Pacific Division Preview

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Oh my god, how could he do that? What? Charles Darwin? Welcome everybody back into Nerd Sesh. As always, I'm Carson brev and alongside me is Logan Cannon, and today we're gonna be continuing our NBA season preview series, talking this time about the Pacific Division and therefore rounding out the Western Conference. So Logan, I will throw it over to you to start, as always, who do you have winning this division? I've got the reigning NBA champions winning this division again. I officially have the Warriors as my two seed fifty two and twenty nine. And uh, I mean we'll only be playing eighty one. Man, I did it again. I'd have done that twice. I did it on the graphics two for Denver. I can't count, is what I'm learning. Fifty two and thirty excuse me? Yeah, no, they're going to play one less game when I'm just gonna get rained out. Probably they just won't play. Not a lot is changed for Golden State. I mean, if they stay healthy, this team was the number one defense in all of basketball last season. I know Boston took that crown as the season went along, but when healthy, the Golden State Warriors definitively had the best defense and all of basketball. A lot of that should be attributed to Draymond Green, but you got to give a lot of credit to the effort that we saw throughout the playoffs. I mean, that's the biggest thing in defense, right is the effort the guys give and everybody down this roster was working man. Jordan Pool, Clay Thompson, Steph Curry is a plus defender now, Andrew Wiggins worked his ass off. Kevin Looney was one of the most important players during this run. I mean again, they're gonna be one of the best defenses in all of basketball. And on the other end, you have a top five superstar in the NBA and Steph Curry, who was going to anchor this offense. I mean, nothing has really changed. Yeah, you lose Gary Payton the second. That sucks. I really wish Gary Payton could have came back here. They couldn't match the offer. I mean, health stacked of this lineup. B if they could have brought GP two back, He's a dog, I love him, but I think they brought back the more important piece and Kevin Looney. I was adamant during the free agency process that he was their most important free agent because you don't know what you're getting out of James Wiseman. I'm hopeful for the young guys here. Wiseman cominga moody, but they don't really change in my opinion the outcome of this season. You know, I still think the Worrior is gonna be one of the best teams in the NBA and finals favorites, regardless of what improvement we get out of the young guys. That being said, they had another big rotation piece and Dante Devincenzo too, that is massive. I don't know. Did you see what Iggy had to say about Devincenzo the other day? Bro actually cracked me up. He said a lot of the white guys don't belong in the league. They're just not good enough to play. But Devincenzo, he was like, he is, He's good enough. That cracked me up. Bro, shout out, Iggy, Devincenzo is an awesome rotation piece. I'm so mad at the Sacramento Kings for just letting him walk, right, They traded for him, get this Carson, and they just choose to let him walk into free agency. That's called giving assets away. I just love when that happens, especially to my sac Mine Kings. Yeah, I mean there's there is a lot of promise and upside, right Carson, I mean, I think there's a ceiling for this team to be even better because of the young talent that they have, even down to like the Patrick Baldwin's of the world. I mean Patrick Baldwin, Moody Kumingo, Wiseman. They make it is a swing factor for the Warriors this season to where they could be even better and maybe once again win the West. They're gonna be great regardless on both ends of the ball. I think they canna have the best defense in all of basketball because of the effort, because of the pieces that they have. And then on the other end, if they stay healthy, I think they're top ten, and again, the young assets can make them even better. I didn't even mention a guy like Jordan Poole. The Warriors is gonna be raw again. They might be. They might be my finals favorites, even though I have Memphis winning the West, right, I have that based on effort, Golden State is probably maybe my title favorite once again this season. I mean, there's just there's a consistency there's a they've been there before, the talent factor. The Warriors check all the boxes. I can't wait for the season to start and to watch these guys play. I have the Warriors atop the Western Conference. I have them winning fifty six games, and I would say that I'm definitely most confident in them of anybody out west. The Clippers will rival them, certainly in terms of pure talent, but I don't know that anybody in the NBA can match the pure cohesion, the synergy, and the two way ceiling that the Warriors have. They should, for every reason be better than last year. The difference is that the teams around them are going to be better. You're gonna have healthy Milwaukee, healthy Clippers, retooled Nuggets. You know, even teams that you don't think are on their level will pose more of a threat. Now Timber rolls Pelicans out east, the Celtics are better, right, that's the difference. But the Warriors will also be better. I mean, you lose two valuable role players in Auto Porter Junior in GP two, but like you said, you're replaced them with quality role players. I mean, Dante DiVincenzo is an ideal Warriors basketball player because he does everything at at least a solid level. I mean, you see him already making nifty passes. He'll compete defensively. He's a good cutter, a plus athlete, a smart guy, a perfectly respectable shooter. Guys like that who move the ball willingly, who play both ends, who understand basketball as a team sport, tend to do pretty well in Golden State, and I think that he will as well. And Jamichael Green is a perfectly serviceable rotational forward in the front court, so it's like, yeah, he probably won't be as good as Autoporter, but I think Autoporter also might be slightly overrated because he did what he did on a title team. He did a very good job. I don't think Michael Green's quite that good, but I don't think there's a big gap there. All the young guys should develop. Cominga and Moody both had some monster Summer league performances, and obviously you see the flashes with them. Nothing like the role that they'll be in the regular season, of course, but Cominga already we saw his athleticism pop last year. I mean, the guys scored nine points per game in seventeen minutes pretty efficiently, and it's really just going to be about refining all of that. But is an incredible athletic specimen with the potential for two way impact there. Moody's another guy who if he's knocking down his shots and really competing on the defense end of the floor, I think he could certainly play more this year, got some nifty passing to his game as well. Comingo has been handling the ball more and so getting in some more of those playmaking reps. Obviously not at the NBA level, but summer league preseason still valuable. And then Wiseman had a really good preseason game against the Wizards, and I think, sure maybe a little bit lagging behind in his basketball development just because he hasn't had those in game reps for a year and a half now. In his rookie year he only played thirty nine games. But you see the athleticism pop and the reality is that the Warriors haven't had a big man that athletic ever like that I can think of in the Steph Curry era. And so even if he's limited underdeveloped in other ways in terms of defensive positioning, maybe overall basketball IQ, maybe settling for jump shots at times, he's at least going to carve out a role for himself because the athleticism. And I will also say Draymond had a pretty funny quote on his pot cast for the volume Sports, which you guys should definitely check out, in which he said basically that he was just really impressed that Wiseman was communicating very actively as a back line defender. And he said, I don't know that he totally knew what he was doing and what was going on, but when your back line defender is communicating like that, you feel like they know what's going on. And so he was just talking about sort of leading to some defensive synergy there and at least putting forth that effort, understanding what it takes, what kind of communication it takes, the kind of effort it takes, and all that. So that bodes well for Wiseman because as a rookie, I mean, he was able to produce offensively in the minutes, it was really more of the little stuff that isn't going to show up in a box score. And if he figures more of that out, that bodes very well. So I just look up and down and it's like, who's gonna regress. Steph had a thoroughly subpar regular season by his standards, and still when he and Draymond were both out there, they were twenty nine and seven. Draymond, I don't really know how he could regress. He's offering you rosa scorer of the basketball. But as long as he can defend his ass off and doesn't lose his IQ as a playmacher, he's an extremely valuable player. Clay did not have a good shooting regular season. He was sub thirty nine percent. That's the lowest mark of his career, and so obviously there's always going to be a little bit of the erratic element with him. And I don't think he's going to return to like pre injury status, certainly on the defensive end. But I mean, I think he could have a slightly better season. And regardless, you get him for a full year and he's certainly a net positive on your team success. Jordan Pool is still developing, could reasonably be even better. So I just look up and down and I think, sure, you lost a really good perimeter defender and all around role player, and Gary Payton the second and you lost another good all around role player Nato Porter. That to me, does not change my opinion on this team, especially when I think Devincenzo could be better than either of them. Like, he just hasn't gotten a good crack at it in a good situation in you know, a couple years now. But I fully believe in his abilities. Yeah, I was just gonna add a few things. On the Devincenzo point, I mean the Kings were actively trying to drive down his value at the end of last season by not playing him. That was a big part of why he left Sacramento, why there was beef there. No, he has not had a good crack at He hasn't been in a winning situation since he was in Milwaukee, and he wasn't healthy last time they were good. So I mean there's a real opportunity for him. And he's way more talented than they're paying him than his spotting rotation, Like he's a steel I couldn't believe that he went to Golden State. I had the same reaction when Kadi went to Golden State. I was like, you're just stacking the roster. Now these guys get de Vincenzo. It's just unfair. Bro. On the Wiseman point, I think you make the biggest argument that people don't understand about Wiseman's game is like he has all these great tools, the athleticism, the even like some of the touch too, Like Wiseman get shoot a little bit. He's very talented. But I think you laid it out. He just has to get smarter situationally, he has to get better effort wise. If Wiseman figures those things out, he's going to be great. Like even if he's just putting giving you, you know, twelve to fifteen in ten a night, it doesn't matter if he's playing smart defense and you know, playing a souped up Looney role, I think they're even better. I mean, yeah, nothing really changed. I think I think Golden State is my title favorite period. Maybe Milwaukee and Golden State would be my pick right now if I had to, just because again, I think there's just less variables when it comes to this team, and I, like you said, dude, there is so much room for this team to be even better, maybe sixty wins, and I don't think that's crazy. There's a lot of young talent here. Man Comingo looked really good in Summer League, looked really comfortable getting downhill with the ball in his hands. I genuinely think there's room for this team to be so much better that they can get to sixty wins, just because we've seen it before, We've seen the chemistry, the synergy between this team and how they operate. I think they could reasonably win sixty wins or sixty games this year. I only gets out of the question. I don't at all. The reality is that for the last seven years we have seen it be almost inevitability that if Steph Curry's out there and you have a good supporting cash, you're gonna win sixty games. It hasn't happened the last two years. Last year largely because of injuries and two years ago because they had a miserable roster. Obviously, but like nobody else elevates an offense automatically by being there quite like Steph Curry. I don't think when he has this personnel alongside him, guys who can put him in positions to succeed, like a Draymond Green, like the cerebral basketball players and the strong shooters they have all around. But yeah, I mean, I'm really going to be watching the three young guys COMINGA Moody and Wiseman, because they're gonna need to step in as solid rotational pieces with more consistency than Cominga and Moody rass two last year, and obviously Wiseman wasn't even a part of the equation. But I have faith, dude. I mean, I've really liked Moody as a prospect, and again he bawled out in the Summer League. And Kamina just continues to show flashes and obviously has an incredibly unique trait in his pure athleticism that really sets him apart. So I'm super optimistic. I don't expect huge leaps out of any of those guys, but I think really all it takes is getting over some of the rookie stuff, you know, getting used to the pace of the game, and just becoming more consistent on both ends of the floor. And I think they have the ability to be very solid rotational pieces, and the structure at the top just doesn't change. Like, I really do think that the Warriors floor is last regular season they won the title. Can't call that their floor, but I just think that they will have a different level of success even than last year in the regular season and will be a better team come playoffs too, just about the stiffer competition around them that makes it tougher. Okay, any final thoughts on the Warriors, No one of those stiff competition teams though that you mentioned. The Clippers have to be up there. And I mean, I know everybody hopped on the bandwagon, you know, when the John Wall signing came through, But I was kind of already on this team. You know before that the Clippers are going to have one of the best defenses in the NBA next season two. And that's what really scares me about LA is this is a team that with Tyron lou last season, without a whole lot to play for because of injuries. Right, they made all these acquisitions, they still gave effort, they still played their asses off every night, and they ended up being the eighth ranked defense in basketball. And I mean, you look up and down this roster at the guys that are gonna be giving effort. You're anchored by Kawahi and PG on the wings, Nick Batum at the four, Robert Covington. I mean there's lineup versatility here too that I like, you can run Rocco with the five, Batum at the four, Kawai and PG on the wings with Waller Jackson at the top, like, this is going to be a very scary hounding defense, and then outside of them, dude offensively on the other end, shooting was a big problem for this team last season because of spacing issues. They didn't really have a true point guard. Right. You have Luke Knar here, you have Norm Powell on the wings. You have guys who are going to be able to space the floor for these ball handlers. I just don't really see this being an issue with the improvement of Kauai and PG as ball handlers. Right. That's probably the one issue that I still have with this team is even even with the acquisition of a guy like John Wall, I don't know how confident I am and them just having a guy who's gonna feed the rock around and play team basketball. That's the only n scares me is I don't really know what we're gonna get out of John Wall and still the lack of a true point guard, you know what I mean, there's not I'm not saying that John wall is in a true point guard, but I mean the I guess a guy that's gonna set the table for everybody and take it slow. But when you look at this team pure talent wise, they're deep eight to ten. I mean, you know, Marcus Morris, Terrence Man and yeah, yeah, pretty much those guys being your and Conard being your last guys off the bench. I think my biggest concerns are just the Clippers staying healthy throughout the entire season. Leonard, Paul George, and John Waller are just some of the most injury prone guys in recent memory. If they stay health, I have the Clippers finishing as my five seed with forty nine wins, just because how tough the West is. That's probably gonna come down to an effort thing, honestly more than anything else, and guys taking games off. Go ahead, load manage Kawai, load manage PG, load manage down wall Give these guys the games they need off. Because you're a deep team, they need rest. You need to be healthy for the playoffs. That's really all that matters. The Clippers is gonna be top ten on both sides of the basketball. They've got two top fringe top ten guys in the NBA. Kawhi is top ten to me, Paul George is fringe top ten. You've got those boxes checked. You've got a top ten defense, you've got shooters, and you've got really good defenders. If I had the guest Carson, I think this team is going to be a top five defense and probably about borderline eight to ten depending on how they shoot the basketball this year. And come playoff time again, man, you've got two superstars, you've got a rock solid defense, and you've got shooting on the wings. I don't see why the Clippers can't win a title, why they wouldn't be one of your top contenders. And again, the reason I have them is my five seed. My top three contender is probably out West if I had to name them right now, Golden State, Clippers, Pelicans, those are probably my top three right now. When it comes playoff time again, I just think effort in load management or why the Clippers are gonna end up why they end up as my five seed, because I think the Clippers are probably one of my top three teams out West in terms of contending for a title. Pelicans, Warriors, Clippers. I I love Eli's roster, and yeah, I just want to seem stay healthy. That's it. That's the bottom line. So we have a similar regular season results. I have them winning fifty games as my four seed, but I think that they are clearly a top two team out west to me. And you point out some of the questions you may have about the lack of a traditional point guard, distributor facilitator, and that was something that always nagged me about the Clippers offense back in the day, right Black, when Kawhi and PG were both healthy, was that it was structured weirdly and that you had these two wings who were really learning to playmake at a solidly high level, but we're primarily great isolation and pick and roll scores. They had these great shooters around them who made facilitating to those guys pretty easy, and it felt just a little strange to not have that traditional lead ball handler facilitator. But at the end of the day, it turned out two top three offenses in the league in a row, and who knows what they would have done in their last run if Kawaid stayed healthy. Obviously they beat the Jazz and game six even without him and probably were more talented than the Suns, and now their rosters even better than that. Norman Powell is a different level of a third shot maker than anything that they had when both Kawai and PG were healthy. I mean, okay, I shouldn't say that because Reggie Jackson and that one playoff run reached that level. But in terms of long term sustainability, Norman Powell is simply better. You can rely on him to play at a higher level offensively. And I don't really know what to make of the John Wall edition totally. I don't really know how he fits in here. I don't know if I totally want to change the dynamic that they've had going offensively, where it's Kawai and PG just getting theirs and then facilitating to incredible shooters. John Wall does mess with that. He's certainly a good basketball player. I mean, last time we saw him in Houston, it wasn't super efficient, but he was putting up like twenty and seven and looked good athletically, and you know, I mean, he still has game. Obviously, it's just a matter of how does he fit in here? And I'm not totally sure about that, but if he's engaged defensively and can reach a high level there, because obviously at his peak he was an all defense level guard and now he's gonna be thirty two and hasn't played meaningful basketball and quite some time, but that would be pretty lethal because that would be an insane combination on the perimeter. I don't know what he'll do on that end, but it's certainly something to look for. But overall, I agree with you they should be a top ten defense, and I would say a top five offense because they have the best one two punch from the wings in the NBA. And sorry, over like you think over Levine and de Rosen, oh, certainly, dude Kawai and Pge. I mean, I guess they have more perimeter game. I don't know. I think offensively it's comparable a little bit. Yeah, I'm not so sure. I think that there is a different level of I get what I want when I want it with Kawai when it matters. I mean, his playoff production over the last three years is unfathomable, I will say. And in this last preseason game two, dude Kawhi just at will when he wanted something, he went out and got it. It was awesome. Yeah, he just gets to his spots and he can kill you from literally everywhere. And he's so strong and athletic overall and also just so skilled and so efficient with every movement. And then Peg the guy we saw again carry this team and was really formidable as a lead scorer and playmaker in that run. And obviously, like I shouldn't distill it down to that, that's just what it looked like when Kawhi was out for one playoff run and then it was weird this past year because he was hurt so much. But the dude is a monster, he really is, and this team was able to still, you know, be above five hundred with thirty one games of PG and with zero Kawhi and with Norman Powell for only part of the year. Like, I just think barely any of the regular season. Really, I think that the Clippers are a very very impressive collection of talent, and I mean, and they've got great coaching too. Dude, Tie is going to get this entire lineup to play hard. He's one of the best coaches in game adjustments. Man, Like, yeah, I think, in your opinion or the Clippers the most talented team in basketball top to bottom, because I mean, dude, at the bottom of this rotation, I'll reiterate, you have Lukenard, you have BJ Boston, you have Terrence Man that's disgusting to have as you're you know, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, Marcus Morris down here, that's disgusting to have that level of talent at the bottom of your bench. Like I think they make a run for do you think that the most talented team in basketball? I think it's got to be them in Boston. Those are the top two, and then I would probably have Golden State in Milwaukee. But yeah, it's pretty remarkable. The one thing I do worry about a bit with them is still the big situation, because I think we're going to see a lot of Roco at the five, and I mean that can work well enough. He's really strong and obviously get some floor spacing. Then Zoobots, we know he's kind of just the plug and play guy for them. He'll get his twenty minutes a game. He'll produce offensively, he'll post some issues defensively. I do still think though the lack of a strong traditional lineup could matter in some of these situations, but it's honestly not a huge concern, and the shooting here could be unfathomable. Dude. Like two years ago, the Clippers shot forty two percent from deep as a team. Man, I mean you saw last season, I mean the Clippers where he's two of the biggest leads in basketball, like off off, like the back of Knard bj Terrence Man getting hot and just knocking down big threes. That was without Paul George. That was without Paul George. I mean they were doing that on their own, without a star, erasing those leads, Like, yeah, there's no reason they shouldn't be one of the best shooting teams in basketball again this year. I agree. I think I like the Warriors defense a bit more than the Clippers. I think I like the Clippers offense a bit more, and I think they're a little bit more talented. At the same time, I think some of that talent is offset by the fit and the system that Golden State has. So I think these two teams are really tight. Unfortunately, I don't have them meeting in the Western Conference finals because of where I have the Clippers regular season records, so it's gonna have to be a second round matchup for me. When I think it's clearly the two best teams out West, and I do think Golden State is a little bit more reliable in my eyes, But if everything plays out perfectly for this Clippers team. I mean, they have a great shooting series. You know, they're locked in defensively for a series which I'm sure they will become playoff time. And you get Pete Kawai and PG. Yeah, of course that can absolutely beat anybody in the league. So I don't know that there's a ton of real like swing factors on this roster outside of John wall I love BJ Boston. I'm not sure how much he's really gonna matter for this team, but like, these role guys are established, and you know, you have some continuity there with the Marcus Morrises and Luca Nards of the world, and you'll have a full season of Norman Powell and Roco and obviously Ye Jackson coming back. Like it's just it's a really really talented, deep two way team and I think they're going to be a major threat out West. Any other thoughts, No, I'm cool with that. If you want to roll I I'm gonna be honest, full transparency. I think I'm just wrong about this prediction. Guys, I've got the suns of my six seed at forty eight wins. This the drop in wins because they won sixty four games last season, they were top five on both ends. They were number one in net rating. Right, the Suns were damn near perfect. So how do they drop by sixteen wins? Right, that's the question. I don't think they do that drastically, but I think there's just this lingering stench from Game seven against Dallas Man and I think that again, this team honestly probably finishes over fifty wins pretty easily, just because, like the defensive factors, Macaalbridge is one of the best offenders on the planet, Chris Paul Dbook, Cam Johnson, they all give effort. Aiden is a really good defensive five. May not be great on the perimeter, but he's still great at anchoring the middle, so this defense should still be great. Effort wise, they are going to lose Jay Crowder. It sounds like they're shopping him around. I don't think there's been a deal that has gone through yet, but they are actively looking to moving him LA as a rumored destination. We'll see. It's maybe a slight defensive regression, but it's not that big a deal. They can slide Cam Johnson and they're pretty easily. I just I don't know, man, I just don't see how the end of this season ends up great for Phoenix. I guess is what I'm getting at, And I just don't see them winning a title. So I don't think my regular season prediction is accurate just because I think this team is a little too talented. I know the West got better. This team is too talented to win just forty eight games, But I don't see how this ends in a fairytale season for Phoenix. I know that's what we're waiting on. Right. Two seasons ago, this team goes in the NBA Finals, they take a two o lead on the Milwaukee Bucks. We're all talking about how this series is over, and then Jana storms back and wins four straight and all of Phoenix's hearts are broken. They have the best regular season in what Phoenix history ever for the franchise, and they get to these playoffs and it's like all the all Dallas has as Luca and they get ran in Game seven, and so when it comes to playoff time, I just don't see how this works out as a success when you have so much talented. Man, if they run into Denver in the first run, if they run into New Orleans, if they run into the Clippers. If they run into Golden State, I just think in a playoff format, those teams are better equipped to win. And I've just gotten burned. I think Chris Paul takes a little bit of a step back this season. He looked really old in the playoffs when he looked really old in the regular season. I just mean about scoring the basketball. I think Chris Paul can manipulate a basketball game and manipulate an offense and open up plays and opportunities for his teammates the way he always did. But I think scoring the ball is going to be a problem. And I think Deep Book gets even better to this season. I think he's even better, ass phenomenal as he was last year. But that's kind of my big thing. I think Chris Paul regresses a little bit. I think it's hard for him to get buckets when it comes playoff time. I think he takes a little bit of a step back. And yeah, I think this team is fine in the regular season. I think Suns fans are going to delude themselves into thinking that they have a legit chance at winning a title this season. But when it comes playoff time, I think they're gonna struggle and I can't. We've just seen it. I've seen it two years in a row. Not again. They were great two years ago. They got to the finals. That was kind of beneficiary. They injuries broke their way. I don't think the Suns are equipped to make a really deep playoff run this season, and that's where I stand. That's why I have them at forty eight wins. They're probably gonna win more than that. I'll probably be wrong on that front. The Suns to me, seem like a prime candidate to just get eliminated in the first round. I just don't see it. With all these teams getting so much better, Phoenix kind of stagnated. They got Aiden back, that's great. I don't think he's that big of an needle mover. So I don't know, man, I'm just not high on Phoenix, dude. I'm just not. They burn me in Game seven. I think that Lingers, I think Chris Paul's getting older. It's still a great two way team. I just I'm after getting burnt last year, I'm just not as high on Phoenix this year. Man. I don't think anybody's particularly high on Phoenix right now, and that includes a couple members of the Suns and Jay Crowder and DeAndre Aden there's definitely a very weird feeling around this team, and when you suffered devastation in back to back seasons in different ways, it's tough to imagine that has zero effect on them whatsoever. I do think that's a bit of a precipitous fall in terms of regular season success. But they're gonna regress. I mean obviously, right almost anytime you have a sixty four win season, unless you go out and you know, add talent, you're probably gonna regret because a lot of things probably have to go right for you in a sixty four win season, unless you're like the seventeen Warriors. But the reality is they didn't get better anywhere, and they're getting worse because they're gonna lose Jay Crowder and DeAndre Ayton is clearly not in a good headspace and has given some really lack luster effort on certain possessions defensively in the preseason. It's preseason. Don't want to take too much away from that. It's real. Against Adelaide, man Aiden was not moving. He was a fucking anchor in the paint. And that's just a comical moment for them, obviously, for those of you who don't know, they lost to Adelaide thirty six ers, and it feels like everybody is just kind of rooting on the downfall the Suns right now. A lot of people seem agitated with them and perhaps a bit amused by their playoff shortcomings. Like obviously last year was just brutal what Luca did to them in Game seven. But overall, I mean, still a very talented roster. It's a great two way team. But I don't know who really gets better here. Like, you know, Cam Johnson maybe gets a little bit better, but he already took a leap and became a better player last year. Mccal was an uber efficient, deploy level guy last season. Chris Paul, I don't know if I would necessarily predict regression because he's so far from being dependent on athleticism. He's so far from having like volume output every night. But he is still a thirty seven year old guard who was completely essential to this team's success, who you're relying on. He's not gonna get any better. I don't really know how much better book can get, Like he's pretty much maximized. I don't know. I guess he could have a better shooting season from mid range, Like he didn't have a great year in that respect, but had a great season from beyond the arc, you know, is that kind of the level of playmaking. I can see him reasonably getting to role players sorry, just aren't going to get better. I think that we may sadly have already seen the best of campaign. I mean, just a really really horrendous playoff showing from him. He's kind of soured by feelings about a guy who I've always really liked, not always, but since he got to Phoenix really liked. So yeah, I still have them as my two seed, but I think they're in major danger of being upset in the first round. Wink wink. I don't know if they will quite have the offense they did last year, and they could maybe come close to that defensive ceiling, but if Aiden isn't fully engaged, then yeah, they'll definitely see regression on them, because that's a legitimate plus defensive center and is really important to what they do on that end. So I don't have a ton more to say about the Suns. They're kind of boring and in a season where everybody around them is so exciting and improving, and there's so much positive energy and momentum. It's kind of like, Oh, there's the team that has had the major letdowns that is going to get worse by default because they're not getting better and has multiple loudly unhappy people within their organization. It's tough to be like, right, oh, go sons. I do want to ask you one question. I got flack recently when I made I showed my top ten small forwards list to some people. I had mcal Bridges, as I think is my seventh small forward in the league. I want to ask you, Carson, who would you choose between certain small forwards and mcaal Bridges. We're gonna play a little this or that kind of game. Great, Okay, So would rather have mcaal bridges or Andrew Wiggins. I'd rather micaw Bridges. Would rather have micaal Bridges or brandon Ingram brandon Ingram by far, would rather have McCaw bridges or Jaylen Brown? Jaylen Brown? Okay, So where's where do you think mcal lands because I had I just think I don't know. McCaw was quite literally and I think I exaggerated the stat a little bit. He was the literally the most efficient jump shooter in basketball by a mile last season. Like the charts crazy, he's in the top left quadrant. It's nuts. So where does he let land for you? Like? What he is? He top ten small forwards? Is he fringe? And what is it? Just? The scoring limitations is why you take other guys. I don't know what a small forward is anymore, Like I don't know, but I'll say he's certainly not on the level of randon Ingram or Jaylen Brown. And the reason for that is that there is just a completely different level of shot creation and shotmaking. With Bi you're talking about three level scoring, big difference, the ability to get a shot off whenever at his side with his handle and his overall fluidity and a big playmaking gap, like he's a legitimate plus playmaker. And then with Jalen, I mean, he's not giving him a cow level defensively, but he's a really good defensive player who is an incredible isolation score like has his limitation as the playmaker, but athletically in terms of pull up jump shooting, in terms of getting to his spots pretty outstanding, And like you know, was at times the best player on a team that just went to the finals and could have wanted if his running mate had maybe carried his own weight a little bit more Like Jalen can be an efficient twenty five point per game score and big time plus defender in big spots, that's a different level of player. Mcal is about as good as a role player can be. Insanely efficient, great spot up shooter, great cutter, good athlete up there for the best perimeter defender on the planet, that's phenomenal. That's a guy I want every day of the week ten times over if I want to win at the highest level. But that's because that's what being asked of him. If you put him in a Jalen Brown or a Brandon Ingram role, he would fall apart. I mean, he just simply could not create offense at that level. So that's a difference. But McCall is really really good, and as a third best player on your team, especially when you have a fourth guy like Aiden, who I think is pretty close to his level when he's engaged in playing his best, you know, that's enough talent to win a title if your two stars are a little better than what CP and book are and if the back end of your rotation is a little better than what I think it'll be for the Sons this year. So I do think they'll regress. I don't think they'll regress right to the level that you're expecting, but I certainly don't know how they come close to last year's success. And yes, a more dynamic, maybe scrappier team that ends up running into them in the first round. I could see them getting getting got who knows what DeAndre look like at that point, hopefully for their sake. Normal, but just a lot of weird stuff going on with Phoenix right now. Speaking of a lot of weird stuff, Well, actually, I don't know who you have next, because you really like the Sacramento Kings. I was thinking about the Lake. I look, I don't like the Kings had much. Guy, I'm optimistic, man, not that optimistic. I've got the Lakers. Here's this next spot they are gonna make the play in. I have them as my nine seed forty three wins. Carson, you're a very good friend. Front of the show. Jason timp broke down the Lakers every single night on the Volume Sports on YouTube, on Twitter, You guys should check him out. He really did a good job on the Lakers last season, kept us updated because I mean it was hard. It's hard covering the Lakers. Nobody wanted to talk about him. They sucked. The Lakers had a few big problems last season. They were at a pure talent deficit and the Frank Vogel didn't know how to use the assets that he did have in a rotation to win basketball games. That was the issue. They didn't have a good defense, they didn't have have great offensive talent around Lebron. They acquired Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis was not on the floor. What's new, right? Russell Westbrook doesn't know how to play basketball and Anthony Davis doesn't play basketball. So you take a look at the team this year and the only way that I see the Lakers carrying through getting to the play in spot because I think this is the ceiling for the Lakers. I think they are such a I know they have Anthony Davis, They're at such a talent deficit. The nine seat of the eight seed is probably my ceiling for the Los Angeles Lakers. With how tough the West is going to be the year, barring major injuries to other teams. The eight to nine seat is where I expect this team to land and again at their peak of their powers. Defensively, this is the Lakers are gonna have to be a top fringe, top ten defense to be a good basketball team. It's gonna be effort driven, it's gonna be grinding, and I don't know if they if they have this in them yet. Lebron is going to have to command this roster or he's gonna have to end the keys off to Pat Bev to anchor this team. Bro, you know what I mean. I mean that is an energy as an effort from a leader's standpoint, This team needs a leader to rally them together. And is it, Carson? Is it wrong of me to question that of Lebron at this point in his career as a leader like this team desperately needs somebody that is going to rally the troops every game and get them to play hard. It's wrong of me to question that of Lebron. No, I don't think so. I mean, look at what he did last year. He kind of decided, well, I don't need to be super engaged defensively and I'm not gonna try to rally the troops all that much and we'll just throw on the towel a little bit. And that's how it felt. It felt every game. It was just it was a slog. I'm gonna get my thirty and we're gonna lose, and that's gonna be okay. There is defensive talent here. Your boy Jason was talking about Whinyon Gabriel the other night played his ass off should fill in that Stanley Johnson role. They desperately need big wings. They didn't have them last year. They need guys who were going to defend. So there's just a big there's a big weight on the shoulders of the Whinyon Gabriels, of the Patrick Beverley's, of the JTA's, of the Thomas Bryant's. Man. This roster blows. This roster sucks, dude. I guess there's another potential route, right Carson, if the Lakers, if the Pacers somehow pull the trigger on this Buddy Held Miles Turner deal, which I don't understand why the Pacers would do. You know, two first round picks in Russell Westbrook and they get Buddy Held and Miles Turner. I don't know, why they do this trade. They need that to happen if they want to have any title aspirations or anything higher than the eight seed. To me, there's just too many issues, like if Lebron and a d are healthy cool right? I don't know, man, I don't see how things go right well enough, Like their big free agency acquisition was Lonnie Walker the fourth I don't know, man. I Effort, drive and a commitment on the defensive end of the floor is going to get this team to forty three wins. I don't see what else does. I think they're a eighteen to twentieth offense, and I think if they can become a fringe top ten defense that they can win forty three games. It's gonna be effort. It's not gonna be anything else. It's gonna be Lebron carrying them on the other end and them shooting just decently enough to get over this roster blows. Darvin ham has his hands full. Yeah, they need to play well on the defensive end and they need to be healthy. It's a disastrous roster. I genuinely don't think it compares and how much I like it to the Blazer's roster. I have the Lakers winning one more game at a nice even five hundred, forty one and forty one and my nine seed because of Anthony Davis and Lebron James. I mean, Lebron to me is still a top five player alive eighty. I don't know what the hell to classify him as, but you know, he's a top ten ceiling. I'm not gonna bet on him being a top ten player this year, but he should be a top fifteen player this year. I mean, good god, this guy was, you know, walking into twenty six and eleven as an all defense level player with some legitimate floor spacing and high end athleticism for four straight years, and then he decided to fall off a cliff after having one of the best playoff runs in recent memory and looking like he was in the conversation as a top three player alive. Just a remarkable decline. But the reality is that their third best player is Patrick Beverley Man. There's not a lot of teams in NBA history that could win forty one games with Pat BEV is their third best player, and the drop off after that is significant, dude. I mean, in terms of who you want to win basketball games, who is next, Like, I don't know, dude, with Thomas Bryant, Lonnie Walker, Kendrick Nunn. You're looking at JTA over here, bro, Yeah, I mean I was thinking maybe Kendrick Nunn just in terms of offensive game, I think he's probably fourth. And then you know, I don't know, maybe Russ, like because at the end of the day, I don't know. So much of it is about what you're willing to do. When Russ hasn't shown that he's willing to do anything that matters. If he were, obviously I would rather have Russ over Jta. Rush would be the third best guy on this team if he just weaponizes athleticism and passing and was a really engaged cutter and understood the defensive end of the floor. Of course, none of those things will ever come close to happening. Russell Westbrook is a massive, massive negative for this team, and he is the reason in a lot of ways that they are so impaired. And it's not just about his sole presence. It's about the fact that they're paying him forty seven million dollars. So your entire cap is dedicated to three players, one of whom is completely undeserving of that money, and so all you can do now is bringing guys on the minimum pretty much. And that's what the role players here reflect. A team that is strapped in terms of its ability to build a quality roster, and it's their own faults. The Russell Westbrook trade was a disaster and they never should have done it, and this is their penance for that. Thomas Bryant's good, like he was good last time we saw him play a full basketball season, but he's barely stayed on the floor for the last two years. But he is skilled. I mean, he's a floor spacing, pretty athletic big. So he's an upgrade I guess to what they had last year in that respect. He's not moving the needle though. I was gonna ask you, I mean, schematically last season we saw Vogel tend to kind of go with that Duck Rivers stylistical We want a big five in their next a D when a D was healthy. I mean, what do you think darvinham should do this season? You do have a bit of a floor spacing, athletic five and Bryant, but I mean you should start a D at the five, right, I mean, that's that seems like a no brainer, and good god. I mean, it's just such a bad roster dude, because I'm thinking, like, are you starting when Yon Gabriel? Because you want a big defensive wings out there? If Lebron decides to play hard, well that's one big defensive wing. Pat bev in the backcourt is obviously a plus defender. But then it's like, Okay, is it gonna be Whenyon? Is it gonna be Lonnie Walker? Because Lonnie as long as hell, and he's giving you more offensive game. I don't know. Oh no, yeah, okay, there's still a spot there. I was for a moment thinking that maybe I had forgotten that Russell Westbrook has to start for this team, which is just a sinking hole. Yeah, he will. I wouldn't start Russ. How do you think Russ is going to feel about that? I don't care how Russ feels about it. I'd tell him to take his ball and to go home. I think Russ is going to start for this team, and I think it's going to be a disaster. Yeah, I don't know. We forgot about Austin Reeves, you know, a solid role player. I don't have a ton more to say. I don't see how this offense reaches any sort of top ten ceiling. They have no creation effectively outside of Lebron James himself healthy. Kendrick noun is fine, Good god, you don't want him to be the second best shotmaker on your team. Ad has not shown the ability to be that guy. He hasn't shown the ability to be a competent floor space. They got Danish Roller. Everything's fine, Fine, they're winning the finals. Now you wouldn't. They got Dennis Schroeder Carson. Dennis Schroeder is at least one of their top four players. I did forget about him completely because I was looking at their contracts and he's not listed. All the problems are fixed. They got Dennis Schroeder. It's okay, layoff. Yeah, then a Shrewder, I should say, that's how it's properly pronounced. Yeah, you know you're getting a little bit more offensive athleticism, quickness, some playmaking. But I mean, we all remember how it went last time he was in LA. It wasn't so fun. Like, Yeah, Shrewder's probably their third best player. Okay, take back what I said about Pat Beev. Dennis Shrewder is probably slightly better. Who fucking cares. This roster is not good. It's ugly. I don't think it's cohesive. I still don't think there's enough shooting here, because as long as you're playing Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis on the floor, you're playing two guys who for the last two years have not been able to shoot the basketball for shit whatsoever from beyond the arc, and there's just not enough creation outside of that. So yeah, Lebron in Ad, we'll get them to forty one wins if they're healthy. If if Ads not healthy, I don't know, dude, Like, I don't think Lebron can afford to throw in the towel on another year at this stage of if his career. But good god man, what's gonna be his motivation if Ady misses thirty games in the middle of the year and they're sitting at twenty five and thirty eight. Because I don't think that's out of the question. If Ad doesn't play for this team. The lineup that LA went with the other night, they started Russ Kendrick Nunn, Lebron Ad, and then Damian Jones at the five. You know, I will say, like preseason basketball, Ady didn't look bad Russ got to the rim. Like you said, who fucking cared this? This roster is not talented. Russ can look as good as he wants in the preseason. I will. I'm tired of speculating. I'm not going to believe anything that Russell Westbrook does until he actually shows me during the regular season that he's committed to me. The Lakers. Ironically, we had a dumpster fire at my apartment building last night. The Lakers are a dumpster fire waiting to happen. So if you had to bet right now, Carson on the Lakers making the play in we're missing, or the play in probably making the playoffs, winning a play in game or missing, what would you bet on? I think they will lose in the plan, and I'm pretty confident in that outcome. I think that they and the Trailblazers are solidly in a tier as the ninth and tenth best teams out West. I think the eight teams above them are clearly significantly more talented. And again, I think the Blazers are more talented top to bottom certainly than the Lakers and are going to be more fun to watch. I think less clunky, more smooth, more perimeter game, fun stuff. The Lakers are going to be a good defensive team, and I think an ugly offense again. But they have Lebron James and he can pilot them to competence. That's really all I'm willing to say, and I'm ready to move on whenever. You are a team that is going to be fun to watch. The forty wins Sacramento Kings. Yeah, puckle up, baby, we're going to the plan. We're going to the plan. We sucked last year. Man. We had Luke Walton at the helm right for a little bit, then we had Elvin Gentry step him. Then we turned out to be a bottom five offense, a bottom five defense, and bottom five in net rating. A lot has changed. We have Malik Monk Yeah, yeah, we've Keegan Murray, Kevin Hurder. I think the Kings are gonna be a lot more fun to watch than the Lakers. That being said, I don't know how good we're gonna be. We did make some head scratching moves. We brought in Matthew Dellavedova. Carson, I know how excited you were about that move. I mean, that guy was good like six years ago, Man, seven years ago, big time needle mover. Yeah, I mean, I think the Kings are gonna be average. The biggest thing is going to be making this team commit on the defensive end, and I will say I mean effort. His team was dead last in defensive rating two years ago. They were twenty seventh last year. Three years ago there were twentieth with Luke Walton at the helm. But that was a different roster, right, we didn't have Demanta Sabonus. And that's the hard part about this. I harped on this when the Kings made the Tyrese Halliburton trade, that I didn't want to do it, that I thought Halliburton made great offense. And I mean that. I think Indiana has a stud in Tyrese Haliburton. I think he's gonna be one of the best players in basketball one day, one of the best offensive Just oh god, He's gonna make such good offense for Indiana. I'm jealous. We have Sabonus, and Sbonus is good on that end. He's got great touch, he's a good screener, he has floor spacing now. He worked his ass off on perimeter shooting during the off season. Offensively, we're gonna be fun. But I mean, you saw it in this preseason game, even against just La Dude, Sabonus getting bullied at the rim, Sbonus being slow, Sabonus getting worked on the glass. He's competent, he's just not a needle mover man and he's not a great rim protector, and it sucks. You need that in today's NBA. You need a great defensive big to be a good team period. You need that deterrent, and Sabonus just isn't. People are afraid of him. He doesn't have the bounce to even recover. Man Like, even when guys are out of position and they make that break one, Sabonis doesn't make that break to the basket to contest the shot. He also isn't athletically gifted enough to make a play on the ball if he did slide right. So defensively, I think we're gonna suck again. Our only other bigs on the roster Rashaun Holmes, Alex lenn Niemas Kata who I like Cato, but he's not going to see the floor. He's gonna be in the g leaue again this season because of our depth. So I mean defensively their twentieth or worse. Offensively, they have issues with spacing with continuity. With Deer and Fox spacing the floor, you need a guard who can shoot the basketball, So we're probably looking at being somewhere between twenty and fifteenth on that end. I think our spacing got a little better with guys like Herder and Monk on the roster, Barnes Murray, they should space the floor competently. The ceiling for this team is what I laid them out at because I'm an optimist, because I want to see the King's break this street, because I want them to be some I want there to be some hope in this franchise. Man, I have them as my ten seed and winning forty games, And honestly, the only way that happens is if Damian Lillard gets hurt really early on and the Blazers somehow do not win a lot of games. I'm just being honest. If the Trailblazers stay healthy, the Kings will not be in the spot, we will not be close to the play in. We will win thirty five games again, and we will miss out. And I'm gonna cry myself to sleep. The Kings are a basketball void and they make me nut like basketball so much. Carson, can we please make the play in? Guys, I'm gonna cry. Mike Brown lead us to the play in. Please. Yeah, this roster is not that great and defensively, it's just the biggest thing to me, man, It's honestly, Carson, I know the Sabonus thing at the four did not work last season or in Indiana alongside Midles Turner. I don't think Sibonus is a long term five. Do you agree they play him there because he's too big to not and he's slow against modern fours. I don't care. He can't play the five. He doesn't have the balance, he doesn't have the athleticism, he doesn't have that dog in him to go fucking contest a shot at the We need a good five man to play defense, and until that happens, the Kings will be a bottom twenty defense and we won't be good. Won't We won't be good? We need a five. I'm mad. The Kings are gonna be pretty bad defensively. Is the thing that I think really puts a ceiling on them. I think you're a little bit low overall. I mean, no, your wind total is a little bit high. To me, your morale is a little bit low when you talk about it them being a basketball boy and all that, because sure they're not going to be legitimately good, but they are gonna be legitimately fun to watch offensively, which wasn't even the case last year. They did just such an ugly season. All around. The fox of Bonus pick and roll duo is going to be pretty lethal, and those guys really reached a high level of production once they were playing together in Sacramento. I mean, the efficiency was really impressive, and Foxy's numbers in particular got really good after Sabonis joined. But at the end of the day, I mean there's a ceiling to a team built around these two, partly because of defensive issues. Like you said, Sabonis cannot be your back line defender if you want to be a good team. I do like some of the additions. I don't know how you couldn't. I mean, Kevin Herder's just a good all around basketball player, really good shooter, smart playmaker, competitive guy. Malik Monk is an electric shooter and had a pretty darn good offensive season last year. And Keegan Murray is already a bucket and is a guy who really competed at the defensive level in college and has some tools there and immediately can come in as a very high level jump shooting threat for you. In a pretty good all around three level score. Davion could get a little bit better. I think he could have a better offensive season compared to last year. You've already seen his playmaking prowess, but let's see if he can establish some more of the pull up jump shooting success that he had at Baylor, although that was kind of a last year thing, so maybe that was a bit more of a question in his game than we really gave it credit for the consistency of his pull up jump shot. But at the end of the day, I don't really see where the defensive impact comes from. I look up and down this roster and I think it's Davion and that's it. And they're just not good enough to be an all offense team. They're not going to be an a lead offense. I don't think they can be a top ten offense. I think I can be a slightly above average offense and a pretty dad defense, and that has me giving them thirty five wins. This year and finishing as my eleven seed. I do think they could crawl into the play in, but I don't think they're as talented as the Blazers in terms of talent at the top anything. Yeah, pretty much in terms of anything. And again, the Lakers we already explained. They have Lebron and I guess they have a D two and that is enough for now for me to hold them penciled into that nine seed. What are you most excited for about the Kings of this year? That's a good question. Probably Foxin's a bonus again, like you mentioned, Man, offensively, they are a special duo. Like like you said, dude, Fox was up efficiently because the King's benched him because we didn't want to win games the second half of the year, and we're trotting up Chimezie met To as our starting point guard. You know, Fox is putting up I think like twenty seven during the second half of the season after the Sabonus deal. Man, he was really really good. And this again, this is the full first full year of the pairing that we're gonna get to watch. It's gonna be awesome. Man, here, if you've got the numbers, he was twenty eight a game on better than fifty percent from the field and thirteen games with Dolmas. And what is cool is I mean you see it in the pick and roll. The big man will slide a little harder. It opens up that little floater game for fox Man the middle of the court, which he has gotten better at, more efficiently at it. It just, you know, it brings a little more attention. You're not gonna slide as hard on Rashawn Holmes as your Sabonus because Sabonus has touch, an actual offensive game, and he's great around the rack. Well, Rashaun Holmes has touch. He is a beautiful floater. As Carson always loves to remind you, Rashaun Holmes has that dirty floater game. Um, you know, I'm excited to see Damon's regression. I'm excited to see Keegan Murray and I'm yeah, I'm excited to see good basketball. I think Mike Brown's gonna be a good coach, and I think we're just gonna see better basketball than we have the past three years with Luke Walton and Alvin Gentry at the Helm. I'm I am excited for that. Um, I just want some actual success. You know what I mean. I'm excited from a league Monk. There's a lot of guys that I'm excited to watch out here this season. I'm just I'm preparing myself for us to miss the plan. I want this street to be broken. Um, and I missed Tyres Salaburton a lot. That kid's special. I'm still disappointed about that. I'll probably be crying about that on my deathbed. Carson sees me, Logan, do you need to pass any messages along? Yes? I wish the Kings had never traded away Tyrese slah Burton. What's the ceiling for this team? Can they can they? Can they actually get into the playoffs or do you think a play in loss is their fate? Play in loss? I mean, I think the top eight teams are so talented out West. I have the Memphis Grizzlies is my eight seed. I'm not gonna insult them by saying that the Sacramento Kings could take them out. I mean, I don't think they even have a puncher's chance. Frankly, the Lakers and the Blazers I were throw into that puncher's chance to hear, if everything goes right, the Kings, I do not think so, but I mean again, right, you have a couple of guys who are going to put a lot of pressure on defenses in the paint, in that mid range area with Fox and Sabonis. And I'm not gonna say that Fox is a beautiful mid range shooter, but you know he'll take them and he'll certainly get downhill and get into that painted area, and they're both good passers who can create for some really lethal shooters around them. Harrison Barnes, Kevin Herder, Leek Monk, Keegan Murray. If Daviana is a better shooting season, that's a ton of shooting, that's a ton of pot from the perimeter. But it's just not enough given the flaws that are inherent with this roster. So yeah, I don't see a playoff ceiling for them. Any final thoughts on the Pacific Division here, I actually think I'm good man. I think I think we checked all the boxes to day bro. It's fantastic, an interesting division, some incredible talents, but overall a couple of teams that kind of made me feel a little bit of I don't know, it's unpleasant. Final thing what's the floor for the Lakers? Well, the healthy Lakers, that's I guess that's a question. Yeah, the healthy Lakers. What's their floor? Not a D. I don't want to include a D in that because a healthy AD is still maybe healthy Lakers minus a D. What's their floor? I mean, I would say close to thirty five wins because last year was thirty three, right, and that was with a D for a little under half the year. There were only eleven and eleven when Lebron and AD played last year, though, which I think is really damning with the roster that just did not get much better. Like maybe you like some of the length and athleticism they added with the winning Gabriels and Damien Joneses of the world, but it's like, I'm sorry, those guys just do not have offensive game. And you know, there's a reason that people listening to the show are probably like, why are you even talking about Damien Jones and Whinnian Gabriel rotation pieces big rotation pieces. Yeah, and you know, on truly great teams, I'm not sure that those guys are getting on the floor. So I still think that Lebron James will get you to thirty wins at least every single year. I mean thirty five honestly, I think is again pretty close to the floor that you could expect. But they're not gonna win. There's no way they win fifty games this year. No way, in my opinion. I bet my house on that. Maybe my kidney and my liver too. Well, let's not go all that far. Let's start with the house fans. If you guys want to take me up on that, I'm I'm game. Okay, Well, I don't think that that's your house. You have an apartment room here. If they want it, they can take it. I'll pay rent. Okay. Well, on that note, ladies and gentlemen, we'll wrap things up for today. As always, you guys can find us pretty much everywhere. We have a little link in our social media bios now that it will take you everywhere that you need to go for us. But TikTok is always the place to be at nerd Sesh. We do lots of trivia, take content. I'm going through my top ten players in NBA history. Just did to breakdown on Victor wembon Yama and how incredible he was. So we didn't talk about this that on this pod, but you can go ahead and get my quick thoughts on TikTok. Always check us out across other social channels Twitter at nerds Underscores Sesh, Instagram at nerd Sesh. I've been coming out with some videos there, and always our graphics of our NFL weekly picks and also our division preview graphics for the NBA. We will be coming out with another preview podcast pretty soon. Moving on to the Eastern Conference, we could recap our West right now standings one through fifteen, should we. I'll just go real fast since we're done with this conference. Now, I have the Warriors, the Suns, the Nuggets, the Clippers, the t Wolves, the MAVs, the Pelicans, the Grizzlies. Those are my eight playoff teams. Lakers, Blazers are my play in teams. Then Kings, Rackets, Thunder, Jazz, Spurs. I've got Memphis, then I've got the Dubs, Then I've got the Pelicans, s right, I don't have this an order. Then I have the Timberwolves, the Clippers, the Suns, the Nuggets. Then I've got the Mavericks, Lakers, Kings, Trailblazers, and then who cares about the rest right, it's the bottom dwellers boom. So stay tuned in for us moving on to the Eastern Conference. As always, stay tuned in for our content on TikTok. Maybe go ahead and check out so Bad if you want subscription batting service where you get some exclusive picks from us and a bunch of other betting influencers and experts. And with that, as always, I've been Carson Breber, I've been Logan Camden and this wasn't