00:00Let's get to the two teams that I'm fading. Let's start East.
00:06Folks, it's Cleveland.
00:08And you're going to sit there and say, well, coach, they played really good basketball.
00:12They won nine out of the last 10 games, right?
00:14You look at their schedule. They're the second easiest schedule in the East.
00:19So why am I fading Cleveland?
00:23It's not that I feel like they're going to struggle down the stretch.
00:28They're going to do well. They're going to win games.
00:31They're going to be judged by their playoffs.
00:35Let me tell you why.
00:38Donovan Mitchell's been to, I think, one Western Conference final, never been to an NBA finals.
00:43J.B. Bickerstaff, gone.
00:47Kenny Atkinson in.
00:49They struggle in big spots.
00:54I don't know if I could still trust a frontcourt of Jared Allen and Evan Mobley.
01:00I think they should have traded one of them.
01:03They still might after the season.
01:05And then there's James Harden.
01:08A James Harden that has looked good so far.
01:12But another player that is known for his shortcomings in the playoffs.
01:17Now, he could easily shut me up.
01:19That's, you know, that could be done.
01:22But the track record says no.
01:25And I'm going to say this right now.
01:27The style of play of two dominant guards playing together and Harden and Donovan Mitchell,
01:34I just don't see the fit.
01:37Let's get to the West.
01:39Folks, it's the Lakers.
01:44Listen, getting Luke Kennard is going to help them.
01:49But I do not think they have enough shooting around Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
01:57I am still concerned, even though I am the president, founding member, and sometimes only member of the denominating DeAndre
02:07Ayton fan club,
02:08I still get concerned about him in big spots.
02:12I don't like their bench.
02:14I don't trust J.J. Redick.
02:16And in a Western conference that is absolutely loaded, they have the fourth toughest schedule.
02:22They're not better than Denver, Oklahoma City, Minnesota, San Antonio.
02:28You could argue, not Houston.
02:30We'll see what happens when the Clippers are done.
02:32Portland can come up and bite someone in the neck.
02:35And we also know about Phoenix.
02:37I love LeBron.
02:38I love Luka.
02:39This is not going to work.
02:40I'm fading him for the rest of the year.
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