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00:00:00.080 In regards to the orange and blue, you know, they they made the the blockbuster splash from the coaching standpoint. Uh
00:00:05.920 made the Albcelli and Clark say additions. I mean, what did you think about the Knicks off season?
00:00:11.040 I mean, I thought it was um generally good. I think it was, you know, I think
00:00:16.079 the coaching change and the signings that they made probably worked in tandem right now. You need a deeper bench. It's
00:00:22.240 clear they want to play with more depth. They want to have a longer rotation. They brought in a coach that will
00:00:28.080 actually do that. Tom Tibido, uh, for all the things that he does well, does
00:00:33.200 not play a lot a lot of guys. We all know that, right? Like Tom has his guys and he plays him and he plays them a
00:00:38.480 lot. Uh, and we saw that to the detriment in probably the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Uh, and
00:00:45.280 Mike Brown probably will play a little bit deeper, probably play 10 guys. And we saw that was what a lot of the best teams did last year, right? Like that
00:00:51.600 was the finals, that was the Pacers and the Thunder going deep. Um, so I thought it was probably a good offseason. I
00:00:57.520 mean, I don't know if those guys will make a huge difference in the playoffs, right? Jordan Clarkson's on on the other side of 30. Yoselli, we'll see. But it's
00:01:05.199 it's more options at least. Yeah. I mean, for from my perspective, like again, this is no shade because
00:01:10.720 every time it seems like I'm throwing shade at campaign. There's nothing against him personally, right? And and
00:01:17.200 look, it is a vet minimum. when you're dealing with vet minimums, you can't beggars can't be choosers in certain
00:01:22.880 respects, but I have to believe, especially when looking at the Clarkson deal, right? Like he's not a vet minimum
00:01:29.520 player per se, but they were fortunate in that he was in a bad situation with a bad team.
00:01:36.400 Danny A never was able to trade him, you know, with all his posturing and they were able to benefit by having him get
00:01:43.759 waved by Utah and then come in on the vet minimum. So, I think a player of his caliber at 16 points per game, he's he's
00:01:50.640 going to be an immediate lift over what they had in in pain and and even with Deuce on the bench.
00:01:56.159 Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Look, it should help them have some more playmaking off the bench, right? It should help uh their offense a little bit, although
00:02:02.159 that wasn't the problem really last year. Like, let's be honest, that was not an issue for the Knicks for the most part. Uh I'm curious what this means for
00:02:08.318 guys like Jaylen Brunson uh for Duce McBride. Like, will we see Jaylen play less? Will he have a lighter load that
00:02:15.200 entire regular season? Will we see his minutes come down? Will we see Deuce play as much on the ball? Um, I'm
00:02:21.120 curious to see what all that means. Just the uh the second order effects of this. But Jordan Clarkson should be good. He
00:02:26.160 can still score. I'm sure there'll be few nights he'll be rocking the garden putting up 25 30 points when he gets on
00:02:31.440 a heater or something like that. But I think it's it's more interesting for the second order effects of what he comes on
00:02:36.800 and does, what Yabosi does and all these all these guys that now give the Knicks a nine 10man rotation. How about the
00:02:43.680 pressure that Mike Brown is is going to be on? Like, you know, Tibs finishes two games from the finals. You got Mike
00:02:49.760 Brown coming in here, new system, new staff, championship expectations. That's
00:02:55.599 one of the questions that I have for this team is like, how does he balance the pressure to win? Because, you know,
00:03:01.599 optically, he's going to have to win all 82 games, but like at the same time, as you said, does Brunson rest a little
00:03:08.159 bit? How do they prepare for what's really gonna matter and that is April and beyond?
00:03:14.080 Yeah, I mean that's gonna be hard. You know, Mike Brown has never won to this degree, right, during his career. He won a lot of games in Cleveland the first
00:03:20.480 time when he had LeBron. I think they won 66 games one of those years. Um, so he's had some regular season success.
00:03:26.239 They had some regular season success in Sacramento. This is not a guy who's had a lot of
00:03:32.400 winning to be done, right? Um, I think this is his fifth job if I remember correctly off the top of my head. So,
00:03:38.879 he's he's been hired and fired a lot. Um, I I think it the Knicks will be different than they were last year. I
00:03:44.959 think they'll probably be about the same team. Like, the talent's the same, right? The main players are the same. I don't think you want to change too
00:03:50.959 much. I I think it's really just like getting them through the regular season in a position to be more effective in
00:03:56.879 the playoffs, right? Like I know they got to what is it six games with the Pacers, but that first round series with
00:04:02.480 the Pistons was very tight. It was tight, man. It was tight. Like they I think they were lucky at
00:04:08.159 some point to get through that first round. Um so I I think you just want to get the team to a point where they're playing a little bit better in the first
00:04:14.000 round, second round, third round. And obviously look uh it's it's finals are bust. It's very clear for them what the
00:04:20.320 expectations are for the Knicks going into this season. Yeah, I'm I'm with you. But that's the
00:04:25.680 interesting thing with the offense, right? is that in the regular season they were top three. They were gang
00:04:31.600 busters. They had no issues. And then yeah, sure, like every team, they'll you'll have your peaks and valleys, but
00:04:37.680 in the playoffs, it just seemed like it was very hard to generate good offense
00:04:43.600 for them. Now, it's at a, you know, a factor of them playing scrappy defenses like the Pistons, uh, good defenses in
00:04:50.400 the Celtics and and the Pacers defense showed that they were fantastic. I wonder if it's that or it's more of the
00:04:56.800 offense just kind of just coming into a slog where and maybe Mike Brown is the one that can open things up a little
00:05:02.160 bit. Yeah, I'm actually a little curious to see what the offense is going to look like. Um Tibs wasn't, you know, an
00:05:07.360 offensive revolutionary or anything, but they had a certain pattern to them uh those last two Brunson years, right? And
00:05:13.280 I think the offense when it got into the postseason, to your point, it got into a slot because they just doubled down on
00:05:18.880 what worked, right? a lot of Brunson heavy stuff, maybe some cat stuff in ISO or in the elbow or something like that.
00:05:24.240 Um, Mike Brown's offense in Sacramento was great. It was like very efficient.
00:05:29.919 One of the top two offenses in the league. But he also had great assistants like Jordy Fernandez was there right for
00:05:36.000 his first two seasons in Sacramento, I think, or you know, and Jordy the way that they ran the Nets last year, like
00:05:42.320 he proved to be a very good offensive coach. How much of that was Jordie Fernandez? How much of that was Mike Brown? Right. Like I'm very curious to
00:05:48.800 see how much the uh the coaching personnel that he had dictated the way that the the teams played because if I
00:05:54.720 remember correctly during his days in Cleveland and San Antonio and um maybe his first few stints as a head coach, he
00:06:00.639 was more he was more known as a defensive head coach, right? Like and I'm not saying coaches can't change and adapt and basketball has just changed so
00:06:06.479 much over the last 15 years. Uh, but I I am curious to see what this all looks like and what style of play they go to
00:06:12.080 and uh how much they want to reflect the leaguewide trends which are a little bit less super ISO heavy super um you know
00:06:19.440 having just one player on the ball dominating things and more ball movement space pace um and getting different guys
00:06:25.919 involved. Yeah. And you know one thing's for sure in in in Brown's offense with the Kings
00:06:32.240 was that their passing numbers were up especially in the regular season under Mike Brown. They definitely move the
00:06:37.759 ball a lot more. Um, for the Knicks to me, that's going to be certainly important. Obviously, we we know Brunson
00:06:43.199 is going to be able to close the show and he's one of the best in the league at doing so, but just making the offense just a little bit less predictable. And
00:06:50.800 I really think especially in their coaching search with the names that they
00:06:56.160 brought in, it seemed like they they really want to get more from Cat in this
00:07:03.199 offense as a passing big man to kind of open up the floor a little bit in a five out concept.
00:07:08.960 Yeah. And I don't think you'll have him like the reason why all those pass numbers were so high for the Kings was you had Sabonis there, right? Like who's
00:07:14.639 one of the best passing big men in the league. I don't think Cat is ever going to get to that place. Like that's just not his game. That's not an insult to
00:07:20.240 him. It's just not how he plays. But having him move the ball more, having Brunson move the ball more, Bridges move
00:07:25.840 the ball more, like all that would be good. You have some guys who can probably just move the ball quicker. And
00:07:31.759 I think that's maybe uh something that can benefit the Knicks as much as like just the volume of passing is just how
00:07:37.039 fast everything works. Yeah, for sure. Now, they also they extended Bridges this past offseason.
00:07:43.919 Mitchell Robinson, TBD, no movement on that. What what did you think about the Bridges deal coming in at uh slightly
00:07:50.400 less than the max? Yeah, very slightly very slightly less than the max. Everyone needs to know it
00:07:56.400 was a discount. Scream it from the rooftops. Male Bridges gave the Knicks a discount of like a
00:08:03.039 maybe a million each year. Um although he got a trade kicker in there, too. So if he ever gets traded, he gets all that
00:08:09.280 money back. Gets it all back. Yeah. So I you know, I get it. I I think
00:08:14.879 maybe um he might not have gotten that much money if he hit free agency. Uh like we saw Julius Randall kind of sign
00:08:21.840 where he was at the same AAV when he resigned with the Timberwol. We saw Brandon Ingram struggle to get a a big
00:08:27.680 deal and that's why ultimately he got what he got from the Raptors, right? We've seen the kind of Mike El Bridges
00:08:33.360 type of player struggle to get that big huge extension or to get um that big
00:08:39.200 deal in free agency when they hit it there. So, I think he benefited from the fact that look, uh, you know, uh, the
00:08:46.160 Knicks were operating from a place of it being a sunk cost fallacy, right? Like, they traded all those picks for him. You can't just then let him go a year
00:08:52.720 afterward. They had to re they had to keep him somehow. Um, but at a time when
00:08:58.480 every dollar is now at a premium, right, when you're working against the first apron, the second apron, I I'd say
00:09:03.680 probably um he got a little bit more than maybe the market would have given him. But hey, you keep the core together, you see where it goes, and
00:09:09.680 then you adjust in a year or two. Yeah. And and that's what we're seeing from a lot of these teams, right? like
00:09:14.800 as as we go around the the east like it's even looking at a Boston and you
00:09:20.000 know winning the championship when they won that championship in 2024 there was a little smattering like all right this
00:09:25.839 is nice but it's going to get really pricey going forward and eventually they're going to break this team up they're looking at half a billion
00:09:32.480 dollars in salary alone and what we saw this past offseason Holiday gone
00:09:37.600 Porzingis gone so that's why I look at it like with this Bridges deal it's kind of like the cost of doing business where
00:09:43.839 on one hand, you want to keep that salary slot. You want to keep that player and see if Brown can maximize his
00:09:50.160 potential, but you know that this is really like maybe a 2-year kind of gamble where after that you may start
00:09:57.360 pairing some of these guys off to number one get under that second apron and number two try to see if you can kind of
00:10:03.440 shuffle the decks a little bit to to get a real contender. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And I think the
00:10:08.560 way you think about it is like you almost think of it in cycles, right? um you want to essentially have
00:10:16.079 I want to say like two years above the second apron before things get really punitive for you. Like if you're in the
00:10:21.360 you know if you're under the second apron but in the tax that's maybe more of like an ownership question is will will the coach uh sorry will the will
00:10:28.640 the owner want to pay the tax, right? Like that's his choice. That's that's his decision about whether he wants to
00:10:35.279 pay that much money to pay that much salary. uh maybe depending again on on what the team is if they want to um you
00:10:42.079 know pay that much in luxury tax. But like from a roster building standpoint, you really get two years in over the
00:10:48.880 second apron before things get dicey, right? You get your first year um your pick gets frozen, right? That after that
00:10:54.959 you got I think you have to be under the second apron three of the next four years uh to eventually get that pick
00:11:00.000 unfrozen again. So that's kind of your window there. You get two years, you get to dip over the second apron and then you really want to get back. So, that is
00:11:07.120 when the clock starts ticking. Um, and I I don't think the Knicks would be any different from I think really mo many
00:11:12.640 other teams in terms of how they would view that and how they kind of view their window of not not only contention,
00:11:18.079 but just keeping their roster um together in that same place. Now, as we look around the East,
00:11:23.839 obviously their main competition, the team that they open up the season against and Christmas Day and every
00:11:29.760 other marquee date is going to be the Cleveland Cavaliers. They won 64 games last year. They make the Lonzo for Coral
00:11:37.360 Swap, but ultimately it's kind of like a Lonzo for Tai Jerome swap as Tai goes on uh to the Memphis Grizzlies. What What
00:11:44.240 do you make of of Cleveland? They've they've kind of established that reputation of regular season dominance
00:11:51.040 and and kind of weak in the postseason. Do you think there's another level up for this team or is this kind of part
00:11:57.040 for the course for for this group? It's an interesting question for sure.
00:12:02.160 Um, I don't know how to answer it because I think it it's interesting to me they didn't really make a lot of big
00:12:08.320 changes in the roster this this off seasonason, right? Everyone kind of thought maybe they'll pull it apart, but
00:12:13.440 they got something that won 64 games last year and they were, you know, injured for part of that time and now the East is just so open. Like you look
00:12:19.920 at it, you know, like the Vegas overunders for wins. Um, only three teams are projected to have more wins
00:12:26.320 than the Knicks, right? It's Cleveland, Oklahoma City, and Houston. Um, and Denver's tied with them. So, that kind
00:12:32.240 of shows you what what kind of tier they're in across the league. And I I don't know. I I I think the Knicks and
00:12:37.920 the Cavs kind of have similar questions. It's can they get past that final step after being a really feisty regular
00:12:43.920 season team. I think the questions for New York are more on the defensive end. I think Cleveland, it's more like the
00:12:49.680 intangible type of stuff, right? And those are hard to answer for, but that I think they definitely have the talent. You know, they got question marks. Can
00:12:55.760 Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell work as a back court defensively in the playoffs, right? Can you play Moy and
00:13:01.279 Jared Allen together? But if everything's clicking like it was at certain times in the regular season, I I
00:13:06.800 think it's fair to call them the East favorites. Yeah, I I think I have to give them that
00:13:12.639 respect, especially coming off of that 64 win season. You don't want to though. I don't want to, man, because of the
00:13:18.800 postseason, they just come up soft every single time. And you know, that's why I say, look, they wiped the doors with the
00:13:25.360 Knicks, wiped the floor with the Knicks last year in the regular season. Now, three out of those four games or so was
00:13:30.560 on the second night of a back-to-back. So, I'm not going to give them that much credit, but I do think that especially
00:13:37.120 in in the postseason, I think the Knicks have more scoring versatility than Cleveland does. I still believe that
00:13:43.600 yes, Moy defensive player of the year, give him respect. They showed him in the offseason looked like he bulked up a
00:13:48.639 little bit more. I still think he's the guy that is kind of the the lynch pin or
00:13:55.120 the thing that can move things over for Cleveland because at the end of the day they still become a more a Garland
00:14:01.839 Mitchell ticket offensively. Yeah. I mean I think he's the guy where all this kind of centers around for all
00:14:07.040 the reasons you said, right? Like offensively they need him to be a playmaker. Uh they need him to be able
00:14:12.160 to be, you know, someone who can drive offense, who can score for himself. And then defensively, I think that's what
00:14:19.040 would make the Cavs a finals team is if they're able to click defensively and Moy's, you know, he's their best defender. He's a huge part of that. Uh I
00:14:25.680 love the Lonzo ball addition, you know, qual all the usual qualifiers if he's healthy, if his knees hold up, all that
00:14:31.440 stuff. But like I love him as a player even after all the knee injuries. He's just a connector, right? And he's
00:14:36.560 someone who can shoot and he's someone who can defend and he can he's someone who can give you pace and all these things. Um so I'm curious to see how
00:14:42.959 that all works together. Uh, but I I think it's I think if they get to an Eastern Conference Finals, whereas if
00:14:48.800 it's Cavs, Knicks, like I think that's gonna be an awesome series because I think they'll just be like coming at it
00:14:53.839 from two different ways and have two, you know, kind of different weaknesses and strengths. And I'm kind of curious to see how it would play out in a seven
00:15:00.720 game series. Yeah. And I got to go with my guy Stevie Nicks in the chat. He says, "What if they got to go up against the blockchess
00:15:06.560 monster Mitchell Robinson again? They didn't get to see him a lot in the regular season." I'm not even sure. I
00:15:11.920 don't remember if Nichz got in in one of those. Remember when he was healthy when he was activated? He missed that last
00:15:18.079 backto-back against Cleveland. I'm almost sure they they they sat him out for that one. They haven't seen
00:15:23.360 Blockchess Monster and he's in a contract year. It's dangerous, man. He's he's in a contract year. I I also
00:15:30.480 wonder if they think a contract's not coming. He's also their most tradable guy, right? Like that's the most
00:15:35.760 tradable contract that you can trade for help if you need it. Um, you know, that's I'm kind of curious to see what
00:15:42.079 happens to Mitchell Robson, too. Like, you know, that's that's a big player for them in a lot of ways. For me, he is the help, especially
00:15:47.920 defensively, man. Like, he's a judge, jer executioner for those guys. That's
00:15:53.360 why like I just find that one to be interesting where I feel like they're
00:15:58.399 going to play it out to the end. I don't think they can afford to lose him. I don't think so either. I also think
00:16:04.240 they can't afford to lose him because they need him as help on the court, right? Like I we saw what he did in the
00:16:09.759 playoffs, he was awesome. Like Mitchell Robinson dominated that that Pacer series when he was in there. Um they
00:16:14.880 also can't afford to lose him as a salary slot like on the cap. Like if he goes and he loses free agency, let's say
00:16:20.000 with where they are capwise that they can't they can't replace him with a player just as good. So they almost have to resign him at some point just to
00:16:26.639 maintain the the salary cap space uh and you know be able to move forward with future transactions. And so maybe to
00:16:32.800 that end, I'm kind of a little bit surprised that they haven't gotten an extension done yet um to at least lock him in and give them flexibility in
00:16:38.720 roster building going forward. But yeah, it's he dominated the the Cavs a few years ago in the playoffs. He's been
00:16:44.399 dominant every time he he plays in the playoffs. It's just like can he stay healthy? Can he be there on the court at
00:16:49.920 the time that you need him? Let's go to the team who made kind of the splashiest trade in the East this
00:16:56.079 past offseason. That was the Orlando Magic. Man, they put all their chips in the middle for Desmond Bane. He
00:17:02.000 continues to compliment them defensively, gives them an extra ball handler that they need and much much
00:17:07.359 neededing three-point shooting. Was that the move to put Orlando in that upper
00:17:13.520 tier? What do you think? I I don't think so yet. And I don't think it's a reflection of Desmond Bane.
00:17:18.799 I I still have questions about Palo Beno, right? Like he's got to get more efficient. Um I that offense to me, like
00:17:25.359 the defense can be great. I think he could be one of the best in the league and it has been especially I mean you need Jaylen Suggs healthy for that but
00:17:31.840 I'm just curious about what that offense looks like in the playoff situation. Um and I don't know if Powell can do that
00:17:37.120 yet and carry kind of a team offensively because you know he's going to have the ball on almost every possession as much
00:17:42.320 as Desmond Bane helps the space and maybe create a little bit for himself. I I think that's kind of where the questions and the doubt starts for me.
00:17:49.600 Likewise. And that's why even though you know the juryy's still out on the Bridges trade, I can justify that trade
00:17:58.799 because Brunson has established himself as a clutch scoreer, as an allNBA player, as an all-star. Carl Anthony
00:18:05.280 Towns has justified has has established himself in this league. I think Paulo's
00:18:10.400 of course a great player, talented player. They they gave him the the max contract, but I don't think both he and
00:18:16.000 Fran have shown yet that this is the all-in investment that you make where
00:18:22.320 the with the three of them, you have enough to kind of get you over the hump. Defensively, they're going to be tough,
00:18:27.360 stingy, annoying. They're going to beat the Knicks up. I know that. But all I don't know if if that's the final piece,
00:18:32.799 that Bane trade. Yeah. I love watching Ma Magic Knicks games cuz they're so physical. I feel
00:18:37.840 like they're one of the few teams that just like beats the Knicks up. Yeah. um when they play together. Uh but
00:18:43.760 yeah, the same thing I think like Orlando almost had to make the trade this off seasonason, right? Like with when the extensions kick in for them,
00:18:49.840 their cap just gets so muddy that they wouldn't be able to do something as big going forward. And they probably felt like, hey, this is the best guy we can
00:18:56.160 trade for right now. I wonder if maybe they traded an extra one of those picks they traded was to get off the Cole
00:19:01.440 Anthony contract because obviously he got stretch waved. Um but I don't know. They're going to need somebody else to
00:19:07.760 step up. Either Suggs has to get better as a scorer and a playmaker or Anthony Black takes a step forward. Like
00:19:13.520 somebody just has to come up and create more offensive juice for them. Yeah, I think they need a little bit
00:19:18.559 more punch especially off of that bench. Um, how about Atlanta? I like the moves that they made a lot this off season.
00:19:26.320 Alexander Walker was he had been rumored for for them since the beginning of the off season. They make the trade for
00:19:32.000 Chris Stops. They get uh Luke Canard at at the $10 million for for for some
00:19:37.440 firepower off the bench. How do you like the the tweaking that the Hawks made for a team that, you know, they they were in
00:19:43.280 playing contention? They they fell out a little bit to the Heat, but they were right there at the end. Even without uh
00:19:49.039 Jaylen Johnson, they had a number of guys injured, they still scrapped. Yeah. I mean, that was I think they had
00:19:54.799 the best offseason of any Eastern Conference team. I don't I don't know how you feel, but to me, I thought they came away like improving themselves the
00:20:00.559 most. Um, and like all the pieces seem very complimentary to one another. You know, getting Porzingis, like getting
00:20:07.120 him as a stretch five and a guy who can protect the rim. Uh, again, we'll add all the same qualifiers we added to and
00:20:13.840 Mitch, he's got to stay healthy. Um, but that can be a team that's really good, like a full fiveman unit. And I I'm sure
00:20:19.919 you remember that in seasonason tournament game between the Hawks and the Knicks and where Atlanta just shut
00:20:25.200 him down defensively and all that length created so much problems for Jaylen Brunson, everyone and everyone else,
00:20:30.559 right? Like I feel like that can be the case in the playoff series too when you got Dyson Daniels and Jaylen Johnson and
00:20:35.840 Rhysa Shay uh creating issues for everyone and they have a good coach with Quinn Snder. So like that to me is the I
00:20:42.400 don't know if you want to call them sneaky because I don't think they're sneaky but like is the team that I could see getting to the Eastern Conference
00:20:47.600 Finals potentially and just really running up on people. I put them over Orlando in my rankings
00:20:53.200 of the East in terms of teams that number one can match up very well with the Knicks. They gave the Knicks a lot
00:20:58.320 of problems last year, especially with that wing depth. And if Reese Shay, he showed a lot of promise, especially to
00:21:04.640 close the season if he takes another step up as a sophomore. Jaylen Johnson established himself before the shoulder
00:21:10.880 injury as a double double machine. And then again, Alexander Walker, he's a corner three shooter, good defender. I I
00:21:18.159 like how they look. I still think they need a little bit more depth. But but another thing with with the Hawks that's
00:21:24.480 very interesting is that, you know, they did pick up that that that first round pick in the in the trade where they they
00:21:32.880 they could have with the Pelicans in in in uh in that deal. So, they could have a lottery pick next year and before you
00:21:39.760 know it, they could be a team where it's like, wow, where did this team come from? They they've retoled and they're still competing.
00:21:45.200 Yeah. I mean, it's really fascinating, right? I mean, by by the deadline, you should know where the Pelicans are. have
00:21:51.200 some idea of where they might pick. I think that'll open up a lot of pathways if they're a bad team. Like Atlanta has
00:21:56.960 a pretty interesting choice. I bet you could get a pretty good player with that pick if they wanted to, if they felt
00:22:02.480 like they want to seize the moment in the regular season, improve themselves before the deadline. On the other hand, like if that's a pick
00:22:08.799 you think turns into a top three, you know, pick in the draft, like in this draft, that's going to be pretty
00:22:14.320 valuable. going forward if you got some kind of core of Jaylen Johnson, Dyson
00:22:19.600 Daniels, Risa Shay, and then whoever you get in the top three, top four, top five pick, like Atlanta's going to be a problem.
00:22:25.600 Yeah, they they could be a big problem if that's how it turns out to be. No question. And then you got Trey going into a contract year as well. So, who
00:22:32.159 knows, you know, do they stay with him for the future? Do they try to trade him for some more draft capital? I I like
00:22:37.679 the where the uh where the Hawks are sitting now. A team that's just very
00:22:44.799 very uh puzzling is a Sixers, man. Because you know the the Sixers are the
00:22:50.559 all what if health team, right? Especially with with Embiid and George. Have you been hearing anything like around the NBA circles with like Embiid?
00:22:57.600 It seems like earlier this offseason it was kind of like, oh man, they're in a bad spot, but then things kind of went
00:23:03.600 away. Have Have you heard anything? I mean, I think it's just hard to say. like he runs a very small circle like
00:23:09.360 you know in terms of people who he trusts and who who know him well and if you remember LA last summer right he
00:23:15.520 played in the Olympics and then six weeks later insane he just was not playing period right so
00:23:21.360 it's it's it's so unpredictable with him and um I just throw my hands up at the Sixers like the injury problems are too
00:23:27.520 much you know Embiid is now I think he's 31 right as a sevenfooter uh that's
00:23:33.280 usually kind of an inflection point in your in your aging curve where things start to go downhill. He's so talented
00:23:39.440 that maybe he can withstand that, but I don't know if his body can. Um, I think it's be a big year for him that way. Like Paul George missed most of last
00:23:45.840 year and when he did play though, he wasn't as good as usual and now he's 35, right? Like he's not like in his prime
00:23:52.400 where he just had an off year. They're big aging concerns on top of all the injury concerns. And Tyrese Maxi is
00:23:58.240 obviously awesome. He was awesome last year. Um, but they they're going to need they're going to need somebody to step
00:24:04.640 up too. I don't know what they'll get uh out of their ed out of their first round pick VJ Edgecom, right? Like he's going
00:24:11.200 to give them off offensive burst, probably some defensive help, much needed athleticism. Um but they're going
00:24:17.120 to need some help. They lost Yaboselli. That was a big loss for them. Jiren McCain will be back, but uh he's kind of
00:24:22.720 like a scoring guard and that's that's maybe the least of the help that they need. Yeah, their front quarter is a little
00:24:28.400 bit iffy. Um, but as far as like supporting cast, if uh you c you catch lightning in a bottle and both Embiid
00:24:35.840 and George, because I I think George is completely finished. Forget about him. But let's say, you know, they are on
00:24:42.240 point. They did surround him with a good supporting cast. I mean, Maxi should be carrying a chip on the shoulder from
00:24:47.520 missing the the Allstar. Edgecomb is has potential to be a very good starter.
00:24:53.520 Maybe even star potential. Who knows? I like the Jabari Walker pickup, man. They were able to get him on a two-way deal.
00:24:58.720 I wanted the Knicks to go get him. They He was He was a restricted free agent. All of a sudden, he gets a two-way. I I
00:25:05.200 thought the Knicks kind of dropped the ball there a little bit, but then you have Grimes and you have McCain. You got to resign him first.
00:25:11.279 Well, yeah, that is true. Yeah, you got you got to resign him. So, um you know,
00:25:16.320 Grimes is there, you have who finished the year well, finished the year very well, and uh then they picked up
00:25:22.080 Watford. So, I like their supporting cast. It's just we'll see what the two main guys can do for them. Yeah. And I
00:25:28.720 mean, look, I think Daryl my says as much every time you talk to him, like they need Embiid. This is this is where
00:25:34.880 everything centers around. If he's not healthy, the team's not going anywhere. It's just not it doesn't have the same potential without him there.
00:25:41.120 Yeah. Once again, we're talking to Mike Vorinoff, senior NBA business insider for the Athletic, formerly of the
00:25:47.600 Knicks. Beat salutes everybody in the chat. Once again, hit the like button, hit the share button, and subscribe to
00:25:52.960 my to the to the channel. I see a lot of my franchise channel members in the building. So, salute to you guys as well. We are going through some of the
00:26:00.159 uh the top teams or what would be considered the top teams in the East and kind of seeing how the Knicks would
00:26:05.760 stack up against uh against some of these squads. Um I think all eyes are going to be on Giannis and the Milwaukee
00:26:12.720 Bucks to a certain extent. It seems though to me with the the stretch and
00:26:17.840 wave of Dame which was catastrophic to to their you know future building plans
00:26:23.520 kind of seems like they kind of went all in on mediocrity and you know turning that into Miles Turner seems like
00:26:29.120 they're just throwing a Hail Mary but I I don't see it sticking much. What do you think about the the Bucks retooling
00:26:34.400 a little bit? Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of that move. Uh both short and long term. I mean I I
00:26:40.000 get why they did it. uh you're going to have, you know, what $56 million of dead
00:26:45.200 cap every year anyway. Um just basically a question of how long you want to prolong it and how you want to use that
00:26:51.200 space. Uh I don't know that Miles Turner is really going to help him that much, right? Like Brook Lopez is gone. Um he
00:26:57.200 wasn't Miles Turner is good regular season player. I don't know if he'll help you that much in the in the postseason. He's got some, you know, I
00:27:02.880 think he struggled against the Knicks and I think he struggled against the Thunder, too. Uh although if the Bucks get to the Eastern Conference Finals, I
00:27:08.480 mean, hey, then the trade did did what it was supposed to do. I you know, to me, like
00:27:13.919 Giannis is going to have to really ball out the entire year, MVP caliber season to get him a top four seed. You know,
00:27:20.960 like we haven't mentioned him yet, but like I I think the Detroit Pistons are are going to be probably more dangerous
00:27:26.000 as a regular season and playoff team on top of all the other teams that we talked to. So, it's it's it's going to
00:27:31.520 be, you know, that this was a move that was like, "Hey, let's play Kate Giannis, try to keep him as long as we can and
00:27:36.960 deal with the repercussions later." Yeah, I'm I'm with you. It's going to take an MVP caliber season for him to
00:27:42.720 truly lift this team into some sort of respectability in the East. The the Miles Turner move is not moving me
00:27:49.120 whatsoever. You have guys like Kevin Porter Jr., Kyle Kosma. Uh they did bring back Gary Trent Jr. I mean, look,
00:27:55.440 they they scrapped here and there. They did pick up Cole Anthony. So, I think they will be scrappy and he'll certainly
00:28:01.120 demand that, but I think the the the writing is on the wall here and and it's an inevitability that he gets moved
00:28:07.919 probably by the next off season. And uh do the Knicks jump back into play there? Uh, you know, hard to say. But one thing
00:28:15.520 that could be on their side is that he will have, you know, one more year removed from his contract. He'll have
00:28:21.200 one more year left on his deal. Does that give the Knicks enough leverage where hey, if they're interested, do
00:28:27.600 they do they make a play? I think it'll get interesting next off seasonason. There's a there's a lot of stuff that
00:28:33.919 could happen next off seasonason. I feel like there's a lot of uh a lot of potential shifts that could happen next
00:28:40.080 offseason as everyone kind of gets their cap right and watches the Giannis situation play out for another season.
00:28:45.279 Yeah. Uh how about those Pistons, man? You were you were on top of the the Beasley gambling scandal that cost him
00:28:51.840 $14 million a year. They take him, they replace him with Duncan Robinson. You have Jaden Ivy coming back. They were
00:28:58.640 able to pick up Carris Levert as well. What do you think about the Pistons who had a great year last year and taking
00:29:04.240 another step up? Yeah, I mean I I thought that they were awesome in the playoffs like we talked about in that mix series. Um Be losing
00:29:11.840 Beasley probably hurts them a little bit. I thought he added some grittiness to them that they needed. Um, we'll see
00:29:17.919 if they can replace the shooting with Duncan Robinson who was kind of on and off in Miami, right? Like there, if you
00:29:24.159 remember, there just period of time where like Spo just didn't play him. Yeah. Uh, even after he got the extension. Um,
00:29:30.240 so we'll see if Detroit runs into the same problems. All of it's going to center around whether Kate Cunningham,
00:29:35.520 you know, takes even maybe a bigger step forward and Jay Nivey can give him some help. I thought Jaylen Durren was good
00:29:41.039 in the playoffs and like if he's able to do that again. Um they're a team that seems to be on the rise and so I'm kind
00:29:46.720 of curious to see if they're going to try to get more help at some point during the regular season too uh to keep
00:29:52.799 building that team cuz they got the youth. They have the window now in terms of like their cap flexibility to to kind
00:29:58.640 of pull off something big. Um I don't know if Beasley is going to go back to Detroit or not. Um I think there's still
00:30:05.440 some question marks about him legally. like I I know that you know obviously his lawyer told me and he's told others
00:30:10.720 that he's not a target uh of an invest in investigation. Uh that doesn't mean that all of his troubles are behind him
00:30:16.799 though. Um so that's going to continue to linger and I've heard you know the Knicks had asked around and looked into
00:30:22.159 Beasley as well. And so we'll see what he's looking for, whether he's looking for the most money he can get, whether
00:30:27.679 he's looking for the best place that he can go to. And so um I'm kind of curious how that all that goes before uh before
00:30:33.520 a situation settle. Do you think that could be the reason why we haven't heard any signings with him as yet? I mean,
00:30:40.320 figured a play like that, you know, top of the league in three-point shooting, teams with three-point needs, Knicks
00:30:45.840 pissing. You think is is that potentially why he hasn't signed with anyone? Yeah, I think it's a complex situation.
00:30:52.480 Like, he's, you know, he's he's still someone that the federal
00:30:57.679 government was looking into, right? Um, he's someone who, like I said, it's may not, according to his lawyer, we haven't
00:31:04.399 heard from the, you know, the DOJ about this, right? He's not a target. That doesn't mean that they can't continue to
00:31:09.440 look into what he's done or what he allegedly did or how that connects to everything else that they're looking into, right? And teams usually want to
00:31:16.559 have, you know, diminish their risks for these types of things, right? And so, it's hard to give a lot of money. And
00:31:22.000 so, uh, to a player like that or any player like that. And so, I'm sure he's looking for the biggest contract that he
00:31:27.279 can. So maybe it's just a bit of a waiting game at this point. Yeah, c certainly interesting, man. But
00:31:32.480 a player like that, hey, I would uh I'd be knocking down the door. You you know, you have the the Gerson Rosas connection
00:31:38.880 with the Knicks and Knicks had interest in him a while back before he ended up staying with the Timberwolves. So um
00:31:44.880 going to be interesting because I also think that's potentially why uh the Knicks might be holding out on their last vet minimum contract just to see
00:31:52.399 maybe where that goes. So, um, something to watch as we continue to head march
00:31:58.159 towards training camp and the preeason. Um, last team, Celtics. They were on top
00:32:04.159 of the East many moons ago, the former champs. They lose Tatum to to the uh to the Achilles. Now, all the apron
00:32:10.960 ramifications. They they go out and get Anthony Simons. No, no room for for
00:32:16.559 Horford or no no news on Horford. I don't know if he's going to retire or go somewhere else, but um what do you think
00:32:22.320 about Boston's kind of gap year as they wait for for for Tatum to kind of heal
00:32:27.600 up? Uh I I think they're going to be feisty. Really? I think that they're I think so. Like
00:32:33.840 they still got Jaylen Brown. They still have Derek White. Yes. Uh those are good players there. Um
00:32:40.640 I mean, we'll see if they move Simons or not. Right. Right. Uh if they don't, they have some good punch in the in the
00:32:46.320 back court offensively. I'm kind of curious to see what this team plays like, right? I I Joe Mazula
00:32:53.200 is going to go in his lab or his jiu-jitsu dungeon or whatever he's
00:32:58.399 looking into this offseason, spend his time there, come up with something crazy. Uh we've seen him in the past
00:33:03.679 like really ratchet up the three-point volume when they don't have one of the top players, right? Like I'm kind of
00:33:08.960 curious to see what this all looks like. It's a smart coaching staff. It's a smart organization. Um, I'm sure Jaylen
00:33:15.760 Brown's going to want to like be an AllNBA player this year to show he's not a sidekick. So, I'm not giving up on
00:33:21.200 like I would not be surprised if the Celtics end up with a top four record in the East. Yeah. Wow. I like I I know it's a little bit crazy
00:33:27.840 because of all the talent that they lost, but I'm I'm very I maybe I'm more optimistic about them than others are.
00:33:34.559 And uh yeah, I don't know. I'm kind of curious how it all works and and where they take it and what Missoula is going
00:33:40.159 to try to do, but um I I wouldn't count them out altogether as a playoff team and maybe top four team.
00:33:46.000 I I I certainly think their their back court is their, you know, and wherever you want to slot in Jaylen Brown, their
00:33:51.919 back court plus Brown is certainly their strength with Simons and White and Payton Pritchard. He's a baller off the bench, you know, he can cook. I just
00:33:58.720 don't think I I mean, the front court, they've been decimated. They lost cornet the unicornette who had a fantastic I
00:34:04.960 was happy to see when he got paid the lose the unicorn and Porzingis Horford not committ
00:34:10.719 I don't know their front court is a barren wasteland right now man yeah it's a big problem absolutely
00:34:15.918 totally agree with you uh I mean like feel like Missoula might put out some like super small lineups and just put
00:34:22.879 Brown at the four the five I don't even know like he's crazy enough to do anything um but I think they'll have
00:34:28.719 enough offensive power to stay with teams, most teams, and I think that
00:34:34.000 they'll probably change their defensive principles to make the the most of what they have, which is size on the wing and
00:34:41.599 guard position and speed and like try to bother teams that way and try to make it a, you know, kind of a high turnover
00:34:47.040 type of defense. Um, I don't know. I just I think the foundation there is stronger than we're giving him credit
00:34:52.399 for. Yeah. Hey, you never know. And like you said with Missoula, he he's going to he's first off, he's going to have his
00:34:58.800 work cut out for him. But um hey, if there's anybody that can junk it up, it it is him. Speaking of which, completely
00:35:05.599 random. Did you see Did you ever see that meme going around? Not really a meme, but the person who tried to take a
00:35:10.640 p sneak a picture of Missoula on the flight and he was he was locked.
00:35:16.079 Dead eyes on him. I said, "Oh my god, that's what you get, man, for trying to be slick." But Missoula does not play
00:35:22.320 that, man, whatsoever. That was hilarious. Absolutely. No, you can't mess around with him. And I don't know if he's ever not serious,
00:35:28.800 but like I can only imagine the type of stuff he's been getting into this summer to try to prepare for the season. Like
00:35:34.640 that guy is going to come back with some crazy sayings in training camp. Yeah, no, no question, man. Uh once
00:35:39.920 again, we're talking to Mike Vorinoff, NBA insider, NBA uh business insider for the Athletics. Salut everybody in the
00:35:45.920 chat. Hit the like button, hit the share button, subscribe to the channel. Want to take a quick time out to salute one of our sponsors of today's show and that
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