 Hey, everybody, what's going on? I am Greg Sussman, joined today by Vaughn Delzell, all the fan duo who's here to break down some of these NBA season long props that he is in on. What's going on, Vaughn? Nothing much, Greg. Thanks for having me back. So it's been a few short months since the NBA season was here, but I've just seen that Jets went on Sunday. I'm about ready for some basketball. I'm sure most other people are too. I'm excited that basketball season is back, and I'm excited that we're just gonna go with these away now, which is awesome. So let's get those props to the window before it's too late. We begin with the most improved player award. Your guide, Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets, is plus 1,800 here, which seems a little crazy, but then you're wondering, well, how could he win the most improved player award when he's already awesome? That's the question people are gonna have when it comes to Jamal Murray. Yeah, exactly. So I had to look at a couple boxes to check for Jamal Murray, but he filled a lot of boxes for me. So one thing that's never happened with most improved player, no one the season prior has averaged 20 points per game per season. Jamal Murray averaged 18 and a half. So that's one box checked for me. The second box I go into, dating back to 2010, almost every single player has averaged a rebound or assist more per game. Now there's been a couple situations like a Jimmy Butler, for example, that's averaged 0.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists, but I'm not gonna be a stickler for the stats. It's essentially one rebound, one assist. Jamal Murray last year averaged 4.8 assists and four rebounds per game. Now the interesting thing about that is to get to six assists and five rebounds. He did that in the post-season already. As you mentioned, everyone saw his coming out party last year. So now that we've had that already and we've seen that he can do this by averaging at least 4.4 rebounds per game and 6.3 assists in every playoff series last season. He proved he could do that in the regular season this year. So that's the second box checked for me. And the third and final box, dating back to trends for guards, the last three guards to win. Victor Aladipo, C.J. McCollum and Jimmy Butler. All three of those guys had a significant post-season the year prior to winning most improved player. Jamal Murray, 31 points per game, 250 point games. He put on a scoring clinic in the post-season last year out of 19 games and there's cool stat also in 13 of those 19 games. Jamal Murray averaged at least or he recorded at least four rebounds and four assists. So he could definitely average 20 plus points, five plus rebounds, five plus assists this season. I love him to win most improved player. He's definitely got to be one of the front runners in my mind. Jamal Murray had the coming out party at last NBA post-season inside the bubble. Will that breakout continue here to the 2020-2021 season? Well, Vaughn and I certainly both. Think so. Jamal Murray at plus 1800, he could bet to be the most improved player in the NBA. Now when a team normally zags and everyone else is zigging, it doesn't usually work out because everyone's zigging purposefully because that's what you do in the NBA. So you go back to last off-season, for instance, where the Knicks added like 17 power forwards. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work out. What did the Pistons do this season off-season? They added about 17 power forwards when their best player is already a power forward. That is Detroit Pistons basketball and that, sir, is one of the reasons you like the Pistons to go under 23 and a half wins this season. That total sits at minus 110. You hit the nail on the head, Greg. I can't believe some of the moves that they made. Now they're starting five alone is definitely one of the bottom worst in the NBA and in the Eastern Conference. They got Killian Hayes, who I do like. They got DeLon Wright, Jeremy Grant, Blake Griffin and Mason Plumlee. So it's not really an ideal starting five that you want. Of course, now I am one of the biggest Derrick Rose fans you'll ever meet, but I will tell you right off the bat that he and Blake Griffin are not gonna be enough veteran leadership in this locker room to get the Pistons even anywhere near a playoff spot or anywhere over 24 wins. Last season, they went 20 and 46, 66 games. The NBA this season will be 72 games. You give them six more games. I think they're gonna be on a similar pace to they were last year. If not a little worse, then you factor in the three teams that have worse win totals this season, the Thunder, the Cavs and the Knicks. You already mentioned the Knicks. We don't know what's gonna happen with them this season, but I could tell you the Cavs got a little better and the Thunder got worse and the Pistons definitely got worse as well. They're doing a great job against some draft picks. They got Hayes, Seco Dumbaya, Isaiah Stewart and Saadi Bey. So they definitely have some young guys that move around. But like you said, too many players in the same position and too many guys that won't make much of an impact outside of Blake Griffin or Derrick Rose. So I definitely don't think the Pistons are getting more than 24 wins this season. To be fair, I like Killian Hayes as well. I thought Jeremy Grout was a fine signing, but what are the Pistons doing? Nobody really knows the answer to that question. I don't know if we'll see the improvement that they need to get over 23 and a half wins this year. So take the under at minus 110. One final bet to put in at the sports book here before the season begins. And that is about last year's defending champion in the Los Angeles Lakers. You like them to at least get back to the finals and be the Western Conference champion. You get that at plus 140. Obviously the Lakers, one of the favorites here. Why is this something worth going for here at the sports book? Why is it worth placing that bet when the juice obviously isn't much? Well, one of the ways to make money off of LeBron James is to bet him to get to the NBA finals. If you did that the past 10 years, you have money and you shouldn't be cheap for this holiday season. LeBron's made it out of nine out of the past 10 seasons. Of course, the year he didn't make it was his first year with the Lakers. Whenever they didn't make the playoffs in general, but he's made the finals almost every time. He's been a stud. They bring back Anthony Davis, resigning him obviously, which was crucial. You get Kyle Kuzma, I was Caruso, a couple of guys. Now you lose Danny Green, Javelma Guy, and Dwight Howard. Those aren't very significant losses in my opinion. But what they brought in is what blows my mind away. Now not only do you get Montreso Harrell, the sixth man of the year, but you get the runner up to sixth man of the year too, Dennis Schroeder from the Thunder. It's insane the pieces that they added to this team already. And then you factor in the other teams and what they've lost in the Western Conference. So of course, the Warriors got back Clay Thompson. Now they lose Clay Thompson. That's a significant impact to the Lakers. And then you look at teams like Dallas, Utah, Denver, Houston, teams that aren't ready to get over that hump yet that you would definitely take the Lakers over in a seven game series. So that leaves two teams, the Lakers, the Clippers, the Battle of L.A. Once again, L.A., they got rid of they lost Harold, bringing Sergey Baku play with Kawhi Leonard. Love that. Ty Lou replaces Doc Rivers. He also coached with LeBron. I love that. But like I said, you can't fade LeBron getting to the NBA finals because he's done it nine out of the past 10 years. Now in the NBA finals, that's a different story, but I won't go there. So I definitely like LeBron to get back this year, taking the Lakers and the rest of the crew. And I feel like those additions that they got definitely made them a better team. Amazingly, the Lakers get better the year after they win the NBA championship. Yeah, LeBron and Anthony Davis, and they rest a little bit here coming off that shortened off season with LeBron's used to, right? Having played deep into the summer and the Olympics before getting back. So while he's a little bit older now, he'll be ready to go by the time the postseason begins and he'll be all for it at the Lakers try to defend their championship. We didn't even need them to defend it. We just needed to get back. We get that a plus 140 at the Fandals force book. That's going to do it for us here on the Fandals. All right, Vaughn, we appreciate the time. Good luck this season. Thank you, Greg. I appreciate you guys at Fandals. Have me on as always and happy holidays, everyone watching. Absolutely, Vaughn. Thanks for being back. Thanks for sending us up for the NBA. We're excited to continue talking about it tomorrow as Tom Becquio will join us. And we look forward to the opening night tip off here on the National Basketball Association. For Vaughn Delzal, I'm Greg Sussman. Thanks so much for watching. I'll see you back here tomorrow for another edition of the Fandals Hurry Up.