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- [00:03]
A
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're not doing the Good bad. What we're doing the Slammies. It's gonna be so good. I'm so excited about doing the Slammies. We are also going to have Xena Keda on to talk about the warriors and then we'll do some trivia and some historic trivia. Something happens with this trivia contest that's never happened before, so tune in. And with that, Alex Spears, tell me what happened in the NBA this week.
- [00:36]
B
Well, Andrew, it was the penultimate week of the NBA season and the top story was the game we got between the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio spurs last weekend. Despite being behind most of the game and falling down by six with only 90 seconds left, the Nuggets fought back with clutch shots from Cam Johnson and Aaron Gordon, pushing the game to overtime. That's when Nikola Jokic scored seven of his 40 points, including a ridiculous fadeaway over Wemby's outstretched arm that pushed the lead to four. In the end, the Nuggets would win 136 to 134, led by Jokic's 48 and 13. That Denver win had some major implications for seeding in the Western Conference. First, the Nuggets moved ahead of the Lakers for the three seed in the West. The Lakers are of course dealing with season altering injuries to both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, which has led to a one in three record in their last four. The win also pushed the Thunder one step closer to clinching the one seed in the west, which they would eventually do following a win against the Clippers. It is OKC's third consecutive season atop the Western Conference, only the seventh team in league history to achieve that. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, the Pistons clinch the number one seed in the east, the first time Detroit has done that since the 0607 season they clinched after beating the Sixers, a game that featured former Sixer Tobias Harris yelling to the crowd, quote, get ready for the effing play in which is such a good dig.
- [02:08]
A
If, if you somehow don't like the playing or think that the playing is bad, this is a reason to love it for every single person.
- [02:15]
B
Yeah, like that's better that that honestly hurts worse than like get ready for the off season or something.
- [02:20]
A
Yeah, exactly.
- [02:22]
B
My favorite part about it was that it wasn't even at the end of the game. There were five minutes left in the third quarter. Tobias was just already confidently taunting the Sixers crowd. Now for the Sixers, we got more evidence this week that nothing good will ever happen.
- [02:38]
A
Never ever. I've been saying year I've been saying that that football is going to be pulled away. I've been saying always drop year long every time. Count on it.
- [02:48]
B
First, they lost their last three games which will likely mean they finish in the playing range. But more importantly, the team announced that Joel Embiid, after returning for five games following an extended absence, is set for another absence because he developed appendicitis and had to go immediate surgery while on a road trip in Houston. It's obviously a major blow for the Sixers, who are now likely looking at a play in appearance without Embiid. The Sixers were passed this week in the standings by the Orlando Magic, who have won four in a row and sit only a game back of the Hawks for the six seed. Though the Hawks do hold the head to head tiebreaker. While it was a great week for the Magic, it was overshadowed by what one of their opponents did to them this week. During a 138 to 127 win over the Mavs, rookie Cooper Flag scored 51 points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score 50 in a game. This end of season run from Flag has been incredible. It also included a 45 point game this week and it's tight. Second, the rookie of the Year race where flag is now plus 100 to win compared to Con Knippel at minus 125. Now Khan continues to rain down threes on the league. If he hits just two more three pointers he will become only the 11th player in NBA history to hit.270 in a season. Now the player who has done that the most is of course Steph Curry. He's done it 10 times in his career. Curry returned to the warriors after a 27 game absence, but was not able to change the warriors fortunes who have now lost five of their last six. Steph tried his best, dropped 29 points in 26 minutes in his first game back against the Rockets, but it wasn't enough for the win. The lone win in this stretch for the warriors was over the Kings, a game that featured one of the more bizarre moments this season. With the Kings leading by one with only three minutes left in the game, the Kings intentionally fouled Seth Curry, who is a career 86 free throw shooter while in the penalty. Now after the game, which the Kicks would go on to lose, Draymond Green called out the Kings for tanking, pointing to that intentional foul on Seth Curry. The NBA decided to investigate and in a perfect microcosm of this King season found no evidence of tanking, just incompetence. Kings head coach Doug Christie thought the team had a foul to give and wanted to preserve one of his three timeouts before the game clock dipped below three minutes and so instructed Doug McDermott to foul. Sam Amick of the Athletic reported that one Kings official said, quote, if we wanted to tank, we're doing an awful job of it it. And honestly I think you can leave out half those words and just say we're doing an awful job. But hey, at least it's ethical.
- [05:23]
A
The motto of the Kings we're doing an awful job. We're not tanking, we're just bad at this.
- [05:30]
B
Speaking of incompetence, the Bulls fired their front office this week, sending Arturas Carnesovis and Mark Eversley on their way. Carnesovis was hired in August of 2020 and over his six seasons in charge saw the Bulls win more than half
- [05:44]
A
their
- [05:46]
B
he will probably best be remembered for making that ill fated Nikola Vucevic trade in March 2021, a trade which included two lightly protected first round picks, one of which became Franz Wagner. Perhaps scared off by the results of his own trade, Karnasovis may also be remembered for going almost three full years during his tenure without making a trade involving a player. Amazing. Now the Bulls have not hired a new front office as of yet, but Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf did establish a major factor in the hiring process. Any candidate has sold on Billy Donovan as head coach. Now I would guess that would affect some candidates interest in the job, not being able to choose your own coach, but on the other hand seems like a pretty good job. I mean Carnisova's got to do it for six years and put together one team that won more than 40 games. Now for now the Bulls attention is going to shift to the draft lottery where they currently are tied for the ninth best odds with Milwaukee. We did get some news about potential lottery reform this week. Sean Sharray reported that the proposal gaining traction among the NBA governors would see lottery expand to 18 teams, with the bottom 10 having an equal 8% chance at the top pick. Kevin O' Connor would later report that one of the GMs presented a proposed rule where any team finishing in the bottom three would be ineligible to win the number one pick. Now that was seen as too extreme by most in the room, but o' Connor reported that Adam Silver responded enthusiastically to an idea where the bottom three teams would have worse odds than the teams ranked 4 through 10. I still can't believe they're really going to implement whatever new plan they decide next season.
- [07:24]
A
This is so dumb.
- [07:25]
B
It sounds like they are still firmly in the brainstorming phase. Like they're just riffing. They're just riffing on ideas.
- [07:32]
A
They don't have a clue what they're doing. They don't have a clue what the ramifications could be. And all they want to do is solve it. But what they're missing is that like, this is. This draft is very specific. This is a really, really good draft. I promise you. If you just sit on your hands or like you said, if, if the Pelicans GM just didn't have a phone, you know, before the draft, if everybody would just sit on their hands the rest of the time. Next year, tanking is fixed. It's totally fixed. Because not every team is going to want to do it.
- [08:06]
B
This, like, sense of urgency they have, it feels like a perfect storm to create the dumbest possible changes. But one thing I can guarantee is that whatever they decide, we' be changed within a few years. Guarantee that right now.
- [08:20]
A
Guarantee it.
- [08:20]
B
Because it's happens every time.
- [08:22]
A
It's going to be dumb.
- [08:24]
B
Yeah. And those were the top stories this week, Andrew. Now, before we get to the slammies.
- [08:29]
A
Slammies.
- [08:29]
B
I do have an update because it's the, the last week of the NBA season.
- [08:34]
A
Oh, no.
- [08:34]
B
And we can say for sure who the surprise teams are.
- [08:39]
A
Yeah.
- [08:40]
B
So first out, shout out to one of our listeners, Zach McCartney, who made this awesome surprise team tracker, which you can go look@tiny.com backslash surprise team should check it out. We've already had two teams lock it up. The Charlotte Hornets, they'd already done it. They just had to get to 38 wins. They're at 43. Congrats to Charlotte. Amazing. And then the Phoenix Suns, they just had to get to 42 wins and they're at 44 wins. Now. The Blazers. The Blazers came in third. They didn't quite get there. They had to win 45 games, which honestly, like, they could have done. Come on, guys. You could have been a surprise team. They're at 40 wins right now. You could have done it if you tried a little harder.
- [09:21]
A
They could have gotten there.
- [09:23]
B
Our Bulls that you I and Law Murray picked.
- [09:26]
C
Yeah.
- [09:27]
B
Now, they didn't come anywhere close. They need to win 43 games. But I will say the whole point of us picking the Bulls was that we thought the over under was really low. Isn't it kind of crazy that if they win their final two games, they'll have beat their over under, like as bad as season has been, if they get to 33 wins, they will have beat their over under.
- [09:46]
A
It was bad enough that they finally fired Carnosomes.
- [09:51]
B
It's just crazy. I mean, that is why I picked them, because I was like that over under so low.
- [09:55]
A
Yeah, that's how we all picked it. That's. I mean, it was. We. We thought that maybe they would do something and we didn't think that. I mean, they never try to be bad. Billy Donovan. Teams never typically don't underperform.
- [10:06]
B
So. Yeah, yeah. But. Yes. So once again, two surprise teams. Again, if you're just listening, we do this at the beginning of every year, look at every team who has projected to win fewer than 36 games by their over under, and we try to pick the team that's going to win at least 10 more games than that over under, which sounds crazy, but it happens every year. And this year we got another pair of teams, which is great. Very exciting. So congrats to the Phoenix Suns and the Charlotte Hornets. Now, Andrew, without further ado, it's time for the slammies. Our semi biannual. Biannual. Semiannual.
- [10:43]
A
Semiannual.
- [10:44]
B
Is it both?
- [10:45]
A
I don't know what it is. I don't know what to call it.
- [10:47]
B
We do it twice a year. We do it mid season and at the end of the season we make up some awards. We give them away, starting with I wasn't familiar with your game award. Now this award goes to the player or GM or coach who we've changed our opinion on the most compared to how we felt about them coming into the season.
- [11:06]
A
Season.
- [11:06]
B
So, Andrew, who gets your award for this?
- [11:09]
A
It's a guy who I wouldn't have thought would play a major role in this team's playoff rotation this year. He was kind of in and out of it last year. And a guy that was unreliable as a shooter and has been awesome this year is Peyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets. He went from 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist per game to 145 and 2 from 35% from 3 to 41%. From 3. He hits 50% from the corners, which really matters for the Never Nuggets. I got a little glimpse of this in the preseason whenever the Thunder played against them and a bunch of guys sat. Peyton Watson was kind of like the man for them and he was doing a little bit of everything for them and he was able to Kind of continue that throughout the regular season. In 15 games in January while Jokic was out, he averaged 21.5 and 3. And I'm so interested to see what happens this summer with him because there could be teams out there that will overpay him or perhaps the Nuggets will have to trade somebody in order to keep him. There's, there's a lot that could happen here with Peyton Watson, but he's somebody that a lot of teams should go after this summer because he's a really talented wing. He's like the perfect like wing, NBA size. He can shoot it. He can do a little bit of passing. His defense is really good. So him really, really nice player in
- [12:32]
B
Peyton Watson and also getting to see him in the playoffs because last year's playoffs he averaged 14 minutes per game.
- [12:37]
A
Yeah.
- [12:38]
B
Assuming he's, he's healthy, feeling good. Like I, I anticipate that being a lot more. This will be awesome.
- [12:43]
A
Yeah.
- [12:44]
B
He's seeing in that bigger role.
- [12:45]
A
Yeah.
- [12:46]
B
For me, Jalen Dern always liked him.
- [12:50]
A
Yeah.
- [12:51]
B
I wanted the Thunder to draft him.
- [12:52]
A
You did.
- [12:53]
B
22. But over his first couple seasons, my interest did start to fade. You know, the Pistons were terrible. And even once they turned the corner last season, I still hadn't adjusted my ceiling enough for Jalen. I mean that last summer none of us picked him in our first time all star draft.
- [13:08]
A
Yeah.
- [13:09]
B
That went 12 players deep. I don't even know if we discussed him. So we just weren't thinking about him that way. Then he makes the all star team. It didn't feel possible. Then he makes the team. We all recognize he's made the sleep, but I was still underrating him. And then he had this post all star break run that has honestly completely changed my perspective on both him, but also how I feel about the Pistons moving forward because I was definitely on the bandwagon of the Pistons need a second score because like they, they need that extra scoring punch if they're ever going to make serious noise in the playoffs. Never even considering that the second score could already be on the team. Pre all star break, Jalen Duran scored 20 plus points in 11 of 44 games. So about a quarter quarter of his games.
- [13:51]
A
Yeah.
- [13:51]
B
Post all star break. He's done that in 18 of 25 games.
- [13:55]
A
Wow.
- [13:56]
B
His consistency as a scorer the past couple months has been incredible to watch. Like these drives he has against opposing bigs where he's moving like a wing at his size, but then is strong enough to just bump sinners out of the way. I'M thinking specifically of the game he had against the Raptors like 10 days ago. Just cooked Jakoblade over over no hope. And considering he's only 22, I'm again also crazy. I'm really starting to reevaluate how high his ceiling could be specifically as an every night score for the Pistons. So I would say he's deserving of the I wasn't familiar with your game award. That brings us to our second award, the say what? Stats of the Year award. I'll start off with a honorable mention because this was something we talked to Law Murray about when he was on a few months back. I think it was part of my trivia question. Nicholas Batum. He has now played almost 1300 minutes a season. He has attempted a grand total of 10 two pointers 10 in 1300 minutes. The previous low for a player who played that many minutes in a season was Nicholas Batum last season. But even then he took 35 two pointers.
- [15:16]
A
Wow.
- [15:16]
B
He's down to 10 this season.
- [15:19]
A
That's amazing. Awesome. That's the definition of old man game. It's like the, it's a guy that is like he's just on the edge of not playing pickup anymore where he just goes from three point line to three point line and that's it. That's all he's got left. That's all Batum's got.
- [15:33]
B
That's the life. That is life. But that's my honorable mention. My, my say what? Stat of the Year award goes to the stat that the Denver Nuggets currently have their first 10 game winning streak since Jokic has been on the team.
- [15:46]
A
It's just bizarre.
- [15:47]
B
How is that true? I know that's a great stat because when I saw it I immediately went to stat head to look it up and confirm it. Anytime I see a stat I don't believe and even though like I know it's true that that means it's a really good stat that if you go back to Jokic's rookie season in 15 16, 20 of the 30 NBA teams have had at least one 10 game winning streak. And somehow until this week one of those teams was not the Denver Nuggets featuring three time MVP Nikola Jokic for all those seasons. Which I mean that's got to make you say what now the other teams. So, so now since Jokic came into the league there are got eight other teams. Yeah, eight other teams. Nine other teams that haven't had a ten game winning streak. Some of them pretty obvious when you know Washington, Sacramento, yeah, Charlotte, Chicago. But then there are still some good teams there. Dallas, Indiana, Minnesota, and the Knicks.
- [16:51]
A
Oh, that's funny.
- [16:51]
B
I could have sworn the Knicks had one. And I will say I did go back and look up nine game winning streaks.
- [16:57]
A
Yeah.
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B
And. And Denver did have a couple nine game winning streaks.
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C
Yeah.
- [17:01]
B
In fact, one of them ended to the Thunder in a two point loss.
- [17:05]
A
Oh no.
- [17:06]
B
Thriller.
- [17:06]
A
Oh, no.
- [17:08]
B
So what about you, Andrew? Who gets your say what Stat of the Year award?
- [17:12]
A
I still can't believe that bam Adebayo scored 83 points in a game.
- [17:16]
B
Yep, that is a stat.
- [17:18]
A
I just. I still don't believe that it actually happened. I mean, I believe it, but it's just so weird. So I went back and I looked at Kobe's 81 point game and I just want to look at the season that Kobe had and compared to the season that Bam has had.
- [17:30]
B
Probably pretty similar, huh?
- [17:32]
A
They're so similar. Listen to how similar these two seasons were. Kobe in 0506 scored 81 points in a game. He scored 20 or more points 77 times. He scored 30 or more points 56 times. He scored 40 or more points 27 times. And he scored 50 or more points that season, six times. His lowest scoring game. This is. This one made me say what his lowest scoring game was 11 points, which was hilariously against the Toronto Raptors, the same team that he scored 81 against. A little stat sandwich. Actually a huge stat sandwich. But I didn't know that. Did you know that?
- [18:16]
B
I did not. I did not know that. Now, how is it a stat sandwich?
- [18:19]
A
Because it's the. The top and the bottom.
- [18:22]
B
Yeah, but what's in the. What's in the middle?
- [18:23]
A
All the other. I mean, if you put them in order of how many.
- [18:27]
B
Okay, okay, okay, I get it now.
- [18:29]
A
That's my stat sandwich. Okay? It's a giant sandwich. Okay. There's a lot of meat in that sandwich. Okay, so the same stats for Bam this season. Bam has scored 20 or more points 37 times. He has scored 30 or more points five times. He scored 40 or more points zero times. And scored, I guess, one time. He scored 50 or more points one time. His career, her season high before 83 was 32. His season low, Al, two. Two points.
- [19:08]
B
Was that against the Wizards?
- [19:09]
A
That was a game that he left early. Okay, but he had another season low, al, in a game that he did not leave early. His other season low was four in a game that he played 25 minutes.
- [19:22]
B
Was that against the Wizards?
- [19:24]
A
I can't remember who it was.
- [19:25]
B
Against.
- [19:25]
A
I need to look it up. But single digit scoring. He had eight single digit scoring games this season. And this is the guy that scored 83 that beat this Kobe record. And when you look at like Kobe's numbers, like it makes sense. Eventually the guy was going to score 83. And there's so many like great scores.
- [19:44]
B
Like there are great, great scores of
- [19:46]
A
this generation playing night and night out. It's like Luca and Shea and even Booker is a guy that scored in the 70s before. But BAM is still like the most unlikely and I still just can't believe it. He scored seven against the Raptors the other night.
- [20:03]
C
And it's just like what is like
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A
how, how did this happen?
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B
It was absolutely the Luca trade moment of this season. It is the like, if I think back where I was for various NBA moments, that is the first one that comes to my mind and will be the first thing I think about from this season.
- [20:24]
A
It is. Yeah, totally. I remember running into my kids bedroom and saying, guys, we got to go turn on the Heat game. Bam has 72.
- [20:33]
B
And they were like the Wizards game,
- [20:35]
A
they were like, what? What in the world? I need to check and see if, if we have another stat sandwich, by the way.
- [20:41]
B
No, it's not.
- [20:43]
A
Oh, you did. Okay, That's a bummer.
- [20:44]
B
That's Denver. And then Golden State was the four point.
- [20:47]
A
Oh yeah, I remember Golden State. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [20:49]
B
I'm sure we'll have some other stat sandwiches.
- [20:51]
A
I will never. I will always say what to that. Always.
- [20:54]
B
Always. Yeah, that's. We should name. We should rename the award after that.
- [20:58]
A
The Bam had a bio say what? Stat of the year. Yeah.
- [21:02]
B
Our next award is the Future Hazy try again later award. Now this award goes to the team that we are most confused about or unsure about their future. And who, who did you select for this, Andrew?
- [21:17]
A
I have the Orlando Magic for this one.
- [21:21]
B
Yeah.
- [21:22]
A
Because when you looked at this team in the summer, you thought, okay, they look like they're ready to make the next step in the Eastern Conference and especially with Boston not being a team that's going to compete, which we were wrong about. Could the Orlando Magic be a dark horse contender in the Eastern Conference? You had Palo Banchero emerging as a superstar. You had Franz Wagner also just alongside him. And this cast of characters that could just help you win, like Jalen Suggs. And then you trade for Desmond Bain, who's a 27 year old in his prime that can shoot threes. That was one of their main flaws, was just the ability to Shoot threes still a huge flaw for them. Tristan da Silva has been a bright spot for them, who shot it well this year. But. But I don't know where they go from here. Like, they don't have a ton of flexibility. They don't have their pick this year. I don't. I don't know where they go from here because they. I mean, they paid a lot to get Desmond Bain. They paid a lot. And we'll. I'll talk more about that trade later, but I don't know exactly where this goes for them. They feel a little bit stuck. They're going to need Paolo or Franz to have, like, some real development, like A1. They need Franz stay healthy, but then they need Paulo to really figure it out over the off season and to become something more than what he is now, because right now it's just not a good enough player to lead the Magic. Where they need to go, they're too inconsistent. They're probably going to get a new coach. Maybe the new coach will have a better offensive system. But they have just been so incredibly disappointing this season for what we thought they could be. I mean, I thought they could easily be a top three seed in the east, and they're not even close to that. So I don't know where they go from here. I don't know what they do to get better. I know that Franz is still really young. I know that Palo's really young, 23 and 24 years old. But they're going to have to figure it out because they're expensive. And the Orlando Magic are not a team that will just stay expensive and just be mediocre. So I'm really curious to see where this ends up going for them.
- [23:36]
B
Yeah, this. This still is my biggest miss from this season. I was so in on Orlando.
- [23:43]
A
Yeah.
- [23:43]
B
And there were so many stats that you could look at when they were healthy last season that made you feel like, man, if they can just get like average three point shooting, yeah, this team is going to dominate. And yeah, I feel bad for their fans because it's just usually when you have this kind of a disappointing season, it's like an older team that's like, brought in some stars together and. And they're just kind of throwing it together and there's these big expectations. This felt like a natural progression season coming for the Magic, where they had been steadily making progress from the tanking years, and like, this was going to be the big breakout year and to have a season that ends up looking so much similar to last year. It's just beyond disappointing.
- [24:23]
A
And you have to pay Anthony Black
- [24:26]
B
and you got to pay Anthony Black.
- [24:27]
A
Yeah, he's due for an extension this summer and he's had a great, he's had a great year. He made a huge jump this season as a scorer, as a shooter. He's just, he's a better player. And now it's like, okay, what do you, what do we, what do you do, what do you do with that? I don't know.
- [24:42]
B
For me, my future hazy trig in later award goes to Portland. Yeah, on the one hand they had some real positives this season. Denny's all star run, Donovan Clingan taking a jump in his sophomore season. Tamani Kamara bounced back from some early season shooting struggles, has been good, but I still think the path forward is pretty murky, especially in the Western Conference. I struggle to see the clear path toward them reaching the same tier as like a Minnesota or Houston for example. And, and part of that is disappointment with some of their other young players, namely Scoot and Shaden. You know this, this almost feels like a throwaway season for Scoot because he's missed so much time, but he certainly hasn't seized this end of season opportunity in the way I had hoped. Like he's, he's had bright spots but it just has not been consistent at all. And while Shaden was having a fine season before his injury, the shooting still isn't there and he's had another one of these longer term injuries which is cut into his development. I'm not feeling great at all about young Hansen. That's been a rough start. He is a rookie, but it's been rough. He's not, he has not looked playable.
- [25:49]
A
And then the news around him as well.
- [25:52]
B
Yeah, that's one of those news items where it's like if it's a rookie that's been really good, you're like, oh, who cares?
- [25:56]
A
Yeah, good job.
- [25:59]
B
Yeah. But in this case it was like, ah, that kind of sucks. Dame coming back next season is such a wild card.
- [26:07]
A
Yeah, I don't get it.
- [26:08]
B
This is going to be the first summer with their new owner which adds a ton of potential for changes, maybe with the coach and or front office as a start. And then there's this stupid lottery reform if they really flatten the odds. That is so unfair to a team like Portland who has these future Bucs picks which are some of the best assets they have. Cutting the legs out from under those picks would be awful for the Blazers. And so all of these factors together Just have me feeling uneasy about the Blazers future. They obviously have the bones of a good team, but like what is the factor that's going to push them over that play in Hump in the West? Like is it really going to be 36 year old Damian Lillard? Like, maybe. I don't know.
- [26:48]
A
No, I.
- [26:48]
B
Probably not. No, I, I'm very interested to see what they do this summer with the new owner. Will he have that new owner mentality of like wanting to make a big splash right out of the gate? Regardless, all of this is just making me feel very unsettled about Portland's future. Future.
- [27:03]
A
Yeah, it's tough in the west too. I don't, I don't know. I don't know how you, I mean you can get. Phoenix has proven that you can get to the middle.
- [27:11]
B
Yeah.
- [27:11]
A
But like how do you jump the middle?
- [27:13]
B
Yeah. How do you get to that next step? That said, very excited for the playing. Gonna try to go to the playing game. It'll be very fun. Our next award is the Nico Harrison Award, which goes to the worst decision made by a team this season going back to last year's draft. And my winner is Milwaukee's summer of 2025. Now, I did think about some other things. There are some honorable mentions here. I don't know what you're going to pick, so I won't step on your toes. But I went with Milwaukee Summer 2025, which, yeah, it's easy to say this in retrospect now that we've seen how things played out with Giannis and the Bucks committing to the most insufferable star exit since Dame and Portland. But it's not like the moves of last summer were universally praised at the time. Like as. As soon as they waved and stretched Dame signed Miles Turner, the downside was immediately apparent. And the upside was probably always going to be a lot lower than the Bucks wanted to admit because the rest of the roster was so lacking. Like, even if you take out the most recent stretch with Giannis when he came back for the final time, take out that 2 and 4 stretch, they were 15 and 15 this season. With Giannis, who was awesome when he played, especially early in the season, he was awesome. This was probably around a.500 team with average health. I mean they're over under going in the season. As a reminder, it's 43 and a half healthy. They were being projected as a playing team and to go all in in the way they did for that team now looks like a franchise crippling decision. The effects of which are going to play out over these next few years. Now, obviously, if you get a good return in a Yanish trade this summer, that's going to help change this narrative. But now they're in a position where they have to nail the Yanis trade as an expiring with the injury concerns with no other outs unless Giannis randomly decides to sign an extension with Milwaukee, which feels like a pipe dream at this point. They've backed themselves into this corner and they did it for a team that never deserved to be believed in to the extent that their moves would suggest. I still get all the reasonings, like, especially the idea that when you have a top three to five guy in the league, you have to give it every opportunity. But there's something to be said going forward for recognizing when a good thing is over. And let's move on to avoid the worst case scenario, which is turning your franchise guy against the franchise in a very public way and souring everyone on this relationship that has meant so much to the fan base and the city. Like, regardless of the return, they get any honest trade. They failed at that. And last summer was probably the last chance they had to avoid it. And so collectively, I would say that's deserving of a Nico Harrison award. Maybe. Maybe it's not Luca trade level, but it's pretty bad when you start looking to the future of the Milwaukee Bucks.
- [30:00]
A
Also, fans are smart, Al. Like, they would get it. Like, if they traded him last summer and got a ton for him, fans would understand it. And if the fans that didn't understand it, like, they would, they would have,
- [30:14]
B
yeah, they would have come around to it.
- [30:15]
A
They'd eventually get over it. It's like you can't. You just can't. The longer you hold on to these guys and the less, the less that they'll get for him is the longer you're going to be bad, you know, like you. I wish that every star could be like, you know, Kobe or whatever, but part of the problem is that, like, when Kobe was ending his career in la, they were getting lottery picks. They didn't have those picks, you know, traded out. Like, they were able to bring in young guys around him and they eventually cobbled enough guys where they can go trade for Anthony Davis and they got LeBron like they were able to. But the Bucks have nothing. Like, they, they have depleted all of their assets. Like they're, they are just in a really, really hopeless spot right now with one of the best players of the league.
- [31:04]
B
It's. It's rough and that's with the rise of, you know, Ryan Rollins. Like, that's an awesome story. Like, they, they do have some good things. You can talk about this end of season run from Usman Jang, like, KPJ has had a nice season, but you can. Yeah, it's, it's, it's still rough. So, Andrew, what about you? Who wins your Nico Harrison award?
- [31:23]
A
Maybe guys that would have won it in the past anyways. Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver on draft night, traded for the 13th overall pick. And Derek Queen, they gave the pellet or they traded the to The Hawks, a 2026 first round pick, the most favorable of New Orleans and Milwaukee unprotected. They also sent them asa Newell, the 23rd overall pick. It's just, it's. I didn't even remember that they got the 23rd overall pick in this deal. Like, that is a crazy trade. That is an absolutely bonkers deal that when you look at New Orleans and where they're headed as a basketball team, it's like what they really need is what they hoped Zion would be, which is a star. He's not that. I really don't know what Zion is anymore. He has played 62 games this year. Like, that's a lot. And it's almost discouraging that they. He's played 62 games and they've only won 26 games this season. It makes it like the future of this team even more murky. But when you look at like they've got Trey Murphy, they've got Herb Jones, they've got dejante Murray, who's looked pretty good since he returned, they've got like the bones of like a team, like kind of like you said with the Blazers. And the one thing they're missing is probably a star. And had they known that they were going to be this bad, maybe they don't trade the pick. And also maybe they're a team that's maybe in position to get the fifth pick, maybe in a position to get the fourth pick in this draft and really, you know, change their fortunes. So I think that deal is going to shape the New Orleans franchise for a very long time. And I don't think Derrick Queen is good enough. And so I think Derek Queen's a good player, a nice player, but I don't think Derek Queen is going to be good enough to completely change everything for them. So I will give it to, to the duo in New Orleans.
- [33:26]
B
Yeah, my, my other honorable mention was the Yakov Purdle extension. But Derek Queen also made My list or the Derek Queen trade. Okay, our next award is the opposite it, the reverse Nico Harrison award. Now this award goes to the best decision made by a team this season going back to last year's draft. So Andrew, who did you select for your reverse Nico Harrison award?
- [33:57]
A
I know that my guy Keith Parrish probably won't like this, but I really like that the Memphis Grizzlies ejected from that roster basically the minute that they came to the realization that John Morant was not that guy anymore. I mean they, they traded Desmond Bain last summer. They got four unprotected picks, a pick swap and kcp. Oh, that's what, that's great. You know, Desmond Bain's got three years left. 39 million, 42 million, 44 million. Really good trade. They traded Jaren Jackson to the Jazz. They got back, it was a, it was a big deal as an eight player deal. But they got Walter, Clayton, Taylor, Hendricks. They get to try those guys out and they got three first round picks like, okay, that's, that's really good. And the best thing of all is that they get to make their own picks worse.
- [34:53]
B
Yeah.
- [34:53]
A
And then this year, right now, I think they sit at 6 in the reverse standings. They've done a really good job of tanking if they remain in the even in the top six. There's like really good players inside the top six and they could turn this thing around pretty quick because not only are they going to have the six pick, they're going to have like another mid first round pick here. A team that has really thrived at picking in the mid first round. If they come away from this draft, like two guys, like two guys picked in the first round can change everything for you. The Thunder changed their entire fortunes by picking two guys in the first round. They got the second pick and the 12th pick and that completely changed everything for them. I just really like the idea of this team was not going to be good enough to compete in the west at a high level. And so it's time, while these guys still have value, let's go trade them and rebuild the team. I really, really love what they've done, so I'm a big fan of what they're doing in Memphis. I know it's going to take some time and there's going to be, have to be some patience there. But if they somehow look out in the lottery this year or just pick the right guys, even if they're picking it 5th and 17th or whatever, I think that they're just in a, in a much Better position than they were where like what, maybe they're the sixth seed, maybe they're the eighth seed right now and they're going to get knocked out in round one again. And then maybe those guys don't have the value they did before. I just think that they, they, they did the right thing. They kind of ripped the band aid off and I, I will, I will commend them for that.
- [36:25]
B
And you know, listeners, you already know by now, but on Friday night, and I mean an all time tank battle.
- [36:34]
A
Yeah.
- [36:35]
B
Between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Utah Jazz Shout out. Which has significant implications for their percentages because as you mentioned, they're. The Grizzlies are tied right now with the Mavs in that six spot and that would bump them down to be in a tie with the Pelicans. So, yeah, it's a massive game.
- [36:54]
A
It is.
- [36:55]
B
My winner is the Clippers trading for Darius Garland. I mean, what a move they went from. I mean, going from 6 and 21 to over 500 is amazing enough.
- [37:05]
A
Yeah.
- [37:05]
B
But getting a young but established guard to lead you into whatever comes next, I thought it was just an incredible move. I know this era of the Clippers has largely not. Not been a success, not seen as a success. But I do think you have to appreciate the way they've refused to die at every moment where it felt like this team was going to implode and send OKC a high lottery pick. And I'm not even just talking about this season. Over and over again, they've pulled something out of the hat, whether it was trading for James Harden, sticking with Kawhi, who will now have played 65 plus games in two of the last three seasons, which is kind of wild. And now making the Garland trade paired with the Zubac trade at the deadline line. Staying afloat like they have during this period, I think has been really impressive. And that pair of moves at the deadline was just brilliant. If I knew Indy's pick fell to five, I'd give the Zubach trade this award. But for now, Garland trade is good enough to earn my reverse Nico Harrison award.
- [38:02]
A
Yeah. And I like Matheran. I think Matheran is a nice player. Now, how do I pay him? What does that look like? I think is a little complicated. But yeah, I do, I do. I, I'm with you.
- [38:13]
B
Some of my honorable mentions. Phoenix hiring Jordan Knott.
- [38:16]
A
Yeah.
- [38:17]
B
Pretty impressive credit. And then Atlanta signing Nikhil Alexander Walker to that deal. I mean, what a steel, what a steal.
- [38:24]
A
You got to be just throwing up every day if you're. If you're a Wolves fan and if
- [38:29]
B
you're a Hawks fan, you're throwing up with joy.
- [38:31]
A
You're just.
- [38:33]
B
Just puking up joy every you can up join.
- [38:35]
A
Yeah, Nikhil. And you could get. I mean, like, right now, they get. They're in line to get the eighth pick.
- [38:41]
B
I know. They could be the sixth seed. Getting the eighth pick. Having na. Things. Things are looking up in Atlanta.
- [38:48]
A
Great.
- [38:50]
B
Our next award, the last Tanker Award. This award goes to the team that we believe had the best tank in the final season of tanking. There will never be tanking again. There will never be a bad team again. Everyone will be mid or good. It's all over after this season. This is the final one. And I'm giving the last tanker award to Utah.
- [39:12]
A
The Utah.
- [39:13]
B
I was so annoyed with Utah in those first two seasons after the Mitchell and Gobert trades.
- [39:18]
A
Yeah.
- [39:18]
B
Because it just looked like they weren't committed to any outcome in particular. They'd have these runs where they legitimately looked like a solid playing team, and then they trade some vets and do a soft tank in the spring. And they were specifically doing this during the run up to the Wemby draft, which drove me insane. But these last two seasons, they have committed, and they have committed to the point that the league is changing the rules. Now, it's certainly not just because of Utah, but they did become the poster child for this tanking season, and they did receive the harshest penalty. I think it's a badge of honor. People talk about how the league had to change the rules of the sport because of Wilt Chamberlain. This is the same thing. Okay? There's no difference between those two examples. You know, when people post the meme of Wilt with the crazy stat line, Utah was that this season for tanking because this team wasn't terrible. They had to work for this. You know, Washington, Brooklyn. Sure, they. They had. They were tanking, but they would have been bad. Regardless. Utah did the work. They put in the time, and I'm telling Las Vegas right now, look me in the eyes. I dare you to let me pick Utah as my surprise team next season. I. I dare you to give them an over, under, below 36 win. And for everyone who thinks that what Utah did this season was shameful or unethical, they are the reason we're not going to have tanking anymore. Okay? You should be praising them. And also, by the way, they're going to be kicking your favorite team's ass next year.
- [40:47]
A
No, no.
- [40:48]
B
Yes, they are. Are you down on the. I'm legitimately going to be way too high on the Jazz going into next season.
- [40:55]
A
Yeah. I mean, I think they're going to be a fine team. I don't think they're going to be,
- [40:58]
B
like, sometimes I think they're going to be a fine team. It'd be so fun. Yeah. So they get my last tanker award.
- [41:06]
A
Oh, no.
- [41:07]
B
What about you, Andrew? Who do you think have the best?
- [41:09]
A
I'm going to give it to the Wizards. And if we're talking about a last tanker, what they did, like, trade wise, like, indicates that, like, this is our last. This is our last time. We're doing this because we're trading for guys to help us be better next year. And Trey Young and Anthony Davis just, like, sit with that for just a second that Trey Young and Anthony Davis are on the Wizards. Like, what?
- [41:34]
B
Opening night is going to be bizarre next year.
- [41:36]
A
What even is that? I don't even know what to do with that. They do have the best odds. No one's catching them.
- [41:43]
B
Yeah.
- [41:44]
A
They've lost 63 games this year so far. Lost eight in a row. Congratulations. And they can only fall as far as five, which is great. In a draft that I think has, like, five or six guys that I think are, like, pretty obviously great. So I think it's. I think it's very commendable that they. They just went all in. They've been all in. We haven't had to worry about them. They've been losing since the beginning, and they also did these really weird trades at the deadline. And if tanking truly is over and they do this, like, completely flat odds where it's like. Like, Everybody gets the 8% thing, which I think is outrageously dumb. They'll be fine, because I think that they've got. They've got some veterans now that can help them win, and they've got some good players. Like, Will Riley's been really good for them. Trey Johnson, I think, has shown a lot of flashes. Alex Saar has had a much better season. Keisha John, Keyshawn George has been really good. So there's a lot. There's a lot there. And They've also played 26 guys this year.
- [42:48]
B
That's.
- [42:49]
A
That's. That's how you know you're tanking.
- [42:51]
B
Yeah, I. I do like that new strategy. I wonder if that would have kept Sam Hinkey his job if he had just traded for, like, a star.
- [42:59]
A
Yeah.
- [43:00]
B
The deadline just to signal, like, okay, this is it. This is it. Don't worry.
- [43:04]
A
We're done.
- [43:05]
B
I'm wrapping it up.
- [43:08]
A
They traded for two.
- [43:09]
B
Yeah, well, I mean, Utah did that too, with Triple J. I like it. Signals to your fans, like, hey, just hold on a little bit longer. Things are about to turn.
- [43:19]
A
We're shutting these guys down. But just wait a minute. Just wait a minute.
- [43:23]
B
Yeah, I do. I do like that strategy.
- [43:25]
A
Yeah. I don't know if I like it, but it's happening.
- [43:29]
B
Yeah, well, yeah, I don't know if I like that specific combination of players, but yeah, it is interesting.
- [43:35]
A
It's at least funny. It's at least weird.
- [43:38]
B
That brings us to our next award, which is the worst podcast segment award. This award goes to the NBA related topic we never want to talk about again. Do we have the same answer? What's yours, Andrew?
- [43:55]
A
The 65 game rule.
- [43:57]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [43:58]
A
Does anybody want to hear anyone talk about that anymore? I mean, holy smokes, man. And I, and I feel bad for podcasters because you have to talk about it because it's such a big part of what's happening in the league, but it is the most annoying topic. Like, I am. I am over it. I'm done. I'm mad at Adam Silver for even putting this into the NBA. It's not that hard. Voters. Voters can decide what player gets voted where it doesn't. We don't have to do all this, but, boy, is so, so much time is spent talking about the 65 game rule. Oh, my gosh. I. I'm just done. I'm just so glad that we get to get to the. We get to the playoffs. We don't have to talk about it anymore. Far.
- [44:39]
B
Yeah. And unfortunate for you, it doesn't seem like Adam Silver has any inclination to move on this.
- [44:46]
A
Like, he, he loves it. He loves tuning into podcasts, talking about
- [44:50]
B
it, which means we're gonna continue to get it year after year.
- [44:55]
A
Yeah, we're just going to change the name of slam jam to 65 games.
- [44:59]
B
Did you, did you watch the. The new talking basketball video? It's, like, tangentially related to the 65 game rule, but it's just talking about how more. It's trying to quantify how much more physical the game, how much more stressful the game is on the human body compared to a few decades ago. And it just, it sent me down a rabbit hole of, like, what kind of rule changes could you make to make the game, like, less stressful on the body? Like, what could you do? And there are some interesting Reddit threads of people throwing out ideas of how you could like calm the game down a little bit so that maybe we don't get as many injuries. Because we all know what the answer to all this is, is just play fewer games, less games. But we also know that's never going to happen.
- [45:45]
A
Yeah.
- [45:46]
B
And so if you know that, is there anything you could do to just make the game easier on the body, which I think is an interesting conversation.
- [45:53]
A
Yeah. Less games is still, it's still the one. It's sitting out there.
- [45:58]
B
It's the answer to a lot of things that people don't like, like about the NBA.
- [46:02]
A
I mean, if you're, if your favorite team only played twice and at the most three times a week, it would just mean a lot more. And the players could rest. They could. The travel isn't as stressful. You're not doing back to backs. It's, it's just better for everybody.
- [46:18]
B
I agree. Mine is tanking. The thing is pretty clear, I'm not in favor of the league's anti tanking proposals and I think they're insane for wanting to institute these new rules immediately. But one good thing about a new set of tanking rules is the conversation on tanking is going to die down a little bit. It will be similar to ratings talk after the media deal was signed.
- [46:39]
A
Like rating stock.
- [46:40]
B
Like, sure.
- [46:41]
A
Another one.
- [46:42]
B
You could still talk about ratings if you were a huge loser. But the 76 billion dollar media deal that runs through the mid-2030s, it made your point like a little less interesting than before.
- [46:53]
A
Definitely.
- [46:53]
B
And I do think a similar thing is going to happen as a result of these new tanking rules, which is that we won't need to do podcast segments about anti tanking ideas, at least until the league decides this next set of rules are also bad and changes them in a few years.
- [47:07]
A
But Alex, do you want to hear my new top three tanking solutions?
- [47:12]
B
No. I mean this week, if people have seen it. Did you see the beer one?
- [47:17]
A
No.
- [47:18]
B
The beer one is basically like every team starts at beer costing $10 in the arena. And for every win, the ownership group can increase the price of beer by 10 cents. But if you lose, you have to decrease the price of beers by 10 cents. So this person did the, did the math and basically what it's setting up is like if you're a tanking team like the Wizards, by the end of the season, beers are costing like a dollar thirty.
- [47:45]
A
Oh wow.
- [47:46]
B
And if you're an ownership group, like, can you even, can you deal with that? Because it's, it's, it's A. It's a revenue stream.
- [47:52]
A
You know, it's a chaotic environment as well.
- [47:54]
B
It's also a very chaotic environment. Have you ever seen that video about. I think it was the. Was it the Cleveland Indians who had the dime beer night?
- [48:04]
A
No.
- [48:05]
B
It's so good. Like by the fourth inner inning it was chaos.
- [48:08]
A
Just like fan.
- [48:10]
B
There were fans on the field. It's such a good. It's like a short like 10 minute documentary. It's so funny. Okay, anyways, moving on. Oh, but in general, I think a decrease in tanking rated pods is going to be a welcome site next season. And here's the best part. We can finally focus on what matters, which is nonstop pods about the expansion draft, which I am genuinely excited about. I will do a pod about the expansion draft every week.
- [48:39]
A
I'm excited about the expansion draft.
- [48:41]
B
I think we should ask the Athletic if we can start an expansion only podcast. Ooh, we only talk about the expansion and it's a weekly pod until the draft.
- [48:51]
A
That'd be great.
- [48:53]
B
I don't know who would listen to that, but I'll spend hours on the expansion draft. I'm so excited.
- [48:59]
A
Yeah, I'm very in as well. I'm very, very in.
- [49:03]
B
It's so funny because you, I mean you see like what rosters look like after expansion draft. It's like not that exciting.
- [49:09]
A
Oh, not at all, not at all.
- [49:11]
B
But I'm so hyped. Okay, that brings us to our next award, the Weirdo award. Now this award goes to the player, coach, GM team that had the weirdest season. And I'm going with Kevin Durant who whose season I feel like is going a bit under the radar. And yet I totally understand why it's going under the radar. First the good. Assuming he scores at least 7 points total in the Rockets final two games, KD will be the first player age 37 years or older to score 2000 points in a season season. The previous high for a 37 year old was 1878 by Carl Malone. As good as old LeBron has been. His best old man season was almost 200 points behind KD. KD has been so good he's heading towards his 12th all NBA selection which will move him ahead of Steph, put him tied with several legends at seventh all time. At age 37, he is a few free throw percentage points away from another 50, 40, 90 season. And he's done all this while playing 77 games with a chance to get to 79 games played. That would be the most games played by KD. Since his MVP season in OKC.
- [50:21]
A
Wow.
- [50:22]
B
That was in 2014.
- [50:23]
A
Wow.
- [50:24]
B
He's arguably in the midst of the greatest old man season in league history. And yet it's getting a little lost because, well, it's KD and it wouldn't be a KD season without some drama, whether it's Burnergate 2.0 or just like the general weirdness of this Rockets team at various points during the season. It's admittedly been weird, but I do think we will look back at this Katy season with awe that he led a 50 win team in this Western Conference at age 37 and without the team adding a significant piece after losing Fred Van Vliet. It's truly been like an incredible season from KD at his age, but it's also been very weird. So he gets my weirdo award.
- [51:05]
A
Yeah. Also losing their identity with Stephen Adams going down.
- [51:09]
B
Yeah, totally.
- [51:10]
A
I mean, he, he was almost their entire offensive identity. It was like based around the fact that he was a historic offensive rebounding center.
- [51:17]
B
Yeah, yeah. Huge loss. What about you?
- [51:20]
A
Who.
- [51:20]
B
Who gets your weirdo award?
- [51:21]
A
I mean, it's easily the Clippers. Yeah, I mean, I, I'm working in September with our colleague Pablo Torre, making sure that we get podcasts on the NBA Daily with him because of an investigation with this team that involves trees. Okay, that's the start. That's the start of the season. Then they started the season 6 and 21. They blamed Chris Paul, who is supposed to have his swan song season, and sent Chris Paul a legendary Clipper home because he was basically so annoying. And then. And everybody's like jumping on all the Clippers are idiots. So losing. They get good from there. They go 35 and 18. Kawhi Leonard is playing basketball with them almost every single night. They traded two of their three best players at the trade deadline and somehow are in better position now. They have good young players. Kobe Sanders, Jordan Miller, Yanna Coda, Niederhauser. Niederhauser. They're in the play in. This is a weird season. Every single thing. It's like this big roller coaster that has like twists and turns that you could never have predicted. I mean, at 6 and 21, if you looked at me and said, hey, they're trading James Harden at the deadline, hey, they're somehow going to get better throughout this and they're going to be in the play in. You'd be like, wait, what, what, what are you even talking about? What is happening? And yet they're in a good. They're in A good place. They're in a place where I'm like, you know what? I actually kind of like how they propelled themselves. I don't know how good they'll be in the future, but you can see the outline of a future for them. Whereas, like, what were they going to be like? Kawhi is eventually not going to be a great player. Harden is 36 years old. Zubots was another great player, but not a guy that I don't. I mean, he's not like some kind of franchise guy. But like you said, if they could get like the fifth or sixth pick in this draft and then like move forward with Garland and whoever, they get it at 6 and Nicholas, Ben Mather and obviously Nicholas Batum will be part of anything they do here. But then like, Niederhauser's Neaterhauser is good. Yeah. I don't know. It's been the weirdest season for the Clippers and somehow they've wound up and like, oh, this is actually pretty good. Whereas earlier on in the season it looked like, oh my gosh, the Clippers could give the Thunder the number one pick. Yeah, like that's where we started and somehow we're here. I just is so, so strange. And still the investigation still open. Who knows when we're going to find out what happened with that, when the hammer is going to drop. Who knows? Like this. It's. It's not even over yet. The weirdness is not even over yet.
- [54:22]
B
Well, I, I still can't get over how good of a season Kawhi is having. Because the season he had two years ago.
- [54:28]
A
Yeah.
- [54:29]
B
Where he played 68 games. He was an all star. He made all NBA second team. That felt like, okay, this is like the new standard for what a good Kawaii season will look like now. Going forward. Forward.
- [54:40]
A
Yeah.
- [54:41]
B
And he's been so much better. Like he averaged 23.7 points per game that season and he's up to 28.
- [54:47]
A
He's really good this season.
- [54:48]
B
It's been. It's been incredible.
- [54:50]
A
Yeah.
- [54:51]
B
So, yeah, I, I think that's a great pick. So two. Two more awards left, really. Just one more award and then a bold prediction, best moment of the year award. This is the big one, Andrew. This is the one everyone's been waiting for. They've been listening. It goes to our single favorite moment. Now that could be a play, a game, a story of the season. What was your best moment of the year, Andrew?
- [55:17]
A
Is it bad that it was the very first moment of the season that I Loved the most.
- [55:22]
B
What was that?
- [55:23]
A
Thunder Rockets, game one.
- [55:26]
B
Was it because Shingoon was Steph Curry?
- [55:29]
A
They raised the banner.
- [55:31]
B
Yeah.
- [55:31]
A
Kevin Durant has to be in the building as the Thunder raise a banner.
- [55:35]
B
Oh, so this is a very personal best moment.
- [55:37]
A
Who doesn't love that? Who doesn't love that? It's great. It's awesome.
- [55:42]
B
Fans, I would imagine.
- [55:43]
C
Poetic. It's poetic.
- [55:44]
B
Thunder fans.
- [55:45]
A
The game goes into double overtime. It's tense. It's amazing. The crowd is roaring. OKC is able to get it to two overtime because Durant misses a clutch free throw and then gives Shay a chance to make a clutch shot down the stretch. Shangun did look like he was like a brand new player. Like, oh, my gosh, Shengu can shoot threes now. What are we gonna do? It was just so fun. It was. It was the most. Probably the most fun I've had at a game this season was night one. So that, that's still my favorite moment. I don't know that. I don't know that you could beat the Thunder raising their first championship banner and Kevin Durant having to be present for it. I just don't know how you beat that.
- [56:27]
C
That.
- [56:28]
B
Well. My. I'm gonna basically do the exact opposite of your best moment. Because my best moment of the year was the first Thunder spurs game of the season.
- [56:39]
A
Yeah. Which.
- [56:39]
B
Which the Thunder lost. And you know, obviously as a Thunder fan, it, it, it was bad. And my, you know, holidays were ruined and everything, but as an NBA fan, that game, it's rare that a single game will shift a narrative as much as that single game did. And I just thought as an NBA fan, that was awesome because, remember, at that time, the Thunder looked unbeatable.
- [57:04]
A
Yeah.
- [57:04]
B
A bunch of podcasts are talking about, can they win, you know, 74 games? Meanwhile, the Clippers are miserable. We're talking about them getting the number one overall pick. And then you have this game with the spurs. That was a really close game. Came down to the wire. But what stuck out to me in that game was how much of that game was controlled by the Spurs.
- [57:25]
A
Yeah.
- [57:25]
B
Like, even as it was close, I, I just never felt like the run was going to happen, you know, And I just loved the way that game changed the entire narrative of the season. Like, it started with that game. It obviously continued with, with the, the Christmas Day game and the. And the second game too. But I, I just love that moment as an NBA fan because so much of the NBA is dominated by narratives that are off court narratives. And for the first time In a while, there was like a really cool on court narrative that was dominating discussion and I thought that was a really cool moment for the league as a whole. And it's, it's obviously has led to people being super excited about a potential playoff matchup if it, if it ends up there between the Thunder and the Spurs. So I just love that moment for the NBA. Which brings us to not an award, but a bolt prediction for the playoffs. Now, last season, Andrew, I don't remember what you said, but I do remember what I said, which was that the Pacers were going to make the Eastern Conference finals, which I feel like my best predictions. I go, I don't. I'm not bold enough. Do you know, you know how much of it. If I had said they were going to make the finals, I wouldn't even be here right now. I would have been. Been hired by someone else. I would have my own podcast. But I said the conference finals and so it doesn't matter. I, I'll be honest with you. I found it harder this year to make a bold prediction.
- [58:54]
A
It's hard to be bold, I'll say that. Yeah, it's really tough to be bold.
- [58:58]
B
Like I'm gonna be upfront. My, my prediction, I don't feel it's particularly bold. I mean, it, it would be interesting, but it's. Yeah, the New York Knicks winning the Eastern Conference, which, which is going to be my pick, but I don't think that that's too bold. I mean, they're certainly not the favorites. I'm assuming Boston is the favorite, but I really do believe the Knicks are going to win the East. I, I saw what happened last year where they had like a similar season where like, people were just unsure of them. And then it just felt like we saw a different team in the playoffs. They just, they were, they were playoff risers and Andrew. Yeah, and maybe some of that was tibs, but I'm expecting a similar thing to happen this year's playoffs where we see the Knicks rise to the occasion. And I really do think they're going to win the East. They are. They're my official pick. So it may not be super bold, but it is my prediction for the playoffs. What about you, Andrew?
- [59:51]
A
Yeah, I have a very similar bold prediction. I, I picked the Cavs to win the East.
- [59:57]
B
I think that that's pretty bold at this point. You know, we got over like the James Harden honeymoon, and I know there was a lot of talk about the Cavs winning the east at that point, but it feels like that talk kind of faded over the next month or so.
- [60:12]
A
Yeah.
- [60:13]
B
So it's. I would say it's similar. We'll give each other both jalapenos. I would say.
- [60:17]
A
Yeah.
- [60:18]
B
Maybe a spicy jalapeno. Okay. You're eating the seeds.
- [60:23]
A
I was going to say there's a seed in there that. An unexpected seed.
- [60:27]
B
Unexpected seed.
- [60:30]
A
But I just. Yeah. I mean. I mean, it's. It's kind of bold to predict any James Harden team to go to the finals. He hadn't been there since.
- [60:37]
B
That's true. That's true.
- [60:40]
A
But I. Yeah, I don't know. It's. It is tough because the Pacers were a team that was like, hey, these. The Pacers are for real, you know? Yeah. But it was so bold. Bold to predict they got to the conference finals, though. At the time.
- [60:52]
B
Time, it was because it was like this team, you know, once they made that pivot in December and they started winning everything, like, people were talking about them as like, well, this team could be really dangerous.
- [61:02]
A
Yeah.
- [61:03]
B
But it was. It was. I mean, it was obviously still a surprise when they actually won the. Or made the finals.
- [61:10]
A
So.
- [61:10]
B
Yeah, it doesn't feel like there's a team quite like that in the west or the east, so it does feel a little chalkier this year.
- [61:19]
A
Yeah.
- [61:19]
B
I mean, who would be, like, your pick of teams from the five seed down in either conference?
- [61:26]
A
I don't. I don't know that, like, actually feels like they could really do it or
- [61:32]
B
even win, like, two. Just make the conference finals. It's.
- [61:35]
A
I mean, it's.
- [61:36]
B
It's hard.
- [61:37]
A
Like, is it. Is Atlanta shown enough over this last stretch? Like, do you believe Atlanta could do it?
- [61:45]
B
And, like, obviously, the Wolves in the west, they've made the conference finals two years in a row.
- [61:50]
A
Yeah.
- [61:50]
B
Maybe they get matched up with Denver, but then they got to beat the spurs, too. Like, that would be an incredible run.
- [61:54]
A
Also their health. Maybe. Maybe the. Maybe the. The Wolves is the right one. Just be like, hey, they'll get it together and they're gonna beat the Nuggets and the Spurs.
- [62:07]
B
That should, like, qualify for a ring. They should get, like, something. Yeah. For doing that.
- [62:11]
A
Yeah. Even if they got swept by OKC in the conference finals, it's like, yeah, you won something else.
- [62:17]
B
That would be the craziest run to
- [62:19]
A
have to go play 10 for Spurs, Denver, Spurs, Thunder.
- [62:24]
B
I mean, that would be the greatest playoff run of all time.
- [62:26]
A
It really would be. I mean, to knock out all three of those teams, which just makes it even more improbable for them to get there. And then it's like, do you Houston. Like I don't believe Houston can do it.
- [62:37]
B
Yeah.
- [62:37]
A
Yeah, it's tough. It's tough to be bold. Let us know what your bold prediction is for the playoffs.
- [62:43]
B
Any playing teams you're loving out there, folks.
- [62:46]
A
You think that the Hornets could make a run?
- [62:49]
B
It'd be fun.
- [62:51]
A
Maybe that would be the one. Okay, stay tuned because Xenia Kid is going to join us to talk about the warriors and we have some some trivia stuff going on. So join us for that. Thank you for listening to the slams. Let us know where what got right, what we got wrong, what did we miss? Let us know and we'll be right back after this quick break.
- [63:13]
B
All right, Andrew, it is time for the Wheel of Fandom, the weekly segment where we spin a wheel, it lands on a team and we become fans of that team for the next week. Two weeks ago, the wheel landed on the Golden State Warriors. Now the good news for the warriors is Steph Curry finally made his return this week after missing 27 games with a knee injury. The bad news is that over the past two weeks the warriors have gone 2 and 4 with their only wins coming over the Wizards and the Kings. Now, the most exciting game of the past two weeks came in Curry's return game against the Rockets which went down to the wire. Looked like it could be a storybook ending after Steph hit a big three with a minute left followed by a go ahead bucket from Gary Payton II. But it was Alperin Shengoon scoring with 11 seconds left followed by a missed Curry 3 that ended the game 117, 116 in favor of Houston. This recent stretch has locked the warriors into the 10th seed in the west with a 37:42 record per cleaning the glass glass. Golden State has a 19th ranked offense and 16th ranked defense. Andrew, if the warriors are a favorite team, who is our guest?
- [64:19]
A
Oh, you know or you love her. It's Xena Keda who's obviously on this show, but she also covers the warriors for NBC Sports. Bay Area. Xena from the airport because you just live the busiest life of anybody I know. Xena, thanks for joining us.
- [64:37]
C
Thank you for having me. I was smiling the entire time. I got to be a part of an Alex Spears monologue. It feels so cool. I'm genuinely happy to be here.
- [64:48]
A
It is very cool. So we finally saw the return of Steph Curry this week which provided a huge jolt to this warriors team. How do you think Steph looked in his first two games back as he tries to, like, regenerate what this warriors team could be.
- [65:04]
C
Sure. I mean, that first game, 29 and 26 minutes, insane. You know, the shot mechanics were there, the footwork was there. The chemistry with Draymond Green, where they know each where each other is going to be through telekinetic communication, all of that was there. And so you were kind of riding high off of that first game against Houston. And then, you know, things got a little bit normal looking against the Kings. You saw some turnovers that were kind of uncharacteristic for Stefan, but they're characteristic for what somebody would look like after they've missed 27 games. And they're coming back to a team that looks considerably different than when they left. I mean, the Warriors, I believe, the other night, use their 40th different starting lineup. That's insane. Like, that's just the definition of inconsistency. And so, you know, Stefan getting back out there and Pat Spencer is getting a lot of minutes and he's putting up shots. Gee, Santos is getting a lot of minutes and he's putting up shots. Like, it does change a little bit of the chemistry of how you would find Stephen Curry folding back into all of this. So it made sense. He looked a little bit more human in the second game, but the gravity he provides cannot, cannot be denied in these first two.
- [66:23]
B
So I wanted to ask you about a couple guys who took on an increased scoring load when Steph did go down, starting with Brandon Pajemski. He's finishing his third season. He's going to be eligible for a rookie extension this summer. What have you thought about his development this season, specifically when Steph went out and where his game still needs to grow, in your opinion?
- [66:44]
C
Yeah, I think Brandon Pajemski has had quite the arc, quite the character development arc on top of like a basketball development arc. I mean, we even just in recent days, we've heard the whole notion of Brandon Pajemski admitting that maybe earlier this season, during the preseason kind of conversations, probably shouldn't have said that I want to be better than Stephen. And I do believe that it was taken out of context from how the media portrayed it. He meant to say he wants to put in the work on the same level and be even better than the effort that he sees his, you know, his teammate put in. But that statement alone, I think everyone put him to. They held him to that standard. You want to be better than Steph, you want to take over this franchise, you want to Be the person that gets the torch. Okay, sir, this is your opportunity. Show everybody you know, be able to prove it. And earlier this season, and I would say over the course of this season, I would say the biggest thing that Brandon Pajinski has gotten better at is his offensive decision making. He still has moments where he gets into the paint and he should be finishing and instead he's doing the little pivot in the restricted area and you're like, bro, put it up. Put this shot up. You're all the way down there. Get that floater going. But I saw him get much better off of coming off high ball screens or coming off the flare screen in their split action that they do and being able to pull up in the mid range and being able to take his defender all the way through if he had it. And so I think he's been better making decisions on ball as well as off ball. But what's happened now with the period that Stefan was out, he became exactly what he kind of asked for, right? He became the focal point of an offense, a one, a type of guy. And you saw the ups and downs of what that looks like. You saw the ups and downs of the shooting, inconsistency. You saw what it looked like when he made decisions, when people would double him, when he would get a lot of attention from a defense. And that's what we're seeing that he still has to work on. And I think he knows that too. There, you know, there's a period of time where he was. There was that one game, particularly against Denver, right? He goes off in the fourth quarter, I believe he had 15 points, eight rebounds. Like those were like the little bright spots of Brandon Pajimski. You're like, okay, he can put the team on his back. He can do the types of things that he's talking about. All it's been is that he hasn't done it consistently. And I think that that is part of the problem. When you have a guy like Stephen, you compare your gain to what it looks like besides Stephen Curry, with the gravity, the level of the sun, he is in the galaxy that is the warriors system of offense. You can't compare what you look like when you're beside the sun. You got to figure out what you look like on your own. And I think that that's what Brandon's still trying to figure out, but I think he's coming along. It's just not fast enough for the window that's closing on.
- [69:49]
A
On Steph G. Santos has been a bright spot for The Wares this season. Since Steph went down earlier in February, he's averaging 16, 6 and 4. Yes, they gave him a three year, 15 million dollar extension in February. What's been the most impressive thing about his breakout this season? Season?
- [70:13]
C
Oh, you know, that's a really good question. I think it's how unassuming it was, right? Oftentimes when you see a guy do what GI Santos is doing, going from the 15th guy in the rotation, okay, like no exaggeration, at the very end of a bench to then becoming a guy that drops 31 in a night, 25 in a night, it sometimes feels obvious like, hey, we're going to put the ball in your hands. You've got to be the one to score. You've got to be the one to step up. It's in. I hate always bringing up the Jonathan Kaminga example, but that usually was the case, right? If, if Stephan was out, if Draymond was out, whatever, if there was some lack of a veteran presence and scoring presence. Jonathan Kaminga, you better go off, bro. You better go off, go get you some buckets. Go get you 20 shots a game. With Guy, it was never that. Nobody was in the locker room before the game being like, guy, you better put up 15 shots a game or, you know, you got to put up 30 points tonight. Like, it was so unassuming how he. Most of his points were. He was just a beneficiary of or had the, like the residual buckets of the warriors running their offense. So Brandon Pajelski gets into the paint, kick out. Gui's ready. He's got his feet set. He's ready for that kick out three. Great. They're running a full whatever offense. Something that's happening around the arc. Gui's in the dunker spot, just tracking, just tracking. He's getting ready to box in. I mean, box out. Someone step in and box someone out, get the offensive board, get the put back. That's how Guy really has helped this team. And. And people underestimate how valuable that is, being someone that can grab the rebound and go the other way. Like he was point guard in Brazil. Like a lot of folks don't realize that that that was his game was being the floor setter, the one that pushed in transition. And so it translated well to the role he's playing now. But what I love is that when he was at Santa Cruz and he and I both showed up at Santa Cruz at the same time, so I've seen him grow since that moment and he in Santa Cruz was like, what's the role here? What's the job? Oh, it's get the ball to Steph. All right, Bet I can do that. It's get out of the way so the offense can run. I can do that. That ain't no problem. That ain't no problem. He did that excellently for three years and every time he came up, it was just energy. 50, 50 balls, hustle. And then all of a sudden you're seeing him become one of the best wing defenders on the warriors with his size and his quickness. You're seeing him also become a solid three point shooter, an option for them in transition. You're seeing them, you're seeing him push the ball in transition. Like it, it's all been very like, oh, well, thank you so much for doing that guy. We, we didn't put that on you, but you took that challenge and you happily did it and you're doing it well. And so I think that's probably been the most impressive that he didn't need to be told, he just did it and it's all worked out for him.
- [73:26]
B
So I mentioned earlier that the warriors are now locked into the 10th seed, which means they'll have to win two road games to make the playoffs. The good news is if they do fall out of the play in, they, they own their own pick, which would be their first lottery pick since the Kuminga Moody draft. Assuming that they're going to run this back again next season, do you feel like there's an obvious position of need or like a player archetype that they should be targeting in the draft or are they just at the point where they just need to take, take the best player available.
- [73:53]
C
I mean, I would imagine that the best player available is what they need, which is scoring. They don't have a secondary option. We'll see what happens. Because the Anthony Melton right now is playing for a contract and he's been that person that you could look to, to be like, all right, here's Stephan is 1D, Anthony's 2, and the two of them earlier in the season, you know, played off each other well. I think Brandon is again, not consistent enough to be that go to score. And I don't think he's big enough against bigger defenders. He gets a little bit exposed, especially when you're talking about folks that are bigger and more athletic. That's where things get a little bit. I mean, Kayson Wallace, you know, had his way with Brett Podzemski and we've seen and he's not even that big, but we've seen bigger defenders expose that. So I think they need a wing score and they also need someone that hopefully can be a two way, that can also guard on the wing as well as they can also score. Because honestly the Dubs are antiquated in the way that they play. They aren't athletic. This league is predicated on how athletic, how fast are you, how, how up and down can you play, how can you play above the rim. And right now the warriors don't really have that. Especially Nudie goes down. He's got, you know, he got a successful surgery, which is great, but he's most likely gonna, he's not an option for next year. You gotta think about who's a high flying athlete that you have on the warriors right now. I mean, Charles Bassey just got signed to a small contract, but there's not, you know, if you're trying to think through the roster of like, who's a crazy high flying, acrobatic athlete that, that other teams have treasure troves of, the warriors don't have that and that's what they need to go find in the draft.
- [75:49]
A
Yeah, I think there probably is like a little bit of excitement and like, and maybe they probably want to make the playoffs. But if I'm a Warriors fan, I'm probably like, give me a lottery pick instead. I'll say this, I don't know if I want to do that.
- [76:06]
C
I know I was so, you know, I was working the game against the Kings the other night and you know, the warriors were down in the fourth quarter versus the Kings. I know 26, best offense, like, what's going on? Right. And as I'm walking through the arena, I'm hearing this, I'm, you know, folks talk, folks love coming up to me and just giving me their opinions. You know, they become Mike Dunleavy for the moment that they come talk to me as if I'm going to go share this with Mike Dunleavy. But alas, they like to tell me like, oh, you know, we should. It's cute and all that Seth's back. There's two people that told me this. It's cute that Seth's back, but we would prefer that they just lose and we get a draft pick and we could just reset. And I think that that is a sentiment that I can, I can, I feel that like the fans got what they wanted. Chase center was rocking again. It was crazy hearing what, you know, Stephen back on the floor, like what it sounded like you get to see him, get to get a little bit of that buzz and excitement of like, oh, he still got it. Let's just give him a little bit more time. But what you haven't seen Stefan with Kristaps. I mean, we're recording this on day that they're going to play the Lakers, so you hope you'll be able to see him. I haven't checked the injury report yet, but you haven't really seen him with Krist. You need to know if that's a duo that works because Kristaps are not expiring. You got to figure that out. I think with those uncertainties, uncertainty about d' Anthony Melton, uncertainty about, you know, Moses Moody and who is the person that's going to fill his shoes. You kind of want something that is a little certain and having the draft pick, having the opportunity to go choose from this litany of athletes in this draft class. I don't know. I get it. I get it. I understand. I'm trying to figure out where I land. I think I'm landing on the. Go get you a draft pick pick. Yeah, yeah, I'm on that.
- [77:57]
A
They just need talent. They need talent and the NBA.
- [78:00]
C
Young, young talent. That's.
- [78:02]
A
Well, yeah, yeah, they need like some.
- [78:05]
C
Some kind of blue chipper in there that can.
- [78:09]
A
Because they're clearly at the end of this. Of this era.
- [78:12]
C
Yeah, for sure.
- [78:15]
A
Okay. So the NBA has announced their intention to end tanking and their report this week that there's a proposal gaining traction that would have each of the bottom 10 teams getting an equal 8% shot at a top pick for a team like the warriors, who will likely be entering a rebuild in the coming years as Steph Screer winds down. What are your thoughts on that particular proposal?
- [78:40]
C
I'm still trying to figure out how that. How that ends tanking. Because now it's just a little bit more certain in my mind. You're just like, okay, I got eight spots that like, we. We kind of. We have to land the plane here. Let's fill in one of those slots and be set. I. I don't know. I. I don't. I feel like putting any sort of percentages and let's just be real. I am someone that to this day. To this day, sorry. Every time I say that, I have to think about the way he said it. But to this day, I still don't quite understand how it all plays out, like all the drafting and tanking. So I don't want to speak on this as if I'm an expert, but I feel as if giving any team a potential incentive to not play hard, play well, win games, regardless of the percentage that's allocated to it. I don't think it's a positive thing, and I don't think that equaling it out is going to make it any better. I, I loved our proposals that the Athletic kind of laid out. John Hollinger had. One where you basically choose another team's record and you basically say, I think you're going to get that record and now you're playing against the team and you want to prove that team wrong, and on the days that you play that team, you wanted to really prove them wrong. I, I, I like, you know, I think those are fun solutions. I don't think they're realistic ones, but I think they're, they're innovative and out of the box. But this percentage aspect and flattening the odds and I, I don't know, I'm not a fan of any of it. I don't know what the solution is to tanking. I ain't gonna lie. But it's getting, it's getting incredibly bad. And I wish there was a different way. Like maybe looking at, I mean, hell, the NBA loves looking at European soccer that is like their prototype. They have inspiration. What's, what's good with relegation? You know what I mean? And maybe it's not team relegation, but it's like asset relegation. Right? Like, you don't get access to your picks or certain levels of picks until you reach, you know, you win a certain amount of games or, you know, I'm thinking stuff off the cuff here, but like, I think there's a different way to do this than odds. And I, there are other leagues that find a way to ensure that teams want to win. And I think the league, the NBA should probably look to those first. I'm not, I'm not a fan of the odds.
- [81:06]
B
Yeah, I just, I just think it's so rough because, you know, there's like cycles of tanking. Teams like OKC went through it with Houston, Orlando, Detroit. Now we have, you know, Utah, Washington, Brooklyn, and these teams that are about to enter that rebuild cycle. I just feel like they're getting, they're going to get screwed by these rule changes because they could fall into this, this, this prolonged period of mediocrity because they, the odds are just like never going to be in their favor. But I guess that's going to be inevitable if they, if they're going to make these changes. That's eventually going to happen. Some teams are going to get screwed. It could potentially happen to the Warriors.
- [81:42]
C
And it's particularly unfair, I mean, I would say, for the warriors, because you think about the last CBA basically being created to blow them up and create this situation, right, where you've spent all of your money trying to squeeze the juice of this dynasty that you've had. And now you're in a position where you need picks, you need young talent that can be only found, really, through the draft or through trades, which teams want picks for, right? And so now at the time that they're like, okay, y' all got us, You. You won with the cba. We're here now, so you guys take the reign. We're going to just be down here handling the. The. The tanking situation or handling the rebuild situation, rather. Now they're going to be screwed in this. This way. It just like. It feels like certain teams like that are just never going to win. But, you know, maybe that was. Maybe that was the plan all along. That was the plan.
- [82:37]
B
Well, Xena, thank you for answering all of our warriors questions. Is now time to play Andrew versus the Beat, our weekly trivia show where Andrew goes head to head against the MVP this week. Zena Keda. Now, Xena, how this works. I've come up with eight questions about the Warriors. You're going to give me a number between 1 and 8. It will correspond to a question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points. If you get it wrong, Andrew will have a chance to steal for one. And we'll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered. So to start us off, Xena, I just need a number between one and eight.
- [83:06]
C
Let's do five.
- [83:07]
B
Question number five. Despite playing in only 50 games and being 39 years old, Al Horford leads the warriors in total blocks with 50. Did you know there are only five players in NBA history who have had at least 50 blocks at the age of 39? Can you name two of them so you get one point per correct answer? This throughout all NBA history, it had to be at least 39 years old and get 50 blocks in a season.
- [83:39]
C
Oh, in a season 50. Who played at 39? Is Vince Carter one of them?
- [83:45]
B
Vince Carter is not on the list, though he did play for a very, very long time, right? I'm, like, trying to think, andrew, you have a chance to steal Kareem. Kareem Abdul Jabbar. That is correct.
- [84:00]
C
Dang it. I didn't know he. How. When did he finish playing. I figured that was my first thought.
- [84:04]
B
42 or something.
- [84:05]
A
Yeah, he was 42.
- [84:06]
C
Okay, okay, okay.
- [84:07]
B
Might be older than that. You think of another one.
- [84:12]
A
H. Old guy block, man. God. I don't.
- [84:22]
B
Yeah, Kareem was 41.
- [84:24]
A
It. This seems obvious.
- [84:26]
B
Okay.
- [84:27]
C
LeBron would.
- [84:29]
B
No.
- [84:29]
A
Oh, really?
- [84:31]
B
Not with Brian. No. Although, wait, Shaq is not on there now. A contemporary of Shaq, a big man. Tim Duncan.
- [84:42]
C
Oh, Tim Duncan. That makes sense.
- [84:44]
A
Come on.
- [84:45]
B
The guy who LeBron just passed in an important record. Robert Parrish for all time.
- [84:53]
C
Oh, Robert Parrish.
- [84:55]
B
And then Hakeem and Dakimbe.
- [84:58]
A
Oh, Dakimbe.
- [84:59]
C
Oh, Dikembe Mutombo, may he rest in peace. I'm sorry.
- [85:02]
A
He played for a long time.
- [85:03]
C
Okay.
- [85:04]
B
All right, Andrew, the board is yours.
- [85:06]
A
Number one.
- [85:08]
B
Question number one. The warriors are on pace to be under.500 for the first time since the 1920 season. That was the last time they failed to be a.500 team. Who led the 1920 warriors in total points scored. And as you're thinking, I'm going to look up how many blocks LeBron has this year. He has 34.
- [85:31]
A
34 total points.
- [85:34]
B
Total points for the 1920 Warriors. Total.
- [85:38]
A
This is a tough one. There's a lot of injuries on that team.
- [85:44]
B
A lot of injuries. This is what led to the James.
- [85:47]
C
I think I have a good guess. I think I have a good guess. 1920.
- [85:52]
A
That's like an obvious name, but it makes me think that it's not him. I will guess. D' Angelo Russell.
- [85:59]
B
D' Angelo Russell. That is incorrect. Xena, you have a chance to steal for one point.
- [86:05]
C
Is it Eric Pascal?
- [86:07]
B
It is. Eric Pascal is correct.
- [86:10]
A
Wow, what a pull. He was rookie of the.
- [86:13]
C
Or like all rookie or whatever. It was all star.
- [86:17]
A
Yeah, he was.
- [86:17]
C
Yeah. That's all I remember about that.
- [86:20]
A
Therehere we go.
- [86:21]
B
Two more seasons. Okay, Xena, board is yours.
- [86:25]
C
Three.
- [86:26]
B
Question number three. The warriors current dunk leader is Gary. Wait, it can't be Gary Payton. I just.
- [86:32]
C
It is.
- [86:32]
B
Oh, wait, wait. Yeah. I was thinking Al Horford, but that was blocks. Okay. It's Gary Payton II. He has 44 dunks. That's. That's not very many dunks for a guy leading his team in dunks.
- [86:44]
C
What did I say about athleticism?
- [86:46]
B
Yeah, not a lot of Duncan.
- [86:47]
A
There you go.
- [86:48]
C
Perfect stat.
- [86:49]
B
The last time the warriors had a season where no one had more than 50 dunks was the 09.10 season, which was Steph's rookie year. Who led the 09.10 warriors in total dunks during Steph's rookie season.
- [87:05]
A
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my God.
- [87:11]
B
That was a team. There were some guys on that team.
- [87:20]
C
Oh, I have actually no idea. That's so bad.
- [87:23]
B
You could just.
- [87:24]
C
I can only think of.
- [87:25]
B
I don't think you should know this answer, so I wouldn't feel bad.
- [87:28]
C
I mean, I'm not. Is it Kalena as a bookie? I'm just throwing it out.
- [87:36]
A
That would be so funny if it was.
- [87:38]
B
It was on the team, but it was not Kalena as a pookie.
- [87:42]
C
Okay. Yeah, I have. I have no idea. Yeah.
- [87:45]
B
Andrew, any guesses?
- [87:50]
A
What about Corey McGetty?
- [87:53]
C
Oh, that's a good one.
- [87:55]
B
It was Corey McGetty. 45 dunks.
- [87:58]
C
Wow. Wow.
- [88:00]
A
Good for you. Not an impressive amount of dunks.
- [88:03]
B
No, it's not. But wow.
- [88:05]
C
Corey McGetty.
- [88:06]
B
Okay, Andrew, board is yours.
- [88:10]
A
I will take number two.
- [88:11]
B
Question number two. Despite playing in only 41 games so far, Steph has still hit 184 three pointers this season. Now, since Curry entered the league, only four other warriors have hit 184 threes in a season, which he did in 41 games this year. Now, Clay is the obvious one. Clay did it. Who are the other three? And you do get one point per correct answer. So since Steph came into the league. Warriors who hit at least 184 threes in a single season. Season.
- [88:44]
A
Buddy.
- [88:45]
B
Buddy healed is one.
- [88:54]
A
Since he came into the league. So this makes me feel like we. We need to go back at least a little bit in our brains. Or maybe you're trying to trick me. I don't know.
- [89:02]
B
Oh, maybe I'm trying to trick you.
- [89:05]
C
You said outside of Clay, correct?
- [89:07]
B
Yes. Yes. I thought clay was a little too, so I didn't want to.
- [89:11]
C
Yeah, that makes sense.
- [89:13]
A
Otherw obvious. Goodness. Who else hit a lot?
- [89:19]
C
I'm like. I'm just trying to think of like, who were the. The kickouts to? Otto Porter. Oh, sorry.
- [89:29]
A
Oh, Otto Porter. That's a good guess. How about Otto Porter Jr?
- [89:32]
B
That's wrong. Andrew. That's an amazing play. Xena, you threw out a wrong answer. Now you get to potentially steal two points. If you could name the other two players.
- [89:44]
C
Oh, my gosh. Who was hitting threes? That. Oh, this is hard. Who is hitting threes? Is Sean Livingston on there?
- [89:56]
B
Sean Livingston. Not on here. Now, the name that's like sort of when you. When you hear it. Jordan Pool.
- [90:04]
A
Makes sense.
- [90:05]
C
That makes sense.
- [90:06]
B
Then the other name, you do have to go back a little ways. Darrell Wright.
- [90:11]
C
Oh, you're right.
- [90:12]
A
Right.
- [90:13]
B
Yes, yes, yes.
- [90:14]
C
I was trying to think of like who was on the. Who was there on the corner. Kickouts, you know, like. Yeah, but that makes sense with Darrell.
- [90:22]
B
And there were some guys that were close. Like Anthony Morrow in Steph's rookie season. He had like 140. So they did have three point shooters, but.
- [90:29]
A
Yeah.
- [90:29]
B
Okay. Xena, you're down by two, but the board is yours.
- [90:32]
C
Yeah. And I am embarrassing myself right now. Let's do seven question. Let's see. Let's go.
- [90:39]
B
Okay. The warriors are one of four NBA teams that do not currently have a mascot. Can you name the other three teams?
- [90:49]
C
Portland.
- [90:51]
B
Xena. No. They have two mascots.
- [90:55]
C
No way.
- [90:55]
B
Yes. They have Blaze the Trail Cat. Okay. He's. He's been there for a long. And they also have Doug Firm, who's the giant Sasquatch. And I've. I think it's very interesting because I think there might be some drama between Doug Fir and Blaze the Trail Cat.
- [91:09]
A
They also have Doug Fir.
- [91:11]
C
Wait, hold on. I've been to Portland Gates. I've never seen these things. What?
- [91:17]
B
Yeah.
- [91:17]
C
That's crazy.
- [91:18]
B
Blaze is like.
- [91:19]
C
Do they like come out?
- [91:20]
B
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, Doug fur. He's like pretty brand new. He maybe is like within the last five years. He's a big Sasquatch looking thing.
- [91:29]
C
Dude. I am. I'm really sucking it up at this game. Okay, Andrew, take it away.
- [91:33]
B
You better watch out next time you're in Portland.
- [91:36]
C
I know they're here for me.
- [91:37]
B
They might come for you.
- [91:38]
A
Doug Firm.
- [91:40]
B
He's actually like legitimately. I took my son.
- [91:44]
C
I do need to board my flight. What do I. What am I supposed to do here? Like my flight is like closing the doorship.
- [91:51]
A
You should probably go. Maybe you should forfeit right now.
- [91:54]
C
I'm gonna go ahead and forfeit this game because I am stuck in. But I.
- [91:58]
A
Our first forfeit in the history of Andrew.
- [92:00]
C
Oh my God. Seriously. Is how I end it.
- [92:02]
A
Oh my. Go follow Zena. Watch me list all the teams without a mascot. The Brooklyn Nets don't have a mascot.
- [92:10]
B
No longer. That is. That is correct.
- [92:11]
A
The New York Knicks do not have a mascot.
- [92:14]
B
That's correct.
- [92:15]
C
Yep. Fair. Fair.
- [92:16]
A
And the Los Angeles Lakers do not have a mascot.
- [92:20]
B
That is correct. Andrew. Xena. Thank you so much for joining us.
- [92:26]
A
Go follow Xena. Everything she does for us here at the Athletic. Go. If you're a fan of women's basketball, college basketball with the W. Go listen to no offseason. Xena. We can't even hear you anymore. But we appreciate you and we'll talk to you again next time.
- [92:47]
C
All right, Bye, guys.
- [92:50]
B
All right, Andrew, as long as we're here, might as well do the final three questions. Questions?
- [92:54]
A
We might as well.
- [92:55]
B
Might as well. I came up with them.
- [92:56]
A
First time someone's. I mean, I. You know what? I don't even think she had a flight to board. I think she just got really scared.
- [93:02]
B
Oh, wow. Calling Xena out.
- [93:04]
A
So. Just throwing that out there.
- [93:06]
B
Actually, the real story is that my schedule was a mess and we were so thankful for Xena to join us.
- [93:11]
A
Yeah, we were. We were like, gosh, thank you.
- [93:15]
B
Yeah, it was very last minute. Okay. Andrew, how many players have had a 30 point game for the warriors this season? You don't have to tell me the names, just give me a number.
- [93:26]
A
30 points in a game this season? I'll say three. I don't know.
- [93:32]
B
Big doubter. Big doubter here in the dubs because the correct answer is six.
- [93:37]
A
Oh, no, of course.
- [93:38]
B
You have Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler.
- [93:41]
A
Yeah.
- [93:42]
B
G. Santos.
- [93:43]
A
Yeah.
- [93:44]
B
Santos. Moses Moody.
- [93:46]
A
Yeah.
- [93:46]
B
Had a 30 ball. Kristaps Porzingis scored 30. And Will Richard, which I only remember that because we had Vasini on, like, very shortly after you did that.
- [93:56]
A
Yeah, I do remember the Will Richard game. It's crazy that Pods never did it. Right. And that Porzingis did.
- [94:04]
B
Yeah. He didn't do it last night, did he? Hope he didn't. Not that it matters. The game's over. But
- [94:13]
A
that's just weird that Pods would have never done it.
- [94:15]
B
Yeah, it is weird. It feels like he should have.
- [94:19]
A
I mean, he did.
- [94:19]
B
I mean, he had a 25 point game this week.
- [94:23]
A
Yeah, he definitely should have.
- [94:25]
B
Has he really not?
- [94:26]
A
I don't know.
- [94:27]
B
I'm sorting.
- [94:28]
A
You're the. You're the quiz master here.
- [94:29]
C
Yes.
- [94:30]
B
His season high was 26 against Houston.
- [94:36]
A
Sell all your pajimpsi stock, everybody, because all these other guys are putting up 30 without pods doing it. That's crazy, man.
- [94:44]
B
Okay, next question. The no. Draymond Green currently has six dunks this season. What was his career high for most dunks in a season? So not over his whole career, but just his best season. How many dunks did he have? Normally, this would be a Choose who answers first. Pretend that you're guessing. You're setting the over under. What would you guess?
- [95:06]
A
Love setting the over under. I will say 62.
- [95:10]
B
62. I'm going to pause for our listeners. If you're listening at home, you can. You can choose over under right now. This is your chance to score a point against Andrew.
- [95:18]
A
I'm going to pause for our listeners.
- [95:20]
B
You can leave us a comment. Let me know if you guessed correct.
- [95:24]
A
Comment, comment, live wherever you are, and
- [95:27]
B
I will give you a point. Okay, I'll tally it up for everyone. Andrew, that's an incredible guess. 62 listeners, if you went over, you are correct by only three because it was 65.
- [95:41]
A
Wow.
- [95:41]
B
16, 17 season. Okay.
- [95:45]
A
Wow.
- [95:46]
B
Now, this next one is the one where we usually go back and forth. So you're going to go back and forth with. Forth with the listener.
- [95:53]
A
Okay.
- [95:53]
B
Since entering the league, Steph Curry leads the warriors in total double doubles with 170.
- [96:00]
A
Yeah.
- [96:01]
B
We're going to name the rest of the top 10 for most double doubles by a Warrior since Steph came into the league. So the.09.10 season. So this is total double doubles by a Warrior since Steph entered the league.
- [96:16]
A
Total double doubles since Steph entered the league.
- [96:19]
B
Yeah.
- [96:19]
A
For the Warriors, Draymond.
- [96:22]
B
Draymond's number two on the list. Okay, pause for our listener. Listener, you got to be quicker, quicker, quicker. Okay, they got their name in. Andrew, who would you go now?
- [96:39]
A
Andrew Bogut.
- [96:40]
B
Andrew Bogut. He's number four. That is not what the listeners said. Okay, listeners, what would you guess? All right, back to Andrew. Who else would be.
- [96:50]
A
David Lee.
- [96:51]
B
David Lee, yes. He was number three on the list. Very good. So I would have imagined. Actually, I can't. I'm not going to say who I was about to. Okay, choose another name. Andrew.
- [97:05]
A
This is kind of a hard one because there's not a lot of double double dudes.
- [97:09]
B
I know. At least traditional double like you would think. Points and rebounds, usually.
- [97:14]
A
Yeah.
- [97:14]
B
And. And there are. There are some more, but obviously Steph is not a points rebounds guy. No.
- [97:24]
A
Golly. I felt like David Lee would be a lot lower on that list, too.
- [97:32]
B
Yeah.
- [97:32]
A
Honest.
- [97:34]
B
Yeah.
- [97:35]
A
Coming. Kavon Looney. Does he get double doubles?
- [97:38]
B
Yeah, he's sixth on the list.
- [97:39]
A
Oh, gosh. It can't be that many.
- [97:42]
B
You're doing great, Andrew. There's four more names on the list.
- [97:47]
A
Oh, I'm just trying to think of guys that played for the warriors for a long time. This is just like a longevity question kind of.
- [97:54]
B
Yeah.
- [97:54]
A
As much as it is anything else.
- [98:02]
B
How about this as a hint? It's not. It's not. It is since Steph came in the league, but if they got double doubles before Steph came in the league, those still count for their career double double totals with the warriors, if that helps you at All.
- [98:15]
A
Oh, it has to be with the Warriors. Yeah.
- [98:17]
B
These are just total double doubles with the warriors, but not all of them were achieved when Steph was in the league. They might have been achieved slightly before Steph was in the league. Oh, does that help you at all?
- [98:30]
A
I mean, I don't. I don't know that. That does help me.
- [98:34]
B
Okay. All right.
- [98:35]
A
Monte Ellis.
- [98:36]
B
Yes.
- [98:37]
A
Is that supposed to help me?
- [98:38]
B
Yes, it was.
- [98:41]
A
That doesn't even feel like a double double guy to me at all, though.
- [98:44]
B
Nope. Also not a double double guy. Another. Okay, you missed number. You haven't got number four yet. It's the biggest. Biggest name.
- [98:52]
A
The biggest name.
- [98:54]
B
Yeah. Biggest name.
- [98:56]
A
Kd. Yeah.
- [98:57]
B
Kd.
- [98:58]
A
Okay.
- [98:59]
B
Okay. And then. So you got the top seven.
- [99:01]
A
Okay.
- [99:02]
B
So it's just the final three. And I would say one of them makes a lot of sense. The other two. Good luck. Although, actually, yeah, another one of them makes sense if you think about it.
- [99:18]
A
Jordan Pool.
- [99:19]
B
No. Andrew Wiggins. That was the one that I thought was like, okay, that. That kind of makes sense.
- [99:24]
A
Okay. Not really, though. He's not a double double guy. I mean, I. I guess. I don't know.
- [99:29]
B
Brandon Pajemski, which makes sense because he's a really good rebounding guard. Card.
- [99:34]
A
We're back in on pods.
- [99:36]
B
We're back in on pods. And then the final one. I would have loved for you to get this name because this is someone. This is a role player, like, very, like, small role player who we desperately wanted on the Thunder. Or at least I did.
- [99:48]
A
Oh.
- [99:50]
B
Anthony Toliver.
- [99:51]
A
Anthony Toliver.
- [99:54]
B
Anthony.
- [99:55]
A
What?
- [99:56]
B
What? Yeah.
- [99:58]
A
That doesn't even make sense. That is crazy. That is. That is a weird list.
- [100:04]
B
Yeah.
- [100:04]
A
I felt uncertain about all of them except for Draymond. I wasn't. When I said David Lee, I did not even feel confident about it.
- [100:12]
B
Well, you should have. Wow. Anthony Tolver played in the league so
- [100:16]
A
long, he just bounced around, though, right?
- [100:19]
B
Oh, yeah. I mean, he played on.
- [100:21]
A
Wow.
- [100:21]
B
He played on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 team.
- [100:29]
A
Wow. And, like, he couldn't have averaged very many rebounds per game. Like, three, four at the most.
- [100:38]
B
Well, the other thing is he. I think he only played one season with gold. Yeah. But. But that season is probably why I wanted him. This was. He did this in only 44 games. He was 12 and 7. What for that world. So he had enough that year to make this top 10 list.
- [101:00]
A
How many double doubles was it? Okay, I'm looking it up. I'm looking it up.
- [101:04]
B
It couldn't have been that many.
- [101:06]
A
It looks like it was 12.
- [101:10]
B
Okay, 12.
- [101:12]
A
12 gets you on the list.
- [101:14]
B
Yeah. Gets you on the list.
- [101:16]
A
Whoa. He had double digit rebounds 13 times, so. But failed to score double digit points in one of them.
- [101:26]
B
Yeah. He was cool.
- [101:27]
A
Yeah. That's crazy. Was he.
- [101:30]
B
What was my. I'm trying to figure out what was my like, peak year for liking Toliver.
- [101:36]
A
It had you like him because he shot threes too, I guess.
- [101:38]
B
Oh, yes. That was absolutely the reason. That was the reason.
- [101:41]
A
Now we're just doing an Anthony Toliver podcast, I guess. I bet.
- [101:45]
B
I bet I was into him when he was like that year. He was in Detroit and then in Minnesota.
- [101:51]
A
Yeah.
- [101:52]
B
Because that would have been like post kd. Okay. Three, you know, with mellow.
- [101:58]
A
Oh, no. We're just desperate for anybody that looks like they could be a role player.
- [102:04]
B
Yeah. Yeah, that must have been it.
- [102:08]
A
That was good times, those good times. Okay, well, I think it's time to spin the wheel of fandom, isn't it?
- [102:15]
B
Yeah. For the final time in the regular season.
- [102:19]
A
Let's spin the wheel. Let's see what happens here.
- [102:23]
B
Let me bring it up. So we still have 12 names left. Let me take the warriors off of here.
- [102:31]
A
Okay.
- [102:31]
B
Let me share. And there's some still, like every week. There's great teams. There's teams that we love to talk about. Where are the warriors, though? They are.
- [102:42]
A
Okay.
- [102:45]
B
Now, wait, is if we get. Oh, man. If we got like a play in Team Planes next week, right? Yeah, I mean, that would be incredible.
- [102:54]
A
Should we not spin the wheel then?
- [102:56]
B
No, I think we should punish ourselves. Okay.
- [103:00]
A
Because it's.
- [103:00]
B
It's a gamble. Because we could get the Blazers.
- [103:03]
A
Okay.
- [103:03]
B
We could get the Hornets.
- [103:05]
A
Yeah.
- [103:05]
B
We could get the Magic. We could get. I mean, who knows what the Raptors, they could fall into the play in.
- [103:11]
A
Yeah, that's true. We could get the Kings.
- [103:14]
B
Yeah, we could get the Kings.
- [103:15]
A
Could get the Pelicans.
- [103:16]
B
There's some big. There's a lot of risk reward here. I don't know why we're taking the risk, but.
- [103:21]
A
Yeah, we don't have to. We don't have to, but here we
- [103:24]
B
go, Here we go. Next week's wheel of Fandom team will be.
- [103:31]
A
Oh, go, go, go, go, go.
- [103:34]
B
Okay. The Atlanta Hawks.
- [103:38]
A
We were.
- [103:38]
B
We were just a few pixels away from the Hornets. That's what I was getting excited about.
- [103:42]
A
Yeah. Not a. Not a playing team as of now. I guess they could technically still fall into the play in as of today.
- [103:50]
B
Yeah. So we're but we're recording on Thursday. They're a game up on Orlando. They're in the five seed right now.
- [103:57]
A
They have the Cavs on Friday night.
- [104:00]
B
Okay.
- [104:02]
A
So you'll know the results of that. They just got beat by the Cavs, but they're playing them again. And then they finish the season with
- [104:10]
B
the Heat and the Heater locked in to 10.
- [104:14]
A
And the heat, are they. God, they've been brutal lately. Just absolutely brutal. The Raptors just embarrass them.
- [104:23]
B
Yeah.
- [104:24]
A
So should we just.
- [104:25]
B
Okay, should we just pivot to the Hornets?
- [104:30]
A
Pivot to the horn.
- [104:32]
B
I mean, we've never done this before, but in our defense.
- [104:37]
A
In our defense, Xena did forfeit.
- [104:40]
B
Yeah, that. That has never happened before on the pod. And so there's. There's time for everything. Maybe we should just. Should I just keep spinning the wheel until we get the Hornets?
- [104:49]
A
This is like a Tankathon spin when your favorite team doesn't get the number one pick.
- [104:53]
B
Yeah. Because if we get the Hornets.
- [104:56]
A
Yeah.
- [104:56]
B
Well, one, we'll get to watch the rest of the regular season.
- [105:00]
A
Yeah.
- [105:01]
B
Detroit, New York.
- [105:03]
A
Yeah.
- [105:03]
B
Two great games. But also we'll get to see what they do in the play in. Yeah. And that would be very exciting.
- [105:10]
A
And Yeah.
- [105:12]
B
I mean, how. I mean, obviously we want them to make the playoffs because it'd be very exciting for them, but if they don't, we'll have gone this whole season without talking about one of the biggest teams in the league.
- [105:21]
A
I know it's true, folks. I feel like we've talk. I feel like we talk about the Hawks all the time. Can't stop talking about the Hawks.
- [105:28]
B
I feel like I'm making a case to no one. Like, who is the person that's going to be super pissed about this?
- [105:33]
A
That'd be like, dude, my Hawks, bro.
- [105:35]
B
What? Oh, yeah. Hawks fans.
- [105:37]
A
Yeah.
- [105:37]
B
Well, you know, we'll see what happens. I think. I think the Hawks are going to
- [105:42]
A
be in the playoffs, so Hornets are going to have to. Well, Philly. Poor Philly with the embiid stuff. Yeah, I guess the. The Hornets still do have a chance to. To get up to the eighth spot and only have to win one game to get in.
- [105:58]
B
Yeah.
- [105:59]
A
So yeah, should be ideal for. For Hornets fans. Okay. Leave us a five star review on Apple podcast or read it on the show. We would appreciate it very much. Hope everybody's doing great. Enjoy the final weekend of regular season basketball and we'll talk to you guys again next time.