen Green?

[Dave Dufour]

Man. Man.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Man, if they had done that, though.

[Dave Dufour]

That is interesting. If they had, man, if the Rockets would have somehow gotten Zion, that would have been kind of amazing. But, you know, if this is. Obviously he's a theoretical player because he doesn't play all that much.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, okay, but, like.

[Dave Dufour]

But what's his value?

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay, name me three teams that would want Zion Williamson right now.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay. I was just thinking, what if you had done a three team. Let's talk about fake trades. That can't happen.

[Dave Dufour]

Yes.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Anymore. If you had done a three team. The number 10 pick and Jalen Green go to New Orleans. Zion goes to Phoenix. Does that do anything for you? Then they don't have to make the trade up to get their queen. They can just grab them at 10.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yep.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Can we go back in time, see.

[Dave Dufour]

If Joe Dumars had broken out both phones?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

He could have pulled this off, man.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

I actually do like that.

[Dave Dufour]

That's a really good move.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay. Our final award for this episode. Because I said we have 10, this is only the fifth one. I'm skipping ahead. The Watch Ability is the best ability award. This award goes to the team whose league pass ranking has dramatically changed based on Their offseason moves. Now, you can take this positive or negative, I'm going to allow you that ability. Okay, so maybe they're going up the standings, maybe they're going down. Dave, who would win that award for you?

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, I, I think I'm going to go with Orlando. Adding Desmond Bane makes their offense at least more functional. Right. Like, so as long as they come up with a system that, that works for everyone, I think that they are going to be an easier team to watch on television because they were rough, very rough at times last year when Suggs went out, man, it was a hard watch and, you know, unfortunately we had to watch him and it was really bad. So I think that just adding Desmond Bain, his shooting, his ball, handling them being fully healthy is going to be a big thing. I mean, I think the addition of health for them is going to be huge. There's no way that they're going to have a season with his poor injury luck because they had, they had the two best players, had the freakiest of freak injuries and the exact same one in the exact same spot.

[Alex Spears]

Spot.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Very strange.

[Dave Dufour]

I would be in that weight room. What are you guys working on?

[Unknown Speaker]

Take care of your obliques, boys.

[Dave Dufour]

That's right.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That happened with Dame and Anthony Simons, I believe too. They both got a core injury like back to back. It's weird.

[Dave Dufour]

Got to mix up these workouts more twisting in the workouts or something. But I, I think Orlando, obviously, they're going to just be better, a better team. They're going to be more watchable. But especially the offensive end.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I think it's a great defense.

[Dave Dufour]

Could be special.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Very special.

[Dave Dufour]

Like special.

[Unknown Speaker]

It should be special, right?

[Dave Dufour]

Not Oklahoma City Thunder special.

[Andrew Schlecht]

But who is Andrew? Who would you like to pick for the watchability is the best ability award?

[Unknown Speaker]

The team I cannot wait to watch.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Is the Atlanta Hawks.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Ooh, the Hawks.

[Unknown Speaker]

That. That team is going to fly around. They're going to shoot a ton of threes. I think they're going to be a good defensive team. I like what they've done.

[Dave Dufour]

That was my number one team to watch coming into last year. And it's. I think that if they can mimic what they did in the first 30 games or whatever. Right. That run to the NBA cup that they had. Yeah, they had a really nice run. If they look like that to start.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Then I start. I start thinking about what it looks like if the Atlanta Hawks make the conference finals.

[Unknown Speaker]

By the way, I see somebody wearing a Kongwu jersey right now. Right now.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's exciting.

[Unknown Speaker]

That blows my mind. But adding Nikhil, I think is going to help a ton of Chris Daps if he. I guess he's magically healed now. I hope he's okay.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

If that's true, that's a great fit with Trey Young.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's an amazing.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I love what they've done over these last few years. Going from a team where, like, everyone was obsessed with trading Trey and they just kind of doubled down on it and actually started to build a team that made sense around Trey Young. And it feels like they did that again this off season with Akil Alexander Walker. I mean, funny, big wings now.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

I was going to say it's funny that they changed front offices, but they haven't missed a beat.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Because they had a really good summer last year.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

And then, you know, Jalen Johnson coming back from this labrum tear. I think, you know, we'll. We'll see how he looks early on. But that guy unlocked so much for them. Him popping just created this. This other world. And then obviously just nailing this. The Dejounte Murray trade, getting Dyson Daniels realizing that he was ready for a bigger role. Yeah, they're gonna be fun.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And then the one thing we haven't even mentioned the whole season, we're gonna be talking about that pick they got.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

How that could completely change the future of their franchise and take them up to an even higher level.

[Unknown Speaker]

It could be anything.

[Dave Dufour]

It could be anything.

[Andrew Schlecht]

All right, so that's the end of part one of the off season awards. When we come back on our next episode, we're going to do the second part of the off season awards. Are you excited?

[Unknown Speaker]

So excited.

[Dave Dufour]

This is fun. This is a lot of fun, guys. Thanks for listening. For Alex Spears and Andrew Schlecht, I'm Dave Defour and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

[Alex Spears]

Foreign.

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