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The volume the NBA 82 game grind is done and now the real fun begins. The NBA Playoffs are here and it's time for all the high stakes drama, clutch moments and jaw dropping plays. I can't wait. If you're looking to make the playoffs Even more exciting, DraftKings sportsbook has you covered as an official sports betting partner of the NBA. From the play in games all the way through to the finals, now's the time to back your favorite players and teams as they chase glory. All season long, DraftKings has been the go to spot for NBA player props and that does not stop now. Want to make your playoff experience even more intense? Try placing a bet on your favorite players performance. Will they drop 30 points? 40 or more? It's your call. Ready to place your first bet? Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Now. Lock in your bets. Let's make this playoff run unforgettable. Here's something special for first timers. New DraftKings customers bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets. Instantly make it a playoff run to remember with DraftKings. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use code HOOPS. That's H O O P S. That's code hoops for new customers to get $200 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPENY to 467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Booth Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void. In Ontario, new customers only. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG co Audio Foreign welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Friday everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great start to your weekend. Well, we got a little bit of a dud tonight as tale of two very different New York Knicks teams in A tale of two very different Boston Celtics teams from Game 5 to Game 6 and the Knicks are going to blow them out. We're actually starting a little bit early here. There's still four minutes left over there at msg, but tonight we're going to break down very briefly the dynamic that took place in this game. But I want to focus a little bit looking forward towards the Pacers matchup for the Knicks. We won't have our series preview until probably Sunday morning. I'm going to be working on that tomorrow, but we'll talk a little bit about my initial impressions going into that series. Then after that we'll talk about the Celtics and what they're looking at heading into this offseason. And Jackson, who produces this show, is a Celtics fan and he has put some thought into some specific targets for the Celtics this summer. And I have not seen the list yet. So we're going to work through that together and just kind of have some fun. Just kind of game planning a potential Celtics off season. Then at the tail end of the show, we'll take 5, 10 minutes of mailbag questions from the chat. So make sure you guys get your questions into the chat. When we finish here on YouTube, we're going to migrate over to Playback again. That's Playback TV Hoops Tonight or we take callers there every night. It is so much fun. We've been really enjoying building out that part of the show because it's just informal and we talk shit, we have fun, we watch film. It's just a bunch of basketball fans hanging out, having a good time. So meet us over at Playback TV Hoops tonight when we finish up here on YouTube. You guys know the drill before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at_jason lt so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Make sure you guys follow us there and then like I mentioned earlier, keep dropping mailbag questions into the chat so that we can get to them at the tail end of the show and then again when we finish here. Playback TV Slash Hoops Tonight. All right, let's talk some basketball. So I thought the abundantly clear thing that happened right out the gates in this game was just a level of defensive intensity from the Knicks. We have another gentleman named Shane who's been working with us on the show over the course of this off season, big Knicks fan, and he was talking before we got on the stream about how it's just you never know what you're going to get with the Knicks and it, it's funny because another former person who's worked on the show, Josh Rodriguez, big Knicks fan himself, he messaged me. We were talking about it on Twitter actually, after they, after they got rid of the Pistons. And he was just talking about how Knicks fans have just been like kind of sick of this team for that type of inconsistent personality that they have. And it's just, it's very simple, like watching game five and there's very little in the way of intense physical pressure on the perimeter. There's a whole lot of just like not paying attention or communicating in transition as they repeatedly left Derek White wide open over and over and over again. And Josh Hart is talking in the post game presser about like the, this kind of multiple personality type of issue that the Knicks have. And he's just like, I don't know what causes it, but it just kind of is who they are at this point. And that is something that we'll have to keep an eye on when it comes to the Pacers series. Because the Pacers are certainly a team that does not have multiple personalities. They play the same way all the damn time. And the second you let go of the rope, they can take control of the situation. And that's going to be a theme as we head into that series. But tonight I thought the Knicks brought the necessary energy on the defensive end of the floor. OG Anunoby, I thought, set the tone right from the start with his ball pressure and physicality on Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown had a very rough game relative to what he looked like in game five. He just, we talked about how he didn't settle for a single pull up jump shot in game five until halfway through the second quarter. He was taking some really tough contested ones early. And often in this game there was a way less of an intentional effort to attack Jalen Brunson. Although there to Jalen Brunson's credit, they started to go at him a lot in the early third quarter stretch and he just did a great job. He just held his ground and battled. And as we zoom out from the series, I thought Brunson in particular was pretty great defensively outside of game five. And there were a lot of opportunities for Boston to try to attack Brunson, especially in game one and game two. And he just held up really well. But OG got right up in Jaylen Brown's grill right away and made him uncomfortable. The Celtics did get some easy ones in the first half that didn't go in. And if the few easy ones you get don't go in and there's a lot of pressure and good defense on these other possessions. It's just really difficult to counter that. And then the Knicks were playing with a type of desperation. You tell the Knicks knew they're like, we have to go back to, to, to the TD garden. This could get ugly for us. And so the Knicks kind of treated it like a must win and they brought the necessary energy and they threw a hell of a punch and the Celtics just didn't really have much of a chance, not with the way that they were shooting the ball tonight. Did not score over 20 points in any quarter until the fourth quarter tonight. So impressive win for the Knicks. Now let's split this up here. We're going to talk about looking forward to the Pacers matchup first and then we'll talk about the Celtics moving forward with their future. So specifically with the Pacers matchup, I'm going to say this the same way that I've been saying it with some other series around, when we've discussed the reality of going matchup to matchup, as We've now seen two of the three 60 win teams in the NBA this year lose and as Oklahoma City is at risk of potentially losing on Sunday. Although we did get a report today that Aaron Gordon, there was that weird play where J Dub dove into his legs and I thought he was just kind of playing up the injury to try to get, you know, a flagrant foul or something like that or a review, but looks like Aaron Gordon might have some sort of hamstring issue, which is very scary for a Nuggets team that I would argue Aaron Gordon's been their second best player in this postseason run. And so that obviously is a devastating loss there. But there's a chance that we could end up losing all 60 win teams before we even get out of the second round. And part of the reason for that is because more and more as the game has changed, there are just so many different ways to play and so many different types of teams and so many different types of, of stars. Even if you just look at the remaining four stars that will be leading these groups, let's say if Jokic advances or Shea advances, right, I've got Tyrese Halliburton who's like some weird, like Steve Nash mixed with a better athlete type of hybrid, modern spread, pick and roll, like keep the ball moving type of ball handler. Then I've got Jalen Brunson, who's like this small, shifty, like incredibly gifted half court, surgical scorer, SL shot maker. Then I Go out to the west and it's like I get Anthony Edwards who's like the modern version of Michael Jordan, just this huge apex athlete two guard that can shoot the shit out of the basketball. And then out of the other series we're either going to get like the modern day James Harden, this high volume scorer that is incredibly gifted at getting to the foul line, but has another layer of versatility in terms of his mid range shot making that, that even James Harden didn't have. Or the best player in the world, Nicola Jokic, who's like this big doughy center who inverts your spacing and makes just about every damn shot he takes and is probably the best passer in the game. And as you kind of zoom out and look at that, that's just these four or five remaining teams. If I went down the list for all 16 teams or all 20 if you included the play in teams, there's just so many different kinds of stars and so many different kinds of role players and schemes on defense and on offense. We've seen more zone, I feel like in this postseason than in any postseason that I can remember as so many teams have been working on mixing up coverages and different kinds of zone and entire halves where a team will run 20, 25 possessions of zone. Like this is a, a, a, a modern NBA where every series is different and arguably within the game, within the actual series themselves, every game is different. And so it is no longer about which team won more games or who had the best net rating. It's strictly about what do you have in your toolbox to manage the shifting flow of each series. So for instance, the Celtics, they move the ball, especially when they get into their matchup attacking and you either leave a opening in your coverage or if you like in game five, just concede a lot of like size mismatches that they can bully right to the front of the rim, but they don't come close to the pace and ball and player movement that Indiana brings to the table. So similarly to what we saw with Minnesota, where it like legitimately took them a lot longer than you would have expected to put away a Golden State warriors team without Steph. And I mean obviously they won the series in five games, but within those games it's like they lose game one, Game two, they blow them out, but game three, they're like trailing in the fourth quarter. Game four, it's the, the Warriors I think had a lead in the mid third quarter, like it took that they didn't dominate that team despite the massive talent advantage because of the fact that there were some realities to the way that Golden State just played a very different kind of basketball than the Lakers did. And it just took them a while to adjust to it. And so with the Pacers, there are these obvious differences. Switching like you did against Boston, that stagnated Boston, especially in game four and especially down the stretch of game one in game two. No matter what you do to Indiana, they are not going to stagnate. They are going to attack with ball and player movement. And if you do everything right, then, yeah, they'll go hunting a mismatch. But one, they're going to try to get something easy by getting you to make a mistake, botching a switch or leaving an opening otherwise not there. And two, unlike Boston, Boston will hunt mismatches, but they can get away from it. That's been the story with Boston for years. Even, even going back to before they won the title, they have had a tendency to have extended stretches where they play a certain way and have a great deal of success and then they go brain dead for like 12 minutes of real time where they just take a bunch of bad shots and fail to go back to the thing that worked. Indiana's pretty relentless about hunting those mismatches. If you switch appropriately and avoid the openings that naturally occur in their off, they will throw it to Siakam or Miles Turner against a size mismatch over and over and over again. If you end up switching, if you end up containing the ball, they have a process offensively that is relentless from the start. They pick you up full court, they try to rush you into poor offense. They push in transition like crazy. Tyrese is one of the best kick ahead passers in the NBA right now. They're going to get you in the blender, and if you survive the blender, they're going to hunt a mismatch. This is a very, very different type of series than what this Celtics series is, and it's a much better version of Tyrese Halliburton. Tyrese Halliburton is playing at a substantially higher level than he was playing for the Knicks series last year. Is his matchup specifically with Karl Anthony Towns in space. Whether it be in pick and roll coverages like a high drop or a hedge, or it be in a switch. That's going to be a key factor in the series. Tyrese Halliburton attacking Karl Anthony Towns in space. It's going to be a challenge. I, I, I expect to see a lot of Pascal Siakam and Miles Turner in post up mismatches against Jalen Brunson as they work through, you know, maybe a nem hard, a ball screen with nem hard or nice Smith and they get a switch and they're just going to throw it down there. There's a great deal of, like, trusting, of simple closeout reads. Like the Celtics when they have Tatum dancing at the top of the key and two guys are digging down into the driving lanes, the Celtics are less willing to just take that, like simple swing pass. The Pacers make that shit relentlessly. They make it like every time you sink off of a man for whatever reason, Tyrese will hit you every single time. And so it's just going to be a very different type of challenge. And I think that bodes well for Indiana, especially early in the series. And so with the Knicks having home court advantage, I think it's going to be really interesting to see if they can hold up in those first two games. Because when you play a very different team and they roll up into your arena and they're playing great basketball and they throw you in the blender, you make a few too many mistakes in game one, suddenly, even though you can solve that problem, you end up losing home court advantage in the process. And so I think that's going to be the first thing I'm watching early in the series is just how quickly the Knicks adjust defensively to what will be a very different challenge. Against the Celtics, it was about switching and containing and the individual defense in game one and game two of Brunson on Tatum and Brown, and in game four of Carl Anthony Towns on Jayson Tatum in space. This series is going to be less of that and more of the attentiveness. We saw the job that the Knicks did in transition defense in Game 5 against Boston. If they bring that type of effort, the Pacers will beat the shit out of them. And so again, like we talked earlier, this is going to be much more of a mental challenge for the Knicks than it is a physical challenge. I'm very, very excited for it. On the other end of the floor, we saw some stuff last year, right? Brunson had a great deal of success against Nemhard, not so much against Neesmith. We'll see if Ricarlisle ends up making that kind of move. But here's the thing. You end up putting a nem hard on a Mikhail Bridges. You're now conceding a lot of size in that matchup where Mikhail Bridges has been a very gifted over the top shooter in the mid range and so it's very different type of team for the Pacers to match up with this time around. I've already started watching film on this series. Weirdly enough, the one game where everybody kind of played was in that early phase of the season when the Pacers weren't playing very good basketball. But we do have three games worth of data. The Knicks were 2 and 1 in the regular season. I'm going to be watching a lot of that film tomorrow and working on that series preview. It'll be up on our feeds most likely Sunday morning, potentially Saturday afternoon. We'll let you guys know when it comes out. I'll text you or I'll put it out on Twitter and you guys can see it there, but we'll have an in depth series preview at some point in the next day or two.
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Made for this Mountain is a podcast that exists to empower listeners to rise above their struggles, break free from the chains of trauma and silence the negative voices that have kept them small. Through raw conversations, real stories and actionable guidance, you can learn to face the mountain that is in front of you.
You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify. The thing that you refuse to say. Hey, this is my mountain. This is the structure. This is the thing that's in front of me. You can't make that mountain move without actually diving into that.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to conquer the things that once felt impossible and step boldly into the best version of yourself to awaken the unstoppable strength that's inside of us all. So tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and climb your personal mountain.
Because it's impossible for you to be the most authentic you. It's impossible for you to love you fully if all you're doing is living to please people. Your mountain is that.
Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best selling author and Meat Eater founder Stephen Rinella.
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I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves.
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So join me start starting Tuesday, May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.
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Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. 23, 24, 25 what the sixth consecutive year that a champion failed to get out of the second round the following year. And this has been kind of something that I've been pushing back on in terms of like every single time there's been any sort of success in this era from every, from anybody, including myself as a Lakers fan, there's this feeling like we've reached the mountaintop. We figured it out and now we're here. And it's like the Lakers have some injuries the following year and their roster is completely blown up two years after that. You know, the Raptors, they lose Kawhi Leonard, they're completely different team after that. The Bucks in 2021. Chris Middleton quickly declines physically. Giannis ends up getting injured a couple of years after that. Next thing you know, the roster's too old for them to contend. Golden State, they catch this flash in a pan with Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, which allows what was a limited roster to reach a level that could compete for a championship. And you get an all time great type of performance out of Steph Curry that allows you to hoist the trophy. But then pretty quickly Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole kind of regressed to the mean and suddenly it doesn't look like a championship roster anymore. 2023 with the Nuggets, they end up losing Bruce Brown, Justin Holiday, just a little bit of that depth that they used to have. KCP is out of the picture. They're not as good at the point of attack. They have looked like a second tier contender ever since then. Although they do have a puncher's chance to win the title this year. You go to the following year with Boston now, same sort of thing. This is an all time great team. This is going to be the team that runs the league. And it's like even if Jason Tatum didn't get hurt, they were probably about 55 to 60% likely to lose this series anyway. Why? Couple of guys got a little older, a little more banged up. Porzingis wasn't very good. Drew Holiday couldn't shoot the three as well as he used to. Jaylen Brown couldn't shoot the three as well as he used to. Couple guys just went cold at wrong times and suddenly you're out of here in the second round. And it's just a reminder that in this era sustaining success is extremely difficult. So you can never get too high, you can never get too low. Those big picture roster decisions, you've got to be keyed in on the fact that if you, if you think you're good enough, you're probably not. And you probably need more firepower than you than it than it appears on the surface. And this has just been the latest example of that. And, and I don't know, like if when we look back in NBA history, it's kind of crazy. Right on the heels of an era where we saw LeBron James win the Eastern Conference eight times in a row, we saw Steph Curry win the Western Conference four times in a row, we saw the spurs win the Western Conference two times in a row. And it just. There's so much more parody, there's so much more talent in the league. It is so much harder to sustain success. There are realities with the second apron and with the new CBA that makes it very difficult to accumulate talent and sustained talent in this league. I guarantee you that like the next team that everyone's going to be focused on in terms of like this team's going to win every year, it's going to be the Thunder until guess what, they have to pay everybody. And all of a sudden there's a certain amount of their talent that they're unable to retain and they end up dipping a little bit in talent and suddenly there's more pressure on Shay to be better in every facet of the game. And it's just really, really difficult to sustain success in the NBA these days. And I thought that what happened to Boston this year was a really interesting example of that. Jaylen Brown, kind of an interesting example of the tale of two games. And it's just something to keep an eye as we head into next season with him. He was so good in terms of his floor game in game five, the decision making, the deliberate and intentional attacking of Jalen Brunson, the refusal to settle for bad jump shots. And just like all of that went out the window today in what was a much more uneven game from him outside of a few shots that he made early. And so just with that next year, that's going to be the key for him. If he's going to have any sort of sustained success as the leader of the Celtics next year, it's got to be that game to game floor. Presence of decision making, ruthless precision in terms of the types of advantages you're hunting in the half court, that's going to be the challenge for him next year. But it is going to be more or less a gap year in the sense that like what happened with Golden State after Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant got hurt, they used a year to accumulate assets to try to pivot and make a run in the future. And that's going to be the challenge for next season is how do you weigh the reality of the talent you have on the roster and the fact that you probably could bring everybody back and be a three or four seed, you probably could. But is it worth it to do that and continue to see Porzingis age, and continue to see Horford age and continue to see Drew Holiday age and then have Tatum come back the following year and you're not good enough? And that's where they got the Celtics got to make some tough decisions about what they're going to do with the roster this summer and all throughout next season as they prepare for Tatum's inevitable return in the following year.
T Mobile stats are as impressive as your favorite athlete's highlight reel, because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Required card has no cash access and expires in six months.
This podcast is supported by Talkspace.
User
When my husband came home from his military deployment, readjusting was hard for all of us. Thankfully, I found Talkspace.
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Talkspace provides professional support from licensed therapists and psychiatric providers online. Military members, veterans and their dependents ages 13 and older can get fast access to providers, all from the privacy of their computers or smartphones.
User
I just answered a few questions online and Talkspace matched me with a therapist. We meet when it's convenient for me and I can message her anytime. It was so easy to set up and they accept tricare. Therapy was going so well, my husband and I started seeing a couple's therapist through Talkspace too.
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Talkspace works with most major insurers, including Tricare. Match with a licensed therapist today@talkspace.com military go to talkspace.com military to get started today. That's talkspace.com military made for this Mountain.
Host
Is a podcast that exists to empower listeners to rise above their struggles. Break free from the chains of trauma and silence the negative voices that have kept them small. Through raw conversations, real stories and actionable guidance, you can learn to face the mountain that is in front of you.
You will never be able to change or growth or the thing that you refuse to identify. The thing that you refuse to say, hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle. This is the thing that's in front of me. You can't make that mountain move without actually diving into that.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to conquer the things that once felt impossible and step boldly into the best version of yourself, to awaken the unstoppable strength that's inside of us all. So tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and and climb your personal mountain.
Because it's impossible for you to be the most authentic you. It's impossible for you to love you fully if all you're doing is living to please people. Your mountain is that.
Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores and brought to you by Val Velvet Buck, this podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best selling author and Meat Eater founder Stephen Rinella.
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I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves.
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So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.
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Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On that note, let's bring Jackson up where you're going to. Jackson, put together a list of potential off season targets. Jackson, I want you to just kind of like put everybody in your frame of mind before you start going through the list.
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I think I was thinking about the Celtics summer even, you know, before this game. I wasn't really expecting them to win the series at this point. And I have been trying to think about players to target and you don't. You can't pick players that are about to exit their prime because like to your point, your next year is a gap year. Next year you're two years away from Jayson Tatum being back to anything close to what he was this year, right? So you can't go too young. But you also have to find mostly contenders that are willing to ship players out because most of the players that you're trading less than a three team deal are only good, only valuable for contenders Right. It's not like you're trading. Why would you trade a young guy in the first place? So I was trying to find teams that are fringe contenders that definitely feel like they need to make a move if they're going to go to be actual contenders, but aren't, you know, but aren't too good where they're not going to make big changes to their core. So I have three different categories worth of players. Some like realistic possible options. Some like, are these, these teams are quite good, but are they going to trade these guys? And some these teams are in complete limbo. I can't imagine they trade players this good, but they're in limbo, so maybe they do. To start with, my number one target is Derek Lively. I feel like Drew Holiday for Derek Lively in some, you know, with whatever ancillary pieces that requires is close to perfect considering the Mavericks have, I mean, they have Klay Thompson, I guess, but they have some needs at, at the guard position and they, they want two way players per Nico Harrison division and they have three centers now.
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So let me just for to be devil's advocate, I'm Nico and I say I view AD as a short term option for us. I view Derek as the big picture center for our team. Would you be interested in Gafford instead?
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How old is Daniel Gafford?
Advertiser
Let me pull up the payroll real quick.
Host
Gafford is 26. Yes, I would be interested in Daniel Gafford.
Advertiser
I think Daniel Gafford, you know, even when I look back last year, like there's a little bit of a switch defense element with Derek Lively, that's more impressive.
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
But I think Daniel Gafford is actually a little bit more physically imposing underneath the basket.
Host
Definitely.
Advertiser
And so it's tricky. I think Derek Lively within a couple of years will be substantially better than Daniel. Yeah, but it is, it is like, it is complicated. There's also like the salary matching piece. I wonder because Dallas is not a team that has cap space that you'll be trading into.
Host
Right.
Advertiser
It would have to be a situation where you match salaries. So with Drew, let me pull up the Celtics payroll real quick. So Drew makes 30 or 32 if you trade for him this summer. Gafford is at 13. So what about, what about Klay Thompson? Would you, what about a deal with like Gafford and Clay?
Host
I got no problem taking back the shell of Klay Thompson if it, you know, if that's what's required from a salary matching standpoint. Let next year's a wash. Let the Guy come and just put up a bunch of shots, get let. Let the guy become a meme for the weirdest possible jersey. You know, Dwayne Wade in a Cavaliers jersey type of thing. Like that's no issue on my end. I'm completely fine with that.
Advertiser
Let me take it a step further. So they've got Cooper flag too?
Host
They do.
Advertiser
So where the hell is PJ Washington fitting into all of this?
Host
Oh, true. I like.
Advertiser
What if it's more of like a Drew Holiday for P.J. washington and Daniel Gafford kind of deal? What about.
Host
I would throw in a first round pick that.
Advertiser
That would be an interesting move that would almost immediately make you more useful. And both of those guys, both PJ and Daniel would be Bird. Right. Free agents the summer before Tatum returns. Okay, so what's interesting about that then is you would have the ability to retain both of them at basically whatever number you wanted. Not north of 14, but I don't think either player, PJ could encroach on that territory potentially. Yeah, but yeah, like I. You. It's a, it's a flexibility move too in the sense that Drew Holiday has all those years left on his contract. But you're getting back to players that would actually come off of the books the year that Tatum comes back from his injury.
Host
Right.
Advertiser
Then from Dallas's perspective, from Dallas's perspective, Drew Holiday, you could not pair a better guard with Anthony Davis.
Host
Couldn't. Or with Kyrie Irving.
Advertiser
With Kyrie Irving, they've played before.
Host
They've played before. You get a completely defensive specialist next to Kai, who's not a slouch defensively actually, but he's going to be coming back from a serious injury. You want someone who is going from Klay Thompson defensively to Drew holiday. Even as 34 year old, Drew Holiday is about as big of a gap as you could go defensively.
Advertiser
To your point though, I'd prefer Derek. But if I countered in that P.J. washington, Daniel Gafford range, I think. I think that is a deal that substantially kind of like fits the Celtics new timeline. Also worth mentioning, both those guys are 26 right now.
Host
Exactly. Yes. Okay, I got four more in this realistic slash possible category. I'm going to throw all of them at you and you tell me which ones you like the most. All of these are guys. Well, they're on varying different levels of teams from in terms of win now versus not win now. I got two guards and two bigs. Two guards. Jalen Suggs from the Orlando Magic, also injured. You know Timeline wise, what. What are they going to do with Jalen Suggs right now? Trey Murphy of the New Orleans Pelicans. New Orleans Pelicans. That would probably require a third team, because the Pelicans, what do they need? Drew Holiday of Chris has Porzingis for. But if the third team potentially, and then two bigs being Nick Claxton and Jakob Pertle.
Advertiser
Okay, I'm the Magic's gm. You've pitched to me. Drew Holiday for Jalen Suggs. Point of the Magic's payroll. Real quick. If I'm the Magic's gm, I'm thinking I need shooting.
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
Andrew Holiday doesn't shoot the ball well enough. So what if I said I want Derek White for Jalen Suggs. Now, the construction that. That deal. Derek White, if you made the. If you made the trade before the league year turned over, he only makes 20 turns into 28 the following year. But if you did it before the league year, you could get it done with Jalen Suggs and Mo Vagner, so you get a big back. So now let's. So let's pitch it this way, because if I'm Orlando, I'm saying, like, Drew doesn't help me in the short term or the long term because of his age and because of his inconsistent shooting. I like Derek White. We talked about this the other day when we were talking to Celtics love Derrick White. But for the right deal, I would move him. Yeah, I would move Derek White for Jalen Suggs and Mo Wagner in a heartbeat.
Host
Yeah, I think I would, too. I think I would, too. I mean, Jalen Suggs, if. If everything goes right from an injury recovery standpoint and from a talent, you know, development standpoint, he could basically become just a better version. Not. Maybe not better, because Derek White's very good, but I think he could become a better defensive version. I think he's a. He's an amazing defender. Even though Derrick White is also very awesome.
Advertiser
Jalen Suggs is arguably the best guard defender in the league.
Host
He's now dynamic.
Advertiser
What I'm missing here, and this is an important detail, it's actually like a poison pill kind of trade, because Jalen Suggs's new extension kicks in next year at 35 million. So you actually wouldn't get Mo back. You'd have to wait for the league year to turn over, and then you would trade Drew, or, excuse me, Derek directly for Jalen. And you would have to include a little bit more salary, I think. Although Orlando. Yeah, you're gonna have to include a little Bit more salary. So it would be like, it would be like Derek White and man, the only other guy who really fits in that slot is Pritchard. And you don't want to give him up. You got to keep Pritchard at his number. He's like, he's arguably like the best contract value in the league right now.
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
At a guy who won't make over 10 million at any point in his contract. But that is a. That's an interesting idea. And if I'm Orlando, I'm sitting there thinking like Derek White with Paolo and Franz, like that is.
Host
Exactly.
Advertiser
And Jalen Suggs to me is like a quintessential Celtic type of target.
Host
Me too.
Advertiser
Dribble, shoot pass defend kind of guy.
Host
Yeah, 100%.
Advertiser
Yeah.
Host
The other ones on that that I had in this sort of, you know, category were Trey Murphy, Nick Claxton, Yaka Pertle. I don't think any of those are quite as good. I. Trey Murphy is. I mean, I love Trey Murphy. I don't know. That would definitely require a third team. I'm wondering if there's a, a third team situation with the Mavericks there, even where you're sending Drew Holiday to the Mavericks. They send a first round pick or something to. To New Orleans, some salary matching. We get Trey Murphy, but that would.
Advertiser
Be a hard one to sell to the fans. Getting rid of Trey Murphy. Nick Claxton is a very interesting one.
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
The reason why Nick Claxton would be perfect with the Celtics is he's a switching big who also is a vertical spacer. So he could basically be kind of like a younger, more athletic version of what Robert Williams was for you guys. He makes 28 million, so you could seamlessly flip Drew for him. And the Nets have cap space. So I could pitch it as an opportunity to shed salary. So let's talk about it like this. What if you call up the Nets and you try to put together a big salary dumping type of deal where you get rid of Drew and Kristaps? So you're sending out 62. You probably have to include all like, you'd probably have to include multiple first round picks for them to do that.
Host
I think so, yeah.
Advertiser
So would you give up multiple first round picks? You got to think financially now too, because in this scenario, Boston's trying to shed salaries. So would you give up multiple first round picks to bring back Nick Claxton, who's like the center of the future for you? He's 26 years old. He matches right up with Tatum's timeline.
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
26 years old, switching center, vertical spacer. But you got to give up your draft compensation to get off that salary.
Host
It's tough. I think it depends what the other. If there's other options on the table from a deal standpoint, I would not prioritize salary dumping. I think. I mean, I think you might have to salary dump Kristaps just straight up. Regardless, he looks awful, but I think Drew Holiday can get you something valuable.
Advertiser
From a winner.
Host
From a winner.
Advertiser
So maybe you view poor Zingus to your point. Maybe you, you pour Zingus as the Nick Claxton piece and then you look at Drew as a piece where you can actually get something positive.
Host
Right, Right. That's kind of how I look at it.
All right.
Advertiser
The. The. Are they the fourth name? Who is the fourth name?
Host
Sorry. Jakob Pearl. He's a little older. I don't like that one quite as much.
Advertiser
But yeah, and Jakob's good. Jakob's good. But. But yeah, I don't like that one as much either. Anyway, go ahead.
Host
My. Are they open to trading this guy, these guys? Because are they going to make a huge shake up this summer? Are. Is Jared Allen as well as, as well as Darius Garland, but Jared Allen? Primarily because I do feel like big is a more of a priority than a guard.
Advertiser
But so this is a really interesting one. Let me put you on the spot about this first. After how Jared Allen has kind of.
Host
Sucked in, I mean, I think you got to just hope that you can make it, make it work. The Celtics bigs at this point are in dire straits. Al Horford is. If he's not going to retire this summer, he's not. He's not going to be anywhere impactful next time the Celtics are making a playoff run. I love. He's not. He's not going to be an impactful player in 2027 playoffs. I'm sorry.
Advertiser
Also part of the issue with Jared Allen too is like everybody on the team fell apart and he was just like part of that kind of like mess. So you kind of hope too that you just get him next to Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum and he just kind of takes on more of their toughness and personality. So he makes 20 million. So the Cavs, if I'm not mistaken, our second apron team. So it gets a little as of next summer, as of the league calendar turning over because Evan Mobley's extension kicks in at 46 million next year. Isn't that fucking crazy? I mean, he's really so. So. Okay, so we need to Match more in the 20 million range, they wouldn't be able to aggregate salaries either. So that gets tough. Cleveland's tough to trade with.
Host
Yeah, but.
Advertiser
But Jared Allen's an interesting idea, right?
Host
I think that one's kind of interesting. And then I got two pipe dream candidates from teams that certainly should not have interest in trading these players, but are complete dumpster fire organizationally right now. So maybe they make a huge shake up this summer. Bam. Adebayo and John Morant. This is the Heat. Are not trading Bam out of bio to the Boston Celtics specifically. I do want to be clear that I'm not stupid, but Bam. Adebayo and John Moran are two teams that are, if not going to make huge change this summer, probably should make huge changes this summer. And I'm wondering if either of those guys might be on the move in.
Advertiser
Their driving kick system. And we've discussed this. The Celtics just don't pressure the rim enough.
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
To get the types of quality threes when things really bogged down. Because Tatum's first step was never quite good enough to beat elite defenders off the dribble.
Host
And Jalen Brown's handle isn't good enough to beat every elite defender off the dribble.
Advertiser
So let's think. If I'm getting rid of Jaw, if I'm Memphis, what do I want in return?
Host
Yeah, I don't know what Memphis wants to do is the thing. Because they are sort of locked into a multiple more years of Desmond Bain and Jaren Jackson. They are paying those guys a lot of money.
Advertiser
Okay.
Host
That's why I'm like, are they trying to stay relevant? If they're trying to stay relevant, y' all want Drew Holiday and a bunch of first round picks. I would give up a lot of first round picks, obviously, for John Moran.
Advertiser
Would you give up Jalen Brown for John Moran?
Host
I would consider it.
Advertiser
So I'd consider it. One. A three. I'd want a three. So what. What if you were like. But you could flip Drew for a three? So. Yeah, like, what about a. Yeah. Jalen Brown for John Moran is super interesting on a couple of different levels.
Host
But I'm into it.
Advertiser
It's. For starters, the weakness of Memphis's roster is the three.
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
That's literally the spot on their roster where they're weakest. It allows them to pivot off of Jaw. Jaw gets a fresh start with a team that's actually like kind of built as a drive and kick structure that kind of fits his game super well. He'd be a beautiful two man, game partner with Jason Tatum, you wouldn't have to do any sort of weird things with salary because Memphis is way under the cap in the new year. So you could straight up trade Jaylen Brown for John Morant. Okay, so let me put you on the spot about this. Brad Stevens calls Memphis offers straight up Jalen Brown for John Moran. Who's more likely to say no?
Host
Boston. I think Boston's more likely to say no. I think Memphis wants to trade John Moran. I think they just, I think they just can't stomach it without getting a, like an all star in return. And dude, it's pretty easy to sell Jaylen Brown. I'm not going to lie. He's got his deficiencies, but it's a pretty easy sell.
Advertiser
And in addition to that, I immediately shed 4, $14 million in salary. Yeah, that's a really interesting trade.
Host
You trade Jalen Brown for John Moran, you turn Drew and Chris Abs into some version of what we talked about earlier. You're looking at a weird brand new roster basically, but a very fun Celtics.
Advertiser
Basketball team and jamboree always has like injury related issues where it'd be so easy to just like be like, hey, you're sitting down for the next two weeks so we can get a great draft.
Host
Oh, for sure, for sure. Oh, next season. Yeah, 100%. Like if you trade Jalen Brown for John Morant, you can turn, you turn Drew Holiday into, into Derek Lively or Daniel Gafford. Dude, all of a sudden you got in 20, whatever 26, 27 season, John Morant, Sam Houser, Jason Tatum, someone else. And Derek Lively is a pretty fun grouping of players.
Advertiser
Is there. So in this theoretical scenario, if I'm getting rid of Drew and Jalen, I'm getting rid of my two best point of attack defenders by far. Do you think Derek White is up to the task of primary point of attack guy for a championship team?
Host
I don't know. Not really. I feel like he, he, he is strange for being a really good defender, a really good defensive player. He's strangely not like the most just guard guy, one on one good. He's very smart and he gets a lot of weak side rotation blocks and a lot of transition blocks. He's a great at closeouts, he's an awesome defender, but he is not the type of just throw him at another team's best guard and like hope for stops type of guy, in my opinion.
Advertiser
Yeah. And so then basically what you have to do is essentially view the future as meaning like next year and the following year as like, you just got to try to find the next guy who will be your primary point of attack guy. And that could literally be in these trades that we've pitched in this particular scenario. So let's call it. Let's say you flip Drew because Drew has immediate value to Dallas, and you flip Brown, who has immediate value to Memphis. In this situation, you would still have your draft compensation. And so then you could try to look to move one of these guys for a primary point of attack guard. That's where it's like, maybe you look at Orlando and you go like, now let's talk Derek White for Jalen Suggs.
Host
That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. A John Moran, a John Morant, Jalen Suggs, Sam Houser, Jason Tatum, Roger Daniel Gafford. Starting lineup is so weird that it's kind of breaking my brain, but it's. Of all the pivots you could make. You know, I think we designed a pretty good one for the Celtics.
Advertiser
I like it. I like. There's. I was listening to Pete Zayas earlier today. He was talking with Anthony Irwin about some Lakers stuff, and he's like, I think we need to take a hatchet to the roster this summer. So you're. Jackson's here saying we need to take a hatchet.
Host
I'm taking a hatchet. I'm definitely taking a hatchet with these brakes.
Advertiser
It's not. This is not minor tweaks.
Host
You know, I expect them to more to do just do a minor tweaks around the edges type of summer than this, but. But, you know, if they're going to make changes.
Advertiser
Anybody else on your list?
Host
No, that's pretty much it. I mean, Bam was the other pipe.
Advertiser
Dream one, but Bam. Yeah. And yeah, the Bam is an interesting one, but he definitely would have to go to a different team first before. Before the. Before you could even potentially pull something like that off. That's super interesting, though. That was the, the. The Jaylen Brown for John Morant thing is a very, very interesting trade to consider because the specific dynamic that Boston has been missing over the years is a singular trait that no team can fuck with. Everything with them has been aggregate talent, even like Tatum's game in and of itself is an aggregation of a bunch of different pieces that he's very good at, but not elite at. And John Morant brings the singular trait, which is no one can keep him in front off the dribble, and that could be a foundational piece that Tatum could be basically a, a force multiplier for because his versatility becomes very valuable in the context of a team that like, like there's no way you lose game one and two of this series if you have John Morant because he's just going to be able to get you two or three more buckets down the stretch of a game because he has been one of the most dynamic, clutch players in the league because no one can stop him from popping up off the ground seven feet from the basket and shooting a little floater that no one can guard. And you just have to sit there and go, please miss it. Jaw. Or hopefully we're up by 15 before he gets there like that. It, it, it as frustrating of a player as he's been, he, he does have that upside. But this is a really fun exercise. Jackson, I think we're going to save the mailbag for playback. What do you think?
Host
Yeah.
Advertiser
So. All right, everybody head over to Playback TV slash Hoops tonight. We'll do another 45 minutes of hanging out. We'll take callers, we'll get into the chat. As always, we sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We'll be back on YouTube tomorrow. Or no, we have tomorrow off. Oh, my goodness. Today is the 28th consecutive night that we have done this, but we are taking tomorrow night off because there are no games. But tomorrow I will be working on the series preview for Nick's Pacers. That will most likely be up on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon. I'm actually going live with Colin right right after the game. So hoops tonight will be about an hour after that. We'll be going, but we'll have something on Saturday or on Sunday afternoon after the Nuggets Thunder game. As always, again, we appreciate you guys and we will see you next time. What's up, guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.
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Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6, where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region. Today.
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I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott, and this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.
Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.
This kind of star studded a little bit, man.
We met them at their homes, we met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them.
It makes it real.
It really does. It makes it real.
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs Podcast, Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
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Podcast Summary: "Hoops Tonight - LIVE: Knicks Eliminate Celtics In 6!"
Release Date: May 17, 2025
Introduction
In this episode of "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," hosted by iHeartPodcasts and The Volume, the focus centers on a pivotal NBA playoff game where the New York Knicks eliminated the Boston Celtics in six games. The discussion delves deep into the strategies, player performances, and future implications for both teams as they head into the postseason and offseason.
Game Breakdown
The episode begins with an analysis of the decisive Game 6, highlighting the contrasting performances of the Knicks and the Celtics. The host emphasizes the Knicks' defensive intensity as a key factor in their victory.
Defensive Strategy:
"The abundantly clear thing that happened right out the gates in this game was just a level of defensive intensity from the Knicks." [05:15]
The Knicks' ability to apply consistent pressure, particularly on the perimeter, disrupted the Celtics' offensive flow. The host credits rookie Shane and former associate Josh Rodriguez for their insights on the Knicks' fluctuating performance and defensive inconsistencies.
Key Player Performances:
OG Anunoby: Praised for setting the defensive tone against Jaylen Brown.
"OG Anunoby set the tone right from the start with his ball pressure and physicality on Jaylen Brown." [10:20]
Jaylen Brown: Discussed his struggles compared to previous performances, noting a decline in his shooting efficiency and reluctance to attack the basket.
"Jaylen Brown had a very rough game relative to what he looked like in game five." [12:45]
Jalen Brunson: Commended for his defensive efforts and resilience against Boston's offensive strategies.
"Brunson in particular was pretty great defensively outside of game five." [15:30]
Looking Forward: Knicks vs. Pacers Series
The conversation shifts to the upcoming matchup between the Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, with the host outlining the distinct differences between the two teams:
Pacers' Consistency:
The Pacers are described as a team with a consistent playing style and relentless offensive movement, contrasting sharply with the Celtics' variable strategies.
"The Pacers are certainly a team that does not have multiple personalities. They play the same way all the damn time." [20:10]
Key Matchups:
Defensive Adjustments:
Emphasis on how the Knicks need to adjust their defensive strategies to counter the Pacers' relentless offense.
"If they bring that type of effort, the Pacers will beat the shit out of them." [25:00]
Celtics' Future and Offseason Targets
Transitioning to the Celtics' outlook, the host invites Jackson, a Celtics fan and producer of the show, to discuss potential offseason moves to bolster the roster.
Trade Proposals:
A hypothetical trade scenario is presented where the Celtics could acquire players like Derek Lively or Daniel Gafford in exchange for current assets. The discussion includes salary matching considerations and the strategic benefits of such moves.
"Derek Lively within a couple of years will be substantially better than Daniel." [30:00]
Roster Reinforcement:
The need for defensive specialists and versatile big men is emphasized as the Celtics plan for sustained success.
"Nick Claxton would be perfect with the Celtics as he's a switching big who also is a vertical spacer." [35:00]
Potential High-Impact Trades:
The idea of trading Jalen Brown for Ja Morant is explored, discussing the mutual benefits and challenges of such a significant roster change.
"Trading Jalen Brown for Ja Morant is a very, very interesting trade to consider." [45:50]
Mailbag and Listener Interaction
Towards the end of the episode, the host invites listeners to submit their questions for a mailbag segment, which will later take place on Playback TV Hoops Tonight. This interactive segment aims to engage the audience further and address their curiosities about the ongoing NBA dynamics.
Concluding Remarks
The episode wraps up with promotional segments for upcoming shows and a reminder to subscribe and follow on social media platforms. The host reiterates the importance of understanding each team's unique challenges and the evolving nature of the NBA playoffs.
Notable Quotes
Conclusion
This episode of "Hoops Tonight" offers a comprehensive analysis of the Knicks' triumph over the Celtics, the strategic nuances of their upcoming series against the Pacers, and critical insights into the Celtics' potential offseason maneuvers. With detailed breakdowns, expert opinions, and interactive segments, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the current NBA landscape and the intricate chess game that is playoff basketball.