Assessing the West Ahead of the NBA's 2023-24 Season w/ Jack Simone | Celtics Lab - video Dailymotion

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With the offseason just weeks away from training camp, most of the teams around the NBA have pretty close to the version of their roster that will be taking the floor on opening night under contract, even if they may need to make a few more moves around the margin to get to that point.  That makes league analysts and fans of the Boston Celtics and the rest of the league able to get a pretty good idea about just how likely each team in the Association is to winning it all, tearing it down, or living in the spaces between those two poles. So with that in mind, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Spurs Wire editor Jack Simone to project the order of the NBA's Western Conference for the looming 2023-24 season.  With sportsbooks like Fan Duel predicting Boston as among the most likely ball clubs to come out of the East, there's a good chance the teams we picked as contenders could face the Celtics in their first return to the NBA Finals since 2022 -- and even if they don't, it's good to know a bit about the teams Boston will face in their push to get back there.  This episode of the Celtics Lab Podcast is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5  and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Plus, all customers who bet $5 will get $100 OFF NFL SUNDAY TICKET from YouTube and YouTube TV. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit  https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss.  21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234. NFL Sunday Ticket Offer ends 9/18/23. No refunds. Terms and embargoes apply. $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket, not YouTube TV. YouTube TV base plan required to watch YouTube TV. Redemption requires a Google account and current form of payment. Commercial Use Excluded. Subscription renews; cancel anytime.

Transcript

00:00 for teams outside of the US, you want to win the FIFA World Cup because you get the chance to beat

00:04 the US, you get the chance to beat these other teams. But for LeBron James, Kevin Durant,

00:09 Steph Curry, all these guys, like they want the Olympic gold. They don't want the FIFA World Cup

00:12 gold. That's just, that's what it is for them. And plus this is probably like the last chance

00:17 LeBron, Steph and Katie and that, that older generation will have to play in the Olympics.

00:21 So it doesn't make sense that I want to play. Um, but yeah, they're, they're bringing out the

00:25 Avengers. This, this, this Olympic squad is going to be nuts. Although they don't really have any, any

00:30 great centers, which we saw was an issue in the FIFA World Cup. And so unless AD is going to,

00:34 you know, say, Oh no, no, I don't want to play center for the Lakers, but I'll play center for

00:38 the world cup, which I can't imagine is going to happen. We'll have to find a different way around

00:42 the rebounding, which could be a problem with all these other centers around the, uh, the world.

00:46 Celtics lab is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media

00:53 Network and AG1, the daily foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole body health.

01:04 I'm your host Cameron Tepp-Dubai. I'm joined by Dr. Justin Quinn. Our good friend, Alex is still

01:09 getting settled in Brooklyn. He's got the week off, but in his stay, we've got friend of the

01:13 podcast, Jack Simone, you know him from Celtics blog, you know him from the, how about them seeds

01:18 podcast. You know him from Bulls wire. And importantly for this episode, you know, from

01:21 Spurs wire, Jack. Hey, hello. Hello. Thank you guys for having me. I'm ready to talk as many of

01:27 those teams as you'd like me to talk because I'm my, my brain is scrambled so often, but if we,

01:32 we nail it down to a couple, then I'm a more streamlined, I suppose. Um, if by a couple of,

01:38 you mean 15, then perfect. Because what we're doing today is previewing the Western conference

01:44 and off air, we were like, wow, that's kind of a reach. But in fact, our friends over at FanDuel,

01:50 the top 10 finals match-ups, uh, with the best odds, five of them involved the Boston Celtics.

01:57 So the odds makers think Boston is headed for a consequential matchup with some sort of Western

02:02 conference team at some point next season. Good enough for us. So in the second half of

02:07 this podcast, we will talk about what we think of the Western conference. Who's a contender.

02:10 Who's a pretender who stinks, who really stinks. And if you're curious, we did this with the

02:15 Eastern conference last week. Go check out our episode from last week. But first we're going to

02:20 talk about news. We're going to talk about load management. We're talking about FIBA. And then

02:24 later we'll talk about the Western conference. So that's the agenda for today. Okay. The news,

02:29 uh, matters to some folks, Taylor Funk signed to a camp deal. Um, Justin Quinn,

02:37 is this the reincarnation of Larry Bird or what? Well, he does study. He models his game

02:43 after Larry Bird. Um, I modeled my game after Robert Parrish. It's not helping. Uh, I'm hoping

02:50 it's helping him more. Uh, he doesn't have Larry Bird like stat lines, but he does a little bit of

02:56 everything. And he appears to be very locked in when he's playing in the five minutes of highlights.

03:03 I think I've seen him so far. Uh, so he's interesting. I don't know if he's going to

03:07 make the team. Uh, he's a forward. I think he's six foot eight. Uh, you can shoot the ball a bit,

03:12 pass a bit decent defender, nothing incredibly knock your socks off, which is, you know,

03:17 why he went on drafted, but he might make the team. Well, name Jack, two questions. One,

03:23 who do you model your game after? And second, is there anyone heading into training camp

03:27 either on a non-guaranteed deal or a bona fide deal that you're interested in?

03:33 Who do I model my game after? Well, when I was in college, I would spend hours at the, like the

03:38 rec gym playing basketball. And as you can see, you can probably see it on the YouTube. I have

03:42 super glue on my glasses and this is for multiple, multiple times of snapping them, taking a

03:47 basketball to the face. We were literally on a streak of four weeks in a row at my Sunday runs

03:51 where they've snapped. Um, but I had goggles in college. And so people called me Kareem,

03:56 not that I modeled my game after Kareem, but because I looked like him, who I model after,

04:01 I feel like just a worse yoke itch because I'm, I'm often too slow to run up the court and I, uh,

04:06 make full court passes, uh, and can shoot the three a little bit, but who am I excited for

04:11 looking into training camp? I'm really interested in the wing rotation of Jordan Walsh, Sam Houser,

04:17 O'Shea Bursette, and I guess Steve McAulay now too. Cause like one of those guys could have a

04:21 significant role and off, you know, immediately you think Sam Houser and that's who I think it

04:25 ended up will being, especially cause he was great when he got more opportunities last season,

04:29 but Steve McAulay can shoot Jordan Walsh is a great defender. O'Shea Bursette's got, you know,

04:33 some athleticism, he can defend a little bit. So they have a ton of options there at,

04:36 at least for me, the position I thought, okay, let's get a backup wing in here behind Tatum

04:40 and Brown to ease the load. And they now have a group of, you know, minutes by committee guys

04:46 who can slide in behind those guys. So I'm excited for that. But Jordan Walsh is probably the one

04:50 out of all of them that I'm most excited for. Cause he showed a lot of great stuff in summer

04:54 league. And if he can turn that into successful minutes in the NBA level, he seems like the type

04:58 of guy Joe Mizzou would want to play a lot. I have to say this is off script. I've been playing

05:03 NBA 2K. Thank you to the folks at 2K for hooking it up. I'm really struggling to make the geography

05:10 for the Celtics fit on the court, which is hopefully why Joe Mizzou is the coach and I'm not,

05:16 but there's something about this rotation that I'm starting to not understand. But that's not

05:23 what this podcast is about. So I'll just put a pin in that. But as you're talking about,

05:27 like, what is the wing rotation going to be? I'm realizing that I have many of those questions up

05:33 and down the depth chart. Anyways, let's talk about that later for now. Since we last talked,

05:40 the United States was bounced from the FIBA world cup, did not even metal, which is not the first

05:46 time that's happened at world cup. It's a little more scandalous, I think at the Olympic level,

05:51 but I'm still Boston. US went home early. Canada got the bronze Latvia without Chris Epps,

05:58 Brasengas took silver and Germany led by the Dennis Schroeder and the Daniel Tice took gold.

06:03 But the rub now is what is USA going to do? Is LeBron in? Is he going to bring all these people

06:11 back? Jack, what do you think of the USA team commentary? What do you think of their chances

06:17 heading into Paris? What do you think of this last week of international basketball talk?

06:21 Yeah, we talked about this in the last podcast, me and Sam on how about themselves? Like,

06:25 Sue, I know you guys have had Sam on too. And we came to the same conclusion. We're like,

06:29 it's lame that all these eight year guys can say, no, we don't want to play in the world cup,

06:33 but we'll play for the Olympics. Cause then the guys who did play in the world cup don't really

06:36 get that chance. But at the same time, it does make sense. Like we, we likened it to,

06:39 it's not the exact same, but when these, you know, premier league teams and these international

06:45 soccer teams, these clubs play in like the FA cup or these smaller cups, like they roll out the B

06:49 B squad because they're like, Oh, we don't really care about this as much as the main things.

06:53 But then for the world cup, which is the biggest international stage, they send out the stars

06:57 and that, and that's kind of what I likened it, the Olympics to the world cup, because it is

07:01 like the Olympics is the international grand stage of everything. And the feeble world cup is kind of

07:06 like the minor tournament that also comes around. And for these smaller, you know, not smaller,

07:11 like Germany is a good basketball nation. They have a lot of MBA guys, but for teams outside of

07:15 the U S you want to win the feeble world cup because you get the chance to beat the U S you

07:19 get the chance to beat these other teams. But for LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry,

07:24 all these guys, like they want the Olympic gold. They don't want the field world cup gold. That's

07:27 just that that's what it is for them. And plus this is probably like the last chance LeBron,

07:32 Steph and Katie, and that, that older generation will have to play in the Olympics. So it doesn't

07:36 make sense that I want to play. But yeah, they're, they're bringing out the Avengers. This, this,

07:41 this Olympic squad is going to be nuts. Although they don't really have any, any great centers,

07:45 which we saw it was an issue in the feeble world cup. And so unless a D is going to say, Oh no,

07:50 no, I don't want to play center for the Lakers, but I'll play center for the world cup, which I

07:53 can't imagine is going to happen. We'll have to find a different way around the rebounding,

07:57 which could be a problem with all these other centers around the, uh, the world.

08:00 Yeah, it was kind of a weird indictment. I mean, you're, I don't disagree with anything you just

08:06 said, but like this team should have been good enough to have been more competitive than they

08:10 were. I know, you know, they came in fourth and things were a little fluky against Canada,

08:14 a little fluky against Germany, but like, I don't know. I think some of the questioning

08:19 about Steve Kerr's coaching team feels, uh, fair enough. The use of the center position,

08:26 like you just alluded to Jack, I don't know. I like with respect to the international community,

08:31 where there's tons of basketball talent, this was still a really talented USA team that I think

08:36 underperformed pretty big. So yeah, maybe they're calling in the Avengers, but the B-list, I think

08:40 also kind of laid an egg. Justin, you're an ambassador of the international community of

08:44 a sort. Tell us what you think. I think it's good for the game. Uh, I think that whenever

08:49 the United States loses a competition like this, uh, it might suck for us as U S citizens, but for,

08:57 I'm assuming we're all U S citizens. Uh, generally speaking though, it's like when UCLA dominated

09:04 or UConn, the women's game, it's not very interesting when you're only at best competing

09:11 for second. So for first off, I think it's, it's good in that regard. And then secondly,

09:16 I think that for a very long time, the United States was just able to come and play NBA style

09:22 within the FIBA system where now it's becoming a liability as we hinted at with the center

09:29 situation. Uh, I mean like teams turning the ball over by not realizing how much time they

09:34 have before the possession ends. Just like really, really basic, obvious stuff that

09:39 a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant top 10 coach in the NBA is not a very good FIBA coach just

09:48 because he's not around the system. Doesn't have time to develop the relationships. And there's,

09:52 there's gotta be a way that they can find like maybe three guaranteed spots, right? If you play

09:58 in the world cup and then you still have room for everybody else, like you don't need to make like

10:02 all of them, but like give some of the people. So you have like a core of a continuity who works

10:08 with a dedicated, not NBA jumping in. Like if he wants to do it every single year and get really

10:16 familiar with the system. Great. But until, until the United States is ready to play the FIBA game,

10:23 I think they're going to have to start getting more used to not meddling or meddling below where

10:28 they want to in the near term future. Yeah. I think that's true. Read. Although I don't know,

10:33 I like Canada didn't seem to have the same problems in the same way. Um, we'll keep it moving. I will

10:39 say the three revelations for me were Anthony Edwards, Dennis Schroeder and SGA. Um, Schroeder

10:45 not only one MVP for world cup, which is cool. One of my favorite Schroeder fun facts is it just,

10:51 I think it's just a product of when he came into the league. There is a Dennis Schroeder app that

10:56 you can download on your phone for all things, Dennis Schroeder, which I'm sure there's a few,

11:00 I think Daniela Galinari has a, um, an app as well. And speaking of former Italian Celtics

11:06 players, Luigi Dottomi has retired, uh, after Italy was bounced pretty early in this tournament.

11:11 So best wishes to GG. Okay. A few more bits of news, and then we'll talk about the Western

11:16 conference. Supposedly it has been reported of the NBA is saying that they are going to crack

11:23 down on load management. Who knows what that's going to look like in practicality. Supposedly

11:28 it's going to carry a hundred thousand dollars fines or more, which I'm sure Steve bomber will

11:33 feel deep in his pockets, but, um, Jack, any belief in this load management system? I think

11:39 I've tipped my hand for how I'm coming down on it. It's fine. Like it is what it is. I understand

11:45 what they're trying to do. It doesn't sound like it's going to make too big of a difference.

11:49 I can't find the exact thing. This is how Sam described it to me. It does sound like the

11:53 fines are going to be like a hundred thousand for the first game, 250,000 for the second game,

11:57 but then it jumps to like a million, 250,000, 2 million. So like the fines do get hefty past

12:04 the first couple of games, but they also, you know, made it a point to say, Oh, these are for

12:08 nationally televised games. And this is for all stars. All I'm, I think that what they qualify

12:13 as a star is all star, all MBA in the past three years. So like, there are so many qualifications

12:19 for it that it's only going to affect certain players and certain teams. And also how do you

12:24 enforce it? Like if you just say, Oh, this player has a family issue or this player has a headache

12:28 or this player is, you know, sore, what do you say? You get a checkup on Steph Curry while he's

12:33 hanging out at a wedding and say, Hey, Oh, you, you just making sure you're not lying.

12:37 You are doing something like it just seems too hard to enforce. Although I do agree with the

12:42 premise, like don't rest your stars. And like the warriors did it a lot where they would just rest

12:46 everybody on certain nights and the Clippers have done it as well. But like, I guess it could

12:51 technically, like I wrote about it from the Pacers perspective for, for 8.9 seconds for fan cited,

12:56 which is like Pacers probably get an advantage from this because teams like the Hawks and the

13:00 bulls who have stars that they'll need to play and will be competing with the Pacers are have

13:05 more nationally televised games and we'll have to play their stars more. And so they could get tired

13:09 and all these risks that they might not take otherwise. So like there is, I guess, some sort

13:13 of edge. Cause like the Pacers have one nationally televised game and only one all-star and Halbert

13:18 doesn't want to sit games anyways. So you could say like, it's good for those teams from that

13:24 perspective. But again, I I'm confused as to how they're going to enforce it in the first place.

13:29 It just seems like there, but at the same time, that's not the MBA's fault either. Cause like

13:34 what way can you enforce it? This type of thing. Yeah. I don't have too much to add to that. I

13:40 think it's an interesting, very narrowly focused. For example, currently the Celtics have probably

13:47 zero players. We expect it to actually affect, even though they have a number of players,

13:52 they're going to need to load manage this season, almost certainly. So I think it's people who are

13:58 freaking out about it are probably probably just need to read what it is and what it entails a

14:02 little more closely because it's just going to like, this is the bone that they're throwing to

14:09 the fan who goes to one game a year. And the star player for the team that they came to go for is

14:15 not playing. That's really the only thing this is for. This is not really a crackdown on load

14:20 management because like 90% of the league can still load manage. I was trying to look up how

14:26 much money, like the financial value of winning a title. But the flip side is the, the estimation is

14:34 that the spurs jumped $500 million in value when they got women Yama. So like, even if the penalties

14:41 add up, if you think it's your ticket to either properly tanking or going deeper in the post

14:46 season, like the financial benefit probably outweighs the impact. So I don't know. I think

14:53 maybe some of the cheaper or like more PR conscious owners or front offices might take a hint, but

14:59 I don't know. It's silly. It's an entertainment product. I think they should put the entertainers

15:04 out there, but I understand that that's not how it's viewed internally. Speaking of entertainment,

15:10 that jets game last night was hilarious. I don't wish injury on my worst enemy, but

15:16 the NFL script writers just really polished off a beauty with the jets bill came. And Hey,

15:24 maybe the Patriots are going to be kind of competitive in the AFC East. Cause maybe the

15:27 AFC East stinks, which is incidentally a good reason to pause the action and talk about our

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16:12 official partner of the NFL. Alrighty back to the action. Okay, Jack, we are going to talk about the

16:23 Western conference because maybe the Celtics will play these teams in the finals, but they'll play

16:27 them elsewhere. And this is what we came up with last week. So we're going to use the same kind of

16:33 scoring system. We're going to try to break down whether teams are contenders, pretenders, just a

16:40 solid playoff team, otherwise going nowhere, a team destined for the play in a bad team, but maybe

16:48 trending up or a team that is just in the tank. So contenders, pretenders, playoff team, play in team,

16:54 bad, but trending up and bad and going nowhere. So we'll go in alphabetical order to not pick

17:01 favorites. And if you've got five minutes on a team, cause you got to get something off your

17:06 chest, go for it. Otherwise we'll keep it moving. Let us start with, uh, I would hazard one of the

17:12 most confusing teams in the Western conference, the Dallas Mavericks. So Jack Simone, what is

17:17 your read on Grant Williams, Dallas Mavericks? That's so tough. Cause they're definitely in

17:24 such a weird spot. They changed the team a lot this summer. I would probably put them in the

17:28 solid playoff team category. I think they're better than a play in team this year than they were last

17:32 year, because as much as they did have Kyrie for half the season, they now have a full off season

17:37 to get him and Luca going together. They have much better depth now, uh, even if they don't

17:41 have a solid starting center. And I think they might even be like a Clint Capello or Miles Turner

17:47 type guy, like a, not like an all-star, but like pretty close to like a really good starting center

17:52 away from being, you know, knocking on the door of that contender tier. Cause you have Luca,

17:56 you have another ball handler. And the last time you saw Luca with another star ball handler,

18:00 him and Jalen Brunson went to the Western conference final. So not saying it's going

18:03 to be the exact same, but they should at the very least be a solid playoff team. In my opinion,

18:06 well, Dr. Quinn, don't too much to add for that. Uh, Luca has looked great in international play.

18:13 He looks healthy ahead of the season and they actually have a competent wing rotation. Now,

18:18 maybe not an ideal wing rotation, but a competent one. So I do think that that is

18:22 a very good assessment as well. I think that this team is a pretender for the following reasons.

18:30 Um, they are going to look like a contender because Luca is an MVP candidate and Kyrie Irving

18:38 creates a lot of attention and they're going to score so crazy amounts. It's going to be a crazy

18:45 offensive Bonanza. So they're going to get a lot of attention. Be talked about like a contender.

18:50 However, they're going to be pretending because, uh, uh, first of all, you can't trust that Kyrie

18:55 Irving is going to be there. That's just fact, but more importantly, who the hell is going to

18:59 play defense on this team? This team is going to be so bad on defense. So maybe they will look the

19:05 part and maybe they will even win a lot of regular season games and thus be high in the, uh, standings.

19:11 But when push comes to shove, uh, as a paper tiger down in Dallas, I think so. I think pretender

19:18 because of how much attention they're going to get, but I don't think they're going very far.

19:24 All right. I think I know the answer to this next one, but Dr. Quinn,

19:28 do you get first bite of the apple? What is your assessment of the Denver nuggets?

19:32 You're going to have to do more than convince me that losing Bruce Brown is a reason to not

19:36 consider them a contender. Jack, do you have a reason? Yeah, no, I, they're the, I think they

19:43 have to be the favorites to repeat. I was listening to a Chris Finch and on JJ Reddick's podcast and

19:48 Chris Finch just goes out of tangent. He's like, this might be one of the best built rosters,

19:52 like in terms of a team structure in a long time. And they're just, they have a playmaking

19:58 shot, creating point guard at three and D wing, uh, sharp shooting, small forward, a, you know,

20:04 perfect lob threat for Yokage and then Yoka. Yeah, they, they need, they're the, they're

20:10 the favorites in my eyes. They're, they're a contender. Absolutely.

20:12 Of course they're a contender and I'm just going to use the next 30 seconds or so to talk about

20:18 Aaron Gordon, who his entire time in the NBA, I've really enjoyed rooting for that person. I,

20:24 I don't think I've met him personally. I don't know him as a human being,

20:27 but he seems like he's out of fun. His dunk contests have always been so much fun and

20:32 he's just been so, so enjoyable playing with the Denver Nuggets. So first of all,

20:37 they have all the reasons to be actual contenders, but shout out to Aaron Gordon,

20:42 the once upon a time, almost Celtic. Okay. I get to go first. We're going to be done quick.

20:48 If all these contenders shake loose, I get to talk about the golden state warriors and there's

20:53 no reason for me to believe that they don't have the goods to be a real contender

20:58 until I see it. Otherwise, I mean, I would have said two years ago that

21:03 Cinderella's midnight had struck, but they won a title and I'm not going to be fooled twice.

21:11 So they're contenders, maybe not juggernauts, but they're smart, experienced, talented,

21:18 pretty balanced, maybe not as deep as before, but that to me feels like a full blown contender.

21:23 Jack, I feel like I'm less into the warriors this year. They're still gonna be good. They're still

21:30 gonna be a playoff team. And I still think they do have a chance because whenever you have stuff,

21:33 you have a chance, but they lost some really good death pieces. Deevin Chenzo's gone. And I know

21:39 people clowned on Jordan pool, but that's a 20 points per game score that they're not going to

21:43 have anymore, especially when Steph's out and he's probably going to miss time. He's not going to

21:46 play 82 games. And this news that they're starting Chris Paul, that's going to be a mess. Let's just,

21:51 I'm just going to call it space, but that's terrible. That's that's an awful idea. So who

21:55 you get a bench, Kip Kavon, Looney, or get a bench, Andrew Wiggins, you get a bench,

21:58 you're not gonna mention clay or Dre. So I think that's going to be weird. Maybe Wiggins,

22:03 but even then I don't like that for the defensive issues. I am nervous for the season for the

22:09 warriors in the Chris Paul experiment, especially because the way Sam phrased it, if they don't

22:13 trade Chris Paul or bring them back, that's a $30 million salary spot that the warriors just

22:18 lose at the end of the season. So it's going to be weird to see how they approach it, especially

22:21 with CP and especially with, I'm not saying CP is the same as Jordan pool. Cause I think the

22:27 issues there were young versus old, but I, I have a bad feeling. Draymond and CP might not get along,

22:33 but anyways, that's I'm there have the chance to be contender, but I'm not as high as I feel like.

22:42 Potentially, although I don't think in the same sense of what cam thinks that Mavericks,

22:45 because I still think they have a chance of steps there. It's just, I feel like they might not be as

22:49 good as people anticipate, especially because of the crystal ball thing. I'm not a fan.

22:52 I'm going to talk to me. No. Yeah. Because it's like that either you get along with Chris Paul

23:00 really, really well, or you really, really don't get along with Chris Paul and they already have

23:03 a history of not getting along with Chris Paul. So I'm, I'm not so sure about how that goes. I

23:09 think like, you know, the sour rich ad is pretty interesting if he's still healthy and able to play

23:14 at a high level. We haven't really seen too much of him since he came back from injury Jordan pool.

23:19 I mean, like, as you pointed out what he, what he lacks in experience and ability to be consistent.

23:27 The other person who ended up getting shipped out for him lacks in ability to stay on the floor

23:34 because of health. So it's like, there's also the prickliness. So all told, I do think they still

23:40 definitely have the tools to win a title, but I think there's a lot more variables in there

23:45 that have me knocking down a peg just gently to pretend her status as well.

23:48 I'm going to stick with contender, but you, those are both pretty convincing takes. Okay.

23:55 Jack, you get to talk about the Houston rockets. I'm glad it's not me.

24:01 Oh man. They're purely in from basketball sense, outside of the many other things going on in

24:10 Houston in general, they're probably a young team trending up. They've Fred van fleets,

24:15 a fine player. Dylan Brooks is a fine player, like whatever, but I'm really into the other

24:19 guys. Like Jalen green is probably going to be one of the better scores in league.

24:23 I really like Alper and Shangoon. I was so out on him coming into the league,

24:27 but he's proven me so wrong. He's super good to Barry Smith, Smith, excuse me,

24:31 just finished up a pretty good summer league. So I think he could take another step up after

24:34 what people are probably called a disappointing rookie season. And then you just got all the

24:39 other guys around the peripheral, uh, a SAR Thompson, uh, or no, I'm in Thompson.

24:43 One of the Thompson twins I I'm blanking right now as to which one's, which I think it is

24:47 a SAR Thompson in Houston. Um, they, they've got a pretty good young core though. Like they,

24:51 they've got some, some guys there and now they have other veterans like Jeff green's going to

24:54 be a good vet for that locker room. Jock Lawndale is going to be pretty solid for them. So they have

24:59 enough pieces where they could be, I feel like they could be like the jazz where they're not

25:03 fun to play it like the jazz last year, I should say, where if you're a playoff team, you probably

25:08 don't want to play the Rockets cause it's not like a guaranteed win, but they'll probably just end up

25:11 being like the 13th seed anyways, just because they're not good enough. So bad, but could get

25:16 better. Yeah, probably bad, but could get better. Dr. Quinn. Well, uh, that's exactly where I have

25:24 them as well. I think, uh, there's some extracurricular stuff that we have not mentioned,

25:29 uh, in a very miles bridges sort of way that is going to be a massive distraction to a team that

25:36 is already it's loaded with baggage, right? Uh, with email, Joker being there trying to distance

25:42 himself from the situation he left in Boston, uh, the team already being very raw, very chaotic.

25:49 And it's just, they, they have young, good players. Tari Eason. I would love to find a

25:58 way to get him off of that roster onto Boston's. Uh, there are some really good players on that

26:03 team. They have assuming no other shenanigans happened, a really good coach. They could be

26:10 a play in team. If everything goes right, I highly doubt it's going to, I think that because of

26:16 everything else that's going on, they're probably a squarely bad, but could get better team.

26:20 Yeah, I did. I did this when we talked about the Eastern conference,

26:24 I feel similarly about the Pistons, which is, you know, there's a lot of momentum,

26:28 but last year Houston won 22 games and it took 40 games to qualify for the play in tournament.

26:34 So yeah, they brought in two established players and new coach and the young guys are getting

26:40 better. It just doesn't seem like it's, that is worth 18 more wins. Um, especially because

26:46 the conference is loaded. So winds are going to be hard to come by. So, uh, I think I'm going to put

26:54 Houston in the tank when the dust settles. I, when the dust settles, I think by March or April,

27:01 it's clear that they'd be better off shutting things down early, even if they get fined,

27:07 apparently. Um, so I reckon I got Houston as a, as a little tanky team, but I'm sure they don't

27:14 want it to be that way. Anyways, Dr. Quinn start us off talking about the Los Angeles Clippers.

27:20 Well, in the spirit of what Alex demanded from us in the last episode, we will not consider

27:28 say a James Harden or maybe even stranger, uh, addition to the roster. And we'll just look at

27:34 what they have. And if healthy, then they are a contender, but they are not healthy ever,

27:42 ever healthy. And they didn't really make any really clear moves. I'm not really sure what the

27:47 direction of this team is. I'm not really sure if they really do believe in the Paul George,

27:52 Kawhi Leonard core, considering how many games it's missed and the impending financial situations

27:59 they have to consider with that, but without diving into the future of that particular roster,

28:04 I just don't see them being good enough to be better than a pretender. And they're trending

28:08 in the direction of a playoff team, in my opinion, but for now I will grant them a squarely

28:14 pretender status. Jack, what about you? Uh, yeah, I think the same. I'm pretty out on the

28:21 Kawhi Paul George. I'm over it. I, to be honest, I think this could be the last year of that duo

28:25 together in LA. Like it's just, it's great when they're both healthy, but like Justin said,

28:31 they're never healthy. Like it's never going to happen. They're never going to be able to

28:33 stay on the court and the Russell Westbrook things fine. Like he was actually pretty solid

28:37 for them last season. Uh, they added Kenyan Martin jr. If you really want their off season,

28:41 they shouldn't feel like good for them, but is he going to bring them over the hump? Probably not.

28:46 It just seems to be a mess. Marcus doesn't want to be there anymore. That that's a whole weird

28:50 situation going on there. I saw something along the lines. I can't remember when this was like

28:53 earlier this summer saying they're like, Oh yeah, we might move a beach, a Zubach, which is just

28:57 like, why? Like, it's just, they're weird. I don't know what they're doing. They're pretender. Like

29:02 Justin said, boarding on playoff team. Also I was wrong. Amen Thompson plays in Houston and I

29:06 Googled it because I knew I was wrong. Uh, but anyways, yeah, Clippers pretender or worse probably

29:11 for me. Probably. I feel the same way. I just, when Kauai is healthy, he might be the best player

29:18 in the league. And it's such a shame that he's never healthy. So I mean, similar to Kyrie Irving,

29:26 like there's just the track record is not in the Clippers favor, but there's just like flashes of

29:31 Kauai playing basketball and it's like, Oh my God, this is a completely different sport for

29:36 this human being. Okay. I get to talk about where do the Lakers play now? Is it still called

29:43 crypto.com or the credit? So yeah. But didn't that company fold? That's the heat. I think

29:50 you're thinking of, I don't know if it's the same company, but I know that they got to rename their

29:54 FTX arena. No, I think crypto.com. I don't know. Anyways. It's all a scam anyway.

30:00 Yes. I'm biting my tongue a little bit. Okay. The Lakers,

30:05 I think they're better than consensus, but like for all the wrong reasons,

30:12 Austin Reeves is not going to make that much of a difference. I think he's going to be huge

30:17 defensive liability. I think D'Angelo Russell is a challenge to, to integrate into this team,

30:25 but I don't think they were super healthy last year. And when LeBron and Anthony Davis are

30:30 healthy, they're really dang good. So I think the Lakers have an opportunity to be contenders.

30:36 So I'd probably put them at like pretender plus status, if that makes sense. So, but I think

30:44 they're people, I think they're going to be pretenders because everyone's like, Oh, Austin

30:47 Reeves, like, Oh, really? Oh, blah, blah, blah. And I don't think that those players are really

30:52 moving the needle. And instead I think probably we're slightly underestimating what the healthy

30:58 all-star duo is capable of. So a pretender is probably the most accurate answer, but I think

31:05 I suspect I'm arriving at that differently than other people might. Jack, what do you think about

31:11 the Lakers? As much as my geographical location tells me I need to hate them. I really, I think

31:17 the Lakers might be really good this year. I mean, you look at what they did once they traded Russell

31:21 Westbrook last year, making the run to the Western conference finals and playing really well to end

31:24 the regular season. They improved upon a roster that is pretty well built around LeBron and AD.

31:29 Now Christian Woods obviously got defensive question marks because he is on a minimum

31:35 contract. So obviously, but as a guy who's going to come off the bench for them, obviously, like,

31:38 that's just a good, you know, a chance to take on a player. Gabe Vincent for them is going to be

31:44 great. So what assigning for them? And because they had Gabe Vincent, I was writing about this

31:50 for again, the Pacers site in the context of buddy healed, like DLO can just be a trade ship.

31:55 Now, like they don't need deal. They have Austin Reeves. They have Gabe Vincent and it doesn't have

31:58 to be buddy healed, but if they can ship out D'Angelo Russell for another wing, another shooter,

32:03 another guy who fits in with that rotation, like they have a lot of opportunities to take a roster

32:08 that I think should already be a contender in the West and make it even better around LeBron and AD,

32:14 even though they're injury prone and old and there's concerns around the star duo.

32:18 I think this Lakers team has a chance to be really good. And not even to mention

32:22 Jared Vanderbilt's a great player. Rui Hachimura is a good player. Like they've got so much debt.

32:26 They just signed two young project pieces in Jackson Hayes and Cam Reddish in the line of,

32:31 you know, Lonnie Walker and Malik monk. Like they've done a good job of rehabilitating these

32:35 younger players. I hate to say it, but the Lakers in my eyes, they're contender. They're

32:39 going to be really good. I think. Okay. I agree. They can be, I think I'm right in the middle of

32:45 both of you. I think there's too many is for me to call them a contender outright, but I think

32:52 they're just there. If they can get with what they have very healthy or make a couple more

32:57 improvements around the margins just to improve the depth. So their, their stars don't have to

33:02 play as much. Then I think they can be a contender, but I'm not white sold. So I'm going to go

33:09 not a contender, a pretender for the Lakers. As a quick thought experiment. Does what happened

33:16 last season to play in teams, making the conference finals, does that change either of your

33:21 value on standings as like the playoffs loom? Or do you think that's going to prove to be a big

33:26 outlier? I feel like it was an outlier, at least in my opinion. Like I think teams can have a

33:32 chance, but I think the thing that was so unique about those two is that it all shifted so quick.

33:37 Like the heat were injured all season. Like they could not feel a consistent roster. And the second

33:42 they did just happened to be the second that the playoffs hit. And the same thing for the Lakers,

33:46 they were dealing for Russ for the first half of the season. And then they finally hit their groove,

33:50 which is why I think I'm so high on the Lakers heading into next year because they now have a

33:53 competent roster and we saw how good they were with a competent roster last year. And so I think

33:57 it's possible with the plan. I just don't know if it's going to be something you see year in,

34:00 year out. I think you put your finger on exactly one of the reasons why the playoff, the playoff,

34:05 the play in is such an interesting new addition. Not that new anymore, really, I should say.

34:10 Just because teams that get hurt partway through the year or start the year with hurt players

34:17 and then get better, run into shape, et cetera, it gives them a chance to be the team at the level

34:22 that they, well, maybe not the level, but it gives them a chance. And that's something that,

34:27 you know, plenty of very solid teams have missed the playoffs in the history of the league because

34:32 somebody gets a really nasty ankle sprain or something like that. So I think it's a good thing.

34:37 Yeah. I mean, and the flip side of that coin is like, we're a Jimmy Butler banked in

34:42 hero shot from them just going home early to begin with. So yeah, the standings are not,

34:49 I don't know. I think playoff history is not that statistically significant when we look at it

34:54 in the grand scheme of things. Anyways, Jack, you get another sticky team, Memphis.

34:59 What's good with Memphis, man. They're weird. I love the market smart edition. Obviously that's

35:06 great for them. It's perfect. It is their point guard while jaw is out and it is their Dylan

35:11 Brooks better when John Moran gets back. They were really good without job for the past two seasons.

35:18 So like they can win without him. Desmond Baines, a great player. I think he could have an all-star

35:22 season this year. Jared Jackson's obviously awesome. They have a good team. I think they

35:29 would have done better last year had Steven Adams been healthy for the playoffs and he could have

35:33 battled down there. Cause Jaron Jackson's not built to be a center as we saw at the

35:36 feeble world cup. He's not a center. I would probably put them right on the bridge of contender

35:44 to pretender status. I just, you got to wait for them to take that next jump because as you've

35:52 heard so often with the Grizzlies, there's only so long you can be this, Oh, they're really cool

35:56 young team. Like that's not, that's not it anymore. They have, they have to win. And if they

36:00 don't win, then they're going to be at disappointment. And I think you're starting to see that

36:03 a little bit as they get bounced in the first or second round. So I'd probably put them on the

36:07 bridge. They're a pretender right now that could be contender if things break their way and the

36:12 right guys take the right steps. Yeah, I think they are a pretender just for the fact that one

36:19 of the most important players isn't going to be with the team for a large chunk of the season.

36:22 And they're adding a new guy in. So it's almost like they have to have two preseasons, one in

36:28 the season to figure out how that goes. I think there's a way that it could easily come out and

36:34 be a strong contender if everything goes right, but they could also become a chaotic team that

36:38 is like flirting with a plan. Yeah. I also, I'm just going to say that their playoff team,

36:45 I feel like there's a chance that they could implode. There's a chance that they could

36:48 really figure it out. So I'm going to split the gap and say playoff team. The Luke Kurnar

36:53 signing is really interesting for them. I think they really need a more traditional wing.

36:58 Santee Aldama. I want that dude on a team that I root for. He's so good. I think he's so good.

37:06 I think he probably doesn't fit in correctly in Memphis, but yeah, free Santee, man. I have my

37:14 eye on that guy for sure. Yeah, I think, I think it could go in any direction for Memphis. That's

37:20 like a, I think the team could implode and look so different next season or they could, you know,

37:28 clinic and win a ton of games. Cause they've got a lot of talent. All right. Dr. Quinn,

37:33 another confusing team, Minnesota. I don't know what they're doing. They may not know what they're

37:43 doing, but Anthony Edwards is really good. As a team, they're generally healthier. I'm not really

37:53 sure how Gobert is going to age, but for now I think they are squarely a playoff club. They might

37:59 have gotten a little bit worse in terms of the moves that they made. I think they probably got

38:04 a little bit better in terms of internal development and they were already a playoff

38:08 team. So I think they're a playoff team. Jack, I think they could flirt with the play in,

38:16 but they should be good enough to be a playoff team. I think Anthony Edwards can take a step.

38:20 I really love Jaden McDaniels. I think he's awesome. He just stops, has to stop punching

38:23 walls. I think Rudy Gobert, Carleton Towns is weird. They need to spend more time on the court

38:29 together. Cause obviously Kat was out for a decent chunk of last year, but I think they're one failed

38:34 season away from, okay, we have to trade one of them because Kat's not going to guard for is

38:39 Gobert's not going to guard for us. And so it's less of an issue on the offensive end, even though

38:43 it is still a little bit awkward because Kat now can't be in the paint as much because Rudy definitely

38:47 can't be on the perimeter. But so many teams around the league now are rolling out the Jason Tatum's,

38:53 the Kevin Durant's at the power forward position. Kat's not guarding that. He's just not, he's too

38:57 slow. So whether that's let's trade Kat for a hall of assets to help Anthony Edwards, lead the team

39:04 into the future, whether that's, you know, an RJ Barrett package from the Knicks or something else

39:08 around the league for Carl Anthony Towns. I'm pretty cold on the timber wolves, although they

39:14 have like, okay, depth, like Nas reads cool. Really like Nas Reed, Kyle Anderson's fine. Troy Brown

39:19 Jr. Was a good signing. Shake Milton can give them some minutes. They just don't have enough

39:22 of a structure. Like we talked about how the nuggets had a great structurally sound thing.

39:28 Meh, just, just not good. So I'm out on them.

39:32 Yeah. The puzzle pieces don't fit together well enough for Minnesota. So they're playing team for

39:35 me. Talent, good homies, but it's just, it doesn't work. So maybe play in, I would be, I wouldn't be

39:45 that surprised if they missed the play on just because the West is loaded. Speaking of which

39:48 I'll start with the new Orleans Pelicans. I think until we see more from Zion, it's playing

39:56 as the ceiling, really good players, interesting fit, maybe some weird geography going on.

40:02 On paper, really good, but the West is loaded. We don't have a track record of them playing,

40:09 you know, solid 82 games. So they're probably in the play in for me, Jack.

40:13 Yeah. I mean, especially with the tramer, if you know, it just seems like they're destined

40:19 for another play in season, unless Zion can get healthy and stay on the court consistently.

40:22 And even at that point, they're probably peaking as a playoff team.

40:25 Yeah. I'm going with what I've seen out of Zion on the past, which is not much. So again, playing

40:31 in. Okay. Jack, the thunder, is this the year or are they going to wait, wait to strike another

40:37 year? I love the thunder. I love they're so good. Chet Holmgren is coming back. Case and Wallace

40:43 look great in summer league. Giddy's I've seen a lot of people, most improved player. Love. Shea

40:47 is obviously amazing. Jalen Williams was great last year. They've got so much talent and they

40:52 have all the assets to add another star to next year. I think they're a playoff team this year.

40:56 I think they're better than some of these lower tier regular playoff teams. Like I think they're

41:00 better than the Timberwolves. I think they're better than the Pelicans. I think they could

41:03 be better than even the Clippers if they get hurt. So I think the, the thunder are going to be really

41:07 good this year. Dr. Quinn don't disagree. I think it's hard to see what Shay has been doing in the

41:14 world cup and think that he's not going to be a top 20 player, maybe even a top 10 player this year.

41:19 It's hard for me. Wasn't he all NBA first team? Yeah. Yeah. So he's nasty. I don't

41:27 think there's a realistic chance that they're going to finish lower than, than six this year.

41:31 So by default, they have to be a play a playoff team. I think they're a pretender. I think that

41:38 they are going to flirt with a really high, uh, they won 40 games last year. I think,

41:42 I bet they could up that. I think the West has loaded. So there's gonna be a lot of teams in the

41:47 40 wind category. I think a few times here and there, they're going to go on tears and they're

41:51 going to be a sexy, uh, talk radio pick, like could the thunder put it together, which is,

41:57 you know, classic pretenders pretender status. So there are a year or two or a year away from being

42:02 a year away probably. But I think there are going to be times where there's some real fire. Um,

42:07 when we talk about the thunder, um, which is to say I'm rooting for that team. I think that's

42:11 such a fun team. Shout out to getting, okay, Jackie, get the sons. You got, I guess, I think

42:17 I know what you're going to say, but let's see. I mean, they're a contender. You have that much

42:21 talent. You got to be contender. I think Bradley Beal, Devin Booker's going to be a little bit

42:25 awkward in the back court, but Devin Booker played point guard for them. And when you have Kevin

42:28 Duran and Bradley Beal, it's probably not too hard to play point guard. Uh, and they had a really

42:32 good off season too. Like all those minimum guys, they got Josh Kogi, Eric Gordon, um, drew you

42:37 banks. Like they got a lot of players that can play you to one Nabi. Like they have a pretty

42:40 good structure, uh, down there in Phoenix. So, uh, I, they're contender. You have to be

42:47 Dr. Quinn. I want to disagree. I have some real doubts, but because of the track records of all

42:54 the people that Jack just named, uh, I really can't doubt them yet. I mean, until I see at

43:00 least two or three games, I have to give them some degree of credit as a contender with that much

43:06 talent on this roster. So they're pretty squarely one for me as well. Even if deep in my heart of

43:11 hearts, I have some pretty big doubts about this team's ability to play all the way into the finals.

43:17 Yeah. I might say pretender the health injuries bug really stinks with these guys in Phoenix.

43:24 There's a lot of new working parts, new coach. Uh, I like this team a lot. I'm personally rooting

43:31 for this team and the people on that team, but I don't know. It doesn't seem as solid a bet

43:37 as a team, like the Celtics or the nuggets. So I'll go pretender just to be a little spicy.

43:42 Um, Dr. Quinn, what do you think about the trailblazers

43:46 right now, which is what we have to do. They are maybe a play in team, maybe pending. I mean, like

43:56 depending on how training camp goes, if the team that they have now with Dame still on it,

44:02 uh, tries to take the field and makes it all the way to the regular season without trading him.

44:08 Yeah, they could probably be a play in team. I would be very, very surprised if they do better

44:12 than that in the West. New Orleans knew what was waived. Um, Jack Simone, what do you think of

44:18 Portland? Sorry. I just got a notification. Uh, I think even with Dave, I don't think they're

44:26 even a playoff team or play in team. I just think there's too many talented teams in the West. And

44:30 if they do lose day, I think they're the worst team in the NBA. Like scoots. Cool.

44:33 Simons is cool. And then cool. Like the rest of the roster is man. Like Kevin,

44:39 what about the Bosnian beast?

44:40 News? Uh, no, I I'm out on Nerkic to he needs the perfect situation, I think, to be a useful asset.

44:48 I just I think the trailblazers are going to be really, really bad, which is probably really,

44:51 really good for them. Yeah, they're in the tank. I have nothing smart to add to that. Sorry. Stinks.

44:59 Uh, it's my turn. The Kings. Uh, even though they just lost New Orleans to well, which is

45:06 a big hit, they do have trail McGee NBA champion, Javel McGee. Uh, the Kings are a playoff club.

45:13 I, I just don't think that they have enough talent besides Fox. It's a bonus. And that

45:17 fit is kind of weird. So fun. Hopefully they don't do the light, the beam thing

45:22 too much next year and like overdo it. But I just, I can't imagine them really looking like

45:28 a bona fide contender. Um, Jack, I think you're frozen. So Justin, what do you think of the Kings?

45:34 Oh, uh, personally, I think that what they accomplished in the playoffs last season is

45:43 potentially replicable. It's unlikely they are, but I'm going to put a positive spin

45:47 and give it a tender, but just barely. It looks like check is back. Yes. Excellent. Jack is back.

45:57 We've got playoff pretender ish for the Kings. What do you think?

46:00 Uh, yeah, I think they could have a, a post. I don't even know what the right word is like a

46:06 post high from last season. Really, really good. It's called a hangover. Yeah. A hangover. That's

46:11 the word I'm looking for. Uh, yeah, I think they're probably right in that play in team

46:14 area in the stacked West playoff or play in play in, I think they might be down in the plane,

46:20 especially with like the thunder and all these other teams, like they're not going to have

46:24 as many easy games in the West. So I'd probably put them pretender, maybe even a play up to you.

46:27 All right. Um, two more and we'll keep it quick. Jack, your spurs, Jack, the editor in chief of

46:35 spurs wire, check it out, Jack. What's good with the spurs. Uh, they're fun. I think they're going

46:40 to be super, super fun this year. If Devin Vassell can stay healthy, I think they have a chance to be

46:44 that sort of thorn in the side of these teams, especially with one, but Yama, like they have

46:48 some sneaky talent there. When, but Yama obviously is the name everyone's looking at, but

46:52 Kelton Johnson's a good player. Kelton Johnson's probably to come off the bench for them, which is

46:55 weird because, uh, when I was going to play the four and they're going to start Zach Collins,

46:59 that that's what the rumbling is, but they seem to really like Zach Collins. And then you got

47:03 Devin Vassell, Jeremy. So hand you got trade Jones. They have a lot of fun, young talent city,

47:07 Sissoko looks great. Uh, so I think, I think there'll probably be a tank team just because

47:13 they're bad, but I think they could flirt with, you know, Oh, could they make the play in, but

47:16 they probably won't get there quickly. Dr. Quinn, where do you got the spurs?

47:21 I wish we had a fun category because they will be very fun, but they will also be very bad.

47:27 And while I think that maybe Victor Vemanana will be a good player. There's a very good chance. He

47:34 will not be an entirely good player, no matter how highly talented he is or talented or physically

47:40 gifted, et cetera. When you get to the NBA, things are different and it's hard to learn.

47:44 Just like when we were talking earlier, you get to FIBA, things are different and it's hard to learn.

47:48 So I think they are firmly in the tank. I'm going to go with bad and could get better.

47:55 They might end up being one of the lowest teams in the totem pole in terms of which

48:01 incidentally is a position of power. And we have that one backwards, but whatever.

48:05 Um, they might win very few games, but they're definitely trending up. I don't think they're

48:09 tanking the way that word is, uh, understood in the NBA. So I'm going to give them a bad getting

48:15 better, but who knows? Okay. Let's do one more, but I'm going to do outro stuff first

48:20 to help some people stall along the way. So we've been talking to Jack Simone,

48:25 you know, Jack from Celtics blog, you know, Jack from his podcast, the, how about them?

48:28 Sees podcast. You might know him from bulls wire Spurs wire elsewhere in the NBA universe.

48:33 You might also know that the Celtics podcast was brought to you by fan duel,

48:36 the exclusive way drink partner of the CNS media network and AG one,

48:39 the daily foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole body health. Okay.

48:44 With that out of the way, that pregnant pause,

48:46 let's do the jazz and then we'll add up the score. So Jack, what do you think of the jazz?

48:51 Uh, they'll probably be similar to last year, maybe like, Oh, could they make the play in?

48:57 And then by the end of the season, they'll fall into the tank category of, will probably be the

49:01 14th, 15th, 13th, whatever best team. Um, they have marketing. He's cool. Kessler was good.

49:07 Taylor Hendricks. I think he'll be a good NBA player, but they just don't have the talent to

49:11 compete in the West. So I'll put them in the tank category, but they, they have like the talent to

49:15 flirt with the plan, but they just won't get there. Dr. Quinn.

49:19 Well, I do like the John Collins edition. Uh, I think he's going to

49:25 have a role there as opposed to what he had in Atlanta, which was really just kind of existing.

49:31 I don't think it's going to make them a playoff team per se, but I think there's a good chance

49:38 that they could be a playoff team. So I'm going to go ahead and preemptively say that they,

49:43 by the skin of their teeth or a playoff team, just to be highly optimistic in contrast, Jack.

49:50 I'm going to play off team full stop. They've got the pride of the Finnish military and

49:55 industrial complex, Mr. Larry Mark. And, and they're going to kick a lot of ass next season.

49:59 Look, they could turn it around a tank and tear it down because Danny is mad, man, but

50:05 it's really talented roster. I think they fit together really well. It's going to be a hard out.

50:10 They also have an altitude advantage, just like Denver. So, uh, look, I think it's going to be

50:17 really crowded in the standing. So the difference between play off and play in is going to be one

50:20 or two games and market is worth one or two games as far as I'm concerned. All right, Dr. Quinn,

50:26 we are ready to hear our pecking order in the Western conference, break it down.

50:33 So the contenders are the Denver nuggets and Phoenix suns, probably to the surprise of

50:37 absolutely no one, uh, pretenders golden state Lakers Clippers and Memphis playoff teams,

50:44 Dallas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Sacramento in Utah play in teams. Uh, definitely not. Oh, you know,

50:52 I think I knew Orleans Pelicans. I don't know how Phoenix ended up there by mistake as well.

50:56 Thank goodness. Yeah. Anyway, moving right along the bad, but could get better teams,

51:01 Houston in Portland. And the only team that is explicitly in the tank, uh, is not the Clippers,

51:08 but the spurs. Thank you for fixing that on my notes. I had to write really quick and, uh,

51:11 evidently my typing sucks. Yeah, Justin has places to be. Um, so good luck to these Western

51:19 conference teams and, uh, qualifying for the NBA finals and playing the Boston Celtics and that

51:24 aforementioned NBA final until then you could rely on Justin, Jack and myself for all of your Celtics

51:31 needs, um, or Jack for your bowls, pagers, spurs needs for whatever that's worth. Um, Jack, thanks

51:37 for coming by again. We'd love to see you as always. Um, apparently the thing for people on

51:42 YouTube, the, the sound barrier behind Jack is called a Bionbo. Justin taught us that. So that's

51:49 fun. Um, otherwise like, and subscribe. We will be back next week with more Celtics lab content.

51:56 And until then, Adios new fan, dual customers can bet $5 and get 200 in bonus bets guarantee.

52:03 Plus all customers who bet $5 will get $100 off NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube at YouTube TV.

Assessing the West Ahead of the NBA's 2023-24 Season w/ Jack Simone | Celtics Lab

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