00:00So, the NBA season is very, very close.
00:13And that means that our season preview is continuing.
00:17Today, we are going to look at the players who will decide the NBA this season.
00:22And this is different from the players who, like the best players in the league and all
00:26of that.
00:27This is the guys who, if they come out and really do what they do, or do what they're
00:31supposed to do, or whatever it is, then that is going to shift potential.
00:37Like championships, conferences, whatever, that they are going to have an impact.
00:41And if they don't do what they're supposed to do, or something happens, then it shifts
00:46the dynamic in a complete other way.
00:48So, coming in at number five.
00:50I'm cheating, but it's two guys on one team.
00:52It is Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier.
00:54The Miami Heat have not really done a whole lot since heat culture reigned supreme a couple
01:01of years ago.
01:02And now, you have Pat Riley talking about Jimmy Butler contracts, and it just feels
01:08like the end of an era could be coming soon for the Miami Heat.
01:14I, maybe that's a bit overstating things, but I think there is a lot of pressure on
01:19Jimmy Butler this year.
01:20And thus, Terry Rozier as well.
01:22You had Rozier, Butler, and Adebayo, and they never really got going together.
01:27And injuries kind of kept that, uh, kept that group apart for a bit.
01:32But I do think now, when you go into this season, if that is still the case, and there
01:37is ineffectiveness, injuries, and all of those things, then Miami probably just kind of fades
01:42off into that night.
01:44And then that leads to a couple of things.
01:45One, I think Jimmy Butler gets traded.
01:48Two, Rozier gets traded?
01:49I don't think he would get moved necessarily, but I do think that there, it would be a change
01:55in philosophy in Miami a little bit.
01:57I don't think, they don't do the teardown thing.
02:00They just, they never have, and probably won't.
02:03But what they, they might do a retool or something, but I do think it would lead to a pretty big
02:09shift for them, and then lead to a good player being out on the market.
02:13And if those guys do click, they're a team that no one is talking about right now in
02:18the Eastern Conference.
02:19And so that would put some pressure on those top-tier teams.
02:23So that's why I think those two guys are going to be really important in deciding how this
02:26year goes.
02:27At four, it's Chris Middleton.
02:30The Milwaukee Bucks are the forgotten team, I think, in the NBA.
02:34And the, yep, your time has, your time, you had your time, it has now come and gone, on
02:40to the next thing.
02:41And everyone's kind of forgetting that this is a, has the potential to be a very good
02:45basketball team, with Lillard, Giannis, sorry, and Middleton.
02:48If Middleton can get back to what we have seen him do in the past, then this Milwaukee
02:54Bucks team, I think, still has a championship level ceiling.
02:59It might be one that they can just kind of only graze right now, but it is one where
03:04if they do have everyone healthy, and playing the way that they can, they can still get
03:11to that level.
03:12But Middleton, I think, is the absolute key for that.
03:14And so if Middleton is going, again, Milwaukee can be a championship contender, and that
03:19puts more pressure on the Bostons, and the Philadelphias, and the New Yorks, in the Eastern
03:24Conference.
03:25If Middleton isn't right, then I think that this becomes a much less dynamic offensive
03:30team, and they kind of just, again, fade away, like we talked about with Milwaukee, or sorry,
03:37with Miami, and they do kind of become the afterthought that everyone thought they were
03:41going to be.
03:42But three, Zion Williamson.
03:44We got so many, we've been getting little tastes of Zion in different play-ins and stuff
03:49like that, but we saw last year that he can go on a run and be that MVP caliber player
03:58that we all thought he could be, and we thought injuries maybe denied us of that.
04:03But there is still that guy in there.
04:06It is asking a lot, but if that guy's in there for 82 games, then this Pelicans team, again,
04:11I think could be a championship contender.
04:15There's a lot of ifs that go along with that, no question.
04:18But I think that if Zion Williamson is healthy, and can, for 82 games, just one, just one
04:2582 game stretch is all we need from this guy.
04:28Honestly, probably 65 games, maybe even 60.
04:31Can we just keep this guy healthy so that they can get into the playoffs?
04:34But again, this is a team that I don't think a whole lot of people in the West are, or
04:38a whole lot of people just in general, are really factoring into the West discussion.
04:42It is the Minnesotas, and the Denvers, and even Memphis, I think, is getting a little
04:46bit more buzz than this team is right now.
04:49And so, there's a weird Ingram thing going on there, totally, and we'll talk about him
04:54a little bit later on in this episode, but for Zion, if he can get to that level, then
04:59again, a new contender comes into the ring in the championship discussion in the Western
05:04Conference.
05:05For new Jamal Murray, it was a disaster of an Olympics for him, and it's not been great
05:10in Denver since they won the championship, and I get that was only a couple of years
05:13ago.
05:14But, like, they, I guess I say it hasn't been great in Denver since then.
05:19Like, they were a very good team, and on the cusp of being the number one seed in the West
05:24last year.
05:25So I'm overstating that a little bit.
05:26But for Murray, they have someone who I think really needs to get going.
05:33Because, if he is not, they just don't have the horses anymore.
05:38And it kind of all came together in that championship run where he was going, and you had depth
05:44and a bench that can help push you, and then Jokic is obviously the best player in the
05:47world.
05:48But now, you have taken some significant hits to your depth, and you are now relying on
05:53a lot of pieces that are just unproven.
05:56You cannot have this guy not be at an all-star level.
06:01If he is at that level, then again, the Nuggets can win a title.
06:05If he is not, it is going to be really hard for this team to get back to that championship
06:10point.
06:11And so, for the other ones that we talked about in this list so far, it's a, yeah you
06:14know what, you can squint and see that man, they could really make a push for something.
06:17With Denver, we obviously have a proof of concept a couple of years ago, and they have
06:21the best player in the world.
06:23If he can just be, if Murray can just be himself, then this is a championship caliber team again.
06:30But if he is not, then I just don't think they can compete with the Oklahoma Cities
06:34and all the teams we mentioned before, right?
06:36So he is, I think, so important to deciding how this season goes for Denver, and for the
06:42rest of the NBA.
06:43And at one, it is Isaiah Hartenstein.
06:47He comes to a Oklahoma City Thunder team that feels like they were a Isaiah Hartenstein
06:52away from being a championship team a year ago.
06:56And it certainly seems like he just fits there in Oklahoma City.
07:01And if it is the perfect match that everyone thinks it is going to be, then yes, this is
07:08I think the clear favorites in the West, and would give a real scare to the Celtics or
07:14the Knicks or the 76ers or whoever in the NBA Championship, in the NBA Finals.
07:20If he is not, if for whatever reason it's just an oil-water thing or whatever it is,
07:26if he's not, then I think the door in the West is wide open given, again, what we talked
07:31about with Denver, what we talked about with the Pelicans, what we have talked about in
07:34the past about the Minnesota Timberwolves.
07:37And so I just think, obviously this is a superstar-driven league.
07:41We all have that understanding.
07:43But the superstar play on the Thunder wasn't an issue last year.
07:48It was just getting those rebounds and getting those stops, or some of those stops I guess,
07:52at key moments, and being able to rely on a big man to do some of those things.
07:58They need him now.
08:00If he can be that guy, then this can be that team.
08:03If he can't, then it feels like it's going to be just another one, just another good
08:09team in the West.
08:12So those are the players who I think will decide this upcoming season.
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