Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chet Holmgren, Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic, Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards, Houston Rockets, Alperen Sengun, Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, and Western Conference depth.
Hosts Nick Angstadt (Locked On Mavs), Joe Mullinax (Locked On Grizzlies), Rylan Stiles (Locked On Thunder), Ben Beecken (Locked On Wolves), Matt Moore (Locked On Nuggets), Jackson Gatlin (Locked On Rockets), Ben Garcia (Locked On Suns), and David Locke (Locked On Jazz) break down whether the Oklahoma City Thunder can repeat atop the West without relying on injuries, focusing on the crucial offensive growth of Chet Holmgren and half-court improvements. The group debates Denver Nuggets’ chances to dethrone OKC, emphasizing their improved depth behind Nikola Jokic. Minnesota Timberwolves’ and Houston Rockets’ paths to contention depend on leaps from Anthony Edwards and young guards like Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. The hosts analyze the importance of Western Conference team depth, highlighting how the Clippers, Warriors, and Mavericks stack up with 240 minutes of viable contributors. Kevin Durant’s role with the Rockets is discussed, along with concerns about veteran stars like LeBron James and Luka Doncic handling a full postseason run. The segment wraps with spirited takes on which teams have the roster construction, internal development, and playoff resilience to contend in an increasingly deep Western Conference.
0:00 OKC Thunder’s Repeat Chances
7:33 Denver Nuggets vs. Thunder: Biggest Threat?
17:11 Veteran Teams Longevity: Clippers, Warriors, Lakers
22:45 Mavericks: Depth, Luka, & Contender Analysis
33:06 Western Conference Standings Predictions
39:02 Lakers Identity, LeBron “Pouting,” & Rebuild
44:37 Can Luka Break OKC’s Defense?
49:50 Victor Wembanyama Hype vs. Reality
54:10 Grizzlies, Pelicans & Spurs: Best of the Rest
Join the Locked On Pelicans Insiders: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonpelicans
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPelicans?sid=YouTube
Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA
#NewOrleansPelicans #ZionWilliamson #NBA #Pelicans
On today’s lockdown be a squad show west preview. OKC doesn’t repeat if we’re not gonna say injuries, but something else will have to happen for them not repeat. We’ll talk about that and more and the west squad show right now. You are talking ball with the NBA wad show sponsored by Game Time. From the Warriors to the Lakers, the Knicks to the Heat, and everyone else in the league, the local experts of the Lockdown Podcast Network bring you all the scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive look across the league. Trash talk and big takes included. No holding back, we’re giving the green light. It’s time to talk NBA Quad Show. And welcome to Lockdown NBA Squad Show. The show where we take over the feed of your favorite lockdown show. It’s the West preview show. We’re talking about the Western Conference. Anything that we can get our hands on and talk about in the West. My name is Nick Angstead, host of Locked On Mavericks podcast. And thank you for making Locked on You the number one sports podcast network out there. Yes. Let’s go. We did it. We did it everybody. Today we will talk about all kinds of different things. We got all kinds of hosts here. Jackson Gatlin locked on Rockets. Ben Garcia locked on Suns. Matt Moore locked on Nuggets. Joe Mullenax locked on Grizzlies. Ben Beacon locked on Wolves. Ryland Styles locked on Thunder. and the Grand Puba, the man himself from Locked on Jazz, David Lockach, is in the building. Gentlemen, we may start and go somewhere completely different from where we are now. But let’s start with this one. OKC doesn’t repeat in the West as let’s say the number one seed and the team coming out of the West in the finals. If dot dot dot and Ryland, let’s let’s start it off with you. You have to def you now have to defend your team. Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty simple. If the Thetter do not repeat as champions, it’s going to be because the things that we think can happen for this team developmentally don’t happen. Like if Chad Homegrren doesn’t get a lot better offensively, they’re not going to win a championship again. like they they can’t win a championship again without him getting better offensively and that solving some of the Thunder’s half court issues offensively because whenever they went long in the series with Denver and Indiana, the half court offense really stole out at times and that has to be taken away by progression from Chad by progression from even JDub uh being more consistent throughout that Denver series especially uh which he did throughout the rest of the postseason but he has to do it again this season. And then you look at their three-point shooting there were 13th out of 16 teams from beyond the arc in the playoffs. uh they they were able to manage it and win a championship, but you can’t sustain that in the modern NBA. And so I think that they’re going to need to improve from beyond the arc and improve the quality of threes that they’re generating. That stationary drive and kick stuff gets taken away pretty easily in the postseason. They’re going to need to get more creative with how they utilize their three-point shooters. But a lot of this does rest on chat. And a lot of this does rest on their ability to s sustain and and duplicate their elite historically great defense because that’s what kind of this whole thing is built on. So they’re going to have to continue to be in the passing lanes. Going to have to continue to spark transition to again alleviate some of that half court offensive concerns. But it is a lot on Chad Homegrren to to be better offensively. What if what if just like Ry walk through a hypothetical? Um what if the officials start doing this thing where they blow the whistle and they actually call fouls on your defense? What happens then? Well, I mean, we saw last year they were the most fouled team. They fouled the most in the NBA and they they also got called for a lot of them obviously. So, they’re going to have to adjust. I think that the bigger thing would be like what if Nicole Yokic hits more shots in in in that series because even last year with as beat up as Diver was and as much flaws as you could point to with their roster, there were a couple games in a seven game series where if Jokic has another shot go in, the Nuggets win the win, they win the series, the Thunder out in the second round. So, I’m not too concerned about the fouls. I I I think it’d be interesting if if like they call Shay’s push off more consistently throughout the season and the postseason that that could damper some of their offense and in particular in games in which their half court offense is relying solely on Shay because there’s still going to be games like that. If you take away a couple of those buckets from from the Thunder then all of a sudden their offense will not be able to generate enough points to win. So there are some things like that especially with the refs about Jokic uh because they were able to really rough up Jokic in certain games but even in that series Matt like you you watched it too some games the Thunder could get away with mauling him some games they couldn’t and so it was kind of a night by case so we just don’t know and I said it on the show at the time we don’t know what officials will show up and so we don’t know uh how they’re going to call the games but yeah that could really hurt them because their whole game plan around yogic is just hey let’s just get after them use our fouls and see what happens. with a subtle bit of Oklahoma arrogance. I actually think Ryland answered that question correctly. And I just we could find things like the possession advantage that Oklahoma City’s had for like three years gets minimized and there but the truth is somebody else has to rise up. Like I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to make Oklahoma City that much worse. I mean they’re pretty darn good. They’re pretty young. Sure. Even if Chad’s offense doesn’t develop, fine. They’re still going to be a 60 plus win team. Who’s going to rise up? which which team in the Western Conference actually can elevate themselves to get to Oklahoma City. I don’t think Oklahoma City’s coming back. Well, I think you start to make the argument, well, you look at Denver, as close as they were in a sevengame series already, as banged up as they were last season, and they just added a ton of depth. They’re they’ve addressed kind of the biggest weakness throughout the Jokic era, which has been a team that completely craters when he’s off the floor. Now, they have depth to hopefully be able to offset some of that. they’re going to be a better, more well well-rounded team moving on from MPJ. Like I I think the argument here is between the kind of internal growth and development that Ryland already mentioned for the Thunder and you weigh that versus the offseason additions that Denver made and which one of those do you believe more firmly in, you know, as far as going into this season? Yeah, I was going to say to to one of Ryland’s points about the Thunder defense, it’s really hard to be the best defense in the league two straight years. I mean, I think the Thunder were historically good last year and so that probably gives them a leg up, but I mean, the Timberwolves were by far the best defense in the league two years ago, and they were like sixth last year. They’re still really good defense, but the Thunder were historically good. So, can they maintain that after winning a championship? Can they say like, “All right, let’s buckle down and do it again two straight years.” There’s that mental piece of it as well. I think odds are they they can or they at least come close just simply because of their youth and and it does seem like they have the right mentality with that. And also to Jackson’s point, the um the the uh I get that the Nuggets would be the biggest challenger if Ant makes a a leap from really good to like a top three player, which is what happened with SGA. Like I know he was great two years ago, but he made a huge leap over the last 18 months or so. So if one of those things happens where the Nuggets depth or an ant leap or something like that, I think it’s more going to be that plus any sort of malaise on the defensive end for the Thunder that that would really kind of bring the Thunder back to the rest of the pack with the Pack meeting the Thunder somewhere in the middle. They were 19th in offensive rebound rate and 23rd I think in opponent offensive rebound rate. And like we got a lot of teams in this chat right here that are like contenders. So like the Rockets with the double big lineup with Adams and Shangon and Compella. And you’ve got Joe Molenax when Zack Ed and Jiren Jackson and Brandon Clark and Reeves and every other player in in the history of the Grizzlies front court get back. And then you got Ben Beacon who’s able to play the two big with Randall or Nas alongside Rudy. And uh you’ve got Nick Angstat with Anthony Davis uh and Daniel Gaffford or Dererick Lively defense championships Matt Mo Lock basketball reference they’re projecting Walker Kesler for like 3.4 blocks. So every team here I think has the ability to go out and attack Oklahoma City and also Ben Garcia from Lock on Suns is here. I just want How dare you how dare you disrespect Mark Williams and Nick Richards. How dare you? At the beginning of the show, we were told we couldn’t talk about injuries, which is why I haven’t said a word. I’m not currently healthy. So, I heard specifically from one of my bosses that injuries aren’t allowed to be discussed. So, I feel like I should log off at this time and just tell everybody to tune in to Lockdown Grizzlies, your team agent every day out of Memphis. Locked on Grizzlies injury report. Okay. Well, okay. So, is anybody Is it Denver’s the only one that can rise up to beat them? Does anybody anybody believing in the Rockets? I believe in the Rockets. Make the make the cases. Look, I I think that it’s only acceptable for the Thunder to lose to Denver in the West. Now, I mean, that’s not to say they’re not going to get beat by anyone else, but in terms of like, okay, that makes sense. It’s Denver to me. I don’t want to drive us in a different direction, but if it’s going to be anybody other than Denver, the craziest thing is the two most important players in this division are Reed Shepard and Rob Dillingham. W. Yeah. Off the worst draft class in the history of the NBA. Both Minnesota and Houston have to have either Rob Dillingham or Reed Shepard grow up fast. I I I don’t think either of them are ready for that. So that’s why I don’t think they’re you put them with Denver. I mean, I think it would certainly help if Rob Dillingham grew up. I I I don’t know that the Wolves are necessarily relying on that. I think Chris Fitch is going to pull the plug pretty quick if it doesn’t look like it’s which is obviously not great from an asset management standpoint, etc. But if we’re talking about just this season, I think they think they can get enough out of Mike Conley again to get them to where they need to go. And they’re going to lean heavily into Terren Shannon Jr. as like that backup point guard. I mean, Alexander Walker was the backup point guard last year and he’s not a point guard. So, um, I think they think they can keep doing the same thing. And it’s all going to come down to the Anthony Edwards leap more than anything else. If Rob Dillingham ends up being what his ceiling is at some point in the next two years, then that’s a whole other ballgame. And we’re talking a much much better team. But I think they think they can be a 55 plus win team without Rob Dillingham giving them a whole lot. Can we jump in on Mike? Can I get Can I get your thoughts on Mike Connley, Ben? Because I know Mike well well from Utah. I actually thought he might have been done when he left Utah. His two-point shooting percentage dropped 10 percentage points last year. Yeah, he played five or six minutes less. His three-point shooting percentage, I think, slipped as well, a little, but I mean, I think it was more that his attempts went down. Like every indicator on Mike Connley is that 37 was the magic number and there’s a real chance he comes out this year and it’s just over. Yeah, I it was a tale of two seasons. Like everything before basically January 1st was horrible. He was the worst two-point shooter in the league. He was like 30 something% from three, which is obviously not what we’re used to. But then after January 1st, he actually I think I think it was actually after March 1st, he was like top three in three-point percentage in the league. So it was really a matter of um it I think he had to play himself into shape a little bit honestly. And uh the biggest slippage I think was defensively. That was the biggest issue. And so they tried to hide him a lot more defensively. Teams hunted him consistently in the playoffs. So I think they’re going to manage his minutes even more, but I think if they can get 20 good minutes out of him, that’s going to matter. Which I guess speaks to, you know, back to the Dillingham point. That’s why Dillingham ends up being really good. It’s a whole different different story. But I think they’re going to rely heavily on kind of recreating that that that point guard role with some other guys and initiating more offense. There’s obviously a trickle down impact there, but I mean, you’re right. It was it was easily his worst season in a long time and he’s clearly on on the wrong side of his career, but he was better as the season wore on and so I think there’s some hope that if they can manage his minutes a little bit and um you know put him in the right spots and hide him defensively then you could still get another you know he’s essentially a starter. He’s a starter in name, but your production you’re getting is more of like a backup point guard. Uh but it’s still valuable because of what he can bring to at least keeping your offense flowing. One note I’ll add on that. He had a significant wrist injury that did not allow him to play golf in the offseason before. And if Mike Connley’s not playing golf, it’s a real injury. And he decided not to have surgery cuz at 37 years old, he felt like if he had surgery, missed the whole season was over. So he had a hole in one this summer. He had a hole in one playing golf this summer. So that’s a good summer. Yeah. Today’s episode of Lock NBA Squad Show preview is brought to you by Wayfair. The holidays are going to be here before you know it, which is exciting, but you got to get your home ready for guests and celebrations, and that can feel like a lot. I just went to Wayfair recently and got some chairs, got some nightstands and got them delivered directly to my house. The shipping was free. It was awesome. I loved the the whole process of it. I love being able to check the different uh colors and prices and all that kind of stuff that you can check out on Wayfair. Makes it easy to personalize your home for the holidays with a huge selection of every style and budget. They did. They have more things than I could find in furniture stores around here. Free and easy delivery like I experienced. Even with the big stuff, I got like a big cabinet delivered one time. You can get everything delivered you need without the hassle of huge delivery fees. So go check it out. Check out Wayfair. Get organized, refreshed, and ready for the holidays for way less. Head to wayfair.com right now. Shop all things home. That’s wayfair w a yf a iir.com. That’s wayfair every style, every home. I think the beat I think the Wolves can beat OKC. Um I think they mismanaged that series so badly to start last year. Like if I was looking at this morning, they won the Rudy Go Bear minutes. They won the Rudy Go Bear Julius Randle minutes. They won the Rudy Go Bear Nause Reed minutes. And for some reason, Chris Finch is like, “Oh no, got to go small.” Why would you do that? Why? Why would you do that? And they cost themselves, I think, a real chance. I think this Wolves team, especially if Terren Shannon Jr. gives them anything and Ant takes another step forward, I think they’re there. Yeah, they think TJ Shannon’s going to be a real a really big piece. I mean, he’s essentially in the Nikil Alexander Walker role. He’s not the defender Nikquille is, but I think he could get there and he’s a better offensive player overall. So, you know, I think that’s going to be key. See, I believe in the Houston Rockets, too, Jackson. I believe in the Houston Rockets as well because I’m a big Aman Thompson fan. I’m a big fan of his. And I think that as much as OKC has ascended and obviously is one of the great teams in the league. I feel like Houston still has a couple of players like that, him Shenon, that are still on that upward trajectory. And I think they’re maybe not quite the same as the Thunder, but I think that, you know, the Fred Van Vleet injury maybe has not necessarily blinded us, but I still think with a veteran that can still go like Kevin Durant, you have Thompson, you have Sangun, they had the amazing summer obviously in Euro Basket, I I really was impressed with what those guys did and I think Houston is probably being written off a little bit too soon. The the Fred inj Look, you can’t The Fred injury is important, right? Fred was going to be an integral part of this team and you can, you know, blame Roster Construction for putting all the eggs in the one Fred Van Vleet basket and not having like another proven ball handler to, you know, step into his place if something like this were to happen. I do think it’s being overblown though, the level of I guess production ultimately needed from Reed Shepard and Amin Thompson. Like what we’re talking about here is just okay, you need like guys who can just walk the ball up, right? Like the offense isn’t going to run through those two guys hardly at all, right? There’s Kevin Durant and Alper and Shingun both exist and I think that you’re going to see offense that is primarily run through those two guys in particular if we get any, you know, kind of a preview as to what to expect from this Rockets team offensively this season. It seems like Emo is finally like fully leaning into the idea of Alper and Shingun as kind of this offensive hub, primary facilitator. There’s been through two games, two preseason games, albeit, but like a lot more offball movement and motion when Alpen Shingun has the ball in his hands. Whereas the last couple seasons, there was a lot of stagnation in the Rockets offense. Like one guy would get the ball and then it’ just be four guys standing around with very little offball action, nothing really happening. And you could see that, you know, at times Shingun was begging for somebody to make a move or cut or do something. And you know, I think that at times, you know, was a maybe a little bit of an indictment on the coaching staff not being a bit more creative when you have a guy like Shingun who can pass and facilitate the way that he does through about four and a half quarters of play in preseason. He has 19 assists. Are you Are we worried about Kevin Durant making through four rounds of the playoffs? Anybody? Not particularly. I mean, as long as they don’t run him into the ground like the Suns did in the regular season, there’s no reason for 36-y old KD to be playing 37 minutes a game and leading the team in minutes played. Let’s get the honest thing that it’s not the it’s not the coaches choosing that. Kevin Durant’s playing 37 minutes because Kevin Durant wants to play 37 minutes and he not and he’s not going to do anything less. That’s Kevin Durant. That’s the problem. I think it’s also going to help that he’s not going to have to play the five. Yes. Like he did like he did in Phoenix. Yeah. He’s playing the two effectively in Houston. So fair. And and is that better or worse? Look, that’s always a battle with players want to play. And so at the end of the day, you have to have an organization and a coaching staff that can actually sit down and have those, you know, heart-to-he heart conversations like, “Hey, we know you want to be out there for 36, 37, 38 minutes a night.” But if you are, then we run the risk of you getting hurt, right? We run the risk of you you’re you’re 37 now. You maybe can’t do that as much. If the Rockets can somehow get KD down to 34, 35 minutes a night where he’s not leading the team in minutes played and you get 70ish games of regular season KD and then a healthy postseason run as opposed to him playing 37 38 39 minutes a night and then he only gets 55 or 60 games and and is potentially worn down for the playoffs, then you know that’s that’s not a win for anybody. And I think that if you have that heart dart conversation with them, then you know if the coaching staff can convince him, then you know that’s that’s up to the organization. So, I’m just having a hard time with these the the older guys like expecting them to get get all the way through the playoffs like after what we saw last year. Like the Clippers are this team for me. I’m like I there’s just no way I can see all those guys making it through four four rounds. The Warriors already injured. The Warriors three guys getting all the way through. Uh I mean you could say that the Mavs like the two guys when Kyrie comes back and Anthony Davis like I I’m having a hard time envisioning that. And if we’re talking about a team getting past OKC then man that that’s tough. It’s such a It feels like such a a young man’s game. Well, but it’s also about depth. Like, and then we saw this like the two two of the deepest teams in the NBA were the teams that made it to the finals last year in OKC and Indiana, right? Teams that had very viable like rotation guys like all the way like 12 deep on their roster, 13 deep on their roster, give or take. And so, I do think that like a handful of teams like the Rockets included took kind of that note and went out and added depth, right? Denver added depth. Houston added depth like to where you know now the Rockets are dealing with injuries to start the season you know no Fred obviously Dorian Smith’s not going to be ready to go Jan Tate maybe not ready to go like so their depth is going to be tested early um but once everybody’s healthy minus the Fred situation like the Rockets have a relatively deep team to be able to afford some games where it’s like hey second night out of a backto-back KD take the game off right like we need you to we need you to be rested and I think a lot of the older teams in the NBA have to follow that kind of blueprint of resting their older players This is year two of the collective baring agreement having an impact on rosters. I think the fundamental change is you have to have 240 minutes of viable basketball. Now, you didn’t used to have 240 minutes of viable basketball on your roster. You really actually had to have 120 of great minutes out of three players every night. They were giving you 35 minutes. You now have to Indiana. That’s what Indiana was. They were top to bottom. And you look at the teams that got too topheavy last year. Philadelphia, Denver, all those teams that had hundred million dollars out of their first two players so they couldn’t fill out the back of their roster. They fell apart. You’ve got to have 240 minutes of complete basketball if you’re going to be able to compete for a championship. That’s where the Clippers are pretty dangerous here. I agree with you on the age, Nick. But boy, the Clippers have probably the most consistent 240 minutes of anyone in the Western Conference on the roster. It was 2019. They’re going 98 and0, baby. That roster. It was six years ago. I’m I mean, goodness gracious. Can you imagine? What do we actually expect from the Clippers? I think they’re going to be better than most people expect. I I think that Bradley Beal, you know, the judgment of Bradley Beal was based off of the contract and his role in Phoenix and all those sorts of things. What do you expect out of him in LA? A heck of a lot less. And I think that the level of expectation is going to change. So much obviously revolves around Kawaii, but they have other meaningful pieces. I mean, I made the they’re very old, but that rotation is a legitimate 10 11 deep and a lot of guys that have played a lot of meaningful good basketball over a long span of time if a big if they can stay healthy. I think they’re one of the teams that can maybe not challenge the OKC, but they definitely can be in that second tier. Well, Beal only struggled in Phoenix because he was playing with an inferior two guard. I mean, if he was playing with Don Mitchell, then like we can all agree that Devin Booker is inferior, not just to Don Mitchell, but Jaylen Wells and just about every two guard in the Western Conference. Deon Booker is about 15th out of 15. This is an inside joke to those listening before Phoenix fans absolutely storm all of our homes. Uh I defended DBook the other day. Phoenix fans should have my back. Hey, I I think the Suns are going to beat their win total and be a playin team. So, I think they’re actually going to be pretty good. um in large Deon Booker. Um I on the on the Clippers point real quick, Ben. Uh I No, Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. I think I’m I’ve got them at like 58 wins in the number two seed. I think they’re really good. I just think 58 wins for the Clippers. Yeah. You think they’re going to care enough about the regular season to get 58 wins? It’s based off a schedule that the problem is like all of their schedule spots where it’s like, “Oh, they’re on a second night of a back toback. They’re versus a bad team. Oh no, they’re in a three and four. They’re at home for it.” So, it’s like they have like a a schedule a favorable schedule spot for it. They won’t win that many because like the injuries will occur and things will will drag them down. And I don’t want any part of this team from a playoff perspective. I don’t think they’re going to go anywhere in the playoffs because Kawhi Leonard can’t lead anybody out a cardboard box. But I do think they’re going to win a lot of games because they have the ability to play, okay, we need a defensive lineup. Tyoo can put in a defensive lineup. We need more offense. We can balance that. I always think that if you give the best coaches lots of different options, the best coaches are the ones that can figure out those combinations. That’s a tricky thing. I think Tailoo given him this many weapons to be like, “All right, we need size, but also some shooting, but also some athleticism, but also a point guard. He’s got all of that to be able to build the right lineup for the situation.” Ben, are the Suns going to be okay? I think they’re going to be okay. Hold on. Wait, we’re 20 minutes in. Okay, I guess it’s late enough to talk. Yeah, we talking about Listen, I I we we talked about the Suns, I’m sure, when Brendan was here years ago and they had their spotlight. We’re kind of having to eat crow now. Like, we kind of are having to eat crow here in Phoenix. They, as David mentioned, said, “Bleep the CBA, bleep them picks. We’re going to go all in, be topheavy.” And that would have worked in 2009, 2010. And unfortunately, people like myself bought into it, too, and it didn’t work out. I don’t want to spend too long talking about the Suns because like I do think that they’re going to be better this year. You know, I can buy into Jaylen Green being a secondary scorer to Devin Booker. I can buy into a lot of that stuff in this team, smash their over total, m be a playin team. I think Booker can be supernova Devin Booker as he’s done in the playoffs before to the likes of Michael Jordan for spurts where Donovan Mitchell has never done or Jaylen Wells for that instance if we just want to bring him in because why not. um because yeah Bane or Desmond Bane before that like we’ll we can get into that but like realistically Jaylen Green is superior to Deon Booker at this point. Like let’s just put that out. Yeah. That’s that’s what they say. That’s what they’re printing out here in Phoenix. They’re not all just saying, “Hey, this Jaylen Green guy, we’re crossing our fingers that he can be a little bit more efficient. This team can smash their win total.” But like regardless, I think it’s enjoyable and pleasant. Like I deserve this as a Suns fan, media member, whatever. We all agree in different ways. Completely different ways. Be able to watch another team buy into Bradley Beal. It’s like, oh man, it’s like you’re doing that. Wait, hold on. You’re doing the same thing. You’re buying into Jaylen Green. I would argue it’s a lot worse. I’m buy I can buy Wait, he’s doing the Dylan Brooks thing, too, Joe. I can buy a like into Jaylen Green potentially kind of figuring it out a little bit. I’m not buying him to being this like become the best back court in the NBA with Devin Booker. I don’t know if this team’s going to be a played team. If you need me to backtrack a little bit there, I just think it’s funny that everyone saw what happened in Phoenix and they’re like, “Oh, but Phoenix was the problem. You know where he’s going to go and thrive. Very stable and championship pedigree. Not the worst California team over the, you know, their history, the Los Angeles Clippers. Like, that’s where he’s going to flourish now.” So, I I just find it kind of funny. California. Okay, fine. They’re They’re both the worst. All right. They’re both the redheaded stepchild. Anyways, this happened. Hang on. How many conference finals appearances do the Kings and Clippers have between them in the last like 25 years? Kings have the Kings and the Clippers have won, I think. Oh, man. Oh, 25 years. Wow. 25 years. Uh, by the way, this happened in the East one, too. If we say Sacramento Kings one more time, Matt George will appear. So, just be be cautious as we as we as we go. That That’s unless you organize a a squad show division thing. Is anyone in here in the in the division? No, I don’t think so. Who’s in your division? What’s your division called? It’s called None of us know. The California division plus Phoenix. But Matt George organized a whole thing for all of us to get together and preview the Pacific Division. You want to know the only team that didn’t show up to that preview? Matt George, the guy that organized it. Today’s episode of Lockdown NBA Squad Show, NBA preview is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel sports books, all kinds of props, nods, things that you can use to get in on the action. NFL season is here and NBA season is around the corner. FanDuel has a deal that you won’t want to miss. If you’re a new customer, you can bet just $5 and you get $300 in bonus bets if you win to use across the app anywhere. So, put it on something that you absolutely think is going to happen. So check out like a game where you think, “Oh, let me put the money line on like the Thunder winning that opening night game against the Rockets in on ring night.” Or maybe the opposite because teams don’t usually win on ring night. You can also look at some of the overunders on the regular season wins. So like my Dallas Mavericks 40 and a half is their overunder. I’m taking the over on that. You think Anthony Davis, Cooper Flag, and all them are not going to be over 500 this season? Come on. Even if Anthony Davis is misses like 20 games or something like that, which I I get it. I get it. Rockets also 52 and a half over under. I know they lost Fred Van Vleet, but you add Kevin Durant to a team and they’re not going to go over the wins that they had last year. That’s interesting. Go check it out on FanDuel. What are you waiting for? Visit FanDuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. FanDuel.com. Please gamble responsibly. The uh another team in that division, another team that’s old is the Golden State Warriors. Uh I don’t know that they’re filled out to the 240 minutes that lock was lock was talking about earlier. They tried re They tried recently to land a bunch of guys, but they were good at the end of last season when they added Jimmy Butler, but I then they just crashed and burned. It felt like in the playoffs. Kevin Pelton projection on them. No, number two in the West by a lot. My only addition on the Warriors is that Warrior, a Warrior fan tipped me off that they’re calling the lineup that features Horford, Steph, Jimmy, and Draymond the near death lineup. That’s good. You know what? Just like Ben said, he deserves this Phoenix season. We deserve that. All of us. That Warriors team. I I deserve it more than anybody else. Okay. That team has crushed my hopes and dreams. Watch out. Ever heard of Kevin Durant, buddy? Are you kidding me? Ever heard of Kevin Durant? You have Kevin Durant. You deserve that. Yeah. Have fun with that, by the way. Well, though, but in all seriousness on the Warriors, like they do peak out the 240 in a way that maybe only the Clippers do, right? I mean, there’s a chance that Buddy Heield’s not in their rotation. I I know we said we weren’t going to talk about health, but we could talk about age. And I mean, I feel like that that’s where depth matters even more is is, you know, we can’t predict whether or not somebody’s going to get hurt, but we can predict that Jimmy Butler or Steph Curry is only going to play 60 games, 65 games, whatever. So, that’s where the depth matters that much more. But I think they actually have I think they might be the only team in the league that has 290 minutes. Yeah. Who are they getting? Who are they getting that from? Yeah, it’s like Gu Santos and and Quinton like I I mean I think Gary Payton the second, Buddy Heield, Trace Jackson Davis are all kind of borderline rotation players for that team. But Trey Jackson Davis is borderline rotation player because sometimes Steve Kurt just doesn’t want to play him. Yeah. Right. And the 240 is that you have 240 of viable rotation minutes and Trace Jackson Davis may not be a viable rotation player. I would agree with you on that. But otherwise, I mean, the 240 thing is pretty interesting, you guys. If you run through every roster, it’s hard to most teams don’t get to it. Like I just did Phoenix while we’re talking. They’re at 150. They literally are going to play 90 minutes of non rotation NBA minutes right now. Sorry, Ryan Dunn. Sorry, I show Godaro. You’re not rotation. How dare you, sir. How dare you? Osoaro is good. He might be, but he’s not established yet. I can’t tell if Matt’s being serious or Matt doesn’t joke about that. I’m there’s one thing he doesn’t joke about. Jordan Goodwin’s good. Jordan Goodwin’s good. They have so many guys that are going to be like, is it his name? Like, you know, everybody, the Suns are going to be that team this year where people are at mid-season are like, you know, who’s kind of good is this guy on Phoenix. Matt, do you think do you really think they’re going to make the playin in the West? Yeah. I mean, they would make the playoffs. They had Donovan Mitchell, but I think they’re playing. There’s no way. Who are they bumping out? No way. Who? Yeah. Who? Look, Sacramento falls out. Sacramento’s gone, right? That’s one spot opens up. And then the the team that didn’t talk for like 20 minutes because his team was so injured, the Memphis Grizzlies. True. Um I have them above I have them above the San Antonio Spurs. Okay. part of Phoenix and how they’re going to be better this year is you’re not supposed to talk about them because this team I do believe is go is going to have this new mentality of Oklahoma City is going to come to town on a random Tuesday in October and they’re going to beat the Suns uh you know 98 94 but the new identity of the Suns is Oklahoma City is going to walk in there and say we’re going to stomp the lights out of this team sleepwalking and then they’re going to leave saying that was supposed to an easier game. That team’s freaking tough and if we didn’t actually try late in that fourth quarter, I think that’s what it’s going to be. And they’re going to sneak up and get a couple of wins against, you know, potentially a Rockets or a Wolves or a whatever once or twice getting those as well. They’re going to do that. I thought that was cra like I made fun of him on on locked on NBA Daily when he said this about the defense and like say it say I’m kind of getting there. Like I kind of think that they’re going to be like I think Jordan might be good. Like I think Jordan might be really good. Joe, he’s the coach, by the way. We We want He’s not one of the random players, the random Suns players we mentioned. He’s now Michigan State’s finest. Definitely had to testify there because people listening definitely probably would have just thought that was another player. Beautiful. By the way, by the way, the answer to who’s like who they’re going to beat out is I have the teams below them as the Jazz, the Pelicans, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Blazers. All right. Well, if we’re not going to talk about injuries, that’s my music to to come in and say that in the Dallas Mavericks have 200 minutes. David, what do you have the Mavs at at minutes? Let me look. Sorry, I don’t have because this this is a deep team. Like they have they have guys. If Anthony Davis is going to stay relatively healthy, and we’re not allowed to talk about health, so nobody can can can talk with me about that. True. But Cooper Fl. You’re talking about a different thing. Well, he’s but he’s not play. They brought in Diego Russell to be to be all right. They have Max Chrissy. They have multiple centers. They’ve got strength. They’ve got they’ve got more wings than anybody else that we’ve talked about. Yeah. What’s worse, depending on Jaylen Green or depending on D’Angelo Russell? D’Angelo Russell. Come on now. They’re depending on D’Angelo Russell way less than the the the Suns are depending on Jaylen Green. Depending on a combination of D’Angelo Russell and a rookie or depending on Jaylen Green. You know what’s worse? Me having to defend Kyrie Irving about D’Angelo Russell against Bill Simmons today? That was that was that was a thing I never thought I would do in my in my career. Admittedly a bad thing. That was very But I think DA Russell knows what his role is going to be. He’s coming in and he’s played with he’s had really good chemistry with Anthony Davis before and that’s all you want him to do is to come in, set him up, set the rest of the guys up, play well with Cooper Flag. Now, when Cooper Flag said that Die Russell was mentoring him and that that he was helping him learn where to be on defense, that was when my eyebrows started to raise and I started to think maybe this is too much DA Russell for my liking. But I think he’s going to be fine in the role that he’s going to play. He’s going to give them what they need. And I think Cooper Black’s going to be better than a lot of people expect early on cuz he’s a connector and he’s going to he’s not going to put up the crazy numbers necessarily that we’ve seen from like a Blake Griffin rookie in the past. But I think they I think they get there minutes wise at least rotation wise if you’re talking about deep teams. When Coupe looks like a turn style defensively, we know who to thank. Sorry. Go ahead. No, I just said when Coupe looks like a turn style defensively, we know who to thank. Cooper flag. Cooper flag’s going to be a bomb. Oh, because he’s taking defensive notes from DL. Yeah. If he’s always in the wrong spot, I’ll then I’ll then I’ll say I’ll say that. How many minutes they get, David? They get 240 if you count Max Christie as an established rotation player in the NBA because of his second half of the season last year. And if you put Caleb Martin in rather than Dante Exom in the rotation, well, Dante Exom has not played yet. And Jason Kidd when asked what he’s out with, he just said he’s just out. So, I’m not feeling good about that one. I don’t think that Dante’s a I don’t think Dante’s an established rotation player in the NBA despite some his nice coming back to the NBA. Not anymore. It’s because of injuries and I’ll say that one. But yeah, they hit they hit 240. If they hit 240, that last guard spot is very tough for them. Uh, and that’s that’s where if Kyrie Irving does come back or when he’s healthy next season, then they’re for sure. I I joke, but like the Mavericks I I don’t trust my projection on them. Like they could be totally fine. They could be pretty good. I don’t understand how a team that doesn’t have a point guard is going to be that good. I’m really worried about the Cooper thing because it’s like Cooper needs to be this positive impact player. And historically, there’s a couple of of counterexamples. Z Cooper thing. So, Cooper needs to be like impactful for you. He needs to be really good and he needs to help you win. And very few rookies are positive in terms of winning their minutes. Zion Williamson did this in his rookie season. That’s a pretty good comp, right? They’re not the same type of player, but similar level of hype. It’s just like typic like Kevin Durant was like a negative every year and it’s like, well, he’s on a tanking team in Seattle. Sure, but like they were also worse with him on the floor than off. And that’s Kevin Durant. And they were also they were playing him at the two, which is not maybe what Jason Kent has already said about playing Cooper Flag at the two and maybe potentially out of I think, look, I think Cooper’s going to be awesome. I just wish he’d been drafted literally anywhere else. And I think he’d be in a much better spot. I hate him being on this team where it’s like we got to win because we got to prove Nico was right, but also it’s a veteran, so you need to make sure you don’t mess up and don’t make mistakes and you so you can’t expand your game. Yeah, but he’s not a player that makes mistakes. Like he’s he’s just he’s he’s not that type of player. He’s a player that makes the right play like every single time he gets the ball. We have every rookie makes mistakes. Sure, but every player, you could say every player makes mistakes except Jaylen Wells. Jaylen Wells does not make mistakes or Jaylen Green or Jaylen Green or SGA or OS Gdora or um such a random fandom. That is amazing. Matt, I just want I just want to congratulate us for doing like seven minutes on the Suns and we have not mentioned the Lakers yet at all in this NBA preview. I mean, this is this is what the Lock Network is all about right here. If they don’t Lakers Lakers don’t show up, the Kevinis aren’t here. We haven’t talked about them. How does LeBron’s injury uh changed Hennessy sales? Matt Moore, something to think about. You know, I somebody told me that that they think he’s just going to retire, and I still can’t believe that. Like, I I just think that you’re going to get like the Nike ad at the beginning of the season and the Nike ads through like he’s going to make money off of it. That’s why I actually thought there was a possibility this was real because I was like if he does it, he’s going to make a thing out of it. Not because I think he cares about the attention because his whole life is attention. He just like it’s weird. It’s not the same to him as it is to other people, but because the money and so I think that he’ll kind of get there. I can’t figure out where this Lakers team is at. The preseason stuff is extremely worrisome. It looks really bad, but like the roster should be better, but I don’t like I don’t know if like where where the where they’re at with Reic. I don’t know if guys are buying in. Like the fans are frustrated because they’re not doing stuff in preseason. I don’t know what to do with the Lakers. They play the Suns are the team that made them look bad in the first game. Just make throwing that out there. What What do you think about Aiden? What do you think about Aiden in that spot, Ben? If he’s got like a pick and roll maestro with Luca, like does that at least make him look better? So, yes. Yes. DeAndre Aiden playing with Luca Donuch is going to make him better because of the twoman game that you can kind of play with. pick and roll, throw the ball at the rim, like he will do that. And he is undoubtedly a better player than Jackson Hayes. But there is a want to in the NBA that DeAndre Aton will never do. He will tell you in press conferences he’s dominating. He’ll tell you he’s going to go out there and and give it all he’s got and he’s going to get offended when you ask him about his effort. But Jackson Hayes plays with an effort that DeAndre Aton will never play with. And that is just a a quality that is not measured by statistics and Lakers fans are going to want to pull their hair out by by middle of November because you have this player that’s got a soft jumper uh at the at the elbow. Hits those very consistently. He but he’s not an aggressive player. He doesn’t have the want to or the motor. Like the thing with DeAndre that I that I think perfectly encapsulates him is after one year in Portland, what did they do? They drafted his replacement Donovan Klingan. After year two, they said, “We’d rather just pay you to leave.” That is the DeAndre Drayton experience. And I think that there is going to be a quality of Jackson Hayes who plays what they want to that DeAndre will never play with. So, yes, there will be nights that he looks good with Luca, but I I’m just I I can’t buy into the DeAndre experience until he does it for an extended period of time and not just a playoff run with the Suns back in 2021. But this is a contract year, DeAndre Aton, season now. Anybody believe the Lakers are top four seed in the West? Luca’s pretty good by the way. Yes, Lucas. And that’s that’s their path obviously, right? Like it’s it’s if Luca is Luca from two years ago, then you know you could argue the rest of this roster is and what was that like Ben? It wasn’t great for uh for Timber’s fans. Not at all. But I I think I mean like if you look at that Mavs roster from two years ago versus the Lakers roster now. I mean like I don’t know. You could argue about which team was better. You know, would you get past Luca? like is Kyrie from two years ago better or worse than LeBron right now as a second best player? Look at the rest of that roster. Like if Luca goes crazy this year, then obviously they could be a top four seed. But I think this is another team where the I would say the middle depth like if you look at our our locked NBA top 100, like they have two top 12 players. Austin Reeves is I think was like 58 on our list or something. I don’t have anybody else in the top 100 and there’s nobody in between. Um, and most of these teams, like it’s the opposite of the Clippers in a sense, um, or or some of these other, uh, teams, you Houston, some of these other teams we talked about. Um, I I just think like the and the depth is okay. Like losing Dorian Finny Smith obviously hurts, but um, they added a couple of guys that I think are going to be helpful as well. Um, like I think the Marcus Smart thing, I mean, who knows? But I think that like the actual benefit, do you know, do you know I absolutely know that’s not going to work. Who knows what to expect prediction on the Los Angeles Lakers. Jake Lab will play more minutes for them than Marcus Smart. Yeah, I I think losing DFS really hurts, but and but I think it’s that middle depth like once you get past the top two players, can Austin Reeves truly be a third option? What are you going to get from DeAndre Aton? Um they have some okay end of bench guys, end of rotation guys, but what’s what’s like what what are you really getting three through seven in the rotation? Well, listen, the thing about Marcus Smart is people still think of him like we he was on the Clippers and he hasn’t been on the Clippers for a long time like that. He the Marcus Smart that we’re talking about is not Celtics. Yeah, that what I’m sorry. Yes, I meant the Celtics. He hasn’t been on the Celtics in a long time. I don’t even remember what he was on the Clippers. I was so blown away. I was just so blown away by the idea of Marcus Martin being a contributor to a team trying to win basketball games that it threw me back. That’s unfair. That’s I’m I’m very burned by the Marcus Smart Memphis experience. I don’t think that’s going to go well at all. It wasn’t his fault, but I said this in in the East show for 30 seconds. Never ever ever ever ever ever ever get a guy Boston lets him go. Never ever ever. If Bos if like any of your teams this year, it’s like the Celtics are interested in trading this West team. Jaylen Brown, run now because it means that like he has a black hole building in the middle of his chest or something. It’s absolute disaster. Never ever ever ever get in on anybody if they if Boston lets them go. And on the flip side, Boston acquiring the Timberwolves uh non-rotation guys, Josh Mina, Luke Gar, Luca Garza to play rotation minutes. It doesn’t feel great. Yeah, Min’s gonna be good. I love my I think I think you guys are all downplaying what a healthy LeBron James can do for this Lakers team. Are we getting Not that not that LeBron James. I’m talking about Bronny James Jr. Yeah, he is healthy and he can play. And so I’m just saying just saying Bronny James Jr. They do have a LeBron James playing just if you forget about the junior. I think there’s a chance Lakers are really bad this year, man. I think this is a transition year for them. I think this is them trying to move out of the LeBron James business and into the Luca business and it’s going to take a couple years for them to kind of fully ac accumulate that acclumate themselves to that and uh be able to get the be able to get the the players they want around him. Like I think I think a part of this is just LeBron kind of pouting. Like I I I I think he’s pissed that for the first time in his career, someone else is accommodating or is forming their team not around him. And it’s the right thing to do. Just so we’re clear. I I always say that when you want to put these things together, don’t look at one report. Try and piece together the individual the breadcrumbs. So he’s frustrated. He sign he opts in and then releases that statement that was weird as hell. And now he’s missing the first season opener that he ever has in his career with sciatica. Matt, you have you have experience with that, right? I I do in fact as an old man on lockdown daily. I do in fact have experience with it and I have solidarity with him. It hurts and it sucks, but also like it’s LeBron. I I am very skeptical that this this to me seems like he lost a power play and is pouting. I am with Ben on that. Look at Dude, look at me and Matt. We agree on a lot. We’re just trying to We’re just trying to push him to the light of uh of Devin Booker, man. That’s all. He just needs to watch more Suns games is all. Memphis Grizzlies podcaster. I am vehemently rooting against the Phoenix Suns. You all already knew that. Nothing brings the West groups together like hating on the Lakers or anybody need that first round pick. I do want to ask Ryland a Lakers question. I think there’s one interesting Laker question though here on this whole like big picture topic. I wouldn’t mind getting to like I brought it up. You have to have 240. Now their second unit’s awful. Gabe Vincent, Marcus Smart, Jake Laravia, Jared Vanderbilt, Jackson Hayes, Dalton Connect. I mean, it’s terrible. But literally, how many wins does Aluca give you? Like that’s like do we don’t we still have a little of Yes. That’s probably not going to get you through the playoffs anymore. But you have the second or third or fourth depending your viewpoint best player in the world heliocentrically having his hands on 70 possessions a night. I would argue it actually helps you in the playoffs more than helps you the regular season. I think he I think he gives you like 40 he’ll get you to 45 wins. I think is that enough for them to get out of the playin? Probably not. Well, I here’s my thing. I want to ask Ryland about this. Is my informed opinion that there is no player, I think, in the Western Conference that OKC fears more than Luca. He breaks that defense. He breaks it because all the stuff that they do against everybody else doesn’t work on him for a variety of reasons. There is one um sorry, there is one. Yeah, there’s one that’s true. But yeah, but yeah, like is there Is there something to the idea of like look if Marcus Smart has a bounceback year and Joe’s wrong and he can play and if DeAndre Aiden and Luca’s relationship because I think that’s the important part is like Luca and DeAndre Aiden are actually good offc court when Luca and KP never got along and that caused a lot of problems because Luca’s a particularly anyway um but if that if the combination works of just like hey pick and roll big with Luca shooters around them LeBron and Austin do whatever I am I have a little bit of concern about like if the Lakers are good, that’s a matchup I don’t like for OKC. The gap between those teams is massive, right? It’s like I’m not arguing. They’re not going to beat them though. There’s not there’s not enough depth. The defense I mean you beat him with TJ Washington. So and a rookie and a rookie center. Yeah, I I agree though. I I think that Luca, you know, he let’s just call it exploits the Thunder defense. I mean, they do this against everybody. Luca is the one that can actually exploit it, leaving corner shooters open, trying to claw into the paint, and then Luca just throws a additional pass and has a guy wide open. And if Marcus Smart has a career year from three, which I think that he wailed next to Luca Nachic, and that’s not like a huge high bar for him, but I think you get back to what he was with the Celtics from three-point land specifically, not defensively, uh, like that that helps them out a ton. And if they have three-point shooting is obviously very variant and there’s a lot of variables that go into it. You can obviously have a look at PJ Washington having a career outlier series shooting from three with Luca facilitating to you plus DeAndre Aton in the pick and roll which I think DeAndre Eaton uh if it’s now or never for him like we’ve talked at Nazium today about how he’s uh viewed around the league. We also saw Russell Westbrook have a bad year next to LeBron and the Lakers and how he’s now viewed around the NBA not even having a job. I I think that the desperation uh can create some of that artificial motor that Ben talked about earlier that that DeAndre Drayton doesn’t have. So I I really do think that the Lakers can be a threat to OKC because of the Luca Nachic factor. Like there’s just there’s just no stopping him because even for as great as the Thunder are with perimeter attack defenders. He’s able to break those guys down and then you do want to shut him off first and foremost and live with the results. That’s the Thunder’s philosophy for every team. just shut down their best player and live with the results from three because there’s natural abilities for guys to miss wide openen threes in the league because of what three-point shots are. They don’t value defending the corners as much as other teams do. And so, yeah, Luca is the guy that can really pick that apart. I think that against Minnesota, it’s it’s the same situation, only Minnesota did not get the three-point luck that PJ Washington did. Anthony Edwards in that series, yeah, you can say he didn’t score enough. He made some excellent passes and some excellent reads and then the guys clanked him in the corner and the Thunder won the game. And it’s like a lot of that was not on Edwards last year. A lot of that was on they didn’t have a PJ Washington step up. And so Luka Nachic does raise the tide of his shooters more than any other playmaker in my opinion. And that’s going to hurt the Thunder with the way that they play defense. On the flip side though, the the supporting cast that Luca has like does he have guys that are going to make those threes, right? Like he can break down the defense. But yeah, and it’s the one game the Wolves won in the conference finals. But heading into that Thunder series against the Mavericks, for as as much flaws as you can say that the Thunder had without the front court depth and with Josh Giddy, no one expected PJ Washington to shoot like that. Nobody expected Derek Stone Jr. to shoot like that. Not even Nick Gangstead did with his uh crap eating grin. So it’s like what do you do whenever Luka Nich is out there facilitating the pumpkin? You pray. I don’t know. You pray. You pray and then you beat him on the other end, which is what I think would happen against You wait for the Lakers. You wait for the Lakers to trade nothing for him. That’s that’s that’s Oh, Anthony Davis top 10 player. Who wins more games, Dallas or LA this year? I think the Mavericks I have LA I have LA eighth and I have the Mavs way down. So even if I adjust the Mavericks up, which I probably should. What is way down from eighth? He said he didn’t have them making the playoffs. He said they’re out of the playoffs for me. Nick, I have them. Like look, I’m again I’m probably Sometimes you text me, you’re like, “Why do Mavs fans hate me so much?” I’ve discovered I discovered one. Yeah, it’s all numbers though. This is just some Mavs fans will be happy you said that though cuz they want to see the Mavs employed implode because employed. I think they want to see one guy unemployed. Some of them. Yeah, they definitely want I I will give another hot take. I have the Memphis Grizzlies fifth. Joe Muller. Whoa. What? In the You waited until 46 minutes to drop this bomb on us, man. Matt’s standings right now real quick. Yeah, Matt, just just give us the whole rundown. Uh, Thunder, Wolves, Nuggets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Rockets, Warriors, Lakers, Kings, Suns, Spurs, Blazers. I didn’t even put that together that you had the Rockets under the Grizzlies. What’s the case for the Rockets? This is a little behind. I apologize. This is a little behind. Behind what? Uh, I did an update which actually bumped up the Rockets because it’s got offensive rebounding included which is the only way they could score. So that’s the only Can you do that again? Uh, yeah. Hang on. Let me uh slow down so the right ones here. Let me get I was I was still stuck on the Rockets at sixth under the Grizzlies. Yeah. No, they’re uh they’re higher now. I’ll I’ll pull it up in a sec. But yeah, I have them I do have the Rockets a little bit lower than Just give the just give the runout again. Uh I got to pull it up. Thunder Wolves. I do like I do like the respect of the Wolves who’ve been to the conference finals two years in a row. I don’t look I don’t look yes the Rockets offense last year was abysmal. It was trash and it was really bad for a bunch of different reasons. One of them is now in Phoenix and so like you you add one of the greatest scores the game has ever seen in Kevin Durant a walking 5040 90 efficiency and he’s replacing the absolute abysmal efficiency of Jaylen Green. Like Fred is a big loss. Fred is a big loss from a from a culture perspective, from a defense perspective. He was the guy that would get guys organized on the floor. Absolutely. But you were literally injecting Kevin Durant to a team that just won 52 games that was a top five defense that was flirting with being a top 10 offense despite having like one of the worst offenses in the entire NBA because again, it was propped up with offensive rebounding. Yes, they will continue to be a great offensive rebounding team, but now the guys who are actually taking a majority of their shots will convert on them. And the few times and the less times now that they actually miss shots when those shots aren’t converted, they’re still going to be an elite rebounding team. They are still going to crush you on the offensive glass with Alpin Shingun and Steven Adams and Clint Capella and Tar Een and Amen Thompson. Like, they are still going to have that identity and the defensive identity. the like the 10-second way to say that. Jackson, you just changed the shot selection of Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks into Kevin Durant. Like Dyl Dylan Brooks wasn’t even the problem. Dylan Brooks was great. But his shot selection is it was fine. Like he had he had like he would have the oneoff game like one every 10 games where he would maybe do a little bit too much from the mid-range, but his shot selection from Memphis to Houston, he got rid of a lot of the BS that he would do and he prioritized like efficient basketball. Where’d you have the Spurs, Matt? I have them 11th. I don’t think I don’t think I don’t think they’re going to be good. I just don’t like I just don’t They weren’t good before. It’s because the Wim the Wimi hype is overrated. That’s why. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. So, I agree. None of it fits. Castle, Fox, like it Harbor. And it was against the Utah Jazz and it was pre-seasoned and we’re not supposed to swear on this show, but holy sh what I saw last night from Victor Webbyama was it beginning to come together. Two and a half letters in that one. He may the Wemby hype may be real. He It was It was different last night. It was again It was against the Jazz. It was preseason, but it was different. That was a different player than I’d seen the six times I’d seen him prior. I had him top five in my my top 100. Anybody where everybody else have him? I had him a lot lower. I just think it’s it’s tough until you see it. Like I mean out of the top 10. Yeah. Out of the top 10. Out of the top 10. He had it too. I had him like 15 on my He hasn’t earned it yet. Like what are we talking about? He hasn’t earned it. They’re 10 points better when he’s on the floor defensively. He was gonna be defensive player of the year. Guys in the league that have that kind of impact. He is he is individually that good. He is that good. I need I need to see it translate to a like at at one point you can you can highlight the the team success part and that’s what I’m looking at. The rest of his team was Jeremy Sohan and Harrison Barnes. If you’re and if you’re if you’re that individually good, if you’re that indiv individually great, if you’re going to elevate the defense, then why were the Spurs still a bottom five defense last season? I’ve watched Luga on a terrible team and known that was still a top five player, though. M but then I’m not I don’t think that’s a for I don’t think that’s a terrible comment by Jackson actually. I don’t I don’t like like at what point does the individual greatness like translate to some team success like two seasons and he got four at the end of last callus the minus 10 is misleading because of how gosh awful everybody else was on that team. So like that like I don’t disagree with Jackson this I’m just telling you guys what I saw last night. They were also it was 110 with him on the floor. Jackson it was eight points better with him on the court. eight points better. Cleaning glass out of him at 9.7. Yeah. Non-garbage time is 9.7. Yeah. Like I I am very res on this stuff because this is my argument against Luca, which is like if you’re that good, why is your net rating always very subpar? And I do think that there was something in Luca’s game early where it was like one of my favorite things was Luca in a loss. It was always like Luka Dodgers had 40 points and 15 rebounds and 12 assists and the Mavericks lost by seven. Well, like because they had no one else that could dribble for like most of his career there. Well, and I think I mean Matt said he has the Spurs 11, right? And and like I think it’s really hard to argue he’s a top five player and then they’re going to win 40 games again, you know, like like I I I understand that individually he’s like if you put him you stack him up in a vacuum against other guys, he’s probably I don’t know, top five, top six, top seven, whatever. But everybody else you’re stacking him up against that you would consider a potential top five player. Their teams have won at least a playoff series much, you know, they’ve been to the playoffs and won a series or two, right? And so I think that’s where it gets sticky. He’s probably in the 5 to 10 range, I I think. But it’s it’s a really hard thing to be like, he’s the fifth best player in the league when he’s played like 100ish, you know, plus or minus games and his team’s never been to the playoffs. I I just think that’s that’s challenging to say. He’s just only had two chances and one of them he had blood clots and didn’t finish the season. So, it’s like I don’t why we’re holding him up for this for missing the playoffs in his first year like that. Same reason why I think it’s it’s tough to like obviously tough to rank Cooper flag, right? Because we haven’t seen him play in an NBA game yet. So, it’s it’s a it’s it’s more that who you’re comparing to him against I think matters when we’re talking about a player rank list. I think it’s also really hard because we’re the the hardest part here is obviously we think that Wimi is going to be great. We are expecting like the we’re projecting him to be like maybe in the GOAT conversation like when it’s all said and done for Yes. But like at but what his actual guy defending his court going to get run out of Dallas over here. His his actual production on the court right now like I could I could reel off probably he was like shoeing to win defensive player of the year. He was the best defensive player of the in in the in the league last year and putting up like 20. You cannot give defensive player of the year to a guy who is a bottom five defense. Like it’s minus odds the whole year to win it and then he got hurt. Yeah, that was wrong though. Like he really should. You’re going to go against We can’t go. Yeah, because that’s like giving like MVP to Kevin Love back when he was on the Wolves because his his numbers were just so good. Actually, this is really important. Never ever ever use the odds when you’re doing it when you’re looking at stuff. Don’t be like, well, he’s the favorite. That’s influenced by the money coming in from a significant betters on a market. So, it’s like if everybody has the wrong idea or they think that the voters are going to vote for the wrong person. It’s not reflexive where it’s like, well, he’s the favorite, therefore he’s the best. It’s he’s considered to be the best, therefore he’s the favorite. Always consider it a reflection and not like a driver. Okay, I’m super sorry. I I I’m sorry, Jackson. I swear I prepped for an NBA game last night and the dude I prepped for averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, four blocks, had an effective field goal percentage of 59% or 57% last year. Shot 35% from three and 48% from the field, taking nine a game while making 84% of his free throws. I know those are all standard numbers that aren’t advanced metrics, but I’m sorry. What What the did I miss about those numbers not being unbelievable? Well, I for me a lot it’s like he’s if you actually if you watch him and I’m really scared about this year because it looks like he’s added muscle so he’s able to bunk guys off but you could move him so easy still like guards can get into him like a man Thompson can create separation by bumping into him. He’s still super impactful. I’m not argu I’m not arguing that. I’m agreeing with you. I actually think this is my point. I’ve watched him. I always feel like there’s something lacking. I feel like you can move him. I feel like you can do all these things the last two years while he averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. And I wonder when it all comes together and he can shoot every possession he wants to shoot cuz no one can get in his shooting window if he’s not going to average 30 points, 15 rebounds, and six blocks a game. I’m not kidding. But I’m with I’m with Jackson on you got to do it first. Yeah. Like I doubted Jiren Jackson offensively because I was like he needs a freaking offensive go-to move. Like he’s got to have something that he can do and actually go to. And now he finally does and he’s underrated. Joe, explain it to me. Jiren Jackson Jr. is underrated. So is John Morant. But again, I I was told that we can’t talk about injuries and Grizzlies are extremely injured right now. So, um, while I’m I’m very honored that they’re fifth in your rankings there, Matt, may not be anymore. Uh, you know, the thing about Jiren is bullying Matt out of the Grizzies at five. Yeah, I’m I’m thrilled. Uh, the thing about Jiren Jackson Jr. is he’s kind of become underrated in Memphis even after the great season he had because of this new coach with Touaso and the the re-emphasis on pick and roll and getting Jaw Morant going and Zack Edy Matt’s favorite player is going to have a big year in this system and there’s so much that’s being prioritized that isn’t what Jiren did well in the revamped offense from last year because while the Grizzlies defense went off a cliff, the offense was legitimately better last year and the main Reason for that was Jiren Jackson Jr. So Jiren Jackson Jr. developing the game that he has as an isolation scorer. There were stretches last year where he was one of the best isolation scorers in the entire league. The way that he’s able to create offense is so predictable now that he has to be in a position where he’s a better creator off of that dribble, finding people, passing, facilitating offense. I I hope that’s the next level for him. But Jiren is a great example of exactly what you’re talking about with WBY. And my concern about Wemama is the team that’s being built around him. Like you guys said, not a ton of it really fits. I feel like there’s still a big move away from really unlocking what Webbyama actually is. Like they need to like the Giannis rumors, which aren’t going to happen, but that would be terrifying if that actually did occur. Like I feel like that would unlock what WebMyama actually would be best at. They’re asking him to do things as a physical presence that I don’t know that he can physically do in terms of being able to be moved by guards and other wings that in theory shouldn’t be able to move him. Like that doesn’t happen to Jiren Jackson Jr. WMB 6 in tall, but Jiren has the physical mass and frame that he’s able to handle himself. You bring in somebody like a Jiren, like a Giannis, someone of that ilk, I think that’s the kind of guy that unlocks what Yemenyama can fully be in the NBA. I don’t know if the Spurs are going to be able to get there or not. They have the assets. The question is, you know, you need another team to be willing to ship them to you. It’s actually why I really like the like the Luke Cornet, Kelly Olen editions and stuff for them. Like, let let those guys handle the five spot, right? Let Wimi, you know, Wimi is a five, but you know, you run him at the four and then you run him at five in certain lineups, whatever. let somebody else handle the the the brunt of like the physicality of that five spot and just let him be that roaming presence defensively at the four and just blowing everything up with his size and length. That’s a fair reason to not like the Spurs because when you’re counting on Kelly Olen to be that guy for you like that that’s a that might be a bridge too far in terms of expecting them to make a leap in front of other teams that are still trying to compete in the Western Conference. Anybody have any parting shots about any of the bottom feeders in the in the West? Anybody? I mean the Pelicans ceiling is what to close out this division. Since we can’t talk injuries, the Pelicans ceiling is what? Playing team with Zimpig Zion. Are you kidding me? Let’s go. Five seed. Five seed. Five seed with healthy. Trey Mur Trey Murphy’s Dian Williamson healthy. How about How about Trey Murphy for Show Me, right? Like I feel like that’s the player that everybody’s like Herb Jones. He’s really good. Trey, they they have like a really good like top lot of play, you know, 140. They do. There you go. 240 for the for the Pel. Just some nights it’s going to be like and and when Zion when Zion’s playing though and when he’s out there, man, that’s that’s a that’s a top 10 player. And we’ve seen it for a whole season as a top 10 player. I like a lot. I think that’s a team that could crash the party in the Blazers. I like the Joe. The same way Ben was talking about the Suns being like this team that you’re going to roll into be like, “Ah, it’s the it’s the Suns. We’re going to beat them. They’re just they’re going to be such an annoying team to play. The Blazers, their defense is gonna be That’s where That’s where I’m at. Sure. Johny Bilips is good.” Like, are we sure? No, I’m not sure of that. But I’m sure that starting five is whether it’s because of Bilips or because of whatever else is happening up there, they are going to be what again what Ben said the Phoenix is going to be. I think that’s what Portland’s going to be. You’re gonna go in and think, “Holy crap, that was a lot harder than it should have been.” They were already that last season. Like, that’s the thing. Is it It seemed like that, but then you look at like if you take a step back and you look at even in their good stretch of games, you kind of walk away being like, eh, like I was ready to be all in on them and then I did the the the deep dive. I mean, I’m not not saying they’re good. I’m just saying they’re not like this they’re not like this 19- win team, right? Like they’re it’s not like going in to play the Nets. There’s only one team that’s not trying to win games in the West, guys. And they have Isaiah Collier, so it’s okay. Isaiah Collier is great. I love I have a question for David. Does Markin and finish the season in Utah? Yes. Interesting. I just think just because the Lakers play them the last game of the season. Here’s the quick answer. Because the Lakers played them the last game of the season or Yeah. Uh the quick answer is you actually like to re you have to have to have to have a piece or two that’s actually around when you rebuild. And so if Ace is good, which honestly he looks incredible so far. Um and then you get whoever you get next year, AJ, whatever young kid, you’ve got two of them. You the fact that Lowry makes 40 million is fine at that point. Whereas Lowry making 40 million on a good team isn’t actually fine in this day and age. So I think it’s hard to trade him because it was 40 million. And then two, I do think they’re going to try to get better. They have $42 million of cap space in the offseason. I think this thing is like they’re going to draft this next year and then hope they’ve hit and try to move this thing forward. So, um I I’d be surprised. I would be surprised. Now, the only the only way would be is if there’s some piece out there that they believe is, you know, piece 1A to Ace Bailey or piece 1B to whoever they draft next year, um that they could get for Lowry Mark and they go do it. And I don’t know who that is. Ace Bailey look Ace Bailey looking like Tracy McGrady early on is pretty cool. Yes. No, I mean I’m not like I want to be really careful here. He He looks so good. It’s preseason basketball. Large grain of salt, but he definitely gives off McGrady vibes. He’s making plays that the amount of wing players in the NBA in the last 20 years that can make those plays is like 20 guys, 30 guys. So it’s not sarcastic at all. I really love that. No, he’s been great. I love that for you. I was very nervous about this season and in your sanity and being both the radio host and the lock on Jazz. He’s he’s been great. Like he’s there was a play last night in overtime against San Anton again. He was against G-League guys, but it’s off a pin down catch at 18 ft. Rise up in one motion, elevate foot over everybody else and make the jumper. And he did the same thing against Houston about three or four times. Can we say Ace Bailey is already better than Deon Booker? Some just cuz Ben is I would say this. I would say this. If I had a sponsor of a show that was like f game time, I would go buy a ticket to see a Bailey. But if I also had a sponsor of a show that was FanDuel, and I’m not allowed to give you any betting advice. I’m just saying. Yeah, you know what to do from there. I already said Cooper’s not going to put up a ton of numbers, so there there could be could be some cont. We need to apologize to FanDuel and and say that the views of Matt Moore do not reflect locked on NBA. You know, by the way, there is an interesting rookie of the year thing that basically every rookie of the year has averaged 15 points a game and most rookie years have averaged at least 18 points a game. And there is a question whether Cooper averages on that. He might not need to. Yeah. Right. True. It might be a good day for Cooper if he averages 12 points. A great season, 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and Dallas loves that. But that’s that doesn’t that has traditionally not won rookie Malcolm Brogden’s I think the last guy to win rookie of the year and not averaged 15 points a game. Look, David, defense wins championships, not rookie of the year awards. Okay, very good point. That’s right. Yeah, take it from me. That’s right. Uh, go check out all these great shows. Links in the description wherever you’re listening to this to find Lockdown Rockets, Jazz, Grizzlies, Thunder, Mavs, Nuggets, Suns, if you’re listening to Lockdown Suns, like I just I I appreciate you for thoughts and prayers you guys over there enjoying the season that Ben Garcia deserves. Guys, thanks for listening to be a squad show
