The Shot Clock Pod - NBA 2024-25 Season and draft recap

13 Rules NBA Finals and Draft === Jose: [00:00:00] It's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, Editor at thePeachBasket.net. He's Steve Purciello a longtime educator, vice principal, high school basketball coach and athletic director. And this is the shot clock pod, the best 15 minutes of NBA random thoughts online anywhere. You're not gonna find a better show if you want your information quick. To the point. This is it. Your NBA information I should say. If this is your first time listening, welcome. Uh, we're really, really glad you found us. This, uh, podcast was born outta the content of Steve's 13 rules random NBA Thoughts articles, which he publishes weekly. Steve and I have exactly 15 minutes to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA today. We'll discuss his latest searching rules, read an NBA thoughts article where he shares his thoughts after both the NBA finals. And NBA draft day are over lots to talk about, even though now we're in the off season. Steve, are you ready? Ready. Let's start the timer and we're off. Alright, we'll start with the champs, the [00:01:00] Oklahoma City Thunder slash Seattle Supersonics. The team with the best record proved they were the best team. It happens. It doesn't happen as often as you might think. It happened this season, second season in the row. Boston did it last season. I gotta ask you now, how many championships do you think the core team in Oklahoma has in them? Because you called out in your article, they're a young team, well run team. What do you think? Is this a dynasty? Steve: I don't know, you call it a dynasty, but I would expect that they win at least one or two more. Wow. Unless something crazy happens ~where Williams or, or, um, are gone. They're, they're, they're,~ they've got such a great court, the three guys are great. They not even close to being at their peak yet. And they did something very interesting that, that people, I don't know if they noticed. Each of those guys. Don't appear to want to play in the limelight. By that I mean playing in New York or Los Angeles. They're happy playing in a little market and yeah, so I don't know, as [00:02:00] long as they get paid, I don't know if those guys yearn to go to a big market big marketplace. The biggest problem that team is going to have is that that. In apron. And when they go over that, I don't know if the owner wants to pay that money. And because let's look at it. You gotta figure Holmgren and, uh, Williams are gonna be max players. So now you got three max players and you're gonna be in trouble. You're, you know, Hartenstein is getting a lot of money. There's a lot of money going out and that could be a problem. And don't forget, they come at you in ways where they have eight or nine guys. They might not be able to keep a lot of them also because they're gonna want their payday. So that's be the only detriment. But again, and, and if you really study and, and the way the NBA is shaped now, how to build a team, you do it. The way Oklahoma's done it. They didn't sell all their, like Milwaukee to win a title traded everything. It had nothing left draft picks or anything. They still [00:03:00] have a bunch of draft picks. They. Got from trades as well as their own picks, so Right, right. If they can, if they can draft guys that can help them, they can continue to replenish. Replenish. And if they do that, look out, 'cause then they can just go home forever. Jose: Yeah. Yeah. So you questioned. Dynasty, which is, you know, it is subjective, right? And, and you know, I think there've only been a few dynasties. The Boston Celtics, of course, fifties and sixties. That's a dynasty. What do you think a dynasty is? And, and again, it's subjective, that's not written anywhere, but what do you think it is? I'm curious. Steve: I just, I just it's not, I guess one in three in a row would be to start maybe four out of five. Okay. But, but the difficult thing in today's game, well, here, a year ago, if we thought about it, would we have thought Tatum would go down? Would we have thought? Yeah. Celtics would blow two games against the Nixon in the first two games of the playoff series and, [00:04:00] right. No, we wouldn't have. Because it's a championship tested team and all that good stuff they say, and they would figure out how to win those close games. Sure. But they did. And then Tatum went down. Now I don't want anybody to get hurt but God forbid, in the playoffs, if in Oklahoma City I. Key contributor goes down and I don't, God, I don't wanna see an Achilles, but that changes the whole, whole thing, you know? And, and the modern players, and I, I don't quite know why. I know the NBA's gonna start looking into this about the Achilles, but the modern players seem to break down more than they did years ago. Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Which is a good segue. A horrible subject, but a good segue. Let's talk about Halliburton, right? He was, you know, losing him obviously was hard on the pacers, hard on the NBA for reasons you just mentioned one of three stars with the torn Achilles so much there, because, Kobe went down with Achilles. Lots of great players have and, and I saw, this actually wasn't something I shared with you. We, we talk about what we're [00:05:00] gonna talk about before the show. I, I didn't share this with you, but it's related, you know, I was scrolling through TikTok or Twitter or X not too long ago and I saw something about how. It's weird that back in the seventies and eighties we didn't see torn Achilles, right? And they were playing on crappy Converse shoes, you know, that we're not as good as the ones today. Now you could argue they're better athletes today. They're pushing their body a little bit harder, but it is weird. This rash of Achilles injuries. So I wanna ask about that, but let me ask the question and then maybe you could answer both. I would love to get, get your thoughts on both, but, okay. So back to Halliburton, right? He was down. We know that it was heartbreaking. But did you know that he led the entire team, both teams in, made three pointers? He'd made three in the seven minutes he played, he was on a tear. So I gotta ask you, 'cause I'm I'm curious again, just subjective, but if he wasn't hurt. Knowing that he was on the tear that he was, do you think the pacers of the champions? Steve: [00:06:00] No I think, no. Okay. No, I, I think it would've been a closer game. But I, I, I don't think so. I, I think, um, he's not gonna do this all night. You know, what's he doing? Yeah, yeah, that's fair. You know, so, so, you know, maybe he would've lifted his team and maybe, you know, but I don't, I just, I thought Oklahoma City was there to win the game and, and would win it. I wanted to just comment on the Achilles thing and the only thing I could, yeah, I thought about this. The only thing I can see or think about. Going back, you said the seventies. It's around my time, but athletes grew up, good. Athletes played three sports. Back then we didn't have soccer. We just started soccer. Yeah. All went to school. Right. But we did have football, basketball, baseball, or wrestling. But I don't think, you know, we're talking about track. Yeah. People did. But the point being, the playing basketball year round, as much as these young people do today and, and more [00:07:00] and more families are, if the kid has talent in one sport. They give up the other stuff. True. So having said that, you almost wonder if you are utilizing the same muscles or the same Wow. That maybe that's wearing the body down. Because I, Jason Tatum was drew Hanlin, who's a known, uh, trainer for many stars basketball players. Tatum was getting, he was getting, I believe Hanlin was working with him when he was a teenager early, you know, 13, 14 years old in high school. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So they're doing drills and things the same to play basketball. That's the only thing I can figure on that. And I don't wanna go off the topic, but think about baseball pitcher's, arms. I mean, if you don't get your, you know, rot, if you don't get the operation, the time right. Everybody, they, when is it coming? You know, some guys won. Yeah. But don't forget those guys are just playing baseball and they're playing it all year now. Especially in the south and, and in the west, you know, in, in [00:08:00] California and where it's warmer. Yeah. So they're pitching more and more and maybe we're overusing. Those muscles, I guess is what I'm saying. Jose: Yeah. Wow. That's interesting perspective. I, I love when we talk baseball, we, you know, we both have an affinity, affinity for that sport as well. And, and I, I can't help but think of Nolan Ryan, right? I think he was 45, 44 through 130 pitches. Yeah. For, and no hit the, uh, no hit the Montreal Expo or something. I forget who. Come on. I mean, as a 40-year-old, he threw 130 pitches. You don't let a rookie throw more than 50 today. The game has changed Steve: Over going back in my working years, um, I was an athletic director for a couple, about five years back in the early 2000. We were just beginning to see athletes and this was a small high school. We were just beginning to see athletes play one sport or, or the family wanting them to only play one sport. And it was difficult because if you [00:09:00] had a good athlete in a small school, you gotta get 'em to play every sport. So that was the beginning of where we are now. And also that was the beginning where trainers were coming in to work with their kids and, and yeah. Yeah. Now you see it all the time for kids got talent, I guess every family wants to cash in. Don't forget, in the seventies, they didn't make the money they're making now. So a family sees the chance that, whoa, this is generational money. So I kind of understand it, but Yeah. Jose: No, I get it. I get it. Great. Interesting point, man. All right, let's pivot. Let's talk uh, about the draft. Now, a lot of interesting picks. One was, uh, in New Orleans, Derrick Queen, he's a six, 10, 20-year-old center who averaged 16 and a half points, nine rebounds to assists in his only year in college. And now he holds Joe Dumars job in his hands. You, you, you pose the question. I'll ask you, what was Joe Dumars thinking? Steve: Uh, [00:10:00] you know, the, the more you think about it, it took incredible courage to do that. True. Um, he is so convinced that this guy will be great. And that's, you know, this isn't a top five pick, so it, it really, I don't know. And the other piece to that's really astounding to me, unless there's a follow up, now you got two fours, two guys to play the four. Right. Both pretty good players. If Queen is good, you got resolved. So how are we gonna do this? Like, what exactly minute wise, how are we going to divide this up? And so it, it really is an interesting deal unless he's planning the deal, Zion. But the point being. It just doesn't add up in a lot of ways. I don't know what he saw that, that 90, 98% of the rest of the scouts didn't see, you know, and the rest of the teams didn't see. 'cause if he was that good, somebody would've taken him early. So I, I, you know, it's hard to understand, but the kicker in [00:11:00] that, as I wrote, was Milwaukee in New Orleans. Jose: Yeah, Steve: the, the Atlanta gets the better of the two. In other words, the team with the worst record they get now, Milwaukee's a Giannis injury or. Or a trade of Giannis away from being a lottery, a lower lottery team. Sure. And, and New Orleans after last year, they won 21 games. I know everybody got hurt, but they won 21 games. You know, Deonte Murray, God only knows when, when he comes back. So it, it really, you know, it, it's it's really a wild trial. Like they couldn't get him for less. That's what, you know, this wasn't a, a top pick. So yeah, that's the, the piece. Jose: Yeah, I Ima, as soon as I heard the news, I immediately thought of Jerry West, going all in with Kobe Bryant. Right. It's just somebody he wanted but he didn't give up. What Joe Dumars gave up for Derrick Queen things worked out okay for the Lakers and, and KB and Kobe Bryant. But, uh, [00:12:00] yeah, we'll see. Jury is out under Derek Queen. Steve: But don't forget the NBA back then. The first round pick, the early pick wasn't, it wasn't as, um. Valuable as it is today. And, and, and the thing I thought about, I I, and I'm going back in my memory, will Chamberlain, when he got traded to the Lakers, there was no draft picks involved. I believe there, there was, this is what, 1968? But yeah. And there was three players I believe. One. Hmm. I'm trying to. But you know, you have it. Darrell Moff, Jerry Chambers, and Archie Clark. Archie Clark was a good player. He was a real, he was the, the best part of that deal. Who was the third guy? Jerry Chambers. Yeah. Chambers was a, a really, a journeyman, never really made it. Darrell Imhoff was a center. Now Darryl Moff was played with the Lakers when Boston would beat them every year when basketball was fun. They would, they would, you know, he was their center. Russell naturally [00:13:00] had an easy time with him. M Hof played with a lot of teams. Archie Clark was a player. But look at that, your trading three players. Clark was a, an all star borderline type player, but a good player. But the point being you're playing trading three guys. Unquestionably the best guy in the NBA. Jose: Right. Steve: That's Jose: crazy. Steve: Yeah. Yeah. And And that's what I mean, how things have changed. Jose: Yeah. Wow. That's wild. That's wild. I think yeah, you could, you could, there certainly would a bet or two asking how many draft picks were involved in the Will Chamberlain trade when the answer is zero, but we're running outta time. Let's talk quickly about an interesting basketball team, an interesting franchise. The Atlanta Hawks, they, they, they, they're good, but they never stay good for long and you've got them being potentially pretty good. Next season, you call them a sleeper in the Eastern Conference. So I asked two questions, really? And why? Steve: Well, first of all, to become a a legit sleeper [00:14:00] a guy who doesn't play a lot has to play a lot. That's pingus. You gotta look at things here and you gotta realize Dyson Daniels is, is legit and he's gonna get better. A hundred percent will young. Yeah. Jalen Johnson is legit and he was out for much of a lot of the end of the year and he's gonna be back. Good defender and Asha can play. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. He's coming out of his rookie year, so he'll get better. So now you've got those three who are legit and if ING is there, and Congo's a nice backup center, uh, real good backup center actually. And, and also, uh, Caris Vert, they're trying to resign if they keep him. You got a little bit of a bench now. You've got something going. You know, if all those things come together and there's no injuries with poor Zingus, they're not an easy team to play against. Yeah, there's some talent. I didn't even talk about Trey Young and, and what they did, but what they did by getting poor zingus. Remember two [00:15:00] bad defenders you lose. They only have one. It's Trey Young and you've got poor Zingus on the back line who's pretty good at, at, at taking away teams from going to the basket. So yeah, it's there, but you know, Jose: you're gonna need some luck. Yeah. Yeah. And every NBA team needs a little bit of luck. Uh, you know, and I'm looking at their pick a um, don't know much about his game. But his stats look good. Six 11 forward tall, lanky guy. So, you know, we'll see if he gets any run too, but, yeah. Interesting. I, you know, I, I want good things to happen in Atlanta. They, they've, they've had a dry spell for some time. It'd be good to see something good happen out there. All right, well, you heard the buzzer go off. That's it. Our time is up. Thank you as always for listening. Thank you for watching. Make sure to read Steve's entire 13 rules, random NBA Thoughts article. We'll link it wherever you are listening or watching this today to get more thoughts on his, uh, his, I guess his thoughts on the BA finals in the [00:16:00] draft. Um. We'll see where things go from here. Last off season, Steve and I did a really interesting recap of, not a recap, but a review of some of the old time, old time Graces. Sorry Steve, no offense, but some of the older players, right? That some of y'all may not be familiar with. Archie Clark is a name I've never heard of. It'd be interesting to do a deep dive personally into Archie Clark. We're not sure what we're gonna do this off season yet but please follow us along our socials and at the peach basket net. We'll keep you up to date there as to when we will be back together again. It may be next week. Uh, we'll just have to see how things go, but regardless, enjoy your off season. As always, please consider subscribing, liking commenting. All that stuff matters to us. And, uh, again, remember, follow us on socials and the peach basket.net to make sure you join us again next time on the Shot Clock Pod, the best 15 minutes of random NBA Thoughts Anywhere. Thanks Steve, take care.