 Oh, the Hall of Fame has never looked better. Greg Popovich. Oh, we're not talking about that. I'll show. Okay. Sorry. Run it back. Starts now. Run it up. Run it back. Run it up. Run it back. Run it back. Run it up. Yep. This is Run It Back. And Shams, I mean, we'll get to Chandler and Eddie. That's important. But Shams is coming to us live from the greatest statue of the greatest player of all time. Shams is at the United Center because he can be. I mean, do we have to do any of it? No. We don't. Shams, good morning. Chandler, Eddie. Also, good morning to you guys. I mean, that might be the greatest shot ever taken. Well done, sir. Well done. All right. We're going to get right into things. Is it because I'm in it, Michelle? Or no. Oh, yeah. I mean, is there anyone who's been it? I can't tell. It's really, it's very artsy. The lighting is very nice. You've got, you've got good things happening right now. Let's talk some basketball, shall we? How about Celtics and Wizards winning this one? I don't know what's going on on the screen right now, so I'm just going to keep talking like I know what's going on. But here we go. Wizards won this one. Pretty big 130, 111. It's kind of an embarrassing loss, quite frankly, for Boston. But the Wizards didn't have Kuzma. They didn't have Beale. They just didn't have a lot of people and they somehow won this game. Big, big game. But Shams, let's start with you. Kristops, is he in for another big payday in his career? Yes. I'm told that the Wizards and Kristops are in serious, active conversations on a potential new contract extension that would have him potentially opting out of his deal. He's eligible for a four-year, maximum $180 million extension. They have a deadline of late June to come to an agreement on this potential extension. So he has the ability, he has a $36 million player option. He can opt out of his contract and a free agency. But I'm told there is mutual interest in both sides on getting a deal done. And when you look at the Wizards, bigger picture. They're the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference in the playoffs. They're playing for lottery balls at this point. Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma have missed the last several games with injuries. I would not be surprised if both were essentially shut down for the rest of the season and do not play. And Porzingis has had a massive season, a rejuvenated season, an all-star caliber year. So look for him to potentially get a new deal done. And Kuzma is a guy where if he could extend, he would extend as well right now. But he's got a $12 million player option. I expect him to potentially reach a new deal himself with the Wizards. I think there's a shared goal there. So right off the bat, I mean, I'm curious, Chandler's perspective on just this Wizards team, they clearly seem to be going all in on this big three of Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma, Christos Porzingis, even though this team is out of the playoffs, do you want to go all in with this team? Clearly they feel like this is the direction they're going to go in. Yeah, it's tough, right? Because they're not winning. They have a great core. These three players seem to be finding very efficient. 50% from the field, 39 from three. He looks like the player that we thought he was going to be in Dallas with Luca. And I don't see them getting anything else, right? So why not build with this core? They kind of can do it all. Their window is now. They can mix up with some draft picks of young guys kind of built around these guys. I don't think that's really a destination. These three are going to draw free agents and they're going to be like a contender but they're going to be able to compete. And these three guys have shown that they can have big, big games. They can impact winning and they all deserve a big payday. And I think they're going to get it. But this game last night it just shows you, man, how weird the NBA is. This team's shorthanded has no business beating the Boston Celtics last night. And it happens and there's really no easy nights. There's no off nights and Przinga's last night, he looked like an all-star. He looked like a contract extension. He's still young. He's still has plenty of years left to play. So he deserves it. Kuzma deserves it. Brad Beale has, you know, he's been in and out of the lineup. But he's one of my favorite players. He's a two-way player. He can shoot the ball. He can score. But I like their core. It's just the Eastern Conference is so deep, man. Like I don't see them winning with this core but I like them kind of sticking together. I'm with Chandler. I get these three guys as individuals but you're giving Chris that is his second max contract of his career. You have Brad Beale and a super max already. So what is your flexibility going forward? Their graphics are all over the place going forward as well. So you're buying into that trio and good players on their own in a vacuum. But when you look at the Eastern Conference, the Knicks are getting better and have a ton of flexibility. The Sixers are what they are. The Celtics have their future pretty much tied up between two superstars. The Bucks are the best player in the league. And then you even look at the Nets, the Cavs, these other teams, they have bright futures. They have young stud players, all-stars that they're building around and a ton of flexibility going forward on top of that. You then add on top of that. Are they going to eclipse any of those teams? I'm not exactly understanding what's going on here but I guess retain your guys. That's the best you can do for now and go forward. But at their best this year, it's a little confusing but I guess you're signing your guys and you're keeping your guys and you're seeing if you can grow from there. They don't have much of a choice. It seems sort of depressing when you put it like that. Eddie, thank you so much. Can we talk Celtics for a moment here because they are obviously very much in the contending part of the season. They're supposed to be vying for a championship but they make a loss like this happen. How bad of a look was this for them, Eddie? I mean, it's ugly but this is the dog days of the season. They're pretty much set in the two seed. There are seven of their last 10 right now. It's not like they're just throwing away the season. That four game losing streak they had is long gone. They lost a tough game to the Utah Jazz. They lost an ugly game to the Rockets. Like the Rockets game felt uglier than this. It happens. Chris Daps went off the Wizards had a good night from the field and I think what you do wonder is in the light of the Jalen Brown stuff and him saying he doesn't care about the ovation the fans gave him and the quotes he made about Jayce Tatum and Brad Stevens you go, hey, are they having the warriors thing? Like are they not getting alone? But again, they won seven their last 10. They're locked into the two seed. They're going to have a beneficial opening round matchup and they're just wanting to finals. What I do wonder is, is this the reality though? Like they got injured and all the issues they were having with their injuries they barely beat the books and without Chris Middleton. So do we kind of regress back to the mean it's like, yo, they're just a tier below those teams. I don't know maybe we see that in the playoffs but I think they're fine. Chandler, you agree? Yeah, I agree. Listen, it's one game at the end of the season. They have been playing pretty well. They just didn't look good last night. It's just everybody's beatable. It's crazy. You look across the board that this game shows you a couple other games last night and show you that there's no freebies, right? There is no easy games and this Boston Celtics team is pretty consistent. They can play well together offensively. They have two absolute studs. They lock in defensively. They play the right way. They're coached the right way and that's how good the league is, how deep the league is. There's no really any off-nights but I throw it away to just a bad night like Bill Simmons saying he's disturbed. It's a bad loss. It shows holes in your team but this is also a game to, you know, you watch film, you go from this, you clean up mistakes and you don't let this kind of trickle into the next game and they move on. They're a great team. They're a contending team. They're a great team season. No one got up for it. Everyone probably took them lightly. You know, coups out, Beal out. No way they thought this was going to happen. It happened and it's just a game you flush it and move on. Every time I watch the Celtics really the second half after the All-Star break, it's like they're waiting for just a playoff to start. They don't have a championship hangover because they didn't win the championship last year but you just tell him to get together. He's been up and down a different point second half of the season but I think him Jalen Brown you know they're going to be ready once the play-off start and I do think I don't have worry of this team turning it on because I think they're really readying and preparing for the play-offs. Also I'm wondering if Jalen Brown is trying out for his next team next season . I don't because that game had just about every emotion you could possibly want out of a game. The Warriors somehow win this one, but they probably shouldn't have. The Pelicans were leading this thing by, I don't know, nearly 20 at the half. And then, and then Golden State comes out and drops 39 in the third quarter, eight of 18 from three. I got ugly. Steph Curry with 39 points. Some of those were a little bit nuts. Eight of 15 from three. Chandler, this Warriors team could not have more multiple personalities. I don't even know what to ask you about this game. What's, what is the deal? I mean, this just shows you, when you have a lead against normal teams, it's safer than a lead against the Warriors. The way they shoot the ball, the way they can shoot three being down 15 is like being down six. Like these guys shoot at a crazy clip. The game is never over till the buzzer goes off. And this third quarter was a perfect example of that where they took their foot off the gas. They thought this game was over and these guys just went absolute berserk in the third quarter. This is why they're so tough to beat. They know each other. They have a system. They move without the ball better than I've pretty much ever seen in my life with the team. They can hurt you in many different ways and they can lock in and play some really good defense when it matters. So this is, this is, these are why they're the chance, right? This is why no one wants to play them. This is why they're impossible to defend. They have so many actions. They're constantly moving. You can't double team anybody because there's so many shooters around. And this was a, this was a perfect example of why you don't want to see this team healthier. They get Andrew Wiggins comes back. It's just another asset. And this is this is extremely dangerous team come playoff time. They look like a team that's warming up. And I thought about this the other night with the Timberwolves and then that great game that that was, and the Timberwolves squeaked that out on a crazy play and a great shot. But they look like a team that's charging themselves. So we had the stuff with Dreymon and Ingram in the first half and he's going to get suspended for that. But you have that entire situation and you just have this tension about that team. And you can fill it in their arena and you can see it in this kind of the angry way they're playing. And then at third quarter, they're charged up. They come out of the half and they're charged up. They, they held the Pelicans to less than 43% from the field in the second half. So yes, they went crazy. Clay, Jordan Poole, Steph, they had a brazen at their quarter, but they defended. They went to a boxing one. They went to trapping Brandon Ingram and this the pelicans just could not get good shots in the late in that game. And it just, you just feel it. The Warriors are taking this game over. This feels like a playoff game. There's this tension all over the court. And they thrive in that. So like I'm starting to feel like every day we flip flop on them, but I'm starting to feel like this is a team that's kidding themselves jacked up for the playoffs. They're getting ready. And they look like yesterday. It looked incredible. This is why they're dangerous. The most dangerous team in the league. It's why they're the champs. And it's scary. And if they get Wiggins back, you know, maybe they might look like the best team of the league for last week of the season going into the playoffs. And it's like, how did we get here? How did we spend all season getting here? That was game 77 last night. So it's it's been a journey. This would be the weirdest trick played on all of us. If somehow Golden State just comes out and dominates the playoffs. Um, Eddie, I got to stick with you on this one because your man who is not easily impressed. I think that's fair to say. So this is the Steph pass. And I want you to compare it to the Luca pass that you were obviously not feeling that we showed yesterday. So go on. It was better. I'm so happy. This is being brought up. This was a better pass. I want the world to know this is right offhand crunch time in the game cornered and look at he led the guy. He led a guy who was covered against a good defender. Watch Steve Kerr. If you get a chance to watch it, watch Steve Kerr. He cannot believe Steph made that pass. It's further. It's against tighter defense. It's that's, you know, look, CJ McCollum, he's no Tony Allen, but that's not TJ McConnell and step is smaller. Like this was I couldn't believe he made this pass. This is the most impressive play of the game. Thank you for asking me much better than the local pass. I don't know if it's good that I asked you or not Chandler. It wasn't that nasty, though. It was it wasn't even close to be better. Am I in honestly? I get but if Clay Thompson doesn't make a 35 footer, we're not even showing this pass. So he hit a crazy shot. He was deep. I love that it was left hand. They were up 10. The game was pretty much over at this point if I'm being honest. And it was a very impressive pass. But the fact that Lucas getting double team had to keep it under the hoop slingshot it over. I'm going with the Luca pass all day long. But the fact that it was left handed gives him a little credit, but the Luca pass was just never ever. He hated the Luca pass. It's just a thing that happened. He hated it. Like it was ugly and offensive to him. Draymond last night was just absolute classic Draymond. If you love him, you loved him last night. If you hate him, it was a long night. He had eight and six and 12 assists and two steals. But who cares because he also had a technical after an altercation with Brandon Ingram. It is his 17th tech of the season. Shams remind the kids what happens next. Yeah, if he has one more technical file, he gets a suspension, a one game suspension. But I don't know if you guys saw on Instagram, he actually used my post and said he loves Luca. But he thought, you know, essentially it was a joke that Luca's technical 18 technical file got rescinded. But Draymond, you know, we'll see what happens with him. If he if he ends up getting suspended, we saw Dylan Brooks, his didn't get rescinded. So Draymond Green keeps finding himself in this position where he's so close to getting suspended. Once again, and honestly, last night, he looked several times like he was going to get another technical file, but you saw what Steve Kerr said after the game. His aggressiveness, his tone, the way he he's so passionate, the energy that he brings. Yes, it can be a crystallize, but most often than not, due to his skill, his IQ, it's usually a benefit for the Warriors. And last night it was. Yeah, a couple of things on this. First of all, we know Brandon Ingram doesn't just talk, he's he throws punches, right? So this wasn't one of the we know before the Chris Paul thing is with it and he will fight. And again, this wasn't a basketball play, right? Like he didn't even swipe at the ball. He didn't even attempt to steal the ball. He just kind of bumped him and he got it. But this is the type of stuff where Draymond Green that he does, and he's very smart, right? And he's very good defensively. And this is his value. He's a better Patrick Beverly. He knows his role, but you can't be you can't be confused that this is a technical foul, right? You bump into a guy, there's an altercation. That is a full blown. I'm surprised I didn't even call that a failure because it's not trying to get the ball. And this is the situation that they find himself in like a Dylan Brooks, like, you know, like Luca, you can't not be there for your team down the stretch right now. How tight everything is. He can't afford plays like this. I understand his fire. I understand his value. I understand everything he brings to that team. But when you get suspended now and you're not playing and they lose a game in the season, they fall, you know, whatever seed they're going to fall. Now it's hurt. Now it hurts. Now it's detrimental to your team. And these are the type of things that they can't have because he is so important to this team. Offensively defensively. He knows the system and now he knows how to play off these guys better than he's a Hall of Famer playing off these guys. He's got to not do things like this to be on the floor and take himself out of games like this. And now he's looking at a suspension. It's it's no good. I would love to know what the refs are told specifically concerning Draymond Green because I will go to my grave. There is no other player that is allowed to act hysterical the way he does in every single screaming how over and over again, like there's like an unbalanced moment that he has in almost every game. And then there's Herb Jones, which I think had a couple funny moments in last night's game, one of which is him staring at him while they're trying to submit. But there's it's a double kick, basically, or a kid. Yeah, it's like, should he have been ejected just for that? There's one game here where he could have been ejected several times. Eddie, what do you think? I mean, he should have. I'm with Chandler. The the foul on the foul on B. I was was cheap. It wasn't a basketball play. I'm actually shocked he didn't get a flag for that. I'm actually shocking a technical for this. Like I shocked he was allowed to finish the game. But here's the thing, the craziest thing. This work, this work, it absolutely changed the temperature of the game. It changed the way the referees called it. It changed the entire temperament of the pelicans. It worked. He got his self into the game and in a way that he wasn't. And late he was a monster defensively. This completely changed the game. They got the crowd into it. The refs called everything tighter. CJ McCullum got a really weird, cheap flagrant in the second half as well. It just completely altered the game. And it worked. And apparently it's exactly what he needed. They remind me of like Billy Ho from White Man. Can't jump when he's a good for the tournament. He's cussing everybody out. And he and Wesley starts like, what the hell are you doing? He's I'm getting my zone, man. Dreyma's getting his zone. It's kind of scary because it changed the game. And they won the game because he was able to stay in the game, but both players were absolutely cheap. And I thought he was going to get jacked it and he didn't. And I'm with you, Michelle. He has the longest like leash from the referees I've ever seen in the NBA. It's the way he can jump and kick and scream with two with a tech already. And just it's fine. I can't believe it cannot like Chandler, you played like this. Have you seen anybody get away with as much as Draymond does? I haven't. Like if her jokes to him, I think he's tossed and every player is officiated differently, like more physical guys, they get away. You can't call every single foul, right? Draymond Green does so much stuff. And it's like you guys are saying he's got a longer leash for whatever reason is you go into a game as a ref. Like it's like referring to Marcus Cousins. You expect him to say something profound and just mean and loud and obnoxious. If you're going to he gets 10 things to say and most players get two or three before they actually get penalized. So it is it's interesting just knowing going in like a ref probably the refs probably hate reffing the gold say words because of Draymond Green, right? Because of all the because of all the, you know, the emotion that he shows and everything that he does. It's got to be tough. But at the same time, you can't just you can't judge off what he usually does or the game before, right? It's a clean slate every single time. It's but it's obnoxious, man. It's great. By the way, Zach Zarbha doesn't hate it because it's more camera time for Zach Zarbha when you ref a golden state game. Let's not get that twisted. Zarbha has the best hair in the game. I used to always tell the money, your own Zarbha. Look, this wasn't everything that happened. He even got into it with his own coaching staff. He wanted something challenge like curb always has his back, though, and he does it in such a diplomatic funny way to me anyways, just knowing Kerr's personality. But the bottom line is this. This is the team that has been all over the place. We've talked about it. Your trust level Chandler for a guy like Draymond and we've seen him do it. I almost feel like it's unfair to ask this question, but as we head into this postseason, you still have the utmost trust, right? Yeah, I have trust in Steph Curry. I have trust. I have trust in Steve Kerr and this roster that they assembled and Draymond is a critical part of that, but he's like the fifth, sixth guy I trust most on that team. But yes, he does have value. He does fire. He goes berserk at the refs him going like you just out this this coach. This coach doesn't like like that. That's not like a normal interaction, right? Like that is that normal and everyone takes it how it is because this is Draymond. He's passionate. He does this, but excuse me. It's not it's not normal. But yeah, I still trust him because he's found this beautiful role in Golden State and he's thrived in it. And this is who he is and he is extremely important to the team. So I trust this Warriors team going forward and I do think they're only going to get better. Yeah, I remember a month ago, he was like, man, I don't feel like I can hold guys accountable after I punched my teammate three months ago. Looks like he's holding people accountable again. It looks like he's back at it and I trust them. They've done it. They've done it more than anybody else in this league. More than anybody not named LeBron. So how can I not trust them? And it seems like they're rounding in this shape again. Even that game they lost the other night. That was one of the more competitive games of the season I've seen. And funny enough, it was a Draymond Blunder late night game that caused them. But this stuff like he's doing this after every play like every single play. I don't know if it's one of those things where you're just used to the drunk uncle and you love him. He's your handful, not everybody else. Or it's just like, yo, we are sick of him, but we have a job and we're on TV so we can only do so much. But whatever it is, they need him. They needed that energy last night and absolutely paid off for them. I think that's what's going to make the off season interesting because Draymond anywhere else, I don't think it works, but I don't know that he's wanted much longer there. So we shall see. Bishams, I do want to talk to you a little bit about the Pelicans. They should have had that one. I mean, they really should have. And all we really want to know is Zion. What's the deal with Zion? Will we see him again at all this season? So, Zion Winston is doing more on the court. He's progressing to one on one. And after that, I think continue to do more contact. There's a natural progression with Zion Winston that we've seen the last couple of years. Anytime he deals with injuries, one on one, two on two, continuing to progress in contact and having no setbacks through that because we know this is a guy that six, six, like he's a very unique specimen. The way that he moves his body, the way that he he leaps in the air, they have to make sure he's 100% physically condition wise when he gets back on the floor. So assuming there's no setbacks, they're going to reevaluate him next week. And then at that point, with a couple of games left, you hope that he's going to be able to get cleared enough to play. But at the end of the day, time is running out. I think everything with this season is running thin. So you're going to be looking at really a two-game window potentially. And then the play-in, do you bring him back for a game and then the play-in tournament? Do you bring him back just for the play-in tournament? Those are all questions the Pelicans are going to have to answer over the next week. I vote yes. Does anybody care? Okay. I want to see Zion, just even if it's one playing game, I'm fine with that. This next segment is called what the hell are the Hornets doing? It's not sponsored and I just named it now, but they won three in a row and they beat the thunder at Oklahoma City. They don't have anybody. I'm not even going to run down. If you can name anybody on their starting lineup other than PJ Washington, I will give you a million dollars, but PJ Washington with 43 points. And I don't know. It's like they're breaking up dreams, Eddie. Should people be concerned at all when playing the Hornets, especially if you're a team that's left playing for something? They're the best events right in the league since the All-Star Game, which is kind of insane to think about. But they've been the spoiler for the Western Conference for the last week. And I don't know, maybe Mike gave them the nice pep talk that, hey, we're selling here pretty soon. Let's clean the car a little bit. Like, let's put some sheet on the tires, but they look great. And PJ Washington is very interesting. This is somebody who a lot of fans wanted their team to give a look to at the trade deadline. And he didn't. He's obviously still there. But you see these games? This is that late season stuff. This is what happens usually when the most teams are tanking. You get these weird box scores. You get these weird like Mark Madsen shooting 12-3s kind of situations. But PJ is good. And he can put, he can fill it up. So it was dope to see him have a big night. And yeah, Michael Jordan somewhere smiling knowing that he's got a few billion on the way as these guys are rolling. Yeah, they're clearly just a team that's that's playing free, right? I'm looking at this, this roster, Michelle. I wouldn't get that million dollars. I have no idea. That's why I felt comfortable saying it. No, I didn't. Who these people are, and it just shows you, you know, it's crazy. My buddies always say, oh, this guy in the NBA sucks. This guy sucks. I'm like, you know how good you have to be to be bad in the NBA? Like, it doesn't matter if you're tanking. It doesn't matter if you're, you know, a rookie of the oral bet. These guys are good, right? And I don't care if the team doesn't plan on winning. No team is going in the locker room saying, OK, we're losing this game tonight. That's just not happening. They're probably putting out this product of this, this roster of guys that they expect to lose. But on the flip side of this, this is why OKC is just happy to be their type of team, right? This is a team where yesterday I picked the Lakers in the mass because they are a better team. They have experience. This is a loss right here. And I know SGA didn't play. And they did have an extremely good game with those three guys having 30 plus points. But this is where they're just, they're growing and they're, they're, they're looking towards the future because games like this and Hornets are playing spoiler. They just did the same thing to the maps, I think twice. Anybody can beat anybody. And this, this is a perfect example where the Oklahoma City Thunder are in position right now to make a plan and blow out anybody's expectations out of the water and they go and they lose to this team with a bunch of guys that we've never heard of. It shows, it shows a lot, but it really just shows you that it doesn't, kids aren't going to go out there. These guys on this roster, McGowan's and Maladin, they're, they're playing for their contract. They're playing for their livelihood. They have children like this. So they're not just going to go and lay down and get embarrassed and get punked. And they showed it last night. PJ Washington had a career game and there is, there's nothing sweet in the NBA. There's no Gimmies. There's no easy games, especially at this point of the career where they have a long off season coming up. They have no, they have no playoff hopes. They're just out there hooping without a care in the world. So it really is crazy. Yeah. Even in a loss, I feel like we're still talking positively about OKC. And that sort of tells you everything you need to know about where the expectations are for now. We're to take a quick break here when we come back, the showdown between Donovan Mitchell and Trey Yong. Not disappoint. That's next when we talk a little calves hawks. I think this will be fun to do. This was a good one. Donovan Mitchell had 44 points, but it was not enough. No, no, Hawks win this one by two Trey Yong. This is a perfect Trey Yong line. 16 points. Ten assists. Six turnovers. Dejante Murray finished with 29. As far as the Hawks Chandler, how much confidence does a win like this over a pretty good Cleveland team give them heading into the postseason? It gives them confidence and this is this is another young team that's kind of on the rise and then and Atlanta I feel like shouldn't be in the same boat as this team but they've kind of not had the best year. Expectations are high. They got like Dejante Murray who's such a good talent. And when you look at this roster, they have a lot of pieces, right? I love the Sadiq Bay addition. The kid can shoot the ball. They have size. They have, they have youth. Trey Yong is a star. They just they, they're not very good but it's it's they're starting to find it, right? And they can they can't hurt you in many different ways. And when you look at these two teams, I don't want to play the Hawks either in the plan because they're they they're very dangerous. They now they have a great coach with a great system and Trey Yong can go berserk. Sante Murray can go I says Deandre Hunter is one of my favorite players who I was hoping would take a big leap this year and he hasn't done it yet but this is a dangerous team and this is a team it's going to be tough to beat four times or whether it's you know Milwaukee, Boston, Philly, whoever it is this is not an easy out. Yeah, I'm with Sandler about the play and this is what makes the play and so dangerous is that they could actually beat the heat in a one-off game and be the sevens and just that quickly altered the playoff landscape. It I think about the same thing when I look at the Western Conference we saw the Pelicans compete with the Warriors last night and yes they faltered late in and it was a very interesting game but you could they could definitely beat the Lakers in a one-off game and be the sevens or help push the Lakers out of the playoffs. Same thing with the Wolves like these young teams who can hit it who can hit shots from all over the place we have these dynamic stars it would be none of us would be shocked to have an incredible playing game and beat one of these teams and then put somebody out of the playoffs that quick. So they're fascinating to watch they are the definition of mid they're right back at 500 again yesterday they're doing the same thing one game off one game off but you know that also means they're beating some good teams just like they're losing to some bad teams and they're dangerous they're dangerous they have two great young guards and they can go with anybody except in the first round if they end up with the Celtics or the Bucks they're getting swept they're going home but they can absolutely beat the heat in the play and kind of shake things up in that way. Yeah I mean I think the Hawks if there's a team right now that really needs to make a playoff run make it make it in and at least see what they have it's the Hawks because they have a lot of decisions coming up when you look this summer Trey Young's future that's been discussed all year Quinn Snyder coming in you want to see what you have and I know that was a big part of why the Hawks went out and hired Quinn Snyder in season is making sure they're able to give him half of a year to really see what the group is like what players he might like and then you go into the off season and you make decisions on your summer we see John Collins his name is in every single trade rumor for the last couple years well will Quinn Snyder like him? What does he view him as? And and where do they see this going? I think that's why the playoffs is so important especially for this Hawks team but like Eddie said this is a team that's been literally the one one game over 500 one game under 500 then 500 then back under 500 like every single game is a give and take so let's see I mean they have an opportunity now to get over 500 let's see if they can do it We talked Cavs for a second they're in the four spot pretty comfortably at this point they've clinched a playoff spot this is the first time since 98 which of course that would have been LeBron time so as far as what they can do in the playoffs Chandler what do you think their ceiling is? You never know what the guards and the talent that they have they can advance and it's going to be a great series they're locked in the four seed they're not going to pretty much move up they're not going to go down and Nick's aren't going to catch them and that's going to be a fun first round series and depending if they stay healthy and Donovan Mitchell is playing like he did last night and he can explode the second round is going to be interesting no matter who they draw out of those top three teams they can compete and they're so young and they're so explosive that the travel is not going to bother them the long series is not going to bother them and again I think their expectations are you know getting out of the first round is a huge win for them this year so even if they do get the next in the advance whatever they can get in that second round I think is a bonus in their eyes and again same like the Hawks they're a more dangerous team than the Hawks these team can compete and they're long and I remember this was the one game I went to in LA this year and it was against Cleveland Mobley is so long Jared Allen is so long they have the defensive potential to be very very good mixed with those two guards I can go get you a bucket whenever you want they're a very very good team and I think their future is super bright I just think they're going to run into a buzz saw here in the second round and it's not going to be the experience they'll get and the youth they have it's been a very very impressive season and I'm hyped for JB it's a painful loss for them last night though they could have gone within one game of the 76ers they take that loss now there are full two games back only a handful of games left they could have stole 3 seed it was realistic with everything going on in Philly with their nagging injuries and just their kind of slide at the moment they could have stole that seed and you know I don't know how much they benefit from that you're going from a series against the Knicks to you know potentially the Heat or maybe the Hawks that we're talking about or the Nets but they could have moved up that's a tough loss to take but I'm with Taylor they're dangerous in the playoffs they have all the makings of a good playoff team they have the best defensive rating in the league and have for some time now and they figured out how to defend really well even with those two small guards at the point of attack so they had those two bigs behind them roaming the pain closing out protecting the Ram all at once they're dangerous and when I think about them I think about those two isolation scores and that matters so much in the playoffs and so they are dangerous now what I take them against Philly what I take them against Boston and that might be a little bit of a stretch but we wouldn't be shocked if we're going into game five of a series and they're tied 2-2 one of those teams wouldn't be shocked at all I don't even I haven't even put them past the Knicks yet I feel like we're really pooping all over the Knicks in this segment inadvertently by the way I know we're not doing it on purpose except for Eddie I know Eddie's doing it on purpose but the rest of us are being very unbiased and by the way that nugget down there Donovan Mitchell first player in NBA history to reach at least 10,000 points and 1,003 points I'm not shocked that it's Donovan Mitchell because he's great just that's kind of a big deal it felt like a big deal to me that we're not giving enough balloons to but that's all right because we want to talk some heat raptors and don't look now haha raptors 500 again guys not since December 9th have they done that they won three in a row it's another team like again it's a lot of play-in talk today but rightfully so you know Chandler do you think this Raptors team can do anything in the play-in shock anybody I actually do this is a team kind of like Atlanta where they should have been a lot better this year than they are and I feel that that they're kind of just now starting to figure it out and they have all these athletic bodies where they have guys so they're six seven to six ten that can switch defensively they can move their feet they can guard one through five and then they have two very good players in Fred and Siakam so I do think they're I think they're one of the better teams kind of in that lower echelon of the Eastern Conference but you can't make this stuff up Jimmy Butler says he's going to play hard and he's ready to play he does the he does the he does the he does the he does the and he ruins our parlay it's unbelievable how this works but I do think the Raptors are peaking at the right time and I think there's just like Atlanta that the bottom of the east it's top like there's there's again there's there's nothing easy this play in I love the play into I think it's exciting I think it's everyone a chance and I think the best team will come out of that be the seven and eight seed and I think Toronto's going to be right there for either of those yeah Toronto's dangerous and you look back at the trade that line everybody was just sure that Pascal Siakam would be on the move that OG Ananobe would be on the move that Fred Van Blee would be on the move and they decided to stand pat they decided that the picks that were being offered weren't enough and then whatever this mystery haul they were asking for for OG but three unprotected first and another guy they weren't getting that and so they decided to stand pat and yeah they went three straight this is a proven playoff team we've seen them do this before now even with three straight they're in the nine seed and they got some work to do but a dangerous team for sure again they went a series I wouldn't take them to beat any of the the big teams up top and that's who they'd be playing but it is a little scary to see them write the ship and they've got a wonder going into the summer okay now what because we we dangled all these guys out there we were willing to get rid of them now what do we do going forward are we gonna do the reset are we gonna are we gonna cobble pieces together and who knows but they look great last night and like Chandler said maybe maybe Jimmy's waiting till April maybe that's who it was it's like April is gonna take it serious and then they're gonna start winning guys almost there Jimmy almost there Sean I will I will say looking at looking at these four teams in the play in Chicago Toronto Atlanta Miami like I don't know who's gonna come out that's that's that's gonna be a really really fun plan yeah that's pretty good that's not a bad plan good ratings I would imagine Shams you're in Chicago what do you have for us on this on this Toronto squad yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna actually push back a little bit on Eddie I'm gonna speak up for Michelle right now Yaka Pertle they made the move to go get Yaka Pertle at the trade deadline that was their big move everyone was like you know what is Messiah gonna do are they is he gonna trade Oji on the newbies he's gonna trade pass you off to Yaka and he goes all in on this team with Nick Nurse and goes and gets a center they've really needed a center for the last several years ever since they traded Yaka Pertle with DeMarge Rosen in 2019 they've needed a guy in the middle they went out and got him they're 12 and 8 in the 20 games that Yaka Pertle has played this year and he's been a difference maker for them and this is a team that was under 500 now they're back over 500 and I think you can look at Yaka Pertle being a major reason why when you look into the summer free agency this is the guy that's gonna get I think in the range of 20 million dollars if not more per season in a new contract so Yaka Pertle has been a difference maker they did not stand Pat Eddy they made a move shout out Michelle shout out the spurs by the way March 29 2023 the day Yaka Pertle is now known as the savior is probably going to go down as one of my favorite historic moments in FBA history who saw it coming but the Miami heat yeah we've mocked Jimmy Butler and then he doesn't play but they're also seemingly doing poorly at the worst possible time back to back losses Chandler this heat squad does it feel like they're going opposite direction and at the worst time now it does a little bit but is there that they're my east coast warriors they're like a team for whatever reason I trust and I think they're gonna figure it out and I think they're very good offensively they're very good defensively they have the roster to actually be a championship contending team they're just not for whatever reason putting it together this year and obviously Jimmy is a huge piece of that him saying he's not trying hard and playing and they're not playing well they need him in the lineup they're not a contender without him but I do think this team has the roster to compete this year and not just get out of the play and not just win the first round this is a difficult match up for one of those top three teams in the east whether it's Boston Milwaukee or Philly I think Miami is the most dangerous team just because they're experienced they're best they're top they defend they have shooting I love Struce I love Tyler Hero they can really shoot the ball they can space you out they can go on they can go iso and they defend so I think they are the probably the best position out of those teams but like I just said that that play in there it could go either way all four of them teams deserve to be in the playoffs exactly what the play in should look like it's going to be good Shams is sticking around from Chicago he's going to have a big time preview on the Lakers Bulls game for tonight or as I like to call it Pat Beverly show when run it back returns and it's happening to light Lakers Bulls Shams is on the ground there right in front of the goat statue you know what before we get to the game Shams what's the vibe there feeling anything yet no I'm not feeling a thing Michelle but I know I will be soon I think I think I think when you look at this game though like the Bulls are have a two and a half game lead in the play in tournament race like they're pretty secure the Wizards like we just discussed their team that's directly underneath them at 11th and they're clearly going on a path where Bradley Beal Kyle Kuzma could get shut down so the Bulls are good in the play in tournament race but when you look at the Lakers every game matters and and they've gotten more at stake tonight and really for the next several games then the Bulls are just for the simple fact they're half a game out of the play in tournament race they're also equally you know whether it's a game gave in a half depending on the moment out of potentially getting into the playoffs outright so every game matters for the Lakers LeBron James is questionable tonight we'll see if he plays I assume as long as that foot is feeling fine you know we'll see what happens in pregame warm-ups but the the big news for the Lakers is after missing a game the Angel Russell will be back in the lineup tonight he's listed as probable All right Chandler you heard Shobbs who is this a bigger game for Lakers or Bulls The Lakers no question and like Blank Shom just said the Bulls are pretty they're pretty comfy right now like they're gonna get in the play the Lakers it's so it's so jumbled up with every game with Oklahoma City losing last night they have a chance right now to kind of make even more of a jump and looking at their schedule the Bulls Timberwolves Rockets Jazz they have a lot of winnable games so the good thing for them is they control their own destiny and it starts tonight this team just be you you know Pat Bev is gonna get them fired up you know Pat wants to kind of spoil their season so this isn't gonna be easy and then and the Bulls at the same time they are comfortable they're not just gonna lay down they want to continue to progress they want to continue to get better so it's really it's an exciting game it's crazy how the schedule worked out they're both kind of fighting for their livelihood here in the play-in but to me it's it's it's the Lakers you need every single win going forward yeah it's the Lakers for sure I mean like you guys mentioned the Bulls are kind of set in the 10C they're not catching Toronto the Wizards aren't really trying to catch them so they're they're good they're gonna play a play-in game and they have a chance to get into the playoffs but the Lakers they need this it's a log jam there they could potentially still fall out with the Mavericks still there making a run and so it's huge for them they just lost to this team they're now finally going to be fully healthy as Shams just said everybody but Mo Bamba you got Braun flying in from Houston after watching Brani light it up last night look look like a stud at the McDonald's All-American game so I'm expecting some fireworks some little jelly Shams is there but you know check out Shams they open up the whole arena for this guy he's look at the pool he has in his town I like that Shams right it's not just like some random place like this beautifully lit United center behind the TV it's pretty good look the best part of tonight's game I think for a lot of us is Pat it's gonna be Pat Beverly like if he pulls the antics off that he did in Los Angeles what is he going to do at home in front of the hometown crowd Chandler I want props I want everything I want pyro like let's do this listen this is what he lives for he's made it very very clear that he wants to suppose that he didn't enjoy his time there God knows what he's gonna do but he's gonna be parking at Chicago tonight look at what we're doing like he's already won this is a game with Zach Levine DeMar DeRozzi LeBron Jays Anthony Davis and who's the story of this game whose name is on the Chiron right below me Pat Beverly look at this he's killing it the man the man should be on there I know I love it so much I love that you're gonna be in the building for it all Shoms because I just again I don't know who's in a better spot today if it's Shoms in Chicago for this game or Eddie in Phoenix for the other should we talk the other game let's talk to massive games to massive games it's like we have like so much going on insider stuff going on all right so yeah it's Minnesota in Phoenix and Katie expected again to make his son's home debut fingers crossed nothing better happened look they have time right and it is KD as far as chemistry concerns Eduardo we'll go to you first of course your insider on this one any concerns at all that there's not enough time to build chemistry or zero concerns some concern I mean I think chemistry amongst the guys it's a good group they're enjoying each other they're having fun the continuity on the court that they're gonna need to make some of these things happen that they still need they need this week of games they need this handful of games and the crazy part about it is they absolutely need this game if they lose the Timberwolves the Timberwolves can climb as close as a half a game behind them the the Warriors are right there behind them the standings are so jumbled they need this game they need the Denver they need every game really if they want to don't want to fall out towards the they have to win this game huge game and the Timberwolves are coming like they load it chat is back and the Edwards is getting the ankles getting better every day it's gonna be a huge game tonight yeah Eddie nailed it this is such a big game but the with the seedings and everything it's it's super tight and I do think seven games enough and I do think these are a hard seven games and they're gonna be playoff atmospheres you know and it's it's it means a lot and a guy like Kevin Durant it does take time to kind of work him in right they need to figure out their options offensively defensively who's gonna get the ball and what scenarios and I think this next two weeks is huge for them and it's kind of perfect timing but it's a good problem to have anytime you can plug one of the best players of all time into your lineup with with going into the playoffs healthy it's it's it's perfect for them and with this team at full strength is extremely dangerous and one of the better teams in the league and it starts tonight and this is a big one both teams playing very very well and the Suns got their guy back in the lineup tonight so this will be this will be the game I'm I'm dialed into tonight this is gonna be a big game but I think these last seven games are so massive for the Suns to get chemistry with Devin Booker Kevin Durant on the floor I saw them in Chicago they looked lethal together they played only three games together you want to see them get game reps in Chris Paul, Deion Raiden all healthy this is the juncture of the season seven games a lot riding on it they have to get chemistry because you don't want to go into the postseason cold and not having that that camaraderie in that chemistry on the court so tonight's the start of that seven games Eddie will be there so you know Eddie how pumped are you for the game though like like are you I know you've been a lot of you know games before but how pumped are you tonight I'm excited man I'm excited the trip worked out Tommy Wise my last trip Kevin was you know things happened and here we are I'm excited I mean I think it's technically still a game with time decision so not here to break any news but that was Kevin yelling at me about the charger I stole and I had to run back up the stairs during the break so you know we're getting ready man we're getting this big day he's fine just whatever you gotta do he's fine Shams have so much fun tonight can't wait to hear all about it we'll check you out on Twitter of course and we'll see you well Monday my goodness it is Wednesday isn't all right we'll see you Monday morning bright and early we'll take a quick break when we come back let's make some cash y'all get rich we can run it back returns Spandall Casino's March Weekly Super Sweeps is here and you can want to share up $300,000 each week from March 14th through April 2nd every Tuesday through Saturday opt-in in any bed of $200 or more gets you an entry to that Sunday Sweepstakes Drawing see Fandall Casino for more details on how you can enter the March Weekly Super Sweeps well want to talk about what we did last night guys wow we're bad at this we are so bad at this it is now comical not one of us got a leg of the Parley correct last night so that can only mean one thing and one thing only we'll do it again that's okay this is we're just bad the sick part is I genuinely like I like all three of those picks like those they were no double down double down all right Eddie take it away let's try again I got wolves with the points I don't think they're gonna win but that's why I think it's gonna be a great game so I'll take okay wow good feel on that one all right Chandler I'm going the bulls I think Patrick Beverly and his shenanigans at home the Choms is there the place is gonna be live and I just think every team will thank your season all right I have bucks minus 12 I just think they're gonna crush Indiana but I will say this I might not feel great about my leg but I feel really good about yours guys so take that for what it's worth it's our Friday we will be back on Monday Eddie enjoy the game Chandler just enjoy your life in general and we'll see you guys next week