13 Rules: NBA Random Thoughts - May 18, 2024

[00:00:00] Alright, it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, editor of thepeachbasket.net.

[00:00:04] He's Steve Percello, a longtime high school basketball coach, educator, vice principal,

[00:00:09] and athletic director. And this is the 13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts podcast, the best

[00:00:14] 15 minutes of random NBA thoughts online. This is your first time listening. Welcome.

[00:00:19] We're glad you found us. This podcast was born out of the content in Steve's NBA

[00:00:23] Random Thoughts articles, which he posts weekly. Steve and I have exactly 15 minutes

[00:00:28] to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA. Today we'll discuss his latest 13 Rules

[00:00:33] Random NBA Thoughts article with a focus on emerging stars in the 2024 NBA playoffs.

[00:00:39] And there's a few of them. Steve, are you ready? Ready. Let's start. Oh, let's start

[00:00:45] the timer. I had a note to do it and I forgot to actually do it. Boom. Okay. The

[00:00:49] timer is going. We're going to start in the East with Evan Mobley. Now his calves

[00:00:55] are gone. They're going home, but Evan Mobley played well against the Celtics with one

[00:01:00] game scoring 33 points. He's only 22 years old. He signed through the 24-25 season.

[00:01:08] So this is more a Cavaliers question than it is a Mobley question. Do you see him

[00:01:12] as a possible piece to build around? Is he that kind of star in the event that

[00:01:17] they lose Donovan Mitchell or is he just a good piece and the calves need to look

[00:01:23] elsewhere to build around somebody? I think he's a star. I think what he's proven,

[00:01:30] the Cavs were kind of like worried that he wasn't going to reach what they

[00:01:35] thought offensively. His offensive game was limited. This series gave him A,

[00:01:41] the confidence and B, the ability to become a player. And now he's at that

[00:01:49] point. And then what it does is for the Cavaliers, they can make some decisions.

[00:01:53] They're not happy with Jared Allen. And now you think about maybe he'd get rid

[00:01:58] of him. They'd get a nice haul back for him. And one of the two guards,

[00:02:02] Garland and Mitchell, one of them is going to go. They can't play together

[00:02:07] and it's kind of proven. So what happens there? They're going to get a

[00:02:11] haul for that. But I think the idea being Mobley can be the center of the

[00:02:16] future and maybe they need a good, true four to help them. And again,

[00:02:24] not saying the player, this player, but a guy like Randall or Siakam,

[00:02:28] that kind of four with Mobley as a five might be the key in getting it plus

[00:02:36] the haul you get back if you trade Mitchell or Garland. And then you start

[00:02:40] looking at the team and say, well, this could be a nice team. And you can

[00:02:45] probably, Mobley's a good defender. You can probably build a little bit of a

[00:02:48] better defense with him.

[00:02:50] Yeah. It's funny because Mobley, when I think of him, I think of him as

[00:02:55] a center. Certainly at the five he's a shot blocker, rim protector.

[00:02:59] I think he's really great and he's shown that that's a good spot for

[00:03:03] him. But he's listed as a power forward. I never noticed that before.

[00:03:07] You see him more as a five than a four.

[00:03:09] Well, because he's with Jared Allen. Somebody's got to be the five,

[00:03:12] everybody has to be the four. But without that, I think he can play.

[00:03:18] And he plays the big man game, little inside little 10 footers, five

[00:03:22] footers from the post. And he also is great, great rolling to the

[00:03:28] basket on the pick and roll. So those kind of things are very

[00:03:32] interesting. And he manages to get himself the ball in the open areas.

[00:03:37] And if he continues to improve as a shooter, I think there's the sky's

[00:03:42] the limit. When he first started, I didn't think...

[00:03:47] I thought he was going to be great. After the last couple of years,

[00:03:50] I said, well, there's an offensive game isn't there.

[00:03:53] Now after seeing him in the playoffs against Boston, there is an

[00:03:57] offensive game and maybe he wasn't being utilized because you had

[00:04:00] Mitchell, Garland, and a bunch of guys shooting threes around him.

[00:04:05] And Jared Allen is more of a guy you don't run any offense for.

[00:04:11] He gets his points and he does a lot of little things around the

[00:04:14] basket. And now Mobley can take that and continue to go further

[00:04:19] with the role of being around the basket, but he can shoot the

[00:04:22] ball.

[00:04:23] Yeah.

[00:04:25] Interesting. Jared Allen signs through 25, 26 that are pretty

[00:04:29] friendly 20 million. So I think that's probably a good piece to

[00:04:32] move for sure. A very interesting off season coming up for the Cavs,

[00:04:35] who I think are pretty close. They played well. They might just

[00:04:40] need a piece or two.

[00:04:43] All right. Let's move on. Jalen Bronson, somebody we've talked

[00:04:46] about before absolutely has shown his superstar, I don't think

[00:04:50] potential is even the right word anymore. He's a star. But,

[00:04:53] and you called this out and I had never thought about this

[00:04:55] before and I love that you called it out. He likely wouldn't

[00:04:58] fare too well in the NBA combine when it comes to measuring

[00:05:01] his jumping ability and other things that these guys go

[00:05:04] through. He's not kind of that specimen for lack of a better

[00:05:08] word, yet he's a superstar. How did this guy get there?

[00:05:13] Well, first of all, if you know anything about his dad,

[00:05:16] his dad played in the NBA is now an assistant coach with

[00:05:19] the Knicks. He coached high school in Jersey at Camden

[00:05:22] High School and they were one of the top teams in the

[00:05:24] nation. While he was there, it was just three or four

[00:05:26] years. He obviously in raising him, his wife, he met at Temple

[00:05:32] when Brunson went there. So his wife was a volleyball

[00:05:37] player. So the athletics were in the genes. Right. I also

[00:05:40] think that being around his dad, I think his dad did a

[00:05:44] great job with footwork teaching him and they also did

[00:05:47] another great thing with him. His personality like Anthony

[00:05:51] Edwards is tremendous for the NBA. He's a worker. He's

[00:05:56] got a tremendous work ethic. His footwork is, I've not seen

[00:06:03] many guards with that. He can get a shot against anybody.

[00:06:06] He's got the game offensively and he's a star. And you know

[00:06:11] what? If you like the Knicks or you don't, you've got to

[00:06:14] admire him for all of the reasons I just gave. And

[00:06:19] he's got more heart than just about 95 or 98% of the

[00:06:25] guys in the NBA. I don't find anything not to like about

[00:06:30] Brunson.

[00:06:33] That's, I mean, no words. Let me ask you this because

[00:06:40] hearing you just say all this great stuff about Brunson is

[00:06:44] wild and I don't disagree. I mean, he's been phenomenal. Is

[00:06:48] it enough? Is it enough or are the Knicks at their

[00:06:53] ceiling?

[00:06:55] If everybody comes back next year, they can win the whole

[00:06:57] thing.

[00:06:58] Okay. Including Julius Randall?

[00:07:02] Randall and Hart, if Hart's healthy tomorrow, we'll see. But

[00:07:06] if Randall, Mitchell Robinson, Bogdanovich who they have to

[00:07:11] make a decision on his contract, but all those people and

[00:07:14] those pieces put them in Boston's realm.

[00:07:19] Wow.

[00:07:21] Well, you think about it. Think about it. If they play

[00:07:24] Boston, if they do win tomorrow, if they play Boston,

[00:07:29] who's the best guy on the court?

[00:07:32] Jalen Brunson.

[00:07:33] You have a chance to win when you have the best guy on

[00:07:35] the team.

[00:07:37] There's some conversation and I don't want to dive too

[00:07:39] deep because we've got two other things to talk about,

[00:07:41] but about whether or not Jalen Brunson and Julius

[00:07:44] Randall can coexist. Because you didn't see Brunson take off

[00:07:48] until Julius Randall stopped playing. So conversation for

[00:07:54] another time, because we don't want to go too deep down that

[00:07:56] rabbit hole. Do you think they can coexist?

[00:07:59] That's an easy one. Tatum averaged 30 points a game

[00:08:04] last year. He didn't average 30 this year. Why not?

[00:08:10] Because he's got a lot of offense around him.

[00:08:13] Brunson can average or get 40 in three or four playoff

[00:08:16] games in a row.

[00:08:18] He needs to, right?

[00:08:19] Who else is going to... Even Schenzo can only shoot when

[00:08:22] he's wide open. Who else can take the offense away?

[00:08:27] I'll tell you what, with Boston, with Tatum, he could

[00:08:32] take a few trips down the floor off because Brown will

[00:08:37] take over. If Brown doesn't take over, Drew Holliday or

[00:08:41] Derek White or one of those people will do something.

[00:08:45] Make it easier. Last thing I just want to say, Brunson

[00:08:48] 6'1". The biggest fear you have is the Isaiah Thomas,

[00:08:53] Celtic Isaiah Thomas factor. Meaning he's getting beat up

[00:08:57] every night. It would be terrible if he got hurt.

[00:09:04] Like Isaiah Thomas when he was going great with the

[00:09:06] Celtics, it is a great thing to watch. You love to

[00:09:10] see the little guy achieve in a land of trees.

[00:09:16] All right, we got to move on. I do want to call out that

[00:09:18] Rick Brunson had his best season as a pro for the

[00:09:23] Los Angeles Clippers averaging 5.5 points per game.

[00:09:28] I didn't even know he played for the Clippers, but

[00:09:30] shout out to...

[00:09:31] Played for Boston too.

[00:09:33] Yeah, and the Supersonics, Blazers, a few teams.

[00:09:37] I don't remember him, but shout out nonetheless.

[00:09:40] Let's move on to Dallas Mavericks. They are kind of

[00:09:43] surprising people and they're winning because they're

[00:09:46] defending. And I got to ask you, how did Coach Jason

[00:09:49] Kidd, who is not necessarily known for his

[00:09:52] defense? I mean, he was a superstar, but it was for

[00:09:55] other things. There's more on the offensive side.

[00:09:56] How did he get his team motivated enough, including

[00:10:00] his stars, Kyrie and Luca, to defend? How did

[00:10:03] they get here?

[00:10:04] I think they are defending, but I think that's

[00:10:08] the last piece. I think when they went out and got

[00:10:10] Gafford, I think Jones, I think these people defend.

[00:10:16] And it almost became incumbent on those two guys,

[00:10:20] hey, we got to step up our game here because we're

[00:10:23] being the weak links on this defense.

[00:10:26] Derek Lively is another one.

[00:10:29] Can defend and they play hard and they do all

[00:10:32] the right things on the court.

[00:10:33] So now, yeah, and by the way, Luca and Kyrie,

[00:10:38] every time down they have license, they can do

[00:10:40] anything they want offensively.

[00:10:42] Sure.

[00:10:42] Those guys will be happy, you know, and if they

[00:10:44] get something out of it, they're great.

[00:10:48] But that's the realization.

[00:10:50] And I think, Luca, something clicked where Luca

[00:10:53] realized this is a chance.

[00:10:56] We have a chance to beat some teams in this

[00:10:58] thing if we can keep it together and if we

[00:11:01] can defend.

[00:11:02] So I think those are the factors that go into

[00:11:05] I don't think the I think they're going to

[00:11:08] beat Oklahoma, but I think it's not going to be

[00:11:10] as easy as people think it is tonight.

[00:11:12] Yeah, no, agreed.

[00:11:14] It's a telltale tale.

[00:11:17] Is that right?

[00:11:18] I don't think I said that correctly, but I

[00:11:20] think you know what I'm going with this.

[00:11:22] Stars are great and you need a star to win.

[00:11:26] Most of the NBA championship had a star.

[00:11:28] You know, the only team I can think of is the

[00:11:30] Detroit Pristons, kind of one without a star.

[00:11:32] But you need those other pieces, right?

[00:11:36] Kyrie Irving and Luca Donchich are stars, but it

[00:11:39] wasn't until they brought in Gafford, PJ

[00:11:41] Washington, Lively, these guys who in and of

[00:11:44] themselves are just good solid players.

[00:11:46] But you can see the difference that they

[00:11:49] made on that team.

[00:11:51] And it's fun to watch.

[00:11:52] I mean, honestly, it's fun to watch.

[00:11:55] And yeah, we'll see if they get past

[00:11:56] Oklahoma City.

[00:11:58] Let's finish with the Denver Nuggets.

[00:12:01] Well, actually the Nuggets in the

[00:12:03] Minnesota Timberwolves series, you called

[00:12:04] Nikola Jokic the best player in that series.

[00:12:07] But then I looked at the numbers and

[00:12:09] Anthony Edwards is pretty close, I think, to

[00:12:12] claiming that title.

[00:12:13] Jokic 28.2 points per game, Edwards 29.7,

[00:12:17] Jokic more rebounds at eight to Edwards 5.5

[00:12:21] and Jokic 10.2 rebounds to Ants 4.7.

[00:12:25] But I got to ask you how close, I

[00:12:27] agree with you.

[00:12:28] Jokic is the best player, but Ant's

[00:12:30] pretty close, isn't he?

[00:12:32] Well, let me ask you this.

[00:12:34] If you have a student who gets an A in

[00:12:36] history one marking period, or you have

[00:12:38] the other students gotten A's all four

[00:12:40] years or all two years or whatever,

[00:12:42] which one are you choosing?

[00:12:43] Yeah, I got to.

[00:12:44] Consistently A getter, right?

[00:12:47] Yeah.

[00:12:48] And he's new on the scene.

[00:12:50] He's a great personality.

[00:12:52] Yeah.

[00:12:53] You know what?

[00:12:53] They want a title.

[00:12:55] Minnesota, this is right now they're

[00:12:56] as far as they've ever gone, really.

[00:12:58] While Barnett's here, they did.

[00:13:00] Yeah.

[00:13:01] But so, you know, it's all, okay, talk

[00:13:05] to me about Anthony Edwards maybe in a

[00:13:07] year or two and then we can discuss it.

[00:13:09] And by the way, maybe in three or

[00:13:10] four years, because I think Jokic has

[00:13:12] three MVPs, so, you know, it's

[00:13:15] going to be a while.

[00:13:16] Let me ask you this.

[00:13:18] You agree with the adage, best guy

[00:13:20] on the court that team usually wins?

[00:13:23] Yeah.

[00:13:26] It's like I want to fact check that,

[00:13:28] but I think in general, you've got

[00:13:31] the best player, you got the best

[00:13:32] chance, whether or not you, you

[00:13:34] know, you've got the best chance.

[00:13:36] Let me leave it at that.

[00:13:38] But then there's a lot of

[00:13:39] exceptions.

[00:13:40] We can talk about Luca.

[00:13:41] A hundred percent.

[00:13:42] Yeah, we can, Brunson could be

[00:13:45] in a little bit of a problem if

[00:13:46] they play Boston.

[00:13:47] You know, again, I don't, I

[00:13:50] think that'll be a tough series,

[00:13:51] but the point being usually if

[00:13:54] you have the best player, so

[00:13:56] therefore when we talk about

[00:13:58] tonight's game, who you have.

[00:14:01] Yeah.

[00:14:01] Or tomorrow's game rather.

[00:14:03] Yeah.

[00:14:04] Yeah.

[00:14:04] We're talking, we're talking

[00:14:05] Minnesota, game seven.

[00:14:08] It's in Denver.

[00:14:10] Man.

[00:14:12] I, you know, I picked the

[00:14:13] Nuggets in seven and I think

[00:14:15] that, you know, championship

[00:14:18] mentality, championship DNA,

[00:14:20] championship knowledge goes a

[00:14:22] long way.

[00:14:24] And I don't think Anthony

[00:14:25] Edwards is going to be impacted

[00:14:26] by the game seven spotlight,

[00:14:27] but I think other players on

[00:14:28] his team might.

[00:14:29] So I've got Denver winning.

[00:14:31] Well, I think Denver will win

[00:14:33] also, but I base it on

[00:14:35] something a little bit abstract.

[00:14:37] I base it all on the fact

[00:14:39] that they beat the Lakers.

[00:14:41] So I think just off of that,

[00:14:42] you know, they're so good that

[00:14:44] they should, they should,

[00:14:46] you know, they'll win.

[00:14:48] But anyway, I was on the

[00:14:51] edge of my seat waiting for

[00:14:52] the abstract nugget and you

[00:14:55] were going to drop on all of

[00:14:56] us and you just, and you just

[00:14:59] had to go back to the line.

[00:15:01] You know what?

[00:15:02] Honestly, I think you're the

[00:15:03] one who brings up the Lakers

[00:15:05] more often than I do now.

[00:15:06] I enjoy, you know, look,

[00:15:08] look over the last 30 years

[00:15:10] or 20 years, they've owned

[00:15:12] Boston really.

[00:15:14] Boston beat them in 2008,

[00:15:15] but they've had the better

[00:15:16] team for those years.

[00:15:18] It's wonderful to see the

[00:15:20] everything turned the other

[00:15:21] way, I guess would be the

[00:15:24] thing because Boston is this

[00:15:26] little town, LA is LA.

[00:15:28] You know, all the stars are out

[00:15:30] there.

[00:15:30] Boston's blue collar, you

[00:15:32] know, all that, all that good

[00:15:33] stuff that the LA has,

[00:15:35] they're not, they're not

[00:15:36] there.

[00:15:37] But again, if you can get

[00:15:39] past the Lakers and you're

[00:15:40] Denver, then I've got to

[00:15:42] think you're the favorite to

[00:15:43] win the whole thing.

[00:15:44] Because from what I remember,

[00:15:46] weren't people saying that if

[00:15:48] the Lakers could beat Denver,

[00:15:49] they can win the whole thing?

[00:15:51] Yeah.

[00:15:52] Well, then there's my case.

[00:15:53] That's why that nugget came

[00:15:55] out.

[00:15:58] All right.

[00:15:58] You know what?

[00:15:58] And I honestly think I said

[00:16:00] that I honestly did say that

[00:16:01] I thought I bet you I did say

[00:16:03] that because it sounds like

[00:16:04] them.

[00:16:04] I would say if the Lakers

[00:16:05] would have beaten the

[00:16:06] nuggets, nobody else, I think

[00:16:08] I would have said that they

[00:16:09] were getting to the finals.

[00:16:10] I don't know if they would

[00:16:10] have won at all, but nobody

[00:16:12] else in the West scared the

[00:16:13] Lakers.

[00:16:14] But yeah, I see how you

[00:16:15] flip that around and okay, well

[00:16:17] done.

[00:16:18] Well, I didn't flip it

[00:16:19] around.

[00:16:19] I just used your quote.

[00:16:21] You use my logic and you

[00:16:23] pushed it back.

[00:16:24] But he's got to, you know,

[00:16:25] you have to do something

[00:16:26] on that line.

[00:16:26] But I get it.

[00:16:28] Well, I'm glad that we got

[00:16:29] the Lakers in because it's

[00:16:31] important to do that on a

[00:16:33] regular basis.

[00:16:34] And if you listened to our

[00:16:35] show before, you know,

[00:16:36] that's true.

[00:16:37] The buzzer did go off.

[00:16:39] I just didn't turn on the

[00:16:41] sound again.

[00:16:41] So that's on me, but that's

[00:16:43] it.

[00:16:44] That's all we have time

[00:16:44] for.

[00:16:45] Make sure to read Steve's

[00:16:46] entire article.

[00:16:47] We will link it below to get

[00:16:48] all his thoughts on the

[00:16:49] playoffs and other emerging

[00:16:51] stars.

[00:16:52] Our time is up.

[00:16:53] Thanks again for listening.

[00:16:55] Thank you for finding us.

[00:16:56] Please consider subscribing.

[00:16:57] It certainly helps.

[00:16:59] And join us next week on the

[00:17:00] 13 rules, NBA random

[00:17:01] thoughts podcast, the best

[00:17:03] 15 minutes of NBA random

[00:17:05] thoughts online.

[00:17:06] Go Lakers.

[00:17:07] Thanks, Steve.

[00:17:08] Thank you.