The Shot Clock Pod - Week #14

[00:00:00] Alright, it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, editor at thepeachbasket.net. He's Steve Priscilla, long-time educator, vice principal, high school basketball coach, and athletic director. And this is The Shot Clock Pod, the best 15 minutes of random NBA thoughts online anywhere. If this is your first time listening, welcome. We're glad you found us. This podcast was born out of content at Steve's 13 Rules, Random NBA Thoughts articles, which he publishes weekly.

[00:00:27] Steve and I have exactly 15 minutes to discuss his mind around the NBA. Today, we'll discuss his latest 13 Rules Random NBA Talks article, where he shares his thoughts on select teams and select situations around the NBA after week number 14. Steve, are you ready? I'm ready. Let's go. Let's start the timer. And we're off.

[00:00:52] First topic, the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks started off 4-9. They didn't look good. As a matter of fact, they looked pretty bad at times. But now they stand at 25 and 17, fourth in the East, and you called them a dark horse in the Eastern Conference. What changed for the Bucks?

[00:01:10] Well, I think Giannis is playing like a man possessed. He's having a tremendous year. I know the press isn't putting him near Jokic or Shea for MVP, but he's having that kind of year. You know, he's put them on their back. Right.

[00:01:27] Also, him and Damien, Damien's fitting in now as a complimentary player, which has been a difficult transition. And the interesting thing that the Bucks are doing, they're running last year. A lot of people picked on them or complained that Giannis and Damien weren't playing any pick and roll.

[00:01:43] This year, this year, they've done that. And they put the defense in a bad spot between the two of them. Giannis can get to the basket and Damien can just shoot. So it's really changing things. Damien is a couple points under his lifetime, but not that badly. He's about 25 points a game. I think he's about 27 in his life, in his career. But he's playing the role.

[00:02:10] Now, what's interesting is, and the Bucks are close. They've only got like 17 losses. And so they're, you know, they're right near third place and second place with Boston. But the interesting thing is they're talking Middleton, Bobby Portis, they're on the market. And that's very interesting because are they looking to pick up that star? And have they had enough of Middleton being out so often?

[00:02:35] I don't know if they'll find papers, but I think they're looking for that one more big time. And then they think they might be put over the top. Interesting. A couple of thoughts from me. I'm on the West Coast. He's on the East Coast. I don't get to watch a lot of Milwaukee Bucks basketball. But first thought, 11 years of watching Damien here in Portland. I can't imagine how hard it's got to be just mentally to kind of switch, right?

[00:03:01] And not be the guy and be okay with not being the guy and admitting right inside your own brain that Giannis is the best player. It took Damien a couple of years to get there, which makes sense. So that's thought number one. Thought number two, man, I thought we were done with this three-star thing, this super team thing. You need a good team. You don't need three of the best players. I mean, is Milwaukee going to make a mistake here?

[00:03:27] I think they're looking. I think it's a good point. I don't know if they are. I think they're cool. And not necessarily, you know, a Jimmy Butler. But there's an interest in... They've talked about Bradley Beal going there. So there's interest in, I guess, upgrading themselves. It's the only thing I can think of. Middleton, I believe, is contracts up.

[00:03:55] So, you know, some team... And the other piece, Milwaukee doesn't have much in draft picks. But I guess they're looking to just a little bit better. By the way, they got Kinnah Connaughton. And his salary pushes them into the second apron. They want to just unload that and get a draft pick or something for them, a second-round pick, just to get rid of the money. So that then they go down into the first apron. And then trading is a lot easier in your first apron. So there's a process they want to do that we have to watch in the next two weeks. But let me say this.

[00:04:26] Right now, they're sitting fourth. That means if everything worked and they won the first round, they would see Cleveland in the second round. I don't know... If you think about the four teams that are top four teams, Boston and Cleveland and the Knicks, as well as Milwaukee, I don't know if you want to... I don't know if Milwaukee's a team you want to mess with. You know, I hate to say it, but I... You know, they're dangerous.

[00:04:55] And they're real dangerous. You know, Giannis, he gets rolling. He's tough. And he's developed this year a little 15-foot shot that's not bad from the foul line extended area, about a couple feet off the foul line. So it just made them better. And, you know, I don't know. I don't know if you want to play with that. Damien, at any moment, he can go walk. Sure. That's not an easy situation. For a team like Cleveland, if they played him, it'd be interesting because Cleveland would be tested,

[00:05:23] you know, because this team has won a championship before. Yeah. Yeah, and that's why I think, you know, the Bucs are probably best to stay put. They've won a championship before, too. But you're right. I mean, I'm Googling here, and, yeah, the rumors of Jimmy Butler, like you mentioned, Levine, Bradley Beal. Let's see what happens. I love this time of year. Let me say something about Zach Levine. What he did in this year, he has restored his image. Last year, nobody wanted him.

[00:05:53] Too high-priced, and he's hurt, and he's, you know, he's malcontent, and so on. This year, great shooter. He's had a great year. If Chicago wasn't so bad, he'd be worthy of an all-star. And he has changed everything, the whole conversation around him. And now I think the value, his value's gone up quite a bit in this year. Yeah. No, I've seen that as well.

[00:06:22] And let's free Zach Levine. It's time to get him out of Chicago, I think. He's not on our list to talk about. Oh, I know, I know. And the clock is ticking. Let's go to topic number two. You called out a star in Memphis, as some people may not have heard of. Now, again, being a West Coast guy, I know this guy, I'm familiar with this guy, but you called him a star. The Grizzlies are currently third in the Western Conference, while this player, we haven't yet named, is averaging 20 points per game,

[00:06:51] while they're star, right? John Morant, he's only played 26 of 44. Who is the player, and what do you think makes him a star? You know, I watch Memphis games now and then, and lately I've watched more because I enjoy watching the Jaron Jackson play. Jaron Jackson does whatever's needed during a game, and he's not afraid. He's a clutch player. He takes a big shot. People forget he was the defensive player of the year. So he's a complete player.

[00:07:19] He does it all on the court, and he's a winner. He can hit shocks down the stretch, and he can just carry a team, and the way he handles his teammates and everything, it looks like he is just a perfect team player, and he's willing to do what's needed to get the team over the top. You know, naturally, Desmond Baines is a pretty good player also, and Morant is real good. With this guy, last year, in a miserable year, he was the guy that played,

[00:07:48] and just for anybody who's not aware of him, just take a look. He can play. He does all little things in a game, and it'll come up big when it counts. Yeah. Undeniable good player, and you're right. Outside of Memphis, a lot of players, a lot of people may not be familiar with his game. 22.7 points per game. Started all 43 for Memphis. You know, I've been doing about 30 minutes a game. He's the real deal.

[00:08:17] I love the shout-out for JJJ. This was interesting, and you and I talked about this before, but in your article, and we'll make sure to link it wherever you are reading or hearing this, so you could read more of Steve's thoughts, but you present a pretty compelling argument as to why the Olympics and playing in the Olympics and participating in the Olympics might be a problem for NBA players. I mean, do you think it is? Do you think it's going to impact? Like, we haven't seen players,

[00:08:45] you know, sign up for the All-Star Game Belt Contest in years. Notable players, because they think it impacts their game. Same thing in MLB in the home run contest, right? It might impact my swing and my timing. Is the Olympics maybe going to be not an option for stars moving forward? Let me go backwards before we go forward on this. Okay. When I think about the... When I think back to people of my era who played,

[00:09:14] they were playing four games in five nights and maybe more. They were... But here's the thing that I think about. Today's player played the AAU. They all know each other when they're growing up because they play against each other. And when the AAU, they play a couple games in a day. And what I'm... My thoughts being, injuries are happening as guys get older. And I'm wondering about the wear on these players. In my era, they didn't play as much. Now we get into this Olympics,

[00:09:43] and there's been a lot of talk about what the hell's wrong with the Celtics. Well, and you start thinking about this. You got Holliday, who's not having nearly as good a year as last year. He's still... He's set over 40% from three. He's way down. Derek White is a good player. He's not the player he was last year. Not close to it. And he's not shooting real well. And Jason Tatum is good. He's good. He goes off at any time.

[00:10:10] He can get you 35, 40 at any night and triple, double, and so on. Although he hasn't done it a lot, but he's always around it. Their numbers are what they want. Shooting-wise and all the other things. So it leaves you to think. Now, the next thing we'll say, if you watch Bam Adebayo, he is not having a good year at all. Offensively, he's really... And he's being beat a few times to the basket, and he's a good defender. So now you start looking at this, and you start thinking,

[00:10:39] well, what do these people all have in... Oh, they played in the Olympics. Basketball players today, and I know they work out after the season's over, but they don't have... You know, their bodies are not the same as years ago because they played a bunch of games before they even got to the pros, and that's why they break down a lot easier, more easily, more easily. So that was my thinking, and then I started checking numbers,

[00:11:08] and I gave you a couple guys there that their numbers aren't nearly... I didn't check on LeBron and Curry because when you look at LeBron and Curry, they take a lot... They get days off, and back-to-back, they'll sit a lot, and they'll sit different times, and they get more nicks, and they get hurt for a couple games at a time. But... And so I didn't factor the old guys in, but I did factor these guys. The other name I saw was Devin Booker. He's not nearly having as good a year

[00:11:37] as he's had before. I'm sorry. Began to think. Now, I saw the vice... The opposite with Anthony Edwards. Anthony Edwards is shooting real well in the three. He's having as good a year. So, you know, that might be the one that you... You know, you look and say, okay, but... The numbers come back, and more guys are struggling after an Olympics. Don't forget, for Boston, those guys only had a month and a half off. And, you know,

[00:12:08] they might have sat for a week or two, but after the Olympics, they might have sat around, but they had to get back to work and do it. And there's a little bit of talk about Drew Holiday not being in great shape this year. That's a little bit of talk coming out of Boston. Well, is that true? I don't know. But the point being, you know, you wonder if he rested. He's not young. So you wonder. You wonder the effect of all this on these people. Yeah, it's interesting.

[00:12:36] And I hope it doesn't come to that. I remember there was, you know, there was a time when it was just college players, right? You couldn't be a pro. Maybe there's a shift coming. Who knows? Well, we'll see. I do. There's some value to what you're saying, and you present it really well in the article. The injuries, the injuries are just, you're seeing load management is an everyday thing. And I know a lot of people say, well, come on, that's ridiculous. And so on. You start to wonder of how the toll of all these years

[00:13:06] of playing a lot of games is really wearing them down. And that's my whole point of the article I wrote. Yep. Well, we're going to have to see how it plays out. You know, the Olympics are pretty special. If they're pros, they're pros. If they're college players or college players, I'm still going to watch. Let's go to the final topic. You mentioned the Boston Celtics. They just, they're in a slough. It's undeniable. They just recently lost

[00:13:36] to the Los Angeles Lakers. I'll say it again, just in case it didn't come through the Boston Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Bronny James got four minutes of playing time. That goes to show you how dominant that win was. But that's, we're not here to talk about that win. I just wanted to emphasize it. Can we talk about the standings? Who's got more wins? I didn't want to talk about that news. I didn't know. I didn't know. We got something else to talk about. Oh, okay. Thank you for bringing it up. The Miami Heat and the Lakers

[00:14:06] were in the NBA finals just a few years back. But man, today, they're both staggering, right? The Miami Heat are dealing with the disgruntled star. The Lakers seem to be stuck in limbo. You know, they know what they need. You know, they need a big and get it. They want to, you know, get rid of pieces that they really like. They're stuck, right? So, simple question, really. Do you see a clear path out for these two teams and who's going to get out of this funk they're in first?

[00:14:35] Well, first of all, I don't, I don't see, I don't see, as long as LeBron's here, they're going to be an average team. You know, and, you know. That's crazy. Just saying that sentence just doesn't seem right. Well, he's 40 years old. You're right. And, and there's no, I don't know how you, you get out of it. You know, so, I, I don't quite, I don't quite realize, I don't quite understand that. And I think Miami,

[00:15:05] they've got a lot of work to do. They've got some young players. Cole Weir is playing real well. Great players, yeah. But, but, I don't know how good he is. He needs stars. You know, what's his name? Jovic is a nice player. You know, Jack, he's good. But they're not stars. You know, Miami's got to figure out how to get a big name. The Lakers, their, their problem is they have nobody to trade.

[00:15:35] The last thing they had was D'Angelo Russell. Now, I'm not saying people wanted him. However, what's important here is with D'Angelo Russell, he had an expiring contract. So, a bad team would take him let him finish the year out. Who cares? I don't see either team without a star doing well. It's a problem. And, and I don't see, at some point, the Lakers are going to sit there and say, we've got to make a trade. We've got to get rid of Davis. We have to get rid of James.

[00:16:05] We have to get rid of somebody. You know, and, and vice versa with the others. They, you know, with the beat, well, they got Butler. They have to get rid of him. And, and that's another issue. And, and I don't know if they're not going to get a star back for him. So, you're, you're going to be restricted in how good you are. Yeah. You wrote a lot about Jimmy Butler. We've talked a lot about it. You've heard the buzzer go off, so I don't want to dive into it too deep. But, you know, and I don't even want to talk about Jimmy Butler. I just think it's a sad state for the NBA and you called that out in your article. But, I,

[00:16:34] I do think you're right about the Lakers. They're going to have to, at some point, decide to trade somebody, whether that's Austin Reese, Anthony Davis, or LeBron James. And I think, I think the general manager who you talked about before on this show and in your articles, he kind of is more concerned with covering his back end than maybe improving the team. He doesn't want to be the guy who trades LeBron James. I just don't think that's going to happen. And you can do the same thing for AD. And,

[00:17:04] I tell you, they don't want to trade Austin Reese either. So, again, they're in limbo, man. They're stuck. And I think they're just going to be a play-in and probably out quick for this season and the foreseeable future. If you're in the Western Conference, you have to do some serious thinking because this is like Boston winning it last year and who knows if they're going to do it again or not. The Oklahoma City is going to be there for a while. Right. You got to look at your team

[00:17:34] and say, can we challenge them in the next couple of years? And if the answer's no, then you've got to get a little bit smart and figure out what you want to do. The Oklahoma City is young and good and you're not always healthy. I mean, the baits have been hurt all year, Holmgren and Harnstein. Yep. You know, you got to shit. The Eastern Conference is more wide open in the way that, you know, you don't have a dominant team like Oklahoma.

[00:18:04] I mean, if Oklahoma doesn't win it this year, going into next year, they'd have to be a favorite even if they don't win it. Sure. And that's going to be like that for a couple of years unless something crazy happens. So you got to start thinking, how do we get better than that team? I agree with every aspect of what you just said, but I do got to call out that the Cleveland Cavalier fans are a little upset with you saying there's no dominant team in the East. How much more dominant do you need to be

[00:18:33] than the Cleveland Cavaliers? Boston was dominant for many years and they didn't win. You got to win the thing before you become that. Mike Cross. You got to win it. You got to win it. And it goes through the whole... Oklahoma does too. The only thing is Oklahoma is so young, they're just going to get better. Holmgren, if he plays a whole season, my goodness. And, you know, and Shea is just great. He's going to be probably the MVP. So, you know,

[00:19:03] it's different. Mitchell is still young, but, you know, and so on. The other night, growing missed foul shots down the stretch to cost him a game. You know, okay, Cleveland's the best team in the East right now, but let's see it when it counts. All right. Outstanding. There you go. Well, that's it. You heard our buzzer go off. Generally, we start to wind down when the buzzer went off. We kind of got energized when the buzzer went off this time. But our time is up. Thank you for listening. Make sure to read Steve's entire 13 rules

[00:19:32] random NBA thoughts article. We'll make sure to link that wherever you're hearing or reading this to get more NBA random thoughts after week 14 of the 2024-25 NBA season. Please consider subscribing, liking, commenting. Many of that stuff helps us so much and we're grateful for it. Join us next week on the ShotCloud Pod, the best 15 minutes of NBA random thoughts online anywhere. Steve, we'll talk next week. Thanks a lot. Thanks. Bye.