 Well, the parlay went exactly as we thought it would. Eddie ruined it, Chandler ruined it, but it's not all Eddie's fault. We'll explain later. Run It Back starts now. Run it up, do run it back, yeah. Run it up, do run it back, run it back, run it up. And welcome to our last show before Karasmas. This is Run It Back, joined, as always, by stadium insider Shams Charania, Chandler, Parsons, and Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie on the end. The parlay is at the end of the show for a reason, because we have to just get through so many things before we can tell you how awful we are at this. But we want to get things started right away with one of the games that crushed us yesterday, Wizards and Sons. Wizards with the win, 113-110. Aten had 30, 13 rebounds. And then managed to get in arguments with teammate, Macal Bridges, coach Monty Williams, and the huddle later on. This was a weird, tense, awkward situation, Chandler. What are you reading, or what are you taking from this? Yeah, there's clearly some serious issues here. And they all seem to stem from Deandre Aten. And you can even see there in the body language of that video, Aten's going back at Monty Williams and telling him to talk to Macal Bridges as well. And this all started last year in the playoffs when he got benched. And then during training camp, this season, when he's saying publicly, he hadn't talked to Monty yet. Look, this is an issue. And this is a huge issue for their team. You know, he's their second best player. And he's a young centerpiece of this team. And from everything I hear and know, a lot of people have issues with him. And he's not all the way bought in. He's not a team guy. And as you've seen in a couple of scenarios, talent can only get you so far here. So there's a reason he signed, in my opinion, in Indiana, he won it out of there. And there's issues here. And last night was just a prime example of you can't be, that if you're a real contender, you can't be the team that lets a 10 game losing streak get snapped on your home court. I don't care who's out, Devin Booker's out. Przingus was out for them. So if you want to play that game, soak in the wizards. But this was a horrible loss for a team that, you know, is supposed to be a real contender. Yeah, I'm not gonna poke fun at a book versus Przingus. I'm not gonna, I'm gonna let that one fly. But they were up 10 points in the middle of the fourth quarter at home. They were dominating this game in the second half. And that blow up is mid just killing themselves and collapsing. I think it was like a 17-2 run. I think it ended up being like a 23-6 run. It was bad. It was pretty bad. And the thing for Aitlin is, look, he was the number one overall pick. He was picked before Trey Young and Luka Duncets. He's a talent. He's an absolute talent. But there's a reason they let him wait around and restrict their free agency this summer. There's a reason his coach benched him in the playoffs very, very publicly. There's a reason this has happened multiple times. There's clearly something there or whatever it is. You know how it goes. If you wake up and you run into one of those guys, a douche, you might have run into one. But if you run into them all day long, it might just be you. So it might just be DeAndre Aitlin. Now, the fact that this is supposedly over a screen that he set and didn't set strong enough or something, like, all right, bro. Like, yeah, that's like, you know, that's like Bronx Tale. Like, yeah, it was over a parking spot, blah, blah, blah. Sure, there's a lot simmering here. You can't lose this game. I know Brad Bill just came back, but you can't lose this game and they did. And it looks terrible. I mean, there's no way around it. No, that's like I keyed your car because you left the fridge open 12 seconds too long. That's not why I did it. Okay, that's not why. But can we talk about, by the way, I'm just kidding. Can we talk about the fact that this is a team whose record always seems to be very high? And yet some of us have zero expectations for them. And then you see moments like this. You still have the J Crowder situation. They do seemingly have new ownership on the way in, which we will get to in a second. But as far as this whole package and what it looks like from the outside looking in Chandler, how worried are you and do you take them seriously as real contenders? I'm worried because you know what? The health is one thing with these guys. Cam Johnson is very important to this team. Devin Booker, obviously, campaign. They have a lot of guys that are in and out of the lineup. The decline of Chris Paul is also huge to them because he's not been playing the way he's played the last couple of years and that's hurt them. And then, yeah, you have this whole situation with Sarver who hopefully that's now gonna be in the past year soon and they'll get new fresh ownership. And the J Crowder thing we've been saying all season long, that is a huge cloud over their head. And they gotta get to the bottom of that. They gotta figure it out. And look, these guys, they're gonna win a bunch of games. They are talented. Mikhail Bridges, Devin Booker, Deodra, eight no matter what issues are going on. These guys will win games. They will be in the playoffs. And they will be a tough out. But when you see issues like this and the maturity level like this and Monty Williams, he's a class act. He's protecting Deandra Aitman in the media, but this is starting to become a trend. And this is, look, he's not talking to Bridges. He's talking to Deandra Aitman like that. This is a real issue and there's something going on that shouldn't be going on if you're gonna be a championship team. I love that you can read his lips so clearly. I'm not talking to him. I'm talking to you right now. It's like a parent moment. It's so bizarre. But Shoms, I spent yesterday reading about some billionaires. We got new owners on the horizons. Is that true? What's the latest? Yeah. So there's a billionaire named Matt Ishvia. He was a walk on at Michigan State for Tom Bezzo. He actually was part of the 2000 national championship team. He's very much a part of MSU athletics. He's a big time donor there. He helps out with NIL. He's been trying to get into ownership for a while. He's been talking to a lot of NBA teams, a lot of NFL teams to try to get involved. And he will be purchasing the sons, along with his brother Justin, for a valuation of $4 billion. It's a record price. The previous record was $2.35 billion by Joe Sy in 2019. So this is a guy that's been trying to get involved in the NBA. He loves basketball. He's got three kids from what I gathered yesterday and my intel work on him, two sons and a daughter. And he is involved with all three as far as coaching their basketball teams. So he's gonna be very involved. I think even on the WNBA side with the Mercury, but this is obviously like Chandler said, they've been waiting in Phoenix for kind of this dawn of a new era. And I think Matt Ishfield will bring that. It'll probably get approved over the next few months. By the way. That's exciting. Watch the day after this happens. Jake Crowder plays for the sons. I would not be surprised. You think so? Yeah, what are the odds of that? I mean, do we think that it will be as simple as that? That the light switch goes on and he's back? That would be weird. I mean, I wouldn't assume that, but I could definitely see him being a principal guy and he can, I could totally see him doing that. Although as a teammate, I kind of feel like, ooh, I don't know if I want you in here at that point. It's always exciting. I love to celebrate billionaires. If I can't be one, then I'll celebrate those in a hard, like young one at that. Other games that happened yesterday, this was a battle of the, well, no, we're going to Chicago Bulls and Heat, my bad. The Bulls beating the Heat, 113, 103, but this was big, right? Snapping a four game, losing streak. There's a lot of drama seemingly with Zach Levine and company, three starters, including Levine, DeRozan, Busevich, all with 20 plus. Before the game though, there was some discontent being reported, Shams, about Levine. What is going on in Chicago? Yeah, so there's, they've been managing just a disconnect on the court between Zach Levine and DeMar DeRozan. They've had team meetings set up. They've set up one-on-ones with DeMar DeRozan and Zach Levine to try to figure out how these two guys can help this team win. There's no Lonzo Ball on this team so far this year. So they're missing a guy that really alleviates the pressure. Now you have Zach Levine and DeMar DeRozan setting up the offense on most possessions before you had Lonzo Ball. So they've been managing this situation all year and I think it's only festered. They both personally like each other, but when you're not successful on the court and you're not getting any chemistry, it leads to this. And I'm told the Bulls and Zach Levine right now are just not seeing eye-to-eye and that of course is gonna lead a host of teams around the league. I think to really monitor Zach Levine, his future in Chicago, does he become available at some point here in the near future? Because right now there is a lot of skepticism around the Bulls and especially with that coaching staff. We talked about Billy Dee, Chandler's guy getting an extension, but there's even some skepticism about him because at the end of the day, it does fall on the head coach to try to optimize and get the most out of the talent because there is talent on this team. We got two All-Star wings. They got Busovic. They gave up a lot to get all three of those guys. And so the hope is that they turn it around, but right now they're really going through it. Chandler, if you were to blow this up, I mean, where Levine, first of all, would you just go ahead and deal to Rosen as well? I mean, you just really blow this thing up and start from scratch? Yeah, this is the team that kind of looked to this year that if they didn't get off to a hot start, they have the pieces that I would find interesting if I was another team. DeMarco Rosen's having a great year. He's, Zach Levine is on this huge deal and he's kind of having his struggles. Butch is a free agent this summer, probably walking. This is a team that I would blow it up. I would kind of start making a lot of phone calls every day and look, when they're playing, they're going to win games. Those three can play. They're all All-Stars. Like they're going to win games if they're talent alone. They just don't mesh together. They don't click. The spacing is kind of off with them. Patrick Williams. I'm starting to lose faith in him a little bit. I was hoping he took a big jump this year, but this is a team that they're going to lose their pick if they don't shut it down and start taking the top four protected pick. So this is a team that I would definitely, you're not a contender. You're not going to be a contender this year. You just signed your coach to an extension when clearly there's issues with him and the guy you just saw in the longest deal with. So they're kind of all over the place. And last night, it was good to see them get a win and the heat or a whole nother story. But yeah, I would seriously consider moving one, two, or all three of those guys and start going for the victor sweepstakes. You know, Chandler, I want to talk about, oh, sorry. Go ahead, Eddie. I was just going to say, I like how Zach did media yesterday and didn't deny anything. He didn't admit anything, but he didn't deny anything. And he's also quoted in the stories. There's only so much he could deny. There's no take that, Shom's moment. They beat the heat without Jimmy Butler. They were down early. They were down in half time. It wasn't like they played out of their minds. The big three, quote unquote, they ended up holding it off in the end. But yeah, I like how they all pretty much is like, yeah, that stuff pretty much happened. Yeah. You know what it is, Eddie? It's like a big three, like the Wizards. Like they're all three good players, but I don't love them together. Like they're not a championship big three. Yeah, there's no OK one here either. There's not a superstar on this team. There's some good players, some former All Stars. There's no top 10 guy. So that's why you need a point guard on this team though. Like in my opinion, like having a guy like Lonzo Ball, he made the game so much easier for all of them. It's unfortunate that he hasn't been there for the entire calendar year. I mean, starting January, he hasn't played in a year. So it's unfortunate that this has happened as far as the Lonzo situation. But this team, there's really no excuse. They're too talented. Like Chandler said, like individually, they've got the talent to be good. And that's why I think a lot of people are looking at the coaching staff at a Billy Donovan and wondering and thinking about how can he better optimize this group. OK, so then there it is, right? Chandler, you obviously know Billy Donovan more than anyone. And there have been sort of talks and talking heads remarking on how this team doesn't even really like each other. And the chemistry is obviously off. I don't know if Ball coming back fixes any of that or a little of that. But at the end of the day, how much can a coaching staff force guys to have chemistry with each other? Or are we, as fans, putting too much stock into what chemistry actually is? Yeah, I mean, coaches have a huge role here. They can set up team events, team dinners on the road. They can have team meetings. They can do all that stuff. But at the end of the day, if Jordan Pool and Draym want to have a beef, they're going to have to figure that out as adults. Same thing with Aten and Bridges. And same thing here. These guys are not young anymore. They're vets in the league. They've been through this before. And in my eyes, the Bulls just kind of said, look, we're signing Billy D. We're sticking with him. He's our guy moving forward. So you need to figure it out. I think they all are aware that they're tradeable. And it's just everything's exposed when you're losing. And this team is struggling. And it kind of shines a brighter light when you're not winning games. And that's what's happening to them. And like Shyam said, like Lonzo Ball, they need a point guard. They have two wing scores and a decent stretch five. But they need someone. They need a Jalen Brunson. They need a Lonzo Ball. They need a Halliburton. They need someone to kind of set up the offense, slow everything down, get everybody in a huddle. And they don't really have that. Just a bunch of wing isos, Levenes, Jack and Threes. And he's not making them at a high clip. And so like I said, it's just not working. And the future with the pick here going to Orlando, it's dicey. That's big. That's actually big. It's a bummer, too. Trading is the best. Imagine trading all these guys, though, Chandler. And then you still get like the fifth or sixth trick and you have to give it up to Orlando. Like imagine being in that war room on draft night. If you're the if you're the bulls from an office, like you're probably like just throwing your your remote at the TV when when Orlando's about to pick two guys in the lottery. That's how people lose jobs. Yeah, that's that's not good at all. But it just bonds me out because the city's one of the best places to play and to live. And I mean, Shams, you know, like I just it should be better. This whole thing should be better. But if Zach Levine needs to go somewhere, I don't know. Eddie, where do you want to see him go? Name just one team now. OK, there you go. Let's move on. That's the easy setup on a T right there to the Western Conference. We journey. Here we go. This was a this was a sexy matchup on paper. Yoakage 13, 13 and 13. Good luck leading his team to a blowout blowout win over the Grizzlies. Ja did have 35 Aaron Gordon with 24 all five Nugget starters in the double figures. This was a very interesting test of what's going on in the Western Conference right now. So I ask you, Eddie, first, who do you trust a little bit more in this one Nuggets or Grizzlies? I know that they just got blown blew out yesterday, but I'm still going with the Grizzlies. We saw what they did in the playoffs last year. We saw what John Morant can do in a playoffs series. And we saw their defense translate as well. You know, the Nuggets got off the hot start in this game and kind of just never let up. It is home games, obviously a little bit of a difference there. And, you know, it is what it is that the Grizzlies are missing probably their second best player. But no, I'm still going with the Grizzlies. I'm still going with that offense that Ja can create. And yeah, I mean, you know, I have I'm going to continue to have the same issues with the Nuggets as I've always had all season long until I can see Nikola Yoakage not have to drop on defense and be able to defend a pick and roll because that's what he's going to face in the offseason and in the postseason. And that's what's going to kill them every time. Yeah, for Denver, it's their defense. I think last night was the third time all season long that they kept a team under 100 points. They defended the three point line very well. This is a huge game. We know what they can do offensively. Yoakage most triple doubles ever for a center like the guy can do everything. And the way he gets defensive rebounds and brings the ball up the floor like a point guard initiating offense is something we've never really seen from a center. And Jamal Murray getting his legs back, Porter getting back. And last night, these guys are flying around. I text a group chat. It must have been a record for the most dunks by a single team in the game. These guys Christian Brown, Bruce Brown, Jeff Green still has these crazy bunnies. So they have it offensively. It's just defensively. Yoakage is kind of an issue. They don't clamp. They give up a lot of threes. And when they lock in, they're 3-0. And they don't give up 100 points. So clearly that's a recipe for success for them. And they can somehow find a way to dial that in. They're a contender. But it's tough. In a series, I'm with Eddie. I'd probably still go gris, especially when they get Desmond Bain back. I also love that Yoakage is just some old school past generation. He doesn't like how the other players are dressing. So he puts on a Vaughnvillian outfit. I love the whole vibe that he's throwing out there. But as far as passing is concerned, it's just beautiful to watch. And then you take into consideration, he's a giant. Where is he on the list of passers in the league right now for you, Chandler? I mean, he's up there. And especially, I think we give him obviously more credit because he's a big. And we usually don't see people drop dimes like this. But it's unbelievable. You can put them anywhere on the floor. You can have them setting screens, using the screens, putting them on the elbow, his no look. He's just got a great feel. And most guys, they don't play like this. And you can tell, and a good assist and an extra pass gets him going more than a bucket. He never really forces horrible shots. He plays within the offense. And he is the offense. So he's top five passer for sure. And maybe top three, maybe the best passer. He's incredible. Wow. Can I just say, Yoak, if you don't have no drip, just say that it's fine. But you can just be the old guy. How dare you? It doesn't have to be like these kids thing. But is he the best passer in the league? I mean, LeBron's still in the league. Chris Paul's still in the league. I actually, Trey Young might be the best passer in the league. As crazy as it sounds. I've said before, I think his ability to thread the needle and his ability to see the floor is probably his best tool in my eyes. But Yoak is just up there. I mean, and the way you see it from the big man and then the spot he does it from, whether it's in the elbow, the post, or he does it on a perimeter, that doesn't make passes silly. I think the other guy to mention here is Luca. And that behind the back pass he made the other night is just like one of a kind. But he's up there. He has to be mentioned. And it's what makes their offense turn. And I'm actually surprised he hasn't led the league in assists as much as he has the ball and as much as he creates for that team. So Denver's one in the West. Nicola Yoakic is, I think, tie with Luca Dodgers for most triple-doubles in league as a center. I mean, I think now is probably the time where we talk about Nicola Yoakic as a three consecutive MVP award winner. I mean, potentially that you got to put his name. I think Jason Tim's got a lot of love this year. But I think you have to talk about Nicola Yoakic. And I saw this team in the bubble. So I might be a little jaded in terms of their ceiling. But I think if Jamal Murray's healthy, Nicola Yoakic is playing at a high level, I think this team either has the same ceiling as the Grizzlies or maybe even better because they've been battle tested in that moment, although it did come in the bubble. I do think this team has the ability, they just have to put everything together. It does feel like there's a ceiling. Let me ask, would you and your media brethren give this man three MVPs in a row? That just seems like a barrier to me in my head. But I don't have a vote. You have a vote. You have a sway here. I mean, I was literally talking on another show at one point about there's, you know, voter fatigue when it comes to MVP. But I think if a guy, if they get a number one seed and he's putting up just these historic numbers, I mean, he's almost averaging a triple double. I mean, you have to give him a hard look as tough as that might be for voters, I assume. Yeah, and not just- When you're voting the last two years, shouldn't matter. This is the MVP of this season. I- But it's hard. It is very hard. But like Shams just said, if this guy's the number one seed with these numbers, it's hard not to vote for him. But then it's the argument of like, well, Steph should have gotten more and LeBron should have gotten. See, I think we just look, we all have ADD to a sense, right? We're like, we get bored so fast. It's hard. Oh, let's just keep giving it to the same guy. No, but then I think to myself, does he show up wearing this? Because if he does, it changes the entire game. This man is rocking an MVP look. What's wrong with you, Eddie? Look at him. You're not feeling good? Is that a powder blue turtleneck? Is this what we're doing here? Maybe. With the plaid suit. I guess, bro. I personally like the turtleneck. That's clean. With the blazer more than the tie, but I just don't like the grumpy old man, like, ah, these kids in their jeans. Oh, I love it. I love it. He's like, oh, he's back for it. But he wears suits to games though. Like, that's his thing. I want to see Eddie G rocking that to a Nets game. That's what that's. I mean, I could pull it off. I just don't want to. Do it. When the Spurs go to Brooklyn, wear a suit. I want to see it. I want to see Yolkets in some Amiri. Like, let's both swap. Like, let's see what he does. Let's put Yolkets in some Huda Saaj war. I want to see how he looks in that. He's just, he's old school. He's an old soul inside of a young man's body. And it's kind of fun to watch. The one game that I think we all knew the outcome of last night was this one, right? Warriors, Nicks. Nicks just not even a problem. Handing the Warriors a big fat L. They won their eighth straight. Jalen Brunson with 21. He was just one of six Nicks guys and double figures. I don't know, Chandler. I know you're on the other coast, but you ready to jump on this bandwagon? I mean, listen, they're playing very, very well. This is a, you know, keep the streak alive, eighth straight. And like you said, this is a balanced attack. When they got guys like Emmanuel Quigley scoring 22 off the bench, they're tough to beat and Grimes is hitting shots. And we all know about the big three, but I just think this team goes as far as Julius Randall goes. I think if he can kind of separate himself as an actual bona fide star and go to guy, which he's shown flashes of, I'll start believing more. But in my eyes, there's so many good teams in the East this year. And same thing with this big three. It's like Randall Brunson and Barrett. I like all their games. I just don't think they're an elite big three. I don't think they're a contender, but they took advantage of a banged up team last night. The Warriors, they're horrific on the road and they have their own issues. But yeah, this was a big win for them. And a blowout, especially going on a back to back, they didn't play that many minutes last night. So this was big, but I don't know if I'm drinking the juice yet. Yeah, look, I'm I'm a little biased. And this is a fun win for the next step. Step was in the building. He wasn't on the court, but he was in the building. And then that's, you know, you feel like you beat him a little bit. But I think this is an indictment of the Warriors more than anything. And if I'm if I'm we're talking about MVP, this is the kind of stuff that gains an MVP vote for me. The Warriors are abysmal without Steph. They look awful. Clay had another terrible shooting night. He's shooting less than 40% from the field for the season, let alone three point. You kind of thought Jordan Poole would step up a little bit, but he didn't have the greatest night himself. They look terrible and they look talent depleted, which is even worse. It's like you came into the season thinking they had depth. They had these young guys who were going to step up and be better this year with Jonathan Comingo, with Moody and obviously James Weissman. And now you're here two months into the season going, yeah, I don't know if these guys can play NBA basketball. So I think this is more about them. Shout out to the Knicks for taking care of business, obviously. And shout out to Reggie Miller for giving Isaiah Hartstein the Yokech anointment yesterday, calling him East Coast Yokech. But this is about the Warriors. This is about the Warriors being really bad right now without Steph and Andrew Wiggins. And yeah, I mean, hopefully they sit all their guys tonight and they let the other New York team have a nice easy win as well. And they look forward to Saturday and prime time and Christmas because that's going to be a game for them. And maybe Shoms knows the riskbers are that Andrew Wiggins will be back maybe this weekend. And will it matter? He's definitely close. I think once his road trip is over, I would expect Andrew Wiggins to at some point be back in line pretty shortly. That would be good news because they were out scored. What is it? 33 to 14 in the fourth quarter. I am also still in the school of thought that it's one of the only teams, if the only team that can turn on a light switch, although I'm starting to have doubts now with Steph out, Chandler, do you think there's, if you had to put a percentage on their chance of repeating, what would you do here? This is tough because I'm with you. This is a team that I'm not going to count out. And when Wiggins does come back and Steph Curry comes back, this team is very capable of repeating again. So it's just defensively. You can't give up 132 points to the Knicks. And if Steph Curry missing, it's got to come somewhere else besides Jordan Poole. Like he's kind of stepped up last two games with the scoring, but I just don't know, I don't know where it's going to come from, that their entire need of Wiggins coming back. Dreymon Green can't really score and do that. He even said in the pregame last night, like just because guys are out, that doesn't mean I'm going to force shots and start doing the, you know, trying to carry the offense. That's not his game. It's not, it's not, he can't do that. So these young guys, they've had reps, they've had minutes. I played Thompson's got to be better. He's got to start being more efficient. And I think he will, but it all gets coming down to Steph and Wiggins with those guys healthy. I would not, I think they're probably the best team in the West with those guys healthy, but it's just they, they have just taken us on a roller coaster this year. Yeah, it'd be hard to be a Warriors fan right now. It's a lot, but I like to do these hindsight genius move moments. And Quentin Grimes was one of those guys that was deemed untouchable in any trade talks for Donovan Mitchell by the Knicks. So I ask you, Shoms, how smart do the Knicks look right now after the night he had last night for not wanting to trade him, keeping him? So you're smart in wanting to keep Quentin Grimes, he's a player, like he can play on both ends of the floor. That's the guy that you want as part of your program. They drafted him, they've developed him. And that's not something you say, you know, about the old regimes of the Knicks. Like, and so that's why, you know, it was, I don't know if they're contender to win it all, but to make it a playoffs two out of three years for Tom Thibodeau, that is a feat for the Knicks and developing players that Quentin Grimes is a feat. The thing that I look at, Michelle, is like, they were, and I report at the time, RJ Barrett, Emmanuel Quickly, two first round picks, multiple second round picks, was really their final offer to Utah. All they needed was either Quentin Grimes or another first round pick. And I believe Utah wanted to move forward with that deal. If you didn't trade a first for Kam Reddish, who is a good young player, just not of use for the Knicks right now, you don't trade a first for Kam Reddish last year. You have another first to use in that trade. At that point, you don't have to give up Grimes, you get Donovan Mitchell. So, you know, just, it's a lot about how you maneuver, how you make trades. And I think, you know, not having that one extra first round pick clearly ended up biting a little bit. Also, it's easy to say now, cause the year Donovan Mitchell is having, but like I would trade it. Every single person on that roster for Donovan Mitchell is like, Grimes, listen, Grimes is a good player. He's averaging eight points a game. He can shoot the ball like he's solid. We're talking about Donovan Mitchell. I would have done the RJ Barrett trade. I would have thrown Grimes. I would have thrown, I would have thrown a Tibbeta, whatever I needed to do to get that guy. It's easy to say now, cause he's great ballin, but you get a chance to get that kid and you don't put Quentin Grimes in the trade. I'm sorry, that was not smart. They saw something. And besides, you never know, it's not guaranteed that you get the same Donovan Mitchell situation. You know what I mean? Like great parts don't always add up. Or at least that's what I'm learning. Should Celtic's fans hit the panic button? I don't know. It might be time. Plus for the Sixers about to be full strength. Finally, all that when Run It Back returns. Run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up. Welcome back, Shoms. We got to talk to Sixers fans out there about Tyrese Maxi. Do we have updates on when he may return? So he's making good progress from what I'm told with that small fracture in his foot. And he's going to have a couple more workouts this week to see whether he can make a return by Christmas or whether his return is going to fall on the road trip right after Christmas. And so I think the Sixers will get a better sense and really determine as this week goes on as far as when Tyrese Maxi will be back in the lineup. They have not ruled out Christmas quite yet, but he'll have workouts this week to really show up exactly when he's going to be back. But clearly it seems like he's on the right track to be back in the lineup sooner rather than later. Turn a good spot, kind of quietly doing their thing and then he returns, that's big help. How about Derrick Rose? You recently sat down with him. What did he have to say? I think the interesting thing with Derrick Rose is he's the guy that's been in the rotation in some form or fashion, obviously his whole career. He went from MVP to rotation player, six man starter. Like he's played every hat. Now he's playing a new hat. He's just the veteran leader on that team. He's not in the lineup. He's not in the rotation. He's really just riding the bike, spending time around the team during the games. But I think in talking to him, he is embracing that role. He wants to play, but he's also embracing it. There are teams that could make a deal potentially with the Knicks as the year goes on to get Derrick Rose. But he's seen players in the past kind of phase out from the league and really want to start and play big minutes near the back end of their career. I think he's trying to break that mold and be a veteran leader right now. Well, that's saying a lot actually. That would be hard to do. Ego-y Shoms, thank you so much. Have an enjoyable, wonderful Christmas weekend. And we will see you bright and early Monday morning. Merry Christmas. I don't know, Eddie. You want to just pay me millions to sit on a bench. Oh man, that's an easy one. All right, time to hit the panic button. We're going to start with the Wizards. Look, I know they got a win, but prior to last night, they were what? On a 10 game losing streak. Not the best place to be, sitting 12th in the East. Eddie, you hitting the panic button on this team? I'm going to say no for a few reasons. One, the standings are just jumbled in general. They can make up that ground. They can get into the play-in if that's what they want to do. And they can be a playoff team. I think they are solid set up when they have everybody healthy and can win some games. The other reason is, they have two of the most tradable assets in the league right now. So if they do want to blow it up, they can get a nice haul for Kristaps Porzingis. They're going to get something nice if they decide to trade Kyle Kuzma, even with his cap number. They're going to get some picks out of that, but they'll get some rotation guys. So I'm not hitting the panic button. They can go either which way they want and they have a ton of opportunity to do it. Everybody's going to want Kyle Kuzma with the way he's looked, his playoff experience, and the ability to then sign him this summer to a bigger deal than everybody else. And then Porzingis, basically the quintessential stretch five. He's had a great season so far. I think he's really broke out of his shell and kind of got over the Luca years. And so yeah, if they want to blow it up, they have plenty of opportunity. So no panic beer, they're in a good spot. Very chill. You agree, Shaylor? I mean, I like their flexibility. I like their pieces, but I'm only panicking just because it's not good enough. It's not going to contend. They're possibly not even going to make the play in. Like Eddie said, the standings, you can be two games from two and two games from out. It's too early now to tell, but I'm panicking just because like I've always said, this is a good big three. These are talented players. I love Brad Biel. I love Kuzma's game. And Porzingis is showing me a lot this year. It's just not an elite core. It's not a contender in the East. And like I said, Kuzma's ballin', he's going to get a bag. Porzingis is playing very, very well and I've loved Bradley Biel when he's healthy. So I'm panicking just because I just don't think they have enough to contend in the East, let alone in the NBA. All right, so the blow up could be happening. How about Toronto? They've lost sixth straight. This was another team that had untouchables in the trade market before the season started. One and seven in that division. Are you hitting the panic button on the Raptors, Chandler? I am. They are full blown and blow up territory. They've lost sixth straight. The team is in disarray. They have no real path to being a contender either. And but they have young talent to build with and they have vets that they could probably get a lot of assets for. And the reason I liked this team early on is they were so balanced. They had all these switchable pieces. I love OG. I love Scotty Barnes. I love Siakam. But now it's like, you know, Van Vleet's going off for 40. It's a one man attack. Siakam's going off. It's not that bad. It's kind of like a one man show on any given night now. And that's not what kind of gave them success. So I'm panicking just because again, like it's not working, they're struggling, but they do have flexibility because they do have trade assets and they do have young guys that they can build around moving forward. Yeah, I'm panicking because this team was thought to be much better this year. Maybe not a tier one contender, but they coasted into the playoffs last year and they showed that championship medal or whatever you want to call it that they were supposed to be much better than they are. And they're competitive, which is probably really frustrating for them, but they're just not winning these games. So yeah, there has to be some panic. And like Chandler said, Pascal, OG, even Fred, those guys are super tradable and they're going to be very intriguing for teams out there kind of licking their chomps, waiting to see if they'll be available. And I don't think they should be, but if they are, there's going to be an arms race out there to get those guys. Yeah, there were a lot of written pieces, I think in the last couple of days about the value of OG Annobe and what people might be able to get for him. So that could be interesting if it starts to speed up. Eddie, going to you next on this one first, Anthony Davis, we know is out indefinitely. The Lakers now hit the road for six of their next seven. I'm assuming panic button, yeah. Oh, of course. I mean, the panic button has been pressed. We're jamming it. It's broken. It's like, it's broken. Yeah, like the letters on the paint that say panic are kind of chipping off at this point. I think their issue is two-fold. One, obviously they don't have what I think is their best player and they really have no way to overcome that with their depth. But to the team and directly ahead of them, the Warriors and the Mavericks, you got to imagine they're going to be better than the Lakers over the stretch. The Mavericks have been very disappointing, but they're still better than the Lakers. Even the Warriors, as they figure out their month and change missing their best player, they're still a better team than the Lakers despite what they put up yesterday. And so how are the Lakers going to make up ground? Like it's not like teams are just faltering around them. If anything, they're keeping pace with them and they're keeping them in the 11 and 12 seed, which is according to my math, that's not enough to make the play-in. So yeah, I'm panicking and the issue for them is there's really no exit route. Even with the Russell Westwood trade, there's no exit route to completely tank or to get any better. So they're just stuck. They're middling and there's nothing they can do about it. Stuck. Stuck is rough. I agree, like every team above them is better and every team above them wants to be in the playoff. So it's tough and literally the only reason they're even in this 12 spot is because AD played like at MVP for two weeks and still they didn't make up much ground. So I agree, it's just not a good team and missing him is going to be detrimental for the next month or however long it is. However long it is. They're only half a game above the Thunder and we both think, all three of us think the Thunder are a better team. I mean, there certainly look better right now. That's for sure. The one team on this list I think for today that legitimately is a contender and seems to be having a moment right now is the Boston Celtics. Worst offensive rating in the month of December, four and five record. Panic button time for this team, Chandler. No, not for me, but I mean, listen, this is a little concerning. Their schedule got a little harder. They went on a six game road trip. They literally spent an entire month basically on the road and Tata missed one of those games and then they were brutal against Orlando that one night. But look, they made a deep playoff run last year exhausted in the finals. They started off hot this year. Eventually a team is going to hit a wall and I think that's all this is. I think they're very talented. I think they do it on both sides of the ball and they just kind of hit a little wall here but there's no panic. It's them and the Bucks and the East and they're going to be there at the end. So this is just a little blip on their radar and I'm sure they'll figure it out here soon. Yeah, I'm not hitting the panic button. Maybe the concern button. Like Chandler said, these are the ups and downs of the season. I think what we saw in this month of basketball is their role players who were shooting out of this world have kind of regressed to the mean just a tad and you get that. But yeah, they're probably the most talented team in the league. They're the favorites in the East, I believe, even above the Bucks. So yeah, concern button, sir, but it's not even all-star weekend. So yeah, your panic button is silly and we laugh at it. Good point, guys. Up next, Chandler and Eddie make their all-star picks. There are some surprises and Harley's coming up at some point when we return. America's number one sportsbook just got even better because you can now bet on horse racing directly in the sportsbook app. Not only can you place bets on live horse racing, but you can watch horse races live right from the app. We make it easy to bet on horse racing with races going off every five minutes, free picks and easy tutorials to help you learn about horse racing. Bet on horse racing today directly in the Fandall Sportsbook app or learn more at fandall.com slash horse racing. So in case you stayed off social media yesterday and you didn't see these 7,000 reminders, all-star voting began yesterday. All the teams are in on it. We're gonna get your starters now. Chandler, why don't we start with the Eastern Conference and your starters? Yeah, look, I have a lot of issues with the way that they do this. I don't think the voting should start for another month and I hate that you gotta do two guards and three forwards but whatever, here we are. My back court, I like Jaylen Brown is on Mitchell. They're both having fantastic years and if you notice here, the five guys I have are all on the top four winning teams in the East. So I think you gotta reward that. I don't think there's any way the fans don't vote in Tatum, Giannis and Durant. And then I rewarded Jaylen Brown because he's been solid all year. He's averaging crazy numbers and they're a one or two seed all year long and I think that's part of being an all-star. Did you have any hesitation with not putting Embiid in? I mean, he is leading the league in points per game, rebounds more than KD. Yeah, you know what? If it was just the five best players this year so far, I would take out Jaylen Brown and I would put in Joel Embiid and have just Donovan Mitchell and then those three forwards and then Embiid. But because of the format, I had to either go with KD, Giannis and Tatum over Embiid and I just, I think that's who the fans will vote in. I think he's missed, you know, eight or nine games and again, it's weird to me. Like I think that all-stars should be the best five players. Why put a cap? Why put a position? Like it is what it is, but with the format they have, I went with Jaylen Brown just because I simply had to put a second guard and outside of Donovan Mitchell. I don't know who in the world else would be in there. That is fair. We talked so much about positionless and then here we are. But Eddie, does yours look the same? Do you have any differences? Well, what's funny Chandler says outside of Mitch is he a little room be there because I have a guy I think should be there. Kyrie Irving, 26 points a game. Actually the same amount of points a game as Jaylen Brown. I'll say this, like I think of Jaylen more as a front court forward guy. So maybe that's why I didn't go with him there, but it also might be, you know, I just like Kyrie. I didn't put in beat either. And I'll say the reason why, I don't want to see any center in the All-Star game. Like even Jolo in beat as nimble as he can be, just keep them out, like do something else for centers. Like give them a jacket or, you know, take them out or whatever. Keep them on the floor in the All-Star game. I want to see these guys running up the floor, dunking the ball, making half court shots, cross people over. So no centers for me. I'm sorry. At least in the East, I had to give one of the West had no choice. But yeah, I got the pretty much same team as Chandler. I think it's pretty set in stone. I do think Jason is a nice substitute for Kyrie, if need be. Hold on. So you are disputing the fact Brown's got slightly better numbers, but your excuse is not your homerism. It's that you think of him as a different position. Is that what I'm- No, I definitely thought of him as a front court player when I thought of this. And I think he's an All-Star. I think he's a legit All-Star. I think it was an injury replacement the only other time he made it. I think he's definitely in this year and should be and deservingly so. But yeah, I wanted two actual point guards for my guard position. Chandler, do you think that Kyrie picks a locker? Where are we on that? I mean, by the way, it's not outrageous. Like his numbers are very good. He's a critical part. I just, you know, he's missed a lot of time and I don't think it's gonna happen. I don't think he's gonna get very many votes from fans either. That would be interesting. But yeah, like in my head, Kyrie Irving is an All-Star. He's a star. I actually think his fan vote might shock us. I have a funny feeling it's gonna go supporters, very contrarian, I think. I hope he's the captain. I hope he's the number one- I'm saying, I wouldn't even be surprised if that happened. Chandler, Western Conference All-Star starters, there you go, what do you have? Yeah, again, this is a whole format thing because I would not put LeBron James as an All-Star here. I would, I can't reward a guy in the 12th seed. I would put Devin Booker and move Luca to like the three here, but again, it is what it is. This is the format. I got Jha and Luca in the backcourt, both having outrageous crazy years, putting up nice numbers. And then the frontcourt of Zion Yokic and LeBron. Same thing, Zion's gotta be here. He's pretty much been on the best team in the West. Up and down, all year long dominating. Yokic, we talked about the centers, but he's top three at MVP. He's gotta be starting in the All-Star game. And then LeBron is LeBron and he's gonna get a bunch of votes and his numbers are awesome. But it's, again, he's the 12th seed. So if the format was here, I think Devin Booker should be an All-Star starter over LeBron, but I was forced to kind of go with three forwards here. What about Steph? Did you hesitate at all? Was that a hard one? Yeah, like if the All-Star game was tomorrow, Steph would be starting by far, but he's about to miss at least a minimum of a month. And there's just no chance that he's gonna be able to, I mean, he might still get voted in, probably because it's fame and his credentials, but missing a month or over a month of the first three months, you shouldn't be allowed to be an All-Star. Starter. Yeah, that's a lot. A starter at least. Eddie, your Western Conference. I'm gonna assume there's a difference. Maybe you put Kyrie in this one too or no? Do we figure that out? I tried to. I tried to. The voting system wouldn't let me. So I went with Devin Booker. Oh, okay. I think I was on the high from the 58-point game. I think Josh has also missed quite a bit of time. And I just think Book is ready to start an All-Star. I think he's that guy. He's one of the best players in the league. I think he's an MVP candidate. It's crowded field at the moment. I went with Luca and as much like Chandler, I almost forgot about Steph because I know he's going to be out for a month and change. And I know he might not even be ready to play in that game. Who knows? But yeah, obviously Steph would be here above Luca, if need be. I think a dark horse to start in this game, should we get enough injuries and the like? I want to see Darren Fox in this game. I want to see him, maybe not starting, but I want to see him in the game. I want to see Sacramento getting some love. He's been incredible all season long. So yeah, that's my team for now. Did anyone, and I guess I understand the injury is going to be a part of it, too. Did anyone think about AD? Maybe instead of Brown? Nothing. He's been great, but he's just missed many games. There's no way around it. All right, fair enough. I'll give you that. We'll take a break. You know what's up. You know what's coming up. It's 9.51, which can mean only one thing. How did we do in our parlay? And why am I the best when we return? Run it back, run it back, run it back, run it back. Santa Barclay is coming to town and he's delivered $20 million in gifts this holiday season to all FanDuel customers. It doesn't matter if you've been naughty or nice. St. Chuck has something for everyone. Just check your FanDuel app from today through Christmas Day for no sweat, same game parlays, casino bonuses, and all sorts of stuff that'll fill you with holiday cheer. Speaking of holiday cheer, let's see what we did last night. Shall we, gentlemen? We had a three leg parlay. It was my first ever dipping my little toe into that pool. My goodness, what fun it is, guys. I don't know why you think it's so hard. Look at this. Flammo. Got him. You know what, I just, Eddie, can you please share? Share your night because the 26 and 1 half is key here for Jordan Pool. What did he end up with? This is like, look, this is shame on my face right now because I just knew it was going to go like this. Beto was going to be the only one to get it right. And we were both going to get it wrong. At this point, like my dog could have pressed random buttons and picked more picks, right, than me. I don't know, if you watch that game, Jordan Pool, he got like a really lucky foul at the end of the third quarter and got up to 26 points. The wiers were awful. And so Kirk benched his starters like a minute into the fourth quarter and JP sat there on that 26 points. He missed one free throw on the night as well. He only missed five free throws all month. Why do we do this? This is, this is awful. You are the, you're tortured. This is, you're a tortured soul. Okay, all right, this is good. The good news is Eddie, today's Wednesday. So we can do ours for tonight and then we have three to four days and a whole holiday to get over it. So go. I'm going with the bulls over the Hawks. I'm taking the points. I'm taking the redemption tour against Shamsaranya and his reporting. So yeah, I got them, which means the Hawks probably blow them out. So there you go. 40, 40 point win. I like the body language is awful, by the way. Chandler, do you have any more positivity in your pick? Yeah, I mean, I got the nicks. They blew them out last, the warriors out last night. They didn't play high minutes and the raptors are really, really struggling. I'm riding the nicks train here. Wow, confidence. I like it. Just, I'm riding the train here. Okay, I'm going with, I'm actually picking a Lakers thing here, which is very weird for me, but Lonnie Walker, it's a 15.5 points. He's gonna have the over on that. Why? Simply because he has to. Otherwise what else is gonna happen in that game? So that is my pick for that. This is what you would do. This is what Spurs pick mask as a Lakers pick. I know, I know. It's really weird, you guys. It's really weird. Christmas is coming up. Any good gifts that we're giving, getting real quick. Nothing? Look at you guys, you guys. I'm probably sending like Starbucks gift cards to everybody. I'm no good at Christmas. Those are great gifts. Wow, what a peppy ending to our Christmas show. Enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Hope it's safe and wonderful. See y'all on Monday morning.