 The Jazz finally remembered their tanking and Ben Simmons falls out in the most Ben Simmons way possible. It's time to run it back. Good morning. Happy Tuesday to everyone. And we're just going to get right into it because there are a lot of games, but I want to introduce, of course, my friends this morning, Stadium Insider Shamsherani adjoining us. How about co-host of the Etc. Podcast with Kevin Durant. Eddie Gonzalez and just fresh off of his honeymoon, Chandler Parsons is back. Chandler, how was it? Was it fabulous? It looked fabulous. Yeah, it was a really, really good time. Really good place. And now, and now you're here with us for a little while at least in your home. honeymoon part two right now. Yeah, exactly. What a great way to look at it. Shams, that's so nice. Thank you. Yeah, we got, we have a lot of games to talk about last night and the first one, let's just spend about four hours talking about Grizzlies and that's was just, I don't know, insanity is probably a good way to describe it. Four players, first time in regulation ever in the history of the NBA with 35 or more points and John Morant, Desmond Bain, Kyrie and Katie. And Shams, we'll start with you. Your biggest takeaway from last night's game is what? I think honestly, what Kevin Durant said after the game, like John Morant, every night you watch and play, it's, I really wonder if you played in LA or New York, what the dialogue would be around John Morant on a daily basis. He's in Memphis and we talk about him to a pretty high extreme. I just wonder if he was in a bigger market, what it would be like. But I think what he's doing right now, he's to me an early season candidate for MVP for sure. It's very, very early right now, but he's a guy that you can already tell is going to be prime as long as he stays healthy to have that type of season. Kevin Durant after the game, mentioned him in the same breath as God, like Derek Rose and Russell Westbrook. I think he's very unique. His three point shot, like he crossed up Kyrie and had a step back three, like some of the stuff that he's doing is literally a video game modeled player. So I'm honestly astonished sometimes is watching him play. And we saw four amazing performances last night, him, Desmond Bain and on the other side, Kyrie and Kevin Durant. I think it was definitely a very, very fun game. Not much defense being played though. No, no, 134, 124, Memphis win, Chandler. What do you have to, I mean your take on Jaws, what watching him play? Yeah, I think like we, we hit it on the head. The guy has must see TV, right? He's so entertaining, so explosive. Like Sam said, he's hitting jumpers. He's hitting crazy shots. He's getting out in the break. He's getting everyone involved. He's making players look really good that probably aren't as good without him. He's special, but my biggest takeaway is the Nets, man. If I'm the Nets, I got to be discouraged because I have those two assassins on my team and still not enough. You know, I don't like they're starting lineup with Clarkson, O'Neill and Simmons with those two guys because they're basically just rolling the ball out to those two guys and telling them to go get buckets. Their offense is very stagnant. It's very one on one. It's very iso. It's pretty easy to guard when you're not guarding two of the five, three of the five guys on the court. So like you said, their defense is pretty bad giving up that many points, giving up 38 points to Desmond Bang. He's a great player, but that's a lot. I'm discouraged if I'm them. So I feel like this is what you see is what you get. And if I'm them, I am, I gotta find ways to get Joe, to get Curry, to get Patty Mills healthy and more involved because they definitely need more shooting around those two stars. Eddie, what happened? Look, I'm with Chandler. I mean, I can't explain how upset I was watching the Grizzlies just get to drive left over and over again in crunch time. They are clearly left hand dominant with the way they play and they just kept doing it. It was a runway. I think Kevin and Shams are right about Joe and his marketability. It's a reason why he's the next Nike signature athlete. And I think he's going to do really well in that role as well. It was a fun game, but it was a frustrating game as well. We're going to talk about Vince Simmons. I'm sure the fouls he got, all of that. Coming into the season, I thought the Nets could be a really strong defensive team. I still think they can. But when you watch games like last night, the Bane points is a great point by Chandler too because they're losing him on really basic actions. Just simple pin down screens. They're not calling out communications to switch to jump out there. That guy has a rifle. We know he has a rifle. We know he wants to get out there and shoot threes. He just won the three point contest last year. Baby, let's get out there and get a hand up. And he kept losing him, kept losing him to the point of 38 points. It's way too much just like Chandler said. So we, so we agree Bane is good. He's not 38 points good. I mean, yeah, as a player going into that game, it's almost okay to give up 38 to job, right? He's the star, but you got to limit the other guys. You got to limit their best shooters open threes. Their defenses was just very lazy and they were giving up things that I know in their film session, they were going over to not give up. I think that's what would be the most concerning part for me is Bane's a great player, not even hating on him. The guy's unbelievable. He's made a huge jump, but you can't give up to him. You're 40 to him as well as they're not going to win many games doing that. Eddie, do you want to, do you want to do this? Do you want to just jump into this Ben Simmons foul moment where he falls out of the game? Like what, just someone take me through what I'm watching here. I've watched it with sound. I've watched it without sound. I've watched Joss sort of just play around with him. It's like a cat in a ball of yarn. And then what am I watching here guys? And why did it happen the way it did? First of all, this was brilliant by Joss and the Grizzlies. They did this for a few minutes down the stretch. They probably killed an entire minute of the clock doing this. There's a point in the clip earlier. If we had panned out, you can see Steve Nash like upset. Well, what is this? Either he doesn't know the rule or he was frustrated that they're letting it happen. But yeah, when you're up, you can let the ball roll. You can kill clock without killing shot clock. And then Ben just got anxious. I don't know what he was doing. Joss said after the game, it's a play that's happened before. I'm not even giving Ben enough credit to say he remembers that from four years ago. I think he just, like he just got antsy and he wanted, he thought he was going to get the cheap steal. And I didn't think it was a foul. Me myself, I'm not calling that at the gym, but they called it and it worked. He touched them. He did it. So it was, it was fresh. Again, going back to what Chandler said, it was just a frustrating watch if you're rooting for the Nets. Yeah, this isn't like a new brilliant thing. I think you see more guys doing it. But like, if you're up and the clock is ticking, that clock is still going. So you don't have to touch your balls. So I think defenses now needs to start getting used to, you know, playing up and picking up 94 feet, not allowing them to do that. But this play also with five fouls, just kind of a bonehead play. You see Joss kind of look away. And I think Ben thought he could kind of sneak in there, obviously, but, and then I agree with Eddie. I don't think it was a foul, but that's just, you know, kind of bonehead play at that point in the game. You can't do that. I mean, Shams, we got Ben Simmons, three games. I think it's 17 points and 14 fouls. What is the plan? How does he fit in here? Yeah. I mean, I was just looking up a stat now. Like he's averaging two made field goals a game. He's averaging almost four turnovers and almost five fouls a game. They're one and two. You know, shout out stat moves for that stat. But I think overall, when the Nets came into the season, they had very, very high expectations to prevent Simmons. What I heard a lot is that this guy's going to be our engine. He's going to be our motor for this team. You know what you're going to get out of Kevin Durant. You know what you're going to get out of Kyrie Irving. They're trying to get Joe Harrison, Seth Curry back into game shape. But he's a guy that had a strong summer by all accounts. And they were putting a lot of hope on him. And I think there's still enough time this season. There's still time for him to figure it out. But there's a lot of expectation on him. And if he, if this is really how he looks, this team is not going to be very good. Chandler, what do you do with Ben? I mean, if you're in charge of this, what's the plan here? I mean, look, you're stuck with him now. So I agree. I think you try and find ways to make him successful in that offense. I think you have to surround him with shooters. You got to get Patty more in the mix. You got to get Joe in the mix. You got to get Curry healthy. You almost got to just play Ben as a five. He's very similar to Westbrook. Kelly's playing right now. You know, you can tell he's playing timid. He's turning down shots. They're guarding him so offensive that he's going to have to start being more confident and, you know, getting to the pain, getting into the hoop. I don't want to see himself or jumpers either because he cannot shoot. But like the way they're guarding him is almost getting in his, you can see it like it's, it's almost pissing him off and more offensive than pressuring him. So it's tough. But I just, I think you put him at the fives surrounding with shooters, let those two guys rock and just try and find success with it. But it's him and Russ are feeling like they're in the same boat right now of all this pressure. Everyone's talking about him. Every headline's bad. They can't shoot. And it's clearly getting to both of them. Yeah, it's tough for Ben. He was engaged yesterday. He was into the game. He attempted a couple of shots. I think there's a three-pointer. He was trying to get active on defense. Obviously picked up a bunch of fouls. But it's, you know, you wonder if he's being put in the best situation that thrives, similar to Russ. And it's not stopping anytime soon for the Nets. They play the Bucks tomorrow. They're back to back with the Mavericks and, you know, you're one and four. Then what? Then what is the story for the season? And then, yes, they play a couple games of the paces, but the schedule picks right back up. They have a West Coast trip coming up. They have a ton of games on the road in November. This could go left really quick. And the shoe could fall. And, you know, I think the first, you know, the first scapegoat would probably be Steve Nash. And he's been real defensive about Ben. Say, hey, we're taking it slow with him. He's getting back in the rhythm on and on and on. And, you know, we're going to find out a lot about this team in the next month. They, you know, they beat the Bucks in Mavericks. We're having a whole conversation when we get back on the show next Monday. But if they lose and then we're walking back and they're one in five, who knows? You know how this goes quick? And this whole franchise was on the hot seat all summer and it didn't cool off at all. So it's just going to get worse and worse if they keep losing games. I mean, there's a lot of patience being demanded here. And at some point that runs out, I think for even the most patient amongst us, as far as this Grizzlies team, because I don't want to take anything away from them. They're sitting there at three and one. They look legit. I thought they ended last season a fun team to watch and a team with a lot of potential shams. Are we looking at a team that has a shot at being a contender for everything? I think they do. I think they were to an extent last year, but you know that they didn't really have it and what it takes. But I think this year, they just look different. I think one more year of confidence, what they did last year, being one of the best teams in the West, they got to the second round, gave the Warriors a real fight, especially considering the fact that John Morant was hurt and missed, you know, the second half of that series. But I think with him, he just looks different this year. He's moving with a different level of confidence, which is scary to say. And I think this team is going to be even better once they get back to Aaron Jackson, Jr. And this team gets fully healthy. I mean, look, the good news for the Nets is they're not the only team with high expectations that are off to a slow start. Another team, Miami Heat, same conference, starting off at one in three, losing in Toronto last night. Shams, your first take on that, your insight on this game and what's wrong with this heat team right now? I think a couple of things. One, I really look at their rotations. They've already changed up a lot of what they've done the last couple of years. Tyler heroes now in the starting lineup. They're playing without Victor Oladipo. He's last year was in and out of the lineup. So I think rotations is one issue. And then another issue is just they're missing that one enforcer guy that they either start or come off the bench. Last year, they had PJ Tucker. In years past, they had Jay Crowder. Like they always had a guy that they can rely upon, Marky Morris on their bench. They have Udoniz Haslam there, but Udoniz Haslam does not play right now. So having a guy that can have that role with Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry and Bam Adebayo, they're really missing that. I think you're really starting to feel the loss of PJ Tucker right now as well. Chandler, I've heard a lot of people say there's something wrong, not just obviously with the record. We see the record. We see the numbers, but it seems when watching them that there's something off with this team. Are you seeing the same thing? Yeah, for sure. I think Shams hit it. I think it's their depth, their bench isn't given them much. And now with Tyler Hero in the starting lineup, that takes away from the depth of their team off the bench. And he was that spark plug coming off. And now he's starting. So he just kind of shrunk their depth there. And Kyle Lowry doesn't really look the same to me. He had a tough shooting night last night. But yeah, I think, and the biggest thing for them, I think everybody in the East got so much better this off season. And they're kind of the same team. And they don't have that wing depth. They don't have that J Crowder anymore off the bench, the PJ Tucker. They need someone like that to relieve those pressures. And they just don't have it. So I think a lot of teams made a lot of moves this off season to take that next step and the heat are kind of that same team, which, by the way, still can be very good with the roster they have. I think, and I think they will figure it out. But yeah, this is a real issue with the wing depth, I think. Yeah, we're talking about a team that was a shot away from the finals last year. Jimmy Butler makes that three. Who knows what we're looking at? They're probably not beating the Warriors, but that's two finals trips in three years. And you're holding them on different pedestals. One of three is tough. They can overcome it. Obviously, I think they have the best coaching league, Eric Spostra. For me, I think, and I heard over the summer, they want to see offensively from Bam. They want to see him do more than he's doing on the offense end of the court. Yes, he is a cheat code on defense. But when you got a guy making that money and he's going to be the centerpiece here franchise, let's see a 25 point game. Let's see, let's see 30 when we need it. Let's see a little bit of offensive versatility. Let's see even just his, you know, the knack for scoring, the want to score, whereas he's more of a passive player. They're in a little bit more punch. Obviously, starting Tyler hero shortens their bench as well. They brought Duncan Robinson back into the rotation. It's just, you know, it's a lot going on there. I think luckily for them, they're also a team that's set up in a way where they can spring for some trades. Tyler will be trade eligible after, what is it in December shams? And then they've tried to trade Duncan Robinson multiple times. They got into Kevin Durbin six. There you go. So they're in a place where they can spring and try to make a splash. Will they do it? I mean, I think they should, they need to do something with their roster to add some punch. The East has gotten better over the summer. They've gotten healthier and the heat might be, you know, on the outside looking in as we get further into the season. I can't think, I can't hear Bam and think that he's in the top 10 of negative tweets and he's probably getting a lot of them right now and my heart goes out to him. But when you say making change to the roster shops, is it as simple as adding, as you guys just spoke on an enforcer or would you want to see more than just that? Well, I think they've tried to go both routes. They've looked at Boyan Bogdanovich. They called when he was in Utah. They have not called yet as he's been in Detroit because teams are still trying to get their footing under them, you know, for the first 20, 25 games this season. But that could be an avenue that they go after. But they've also gone back to the well. They've looked into J. Crowder multiple times. They've talked about packages around Duncan Robinson, first round pick and maybe even more draft compensation to go to Phoenix. Phoenix has yet to really engage seriously on that deal because they don't want Duncan Robinson's contract. So those conversations they're continuing to have. I would expect them to continue to explore either J. Crowder or players, you know, kind of similar to that toughness level. Guys, I know we started the season with the tanking and the talk of the tanking and some people didn't get the memo. But the Blazers don't look now are undefeated for and beating the Denver Nuggets. Denver kind of wonky to start things off too. But you know what? We're not going to start with them because Chauncey Billups is doing some stuff up in the Pacific Northwest. Chandler, what are you seeing from this Blazer squad? Dame looks like, Dame looks like Dame, right? I think right now he would be the MVP. He's absolutely on fire. They're undefeated. I love Anthony Simons. He's, it's proven that Dame is very good with, you know, a guard like Cedric McCollum that relieves the pressure, relieves the ball handling. And Anthony Simons is that, I think he's that bucket that can kind of take over the game when Dame's out. He can shoot the ball. I think, you know, Jeremy Grant, the heck out of the ball right now. And I think he's in a good spot too, because his role when he was with Denver was too small. And then his role on Detroit, when he was the main guy, was way too big. And now he's kind of found that sweet spot where he's rolling, he's playing off these guards, Narcich is healthy and playing. Josh Hart is playing great. It's one of the best rebounding guards I've ever seen. You know, they have this talent where, you know, they're playing well together. They're young. It looks like they're having fun. I love the rookie, Shaden Sharp. I think he's one of those guys five years from now we can look back and think he might be the best player in this draft. So I think they got some good things early. I think it's, it's, it's early. Let's not blow our wad. But they've done good and, and Dame looks happy and healthy and ball. Yeah, I think you hit it on the head. There's so much like with this team. There's so much versatility they have with that roster. They actually really clamped down on defense yesterday, which was good to see because they're kind of winning shootouts to start the season. Anthony Simon just makes sense next to Dame. Dame is super excited for him. He's cheering them on on the court as he's hitting threes, scored 22 points in the third quarter. But I love the Jeremy Grant point. I love exactly what Chandler said. He's in a role that makes sense for him. He can be third fiddle, fourth fiddle on the right night. And those guys, those guards can set them up, can get him easier buckets. And what's crazy to me is they're big off season acquisition. Their other one, Gary Payton, the second still hasn't even played yet. Maybe Shams has some inside there, but that'll make their defense even better and that'll make their roster versatility even better. They played 11 guys last night, even before it was a blowout. And that's without Justice Winslow, who they want to play a lot as well. There's a lot to like on that team. And as we get deeper into the season and as the tank finally does start, those guys are going to be racking up wins. And maybe a top four seed over there. GP2 is expected to be back soon, Eddie. So that's, like he said, even more firepower for them. When I talk to people around the Blazers around the Blazers about Anthony Simons, the thing that they kept telling me is that this guy will separates him from even CJ McCullum. And he's able to get other players involved. He's able to make people around him better. They swore that he was different than CJ McCullum and that he was an even better fit next to Dame Lillard. That's why they went all in on Anthony Simons. And I love really to see the maturation of Dame Lillard turning into a leader. Like he's obviously the best player on this team, but he's also letting Anthony Simons and allowing these guys to succeed as well around him. They held 9 points last night. He only shot the ball four times. He wasn't indifferent. He was trying to attack. It was a close game. It wasn't like he's just passing up shots. As we know, the beef with nuggets goes back all the way to their rookie years with the nuggets. It's far and deep, but that's a good team over there. That's a good team. A lot of people didn't have them as a top four team, a playoff team even, but there's a lot going on over there in Portland. They're in a good spot. Are you going to stick to this top four thing all season? Because that's pretty big. Yeah, I think they're right there. You learn a lot more about teams in the first week of the season when everybody's healthy, when everybody's fresh, when everybody's implementing new stuff than you do in the middle of the season, when everybody's set in their ways and injuries have occurred and things like that. So yeah, I mean, there's absolutely over there where they're a top four seed. I don't hate it. I mean, for their sake, I hope it happens for Chauncey's sake. I hope it happens. Another game last night, Shams, you were at this one. Bulls handing the Celtics their first loss of the season. What did you see? Well, I saw a really, really low energy in the arena at the beginning of the game. And then once the bull started to turn around, it was actually a remarkable turnaround. It was at one point a 38-point swing. They were down 19 and literally 20 minutes later, they were up 19. So I think it was a crazy turnaround. You have to give the Bulls credit. Zach Levine is looking like a guy that can hopefully stay healthy for them. They're waiting on really the return of Lonzo Ball. The hope is that some point in January he'll be back. And that's when this team will take another turn. But they need to figure out, even internally, Patrick Williams, is he going to be a starter long term? Is he going to come off the bench? They have to figure out his role. But right now, DeMar DeRozan is still doing what he does. And the Celtics were bound to lose eventually. So it was definitely a tough loss for them. Yeah. They declared AO the starter early on in camp. They had a great game. They shot 9-10. The Bulls just shot the ball incredibly well last night. They ran the Celtics out of the gym. Sometimes it just goes like that. Like you said, I think it turned with the energy. And we get to see kind of the peak of what the Bulls can be. Now, when they add Lonzo, they become a much better defensive team. He'll need some time to get right. But it was a good sign for the Bulls because with Zach's kind of shaky start to the season, being injured, we weren't quite sure what we were getting. But they looked pretty good. Whoop, 23 rebounds on that big team. That's nice to see. I know, Chandler, you wanted to talk a little bit about this. And we made it today 22 minutes into the show yesterday. It was 12, today 22, before we talked Lakers and Russell Westbrook. And I am keeping account of this. And it's going to be all season long. So just sit back. Magic Johnson, the latest to chime in says that Westbrook has to take accountability for his poor play. Chandler, what do you think about that? I mean, listen, he's not playing good. He's not playing well. He's not shooting the ball good. He definitely to a certain point has to take accountability. He's a proven player. He's a multileser. He's a former MVP. And he's not playing good. You can blame it on the system. You can blame it on the front office. You can blame it on whatever else it is. But he's not playing good. And he's not playing confident. And he's in a really dark place. And I was in this spot before where when I was in Memphis and I was missing some time, and I was on a big contract and you come and you don't play well. And the home crowd is on you and they're booing you. And you can just hear them gasping every time you touch the ball. And as professionals in the heat of the moment when we're playing, it doesn't bother us. But there are some points where I'm looking back and I'm playing timid and I'm passing up shots. And I feel like that's what he's doing right now. He's not happy. You can just tell I think he's going to play much better on the road. I think he's over playing at home. And I think he's just in a really tough place. It's hard to feel bad for a player making $48 million. And it's getting to the point where it's like, damn, like this guy is in a dark place. It's nothing's working. His teammates aren't helping him out. The videos are all going viral of him and LeBron and AD, when he's taking a shot. It's just piling on him. And I think it's, I don't, I don't see their him succeeding. I think they got to find a way to move him because I just think it's it's over and it's not going to work there. First of all, Chandler, we do feel bad. Y'all are people too. You bleed just like we bleed. Okay. So I want to make sure that you know that we care about you. But, but that being said, like as a player and you're in that situation, you know, you see these videos of, of the crowd yelling at him and him coming back out through the tunnel to, to address a fan who just said something negative. When you see him doing that, I mean, he can't be helping himself in that way, right? It's not. And it's, and he should be smart enough and responsible enough to not engage, not engage bad and I at the Westbrook stuff. Like it's, it's all fans. And I agree that fans are out of pocket at half the time. They should not be able to say half the shit that they say, but, but as a professional and as, you know, a grown man, you know, you have to look at what you have to be better. You have to take the high road and it just seems like he's deflecting and he's rather put attention on anything else other than the Lakers losing in him playing poorly. It's taken a toll on him. I can tell. Yeah. I mean, he's not being put in a place to be Russell Westbrook. He's not being put in a place on the offense. He's running less pick and roll than he's ever run in his career. He's going back to his rookie year. He has the ball less than he has. And when you do that to a player, you end up with situations like that attempted to for one. He's wide open. He's in the shot. He didn't touch the ball in a while. We've all been at the gym and like, yo, our teammates aren't passing it. Next time I touch the ball, I'm throwing it up. It's, he's not immune to that. But, but to, to add to what Chandler's saying about the fans piling on, the crowd piling on, the media piling on, it's affecting the Lakers. You see it, you know, as much as we all love to say and all the players will just say, I don't look at my mentions. I don't do this. I don't do that. When you have LeBron sitting there saying, I'm not answering Russell Westbrook questions. When you have Russ, who did that last year too, going and saying, talking to the crowd, it's clearly affecting them. They're having an answer for this every single day. They're seeing these videos every single day. At some point, they have to cut bait. So they're either going to have to put him in a role where he can thrive, or they're going to have to find a place to send him so he can go do his thing. But it's, we're getting really close to the point at a return. And I know Shams, I know you want to say something about it, but luckily for you, we're going to take a quick break and we are going to come back. And when we do, Shams is going to give us the scoop. Plus Eddie's going to try to convince us that the Lakers can make the playoffs and that there's a better team in the East than the Boston Celtics. And we return on run it back. Jamal Crawford. I love when he chimes in fact that most are putting all the Lakers problems on Russ is wack. I'm telling you, every day is a deja vu session. I feel like it's last year all over again. And I don't think he's wrong at all. Welcome back to run it back. It is time to get the scoop from Shams. And the last we checked J Crowder's chilling, waiting for a place to go play. Doesn't want to play for the Suns. What's the latest on him? Shams. Well, we have a new team in the mix, the Milwaukee Bucks. I'm told have engaged in recent conversations with the Suns on a J Crowder trade. I think the Bucks and other teams around the league, including the Suns, they want to see really how these first 20 games play out before they make a move. But right now the Bucks are a new team and they have a couple pieces, whether it's a Grace now and George Hill, that could make potential sense in a deal. We'll see as the season goes on, a deal forming. But I think what we're going to see is the arms race start to develop likely in the Eastern Conference for J Crowder. The Bucks Hawks are two known suitors now. We'll see who else emerges over the next several weeks here. Oh, I can't wait. I want him to be somewhere. That's all I know. And obviously we're going to get back to the Lakers. We just finished talking a bit about Russell Westbrook. You saw Jamal put his two cents in there. What do we have any latest news from them? Well, I agree with Jamal. I don't think you can put everything on Russell Westbrook because this is a roster issue. They're shooting 21% from three-point range as a team. This is not just a Russell Westbrook shooting issue, but they're going to continue to scan options across the entire league. And one player that has become an even more serious target for them is Terry Rozier with the Hornets. They've looked at Newman this summer. And I think that's an avenue they could revisit again. They also, Michelle, had recent conversations with your Spurs on a potential deal around Josh Richardson who shot, what, 50% from three-point range this year. I'm sure you could give me a breakdown of Josh Richardson better than I can. But he's played at a good level. And I think that's another guy, a 3&D wing that they've looked into. But the big thing with them is just price. Everyone wants their two unprotected first round picks. They only have two first round picks to give the rest of this decade. So it's going to be a matter of price. And this is something that I think as we get closer to February, the Lakers are going to have to see which deal makes the most sense from a pricing standpoint. My favorite thing about that too is LeBron's like, yeah, get rid of the picks. But yeah, you're not going to be here. And then it's going to be a wasteland. So it's sort of one of those tricky situations, Shoms. Thank you so much, Chandler. I know I can't imagine what it must be like to be playing, be an active player and constantly have to hear trade rumors. Are you going to be here tomorrow? Where will you be next? What is it like waking up every day not knowing really the future? Yeah, it's distracting. And it takes just time. It takes years in the lead to just kind of understand the business side of it. But it's definitely distracting. You know, you put your time, your effort, you raise your family, you know, you buy homes, you invest into the city that invests you. And then you're here in all these trade rumors and stuff. So it's definitely distracting. Like I said, I think the older you get, the more you really understand it. I think as a player, the first question you have is where? Where am I getting traded to? You know, you don't want to go to a bad team or a bad city or a bad situation for you, depending on your role with your current teams. There's a lot of questions you have, and there's a lot of phone calls back and forth with your agent. But it's definitely distracting. And depending on your role with the team, it could linger into the locker room. It could impact games. But it's just something that you've learned to live with and you start to understand the business. You know, just get through it until it actually happens. There's no reason to think about it. Shoms, I know it's time for you to go get busy. Go, go, go discover everything. Get back to us when you find anything. We'll talk to you later. It's time now though for convince me, Eddie, you're up first again, because your job today is to convince us of some things that you may or may not believe. And the first one is convince us that the Lakers will make the playoffs. Good luck. This is a good one. I've been on the show already saying they're not going to. But I do think eventually a Russell Westwood trade happens. I do think they'll get somebody that's a better fit. Now they have to be sure not to give those picks up because they don't have their picks for the next three years. They all belong to the Pelicans because of the Anthony Davis trade. So let's not let the Pelicans have Victor Wimbyama. But I think the path to the playoffs for them is as simple as AD gets in better shape. LeBron is LeBron. And they just start winning games. They start pounding teams in the paint and they do that. I do think there's a path. Again, there's 10 playoff spots and there's at least five teams that are going to be eventually going to tank eventually the spurs and the jazz. And you know, a couple other teams are not going to want to win games anymore. So I actually do think they almost default into the playoffs. They can't waste LeBron seasons. They can't waste AD seasons. And as AD gets in better shape and starts to be a little more assertive, the wins are start rolling off. They've had some tough games. I don't know how convincing that was, Chandler. Are you convinced? I like what he said. I think it's early right now and these teams like the spurs and the jazz are accidentally winning and playing so hard that that's what's ruining the Lakers chance right now. I think the longevity of the season, it's all going to pan out and those teams that we talked about, the thunder, the spurs, the jazz, they're going to intentionally try and lose and the Lakers will not do that this year. So is there a way like I think they sneak in? I think they need to make a move regardless, whatever that is. I think they got to get off Westbrook and just keep riding this, you know, Davis LeBron train. I personally don't like their team at all. I don't like watching them play. I think they're very, very bad. But I think there's a chance, like he said, once all these other teams reality checks in and they start losing games, I do think the Lakers will be in that, you know, nine, 10 spot and then anything can happen by the way. I'm insulted by the way. I'm insulted. They have no incentive to lose. Sounds crazy to say, but they have no incentive to trade into the draft. The pelicans have their pick. They have pick swaps their next two picks. They need to get into playoffs. They need to win games. Yeah, I know that, but you're acting like there's a switch that they've got the ability to turn on off, which clearly now we've seen season and a few games in, they don't have a switch. So the idea that you're going to wait for everyone else to start losing on purpose is, well, that's not a good state to be in. Now is it at all? No, it's awful. But for what we do, Jeff's kiss. Chandler, I need you to convince us that John Morant wins the MVP. Oh my gosh, you gave me an easy one. Let me start by saying he is by far the best player on one of the best teams in the Western Conference. They will hopefully be in the top four seed. I mean, look at the guy stats right now. He's at 36, seven, four. Obviously it's early. This is a small sample size, but he's very likable. He's a fan favorite. He's going to put numbers. I think health is his only concern. And by the way, he's doing this without their second best player, Darren Jackson. So I think they're just going to continue to win games. He's going to continue to put up gross numbers, gross highlights. And he's a type of player that it's hard to root against and they're going to win games and he's going to be the main reason why. So I think if you look across the league right now, it's early. It's him Tatum game. But I think that I think the Grizzlies will continue to get better with health, with the growth of those young guys and those the depth that they have with these players of contour and, you know, a lot of these bench players, Aldama or how do you say his name? These guys are balling right now and it's because of John Moran. So I think he's a leader. I think he's the best player. He's putting up numbers and they're going to be one of the best teams. So I think that one's, I think he will win the MVP. Boom. Finish it with a fact statement. Eddie, you can. Yeah. Well, hey, we get Chandler layout, but I do, I do see the path. He's leading the league and scoring right now. He's the most exciting player in basketball and we have a lot of exciting players in this sport. He's a video game like Chandler mentioned earlier. He's must see TV. The story is going to pick up. The story is going to keep going. And if they get the one or two seed and he can scoring, you can just, we don't even have to do the ceremony. He's got it. You know, just bring the trophy to the playoff game like we used to. Yeah, I don't hate it. I wouldn't hate that at all. Eddie, okay. Maybe this one's a little bit easier. I'm not sure you tell me convince us there's a better team in the East than the Celtics. Well, I was all prime to pick the Nets and argue for the Nets here, but we saw it last night went. But I think it's the Bucks. I think they are the best team in the East. We debated yesterday whether or not the Celtics are the best team in the league. And they have an argument, but the Bucks are the Bucks. They're missing their second best player and they look dominant already. They knew they know how to build that roster around Yanis. They surround them with a big man who could shoot or two. And they surround them with small athletic guards who want to guard up. Drew Holliday makes them a championship team. We've seen that. So, yeah, I do think there is a better team than the Celtics. Shout out to the Celtics though. They look great, even though they blew that game yesterday. Yeah, that's okay. You got to lose one eventually. I think that's fine. Guys, we're taking a quick break. Get our water. Get hydrated. Will we come back? I look at tonight's biggest matchups. There's some good ones. We're going to see Luca and Zion back in action in New Orleans. And can the Suns slow down the Warriors? That's all up. Unrun it back. It is game day. Thank you, Gold State Warriors for the reminder, and they will be playing the Sun. So it's time to take a look at tonight's biggest matchups. And that is, it's Warriors at Phoenix, which was, of course, the Western Conference. So many finals that we expected didn't get. But here we are. Everyone's a little bit older. What do we expect from tonight? How about you, Chandler? You go first. Yeah, this is going to be a heck of a game. I think obviously these are the two of the top teams in the Western Conference. Like we always talk about it's early here, but this is the matchup we want to see. This is two of the powerhouses the last couple of years, healthy for the most part. I think Phoenix is going to take a step back this year. I just don't think they're going to have the stand run. And this season they've had the last couple of years. I like the Golden State Warriors in this game. But it's going to be fun. It's exciting. Anytime you get this caliber of players on the court, it's going to be exciting. There's going to be a lot of threes. You're going to run up to score. And it's going to be a heck of a game. I just think the Warriors are going to be too much for them. Eddie, you agree? I mean, they're both sitting at two and one. Is the window for the Suns? Was that it last season? Did they miss it? It might have been. You know, they have the Jake Crowder thing going on. If you look at Chris Paul in his career, this is his third goal at the Warriors, and he's not gotten any closer. So it might have closed when they got COVID for that game seven and things went where they went. The Suns likes to look decent this year. I mean, their one loss was the overtime loss to the Blazers, the powerhouse Blazers, as we know now. And that was a game. I mean, they should have won that game. You know, De'Andre made the free throw late, but you know, they have continuity working for them. I think they have a really good coach. They have Devin Booker, who is, you know, might be one of the ten best players in the league. He's amazing. I think what's worrisome for them is the slip that Chris Paul has seen have taken this year. I expect the Warriors to, like, kind of prove a point today. They didn't like losing that Nuggets game, and they were going to want to get back on the right track. Also, one of their other wins against Dallas, too, they were getting thumped by 20 and it took a game winner from Damian Lee to get that win, too. So I just, I don't see it from them this year. I think it would be exciting. I obviously think they're going to be in the playoffs and they're going to make pushes, but yeah, I got the Warriors all night. I like that point, Sandler, because I just knew Luca made that three. I just knew it. You know, Damian Lee shot like, Damian Lee has another buzzer beater when he was on the Warriors, but you lose to that. Like, come on. What are we doing? Well, I mean, you just said he had another one, but Chris Paul, you mentioned Chris Paul, slow start or beginning of, I suppose, the decline? It's inevitable. I think this is decline. Seven points a game is pretty bad, but 32% from the field is way worse. This was always inevitable with Chris. He's a really small guard. He was relying a lot on kind of just smarts. And when he lost just a little pinch of quickness and athleticism, it was going to fall off a cliff. It's, it's, it's looked bad. I mean, even in that game, in the Mavericks game, they made the run with him on the bench. So, you know, I'm a little worried about Chris Paul. It's, you know, he gets honoree. He's got that big contract. Who knows what happens with him as the season goes on. But no, I think it's, we're getting there. I mean, he's up in age, man. He's long in the tooth. Long in the tooth. Taylor, you agree? Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, the dude is, he's getting old and he's, he's just step slower and he's, he's not really knocking down jump shots. I think he still can be effective in pick and roll and plan at his pace and, you know, getting in the lane floaters, finding guys, but it's definitely, I think this is the, this is the Chris Paul that we never had to get accustomed to. And I think, you know, his better days are, you know, behind him. Oh, it's just the worst when that becomes the thing. Mavs Pelicans. I'm excited about this game, Dallas going into New Orleans. And this will be the topic I think for as long as Luca plays, quite frankly, are there enough good pieces around Luca to give him a legitimate shot at accomplishing some things this year, Chandler? Yes and no, I think he's so good that he can, he can get them there. And I love guys like Spencer. And, and I think the big move for them is Christian Wood. I mean, the guy has, he's playing very well coming off the bench this year for them. You know, and, and you could tell early on he wasn't thrilled about that. But yeah, I think this is huge for them. I think he's top five in PDR and he's so skilled. And we really haven't seen Luca play with a big like this outside of Prozingus who kind of missed a lot of time when he was there. And we've seen him put runs in hard away and guards like that. But this is the first time he's got that two man big game going on where they're having success early. And, and, and I do, I think they're a championship team. No, but I think Luca and Christian and Spencer Dinwiddie and Tim Hardaway, those guys stay healthy. I think they could, they're capable of winning a lot of games. Eddie, I know you've convinced us that John Aransy MVP, but right now Luca is still the favorite for that award. What does he have to do to snatch the hardware away from John Morant? I mean, he's Fandall odds on favorite already for a reason. We know he's going to rack up numbers. His team went to the Western Conference finals last year. They're going to win games. He's going to have great moments. Clutch always has the ball on his hands. I think he's, he's doing what he's doing. There's a chance he, when the dust settles, everybody's scoring 30 something a game. He'll end up averaging closer to triple double. If he can get a triple double, I think it's sewn up. It's doable for him. It's doable for him. I think the question of if they have enough is much more complicated, but MVP, he's going to win a few of these off stats alone. He has the ball all the time. He racks up his numbers and he's great. At the end of the day, he's great. He's great at what he does. On the other side, you've got the two and one Pelicans sitting there waiting. What, what do they do to slow down Luca and make their record a little bit better? Chandler? Yeah, this is the game I'm really excited about. They're coming off a weird opener loss to this jazz team that's trying to lose, but somehow winning. On a game winning. Yeah. So this one's fun for me. I think, you know, they're finally starting to hit the track. Is Brandon Ingram playing tonight? Do we know that? No, Brandon Ingram and Zion's questionable as of right now. Okay. So that changes a little bit. Okay. Here we go. I think they do have bodies. I think they have, you know, Herb Jones, I think it's going to, you're going to see show his length on on Luca and they're going to try and mix it up on him. It's funny. Alvarado is going to fun to see, you know, his little pesty ass all over Luca chasing him around with those two guys out. I think it's going to be tough, but man, I think the others got to be physical with Luca. They're going to try and deny him the ball, make him second or make those other guys make place to beat them. But yeah, with Ingram and Zion question rule, I don't really like their chances. Eddie, you agree? Yeah. I mean, the same. I think Herb Jones is actually his knees a little sore as well. So if Herb is out, like, I might not even have to watch this game. So, but I do like their chances, even if without Brandon Ingram, if they have Herb and they have Zion because CJ McCullum has been sensational this season. He's a great ball handler. They don't operate with a traditional point guard in that sense. They operate with a couple of playmakers with BI, with CJ, even with Zion. I also like what Jonas may be able to do to the fabrics. They're going to attack him on defense, of course, but if he's going to be able to bully them all night and keep it close, there's a way they muck this up and stay close, but I still think the Mavericks pulled it out. They're healthier. And I think they got a better player tonight. I disagree with you. I just like this Pelicans team, though, in the long run. When they're healthy, I think they're one of those teams to make noise in the playoffs. I agree. And they're fun to watch. Yeah, I've seen them in person and you can see what they've done. They've surrounded their playmakers with just lanky, athletic guys to defend. And it makes a ton of sense when you watch it out there. We got a couple more games, Wizards Pistons playing as well tonight. I know there are a lot of names in this one, but I really want to focus on Kyle Kuzma. And we've watched him his whole career. We're just trying to figure out, is this him finally fulfilling his potential Chandler? I mean, he can play. He's big. He's long. He can shoot. He can play pick and roll. He's athletic. He's trying to defend a lot more this year. I think he's a very good player. Is he a number one, two option on a championship team? I don't think so, or at least not yet. But he doesn't have to be there. They put around pretty solid pieces around him. He's got Brad Bielas going to take the majority of the shots. And Kuz is smart. Kuz played with the brawn. Kuz knows how to play off guys. He knows how to cut without the ball. He knows how to get himself shots and get open and almost to a flaw sometimes where he's forcing some bad ones. But I think he's in a good place where he's not the go-to guy, but he still can be a good player and try and go get buckets. And they're having some success early with it. And the other game tonight, Clipper is going into Oklahoma City, a game or team that hasn't won a game yet. And I think John Wall fans everywhere are very happy to see John Wall back. Eddie, are you liking what you're seeing from him? Yeah, I mean, he looks like John Wall. He's not a great jump shooter, but he's getting to the lane. He's providing some speed for that team. 16 points a game. I think it's far exceeding a lot of people's expectations. He's been telling us for two years, I can still play. You know, I'm still me. And he's came out there and showed, I'm, look, when these guys come back from these injuries or from being kind of pushing the exile, I'm just happy to see them on the court again. And John's a great guy. He's worked hard to get back on the court. It's helped overcome those injuries. Achilles is, you know, used to be a death sentence in a lot of ways. So I'm excited for him. He's back. He's not primed on wall, but he's back in the sense of, you know, he's on a playoff team and he's a big part of what they do. Guys, we're going to take a quick break up next tank watch. Plus we're going to try this again. Our on the fly parlay that it's going to hit. I know it because Ben Simmons will not be in it today. Run it back, wrap things up next. Well, it's tank watch just like every day. And Clippers Thunder talked a little bit about them. The thunder are only nine and a half point under dog. So what level of tank can we expect here? Will they make it close? And then something could happen at the end or what are we talking here, Eddie? What do you expect? Oh, this is not going to be close at all. At no point is this game going to be close. The 76ers showed us how to do this, but the thunder have been showing us how to do it for a couple of years now. They see that team with Chet and Vic. They see it right now. They have the murals painted. They have the marquee ready. They're ready. So yeah, they're not messing this up. So it's not going to be close at all. So nine and a half is a joke. You're thinking what double digits then? We might see an interesting final three minutes of this game and guys pressing up against that number in garbage time, but it's not going to be a game in that sense. Chandler, we need to come up with a system for levels of take. Like how do we determine a level of a tank game? But do you agree with Eddie? This one's, yeah, they know what they're doing. Yeah. This one should be over rather quickly. It's always tough. Like I said, when the walk-ons come in at the end of the game, it's tough because then the score can get a little diluted. But yeah, I think this one won't be close from Rip. Time to make people rich, you guys. We tried this yesterday on the fly parlay. We've got a four leg parlay. Eddie, you up first. Your first two legs are what? Yeah, I have Chris fall under 12 and a half points. Like we said, he's probably washed. It's fine. The wears don't take mercy on him. I also have Luca with a triple double tonight. If there's hopeful, there's no Herb Jones. Yeah. Nobody on that team can guard him. He's going to get his money. Okay. Chandler. So I got Warriors sons over to 26. Okay. Defense has been there for going to stay. Obviously tons of shooting on the floor, which is weird because my next one is clay Thompson under 15 and a half points. I expect a bigger game from pool stuff. I don't think clay gets it done, but I think the teams go over, but clay goes under. All right. So if all four of those legs hit, by the way, you bet a hundred bucks, you will win $4,957. Somebody has to pull this off. We're going shopping Chandler wedding gifts for you, my friend. This one seems doable. It really does. I said that yesterday and I'll probably say it every time, but this one for real. I mean it seems doable for shams for Chandler for Eddie. This has been another episode of running back. It has been fun. Enjoy all the games tonight. We'll see y'all tomorrow.