The BEST Knicks in 30 years?! PLUS struggles for Lakers 🍿 | The Hoop Collective

The BEST Knicks in 30 years?! PLUS struggles for Lakers 🍿 | The Hoop Collective

Hello welcome to the hoop Collective podcast we talk about the NBA which we’re doing on Tuesday late now it is unusual I know for these two gentlemen to be joining me on a Tuesday night and for Wednesday posting but we’ve got some changes to the hoop Collective which

I’ll talk about in a second but first let me introduce from New York City where he attended the new York nicker boers beating the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night is Tim bontemps hello guys this Knicks 14 and two in January people in New York very excited about don’t do the

Pod before the Pod joining us from Minneapolis Minnesota where he’s on the road he was in Oklahoma City on Monday night watching the Timberwolves and the Thunder um the entire Upper Midwest was unable to watch that game but ummah was there that’s Ben McMahon howdy Partners

Hey I know folks missed me in Dallas last night or Monday night now that the pod’s coming out but don’t worry I’ll see the Mavs or at least what’s left of them uh here in Minnesota yeah the Mavs are kind of banged up uh for that game coming up on

Wednesday but the uh wolves are in first place we talking about that in a few minutes um so we have a little bit of a change um I’m sure all of you the listeners to the Pod very devoted were front of your televisions on Tuesday at 2 o’clock Eastern when the hoop

Collective made its debut on pn2 uh in the Pod that we recorded on Sunday with McMahon um and George Sedano um so uh we’re gonna rotate that cast for the show that comes out on Tuesdays and that means McMahon and bontemps are going to be out on this pod on the Wednesdays and

Fridays so get used to it listen I watched I watched that thing on the on the plane on the way up here baby I mean that is some high quality television as far as I could tell so um uh bontemps uh the the Knicks dealing with an absence

Of two starters Now with uh Mitch Robinson out with his injury and then re starters Mitchell Robinson Oobi and Julius Randall well Oobi was out tonight that’s true but uh longer last two games right yeah with Julius Randall having a suffering a shoulder dislocation over

The weekend um they beat the Jazz as you mentioned to finish January 14-2 I think it’s their first 14 win month since 1994 or they’re 9394 I believe since January of 94 when they went on to reach the NBA Finals oh wait was were they were an

Eight seed then though right no that was that was 1999 1994 was when they played the dream and uh in the finals the that was the OJ that was the OJ finals ah yes yes yes um so anyway uh Dante ju vinchenzo with uh the game of his Nicks

Career so far on Tuesday night hit nine out of 15 three-pointers um flat out one of the best signings of the entire summer last summer not even not even for the full mid level that’s right they they they actually I think to enable them to enter the buyout Market um they were thinking

About it back in the summer um they it was sort of a full mid-level contract but they actually gave him a little bit less it was like what like three and like 34 or something like that or did they four it was four it was four years but

It was just under the full mid level yeah well anyway um the Knicks are are uh you know just raffling off raffling rolling off victories and you know I was want to point something out before we talk about the Knicks as we sit here and Philadelphia is still playing against

The Warriors right now we’ll see how that game finishes out it’s it’s in the third quarter as we’re recording this and it’s close um the Knicks were essentially tied um they had one more win and one more loss Boston Philly a couple of percentage points behind them

But Nicks and Philly are basically tied and the Knicks are two games behind Milwaukee in second um you know and the the Bucks are have a challenging one of the hardest schedules left in the league coming in and dealing with some change over maybe they’ll improve defensively they already had a step forward

Defensively in Doc River’s first game against the Nuggets which they um which they lost but um the Knicks are sitting here and even though they’re now dealing with injuries they’re in tremendous position bontemps because of how great they played this month and it really makes me wonder like what their ceiling

Is forget about the postseason what their ceiling is you know can they get the two seed and if you get the two seed now you’re talking about a playin team in round one and home court potentially in round one and two you know look Philly and Milwaukee might hold on to

Two and three but the path is there for the Knicks and knowing that how do they approach the trade deadline knowing that the two seed is right there within their grasp on temps I just want to read a couple stats before we start because you mention we’re going top out

The Cavs too defensive rating in the month of January Nicks went 14- two have a defensive rating 104.4 best in the league Cav were second 104.8 went 10 and two in the month Nicks had a net rating of 15.8 points per 100 possession POS four more games than the

Cavs over the 30 days Cavs are playing the Cavs are playing the Pistons tomorrow so they might end up in okay first in these categories but red hot Pistons as of January 30th night of Nicks had a plus 15.8 net rating in the month of January Cavs plus

15.7 and as you mentioned those two teams have skyrocketed up the standings we’ll talk more about the Cavs in a minute but you know the Knicks are like you you mentioned what’s their ceiling to me me this is the ultimate Tombo team and it’s the ultimate tryhard team which

Sounds like an insult but really like the thing that’s fun about this Knicks team watching them on a nightly basis is you never get cheated if you watch this the Knicks play these guys play insanely hard every night they do they do everything they’re supposed to do they

Might not hit shots they might not win but you’re going to get a representative effort on a nightly basis it’s why the people here in New York they’ve always loved these kind of teams they’re a lot like those ’90s Knicks teams who were like that lunch pail kind of group show

Up and grind your way through games and with the way they’re playing it’s it’s been amazing to watch especially as they lose Mitchell Robinson you go man what are they going to do you got Isaiah hartstein who stepped in the starting lineup has been phenomenal past couple weeks will hardy

Was raving about the impact he’s had on them after the game tonight coach of the Jazz um you know now they’ve got Julius Randall out last two nights they’ve had Julius Randall and oan and Obi out they’re playing precious auua at power forward next to hartenstein he’s he’s

Come in and have big games the last couple nights yes they beat a bad Charlotte team and yes they beat a jazz team at the end of a very long road trip that was clearly running on fumes but they are hounding teams on a nightly basis they’re playing great and

They don’t have Championship upside right now but the Knicks have done a remarkable job of hitting a lot of singles hitting a couple home runs getting Jaylen Brunson in free agency and they have positioned themselves with a ton of draft Capital going forward with a great team right now that’s got a

Chance to be a top two or three seed in the East that whenever the next guy comes available that’s a true differen making player the Knicks are going to be sitting there with able to outbid everybody for him and then they can be a team that truly can be a championship

Level team but it’s just be attractive like you know they’re a team that somebody a a you know superstar X who wants to be traded would see as a preferred destination you know because they are set up to win and because it is a a

Group of guys that you want to play with and and their their star right now jayen Brunson is not a m me me guy you know he’s a guy who hey he shared the ball with with Luca donic and and went to the Western Conference Finals he’s more than

Capable of of sliding into the number two role or or you know enhancing a a fellow star is Jaylen Brunson the best player the Knicks have had since Patrick euwing I didn’t not the biggest name Carmelo is obviously the biggest name is jayen Caro carelo Carmelo finished top three in

MVP he’s I I would say Carmelo was a probably a better player than Jaylen Brunson but look Jaylen Brunson is the best point guard the Knicks have had since Walt Frasier and it’s that’s really not a debatable statement like his signing like you there’s a lot of things you

Could say are transformational things like that word gets thrown around sometimes too much Jaylen Brunson leaving the Mavs and signing with the Knicks for both teams was a transformational transaction because of what’s followed since then well and it’s not just his production his intangibles are essential the Mavericks have really

Missed them and the Knicks have really Ben uh benefited from them now if you want to kind of go down a little rabbit hole you can say well how much difference do you think Derek Lively makes long term for the Mavericks because if they don’t botch the Brunson

Situation they don’t have him but forget about that let’s talk about the 14 I think they tra D J tra der for jayen Brunson did you feel Jaylen Brunson was $1 million doll player when that deal was happened I I I did because here’s the way like you you say aund million

Doll player damn that’s a lot of money and then you looked at point guard salaries and you said that’s middle of the road starting point guard salaries and I said he’s at least did I think jayen Brunson was going to be an Allstar which I believe he will be once the the

Announcements come out on Thursday I was sure that forget allar he’s gonna be an all NBA he should have been the he should have been the starter but I was some people some people voted him as the starter apparently the media the media did vote him as the starter it was the

Fans that didn’t I was quite confident he was going to be a good starting point guard and it wasn’t going out on a limb you know the the year uh that he his last year in Dallas he got better and better and better during his four years

In Dallas he and he went from his third year being I think third and Sixth Man the year run into his last year he was the second best player on the Western Conference Finals team and Luca missed a lot of games that year for for a variety

Reasons covid and kind of the shutdown to get him in shape and just knickknack injuries and so it was like a 20 game sample size including a few games in the playoffs and Brunson averaged like an efficient 20 points seven assists you know so you looked at that and said hey

He’s going to be a good starting point guard and by the way including a 41o game and a 31o game in the playoffs I can’t sit here and tell you I thought he was going to average 27 points per game right um but I thought he’d be a good starting point

Guard and a great leader and I thought the contract would age well now the contract is one of the best bargains in the NBA well and also just what good players like this change teams it just barely happens anymore in free agency you don’t see guys like this signing for

Agency and by the way a couple years before the Nick signed Julius Randall in free agency and yeah Julius is a flawed player he’s not a perfect fit I don’t two teams that already said goodbye to him at that point no I know but my point is they sign him and they’ve developed

Him into a two-time all NBA forward like yeah they’ve done a tremendous job building this team and as you said McMahon the one other thing just real quick tonight in this game Dante Devan jenzo we talked about him earlier hits nine threes has 33 points Josh Hart has

A 10-point rebound 10 assist triple double those guys all go to Villanova and a big part of why they’re here is to play with jayen Brunson and on good long-term contracts because they want to be here with their guy Jaylen Brunson like that’s where it’s not just that the

Guys become an all NBA caliber guard he’s also getting guys who are really good players to come be part of this thing moving forward it’s made a huge difference for and tibs let’s just call it like it is tibs can annoy the hell out of guys can wear guys out he is the

Perfect uh lay Zone and I think I’m pronouncing that word correctly the perfect lay Zone in lock room between liaison liaison I was close dangerous at least at least you knew had a bad feeling as it was coming out Perkins gez I’ll be honest with you I’m also I’m also not

Not quite sure how to spell it intermediary I think I I think I got this right liaz is the perfect word you just didn’t know how to say it but at least you knew the word I know H anyways anyway he’s the perfect that thing for

Tibs and the rest of the guys in the locker room because dude this guy grew up with tibs his dad has literally Rick Brunson has known tibs since he was a high school kid in Salem Virginia jaylen’s known him his entire life and so he speaks that language but he can

You know he he’s got a way about him where he’s not a rah rah real loud type of guy but everybody in the locker room is going to respect him everybody in the locker room is going to you know like him he’s got a very likable personality

And he can kind of translate tibs into you know much more receptive uh terms when Leon Rose took that job it was well known in the NBA he was gonna hire he was going to hire uh Tom Tibido although they did go through a a signific ific interview process with a

Bunch of people and including interviewing will hardy who I think performed very well in the interview but any he and he knew he was going to go after Jaylen Brunson I don’t know if he knew he was GNA be able to get him but uh those were like orders one and two

And you know that was cronyism you know he was pb’s agent you know and he was Jaylen brunson’s Godfather and his agent and agent and his agent but I mean he was his Godfather before he knew he was going to be an NBA player now to be clear he

Wouldn’t been able to go after Brunson unless the Mavericks botch that situation in I know I didn’t he didn’t know he was going to get him but he wanted to get him well he wanted Donovan Mitchell and he wanted Carl Anthony towns you know there there’s a list and

Hey maybe he ends up getting one or the other or we’ll see what happens but uh well they’ve just done a great job of methodically building a team which the Knicks had not done for a generation they had constantly rushed into one thing after another and botched one thing after

Another going after guys like Steve Francis and Marbury and Tracy McGrady and you know they just they botched one thing after another yeah for literally a generation and now finally they’ve built this team that they’ve done a remarkable job doing and they’ve they’ve put themselves in position to truly be a

Championship level team even if they aren’t right now right they have the ability to get there which they haven’t in Forever all right let’s talk about the next eight days for the Knicks so um they’ve got eight tradable first round picks uh now obviously we have just talked about how patient they’re

Going to be we’ve seen how they’re they’re being patient I don’t think that they’re interested in using any of those picks to rent a player especially a big man having said that I think it’s important to understand something and it it’s not just about the Knicks situation

It would be any team in the situation Evan for has been not been in the rotation for over a year uh he would have very much loved to have been let go either traded or bought out but the Knicks haven’t done that because they have been holding on to his

Contract to trade it and because if any player for even if it’s a superstar or whatever if any player wants to be uh a Nick um uh you know or they have a shot at somebody they don’t want to have to if they’re gonna build a draft pick trade

They don’t want to have to include Dante dvan chenzo or Mitchell Robinson or Josh Harden and if they can avoid it and so that’s why forier is still on the roster and something important to point out about forier is that even though he’s got a 19 million contract this year that

He’s sort of sitting on the bench for he has a team option in this contract for next year for another 19 million now I don’t think that the Knicks are probably picking that up but it’s important to realize that that that is something that they’re not it’s not it’s not there by

An accident if they get to the summer because I think the option date is June 29th and they don’t have another situation they might pick up that option because they have the same thing that they would need in a trade later on and now I’m going to tell you why I just

Discussed all that because if they can trade for a player using Evan forier that has the same type of contract who is a better player who can help them now I think that is something that they would investigate especially if they can do it without giving up one of those

First round picks and I’m gonna steal I’m gonna steal from Bobby Marx how about a guy like Jordan Clarkson n see I don’t think that’s I don’t think is under contract I don’t think that’s I’m am gonna bring up a big man okay I’m gonna bring up Bruce Brown

Well Bruce Brown also isn’t a big man A and B he plays forward a big man he I think you’re a little too focused on the option part I mean Bruce Brown played center with the with the Nets when they were playing small he’s going to be a shooting guard with the Knicks

Well let’s not let’s not quit he’ll he’ll be a two through four he’ll be a two through four he be very useful he’d be a very useful player who has proven Championship experience and also in some cumstances he can play all the way down to Center in some circumstances if they

Need him okay so and the thing about Bruce Brown that is interesting team option for next year I know but I think you’re too I think you’re too focused on the team option part and more more the more the thing to focus on more I think

Is because you have Evan fornier who has the ability to be on the books next year and the Knicks aren’t going to be a cap space team and they are a team that’s obviously willing to spend money it’s that they can go get whether it’s Bruce brown or another guy that’s been linked

To them before Malcolm Brockton another guy who’s a better player than EV forier who could fill a need for them depending on where in the rotational Spectrum it is who has money on the books next year that becomes expiring all of a sudden whether it’s a team option or just a

Contract then you’ve got with him with other guys all of a sudden you got the kind of money you need stacked up to go get a star player right the point is with forier they have optionality they can say goodbye on June 29th if they need cap flexibility or they can keep

Them and use them as a trade asset Bruce Brown has the same thing and he can help them today now I’m right now it may not be Bruce Brown and I and and my guess is that the Raptors are probably like oh the Knicks are calling again these are

Our best friends the Knicks we’re in a lawsuit but let’s not focus on that let’s get another first round pick um because they you know they they’ve got a first round pick um uh from uh from Indiana in the seum deal they didn’t get

One in for anobi but you know so if the Knicks 31st overall pick that’s true but if the Knicks can figure out I think the Knicks have nine tradable second round picks think they still have nine um they got a lot of they got a lot of stuff to

Move without touching any of the main stuff they have right and they can go get somebody to help their team and I would assume don’t know this for sure I’ll be surprised if Evan fornier is on the team after the deadline right but the key again the reason I think it’s

Important to realize is if you’re going to do a deal where you need to send pieces out to get a big time name a high salary player ideally that isn’t a part of your core or a guy who’s got three years and 60 million left and so that’s why if they canot

Change their flexibility come June and get better today I think they’re going to try to do it uh maybe they can’t maybe there’ll be uh some sort of bidding war for Bruce Brown I don’t know if there will be because that’s a pretty big number for a you know possible

Rental player well that’s the reason Brogden and brown have come up a lot right because they’re both owed about 22 million next year and they’ll be expiring contracts you can decline Bruce Brown’s option but either way if you pick it up and brog is just under contract then you’ve got a large

Expiring to go with your other stuff and all of a sudden you’re in the game like we’ve talked about many times you have the salary to go get anybody who comes available what what agency represents Bruce Brown would be the creative artist agency I believe that’s interesting what agency represents Tim bontemps

Secret Agency oh okay the IT department represents me are there any creative artists on this show there’s a creative artist in my house K she is that’s right trust me she represents she represents me too his wife is an accomplished uh painter accomplished artist that is true um many

Celebrities at least one celebrity that I know of have Kon and I’m not talking about bonts have Kon art hanging in their living rooms Malika I just thought it was a celebrity um anyway um okay so I again I just want to point out that as the Knicks are playing this out they’re

Sitting there and looking at the two seed thinking that’s not out of the possibility um as they do this and and I know that um W and others have reported that they don’t think Randall’s shoulder injury is severe uh I think W said weeks not months um I’ve been covering

Basketball for over for 25 years I’ve covered many players who have had shoulder injuries it’s a very tricky injury a dislocated shoulder even if you can come back and play on it and you avoid surgery you are at high risk of red dislocating it because the nature of

It and the one thing we didn’t talk about because he missed the last couple days but it’s not a coincidence this has all started with swapping out arj Barett and Mana quickly for oan and Obi because the introduction of him to this team not only gives them a defensive weapon that

They haven’t had for Tom tibo to use it just makes them so much bigger because all these guys are really good dvon chenzo Josh Hart Quinton Grimes like uh RJ when he was here all solid players different degrees but they’re all small and ojan and Obi is a legit three siiz

Guy who can guard and play the four now that Julius randle’s out when he’s healthy he will start at the four like they didn’t have a guy like that before on the team so they were constantly playing uphill from a size standpoint and dropping him into the lineup it’s

Totally balanced them out it’s made him a way more lethal team and it’s it’s just really been a seamless and if you were better than you could have guessed and if you were starting Bruce Brown and OG anobi at 34 whichever or you want to say that would be a very flexible

Tough Championship I know when anobi won the title with the Raptors he wasn’t he was recovering from a surgery wasn’t but still Josh Harton with Bruce Brown coming off the bench like that’s a lot of those type of guys and by the way one of my favorite quotes of the last year

Was fromer spola from Team USA talking about Josh Hart about how um how he go goes after loose balls he goes you know what we really want you know in basketball is guys who get 50-50 balls Josh Hart gets 3070 balls yeah you know like where he’s got 30% chance of

Getting it and he gets it but it’s just a team full of tips guys up and down up and down the line like it’s just built to be his team and it’s been a great fit and when you say size in basketball people think height people think length

Like anobi is built like a tight end yes you know this dude is broad shoulders you know like he is a big physical you know as is Josh Hart as as is Julius Randall I mean Jaylen Brunson plays phys I mean he’s not a big guy but he plays physically at point

Guard like they are a physic Mitchell robinsin too man I can’t believe they got hartenstein for what they got him for they got him for like two years and 20 million I couldn’t believe he couldn’t get more than that when they he kind of was bouncing around at the leag he did I

Mean I was surprised the Clippers let him go he was very good for the Clippers dude the Rockets you know he was with the rockets and he was productive and he got he got let go when the Rockets decided that cers were so last generation yeah

Last year Tom had to get used he sort of had to figure out how to start using them properly because he struggled early on but once that’s clicked in really the second half of last year and this year haren’s been fantastic for them and just been great since Mitchell Robinson went

Out well the team that uh the Nicks dominated last year at their physicality was the Cleveland Cavs and the Cavs have been dealing with that Fallout ever since and um in mid December we’ve talked about before they they on the same day announced that Darius Garland and Evan Mobby were having surgery um

They have gone I believe 15 and four since then Evan mby came back at the six week Mark on Monday night where the Cavs had one of their biggest wins over the last two seasons when they beat the LA Clippers at home um yeah sometimes you when you’re in

January you get games where teams are on road trips and you know they sort of make a value judgment and you certainly see that from the Clippers I’m here to tell you the Clippers were trying to win this game I know they were coming off of

A win in Boston they did have a day off um the Clippers went for that game to win it eight minutes left tyo had his lineup set and rested he brought Kawai and Paul George Off the Bench with seven in change was an eight eight or so point

Game he said go win it and Kawai had a great game Kawai scored like 34 36 um they had won their last seven games when kawh scored over 30 uh and they went for it and the Cavs just said no and it was extremely impressive win

For the Cavs they won they they played two games in Milwaukee last week they split but um bounced back on Friday and one at Milwaukee um had a stretch where they just played um Orlando twice uh Milwaukee twice and the Clippers and they went 4- one in that stretch of

Games um yep and uh they had sort of they had gotten a little bit um fat on some easier teams in earlier January well that’s you can’t say that anymore um Y and um here’s what I will tell you about the Cavs which the last 20 games have kind of sort of laid

There Donovan Mitchell might be a point guard that listen that’s been the case since his his early Utah days but even by those standards the way he’s playing now where it’s not really an option the Cavs not only do they not they have I mean the Cavs don’t it’s not like

Donovan Mitchell’s playing point guard because somebody else is hurt and he’s filling in he was all they had their second point guard for the last month has been Caris LT who’s definitely not a point guard who’s farther away than Donovan like he wasn’t playing point guard for you know like 15

Or 20 Point percent of the possessions he was playing point guard every possession he was on the court basically and he was really good he’s been really good at it and against the the Clippers he had 12 assist game that’s his third double digit assist game of the year

He’s more more than any other season in his career and so what you’ve seen for the Cavs is they have basically been playing with one Center you know one big one true big you mean they’ve had George Nang they’ve had Dean Wade out there theyve had Tristan Thompson out there at

Times but they’ve generally played with one Center Donovan a point guard and three floor stretchers three floor spacers um and they have had the number 10 offense in the LA over the last 15 games and the number one defense over the last 15 games they are now up to

Um number two I think coming into tonight I don’t know how the the Celtics Celtics beat the Pacers tonight but coming into this game tonight they were tied with the c for the number two defense in the league on the season um and so the thing that they are

Now having to deal with Moy is back uh Garland is expected to play um Wednesday against the the Pistons what JB Bickerstaff the coach did against the Clippers was he brought Moy back but he didn’t fully bring Moy back um he staggered Jared Allen and Moy in such a

Way that they were not on the court together in the whole fourth qu quarter when the game was decided he had Moy play center the first four minutes and Allen play center the last you know roughly eight minutes Allen had 20 and 17 I think or 20 and

18 um he’s had something like double doubles in 15 of his last 16 games or 16 of his last 17 or something like that um and so the Cavs have gotten themselves into fourth and they have and again this number changes by the day so it may not

Be the same by the morning but when I just looked it up they have the third easiest schedule left um coming in and Garland is back um but the challenge they have is that they’ve done this team this with you know with one point guard one Center um three Shooters when

Garland and Moy are back like Moy plays offens like a center defensively he can guard every four in the league just about but offensively plays like a center because he doesn’t strouch the floor and Garland plays like a point guard um you know he is the point guard

Really and so the question is how are they going to manage this when they aren’t playing with three floor stretchers can they change it will they change it because the Cavs are sitting there looking at the same thing they’re sitting there in fourth they’re two

Games out of two two and a half games out of second they’ve got a favorable schedule and they’re adding back Talent they’ve got to be sitting there saying to themselves we can get two we can pass the Bucks in the in the Sixers and yeah the the Knicks are hot

Right now but they’re missing these starters maybe that’ll catch up with them like they can you know I don’t think they’re the second best team in the East but they can con they can look at that and say they can get there and I don’t think they’re gon I don’t think

They’re going to be very active to the trade deadline they’re not really positioned to be active but they can say they’re bringing back Moy and Garland so um bontemps I think it’s uh I think watching JB bicker staff and how he handles this over the next couple of

Weeks is going to be interesting one to see if the C can keep it going two how does he add these guys back in without changing up the flow yeah I mean it’s a fascinating situation because you’re right I mean when those guys got hurt we were talking about well is this season

Going to go completely sideways are these guys going to have to make some really hard incisions at the trade deadline and instead you were demanding that they trade Donovan Mitchell demanding I was saying that it was a I was saying that something that they might have to look at by February we all

We all said they had to look at it for sure and they they definitely do not right now no they’re right because Jared Allen has played at a super high level and Donovan Mitchell has played at a super high level and these guys I mean yeah they had some easy games earlier in

The month where they got going like you said Brian they have not had that schedule recently that Clippers win was a terrific win getting a win in Milwaukee last week was a good win like or against Milwaukee last week like they’ve played really really well with

These guys out but yeah I mean it goes back to the same thing we’ve talked about since the start of the Season like one of the really important things to watch in the whole League this season was going to be what Evan Mo’s offensive development look like Y and the fact is

He hasn’t developed offensively at all and that’s a real problem for the Cavs and it’s one they have to deal with now as they work him back in because the bottom line is Jared Allen has just been better than him and has been awesome and

So moving Jared Allen out of the way to like to feature Evan Mobley is not going to work in terms of trying to maximize what you got right now yeah Jared Allen’s been one of the best Rim running centers in the league no question and you know it’s it’s it’s different

Players who aren’t at this level but like in Utah will hardy basically to say I can’t play John Collins and Walker Kessler together because they’re both Rim Runners and if you have two it just clogs things up now again Jared Allen’s a significantly better player than

Either of those guys and and so is moy but just in terms of the spacing when those two guys are on the floor together the Cavs offensive rating is 108 that would rank in the high 20s in the league and uh there there there is with with the guards with Donovan Mitchell and

Darius Garland you know there’s a little bit of cross but those guys can coexist you know multiple playmaking guards neither one of them were shooting the ball great this year from three but both proven three-point Shooters I think you’re fine there the question is can you hold up defensively

With those guys and if you got a really good rim protector behind it which you’re guaranteed to always have then the answer has been yes but it still gets down to Jared Allen and moble as as as much as they’ve wanted that to work those guys kind of get in each other’s

Way even in the game against the Clippers the Clippers are an excellent defensive team not only are they good because of their personnel but they’re you know they’re very well coached cuz that’s tyou um and they have a good scheme Jared Allen actually provided spacing from the center position now the

Clippers are playing without AIT zubach now that was a factor and they finished the game I don’t know who was at Center at any one time but I think Kawai was basically playing Center down the stretch Jared Allen was defending Kawai the last five or six minutes of the game

Yeah the the Clippers were were doing a good job trying to cover the ground but when they got into switches Allen got a couple of easy baskets because he would get into an advantageous position and while the Clippers were trying to manage dealing with him in the middle he

Was sort of inverse stretching the floor because he was pulling their perimeter players in the bring help in fact there was one point in the fourth quarter of this game where the Clippers were given the Cavs issues the Cavs were were having trouble scoring and James Harden

Got called for a defens of three seconds which which drove Tai up the wall because he couldn’t believe that they called the defense of three seconds with like four minutes left but one of the reasons was because Harden was trying to stay in the middle to bring help on

Allen and so you know you wouldn’t confuse Jared Allen with Shaquille O’Neal but he gets the ball against a smaller guy in the paint the guy shoots like 68% um and so again he’s not just he’s not just a dunker either he has he has some touch around the back

Right no question and Evan Moy took seven shots last night and none of them were outside the immediate paint area they’re all into paint and they’re all right by the r oper the same spots yes not only has Evan Moy not developed an outside shot because of how poor his

Shooting has been this year he’s done the opposite and sort of run home to Mama He’s now by the way the guy’s a killer in the paint he led the NBA in dunks last year here yep uh and he’s a killer you know scoring in the restricted area even though he’s not

Physically large he is you know I think his numbers might even be better than Zion in the restricted area and Zion’s one of the best pain scorers of a Generation Um he’ll he’ll put the ball in the basket in there he’s definitely can he’s definitely got offensive Talent

Just you know not launching a jumper so um you know both those teams like I do do do either of you think that the Knicks and Cavs could could win the East assuming that there’s not a massive trade here no okay no there’s a path to them making the Conference Finals

Because honestly they could be playing each other in the second round as the two and three seeds but right they’re not good enough to get through three rounds and beat some combination of Philly Milwaukee Boston I maybe even Miami if they’re healthy though they’ve been a disaster lately like I think

That’s asking more but they could easily win a couple series not unless the Knicks pull off a move that I honestly just don’t see pull off like a surprising significant trade that just yeah clicks and and as great as anobi fit has been and as smooth and easy and

Seamless as it’s been typically trades take a little bit of time to uh you know and there’s not a guy of that caliber that’s coming on board that’s going to change their ceiling right now probably I mean I guess sure barring something truly miracul was happening we didn’t

Think Durant was getting trade at this point last year he he previously demanded a trade but we didn’t sure you know if Kevin Durant asked for another trade and ends up on the Knicks not what I was implying just to be I know I’m just saying thaten wild aggregation in

The last week but one year agors are on their toes baby they are ready there you go they are ready and Wendy loves you uh one year ago we didn’t we didn’t see Kyrie or Katie getting traded and then they both you know they both end up getting

So you never know what’s going to happen but it’s hard to like there’s not a move that that you see uh materializing for but they are both really good teams and it it will be fascinating to see because while it might be a little bit easier

Fit it’s a very duplicative fit with the guards and it’s a very duplicative fit with the bigs and I will say I’m less Garland is having his worst three-point shooting season of his career I think Donovan is too just hard to win with two guards that don’t

Obv I agree but Donovan is creating and the floor is stretched and spaced and he’s you know GNA you know he’s no I know it’s just if you have two two small guards who don’t guard it’s just it’s hard I will just say that’s true I will

Just say that unless you’re the number two rated defense in the NBA despite having two small guards I mean they’ve also not had Darius Garland for this entire run so it goes both ways I will say this last year Garland shot 41% on threes on a game um if he can ReDiscover that

Shooting touch and you know he had a wicked injury he had a broken jaw I believe his jaw was wired shut yeah uh was kind of a weird one because he he didn’t I don’t even think he missed the game that he was in and it he like got

Banged and then got looked at a couple days later and had a fract to get it guy the guy gets hit in the head like more than a hockey player he’s constantly getting hit Cavs fans will tell you this he is like last last year he remember

The opening night of the Season he got poked in the eye yes I do remember he’s I think he had a concussion on time last year he’s constantly getting hit in the face it’s crazy and so he um he had his jaw wired shut but I believe he could

Shoot and run maybe not when the jaw was wired shut but you know his recovery in theory should be and he and mo are obviously very talented players it just it’s what makes it such an interesting situation because they have to try to figure it out if he gets back to

Shooting at 40% from threes it it lessen I I think there’s a pathway for the Gars to work better than there is a pathway for The Bigs okay yeah hey Wendy real real quick real quick what would you pay to get Bon temp’s jaw wired

Shut that’s not a very nice thing to say he would figure out a way uh to uh my jaw was wired s I’d take a nice a nice long vacation let you do all the work for a while yeah hopefully that doesn’t happen speaking of teams that

Play Big you saw a really good win for the minneap Minnesota I almost the Minneapolis the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night in in Oklahoma City um they were they were coming those two teams were tied for the lead in the west coming into the game but it was they

Came with their with their tails tucked a little bit because yes the uh the the Thunder had just lost to the to the uh Pistons like by double digits yes and the uh wolves gave up uh you know I believe a 10o lead in the fourth quarter

Against the Spurs it was a it first place in the West Was at stake with two teams that were coming off of losses to last place teams right it it was pretty strange um and I tell you what don’t tell me you can’t play defense in the

Modern NBA because I watched a great defensive game and and not an ugly game but like two teams that are playing extremely highlevel defense I I I watched that happen um so you can play defense in in this league still and it was a huge win for the Timberwolves they didn’t have Mike

Conley and we’ve talked a lot about just how important Conley is it’s not a coincidence that they had losses against the Hornets where they melted down in in the clutch they had that loss that you mentioned against the Spurs where they melted down in the clutch Conley’s was

Out for both of those you know he has his sore hamstring they’re playing it they you know played it safe with him I don’t know if he’ll play against the Mavericks or not we’ll see but wasn’t available and man Anne Edwards who has not always been has often not been a

Very good decision maker with the ball uh with the game on the line was phenomenal despite being frustrated as hell with the referees and you know we can get to that a little bit later um but like you know had to drive down first of all they took the lead for good

When he made a great read off the off the pick and roll with go bear boom hit Jaden McDaniels in the corner that’s the three that put him up for good the next uh next time rejects a screen from goar high pick and roll drives down the lane

Goes up and it was marginal contact according to the NBA’s last two-minute report which well there was some still photos that were Dam there there were all five fingers on him of she go Alexander on his forarm out yeah like jbr a marginal contact to his head by Buddy heel in the

Game that was the wildest last two minutes I don’t know how to pronounce that one word that I tried to say earlier that starts with an l and I guess I don’t know the definition of marginal but anyways um and but the the Wolves won this with

Defense and like down the stretch you know Jaylen Williams uh drives down the lane and goar’s just all over them smothering them you know covering you know arm stretched up to the rafters and uh Jaylen Williams who we all know is a tremendous player tremendous offensive

Player uh shuffles his feet and it was it was doesn’t show up in the in the stat sheet for goar but it was absolutely a turnover Force by goar then there’s another one where you know it looks like L dor is going to have a clean three whoops Here Comes Jade

McDaniels 6′ n and the arms I don’t know what the wings I don’t know how tall he actually is but he plays taller than he is well with the afro is about 7 foot seven right well those arms those are uh Anthony Davis style arms I know that

Yeah wiry as hell but and and you know Dort can’t get the three off kind of pump fakes thinks he’s get one nope gives it up to Chad in the corner here comes goar from the paint you know challenges Chad Chad can’t get it off he

Tries to put on the floor goar stays with him ends up in kenri Williams hands he tries to drive he throws something up and it’s got no chance because goar’s challenge him and it was you know Chris Finch said goar is like an elite scorer

In the sense that game on the line you know he loves those moments and he amps up his game he’s just doing it on the on the defensive end and that that’s how they won the game jayen McDaniels played a great game they had him guarding Chad

And you know Chad’s struggling right now he’s in a little bit of a rut uh I think it’s maybe but it’s the first time this year I believe that he’s had singled digigit sub 50% shooting performances uh in in consecutive games they’re two and five when he scores in single digits 5-8

When he shoots under 50% from the floor but Jade McDaniel was the primary defender on him why because then you can have uh goar guarding the worst shooter on the floor was Josh gidy hit a hit a few early on but they were fine with that and clogging everything

Up gives the Nuggets problems because you know what do the Nuggets do they they do two things one they run Jamal Murray yic pick and roll okay that’s hard to deal with and they give joic the ball on the elbow or at the nail and jokic goes to work and I’m I’m not

Allowed to watch nuggets games this year but every highlight that I see of Aaron Gordon is getting a feed yic for a dunk I don’t know what what what of dunks Aaron Gordon has of his shots but like it’s a high percentage and their passes from joic well guess what they can put

Towns on joic because he has good good enough size and it’s not you know he doesn’t have to cover a lot of ground then you can have gobear back there defending that rim and it takes away a huge piece obviously they beat him in the playoffs last year it’s not unsolvable but they

Present a a profile that Denver doesn’t have the IM you know you know they have a an antidote for a little bit of what Denver does and they beat him in the playoffs without Jaden MCD and I’m not saying by any stretch of the imagination the Wolves would have won the series

With him because the Nuggets were an absolute Juggernaut that mowed through the entire postseason but when you talk about why are the Timberwolves the number one defense in the league number one is the guy who should win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award this year Rudy Oar number two is Jaden

McDaniels and then we get to number three Ann Edwards who is a monster on that in the floor another guy who plays bigger than his size by the way Jackson looked it up MC Daniel’s a six 11 and a half I’m going to call it seven wingspan

I mean he’s he’s huge and look like we’ve talked at different points this year about Minnesota and their offense and how it could be a problem in the playoffs because they can’t necessarily get to the same kind of numbers offensively as a lot of these other

Teams this was the formula for them in the playoffs 107 101 game you’re winning with defense physically overwhelming teams with your size with your strength inside like that if they’re going to make a deep playoff run this is exactly the kind of formula they’re going to

Have have and look on the other side Josh giddy was a game wors minus 17 like I understand why he’s starting I understand what they’re trying to do with this team but when it gets down to it in the playoffs his lack of shooting his lack of Defense it’s a bad fit with

Shay Alexander at some point they’re gonna have to change that spot in the starting lineup lot including last night but they’re gonna have to go when it gets down to it they’re going have to just go away from Josh giddy I don’t know when when it’s gonna finished with K

Wallace you can’t they had Josh giddy in this game Josh giddy was out there for 19 minutes and was minus 17 hitting a few threes it’s not even whether he hits him or not it’s just teams don’t guard now the Celtics did the same thing they had porzingis on him

And I don’t have the numbers right in front of me but giddy made them pay for that made some shots in that game um but the the the one hope for giddy there is that chip England works his magic I mean hey he’s got Lou Dort shooting 40 plus

Percent um Jaylen Williams not that he came in the league as a non-shooter but Jaylen Williams is shooting in the mid 40s by the way Jaylen Williams sprained his ankle in that game uh he is out in Denver on Wednesday hopefully that’s not something that keeps him out Cas wall shooting

42% yeah list they’ve the the Thunder are certainly going to be very interesting in the playoffs this year I think when you talk to to uh people or who are you know with teams that have a chance to go deep they are kind of curious about the thunder but think that

It’s going to it’s going to take them you know they’re going to have to get their nose blooded in the playoffs before they’re really going to be a threat to come out of the west but who knows I mean hey they young teams yeah young teams always have to go through it

In the playoffs at some point I tell you what though man Shay gildas Alexander is UN real B when is the next uh poll gonna be in the coming weeks he’s got a chance now they they’re in this dip so they’re probably not going to be first place in the west when

The poll comes out but if they end up winning the the number one seat in the west I think he’s going to have a real dude listen Jo Jo and is Jo and beid is playing in this game in Golden State he shouldn’t he shouldn’t be playing I agree his knee

Is messed up he’s he’s only can miss five more games I think you could basically just write him out of the MVP picture right at this point and Sh Alexander is gonna be right there with anybody having yic is joic is having an MVP year I mean he so is Giannis so are

A lot of guys but to McMahon’s point if the Thunder win the West with a team full of 22 year olds and this guy’s averaging 30 plus and playing at both ends he’s going to have shot 31 six six and leads the league and steals that’s

Right and and look if it’s beid is out of the mix Joker yanis SGA and then Luca although that games played thing could end up biting Luca I think it’s going to be his ninth missed uh here in Minnesota and obviously the Mavericks can’t be the he might get his 16th technical too

Somewhere in there could you imagine could you listen I’m I don’t want to if that happens I’m gonna make sure somebody reports at first I don’t want to point it out I’ll tell you that well look also when you watch Shay defend um he you know he’s not just a stat

Putting up the two the two assists he’s extremely disruptive defensively yeah and and and he also has the luxury though of playing with three guys who are more important to their defensive scheme lud dart’s are stopper Jaylen Williams takes his second toughest assignment one through four and then

Chad holgren is a all defensive candidate as a rookie he’s one of the best Rim protectors in the league and that allows Shay to guard you know Jos KY well I I I there’s a reason I left that part out that allows Shay to to guard the fourth or fifth option and you

Know obviously they’re switching a lot and you know whatever but and he is he is extremely disruptive but I just tell you I can’t there were six or seven of his buckets last night where I’m just sitting there watching and I gasp because it’s like how did like it’s it’s

Magic his footw and you talk about like this the same with Luca their footwork after they pick up the dribble is just historically Elite I mean they’re just pivoting and you know pivots and pump fakes and guil Alexander’s got these These Arms that just kind of look like

Slinkies finishing on all these weird angles slithering through cracks he’s unbelievable off the dribble by the way Joan B just had his leg fell on by Jonathan kaminga uh went back to the locker room after being in a lot of pain was it on his left flag or his

Right the same it was the same leg same left leg that he’s been dealing with issues with for a while it wasn’t great look we talked about in the last PO he didn’t look good against the Pacers when they lost that game last Thursday there’s something going on with

His left knee it does not excuse the way they handled the game against the thing about that that made no sense was he was not on the AY report I don’t understand why he wasn’t I thought he might not play watching him on Saturday because he wasn’t moving around I know didn’t make

Any sense you said that and I can testify that you said that during the game it was and look I’m not the way they handled everything scor this guy scores 30 points literally every game every game he scores 30 points it’s only question of whether he’s going to score

40 50 60 or 70 the 30 is not in thing he’s got 14 points in 30 minutes tonight this guy yeah scores 32 points in 30 minutes he’s got 14 points and he’s he’s gone to lock room he’s 5 18 his knee is obviously bothering him you know that’s

It’s not great right now the Sixers are going through it they’re going they’re on a West Coast trip which is hard in the best of times they’re about to be 0 and four and Tyrese Maxi’s missed the last three games Joel had missed the last couple SP har had the flu it’s been

Bad right also Melton’s been out not that he’s headed for the All-Star team but that’s a starter he’s they have yeah they have four starters out I think Nick patum didn’t play today either he did not play yeah I mean it’s just just been yeah I me played 20 minutes in this game

That you know no offense to him but that’s an indication no no no offense there that’s always I mean KJ Mar has not been in the rotation all year he’s playing 25 minutes listen it’s far more important it’s obviously far more important than beid is ready to go when it matters and

Hopefully this isn’t too bad and he’s good for the playoffs and he can have a healthy playoff run which he has not been able to have yet in his career but like this is just the clearest sign yet from what we said before like this guy’s

Not winning MVP no so it’s going to be somebody else he may not be eligible by the time the next draw poll happens yeah and again I don’t want to hear crying about the 65 game limit because honestly if you miss 20% of the of the season and

Other guys are right that good you’re not the most valuable player but it’s like it’s not like he’s you know the Denver thing look bad but it’s not like he’s just kicking his feet up and missing games for the heck of it no and the bottom line is whether the he’s just

Not going to be eligible period right so whether it’s Yannis or Shay or jic or whoever somebody is it’ll be one of four guys like I said Luc is the fourth guy and the Mavericks are going to have to get healthy and win some games to give him a real shot because statistically

He’s Absolut abolutely going to have a case I mean stats Williams sent me a bunch of numbers making an argument that this guy just had one of the best months and two months fans in NBA history there’s a couple other guys who I think could work their way in the mix too I

Think kawai’s got an outside shot and I think that tat I don’t know Ka can win it but my God is I mean I I’m not I haven’t thought about this fully but I what I’ve been saying is I’m not so sure there’s a more important development in the whole NBA this year

About is how good Kawai has been yeah in terms of the effect on the title um again I will say to you well and that Harden trade listen as much as people were piling on early hey that Harden trade looks like an absolute you know transformational you know I mean it

Changed the league because the Clippers might be the best team in the NBA I saw perk perk perk’s on the record he says the Clippers are wning the title perks never wrong well listen they they from start of December on they play the Wizards on uh Wednesday final day of

January they’re 22 and five since December 1st like that’s the Wizards have one two in a row pretty good Hey listen that’s I mean it’s why the Cavs that was a great win for the Cavs I mean on Saturday the Clippers absolutely curb stomp the Celtics in Boston just

Dominated them start to finish yeah one of the most impressive games of the year like they’ve they’ve been playing incredibly well well all of which getting back to the Cavs makes that win no question so because we did we were like soft schedule fluky stuff they’ve got some big time wins lately they’ve

Got some big time wi they’ve carried it over yeah um all right well hopefully uh embiid comes out of this okay but um by the way Jackson’s like cormont is six of seven or six of eight on threes tonight yeah I know he’s having a good night

Jackson I’m saying don’t talk to Jackson with that tone man anyway pop on stick up for yourself same tone Christian would had today that I tell you he meant to quote tweet I mean who doesn’t occasionally screw up a an intended quote tweet 20 minutes before tip off while they’re pouting

About not being in the starting lineup I mean could have happened to anybody we’re in we’re in dangerous zone of maybe relegating the Lakers to not talk about but um the LOL Lakers look the what lol Lakers they ain’t La they’re LOL perfect thank you Christian Wood he can’t pronounce liaison but he

Can he can make jokes B he’s got he’s got that I got that L word down uh also got loser down and that’s what Christian Wood is on eight straight teams he’s never played in the playoffs at some point G whiz maybe every single coach isn’t screwing him over maybe don’t know

Maybe I’m wrong about that maybe every coach that he’s ever had has just not known what an All-Star caliber player that he is and he hasn’t had this one holstered folks he hasn’t had it ready what happened in case people don’t know Anthony Davis uh missed a game

Against a backto back he heard his groin in Houston on um Monday night tough back to back so anthe Davis who’s only missed you know a couple of games all year he sits and it comes out shortly before the game that Jackson Hayes is going to start not Christian

Wood at Center Christian Wood tweets lol to what we don’t know people were making assumptions after the game he said really going out on a limb there LOL I don’t know uh after the game he said that he meant to quote tweet something and say LOL but he just forgot to hit

Well this was my favorite part 20 minutes before the game Yovan like do you usually tweet 20 minutes before the game yeah so Yovan bhar former colleague here now at the athletic said that he didn’t mean to quote tweet thing right then in a followup tweet W added later

In his availability that he feels like he could do more for the team if he plays more but that he has been limited to 14 to 15 minutes usually or 20 to 22 when ad is out so I don’t know seems like you might have had an alterior

Motive there Christian I hold on hold on I just want to go back to oh God we got Christian Wood signed a minimum contract in early September too much usually an indication that you’re not necessarily perceived as an extremely valuable player in the league also the fact the

Were shopping in before the deadline and would have accepted four stained jock straps exchange maybe could have negotiated down to two all right all right all right get to the point and uh they weren’t able to move them he told our pal uh ANS Scapes Mark J Spears the

Hall of Famer this is a statement I’ve always wanted to be a Laker I know we can win a championship communication with a coach is a big key coach ham and I go back to our Milwaukee days and we’ve had great conversations every day about this opportunity he believes in me and told

Me I’ll be playing a big role and knows what I can do I’m looking forward to this and F sure that’s capital f s motivated after what Dallas did oh he’s proven those Mavericks wrong not that the Mavericks don’t have their own set of issues but come on man

Again he did have better number than Jackson Hayes tonight okay cool eight teams not a second and enough Christian Wood and enough Christian Wood the relevant thing for the Lakers obviously very rough backto back they get beat by Dylan Brooks and the rockets on Monday jar Vander gets

Thrown out of the game ad doesn’t play in this game Tuesday they get pounded pretty good by the Hawks in this game now they go to Boston Thursday they come to New York to play at the Garden on Saturday they go to Charlotte on Monday and then they go home home trade

Deadline night they play Denver followed by New Orleans on a back toback that is a rough stretch of games the other very relevant moment another MC 10 tweet Mac 10 seed our old pal who’s a a playing expert if I’ve ever seen one um anyways he tweeted video Danel

Russell was at the free throw line and he tweeted video of fans in a section next to him chanting we don’t want you we don’t want you we don’t want you which is the same thing that every coach that’s ever had Christian Wood chance in unison by the way the Hawks fans should

Be careful throwing stones from The Glass House they’re they’re not exactly burning up the league but they you think you think there’ll be some chance when Trey shooting free throws well no but um it’s a um you know I the thing about the about the Lakers is again

LeBron and AD are playing well and they are back but they’re back under 500 and Russell was just cooking like you had probably the best stretch get out of d’el Russell that’s right he just had three super hot he did not play well tonight three super hot weeks and he

Didn’t play he didn’t he’s like no no no I got to tone it down I don’t want to I don’t want I don’t want I don’t want to convince the Hawks the trade for me um yeah so I I don’t you know don’t I don’t know what the Lakers are going to

Do I would just say that um I don’t know how many starting lineups they’ve used but none of them have worth darham has changed his starting lineup all the time he is he is just he is kind of refused to go back to the lineup that they used in the

Playoffs last year he’s used almost every other lineup that they can use and it hasn’t worked and it absolutely drives the Lakers fans up a wall that he continues to play Tori and Prince as many minutes as he continues to I mean I’m not saying that like if he

Was using haimura as the starting four and put LeBron at three that it would make that much Prince is shooting 39% from three on a team that can’t shoot what do people Lakers fans are going nuts well to Prince playing too much is your problem it’s it’s you got a lot bigger

Problem every once in a while fans who comment on social media might not know what the hell they’re talking about I I think I’ve got some recent examples that I can show you that are evidence of that um hey Lakers still a top six roster top six in the

West they should yes they should they should they top six in the Pacific Division yes absolutely I stand by that one um yes they do have a top six roster in the west but they’re underachieved actually top six see the thing about it was I said that they

Don’t Thunder were not in there I was say Let me let me they better they got a better roster let’s just do it quick they got a better roster Minnesota no Denver Denver no Thunder no Clippers no no Suns no it’s arguable with the Suns it’s I mean it they should have a

Better roster than the Suns but they don’t the Suns you know the top two are you know obviously the sun’s third best player is better than what the Lakers got but in theory the sun’s got a bunch of just given all the sun being automatic for you what about the

Pelicans I don’t think so about the Mavericks it’s arguable that’s arguable that is arguable the Pelicans are arguable it depends on what day you ask yeah no you know what they got a better roster than the Pelicans they got a better roster than Pelicans they just just not getting

It done I’m they’re not deeper than the Pelicans the Pelicans actually no the Pelicans have great doubt but at the top ad and LeBron come on yeah and and Zion is not playing at a star level he LeBron and AD are going to be Allstar it does Remain the remarkable

Thing about the Lakers if you said to me before the season that LeBron James and Anthony Davis would combine through 49 games to miss Nine games I would have thought they’d be in pretty good shape and they’re it’s not like either of them are having down years they’re both playing extrem but

They’re also just available they’ve been available for 95% of the games they’re getting 95% of outstanding play from those guys and they still as a whole stink to borrow bont Tim’s term very technical uswb baby nobody knows stink like can’t saying that you can’t be saying that

Anymore after that Christian Wood and by the way you know Ru hatur isur is playing you know I know he’s missing games but Ru haimura has he’s been playing okay like as long as you looking at guys who are who are on the Lakers roster who are

You know doing okay haimura it’s not like haimura has been terrible and I know that um you know Bon temp always always talks about I know I miss I did I barkle that I know Bon Temps always talks about like how hachimura caught fire from three-point shooting that’s

Why he got the contract well he’s shooting 39% from three this year sure he’s averaging more points than he did last year and shooting overall pretty comparable way he did last year just it’s just hard to figure out how they’re a 500 team with a top six roster and not

Even 500 greaters they’re under all right coming week till the trade deadline thank you for listening to H Collective podcast this is the time of year when like hours out of my day are taken up by like what the Jazz might do with Kelly o lenck and no

Difficult life that you have Brian really difficult life Jackson I have a request some violin music for women thank you for listening to Collective podcast thank you to Jackson thank you to Bon tempson McMahon thank you for listening we’ll be back with these two jokers on Friday adios amigos

Brian Windhorst is joined by Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to talk New York winning despite injuries, put in context the success of Brunson & the team right now, break down potential trade options for the Knicks, talk Cleveland’s recent success, how the Cavs can add back some star power soon and the Timberwolves elite defensive play. Plus, SGA’s chances for MVP, the Lakers’ struggles and Embiid’s injury.
0:00 Intro
1:57 Best Month For Knicks In 30 Years
26:12 Can The Whole Team Succeed In Cleveland?
41:52 Minnesota’s Elite Defense vs. the Thunder
59:58 Struggles For Lakers & Embiid Injury
 

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