JTS. Yeah. Just in time sports. Look, this is
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pavement. I might be controversial, but I like
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come and get your weekly takes. His opinion from
the heart. Welcome into the NBA Championship
edition of the Just In Time Sports Podcast. I
am your owner and host, Justin Jackson. I want
to start off a lot of different ways I can start
this off with. So obviously, we're going to get
into Game 7. We're going to get into the Kevin
Durant trade that on any other day in the NBA
calendar is probably the biggest news of the
day. And it's still major news. We'll talk about
that probably first. Well, second. Because first,
I want to thank Tyrus Halliburton. I'm not an
Indiana fan, as you guys know who've been podcasting
with this show. I am not an Indiana fan, right?
I am a New Orleans Pelicans fan, and I'm a root
for LeBron where LeBron goes, right? So those
of you who follow this pod know that. And I've
said that openly, especially during basketball
season. When those teams come up, I'm not unbiased.
I'm not going to be the person, oh, like Stephen
A. Smith. You know, I don't like LeBron. LeBron
don't like me, but I cover him fairly. No, you
don't. You're a Jordan fan. You're a Jordan fanboy.
You don't like LeBron. Your coverage reflects
that. It's okay. It's, you know, the same as
Nick Wright. Nick Wright is a LeBron fan. So
Nick Wright covers LeBron in a rose -colored
lens. It's okay. But Nick writes openly about
how he's a LeBron fan. Skip Bayless is openly
a Michael Jordan fan. He's openly anti -LeBron.
So he covers. Now, he will sit behind conjecture
as well. But, you know, if you've watched Skip
long enough, you know that Skip Bayless is not
fair when it comes to Michael Jordan or LeBron.
Some people are big enough to admit it. Only
one side of the Jordan -LeBron thing seems to
not be big enough to admit their bias. But, hey,
people on the LeBron side of their argument or,
you know, in LeBron's camp, Kobe's fans, Kobe's
GOAT fans will say the same thing. It's Kobe.
I'm biased. I don't care. What you say to me,
it's Kobe. And that, to me, showcases a level
of maturity that some people don't have. But
I tell you guys openly, when it comes to the
Pelicans and LeBron, when it comes to the Patriots,
when it comes to LSU, when it comes to the Yankees,
I am not unbiased. I'm going to do my best. I'm
going to try to accomplish everything I can.
As far as being unbiased, I am not unbiased.
However, in this series, I've been highly unbiased.
I want to give massive credit to Tyrese Halliburton.
He went down. It's posted on my socials, of course,
at J -Time Sports for all your breaking news
and social media. I don't even think I gave you
guys the intro. You guys know my voice. It's
Justin Jackson. Follow at J -Time Sports on all
your favorite social medias for breaking news,
updates, coverages, etc. But it's posted all
over our socials, of course, the JTS socials.
Halliburton's injury right and I didn't do the
close -up I did the play I could have gotten
the close -up I had you know I have the close
-up I just and I've done it before right like
I've done it on the Kevin Durant one I think
I did it on Tatum's I don't remember but I know
I did it on KD's um as far as show the close
-up and the close of the exact moment the foot
steps back and where it's supposed to stop just
above the ground and you launch off your balls
of your feet that heel hits the floor the calf
shutters the fall forward to either look back
like someone kicked you a la Kevin Durant or
the crumble to the floor a la Tyrese Halliburton
um because KD didn't his heel didn't hit the
floor so KD was trying to really stop on those
balls of those feet the foot came down a little
bit too far he was able to take another step
Because he pushed off of it already, took another
step, and then when that other foot tried to
come, the foot drags and he falls, like someone
kicks him in the back of the leg. Halliburton's
heel hit the floor. I mean, the Achilles is totally
separate from his heel. I mean, it hit the floor,
right? So one of the worst, as far as full -blown
Achilles tears I've ever seen, because again,
Usually, even think about the Kobe's. Kobe's
heel never hit the floor. You think about Tatum's.
Tatum's heel. I don't recall Tatum's heel hitting
the floor. I'm trying to think of another one
who had a tourniquet. But I know KD, Dame. I
don't recall Dame's heel hitting the floor. And
they were still kind of able to take that next
step and go down. I mean, Halliburton's heel
touched the floor. His whole foot was on the
floor. And he fell forward and that was it. You
know, paying for ESPN might have showed it 40
,000 times. Halliburton hitting the ground screaming
no. And it was brutal to see. I mean, he had
a magical run. And it's going to be one of those
runs where I say, you know, people talk about
Kobe. And I always say when it comes to Kobe
Bryant, analytics will not do Kobe Bryant any
favors. The more we get into numbers and the
more we crunch it, he's going to be the Wilt
Chamberlain of our generation. Not because people
say, Wilt, you had to be there. You had to see
it. You had to know how dominant he was. And
you had to hear from his constituents. Oh, no,
Wilt was the one you couldn't guard. Wilt was
the one you couldn't see. He was built different.
He ran faster. He jumped higher. Look at his
numbers, right? Even you hear the stories like
Colonel DeJuara, man, no. Wilt was an old man
and was whooping us. Just because of how physically
strong he was. And even though he couldn't run
as much as he used to and jump as high as he
used to, he was whooping us. Wilt is a myth.
As far as people go, you had to be there, right?
And I say that with Kobe. Kobe's going to be
that. Because the more you look at it, Kobe was
really inefficient. Kobe shot the ball badly.
We remember Kobe's a great player. But in clutch
time, these are the numbers. You know what I'm
saying? We remember these shots from Kobe. But
then when it mattered, these are the numbers.
And it's, you know, we paint this image of LeBron
as a clutch, but LeBron is by percentage the
better shooter in the clutch time, so on and
so forth. So I think Kobe's going to be that
player. And I think Halliburton's playoff run
is going to be put in that light. You had to
be there. I mean, the Indiana Pacers in general,
you had to be there. The epic comebacks over
and over and over again. Tyrus Halliburton hitting
five game winners in the last three seconds.
Or the last five seconds or less. In the same
playoff run. Insane. I mean, what he did, he
hit shot after shot. I mean, in every series,
he hit a shot. It wasn't like, oh, he put three
in the finals. He put three in the conference.
He hit two against Cleveland. He hit one or two
against New York. He hit the one in game one
against Oklahoma City. Halliburton kept hitting
the shot. Repeatedly. And he had the calf strain.
And, you know, people were wondering. He admitted
it. The doctors told me a multi -week injury.
The doctors said a multi -week injury. Doctors
said a multi -week injury. But it's the finals
I'm going to play. People were asking me, what
do you think Halliburton should do? I was honest.
It's the finals. You don't know if you're ever
going to see this again. Ask Kevin Durant. Kevin
Durant has never made it back to the finals.
Ask Giannis. Giannis has never made it. And Giannis
was injured, but Giannis has not been to the
finals ever again. Trying to think of some other
young guys or people in general who, you know,
maybe got that final with the parents kind of
early. And you're thinking like, man, they're
going to have another 10 years. They're surely
going to get back. I think even guys in history
who got their early loss and never made it back.
I want to say Reggie Miller got there as an old
man. But Reggie Miller told and told and told
and told and never got back. So you have some
of these. Charles Barkley got there once and
never made it back. Clyde Drexler got there once
and never made it back. So you get some of these
guys that told. In their careers, right? And
you don't know if you're ever going to get back
to the finals. The NBA is such a dynastic league.
This is the most different champions they've
had in the history of the NBA. Seven different
champions in seven different years. And I'll
say it was weirder than the 70s. And it is because
so many different champions. But the 70s are
like the dark ages in the NBA. Like the Knicks
won two. I think the Sonics got one in there.
and it's like you know they just kept switching
on champions or no dominant players the bucks
got one luau cindor kareem's first championship
is in there as well but you just get you know
that was kind of considered the dark ages in
the nba it was just um a space where it was like
i said it was the dark ages you honestly um it
was It's so weird in the 70s and the NBA was
down or ratings, whatever. But in this year,
I said the ratings are down and it feels like
the 70s all over again. But, you know, so just
such a dynastic moment. You don't know if you're
ever going to get back to Tyrese Halliburton.
You got to go. And he went down in game, what,
five? He played the rest of game five. He was
fine. He had a good night in game six. He was
hotter than fish grease. in game seven he banged
three bombs um to really stress out a little
commercial defense and he was he did the pump
fake on shay i'm about to blow right by him and
get to the rim and the achilles went and um yeah
one of the harder situations ever with kd it
was shock like you know there's there's the viral
famous video of drake you know on the side and
kind of rubbing Katie's shoulders he walked by
and with Kobe the air left the room right I remember
the Kobe Bryant one right the air didn't matter
where you were it didn't matter who you was with
the air kind of left the room when he reached
the back of that heel you just knew right Tatum
goes down and it's sad But it's, again, more
of a shock value than a sadness. Because it wasn't
like Kobe had no prior injury. Tatum had no prior
injury. With KD, once he came back, that was
the first one we really started watching the
calf pull or calf strain to Achilles' track.
That was the first one, right? And so, he goes
down, right? And he... Again, that was more of
a shock thing because KD had never been injured.
So there was no point where you're looking like,
man, KD, you know, whatever. With this one with
Halliburton, it was just sad. I don't think Tatum's
going to play next year at all. He went down
and went May. 12 months puts you at May, and
Achilles to me is a 12 -month injury. It's a
24 -month injury. 12 for healing, another 12
to kind of not think about it no more. Because
now KD is different. KD the first year back was,
you know, an all -star, an NBA -level player.
But most of the time it's a 24 -month, 12 to
18 -month situation. 12 months to heal and rehab
it, 6 to 12 months to really trust it and not
think about it no more. We're thinking about
Halliburton. If Halliburton does 12 months, that's
middle of June. You see what I'm saying? Like,
the Pacers would have to make it to the finals
without him, and then he had to play in, like,
right? And then, so he'd have another three months
for the next, for the 26 -27 season starts. Are
they with 25 -26? No. 26 -27 season would start,
in which case, he probably misses until around
Christmas. Or he's not really himself until around
Christmas. For Tatum, Again, he popped it in
May. Same with Dame. Dame pops in late April,
early May. So, the 12 -month cycle comes back
in the playoffs. If I'm the team, I don't bring
you back in the playoffs. You wait until the
next season. So, crushing, crushing for the Pacers.
Crushing for Halliburton. He was having one of
the crazier playoff runs as far as game winners
in NBA history. He was having a game to start
off with. He had nailed three bomb threes. Having
a moment. And the Achilles goes. But congratulations.
Two are in order. The Oklahoma City Thunder.
Have won the NBA title. And we spoke about how
Oklahoma City. In hindsight. Looking back through
the course of history. I have my personal rule.
And I want to speak on Phil Jackson's. Personal
rule as well. So. Phil Jackson stated. The 40
-20 rule was his rule in the NBA. In order to
be a title contender, you need to win 40 games
before you lose 20. Since the merger, there's
only been like seven exceptions. I think Indiana
would have been the eighth. Indiana would have
been the eighth exception. But there's only been
like seven exceptions to the rule. You got to
win 40 before you lose 20. And Oklahoma City
checks out that box. Oklahoma City didn't lose
20 all season. They were 68 -14 in the regular
season. They didn't lose one in the first round.
They lose three in the second round. Oh, okay,
they barely lost 21. They lost 21 games all season.
And won 84. So they played 105 games and they
were 84 -21. Right, one of the more ridiculous
regular seasons. One of the most ridiculous win
seasons of all time. That is up there with, of
course, 72 and 10 Bulls and they were 88. So
the 72 and 10 Bulls end with 88. The Thunder
end with 84. But actually, I don't know if the
Bulls got 88 because I think that was still first
round best of five. So they might end it with
86 or 87. And then the 73 and 9 Warriors were
one win away. So they also end with 87, 88. 88
wins. Oklahoma City ends with 84 wins. So they're
right up there with some of the greatest teams
of all time. And you think about it, in order
to beat Oklahoma City's win total, you have to
go 68. 69 wins plus the title, like in modern
history, with the 4 -4 -4 -4, with the 7 -7 -7
-7 at the best of seven. 72 -10 Bulls is probably
the only team, because again, the Warriors lost
their, so the Warriors have more wins, but they
lost their title. So 72 -10 Bulls, the 73 -9
Warriors. Maybe a Spurs team in there has 60
-something. Because even, like, those great Cavs
teams, I say great. The LeBron was carrying.
They were winning, like, 66. Those Heat teams
were winning, like, 58. So, it was like, you
know, like, you know, those teams weren't getting
it. So, the Thunder, I'm going to say right now,
have the third most wins in NBA history in the
season. 84 wins. I mean, 84, you know, what is
it, 21? Insane, absolutely ridiculous record.
um congratulations but anyway back to what i
was saying originally got sidetracked in my own
brain um phil jackson had the 40 20 rule where
you in order to be a great team in order to win
a title you have to you typically have to win
40 games before you lose 20. that's how i got
sidetracked that's how to count them in again
thunder one okay see check that box off indiana
didn't indiana started so slow and i spoke about
that probably a month ago when i say indiana
It was a weird situation because they kicked
it in the second half. And a lot of people forgot
about Indiana. Indiana went to the conference
finals last season. We made it to the NBA finals
this season. People ruled them out of the East
because they started off so bad. Them, Milwaukee,
and Philly started off so bad that they kind
of all got ruled out of the East. Of course,
Philly kept tanking. Milwaukee ends up, you know,
yards up, carry them to the finals. But Dame
goes down. carries to the playoffs, but then
Dame goes down and they're out. And then Indiana
kept their hot streak going. Indiana makes it
into the NBA Finals, right? So that was actually
a good team, but Indiana didn't check the box.
Now, and there's only been like seven exceptions
since the merger. So the merger was in 70 -something?
76, I want to say, was the merger. between the
ABA and NBA. So basically over 50 years of history,
there's been 43 out of 50. There's a what? 86
% success rate on Phil Jackson's 40 -20 rule.
So when the loss column gets full, somebody hits
20 losses, they got to have 40 wins to win the
title at an 86 % clip. My personal rule is the
player rule. You either have the best player
in the world, you have two of the top, I said
10, but really 12 -ish. Or three of the top 25.
That has been the case every year of NBA history.
And I always do since Magic. Because I don't
know a lot about the dynamics of the NBA prior
to Magic. I know who won. I can go through and
tell you who won the title. But I can't really
tell you prior. Since Magic Johnson, this rule
has hit every single year. Except for... Probably
except for the 0 -4 Pistons. And that's probably
it. You know, Dirk had the crazy run. Like, you
could have made the case for Dirk being the best
player in the world after that run. You beat
Kobe Bryant in five. You beat the big three Heatles
in six. And you beat the baby Thunder in five.
Like, I got to give you credit. You're probably
the best player in the world after that. Even
if it's just right at that moment, I give you
credit. But the Mavs might be the only team.
That doesn't have that. You could have made an
argument for Kawhi with the Raptors. That was
a weird one because of the injuries. But you
could have made an argument for Kawhi with the
Raptors being the best player in the world at
that moment. Steph's fourth ring. There's a case.
There's a case, in my opinion, for Steph to have
best player in the world credit. I disagree.
But you can make the case. But let's say at most,
since 79, there's three, maybe four exceptions.
For Phil Jackson's rule, from 69 -70, there's
76 -ish, there's seven exceptions. So all in
all, these two rules are very, very valid. Well,
two things that these rules, and they meet in
the middle, they meet on Oklahoma City. I said
if Indiana would have been a weird, it would
have been a weird playoffs. Like, Indiana doesn't
win. I'm sorry, you don't have the talent. Like,
that team, that player doesn't win. However,
in a situation like Oklahoma City, you can make
an argument that Shea Gildas Alexander is the
best player on planet Earth. Plain and simple.
You can say right now, and I won't argue with
you. Again, very similar to Dirk. Where if you
make the argument for Dirk after 2011, Dirk is
the best player currently walking. The Planet
Earth? Who am I to say? Everybody else would
have claimed he lost, he beat. KD had a claim,
he beat him. Kobe had a claim, he beat him. LeBron
had a claim, he beat him. Shea beat Jokic. Jokic
is my number one. Shea beat Jokic. Shea Gilles
Alexander completed one of the most impressive
finals, one of the most impressive seasons for
any player in NBA history. At first I said, you
know, one of the most impressive seasons for
a guard, but no, it's anybody. He wins the NBA
MVP. So let's start off with the individual.
He's first team on the NBA. He's an all -star.
He's scoring champion. Then he goes into the
playoffs, and he wins MVP of the regular season,
conference MVP, NBA finals MVP, and he wins the
ring. He also wins 68 games. He is an all -star
starter. He had the most 50, 40, and 30 -point
games. He was first in the league in plus -minus.
And he was second in steals. He also joins Kareem
Abdul -Jabbar, one of the top three players of
all time. Michael Jordan, one of the top three
players of all time. And Shaquille O 'Neal, one
of the top ten players of all time. And he becomes
the fourth player ever to win the scoring champion,
the regular season MVP, and the final MVP in
the same season. I mean, this was simply one
of the greatest runs, seasons by a player ever.
If you want to make the SGA's the best player
in the world conversation, I'm not going to fight
you. A lot of old head NBA players are ready
to put it on SGA, such as Shaq. Shaq has mentioned
if SGA wins his league, he's the best player,
he's the face of it, whatever. I'm not going
to fight you on that. To me, J -Dub is top 12.
I gave that argument a couple weeks ago in regards
to... The All -NBA, the All -Defense, and then
he's had a 40 -point exposure in the finals.
I think J -Dub is top 12 -ish. So to me, that
would check out the box even better if he gets
hard up for Jokic. Jokic is the guy. I would
still say Jokic is the best player in the world.
But if you want to make the SGA argument, I'm
not going to fight you. Which means that Oklahoma
City would check the box and join the litany
of other people, besides three to four exceptions,
that check the box of... how I think you got
to win the title, either the best player, two
of the top 12, or three of the top 25. I think
that is major as far as how you win the title.
I do want to make one more point. Oh, we didn't
go through the game stats. I know you guys love
when I go through the stats. We didn't go through
the game stats. Then I'll make my last point
on the game before I shift to Kevin Durant and
what happened with him. So, box score, Pascal
Siakam, 16 points on 5 of 13. Andrew Nemhard,
15 points on 4 of 10. Miles Turner, only 4 shots.
Halliburton, like I said, 9 points on 3 of 4
in just 7 minutes. Obi Toppin, 21 minutes, nothing.
No points. 0 for 4. T .J. McConnell played 28
minutes, filled in a lot of that backup point
guard. He goes for 16 points, six rebounds, three
assists on eight for 13. Benedict Matherin goes
for 24 and 13 on six of 14. That's pretty much
all the bench points. You get two from T .J.
Bradley, who barely played before that. But you
get zero out of Ben Shepard for 16 minutes. You
get zero out of Obi Toppin for 21 minutes. I'm
not going to count Finley, Bryant, or Jackson
because that was most definitely just subbing,
guys. You know, that was definitely just a clear
the bench situation. But on the Thunder side,
you get 18 -8 out of Chet on 6 of 8 shooting.
24 -4. On 7 of 20 from J -Dub. Shea gives you
29, 5, and 12 on 8 for 27. He had a bad night
from the office. I mean, that's less than 25%.
That's an awful shooting night. Good God. That's
like 30%. And speaking of 30%, Lou Dort goes
9 and 7 on 3 of 10. Alex Caruso gives you 10
on 4 of 10. Andrew Wiggins gave you nothing in
12 minutes. Kacen Wallace gave you 10 in 26 minutes.
I do think I'm going to run through the team
stats really quickly. Both teams shot bad. Indiana
41%, OKC 40%. OKC had 17 more shots at the basket.
They both made 11 threes. OKC made their 11 threes
on 12 more shot attempts, however. Both teams
made 22 free throws. Rebounds, basically the
same. Indiana with 45, OKC with 40. The big number
in this game, finally, was turnovers. So remember
how in game one, Indiana survived the turnovers.
It was like 20 -something, eight or something
like that in turnovers. It was a massive number,
very small number, but the points off turnovers
were only like 11 -7. Oklahoma City wins this
game by 12. They win points off turnovers by
22. That's your ball game. Turnovers was 23 -8.
Oklahoma City scored 32 points off 23 turnovers.
That is your game. That is your ball game. It
is. Everything else is virtually. And points
in the paint, Oklahoma City wins by 14. Everything
else is basically virtually identical. It may
even lean to Indiana. But there is a glaring
difference in this. And it's a 22 -point difference
in points in the paint. But what I would notice
is, just looking at some of the stats quickly,
this was safe enough to be a classic knock -down,
drag -out Game 7. Neither team was shooting the
ball well. We all thought it gave Indiana a chance.
And I put that in a group message. I was talking
to some guys. And I was saying, man, NBA Finals
Game 7s don't typically break 100. You know,
they're usually knock -down, drag -out, you know.
You've been seeing the same team for two weeks.
You're tired. You're nervous. Like Richard Jefferson
was saying at the beginning of the game, he said,
at this point, your heart's just pounding. Your
heart's just going. He said, and the big thing
about it is you're trying to get to almost trying
to get to a point where you get so tired, you've
got to get a second win, and that second win
calms you down. Or you're trying to make it to
that first time out and you sit down and breathe
and say, okay, it's a basketball game. Because
Richard Jefferson was in the last finals game,
7 -20 -16. He's like, your heart's just pounding.
It's just going. Because every second that ticks
off, it's closer to somebody being named a champion.
You know what I'm saying? The whole season has
come down to this. You know, that was Oklahoma
City's 105th game. That was Indiana's probably
similar. They might be at 109, 108, 109. Like,
you've played over 100 games. You've been playing
since October. It's mid -June, and you are, you
know, you're in the last game. You're in the
last possible game of the season. 30 teams play
82. You know, 16 teams made the playoffs. Like,
all through this war, and somebody, somebody
is going to walk out this floor. a champion for
life like and so it's a different feeling and
you know obviously Halliburton going down to
me it's the air out of the game um it's signed
sealed and delivered this game to Oklahoma City
um but I will say that um Indiana had a great
season Oklahoma City was just the best team all
year They had the number one record. They had
the best playoff record. They had the highest
playoff percentage. They had the MVP. You know
what I'm saying? They were just the best player.
And the crazy part of Oklahoma City is they are
set up for success. They are set up for crazy
success, like insane success. Sam Presti has
been with Oklahoma City. He's been the GM of
the Oklahoma City Thunder the entire time they've
been in Oklahoma City. They carried him over
from the Supersonics when they were in Seattle.
He's been the GM the entire time. He's built
two teams. He's built two legitimate teams. He
built the Big Three Thunder, the Baby Thunder,
KD Harden and Westbrook. That disbands. He does
the Paul George thing. He does the Carmelo thing.
But the wild part about those moves is he's always
acquired picks back or young assets and continued
to do it. And then this time he moved Paul George
and Russell. He basically tore down to the brass
tacks. One of those tacks was Shea Goods Alexander,
courtesy of the Paul George trade. So looking,
forecasting, forecasting. the uh forecasting
uh the thunders picks first round picks until
2030 i mean because i'm gonna go with i'm gonna
go to 2027 because it kind of matches the contract
part so through 2027 they have the rights to
two first in 2025 they have the rights to three
first in 2026 and they have the right to two
first in 2027 in 20 Then along with that, they
have a second round in 2025, second in 26, and
two in 27. Through contract and through 2027,
so for the next two years, SGA, Hardenstein,
Lou Doerr, Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrick
Williams, Kaysen Wallace, Nicolo Topic, Dylan
Jones, Isaiah Joe, with Chet Holmgren and J -Dub
being extension eligible. And it's another player
on the team, too, that can get an extension.
They are set up for a dynastic run we haven't
seen since the Warriors in terms of this whole
team comes back. Boston's not a factor next year.
They're just not. Tatum's probably not going
to play next year, so Boston's out. Indiana's
out because, again, Tyrese Halliburton's probably
not going to play that year. Milwaukee's out.
Dame Lillard's probably not going to play next
year. So that's three teams that made the playoffs,
including one that made the finals that are out.
I wonder what the Lakers are going to do until
they can get a big. New Orleans is probably one
or two pieces away. Memphis is tearing it down
now, so they're probably out. Like, you know,
so you're just looking at these teams. It looks
like Oklahoma City is going to go right back
to the finals next season. Like I said, they're
going to have a chance to be a mini Warriors
where they can win two out of four, three out
of six. You know, just kind of because the team
is so young. They average like 24 years of age.
They're so young. They have final experience
now. They've made that long journey. It would
not shock me if they win, not even counting this
one, two of the next three. This is where they
win three and four. You know, they go back to
back, lose one, and then get another one, lose
and get another one. Like get like three and
five or something like that. And be a dynasty
of their own. Oklahoma City has set up very nice.
Sam Presti is incredibly smart. And he's also
had the ability of he knows he has to start trading
these picks at some point. You can't keep drafting
his players while you have the greatest G League
team ever. I think he's going to package those
picks for something. I don't know what that something
is. I don't know if that's a Giannis. I don't
know if that's a Carl Anthony Towns. I don't
know if that is, you know, whoever. I think he's
going to end up packaging those picks for something.
Just not quite sure what it is yet. But shout
out Sam Presti for building this Oklahoma City
team. Shout out Mark Dagono, head coach of the
Thunder as well. He got some heat during his
series for decisions he made. Ultimately, you
know, they ended up winning. They ended up winning
probably because of some decisions he made. So,
you know, great job, Mark Dagan. And just congrats
to the whole city of Oklahoma City, man. Like,
you weren't a pro sports town. Hell, you weren't
a sports town until 17, 18 years ago. Like, University
of Oklahoma is enormous. Oklahoma State's in
Stillwater. Like, even the major colleges wasn't
in Oklahoma City. And so the fact that in 2008,
you pick up the Thunder, an NBA franchise. Well,
you pick up the Sonic, they become the Thunder.
You get that final run with the baby Thunder
of KD, Harden, and Westbrook. And then now you
get an NBA title in a parade. So kudos to the
state of Oklahoma as well, to the Oklahoma City
as well. But the big news today that dropped,
and we're not going to spend a ton of time on
it. I'm sure we'll cover it more during the offseason
acquisition part. But the big news that dropped
today was Kevin Durant traded to the Houston
Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks,
the 10th overall pick in this year's NBA draft,
and... five second round picks we hadn't seen
the five second round picks this offseason where
they were real popular a couple years ago uh
maybe it'd have been last year but people were
packaging five second round picks with like everything
i don't know why that became the number but it
was um anyway kd was traded ultimately to the
rockets which is one of his teams his preferred
list it was houston um and a couple other places
but houston was many people connected him with
houston now what assets houston got back was
the shocking part um you didn't get back the
sun's pick The Suns didn't get back their pick.
They also didn't get back Jabari Smith. Or they
didn't get back A -Man Thompson. They didn't
get back any of the young stars. Dylan Brooks
is a menace. He's annoying, but he's not really
a young star. Jalen Green. I speak about the
G League. First of all, it was rumored that Jalen
Green was going to get redirected. But I speak
about the G League guys all the time. They're
kind of the same player. They jump really, really
high. They have moderately decent handles. They
do everything on raw athleticism. But then you
can't shoot a basketball. And it's kind of like
the G, that's how they play in the G League.
They play open, fly across, everything's in the
air, so on and so forth. And we're not really
hardlining you. We're kind of letting you make
mistakes. So that's how they play in the NBA.
Jalen Green takes awful shots. Jalen Green can't
really shoot. He jumps really high. He has a
pretty decent handle. He's a solid defender because
of how athletic he is. I mean, that's just the
honest truth. And then, of course, the other
part of that trade, the other player in that
trade is Dylan Brooks, who, you know, I don't
see Dylan Brooks being a son. It doesn't help
Dylan Brooks how he wants to. The sons don't
benefit from Dylan Brooks. Dylan Brooks is a
guy that's going to be a defender, an annoying,
a nuisance. He's going to be a guy that helps
and protects that star player. He's also going
to be a guy that, that could be that cog piece
in that title team. And Phoenix is not there
on any of those fronts, right? So I don't see
the Dylan Brooks piece. The number 10 overall
pick in this draft, who cares? And the five second
round picks, definitely who cares, right? But
what does this mean for Phoenix? For Phoenix,
it means that you are looking at Jalen Green's
part of your future. And I say that you're looking
at Jalen Green's part of your future because
They're not immediately moving him. Plus, he's
hard to do anyway with that poison pill contract.
Because on his rookie extension, his contract
is poison pill. So while the physical dollar
amount says $12 million, he counts for his new
team like $37 million. But he only counts for
his old team like $12 million. So you can only
get back like $12 million to $14 million for
a $37 million deal. It's a lot of chicanery and
a lot of maneuvering that Jalen Green's contract
is going to take as long as it still counts as
a poison pill. Because I can't really aggregate
the contract. But it means that you consider
Jalen Green part of your future. You want to
give Book some more firepower. You want to kind
of bring that age down a little bit. You go with
Jalen Green. For Houston, it means you're trying
to win a title. Plain and simple. Kevin Durant's
numbers were better than Jalen Green, but not
demonstrably. And if you add his numbers to Dylan
Brooks' numbers, they weren't better. What you
were doing in Houston is you're protecting your
future. You kept A -Man Thompson. You kept Jabari
Smith. You kept Tyree Eason. You kept Amparoon
Sangoon, right? You kept a lot of these young
talented players. So you protect your future.
But you also get a guy, KD, where when that ball
gets stuck, it's been two minutes and it's been
four bad shots. that ball goes to KD in the mid
post and he goes and it's like it's a bucket
to lay up and he kind of breaks that funk or
tight playoff game four minutes left instead
of that ball being in Jalen Green's hand that
ball's in Kevin Durant's hands and you live and
die with KD I think this is a great opportunity
for KD. I think it's a chance for him to really
just go there and hoop. He knows what he wants
to do. He knows how he wants to operate. I think
it's a good opportunity for him to do that. Houston's
a big enough city where he can find himself into
something, but he ain't the only superstar in
the town either. Houston has baseball. Houston
has C .J. Strada, Texas. Houston has... MLS,
Houston, like, you know what I'm saying? Like,
Houston had University of Houston. Like, Houston
has all these different things that, you know,
kind of fit Kevin Durant's world, but he's not
the main, only thing popping in town. He can
kind of move a little bit better. Kind of a good
thing for KD, the fact that he's not in a place
like Minnesota where everything lives and breathes
and dies off the Timberwolves. He's not in a
place like San Antonio where everything lives,
breathes, and dies off the Spurs. He gets to
Houston where things matter. But their culture,
led by Ime Adoka, who Kevin Durant absolutely
loves, driven by him, they're going to be able
to not, because they're not the only thing in
town, so they're able to move. It's a little
bit better. KD's 7 feet tall. It's hard for him
to do it anyway. But it's comforting for him
knowing that. But congratulations to Houston,
man. That's a huge move. That's a championship.
statement kind of move but like we're going for
it right uh because again for 40 let's say four
minutes having Jalen Green over Kevin Durant's
a coin flip having KVD over Jalen Green coin
flip them last four minutes or that two and a
half minutes coin drop that's when Kevin Durant's
gonna make his money it won't be every single
play every single you know game and every single
you know defender can't guard me it's going to
be very strategic um when KD matters over Jalen
Green. Those heavy moments is when KD's going
to matter over Jalen Green. I was telling some
guys, kind of last point on this, I was telling
some guys today when the news broke and they
were arguing over, man, I'd rather have Jalen
Green disappoint his career. Man, you gave up
a lot for Kevin Durant. Like, what's going to
happen two, three years from now? It doesn't
matter to Houston. They're trying to win a championship.
If you win a championship and then go in the
doldrums, no one cares you won a title. right
like Detroit's been living off the 0 -4 title
for years Boston was title bean town title town
like off the 0 -8 title like you want a title
it gives you room to restart it if that makes
sense right and so I think that because they're
gonna have that built -in leverage I say if they
if they win the title you're basically changing
presto change -o um And similar to what Golden
State did with KD, although KD came in and took
over the situation and won the final MVP, etc.
But you're basically, in Golden State in 2016,
you were presto change -o -ing Kevin Durant,
Harrison Barnes into Kevin Durant. Houston, effectively,
is presto change -o -ing Jalen Green into KD.
So at the end of the game, when, you know, palms
get sweaty, backsides get tight. Instead of swinging
that ball to Fred Van Vliet, St. Goon in the
post, or Jalen Green because he's made four of
his last six and you're hoping this isn't the
bad one, you throw it to Kevin Durant and you
live with the results. So I think that's going
to be huge for Houston. Eme Adoka is going to
have that roster playing well. You know him.
He's going to have those guys rolling. But that
is all I have for today. Again, humongous congratulations
to the Indiana Pacers for a great season. But
the top of the, I mean, you're the NBA champion.
Congratulations to Shea Gills Alexander, J -Dub,
Mark Dagonault, Sam Presti, and the rest of the
Oklahoma City's organization. Those guys. i mean
they're models as far as how to build through
the draft how to make smart trades patience is
key so on and so forth now they're set up for
the next five six years of just runway until
they seem average age hit like 30. they're set
up for just you know a half a decade run but
they pick up three to four more titles in six
seven years um It's just they are set up really,
really well. Huge credit to Sam Presti for that.
Mark Dagon with the coach. Shea Gibbs, Alexander,
J -Dub, main two players. And just congratulations
to the city of Oklahoma as well. Oklahoma City,
rather. But that is all I have for you guys today.
This is your owner and host, Justin Jackson,
signing out.